Beast Piercing The Heavens

Chapter 48 - On the Way

The two hundred odd people stared dumbstruck at Qinghan, it seemed as if they weren’t able to fully comprehend this order from their leader, the young lord. Because, all the previous young lords they had met were all self-centered and arrogant.

Actually, this two hundred odd team all came from the same background as Shiqi and Shisan. They were all adopted and secretly trained by the Ye Family, before which they were homeless orphans. Among them, Shisan was regarded as the most talented one.

​These “Death Warriors”, who were chosen by the Ye Family, had all expressed their loyalty as well as gratitude towards the family. They deemed the family order with the highest respect. Before this trip, their direct leader, Ye Qingniu had told them, that Qinghan would become their future leader. Therefore, they were required to protect Qinghan, no matter what the cost was. They reckoned that Qinghan’s order should be obeyed without hesitation, even if Qinghan instructed them to die.

But the curious thing was, Why would Qinghan’s first order be like this?

“Does that mean we don’t have to kneel down to our new master?”

“Don’t you think we should pay respect to our master by kneeling down?”

The crowd whispered to each other, for they were confused by Qinghan’s words. But when their eyes met with Shisan’s cold glance, they all rose up and replied, “Yes, Your Majesty!”

Shisan, as the most-favored team member by Ye Qingniu, had already heard that their new master was a little bit different from the other young lords. He was even told, that however hilarious, or absurd the order was, they must obey. So, he was the one who was least surprised by Qinghan’s style of leadership.

“Alright, don’t let your dinner go cold because of me. Come on, keep on eating, drinking and bragging. Pretend that I’m not here, ok?” Feeling the awkward atmosphere, Qinghan tried to break the ice. Afterwards, he found a nearby campfire and sat down.

Several minutes later, Shisan handed over a roasted rabbit leg to Qinghan, which looked quite tasty. Both Shisan and Shiqi then sat beside Qinghan.

“I have a question, why are these people always keeping a distance from me? Is it a sign of respect or fear?” Qinghan turned to Shisan, as he chewed on the rabbit leg with relish.

“Because we’re the Death squad. Captain, Elder Qingniu, has given this team to you. So, these two hundred odd people will fight for you unconditionally. Plus, before the end of the Elite prefecture war, the two of us will do whatever you order us. Even if you ask us to die, we have to obey. Given all the rights and authority you have, do you think they’ll respect you, or be afraid of you?” Shiqi quickly cut in, before Shisan could reply, because he felt like Qinghan’s concern was totally pointless.

As the appointed leader of this team, Qinghan must be considered as a promising descendant. Otherwise, who would be so privileged as to enjoy this kind of treatment and protection? Before they had left the Ye Castle, all the team members were told to pay special attention to this task. According to this logic, Shiqi misunderstood Qinghan’s intention by asking this question, as he thought that Qinghan had asked it on purpose, in order to show off his superior status.

“Er? I’ve never heard about this Death squad.” Qinghan frowned over Shiqi’s scornful expression. He had once told Ye Tianlong not to send anyone from Ye Jian’s family, as a result, Ye Tianlong had given the secret Death squad to him! Moreover, both Shisan and Shiqi, who were not even thirty years old, had already entered into the Realm of the Prince. Obviously, they were the reserved fighting power of the Ye Family. With their level of cultivation, both of them were qualified to be the leader of a small city. How could the Ye Family be so generous, as to dispatch them simply to protect Qinghan?

“Errr, do you really have no knowledge of the Death squad?” Shisan asked in confusion.

“Hehe, in the past, anyone in the family would throw crap at me. No one really cared about me. To be honest, given my low status, I didn’t even have access to any of the family secrets.“ Qinghan replied in a self mocking tone, yet the smile on his face was bitter, and reluctant.

“Oh… sorry, young lord, we have mistakenly believed that you were showing off your privileges in front us. We apologize for that. We hope that you aren’t upset.” Shisan and Shiqi glanced at each other, before they embarrassingly bowed to Qinghan.

“It seems that this young lord has had a miserable past. I bet he must’ve acquired some magical method in cultivation, otherwise, the family would never pay attention to him.”

“Just now, when he said that he had reached the third level of the Realm of the Commander, I doubted it. However, now, I’m totally convinced. Without a special ability in cultivation, he wouldn’t be given complete control over our Death squad.”

Both Shisan and Shiqi whispered to each other, and suddenly felt that Qinghan’s experiences were very much like their own – they had been chosen by the family as competent Death Warriors because of their cultivation level. The reason the family had suddenly thought highly of Qinghan, was also due to his terrifying cultivating speed. As a result, their suspicion towards Qinghan gradually faded away.

They moved closer to Qinghan, trying to tell Qinghan the details of this task.

“Young lord, I’d like to quickly brief you on our task. These two hundred odd people are all orphans like us, who were adopted and trained from a young age by the Ye Family. Usually, when we carried out our tasks, our identity remained hidden. To tell you the truth, we’ve never appeared in such numbers in public. Originally, we’ve got over a thousand members. Unfortunately, during the numerous dangerous tasks, many of our comrades have found an unfortunate death, while others came back with amputated arms and legs, or even completely paralyzed. Thus, in total, we’ve only got about seven hundred competent members. This time, do you know how many members the family has sent? Six hundred and five people! I wonder how many of us will be able to return home safe and sound…”

“Wait... How come? I mean, aren’t we with only about two hundred people?” Qinghan was confused by the amount of Death Warriors and asked inquisitively, while he continued to gnaw on the rabbit leg.

“Oh, sorry, we forgot to tell you. On top of those you see here, we have two other squads. To my knowledge, each squad has received a confidential task, because it has never happened before, that all of our members were sent out.”

“Ye Tianlong, you’ve made a long shot gamble.” Qinghan murmured, as he figured out what the other squads were doing right now. He looked around the crowd, and felt somewhat guilty, for they were about to fight in a ferocious war, where the chances of being killed were extremely high. He solemnly spoke, “In the Elite Prefecture War, as your leader, I cannot guarantee that all of you will come back without being killed or injured. However, I promise you, that I will protect you guys to the best of my ability.”

“On behalf of all the Death Warriors, I extend my sincere gratitude to you, our young lord.” Both Shisan and Shiqi stood up and bowed to Qinghan.

Nevertheless, deep inside, Shisan and Shiqi still felt that the decision of the family was kind of silly. The members of the Death squad had all grown up and trained together, which had allowed them to establish a solid and unshakable friendship among each other. And they wouldn’t have the heart to see their comrades die one after the other in the war. If it was for the glory of the family, they would accept it without batting an eye. However, if it was only for the sole purpose of getting the Spirit Immortal Dan for this young lord, they would be pissed off.

The rabbit leg in Qinghan’s hand was almost finished. He then wiped his lips, and drank a cup of water to rinse his mouth. Suddenly, he turned around in perplexity, and asked, “Where is our next stop? How long will it take?”

“Our next stop is Enchantment City, the Yue Family’s territory. You know, all the participants from the other four families will converge soon. We will later go to Dragon City together with them, after which we’ll arrive at the Prefecture War Island. It takes… no more than half a month.” Shisan replied cordially, though he sneered in his heart. Because he thought that Qinghan, as their leader, should know the route of this journey. Plus, they had been on the way for almost a month, how could he still not have any clue about where they were going? At the very least, this seemed ridiculous to Shisan.

“Alright, enough talking. I’ll return to my carriage first.” Qinghan then walked back to his carriage and pulled the curtain open.

Since there would be a half month journey ahead, Qinghan thought that it would be better for him to continue cultivating. If he successfully managed to condense his Battle Qi in his Dantian, then he would even enter into the Realm of the General. He wondered, if he integrated with his battle beast while in the Realm of the General, if he might be able to stand on equal footings with those in the Realm of the Marshal. If that would be the case, then it would be much easier for him to fight in the Elite Prefecture War.