Chapter 109: You

If that’s the case, why are some cities unwilling to surrender, risking annihilation? Xia Daoming asked.

“First, these cities overestimate their own strength; second, once they surrender, they become rebels. Though the Prince of Lingzhou seems powerful now, it’s nearly impossible for him to succeed—if he loses, those who surrendered will be punished after the fact, and judging by his subordinates’ conduct, he’s no virtuous ruler; third, Ma Tong demands not only vast wealth but also many pregnant women, and no one knows what he intends to do with them.” Ji Yuanzhen replied.

“Ma Tong deserves to die. Massacring after a city falls is already heinous, yet he still demands pregnant women from surrendered cities—he must be practicing some evil art!” Xia Daoming recalled the sight of households in Luogui City meticulously raising snakes, his face darkened, and a terrifying aura of slaughter erupted from him.

Even Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang, both eighth-rank Great Martial Masters, felt their scalps tighten and cold sweat break out on their foreheads.

“So it seems you have no intention of surrendering!” Ji Yuanzhen said, his expression complicated as he looked at Xia Daoming’s grim face.

After all the effort to gain control of Li City, his family had finally gained a chance for rapid rise—he was unwilling to abandon it.

But if he didn’t abandon it, he could only surrender!

Otherwise, with the army closing in, how could Xia Daoming, the Ji family, and the Qianjiao Martial Academy—with their handful of Martial Masters and hastily assembled troops—possibly resist?

“Ma Tong is so cruel and brutal, I want to kill him myself—how could I possibly surrender to him? Especially since he demands pregnant women—how could we ever do such a thing?” Xia Daoming said sternly.

“Exactly! Surrendering is acceptable, and giving more wealth is fine—but handing over pregnant women? We absolutely cannot do that!” Liang Jingtang said gravely.

“If so, then Wen Yue and the others hiding in the mountain stronghold don’t need to return yet. Also, we must begin preparing to evacuate Li City.”

“In my view, if things turn dire, we can retreat through the gorge in Cangmang Mountain toward the north. Life there is harsher, but with our strength, finding a place to settle should be feasible.”

“Once time passes and the situation changes, we can return to Li City.” Ji Yuanzhen said quickly.

Clearly, he had already planned this in his mind.

“Why evacuate? Capture the bandits by capturing their leader. When I find the right moment, I’ll kill Ma Tong and his top elites, leaving the Guangwei Army leaderless—then we strike with our elite forces and crush them!” Xia Daoming said.

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang both paled and exclaimed in unison: “No!”

“Why not?” Xia Daoming smiled at the two.

“Daoming, you’re still young—you’ve never truly witnessed two armies facing off. When thousands upon thousands fill the field, even if you’re powerful, you become insignificant the moment you enter.”

“Moreover, soldiers differ from ordinary people—they’ve fought on battlefields, endured life-and-death combat, and their aura of slaughter is overwhelming. Once you enter, the slaughter fills the sky and earth; even your full strength may only manifest as half.”

“Besides, the army has no shortage of powerful Martial Masters. You can kill a hundred—can you kill a thousand? As for elites, the Ji family has produced a few Great Martial Masters, but their numbers are too few, and those above seventh rank total barely more than one hand.”

“As for Li City, seventh-rank Great Martial Masters were already concentrated among the four major factions. After the last disaster, not only were the four factions utterly destroyed, but all other factions suffered heavy losses. Now, we can’t even gather a handful of seventh-rank Great Martial Masters, let alone sixth or fifth.”

“With such a tiny elite force, charging the army is like an egg smashing against a rock.” Ji Yuanzhen shook his head repeatedly, with not a shred of confidence.

“Indeed, Daoming. If Li City hadn’t suffered that catastrophe, and if you—a figure stronger than a ninth-rank Zongshi—had joined us, with everyone united, we might still have had a chance to hold the city.”

“But now, as your master sees it, since we won’t surrender, evacuation is the only option! As for the townspeople, if they wish to follow us, we’ll do our best to take them along.” Liang Jingtang added.

“Old man, Master—you used to say I was cunning and calculating, or that I had sharp insight and deep scheming—were you just teasing me all along?” Xia Daoming said, lips curling as the two kept urging him.

“How could we ever—” they blurted out without thinking, but halfway through, both suddenly remembered something and froze, expressions stunned.

“Right—what kind of person is this? He can casually kill eighth-rankers, yet he’s been living off my granddaughter’s food! Even Xu Zhiyuan, such a formidable figure, ended up ruined by him! Would he foolishly rush into an army to die? Impossible!” Ji Yuanzhen smacked his own head hard.

“Damn it, I almost forgot this guy’s nature! Back when he was only sixth rank, he tricked a whole crowd of Great Martial Masters into working for him as if they were his servants—even old Xu Zhiji ended up selling his own bones to him! If he didn’t have some plan, would he do something suicidal? This is an insult!” Liang Jingtang yanked violently at his once-proud silver beard.

“Why are you silent now? Guilty conscience! Looks like you really were just teasing me!” Xia Daoming said, clearly displeased.

“Enough, Daoming—stop fooling around with us old men! Tell us your real scheme!” Ji Yuanzhen urged eagerly.

“Old man, we’re righteous people.”

“Righteous people can still use schemes now and then.”

“Old man, brilliant insight!” Xia Daoming gave Ji Yuanzhen a thumbs-up, then said: “What I just said is my scheme!”

“Ah!”

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang stared blankly.

That’s a damn useless scheme!

“Actually, what I described is a tactic combining the orthodox and the unexpected. The ambush and assassination are the unexpected; your elite force launching a frontal assault is the orthodox!” Xia Daoming said solemnly.

Seeing Xia Daoming’s serious expression, Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang both felt a strong urge to punch him.

What orthodoxy or unexpected? What matters is strength!

Without strength, whether orthodox or unexpected, it’s just suicide!

But just as their impulse rose, they saw scales appear on Xia Daoming’s body, gleaming metallically in the sunlight, rapidly spreading to cover his entire form—including his head—leaving only his eyes exposed.

Moreover, on his chest, a strikingly three-dimensional dragon head was prominently displayed.

Coral-like dragon horns, long whiskers, large round eyes radiating piercing, profound authority, and a wide mouth revealing sharp fangs.

A faint, ancient, majestic, and domineering aura of true dragon slowly emanated from Xia Daoming.

Both shuddered violently.

“R…R…Zong Shi!” they stammered.

“Heh!” Xia Daoming grinned, and the dragon scales slowly faded from his body.

“Damn, you’ve become a Zong Shi! No wonder, no wonder! The assassination of Ma Tong is now very feasible!” Ji Yuanzhen recovered first, his face flushed with excitement.

“Exactly, exactly!” Liang Jingtang nodded vigorously.

When he was eighth rank, he could kill ninth-rank Zong Shi.

Now that he’s a Zong Shi himself, Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang had zero doubt he could kill Ma Tong, his equal.

“Still, Ma Tong likely has cultivators among his guards—this must be carefully considered. If things prove too dangerous, for caution’s sake, we should evacuate Li City and return later.” Liang Jingtang quickly calmed down and said gravely.

A Martial Zongshi emerging from the Qianjiao Martial Academy was a matter of immense significance—they must first stabilize, no mistakes allowed.

“I agree!” Ji Yuanzhen immediately nodded in agreement.

He’s so young and already a Zong Shi—his future is limitless; there’s no need to rush into such danger!

“Old man, Master, you’re being overly cautious! If I lacked strength, I’d naturally prioritize myself. But now that I have strength, how can I sit idly by while the people of Li City suffer in fire and water?” Xia Daoming said solemnly.

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang’s expressions hardened.

“When we are poor, we cultivate ourselves; when we are powerful, we benefit all under heaven!” Xia Daoming continued.

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang trembled, their gaze toward Xia Daoming filled with solemn respect!

Wow—what a spirit!

Wen Yue was right—Daoming is a true man of heaven and earth!

My little disciple is truly the most honest, upright gentleman!

“Still, cultivators’ methods are unpredictable and hard to fathom—we can’t be certain of their exact realm. We must remain cautious.” Xia Daoming’s tone shifted slightly.

“Huh!”

The two were stunned.

“So we still need to send more scouts to gather intelligence—if things truly look hopeless, evacuation remains the best option.” Xia Daoming said.

The two pursed their lips.

“But such a scenario is unlikely—unless that cultivator is truly extraordinarily powerful!” Xia Daoming’s tone shifted again.

“Daoming, just how strong are you now?” Ji Yuanzhen asked curiously, his heart stirred.

Liang Jingtang fixed his gaze on Xia Daoming, full of anticipation.

Xia Daoming smiled faintly, formed a dragon claw with his hand, and reached across six zhang to the ornamental stone in the center of the pond.

A strong wind surged.

A dragon claw appeared above the pond, lifting the massive ornamental stone into the air.

The pond’s water churned violently, splashing loudly.

Ji Yuanzhen and Liang Jingtang stood frozen like statues, cold sweat trickling unnoticed from their foreheads.

A casual, effortless grasp from six zhang away, lifting a massive stone—it completely surpassed their imagination.

Even in his prime, Xu Zhiyuan, even with a weapon, could only manifest force up to three zhang. Xia Daoming, unarmed, did it effortlessly at six zhang!

Though merely double the distance, the power difference was immense.

He could strike Xu Zhiyuan easily; Xu Zhiyuan couldn’t even reach him.

Thus, to Xia Daoming, Xu Zhiyuan was no different from a Great Martial Master—merely possessing stronger, more refined force and more variations.

Moreover, at the Zong Shi realm, each rank increase greatly enhances force, adding many new variations—but the range of force projection increases only slightly. Only at Grand Zong Shi (twelfth rank) does force projection leap significantly.

Of course, even among peers, Zong Shi vary in strength, and their force projection ranges differ.

But for Xia Daoming—only ninth rank—to project force six zhang? It was utterly unbelievable; it would likely require at least eleventh rank.

Seeing the old man and master’s stunned expressions, Xia Daoming secretly felt a small pride: “Good thing I’m humble and always hold back—I didn’t go straight to ten zhang, or they’d have fainted dead away!”

When he first broke through to Zong Shi, he could barely reach nine zhang.

After continuously eating snake meat, his meridians have strengthened to level five—he can now barely project force ten zhang.

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(End of Chapter)