Chapter 3421

Ye Liuyun had never expected that, after kindly saving someone, he would suffer such a heavy loss. He immediately released his divine sense to search for Zhao Yuanpei’s whereabouts, intent on avenging his fallen brothers.

But he discovered that Zhao Yuanpei and the others had not gone far before being surrounded by several powerful experts. Only eight guards remained at his side.

However, Xiao Han’s forces were also approaching from the distance, so Ye Liuyun no longer had a chance to attack Zhao Yuanpei.

"Consider yourself lucky, you bastard. I’ll take your worthless life next time!"

Ye Liuyun cursed inwardly, then immediately stored the captured experts and the golden dragon in his spatial world.

However, he did not hurry to help Zhao Yuanpei. Instead, he sent the remaining soldiers to clean up the battlefield while he and Qi Tianlin went to check on Chen Mo’s injuries.

After Chen Mo swallowed a drop of the Fountain of Life, he managed to cling to life. Qin Yuan and Qiang Shi, however, were truly dead.

Ye Liuyun, Qi Tianlin, and Liao Yaotian all felt that the two brothers had died a particularly miserable death. They had actually been killed by their own people.

"Sigh! In the eyes of these powerful figures, the lives of soldiers like us aren’t worth a thing!" Qi Tianlin couldn’t help sighing.

"Don’t lose heart. This world still judges people by their strength. They look down on us now because we’re weak. Once we become stronger, we’ll be able to trample all this trash beneath our feet!" Ye Liuyun encouraged him.

Afterward, he had Liao Yaotian and Qi Tianlin collect Qin Yuan’s and Qiang Shi’s storage rings. Their resources could not be wasted, either.

The remaining corpses were placed together, and Ye Liuyun burned them all to ashes in a single blaze.

At that moment, Xiao Han’s army also arrived, and the martial cultivators surrounding Zhao Yuanpei finally dispersed.

Xiao Han arranged for Zhao Yuanpei to be escorted back, then brought a squad of soldiers to receive Ye Liuyun and the others.

Seeing the grief and anger on Ye Liuyun and the others’ faces, and noticing that only eight of them remained, Xiao Han knew they had suffered heavy losses this time.

"It’s all right. If you’ve lost people, I’ll make up the numbers for you!" Xiao Han comforted Ye Liuyun.

Unable to hold back any longer, Liao Yaotian finally told him what had happened.

Xiao Han had not expected the situation to be like this. No wonder Ye Liuyun’s expression was so grim. If people had died in an ordinary battle, Ye Liuyun would not have been so silent.

However, there was nothing he could do about such a matter. Even Hao Tai, the army’s grand commander, did not dare offend Zhao Yuanpei, so they had even less standing to say anything.

He did not know how to console Ye Liuyun, so he merely patted him on the shoulder before leading them to rejoin the main army and return to camp.

What he did not know was that Ye Liuyun never let a grudge go unanswered. Zhao Yuanpei had already been placed on Ye Liuyun’s death list. Zhao Yuanpei himself, however, remained unaware of this as he returned to Hao Tai’s camp with the few guards he had left.

Hao Tai was deeply pained to see that so many guards had died, but he did not show it. He merely questioned Zhao Yuanpei about what had happened.

After escaping, however, Zhao Yuanpei had not paid any further attention to Ye Liuyun and the others. Thus, Hao Tai had no choice but to find Xiao Han and ask about their condition.

Only after Xiao Han reported the situation did he learn that Ye Liuyun was safe and sound. With just over fifty soldiers at the first level of the Taixu Realm, they had rescued Zhao Yuanpei, annihilated the opposing forces, and ultimately returned with ten men.

Although Zhao Yuanpei did not care about the matter, Hao Tai was able to report it to Zhao Yu’an. He lavished Ye Liuyun with praise and went on to strongly commend his powerful bloodline and other outstanding qualities.

As a marquis, Zhao Yu’an naturally understood what Hao Tai meant. However, an ordinary soldier who had merely made a slight impression on him was not yet worthy of much attention.

Thus, he only said that Ye Liuyun deserved credit for rescuing Zhao Yuanpei and had performed outstandingly in the army, so he should be heavily rewarded. With that, he let the matter rest.

Hao Tai also knew that he could not rush things. Ye Liuyun would have to show his face a few more times before a marquis would remember him. For now, the marquis had formed an impression of him and knew that he had saved his own son, which was already quite good.

Afterward, he had Xiao Han and Ye Liuyun summoned one after the other.

To Xiao Han, he merely said that Xiao Han’s training under him could come to an end. Any further promotion would make him a commander of a hundred thousand.

"Once this sweep is over, your battle credits should be sufficient. You can consider becoming a commander of a hundred thousand. My little temple will soon be too small to contain a great god like you.

"In the battles ahead, as long as you advance steadily and avoid making mistakes, there shouldn’t be any major problems. I will continue to have you serve as the vanguard so that you can earn more battle credits.

"You should also have the princess help arrange where you will go next!"

Hao Tai was reminding Xiao Han to start making arrangements in advance.

Xiao Han also understood that there was no longer any room for him to remain here. If he stayed, Hao Tai would have to give up his position for him.

"Then can I take a few soldiers with me?" Xiao Han had no choice but to ask Hao Tai.

"You want to take Ye Liuyun with you?" Hao Tai asked with a smile.

"Uh... You noticed him too?" Xiao Han had not expected Hao Tai to have noticed Ye Liuyun.

"Haha, of course I would pay attention to someone like him. Otherwise, why would I have him scout ahead for the entire army and give him so many opportunities to earn merit?" Hao Tai laughed as well.

But he immediately said to Xiao Han, "Someone as talented as Ye Liuyun isn’t someone you can keep by your side. Even I don’t think I could keep him, let alone you as you are now.

"You haven’t even established yourself yet, so you have no way to take him with you. If he follows you, he won’t have sufficient resources or opportunities to fight.

"You should stop thinking about it. Once you’ve developed, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to recruit talent. As for Ye Liuyun, you can build a good relationship with him first and worry about the rest later."

"All right, then!" Seeing that Hao Tai had put it that way, Xiao Han could only agree.

He then used a communication talisman to contact his mother, Princess Changxiao, asking her to arrange his next post in advance and transfer him to another army, where he would first serve as a deputy commander of a hundred thousand.

After contacting his mother about his own affairs, Xiao Han thought of Ye Liuyun again and asked Hao Tai, "Then after I leave, what about Ye Liuyun...?"

Hao Tai replied with a smile, "That’s right. He’ll take your place and first serve as a commander of ten thousand. Then I’ll look for an opportunity to promote him.

"His cultivation is still a little low, so he can temper himself for a while longer. After that, I’ll recommend him to my superiors as well."

Xiao Han nodded and thanked Hao Tai before leaving the central army tent, ready to continue leading troops to suppress the bandits.

When Hao Tai received Ye Liuyun, he first praised his achievements, then expressed his intention to promote him, saying that he held Ye Liuyun in very high regard.

Ye Liuyun hurriedly thanked Hao Tai as well. He was only a minor commander at present, so of course he had to express his gratitude and loyalty upon receiving a promotion from the grand commander.

The reason Hao Tai had not stated the result directly was probably that he was gauging Ye Liuyun’s attitude. Ye Liuyun saw this very clearly.