The First Sage of Military Strategists

"The Spirit Clan." Han Qing frowned and whispered, as Elder Ming's voice echoed in his mind.

"The Spirit Race, one of the ancient races, is naturally skilled at controlling wind, rain, thunder and lightning. Their numbers are small, but most of them are powerful. They disappeared in the early Middle Ages."

Han Qing had also read about the Spirit Race in many ancient books, and what the Old Man of the Underworld said was basically the same.

"I never imagined that the Spirit Race hadn't been wiped out in this world," Han Qing said calmly.

"Our Spirit Clan is powerful and has not been wiped out. We have been sleeping in the secret Sun and Moon Divine Palace for a long time. But today, the world is changing and a new era is about to begin. Many of our Spirit Clan's sleeping powerhouses have awakened and do not want to miss this great change," Hong Tianlie said slowly.

"First came the Seven Ancient Demon Kings, then the Spirit Race. It seems the world is destined to become increasingly chaotic," Han Qing murmured.

"The Seven Ancient Demon Kings? Could it be that they have been resurrected?" Hong Tianlie asked in surprise. Before Han Qing could answer, he muttered to himself, "Resurrection is normal. Every major change is a great opportunity. The world will surely be plunged into a bloodbath. The strong will rise to the top, while the weak will fall into the abyss."

"Why are you following me? If you can't give me a straight answer, you can leave your life here." Han Qing interrupted him.

Stalking someone is a provocative act. If you have something to discuss, you can simply visit them in person.

Han Qing was not a bloodthirsty person. As long as the other party treated him with courtesy, Han Qing would not act rashly.

But Hong Tianlie followed silently behind. If it weren't for Elder Ming's strong perception ability that allowed him to discover his whereabouts, he would probably have continued to follow. It's hard not to suspect what his intentions were.
Upon hearing this, Hong Tianlie's eyes flashed with fire, and he suddenly laughed, "It seems that Young Master Han has misunderstood me. I followed you only because I couldn't confirm whether you were Han Qing or not. I didn't mean any harm."

Han Qing remained calm, without the slightest change in expression: "Is that so? Speak, what do you want with me?"

"I would like to invite you, young master, to join our Sun and Moon Divine Palace. As you probably know, Emperor Yu has repaired the Imperial Nine Dragon Palace, which is the number one treasure of ancient times, with boundless power. No force in the world can rival it. The only way to fight against it is through alliance. Our Sun and Moon Divine Palace has taken the lead and united twenty-three aristocratic families to fight against the imperial court. If Brother Han is willing to join, our chances of victory will increase significantly." Hong Tianlie said solemnly.

"The Sun and Moon Divine Palace is a force established by the ancient Spirit Clan. Its core consists of powerful Spirit Clan members, along with many experts from other races who are affiliated with the Spirit Clan." Elder Ming's voice echoed in my mind again.

Han Qing said calmly, "It's not impossible for you to let me join, but your Sun Moon Divine Palace must demonstrate strength worthy of my cooperation."

Hong Tianlie laughed and said, "My Spirit Clan has many powerful experts, so there's no need to worry about that. If Brother Han doesn't trust me, we can exchange a few blows. I'd like to see how strong you are too."

Hong Tianlie lied just now. He followed Han Qing and observed him secretly, mainly to understand and assess Han Qing's strength. If he was really strong, he would invite him to join the Sun and Moon Divine Palace. If he was not as strong as rumored, he would not mind killing him by force and taking away all of Han Qing's magical treasures.

The Spirit Clan, including Hong Tianlie, had been sleeping in the secret realm for too long, resulting in extremely scarce resources and a limited number of usable magical treasures. They were thinking of hunting down more powerful individuals and plundering their treasures, and Han Qing was a huge fat sheep for them.

However, after Han Qing discovered his whereabouts, he was unsure of Han Qing's strength, so he concealed his malice.

Hong Tianlie thought Han Qing was unaware, but in reality, Han Qing knew perfectly well. He was a master of military strategy and could be considered the number one military strategist of his time. He was extremely sensitive to killing intent, and could clearly sense it even for a fleeting moment.

However, he didn't rush to make a move. He wanted to get more information out of Hong Tianlie himself and learn more about the Sun and Moon Divine Palace. The important thing was to figure out whether the hostility came from Hong Tianlie or from the Sun and Moon Divine Palace.

Upon hearing this, Hong Tianlie felt a surge of fighting spirit.

"Then I'll have to offend you!"

Hong Tianlie suddenly made a move, his hands coming together, flames gathering in his palms and instantly condensing into a dazzling ball of light, like a small sun, radiating golden light. Then he pushed it forward, and the golden ball of light slammed into Han Qing.

Han Qing reached out and grabbed at the air, and a ball of dark light appeared. The violent power contained within the ball of light was instantly suppressed and quickly subsided. Then the fireball continued to shrink and finally transformed into a crimson pearl, which fell into Han Qing's palm.

Han Qing played with the precious pearl and said calmly, "Do you have any other tricks up your sleeve? If that's all you've got, the experts from your Sun and Moon Divine Palace wouldn't even be worth my attention."

Hong Tianlie was also shocked. He did not expect that his signature secret technique would be so easily neutralized without putting any pressure on him.

He gritted his teeth, and a whip made entirely of flames suddenly appeared in his palm. He swung it sharply, striking the horse hard.

Snapped!
With a muffled thud, the four warhorses galloped up at top speed, and the entire chariot shone brightly, its entire body enveloped in golden flames, like a golden sun, as it slammed into Han Qing.

This move was somewhat interesting, making Han Qing feel a slight threat, but that was all. He reached out and grabbed at the air, and a long spear appeared in his hand. He then thrust it at the chariot from a distance.

The power of the raging dragon erupted, and a solid dragon shadow collided with the chariot in mid-air.

boom!
The tank was blasted away, and Hong Tianlie fell off the vehicle.

Han Qing made a grabbing motion from a distance and suddenly used the Yin-Yang Curse Seal to seal the chariot.

Hong Tianlie was shocked. He had just woken up and considered himself a powerful member of the Spirit Clan. He had some contempt for the world. But now, fighting Han Qing, that contempt vanished. He felt like an ant seeing the sky and was completely powerless to resist.

"Is this the genius powerhouse of the human race in this era? This strength is terrifying." Hong Tianlie was shocked.

"Stop, Brother Han, this contest ends here. I, Hong, concede defeat!" Hong Tianlie hurriedly said.

However, Han Qing ignored him completely, raised his hand and thrust out with his spear. Hong Tianlie had no chance to dodge, and his body was exploded in mid-air, collapsing suddenly and turning into a sky full of fire.

However, in an instant, these wisps of flame reassembled into a human shape, their eyes filled with horror.

"Han Qing, what are you trying to do? I have no grudge against you, why are you so ruthless? Are you trying to make an enemy of our Sun and Moon Divine Palace?" Hong Tianlie shouted.

Han Qing ignored him and fired another shot, exploding Hong Tianlie's body once again, but he quickly revived.

However, each time it is destroyed and resurrected, its strength decreases.

After this happened three times in a row, Hong Tianlie's aura became weak and listless, and his entire body became extremely transparent.

"The vitality of the Spirit Race is so strong?" Han Qing murmured to himself.

Hong Tianlie's strength is equivalent to a human Golden Body Realm cultivator. Normally, with Han Qing's current strength, he could easily kill a powerhouse of this realm.

The fact that Hong Tianlie was able to withstand three shots without dying shows that the Spirit Clan has a strong ability to survive, unless he has cultivated some special life-saving techniques.

Elder Ming immediately gave an affirmative answer: "That's right, the Spirit Race people are indeed very good at preserving their lives, but there are also drawbacks, namely that it takes a much longer time to recover after being injured."

"Take this Spirit Race member in front of me, for example. He's been shot three times by his master, and his strength has already dropped to less than one-tenth of his peak. Another shot would surely kill him, and he'd need to slumber for decades to fully recover. But if it were a human, a serious injury, as long as they don't die, would usually not take such a long time to recover." "Is one more shot needed?" Han Qing murmured.

Just as he was about to raise his hand, Hong Tianlie panicked. He didn't want to die. He regretted following Han Qing. In his eyes, Han Qing was a killer, a demon, just like the demons, who would kill at the slightest provocation.

"My lord, please don't kill me! I know many ancient secrets and I have a lot of information. I have value, please don't kill me!" Hong Tianlie begged loudly.

Han Qing did not act immediately. He was wondering whether killing a member of the Spirit Clan would cause the Seven Killings Stele to condense soul light points. If not, he could not kill them directly and had to find a way to extract information from them first.

After a moment of internal struggle, Han Qing said in a deep voice, "Do you know why I killed you?"

Hong Tianlie hurriedly replied, "I didn't know."

"Since you've harbored murderous intentions towards me, it's only natural for me to kill you," Han Qing sneered.

Hong Tianlie's heart tightened: "I deserve to die!"

"Since you come from the Sun and Moon Divine Palace, I want you to tell me all the information related to the Sun and Moon Divine Palace. If you satisfy me, I will let you leave." Han Qing played with the fire pearl in his hand.

Hong Tianlie immediately provided a large amount of information. Han Qing listened attentively, and the old man Ming kept explaining in his mind. By comparing the two, he could basically confirm that Hong Tianlie was not lying and that what he said was true.

He thus gained a comprehensive understanding of the Sun and Moon Shrine.

The Spirit Race consists of two groups: the Fire Clan and the Ice Clan. Hong Tianlie is a member of the Fire Clan. Each of the Fire and Ice Clans has a leader with powerful combat strength at the level of a holy land leader.

The Sun and Moon Divine Palace is both the name of this organization and a supreme treasure, whose strength in ancient times was comparable to the Nine Dragons Palace of the Heavenly Emperor.

After learning more, Han Qing no longer feared the Spirit Clan. The Sun and Moon Divine Palace was powerful, but they couldn't do anything to him.

Besides this, Hong Tianlie also revealed another piece of information that he was very interested in.

"The Western Wilderness is in chaos. The King of Heavenly Wolf has died in battle, and the Heavenly Wolf Fortress is leaderless. The Western Wilderness royal family wants to occupy the Heavenly Wolf Holy City and subdue the heroes of the Heavenly Wolf Fortress in one fell swoop."

Han Qingxin's interest was immediately piqued: "My wife, you continue on to Shennong Kingdom, while I will make a trip to Western Mang. Tianlang Fort is in chaos, which is a golden opportunity. I may have a chance to obtain a large number of magical treasures and secret techniques."

“I’ll go with you,” Yan Qiuling said.

"No need, I can go alone. You go to Shennong Kingdom and see what they're up to. I'll be there soon," Han Qing said thoughtfully.

The situation in Western Mang is complicated. Yan Qiuling has only just taken control of the City of Slaughter and still needs to improve her strength. Going there wouldn't be of much help. It would be better to go to Shennong Kingdom to find out what's going on first.

“Alright, we will do as my husband says.” Yan Qiuling nodded slightly.

The two immediately parted ways, and Han Qing's gaze fell on Hong Tianlie again.

“I, Han Qing, am a man of my word. Since you have cooperated so well, I will let you go. Go back and tell the leaders of your Ice and Fire clans that if they want to cooperate with me, they should personally pay a visit.”

"I understand, I will definitely pass on your message." Hong Tianlie nodded repeatedly, turned and left, he didn't want to stay by Han Qing's side for another second.

Once they were far away, a venomous glint flashed in Hong Tianlie's eyes. He vowed to take revenge and make Han Qing regret what he had done that day.

“Master, letting him go might cause trouble,” said Elder Ming.

"It's alright. If the Sun and Moon Divine Palace dares to cause me trouble, I'll just wipe them out," Han Qing said coldly.

"What you say is absolutely right, my lord. I can't swallow the Sun and Moon Divine Palace, but I can absorb its ice and fire essence, which will allow the Boundless Monument to undergo further transformation. I can't wait for them to come and cause us trouble," Elder Ming said with a smile.

...

Three days later.

The Boundless Monument was already soaring over the Western Mang Grassland. Han Qingfa scanned it and saw that the grassland was lush with water and grass, stretching as far as the eye could see. From time to time, he could see the people of Western Mang grazing their livestock.

The Western Mang people have always lived a nomadic life and rarely engaged in agricultural production.

The number of cities in Western Mang was also very small, and the density was far lower than that of the Holy Royal Court and Dayu. This was because the people lived by following the water and grass, and had no fixed abode. They lived in tents. Therefore, every time Han Qing flew forward a certain distance, he could see large areas of white domed tents forming tribes that stretched for tens or hundreds of miles.

"Our destination is the largest city in Western Mang, Tianlang City!" Han Qing whispered from within the Boundless Monument.

Tianlang City is the old stronghold of Tianlang Fortress and has a history of over a thousand years. Legend has it that when Tianlang Fortress was first established, its foundation was in Tianlang City. At that time, Tianlang City was just a small city, but after more than a thousand years of development, the city has grown continuously and has become the most prosperous and largest city in Western Mang. It also has the reputation of being a holy city. Even the Great Khan of Western Mang is not allowed to set foot in Tianlang Holy City at will.

This also shows the difference between Ximang and Dayu. Ximang's Tianlang Fortress is the number one power, even the Great Khan Dorjero is overshadowed.

In Dayu, the imperial court suppressed all directions. Even though many powerful families and holy lands harbored resentment, they generally had to obey the court's orders.

According to the intelligence provided by Hong Tianlie, this major upheaval was caused by a long-standing feud between Duojiluo and Tianlangbao.

With the leader of Tianlang Fort suddenly killed, Duojiluo wanted to take this opportunity to subdue Tianlang Fort in one fell swoop, so that he might be able to subdue the entire Western Wilderness Grassland.

Although Dorjero was nominally the Great Khan, he did not have strong control over many tribes. Western Mang was basically a disorganized mess, far inferior to the Great Yu.

As the Boundless Monument drew ever closer to Sirius City, Han Qing could already sense a hint of chaos.

He saw many tribes at war, and even many young men from the Western Barbarian lands charging into battle on horseback with bows drawn. Some eight- or nine-year-old boys dared to kill with knives, showing no mercy. This was extremely rare in the Great Yu, but it was a very common phenomenon in the Western Barbarian lands.

Han Qing once again deeply felt what it meant to have a fierce and unruly folk culture.

Upon arriving near the Holy City of Sirius, Han Qing saw a large army marching towards the city. These soldiers rode tall horses, were fully armored and armed, and exuded a fierce and valiant aura. As they marched, the soldiers radiated a soaring and imposing presence, clearly indicating that they were an elite force.

Han Qing noticed that most of them were wearing cyan armor and realized that this was the Western Mang Azure Nether Army, one of the most powerful legions. (End of Chapter)