Every single person in the Dragon Spear Army turned pale.
A few days ago, the Dragon Spear Army had suffered a crushing defeat. Even the Marshal's granddaughter, Qin Qiansheng, had nearly died in battle.
The other factions all believed they'd lost to Western Luo.
The Dragon Spear Army couldn't even be bothered to explain.
But within the army, they knew the truth.
They had run into a force calling itself the Greedy Wolf Army.
That was the first time they'd ever been utterly overpowered. They couldn't even fight back, and in the end, had to retreat in disgrace.
Only in the past few days did they find out—the Greedy Wolf Army wasn't from the Wasteland Realm, but from the Azure Jade Realm.
Yang Cheng's gaze was calm.
The Dragon Spear Army, defeated by the Greedy Wolf Army?
That was something that hadn't happened in his previous life.
It was only because of the powerful intel he held that he knew the truth.
As for the Greedy Wolf Army, he was no stranger to them.
They were the army of the Tianheng Empire from the Azure Jade Realm.
In his memories, one of the fiercest forces to invade the Wasteland Realm in the future had been the Tianheng Empire.
And the Greedy Wolf Army was their vanguard.
But originally, they weren't supposed to arrive for another 100 years.
Now they'd shown up 100 years early.
Yang Cheng had begun to realize—more and more things were diverging from his memories of the future. And the changes were massive.
"Chu Chen, Jiang Bingjun… and now the Greedy Wolf Army. The number of outer-realm cultivators entering the Wasteland Realm is growing by the day."
Yang Cheng had a feeling—he might soon see all those Heaven's Chosen from the myriad realms that he remembered.
But he wasn't worried. In fact, he looked forward to it.
"In my past life, Heaven's Mandate Emperor Yang Xiu chose appeasement and flattery as his strategy for dealing with the forces of the myriad realms."
"Again and again, he ceded territory, paid reparations, disgraced the nation. He sold out the resources of the Wasteland Realm to buy favor with other realms."
Thinking of the future's countless cruel and inhumane scenes, Yang Cheng burned with fury.
Those forces from the myriad realms had acted like tyrants in the Wasteland Realm, doing whatever they pleased.
Countless cultivators from the Wasteland Realm had suffered brutal torture at their hands.
For hundreds of years in the future, Wasteland cultivators were basically slaves to the other realms—worse off than livestock.
Only a handful of elites like Heaven's Mandate Emperor Yang Xiu continued to live in luxury.
Now, Yang Cheng clearly wasn't going to let that happen again.
If the outsiders dared stir trouble in the Wasteland Realm, he'd cut off their hands if they reached out, break their legs if they stepped in.
The integration of the Wasteland Realm into the myriad realms was a historical inevitability. That couldn't be stopped.
If outside cultivators wanted to enter, fine.
But they would have to follow the rules of the Wasteland Realm.
In his previous life, Yang Cheng would've never dared to even think like this.
But now, everything was different.
With his current martial aptitude, he didn't need to fear any Heaven's Chosen from the myriad realms.
"The Great Yan Dao Palace recruits geniuses from all over the myriad realms, and it also has protection rules for its important disciples and their worlds."
"When the Wasteland Realm truly loses its Guardian someday, I'll join the Great Yan Dao Palace."
The Great Yan Dao Palace.
It had been out of reach in his previous life.
It was the holy land of martial arts that countless cultivators dreamed of in the dead of night.
There, all the true peak Heaven's Chosen from the myriad realms gathered.
"Now, let's start with the Greedy Wolf Army!"
A journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step.
The rest was still too far off.
So he'd start by taking down the Greedy Wolf Army.
They were unbelievably cruel, having killed millions of Great Zhou citizens in his previous life.
That debt—Yang Cheng was absolutely going to settle it.
"Why so quiet?"
Yang Cheng said, "Weren't you all proud and arrogant? How come after getting beat by the Greedy Wolf Army, not one of you has the guts to take revenge?"
The thick-browed man slumped and said, "Your Highness, you don't understand. The ones in the Greedy Wolf Army… they're not cultivators from the Wasteland Realm. They're from the Azure Jade Realm. We can't compare to them at all."
The rest of the Dragon Spear Army soldiers looked gloomy too.
Of course they were unwilling. Of course they were angry.
But they'd truly been stunned by that defeat.
They had never suffered such a loss before. From start to finish, they hadn't even been able to fight back.
When facing the Greedy Wolf Army, they genuinely felt a deep sense of powerlessness.
"The people in the Greedy Wolf Army… don't they have one nose and two eyes just like you? Do they have three heads and six arms or something?"
Yang Cheng said coldly.
"But…" the thick-browed man tried to argue.
Yang Cheng cut him off without mercy: "No buts. They're human. You're human. Why can't you be on par with them?"
"Right now, you all give me the feeling of a bunch of cowardly losers who bully the weak and fear the strong."
"Arrogant in front of the weak, but completely losing your backbone when faced with strength."
"Tell me, are you still real men or not?"
The soldiers fell silent.
After a long pause, Miao Shuangshuang spoke up weakly, "Your Highness, I'm a woman. Not a man."
"…"
Yang Cheng was speechless for a moment. He really had forgotten the Dragon Spear Army wasn't like other units.
They had both male and female divisions.
He gave Miao Shuangshuang a sharp glare, then rephrased, "Fine. Then tell me—do you have guts or not?"
"I've got guts," the thick-browed man replied.
"What about the rest of you? Cat got your tongues?" Yang Cheng barked.
"We've got guts!" the soldiers, both men and women, spoke up one after another.
"Too quiet. Makes me seriously doubt you actually do."
The moment Yang Cheng said that, all the soldiers roared in unison, "We've got guts!"
"Good. Very good."
Yang Cheng nodded. "Seems like there's still hope for you. Since that's the case, I'll spend the next three months training you."
"I promise you—three months from now, you'll be able to defeat the Greedy Wolf Army!"
"Three months to beat the Greedy Wolf Army?" the soldiers looked at one another in disbelief.
Zhao Yuefeng couldn't help saying, "Your Highness, the terrifying part about the Greedy Wolf Army isn't just their strength. Every single one of them is powerful in martial arts. Their top generals are all Martial Emperors or Martial Saints."
"Our Dragon Spear Army is far weaker overall. It's not just three months—even three years, even thirty years wouldn't be enough to catch up."
"I wouldn't say it if I weren't sure," Yang Cheng said.
He pulled out a jade slip. "I've got a breathing technique called the 'Fire Dragon Breathing Technique'. It's an excellent match for the environment here at Fire Dragon Mountain. In a short time, it can draw out your full potential."
"All you need to do next is cultivate this breathing technique. In three months, every one of you will transform."
"Of course, cultivating this breathing technique means enduring the burning pain of the lava. It's incredibly painful and extremely dangerous."
"Whether you choose to cultivate or not—it's entirely up to you."
This breathing technique had actually been created by the Dragon Spear Army in the future.
It had taken them two hundred years to develop it.
Now, Yang Cheng was bringing it into the world two hundred years early!
A flash of shock appeared in Qin Qiansheng's eyes.
'The Book of Destiny mentions the "Fire Dragon Breathing Technique." It's the foundation of the Dragon Spear Army's rise in the future.'
'I didn't expect this breathing technique actually came from Yang Cheng.'
If Yang Cheng had known what Qin Qiansheng was thinking, he would've been stunned.
The future Qin Qiansheng knew wasn't the one from his past life—but from this life.
"Your Highness, just how dangerous is this cultivation method?"
Zhao Yuefeng asked, "Normally, if we step into lava to train, we're guaranteed to die."