Promotion to General

Sun Yan's face darkened completely.

Wasn't it just capturing one Liu Chengle?

You were in the Houtian Realm, and so was I.

My sword was no less sharp.

With that thought, Sun Yan shouted fiercely.

"What an arrogant brat."

"All of you, get him! Let this brat from the Capital City broaden his horizons!"

The sound of blades leaving their sheaths rang out. They spurred their horses and charged at Shen Qing at tremendous speed, but Shen Qing was even faster. With a step of Carefree Steps, his whole body became a phantom.

The Wild Goose Feather Saber left its sheath, carving a dazzling streak of silver through the night sky.

"Wind Blending Saber!"

Blades tore through flesh and blood. Shen Qing cleaved a fine horse straight in half, along with the officer on its back.

Blood splashed everywhere, bathing Shen Qing from head to toe and lending him a trace of sinister savagery.

At that moment, the sound of blades being drawn came from behind him. It was Black Dog. Without a word, he charged into the crowd.

Why was Black Dog called Black Dog? Because he was as fierce and loyal as a watchdog.

No matter what Shen Qing ordered him to do, he would carry it out without the slightest hesitation.

Immediately afterward, Scholar and Old Li joined the battle as well.

A sharp whistle suddenly came from behind him. Xiao Bin was thrusting over with a spear.

Shen Qing stepped with Carefree Steps and dodged the spear outright. As his saber rose and fell, Xiao Bin's hand gripping the spear was severed at the root.

His left hand shot out and caught the spear before it hit the ground. With a powerful thrust, he nailed two Imperial Guards to the ground.

[You have killed a Body Tempering Realm Seventh Layer cultivator. Congratulations on successfully plundering the trait: Drunkard (Green)]

Shen Qing raised his brows. His luck was pretty good—he had even gotten a trait from killing a mere nobody.

Sun Yan's eyes immediately turned red. He could not let Shen Qing keep slaughtering them like this.

How long had it even been? Three officers and one Lieutenant Official had already been cut down.

It was not that Sun Yan cherished his subordinates. It was simply that if this continued, they would lose.

"Shen Qing, stop right there! If you have the guts, come at me!"

Sun Yan shoved aside the officer before him, stomped hard, and threw a punch at Shen Qing.

Shen Qing glanced at Sun Yan. With a backhanded grab, he seized Sun Yan's wrist and exerted force fiercely. Sun Yan was flung up by Shen Qing and smashed violently into the ground. The stone bricks beneath him flew apart. After slamming him down several more times, Shen Qing lifted Sun Yan up by the neck.

"Come at you? That's just a matter of convenience."

Sun Yan's face was already covered in blood and grime, while most of the bones in his body had been shattered.

"Who exactly are you? Why are you determined to make things difficult for me..."

"Make things difficult for you? When you plotted against me, why didn't you think about whether you had spared me?"

Feeling the life force in his body continuously ebb away, Sun Yan was utterly terrified.

"Shen Qing... spare me. I'm willing to give you the position of General... I'll give you all my money too..."

Shen Qing smiled.

"General? I captured White Dragon Cult members and slaughtered an internal traitor. Do you think I lack your position as General?"

"As for money? If I kill you, won't it all be mine anyway?"

To Sun Yan, Shen Qing's smile was so chilling that it made his blood run cold. He regretted it—regretted being so insatiably greedy.

"One sentence."

"I'll take the money, I want the position of General too, and your life belongs to me as well!"

With that, before everyone's eyes, Shen Qing crushed Sun Yan's head in his hand.

Once Sun Yan died, the remaining Imperial Guards had essentially lost all will to fight. In less than the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, they were all dead or wounded.

The Imperial Guards stood amid a sea of blood, looking at Xiao Bin and Huang Ke, who had been hacked to death by countless blades, then at Sun Yan, whose head had been blown apart.

Every one of them wore an expression of utter disbelief.

Scholar rubbed his temples. "Old Li, is this real? Why does it feel like a dream?"

All the Imperial Guards felt the same way.

Old Li reached out and touched the blood-stained blade. "It's not a dream. The blade is cold, and the blood is warm."

"So, in the morning we wiped out the Sishui Gang, by evening we had confiscated the Huang Family's estate, and at midnight we smashed the General's Office to pieces? We even found the whereabouts of the stolen silver, while also digging up a White Dragon Cult stronghold?"

All the Imperial Guards swallowed hard. It had truly happened, yet it felt as unreal as a dream.

This was the sort of thing that, when they told it to their descendants in old age, their descendants would scoff and say:

Are you bragging?

Shen Qing glanced at Sun Yan's headless corpse with some disdain. A dignified Houtian Realm Fourth Layer martial artist had not even dropped a single trait.

How embarrassing!

Shen Qing turned back to look at the chattering crowd.

"Do you recognize the people on the ground?"

Scholar, Lin Zikai, and the others exchanged glances.

"We do. We just never expected that after being colleagues for so many years, these people had secretly joined the White Dragon Cult."

Shen Qing walked toward the Lieutenant Office. "Since you recognize them, why are you still standing around foolishly? Go confiscate their estates."

"Don't put the miscellaneous belongings from those Lieutenant Officials and officers into the public accounts. That would be troublesome."

"Move quickly. Settle it before dawn."

Everyone froze for a moment, then overwhelming joy burst forth, sweeping away all their earlier gloom.

If it was not entered into the public accounts, that meant they could keep however much they confiscated.

Never mind those officers—Xiao Bin and Huang Ke's households were definitely rich.

All the Imperial Guards roared like madmen.

"Lord Shen is mighty!"

"Lord Shen is incredible!"

"Lord Shen, you're my real father!"

Great Wu Dynasty, Wuyang Continent, Capital City.

The Imperial Palace, Imperial Garden.

A fine rain drifted down, and white mist sprawled across the lake.

The Empress Zhu Lingyue sat quietly in a pavilion upon the lake, her face brimming with heroic spirit.

An elderly eunuch passed through layers of guards, carrying a memorial as he arrived beside Zhu Lingyue.

"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the Luoshui Town Pacification Department in Yongning Commandery."

Zhu Lingyue did not open her eyes.

"Read it."

"Yes."

"Pacification Commissioner Qin Chuan of Yongning Commandery."

"On the ninth day of the fifth month, more than ten White Dragon Cult members were discovered in the eastern part of Luoshui City, Yongning Commandery. All were executed."

"On the thirtieth day of the fifth month, Lieutenant Official Shen Qing of Baiyun County, Yongning Commandery, discovered traces of the remaining White Dragon Cult members..."

The elderly eunuch read every word without omission.

Zhu Lingyue slowly opened her eyes, revealing golden pupils.

"The White Dragon Cult truly lingers like a ghost that refuses to disperse."

"Still, the name Shen Qing sounds familiar."

The elderly eunuch hurriedly bowed. "Your Majesty, have you forgotten? He is the Third Young Master of the Shen Family."

"So it's him. That makes sense. He has reached the age when the Shen Family arranges experience for its children."

"Why did he go so far away, all the way to Yongning Commandery, and even join my Imperial Guards?"

"Still, he does have some skill."

The elderly eunuch said nothing, merely listening quietly.

"Fine. If he wants to stir things up, let him stir things up."

The elderly eunuch hesitated before speaking anyway.

"Your Majesty, are you truly going to let him act as he pleases? Those from the Shen Family have always been troublemakers."

"It's no matter. Could my mighty Great Wu Dynasty truly fear Shen Qing causing trouble?"

"Let him be."

Three days later, an appointment document arrived from Luoshui City, along with a set of black Flying Fish Robes.

Shen Qing was formally promoted to General.

However, the other rewards would take a few more days to arrive.

Shen Qing changed into the black Flying Fish Robe and glanced at himself in a bronze mirror.

He stood eight chi tall, with a wasp waist, tiger's back, and mantis legs.

When he stepped outside, the Imperial Guards waiting at the gate began shouting loudly.

"Congratulations, Lord Shen! Congratulations, Lord Shen!"

Firecrackers were lit at the entrance, and for a time, the General's Office was livelier than the New Year.

Shen Qing smiled. "I'm in a good mood today. Black Dog, go reserve tables at Emerald Pine Pavilion."

"Today, every expense will be paid for by me, Shen Qing."

At once, the already excited crowd became even more energized.

"Lord Shen is generous!"

From today onward, Baiyun County's man of influence bore the surname Shen.

But this was not the end.

One day, even the man of influence in the Great Wu Dynasty would have to bear the surname Shen.

Shen Qing's Shen.