Bitter Realm: Have the Four Realms been united today?

Chapter 32 The Strategist Who's a Complete Weakling

"Mr. Yue is indeed very good to me!" Xuanming murmured softly, carefully pondering the unspoken meaning of Jing Yunfeng's last sentence.

"Brother Jing means that, if we only consider the severity of the injuries, Mr. Yue personally administering the punishment is a lighter punishment compared to having someone else administer it, is that right?"

"Of course!"

"Why?" Xuanming asked, puzzled.

Normally, even if the Heavenly Observation Facility might go easy on someone, it certainly wouldn't go easy on everyone.

Moreover, as Jing Yunfeng just said, Yue Tianji always handles matters officially.

"Ahem, well..."

Jing Yunfeng looked around and, seeing that there was no one around, deliberately slowed down a few steps. When Xuanming was next to him, he lowered his voice and said.

"His strategies are flawless, and he is proficient in magic, but his martial arts aptitude is too poor, and his martial arts skills are truly... alas!"

He seemed hesitant to utter the words "horrific sight," and simply shook his head.

After saying this, he glanced around to make sure no one was passing by before continuing:

"If we're talking about strategy, even Huan Chenbu and Wu combined can't compare to a strategist."

"But in a one-on-one fight, the strategist can barely defeat the weak recruit."

Xuanming was quite surprised; he really hadn't expected Mr. Yue to have such low martial arts skills!

According to Jing Yunfeng, Yue Tianji is a complete weakling!

"Those who are qualified to have a strategist personally take action are at least at the minor completion level of cultivation, and all have true qi protecting their bodies."

"Even if the victim deliberately suppresses himself, with the help of a strategist, even if he goes all out, he cannot cause much harm."

"The punishments will naturally be much lighter than those given by others."

After speaking, Jing Yunfeng quickly stepped forward and distanced himself from Xuanming.

It was as if he had been leading the way all along, and that he hadn't said those words.

Xuanming chuckled and shook his head helplessly. He hadn't expected Jing Yunfeng to tell him something like this.

Like in his memory, a student learned about an embarrassing thing the teacher did, and then secretly told the whole class about it, and then specifically told them not to say that it was the teacher who told them.

Xuanming felt it was a novel experience; he had always been an observer and had never participated in it before.

He wanted to preserve this novelty!

Therefore, he did not intend to be the "leaker," even though it would be unfair to Mr. Yue.

"I understand, thank you, Brother Jing. You seem to know Mr. Yue quite well!"

"Strategist, cough, of noble status," Jing Yunfeng said, but gave Xuanming a knowing look.

"On the battlefield, swords have no eyes. Fearing that the strategist would be injured, the Soul Emperor specially selected elite soldiers from the army to form a personal guard to protect the strategist."

"My cultivation is quite good, and I have been appreciated by the Soul Emperor to serve as the captain of his personal guard."

Xuanming felt a chill run down his spine. He knew that the phrase "not bad cultivation level" was just a self-deprecating remark from the person in front of him.

"Brother Jing, since you're already the captain, why are you still standing guard outside?"

"Young master, that's a redundant question. My duty is to protect the strategist. If I'm not on guard duty outside the gate, where else could I be?"

"Uh, sorry, I was just being presumptuous." He subconsciously felt that guarding was something only ordinary soldiers did.

The captain should train the soldiers like an instructor, and not do the same things as the soldiers.

"It's alright," Jing Yunfeng waved his hand dismissively, "It's normal that you don't understand these things since you're new here."

"Oh, right!" He seemed to remember something and suddenly slapped his forehead.

"What's wrong?" Xuanming was startled, thinking something serious had happened.

"I haven't answered your initial question yet, sir. Please don't take offense."

"Oh? It's nothing, it's nothing. I was the one who interrupted you."

If Jing Yunfeng hadn't brought it up, he would have almost forgotten that his initial intention was to ask Huan Chenbuwu if there were any other taboos.

I don't know when the topic started to veer off to completely different angles.

"My position is not high, and I am not entirely clear about some of the taboos. If you really want to understand the reason, you can ask the strategist."

"Well, it's good that Brother Jing says it's okay to talk. I'm just afraid that I might accidentally trespass into a forbidden area and cause you trouble."

Jing Yunfeng and Xuanming walked and talked, with Jing Yunfeng reminding Xuanming to keep up with his pace to prevent him from getting lost in the formation.

"This place is called Dangyan Blood Sea, hidden in a dense forest, and its outer perimeter is shrouded in mist, making it difficult to find."

"After the strategist arrived, he led everyone through the mist and chose this place as the foundation for Huan Chen Bu Wu, where the Radiant Palace was built."

Xuanming nodded: "This place is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it is indeed a good location, but..."

Upon hearing the words "dense forest," the words "Battle of Yiling" involuntarily came to mind.

"If fire is used, wouldn't Huan Chenbuwu be doomed?"

Xuanming had spent almost the entire day thinking about offense and defense, and upon hearing this, he couldn't help but start thinking of ways to defeat the enemy.

"What?" Jing Yunfeng asked when Xuanming stopped talking.

"Ah! It's nothing, Brother Jing, please continue!" Xuanming quickly dismissed his thoughts.

He felt he was really obsessed. If he could think of this, Yue Tianji would surely have thought of it too. Why was he worrying about it? Wasn't he already tormented by these problems enough?

"The Radiant Palace was designed and built by the strategist. It is roughly divided into two parts, with the first part being the place where government affairs were handled."

"For example, the council chamber, the drill ground, the study, and so on."

"The latter half consists of the residences of the generals, as well as some empty guest rooms."

"General Ling is usually in charge of guarding and protecting the Radiant Palace. If General Ling is not present, other generals who remain on duty will take over."

"This time, however, the strategist stayed behind, General Ling went north with the Soul Emperor to fight, and the other generals are also away and have not returned."

"This responsibility of vigilance has temporarily fallen on us, the guards."

"It's strange, but whenever the Soul Emperor went on an expedition before, his strategist would always be by his side, offering advice and strategies. I don't know why he's staying behind this time."

"However, strategists are always unpredictable and cannot be fathomed by me."

Jing Yunfeng skipped over this topic and continued:

"The Huang Army's encampment is located not far from the Huang Palace."

"Apart from the cities under the command of the warlords, which are left with garrison troops, the rest of the soldiers will return here to rest and prepare for battle after their campaigns..."

Jing Yunfeng did almost all the talking the whole way.

Xuanming usually listens silently, only asking questions when he encounters something he doesn't understand.

Time passed second by second, and nearly half an hour had passed since Xuanming stepped out of the study.

But Jing Yunfeng found the young man in front of him more and more pleasing to the eye, and the more they talked, the more he liked him.

He had assumed the young man would speak only half the story, like a strategist or a planner, since that was a common trait among intelligent people like them.

However, to his surprise, the boy was unexpectedly straightforward, sometimes even more so than him.

Not only is she humble and polite, intelligent and well-behaved, but she also never tries to be clever or show off.

When they make a mistake, they apologize readily and decisively, without offering any excuses.