Chapter 195: Chapter 139: Invincible_2
Translator: 549690339
Qiao Xiuyuan of course knew what his subordinate meant at this moment, and with a slightly furrowed brow, he said lightly: “If Lu Fenwu himself comes, this Sect Leader will personally take action and stop him.”
As an old and well-known first-class Wuxia in the Jianghu, his sect was only second to the Five Poisons Sect in the Dongting region.
When it comes to single combat, Sect Leader Qiao naturally held no fear towards the newly promoted junior, Lu Yuan.
He even somewhat hoped that Lu Yuan would really leap out and engage in a decisive battle with him.
In that case, taking advantage of their duel, it might be possible to eliminate him right there.
Without their commander, wouldn’t 15,000 elite Imperial soldiers still disperse and flee no matter how capable they were?
The others around them couldn’t help but relax a bit upon hearing this.
Apparently, at that moment, they had also remembered their Sect Leader’s martial arts, which could be ranked in the top three even in Dongting region. Moreover, within the Seven Star Sect, there were more than ten second-class experts, which could also be a valuable fighting force that could change the local battlefield situation.
With such a great advantage at the top-level fighting strength of their own, they might not be without the power to fight against those Imperial armies.
Upon this thought, those who were initially somewhat afraid and worried actually gained more confidence.
Among them, a middle-aged man dressed in martial attire stood up and asked Qiao Xiuyuan for permission: “Sect Leader, that young military officer is too arrogant. He has entered our formation several times, treating our army as if it were unguarded.
I ask for permission to enter the battle and kill this villain. Let us use his head to boost the morale of our army.”
Qiao Xiuyuan looked at the speaker and saw that he was one of his sect’s elders, Ding Heng. He couldn’t help but nod slightly and said, “Alright, Elder Ding can take care of this villain.’
Elder Ding was a top-second-class expert who had cultivated ten meridians. Among his peers, he was ranked top five.
Although that young officer in the distance was brave, his age was ultimately too young, possessing only an initial second-class strength. It wouldn’t be difficult for Elder Ding to take him down.
“Yes, I will be back shortly.”
Seeing the Sect Leader’s approval, Ding Heng showed a hint of joy, then leaped off the eight or nine-chi-high watchtower and landed on the ground without raising the slightest bit of dust.
This lightness skill was truly remarkable.
Several Wuxia nearby unreservedly cheered at this sight.
Other military officers and scholars who saw this were amazed but couldn’t help but frown at the loud and unruly Jianghu Wuxia.
These people were mainly from an institutional background, accustomed to hierarchy and etiquette, and found this kind of uncultured behavior quite distasteful.
Some were even worried.
The Seven Star Sect was staging a coup, but if those scattered and used-to-be idle Wuxia from Jianghu were the backbone, could they really succeed?
However, these words could only be kept to themselves, and no one dared to speak them out loud.
Their master Qiao Xiuyuan also originated from a Jianghu sect, the Seven Star
Sect. Speaking ill of Wuxia from Jianghu in front of him would be like slapping their master in the face, right?
They still wanted to live and not seek death so quickly.
Therefore, they could only harbor some uneasiness at this moment, watching Ding Heng with concern as he gradually approached the battlefield, hoping that this elder, who had always been touted as a great martial artist, could bring a surprise to the first battle.
On the battlefield, Zhou Qing rode his horse at full speed, holding a blue steel sword in his left hand and an Iron Body Bow in his right hand. Behind him followed a team of elite knights, they were charging through the entire army.
Since the beginning of the journey, Lu Yuan had appointed his disciple as the vanguard commander, paving the way for the army.
The vanguard was the sharpest part of an army, only a brave person could assume this position. It was also the most dangerous and often targeted by the enemy.
Assigning his disciple to such a dangerous position was not because Lu Yuan disliked Zhou Qing or wanted to harm his disciple. It was because he really had no one else available.
His rise to power was too fast.
He had only been a first-class expert for a few years and a powerful military officer for only one year. This time was simply not enough to cultivate his own foundation.
As for recruiting outsiders?
In Jianghu, second-class people were generally born from sect backgrounds.
Those who had their own power, naturally, wouldn’t come to join Lu Yuan.
Moreover, a few scattered Jianghu martial artists possessing second-class strength were recruited by various forces during the turmoil in the world some years ago. There were hardly any left.
Even if there were some rare treasures among them, those who had not responded to others’ recruitment would hardly set their sights on a small powerful military officer like Lu Yuan.
So, under all these factors, even though Lu Yuan now had an army of 15,000 soldiers, there was only one second-class person under his command, his disciple.
The rest were only intermediate military officers and third-class martial artists good at commanding troops.
Compared to the powerful forces outside, where second-class martial artists commonly served as military officers, Lu Yuan was extremely poor.
He didn’t have many options, so he could only try to train his few registered disciples as quickly as possible, so they would break through to the second-class and help share his burden.
Fortunately, with the help of Rejuvenation Pills, as long as Lu Yuan spared no expense, his disciples should be able to break through to the second-class in a few years, alleviating his awkward situation of being short of manpower.
However, although the mid-level second-class fighters were scarce in Lu Yuan’s army, he indeed had less of a shortage of low-level fighters with Inner Strength at the third-class and below..