Open Treasure Chests! Charged Saber Slash!

"Commander."

"You fought hard in the battle today. Let us subordinates stand watch tonight," Wei Quan said at once.

"Indeed."

The other Thousand Commanders nodded in agreement.

"Enough nonsense. What I just said is a military order."

"For these past days, the men have rested less than an hour each day and are already exhausted. The root purpose of this feint was to let our brothers rest."

"Once they have rested well, even crueler wars await us," Zhu Ying said gravely.

"Your subordinates obey."

The Thousand Commanders answered in unison.

"Alright, go get some rest." Zhu Ying nodded and said no more.

"Commander."

"With our army having won such results this time, should we report it to the Command Commissioner?" Wei Quan asked with a smile.

The other Thousand Commanders also looked at Zhu Ying expectantly.

This time, they had slain another four thousand enemies and captured many warhorses, dealing the Tatars a heavy blow.

It could be called another great merit.

This was not merely Zhu Ying's military achievement, but the achievement of every Ming Dynasty soldier who had faced the enemy on the Northern border.

"Let's deal with the Tatar cavalry pursuing us before making the report," Zhu Ying said with a laugh.

"Your subordinates obey."

The Thousand Commanders answered excitedly.

They had absolute faith in Zhu Ying's words.

Afterward.

Zhu Ying's gaze fell once more upon the map in his hand.

"The Tatar tribal court is still to the north. Once we eliminate this pursuing force of Tatar cavalry, we can seize the chance to strike at their tribal court."

"Even if we cannot achieve complete success, we will have the chance to deal the Tatars a heavy blow. We can also throw them into disorder, leaving them utterly unable to support the Yuan Court."

"And judging by the time, the main force dispatched by the imperial court should have reached Daning Prefecture by now."

"The Ming Dynasty is about to shift from defense to offense." Zhu Ying thought to himself.

He had been on the Northern border for quite some time.

For Zhu Ying and the soldiers under his command, it had been a matter of retreating while fighting.

It was guerrilla warfare through and through.

They struck the enemy unprepared.

When faced with large forces, Zhu Ying did not choose to clash head-on either, advancing and retreating with measured restraint.

At its root, it was all to buy time.

To keep the Tatars tied down.

After all, that was the main objective.

"The Tatar tribal court."

"I must make a trip there."

Zhu Ying stared at the location of the Tatar tribal court on the map.

Then he put the map away.

This map had not been made by the Ming Dynasty. It had been taken from a Tatar general slain earlier.

Though it was not especially detailed, many Tatar tribes had been marked upon it. For Zhu Ying, that was enough.

"Right."

"I still haven't opened the three treasure chests."

"Time to gamble on my luck."

Zhu Ying came back to himself.

After killing more than five hundred enemies earlier, he had been rewarded with one ordinary treasure chest.

When all his attributes broke through eight hundred points, he had been rewarded with another.

When all his attributes broke through nine hundred points, he had received one more.

Zhu Ying immediately communicated with the panel. "Open all the treasure chests."

Host command: opening three ordinary treasure chests.

Obtained Yellow Tier Low-grade Protective Inner Armor.

Obtained Yellow Tier Mid-grade Charged Saber Slash.

Obtained ten bottles of Yellow Tier Low-grade Premium Hemostatic Powder.

A notification appeared on the panel.

"This time, my luck was good. Everything turned out to be graded."

Seeing this, Zhu Ying felt a surge of joy.

From the looks of it, anything that was graded was a good item.

"Premium Hemostatic Powder."

"Since it's graded, its hemostatic effect must be excellent."

When Zhu Ying saw what had come out of the third treasure chest, his heart immediately stirred.

In this era, the greatest cause of death on the battlefield was still excessive blood loss, followed by the inability to stop bleeding and infection.

Although this era already had suturing techniques and methods of disinfecting with strong liquor, there was still the gap of the times; it was nothing like later generations.

First and foremost, stopping bleeding was a major problem.

For instance, many of the wounded soldiers under Zhu Ying's command had been struck by arrows. Once the arrows were pulled out, blood would pour endlessly from the wounds. Others had been slashed by the Tatars' sabers, their wounds even harder to heal, bleeding without end.

Even though the army had brought plenty of hemostatic bandages and herbs, they were ultimately not enough.

"Liu Lei."

Zhu Ying called out.

"Please give your orders, Garrison Commander."

Liu Lei immediately replied.

"I have five bottles of excellent hemostatic medicine here. Take the personal guards and use them on those wounded soldiers whose bleeding cannot be stopped. It has miraculous hemostatic effects."

"If it works, those brothers can survive."

"Use it sparingly. There isn't much."

Zhu Ying rummaged in his robes. With a thought, he summoned five bottles of hemostatic powder and handed them to Liu Lei.

"This subordinate obeys."

Liu Lei immediately accepted the five bottles of hemostatic powder and led a group of personal guards toward the wounded soldiers.

"I hope this hemostatic powder works."

"Then we can save quite a few more brothers-in-arms." Zhu Ying thought to himself.

By taking out this hemostatic powder, Zhu Ying had done all he could and could only leave the rest to fate.

After all, quite a few wounded soldiers had already died from excessive blood loss.

"Charged Saber Slash."

"Extract."

Zhu Ying extracted this martial skill as well.

A rush of enlightenment flooded into him.

The martial skill Charged Saber Slash was imprinted into his sea of consciousness.

"Charged Saber Slash."

"Gather the strength of the entire body and unleash it in a single slash. At the beginner level, it can erupt with twice one's strength; at the intermediate level, three times; at mastery, five times one's strength in an instant."

"As expected of a graded martial skill."

"Impressive."

After successfully extracting this martial skill, a satisfied smile appeared on Zhu Ying's face.

Without question, this martial skill would greatly enhance Zhu Ying's strength. It could be called a true killing move!

With Zhu Ying's current strength—over a thousand jin—who could withstand a single slash from him?

The force of a twofold eruption was even more impossible to block.

Calling it a life-saving killing move was no exaggeration!

"Protective Inner Armor."

Zhu Ying extracted the inner armor as well.

It fell into his hand as a suit of soft armor.

Yet its material did not seem to be ordinary iron. It appeared to be woven from some unknown substance.

Zhu Ying drew his saber and slashed at it.

The inner armor suffered no damage whatsoever, not even a mark.

This inner armor protected the upper body.

"This will do. Worn beneath the armor, even if arrows pierce the outer armor, they won't be able to injure what's inside."

"Good stuff."

Zhu Ying sighed in admiration.

Then, without any hesitation, he took off his outer armor, which was covered in blood and grime, removed his military uniform, and put on the inner armor.

On this battlefield, Zhu Ying naturally cherished his life greatly.

Even if he climbed higher, even if his attributes were formidable and he could take on a hundred men, a thousand men, he only had one life.

This era had bed crossbows, ballistae, and cannons as well. Zhu Ying did not think himself invincible—not even close yet.

After putting on the inner armor, Zhu Ying felt much safer as well.

He was very satisfied.

Completely content.

"Attribute Panel." Zhu Ying called out in his heart.

What came into view was:

Host: Zhu Ying

Age: 14

Strength: 1145 points. One point corresponds to one jin of force.

Speed: 1023 points. Speed ten times beyond that of an ordinary person.

Constitution: 932 points. Constitution nine times beyond that of an ordinary person. The stronger the constitution, the stronger the defense and the faster injuries recover.

Endurance: 912 points. Endurance nine times beyond that of an ordinary person. The higher the endurance, the more unceasing the energy and abundant the stamina.

Spirit: 923 points. The higher the spirit, the clearer the mind.

Lifespan: 88 years, 3956 days

Storage Space: 9 cubic meters

PS: My dears, please keep reading. I'd be endlessly grateful. Muah.