The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 322 No. 1 in the World

Hearing this, the general people would blush and become uneasy, but obviously, Li Ye wasn’t this kind of person. He was brazen-faced. He said earnestly, “I was thinking about something, so I didn’t notice...”

Li Ye believed what he said because the first step to deceive someone was to deceive himself. But from Song Jiao’s expression, Li Ye knew that she didn’t believe it, no matter how much he believed it.

Knowing that he couldn’t muddle through with this barefaced lie, Li Ye changed his mind. He decided to use the trick which was effective every time. Immediately, he smiled and said, “What’s more, your cultivation will soon reach the Spiritual Master Realm, so it’s normal for me not to notice that. With your mind and experience, once you achieve the Spiritual Master Realm, you will be extraordinary!”

As expected, women liked nice words, and even the mature women had no exception. Getting Li Ye’s flattery, Song Jiao immediately became happy. She snorted with delight and explained herself, “After I achieve the Spiritual Master Realm, you will be screwed. You wait and see!”

Song Jiao didn’t intend to look further into this episode because it was hard to tell. But she was angry about being made fun of.

To express her anger, Song Jiao shook her head into the room and sat down on the chair without asking Li Ye. “Li Cunxiao has retreated!”

“As I expected.” Li Ye leaned against the door frame, folding his arms leisurely. “Although Li Cunxiao is brave and fierce and he is almost invincible in battle, he is just a general of Militarism, so he can’t turn against the sky.”

Song Jiao said solemnly, “According to Liu Dazheng, Li Cunxiao is already a senior general of Militarism!”

Li Ye was a little stunned. Then, he became solemn. “That’s bad news. Senior general of Militarism... He is No. 1 in the world now. When he fights on the battlefield, who else can defeat him?”

Song Jiao came from the White Deer Sect, so she was experienced and knowledgeable and had a good memory. She said in a deep voice, “It’s said that when a military warrior of Militarism becomes a senior general, his heroic spirit, like a bright moon, can withdraw ghosts, gods, and evil spirits. When he fights on the battlefield, the cultivators, who are below the Immortal Realm, can do nothing to him!”

“In addition, when a military warrior of Militarism is promoted to the senior general realm, his power of ‘Continuous Tides’ and ‘Mountains’ will become fiercer, and he will also have the chance to comprehend the power of ‘Destroying Cities’ and ‘Solid Defense’. The power of ‘Destroying Cities’ means the ability to attack a city, and the power of ‘Solid Defense’ means the ability to defend a city.”

“Li Cunxiao is a rare talent in the world and a once-in-a-millennium genius of Militarism! In Songyang, it’s said that Li Cunxiao is most likely to reach the top realm of Militarism after Overlord of Western Chu!”

Songyang was the sacred place of Militarism, similar to the place where the five major Taoist sects were located. It was the most famous place for the masters of Militarism to train their disciples.

Song Jiao’s expression was grave. Li Ye became serious as well after hearing this because Song Jiao was telling the truth.

With Li Cunxiao’s talent, he would definitely comprehend the power of “Destroying Cities” and “Solid Defense”. It meant that it would be extremely difficult for Li Ye to capture the city which was defended by Li Cunxiao.

It took Li Ye great effort to capture Qinzhou which was defended by Li Cunxiao who hadn’t been promoted to the senior general of Militarism, partly because Li Keyong arranged strict defense and guarded personally. Therefore, it would be more difficult to capture Taiyuan than Qinzhou because of Li Cunxiao and Li Keyong’s joint defense.

Maybe, he couldn’t capture it at all.

Shaking his head, Li Ye felt a bit bitter. There were always some people in the world who were beyond people’s imagination. Through the ages, there were quite a few of them, such as Shang Yang, Han Xin, Huo Qubing, Li Cunxiao, and so on.

It was, of course, a very depressing thing to make enemies of such people because they were very powerful and you could do nothing to them. When facing these people, you would realize that you were a mortal and they were immortals.

Seeing Li Ye’s solemn look, Song Jiao blinked and giggled. Glancing at Li Ye, she said, “Are you scared of Li Cunxiao?”

Li Ye brought back his mind and chuckled. He said with ridicule, “I’m the specially privileged person whose lifelong ambition is to defend the country. I’m destined to press forward and kill everyone who stands in my way. It’s ridiculous for you to have such doubts.”

Song Jiao snorted. “You’re the one who is ridiculous!”

Li Ye sat down in the room and said earnestly, “Li Cunxiao is a tough nut to crack. We really won’t stand a chance if we confront him face to face. Although I have several hundred thousand troops under my command, no one can defeat him. Because we can’t confront him face to face, we can take an indirect approach.”

“Take an indirect approach?” Song Jiao became interested. “Are you going to assassinate him?”

“Li Cunxiao is now promoted to the senior general of Militarism and becomes the pillar of Hedong’s defense, so the monks in the Land Buddhism are bound to tightly protect him. The assassination won’t work,” Li Ye said, “What’s more, the indirect approach is by strategy not by assassination.”

Song Jiao rolled her eyes, enchanting.

...

After five days’ hard fights, Li Cunxiao broke through Liu Dazheng and Shangguan Qingcheng’s line of defense because of his promotion to the senior general of Militarism. But it was too late. Before he could get to Qinzhou, it was captured, so he could only retreat to Yizhou.

On his way back, Li Cunxiao encountered the Pinglu Army again. Their generals were gathering soldiers. Li Cunxiao was eager to support Qinzhou previously, so he just broke through the line of defense and went straight to the south and didn’t hunt down the Pinglu soldiers, after he defeated Liu Dazheng and Shangguan Qingcheng. Therefore, the Pinglu Army didn’t have a lot of casualties.

At this time, Li Cunxiao nursed a grievance and wanted to get rid of this Pinglu Army. But before he could take action, Li Ye, who had already controlled Qinzhou, sent the masters of the demon clan who were in the Immortal Realm to specially protect this Pinglu Army.

Li Cunxiao had no choice but gave up attacking and went to the north angrily with his troops.

When Li Cunxiao returned to Yizhou, Li Keyong was already in the city.

Li Keyong was brought over by Feihong Bodhisattva when Qinzhou was captured. He felt angry, aggrieved, and desperate. After all, both sides spared no effort to confront each other in the battle of Qinzhou. Li Keyong failed to defend the city because of many reasons, but basically speaking, it was because he was not powerful enough.

When Li Ye just arrived, the Imperial Army hadn’t won, and the Hedong Army hadn’t lost. At that time, Hedong was in strict defense, but Li Keyong couldn’t win. Now that Qinzhou was captured, and the gate of Hedong was wide open, the military situation was not as good as before, and it was possible for the local officials and ordinary people to change their minds after the battle.

After all, Li Ye represented the imperial court and had the righteous name.

For Li Keyong, the situation would become harder.

The righteous name was worth nothing when it was useless, but it was worth more than 100,000 troops when it was useful.

Li Cunxiao dismounted in front of the Inspector General’s mansion. He took off his armor along the way. When he arrived at the main hall, his upper body was already naked with a bundle of thorns tied behind his back. As soon as he entered the door, he knelt and apologized to Li Keyong who stood back to him in the hall with his hands clasped behind his back. “It was my fault to delay the time to support Qinzhou. I ask for punishment!”

Although Li Keyong turned his back to Li Cunxiao, Li Cunxiao could still feel Li Keyong’s anger. Li Keyong’s hands on his back were shaking. When hearing Li Cunxiao’s words, Li Keyong’s fists clenched, and they were still shaking.

“You should die! You deserve to die!” A long time later, Li Keyong couldn’t help but turn to kick Li Cunxiao’s chest fiercely. “If you didn’t delay and if you came in time, Qinzhou wouldn’t have been captured by Li Ye, and the good situation of Hedong wouldn’t have come to naught!”

However, after Li Keyong spared no effort to kick Li Cunxiao angrily, Li Cunxiao had no reaction. To Li Keyong’s surprise, Li Cunxiao didn’t fall to the ground but knelt as stably as a mountain.

Li Keyong was stunned and about to get angry. It seemed unreasonable to him that Li Cunxiao dared to resist the kick. But then, he stood stunned and couldn’t help smiling with madness in his eyes. The muscles on his face twisted together because of the violent changes in expression.

“You, you have reached the realm of the senior general of Militarism?” Li Keyong’s hands shook violently.

The senior general of Militarism was rare in the world, and there were none of them in the current Tang Empire.

Since Li Cunxiao became the senior general of Militarism, in other words, he was the first general in the world.

Its meaning to the Hedong Army, to the current battle situation, and to Li Keyong was self-evident.

Li Cunxiao was asking for punishment, while Li Keyong kicked him. He didn’t deliberately resist Li Keyong, but because he already had the cultivation of the senior general of Militarism, Li Keyong, who was just a general of Militarism, was unable to hurt him.

Hearing Li Keyong’s scolding, Li Cunxiao was ashamed. He felt guilty and came to ask for punishment sincerely. He didn’t expect that he would offend Li Keyong, so he couldn’t help feeling ashamed. When he was going to prostrate, he suddenly heard Li Keyong’s sound of surprise. He was stunned.

In his memory, Li Keyong seldom lost control of himself.

Li Cunxiao didn’t feel arrogant. He quickly said, “When I was in the fierce battle with the Pinglu Army, I was lucky to break through my realm. Now I’m indeed a senior general of Militarism...”

Li Keyong was overjoyed. He hurriedly forward to help him up before Li Cunxiao finished speaking. “Good! I was right about you. You eventually broke through the senior general of Militarism. You’re bound to realize your potential in this battle! And we will also let Li Ye know the strength of Hedong!”

While Li Keyong was very excited, Li Cunxiao felt flattered. “You overpraise me...”

“You deserve it.” Li Keyong laughed. His anger was replaced by excitement.

He continued, “You’re promoted to the senior general of Militarism and become No. 1 in the world. This is a big event that is worthy of a celebration of all the Hedong soldiers and civilians! As for Qinzhou, it is nothing compared with you. Don’t take your previous failures to your heart. You’re bound to defeat Li Ye in the future!”