Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 387 - 29: Infiltrating Fire Dragon Pass, How Are You So Skilled? (8K)

Chapter 387: Chapter 29: Infiltrating Fire Dragon Pass, How Are You So Skilled? (8K)

"Lv Yuanwei’s Divine Thunder Army has already breached the Fire Demon Clan’s ’Chiyan Pass,’ which is the first line of defense set up by the Fire Demon Clan on the west side."

"Now the Fire Demon Clan has no choice but to fall back to the second line of defense, Daoqin Pass."

"Just one month has passed, damn it, one retreat and that’s three thousand miles gone, Yang Qilin is such a waste!"

In the Council Hall, Liao Rulong fumed with indignation.

Long Xiao, sandwiched between Chen Shijie and Zhao Xing, looked around and asked in a low voice, "Who is he cursing? It sounds like he’s talking about a Great Zhou general. Is he not talking about Lv Yuanwei?"

Chen Shijie shook his head: "If you would read more often, you wouldn’t be so clueless."

Zhao Xing explained to Long Xiao: "The Capital Commandant is cursing a tribal leader of the Fire Demon Clan; as for why this foreign leader has a Great Zhou name? It’s purely because of Great Zhou’s cultural invasion."

"During Emperor Wen’s reign, there was no war between Great Zhou and the Southern Desolate, and there was commercial and cultural exchange."

"The author who wrote ’Southern Barbarian Curios’ had even been invited to visit the Southern Barbarians back then; he had even inspected the interior of strongholds like Fire Dragon Pass."

"Many foreigners were given surnames and courtesy names by Emperor Wen back then."

"There was also a tribal chieftain of the Fire Demon Clan who was bestowed the family name Ji by Emperor Wen."

Long Xiao puzzled: "Then why is he called Yang Qilin?"

Chen Shijie continued: "His Majesty, during the Cheng’an and Yong’an Periods, extended Emperor Wen’s governing strategies and also granted surnames to the Fire Demon Clan’s tribes."

"However, His Majesty, despising the Fire Demon Clan,"

"How could such barbarians be worthy of using the national surname?"

"Thus, during the Cheng’an Period, the tribe changed its surname to Yang again."

"The name Yang Qilin is a political product of that time."

"Before he was even born and before his tribal name was decided, they had already chosen this Great Zhou name for him."

Long Xiao had an epiphany.

"Yang Qilin grew up receiving martial training from the barbarians and was cultured under the traditions of Zhou Ritual in the Central Earth Divine Continent."

"He even visited Anping Prefecture and Datong Prefecture, studied at the Daoist Academy; he was appointed a barbarian general at the age of seven."

"However, starting from the Dingxin Period, Great Zhou employed force against the Southern Barbarians, invalidating all prior agreements."

"With that invalidation, Yang Qilin, who was originally of the fifth rank, was demoted to the seventh rank, and to this day he has not fully recovered, remaining only in the later stages of the Heavenly Gang Realm."

Zhao Xing knew why Liao Rulong was angry.

Although Yang Qilin had fallen in rank, his vision, military capability, and personal ability were all considered first-rate among barbarian generals.

Before the war against the barbarians started, he had always been regarded as a formidable general by the armies of Great Zhou.

The Chiyan Pass he defended was naturally considered tough to conquer.

But how long had it been?

It had been breached by Lv Yuanwei, no wonder Liao Rulong was cursing.

"A sheer impostor!" Liao Rulong said. "The eastern and northern fronts haven’t officially started yet, but he’s already suffered a major defeat."

"Had I known this fellow was so incompetent, I could have replaced him and done the job myself!"

This was bad news.

If Lv Yuanwei conquered the Qinggang Mine by himself too quickly, then the armies on the northeastern fronts could do nothing but pick up the scraps.

The Qinggang Mine was a juicy piece of meat that all the armies wanted to gobble up. Liao Rulong had not initially been so ambitious, but after the Wolf God Tribe’s victory, he felt he could also reach this piece of meat.

Moreover, Zhao Xing’s previous comments made him think that attacking Fire Dragon Pass would be less difficult, and Liao Rulong also set his sights on the Qinggang Mine.

However, Zhao Xing knew that it wasn’t because Yang Qilin was incompetent, but because Lv Yuanwei truly was a genius-level general.

Among all the sixth-rank generals from the five Grotto Heavens, Lv Yuanwei was the strongest in terms of luck, strength, and military command ability.

Zhao Xing thought for a bit and consoled: "Lv Yuanwei is skilled in blitzkrieg tactics. That he breached the first line of defense was because he took advantage of Yang Qilin’s instability; it was actually the aftermath of Yang Qilin cleaning up after Prince Hal’s mess."

"Yang Qilin is dealing with Prince Hal’s aftermath, and it’s not necessarily his weakness."

"Moreover, the depth and the complete territory of the Fire Demon Clan are completely different from before, and the Divine Thunder Army won’t breach the second line of defense so quickly, Capital Commandant, please rest assured."

Pu Zhong also agreed with Zhao Xing’s opinion: "Lv Yuanwei is brilliant, but now he also commands a larger number of troops. Once someone gets fat, it is more difficult to act flexibly and swiftly."

"Lv Yuanwei is a rare talent indeed, but in this kind of straightforward battle, he may not be able to continue performing well."

Zhao Xing remained silent.

In fact, Lv Yuanwei indeed was a rare commander suitable for both unconventional and conventional strategies, and, barring any accidents, Yang Qilin would not be able to hold Lv Yuanwei off for long.

As for himself, it was still necessary to seize the time to take care of Fire Dragon Pass.

Once Fire Dragon Pass was dealt with, Divine Might Army would reach the Qinggang Mine even faster.

...

The day Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie arrived at Zhixiu City, Liao Rulong ordered the vanguard troops to launch several probing attacks on Fire Dragon Pass, with Wen Shaoyang’s Division coordinating continuous harassment of the Fire Dragon Pass defenders.

An actual assault was unlikely to succeed, and the attacks weren’t very effective.

But the goal was to keep the barbarians on edge.

After half a month of this, they finally ceased.

Outside Zhixiu City, Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie watched the returning troops, discussing.

"The harassment has had little major effect; Fire Dragon Pass deserves its reputation as a stronghold. Over these days, we’ve lost dozens of our own men."

"Yet the barbarians lost only six, and those were taken out by Pu Zhong and Wang Shilin."

Wang Shilin is a strategist by Wen Shaoyang’s side.

Zhao Xing was left speechless too.