Glancing at the visitor, Zhao Jundu pointed at his watch. “You’re five minutes late.”
That person threw himself into the chair and unceremoniously sized Zhao Jundu up from head to toe. “You bastard, how did you get yourself into this state? I thought an Imperial marshal would be nothing short of awe-inspiring. Who would’ve thought you’d be drenched in blood?”
Zhao Jundu replied expressionlessly, “I’m still doing better than a fellow who couldn’t even become a marshal.”
That person shot to his feet. “This daddy will become a marshal sooner or later. What’s so good about being a marshal? The difficult step is becoming a heavenly monarch!”
Zhao Jundu broke into a laugh. “Did anyone say you have a chance?”
That person’s momentum deflated sharply. “No…”
Zhao Jundu leaned forward while holding the hand rests. “Do you think you can reach that level?”
The deflation intensified. “This daddy is a man capable of breaking through the heavens. A mere heavenly monarch… is still… fairly difficult.”
“Forget the sky for now, can you defeat Yuying?” Zhao Jundu revealed a weird smile.
The one sitting before the table was Wei Potian. The fellow immediately looked satisfied as he said, “I can’t defeat her yet, but she can’t beat me, either!”
Zhao Jundu’s smile became even weirder. He pointed at Wei Potian’s face, saying, “Is this what you mean?”
“What?”
Smiling, Zhao Jundu drew a shiny knife and moved it in front of Wei Potian’s face. “Just look for yourself! I might be bloody, but I’m doing much better.”
Wei Potian used the blade as a mirror and saw his blackened eyes. That bruise was clearly caused by a beating.
Wei Potian jumped up, both surprised and furious. “This has nothing to do with Yuying. I fought an arachne during the last battle, and it went on for quite some time. I was careless enough to take a couple of punches to the face, but of course, I won in the end. Who would’ve thought that fellow would be so ruthless? These two bruises are still unhealed.”
“No need to explain, it’s fine even if you were beaten up by Yuying.”
“Of course not! She can’t beat me at all!” Wei Potian cried out.
Zhao Jundu switched to a more comfortable position, saying, “Fine, let’s stop talking about this. You made such a hurried appointment, what’s the matter?”
“What else is there? Of course, it’s about pioneering the new world with you! You won’t refuse this little request, will you?”
“Are you going to leave Far East just like that?”
“The defense should be fine without me. Those dark-blooded bastards have been pretty well-behaved lately. I heard most of them have been transferred to the new world, and I had to provoke them really hard just to start a couple of battles. I don’t need to stay in such a boring place! Wei Potian lives to fight on the battlefield!”
Zhao Jundu said indifferently, “You can go back if you don’t come back down to earth. I’m in charge of this place, so no one else can help you.”
Wei Potian stared at Zhao Jundu for a good while, his haughtiness vanishing as he realized that the latter was serious. “I heard even that Song Zining fellow broke through, how can I accept that? So, I wanted to head into the new world and give it a try. My Thousand Mountains can only improve in battle now.”
“Zining risked life and limb to breakthrough.”
“When have I ever been afraid of death!?” Wei Potian was excited again.
Zhao Jundu gestured for him to calm down. “That wasn’t just danger, he was really an inch away from death. The bloke is still collapsed in the new world now.”
“I’m fine with that as long as I can break through this threshold. I refuse to let that bastard leave me behind, I’m unresigned!”
Zhao Jundu spoke no more. He said with a nod, “Fine, pack your things. We’ll leave in a bit.”
Wei Potian pointed at the blood-stained robe. “Your wounds are still bleeding.”
“It’s fine. A claw from that thing will leave you bleeding for at least half a day, there’s no way to stop the outflow. Just let it bleed.”
He produced a map from the drawer and pointed to several areas, saying, “This is our plan for the upcoming segment of the operation. These forests are the main camps of the beast army, as well as our capture objectives. I’ve already sent you the relevant intelligence about the forests and how the enemy army is structured.”
“I’ve already studied them.”
“Good, we currently have a forest with three holy trees, four with dual holy trees, and seven with a single holy tree. Your mission is…”
“Of course it’s the one with three holy trees! Is there even a need to discuss this?” Wei Potian said recklessly.
“Of course it’s a forest with one holy tree.” Apparently, Zhao Jundu wasn’t going to discuss this decision. He immediately issued a military order for Wei Potian, saying, “Don’t die, I don’t want to see Yuying depressed.”
“It’s fine, she’ll be sad for a couple of months at most if I die.”
Zhao Jundu said calmly, “I was thinking three days at most. She’ll forget you after a couple of drinks.”
“I…” Wei Potian glared fiercely at Jundu, seemingly eager to debate his status in Zhao Yuying’s heart.
Zhao Jundu didn’t give him the opportunity, though. He stuffed the command into Wei Potian’s jacket, saying, “Take your men and retrieve medicine for them. I’ve also prepared a unit to cooperate with you on this mission. Consider yourself lucky, the Imperial Research Academy has just developed a new medicine to help soldiers adapt to the new world. You arrived just in time.”
Wei Potian laughed out loud. “My luck is always good! Oh right, don’t we need to use that holy-tree sap or whatever? What is this medicine made of?”
“It’s also made of holy tree sap.”
Wei Potian found it weird. “Then why do we need to turn it into medicine?”
“To reduce material consumption. One drop of holy tree sap used to be enough for one person, now it can help five people.”
“Not bad, but there must be some shortcomings, right?”
“There will be some discomfort, moreover, the time you can stay inside the new world will shrink from a month to ten days.”
“Ten days!? Isn’t that too short?”
Zhao Jundu patted Wei Potian’s shoulder. “It’s too long for you.”
With that, he swaggered out of the study.
Wei Potian stood dazed for a while, then started stomping about angrily when he finally realized the meaning. “What the heck do you mean by that!? Hold it and explain things clearly! Are you saying I’ll lose or that I won’t survive very long, or both? Y-You! Stop right there!”
Zhao Jundu simply walked away, paying him no attention.
Wei Potian was helpless. He had come to fight under Zhao Jundu’s command, so he couldn’t really fight it out with him, not that he could win against him even if he did.
There was no major issue with the equipment for the soldiers. The Far East Wei Clan was a high-ranking aristocratic family that had been fighting against the dark races year-round. Their accumulations were fairly strong, and their gear could only be better than the Imperial legions, not weaker.
However, their province was extremely far away, so it wasn’t possible to ship all of their heavy weaponry here. They would need Zhao Jundu’s help in this regard. Besides, the more adaptation medicine there was, the better. Otherwise, were they to run back and collect if they ran out?
Only when he saw the small mountain of resources at the supply depot did Wei Potian break into a smile. “This little brat only talks harshly.”
He hummed a small tune as he led a band of ruffian-like soldiers into the new world.
Several days later, a motorcade appeared at the Imperial base outside of the door. The trucks were all battered up and shooting out so much steam that the area around them looked like an immortal realm.
The trucks were full of soldiers with various items hanging from their sides. There were sandbags, armor plates, luggage, and half-dried beast legs. If this weren’t the new world and the trucks were new models from the Empire, the fortress guards would’ve thought they were a refugee family.
The forward base was in charge of guarding the doorway into the Empire. This duty was extremely important, so the soldiers wouldn’t let an unknown motorcade approach. The guards fired warning shots and stopped the vehicles several hundred meters away from the fortress.
A burly man with a messy beard jumped down from the car. He was covered in mud, and his armor was in tatters. “This daddy just fought a victorious battle. You don’t recognize me anymore!? Tell Jundu to come and see me!”
The officer was startled upon hearing that kind of tone. “I have a duty to inspect you. After all, there can be no mistakes when it comes to this fortress. Sire, who…”
He looked carefully at the burly man and found him rather familiar. “Ah, it’s Marquis Bowang! How did you turn into this state?”
“What Marquis Bowang!? This daddy is Marquis Potian! I just came back from a battle, I never had the time to clean up. Besides, look at my brothers, aren’t they in the same state?”
Wei Potian’s style really did resonate with the frontline soldiers. The officer became much friendlier. “Marquis, you really do love your men as though they are your children. Please follow me, I’ll take you to the resting camp.”
The officer jumped into Wei Potian’s car to guide them personally.
As they started discussing the war, Wei Potian said, “Damn, I didn’t expect that six-armed giant to be so difficult to handle. I had to spend quite a bit of effort to take him down. Jundu, that evil bloke, didn’t give me any tips. Fortunately, this daddy was strong enough and my brethren were reliable. Otherwise, I might not be able to return!”
The officer offered words of praise, “You’re indeed strong! You actually took down a forest on your own. I heard you racked up a lot of accomplishments in the Far East Province, you definitely live up to your reputation!”
Wei Potian laughed, pretending to be humble. “Those dark bloods in the Far East aren’t as strong as this six-armed monster. Damn, if they’re so strong in a forest with one holy tree, I’d be dead meat in a forest with three. What’s Jundu doing right now?”
“He and Sire Song Zining set out a couple of days ago to take down the forest with three holy trees.”
“What? Those two went to get the good stuff while I got the scraps?” Wei Potian was furious. He had completely forgotten his words from just now.
