Cloud Knights Military Camp Pocket Realm.
Qi Zhimu's face held a dignified expression as he prepared to lead his troops into battle.
Another squad approached from the opposite direction, and the Cloud Knights captain at its head saluted him solemnly.
Qi Zhimu returned a gesture salute, noticing a familiar gaze upon him. His eyes locked onto the pair of crimson pupils within the squad, yet his own emotions showed no change.
Both master and disciple had missions to undertake and were about to depart, but the battlefields they were heading to were not the same.
The master was pursuing the Borisin war leader.
The disciple was participating in a medium-scale Hunt campaign, hoping to one day fight side by side with him.
For now, they could only pass each other by, heading to their respective battlefields... In an era of frequent warfare, if one fails to adjust their mental state promptly, their perception of time's passage can easily become blurred.
Several years passed in the blink of an eye, and before they knew it, it was star calendar year 6310.
Qi Zhimu's expeditionary force returned victorious, bringing back an object that was mercilessly hung at the prow of the Yaoqing Xianzhou.
It was the head of the current Borisin war leader, Ussa.
The battle report quickly spread across all Xianzhou ships, causing shockwaves everywhere.
The primary enemy of the Xianzhou Alliance's Hunt against the Abominations of Abundance was the Borisin. Their war leader held a status equivalent to a Xianzhou General or even a Marshal for their entire race.
No one knew how Qi Zhimu had managed to slay the Borisin war leader.
Not even the Divination Commission of the Jade Dwelling Xianzhou could divine it... Xianzhou Luofu, General's Mansion.
Teng Xiao wore light armor. Even while bent over his desk, his imposing aura that commanded respect without anger was not diminished much.
"General, the current Imbibitor Lunae has entered the reincarnation cycle through molting. The Vidyadhara currently have no High Elder. The Dragon Elders have submitted a petition requesting the deployment of appropriate guard forces to secure the entrances and exits of the Scalegorge Waterscape to prevent any accidents."
The advisor looked serious as he placed the Vidyadhara's top-secret document on the desk.
Teng Xiao nodded casually, two fingers glowing with golden light as he left the mark of a Lord of the Hunt Envoy on the document.
"Proceed according to regulations. Inform the Sky-Faring Commission to contact Yueque via the Huangzhong Resonance System and have them relay the news of the Luofu Vidyadhara High Elder's reincarnation to the Marshal."
"Understood."
No sooner had the order been given than a jade message communication from the Sky-Faring Commission's helmsman came through.
Teng Xiao temporarily halted his work, granting projection permissions to display the virtual image.
"Helmsman Haiyun, what matter requires direct contact?"
"The Sky-Faring Commission of Yaoqing Xianzhou has transmitted a battle report via the Huangzhong Resonance System: Borisin war leader Ussa, hunted and slain!" Haiyun's tone carried astonishment.
Slaying the Borisin war leader was joyous news for the vast majority of Xianzhou people.
Yet, Teng Xiao frowned unusually, his face showing confusion.
"Ussa had been hiding for centuries; he must have finally been caught by General Shafeng. But why was Ussa directly slain?"
From Teng Xiao's perspective, the Borisin war leader was the Xianzhou's primary enemy, that much was true.
But the premise was: Xianzhou Generals could not spare the time to personally hunt him down.
Otherwise, a Borisin war leader, who wasn't even an Emanator, posed no threat whatsoever to a Xianzhou General.
If he encountered one, a single strike from the Divine Lord would annihilate both body and soul.
Logically, if a Xianzhou General took action personally, capturing the Borisin war leader alive would yield greater benefits.
Wait...!
He hadn't heard of anyone becoming the new Cloud Knight Sword Master of Yaoqing Xianzhou. Shafeng was unlikely to easily leave the main ship unless Ussa came knocking himself.
Teng Xiao snapped back to reality, realizing the issue.
The greatest threat of a Borisin war leader was their ability to command all Borisin Great Nest Fathers.
That was an absolute bloodline suppression, with each Great Nest Father then commanding their packs, forming the Abundance Coalition that struck fear into numerous factions and civilizations across the cosmos.
A single Borisin war leader alone wasn't worth a Xianzhou General risking the main ship to personally hunt down.
For a General to leave the main ship, they needed the Marshal's approval and had to leave behind both a Cloud Knight Sword Master and a Vidyadhara High Elder to guard it.
Back then, Azure City suffered because it lacked a High Elder to hold the fort.
It was precisely due to the precedent of the Azure City tragedy that the Marshal relocated to Xu Ling, which also lacked a Vidyadhara High Elder, and ordered him, the former Azure City General, to take over the Cloud Knights' crucial duties on Luofu.
Although the Cloud Knight Sword Master's combat prowess was the highest among the three armies, it was inferior to that of a Vidyadhara High Elder.
Could it be... that Qi Zhimu has become the Yaoqing Sword Master?
Teng Xiao's thoughts churned, but Haiyun, unaware of his musings, shook his head slightly upon hearing the question.
"General Shafeng did not take action. Ussa was slain by the former Azure City Cloud Knight Vanguard, now Yaoqing Vanguard, Qi Zhimu."
"!!"
Teng Xiao's eyes widened abruptly, and he momentarily lost his composure.
A Vanguard, not a Sword Master... To be able to slay a Borisin war leader far exceeded the strength required to become a Sword Master. So why was he still a Vanguard?
The Luofu Cloud Knight Sword Master was selected through a martial ceremony, but martial Yaoqing was different.
Simply put, whichever Cloud Knight was the strongest and best fighter, that was the one.
Rather than calling him Sword Master, it was more fitting to call him Martial Master.
Not to mention the former Azure City or current Yaoqing, even looking across the entire Xianzhou Cloud Knight Vanguards, you couldn't find a freak capable of simultaneously controlling over a thousand sword blades.
It seemed he would have to find an opportunity to ask Shafeng or Qi Zhimu himself.
"General? General?"
"Hmm... Approve publishing this on the front page of all Luofu network channels. As for Qi Zhimu's past identity as an Azure City native... keep that hidden."
Such a significant matter warranted discussing with the General personally.
"Great minds think alike." Haiyun nodded, promptly ending the real-time communication and making arrangements.
Teng Xiao did not continue handling urgent matters, instead focusing deeply in thought.
After a while, he thought of one possibility for why Qi Zhimu had not become the Yaoqing Sword Master.
It wasn't complicated: it was to personally go to the battlefield and kill more Abominations.
If he became the Sword Master, given Shafeng's impatience, he would frequently apply to the Marshal for personal campaigns.
Once approved, the Sword Master would have to guard the Yaoqing main ship alongside the High Elder, Lord Tianfeng.
"Sigh..."
Teng Xiao sighed deeply.
Witnessing his homeland turn to ruins before his eyes, with no family left.
Fighting on the front lines, bathed in the blood of Abominations, was the crucial belief that kept the surviving Azure City Cloud Knights going.
As a fellow Azure City native, he understood Qi Zhimu's feelings.
Perhaps this was the reason Qi Zhimu refused to assume the position of Yaoqing Sword Master... At the same time, Yaoqing Xianzhou, depths of the Shadow Prison.
Staring at the headless, massive Borisin corpse on the ground, Shafeng, along with several Vanguards and Shadow Prison guards, all had looks of disbelief in their eyes.
"You're saying you accidentally blasted Ussa's heart to pieces, so you couldn't capture him alive?"
"Yes." Qi Zhimu said calmly.
That shouldn't be normal... Everyone felt like scratching their heads.
Since when had a Borisin war leader's regenerative ability become so weak?
Forget having their heart blasted apart; even if their head was blown off, as long as the body wasn't turned to mincemeat, it could quickly grow back.
"Come, use the attack you used to kill Ussa on me." Shafeng suddenly said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Qi Zhimu, who had been standing quietly to the side, suddenly moved.
Without warning, without buildup, he simply threw a punch.
The fist's passage tore through the air with a sonic boom-like sound, aimed straight at Shafeng's chest.
Shafeng's pupils contracted sharply, his arms crossing to block in an instant.
But the moment the fist made contact with his arms, Qi Zhimu retracted his fist, raised his elbow upward, and slammed it heavily into Shafeng's arms.
Boom—!
A terrifying shockwave exploded forth.
A blurry figure was sent flying backward, crashing through the specially-made wall behind.
Almost simultaneously, the violent residual force of the attack swept outward, hurling the surrounding people back before they could even cry out.
Some tumbled awkwardly on the ground; others slammed into stone pillars before barely stopping their momentum.
For a moment, objects toppled, and chaos ensued.
"Pfft... Cough, cough, cough..."
Shafeng pushed himself up from the broken wall debris, unable to suppress a mouthful of blood that splattered on the ground.
He looked up at Qi Zhimu, who still maintained his elbow-raising posture several zhang away, shock surging in his eyes.
Not only was the direct attack's destructive power astonishing, but it also carried an even more terrifying hidden force that penetrated his defense, catching him off guard.
The moment he felt that terrifying force surge into his body, if he hadn't subconsciously used Emanator-level power to defend, it wouldn't have been just coughing up blood.
His heart would have undoubtedly been blasted to pieces by Qi Zhimu's elbow strike.