The Treatment of Combat Soldiers

After the battle ended, Wang Tianshan pressed a hand to the saber at his waist and strode over. Beneath his boots lay blood, severed limbs, and mangled corpses, his presence chillingly fierce.

The soldiers around him instinctively moved aside. The aura Wang Tianshan gave off made them shudder, and none dared approach him.

He quickly came to Li Xuancang's side, lowered his gaze to the three Barbarian corpses on the ground, then fixed his eyes on Li Xuancang, who stood holding his spear, covered in blood.

"You alone killed three Barbarians?"

Facing the ruler of the camp, the man who held the power of life and death over everyone there, Li Xuancang couldn't help feeling nervous. Still, he gripped his iron spear firmly and kept his back straight.

"Reporting to you, sir, that is correct."

In troubled times, humility was useless and cowardice meant certain death. Only strength could win respect and a path to survival.

Wang Tianshan glanced at him without wasting any more words, then said in a deep voice.

"There are no empty words in the army. Military orders are as unshakable as mountains. Once a promise is made, it will never be withdrawn."

He raised a hand slightly and barked at his guards behind him.

"Record his merit!"

"Labor conscript Li Xuancang independently slew three Barbarians in this battle. His military merit is to be entered into the records. Remove him from civilian registration at once and enroll him in the official border army registry of Great Yan."

The words fell like a thunderbolt, striking the ears of every labor conscript.

Official military registration!

In this era of Demons and chaos, where human lives were cheaper than grass, those four words weighed a thousand jun.

It was a threshold countless commoners at the bottom could never touch in their entire lives—the only way to cast off their lowly status, escape enslavement, and gain the means to survive.

The eyes of many labor conscripts filled with jealousy and envy, but even more than that, with deep helplessness.

They, too, wanted to kill enemies and trade their lives for a future. But their bodies were weak, their courage failed them, and if they went up, they would only throw their lives away for nothing.

Seeing the envious, yearning looks around him, Wang Tianshan was greatly pleased.

This was exactly the effect he wanted. A thousand gold to buy a horse's bones—he would fulfill his promise before everyone, making them fight for their lives in the coming battles.

With Li Xuancang's living example before them, many ambitious men would surely stake their lives on the battlefield.

The guards immediately brought over the military register and ink seal, recording everything on the spot.

From that day onward, Li Xuancang was no longer a labor conscript the authorities could summon and discard at will. No longer was he expendable cannon fodder. He had become a properly enlisted border soldier of the Great Flame Dynasty.

Wang Tianshan then publicly announced the fulfillment of every promise, each word clear enough to ring across the city walls.

"From this day onward, Li Xuancang shall receive all the benefits of an official soldier."

"He shall receive his full monthly pay, refined rice rations, and meat supplies."

"He shall be issued standard iron scale armor and a refined battle spear."

"He shall have priority access to healing salves and body-tempering herbs. Any wounds or illnesses shall be treated by the accompanying military physicians."

"He shall be exempt from all corvée labor and hard labor. Petty officials shall no longer be permitted to beat, curse, or humiliate him at will."

At this point, Wang Tianshan paused, his tone growing heavier.

"There is one final and most important provision: the direct relatives of your registered clan in your hometown, Azure Creek Village, shall be exempt from taxes and compulsory labor for ten years."

"They shall not be subject to local conscription or exploitation by gentry and powerful families. If small bands of mountain bandits or low-level Demons cause trouble, they may seek aid and protection from the nearest military camp."

The moment those words were spoken, everyone's minds exploded with a resounding buzz. Their eyes turned bloodshot, and their breathing grew heavy.

They stared at Li Xuancang as though their eyes might fall out, wishing they could take his place.

The terms were simply too tempting. The ten-year tax exemption for his family, in particular, was what they had dreamed of day and night.

Boom!

Li Xuancang's chest jolted violently, and the gloom that had been pressing on his heart for two years suddenly scattered.

It was worth it.

This bloody battle, this gamble with his life—it had all been completely worth it.

Two years ago, he had been forcibly seized and sent to guard the border, torn from his homeland and living in dread day and night.

What he feared most had never been dying at the border. It was his parents, elder sister, and younger sister, far away in Azure Creek Village.

A farming family already struggled to make ends meet.

In these troubled times, taxes piled on tax after tax. Officials squeezed the people dry, mountain Demons often came down to feed, and rogue soldiers and wandering bandits ran rampant. With no protection at all, a family could be destroyed at any moment.

But now, he had entered the military registry and gained the privileges of military status.

His family would no longer be crushed breathless by harsh taxes. They would no longer fear being forcibly taken for hard labor. Their village bore the military's protection in name, and ordinary bandits and lesser Demons would not dare provoke them lightly.

This was the weight of martial power and military authority in troubled times.

Ordinary people were like ants, trampled beneath anyone's feet.

But once one entered the army, held military merit in hand, one could leap from a fish through the dragon gate, allowing wife, children, elders, and young ones alike to live in peace.

Li Xuancang clenched his fists, the obsession in his heart growing ever firmer.

This was only the beginning.

An ordinary official soldier was merely the starting point. Above that were Five-Man Leader, Ten-Man Leader, Hundred-Man Commander, Battalion Commander...

The higher the military rank, the greater the privileges and the wider the scope of protection.

He would climb step by step until he could completely protect his family from every shred of suffering in these troubled times.

"Thank you, sir."

Li Xuancang quickly calmed himself and bowed to Wang Tianshan.

He knew Wang Tianshan's purpose. He wanted to use Li Xuancang as an example, making the other labor conscripts race to emulate him and fight without fear of death in the battles ahead, sparing no thought for their lives.

Though Wang Tianshan had his own calculations, the benefits Li Xuancang received were real. He was sincerely grateful to Wang Tianshan.

Wang Tianshan nodded slightly, his gaze burning as he looked at Li Xuancang.

"Your physique surpasses that of ordinary men, and you kill with decisiveness. You're good material for a soldier."

"Kill enemies well and accumulate military merit. In time, positions such as Five-Man Leader and Ten-Man Leader will all be within your reach."

"In troubled times, only killing can ensure one's survival."

He encouraged Li Xuancang with a few words, painting him a bright future.

If it had been anyone else, they would already have dropped to their knees and kowtowed, wishing to die in Wang Tianshan's service.

But Li Xuancang had lived two different lives in two different worlds. Naturally, he wouldn't simply bow his head in worship.

The main reason he had gained all this was because he had risked his life and earned military merit.

At most, Wang Tianshan had merely helped things along with the current. That wasn't enough to make Li Xuancang swear his life to him.

After speaking, Wang Tianshan turned and returned to the high ground along the defensive line. In his eyes, Li Xuancang was merely an ordinary man, not worth his attention.

That he had spoken with Li Xuancang today was already Wang Tianshan lowering himself.

"Come with me!"

Under the envious gazes of everyone around him, Li Xuancang followed a soldier away.

Before long, he received the equipment of a Battle Soldier.

A finely polished set of iron scale armor, hard and heavy enough to withstand saber blows and claw strikes—a true life-saving treasure.

A standard battle spear forged entirely from refined iron, its blade gleaming like snow and far superior to his previous iron spear.

He was also given a small jar of military healing salve and a full allotment of refined rice ration vouchers.

Having received better things, Li Xuancang immediately removed his worn, rough clothes and discarded his iron spear.

Clad in armor and holding a fine weapon, his entire bearing changed in an instant.

Cold firelight gleamed across the iron armor, and a fierce Sha Qi belonging to a soldier quietly began to grow around him.

The looks in the eyes of the surrounding labor conscripts changed completely.

Before, they had all been equally miserable cannon fodder, eating coarse grain, enduring beatings and curses, and fearing death together.

Yet after a single battle, the difference between them had become as vast as heaven and earth.

He had become an official soldier above ordinary men, with pay, armor, and the dynasty at his back. He could protect his family now—the gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.