Nineteen Years Old

"Enough!"

Without waiting for Qin Sang's response, Princess Dongyang shook her head and said coldly, "Do you know that because of your reckless misdeeds, the court is in an uproar? The Heir Apparent flew into a rage in the prefectural city and issued three secret decrees in a single day. He swore to execute Zhou Mingguang, ordered Admiral Mu to personally go to Xuanji Temple with thorns on his back to beg forgiveness, and return the stolen property."

The prefectural city referred to the city of Yingshui Prefecture.

After King Dongyang raised his army, he established a small court in Chun City. The Prince personally donned armor and took the field, while the Heir Apparent held down the central command. After taking Yingshui Prefecture, the grain and military supplies for both armies had to pass through Yingshui Prefecture, so the Heir Apparent went there to oversee matters as well.

However, before the Heir Apparent arrived in Yingshui Prefecture, Princess Dongyang had already sorted out the various factions. He had essentially picked up a bargain for nothing.

It had only been two full days since Qin Sang led troops to Xuanji Temple to steal treasures. Yet not only had the Heir Apparent, far away in Yingshui Prefecture, spoken up for Xuanji Temple, Princess Dongyang had also rushed overnight from Jiang Prefecture City.

Qin Sang lowered his head and admitted his guilt. "Your Highness, the Prince's handwritten order was forged by this subordinate. Admiral Mu and General Zhou were both deceived by this subordinate. If anyone is to be beheaded, it should be this subordinate."

"How much harder is your head than Zhou Mingguang's? If not for the fact that you once saved my life, I would have beheaded you this instant!"

Princess Dongyang shouted angrily, "Elder Yue has already gone to see True Man Black Crane and voluntarily surrendered authority over the military hall. Make a list of your men and give it to me. In the future, do you wish to become a general or a minister? Which path do you want to take?"

Qin Sang answered without hesitation, "Leading troops into battle earns merit faster."

Princess Dongyang gave Qin Sang a deep look. "Fine, then. Pack your things at once and report to the Xuanwei Camp in Hu Prefecture. I will report to Father. With the merits you have earned before, becoming a deputy general will be more than enough."

Qin Sang's face fell. "Can this subordinate go to the Xiaoyong Camp instead?"

The position of deputy general was not low. In the Xuanwei Camp, it ranked only below the left and right admirals and the left and right vice generals. But Wang Liu, that brat, was now the Xuanwei Camp's admiral. Qin Sang had thoroughly offended him back in Hening County, and now he was supposed to go work under him.

Wasn't that delivering himself to Wang Liu's door?

"No!"

Princess Dongyang shot him a fierce glare with her phoenix eyes, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Zhou Mingguang, accompany me up the mountain to beg the abbot's forgiveness."

Qin Sang hurried after her. "This subordinate caused this disaster. If someone must go with thorns on his back to beg forgiveness, it should be this subordinate. How can Your Highness, with your precious golden body, lower yourself before those bald donkeys? General Zhou, Eldest Brother Bai, quickly bring a squad of soldiers over, and bring this silver..."

Before he could finish, Princess Dongyang snapped, "What silver? The Buddhist sect lives in austere simplicity. Xuanji Temple is filled with eminent virtuous monks. How could they covet pleasure and commit the shameful act of hoarding wealth? Do not slander them!"

Qin Sang chuckled.

With a trace of anger on her face, Princess Dongyang flicked her sleeve and left. As though she had suddenly remembered something, she hesitated, turned around, and asked, "What did you use to forge Father's imperial seal?"

"Radish."

Qin Sang had no idea how Princess Dongyang soothed the monks of Xuanji Temple. That very day, he set out for Hu Prefecture with Water Monkey and the others, one man and one horse each.

After Qin Sang became a deputy general, his Eighth Battalion had originally been assigned cleanup duties, such as clearing the battlefield. Wang Liu petitioned the admiral in Qin Sang's name, citing his past feat of penetrating deep behind enemy lines and commanding the military altar, and had Qin Sang, a dignified battalion deputy general, made the leader of the night scouts.

Little did he know that this was exactly what Qin Sang wanted. From then on, Qin Sang led troops in the field and had little contact with Wang Liu. With General Feng, the left vice general, mediating between them, Wang Liu was merely the right admiral. No matter how much he disliked Qin Sang, he could only endure it.

The battle of Duling County completely broke the backbone of the official army of Pingshan Prefecture. Hu Prefecture and North Ping Prefecture suffered defeat after defeat with barely any resistance.

In less than half a year, the Xuanwei Camp and Xiaoyong Camp had completely taken Pingshan Prefecture, moving even faster than King Dongyang.

After King Dongyang captured Zhaoyang Prefecture, he did not hasten to seek the three prefectures of the Imperial Capital. Instead, he turned west and charged toward Xitai Prefecture. But Qin Sang and the others had no choice but to gnaw at the hardest bone of all—the three prefectures of the Imperial Capital.

No one had expected that King Dongyang, only two years after raising his army, would achieve such brilliant victories. The False Emperor could only cower within the Imperial Capital, Nine Guards, and Guize Prefecture. Anyone with clear eyes could see where the tide of the future lay.

It was early spring again.

Winter's bleak slaughter had yet to fade, and the spring rain had failed to bring life to this land.

Qin Sang pulled his straw rain cape tighter around himself and trudged through the mountain forest, one foot deep, one foot shallow.

Without realizing it, he had already been in this world for three and a half years. Going by Qin Sanwa's age, he was exactly nineteen this year.

The rain grew heavier and heavier. Qin Sang found a place to shelter from it and gazed at the hazy distant mountains beyond the curtain of rain, his thoughts drifting far away.

Over the past year, he had devoted himself wholly to cultivation and organizing his own cultivation base. He merely went through the motions in military affairs, and after sitting in the deputy general's seat for a year, he had not budged an inch.

Through slow, painstaking experimentation, he had completely repaired the holes in the Yanluo Banner. Yanwang's strength had returned to its former peak, yet Yanwang still obeyed Qin Sang's every word.

This made Qin Sang realize that the Jade Buddha which had followed him here seemed to possess an unimaginably powerful, unfathomable ability.

Yet whether he probed it with spiritual power or divine sense, the Jade Buddha remained immovable as a mountain.

The Ebony Sword, the sheepskin, the Seven-Colored Brocade Pouch, and the other items remained the same as well. Qin Sang could do nothing with any of them.

As for divine sense, after some exploration, Qin Sang had become proficient in using it. Once he spread out his divine sense, anything that came within several inches of him could be perceived clearly without needing to see or hear it, leaving Qin Sang clicking his tongue in wonder.

Though its range was only several inches, before he broke through to the third layer of the Netherworld Scripture, the distance had been even shorter.

Qin Sang guessed that as his cultivation and realm improved, the range of his divine sense would grow ever larger. In the future, no movement around him would be able to escape his notice.

That would have to wait until he broke through to the fourth layer of the Netherworld Scripture to be confirmed.

His cultivation was about to reach the peak of the third layer, but Qin Sang was terrified that he would encounter another bottleneck during his breakthrough, just as he had last time. That feeling of being unable to advance even an inch, of having no clue where to begin, was enough to drive a person mad. Moreover, it would likely delay him for a long time.

He was eager to break through not only because he wanted stronger divine sense, but also because of the Purple Soul Bell.

Qin Sang could now wield the Purple Soul Bell as easily as an arm or a finger. Its power was truly terrifying. Qin Sang had tested it several times, and its targets had no power to resist, unable to escape the fate of having their souls scattered and spirits dispersed.

But every time he used the Purple Soul Bell, the spiritual power within Qin Sang's body was nearly exhausted. He had to restore his spiritual power before he could use it again.

Qin Sang did not know whether other Immortal Cultivators had methods for quickly restoring spiritual power. He could only circulate his cultivation technique and recover it bit by bit, an agonizingly slow process. If his opponent was powerful and the situation complicated, no one would allow him the time to do that.

Furthermore, the Purple Soul Bell could only focus on one enemy at a time. If he faced two people simultaneously, Qin Sang's head would split with pain, and he would be unable to hold on.

This made him all the more impatient to break through to a higher realm.

It looked like the rain would continue for a long time. Just as Qin Sang was about to sit down and cultivate, he suddenly saw treetops swaying at the foot of the mountain. A figure was racing through the forest—it was Water Monkey, and something urgent seemed to have happened.