All Things Are Contracts

Chapter 210: Triumphant Return

The Blue Hill camp was in complete chaos. Due to Zhanyue’s repeated harassment, first Celestial Master Zhang mysteriously disappeared, then some commanders were assassinated. Now, even the powerful General Tuoba Wujiang had gone to pursue and had not been heard from since. The camp had sent out search parties in all directions, but so far had found nothing.

As night fell, a mysterious black-clad figure snuck into the camp under cover of darkness. However, his eyes were filled with disbelief. The Blue Hill camp was brightly lit, with patrols constantly moving about and traps everywhere, indicating something major had occurred.

The black-clad man had been ordered to assassinate the Blue Hill general, but now found himself in a difficult situation.

“Don’t these people ever sleep or rest?” The black-clad man was very frustrated. Finally finding an opening, he moved to the central command tent. However, he unknowingly triggered some mechanism, and suddenly bells rang out, alerting many people.

“Who’s there? Who is it?” Blue Hill soldiers quickly began searching everywhere. This black-clad man’s lightness skill was not bad, but ultimately not as miraculous as Zhanyue’s earth traversing ability, and he was eventually discovered.

“The thief is here!” Many soldiers instantly surrounded him.

Thousands of troops encircled the black-clad figure, torchlight illuminating the night.

“Fire arrows! Don’t let this little thief escape again!” At the command, arrows rained down like a downpour.

The black-clad man’s eyes turned cold. Tonight’s assassination attempt had likely failed, but he had to teach them a lesson, or he couldn’t complete his mission. He circulated his internal energy, using the mysterious Dragon Catching Hand. All arrows fired at him were grabbed in mid-air by an invisible hand.

“Return!” He forcefully flung them back, killing countless archers with their own arrows.

“Think you can stop me? Hmph!” This black-clad man was like Zhao Zilong reborn, breaking through layer after layer of military formations, killing hundreds of enemies, and finally breaking through the encirclement to escape. To break into a military camp alone and still escape safely showed his extraordinary strength. If Zhanyue were here, he would recognize this man as the ‘Divine Dragon Guard’ leader who had tried to silence him at the fox god temple earlier.

“Bad luck, what’s going on?” The black-clad man fled for a long time before shaking off his pursuers. He had come to assassinate Blue Hill’s high-ranking officials to give the Great Fortune army an advantage, but tonight seemed to be a bad time. The entire Blue Hill camp was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

“Let’s wait and see if there’s another chance,” the black-clad man said, finding a hidden spot to lurk. However, he was destined to wait in vain, as Tuoba Wujiang’s head had already been taken by Zhanyue.

Soon after, Zhanyue returned to the Great Fortune camp. General Yue and others seemed to still be in a meeting, arranging the battlefield and discussing tactics. Upon receiving news of Zhanyue’s return, they immediately summoned him.

“How did it go?” Everyone, including General Yue, looked at Zhanyue, wanting to know the results of his reconnaissance.

“Mission accomplished!” Zhanyue threw a package in front of everyone. When they saw the face inside the package, everyone was shocked into silence.

In the vast tent, you could hear a pin drop. Yue Feipeng was the first to recover. He swallowed and pointed at the object before him, asking, “Is… is this Tuoba Wujiang? You… you killed him?”

Zhanyue nodded, using the most casual tone to say the most shocking words, “That’s right, he was careless.”

All present were veteran generals who naturally weren’t afraid of corpses or severed heads. They gathered around to examine it closely.

“It’s real! It doesn’t look like a body double. This is Tuoba Wujiang, the number one expert of the Blue Hill Kingdom. He’s just… dead?” Deputy General Li felt like he was dreaming. They had been here discussing strategies, unable to come up with a better plan, and someone had simply returned with the enemy commander’s head, single-handedly achieving what an entire army couldn’t.

“Brother Zhan, what about those strange winds and rains?” others continued to ask.

“The enemy did indeed have a mysterious figure responsible for those. But he’s dead too, so you don’t need to worry about that anymore,” Zhanyue said, though he didn’t mention the incantations. Those were his spoils of war, his secret.

“Excellent! Brother Zhan, you should be credited with the top merit for our army’s great victory!” Yue Feipeng’s eyes were full of joy and surprise. He felt he had found a real treasure. He knew Zhanyue was impressive, but not to this degree. He must be a genius disciple from some reclusive sect, out gaining experience.

With this intelligence, everyone continued to arrange troops and formations. With the enemy commander killed, their morale would be at its lowest. Soon after, Yue Feipeng and others formulated a plan for a general offensive.

Another month passed, with frequent reports of victory. Great Fortune won three consecutive battles, dealing heavy blows to Blue Hill. Hundreds of thousands of Blue Hill’s main forces were destroyed, a great victory indeed. During this month, Zhanyue didn’t even need to take action personally. With the Great Sun Sea Burning Pearl in hand, his strength was now beyond the imagination of people in this world. But Zhanyue still didn’t dare to be careless, as his previous carelessness had nearly cost him his life, saved only by the backup Feng Xueqing had left him.

As Blue Hill announced a full retreat, ceding the resource-rich mountain range entirely to Great Fortune, this war between the two countries ended in Great Fortune’s overwhelming victory. Zhanyue’s identity token finally gave another prompt.

“Mission completed. Mission rating: Perfect! Mission reward: Cultivation level increased, can choose to unlock one divine ability or one treasure.”

With the prompt, Zhanyue’s cultivation advanced further, reaching the Spirit Control Realm, just one step away from restoring his peak strength by entering the Profound Realm. This time, he chose to unlock the Silver Moon Armor! His most important trump card. If he had had the Silver Moon Armor before, he wouldn’t have been trapped immobile in the lake.

“Let me see your strength now, old friend! Silver Moon!” Zhanyue shouted softly. A suit of silver armor enveloped him, making him look extraordinarily heroic. His current realm couldn’t fully activate this armor, but Zhanyue immediately embedded the Great Sun Sea Burning Pearl into the armor. Instantly, terrifying power filled the armor. The originally silver-white armor turned blood-red, covered with golden flame patterns.

“I wonder if that Eunuch Cao and Tuoba Wujiang could withstand even one of my attacks now,” Zhanyue felt the terrifying power filling his body, finally feeling completely at ease. His current strength could kill the palace’s top expert Eunuch Cao and Blue Hill’s top expert Tuoba Wujiang as easily as slaughtering pigs or dogs.

Another month passed, and the Great Fortune army returned victorious. In the Northern Frontier Province, Prince Yu personally set up a feast to welcome the returning army.

“General Yue, you’ve had a hard journey,” Prince Yu personally helped Yue Feipeng remove his armor. “Soldiers, please come inside. I’ve prepared wine and food to welcome you all back.” Prince Yu added.

“Thank you, Your Highness!” Everyone thanked him in unison, dismounting and removing their armor before entering the mansion. Other soldiers naturally also had wine and meat served, though in temporary camps.

Prince Yu then quickly walked to Zhanyue, “So you must be Young Master Zhan that General Yue mentioned in his letters. You’re truly talented. I’ve heard of your achievements, beheading the enemy general in their own camp is unprecedented in history. Please, come inside. I must properly entertain our hero.”

As Prince Yu examined Zhanyue, Zhanyue was also observing Prince Yu. The man before him was dignified and noble, yet without arrogance, with a gentle face and approachable manner. He perfectly matched the descriptions Zhanyue had heard before. This Prince Yu seemed to be just such a ‘perfect’ person.

“By the way, Divine Doctor Feng has been helping me quell the plague these days, truly deserving top merit. It’s a blessing for our Great Fortune that you two could lend a hand,” Prince Yu continued, and then Feng Xueqing walked out from behind.

“You two must have much to catch up on after a long separation. I won’t disturb you further. We’ll meet again at the banquet later,” Prince Yu tactfully left. However, out of Zhanyue and Feng Xueqing’s sight, his expression became extremely serious. He disliked things outside his plans. This Zhanyue and Feng Xueqing were too strong, strong enough to make his hair stand on end. If they couldn’t be used by him, they must be eliminated!

“Um… here’s your thing back,” Zhanyue spoke first, returning the cloth package to Feng Xueqing.

Feng Xueqing’s face reddened. She knew the item had been activated, so Zhanyue naturally knew what it was.

“Thank you so much this time. I didn’t expect you’d let me carry your contract object, such a life-saving item,” Zhanyue said very gratefully.

“You’ve helped me so much, it’s only right. Though I have many treasures, you can’t activate most of them. Only this one allows me to sense from afar if you’re in danger and activate it remotely. So… so that’s why I had you carry it,” Feng Xueqing explained. After all, this was her intimate item, and such an action was rather ambiguous. But as she had said before, this was the only treasure she had that could help Zhanyue.

“Thank you, I understand. Without this item this time, I fear I wouldn’t have survived,” Zhanyue thanked her again.

“Don’t… don’t be so formal. Let’s not mention it anymore. Tell me what danger you actually encountered,” Feng Xueqing quickly changed the subject, her beautiful eyes full of concern.

“It’s a long story, and this isn’t the right place. Let’s go to the banquet first. We shouldn’t keep them waiting. I’ll tell you all about it tonight,” Zhanyue suggested.

Feng Xueqing nodded, naturally following behind Zhanyue as they walked in together.