Heaven’s Expanse Palace.
The two brothers Shangguan Tianyang and Shangguan Tianyue were seated face to face, their expressions bleak and sombre.
“Big Bro, it has been more than twenty days, why haven’t they come out yet?” Shangguan Tianyue was clearly less able to maintain his composure.
Shangguan Tianyang shook his head and gave a bitter smile as he said: “How could I possibly know what is going on inside… neither of us are able to enter the Lustre Spatial Realm… we have no choice but to continue waiting for them.”
Shangguan Tianyue said worriedly: “Should we gather another team to go in to have a look?”
Shangguan Tianyang replied: “No, that isn’t necessary. If even they are unable to accomplish anything, who else under the age of thirty can possibly succeed in their place? They are already at the top of the young generation… and if something happens to them, sending in anyone else is just sending them to their deaths. Tianyue, you must hold your composure, otherwise things will get messy. As you have seen as well, the current Lustre Spatial Realm has finally calmed down, and is no longer breaking down… this is still a piece of good news for us. Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing and the others all have the Lustre Gem… with their cultivation level, even if they meet the dragons, as long as they use the gem at once, they should not be in too much trouble.”
Shangguan Tianyue sighed, saying: “How could I not feel urgent? I only have those three daughters, and they have all been snatched away by that rascal Zhou Weiqing. I really don’t know what’s so good about that brat, that Xue’er, Fei’er and Bing’er would actually all want to follow him. Sigh… I truly do not know if we have made the right choice in asking them to enter the Lustre Spatial Realm.”
Shangguan Tianyang said helplessly: “It is too late to say all that now… at least, his connection and relationship with the Dragons is good, and he has the best… perhaps our only, chance to help us resolve this critical danger. Relax, the heavens will bless those who do good, that brat Zhou Weiqing does not look to be the type who would come to a premature end. Haven’t you seen those companions of his remaining on the Island, none of them are worried at all… they even left a few days ago first.”
Shangguan Tianyue nodded, saying: “We can only continue waiting. Big Bro, I’ll go look for Xian’er first… Previously, I hid the fact that all three of our daughters would be entering the Lustre Spatial Realm, and these two days she has been so mad at me.”
Shangguan Tianyang couldn’t help but chuckle, saying: “You… ahh… you… being a playboy for half your life, but at least in the end you could not escape Xian’er’s clutches. Hurry up then. Tell Sister in law that they will be fine, the peace and calm of the Lustre Spatial Realm speaks volumes no matter what.”
Although his words were as such, how could Shangguan Tianyang really be that confident? If they were all fine, why didn’t they come out?
…
ZhongTian Empire. Main Road.
Five massive Ghost Demon Horses were galloping down the road
In the end, Yun Li had gained the approval of all three God Tier Consolidating Equipment Masters, and during their stay in the Heavenly Jewel Island, they had given him directions and guidance for ten whole days. If not for the fact that Zhou Weiqing had left them a letter of instructions before entering the Lustre Spatial Realm, it was likely they would not have left the Heavenly Jewel Island so early.
Zhou Weiqing’s letter was simple – if he did not exit the Lustre Spatial Realm in fifteen days, he asked them to return to the Heavenly Bow Empire and listen to Ming Yu’s arrangements.
After all, the Heavenly Bow Empire was still in the most important stage of development, and they were already originally lacking powerhouses. How could foresee when the Kalise Empire or Bai Da Empire would launch an attack against them? As such, these young powerhouses could not leave for too long.
Furthermore, Zhou Weiqing had played a little trick here, handing most of the money over the Yun Li to bring back. He had not paid back the hundred million gold that he had promised Shangguan Tianyang that time, and now that Yun Li had brought it all away, even if he wanted to pay back when he returned from the Lustre Spatial Realm, he would not be able to do so.
It was not that Zhou Weiqing did not want to pay a bridal price, but there were priorities of varying importance. The current Heavenly Bow Empire did not have much revenue or any avenues of earnings, and it was just too critical to get this sum of money. As such, after much thought, he decided to send the money back first to support the development of the Heavenly Bow Empire. As for the problem of their marriages, it was not something that could be completed or solved quickly. In the first place, without saving his parents, how could he have the mood to think about marriage! In the future, once the Heavenly Bow Empire was revived and built up, his parents safe, he could then start thinking about a fresh new bridal gift.
When Zhou Weiqing wrote that letter, he did not know the full extent of the troubles that the Heavenly Jewel Island was facing, otherwise he would not even feel troubled about the money. If he could save the Heavenly Jewel Island and solve their problems what was that mere hundred million gold!
…
Crescent City. Governor’s Mansion Meeting Hall.
Ming Yu sat on the main seat, with all the various ranking officers of the Heavenly Bow Empire seated there. With Zhou Weiqing away, the entire Heavenly Bow Empire’s military was now under his control, while the internal affairs was under the control of the original Vice Commander of the Peerless Battalion, Wei Feng.
For Ming Yu to be able so sit so stably at the head and commander position, it was not just because of Zhou Weiqing’s strong support, but also his own proven capabilities.
In the beginning when he had first assumed the position, some of the Peerless Regiment officers were not fully convinced by him, feeling unwilling to submit so easily. However, as time passed, Ming Yu’s arrangements and decisions, all that he had done, had brought him the respect and admiration in deserving that position.
The Fei Li God General was truly the Fei Li God General. In just barely half a year, the entire Heavenly Bow Empire army had now changed dramatically.
Originally, the Heavenly Bow Empire’s true fighting prowess only came from the Peerless Regiment. However, at this point, the entire Heavenly Bow Empire now had a sixty thousand strong army, all of whom had the capabilities of fighting.
In the past, while he was still in the Fei Li Empire, despite his reputation, due to the fact that so many of the upper echelons of the government disliked him, he had been constantly held back, and his military talent had not been able to flourish to the maximum of his capabilities. However, now Zhou Weiqing had given him a real stage to perform on. Here, he was given the utmost support, and even if Zhou Weiqing was here, he would still have the full support behind all his decisions. As the saying goes, if you want to use someone, trust in them fully, otherwise don’t use them at all. In this area, Zhou Weiqing knew that his while he had some minor talent in the area, his own military capabilities were far from being sufficient. Still, his knowledge of men, personality and human nature was quintessential.
Under Ming Yu’s leadership, the current Heavenly Bow Empire had incorporated more than a dozen large forces of the original Heavenly Bow Empire army that had been scattered messily about the countryside, hiding as they attempted to do their own small rebellions in their own way. At the same time, he had also undergone major recruitment, thus forming the current situation.
When their army strength had reached a total of sixty thousand, Ming Yu had finally stopped their expansion. He knew this was already pressing the limit that the current Heavenly Bow Empire could sustain, and if he continued expanding the army, their finances would crumble under the weight of sustaining this military force.
In the next few months from their recruitment and gathering, these soldiers would experience what could be called training from hell, but a well thought system of supremely attractive prices as well as punishment was designed to give them optimum participation without any complaints.
In this, Ming Yu’s system of punishment and reward followed the spirit of Zhou Weiqing’s original directions against the Peerless Regiment, improved further before using it for the entire army. After all, Zhou Weiqing’s original rewards were just too extravagant; if it were just the Peerless Regiment, it was still fine, but if the entire army used such a reward system, the Heavenly Bow Empire would crumble economically before long.
As for the Peerless Regiment, they had been broken apart by Ming Yu. The sixty thousand strong army was now six Regiments, and in each of them there was now a Peerless Battalion, with eight hundred Peerless Archers, as well as a five hundred strong Peerless Heavy Cavalry Battalion. This spread their forces uniformly amongst all six of the new Regiments.
The Peerless Regiment Heavy Cavalry originally numbered two thousand official warriors and two thousand reserve warriors. With this rearrangement, three thousand of them were separated out into the six Regiments.
Besides that, Ming Yu also formed a new personal guard Battalion. This Battalion would be under his direct command, consisting of his original Personal Guard which was a thousand strong, a thousand Peerless Regiment Heavy Cavalry soldiers, as well as the five hundred Snow Deer Cavalry soldiers. Although it was called a Regiment, they were two thousand five hundred strong.
As such, the entire Heavenly Bow Empire army formation was fully set up, stationed in the various parts of the north of the empire, covering the current territory of the Heavenly Bow Empire.
At the same time, Ming Yu had also recruited city guards for each city, three thousand per city. With some simple training, they were basically used as city guards maintaining order and basic patrols and defense. This would also be an avenue for uncovering talent. With the help of Wei Feng, the current Heavenly Bow Empire was perfectly rounded up in both governing and military, prepared to enter war at any time.
“Commander, the latest batch of supplies from the Fei Li Empire have arrived, and the armaments and supplies from the ZhongTian Empire have also reached.” Wei Feng spoke, standing at the left of the main seat. On the other side was naturally Hua Feng.
Ming Yu smiled faintly and said: “The ZhongTian and Fei Li Empires are really going all out in their support for us.”
Wei Feng laughed lightly as he said: “The envoy from the Fei Li Empire even asked us when are we thinking of launching an attack towards the Kalise Empire again.”
Ming Yu said passively: “Tell them it is still the same answer. As soon as possible.”
As soon as he said that, all the officers couldn’t help but laugh out loud. This was not the first time the Fei Li Empire had asked the Heavenly Bow Empire about counterattacking the Kalise Empire, but Ming Yu had always replied them with the same simple answer.
Ever since the Heavenly Bow Empire had stabilized itself and fortified its foothold, the Fei Li Empire had actually increased the sending of supplies to them by a substantial amount. To the Fei Li Empire, the south had always been a major threat that could cause them to lose sleep. The Kalise Empire did not amount to anything, but the Bai Da Empire was extremely troublesome. Furthermore, from the current situation of the mainland, the Bai Da Empire and Dan Dun Empire in the South of the Mainland was clearly preparing to ally together in major movements. Perhaps they might not dare to easily contest the massive ZhongTian Empire yet, but since they had already made an attack on the Geritimo Empire, how could they not dare to attack the Fei Li Empire as well? With the WanShou Empire in the north, if the south also erupted in war, this would be a empire destroying calamity for the Fei Li Empire.
Wei Feng said with some worry: “Commander, if we keep replying like this, will the Fei Li Empire break off their support to us?”
Ming Yu shook his head and said confidently: “As long as they are not fools, they will not do that. Even if we do not actually attack the Kalise Empire, we are still a natural barrier in the south for the Fei Li Empire. At least for the current situation, the stronger we are, the better it is for the Fei Li Empire. As such, they will definitely continue supporting us and helping us grow. If I am the leader of the Fei Li Empire, I would actually not want the Heavenly Bow Empire to attack… after all, defense is always far easier than offense. They would still have to worry that we might get swallowed up by the Bai Da Empire if we attacked too hastily. As such, by holding back and waiting as we constantly build up our forces and train, the Fei Li Empire will definitely not feel dissatisfied. However, from the way that the ZhongTian Empire has also increased their material support for us, we can see that the situation in the south is really not good.”
Turning to Kou Rui, Ming Yu asked: “How is the situation in the Kalise Empire?”
By now, Kou Rui had followed Ming Yu for quite some time, and he had grown into a far more mature, capable and experienced scout now, no longer with the youthful naivety of a student. In terms of scouting and information gathering, he definitely had the talent, and had gained Ming Yu’s approval.