Cao Sheng

Chapter 200 Demanding a Slap

Seeing that the deterrent effect had been achieved, Tang Qianyu did not want to lose a general before the battle. Upon hearing this, she said, "Since so many people are pleading for you, I will spare you for now. Your head will remain on your neck, but this offense has been recorded. You will be allowed to atone for your crimes by performing meritorious deeds. If you do not take the lead or fight bravely in battle, or if there is any slackening, your head will be forfeit without mercy."

Ren Xuefei thanked her profusely, nodding like a garlic pounder.

At this moment, Tang Xiao'er stood up, his eyes darting around. He looked at Tang Qianyu and said, "Lord, I believe Brother Mo is no ordinary person. What we cannot do, he can surely accomplish. Why not let him go and recruit troops?"

Tang Qianyu hesitated. This was a clear attempt to use a borrowed knife to kill.

Ren Xuefei, having narrowly escaped death, was truly intimidated. He said, "Lord, forget it. Don't let him go. He won't be able to borrow troops, and it will only waste time."

Tang Qianyu was about to seize the opportunity to back down. "Alright, then let us depart..."

Mo Qi waved his hand. "I'll go. I'll be back within an hour."

Tang Xiao'er immediately smiled and said, "Excellent, this is like voluntarily accepting a military order."

"It does not count," Tang Qianyu said. "Student Mo is only here for training and is not subject to military law."

"I am willing to accept punishment," Mo Qi stated decisively.

Tang Xiao'er stood there beaming, thinking to himself, "You asked for it yourself."

"After being humiliated by you earlier, I was wondering how to regain my face. I never expected you to volunteer for such an embarrassment. This is truly a wonderful thing in the world, so exciting."

Mo Qi saw him there with his eyes darting around and knew he had no good intentions.

He then looked at Tang Xiao'er and smiled, "If I don't bring back troops within the stipulated time, I will willingly accept military punishment. But if I do bring back troops within the stipulated time, will you accept the same treatment?"

Tang Xiao'er was taken aback. "What does that have to do with me?"

"You instigated this, and if there's no benefit, I might not go," Mo Qi said, acting unreasonably.

Tang Qianyu breathed a sigh of relief. "You finally understand."

To his surprise, Tang Xiao'er immediately said, "If you bring back troops on time, I'll wash your feet every day."

He thought, "Even if you had three heads and six arms, you couldn't complete this task. There simply isn't enough time."

Unless no negotiation time was needed.

Ren Xuefei's promise earlier had been rather casual. He had just said it in passing and didn't take it as a military order.

If it were a military order, no one could complete it.

Mo Qi smiled and said, "Alright, it's a deal. This also counts as a military order. With so many people witnessing it, you won't be able to renege."

Tang Qianyu frowned and transmitted his voice, "Are you tired of living? If you don't want to live, don't use me to kill you! He went to recruit once and brought back several hundred people. In the eyes of the various sects, that was already showing them enough respect. If you go again, you will only increase their anger. They won't send another soldier. Listen to me, don't go. Let's head to the front lines immediately. If we're any later, they might not be able to hold on."

Mo Qi transmitted back, "Are you worried about me? If you truly care, then when I return, pamper me well!"

With that, he took his token and laughed heartily as he departed.

The others, not having heard his conversation with Tang Qianyu, only heard his laughter. They thought, "He's already gotten carried away before completing the mission. Let's see if he can still laugh later."

Tang Xiao'er, in particular, had already drawn his saber and was sharpening it on a rock by the roadside.

As he sharpened it, he said, "Lord, I'll be the executioner later."

Tang Qianyu felt a chill in his heart and couldn't help but frown, looking anxiously in the direction Mo Qi had disappeared.

Mo Qi activated his "Shrinking Ground Golden Light Technique" and first went to the Tiandu Sect. Upon seeing Chao Jing, he simply stood there and flashed his token without saying a word.

Chao Jing knew this person was troublesome and sighed. "How many troops do you need?"

Mo Qi asked for five thousand. Chao Jing directly assigned him five thousand troops.

Mo Qi then went to the Lingdu Sect and met Murong Mu. Without even flashing his token, he briefly explained his intentions, and Murong Mu directly gave him five thousand troops.

As he was leaving, Murong Mu said, "Remember to come back alive, so our Yanran doesn't become a widow."

Mo Qi rolled his eyes.

Meanwhile, Tang Qianyu watched as time ticked by, filled with anxiety and longing.

Tang Xiao'er continued to sharpen his knife, his smile growing colder.

As he watched the seconds and minutes pass, his heart bloomed with joy. What incredible luck he had today to behead someone! It was too thrilling!

Mo Qi, leading these ten thousand troops, returned majestically to where Tang Qianyu and the others were resting. He looked at the time; it had only been a little over half an hour.

Tang Qianyu almost shed tears!

"He recruited ten thousand troops in such a short time!" Ren Xuefei exclaimed repeatedly, utterly impressed.

Tang Xiao'er was still mechanically sharpening his knife! His heart turned cold.

He was utterly shocked. How did a mere training student manage to borrow troops?

Charisma? Intimidation?

It was truly unimaginable.

"Brother, what are you doing sharpening your knife?" Mo Qi walked over and asked.

Tang Xiao'er's heart fluttered. With a *snap*, he sliced off a finger.

Tang Xiao'er's body was covered in sweat from the pain, and he almost fainted. However, he managed to suppress any groan.

"The knife wasn't sharp enough, so I'm sharpening it," Tang Xiao'er said through gritted teeth.

"Remember to wash my feet tonight," Mo Qi said with a smile.

Tang Xiao'er spat out a mouthful of blood. "Okay, okay."

Tang Qianyu was overjoyed. Mo Qi had not only completed the mission but had also brought him great honor.

It seemed bringing him here for training was the right decision.

Before the teleportation array was activated, Mo Qi suddenly thought of a problem and asked Tang Qianyu, "We haven't gone yet, so at this very moment, who is there holding back the enemy invasion?"

Tang Qianyu replied, "The Sixth Tier Qingshan Hall, and a group of cultivators who voluntarily went there."

"In this day and age, there are still people who voluntarily defend against enemies?" Mo Qi said with some disbelief.

"There will always be those whose hearts are filled with righteous fire."

"Since the Sixth Tier people are all here, aren't we a bit redundant?"

"They are few in number, after all. Sometimes, having more people is beneficial."

"Then, who is invading this time, and why are they invading the Southern Continent?"

"Who knows? Perhaps they want to occupy land, perhaps they want to fight their way to the Heavenly Court, perhaps they want to plunder resources, or perhaps they are simply homeless," Tang Qianyu said.

As the teleportation array activated, a group of people lined up and entered it one by one, being transported to their destination in batches.

This was the eastern border of the Southern Continent. Looking ahead, it was misty and shrouded in fog, a vast expanse of white.

Some said it was the sea ahead, but all that met the eye was a white haze.

On both sides were mountains, said to pierce the clouds, impossible to cross. Thus, this gap in the middle became the point of invasion for the Hongmeng South Sea pirates.

Earlier, a group of demonic beasts appeared. They had sharp tentacles in front and bodies like lobsters in the back, but with wings. As they flapped their wings, they moved forward at extreme speed, their tentacles violently striking the barrier again and again. Countless demonic beasts battered the barrier, leaving it riddled with holes, on the verge of collapse.

The Sixth Tier Qingshan Hall was stationed here. Hall Master Guan Shi, seeing the foreign enemies invade, immediately led two hundred stationed soldiers to resist them.

Each of them had been taught how to repair the barrier, so they dispersed to various locations. At the places where the Cloud-Piercing Beasts had created holes, they channeled their spiritual energy to repair the barrier. As soon as a hole was opened by a Cloud-Piercing Beast, a soldier would fly over to repair it.

However, there were simply too many Cloud-Piercing Beasts, and these soldiers were overwhelmed. As more and more holes were created, it seemed the barrier was about to collapse. Just then, rogue cultivators and cultivators from various sects nearby rushed to their aid.

Among them were the sect masters of the Four Great Sects of the Nine Divine Realms, leading some of their sect's cultivators, and the Sect Master of Lingxiao Sect, Wu Fan, leading some of his sect's cultivators.

In recent years, the sect masters of the Four Great Sects and Wu Fan had all broken through to the Nascent Soul stage. Lingxiao Sect had also developed rapidly, showing a trend of catching up to the Four Great Sects.

Originally, the Four Great Sects were not going to come. However, Wu Fan had pestered Zhang Tianshi until he relented, and then Zhang Tianshi had called the other three sect masters.

Once these individuals arrived, they joined the battle. Countless flying sword techniques and spells were unleashed from the holes, eliminating the Cloud-Piercing Beasts one by one.

The soldiers then quickly flew over to repair the holes that had been created, thus defending the barrier impregnably.

The invaders' first wave of attack failed, and they retreated.

Guan Shi, seeing the enemy retreat, returned to his camp.

From beginning to end, he did not even glance at the rogue cultivators and cultivators from various sects who had come to assist, let alone thank them.

This was because the leaders among these people were only at the Nascent Soul stage, with most being at the Core Formation and Foundation Establishment stages. His own soldiers, however, many were at the Nascent Soul stage, with the lowest being at the Yuan Ying stage.

These people were simply a mob and could not play a significant role.

Liu Yazhi could not tolerate such arrogance and returned with his disciples.

Following that, Zhong Gui and Lai Yaoshi also returned with their respective disciples.

Zhang Tianshi hesitated for a moment and then returned with his disciples.

The rogue cultivators also left one after another.

Only Wu Fan, along with Ren Kui, Wang Shaozhong, Zhao Zhou, Shi Daquan, and Sun Jian from Shaoxia Peak, set up camp nearby and settled down.

After a few hours, the second wave of demonic beasts arrived. This time, the scale was larger and the ferocity was even greater.

Moreover, some Cloud-Piercing Beasts had people standing on their backs, charging towards the barrier like waves breaking through the wind.

The Cloud-Piercing Beasts violently battered the barrier and then retreated, preparing for a second charge. At this moment, soldiers went up to repair the holes in the barrier, and the people on the backs of the Cloud-Piercing Beasts launched their attacks. Beams of red mist shot out, striking the soldiers and causing them to fall to the ground.

The Cloud-Piercing Beasts continued their assault for a while, and the barrier creaked, seemingly on the verge of collapse.

As Wu Fan was about to lead his men to the rescue, a voice pierced through the air, "Don't block my way," halting them in their tracks.

Guan Shi suddenly appeared at the entrance of the camp. He patted his storage bag, and countless items flew out, like sharp arrows piercing through the air. Upon landing, they suddenly grew larger.

These were fierce beasts with sharp teeth, claws, and gaping mouths. Their eyes were blood red, and they moved with lightning speed, charging towards the barrier. As they moved, their joints made cracking sounds, and their movements seemed somewhat stiff.

Upon closer inspection, it was evident that they were a group of mechanical puppet beasts. As they swiftly reached the barrier, they all spat out beams of light, passing through the holes and striking down the Cloud-Piercing Beasts and the people on their backs.