Soul Emperor Martial God

Two hours later.

The battle drew to a close.

Over a thousand mountain bandits had perished at the hands of Zhou Ping and the others.

Of course, the fight had not been easy for Zhou Ping and his men; now each of them was wounded.

Now, only Gongsun Luan remained in the entirety of the bandits' lair.

"What on earth are you?" Gongsun Luan looked at Xiao Yi, astonishment written all over his face.

"Merely a Flame Martial Guard Deputy Commander."

"There's no way you have the strength to easily imprison me like that."

"What? Imprisoned Gongsun Luan?" Zhou Ping and the others' faces were equally stunned.

They had only seen Xiao Yi take action twice.

Once on the Martial Arts Fighting Platform, defeating Heavy Axe Zhang Cheng with a single move.

But Zhang Cheng was only at Mystic Breakthrough Eighth Layer.

The second time was now, against Gongsun Luan.

But Gongsun Luan was at Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer.

Eighth Layer and Ninth Layer might seem only a step apart.

But Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer is close to the Earth Origin Realm.

The gap between the two is still enormous.

"I told you," Xiao Yi said indifferently, "a Flame Martial Guard Deputy Commander, Xiao Yi."

"Impossible, how could a Deputy Commander…" Gongsun Luan's face showed disbelief.

He had escaped from the Flame Martial Guards several times and naturally knew the strength of their Deputy Commanders.

"Enough talk," Xiao Yi interrupted, "Gongsun Luan, I only ask you, do you want to live?"

"Of course," Gongsun Luan said without hesitation.

"You're willing to let me go?"

Gongsun Luan asked in surprise.

Xiao Yi nodded, "Defeat ten of my men, and I'll let you go."

"Really?" Gongsun Luan's eyes lit up.

"Do I need to lie to you? Besides, do you have a choice?" Xiao Yi said, removing the restraints.

Gongsun Luan regained his freedom, his face full of fighting spirit.

Xiao Yi took out a batch of elixirs for Zhou Ping and the others.

"Take these elixirs and heal your injuries. In an hour, fight Gongsun Luan."

Xiao Yi gave them Healing Medicine and Giant Strength Pills.

An hour later, everyone had recovered from their injuries.

"Listen carefully," Xiao Yi said, his expression becoming serious.

"If Gongsun Luan wins, I will let him go."

"Captain, you're not joking, right?" Hu San asked in surprise.

"It's against the rules of the Flame Martial Guards to just let a fugitive go."

"I'm not joking," Xiao Yi shook his head.

"If Gongsun Luan wins, he goes; but after that, I will no longer care for you."

"I don't care about the rules either."

"Afterwards, I will act alone, and you can look for another Deputy Commander to follow."

Xiao Yi's voice was somewhat cold, even unsociable.

"How could we possibly defeat Gongsun Luan?"

Even Zhou Ping had a worried look.

"How do you know you can't win without fighting?" Xiao Yi scolded.

"Admitting defeat before the battle, how did you all pass the Flame Martial Guard's trials with such spirit?"

"We…" Zhou Ping and the others looked bitter.

"Fight," Xiao Yi ordered.

"Yes," the ten men responded and reluctantly engaged.

After swallowing Giant Strength Pills, their strength had barely increased by one layer.

But in front of Gongsun Luan, that was still not enough.

"Deputy Commander, I hope you'll keep your promise."

Gongsun Luan glanced at Xiao Yi before swiftly initiating the attack.

The fight was utterly without suspense.

Zhou Ping and the others were nearly crushed by Gongsun Luan.

Fortunately, each of the Flame Martial Guards was elite, capable of fighting above their level.

So they did not immediately fall.

As time passed,

Gongsun Luan fought with ease, utterly relaxed.

Zhou Ping and the rest were all injured, their faces pale.

After ten minutes,

"Get out," Gongsun Luan shouted.

In an instant, the ten of Zhou Ping were blasted away.

Each spat blood as they fell to the ground, no longer able to fight.

"Deputy Commander, I've won," Gongsun Luan turned to Xiao Yi.

"Who says you've won?" Xiao Yi's voice was solemn, "They have not yet been defeated."

With that, Xiao Yi tossed out several Healing Medicines and elixirs to restore True Qi.

After taking them, Zhou Ping and the others recovered their combat strength within minutes.

"Fight again," Xiao Yi commanded.

The battle recommenced.

This time, Zhou Ping and his men held out for a full hour.

After an hour, they were defeated.

Xiao Yi brought out more elixirs, allowing them to heal again.

...

The battle continued unabated.

Three days later, Gongsun Luan finally realized something was amiss.

"Damn it, you're using me to train your soldiers," Gongsun Luan shouted angrily.

"So what if I am," Xiao Yi sneered.

"After all, I haven't broken our agreement."

"You…" Gongsun Luan seethed with rage.

Then, turning to laughter in anger, "Good, very good, as long as you keep your promise."

"Let's see how many elixirs you have."

"And see how long your men can hold out."

...

Time flew by.

After ten days,

Gongsun Luan was extremely tired and his face showed exhaustion.

Zhou Ping and his team of ten, thanks to a steady supply of high-grade elixirs,

fought with exhilarating vigor.

Suddenly, a burst of momentum exploded from all ten of them.

This was the precursor to a breakthrough.

Indeed, shortly thereafter, all ten of them had made a breakthrough in their Cultivation.

Xiao Yi gave a faint smile.

From the beginning to the end, he had been honing everyone's strength.

Finding a Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer to fight to the death for ten days,

to temper his own subordinates,

was no easy feat.

Two hours later, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed drastically.

Clang... Clang... Clang...

The sound of weapons clashing rang out.

Zhou Ping, Hu San, and the others had their swords pointed at Gongsun Luan's throat.

Gongsun Luan, after fighting desperately for ten days, had long since depleted most of his True Qi,

and his physical strength was gradually failing.

His defeat was also expected.

However, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse.

After all, he had Mystic Breakthrough Ninth Layer Cultivation.

At this moment, his knife was pressed against Zhou Ziyang's neck.

With his strength,

he could definitely kill Zhou Ziyang before Zhou Ping and the others could kill him,

taking one down with him.

"Stop," Xiao Yi commanded, waving his hand grandly.

He pulled Zhou Ziyang back to his side.

"You..." Gongsun Luan became anxious.

"Don't worry," Xiao Yi said indifferently, "I keep my word."

"You may go."

"Captain," Zhou Ping and the others exclaimed in urgency.

"Put down your swords," Xiao Yi ordered sternly.

"But..." Zhou Ping and the others hesitated.

"Put them down," Xiao Yi barked.

"Yes," Zhou Ping and his team complied, laying down their swords and retreating to Xiao Yi's side.

"Thanks," Gongsun Luan gave a fist salute to Xiao Yi.

"Don't thank me just yet," Xiao Yi said calmly, "Today, I will honor our agreement and let you leave."

"But, if we meet again in the future, I will still take you down."

"Go."

Gongsun Luan, like a pardoned man, immediately fled far away.

"Captain," Zhou Ping and the others said, faces filled with shame.

"No need to say more," Xiao Yi smiled.

He was satisfied with everyone's performance during these ten days of tempering.

Undoubtedly, the fastest way to improve strength was through life-and-death battles.

"What if Gongsun Luan continues to create trouble after we let him escape today?" Zhou Ping asked.

"He doesn't have the guts," Xiao Yi responded.

"He's a wanted man by the Flame Martial Guards, too busy hiding to cause trouble."

"Besides, to be precise, it wasn't I who let him go today, it was you."

"In the future, if you have the ability,"

"you can capture him again."

With that, Xiao Yi turned around, "Let's move on to the next mission."

...

Time gradually passed.

In the blink of an eye, more than half a month had gone by.

Xiao Yi continuously led his people on missions to suppress bandits and chase fugitives.

From time to time, they would also encounter sudden Beast Tide missions.

Xiao Yi earned quite a few merits, but it was still far from enough for a promotion to Captain.

Zhou Ping and his team had not made any breakthroughs in this past half-month.

But their strength had clearly improved a lot.

Today, after running around for nearly half a month, Xiao Yi and his team

temporarily stopped carrying out missions.

They returned to the base, planning to rest for a couple of days.

At this time, Deputy Commander Lin Chong came looking for Xiao Yi in a great rush.

He shooed Zhou Ping and the others away.

In the room, only Lin Chong and Xiao Yi remained.

"Deputy Commander called for me, may I ask what's the matter?" Xiao Yi inquired.

"A serious matter," Lin Chong said gravely, "Over the past half-month, there have been repeated disappearances of Flame Martial Guards."

"All while on the mission to track down Huoo Di."

"I've already lost three Captains and hundreds of Flame Martial Guards to mysterious attacks during the mission."

"They've vanished without a trace, whether dead or alive, we do not know."

"And from the Golden Armor Guards, a Commander has gone missing as well."

"What?" Xiao Yi's face too registered slight shock.

A Deputy Commander usually has no more than ten Captains under them.

To have lost three all at once was alarming,

and from the Golden Armor Guards, a Commander would have at least the power of Earth Element Seventh and Eighth Layer.

Their disappearance was indeed a mystery.

No wonder Lin Chong was in such a state of alarm.

"Xiao Yi, no, Northern Mountain Sword Master," the Deputy Commander spoke.

"I must remain here to hold the base and cannot go out to investigate."

"Now, I am ordering you to leave immediately and find out what's going on."

Xiao Yi frowned slightly and said, "Deputy Commander."

"I've said that I will not expose my subordinates to danger without assurance unless you let me go alone."

"No, the rules are the rules, they cannot be changed," Lin Chong shook his head.

"This is an order, you must not disobey."

"Leave immediately with your team."

"I trust your abilities."

"Furthermore, I've already reported to the headquarters at the Royal Capital."

"Strong reinforcements will soon arrive to support us."

...

Fourth update.