The remaining five Black Armored soldiers stood in a solemn row, raising their left hands to their chests in tribute to their fallen comrades.
Then, the captain of the squad stepped forward. He released a burst of fiery energy, incinerating the remains of the fallen soldiers into ash, which he carefully collected into a bag at his side.
As he did all this, the captain looked at Qi Bei with a puzzled expression, he always felt that this man who saved them greatly resembled Qi Bei, their commander's younger brother.
But before he could ask anything, a loud roar echoed in the distance, interrupting him.
"That's the commander! The commander is here!" The other soldiers exclaimed excitedly. The roar belonged to the commander's magic pet, the Earth-splitting Tiger, which ranked fifth among the 1st to 9th tier magic beasts. The Earth-splitting Tiger needed to be tamed when it was still young and it had both earth and wind attributes, incredible strength, and lightning-fast speed. It was an invaluable combat pet.
Qi Bei recognized the roar, knowing it was a gift his elder brother, Huai'an Nord, had received when he became a junior warrior at the age of ten. Qi Bei was also familiar with the Earth-splitting Tiger.
Feeling a mix of emotions, Qi Bei wondered if he could truly accept his identity as this body's original owner, given that his soul was entirely different.
He rubbed a simple and dull ancient ring on his left finger, the family ring of the Nord family of the Golden Leaf Empire. Every legitimate heir of the Nord family had one, a symbol of status and power.
The first patriarch of the Nord family, Simon Nord, followed the founder of the Golden Leaf Empire, Emperor Jin Ye, in his military campaigns, becoming the first hero of the empire and wielding enormous power.
Eight hundred years had passed, and the Golden Leaf Empire had seen ten emperors. Many families that had once been powerful and mighty had declined, but the glory of the Nord family remained steadfast, and they held onto one-third of the empire's military power.
As for the imperialism of the royal family, it did exist, but it was merely a facade. Everyone in the inner power circle knew it was a joke. If one of the emperor's subjects controlled one-third of the army, how could a secure rule be established?
Despite their constant internal conflicts, the Nord family always stood together for their interests, and every generation produced several genius individuals. This was the foundation of the Nord family's unwavering status for eight hundred years.
Qi Bei Nord was the fifth grandson of the current patriarch of the Nord family, Kurt Nord. The Nord family had many brilliant talents, but every generation also had its share of duds.
Unfortunately, Qi Bei was the representative of the current generation's duds. His mother had difficulty giving birth to him, and his long confinement in the womb had resulted in his weak constitution, rendering him unable to practice magic. When he was five years old, a test showed that he had no talent for sensing natural elements, cutting off the path of becoming a prestigious mage. In addition, his character was quirky, and his thoughts were immature, leading him to act like a half-wit.
However, his identity was there, coupled with a father and brother who were extremely protective of him, so a life of prosperity and wealth was not a problem.
As for why Qi Bei appeared here, it was due to a sudden incident.
It happened eight months ago when Qi Bei sneaked into the royal palace to find Princess Ming Yue, whom he had been pursuing for quite some time. Although the Princess had always been indifferent to him, he persisted in pursuing her every few days.
On that day, however, a necromancer infiltrated the palace and kidnapped Princess Ming Yue. At a critical moment, Qi Bei risked his life and charged at the necromancer. Princess Ming Yue was saved, but Qi Bei fell into the clutches of the necromancer.
The severely injured necromancer fled with him and disappeared into the infamous Undead Mountains Range.
The necromancer was unable to heal himself due to his severe injuries, and Qi Bei, who was already weak, couldn't handle the ordeal and was on the verge of death.
Both of them fell, and both of them died.
Yes, the real Qi Bei Nord was dead.
The current Qi Bei is not the same as before. He was a transmigrator from another world called Earth, a university student who shares the same name and has a passion for adventure. He found a dragon-shaped stone in an ancient civilization's ruins but was crushed to death by its strange power, and his soul traveled through to this unlucky guy's body. However, when he possessed this body, he also gained all of its memories.
Along with Qi Bei's soul, there was a dragon-shaped mark on his left palm and an internal martial arts technique called the Divine Dragon Art.
In the Undead Mountains Range, where undead creatures run rampant, Qi Bei had no choice but to practice the mysterious Divine Dragon Art. After practicing this technique, Qi Bei's weak body became stronger day by day, and his senses became sharper.
He searched the necromancer's belongings and obtained some evil magic potions, gold coins, magic crystals, a magic wand, and a strange magic book. However, Qi Bei didn't know anything about magic, and couldn't even recognize the magic words. Nevertheless, he remembered the necromancer's invisible formation through his memories, which required a large number of undead beads. All he needed was a spell to activate the magic on the book and start the formation.
Hiding in a dark cave for a month, Qi Bei began to try to venture out and kill some low-level undead creatures. And so, for the next seven months, he lived through a killing spree. After several brushes with death, his mind became incredibly strong and calm. His deathly stillness and coldness were chilling, but he did not lose himself.
Practice makes perfect. He knew the characteristics of all kinds of undead like the back of his hand and knew how to eliminate them with the easiest and most effective methods.
During this time, he obtained a bow, a quiver of arrows, and a book on archery techniques from the dead body of an adventurer. This gave him the means for long-range attacks and saved his life on several occasions.
Just then, a strong gust of wind interrupted Qi Bei's thoughts. A blue-striped tiger as tall as a person appeared in front of everyone. Sitting on the tiger's back was a burly young man dressed in heavy armor, Huai'an Nord.
Huai'an scanned the surroundings and suddenly widened his pupils, staring fixedly at Qi Bei. His breathing quickened, and his body trembled with excitement.
At the sight of his elder brother's expression, Qi Bei's heart skipped a beat. His apprehension disappeared without a trace, replaced by a surge of familial affection.
"Big Brother, I'm back," Qi Bei said with a smile, but his eyes were a little moist.
"You little brat!" Huai'an dismounted and rushed to Qi Bei, opening his arms and hugging him tightly.
"It's good that you're back. I knew that the seed of the Nord family wouldn't go down that easily, haha." Huai'an patted Qi Bei's back a few times before letting go.
The tiger beast also ran up to Qi Bei, growling softly and nudging its big head against his arms.