"Hyah!"
Squeezing the horse's abdomen, Shadowless leaped up like a dragon. With a single step, it crossed layers of space and landed five or six zhang away, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Neigh let out a long neigh as the White-hoofed Shadow carried Wang Chong down.
After a few months of growth, Shadowless's body was much stronger and stronger than before. Although it was not an adult yet, it was not inferior to other adult horses, and might even be better.
"Brat, catch!"
At the edge of the training camp, a tall figure stood, seemingly waiting for a long time. Seeing Wang Chong approaching on horseback, he laughed and suddenly threw something over.
Wang Chong leaned to one side and caught it. It was a thumb-sized bamboo tube.
"... Brat, open it whenever you encounter a problem you can't solve. It might be of help to you. "
"Hahaha, thank you, instructor."
Wang Chong waved his hand and put the bamboo tube into his robe. Then he galloped away without stopping and soon disappeared into the forest.
...
Whoosh!
The autumn wind blew. On a bare hillside deep in the mountains, several figures exuded an extraordinary aura. Each of them was riding on a tall horse.
These people were in their twenties, and there were both men and women. Every movement they made had the extraordinary aura of dragons and phoenixes among men. Under their feet, a halo of thistles and thorns vibrated under the hooves of the horses, spreading out, making them look even more heroic.
True Martial Realm!
These people were actually all True Martial Realm experts.
"He should be here by now, right?"
"It's been so long. Why hasn't he appeared yet?"
"Who does he think he is to make so many people wait for him?"
"The people of Kunwu Training Camp have no concept of time at all!"
...
On the bare hillside where reddish-brown rocks were exposed, the horses were sneezing. These people looked rather impatient.
"Neigh!"
At this moment, Neigh's horse suddenly neighed. At first, it was still in another valley, but in the blink of an eye, it had sped all the way here.
"Everyone, sorry for the long wait!"
Warhorses Neigh and Wang Chong rode the White-hoofed Shadow out of the dense foliage and landed on the reddish-brown rocky hillside.
"It should be right. This is the place."
Wang Chong thought to himself as he glanced at the tall scarlet flame flag behind the three of them.
Kunwu Three Great Training Camps had a total of three fixed assembly points for the joint training. The gathering point would be different depending on the level.
Wang Chong was currently at the highest grade Dragon-Tiger Flaming Flag, the gathering point for the Three Great Training Camps' joint trial.
It was Wang Chong's first time participating in such an operation. He had been lost in the mountains for a while. Fortunately, he had set off in advance, so it should be about time.
"These fellows have very high cultivation bases."
Shifting his gaze away from the scarlet flame flag, Wang Chong soon noticed the three people in front of the flagpole, as well as the True Martial realm halos beneath them.
Wang Chong had no idea that the people accompanying him were all True Martial realm experts.
"What's going on? Why are you only here now? "
"Aren't you being a little too arrogant to have a group of people wait for you?"
"Are all the people in Kunwu Training Camp like this? As expected of those with humble backgrounds! "
…
Just as Wang Chong was about to greet them and introduce himself, a piercing voice sounded by his ear. The three of them were assessing Wang Chong with unfriendly gazes.
Wang Chong chuckled and retracted his outstretched hand. Clearly, the three of them had taken him as a descendant of those officials in Kunwu Training Camp.
Indeed, compared to those from Longwei and Shenwei, those from Kunwu Training Camp had the worst backgrounds. Chen Burang, for example, was the son of an ordinary hunter.
In this aspect, they weren't on the same level.
"I'm sorry, I'm late."
Wang Chong smiled. He wasn't angry at all. It was obvious that none of the three recognized him.
"What's going on? Why did Kunwu Training Camp send such a young lad? "
The young man in the middle, who seemed to be the scion of a prestigious clan, assessed Wang Chong from head to toe. Suddenly, he seemed to have noticed something and cursed.
At this moment, the others also noticed that Wang Chong's appearance was at most fifteen to sixteen years old. He didn't seem to be older than seventeen, which was a far cry from them.
Those who were able to appear here were around nineteen to twenty years old. Most of them were at the same level as Wang Zhu Yan and Marchioness Yi.
They were well-known figures in their respective training camps.
Standing together with them, Wang Chong did seem out of place.
Not only so, the young man on the right with a square face and thick brows also noticed something else.
"What's going on? He doesn't even have the halo of a True Martial realm cultivator? Isn't he trying to drag us down? "
Not only was Wang Chong younger than them, his cultivation realm was also much lower than theirs. Furthermore, the war steed beneath him didn't even have the halo of a True Martial realm cultivator.
Not to mention, that steed was just a young one!
Such a companion was truly a prodigy. He wasn't on the same level as them at all. This made the crowd even more displeased.
Shenwei and Longwei weren't on the same level as Kunwu in the first place. This was the difference between nobles and commoners. On the other hand, Wang Chong's behavior only served to deepen the gap between them.
"This misunderstanding is getting bigger and bigger!"
Wang Chong chuckled. From the attire of the trio, Wang Chong could roughly tell that they were from prestigious clans. Indeed, they were rather prominent in the capital.
However, in terms of background, none of them could match up to him.
However, Wang Chong couldn't be bothered to explain.
This wasn't his style at all.
"Don't worry, I won't drag you down! If you encounter any danger, feel free to leave me behind. "
Wang Chong smiled. He wasn't angry at all.
"Hmph! It's best if you don't! "
The young man in the middle harrumphed. With a flick of his reins, Neigh and his steed flew down the slope, heading north.
One, two, three. Finally, Wang Chong also urged the White-hoofed Shadow to leap down the slope.
The young woman, who was at the very back, saw Wang Chong's skillful maneuvers and a hint of astonishment flashed across her eyes. However, she quickly turned around and, without saying a word, flew away.
The trees on both sides flew past them as fast as lightning. In such a complicated terrain, the warhorses' capabilities were displayed. The thistles, shrubs, and jagged rocks were all too easy for warhorses to get injured.
The trio had originally believed that Wang Chong wouldn't be able to keep up, but they quickly realized that Wang Chong was completely capable of keeping up with them.
"Hmph, he's got some skill."
The trio coldly snorted and quickly ignored Wang Chong as they headed north.
"This … isn't going into the capital at all!"
Wang Chong quickly noticed something strange as he followed behind them. Although he couldn't see it from the forest, if he looked carefully, he could see that the group was traveling in a massive arc, circling around the capital.
This meant that they wouldn't be entering the capital at all.
"I wonder what this mission is about?"
Wang Chong suddenly felt a tinge of curiosity.
About two hours later, the group finally passed through the forest and stepped onto the official road. They traveled more than twenty kilometers to the north. In the northwest of the capital, a figure dressed in official robes stood by the side of the official road with his hands behind his back and a gloomy expression. Behind him were several Imperial Guards of the palace.
"Someone from the Chamberlain of Dependencies!"
Wang Chong's eyebrows twitched. Of all the officials in the royal court, the ones he hated to see the most were the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies. It wasn't because he had any grudges with the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies, but the vast majority of the people in the capital didn't like the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
This was because the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies were extremely protective of the foreigners. Be it the Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu, the countries of the Western Regions, Ouzan, or Goguryeo, as long as there was a conflict with the foreigners, the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies would definitely appear.
The phrase that the officials of the Chamberlain of Dependencies said the most was' Our great China is a land of etiquette. We must be magnanimous … 'Thus, whenever there was a conflict, it was the people of the Central Plains who were on the losing end.
In the capital, even the scions of the prestigious clans didn't like the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
But the Chamberlain of Dependencies just had to shoulder the responsibility of diplomacy, and it wielded immense authority. Every year, the royal court would be arranged by the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
On top of that, the Holy Emperor rarely interfered in this matter, allowing the Chamberlain of Dependencies to grow stronger and stronger.
Even the scions of the prestigious clans would rarely provoke the Chamberlain of Dependencies. Otherwise, if the Chamberlain of Dependencies were to lodge a complaint with the Holy Emperor and the censors were to impeach them, it would be a huge headache for their clans in the royal court.
"The Chamberlain of Dependencies is only responsible for matters related to the foreign countries. In other words, this mission … has something to do with the Western Regions. "
Wang Chong's mind was in turmoil as he vaguely guessed at a few things.
The Beiting Protectorate in the north was currently in a tense relationship with the Eastern and Western Khaganates. The appearance of the people from the Chamberlain of Dependencies definitely didn't have anything to do with the Turks, so the rest was easy to guess.
Of all the foreign countries, the Chamberlain of Dependencies was most concerned about the relationship between the countries of the Western Regions and the Abbasid Caliphate, Charax Spasinu, and Sindhu.
Firstly, it was because this road was far from the Central Plains to the Turkic steppe, and it was fraught with danger.
Secondly, it was because this road was too unstable, filled with too many uncertainties.
"The Silk Road!"
The name of this road flashed through Wang Chong's mind.
In the Tang dynasty, it still didn't have such a name. However, Wang Chong already had a rough idea of what this mission was related to.
Since Wang Chong had come from the commoner's Kunwu Training Camp, this matter naturally had nothing to do with him. The youth from Longwei Training Camp quickly stepped forward and handed over the task to the official from the Chamberlain of Dependencies.
The official from the Office of the Chamberlain of Dependencies nodded and turned to face the crowd.
"All of you will head west to the first gathering point. Everything has been arranged. Let me warn all of you in advance. Once you participate in the operation, even if you die midway, you are not allowed to back out. You must completely obey orders, or else you will be severely punished! "
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