Commanding Wind and Cloud

Qian Jin felt curious about the kind of mission that would be appointed by the one who sent such a malicious map?

"Let me break down the mission for you and you can decide whether you’ll take it or not." General Wind suddenly wore a serious look, and then said in a grave voice, "I will tell you about the mission, again, you can all decide whether you are capable of doing it, instead of letting you risk it, clear? Being capable and being courageous are totally different things. I want to have this mission completed, but it doesn’t mean that you have to risk your life in order to do so."

The tent was instantly encompassed in a sudden pressure. Qian Jin could tell from General Wind’s eyes that he was taking this very seriously and that he would rather give up on this mission instead of having them risk their lives on it, given that they felt this mission too dangerous.

"We understand!" The three Chiliarchies, along with Qian Jin replied decisively.

General Wind took out the letter which had already been opened, placed it on the map and said, "Things have become strange, as no Demons would come to the Reventment Camp generally. But according to the intelligence report, the Dark Group of the Demon Species had dispatched a large number of Dark Soldiers to around here."

General Wind drew a big circle on a forest located in the central territories of the Demons on the map, "They seem to be looking for something, which ought to a living object according to our predictions."

"The Dark Group?"

Qian Jin knew what this was leading to. As a special department of the Demon Species, the Dark Group was internally in charge of an assortment of things, including supervision of its nobles and high-ranking officials. Sometimes it could even break into an official’s dwelling or the court and take away the wanted person for cruel torturing, without going through the proper procedures.

Externally, the Dark Group was responsible for carrying out assassination missions, such as slipping into royal palace to assassinate high-ranking officials or even the emperor of the Zence Empire. Seven hundred years ago, the leader of the Dark Group maneuvered to assassinate the emperor of the Zence Empire by himself. However, he was really unfortunate to have run into an ultimate bloodline warrior who happened to be greeting the Emperor in the morning, and consequently,...the leader was killed, and his corpse was carried on a wooden cart and sent back to the Demons Species, which was a great humiliation to the Demons.

It was obvious that the mission called upon by the Dark Group was not looking for treasures, the Demon Beasts, the energy stone lode or other things of the sort. They were probably searching for the scouts of Zence Empire lurking in their territory, or their own members.

All of a sudden, Qian Jin had figured out their mission, which was, sneaking into the Demons’ territory, finding, and bringing back the targets the Dark Group was searching for.

Whether the Demons were searching for their members or spies of Zence Empire, Qian Jin and his comrades would destroy their planning! That was the righteous choice!

"We’re going on a rescue mission?" Duren Burg rubbed his nose with his forefinger, "It is somewhat difficult. Though the Dark Soldiers are Demon Warriors at the bottom level in the Dark Group, once they step onto a battlefield, they wouldn’t become mundane at all."

Fanta Kunge nodded his head to show his agreement. The plucking examination of the Dark Group was rather complex a process, which not only scrutinized the candidates’ identities strictly but also required telling the power of such candidates.

As per the standards of strength measuring in the Zence Empire, a Dark Soldier of the lowest level was equivalent to a Demon Fighter! Anyone who underestimated these Demon Warriors in service to the Demon Emperor would suffer terrible damages.

General Wind lifted his head, and glanced at Duren Burg with a look full of appreciation, "What you need to do is not only searching for their intended targets but finishing off the Dark Star who is leading the dispatch of the Dark Group at the same time, if possible."

...

The tent fell into sheer silence. The three Chiliarchies gazed at the table and emitted extreme anger from their eyes as if longing to take out their blades and start a massacre. How could it be called a military mission? It was a piece of paper asking for General Wind’s life!

At this moment Qian Jin finally understood why General Wind had mentioned the question of capabilities and courage. Though the structure of the Dark Group was a little complicated, he was able to draw a rough analysis of it.

Sun, Moon, and Star! They constituted the basic classifications of the Dark Group, with the Dark Sun in charge of the whole department as the leader, and several Dark Moons assuming different tasks respectively, enjoying pretty large amounts of power within the entire group.

The posts of the Dark Stars were relatively low, but still with significant power. They were divided into One Star, Two Star, Three Star, all the way up to Seven Star.

One Star was at the bottom level of the whole Dark Star organization, but it didn’t mean that they play trivial roles, as it was not an easy thing for the Dark Group to recruit a qualified Star! Compared to the Zence Empire, the Demons Species attached overweighing importance military power, and to be a Star entailed strong individual combat abilities.

"It’s quite interesting since the Dark Stars of the Dark Group have been sent out." Duren Burg squinted at the map smilingly, "I want to take this mission."

Qian Jin also wore a smile, thinking that striking down the Dark Stars of the Dark Group was gaining incredible military merits! Even if he didn’t belong to the army since he was studying at school, such merits would be recorded and would overshadow his rivals if he was competing for the post of a castellan, other qualifications would pale in comparison.

"I also wanna a try." Duren Burg also showed his desire, because the opportunity of fighting hands-on with the Demons wasn’t easily acquired.

General Wind uttered a sigh at the sight of the three eager young warriors, "State your opinions after hearing what I have said. I have to remind you that the leading Dark Star is a Seven Star Demon Warrior."

Seven Star! How strong would a Seven Star be? No information about it could be referred to in the written records of the Zence Empire, making Qian Jin itching to find out. This Seven Star Demon Warrior’s might was sure to surpass that of a level 9 Demon Fighter!

Since his re-encounter with Fabreidis, Qian Jin came to realize how strong he truly was, yet his power was not strong enough to extinguish everyone he ran into. At least Fabreidis was much more powerful than him, whose Demon Fighter level was obviously beyond 9.

As someone who was second only to the Dark Moon, how strong could a Seven Star be? Qian Jin felt more eager for this mission, knowing that the head of the Seven Star was extremely precious! If he was lucky enough to finish off the Seven Star, he would greatly increase his chances of winning the position of a mayor.

Even if they failed to kill the Seven Star, they could hide! Qian Jin had already made up his mind, and when he looked to the other two young warriors standing by his side, he found that they were also smiling.

"You need to consider it further." General Wind said simply, "It is not an easy task. If you are just aiming at rescuing our members, I will allow you to try. But if you’re dreaming of killing the Seven Star of the Dark Group, you’d better quit it as your chances of winning are zero. Even if the scale of your team is doubled, you will still be seeking your doom. I don’t want to see your heads hanged on the flag of the Demons."

Fanta Kunge and Duren Burg fell silent. Though General Wind’s words were piercing to the ears, what he had said was definitely true. The Seven Star...

"Our chances are there." Qian Jin took on a gesture of shooting an arrow, "We can shoot him to death."

"Shoot him to death?"

General Wind and the three Thousand Man Captains laughed together, and the other two young warriors also forced a mournful smile. Qian Jin’s power was beyond doubt but was he naive in that regard. The stronger someone was, the more sensitive their senses would be. Even the most covert shooting intent of an ordinary archer would be sensed by them instantly.

The members of the Yuri Family had a small chance of winning were they present here. As for the other people? They could do nothing do but invite a brutal purple-vein bloodline warrior of the barbarians in the north. But the question would arouse the knowledge that the mission was to assassinate a Seven Star of the Dark Group, none of the barbarians would shoulder it, as it would intensify the confrontation between the Barbarians and the Demons.

Though the barbarians were bold and unrestrained, they were not fools. It didn’t matter much money they were promised, they would not dare take the risk.

General Wind patted on Qian Jin’s shoulders, "Your idea is great, but we shall not carry it out, as you know shooting is not easy."

Clap!

General Wind suddenly felt a small stone in the center of his forehead, or to say precisely, a small rock the size of a nail size was crushed against General Wind’s head.

The three Chiliarchies looked at the broken rock on General Wind’s head with a blank expression while the two young warriors and General Wind were gazing at Qian Jin with shock on their faces.

General Wind tried hard to blink in order to verify guess. Right! It was Qian Jin who threw this rock at him, but he wasn’t conscious of that at all? He didn’t feel that Qian Jin had targeted him when his true strength and given that they were in such close proximity, he didn’t avoid the small rock.

"Shooting..." Qian Jin said smilingly, "Is, in fact, a low-hanging fruit."

The three Chiliarchies changed their views of Qian Jin. General Wind had been garrisoned at the Reventment Battlefield for quite a few years and had met with sentinel soldiers coming from the Dark Group, who utilized their archery to attack the Reventment Camp, yet gained no success. As a veteran with many years of battlefield experience, General Wind had the developed the ability to be vigilant towards danger.

But was this ability nullified today? Yogi felt shocked, as when he was diverting his attention, he saw Qian Jin smiling at him, after which he was also hit by a small rock on his forehead.

"As you have seen, I have thrown a small rock at our general, yet you haven’t avoided my hit." Qian Jin smiled faintly, "Shooting him to death is not impossible."

General Wind frowned, "Shooting is different from throw a rock..."

"Then..." Qian Jin cracked his finger crisply, "How shall I convince you? Shall we have a face-to-face shooting?"

"That’s not needed." General Wind said coolly, "Though I am not proficient in archery, I am able to tell the proficiency of different people. If you want to accomplish the rescue mission as well finish off the Seven Star, shouldn’t you show me your shooting skill?"

"No problem!" Qian Jin moved his wrist, "How should I show you this?"

"The simplest shooting target can tell your proficiency." General Wind walked out of the tent, "Have you brought a bow and arrow with you? If not, I can arrange a set for you."

"I have taken them with me and I will head back to my tent to fetch them." In order to hide his warrior dimension from them, Qian Jin told a lie, and then he ran as fast as he could, found an empty tent, reached out his hand and took the powerful bow forged on his own from his warrior dimension, along with the container holding numerous mighty arrows.