Chapter 1275: Renowned Throughout the Realm

Dugu Jing very much wanted to ask him: Did a matter like this really have to be discussed in front of everyone? Could they not step aside first? Saying it openly like that left Luo Zhao with no face at all.

Luo Zhao had nothing more to say. After throwing down the words that he did not need Yuan Gang's help, he had already turned and walked away. How could he possibly accept this favor with any pleasure?

Although he and Feng Guan'er no longer had any relationship, and although Feng Guan'er believed she was helping him, to Luo Zhao this was an enormous humiliation.

Years ago, there had already been rumors that a man as young as Luo Zhao could sit securely in the position of Grand Commander-in-Chief of Song only because he relied on Feng Guan'er's background in Lingxiao Pavilion.

Back then, he had been able to laugh such talk away.

Encountering this sort of thing again now, he could no longer remain so carefree.

Yucang immediately abandoned Yuan Gang and hurried after Luo Zhao. Once he caught up, he dragged Luo Zhao aside and tried to persuade him.

"This old man does not dare claim to know exactly what happened between you, but how can you act on emotion at a time like this? For a true man, the first priority is to establish merit and achieve great deeds. Once a man has accomplished something, why worry about lacking a wife?"

Luo Zhao erupted in anger. "National Preceptor, are you actually asking me to rely on that cheap woman to achieve my ambitions?"

He threw down the words and walked away.

Yucang chased after him again.

From a distance, Yuan Gang watched the two men speak. He could not hear what they were saying, but it appeared that Luo Zhao was eventually persuaded.

At this point, Luo Zhao had little choice but to yield.

Could Yucang abandon the plan merely because Luo Zhao objected?

Could Luo Zhao truly refuse?

When Yucang finally returned, his face was filled with helplessness.

By now he had spent enough time around Yuan Gang to understand the man's temperament. This fellow was simply built like this: rough, stubborn, and direct, forever preferring to settle matters in the most straightforward way possible.

The operation proceeded according to plan.

After the remainder of Qin's army had arrived, Yuan Gang walked from the desert's edge into the sand.

He climbed atop a dune.

Facing the boundless expanse between Heaven and Earth, he spread both arms wide.

"HO—!"

A long, sustained roar rolled out across the desert.

Yucang and the others who had followed him looked around.

Soon they saw movement in the sands ahead.

A few scattered sand scorpions broke through the surface and crawled out.

Each faced Yuan Gang's direction, tails raised high, the stingers vibrating rapidly.

That was only the beginning.

From the flying mounts circling overhead, the cultivators saw the same phenomenon spreading outward like ripples across water.

More and more sand scorpions broke through the desert surface.

Each turned its head in the same direction.

Each raised and vibrated its tail.

The strange scene stretched farther and farther away.

Viewed from high above, it looked like raindrops striking the surface of a vast lake as more and more sand scorpions emerged from beneath the ground.

The dry desert wind blew.

Yuan Gang stood silent for quite a while.

Then he spread his arms again.

"HO—!"

Another long roar carried into the distance.

The sand scorpions whose tails had been trembling suddenly began to move.

Those nearby charged toward him first.

Those farther away began moving one after another as well.

All of them converged upon the same place.

As the swarming sand scorpions gathered more densely, they looked from the sky like countless ants massing together.

The sight was magnificent.

Those standing on the ground felt something else.

The desert itself began trembling.

Countless sand scorpions came racing in.

Among the troops gathered at the desert's edge, fear gradually appeared on more and more faces.

Luo Zhao also watched the scene in uncertainty, his expression taut.

His gaze shifted to the tall figure standing with his back to them atop the dune.

A strange thought suddenly rose in his heart.

Had Feng Guan'er chosen another man because this one was stronger than him?

Before Yuan Gang, the brown-yellow army of sand scorpions assembled in a dense, horrifying mass that made the scalp crawl.

At last, Yuan Gang lowered his arms and turned toward Yucang.

"There should be enough."

Yucang asked, "Can we begin?"

Yuan Gang nodded. "Make use of the time."

Yucang immediately turned around. "Quickly!"

Dugu Jing flashed over to Luo Zhao and relayed the order.

Luo Zhao immediately issued military commands.

Yet once the order reached the troops, not a single soldier dared carry it out.

In the end, Dugu Jing had to order several cultivators to set an example.

Only then did the soldiers slowly dare approach the vicious-looking sand scorpions.

They tentatively climbed onto the creatures' backs.

Once they confirmed that the sand scorpions were docile, more men finally dared follow.

The army immediately became busy.

Supplies of every kind were divided up and secured to the backs of the sand scorpions.

Once all the soldiers and materiel had been loaded onto their mounts, Yuan Gang climbed onto a particularly large sand scorpion.

Yucang and Dugu Jing stood behind him, remaining highly alert.

This too had been agreed beforehand.

Someone had to supervise Yuan Gang in case something unexpected happened.

Yuan Gang understood perfectly well.

They feared he might suddenly turn against them and doom Qin's entire army in the desert.

He had no treacherous intentions, so he did not care.

"HO!"

At Yuan Gang's roar, the enormous sand scorpion beneath him surged forward, knocking aside several smaller ones and terrifying the men riding them.

Once the giant scorpion broke free of the mass, Yuan Gang and the others took the lead, charging into the boundless desert.

A vast rustling roar rose behind them.

Countless sand scorpions began streaming after him into the depths of the desert.

The soldiers sitting on their backs were both fascinated and nervous.

This was a sight none of them would ever forget for the rest of their lives.

Viewed from high in the sky, an unimaginably vast procession raced across the desert.

And this was only Qin's first contingent of five hundred thousand troops.

Qin had not gambled everything on a single throw.

This force was merely the advance group sent to test the route.

Yuan Gang had also advised against sending everyone at once.

If the number of troops became too enormous, he worried there might not be enough sand scorpions available to rotate through the journey.

He had seen how powerful sand scorpions could be.

But the Boundless Desert was simply too vast.

If one batch of scorpions had to carry the army across the entire distance without relief, their stamina might not hold.

Along the way, cultivators traveling to and from Boundless Pavilion stopped in astonishment when they saw the procession.

None had ever heard of such a thing.

None had ever seen such a thing.

Some even wondered whether their eyes were playing tricks on them.

Again and again, passing cultivators landed atop dunes and stared in stunned silence.

The sight was simply too fantastical.

...

In the imperial palace of Qi, Tao Lue hurried into the imperial study and reported urgently, "Your Majesty, it has been confirmed. Qin's army truly is using sand scorpions to cross the Boundless Desert!"

Hao Yuntu rose behind his desk in astonishment. "There truly is such a miraculous thing?"

Tao Lue replied, "Absolutely true. The men we sent saw it with their own eyes. The army is advancing through the desert in overwhelming numbers, and its marching speed is even faster than an army traveling over ordinary land."

"At the present rate, Qin's army should reach Qi territory in no more than three days."

Hao Yuntu was invigorated. "Good! Immediately proceed according to the reception arrangements we previously agreed upon with Qin. Have the warhorses and other supplies prepared in time!"

Warhorses and certain other materials could not be transported by sand scorpions.

Qi would have to supply those.

Qi had already agreed.

So long as Qin could help drive back Jin's army, Qi had no shortage of horses.

...

Inside Jin's central command tent, Gao Pin stood before a map with a taut expression.

The estimated route of the sand-scorpion force had been marked across the map.

Its expected destination had been marked as well.

A movement of this scale had already shaken the entire cultivation world.

With Jin's intelligence channels, how could Gao Pin possibly remain unaware?

The problem was that Qin's destination lay beyond the reach of Jin's present army.

Even if Qi simply opened the roads and allowed Jin to march through unhindered, Jin would still be unable to reach the destination in time to intercept Qin.

And how could Qi ever allow Jin's army to pass without resistance?

The moment Jin dared advance deeply into Qi territory, Huyan Wuhen would certainly seize the chance to strike hard.

But once Qin's army entered Qi territory and completed its assembly, Jin would no longer be facing Qi alone.

It would have to split off a major force to deal with Qin as well.

Gao Pin had never expected this.

Not even in his dreams had he imagined Qin would intervene in the war by marching in such a fashion.

Faced with something like this, there was simply nothing he could do.

A general strode in from outside the tent.

Gao Pin's deputy entered behind him and reported, "Grand Marshal, His Majesty has sent a message."

Gao Pin kept his eyes on the map. "Speak!"

The deputy said, "The court has investigated the matter thoroughly. Qin's army is able to cross the Boundless Desert because of assistance from Maolu Villa in Nanzhou, State of Yan."

"It has been confirmed that Yuan Gang, formerly one of Niu Youdao's trusted subordinates, is the man who can control the sand scorpions."

"A few days ago, this same Yuan Gang killed Xiaoyue Pavilion Elder Bai Shangcheng with a single slash inside Qin's imperial palace."

"Blackwater Terrace failed to identify the significance of the situation in time and has already been reprimanded by His Majesty."

Gao Pin slowly said, "And what use is confirming it now? Isn't it rather late to be telling me this?"

The deputy continued, "At present, Qin is transporting only its first contingent."

"His Majesty says Qiyun Sect has already assembled experts and sent them to intercept and assassinate Yuan Gang."

"So long as Yuan Gang is killed, Qin's main forces will be unable to enter Qi. That should greatly reduce the pressure on the Grand Marshal."

Gao Pin sighed.

"At a time like this, how could Qin and Qi fail to understand Yuan Gang's importance?"

"They will certainly protect him with everything they have."

"To think Jin only discovered now that such a man existed."

"How did our intelligence fail this badly?"

"Blackwater Terrace was negligent, but the cultivation forces led by Qiyun Sect also failed in their vigilance..."

He sighed again.

"Hopefully they succeed."

...

Inside Qi's central command tent, Huyan Wuhen listened to the report and fell into thought.

He muttered to himself, "Yuan Gang? Him?"

Zha Hu, standing beside him, smiled.

"Yes. Back then, General thought highly of him and wanted to recruit him. You even gave him the Three-Roars Saber."

"I hear that very saber was what he used to cut down an Elder of Xiaoyue Pavilion."

"Who could have imagined he possessed such ability?"

"Come to think of it, General truly had good judgment."

"If you had not shown him mercy back then and had instead killed him, where would today's Qin reinforcements have come from?"

"One might call this good karma returning a good reward!"

Huyan Wuhen shook his head.

"That boy's temperament is not suited to ordinary society."

"His blunt nature would have fit life in the army, yet beside Niu Youdao he remained obscure and unknown."

"What a pity."

Zha Hu said, "But now his name is renowned throughout the realm."

"To kill a peak Golden Core expert with a single slash is enough to make anyone take notice!"

...

In another tent not far away, Xuan Wei slammed her fist onto the table.

She struck so hard that the skin across her knuckles split and blood flowed.

With her other hand, she clutched the clothing over her chest as though drowning in regret.

"How did I forget him?"

Ximen Qingkong silently walked over.

He took her soft hand and began treating the wound.

Xuan Wei seemed not to feel the pain.

Her face was filled with anguish.

"Ximen, others not knowing would be understandable."

"But we personally saw him control sand scorpions."

"How did we fail to think of him?"

"If we'd thought of him earlier, if Qin's army had crossed west through the desert sooner, how could Wei ever have fallen to this state?"

Ximen Qingkong said, "We saw him control sand scorpions, yes."

"But we didn't know he could use them to transport an army."

"Things have already reached this point. Regretting it now serves no purpose."

"Xuan Wei, stop blaming yourself."

"You live every day inside regret and self-reproach. Look at what you're becoming."

"Some things truly were not your fault."

Xuan Wei said sorrowfully, "It was my incompetence!"

...

At the western edge of the Boundless Desert, on the side facing Qi, the sand scorpions finally stopped.

Their armored bodies feared water, and they were reluctant to leave the desert for the land beyond.

The soldiers, who had scarcely enjoyed any proper rest throughout the journey, were utterly exhausted as well.

Yet after climbing down from the scorpions, they still had work to do.

They had to unload the supplies.

A Qi force had already arrived to receive them.

Both sides exchanged formal greetings and began coordinating arrangements for rest and recovery.

Luo Zhao naturally handled those military matters.

Yucang and the others, meanwhile, met the cultivators Qi had sent.

Afterward, they brought a group of those people over to Yuan Gang.

By then, a large group of Xiaoyue Pavilion experts had already gathered around Yuan Gang.

They watched the surroundings vigilantly.

Xiaoyue Pavilion knew the commotion had grown far too large to conceal any longer, so it had concentrated a substantial force to protect him.

[End of Chapter 1275]