Li Zhi knew he had only a sliver of a chance of victory, a faint hope at best. In truth, the outcome had been decided before the martial test even began: it was not Li Zhi who had lost to Bao Yun, but Duke Huien who had lost to the Bao family. For that slender chance of victory, Li Zhi had resolved to hold fast in the south, refusing to head north for a decisive battle even if it killed him.
As he waited, the forty men he had dispatched to the flanks were wiped out almost to a man, while fewer than twenty remained of the Azure Team's flanks. Mindful of Bao Yun's orders, Jiang Qun and Xu Yu did not pull back to rest and reorganize; instead, they led their remnants straight toward Li Zhi's center army.
Li Zhi sighed, knowing that Bao Yun's main force was already on its way and would appear before his eyes any moment.
Even knowing defeat was certain, he still had to fight. Li Zhi finally mobilized his center army to meet Jiang Qun and Xu Yu. The moment they clashed, the dozen-odd exhausted Azure soldiers slammed into Li Zhi's well-rested center force like waves crashing against rocks, shattering to pieces in the blink of an eye.
Even as Jiang Qun and Xu Yu dissolved into light at the head of their troops, Bao Yun's main force still had not appeared.
Even Li Zhi had not anticipated this outcome. He still had over fifty men left, while Bao Yun's main force likely numbered ninety—the disparity was still immense, but the thirty elites of Li Zhi's center army remained intact. Among those under his command who understood karmic destiny secret arts, only Wang Fang had been lost, whereas Bao Yun had thrown away both Jiang Qun and Xu Yu. The gap between them had actually narrowed a fraction.
Just as Li Zhi was planning to send a few more people north to investigate, a scout he had dispatched earlier burst out from the woods to the side, tumbling and crawling toward him while shouting, "Senior Brother Li! The Azure Team's main force in the north has been wiped out, and Bao Yun's been sent packing!"
Li Zhi's first reaction was disbelief. He had not even moved; who could possibly destroy Bao Yun?
Panting for breath, the scout gasped, "Someone riding a boar wiped out the Azure Team! It's absolutely true, I saw it with my own eyes! But..."
Li Zhi could no longer hear any "but." This was practically a fortune falling straight from heaven!
Amidst his wild joy, Li Zhi suddenly felt the ground tremble faintly. A massive figure appeared in his field of view, ambling toward Li Zhi at an unhurried pace. Li Zhi's heart tightened, but when he caught sight of the yellow armor on the figure, he breathed a sigh of relief. And not just Li Zhi—the tension and dread on the faces of the other youths beside him vanished as well, replaced by arrogance.
"Who is that?" someone asked.
One youth stood with his hands clasped behind his back, remarking haughtily, "Who cares who he is? Since he's wearing yellow, he's our subordinate—oh, and Junior Brother Li's subordinate too. This kid has some skill, actually managing to get his hands on such a huge wild boar; it really is possible he took out Bao Yun. That's quite a merit. I say we can reward him with a blessed land. Call him over to speak with us!"
Another youth chimed in, "Senior Brother Cui, you are always so approachable. That won't do. That clumsy giant is definitely a commoner. For a mere commoner, giving him the Red Tide Sect is the absolute ceiling. Anything higher, and people will inevitably say we are lax with rewards and punishments."
The Cui youth nodded. "Brother Wang is still the more thorough one."
The two youths, Cui and Wang, chatted among themselves without sparing the slightest regard for Li Zhi. A flicker of irritation flashed deep within Li Zhi's eyes, but his expression remained impassive as he closely watched the approaching figure.
What was certain was that this person had not been among those he recruited. Yet that hardly mattered. Cui and Wang were right: so long as he belonged to the Yellow Team, things were simple. Li Zhi was the leader of the Yellow Team; as long as the Yellow Team won, he would claim the foremost merit. To put it bluntly, no matter how many others killed, it was all useless—in the end, the credit would belong to Li Zhi. Of course, the youths around him would take a sizable cut as well, since even the worst among them had already secured a spot in a grotto-heaven.
As for the soldiers charging into the fray, they would only realize in the end that their scores were shockingly low.
Still, seeing that mountain-like wild boar made Li Zhi's eyelid twitch, and he began to understand how Bao Yun had lost. If a beast like that charged over, Li Zhi wouldn't dare claim a guaranteed victory even with his karmic destiny secret art.
Once Wei Yuan drew closer, Li Zhi stood upon the high slope, looking down from his elevated vantage, and called out clearly, "Senior Brother, I am Li Zhi, unworthy leader of the Yellow Team. How might I address Senior Brother?"
Wei Yuan frowned slightly. It was one thing for those who had accepted recruitment to treat Li Zhi as their leader, but must someone like him—who had explicitly refused recruitment—bow to his command in the end as well?
Outrageous!
Wei Yuan was no fool. History was filled with countless examples of subordinates shedding blood in desperate battles only for the commanding general to take all the credit. Now Li Zhi had crowned himself leader of the Yellow Team. If Wei Yuan acknowledged it, wouldn't all the merit of crushing the Azure Team belong to Li Zhi instead?
Having studied under Zhang Sheng for so long, Wei Yuan had developed a deep-seated hatred for petty scoundrels who usurped the merits of others, whether by virtue of birth or political maneuvering. Comparatively, political scheming was somewhat better; after all, schemers relied on their own wits, so their wealth and status weren't entirely unearned. Those who seized things by right of noble birth had only managed to crawl out of the right womb.
Looking at Li Zhi's patronizing face, feigning modesty from on high, Wei Yuan's expression had darkened long ago, hidden though it was behind his faceplate.
Inside the Evaluation Hall, the old Confucian stroked his beard and smiled, thinking Li Zhi had made a clever move. The young cultivator, however, wore a furious expression, wishing he could possess Wei Yuan and personally give Li Zhi a scathing tongue-lashing.
Wei Yuan did not reply immediately. Before Li Zhi could react, the youths led by Cui and Wang were already incensed.
In terms of family background, none of these youths were inferior to Li Zhi, and Cui and Wang even surpassed him. It was only because they recognized that their talent and scholarship fell short of Li Zhi's that they acknowledged him as leader and let him command. Outside of battle, Li Zhi had to treat them with utmost courtesy. Young Masters Cui and Wang were used to looking down on everyone; how could they tolerate anyone acting arrogant before them? Especially a commoner.
Flames of light flared around the Wang youth as he leaped forward thirty yards, landing right in front of Wei Yuan. Pointing straight at the tip of Wei Yuan's nose, he barked, "Where does a commoner like you get off! Seeing us, why haven't you dropped to your knees and paid your respects?"
Wei Yuan finally looked down at the youth before him. In an instant, the Wang youth felt as though a basin of icy water had been dumped over his head; his whole body stiffened, unable to move a muscle!
Under the resonance of karmic destiny, Wei Yuan felt that this youth before him was not only slow, but brittle—like a freshly laid egg, its soft shell still faintly warm. With just the slightest bit of force, he could smash the yolk right out of him.
As for what the boy was clamoring about, Wei Yuan could not be bothered to listen. He raised his hand, brought down the spear, and white light surged.
Zhang Sheng's instruction to Wei Yuan had been to flatten everything, not engage in small talk.
The youths around Li Zhi erupted into an uproar, none able to believe their eyes. Li Zhi trembled with rage. He was the leader of the Yellow Team—how dared this person not only disobey orders, but strike down his own teammate?
Furious, the Cui youth leaped into the air, brilliant light blazing around him and trailing a long rainbow wake as he thrust his sword toward Wei Yuan mid-flight!
Wei Yuan made no other move; he simply raised his long spear and held it in the air. Like a multicolored meteor, the Cui youth crashed headfirst onto Wei Yuan's spear, dissolving into light.
Having eliminated two people back to back, Wei Yuan was even less inclined to talk. Clouds of mist began billowing from the boar's snout as it let out a thunderous low growl, its frame swelling even larger. Li Zhi's expression changed as well. He knew that since Wei Yuan had set a precedent by killing his own teammates, points had already been deducted from his score; put in Wei Yuan's place, Li Zhi too would not rest until he had slaughtered every last member of the Yellow Team. Otherwise, leaving a few stragglers behind might result in them scoring higher than him.
Wei Yuan pointed his spear forward. Sensing his intent immediately, the boar's eyes turned dark red once more, snorting two gusts of scorching vapor. In the next instant, the clouds and mist parted, and the mountain-like boar, moving as one with the death-god-like Wei Yuan on its back, charged straight into the Yellow ranks!
Drawing his longsword, Li Zhi barked in a deep voice, "Form ranks and face the enemy!"
Though he knew these ordinary people without karmic destiny secret arts had no hope of resisting a mountain-like wild boar, buying himself even a little time would be enough.
The military order had just been given when the thirty elites Li Zhi had prided himself on scattered in every direction, not a single one remaining.
Shocked and enraged, Li Zhi looked left and right, only to find that every last person around him had fled. The girl carrying the medicine tray had run the fastest and farthest, not leaving Li Zhi so much as a single medicinal pill.
These youths were far from stupid. That person killed whoever he struck in a single thrust—who could block that? What's more, this god of slaughter hadn't spoken a single word up to now; communication was completely impossible. Without communication, their most potent advantages—flaunting backgrounds and pulling connections—were rendered useless. If they didn't run now, when would they? Were they really supposed to stay and lay down their lives for Li Zhi? Duke Huien didn't have that much sway.
In the blink of an eye, not a single person remained by Li Zhi's side; everyone ran faster than wild boars.
For a moment, Li Zhi felt a sudden desolation, as though grand imperial ambitions had dissolved into nothingness in an instant. Just moments ago, heavy troops flanked him and confidants surrounded him in droves; in the blink of an eye, he was utterly alone. Such was the fickle turn of worldly affairs.
In that moment, Li Zhi felt only the darkening sky and the bleak, whistling wind, and so he abandoned his instinct to flee, preparing to meet his death with tragic nobility.
Amidst this sorrowful state of mind, Li Zhi's Departure Chapter ignited, and a colossal golden pillar shot straight into the sky!
Wei Yuan did not pause for a second. Swinging his spear in a wide arc, he brought it crashing down directly atop Li Zhi's head! With a resounding boom, the golden pillar shattered.
Wei Yuan leaped into the air and landed lightly atop the knoll. The wild boar plunged onward, a longsword buried to the hilt in its chest. The boar charged forward several tens of yards before crashing to the ground with a thunderous thud, wailing mournfully. Its size began shrinking rapidly, and a wisp of black qi flew from its body, returning into Wei Yuan.
Wei Yuan landed right beside Li Zhi.
Severely wounded by the blow, Li Zhi struggled even to get to his feet. He suddenly remembered that the evaluators above were watching, and even higher up were many great figures. Taking a deep breath, he prepared to recite a couple lines of poetry to declare his resolve. But before he could even finish drawing that breath, Wei Yuan had already raised his hand and brought down his spear, white light surging upward.
Having studied literature for three years, memorizing texts day in and day out, Wei Yuan hated nothing more than people reciting poetry on the verge of death—it only meant extra homework for no reason.
Standing on the hilltop, Wei Yuan looked around to see dozens of Yellow Team members scattered across the wilderness, fleeing in every direction. One had to admit the Yellow Team was more pragmatic than the Azure Team: they neither bunched up nor lingered to watch the spectacle.
Things having come to this, Wei Yuan naturally couldn't let them be. And so, a small wild boar charged out of the distant woods, running straight toward Wei Yuan.
The wild boar leaped into the air, but before it could intercept that wisp of black qi, the chime of a bell rang out across the illusion realm.
In the end, this pig was simply not fated to be with Wei Yuan.
The martial test was over.
Chapter 22