The Three Tu Brothers
The Three Tu Brothers
For him to be an Array Master just only after two hundred years of cultivation was indeed terrifying.
To be able to train such a young Array Master was enough to see how amazing the foundation of the Five-Element Temple was.
"We will commence the assault tomorrow morning. Senior Brother Lu will unravel the array on Xianji Mountain first, then confront and restrain that Deathkin Array Master.
"Based on our reconnaissance, the Deathkin have set up eight barracks on Xianji Mountain, imitating the Bagua Formation and resulting in many changes. We need to attack all eight of the barracks at the same time to avoid any complications. This involves the issue of manpower distribution.
"I have discussed this with Brother Xuanyuan, and he wants Junior Brother Zhang, as well as Fairy Baihua, to be responsible for attacking one of the barracks. You don't need to destroy it, only hold them back."
Zhen Yuan spoke and roughly explained the plan.
Without a doubt, the eight Deathkin barracks were not simple outposts, and even containment would require top powerhouses in the lead as they attacked.
Both Zhang Ruochen and Ji Fanxin were able to destroy the hundred-thousand-strong Immortal Vampire army and kill several Shenzis. They were also able to seize the Divine Python's corpse from the Rakshasas. That was enough to prove their strength to everyone.
Looking at Ji Fanxin, Zhang Ruochen said, "Since Brother Zhen Yuan and Brother Xuanyuan trust us, we will go all out."
"Then that's settled. The Northern Region Basecamp will organize an army for you to lead. I'll bring you over to have a look later." Zhen Yuan smiled.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, "Aside from us, who else will be the commanders?"
For him to ask this question, he actually wanted to know which elites were in the Northern Region Basecamp, so he could have some foreknowledge in advance.
Before Zhen Yuan could speak, Xuanyuan Liekong laughed and said, "The other eight commanders have already been determined before this. They are namely Fairy Yuan, Ling Kongzi, Red Fox King, Feng Wuxing, Nie Yundao, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect, and You Yuexin. With the two of you, everyone is assembled."
"Brother Xuanyuan and Brother Zhen Yuan aren't leading the troops?" A look of curiosity appeared on Zhang Ruochen's face.
Xuanyuan Liekong shook his head and said, "Both me and Zhen Yuan, as well as a few others, have other missions. We will oversee the overall situation and deal with a few tricky Deathkin folks."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen suddenly understood why. A person that Xuanyuan Liekong would consider tricky to deal with should not be underestimated, and they were most likely Shenzis or princes.
Clearly, for the assault on Xianji Mountain, Xuanyuan Liekong and Zhen Yuan had made ample preparations. Once the battle started, many powerful characters would show up.
There were countless Celestial Court cultivators who had come to the Kunlun Realm. As the most brutal battlefield of the Northern Region Battlefield of Merits, how could there not be a large number of powerhouses?
After chatting for a while, Zhen Yuan personally took Zhang Ruochen and the other four to the army assembly grounds.
As the assault on Xianji Mountain was no trivial matter, they only selected the strong whose cultivation base was above the Saint rank. Anyone lower than that was not even considered to act as cannon fodder.
In order to facilitate the assignment, Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong had set up a military camp in the basecamp, so all of the mobilized powerhouses had already gathered there.
Zhen Yuan led Zhang Ruochen and his group directly to the main camp, then used telepathy to summon the other seven commanders over for everyone to familiarize themselves with each other.
Zhang Ruochen discovered that he had met most of the people present, and only a few were unfamiliar faces.
He recognized Fairy Yuan, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect, and You Yuexin. The three represented the Shangyuan Sect, the Fane of Youshen, and the Blackdemon Realm respectively.
As fellow cultivators of the Blackdemon Realm, You Yuexin was many times stronger than Shi Lingkun. She cultivated the Demonic Nethermoon Tapestry of the 36 Demonic Engravings, which was the same as Murong Yue except for her cultivation base being a little higher.
He had also met the Red Fox King in the meeting hall but the two had never spoken before.
As for Ling Kongzi, Feng Wuxing, and Nie Yundao, Zhang Ruochen had no impression of them at all. Even so, for them to be chosen as commanders showed that they were no pushovers.
"Brother, Feng Wuxing is of the Feng Clan and is a cousin of mine. He has a very powerful Supreme Saint bloodline and has already cultivated to the pinnacle of the Heaven's Reach realm. He's considered one of the Feng Clan's leadership characters in the Northern Region Basecamp." Feng Yan sent a telepathic message.
Hearing this, a thought sprang up in Zhang Ruochen's mind. As a Supreme Saint heir that was already at the pinnacle of Heaven's Reach realm, his power should be able to match those of the Path's Anterior realm, and he should be far stronger than the Blackflame General.
"I am Ling Kongzi, a disciple of Thousand-Sword Mountain. I have heard about your good name for some time, and at today's meeting, I can see your extraordinary bearing," Ling Kongzi said as he gave a salute.
Zhang Ruochen immediately returned the salute and said, "You flatter me, Brother Ling. Thousand-Sword Mountain is a holy land for the Path of Sword, and I have long admired that place. I hope there will be an opportunity for me to learn about the secrets of swordsmanship from you, Brother Ling."
Thousand-Sword Mountain was the number one holy land for swordsmanship in the Sword King Realm. It had an extremely long history and a deep-rooted foundation.
Plus, the Sword King Realm was one of the top 100 realms in the universe. With many gods presiding over it, it was extremely powerful,
One of Thousand-Sword Mountain's ancient masters had already survived two Yuanhui catastrophes, and his cultivation level was unfathomable.
Zhang Ruochen could sense that Ling Kongzi had very potent Supreme Saint blood flowing in him, and the invisible Sword Will that exuded from his body was extremely powerful. Therefore, his strength was not to be underestimated.
Ling Kongzi smiled and said, "I've also heard that your cultivation in the Path of the Sword is very high, Brother Zhang. If we have the time, we should have a good exchange."
"Sure, I'll be in your care then, Brother Ling," Zhang Ruochen said.
Since the other party showed that he had good intentions toward him, Zhang Ruochen would not give him the cold shoulder. After all, having more friends was better than more enemies.
At that moment, Fairy Yuan, Feng Wuxing, and the Red Fox King all nodded slightly as a greeting.
Nie Yundao, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect, and You Yuexin were all indifferent. They obviously did not want to see Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen was slightly surprised. It was normal for the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin to not want to see him, but why did Nie Yundao react like that?
As if he knew what Zhang Ruochen was thinking, Feng Yan sent a telepathic message. "Brother, Nie Yundao is a cultivator from the Soul Realm and belongs to the Heavenly Realm faction. You acted against King Daxi in the past, hence Nie Yundao bears hatred toward you. You need to be on guard."
Hearing this, Zhang Ruochen realized what was going on. The cultivators of the Soul Realm were very close with Shang Ziyan, it would have been strange if Nie Yundao would want to see him.
Zhen Yuan said, "For the battle tomorrow, I hope all of you can cooperate well and break through Xianji Mountain in one fell swoop. Only success is permitted for this battle, otherwise, the situation in the Northern Region will be very unfavorable to us."
As he said that, Zhen Yuan turned and left, clearly having something else to do.
The camp became quiet, and the atmosphere appeared a little awkward.
"Zhang Ruochen, you better be careful. The battlefield is very chaotic, and you may very well lose your life if you are not careful," the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect sneered, breaking the silence.
Zhang Ruochen replied, "You're right. If you happen to die on the battlefield, I will definitely help you to collect your corpse. After all, the corpse of a Primordial is very valuable."
A cold murderous intent flashed in the eyes of the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect's eyes. If there had not been a restraint, he would have wanted to kill Zhang Ruochen right there and then.
"Hmph, let's wait and see."
After saying this, the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect walked out of the camp.
You Yuexin stared at Zhang Ruochen for a moment and left without saying a word.
Nie Yundao made no secret of his killing intent toward Zhang Ruochen and coldly said, "Zhang Ruochen, I will definitely take back what belonged to Her Highness and kill you."
Compared with the Ten-eyed Qiankun Insect and You Yuexin, Nie Yundao was undoubtedly a lot more direct and did not bother covering up his true intentions.
After restraining his killing intent a little, Nie Yundao walked out.
He was afraid that if he continued to stay here, he would not be able to hold back from striking Zhang Ruochen.
Seeing this situation, everyone else was no longer in the mood for anything and soon dispersed.
On the battlefield, one could only rely on oneself; it was difficult to count on others.
So instead of wasting time here, they might as well go back to recharge.
However, Fairy Yuan was much more enthusiastic, and she brought Zhang Ruochen, as well as the other four, to their camp.
This time, the Northern Region Basecamp had organized eight armies, with fifty thousand troops each. Among them were a thousand Saint King elites, while the others were all Saint cultivators.
As soon as they entered the camp, about a dozen elites came to greet them. However, they did not look like a greeting party as all of them had unfriendly looks in their eyes.
Leading the ground were three handsome young men with the same appearance. The aura exuding from their bodies was extremely powerful, and they had clearly reached the Heaven's Reach realm.
The other eight people behind them were also powerful elites of the Precept Domain realm.
"Brother, they are the three Tu brothers, named Tu Tian, Tu Di, Tu Ren. They are the heirs of a Supreme Saint of the Wanxu Realm. Each of them alone has the ability to sweep through the Heaven's Reach realm. Whenever the three of them work together, they could easily fight a Path's Anterior elite. I never thought that they would be assigned to this army," Feng Yan said telepathically.
He knew that sort of personalities the Tu brothers were, so the moment he saw them, he felt a slight uneasiness.
Sure enough, Tu Tian spoke in an unfriendly tone. "Zhang Ruochen, I heard that you are the commander of our unit?"
"Yes, indeed." Zhang Ruochen nodded.
Tu Tian's eyes became sharper, and he coldly responded, "You want to be the commander, yet did you ask us three brothers for our opinions?"
"Was there such a need?" Zhang Ruochen said lightly.
Tu Tian said, "Of course, what right do you think you have to be our commander? With your Lesser Precept World cultivation?"
"It looks like you lot are unconvinced," Zhang Ruochen said
Tu Di took a step forward and said, "If you want to convince us, you need to display enough strength."
Tu Ren agreed. "Yes, if you can defeat us three, we will be willing to listen to you. Otherwise, you can forget about commanding anyone in this camp."
With that said, the lines were drawn. The three Tu brothers came here to find trouble and refused to accept Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong's arrangements.
They could not directly disobey Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong's orders, but they wanted to use their own strength to force Zhang Ruochen to give up the commander's post.
Zhang Ruochen did not care about the title, but he had made Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong a promise. Besides, the three Tu Brothers were being very obtrusive, so he had to take on the role of the commander now.
"Since you insist, I can only fulfill your wishes," Zhang Ruochen said coldly.
Hearing this, the three Tu brothers could not help but smile. They had been really afraid that Zhang Ruochen would not agree, and that would be troublesome instead.
Tu Di sneered, "There is a martial arts arena in the camp. Come with us."
Zhang Ruochen did not say anything else and stepped forward to follow naturally.
In the world of the cultivators, the strong were always respected, and the truth was always established by fists.
For Zhen Yuan and Xuanyuan Liekong to ask him to become a commander, they had really presented him with a tough question. Did they deliberately want to test his strength?
Not long after, the group arrived at the martial arts arena, which was already packed full of people. The soldiers of the entire camp should have arrived.
It was obvious that this was arranged in advance by the Tu brothers so that everyone could come and witness, saving the trouble of Zhang Ruochen not admitting defeat when he loses.
The three Tu brothers stepped into the martial arts arena first and took a triple position, ready to fight at any moment.
With a calm expression, Zhang Ruochen walked into the martial arts arena. He had just broken through to the realm of Greater Precept World, and he could use these three brothers to test the results of his cultivation.