t [V6C109 – Sorrow of a Silent Parting]

The lieutenant colonel was immediately delighted. “If you’re willing to go, I can guarantee that the Li family will offer another portion of remuneration to your satisfaction. Additionally, your pay and supplies will be carried out at the level of a lieutenant general!”

“Lieutenant general?” Qianye broke into a laugh. “That’s quite the honor. I’m only a brigadier general after all.”

At this point, Qianye had already realized that this lobbyist was working according to a priority list, one containing the independent experts the Li clan wanted to recruit. Whether the rank of lieutenant general was official or just nominal, one would need to reach rank fourteen at least. But Qianye’s current origin power was only at rank ten—the Li family’s treatment could be considered a sufficient display of respect.

The lieutenant general immediately replied, “Everyone knows ranks are just numbers. Only the Song clan is dumb enough to offer payments according to level.”

“But the Song clan warzone is indeed not bad,” Qianye said while looking at the map, “where are the dark races now?”

“According to the latest report, they may appear anywhere. We’ve already won the battle in the void, but…” at this point, the lieutenant general paused sightly before continuing, “the imperial fleet suffered too great of a loss. It could even be considered a miserable loss. According to what I know, the current imperial fleet no longer has the power to lock them in outer space. All they can do right now is escort our landing fleets and weaken the enemy as much as possible with disruptive ambushes.”

Qianye nodded. This outcome was well within expectations, or perhaps even a bit better than most people had surmised.

The empire’s airship fleet was known to be better than the Evernight side’s overall, but the advantage wasn’t that evident—it was at most a slight upper hand. Presently, the Evernight Council was already on high alert. The fierce sky battle yesterday was only the beginning of this war. Their main army would soon arrive in an unending stream.

“The war has already begun. What is your decision?” the lieutenant colonel asked cautiously.

Qianye pondered for a moment. “What else can the Li family offer me?”

The lieutenant colonel said in a delighted tone, “Please wait a while. I’ll go and bring a clan elder here to negotiate face to face.”

Qianye’s eyes narrowed—it turned out that this person was from the Jingtang Li Family after all. The lieutenant colonel felt a wisp of frosty qi sweep past his neck as he was about to exit the tent. However, Qianye wasn’t about to do anything at such a time. He simply sat down and began flipping through the most recent battle reports.

Before long, a brigadier general with completely white hair walked into the tent. He saluted Qianye upon entering and said, “My name is Li Yanshou, a humble elder of the Li family. I also hold office in the imperial army logistics department. General Qianye is highly promising despite your age. It will be our Li family’s fortune if you’re willing to operate and hunt in the Misty Wood.”

Qianye smile faintly. “The Misty Wood isn’t a good place, the environment is much more suited for the dark races.”

Li Yanshou replied calmly, “It is indeed so. That is why our Li clan is also bringing out sufficient sincerity. In addition to the common bounty offered to everyone, we’ll also provide you with a monthly remuneration of two thousand gold coins or resources of equal value.”

These conditions were similar to the Song clan’s, and the aim was to bind experts to their warzone. Judging from these numbers, the Jingtang Li Clan was treating Qianye as they would an expert three levels higher. It could be said that their respectful attitude was impeccable. It was just that Qianye had a mysterious sensation after recalling the relationship between the Zhao clan and the Li family.

Perhaps his thoughts were reflected on his face. Li Yanshou added, “Moreover, once you accumulate a marquis-worth of contributions, we’ll hand out an additional bonus equaling that of a count. Finally, some of the Li family’s medicines that aren’t available to outsiders will be provided to you. I believe everything is negotiable apart from one item.”

Qianye asked with a smile, “How about Stillwater Rebirth?”

Brows raised, Li Yanshou paused for a good while before saying, “I was referring to that one. But if you really want it, it’s not out of the question after you’ve accumulated a marquis-worth of contributions.”

Qianye nodded. It would be fairly suspicious if Li Yanshou had agreed on the spot. His hesitation raised the trustworthiness. “With such conditions, I’m afraid your clan won’t have much left to gain.”

Li Yanshou stroked his beard with a smile. “Our Li clan will have made a profit if we can hold Misty Wood. The little profit at present doesn’t count for much. You also know that the post-war evaluation and land allotment will be decided according to each clan’s contributions. This is a true pioneering of new land.”

Qianye said with a smile, “Since that’s the case, I have a condition.”

Li Yanshou listened with a serious expression.

“I want half my earnings in Misty Wood, including the Li family’s rewards, to be paid in military contributions. Moreover, they must be recorded under my own name and not the Li family’s.”

The smile on Li Yanshou’s face immediately disappeared. He stared deeply at Qianye and said word by word, “General Qianye, if we cannot report these contributions under the Li family’s name, it means that our clan will take a big loss in the post-war assessments. This will be a disadvantage to us during the land allotment process.”

Qianye had no intention of giving in. “Holding Misty Wood is the greatest contribution, others aren’t important.”

Li Yanshou stared intently at Qianye, and the latter looked back without backing down.

After a period of deadlock, Li Yanshou said, “Our Jingtang Li Family isn’t so short-sighted as to break our promises. Regardless of your background, as long as you join our warzone, you’ll receive a level of respect befitting a guest elder of our Li family. All benefits will go to you even if the contributions are under the Li family’s name, this I can perfectly promise. You don’t need to worry about this. How can we establish ourselves in the empire if we don’t even have this level of trustworthiness!”

Qianye’s expression was solemn. He didn’t feign ignorance, either, regarding the implications within the man’s words. “If I accept the Li clan’s monthly remuneration, I naturally won’t leave your warzone, either.”

Li Yanshou’s facial muscles twitched in an unnatural manner. He said after a long while, “We can only record the part you’ve earned yourself under your name. Otherwise, we’ll be losing too much in terms of contributions.”

Qianye said calmly, “Then, what about that bonus after accumulating a marquis-worth of contributions?”

Li Yanshou remained silent for a while. “General Qianye, our Li clan has made so many concessions. Shouldn’t you be expressing some sincerity?”

Qianye replied, “This is what you ought to do. I can promise I’ll earn at least a mighty marquis-worth of contributions.”

Li Yanshou’s expression shifted slightly. He then said after a momentary pause, “General Qianye indeed lives up to his name. Since you’re so confident, this old man will agree to these conditions on behalf of the Li family.”

Both parties had reached a general agreement at this point. The lieutenant colonel soon appeared with a contract which he placed in front of Qianye. Apparently, it had been prepared beforehand as well. Qianye looked through the clauses in great detail before signing his name on the contract.

Li Yanshou’s expression returned to normal after seeing Qianye pen down his name and gradually became delighted. Soon, the lieutenant colonel arrived with an additional batch of ammunition and handed it to Qianye—this could be considered an advance payment. This time, they were no longer standard issue ammunition but true Mithril Bullets of Exorcism. There were a full thirty rounds, proving that the Li clan was indeed offering Qianye resources worthy of a guest elder.

Next up, both parties hammered out the finer details. The war wasn’t too urgent at this point, so Qianye planned to recuperate for a couple of days. He intended to adjust himself to his peak state before heading toward Misty Wood on the Li clan’s airship.

Qianye returned to his tent after both parties had come to an agreement. There were still some doubts regarding the Li clan’s abnormal solicitation, but he didn’t dwell on it too much. The Misty Wood was the war zone he had already selected on his own. This paper contract was only there to maximize his profits. As for other problems, that which must come would come eventually.

The scenery on the floating continent was vastly different from Evernight Continent. The weather here was quite similar to the imperial mainland, just a bit on the colder side. However, the sky was remarkably clear, and the sun showered the continent with radiant light, bringing life to every corner of the land.

The void landmass after the disappearance of Giant’s Repose was rather charming.

Qianye, however, wasn’t in the mood to enjoy all of this. He was fully invested in cultivating because every little bit of increased strength was important on the eve of war.

However, it was just past noon when a crisp voice was heard outside of Qianye’s tent, disrupting his energy flow and effectively bringing him out of his cultivation state.

Standing outside of the tent was a major of the Li clan who said hurriedly upon seeing Qianye, “The dark races launched a sneak attack on Misty Wood an hour ago. Currently, the battle situation and the size of enemy forces aren’t clear. Please head over to the base and consider joining the battle when needed.”

Qianye had long since made preparations for this. He didn’t delay this time and simply ran toward the airship with this major.

Along the way, Qianye saw a fair number of airships scrambling into the air and flying off in every direction.

The major noticed Qianye’s gaze. “The dark races attacked more than one place. There were landing forces in every war zone. Additionally, there seem to be reinforcements arriving at their forward base.”

“Where is our airship squadron?”

“They’re still fighting against the Evernight fleet in the void, we don’t know yet what the situation is.”

In truth, judging from how the dark races were already landing, it would seem that the imperial fleet wasn’t doing too good up there.

The airship wasn’t too far away, so Qianye hastened his steps and hopped onto the ramp. There were already five or six people sitting inside the plane, and judging from their apparel, it was clear that they were experts like Qianye who had been recruited by the Li family.

All eyes fell upon him when he arrived at the cabin door. Among them, some were probing and some were observing, while others were provoking or revealing their might. There was even a gaze filled with killing intent.

Qianye glared back unceremoniously and found a thin man with a cold expression at a corner of the cabin. He was clad in a camouflage suit without any military ranks or affiliation insignia.

The man’s appearance was very ordinary. The most eye-catching was his strangely vertical eyes. He grinned and cursed at Qianye soundlessly.

Qianye’s expression turned cold and his eyes, a deep blue. The snake-like man’s origin fluctuations had nowhere to hide under Qianye’s True Sight. His rank was thirteen, an expert equal to a count on the Evernight side—no wonder he was so arrogant.

But Qianye had no recollection of this man’s face and was puzzled as to why he was so hostile.

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