All Schemes Were Slower Than His Blade

A middle-aged man in a black martial robe, his hair bound beneath an iron crown, slowly walked over with a cold smile on his face.

"I sensed him just now. Zhang Erhe's cultivation definitely hasn't surpassed the Mid Houtian Realm."

"You weren't his match back then because he had spent three months tempering himself on the battlefield in Fengtian County, with Sha Qi clinging to him."

"Now, that Sha Qi has likely worn away completely. He lost his former combat strength long ago."

The middle-aged man looked at Yao Gao and Fang Dahe and said flatly, "Baichou Mountain's master, Yu Ceng, was slain by the assassin Black Tiger. Across three hundred li of the martial world, my Sixth Master no longer has an opponent."

Yao Gao and Fang Dahe lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.

Behind the man before them stood the Zhao Family, as well as the Xiantian Realm expert, Cloud-Treading Tiger Zhao Changchun.

Zhao Changchun was not only a Xiantian Realm powerhouse; his methods were vicious as well.

The Zhao Family's influence ruled the underworld of Nine Forests. Destroying the Green Mountain Eighteen Villages would not be difficult.

"Rest assured, my Sixth Master respects Zhang Erhe's loyalty and believes that every man of Qingshan Village is a true man."

A faint smile appeared on the black-robed middle-aged man's face as he reached out and patted Yao Gao and Fang Dahe on the shoulders.

"My Zhao Family wants Second Master to raise the banner with one call. Qingshan Village will join forces with the Zhao Family and take control of the martial world within three hundred li."

"Once it is done, you brothers can take the money and live as wealthy men."

"I, Zhao, have been through it all. Naturally, I know that if one could live in peace, who would willingly become a bandit in the wilds?"

Yao Gao's corner of the mouth trembled, but he said nothing.

"Well... Second Master won't come to any harm, will he?" Fang Dahe hesitated for a moment before asking quietly.

"Heh, how could that happen? My Sixth Master intends to make Second Master the alliance leader of both Nine Forests and Qingshan..." The black-robed big man chuckled, clasped his hands behind his back, and looked toward the departing carriage.

Fang Dahe and Yao Gao lowered their heads and sighed helplessly.

Elsewhere, Kong Baitang emerged from Zheng Family Village with several attendants. By the main road outside the village, a bluish-gray carriage drawn by two horses was already waiting.

Kong Baitang boarded the carriage and stepped into the compartment, where a young man in his thirties sat upright in half-body blue-black Leather Armor, his posture ramrod straight.

"How did it go?"

The young man spoke in an even tone.

Kong Baitang lowered his head slightly and recounted what had happened at the banquet.

"That Zhang Erhe has little cunning. His head is probably full of nothing but righteousness and morality."

"Master Tao should be interested in this business."

"It is simply that this matter still requires careful planning. We cannot rush it—"

Across from him, the black-armored young man pressed a hand down upon the longsword resting on the small table before him.

His fingers tapped softly, and the atmosphere inside the carriage turned heavy.

"Kong Baitang, your Kong Family cannot obtain the Iron Rope Pulley System?"

"At the price I offered, those willing to obtain the Iron Rope Pulley System could line up all the way to Luyang Prefecture."

"If not for all the things you have done for my Great Yan, did you think I would give you this opportunity?"

The young man's voice was like frost.

Kong Baitang shuddered from head to toe and hurriedly said, "Young Master Xiao, grant me some time, grant me some time."

"Zhang Erhe is merely a green kid. With a few methods, I can have him in the palm of my hand."

"Rest assured, since ancient times, heroes have never passed the beauty test, much less someone like him who has never seen the great world."

"This time, my Kong Family brought several Buddhist maidens from the Liangyuan Region. There is a way, there is a way..."

On the road to Luyang Prefecture City, the carriage swayed, making its canopy creak.

Inside the carriage, Zhang Yuan sat facing Young Master Tao.

Young Master Tao looked at Zhang Yuan across from him and smiled lightly. "Why did you not want to go with the current just now? You could have agreed to Kong Baitang's proposal, then pulled him and the Kong Family out by the roots."

"Given your temperament, you never leave alive anyone who schemes against you."

Righteous and Loyal had always been nothing more than Zhang Yuan's outward appearance.

The true Zhang Yuan had always killed decisively, never dragging his feet.

All schemes were slower than his blade.

In truth, among those who had survived three months of bloody fighting in Fengtian County City, who was not decisive in killing and merciless in action?

When Young Master Tao handled the aftermath for Zhang Yuan, he never hesitated either.

"It is not just Kong Baitang." Zhang Yuan looked out at the rolling mountain ranges beyond the carriage window, a sharp glint appearing in his eyes. "The Kong Family alone cannot touch the true secret of the pulley system."

"There should be secret agents and spies from Yan State behind this."

Though he was only in his early twenties, the experience in his heart far exceeded what his appearance suggested.

The smile on Young Master Tao's face slowly faded. He raised his hand and pulled back the sleeve of his left arm.

Beneath his scholar's robe, a folding hand crossbow was strapped to his forearm.

What made this hand crossbow different was that two small refined-steel wheels had been added where its string was folded and drawn.

"A crossbow fitted with pulleys can use the strength of one dan to draw a three-dan bow."

"With the Strength of One Ox, one can fire a three-ox heavy crossbow."

Young Master Tao gently pressed his palm against his arm, his eyes revealing depths and an irrepressible fervor.

"When my Great Qin equips tens of millions of powerful crossbows, we will sweep across Yongtian Continent and unite the five states..."

The pulleys and iron ropes Zhang Yuan had designed from his memories had long since been sent through Ministry of War Vice Minister Zhou Chang to the smiths of the Great Qin Ministry of Works.

Back then, more than a dozen craftsmen from the Great Qin Ministry of Works had stayed in Zhang Yuan's small courtyard in Ding Family Alley for over a month.

Forging pulleys and iron ropes was not difficult. The difficult part was grasping the principles behind them and finding durable materials to forge them from.

The pulleys in Qingshan Village had all been forged by the Ministry of Works' smiths. First, to test forging materials; second, because Zhang Yuan had requested it.

Before Kong Baitang, others had already tried forging iron ropes and pulleys, but none had worked. They simply could not bear weight.

Either they broke after only a few uses, or they could not reduce and redirect force sufficiently.

Kong Baitang had likely encountered this very problem, which was why he had sought Zhang Yuan out, hoping to buy the pulleys and iron ropes with silver.

He did not know that the people forging those iron ropes and pulleys were all in the Ministry of Works, now devoting themselves to forging all kinds of pulleys for military bows and crossbows.

"I'll go see Wang Qinian. Hasn't he always wanted to move the Black Cavalry and experience the might of the Black Armored Cavalry's battle formation?" Zhang Yuan straightened his body and spoke.

Wang Qinian, the chief officer of the Black Ice Platform in Luyang Prefecture, had risen from a Subordinate Ninth Rank secret agent to a sixth-rank chief officer in only two years, without ever personally fighting and killing anyone.

Such a legend had already spread through the Black Ice Platform. Many said Wang Qinian did not even understand the might of the Black Cavalry.

Wang Qinian had also mentioned to Zhang Yuan several times that he wanted to move the Black Cavalry.

"You want the people of Qingshan Village to see it too, and intimidate them while you are at it?" A trace of amusement appeared on Young Master Tao's face. He shook his head. "You still cannot bear to cast aside this burden."

Zhang Yuan did not refute him.

Indeed, he wanted these frogs at the bottom of the well from Qingshan Village to see that Great Qin's government did not destroy them not because it lacked the ability, but because it wished to borrow the strength of the martial world and preserve martial artists' bloodlust and courage.

"However, with the Zhao Family stepping forward, this is an opportunity." Young Master Tao looked at Zhang Yuan. "That Cloud-Treading Tiger is no weaker than Yu Ceng, the master of Baichou Mountain whom you killed."

"What do you think of using him to shift the martial world's suspicions about Black Tiger?"

With Black Tiger's name entering the top hundred of the Elite Ranking, there would surely be many martial world experts pursuing him.

Young Master Tao now intended to transfer Zhang Yuan's identity as Black Tiger elsewhere.

"That is possible." Zhang Yuan nodded. "Ordinary hunts in the martial world are no longer of much use to me, and assassination missions against Xiantian Realm experts are rare. There truly is no need for the Black Tiger identity anymore."

"Besides, Black Tiger, commander of the Luyang Prefecture Black Ice Platform's Black Armored Cavalry, leading the Black Cavalry to execute Black Tiger—that would be even more interesting." Young Master Tao's smile did not fade, while a gleam of wisdom shone in his eyes.

"This merit will be enough for Wang Qinian to rise another step. And you can become the chief officer of the Luyang Prefecture Black Ice Platform, commanding the entire Luyang Prefecture Black Ice Platform and its Black Cavalry."

Brothers, this book has promise.