Battle Through the Heavens: Emperor Yan, please restrain yourself; your elder brother is truly hones

"Ah!" Senma Rong let out a miserable cry.

Lingying in the shadows: ? ? ?

After a few dozen breaths, Zhang Yuan withdrew his hand and smiled, "This is a burning sensation with four times the pain. How do you feel?"

"You're a demon, you're a demon! I've told you everything I know!" Senma Rong gasped in a hoarse voice, his eyes filled with despair and fear.

Zhang Yuan's smile remained unchanged as he said, "I didn't suspect you were lying to me. I made you experience four times the pain so you wouldn't forget the feeling of being worse than dead just now. I wanted to help you remember it because I need your cooperation in doing something."

"Tell me, I'll agree to anything," Senma Rong said, a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "Just give me a quick death."

What he wanted was not to live, but to die quickly and painlessly.

"Simple, wait a moment."

Zhang Yuan gave Sen Ma Rong some instructions, then asked, "Did you remember them?"

"I've got it," Senma Rong said, his voice trembling with tears.

He agreed to such a small thing without hesitation, so why make him go through even greater pain?

"I hope you keep your word, otherwise next time I'll give you ten times the punishment, and it will be a long time." Zhang Yuan's voice appeared in Senma Rong's ear, like a devil's whisper.

Then, he picked up Senma Rong, transformed into wings of strange fire again, and flew back in the direction he came from. When he landed in a similar spot, he walked back to the location where he had been ambushed.

"Captain, the heads of all nine thieves of the Illusionary Mist have been taken." Ye Ya and his personal guards immediately came forward to report.

The Dark Cloud Guards are the death squads of the Izumo Empire's royal family. They either fight to the last moment and self-destruct, or they commit suicide by activating the deadly poison in their bodies after being captured.

Apart from Senma Rong, only one other Grand Master was still alive after being knocked unconscious by Zhang Yuan. The other seven and Jia Liebi were all dead except for their heads, which needed to be taken back to identify them and convert them into merit.

"Ah."

Zhang Yuan nodded in satisfaction, handed Senma Rong over to Ye Ya to manage, and then went to the unconscious Grand Master. He first injected strange fire to control his Battle Crystal, and then woke him up.

Upon seeing Zhang Yuan, the man immediately attempted to self-destruct and commit suicide, only to find that his body had already lost control.

"I need you to answer my question, and I'll give you a quick death after you do," Zhang Yuan said.

"Pah!" The Grand Master sneered, "You little bastard from the Gama Empire, don't even dream about it. I won't say a word, or I'm not a Liuchuan."

"..." Upon hearing these somewhat familiar words, Senma Rong's eyes revealed a mixture of sympathy and satisfaction.

At least I wasn't the only one suffering from the devil's cruelty.

Ling Ying in the shadows: "."

People in the Izumo Empire all use poison; could it be affecting their brains?

"That's a very good answer." Zhang Yuan smiled, picked up the Grand Dou Master, and left.

About half an incense stick's time later, he returned with the man and casually tossed him next to Senma Rong.

The two looked at each other, feeling a sense of shared sorrow and wanting to cry.

"Begin the interrogation now."

Zhang Yuan called Xiao Boyuan over, his expression turning serious, and asked the two of them, "Who are you people?"

"The Dark Cloud Guard of the Izumo Empire." The two answered in unison, as if they had been trained.

Their answers caused Lin Zhengqing, Gu Ni, and the others to change their expressions drastically.

The Nine Thieves of the Illusionary Mist actually came from the Izumo Empire, and were even members of the Dark Cloud Guard directly under the royal family!?

"What is the purpose of your visit?" Zhang Yuan continued to ask.

"To influence the development of the northeastern province of the Gama Empire, to secretly gather information, and to create favorable conditions for the empire to send troops in the future, but because the emperor is seriously ill, for the time being it is only an introduction and intelligence gathering," Senma Rong replied.

"Why did you come to ambush me?" Zhang Yuan asked again.

“Because our informants asked us to eliminate you.” Another Grand Master said, “They are the Jialie and Oba families from Utan City. They regularly supply us with resources through raids. We have several strongholds in the mountains, and a lot of supplies are piled up there. You can confirm this.”

Zhang Yuan nodded, then said to Ye Ya, "Tie them up and take them back to the military camp."

As he spoke, he transmitted his voice to the two of them again: "You will die on the way, but don't worry, I won't break my promise."

Then he looked at Lin Zhengqing and Master Gu Ni and said, "Master Gu Ni, please go back and inform my uncle to hold back and that City Lord Lin will come with me to Qingyun Town."

Lin Zhengqing and Gu Ni looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

The world in Wutan City is about to change completely!

Chapter 33 Qin Zhendong, Commander of the Black Armor Guard

Three days have passed in the blink of an eye since Zhang Yuan annihilated the Nine Thieves of Illusionary Mist in Illusionary Mist.

Qingyun Town is an important town located in the southwesternmost part of the Northeast Province and the northwesternmost part of the Eastern Province, and it is also adjacent to the Monster Mountain Range.

Although it is only a town in terms of administrative level, it is already a city in terms of scale, and even stronger than Wutan City, which was built by the "Peak" Xiao family.

The reason for not changing the city is that the Gama Empire has a law that a city must be governed by a city lord. The greatest significance of this town is to provide a garrison for the empire's elite troops. The town is rotated every three years, and the commander must also assume the duties and responsibilities of the city lord.

Half a month has passed since the Black Armor Guards and the Valiant Dragon Guards took over. All 10,000 elite troops have been stationed there, guarding various key locations. The highest authority in Qingyun Town has now become the commander of the Black Armor Guards, Qin Zhendong, a nine-star Dou Wang.

At this moment, in the study in the backyard of the Qingyun Town Commander's Mansion, a man sat at his desk reading a book. He suddenly asked, "Jingyan, will my little teacher Zhang be back soon?"

The man was about fifty years old. Unlike most soldiers, he resembled Zhang Yuan more, giving off a refined and scholarly air. At first glance, he seemed like an ordinary middle-aged man, but upon closer inspection, one could sense his unfathomable depth.

He is none other than Qin Zhendong!

The person he was questioning was a handsome young man in his early twenties who gave off a gentle vibe and resembled Qin Zhendong by about six or seven points.

"Does Father miss him?" Qin Jingyan heard the sarcasm in Qin Zhendong's words and smiled slightly.

The "Little Teacher Zhang" that Qin Zhendong mentioned was Zhang Yuan.

Zhang Yuan broke through to the Dou Shi level at the age of fourteen and joined the Black Armor Guard by stepping on the Mu family's Mu Zhan. With such dazzling talent, he naturally attracted special attention.

While carrying out a mission to suppress bandits in the southern province of the empire, Zhang Yuan, with the strength of a nine-star Dou Shi, directly killed a three-star Da Dou Shi, which led Qin Zhendong to decide to take him as his disciple and train him as a direct disciple.

After a private conversation with Zhang Yuan that lasted several hours, he did not accept him as a disciple, but instead left with a disappointed expression.

Rumors then circulated in the army that Zhang Yuan had offended Qin Zhendong, and that Meng Xu, the captain who was under the same command as Zhang Yuan and was on good terms with the Mu family, mocked him.

Zhang Yuan didn't say anything at the time, but when Meng Xu proposed promoting him to captain, he objected, believing that the latter's strength was insufficient to convince the masses and that they should fight according to military rules.

In the end, Meng Xu, a six-star Grand Dou Master, was actually defeated by Zhang Yuan using the rules, which shocked many people. On that day, Qin Zhendong also gave Zhang Yuan a token, granting him the right to see him at any time.

As for the reason, besides his desire to attract talent, it was also because he wanted to learn military strategy from Zhang Yuan. He had a very personal interest in this area, and his dejected appearance that day was also because he was amazed by one of Zhang Yuan's strategic proposals.

Later, Zhang Yuan often came to discuss or, to put it more bluntly, to instruct him on military strategy, and they became close friends despite their age difference. He jokingly referred to Zhang Yuan as "Teacher Zhang."

It was precisely because of this connection that Zhang Yuan was able to ask for leave to return to Wutan City to visit his family on the very day the Black Armor Guards entered Qingyun Town.

"I do miss him a little."

Qin Zhendong put down his book, his eyes filled with undisguised admiration, and nodded, saying, "I'd like to hear his opinion on the matter the Empire had me do in secret."

"You mean Yancheng, Mo?" Qin Jingyan's expression turned serious.

"Hmm." Qin Zhendong said seriously, "Yancheng is one of the major cities of my Jiama Empire. It can compete for the top position in the eastern provinces. It is the only way for the empire to reach the eastern provinces. It has a very good strategic location and has been guarded by the empire's heavy troops all year round."

"But now, the most powerful Mo family in Yancheng has monopolized 60 percent of the city's industries. After deducting the necessary taxes and the large amount of wealth obtained through connections, they are becoming increasingly wealthy and still do not restrain themselves."

"If it weren't for the other three families in the eastern provinces restraining him, and the existence of the snake people tribe, the Mo family would have even expanded its strength to other cities. And this is all because he has the Yunlan Sect backing him up."

The name Yunlan Sect weighed heavily on Qin Jingyan's heart.

The Gama Empire has been in turmoil for years. The emperor passed away without leaving a male heir, one of the four founding fathers of the Fighting King family is missing, the empire's guardian beast is said to be injured and in hiding, both princesses are still young, and the royal family's control over the local areas is getting worse and worse.

If it weren't for the fact that the emperor of the Izumo Empire is also in a bad situation, with several factions fighting amongst themselves in the court, and the fact that the Gama Empire has a formidable pass, they probably would have already sent troops to invade.

The situation within the Kejiama Empire is also not good. The problem lies with the Yunlan Sect. Although there are rumors that the previous sect leader, Yunshan, has fallen, the current sect leader, Yunyun, is also quite strong and talented. She has also won over the Nalan family by taking on disciples, and most importantly, she has won over the sixth-grade alchemist, the Pill King Guhe.

“Although Zhang Yuan understands military strategy, his strength is ultimately limited. Let alone the behemoth that is Yunlan Sect, I'm afraid he won’t have any good ideas to deal with the Mo family either,” Qin Jingyan said.

He admired Zhang Yuan's wisdom, but that didn't mean he blindly believed in him.

"But it doesn't hurt to ask." Qin Jingyan smiled again and said, "He said he can only stay in the family for a maximum of five days. The journey there and back will take ten days in total. If we calculate it as fifteen days, today is the deadline. If he doesn't come back, he will be subject to military law."

"Speaking of which, he will be passing through the Illusionary Mist Mountains on his way back to Wutan City. Father, why don't you ask him if he has any way to deal with the Nine Thieves of the Illusionary Mist?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Zhendong pointed at his son and shook his head, saying, "Your idea is even less realistic than me asking him for advice on how to deal with the Mo family. Back then, even when Old Xu personally led a team to wipe out the Nine Thieves of Illusionary Mist, they were not completely wiped out. If Zhang Yuan had a solution, I would really be willing to become his disciple."

Qin Jingyan immediately said, "Then I'll talk to Zhang Yuan when I have time. Maybe he'll put some thought into taking a Dou Wang expert as his disciple."

The father and son exchanged a glance and burst into laughter in unison.

Just then, a guard ran in, excitedly saying, "Commander, there is important military news."

The Qin father and son's expressions changed, and Qin Zhendong gestured for the visitor to explain in detail.

"Commander, Zhang Yuan, the captain of the left battalion of the Xuanzi Battalion, led his men to annihilate the Nine Thieves of Illusionary Mist and returned to the city to report. Deputy Commander Wang sent me to inform you."

Qin Zhendong: ?

Qin Jingyan: ?

Meanwhile, at the military camp outside the west gate of Qingyun Town.

The Black Armor Guards consist of four ranks: Heaven, Earth, Black, and Yellow, each guarding one of the four city gates: East, South, West, and North.

The commander of the Xuanzi Camp was named Qin Zhenming, a cousin of Qin Zhendong, and a nine-star Douling.

He had just finished his roll call and summoned his four captains and five deputy captains to the main camp to discuss how to wipe out an upcoming small beast tide.

But before he could speak, one of the five deputy captains clasped his hands and said, "Reporting to the commander, I wish to be promoted to captain. Please report this to the commander."

Upon hearing this, some of the people present remained expressionless, while others revealed sarcasm in their eyes. A tall, bald man even sneered, "Meng Xu, you didn't specifically choose to get promoted when Zhang Yuan wasn't around, did you?"

The bald man's name is Shi Jiu, a five-star Grand Dou Master. He became acquainted with Zhang Yuan while on military duty. He has a fiery temper and likes people who act decisively. He and Meng Xu have always disliked each other.

Meng Xu's eyes immediately darkened, and he released his aura, saying coldly, "Shi Jiu, I was just accidentally knocked out of the circle back then, I didn't really lose to Zhang Yuan, and I certainly won't now."

Meng Xu's aura was very strong, having already reached the seventh level of a Great Dou Master.

The expressions of the captains and deputy captains present changed slightly, and the smile on Shi Jiu's face froze.

Meng Xu felt triumphant and bowed to Qin Zhenming, saying, "Commander, I think I am qualified. I chose this time only to pursue efficiency, not because I am afraid of anyone. If you think that I still need to be tested, I am willing to fight Shi Jiu."

Seven stars against five stars, and his wind-attribute battle qi also counters Shi Jiu's fire-attribute battle qi, so he can definitely dominate.

Shi Jiu wanted to curse as soon as he opened his mouth.

But just then, a voice rang out from outside the tent: "Traditional command."