In the battle of Hundred Beast Slope, the Tiger and Wolf Army relied on a force of one hundred men to completely annihilate three thousand elite cavalry of the Xiongnu Royal Guard, decapitating their commander, the Eagle of the Steppe, Vulture.
This news, like a magnitude twelve earthquake, completely detonated the entire northern frontier of Great Qin in the short span of a single day.
From Liaoxi Commandery in the east to Lintao Commandery in the west, along the Great Wall defense line stretching thousands of li, countless Qin Army officers and soldiers had the exact same initial reaction upon hearing this news: utter disbelief.
Fake, right? Breaking three thousand with a hundred? And total annihilation? Is this some kind of fairy tale?
The Tiger and Wolf Army? Wei Zhe? Never heard of them. What kind of monsters popped out of which camp?
I heard about it! It's that teenager who enlisted less than a month ago and was exceptionally promoted to Chieftain! Oh my god, he actually pulled it off!
When more and more details were confirmed as true through official military dispatches and the word of mouth of scouts, the entire northern frontier plunged into a state of fanatical adoration.
Wei Zhe's name was no longer merely a legend; it had turned into a living myth, a young God of War protecting the northern frontier!
Inside the main tent at Eagle Beak Cliff Fortress.
The atmosphere was far from as enthusiastic as the outside world.
Meng Wu sat behind the commander's desk. Before him lay two items.
One was the head of the Eagle of the Steppe, Vulture, whose eyes remained unclosed in death.
The other was the eagle-bone horn that represented the supreme glory of the Royal Guard.
He looked at these two items, remaining silent for a long time. His gaze was filled with shock and... a trace of hidden worry.
He knew that Wei Zhe had fought this battle far too brilliantly—so brilliantly that it already exceeded conventional logic, and even exceeded the control of himself, the commander of the northern frontier.
A general who could defeat three thousand with a hundred while suffering zero casualties on his own side had reached an unimaginable realm of military command and personal martial valor.
Such a person was a sharp weapon of the state, but he could also be a double-edged sword.
"General." Shi Meng stood to one side, his voice somewhat dry. "Wei Zhe... has been waiting outside the tent with the Tiger and Wolf Army for a long time."
Meng Wu slowly raised his head and looked at Shi Meng. "How do you think I should reward him?"
Shi Meng felt a chill in his heart; he knew the general was testing him.
He pondered for a moment and said solemnly, "General, Wei Zhe's achievement is heaven-shaking. According to Great Qin's military rank and peerage system, enfeoffing him as a marquis and making him a general would not be excessive. But... after all, he has been in the army for a short time and his foundation is unstable. If he is promoted too quickly, it might provoke criticism within the army, which may not be a good thing for him."
"Go on."
"This subordinate believes we can first solidify his position, heap heavy rewards upon him, and expand his army. Promote him to Chieftain to solidify his actual authority as a commander of a hundred; reward him with ten thousand pieces of gold and grant him a fine horse to honor his achievements; allow him to further select and expand his army up to five hundred men within the Vanguard Camp. In this way, not only will he possess greater combat strength, but it won't be too earth-shattering and invite unnecessary trouble."
Shi Meng's proposal could be described as seasoned and prudent.
Hearing this, Meng Wu nodded noncommittally, simply saying flatly, "Let him in."
When Wei Zhe walked into the main tent, everyone's gaze converged upon him.
He had already changed out of his blood-stained robes and wore clean black military uniform, but the iron-blooded killing aura that had settled upon him after experiencing mountains of corpses and seas of blood was now more than ten times denser than before, causing some battle-hardened officers inside the tent to feel a trace of oppression.
"Subordinate Wei Zhe pays respects to High General!"
"Rise." Meng Wu pointed at the head. "Do you know that the man you killed, besides being a Xiongnu Chieftain, was also the favorite adopted son of Xiongnu Shanyu Modu?"
A stir went through Wei Zhe's heart, but his expression remained calm. "On the battlefield, those who are not of our race are all enemy bandits. This subordinate only knows how to kill the enemy, not their names."
"A fine 'only knows how to kill the enemy, not their names'!" Meng Wu nodded approvingly. "You burned the Xiongnu provisions, killed the Shanyu's beloved son, and wiped out his most elite Royal Guard. This 'gift' is enough to make Shanyu Modu vomit blood with rage. But at the same time, you have also become the number one nail in his eyes that he is desperate to uproot."
"From now on, your name among the Xiongnu people is probably even louder than mine, Meng Wu."
Wei Zhe did not speak, simply standing quietly.
"For the merits of this battle, this general has already reported to Xianyang for the king to decide. Before that, I shall follow Shi Meng's words and promote you to acting Chieftain of the 'Tiger and Wolf Army', reward you with a thousand yi of gold, and allow you to expand your army to five hundred men!"
"Thank you, High General!"
Wei Zhe was not surprised by this outcome. He knew very well that what he needed now was time and strength, not an inflated title.
With the reward ceremony concluded, Wei Zhe returned to his own tent.
He dismissed his guards and immediately sank his consciousness into the system.
"Check rewards!"
"Ding! Obtained Earth-rank remnant chapter Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill first layer! This cultivation method is a supreme body refinement technique, divided into a total of thirteen layers. For each layer successfully practiced, one gains the strength of one dragon and one elephant! Will you learn it?"
"An Earth-rank cultivation method!" Joy surged wildly in Wei Zhe's heart; this thrilled him more than any military reward.
"Learn!"
In an instant, an incomparably grand, vast, and ancient torrent of information poured into his mind.
Countless profound diagrams and cultivation chants circulated, as if an ancient dragon elephant were roaring up to the heavens in his sea of consciousness.
Unlike the "arts" he had learned previously, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was more like a "Dao," a fundamental method that pushed human potential to the absolute limit.
When he awoke from that profound, ethereal state, he felt that his body had undergone a qualitative transformation from the inside out.
He tried running the cultivation method, and the inner qi within his Dantian automatically began to circulate along a peculiar trajectory. Every complete circulation made him feel his bones grow harder by a fraction and his muscles denser by a fraction.
He stood up, threw a casual punch toward empty space.
Without employing any technique, it was sheer, pure strength.
Whoosh—!
Where the fist wind passed, the air was actually compressed, emitting a dull, explosive boom!
Wei Zhe looked at his own fist, his eyes filled with shock.
He felt that his current strength had surged by several times more than before!
Such an overbearing cultivation method! Merely the first layer, and it possesses such might!
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he opened his attribute panel once more.
Character: Wei Zhe Realm: Third-Order Martial Master (Entering the chamber) Strength: 200 Agility: 225 Constitution: 202 cultivation method: *Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill* (First layer 0/10000) Available Tempering Points: 3650
The realm broke through as well... Wei Zhe discovered with pleasant surprise that after cultivating the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill, his realm had leaped directly from Second-Order Warrior to Third-Order Martial Master.
Meanwhile, the tempering points he had accumulated previously had also reached an astonishing figure during the battle of Hundred Beast Slope.
"Continue adding points!"
With the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill as his foundation, all he needed to do now was pile his base attributes up to a terrifying realm.
"Strength, agility, constitution, add 1000 points each!"
He made a crazy decision!
"Boom!"
A wave of heat more majestic than any previous time surged and coursed frantically through his body, rushing through him like the breach of a dike! He could even hear the joints throughout his entire body exploding in crackling snaps!
This reinforcement lasted for the full time it took to burn an incense stick.
When everything subsided, Wei Zhe slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air. That breath was actually like a sharp arrow, blowing a shallow trench into the ground several feet ahead!
He looked at the panel once again.
Character: Wei Zhe Realm: Fourth-Order Grandmaster (Peeking through the doorway) Strength: 1200 Agility: 1225 Constitution: 1202 cultivation method: *Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill* (First layer 100/10000) Available Tempering Points: 650
Fourth-Order Grandmaster!
His strength had completed a heaven-shaking transformation overnight!
At that moment, the urgent report of a personal guard suddenly sounded from outside the tent.
"Report—! Chieftain! An urgent messenger from Xianyang has arrived by galloping through the night! Delivering... delivering the Great King's decree!"
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