Chapter 6: Became an Official?

  "Ah!!" Just as Zhang Huaming had just broken out of the Cloud Middle City and entered the forest behind the mountain, he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, his complexion turning pale in an instant. In his heart, he secretly thought: "It seems that Master's words from back then were not wrong at all! Before reaching the Three Flowers Gathering Peak realm, don't use the Dragon Subduing Eighteen Palms, otherwise, it would be either severe injury or loss of cultivation, not a single word was wrong!"

  "Lao San, San Ge." Three cries of surprise rang out in unison as three figures simultaneously stretched out their hands to support the stumbling Zhang Huaming.

  "Big brother, second brother, fourth younger brother, I'm fine, is everyone else okay?"

  "It's all right, unfortunately many brothers didn't make it." Zhang Kai Fu opened his eyes and gazed at the familiar city in the distance, responding with a sorrowful expression. A single breakout had cost the lives of over 500 brothers, if not for his third brother's mighty display, perhaps the lives of over 1,000 would have been lost in Yun Zhong City. Others might not understand, but as the General and commander of the Imperial Guard, he didn't believe the enemy would be so kind as to agree to the General's terms, probably they would only wait for the General to surrender before taking their lives.

  Xing Zi and Shi Wu's faces, originally gloomy, turned even darker upon hearing their elder brother's words. Over 500 lives lost! In less than a minute, they were gone, and it was those familiar brothers who had sacrificed themselves during the breakout. Most of the casualties were from the Imperial Guard, after all, they were the strongest fighters and naturally took the lead in the vanguard.

  Qin Xiao Tian led the remaining less than five hundred people in a rapid march, and they only stopped when they reached the mouth of a mountain valley.

  "Hu Tian, arrange the Imperial Guard to surround and guard the perimeter immediately. Let our brothers rest for two days and wait for Wang Hu and his men to arrive." Qin Xiao Tian's complexion was pale at this moment, but his tone showed a general's majesty, not looking like a defeated army at all. He also saw that his subordinates had already reached their limits, if they didn't rest soon, they might die from exhaustion rather than being killed by the enemy.

  "Yes, General."

  In the dead of night, on the central peak of a mountain, a figure sat quietly. This person was Zhang Huaming, who had been severely injured after breaking out of the encirclement. At this moment, only to see a surge of spiritual energy crazily pouring into his body, and the spiritual energy from the surrounding mountains gathered at the top of his head, forming a visible spiritual vortex.

  "Huh? What's going on? Why does this spiritual energy have a familiar aura to it?" Zhang Minghua opened his eyes and stopped cultivating, taking a look around. His expression changed instantly because he felt that the surging spiritual energy from all directions was mostly coming from the direction of Yunzhong City. Could it be the spiritual energy of the dead? This seemed too absurd. Never mind, since there was such a dense spiritual energy, not absorbing it would be a waste, so he immediately abandoned his various guesses in his mind and focused on operating his cultivation technique to absorb the spiritual energy to repair the broken meridians in his body.

  Two days later, Zhang Huaming had just finished adjusting his breath and opened his eyes to see his big brother smiling at him. He couldn't help but ask in surprise: "Big brother, how did you end up here?"

  "Haha! Third brother, you're really good at running away! I've been searching everywhere for you, the general is summoning you."

  "General? Well, big brother, let's go!"

  "Alright."

  Zhang Kai Fu led Zhang Hua Ming to a tent and stopped, after reporting, he respectfully announced to the tent: "General, Zhang Hua Ming has arrived."

  "Whoosh!" The canvas of the tent was lifted from inside just as Fu Hua's words fell, and the person who came out was naturally Qin Xiao Tian, the commander of the Vanguard Battalion. Following closely behind him was Hu Tian, one of the three great generals of the Vanguard Battalion.

  "Little brother, come in." Qin Xiao Tian made a gesture of invitation.

  "Please go first, General." Zhang Huaming made a "you first" gesture.

  "Haha! Let's go!"

  After the four entered the tent, Zhang Kai stood naturally behind Qin Xiao Tian, while Zhang Hua Ming sat down at Qin Xiao Tian's invitation. After a round of pleasantries, the two men got straight to the point.

  "I don't know your honorable surname and great name, little brother, who is your master?"

  Zhang Huaming thought for a moment before responding: "General, I am Zhang Huaming. As for my lineage, I hope Qin Ge will excuse me."

  "Oh! I see." Qin Xiao Tian was taken aback by Zhang Hua Ming's words, but he quickly reacted, after all, there were many reclusive masters in this world who had strange habits, and he absolutely believed that Zhang Hua Ming's master was a reclusive expert, otherwise it would not be possible to train such a young master.

  "Zhang brothers, Qin certain is here to thank you on behalf of these brothers for saving their lives." Qin Xiao Tian stood up and prepared to bow to Zhang Hua Ming, not just him, but also Hu Tian was about to do the same.

  "It's absolutely impossible, General! You've really exhausted your subordinates." Zhang Huaming quickly stepped forward to support Qin Xiao Tian's waist, which was about to bend down, and hastily said: "General, I am a member of the Ferocious Tiger Squad. How can I ignore the affairs of the Ferocious Tiger Squad?"

  "A member of the Tiger Team?" Qin Xiao Tian's face showed a hint of surprise, because in his impression, he seemed to have never seen Zhang Hua Ming before.

  "General, Zhang Huaming is actually a member of the Vanguard Regiment. He's also a sworn brother under my command, assigned to the First Battalion." Zhang Kaifu seemed to notice the General's confusion and hastily explained.

  "Ah!" Qin Xiao Tian's face was filled with even more confusion and surprise as he exclaimed: "Zhang, little brother, have you committed some kind of crime? Don't worry, tell big brother about it, and I'll see if there's a way to help you get rid of the trouble."

  Qin Xiao Tian felt something was off as soon as he finished speaking. If Zhang Hua Ming really did commit a crime, then who brought him to the Měng Hǔ Tuán? To stop a high-ranking Wu Zong, one would need to be at least a Wu Wang level cultivator. Could it be that those old guys from the capital personally came to escort him? No way! If they had come, the capital would have definitely notified him in advance! What's going on here? The more Qin Xiao Tian thought about it, the more confused he became.

  "Haha! General, my third brother didn't enter the First Battalion because he committed a crime, but rather because he requested to join himself." Zhang Kaifu said with a smile.

  "Did you come up with this yourself?" Qin Xiao Tian was taken aback by his own guard captain's words, and the next moment a look of admiration appeared on his face as he stretched out his hand to pat Zhang Hua Ming's shoulder, praising him: "Good kid, you have spirit. I, Qin, have never admired anyone before, but you are the first person who has made me feel admiration."

  "The general spoke heavily, and the young man was nothing compared to the general."

  "Ah!" Qin Xiao Tian heard Zhang Hua Ming's words and was slightly taken aback, the next moment he looked up and down at Zhang Hua Ming with a suspicious gaze: "Younger brother, do you know some of older brother's secrets?"

  "Haha, I know a thing or two." Zhang Huaming's face broke into a smile as he said this, but in his heart, he was deeply respectful of the man before him. At 18 years old, he had enlisted in the military and in just ten short years, he had risen to the rank of general, all without relying on any connections or background, purely through his own battle achievements. It was clear that over those ten years, he must have put in countless hours of hard work and dedication, and it was impossible to calculate just how much he had accomplished. The current emperor had no way of rewarding him with anything more, so he simply made him a Grand General of the Nation. But what really made Zhang Huaming admire him was that Qin Xiao Tian was actually the eldest son of the main branch of the Xia family, one of the four great families of the Xia kingdom, and yet he had entered the military due to a falling out with his father over a woman, and had risen to his current position without relying on his family background at all. Alas, another tragic tale of star-crossed lovers.

  The Měng Hǔ Tuán was created by him, guarding one of the most important border strongholds of Xià Guó. This team has made countless achievements under his command and can be said to have a reputation that resonates loudly in several surrounding countries. No matter which country's army hears the name "Měng Hǔ Tuán", they all take it very seriously.

  Qin Xiao Tian saw Zhang Hua Ming's expression and his mind slightly moved. Surname Zhang? If he knew his true identity and also had the surname Zhang, could it be that he was a member of the Zhang family? And even a direct descendant? No, Qin Xiao Tian had met those direct descendants of the Zhang family before, but if he wasn't a direct descendant of the Zhang family, how would he know his true identity? This didn't add up at all! Qin Xiao Tian was made somewhat confused by Zhang Hua Ming.

  Qin Xiao Tian saw that Zhang Hua Ming didn't have an explanation, so he shook his head and threw away those messy thoughts. He asked seriously: "I don't know what plans you have for the future, little brother?"

  Zhang Huaming heard Qin Xiao Tian's question and immediately fell into thought. After a moment, he smiled and said: "Could it be that General Mo wants to expel Xiao from the Ferocious Tiger Squad?"

  "No way, no way!" Qin Xiao Tian was overjoyed when he heard Zhang Hua Ming's words. What a joke! A high-ranking martial artist? Would he dare to expel him? If he really drove Zhang Hua Ming out, unless he had lost his mind, every country's military unit would be eager to invite a few masters to preside over their affairs. Who would drive away a master?

  It's not just Qin Xiao Tian who is overjoyed, Hu Tian is also ecstatic. Although the vanguard camp of the Ferocious Tiger Corps has almost been completely annihilated, the main force of 100,000 troops is still intact and defending the second line without a single injury. Now that Zhang Hua Ming, this high-ranking martial artist, has joined, it's likely that the outcome of this battle will change because of him. What if the enemy has three martial artists? As for the vanguard camp, as long as the Ferocious Tiger Corps exists, they can rebuild at any time, but can you find and recruit a high-ranking martial artist like Zhang Hua Ming at any time?

  "Little brother, what position should I give you?" Qin Xiao Tian was delighted at first, but then he started to worry. After all, a Wu Zong realm cultivator should be a general in any army, so should he give up his own position? Qin Xiao Tian himself was willing, but would his subordinates be willing?