Heavenly Jewel Change

The rope drifted and swung in the sky wildly. It was a very tough and flexible and strong rope, as it was crafted from titanium fibres and a mix of other metal strands. Even if a Heavenly Jewel Master wanted to cut it, it would take quite some effort.

Zhou Weiqing had just been extorted by his few masters, as such, as the one highest up and closest to Shangguan Fei’er, he couldn’t help but ‘accidentally’ shake the rope once in awhile. Of course, there was no real danger, but for the Heavenly Unit Bow members who were flying for the first time, it was definitely no small excitement.

When they finally landed, Mu En jumped up, his face pale and ashen, and he gave Zhou Weiqing a thwap as he exclaimed: “Little brat, are you trying to kill your teachers?”

Zhou Weiqing looked at him innocently and said: “Teacher, you can’t blame me for that! I’m also afraid of flying! It is not on purpose.”

The only one who seemed excited was Shui Cao, who exclaimed: “Litlte Wei, flying is just too fun and exhilarating. Aren’t you a Consolidating Equipment Master? Can you make a Wings Consolidating Equipment for me too? Your big sis still has an unused Physical Jewel.”

Hearing her words, Zhou Weiqing suddenly stopped, his heart skipping a beat. Indeed! He was a Consolidating Equipment Master, and it would not be too difficult to create a Consolidating Equipment of wings which could fly. Although those would not have any actual fighting power, but if used well, not only could they be used to save lives, but also to move incredibly quickly.

“Consolidating Equipment Wings would require two Physical Jewels. As long as you have the space, the scroll is not a problem. That said… teachers, what do you think if I were to give every one of the Physical Jewel Masters in the Peerless Battalion a pair of Consolidated Wings, and form an airborne archery unit. What do you think?”

Hua Feng furrowed his brow and said: “How many Consolidating Equipment Scrolls would that take?”

Yi Shi thought for a moment and said: “Little Wei, that is not a bad idea. If it really works, then you would have an unbelievably strong army, one unparalleled, almost unbeatable even. As long as they can have a good aim at a five hundred yard distance, even if they meet Heavenly Jewel Masters of higher cultivation, they will not be afraid.”

Shangguan Fei’er looked strangely at Zhou Weiqing and said: “Little Fatty, such a troop, we actually have something similar in our ZhongTian Empire Army.”

“Ohh?” Zhou Weiqing quickly asked “Tell me more details?” He was not at all surprised that the ZhongTian Empire had such a troop, after all it had the Heavenly Jewel Island behind them, and as the biggest Empire, they certainly had the wealth and manpower to create such a troop. Just seeing how the northern army could abandon a couple hundred Jewel Masters to the Ruffian Battalion was the best example of that. Without question, the ordinary Jewel Masters that the Heavenly Bow Empire treated like priceless gems were just so common in the ZhongTian Empire.

Shangguan Fei’er said: “Our ZhongTian Empire northern central combined army has a specialised airborne troop, used mainly against the airborne troop of the WanShou Empire. It is known as the Heavenly Wing Battalion, and though it numbers only a thousand men, they are all Physical Jewel Masters of at least six-Jeweled cultivation level, each of them having a pair of Consolidating Wings. However, they are mostly focused on airborne combat, and the airborne archery unit like you mentioned does not exist. After all, these Physical Jewel Masters mainly spend their time cultivating their Heavenly Energy, and do not have that much time to spend practicing archery.”

Han Mo, normally quiet and reserved, actually spoke out then: “I think this is definitely worth a try. As long as the bows and arrows are powerful enough, it should work. However, such a troop would mean sacrificing their close combat capabilities, and they cannot allow their opponents to get close to them.”

Gao Shen, on the other hand, had a vexed look on his face, standing beside Han Mo silently. The reason was simple, both he and Yi Shi were Elemental Jewel Masters, and without Physical Jewels, how could they Consolidate Wings?

Mu En said leisurely: “It is still much too early to discuss all of this. Let’s see these subordinates of Little Wei first, and whether or not they have the talent for archery. They must at least have a decent archery skill before we can even think of talking about such things.”

Luo Ke Di agreed: “Old Mu En is right. Without the required archery, all the best plans you have here are for naught. Also, Little Wei, you must consider one thing… in order to sustain flight for long periods and long distances, sufficient Heavenly Energy is required. I think that is the reason why that Heavenly Wing Battalion of the ZhongTian Empire Army requires their men to be at least at the six Jeweled cultivation level.”

Zhou Weiqing nodded and said: “Alright, let’s go. We can discuss further when we return.” Indeed, some things definitely sounded amazing and perfect in theory, but actually accomplishing them or putting it into practice in reality was much more difficult. However, he considered himself extremely lucky to be able to reunite with his teachers. With their help, and all their combined minds and experience, it would be much easier to do anything.

However, when Zhou Weiqing brought them all to the Peerless Battalion Camp, his first reaction was shock. The reason was simple. The Peerless Battalion had disappeared…

Indeed. They had disappeared totally.

The rolling hills were totally empty, the original messy rows of tattered tents, flags, campfires, everything was now gone, not even a slightest bit of trash could be found, with only the coniferous forest of the cold north shaking in the bitter wind left alone.

“What’s going on?” Shangguan Fei’er was also taken by surprise, looking to Zhou Weiqing with a questioning look.

Luo Ke Di laughed heartily and said: “Little Wei, this Peerless Battalion of yours isn’t just something you made up right? Why isn’t there anything here?”

Zhou Weiqing thought for a moment, and his expression suddenly changed. Next, he closed his eyes, brow furrowed as he stood there unmoving.

As the others looked at him, they saw a faint dark red symbol appear above his brow, and in moments, a shrill bird cry rang out, and in a silver flash, a little silver bird appeared in Zhou Weiqing’s arms before the others could even react. It was the Silver Emperor.

“There must be an enemy attack. Everyone, follow me, quick.” Zhou Weiqing exclaimed as he quickly headed towards one of the hills.

“Battalion Commander!” As soon as he reached the hill, Wei Feng popped out from behind a tree. The tree was situated in front of one of their entrances to their tunnels.

“Old Wei, what is going on? Did everyone retreat into the tunnels?” Wei Feng glanced towards the Heavenly Bow Unit members that were following Zhou Weiqing for a moment, before saying solemnly: “Our scouts spotted a troop of enemies heading in this direction, and they will be reaching in a while. As such, I ordered everyone to retreat into the tunnels.”

It was exactly as Zhou Weiqing had expected, an enemy attack. Zhou Weiqing knew that those tattered tents and encampment were mainly for the view of the ZhongTian Northern Army eyes, and when the WanShou Empire army attacked, they would retreat totally into the tunnels without leaving a trace. This was how the Peerless Battalion had survived in such conditions and being severely outnumbered all this while.

“How many are there?” Zhou Weiqing asked.

Wei Feng said: “About one company. They should be here as a scouting party, or perhaps just to kill some scouts of the northern army.”

Zhou Weiqing started. “Just a single Company? One hundred men? Then what are we afraid of? We outnumber them more than ten to one, how could we possibly lose?”

Wei Feng gave a bitter smile and said: “Battalion Commander, it’s not just like that. Firstly, the issue is not whether we can defeat them or not, but whether or not we can afford to! Once we start a fight, it could mean revealing that we have this hideout here. If even one enemy escapes, the WanShou Army might learn of this place, and in the future they may search this area and find us, and we will be doomed. Caution is of utmost importance here, after all, it is a matter of life and death for all our brothers.”

Only then did it dawn upon Zhou Weiqing, for the Ruffian Battalion to survive this long in such a place, they truly had their own set of ways of doing things.

“Old Wei, what sort of troop type is here from the WanShou Empire? What kind of power?” Zhou Weiqing asked curiously. After all, he had not met any of the WanShou Empire armies before.

Wei Feng’s expression turned ugly as he said: “They are the WanShou Wolf Cavalry troops. These Wolf Cavalry troops may not be the strongest technical arms of the WanShou army, but they still hold quite an important role. After all, they are extremely speedy, much faster than even our light cavalry units. Furthermore, their destructive capabilities are not to be underestimated, with much offensive strength indeed to accompany their speed and agility. The WanShou Empire consists of many tribes, with each tribe having their own totem. Within their bloodlines, they also have some beast genes. For example, the Wolfman tribe, they have a certain amount of wolf bloodlines, and they are able to tame powerful war wolves to be their mounts.”

Wei Feng also knew that Zhou Weiqing did not have any understanding about the WanShou Empire, so he continued explaining all that in detail. “No matter which tribe of the WanShou Empire, they are all much stronger physically than any ordinary humans. Just take the wolfman tribe as an example; they have an average height of 1.9 metres, usually taller, and their strength, agility and speed are all far higher than normal. Their arms, legs and hands are larger, also with tipped claws. Their body hair, more fur than hair, is thicker than normal humans, allowing them greater resistance to this climate. In terms of combat, they are well versed in fighting together in unity, and they are also ferocious and bold, unafraid of death. Usually, facing a Company of ordinary Wolfman Tribe soldiers, our ordinary troops require an entire Battalion to deal with them. Even for our cavalry Battalions, they may not be able to take on a Company of Wolfman Cavalry troops.”

Zhou Weiqing was taken aback, exclaiming in surprise: “So strong? Doesn’t that mean the other more powerful tribes of the WanShou Empire are even more terrifying?”

Wei Feng gave a bitter smile and said: “That is naturally the case! Every time there is a battle, our casualties are at least five times that of the WanShou Empire armies. However, although the WanShou Empire has a massive amount of land, their total population numbers less than a tenth of our ZhongTian Empire. Even so, with just the strength of their single empire alone, they are able to fight with us ZhongTian Empire, Fei Li Empire and Bao Po Empire at once, holding us at bay.”

Zhou Weiqing said: “That is to say… even for our entire Peerless Battalion to take on the Company of Wolf Cavalry troops… we will not be able to defeat them?”

Wei Feng nodded without hesitation, saying: “Wolfman Tribe soldiers and their warwolves… the combination of this pair is extremely strong, not just in terms of sheer power but also their teamwork, unity. That is something we cannot match. If we were to clash, we might have some chance of winning, but to be honest that would depend a lot on Battalion Commander and Drillmaster’s personal strength to bring us to victory. More so, it is nearly certain that we will not be able to kill them all.”

Standing by Zhou Weiqing’s side, Luo Ke Di couldn’t help but say: “Isn’t that rather exagerated? Are they that great? I would like to see for myself how strong these WanShou Wolf Cavalry troops are for myself. Isn’t it just a Company? Boss, shall we try our hand?” His last line was naturally directed towards Hua Feng.

Hua Feng looked at Zhou Weiqing and said: “Little Wei, you are the Battalion Commander, you make the decision.”