Chapter 1 The Dawn

Day broke.

In the mountain valley, corpses littered the ground. Because the wildlings had mobilized their entire tribe, the bodies belonged to men, women, and children. This made the scene even more tragic than a typical battlefield.

Groups of Jin soldiers sat together, some drinking, some chatting and laughing, and others bandaging their comrades' wounds.

They had endured months of confusion and bewilderment, from the downfall of the Helian and Wenren families to the trampling of the capital region, ultimately becoming a servant army.

Finally, they had regained their confidence by defeating the wildlings.

An army was like this; the reputation of winning every battle and being an ironclad force might not seem to have any practical effect, but at critical moments, it could often unleash tremendous explosive power.

An army that consistently suffered defeats, no matter how abundant its troops and supplies, would ultimately be useless. On the other hand, an army of victors would naturally possess an aura of invincibility.

Liang Cheng had said that the best training was through battle, and now the results were evident. Zheng Fan could finally see the true essence of an army in these former Jin conscripts.

During the battle last night, they were actually the bravest, charging in the first ranks, hacking at the wildlings upon sight, as if venting all the pent-up frustration they had accumulated in recent days.

And the wildlings lived up to expectations.

Could their combat power be considered weak? How could a people living in such harsh and desolate mountains be weak?

However, they were simply too easily defeated, much like peasant uprisings within the Four Great Nations. When facing a regular army, they collapsed instantly.

These wildlings were also unlucky. They had been suppressed by the Jin for so many years, and the Jin's military strength had always been considerable. Although the division of Jin into three had been established for many years, both the Helian and Situ families had consistently maintained a policy of extermination against the wildlings of the Heavenly Fracture Mountains, viewing them as non-Han.

Finally, the Jin nation was gone, and the Helian family was destroyed. Who would have known that the Yan people, even more capable and warlike than the Jin, would arrive?

Zheng Fan ultimately did not draw his saber last night. He had been well-protected, and when the outer forces returned to the fight, the wildling army quickly collapsed, scattering and fleeing, turning the battle into a one-sided massacre.

His armored soldiers also indulged in the chase, fearing they would miss this bloody game, which gave Zheng Fan a sense of emptiness despite his desire to draw his sword.

"Master."

A'ming sat on a mound, holding a bulging waterskin in his hand, sipping it slowly.

There must have been experts among the wildlings, but these experts, in large-scale battles, unless they were the likes of Tian Wu Jing, could not play a decisive role.

So A'ming easily took down two, took their blood, and used his Wuzang Temple to offer them salvation.

"Mm."

Zheng Fan nodded to A'ming and then couldn't help but yawn.

When he followed Li Fusheng south to the Qian Kingdom, he could still endure continuous forced marches without rest, but this time, perhaps because the enemy was defeated too easily, Zheng Fan couldn't muster any enthusiasm.

Liang Cheng approached at this moment, saying helplessly:

"These guys are killing without restraint; we've captured less than a thousand prisoners."

Most were hacked to death, and some escaped into the mountains, so the number of prisoners was far less than expected.

"It doesn't matter. Leave some people to clean up the battlefield, and take another force to take down the wildling stronghold up there first."

Zheng Fan wanted to rest. No matter how crude the wildling stronghold, those wildling leaders enjoyed a decent standard of living, and these settled wildlings were even more extravagant than the Jin people.

Liang Cheng nodded and personally selected eight hundred barbarian soldiers to accompany Zheng Fan, along with A'ming and Xue San, to the mountain stronghold. At the same time, Tufa Chengji and Zuo Jiqian each led a force to venture to more distant wildling strongholds.

The Blind Man led the remaining troops to clean up the battlefield and gather the prisoners.

The combat power of the three wildling settlements had already been depleted here. The strongholds only contained the elderly, weak, women, and children, posing practically no threat. However, they still needed to be taken over quickly to prevent the loss of the stronghold's wealth.

Zheng Fan's force had just ascended the mountain and spotted the stronghold's gate when an elderly wildling emerged from within.

The old man was wearing a brocade robe favored by wealthy Jin merchants, its wide sleeves dragging on the ground.

Zheng Fan reined in his horse, and the barbarian soldiers around him also stopped.

At this moment, several children ran out of the stronghold, leading a sheep.

The old man hurriedly took off the robe he was wearing, revealing a white shirt underneath. He took the rope leading the sheep from the children and slowly continued towards Zheng Fan.

"Heh, they even have a sense of ceremony when surrendering."

Liang Cheng chimed in, "Indeed."

You might say the wildlings are uncultured, yet they can put on a display like this. You might say they are cultured, yet you can't discern much cultural influence.

The old man should be the leader of this tribe. He led the white sheep step by step.

The wildling children looked at the barbarian soldiers and instinctively became afraid, no longer daring to follow.

When the distance closed to less than ten meters, the old man knelt down shakily and raised the rope leading the white sheep above his head.

Liang Cheng looked at Zheng Fan and asked, "Master?"

Zheng Fan looked at A'ming.

A'ming was still drinking his "wine."

Seeing this,

He was slightly puzzled,

Then pointed to himself?

Zheng Fan nodded and said, "We can't let me hog all the limelight. You and I are one family."

"Hehehehehe……"

A'ming laughed and wiped the crimson stains from the corner of his mouth.

Xue San pretended to urge earnestly, "A'ming, go ahead. This is Master's cultivation and love for you!"

A'ming turned to look at Xue San beside him and asked, "Want me to give you this opportunity for advanced studies?"

Xue San shook his upper body, spread his hands, and shamelessly said, "Even a fool knows that my appearance could never be that of a leader."

Xue San was self-aware, leaving A'ming speechless.

In the end,

A'ming spurred his horse forward,

His back straight. Vampires naturally possessed a noble aura. When A'ming wasn't with Liang Cheng, he looked quite dignified and refined.

The old man looked up at A'ming and presented the rope in his hand.

A'ming reached out and took the rope.

The old man didn't speak,

A'ming didn't speak either.

Xue San tilted his head and said, "Is that it?"

As soon as he finished speaking,

The old man's left hand suddenly flipped over,

The white sheep let out a miserable "Baa!!!"

A dagger pierced through the sheep's abdomen and landed in the old man's palm. The old man, who had been swaying while walking, suddenly changed his demeanor. He leaped directly to A'ming's side, and the dagger stabbed fiercely into A'ming's heart, stirring it!

The whole set of movements was completed in one go. A red glow flashed on the old man's body, seemingly delayed.

This old man was actually an eighth-grade expert, but he probably wasn't cultivating as a pure martial artist. It was likely a path passed down through generations of wildlings.

"Damn!" Xue San immediately shouted.

Liang Cheng's gaze narrowed slightly.

Zheng Fan took a deep breath. The old man's previous set of movements revealed an eerie quality, giving his target no time to react.

This made Zheng Fan subconsciously wonder if he had gone forward to accept the surrender earlier, even if he was a seventh-grade martial artist, even with the Magic Pill on him, would he have been able to react in time to stop this old man's killing move?

"Pfft!"

The old man pulled the dagger out of A'ming's chest,

His left hand grabbed A'ming's neck like an eagle's claw,

He roared madly at Zheng Fan's side:

"Come on, come on, come on! The souls of the Holy Clan will never perish! The glory of the Holy Clan will forever illuminate the land and protect its people!"

There should still be many elderly, weak, women, and children in the stronghold. The old man's actions could be said to have directly labeled his tribesmen with a death sentence.

He did not choose to endure humiliation and bear the burden, nor did he choose to be obsequious and ingratiating. Instead, he chose to face it with the most unyielding stance,

To face,

The invaders.

Indeed, from the perspective of the wildlings in this settlement, Zheng Fan and his group were genuine invaders.

Making you submit, making you contribute your young master to be a hostage, making you contribute wealth, making you contribute the warriors of your tribe to sell their lives as cannon fodder for him.

After choosing to refuse, he sent troops to conquer you. What is this if not invasion?

These three wildling settlements had joined forces to resist, but they had failed.

However, what surprised the old man was that the Yan dogs opposite him did not panic too much, and did not even rush up in a frenzy to hack him to death with a thousand cuts as he had expected.

The old man roared:

"Come on, come on, kill me, kill me! Aren't you good at killing? Kill me!"

At this moment,

Xue San in the ranks suddenly shouted at the top of his voice:

"If you're so capable, then cut off my General's head and say it again!"

Zheng Fan immediately glared at Xue San.

Xue San lowered his head guiltily and covered his mouth.

The old man frowned slightly, but still subconsciously clenched the dagger and stabbed towards A'ming's head.

Zheng Fan's heart suddenly skipped a beat. He was really worried that A'ming would die completely after having his head cut off!

Just then,

A'ming, who was being held up by the neck by the old man, suddenly opened his eyes,

And his aura burst forth!

The blood within the old man's arms suddenly solidified, causing the movement of his hands to slow down.

A'ming fell downwards,

As he fell,

He opened his mouth,

Revealing his two fangs,

And pierced them into the old man's neck with an extremely graceful posture.

The old man instinctively mobilized the Qi and blood in his body to resist,

However, a chilling intent was directly infused into his limbs and bones through the fangs, completely freezing him. He could only hear the sound of blood being continuously drawn out from his neck:

Glug… glug… glug… glug…

If it were the old A'ming, he wouldn't have been able to achieve this complete suppression, but the current A'ming had done it, at the very moment when Zheng Fan was worried and anxious;

A'ming raised his head,

A look of intoxication appeared on his face,

And at the same time, towards Xue San in the distance, who was full of envy, jealousy, and hatred,

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth,

Soundlessly saying:

"Thank you."

Thank you for your assist,

I,

Have advanced.