In front of this heavily armored thousand-man army stood a commanding general.
The general was clad in silver armor, with a bright red cape billowing behind him. On the armor was the black dragon emblem.
The black dragon silver-armored general had a pale, handsome face, like a young idol. However, he had a pair of mustaches on his upper lip, eyes gleaming with a piercing gaze that seemed to penetrate the heavens, and his whole body exuded a strong, overwhelming aura.
This black dragon silver-armored general planted his spear in the ground, then suddenly knelt before Lin Qian, took off his dragon helm, and fiercely knocked his head on the ground three times, "Your Majesty, this humble general arrived too late to save you, and deserves to die ten thousand times. I humbly request Your Majesty to pause your judgment until I slaughter the one who defied imperial authority; then I shall immediately commit suicide to atone for my fault."
After speaking, the black dragon silver-armored general remained in this position with his forehead on the ground, awaiting Lin Qian's decision.
Lin Qian was dumbfounded, staring wide-eyed at everything before him, even forgetting that he was in a life-and-death situation.
Fu Yuxiang, who was approaching Lin Qian, was also stupefied. His originally advancing figure froze on the spot, staring in amazement at the army kneeling before him.
On the hillside, Liang Ren and the other two array masters from the Great Spear Sect were dumbfounded as they observed everything.
What's going on? How did an army suddenly appear in this valley, kneeling before the Young Emperor of the Wanxiang Sect, chanting "Your Majesty"?
The title of "Young Emperor" was only because of Lin Qian's teacher; it did not mean he was truly an emperor.
The point was, this thousand-man army before them, each had an aura at the peak of the Ninth Layer of the Shape Origin Realm.
The general kneeling on the ground exuded an oppressive force that was suppressing their auras, with strength clearly far beyond theirs.
"Zhao Long?" Looking at the general kneeling in front of him, Lin Qian took a deep breath, calmed his emotions, and inquired.
The black dragon silver-armored general, who was originally prostrate on the ground, suddenly lifted his head upon hearing Lin Qian's voice, gazing at him with both shame and fervor, "This humble general is present!"
Hearing the response from the black dragon silver-armored general, Lin Qian chuckled foolishly, "The heavens do not abandon me, hahahaha..."
After laughing, Lin Qian's eyes turned sharp as he pointed in the direction of Fu Yuxiang and others, "Zhao Long, hear my command, capture that pale-faced one alive, and kill the other three. All other soldiers, sweep through the entire valley; kill every living thing without mercy!"
Zhao Long and the thousand heavily armored soldiers behind him simultaneously rose, roaring in unison to Lin Qian, "By your command!"
At the instant the sound roared out, General Zhao Long, clad in black dragon silver armor, had already pulled his spear from the ground and instantly rushed before Fu Yuxiang.
The spear shadows flashed, and before Fu Yuxiang could react, his limbs were pierced through by the spear shadows, leaving four bloody holes. Then, he was hit on the back of the head by the spear shaft coming at him, causing him to fall unconscious to the ground.
Liang Ren and the two array master soul martial artists were shocked by this sight.
Fu Yuxiang was, after all, at the Third Level of the Nirvana Realm, yet the suddenly appearing black dragon silver-armored general had crippled his limbs and knocked him unconscious in an instant.
"How is this possible!" Liang Ren shouted in shock at the sight before him.
"How dare you! In the presence of His Majesty, you dare shout loudly. For that alone, you deserve to die a thousand deaths!" Upon seeing Liang Ren dare to shout loudly, Zhao Long seemed to feel greatly insulted, his pale face turning red with anger.
"Damned wretch, Rainy Pear Blossom Spear!"
Zhao Long leaped up, roaring in fury, as the spear in his hand vanished. In its place was a rain of spear shadows falling from the sky, sweeping downward.
Liang Ren and the two elders from the Great Spear Sect, caught in the sweeping spear shadows, were instantly smashed into pieces. The mountain wall behind them collapsed, sealing the cave entrance shut.
After completing all this, Zhao Long landed on the ground, turned, and quickly walked to Lin Qian, "This humble general has resolved the audacious traitors for His Majesty, and now shall commit suicide to atone."
After speaking, Zhao Long planted his spear in the ground and raised his hand to strike his own forehead.
Seeing this situation, the previously relaxed Lin Qian's expression changed drastically as he hurriedly shouted, "Zhao Long, stop!"
Lin Qian's shout made Zhao Long's right palm, aimed at his forehead, halt sharply. He then rapidly knelt down again, "Your Majesty, please do not be angry!"
"I absolve you of guilt. Stand up quickly," Lin Qian sternly ordered, "You resolved my perilous situation. Not only are you without fault, but you have also done great merit. You are forbidden from taking your own life, I order you to live, do you understand?"
Zhao Long, his eyes brimming with tears, gratefully kowtowed three times to Lin Qian, "Your Majesty's magnanimity, this humble general dares not to claim credit."
"Alright, stand up quickly," Lin Qian gestured slightly for Zhao Long to rise.
After Zhao Long obeyed his command and stood up, Lin Qian carefully scrutinized him from top to bottom.
Seeing Lin Qian watching him, Zhao Long immediately stood tall with his chest out.
Before him, Lin Qian felt both familiarity and unfamiliarity with this black dragon silver-armored general.
Why familiarity? Why did he immediately know the general's name upon appearance, even understanding his character?
Because the Zhao Long before him was exactly the bodyguard general Lin Qian personally created in the virtual national war game "Mystical Empire" from his previous life.
As for those thousand heavily armored soldiers, they were merely the lowest-tier soldiers in the Mystical Empire game, called infantry!
In the previous life, Lin Qian had upgraded all military technology to the highest level. Even the lowest-tier infantry wore heavy armor.
The virtual national war game of the former life was designed for players to collect and modify generals, develop military technology, and manage their mystical empire, and then engage in battles with other players.
Having inherited a massive fortune in his previous life, Lin Qian was physically disabled and thus became deeply engrossed in these games, becoming a notorious "currency warrior," dominating his server entirely.
Due to his physical condition, Lin Qian neither socialized with girls nor gambled, with his only entertainment being this game. To others, the money he spent seemed astronomical, leading fellow players on the same server to call him the god of war among currency warriors.
Players on Lin Qian's server were utterly defeated by him, rendering the server empty over time.
Yet Lin Qian did not switch servers, persisting in his server until the territories belonged solely to him, giving him exclusive control over all resources on the server.
The result was that his Huaxia Empire remained atop all the game rankings on the Mystical Empire game website.
In the game, the gameplay concerning generals ranged from collecting generals at its basic level, modifying generals at an advanced level, to creating generals from scratch at its pinnacle.
Zhao Long was a custom-designed general by Lin Qian, also holding the top spot on the official general ranking.
His character was unfaltering loyalty to the emperor of the empire, immense strength, and a love for fighting, valuing the emperor's honor above all.
Additionally, he was a developmental general, with his level determined by the emperor's level in the empire.
Zhao Long, whom he personally designed and crafted, was akin to Lin Qian's son; how could he be unfamiliar?
Yet why did Lin Qian feel estranged?
Because Zhao Long, for some inexplicable reason, was standing before him alive and conversing with him!
Despite the rapid development of civilization on Earth in his past life, where virtual reality games akin to the real world could be accessed by wearing helmets.
However, generals and soldiers in Mystical Empire were entirely virtual, lacking intelligence and life, acting only according to players' commands and predefined settings.
Furthermore, their dialogue was rigidly aligned with official and player settings.
But the Zhao Long before him seemed truly alive, a living being with flesh, blood, and independent thought.
"Could it be that Zhao Long from the game, along with these infantrymen, have crossed over with me to this world, gaining intelligence and life?" Lin Qian pondered endlessly, "If so, where did they appear from?"
While ruminating, Lin Qian noticed that Fu Yuxiang, who had fainted not far in front, suddenly twitched, evidently regaining consciousness.
"Zhao Long, I remember placing a truth potion in your backpack. Do you still have it?" Abruptly, an inspiration struck Lin Qian's mind, prompting him to ask Zhao Long.
"This humble general has three bottles left in his backpack!" Zhao Long hastily answered upon Lin Qian's inquiry.
"Take out a bottle and administer it to that man," Lin Qian said as he slightly raised his head, indicating the gradually awakening Fu Yuxiang ahead.
"By your command!" Zhao Long punched his right fist against his left chest, turned, and walked toward Fu Yuxiang.
Watching Zhao Long follow his instructions, taking out a potion bottle, and pouring the semi-transparent liquid into Fu Yuxiang's mouth, Lin Qian confirmed many things.
First, in the previous gaming experience, he set the city lord to refer to himself as "I" because he found referring to himself as "I" strange. However, such settings could not be randomly issued.
Because, even though he created a general himself, there might still be a system-imposed character trait.
Generals had a loyalty system, and if a general had a forced nature of respecting ancient rites, they would resent Lin Qian's setting, thus lowering their loyalty value, leading to rebellion and secession from the empire.
Second, every player entering the game would randomly receive a talent passive. Lin Qian's luck was extraordinary, obtaining one of the three supreme talents in the Mystical Empire game, the "Imperial Majesty!"
This talent passive had only one effect, which was that any game creature in the empire, whether general, soldier, or war beast, upon joining the faction of a player with this talent, would maintain maximum loyalty and never decrease.
At the game launch in his previous life, upon randomly receiving this talent, another mogul had tried to purchase his character for fifty million, which he refused.
Thus, Lin Qian had no qualms about issuing any settings, which were akin to decrees.
Moreover, Lin Qian speculated that it was very likely this talent had crossed with him as well.
Third, in the previous game, generals had their own backpack space to carry multiple items.
The truth potion allowed captured enemies to speak the truth. In his previous life, Lin Qian stored three bottles in Zhao Long's backpack.
Following him in rebirth, Zhao Long had a backpack and potion, relating to experience potions and red and blue potions.
Lin Qian surmised a shocking fact in his heart.
It was likely that with him to this world wasn't only Zhao Long and the thousand soldiers.
The Mystical Empire, the first empire he had crafted in the "Mystical Empire" game in the previous life, the Huaxia Empire, had possibly crossed into this world alongside him and undergone an extraordinary transformation.