Published at 10th of October 2024 8:26 am

Chapter 857: Vanguard Regiment (1)

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Su Yu was feeling very gloomy.

The Sunmoon in black armor was very strong. This could very well be the general of the Vanguard Regiment. Even if he wasn't, he was most likely a deputy general or something like that.

The Vanguard Regiment was separated into multiple units, such as Sunmoon Unit, Mountainsea Unit, Cloudbreach Unit, and Skysoar Unit. It was filled with experts, and all the people here were ruthless individuals. The person leading the entire operation was most likely a spectacularly capable individual. Even the deputy generals of such an army would be incomparably capable.

After all, they were fighting at the outermost frontline. In a place like this, one wouldn't be able to lead the difficult individuals in the army without enough strength. And one most certainly wouldn't be able to face the attackers without enough strength either.

These powerful individuals were currently surrounding Su Yu. He was left with no choice but to raise his hands in surrender. Meanwhile, the Mountainseas and Sunmoons around him were looking at him like hungry wolves.

In fact, they were actually quite polite toward him. Most of the time, weaponsmiths were a lot more popular than pillmasters. After all, one could still survive as a cultivator without pills, but one could not survive as a cultivator without a proper weapon. Failing to maintain one's weapon properly could very well lead to a loss of life.

They started escorting Su Yu back. The Mountainsea who had shouted at Su Yu to leave earlier came over and laughed, "When I told you to leave earlier, you refused. Now, you won't be able to leave even if you want anymore."

Su Yu had an ugly expression. But that was understandable. Any other weaponsmith would also have the same expression after being caught by the Vanguard Regiment. The newly arrived Mountainsea did not mind the ugly expression. He took off his helmet, revealing an exhausted face. He looked at Su Yu again before smiling. He actually looked quite old.

"I'm Hong Du, a deputy general of the Mountainsea Unit."

After introducing himself, he said, "Master Cui, we'll be troubling you for now. Try to repair our weapons as soon as possible. These days, battles have been very frequent. A lot of our brothers have been forced to fight before they could recover from their previous injuries. Due to the poor condition of our weapons, we don't even dare to use our weapons that much anymore. Because of that, our casualties have been very high recently."

Su Yu looked around at the greatly exhausted soldiers and their wounded bodies. He said nothing. This was the Vanguard Regiment. Everyone here was a criminal. But that was not absolute. For example, two of his teachers, Liu Wenyan and Bai Feng were once sentenced to serve in the Vanguard Regiment as well. But were they sinners? Su Yu did not think so.

Of course, there were definitely some people who had been sentenced there for some heinous crimes. Thus, not everyone sentenced to the Vanguard Regiment was equal. For example, Xu Bin, the master of disguise he knew would probably end up in the Vanguard Regiment if Great Ming had decided to prosecute him. He was indeed a criminal, but his crime was not bad enough to warrant execution.

Su Yu looked at the ravine and the corpses sprawled everywhere again. He sighed with sympathy but still spoke sternly, "This won't work if you try to force me. When I said three days, I meant it. I can help you with your weapons for three days. But if anyone tries to stop me from leaving after that, I'll mess with your weapons and have them explode the moment you start fighting. Let's see if you'll still want me as your weaponsmith after that."

Hong Du had a helpless expression when he heard that. He said, "Master Cui, please calm your anger. We're only doing this because we're out of options."

These people were capable of changing their attitude very quickly. Just moments ago, all of them were still shouting at him. But now, they were respectfully addressing him as Master Cui.

Su Yu could not be bothered to say much to them. He turned to look at Liu Wenyan and snorted, "I can't do anything to Mountainseas, but that's not the case for Skysoars. This little guy was very loud earlier. I won't be repairing your weapon."

"..."

Liu Wenyan blanked out. Little guy? How old was this fellow? But when he compared their strength, he could only shut his mouth helplessly. Damn it! He was actually weaker than a brat! This was too sad.

Hong Du and the other experts couldn't help but laugh. With a smile, Hong Du made an introduction, "Master Cui, you probably know this person. At the very least, you must have heard of him before. This is Great Xia's Liu Wenyan."

"Hmm?"

Su Yu exclaimed in astonishment, "Him? According to the records in Great Ming, Liu Wenyan is supposed to be graceful, elegant, and carefree. Countless beauties are smitten by him. General Hong, are you sure you're not joking?"

After saying that, he started looking Liu Wenyan up and down with a look of disbelief. Liu Wenyan snorted and put his robe on properly, covering his hairy legs. What? Was he not elegant and graceful? He refused to believe that he was no longer elegant.

Su Yu clicked his tongue and laughed as he removed his gaze from Liu Wenyan. Looking at Hong Du, he said, "General Hong, looks like I can't stay in this Vanguard Regiment for long. If I become someone like him one day, I might as well die. You see, I care a lot about my reputation."

Hong Du laughed when he heard that. Su Yu continued, "By the way, can I know the name of that general earlier? If you don't mind, please do tell me his name. That way, I'll know his name when I complain about him to the Invincibles in the future."

Su Yu sneered and said, "I wish to see if nobody will care about an earth weaponsmith being detained for no reason."

"..."

Hong Du had an awkward expression. He was just about to say something when Liu Wenyan said, "Aren't you a pseudo earth weaponsmith? Strictly speaking, you're still a profound weaponsmith, right?"

Su Yu disagreed, "I have merely been trying to stay humble. I can forge an earth weapon any time I want. Little Geezer Liu, times have changed. Fifty years have passed since your era. People of my generation are the actual main characters of this era."

Liu Wenyan's expression changed. He sighed and sank into silence. Those were rude words, but that was also the truth.

Hong Du coughed and said, "Master Cui, don't mind him. The person you asked about is Deputy General Cao, a fifth-stage Sunmoon."

"Deputy general?" Su Yu nodded, "I thought he was a general."

"Not really. You probably don't know a lot about the Vanguard Regiment." Hong Du explained, "The Vanguard Regiment is led by Lord Qin Guang, the second son of Great Qin King. He is an eighth-stage Sunmoon. He's currently away to handle some business, but he'll be back soon."

Qin Guang, the younger brother of Qin Zhen and the leader of the Vanguard Regiment. Su Yu did not say anything about that. It was true that the Vanguard Regiment needed a leader capable of controlling the army. Someone like that needed both strength and courage. Thus, those from Great Qin and Great Xia would be very suitable for this position. After all, these were the two most ferocious prefectures in the Human Realm.

But considering Great Xia's current situation, they probably couldn't produce anyone capable of taking this important position. They had been moving while they were talking. At this point, they had withdrawn about thirty kilometers away from the battleground. There, the peak of a massive mountain had been flattened. And the base of the Vanguard Regiment was located atop the flattened mountain. It was unknown which crazy expert was the one who had flattened this mountain.

There were about five thousand members in the Vanguard Regiment, and most of them were stationed here. This mountain was also known as the Soul Severing Mountain. A place where one would lose their soul.

Of the over five thousand people here, nobody knew how many of them would return to the Human Realm alive. Perhaps these people were all criminals, but all of them had also contributed greatly to humanity during their time serving here.

The rest of the people started returning to their barracks, but Hong Du continued walking with Su Yu while introducing the place, "We have six weaponsmiths in the Vanguard Regiment. Three of them are yellow weaponsmiths and the other three are profound weaponsmiths. But among the three, only one of them is a high-tier profound weaponsmith."

"We used to have an earth weaponsmith here..." After a short pause, Hong Du continued, "But not long ago, the divines, devils, and demonic beasts attacked together. Lord Zhang fought personally, and he perished during the battle."

Su Yu frowned, "Even an earth weaponsmith needs to fight?"

"Lord Zhang volunteered to fight." Su Yu was still frowning as he said, "And you guys agreed just because he volunteered? I thought Invincibles would keep an eye on the Vanguard Regiment. Why did they do nothing to save the earth weaponsmith? How many earth weaponsmiths do we even have in the Human Realm? If we assign one to each prefecture, we won't even have enough for the numerous elite armies. Earth weaponsmiths are probably even rarer than Invincibles. Are earth weaponsmiths so worthless in the eyes of you people?"

"Absolutely not!" Hong Du hurriedly explained, "Master Cui, none of us wanted that to happen. But Lord Zhang himself was a Sunmoon as well. Since he insisted, we couldn't change his mind."

"As for the Invincibles..." Hong Du hesitated slightly before deciding to explain, "Yes, those lords have been keeping an eye on us. But there is only a possibility of interference when the Vanguard Regiment is defeated. Prior to that, they won't lift a hand as they might provoke a war between Invincibles.

"This applies to the enemy Invincibles as well. All these battles could be considered small skirmishes. But once Invincibles got involved, it would be escalated to an entirely different level of conflict."

Understanding dawned on Su Yu. It wasn't that the Invincibles were unaware or unwilling to help. Rather, they couldn't. If their Invincibles got involved, the enemy Invincibles would get involved as well. Then, the scope of the battle would escalate to a whole new level. That was something neither side wanted.

He asked nothing else and landed on the ground with Hong Du. He saw that many of the buildings here were built from stone. Standing at the center of the base was a massive stone building.

Two large words could be seen in front of the building: Weaponsmith Hall. This was the place where most of the weaponsmithing works in the Vanguard Regiment happened. Sounds of metal striking against metal could be heard coming from inside the building.

Hong Du smiled and said, "Master Cui, this is the Weaponsmith Hall of our Vanguard Regiment. Normally, most of us will come here for anything related to weapons. Of course, we will pay for any work done. The Vanguard Regiment might lack a lot of things, but merit point is not something we lack."

Su Yu asked doubtfully, "Are the people here also rewarded merit points for the battles they participate in?"

"Yes." Hong Du explained, "Of course, apart from the merit points for killing enemies, they won't be entitled for any bonus rewards. This has always been the policy of the Vanguard Regiment. After all, the people here are all criminals meant to atone for their crimes through combat."

Su Yu nodded, "I saw that some of the people have been here for many years. They must have slain a lot of enemies. Why are they still here?"

"Some of them...are unwilling to leave." With a complicated look in his eyes, Hong Du explained, "After getting used to the carnage here, a lot of people will commit more crimes once they return to the Human Realm. Some of the people here are too violent to return to the regular society. Thus, some of them decided to stay even after serving their sentence."

"Not everyone here is a criminal." Hong Du sighed, "Some of them are here to vent their desire to kill. Some have served enough to atone for their crimes, but it is too hard for them to return to a peaceful life. The other armies will occasionally recruit some of them, but these people are all too difficult to control. They can't get along well with the regular soldiers in the various armies. Many of them would eventually return here and fight until they breathed their last."

Su Yu's emotions turned heavy as well. Were these people still criminals? Perhaps they were originally criminals, but they had served enough to atone for their crimes. Alas, the excessive violence here made it impossible for them to return to regular society. Thus, they all returned here.

While Su Yu was thinking about that, the door before him swung open. A youth walked out with his head lowered in thought. When he sensed that some people were in front of him, he looked up. He nodded at Hong Du and asked, "Deputy General Hong, do you need anything here? We can try to repair your peak profound weapon, but my master can't guarantee success. We won't be responsible if your weapon ends up breaking apart from the attempt."

"Sorry for troubling you, Master Wang."

Hong Du introduced, "Master Wang, this is Master Cui, a pseudo earth weaponsmith. He is here on Deputy General Cao's invitation. He will be staying for three days and help us with some of the weapons that are more difficult to repair."

"Master Cui?" The youth looked at Su Yu. When he saw how young Su Yu was, he asked doubtfully, "Who are you?"

"Cui Lang!"

"Cui Lang?" After a long while, the youth finally recalled the name. He exclaimed, "Cui Lang? Great Ming's Cui Lang? What scam are you pulling this time? When did you become a pseudo earth weaponsmith? Aren't you a yellow weaponsmith? Even in the event of an advancement, you won't be able to go beyond the early profound grade in such a short period of time. Is this a joke?"

"..."

Su Yu curled his lips. This guy was right. Even if Cui Lang had grown, he shouldn't have been able to go past the early profound grade at this point. But he wasn't Cui Lang.

"Believe whatever you want." With a smug expression, Su Yu said, "Little Wang, learn to be polite when speaking. You see, in weaponsmithing, both luck and talent can be very important. If I really manage to forge an earth weapon, will you kneel down and apologize to me? Learn to shut your mouth if you don't want to embarrass yourself and all the other weaponsmiths in existence."

That rebuttal left the youth somewhat speechless. He said, "Do what you want. Cui Lang, if you're really here to scam, be aware that this place is filled with a bunch of psychopaths. Be careful lest someone cuts you down. Don't court death or nobody will be able to save you."

Hong Du hurriedly said, "How is that possible? Master Cui is someone with real ability. This has been proven by the recent news from the Human Realm."

"Is that so?"

The youth did not seem to believe that. Whatever. Cui Lang would be the one to suffer if this whole thing was a lie. It was none of the his business.

"In that case, I'll take you to my teacher. Cui Lang, my teacher is a high profound weaponsmith. He will be able to see if you're really that capable. Don't think that nobody here can expose your scam just because this place is filled with brutes."

"Little Wang, if you don't apologize to me later, I'll have Deputy General Hong cut you down."

The youth rolled his eyes and said, "Sure. If you're really a pseudo earth weaponsmith, I'll definitely apologize. That is the right thing to do."

He still didn't believe in Cui Lang. In fact, he met Cui Lang once many years ago. But it had been so long that he could barely recognize Cui Lang anymore.

They were never close, but he knew that this guy wasn't a dependable person. At times, this guy would start bragging after drinking too much. Had he been bragging so much that people were starting to believe his bullshit?

He did not harbor any malice toward Cui Lang. Rather, he only wanted to remind this fellow that the people here were crazy. This was not the Human Realm. Bragging here would have grave consequences. People like Deputy General Cao were all murderous individuals. This guy needed to be careful lest he ended up dead.

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