Blood of the Army

by Tinalynge

  Xue Wei had already expected this, so he just nodded his head.

  "Let us return to the inn. We still have quite some hours before it is time for us to pick up our clothes. The banquet is in the evening, so we should rest and cultivate hard."

  Neither Luo Zhirou nor Shen Mu disagreed with Xue Wei. As a result, they rushed back to their inn where they entered their rooms and sat down on their respective beds.

  Of the four girls Luo Zhirou shared a room with, two were present, while the final two were nowhere to be seen.

  Seeing that they were there, Luo Zhirou was as quiet as she could be as she moved to her bed and started cultivating. Shen Mu was the same; only Xue Wei was benefitting from the single room.

  Like this, the next couple of hours passed. The rooms were continually being entered and left by their roommates, but as proper cultivators neither Luo Zhirou nor Shen Mu were disturbed by this. It was not before Xue Wei appeared outside of their doors calling for them that they woke up from their meditation.

  It was finally time to pick up their clothes and prepare for the banquet.

  Chapter 9 - Towards the Banquet

  It took them another hour to get the clothes fitted, and then they bought a small cloth made from Primordial Beast silk.

  This cloth was then used to create a purse where they together added a hundred gold coins.

  This was quite a lot of gold, and it hurt all three of them to put that much money into it, but they still understood that the Crown Prince needed a great gift and thus they accepted the losses.

  "Well, we have gotten some amazing clothes that can be used both in battle and for banquets." Xue Wei smiled. "We also got our wood jade carving for free. Although we spent a lot of gold, all the gold we have spent is gold we have gotten from beast cores. We have not even taken any of the money we were given by our families out yet."

  Hearing this, both Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu felt better. It was indeed true that they had not spent any of their money yet. The money they had spent were what they had gotten from the beast cores.

  "We should thank Li Jian for bringing such wealth to us," Shen Mu joked, and Luo Zhirou laughed while Xue Wei just smiled.

  He was still uncomfortable about the female Primordial Beast he had seen twice now. Both times she had been wearing a large bamboo hat with a veil to hide her face and a large cloak to hide her body.

  "Oh well, I should be safe for now," he muttered to himself. "I am in the middle of the capital. Even if a beast horde appeared, I would be safe. If the Primordial Beasts could wipe out the Heping Kingdom's capital, they would have done so a long time ago."

  "And the recruitment camp is placed right next to the capital, so the next year I should be safe." Xue Wei decided.

  Still, inside his mind was a tiny part of him that could not be convinced. There was a constant feeling telling him that he was in danger.

  Shaking his head, his reason pushed this feeling of danger to the side, and he smiled with his friends once more.

  Together, the three made their way through the inner city. The palace was located in the midst of everything, and it was also here that the banquet was being held.

  Although the Crown Prince had estates outside of the palace in the city itself, he held all of the major gatherings at his chambers in the palace, and today was indeed a major gathering.

  "To think that His Highness the Crown Prince is holding such a grand banquet is truly an honor," Shen Mu said, a little bit astonished.

  "This banquet has been in the works for a long time in advance most likely," Xue Wei said. "The Crown Prince has most likely made a banquet to wish all the geniuses of the noble families good luck in their endeavor when it comes to military service. We are likely to encounter a large group of experts today, and many of them will be young masters of the capital."

  Shen Mu thought about it for a bit, and then he nodded his head a bit, looking embarrassed. "That makes sense," he laughed. "Thinking that he would make a banquet just for our arrival would be quite a stretch. I wonder if we can mingle successfully amongst them."

  "I am sure that some of them will be reasonable," Xue Wei smiled, but he thought that at the same time it was likely that many of them were arrogant. They had been brought up in the capital, and the majority of them were supposed to be Earth Warriors. They would never acknowledge the three of them as they were still Ordinary Warriors.

  The fact that they had been given an invite was already very shocking, but it could be argued for since he had a special physique and his uncle was Xiao Lei, but Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu had no such backing. All they could rely on was their relationship with Xue Wei.

  "Oh well it will be fine," Xue Wei muttered to himself, "the main target will be me. I already insulted one of the nobles from the capital, and at the same time, I have a special physique. Having a special physique will make many of them jealous."

  "Jealousy is ugly, but hopefully no one is overly hostile." Xue Wei's eyes turned dark, and a sinister smile appeared on his lips, "if they do, then I do not mind teaching them a lesson."

  Xue Wei was rather certain in his own strength. Although it was impossible for him to kill these noble-born youngsters, he could still teach them a lesson as long as they were at the first layer of the Earth Warrior rank.

  All of them were in deep thought as they made their way towards the palace that was towering in the distance when suddenly they heard the sounds of horse hooves galloping behind them.

  "Out of the way!" someone yelled hostilely, followed by the sound of a whip flashing. Xue Wei stopped in his tracks and turned around to see what was happening behind him, and his eyes turned serious.

  A young man was riding a horse that was galloping through the busy streets. He was swinging a whip in his hand, and it landed on the face of a commoner, rupturing the skin and causing him to forever be disfigured.

  Xue Wei did not see himself as a hero of mankind, but he was not so arrogant that he would treat others like ants. He knew how it was to be looked down upon, which as a result never made him underestimate or undervalue human life.

  "You three, out of the way!" the young man called as he looked at Xue Wei, Luo Zhirou, and Shen Mu, who were all standing in the middle of the street.

  Xue Wei looked at Shen Mu and Luo Zhirou and saw undisguised disgust in their expressions. Both of them loathed arrogant masters to the extreme, and the sight in front of them had filled them both with the utmost dislike towards this young master that seemed to be the same age as themselves.

  Xue Wei nodded his head in high praise. The young man on top of the horse was clearly an Earth Warrior of the first layer. He was wielding a whip, and he was mounted on a horse. Although the horse was a mortal beast, it was still a beast and could prove to be a great assistance to the rider when speeding along like this, but in other situations, it could also become the cause of a disaster.

  Xue Wei looked at the mortal beast, and as soon as their eyes locked onto one another, the horse neighed and started thrashing under the control of its young master.

  The young master held hard on the reins and used the whip to whip the horse so hard that blood started to seep down the hind legs.

  The horse was in a frenzy. It seemed as if it had lost its mind as it was thrashing around, neighing and bucking, trying to get as far away from Xue Wei as possible.

  The young master on top of the horse could not understand what was going on. He was clinging on for dear life, feeling as if he would be thrown to the ground at any moment and lose all of his face.

  Right then and there, he had no mind to figure out what had happened. Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu were also puzzled; only Xue Wei knew that he had caused this, but he was confused as to how he had managed to do so.

  He had been capable of scaring the Black Horned Mammoth just by looking it in the eyes, and now he had driven a horse to madness from doing the same.

  It was clear that he had some effect on beasts of all kinds, but he considered it a part of his spec
ial physique.

  Xue Wei had read books about special physiques before, and one of them had included a physique that had the power of transforming one into a celestial human. Since that was possible, then it wasn’t so far-fetched for someone to have some sort of control over beasts too.

  Had it not been for the Diviner already checking him, he would have feared that he was a Primordial Beast given that he had some traits like them, but the diviner knew what a Primordial Beast looked like and he had already scrutinized him, making it impossible for Xue Wei to be one. If he had a beast core, then he would have been captured back in Tiankong City.

  Xue Wei put the thoughts about the origin of his special physique to the back of his mind and started laughing as he saw the unkempt appearance of the young master.

  However, his laughter made the already maddened horse panic further, and it neighed once more but lost balance and fell backward, landing on the young master, squashing him into the dirty street.

  Although the streets were neat and kept tidy in the Inner City, they were still dusty, and a cloud of dust rose up as the horse managed to swing its legs around and get back up to its hooves again, running away as fast as it could on trembling legs.

  The young master who had been smashed underneath the horse got up with much difficulty. His clothes were no longer spotless, his tied-up hair was messy, and his pale skin had become grey from the dust on the road.

  "You!" he exclaimed and took a few steps towards Xue Wei and his two friends. He raised his hand that was holding the whip, and his arm was trembling from anger.

  "What did you do to my horse?!" he asked so furiously that his face had turned completely red.

  "Who did what?" Xue Wei asked with a slight smile on his face as he spread his hands out to the sides. "Did you see us do anything? We were just standing there, petrified, when you came riding towards us. How can it be our fault that your horse went wild? Who knows, you might have treated it badly?"

  The young man was trembling from anger, and he raised his whip and swung it at full strength towards Xue Wei, Luo Zhirou, and Shen Mu, completely disregarding the difference in their strength, knowing full well that such a swing would easily kill a cultivator at the ninth layer of the Ordinary Warrior rank.

  Xue Wei took a step forward and activated the Forbidden Rush movement technique before he vanished and appeared right next to the whip.

  He reached out his hand and infused it with Qi to protect himself when he grabbed the tail of the whip from the air.

  A slight sting could be felt in Xue Wei's hand as he gripped the whip, but he quickly continued to rotate the qi within his body. Following that, he shot out towards the young master.

  Shattering Mountain Palm.

  He released one of his strongest attacks right away, aiming it at the young master's stomach, intending to injure but not kill. Although he had been outrageous, Xue Wei had long since realized he acted rashly because he had the ability to do so.

  Even if Xue Wei had some protection due to personal clout, he could not randomly kill the youngsters of the noble class in the capital.

  "Watch it," Xue Wei sneered as the palm connected with the surprised young master. Although he was an Earth Warrior, he had been raised in the capital and was lacking real fighting experience. He had been so shocked by Xue Wei catching his whip that he never realized what had hit him before he was on the ground vomiting blood.

  "I will get you for this!" he sneered with blood trailing from the side of his lips, but Xue Wei paid no more attention to him and turned around. He knew that this young master would be no threat to him anymore.

  "Come on," he said with a smile to the stunned Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu. "The banquet is starting soon."

  Chapter 10 - Attending a Banquet

  Shen Mu and Luo Zhirou were rather befuddled as they followed behind Xue Wei.

  Everything had happened so fast that they had not seen exactly what had happened, and they were in a trance-like state, trying their best to make heads and tails of what they had seen.

  The horse had suddenly gone insane. There had been nothing to warrant this madness; it had happened out of the blue.

  Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu both looked curiously at Xue Wei. Had he done something to be able to control the thoughts of a mortal beast, which seemed to be an impossibility?

  Together the three made their way to the palace gates. Here, the guards were looking fierce and strong. Each and every one of them was of the Sky Warrior rank, and their strength was magnificent in comparison to simple Ordinary Warriors like Xue Wei, Luo Zhirou, and Shen Mu.

  "Halt," one of the guards called out as he saw Xue Wei and his friends. He frowned. He knew that the Crown Prince was hosting a banquet tonight, but the usual guests were all Earth Warriors. To see three Ordinary Warriors meant that their background was formidable or they had some other redeeming qualities.

  "Please announce your name," the guard said. He was neither hostile nor polite, but he was very straightforward.

  His strength allowed for him to be smug, but he also understood that these children were the next generation's Primordial Beast Hunters. They would become amazing figures, and insulting them would be pointless for him.

  "Xue Wei. I brought two friends with me," Xue Wei introduced himself. The moment he mentioned his name, an eyebrow on the guard’s face shot into the air.

  He too had heard about the new unique genius that had appeared in the city from out of nowhere. He had stunned all the upper echelons of the capital with his brazen behavior, his shocking background, and his special physique.

  Everyone knew that he was only an Ordinary Warrior, but they were also aware that he had not cultivated for more than half a year. When taking that into consideration, his talent for cultivation was simply so outstanding that no one was able to catch up with him at the rate he was going. Even if he were an Ordinary Warrior now, it was highly likely that he would be an Earth Warrior in a month at most.

  "This way please," The guard bowed slightly and gestured with an arm, leading the three into the palace grounds.

  The guard led them all the way through the many gardens scattered across the grounds. There were stone gardens, bamboo gardens, flower gardens, and even lakes and streams. It continued on for a long time, and they walked past many mansions, palaces, pagodas, and pavilions on their way towards a beautiful palace in the distance.

  "This is the Green Jade Palace," the guard introduced. "It is the place where His Highness the Crown Prince usually hosts his banquets. It belongs to His Highness the King, but he often lends it out to his sons when they have special events ongoing."

  The guard provided a quick introduction of the building where the banquet would be held, and he smiled with good will towards Xue Wei.

  "His Highness, the Crown Prince, values talent a great deal. It is your honor to be invited to his banquet like this, but be careful. Not all of the King's children look at the Crown Prince favorably, and those who flock to his side might encounter unknown danger."

  The guard decided to warn him. He had a good impression of this young man who was neither too humble nor too arrogant.

  "Thank you for your warning," Xue Wei said with genuine gratitude. Few people had shown concern for Xue Wei in his life, and those who did were in his opinion worthy of him treating them with respect.

  Truthfully, Xue Wei had already spoken with Luo Zhirou and Shen Mu about joining a faction. He was not eager to join one, but he knew that they wanted to as soon as possible.

  Xue Wei, Luo Zhirou, and Shen Mu walked the final part of the way on their own. There was a beautiful trail leading in and out through the environment of a stunning stone garden.

  The trail led through the many beautiful corners of the garden so that one would see the wonders of the place before reaching a building made solely from green jade and gold.

  This was the Green Jade Palace, and it was outstandingly beautiful as it towered in front of them, sparkling in the light of the setting su
n.

  Bustling noises came out from the open gate, and another two Sky Warrior guards were keeping a watch at the entrance.

  There were no one else on the way towards the banquet, as it seemed that all of them had arrived already, but Xue Wei did not feel any pressure. Instead, he leisurely strolled in and smiled at the two guards whose faces twitched a little from the carefreeness that Xue Wei displayed.

  Shen Mu and Luo Zhirou were feeling uncomfortable showing up late, but they knew that they would be in the shadows of Xue Wei, and could not help but heave a sigh of relief. Xue Wei had become a towering person to them. Someone who would protect them from the rain and the wind, someone who would take all the troubles they might encounter and dispel them.