Chapter 520: I, bearing aspirations! (Happy New Year!)

Liu Er heard these words from Shuang Jing about Du Tiechuan, but he did not dare to respond.

He looked bitter: "Commander Du is a dignified Spirit Transformation level, with high position and great power, and every move is accompanied by wind and thunder. Small people like me can only follow closely and drift with the tide."

Shuang Jing nodded and pointed at Liu Er: "Your status is humble, just a human-demon hybrid. If you want to scheme, you cannot drift with the tide, but must identify a mountain to follow."

"Since you came to ask me for help, I will give you a chance for the sake of our comradeship."

"Regarding the heavy armor quota, I can go against Du Tiechuan's wishes and help you. It's just that..."

Shuang Jing dragged out his voice and did not continue.

Liu Er knew the situation, quickly cupped his hands, and indicated that he was willing to cooperate, asking Shuang Jing to give his orders.

Shuang Jing smiled slightly: "Come, serve me tea."

Liu Er: "This is the little one's honor!"

He held the teapot with both hands, poured the tea, and then held the cup with both hands, offering it to Shuang Jing.

Shuang Jing did not take it, but remained sitting in his original place, sneering: "Liu Er, you are a bit confused."

"In terms of status, I am of the state surname, a descendant of a high family. You are a mere hybrid, even if you pull the tiger skin of the Blood Slaughter Dynasty, compared to me, it is like mud and clouds."

"In terms of cultivation and strength, I am at the Nascent Soul level, and you are just a small Jin Dan."

"Furthermore, in terms of the current situation, you are the one asking for my help and urgently need heavy armor. If you don't have this, your Three Generals Battalion cannot bear the Iron Flow Flat River military strategy and will inevitably become cannon fodder, buried on the battlefield."

"Is what I said clear enough?"

"Under such circumstances, you are offering me tea, and you are still standing?"

Shuang Jing looked coldly at Liu Er, and the atmosphere in the room suddenly turned icy.

Liu Er froze in place, and the muscles on his face twitched.

His heart shook, and the humiliation in his heart surged like a tide.

He gritted his teeth, showing a smile: "Lord Shuang Jing's lesson is correct! It is I who cannot distinguish between light and heavy, please... Lord, drink tea."

His legs trembled, and he slowly knelt halfway, handing the tea to Shuang Jing.

Shuang Jing then smiled: "This looks a bit like it."

He took the cup, took a sip, and immediately spat it out on the floor in front of Liu Er.

"It's a bit cold."

"Do you know? Tea should be drunk while hot; once this opportunity passes, it is difficult to drink."

"In life, once an opportunity appears, you must fight with all your might and grasp it firmly. Otherwise, if you miss it, you may regret it for a lifetime."

"You should understand this principle, right?"

Liu Er nodded: "Thank you, Lord, for your guidance; I will keep it in mind."

Shuang Jing sneered again: "Just remembering, how is that enough? Clean the floor first?"

Liu Er was stunned again.

Shuang Jing narrowed his eyes, looking down at Liu Er who was kneeling on the ground: "Why? Humble as you are, it just happens to suit this cleaning job."

"You must know, many people want this opportunity of yours, thinking about it day and night, but have no way."

Liu Er nodded repeatedly, a smile appearing on his face: "Yes, Lord Shuang's lesson is correct! I will wipe it now."

Saying this, he leaned down and wiped the floor with his own sleeves.

Soon, he wiped the floor clean.

Shuang Jing looked up, laughed loudly, and pointed at Liu Er: "You performed well."

"I'm starting to think highly of you."

"Alright."

"Now, do one more thing, and I will help you use the quota to buy heavy armor."

Seeing Shuang Jing finally loosen his mouth, Liu Er let out a breath of turbid air and hurriedly asked what it was.

Shuang Jing said: "Very simple. Your Three Generals Battalion will all merge into my White Jade Battalion as auxiliary troops. Especially your military advisor, I think highly of him."

"He has a very close relationship with the Red Flower Battalion. You need to persuade your military advisor to join as well."

Seeing Liu Er wanting to speak, Shuang Jing immediately raised his hand to forbid it: "Of course."

"I just want to see your performance."

"I don't really want you to merge in."

"To tell you the truth, if you mud-legged people join, I would have to spend a lot of effort to persuade the generals on my side."

"But since you are defecting to me, you naturally have to show your loyalty."

"If you don't defect to me, why should I offend Du Tiechuan for you?"

Liu Er fell into silence, speechless for a long time.

A moment later, he cupped his hands and bowed deeply: "Lord Shuang Jing, my two sworn brothers and I advance and retreat together. I am confident in persuading them to come and defect to you."

"But my military advisor comes from a great clan and has always invested heavily to support the Three Generals Battalion."

"In fact, without him, our financial resources would not have reached this point today."

"Moreover, he has fought alongside us and has deep comradeship."

"If I were to scheme against him, wouldn't I be returning kindness with ingratitude?"

Shuang Jing sneered: "Liu Er, you should slap your own mouth! Do you mean that defecting to me is scheming against Unlike Ning Zhuo?"

"Is joining my command such a despicable thing?"

"Is it actually making you return kindness with ingratitude?"

Liu Er hurriedly apologized.

Shuang Jing's gaze was cold, scanning Liu Er up and down: "Now, I give you two choices."

"The first choice, you agree to my last request and do as I say. Never mind heavy armor; even if you become an official in the court in the future, I can help you arrange it."

"The second choice, you refuse me. Although it wasted my time and emotions, I won't make things difficult for you. You slap yourself thirty times, and I will forgive you; go back to where you came from."

Liu Er was silent for a moment, then suddenly raised his right palm and slapped his cheek hard.

Slap, slap, slap...

He did not stop, really slapping himself thirty times, slapping his cheeks until they were red and swollen, and blood spilled from the corners of his mouth.

Shuang Jing snorted coldly, very displeased: "Just now I thought you were not bad, but now it seems you have no capacity."

"You are just a hybrid, with a low background and humble status, and you still want to have morals?"

"Heh."

"Simply ridiculous!"

"You are not worthy of being under my command. Continue to live in your humbleness; you will sooner or later regret your stupidity this time and pay the price."

"Now, get out."

"Please allow the little one to withdraw!" Liu Er bowed deeply, retreated slowly, and walked all the way to the curtain door of the tent before turning around, lifting the curtain, and exiting the main general's tent.

When Liu Er left, Unlike Ning Zhuo realized that the confinement had disappeared.

He pushed the door out at the first opportunity and bowed to Shuang Jing: "Lord Shuang Jing, why do this? With your capacity, how could you not accommodate an outsider Jin Dan?"

Shuang Jing looked deeply at Unlike Ning Zhuo: "Then, Unlike Ning Zhuo, what do you say?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo did not hesitate and bowed again: "Please forgive me for withdrawing!"

"Hehehe." Shuang Jing sneered three times and pointed at the curtain door. Due to Unlike Ning Zhuo's status as the son-in-law of the Grand General, he did not say "get out."

Unlike Ning Zhuo left immediately, flying and running all the way, catching up with Liu Er.

"Lord Liu, Lord Liu!" Unlike Ning Zhuo called out urgently.

Liu Er turned around and saw Unlike Ning Zhuo chasing from behind him, his heart moved.

Unlike Ning Zhuo did not hide anything from him and told him about his experience in Shuang Jing's tent.

Liu Er laughed: "Military Advisor is wise and sensitive, even more advanced than I thought."

Unlike Ning Zhuo sighed deeply: "It's just that Lord Shuang Jing is high above, looking down on us, and you have been humiliated, General."

"Not so." Liu Er shook his head directly, "What do these count for?"

"Just as Lord Shuang Jing said, plenty of cultivators want such an opportunity but cannot ask for it. For someone with my status to get such an opportunity, it is truly lucky."

"It's just that I find it difficult to grasp such luck."

"This is my problem."

Unlike Ning Zhuo also shook his head, held Liu Er's arm, and pleaded: "Lord has treated me deeply, and I am deeply grateful!"

Liu Er grabbed Unlike Ning Zhuo's arm with his other hand: "Military Advisor! Although our ages are quite different, we are close. The Three Generals Battalion can survive to this day, and your contribution is the greatest."

"What I just said was not false, but from the bottom of my heart."

"What virtue or ability do I, Liu Er, have to be favored by Lord Shuang Jing?"

"I am just a human-demon hybrid."

Speaking of this, Liu Er paused and pointed to the distance: "Military Advisor, look at that mountain. Why don't we land there, and allow me to clarify my heart to you."

Unlike Ning Zhuo naturally would not refuse.

The two flew down to the nearest mountain, landed on the rocks, and took a rest.

Liu Er took out a pot of wine and poured it for himself first: "My father was a demon cultivator, and my mother was a human. I was raised by my mother."

"At first it was fine, the demon bloodline in me was not obvious."

"I also had days like other children, carefree, playing and fighting."

"This was the only bright spot in my childhood, but perhaps it was precisely because of this that I felt the pain that followed even more."

Liu Er took a sip of wine: "What my playmates gave me was fear, suspicion, and alienation."

"As I grew up, what I suffered was the cold eyes, ridicule, and discussion behind my back from my peers. They called me a hybrid, a mongrel, a half-demon, or a monster."

"I was isolated and no longer had playmates. When I played alone, I was most afraid of meeting peers in the same village. They would mock me as a monster, surround me, push me to the ground, and deliberately throw stones at me."

"I once hated my identity very much and quarreled with my mother, asking her why she didn't give birth to me as a pure human?"

"And when I understood some principles, I understood my mother's helplessness, and I gradually learned to stay away from the public, avoid crowds, and protect myself as much as possible."

Liu Er poured a glass of wine for Unlike Ning Zhuo.

"Near the mountain village where I lived, there was the only cultivation sect."

"This was the place I dreamed of joining."

"My talent for cultivation was not bad, and my mind could be called flexible. I took joining the sect as the hope of my life, longing to use this opportunity to change my destiny, my life, and improve the situation for my mother."

"But it's ridiculous, when the sect opened its three-year activity to recruit disciples, I didn't even enter the first round."

"The human cultivator guarding the gate saw me, waved his sleeve, and threw me away."

"What he said, I still remember vividly—'How can a thing born from the crossbreeding of demons and humans be worthy of cultivating with us?'"

Speaking of this, Liu Er looked at Unlike Ning Zhuo, clinked glasses with Unlike Ning Zhuo, and drank the wine in the glass.

"I was thrown to the ground, bruised and swollen, and everywhere around me were people's mockery and ridicule."

"I didn't know how I got up."

"I wandered in the mountains like a lonely ghost."

"When my mother found me in the middle of the night with disheveled hair, she hugged me tightly. I pushed her away with force, let out a shrill roar, pointed at her nose, and scolded her, why did she give birth to me?"

"My mother let me scold her until I was exhausted, and then she carried me on her back, walked several miles of mountain road, and returned to the thatched cottage where we lived."

Liu Er's eyes were red, and his voice was choked: "If my mother were still alive, I would definitely be filial to her. Unfortunately, I was too ignorant at that time."

Liu Er looked at Unlike Ning Zhuo: "So, Military Advisor, don't worry. I have been ridiculed and mocked since I was a child, and what I suffered at Lord Shuang Jing's place today counts for nothing."

Unlike Ning Zhuo raised his glass and toasted Liu Er: "I see that you now have great ambitions, move forward bravely, have outstanding strength, and treat people like a spring breeze; such demeanor makes people can't help but want to follow."

"It can be seen that an old saying is very reasonable—When Heaven is about to place a great burden on a person, it will first torment their heart and will, exhaust their muscles and bones, starve their body and skin, empty their body, and disrupt their actions, so as to stir their heart and harden their nature, and increase what they cannot do."

Liu Er laughed: "I didn't understand such principles at that time."

"Even if a high person came to admonish me, I wouldn't listen to a single bit."

"It wasn't until three years later, when a disaster occurred, that it completely changed me."

"The mountain village was on the verge of collapse due to the disaster. For the sake of livelihood, the villagers chose me as a sacrifice to the gods."

"My mother knelt and begged all the villagers, wailing and begging for three days and three nights, but she couldn't exchange for my freedom."

"On the day of the sacrifice, when I was about to be thrown into the fire, my mother rushed over and died in the fire in my place."

Liu Er paused here.

Unlike Ning Zhuo was silent.

Liu Er took a few deep breaths and continued, his tone becoming hoarse: "But the villagers still didn't let me go and threw me into the fire as well."

"The god saved me secretly."

"It turned out that before becoming a god, He was just the sect's guardian demon beast. Supported by the sect, He successfully developed incense and became a god."

"In the past years, every once in a while, He had to use divine power to create famine, which was convenient for the sect to cut down the emerging new forces in the local area, and incidentally harvest the wealth of the rich."

"In this way, the sect's status, reputation, and interests could be maintained."

"I prayed to the god to resurrect my mother, but He was unwilling. He was also helpless, but this time, He was moved by my mother's sacrifice and pitied my half-demon status, so He secretly let me live."

"From then on, I understood completely."

"In this world, even if a demon cultivator becomes a god, he is just a puppet of others."

"Is there still a pure land for demon cultivators in the world?"

"Even if there is, can a hybrid half-demon like me be accepted?"

"I secretly left the mountain village, lived by begging, and wandered for many years. I met my master and finally started cultivation."

"I gradually broadened my horizons and despairingly discovered that people in the world treated demon cultivators and half-demons with disdain and exclusion."

Liu Er looked up at the sky.

The sky was clear for ten thousand miles, vast and wide.

Then, Unlike Ning Zhuo's ears heard Liu Er's words, which contained excitement.

"Since there is no pure land in this world, then let me create one!"

"This is my ambition."

"I want to create a pure land that can allow hybrids like me to live freely, a place without white eyes, ridicule, exclusion, and suppression."

"For this, I can dedicate my life!"

Unlike Ning Zhuo was stunned.

Liu Er withdrew his gaze, turned to look at Unlike Ning Zhuo, and smiled: "So, compared to the ambition I bear, what does this humiliation count for?"

Unlike Ning Zhuo was speechless. ===== CHAPTER 521 =====