The tall leader said, "It's not that we are unwilling to serve the country, it's just that …" He sighed and said, "There's no need for the money to return home. We are eternally grateful for Marshal Tie's order today! We bid our farewells here. "
As his words trailed off, he led his brothers out of the camp.
The four hundred and seventy-one men who had chosen to start over from the bottom stood silently, sending off their brothers who had chosen to leave with their gazes.
Just like Tie Zheng had said, there was no regret for those who stayed, no guilt for those who left. Everyone had their own ambitions and followed their own hearts!
Tie Zheng's gaze was trained on the janissary general who puffed up his chest and said, "Don't blame us, Marshal Tie. As Marshal Yang's janissary, if we were to be taken in by Marshal Tie as your janissary, even if the brothers of the northern troop won't be dissatisfied with the marshal, we won't be able to rest easy. We're willing to kill the enemy and start over. To us, as long as we can fight on the battlefield again, it's enough."
Tie Zheng sighed.
He knew the meaning of the janissary general's words.
Although he had stated clearly that these janissary soldiers had not participated in framing the Nine Supremes and should not be punished for it, Yutang's soldiers and military brothers did not know the reason. If they saw the janissary soldiers who had followed the treacherous officials become the new favorite janissary of the northern troop's succeeding marshal, how could they not feel resentful?
Oh, how could those who had made a mistake continue to enjoy their original treatment? There was no such logic!
"Very well. I respect your individual choices. "
Tie Zheng said, "Collect your names and military records later. Start all over again from the lowest rank. I'll only say this once more. From now on, we shall walk this journey together and not speak of the past! "
"From now on, the northern troop's surname is Tie!"
Tie Zheng lifted his head and spoke in a faint but resolute tone, "Pass down my military order. The northern troop will set up a new training camp. The original training content will be doubled!"
"The northern troop's training base will be expanded immediately!"
"Within a month, I want to see thirty thousand trained soldiers to join the war at the northern border. If the soldiers who are on duty do not meet the combat requirements, the training general will be beheaded! "
"If there's any disturbance in the northern barracks within Yutang's borders, the commanding general will be beheaded immediately without any chance to defend himself!"
"Tomorrow, assemble ten thousand soldiers and follow me to the Northern Frontier!"
"This battle is directed at the empire's northern border. I, Tie Zheng, shall flatten the northern border, I shall not return without victory!"
…
That afternoon.
Tie Zheng patrolled the northern troop's camp for the first time, gathering the high-ranking generals for a lecture. On the same night, the eastern troop gathered a list of a thousand people that Tie Zheng needed and had them report to the northern troop immediately. All of them were then dismissed and returned home to reunite with their families.
The next morning, the sky had just brightened.
Tie Zheng led an army of ten thousand men and officially departed, galloping towards the northern border.
That very night, 17 of Yang Botao's 29 personal guards committed suicide in front of the ruins of Yang Botao's old house.
The other twelve were nowhere to be found!
If Yang Botao had died because he was wronged or because he had no other choice, then the number of people who sacrificed their lives would probably increase by several times.
However, it was true that Yang Botao had betrayed the Nine Supremes and his crime of treason. In the end, only these seventeen people died here, paying with their lives!
Even so, these seventeen corpses that still stood erect still caused a stir in the capital city.
Qiu Jianhan personally ordered the burial and sighed, "Such a good man, yet he ended up like this. It's a pity. Sigh … No matter what reason Yang Botao had for killing the Nine Supremes, his conduct as a marshal of an army is indeed worthy of his reputation. "
…
That afternoon, Yun Yang chased after Yang Botao all the way out of Tiantang City.
Initially, Yun Yang had thought that Yang Botao's betrayal of the Nine Supremes was exposed and his act of treason was obvious. He was no longer of any value to the Four Seasons Tower and was completely abandoned. Whether it was on the surface or the inside, to Yutang, to the Four Seasons Tower, to the Nine Supremes, or even to himself, there was no chance of survival left.
However, the Four Seasons Tower's combat power had unexpectedly come to his rescue. Many experts of the seventh peak and above who had died in this battle could be said to have died because of Yang Botao. This was completely illogical, especially not in line with the Four Seasons Tower's conduct.
Unless … Yang Botao had something that Yun Yang and the Empire of Yutang did not know about. Whether this was his identity, background, or some kind of secret, it was unknown. However, since this was worthy of the Four Seasons Tower's attention, the place that Yang Botao was going to next must be one of the Four Seasons Tower's bases. Such a base was what Yun Yang yearned for the most, how could he let it go?
Yun Yang utilized the power of wind and cloud at the same time. It looked like the biting cold wind was urging the white cloud in the sky to travel at lightning speed, but the white cloud that Yun Yang had transformed into was actually moving on its own, traveling even faster with the wind.
It was also because of this that Yun Yang realized the answer to a question that he had not figured out before.
Yun Yang had always been confident about his own safety. Even if the Four Seasons Tower really had the ability to go to heaven, it was impossible for them to set up a spiritual sealing formation like the one at Tianxuan Cliff under Tiantang Square overnight. On the day of the public trial, as long as he did not go down to join the battle, he, who had the five abilities, could change his form at any time and would not be afraid of any ambush.
What Yun Yang could not understand was why the Four Seasons Tower was so confident. They did not take any additional action and allowed the public trial to proceed smoothly. Was it just to let Supreme Wind appear?
If that was the case, did it not mean that they had the confidence to kill Supreme Wind the moment he appeared?
However, what would they use to complete the kill?
Before going to Tiantang Square, Yun Yang had not figured out the answer. However, the moment he arrived at Tiantang Square, Yun Yang acutely felt a threat that came from the sky.
The sense of threat was unprecedentedly strong, but only Ling Xiaozui's domineering aura the other day could be stronger. In other words, the source of this threat was a superb expert, a pinnacle expert who had surpassed the level of Tenth Perfection!
However, Yun Yang was not the least bit afraid. His cultivation base had improved tremendously and was no longer comparable to the time when he faced He Hanqing. Furthermore, he was already prepared to turn into the wind and leave at any time. Once he willed it, no one would be able to catch him.
However, when he tailed the expert who had saved Yang Botao all the way out of the city, Yun Yang finally realized what he had been afraid of, or rather, the Four Seasons Tower's real killer move against Supreme Wind, was!
Behind him, there was a saber shadow that seemed to have turned into a green color, tailing the gust of wind that he had transformed into.
If it was not for Emmie's support that increased the observation ability of his deific consciousness, he would not have realized that there was a saber hidden in the sky!
He circulated the power of wind and cloud at the same time; one of the forces moved forward as the wind while his body blended into the white clouds in the sky, traveling with the wind. As for the saber light, it had been tailing behind the cold wind, neither too fast nor too slow, neither too close nor too far away.
Yun Yang had changed the speed of the wind a few times, whether it was slow or fast, but the saber light had maintained its inseparable state, tailing him just like that. In any case, it had used some unknown method to lock on to the force of his wind transformation.
Yun Yang's heart skipped a beat.
Was this the Four Seasons Tower's ultimate killer move?
If he was really eighth brother Supreme Wind, he would only have the ability of the wind manifestation. He did not know if the hidden saber light really had the power to annihilate the wind manifestation. As long as he followed it like this, when his mystical Qi cultivation base was exhausted and he had no choice but to return to his human form from his wind manifestation, it would be the time he would be killed by the saber.
Thinking of this, Yun Yang was struck with a flash of inspiration. He recalled what Mi Kongqun had said to him before he died when he had killed him.
"Right … be careful … there's a saber in the sky!"
Yun Yang had not understood what it meant before this.
There was a saber in the sky?
How could there be a saber in the sky?
Now, however, he understood!
There was indeed a saber in the sky!
It was a saber that had no shape or form at all!
Now, at this very moment, this saber was the Four Seasons Tower's ultimate weapon to kill him!
Yun Yang believed that in the eyes of this saber, Yun Yang, who had transformed into the wind, had been completely locked on to. He was now a child in the palm of the saber, a fish on the anvil, at his mercy. As long as he continued to wait, he could wait for the wind to return to its human form and confirm the identity of the target. He would then know if the target had any other henchmen. Only then would he carry out the finishing move, uprooting and annihilating them once and for all!
"Why doesn't he do it now? If he were to follow me for such a long distance, there might be changes. Even if my cultivation base is shallow and I don't notice it, it's impossible for me to not notice it all the time. On the contrary, if my manifestation is broken, I won't be able to escape his grasp and I'll definitely be captured. Why go through so much trouble? Yes, even if he could completely lock on to the wind manifestation, he wouldn't be able to break the wind manifestation directly. "
Yun Yang pondered and came to a conclusion.
"Then, is this saber in the sky a person? Or is it only a saber being controlled by a person? "
In front of them, the person who had rescued Yang Botao from the public trial was still carrying Yang Botao on his back and was still sprinting forward. His speed was exactly the same as before and had not slowed down at all. They were now two hundred miles away from Tiantang City.
However, the person was still sprinting forward.
There was a tall mountain in front of them, and on top of it was a dense forest.
The person was moving very quickly, running at full speed without holding back. Yun Yang even noticed that the person had spat out a mouthful of blood as he ran, but instead of slowing down, he was running even faster.
This meant that the person was using some sort of self-mutilation to forcefully propel himself to maintain his high speed.
It was almost as if he was risking his life.
Was it because Yang Botao was too important or …
Yun Yang's heart skipped a beat. "Could it be that the other side in front is their real trap against me? Was the action in Tiantang Square just a pretense? That's right, it's indeed easy to set up some strange formations in such a desolate place … "
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