Chapter 71.3: White Tiger Duke's Mansion

“Greetings

to the lord Duke.” Wang Yan lead the inner courtyard disciples and

outer courtyard disciples behind them in bowing to the White Tiger Duke.

The Duke wasn’t just the marshal; he also stood at the apex of nobility

on the entire continent. Naturally, they’re manners couldn’t be

lacking.

The White Tiger Duke shook hands with Wang Yan, then said, “Everyone, please step inside. Let this Marshal act as a host now.”

Wang

Yan smiled, then replied in a neither servile nor overbearing manner,

“There’s no need for Lord Duke to be so polite. We’ve come this time to

carry out our mission. It’ll be enough if Lord Duke can just give us

some clues to help us out. We know that you have a multitude of problems

to deal with every day, so we won’t bother you too much.”

The

White Tiger Duke didn’t attempt to remain, he simply nodded slightly.

“Since that’s the case, Elder Du, you’re in charge of taking care of

these distinguished guests. If any of you wish to join the army once

you’ve graduated, the Central Legion of my Star Luo Empire’s Western

Army will always have its gates’ open to you. You might not get paid

very well here. However, this is the best choice for men who want to

accomplish something in life.”

Ma Xiaotao suddenly spoke up, “Lord Duke, are you looking down on us women?”

The

White Tiger Duke was slightly stunned. He couldn’t help but reveal a

trace of astonishment on his face when saw Ma Xiaotao; from his point of

view, the young and beautiful woman in front of him held a wild aura.

Furthermore, she clearly wasn’t weak.

“It’s not that I’m looking

down on you, but because there are many inconveniences for women within

the barracks. However, your cultivation is another cup of tea. If you’re

willing to follow this marshal after graduating, I’d be honored to

accept you.”

Ma Xiaotao revealed a brilliant smile, then remained silent; she looked very pleased.

Wang

Yan was somewhat helpless. Even though he was the leader of the group

in name, he was still inferior to Ma Xiaotao when it came to

cultivation. Naturally, he couldn’t restrict a brilliant student like

her. He apologetically said, “Lord Duke, we won’t bother you anymore

then.”

“Alright then. I hope that I’ll have the chance to meet all

of you again.” Once he’d said this, the White Tiger Duke turned towards

the leather tent and entered it.

Huo Yuhao felt like a heavy

weight had been lifted from his shoulders when he saw the White Tiger

Duke disappear into the leather tent. He’d never felt this nervous

before—not even during his fight against Wu Feng when he was much

weaker. Currently, he felt like he was about to collapse.

Du Leisi

led them to another tent, where he allowed them to rest after he’d

arranged for some food to be brought to them. Afterwards, he went to

gather the information that they needed. Before he left, he glanced at

Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and Xiao Xiao with a somewhat doubtful look in his

eyes.

Wang Yan said, “We’ll rest for six hours after we finish

eating, then head into the Ming Dou Mountain Range. I’m confident that

we’ll have the information we need by then.”

Everyone was somewhat

exhausted after yesterday’s journey. Their current task was to ensure

that their bodies were in peak condition before they set out for a fight

in the mountains.

Xu Sanshi couldn’t help but ask, “Teacher Wang,

since the White Tiger Bodyguards beneath the White Tiger Duke are so

strong, why hasn’t the Duke simply sent them to eliminate the bandits?”

“He

has,” Dai Yueheng replied for Wang Yan, “however, if he sends too many

people, they’ll catch wind of it and run away. Contrarily, if he sends

too few people, it won’t be of much use. The bandits from the Hand of

Death are both rather strong and extremely crafty. They might even have a

few spies planted within the army. Father has sent several people in

the past to eliminate them, yet they’ve all returned without any success

and a large number of losses. The area in which the bandits have

stationed themselves is an extremely sensitive part of the border, thus

the Central Legion can only endure silently, in order to prevent a

needless war. As students of Shrek Academy, we’re different; we aren’t

restricted by any countries. As such, we must make sure to thoroughly

wipe them out this time.”

Once they’d finished eating, everyone

immediately began meditating and recuperating. This was already a

familiar task to the inner courtyard disciples, while Bei Bei, Xu

Sanshi, He Caitou, and Jiang Nannan were relatively older, thus they

were able to take everything in somewhat quicker. However, Huo Yuhao’s

trio were merely twelve years old. This task was truly a bit too early

for them. From another standpoint, they were just kids.

However,

this matter had been decided by Elder Xuan, and nobody present could

change that. Wang Yan clearly understood that Elder Xuan hadn’t done

this in order to allow the preperatory team to directly participate in

the massacre. Rather, he wanted them to experience what a mission was

like first-hand, and hasten the growth of their mental maturity. No

matter how good the academy’s tests and live-combat training was, it was

still incomparable to the improvements gained from a real battle in a

situation like this. In reality, the main combatants in this mission

would be the seven from the inner courtyard.

Elder Xuan didn’t

enter their barracks, as he wasn’t willing to concern himself with

government officials. With his strength and status, he alone could

represent Shrek Academy. However, an old man like him would never lose

track of his students. Furthermore, he was confident that he could carry

these young people through a battle if need be.

After six hours

of meditation, everyone’s exhaustion had been swept away. Noon had

already passed, and after they’d eaten the lunch that Du Leisi’s men had

left for them, Du Leisi himself brought over the information that the

Central Legion had gathered over for them.

According to the

information he’d gathered, the Hand of Death mainly carried out its

activities in and around the central region of the Ming Dou Mountain

Range. When they had a designated target, they’d rush down the mountain

and plunder them at the greatest possible speed. The entire bandit group

numbered around three hundred in total, all of whom were young men in

the prime of their lives. Of them, about a tenth of their entire group

were soul masters. Unexpectedly, nobody knew who the leader of their

leader was; the only thing they knew was that he was at the very least a

Soul King. Nobody knew exactly how strong he was.

The reason why

there was so little information about them was because the Hand of Death

never left any survivors; their methods were extremely brutal.

The

most recent piece of information was from roughly half a month ago:

They’d fled into the Ming Dou Mountain Range after looting a group of

merchants. This report also included the general direction in which

they’d fled.

The army only had this much information because there

was a possibility of a quarrel if they were to enter the domain of the

Sun Moon Empire. As such, the Western Army couldn’t help them out at

all, to the extent that they couldn’t even bring the flying-type soul

tools they’d been lent into the mountains.

However, time was of

the essence; they still had to participate in the Continental Advanced

Academy Soul Duelling Tournament. Hence, they immediately set off once

they’d obtained a map. They first flew to the entrance to the mountains

under the guidance of the White Tiger bodyguards, then descended and

handed back their flying-type soul tools. After that, they immediately

entered the Ming Dou Mountain Range and began to utilize the map

provided by the army to navigate the mountains.

“Maintain your

formation. Dai Yueheng, Chen Zifeng, and I will remain in front.

Control-type and auxiliary-type soul masters will remain ten meters

behind us. Huo Yuhao, come over here. Follow me, and make sure to keep

your Spiritual Detection up. Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, you two keep up the

rear. Let’s set off!”

The person who’d sent out their commands was

their leader, Ma Xiaotao. Huo Yuhao felt very depressed when he was

expropriated by her. Thus, he could only follow her orders and release

his Spiritual Detection Sharing.

His omni-purpose skill once again

helped enormously. In complicated terrain such as a mountainous forest,

the three-dimensional image provided by his Spiritual Detection was an

enormous benefit. Even though Huo Yuhao could only extend it ten meters

from him, these ten meters were still enough to allow everyone to enjoy

its benefits.

With Ma Xiaotao’s trio leading the way, they

travelled forwards at an extremely rapid pace. The effectiveness of Chen

Zifeng’s Soulchasing Sword was extremely evident; as he hold his sword

in front of them, the brambles in front of them were all cut apart

rather quickly. Combined with Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao’s strengths,

they were easily able to cut a smooth path through the foliage in front

of them. They’d already penetrated deep into the Ming Dou Mountain Range

by the time that the sky had begun to dim.

When Wang Yan saw that the sky was beginning to dim, he reminded Ma Xiaotao, “Let’s let everyone take a rest and eat something.”

Xiaotao nodded. “Everyone, let’s rest where we are for now. Don’t light

a fire, so that we don’t alert them inadvertently. I’m afraid that

we’ll have to continue our search throughout the night.”

The

students sat in a circle to rest, but Teacher Wang Yan soundlessly left.

Ma Xiaotao didn’t pay any attention to the fact that he’d left.

Instead, she turned towards Dai Yueheng, who was next to her, and said,

“Dai Yueheng, your father’s rather handsome.”

“When my father was

young, he was the number one noble of our Star Luo Empire,” Dai Yueheng

indifferently replied, “it wasn’t because of his looks, but because of

his ability. He didn’t enter our Shrek Academy to study, but rather

followed his father onto the battlefield at the age of thirteen. He

began as an ordinary soldier, then was able to accumulate enough merits

to be promoted to a squadron leader, then a team leader, then a mid-team

leader, then a large-team leader, then a battalion commander, then a

regimental commander… all the way up until he managed to become a Legion

Commander at the mere age of twenty-three. At that time, nobody knew

where he’d come from. After a large battle, my father achieved

outstanding merits, and was called to the imperial capital to hold a

post. When he accepted a reward from His Majesty, His Majesty recognised

him due to the similarities in his appearance and my grandfather’s.

Overjoyed, His Majesty entrusted the Western Army’s Central Legion to

him. Furthermore, he even stated that ‘with Dai Hao, the empire will

have no worries for a hundred years’ in front of all of the ministers.”

Ma Xiaotao’s eyes lit up. “If you put it that way, is your father still a hero?”

Dai

Yueheng revealed a trace of pride in his eyes. “My grandfather said

that father’s talent is comparable to that of our ancestor’s, the leader

of the first generation of Shrek’s Seven Monsters. Father is now

forty-three years old, and he’s commanded the army for twenty years

already. How could the number of battles he’s participated in be limited

to just a thousand? You know how strong the Sun Moon Empire is, but my

Star Luo Empire’s western border has always been invulnerable to attack.

That’s all due to the presence of my father! If we were to say that

only one person could be called a hero in my Star Luo Empire, then that

title definitely deserves to go to my father!”

Ma Xiaotao’s eyes immediately brightened even more. “Then how many wives does your father have?”

Dai

Yueheng was stunned, and his gaze immediately turned somewhat strange.

“Only my mother. In our generation, there’s only my brother Huabin and

I. My father’s extremely self-disciplined in the field of women. He’s

always said ‘if a man can’t control his lust towards women, he won’t

have any large accomplishments’. Why do you ask?”

Ma Xiaotao stared at him, “Can’t I admire him? A man like your father is definitely a true man. You should learn from him.”

light flickered through Dai Yueheng’s eyes. “Once we’ve finished this

task, I’ll have completed thirty Guardian missions. Once I’ve graduated

from the academy, I’ll enter the army. However, I won’t stay in the

Western Army; I’ll head to the North, even though there are fewer wars

there. I want to follow the same path as my father: I want to carve out

my own path, solely relying on myself.”

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