The next moment, arrows rained down.
Xiang Gui's eyes widened.
"You brat, where is your sense of honor?"
But he didn't have much of a chance to speak; arrows instantly covered him.
Xiang Gui was a fierce warrior. Even against a rain of arrows, he managed to swing his massive war hammers to block them, allowing only a few to actually pierce his flesh.
He remained stubbornly standing.
In fact, he even seemed to lean forward.
"Hah, if one volley of arrows isn't enough, then we'll do another!"
Ren Tianye ordered: "Second volley, loose!"
Once again, arrows rained down.
Under two volleys of arrows, Xiang Gui, who wore no heavy armor, could no longer endure. He was quickly turned into a pincushion. The pair of war hammers that symbolized his glory slipped from his grasp and fell heavily to the ground.
With a loud thud, man, hammers, and horse all crashed down!
Like a centipede that refuses to fall even when dead, though his life was fading, his eyes remained wide open, filled with intense reluctance and defiance.
"Ren Tianye, you, you..."
"You are shameless!"
"My disciple, your master... can no longer protect you..."
Then, he closed his eyes completely, unable to utter another word.
Ren Tianye didn't stop. He charged over, delivered a finishing blow, and then, riding his Jade Lion of the Night, swept toward the three hundred men like a whirlwind.
The army of three thousand eight hundred soldiers behind him immediately followed.
Charging fiercely!
"General Ren, we are willing to surrender!"
Before Ren Tianye even reached them, some of the three hundred burly men had already dropped to their knees.
Like falling dominoes, they instantly collapsed into a kneeling crowd with a clatter.
"General Ren, we were originally frontier guards. After being dismissed by His Majesty, we had nowhere to go, so we sought refuge with Xiang Gui. We haven't done anything against you, General."
"We beg General Ren to remember that we were once comrades in arms and spare our lives."
"We are willing to serve as your vanguard!"
Neigh!
Ren Tianye pulled the reins and halted.
Zhang Shi also rode up and whispered, "Great General, many of them are indeed former frontier guards. I have dealt with them before."
Ren Tianye nodded. He didn't have much ill will toward these men. Moreover, there were three hundred of them. Even if their combat power wasn't at its peak, many were former frontier soldiers who could be sent straight into battle with little to no training.
He was inclined to keep them.
Immediately, he waved his Sky-Piercing Halberd: "If you are truly willing to surrender, I can spare your lives!"
"General Ren, we sincerely wish to serve you. Xiang Gui and his disciple have always mistreated us. It was all because Ye Fan said that men like us shouldn't be fully fed, that we only work hard when we are hungry. So they deducted our agreed-upon monthly salary of one tael of silver and scolded us at every turn. We only stayed because we feared Xiang Gui's extraordinary martial arts and didn't dare to flee. Seeing you now, General, is like seeing the sun and the moon."
"Please take us in, General!"
The crowd was already denouncing Xiang Gui and Ye Fan. Seeing their righteous indignation, it didn't seem faked. Then someone shouted.
"General Ren, we have a total of three thousand men. We are willing to act as your vanguard and persuade them to serve you as well!"
"General Ren, there are also eight hundred thousand shi of grain and forage hoarded in Qiniu Town. We are willing to guide the way for you, please accept it, General!"
Hearing this, Ren Tianye was stunned.
Three thousand men?
Eight hundred thousand shi of provisions?
Wait, he had only brought three thousand eight hundred men and seven days' worth of rations on this expedition. Suddenly, he was gaining three thousand men and eight hundred thousand shi of provisions?
He was quite excited, but he remained rational.
"Zhang Shi!"
"Here, sir!"
"I order you to incorporate these men."
As he spoke, he gave Zhang Shi a meaningful look.
Zhang Shi immediately understood.
They had all started out following the Great General when he gathered the Eight Hundred Army. Naturally, they had ways to control soldiers whose loyalty was not yet confirmed.
"Yes, I will do it at once."
"Eight Hundred Army, follow me to slay Ye Fan!"
Ren Tianye spurred his horse and galloped away.
...
Inside the room, Ye Fan rushed in hurriedly.
"Xiu'er, my master died in battle!"
"What?" Su Xiu looked astonished. Fear instantly welled up in her red, swollen eyes, fear of Ren Tianye. However, it was also mixed with a trace of joy, joy that Xiang Gui was dead.
"My master treated me like his own son, yet he was shot to death by Ren Tianye's volley of arrows. This hatred is irreconcilable. I must take Ren Tianye's head to avenge my master."
A sharp light shot from Ye Fan's eyes, and for a moment, he exuded the aura of a ruler dominating the world.
"Brother Ye Fan, so now, are you going to lead men to fight Ren Tianye?"
"Foolish!" Ye Fan frowned slightly. "My master traded his life for my chance to survive. How can I not preserve this useful body of mine?"
"Ah?" Su Xiu was confused again. "But didn't you just say..."
"Xiu'er!" Before Su Xiu could finish, Ye Fan said with awe-inspiring righteousness in his eyes, "As a chess player, one must maintain enough calmness and rationality. One must never let emotions ruin things."
"That is a major taboo!"
"Not only must I leave immediately, but I cannot shed a single tear, nor can I go collect my master's body and waste time. He died a worthy death. When he reaches the underworld, he should feel gratified."
"Yes, Brother Ye Fan. What should we do now?"
"Let's go to Sifang City first," Ye Fan said. "My uncle listened to my advice long ago, executed all the officials in Sifang City, and started an uprising. Now, Sifang City has countless hoards of grain and forage, as well as twenty thousand soldiers."
"Most of these soldiers are recruited stragglers from the Northern Frontier, and their combat prowess is quite impressive."
Profound hatred flashed in his eyes. "Once I reach Sifang City, I will order Song Wan to come to our aid. At that time, with two armies encircling him, I will definitely let Ren Tianye know how formidable I am!"
As he spoke, a strong light of confidence appeared on his face again, as radiant as the morning sun, making it truly hard not to be convinced.
But Su Xiu's heart was truly wavering at this moment. Although she disliked Xiang Gui, she knew the bond between Ye Fan and his master. She could see even more clearly how important Ye Fan was in Xiang Gui's heart.
Now that Xiang Gui was killed because of Ye Fan, he was fleeing immediately.
Was this really rationality?
But she didn't dare say much, nor did she want to say much.
She only hoped that once they reached Sifang City this time, they could escape Ren Tianye's relentless pursuit. At the same time, she hoped Brother Ye Fan would love her well, and that there would be no more messy affairs to disturb their romance.
The two immediately got up, mounted their horses, and fled.
By this time, Ren Tianye had just arrived in pursuit. From a distance, he saw the figures of Ye Fan and Su Xiu, but they were a few hundred meters away.
"Chase them!"
Ren Tianye ordered once again.
Leading the Eight Hundred Army, he surged forward like a golden dragon, galloping endlessly. Arrows were continuously fired from afar, but unfortunately, the range was insufficient. Since they were chasing, the arrows lost their momentum and fell before they could even reach Ye Fan and Su Xiu.
...
Cheng's father told him he was getting remarried—to a wealthy woman. Cao Cheng realized his time had finally come: he was about to become a second-generation rich kid. Sure, it might be a watered-down version, but hey, at least he'd have status now, right? The wealthy woman also had four daughters!! Which meant, starting today, Cao Cheng gained four stunning older sisters?? But that wasn't even the whole story... "My name is Cao Cheng—'Cheng' as in 'honest, smooth-talking gentleman'!"
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."
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
e vast world of cultivation, where he becomes the master of the Heavenly Ruins Sacred Hall, a dying old man with barely a tenth of his former cultivation remaining. He is immediately confronted with a deadly crisis: his subordinates have rebelled, and his protectors are forcing him to abdicate. At the critical moment, the system descends from the heavens: [Ding! The host has been detected facing a life-or-death crisis. The system is now officially activated!] [As a gift, you have received the Supreme Beginner’s Pack and awakened the ultimate cheat: ten thousand years of pure cultivation essence every second!] Yin Tianjue: “Wait… ten thousand years of cultivation every second? That’s six hundred thousand years a minute, and in one day… I can’t even calculate it. Either way, I’m already invincible!” You’re a peerless prodigy rarely seen in ten thousand years? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re an undying ancestor who has guarded a sacred land for countless ages? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. You’re the strongest chosen one, blessed with heaven-defying destiny? Sorry, I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. From this day forth, I have only one thing to say: “I gain ten thousand years of cultivation every second. Now, how exactly are you supposed to deal with that?”
