Chapter 63 – Anping Battle Site Inspection
December 20th.
Tong and his army withdrew back home. They were in the middle of preparing to move into Julu as they were waiting for Zhang Bao to come back.
Tong was expecting a decree from the emperor in January. Once his father had the title as the governor of Julu, he could march to Julu without getting the resistance from the local.
For now, he would patiently remain at home and would train his new recruits. The path to hegemony was still a long way to go, so he could not be rash.
Meanwhile, Tong activated his aura skill for one whole day to grind the skill EXP. The result of the grind amazed him.
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[Aura Mastery] LV.4 (16,400/80,000)
- Host emits an aura that will give status effects to allies and enemies.
- The skill can be turned on and off.
- The active skill [Calming Aura] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
- The active skill [Healing Aura] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
- The active skill [Intimidating Aura] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
- The active skill [Weakening Aura] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
Skill Cost: 1 Lifespan per one second of aura activation.
Skill Restriction:
- Effects cannot be applied to host.
- Aura radius is 250 meters around the host. Effect applied to all allies and enemies.
[Calming Aura] Cannot be leveled up.
- All living beings in the radius become calm.
- Remove all negative and positive emotion from the affected targets.
Skill Restriction:
- Can only be used when [Aura Mastery] level 1 or higher was activated.
[Healing Aura] Cannot be leveled up.
- Increase the health and stamina regeneration rate of all living beings in the radius area.
Skill Restriction:
- Can only be used when [Aura Mastery] level 2 or higher was activated.
[Intimidating Aura] Cannot be leveled up.
- Instill fear to all living beings in the radius area.
Skill Restriction:
- Can only be used when [Aura Mastery] level 3 or higher was activated.
- Does not work against any opponent with stronger mental strength.
[Weakening Aura] Cannot be leveled up.
- Reduce all attribute to of all living beings in the radius area by 10%.
Skill Restriction:
- Can only be used when [Aura Mastery] level 4 or higher was activated.
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Each time Tong leveled up this skill, a new aura would appear. This skill was OP as Tong expected. However, he had to invest a large number of lifespans into it to make it effective. Tong had already spent 86,400 lifespans for activating this skill for a whole day, leaving him 188,172 lifespans remaining.
Tong stopped grinding to save up the rest of his lifespans for now. The last battle taught him that he might need it for his regeneration skill and another emergency usage.
…
Anping County had been turned into a county full of tourists which were the result of Tong's promotion about the fortress and the battle story.
The story about a smaller size army defeating a bigger army always attracted the scholars, who aspired to become a strategist for nobles or a wise official in the imperial court.
However, the trenches were now filled with water because Tong did not want everyone to know how they were used in the battle. He wanted to fool the shallow scholars into making wrong assumptions, and Tong wanted to protect his core tactic. He might have to use the trench tactic again in the future.
All walls of the fort were repaired and were in the perfect state for another battle again. The garrison troops shut the doors of the fort, and not allowed anyone to get inside. Therefore, all tourist could only admire the fort from the outside.
There were many scholars and merchants that came to visit the Anping battle site as tourists. One peculiar young scholar also visited here. He was only a small child at the age of 10.
"This formation is an eye-opener. It can be done this way."
"The wings of the wall has a purpose in itself. But what is it?"
"The top of the wall only supports limited soldiers. Something is not right."
"Something is lacking. I miss a puzzle."
"The moat should not be filled with water like this. This is wrong."
"Oh, I see it now. The moats weren't served as traps but a passage."
"The water is just a diversion. The real tactic is hidden by the commander."
"Haha, this is good."
The scholar boy muttered to himself. Then he paid attention to a merchant.
"Come! Come! A new weapon that was used in the battle! I manage to get only one from a deserted soldier. It won't be sold anywhere else!"
The boy walked to the merchant and looked at the weapon. It was the repeating crossbow that Tong Army was using.
The boy narrowed his eyes as he inspected the structure details of the crossbow with attention. Then he asked the merchant.
"How much is that weapon?"
"Only 10 gold! No one is selling this anywhere!"
The crowd nearby looked at the merchant in disgust. Who would want to buy a strange toy like that? The real crossbow looked completely different from the thing that was displayed in front of that merchant.
However, the boy said out loud.
"I'll buy it!"
"You can't find this anywh- … wait, you are buying it?"
"Yes, I'll buy it."
The tourists nearby looked at the boy with mocking eyes.
"What an idiot. He was ripped off! It's just a useless toy!"
"Well, he's a boy. It's normal that he was attracted to a toy."
"But it was 10 gold you know? 10 fudging gold!"
"Ha! I bet he's a young master of a wealthy family or a noble!"
"Wow! I'm working all day to get 10 coins. A lucky boy born in a wealthy family spent 10 gold for a useless toy! Heaven sure is bias!"
"You will get struck by lightning if you keep saying that."
Several mockeries and jeers came from the onlookers. To them, a single gold could be exchanged into over a thousand coins. Each coin could buy a person a meal, so 10,000 coins for a bow was too expensive.
The boy ignored the bad mouth tourists. The crossbow was worth more than 10 gold to him. Even a thousand gold was still worth it.
'Idiots. This crossbow alone can change the trending of the war in the future. None of them has the vision!'
The boy played around with the crossbow. After a few minutes, he understood how it worked. His eyes became sharper as he kept thinking about the fortress formation and this crossbow.
'I see! So that's why!'
'The commander of this fortress is a genius! What an amazing way to defend the base!'
'Then the moats … I see! So that's how he used it!'
'Unbelievable. This is a game changer!'
'But still … the fortress lacks something. I feel like it isn't completed yet.'
'Was it because the commander did not have enough time to prepare?'
The boy sighed. He wanted to meet the person who designed this crossbow. He thirsted for more knowledge and insight of the veteran talents. He also wanted to meet the commander of this fortress in the previous battle. He wanted to learn about his tactics and his strategies that he used to defeat his opponents.
"Excuse me, do you know the name of the commander of this fort?"
The boy couldn't resist his curiosity, so he asked around.
"The current captain or the commander of the previous battle?" A nearby scholar tourist asked back.
"The battle, of course."
"Hmm? You don't know? He's famous around here."
"Famous?"
"He is the Immortal Zhang Tong! How could you not know him?"
The boy frowned. He disliked superstitious things, but he respected Zhang Tong's skills. He had a complicated feeling toward Tong.
'There is fire if there is smoke. Something has made everyone called him "Immortal".'
"Why is he called immortal?" The boy asked further.
"Well, I don't know myself. But I've heard he fought in the battle like a beast! He was stabbed by tens of spears, yet he didn't die! Then he also has thunder magic. Every time he cast it, a loud boom can be heard and someone will die without fail."
The boy's frown deepened. His curiosity toward Tong increased, but he reminded himself that it was not the time for him to get entangled in the political warfare between noble families. Therefore, he chose not to approach Tong just yet.
The boy left the site and journeyed back to his hometown, Xu Chang, along with his scholar colleagues and his assistance master. He still needed to go back to attend classes with his teacher. For young scholars, being diligent and disciplined was a must, or they would be abandoned by their teachers.
If Tong were here and met this boy, he would never let him go back.
Because this boy had left prominent deeds in the history.
His courtesy name was Fengxiao, and his official name was ...
Guo Jia.