Wuhun Luo Sanpao? I am the Dragon Emperor!

Chapter 383 The Way to Break the Stalemate: Yu Xiaogang is "Re-elected"

"Sigh, no matter how high the bounty is, you still need to be alive to spend it..."

"The Soul Master Legion over there in Xingluo is too powerful. I heard that the leader is a Title Douluo!"

"Yeah, going there would just be suicide, and this money is too hot to handle..."

On the outskirts of the crowd, a gaunt, ragged middle-aged man was craning his neck, greedily looking at the words on the imperial edict.

His face was covered in dirt, his lips were chapped, his eyes were sunken, and most noticeably, there were still bruises on his cheeks and around his eyes that had not completely faded.

It was Yu Xiaogang, who had been expelled from Gray Rock Academy and was like a stray dog.

He hadn't had a proper meal in days, and the hunger in his stomach tormented him like it was on fire.

Those alluring words on the imperial edict.

"Heavy money", "nobility", "soul bone".

It grabbed his heart like a hook.

The word "strategist," in particular, caused a sudden burst of fanatical light to emanate from his lifeless eyes.

War? He didn't understand.

But he understands the theory!

He can assist in training the Soul Masters of the Heaven Dou army, and use his wisdom to configure the Soul Master legion to achieve victory against all odds!

A crazy idea started to grow in his mind.

This is God's last chance for him!
An opportunity for him to make a comeback, prove the value of his theories, and even... take revenge on those who looked down on him!
He shoved the person in front of him aside and stumbled to the imperial edict, shouting, "I! I'll register!"

The guard gave him a disdainful look; his beggar-like appearance... was probably worse than that of a normal person.

But the higher-ups were pushing hard, and everyone wanted to be brought in to fill the quota.

The guard impatiently tossed him a registration form and a number tag: "Name, martial spirit, rank, special skill! Report to the conscription office in the west of the city! Next!"

Yu Xiaogang gripped the cold number plate tightly, lay on the ground, and wrote his name crookedly, ignoring his martial spirit and level.

After all, that's not his strength.

In the section for special skills, he wrote down the words "Master of Martial Soul Theory" with great effort.

……

Frontline, the central military camp of the Heavenly Dou Empire.

The camps stretched out in a continuous line, but they lacked any vigor; instead, they were filled with a sense of decay and panic.

The soldiers were disheveled, their morale was low, and the painful groans of the wounded were constant.

Inside the command tent, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was almost palpable.

Avalanche, dressed in ill-fitting, ornate armor, sat uneasily in the main seat.

Several veterans, equally worried, stood before him.

"Your Highness, the army's morale is low, supplies are running low, and the Star Luo Soul Master Legion's offensive is fierce. We...we're afraid we won't be able to hold the next fortress."

An elderly general with gray hair said sadly.

Avalanche waved his hand irritably: "Don't talk to me about these things! I'm asking you, how's the recruitment of Soul Masters and strategists within the country going? Has no one come?"

A general in charge of the matter looked troubled, took out a thin roster from his pocket, and presented it with both hands:
"Your Highness, the major sects have already organized their own capable Soul Masters, and we...we really have no way to mobilize them. These are the free Soul Masters who have recently volunteered and some...people who call themselves strategists, totaling...ninety-seven people. Among them, eighty-three are Soul Masters, mostly at the Soul King and Soul Emperor level, while there are only a handful of Soul Saints and Soul Douluos."

Ninety-seven people!

Compared to the Star Luo Empire's tens of thousands of Soul Master legions, this number is so pitiful it makes one want to cry.

Avalanche took the roster, his fingers trembling. Just as he was about to open it, a hurried cry came from outside the tent: "Report—!"

A messenger scrambled into the tent, covered in blood and his face filled with terror: "Your Highness! Generals! Something terrible has happened! Luoxia Slope has fallen! General Li... he fought to the death! The Xingluo army is advancing towards Yingchoujian!"

"What?!" Xue Beng suddenly stood up, his face turning deathly pale.

All the generals in the tent instantly focused their attention on him.

That gaze was incredibly complex, containing grief, anger, but even more so, silent condemnation and despair.

Just yesterday, it was this Prince Xue Beng, the regent, who overruled the objections of the generals and rejected their suggestion to hold out for reinforcements. Instead, he insisted on dividing his forces to launch an attack at Luoxia Slope, where they would "lure the enemy deep into their territory and ambush them."

As a result, Xingluo easily saw through the ambush and instead surrounded and annihilated the enemy. The commander was killed in battle, and the important pass of Luoxiapo changed hands in the blink of an eye.

A tremendous sense of failure and shame overwhelmed the avalanche in an instant.

He could almost hear the silent curses of the soldiers outside the tent, and imagine how his political enemies in the capital would impeach him.

The culprit who caused the downfall of the country... this title seems to have been firmly pinned on his head.

At that moment, he felt short of breath, and the gazes around him felt like needles pricking him.

"Get out...all of you get out! Let me have some peace and quiet! All of you, step aside!"

The avalanche waved weakly, its voice feeble.

The generals exchanged glances, silently bowed, and left the tent one by one.

However, this silence was more painful for Avalanche than any accusation.

The command tent emptied instantly, leaving only Xue Beng's heavy breathing.

He slumped into the chair, covering his face with his hands, his body trembling slightly.

It's over, it's over.

The empire is going to fall in his hands.

Despair, like a cold tide, slowly engulfed him.

His gaze drifted aimlessly across the thin roster on the table, flipping through it unconsciously, as if trying to find a sliver of solace.

Suddenly, his finger stopped on a page.

[Name: Yu Xiaogang]

Specialty: Master of Martial Soul Theory

Yu Xiaogang?
Avalanche's chaotic mind struggled to recall.

This name sounds familiar. Where have I heard it before?

Oh right! It was at the academic exchange conference in Tiandou City three months ago!

That "master" from Gray Rock Academy, standing on the stage, spitting as he spoke, talking at length about how "Soul Masters must strictly follow the theory to cultivate," even going so far as to use the example of his own student "dying from a backlash of soul power because he did not absorb soul rings according to his theory" to forcefully prove the correctness of his theory!
At the time, Avalanche thought this person was just trying to attract attention, and even privately mocked his servants, saying, "Someone actually used the death of a student as a gimmick."

But now... a strange light suddenly shone in Avalanche's eyes.

He needed someone, someone who seemed to have "something going for him," to stand in front of him.

All strategic decisions can be attributed to this "master of martial spirit theory".

If we continue to fail, then it's all because Yu Xiaogang's theory is wrong, that he's just a "master" in name only, and that he's the one who's bewitching His Highness the Crown Prince!
His avalanche was simply due to his thirst for talent, which led him to mistakenly trust a villain.

But what if...

What if that guy's theory just happens to work by sheer luck?
Even if it's just stabilizing the front line a little bit, the credit would go to Xue Beng for his "keen eye for talent" and "making an exception to the rules"!
Xue Beng suddenly clenched the roster, a calculating smile curling at the corner of his lips: "Yu Xiaogang... it's you!"

(End of this chapter)