Chapter 1506: Embezzling Military Pay, Rectifying Discipline

The gilded waist token of the burly-bearded Commander crashed onto the Commanding Platform, its surface covered in spiderweb-like cracks.

“Commander Zhao Mountain River, you’ve got some nerve.”

Li Yunjing looked at the waist token under his foot. “This is clearly absconding out of fear of punishment—he simply doesn’t know what death is!”

The six Supreme Elders all changed expression at the same time.

The purple-robed elder suddenly stepped forward and said, “This matter…”

“This matter, of course, must be investigated.”

The Supreme Elders’ intention, Li Yunjing understood very well, but he had no desire to follow their advice!

Now that something had happened, it had to be dealt with!

To conceal it within the army, handle it in private, quietly and without a sound—that was not Li Yunjing’s style.

In his view, problems could appear anywhere in the Shenxiao Dao Sect!

Only the four great legions—the Cyan Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise—absolutely could not have problems!

They were the foundation of the Shenxiao Dao Sect!

The confidence with which they campaigned in all directions!

If even the White Tiger Army had rotted, Li Yunjing simply did not dare imagine what future the Sect still had!

Li Yunjing’s gaze was like a blade, sweeping across the seventy-two Golden Core Commanders, finally settling on six among them.

“Over the past ten years, among the seven Commanders in charge of new recruit conscription, one has already died.”

His voice was icy, each word distinct. “The remaining six, step out.”

The six turned deathly pale, cold sweat seeping from their foreheads.

“Hall Master, spare our lives!”

One of them felt his legs give way and directly knelt to the ground, his voice trembling. “Subordinate… subordinate was also forced by circumstances!”

“Forced by circumstances?”

Li Yunjing sneered. “Forced to embezzle military pay, or forced to deceive your superiors and conceal the truth?”

He lifted his hand and grabbed; the tokens at the six men’s waists instantly flew into his palm.

Each token had the duty records of its Commander carved into it; with a sweep of his Divine Sense, Li Yunjing saw everything clearly.

“In ten years, three thousand six hundred have fallen in battle in the White Tiger Army, yet the replacement troops you reported total only two thousand five hundred.”

His gaze turned grim and cold. “Where did the remaining one thousand one hundred slots go?”

The six trembled all over, not daring to raise their heads.

Li Yunjing gave a cold snort and flicked his sleeve. The Net of Heaven and Earth flew out and wrapped around them.

“Since you refuse to speak, then let the Heart-Questioning Mirror ask!”

Li Yunjing raised his hand and sacrificed an ancient copper mirror. The surface rippled like water, reflecting the Divine Souls of the seven.

In an instant, countless images surfaced within the mirror…

How they falsified headcounts, how they privately swallowed Spirit Stones, and even how they colluded in secret with certain Elders, selling the new recruit quotas that should have been used for conscription to others…

“Good! Very good!”

Li Yunjing was so enraged he laughed. “Drawing pay for non-existent soldiers, selling quotas—you truly are bold beyond measure!”

He suddenly turned and looked at the six Supreme Elders, his voice cold. “Honored Supreme Elders, according to military law, how should they be dealt with?”

“By the statutes… they are to be executed!”

The purple-robed elder’s face was gloomy. After a brief silence, he finally spoke.

He did not pity these men; what bothered him was that this disgraceful matter had been dragged into the open by Li Yunjing. It would likely spread throughout the entire Shenxiao Dao Sect before long.

Was this not exposing their own shortcomings?

Arrest them, kill them, tidy up the aftermath—that would have been enough.

Why make such a spectacle of it?

He had no idea that Li Yunjing intended to use this opportunity to thoroughly purge the White Tiger Army, to intimidate the ranks and transform the army’s ethos in one stroke.

That the White Tiger Army could fight, in Li Yunjing’s eyes, was still not enough!

All the entrenched abuses that affected the army’s operation had to be swept clean!

For the White Tiger Army and Black Tortoise Army under his command, when problems arose, Li Yunjing’s tolerance was absolutely zero!

“Then execute them!”

As soon as Li Yunjing’s words fell, the White Tiger Hall Master Seal suddenly burst forth with a blinding Golden Light; six razor-sharp Sword Qi condensed out of thin air and slashed down in an instant!

“Puh! Puh! Puh!”

Six heads rolled to the ground, blood dyeing the Commanding Platform red.

The entire field fell silent. Three thousand armored soldiers held their breath, not one daring to move.

Li Yunjing’s gaze swept over the remaining Commanders, his voice low yet immensely oppressive: “Who else?”

No one answered.

“Very well.”

After a while, Li Yunjing gave a slight nod. “Since no one else has transgressed, I will give you all a chance to atone through merit.”

He flicked his hand, and all the vacant slots on the roster lit up with Golden Light.

“Within one month, fill all the ranks!”

“Within one year, have all new recruits enter camp!”

“Within three years, I want to see the White Tiger Army return to peak Combat Power!”

When everyone heard Li Yunjing’s demands, the Commanders’ faces all turned green.

Not one of the three conditions was easy!

The various peaks of the Shenxiao Dao Sect had many Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivators, but the White Tiger Army’s recruitment was definitely for the extremely outstanding; only those elites who passed assessment could join the White Tiger Army.

This involved a single issue!

Namely, whether those people were willing to enter the White Tiger Army at all, and whether their peaks were willing to send their best disciples to enlist!

The second problem was even harder.

Which Cultivator has nothing to do?

Even if they agreed to join, you’d give them less than a year to settle their private affairs?

Could they manage that?

And what if some lost their nerve and backed out?

As for the third, that was harder still.

The new recruits joining the White Tiger Army would all be outstanding, but the veterans of the White Tiger Army were even more outstanding—skilled in coordinated assaults, thoroughly practiced in Arrays. Facing these little prodigies in equal numbers, they could toy with them as they pleased.

Now they were to train the newcomers to the level of the veterans within three years.

Was that a task humans could accomplish?

Yet seeing the darkness in Li Yunjing’s expression, all their words of complaint were swallowed back down.

In one stroke he had executed seven Golden Core Realm Commanders!

This was an exceedingly rare incident even in the history of the White Tiger Army.

Li Yunjing’s ruthless methods had overawed these unruly Commanders; no one dared at this time to utter so much as a single “impossible”!

“As you command!”

The Commanders answered in unison.