“Damn, damn!”
The more he thought about it, the more his head hurt. Jiang Yi was looking worse by the second. It’s good that he had the Silver Demon Mask so others could not see it. Otherwise, they would see his extremely frustrated and dark expression.
The four people walked very quickly the entire time until they arrived at an army camp. What surprised Jiang Yi was that the army camp was extremely small. It stood in the middle of two bigger army camps. From the looks of the campus and the tents, he guessed that it could only accommodate less than a thousand and five hundred people. Using his divine senses to scan the surroundings, he found that there were not many people inside. At the very most, there were only a hundred-odd people.
Two female officers led Jiang Yi and the Poison Spirit to the middle of the commanders’ camp. At the door, two other female soldiers were standing guard. Their aura did not feel far off from the officers; they were all Demon-Killing-Battle-God-ranked martial artists.
After Jiang Yi entered, he saw Qi Qingchen seated there, sipping her tea. She looked very nonchalant, causing his blood to boil immediately. He cupped his hands and said, “General, I can join the Fire Phoenix Army; but I cannot be an Inspector-General. You can find someone else.”
Qi Qingchen did not even spare Jiang Yi a glance until she finished her tea. Then, she turned to him and lightly scanned him, saying, “Look at you, useless thing. An Inspector-General can get the same amount of battle merits as a commander. Are you sure you don’t want to do it?”
“A commander?”
Jiang Yi’s heart jumped. Di Qianjun and Mo Changhe had spent so long, working so hard; and yet they were still commanders. Could he really be on par with them if he accepted this role? This would mean he was advancing even faster than the Little Eagle King.
One level above the commander was the general. Jiang Yi guessed that only Titled Battle Gods of the best kind would be able to obtain such roles. Of course, he did not dare to dream of obtaining such a role. Thus, if he could become an Inspector-General, that would be his best bet of obtaining more battle merits.
The only thing was… if he became an Inspector-General, could he be sure that the group of gentlemen would not hunt him down and kill him?
He began to weigh the pros and cons. He had already joined the Demon-Buster Army so there was no backing out now. If he asked Qi Qingchen to let him off, he guessed that Qi Qingchen would do so on his account and transfer him to Di Qianjun’s army.
He could also reject the role of Inspector-General and remain in the Fire Phoenix Army. However, he would still be better off joining Di Qianjun’s army. That would avoid problems, and he would be able to focus on earning battle merits. At the same time—if he went over, it would be more difficult for him to progress in cultivation. After all, Di Qianjun was only a commander. There was no way he would offer Jiang Yi the role of Inspector-General.
On one side, there was stability and security. On the other hand, there were risks and huge rewards!
Jiang Yi was very conflicted. Qi Qingchen lightly scanned Jiang Yi from head to toe once again, and said, “My Fire Phoenix Army is not about to recruit many people. At the very most, we will have five or six hundred. Surely, those who have not reached the Demon-Killing Battle God realm or who do not possess special mystical abilities will be rejected. We care more about quality than quantity. If there are fewer people on a mission, each person will get more battle merits.
“What’s more, only our Fire Phoenix Army has King-Ranked martial artists. I am prepared to personally lead every time we go out on a mission. En… Jiang Yi, if you don’t want to be an Inspector-General, then don’t force yourself to. You can also be an ordinary soldier.”
“Uh?”
Jiang Yi’s eyes lit up. Qi Qingchen was right. Only the Fire Phoenix Army had King-Ranked martial artists. What’s more, she personally trained these fighters. He was sure that every mention they would be sent on would be easily completed.
If the Fire Phoenix Army really could sustain itself on so few people and if the least of them was really a Demon-Killing Battle God, then their battle skills would not be weak. The battle merits that they would obtain after distribution would be truckloads.
“I’ll do it!”
Jiang Yi shouted through gritted teeth. Those who braved death would starve those who were cowardly. After all, Qi Qingchen would be with them on every mission. Even if someone really wanted to assassinate him, she would be there to protect him. He had an important appointment in ten years, and he was in desperate need of battle merits. No matter how huge the risks were, he could not afford to be too concerned.
“Keke!”
Qi Qingchen rolled her eyes, making her look heavenly and seductive. Jiang Yi’s heart raced just looking at her. Slightly mocking, she said, “I thought you didn’t like to freeload? You are really lacking in righteousness!”
Jiang Yi was so angry that he kept grinding his jaw. It was clear to him that Qi Qingchen was taking revenge. Taking two deep breaths, he finally managed a smile. Cheekily, he said, “I wouldn’t freeload off anyone else, but I’ll make do for the future Wintry Sovereign. Don’t worry… when I fly to greater heights in the future, I will allow you to freeload off of me.”
“Hahaha!”
Qi Qingchen laughed out loud. Although she had silvery battle armor on, she was wearing soft armor which rippled with her laughter. After a while, she finally stopped laughing and said, “Alright, I will wait to see that happen. I hope that when that day comes, I will still be alive…”
Jiang Yi had no interest in bickering with Qi Qingchen any longer. This woman spoke with needles in her words; every line she said sounded sarcastic. Although she was already a King-Ranked martial artist and her skills were high enough to justify her arrogance, she was really no different from any other woman out there.
He hummed to himself for a couple of seconds and then decided to talk business. “General, Young Master Bai wants to join the Fire Phoenix Army as well. I’m guessing that more and more young masters would want to join the army during this time as well. How do you think we should deal with this?”
“That’s your problem to solve!”
Qi Qingchen waved her little hand and said, “I just handed over the authority to you. From now on, all these problems will be yours to solve. I only have a few requests to make. First, I want you to quickly recruit five hundred people. At the very least, they must be Demon-Killing Battle Gods. You can go and think about how to recruit these people. Once we meet the number, we will go out on our first mission.
“Second, the army cannot be in a mess. If it is, you will be held responsible. That means you will be in charge of military discipline. Third, en… I haven’t thought about it. I’ll tell you once I have. Alright, you can go and do what you have to. If you have any questions, look for Qi Yue or Qi Xia. If anyone does not respect your authority, you can report upwards directly and let them be dealt with by military law.”
“Understood!”
The two female officers received these instructions as well. Both of them were from the Qi Clan. They took Qi Qingchen’s orders without hesitation or doubt.
“…”
Jiang Yi was completely speechless now. He had been very used to being a jobless supervisor. Now, Qi Qingchen was the jobless supervisor, and he had become her worker. Not only did he have to help her to fend off those young masters, but he also had to help to manage the army.
“Alright, I’m going to have a feel of the situation first!”
When he saw that Qi Qingchen had gone back to sipping her tea, Jiang Yi gritted his teeth and led the Poison Spirit out. He wanted to first get a clear understanding of the situation before taking over the job of managing the Fire Phoenix Army. He had to quickly form an army before they could go out on their first mission.
The two female officers waited for Jiang Yi to disappear from their sight. One of them could not hold in the questions she had any longer. Cupping her hands, she asked, “Young Mistress, is Jiang Yi… reliable? Would he allow those young masters to join us? What if he takes bribes from them? Then, the Fire Phoenix Army would be in a mess, and your original intention would not be realized.”
“Keke!”
Qi Qingchen laughed softly and shook her head. “Don’t worry. Jiang Yi cares about the battle skills of this army more than we do. He came to the Demon-Buster Army for battle merits. He needs a huge amount of battle merits to improve his own battle skills and rescue his mother. He would not do something as stupid as allowing a bunch of nonsensical disciples in! This man is a rash youth with very good connections with many important people.
“It would be our best bet to allow him to be our sword. From now on, both of you have to offer good support to him. I’m going into seclusion for a while. As long as he doesn’t make too big of a mess, you don’t have to report it to me. When we have five hundred people, go and start accepting missions.”
“A rash youth?”
The two female officers exchanged a subtle, pained look. Qi Qingchen could easily go into seclusion, without any concern for what happened outside, even if the world was being turned upside down. They, on the other hand, had to follow this rash youth around and take care of the ego of the young masters from the great family clans. They could only imagine what kind of trouble he would get himself into.
