Chapter 113: The Dragon Corps
Kuang Fung Ji’s face was filled with disdain as she looked at the members of her party. She was the only woman present in the group of ten and she was definitely also the smallest amongst them all.
The woman was clad in an azure blue robe and across her chest was a leather chestplate which showed off her shapely body.
On top of the leather chestplate was a small beautiful pin of an azure dragon’s head carved from the finest sapphire.
Her clothes was all created by fine and durable materials, and upon looking closer one would see that they were all imbued with inscription patterns to fortify their defense.
The men were all wearing blue robes as well, yet none of them had a strap covering their upper bodies, nor did they have the azure dragon pin adorning their chests.
The entire group of ten was filled with Master and Grandmaster ranked cultivators who liked to boast to each other about either their: strength, the newest spiritual art skills they had gained, the women they had subdued, or achievements they claimed to have accomplished.
Their loud voices rang throughout the entire tunnel system alerting magical beasts a long distance away. This was, however, not a real problem, because their group could easily slaughter any beast they might encounter; they would not even deign to stop and pick up the beast cores from their bodies.
“It is some real sh*t that we have been tasked to come to a place like Cave’s End, a garbage town in the middle of nowhere” One of the large men grumbled, as he swung his heavy axe carving a long gash into the stone wall, as though it was made of butter.
“It is not that bad,” Another man replied. This man was slightly shorter, but his face looked like that of a weasel. “I have been here before,” He continued, “They have some delicious girls, and they are too weak to say anything.” A dreaming expression was apparent on his face along with a wanton smile causing Fung Ji’s face to distort in disgust.
“It could have been good,” The first man retorted, “But we have Captain Kuang here. Do you think she will allow you to touch those girls?”
This questions caused some displeasure amongst the other men, yet no one dared saying anything as they all glanced in Fung Ji’s direction.
Fung Ji was an eight-star Grandmaster and her strength was definitely higher than any of the men surrounding her. The dragon head on her chest made it clear that she was indeed the leader of the group.
Kuang Fung Ji was filled with disgust, as she looked at the many men she had command over and how all of them clearly looked at their superior with lust and greed rather than respect and veneration which she had expected.
She had just recently been promoted to captain, and she had been filled with excitement until she was told that her very first mission would be to collect taxes in the far away Cave’s End City.
Cave’s End City was not one of the mediocre cities, and it was definitely not one of the stronger ones either. It was the end. The furthest away with the weakest cultivation. Completing a mission like this would take the better of a year and upon finishing it would gain her the least amount of merit.
Unfortunately, Kuang Fung Ji was the newest captain and this task always fell to the youngest, allowing no room to complain.
The corps which she had gotten was also a seasoned team which consisted of only men, and these men were rough killers.
None of them had the qualifications to advance in the rankings and were all known as bottom feeders, but in spite of that even these cultivators were seen as gods within Cave’s End, which was why they were chosen to deal with this long missions.
Half a year had now passed and Kuang Fung Ji managed to bring her entire team safely through the complex tunnel systems, not to mention the various other caves.
Arriving at the gate leading into Cave’s End, a sudden flash of vigilance appeared within the eyes of the captain. She felt as though someone was spying on her, and she instantly spun around, only to be met by the pitch black darkness of the empty tunnels.
No sound could be heard and only the stench of blood from magical beasts they had killed previously was detectable.
After a moment, Kuang Fung Ji turned back to the gate which she then opened with resolute hands and strode into the sunlight with fast steps. She nodded to the two guards, but did not stop as she made her way towards the city in the distance.
As a result of the new captain and her rules of not touching the local girls, the Dragon Corps was constantly in a bad mood while residing in the City Lord’s mansion, and they did not stay as long as they usually would have.
Kuang Fung Ji was incredibly tired of this entire mission, however as soon as she laid eyes on Sun a smile broke out on her face.
She had long since deemed this entire tax trip to be fruitless, however in front of her was one of the Primal Laws. A law which had been created back when the four divine beasts were still around. If she were to bring her back undamaged, it was would be a promotion at the very least.
A faint smile beamed visibly on her beautiful face the moment the City Lord brought forth the woman.
This woman whom he found was shining with a subtle and warm light. Her eyes radiated a golden aura and her hair looked like it had been spun from the purest gold.
Her attire was incredibly mediocre. An unassuming white robe of thin material was covering her body, while a golden belt held it in place.
The entire group behind Kuang Fung Ji was stunned to silence, not one of them even able to open their mouth.
“I see,” The captain finally broke the silence, “This time you have offered up quite the item to pay your taxes.”
Although this woman was placed before the Dragon Corps to bring her with them, Kuang Fung Ji noticed that there was nothing binding her, nor any kind of measure to keep her from running away.
Frowning, she summoned some rope from her storage stone, only to find that it burst into flames as soon as it neared the woman in front of her.
“I will follow you,” A melodious voice sounded out. The voice seemed as if it was filled with profound knowledge and a gentle breeze which reminded them all of sunshine. Even the lecherous grown men felt like they were children, nesting at their mother’s bosom on a clear summer day. None of them dared to even think about anything undignified.
“I will follow you,” Sun repeated, “but I will not allow for you to bind me.”
Hearing their captive say this, Kuang Fung Ji’s face darkened, but she had no other option but to follow suit with Sun and her demands. The rope she just had was a rope which could hold even a King ranked expert, yet this woman had made it combust, burnt into ash within a mere second, while not even using an incantation.
Even though Sun said that she would follow them, fleeting worry appeared within Kuang Fung Ji and she quickly nodded to the City Lord. She then gestured to her men to circle around their target, as they made their way back to the gate leading into the tunnels.
With every step, the smile on the captain’s face grew in size as she kept imagining the honour and praise she would receive upon returning to the Azure Dragon Capital.
Striding through the fields, Kuang Fung Ji rushed back to the gate, dreading the six months it would take her to return to the capital. Although she had previously dreaded them, it was now mixed with certain anticipation and paranoia.
This was Sun, a Primal Law, something a mere captain would never amount to. If she managed to bring her back she might even become a general, however she also knew that if she lost Sun on this trip, only death awaited her.
Looking at Sun, there was no pity nor guilt floating within the mind of the Dragon Corps’ captain, only sheer willpower to see her task through. Reaching the gate another nod was given to the guards before they rushed through, once more feeling slightly alarmed as she entered the what should be empty tunnels.
Knowing that she was extra alert due to Sun, Kuang Fung Ji decided upon a formation where she waked at the front with two men following right behind her. Behind these two men were another two men, one on either side of Sun, following behind her were three men and then eventually the final two.
This formation did not allow for many of the men to converse with each other, and some grumbled about this fact, as they set off step after step on their way home.
Walking forward, Kuang Fung Ji suddenly stopped, stopping the whole train of humans behind her as a vigilant gleam shone in her eyes as she was looking at the flowers which were spread across the tunnel floor.
“Enemies!” She roared as she backed up. Much could be said about the men in the Dragon Corps, but although they were all considerably low rank, they were also survivors.
Usually the low ranked members of the Dragon Corps were used as fodder, however these men had survived and been rewarded with this long mission instead.
Having heard the roar, the ten men acted in unison, all of them throwing their backs against each other, before they looked around, tossing a few light stones in front to see whether or not they could unmask the men who were ambushing them.
“I told you that that would not work,” A playful male voice sounded throughout the darkness followed by the sound of a punch and the before mentioned playful voice let out a yelp.
“It stopped them, did it not?” Another voice commented, this time it was impossible to determine if it was a male or female voice, a strange aloofness was evident within the voice.
“There are ten cultivators. All of them are Master or Grandmaster rank with the highest being an eight-star Grandmaster,” female voice sounded, giving the opposing side an account of their strength. Hissing angrily Kuang Fung Ji gestured with her hand for one of the Fire elemental affinity cultivators to step forward and burn down the numerous flowers.
“You guys, they can hear you,” A fourth voice sounded. It seemed as though it was having fun with his friends, but at the same time a certain amount of coldness was hidden underneath, causing the captain to feel a shiver run down her spine.
Kuang Fung Ji nodded to the man by her side, and within a moment big flames appeared from his hands. These flames were bright red and the entire tunnel was quickly illuminated, allowing for the Dragon Corps and their captive to see the four youths in front of them.
Shocked, Kuang Fung Ji looked at the four youngsters. All of them seemed to be younger than her and their cultivation levels were also below that of hers and the majority of her team. However even so, there was not even one trace of worry on their faces, all four seemed completely confident in their abilities, and this caused the captain to not underestimate them.
“Let’s follow the plan,” The man in the middle said and within moments chaos broke out.
“They have a guy with Earth affinity!” Kuang Fung Ji yelled out, after which she produced two small circle shaped items from within her bag, both expanding in size rapidly.