Fat Baihu decided to risk it all. He had noticed the recent changes in the army. As a remnant of Wei Mieyang's faction, he feared the fire would sooner or later burn him. Rather than waiting like a frog boiling in warm water, it was better to jump out first. He didn't believe Tang Zhilin would dare to kill someone in front of all the soldiers!
"This humble subordinate wouldn't dare! But for such an important matter, I can also report it to the Governor! After all, I am paid by the imperial court..."
Tang Zhilin clenched his fists. Then he would solve this his own way...
At this tense moment, a figure suddenly darted out. Before Fat Baihu could even react, he was sent flying several meters with a single punch. He clutched his chest and had barely sat up when Fang Zhiyi stomped on his chest, forcing him back down.
"You! You!" Fat Baihu never expected that this ordinary-looking kid would possess such formidable martial arts skills.
Fang Zhiyi simply applied more pressure with his foot, and the man's eyes rolled back as he fainted.
"Take him away!" Fang Zhiyi waved his hand. Tang Zhilin's personal guards immediately stepped forward and carried the Baihu off. The soldiers present all stared at Fang Zhiyi with a hint of fear in their eyes. This man kept a low profile, but his martial arts were hardly inferior to the Commander's.
"I know you all harbor resentment toward your Commander for his strict daily training, don't you?" Fang Zhiyi raised his voice. The soldiers didn't reply, but their eyes betrayed them.
The other Baihus watched with cold indifference.
"Tell me, why did you become soldiers? Just for the thrill of it?"
"No, you do it for your wives, children, and elders at home. You do it to make a mark in the world, and for the peace of the realm!" Fang Zhiyi paused. "Of course, it's also to serve the imperial court, but I know that to you, the court is too far away."
He turned around. "In the past, what did you have to do to be promoted to a Baihu? Accumulate military merits? Your superiors would steal the credit. Rely on connections? Where would commoners find connections? So tell me, where is your way out in the future?"
Confusion appeared in the soldiers' eyes; most of them had never thought about these things.
"But now the Commander is giving you a chance. He will directly promote Baihus from among the soldiers who excel in assessments. Are you unwilling?" Fang Zhiyi's gaze swept over the men. "Do you know why he trains you so strictly? It's because the Commander cares about you! Do you know what kind of enemies you face? Cruel bandits, murderous outlaws, and heartless rebels! Without strict training, could you handle them?"
"When the time comes, what will happen to your parents, wives, and children at home? Will they just cry every day holding your pension?"
Tang Zhilin was taken aback. Eh? Is that so?
However, the soldiers' eyes lit up with excitement. Hearing Fang Zhiyi put it that way, it really did seem to be the case.
"It's just that your Commander was indeed a bit hasty and didn't consider everything thoroughly. Future training will focus more on your safety, but! That doesn't mean you can slack off! Understood?! For military merits! To rise above the rest!"
Fang Zhiyi pumped his fist in the air, and soon, soldiers began to shout along.
"Military merits! Rise above the rest!"
"Military merits! Rise above the rest!"
"Rise above the rest!"
"Heads will roll!"
Fang Zhiyi almost slipped. He turned his head indignantly, and the soldier who had shouted the wrong phrase lowered his head as laughter erupted all around.
The tense atmosphere relaxed.
Of course, the current Baihus were not pleased, but with the first one to stick his neck out instantly beaten to the ground, they could only shut their mouths. They even gathered privately to discuss countermeasures.
However, Fang Zhiyi immediately had Tang Zhilin summon these Baihus, explicitly telling them that there were now three vacant Qianhu positions. Instantly, the eyes of these Baihus began to shine.
Managing a hundred men and managing a thousand was vastly different.
The fragile alliance among the Baihus was shattered to pieces by the prospect of these three Qianhu positions.
"Zhiyi, you were too impulsive. I could have handled this kind of thing," Tang Zhilin nagged. "Besides, I always feel that the things you do are too troublesome."
"Troublesome? If it were you, what would you have done?"
Tang Zhilin cracked his knuckles, the joints popping like roasted beans. "In the army, strength is respected. If they don't submit, I'll beat them until they do!"
Fang Zhiyi shook his head. "That's why you're too rigid. If you want to be an official, just being ruthless isn't enough."
Seeing Tang Zhilin about to retort, he continued, "Can you achieve wealth and glory just by fighting? Then why don't you go take in disciples? A hundred taels of silver for one disciple's registration fee, a thousand taels for ten, ten thousand taels for a hundred. Why even be an official?"
Tang Zhilin was a bit stunned; he had never considered this approach!
Catching his look, Fang Zhiyi instantly knew he had missed the point. "What's the use of being able to fight? In this world, making a living depends on connections. If you don't have connections, you have to rely on your brains." He revealed a sinister smile.
Tang Zhilin inexplicably felt a chill down his spine. "Zhiyi, I feel like you're acting like the villains in those storybooks right now."
"Pfft!" Fang Zhiyi spat the tea he had just drank all over Tang Zhilin's face.
Little Hei laughed so hard that his whole body trembled. "Being called a villain by a villain, hahahahaha!"
Fang Zhiyi left, and Tang Zhilin's army gradually began to change. The turmoil he had anticipated didn't occur. Instead, the soldiers consciously increased their training, while the original Baihus also started to compete fiercely. Some constantly curried favor with him, and even the two remaining Qianhus followed him around at all times, looking as if they would follow his every command.
"Zhiyi... you're really something," Tang Zhilin stared blankly at the azure sky. If Zhiyi had been the one to join the army back then, would he have climbed even higher than himself?
It wasn't that no one wanted to stir up trouble, but when news arrived that Fat Baihu had been hacked to death by rebels who broke into his home while he was recovering from his injuries, the hearts of those with ulterior motives inexplicably skipped a beat. After all, none of them were fools.
The commoners of Fan City also noticed the changes. In the past, soldiers patrolled the streets at all times, either catching rebels or investigating traitors, and many street vendors' stalls were frequently smashed. Lately, however, the city had become much more peaceful. Although the soldiers still patrolled the city, they lacked their previous murderous aura. This made the commoners very happy; all ordinary people wanted was a stable life.
Zhu Wanli publicly announced that Fang Zhiyi would henceforth be an executive of the Dragon Slaying Society. No one disagreed, and no one dared to disagree.
The Dragon Slaying Society entered a period of development. However, with the sudden absence of soldiers playing cat-and-mouse with them, everyone was momentarily confused. Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?
Fortunately, Fang Zhiyi "kindly" pointed them in the right direction.
Over the next few months, the other small factions in Fan City were successively attacked by the Dragon Slaying Society. The people the soldiers couldn't find, they could find. Those who were caught angrily cursed the Dragon Slaying Society for colluding with the government. At first, they were a bit thin-skinned about it, but after it happened many times, they stopped caring.
In any case, whenever they caught someone, they just sent them over to Tang Zhilin, who even gave them bounties based on the headcount.
The once-daunting gates of the military encampment now brought a profound sense of warmth and familiarity to the members of the Dragon Slaying Society. Even the guards stationed at the entrance had come to know them well.
uld barely embark on the path to immortality. Just as he was on the verge of death, his golden finger awakened. No matter whether it was poison, drained blood and vital energy, diminished lifespan, or any other physical debuff caused by paying a price—once midnight passed, everything would be refreshed. From then on, whenever someone asked what kind of person Chu Ran was, the answer was simple: Forbidden arts that other cultivators dared not learn? Chu Ran would learn them. Prices that even demonic cultivators dared not pay? Chu Ran would pay them. Lifespan that even righteous cultivators dared not burn? Chu Ran would burn it. All the blood essence in his body? Take it. Want both his hands and feet? He would cut them off and send them to you. You say he’s finished? He wasn’t built to sit idle. You think he’s gone mad? No—he was simply waiting for midnight. From that day onward, Chu Ran would respect neither Heaven nor Earth, bow to neither gods nor ghosts. He had only one wish: For midnight to arrive a little sooner.
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
ver to a world of cultivation and returned invincible. Modern medicine is child's play compared to elixirs; technological might crumbles before true cultivation. My name is Qin Ning, Earth's sole cultivator!
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
