Meat-Eaters Are Base, Flesh-Eaters Are Mad

The wind of the northern frontier still cut like knives.

Beside the mass grave outside Black Stone County, a huge new drill ground had been cleared.

There were no fluttering banners, no resounding drums—only suffocating silence and dull impacts.

Three hundred bare-chested men fought in pairs in the mud, wielding wooden clubs wrapped in cloth. This was not a spar where they stopped at the right point, but a true fight for their lives.

Bang!

One man took a blow to the shoulder and grimaced in agony, but he dared not fall. He countered with a kick to the groin that sent his opponent crashing down, then straddled him and locked his throat until the other man rolled his eyes before letting go.

Nearby, a huge iron cauldron sat over the fire, chunks of horse meat and bones boiling within. The rich scent of meat made everyone's eyes redden.

"Stop!"

A cold shout rang out.

Pockmarked stood on the platform with a whip in hand. "The winners of this group, go eat meat. The losers, go drink soup. As for the last two playing dead, no dinner tonight. Go empty the night soil!"

The winners cheered as they rushed toward the meat pot. The losers hung their heads, yet their eyes still gleamed with unwillingness and ferocity.

This was Ji Ye's method of training troops.

Simple, brutal, effective.

In these chaotic times, loyalty to ruler and country was all hollow talk. Only meat in the belly and silver in the hand were real. In two months, five thousand taels of gold had flowed away like water, buying him three hundred starving wolves with green lights in their eyes.

Behind the drill ground stood a separate tent.

"Crack... crack..."

The teeth-grating sound of bones rubbing against one another kept coming from within.

Ji Ye stood naked at the center of the tent, holding a strange posture: his hands braced against the ground, his back arched high, every muscle trembling rhythmically with his breathing as a low rumble issued from his throat.

This was "Tiger Roars in the Forest" from the Tiger Demon Bone Forging Fist.

Over the past two months, he had completely digested that entire bottle of [Dragon Tiger Great Pill (Incomplete)].

If anyone could see through his body now, they would find that his bones had undergone a shocking transformation. Once grayish white, they had become a dense jade white, and even his periosteum faintly gleamed with a metallic luster.

"Ha!"

Ji Ye abruptly straightened, and his dragon spine let out a string of sharp pops like beans bursting, as though a string of firecrackers had exploded inside his body.

He casually grabbed an iron spear from the weapon rack beside him.

This spear was custom-made from pure iron and weighed eighty jin.

Ji Ye held the spear in one hand and flicked his wrist.

Buzzz—!

The iron spear carved an afterimage through the air, its shaft vibrating violently with a deep hum.

"This is the Bone Forging Realm."

Ji Ye looked at his palm.

Though he had only just entered Bone Forging, under the boost of Triple Brute Force, his bone density had already been compressed to a terrifying degree. Even without exerting force, he could now withstand ordinary blades and swords without his bones being damaged.

Most importantly, the backlash injuries after unleashing his full strength had finally disappeared.

His body could finally bear that berserk power.

"Boss!"

The tent flap was lifted, and Pockmarked strode in with a grave expression, still carrying the chill from outside.

"Something happened. Li Family Village, thirty li north of the city, was slaughtered."

Ji Ye's gaze sharpened. The iron spear in his hand slammed into the ground, its butt sinking deep into the frozen earth.

"Bandits?"

"Doesn't look like it." Pockmarked shook his head, his face somewhat pale. "Over a hundred people in the entire village, men, women, old, and young—all had their heads chopped off. And... their corpses were stripped naked and hung from the dead trees at the village entrance, like cured meat left out to dry."

Flaying, beheading, displaying corpses.

Those were Barbarian customs. They were flaunting their strength and terrifying their prey.

"They're here."

Ji Ye took a deep breath, a bloodthirsty gleam flashing through his eyes.

They had come half a month earlier than in his memories of his previous life. It seemed the butterfly effect had already begun to show itself.

But this was exactly what he wanted.

Only in a real meat grinder of war could he obtain that legendary SSS-grade evaluation.

"How are those three hundred brothers training?" Ji Ye asked.

"They've seen blood and eaten meat. Now, they'd dare bite even a tiger." Pockmarked answered, but then he hesitated. "But Boss, those are Barbarians... I heard their cavalry are all monsters..."

"Monsters?"

Ji Ye sneered and grabbed the black sable cloak beside him, draping it over himself to conceal those muscles hard as iron and stone.

"There are no monsters in this world that cannot be killed. There are only blades that aren't hard enough."

He strode out of the tent, the cold wind whipping his hem with a hunting flutter.

"Assemble!"

"Bring every crossbow. Bring the best blades."

"Today, I'll take you to taste some real 'game.'"

Li Family Village.

The setting sun was like blood, and crows circled overhead.

Several old locust trees at the village entrance were hung with naked corpses, swaying stiffly in the wind. The blood had long congealed into dark brown icicles.

The village was deathly silent. Only several warhorses snorted amid the ruins.

Seven Barbarian cavalrymen in leather armor and wolfskin caps gathered around a well at the center of the village, roasting a freshly slaughtered sheep—one they had snatched from the villagers.

They were short and sturdy, with bowed legs and red paint smeared across their faces. Their eyes were savage and mocking.

"These Great Liang 'Two-Legged Sheep' are getting skinnier and skinnier."

The leading Barbarian soldier cursed in stiff Great Liang speech, casually slicing off a piece of half-cooked mutton and stuffing it into his mouth. Bloody juices ran down from the corner of his lips. "Women are still more tender. Shame the one earlier died after only a couple of plays."

The surrounding Barbarian soldiers burst into laughter.

They were scouts from the Barbarian vanguard, nicknamed the White Wolf Guard. Every one of them had dozens of Great Liang lives on his hands. They were true killing machines.

Suddenly.

The leading Barbarian soldier stopped chewing, his ears twitching.

The ground trembled faintly.

"Someone's coming."

He sprang to his feet, drew the curved blade at his waist, and became like an alert wild wolf.

A troop appeared on the dirt road at the village entrance.

There were no banners, no shouts.

Three hundred men in black, long blades in hand, advanced slowly with silent, orderly steps.

At the very front was a young man in a black fur cloak. He dragged a thick iron spear in his hand, its tip carving a deep furrow through the earth with a piercing scrape.

"Great Liang... soldiers?"

The Barbarian leader narrowed his eyes, a trace of contempt flashing through them.

In his memory, Great Liang soldiers were all weak-kneed cowards. At the sight of a Barbarian banner, they would piss their pants in terror.

"Kill them all!"

The leader let out a strange cry and flipped onto his horse.

The seven White Wolf Guards skillfully urged their warhorses onward, drew their curved blades, and charged the silent troop with strange howls.

Seven riders against three hundred.

On the plains, this was a slaughter. The impact of cavalry was enough to bore through any infantry formation.

"Loose!"

Ji Ye stopped and spat out two cold words.

Twanging! Twanging! Twanging!

Behind him, powerful crossbows fired in unison.

The rain of arrows was like a swarm of locusts.

But the White Wolf Guard truly were elite. They made unbelievable evasive movements atop their horses. Some hung sideways beneath their horses' bellies, while others used their blades to bat away the arrows.

One volley only brought down one man and one horse.

The remaining six riders had already charged within fifty paces.

The Barbarian leader grinned viciously. He could already see the indifferent expression on the young man's face. Raising his curved blade, he prepared to use his horse's speed to hack off the head of this fool who did not know life from death.

"Die!"

The warhorse neighed, iron hooves shattering the frozen earth.

Ji Ye did not retreat.

He watched the warhorse charging at high speed, watched the ferocious Barbarian soldier on its back.

At the instant when only ten paces remained.

Ji Ye moved.

He did not thrust with the spear. Instead, he gripped the butt with both hands, and like swinging a baseball bat, used the twisting force of his waist and abdomen to sweep that eighty-jin iron spear horizontally!

[Talent: Brute Force x3] + [Realm: Bone Forging Realm]

This strike was the pure release of strength and hardness.

Boom!

Carrying terrifying wind pressure, the iron spear smashed fiercely into the warhorse's chest.

There was no suspense.

The galloping warhorse let out a shrill, miserable cry. Its breastbone shattered instantly, and its massive body was actually sent flying sideways by that single spear strike!

Inertia was severed by brute force.

The Barbarian leader flew from the saddle like a rag doll and crashed heavily to the ground. Before he could scramble up, a foot clad in iron-soled combat boots had already stomped onto his chest.

Crack.

His breastbone caved in.

Ji Ye looked down at this Barbarian who had been eating meat moments ago, his gaze as calm as if he were looking at an insect.

"Is this what your bones are like?"

The iron spear in Ji Ye's hand turned. With a wet pfft, it pierced through the Barbarian's throat.

The remaining five Barbarian soldiers saw this scene and were so frightened that their souls nearly fled their bodies. They reined in their horses and tried to flee.

"Kill."

Ji Ye pulled out the iron spear and shook off the beads of blood on it.

The three hundred "starving wolves" behind him let out roars they had suppressed for far too long. Like a tide, they surged forward and swallowed the five isolated Barbarian soldiers.

They were hacked apart by a chaos of blades.

A moment later, the battle was over.

Other than a few startled warhorses, only a pile of rotten flesh remained on the ground.

Ji Ye walked beneath the old locust tree hung with corpses and looked up.

"Take the villagers down and bury them."

He turned and pointed at the seven Barbarian corpses on the ground.

"Cut off their heads and hang them at the city gate."

"Tell everyone."

"Barbarians can die too."

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