Chaotic World Book -
Chapter 373 - 365 Zhao Wangtang
Chapter 373: Chapter 365 Zhao Wangtang
When the Maitreya Sect’s envoy came again to agree on the deployment time and route, Zhao Changhe had already been living in the stronghold for over half a month.
From being fervently worshiped as the Saint Heir, he became someone people avoided at all costs.
The Sect Hierarch, Xue, had been avoiding him for about seven or eight days, and eventually, as soon as he appeared in the stronghold, everyone would scatter, leaving no trace behind.
He had fought everyone in the Blood God Sect, from one-on-one duels to group fights, from normal combat to fighting with one hand tied, from using sabers to swords, and finally barehanded.
He had fought everyone and mastered everything he needed to practice.
"Master Sun, Master Sun..."
"Get lost, I don’t know you."
Apart from the early days in Beimang, this was another time Zhao Changhe had gone through a massive training regime of "defeating all in the stronghold," but this time even Master Sun would run away as soon as he saw him coming.
"Hey, I’m here to say goodbye, old Sun! Why are you running?"
Master Sun finally stopped, turned his head, and looked at the disciple who approached swiftly like the wind, arriving in an instant.
This Qinggong was truly elegant... it already surpassed several levels of the Blood God Sect’s Stepping Blood Traceless, and it wasn’t the Water Stepping he used before; people couldn’t even recognize the technique.
Zhao Changhe approached, quietly handing Master Sun a booklet and a blob of "jelly."
"What is this?"
"The booklet contains my recent insights on the Blood Evil Skill and Saber Technique, please correct it for me."
You want to teach me, but you’re too embarrassed to say it clearly, asking me to correct it... Master Sun wasn’t sure what he was feeling, and said expressionlessly, "I don’t practice with an axe, the axe is crooked... Anyway, I’ll reluctantly give you some pointers."
"Mm-hmm."
"What’s this blob? Sect Hierarch Xue’s egg?"
Zhao Changhe: "... It’s a special energy crystal, useful for absorbing and transforming the body, and also has some benefits for the Inner Strength meridians."
Master Sun’s expression flickered.
Zhao Changhe lowered his voice, "Don’t let others see it, use it quietly for yourself."
"I’m not stupid," Master Sun hesitated for a moment, then finally said, "Really leaving?"
"Mm, Maitreya is making moves, and it’s time for me to act as well," Zhao Changhe smiled. "I never thought my most comfortable times accumulating experience would be in the Blood God Sect’s stronghold."
Master Sun said, "So bandit life really suits you. Why not consider changing your current performance? Your way of speaking is too literary now, making the whole stronghold three times more civilized, which I’m really not used to. I’ve started to dislike you."
"That won’t do, I’m about to meet someone; speaking crudely will get me beaten. Actually... the spirit of a bandit lies in deeds, not words."
"I haven’t seen you acting much like a bandit either." If Master Sun had been educated, he really wanted to suffocate the sentiment, "If life were only as it is at first sight."
Zhao Changhe didn’t dwell on it further, bowed with clasped hands, "Take care, Master. We will meet again."
As his words fell, his body gracefully stepped back, retreating dozens of feet with one step, then in mid-air, he gracefully turned around, touched his toes to the fence, and soared away.
Master Sun stood with his mouth open for a long while, not closing it, thinking to himself that just with this agility, men found him too handsome. This time, he didn’t know which girl would bear the brunt.
The child has grown up...
He squeezed the jelly, feeling suddenly very cheerful, and hummed a little tune as he returned to his room.
...
Zhao Changhe made his way to the foot of the mountain, retrieved his horse Wuzhui stored in the lowest part of the settlement, and headed straight for Xiangyang.
It wasn’t riding Wuzhui that he went, but taking Wuzhui on a ship.
Leaving behind the colorful clouds of the White Emperor City in the morning, traveling a thousand miles back to Jiangling within a day.
Following the river and creating a scene worthy of a famous verse, when else if not now to show off?
Maitreya had agreed with Sect Hierarch Xue to send troops to Xiangyang in a few days, and Zhao Changhe already knew exactly what the actual combat plans were and how many troops there would be—he had a clear and thorough understanding.
Calculating the time, he should have enough time to first go to Gusu to inform Wanzhuang, but prior to that, he needed to scope out Xiangyang to prevent the embarrassment of knowing the enemy’s status but being clueless about the place he needed to defend—Wanzhuang would laugh him to death.
Because theoretically Xiangyang still belonged to Great Xia, but realistically it might not be the case.
Long ago, he had been told that now everyone is declaring autonomy, and every area might have its own agenda; and his supposed identity as a Prince could be dangerous in such places... Xiangyang might be one of them. Having been so long out in the Worldly Society, he was almost losing track of the world’s power dynamics.
Anyway, once he had a grasp of the situation, he could leave the arrangements to Wanzhuang. How to wage the war, the strategies and tactics—he didn’t understand those, he only knew how to fight.
But Wanzhuang did.
Even Tang Buqi had been learning military arts since he was young, and Wanzhuang even more so... Well, speaking of which, Huangfu Qing was indeed the real gem—born into a military family, she should have been donning armor and leading troops like Mu Guiying or Fan Lihua, instead of wasting her talents in the palace.
Previously, Wanzhuang had faced off against Maitreya in Jinling, but later both sides felt that such personal confrontations looked silly amidst a large battlefield, and by tacit agreement returned to their respective homes. Mainly because Wanzhuang didn’t have military authority at that point—aside from her personal influence, she couldn’t contribute much and had to return to the Capital reluctantly.
This time going down south from the Capital to take charge, it was unknown if she had received instructions, but having authority over the troops would make a difference...
The situation in Jiangnan was bad. Although the Maitreya Sect hadn’t achieved their anticipated dominating sweep, it led to local powers starting to carve out territories; Wanzhuang must be having a headache. It was unknown if Zhen Xia Longyuan made any remarks about this. Anyway, the puppet faker might have been unsettled, which could be why they had granted Wanzhuang some authority.
There was also a possibility that Wanzhuang didn’t want to follow the rules anymore; this could be her own initiative. Leveraging her own renown and the Tang family’s foundation, gaining military power was not a challenge for her, and it was likely that a majority in Jiangnan would rally to her banner... Of course, this was only a step away from declaring autonomy, it remained to be seen if the blindly loyal Wanzhuang would agree to this.
With these thoughts turning in his mind from the dynamics outside the Worldly Society to those within the world, Xiangyang came into view.
Zhao Changhe eyed the flags of Xiangyang from afar; nothing looked out of the ordinary at the moment with the walls still flying the dragon flag of Great Xia alongside a commander’s banner bearing the character "Lv".
In a trance, he recalled Lv Wende of Xiangyang... However, the City Lord here was unrelated to that; it was Lv Shiheng, ranked forty-eight on the Human List—the Godly Sword of Xue-Xiang.
These were honorifics bestowed by the Chaotic World Book, prestigious just like Yue Hongling’s "Sunset Divine Sword" and Chi Li’s "Demon Fox".
Anyone with such prestige from the Human List was no common figure; definitely a Secret Treasure Grandmaster, without a doubt.
Interestingly, the lead commander from the Maitreya Sect who came to attack Xiangyang was ranked slightly above Lv Shiheng on the Human List, the forty-fourth, a Demon Path zealot named Yu Cixiu.
He wasn’t originally a follower of the Maitreya Sect, being a notorious demon path figure from the south. But likely in the past year, he was recruited under the Maitreya banner through money and beauty, becoming a significant general. It was unknown if he had changed his legal name as per Maitreya customs; perhaps should he change it to "Xiu"?
Zhao Changhe thought his own made-up name, "Mad Fa," sounded better.
Including "aligned troop dispatch" from Blood God Sect’s Xue Canghai, ranked seventy-one, whose actual combat power now definitely exceeded his rank, this battle would be a real gathering of noteworthy figures from the Human List, very sensational.
Mulling over these thoughts and leading his horse slowly, he unconsciously arrived at the city gate.
The city gate wasn’t closed tightly as would be in a wartime situation; there was still the flow of people coming in and out, since Lv Shiheng was unaware that the Maitreya Sect was conspiring with the Blood God Sect to strike him fiercely. However, the security check at the gate was stringent, and the City Entrance Tax was exceptionally high.
"Stop there! What’s your business?" a few guards, spears in hand, challenged Zhao Changhe: "Your travel permit?"
This time, Zhao Changhe indeed had a travel permit. The Blood God Sect, an influence like theirs, had a plethora of fake identities; Sect Hierarch Xue had at least hundreds of prepared identity permits ready to be used at will.
He honestly took out his permit and handed it over. The guard looked at it and said, "Capital resident, studying in the south? People still study in the south these days... The name’s not bad either, Zhao Wangtang..."
Zhao Changhe: "?"
Wait a moment, he had randomly picked a permit to stuff into his pocket without looking.
What kind of name did you come up with, Old Xue?
"Alright, one Silver for entering the city," the guard extended his hand.
Zhao Changhe now understood what real robbery was.
Which is worse, bandits robbing, or the official directly?
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