Warhammer Fantasy: I Have Total War System

Chapter 87 Never Admit Defeat

Zhen Dan martial arts originated from the personal instruction of the Dragon Emperor and were perfected through the joint cultivation of all people.

Legend has it that before the Jade Dragon Emperor departed with the Moon Queen, he would personally descend to the mortal realm every month to teach the people the ways of combat in fields, training grounds, and mountain peaks.

Following in his footsteps, before the brothers and sisters were divided and suspicious of each other, there were martial arts training grounds in each province personally taught by the Dragon Prince.

Therefore, the martial arts tradition flourished throughout China, from high-ranking officials to tenant farmers and serfs; everyone practiced boxing and wielded bows and spears.

The path of martial arts is divided into five stages of foundation building, culminating in the three realms of Grandmaster.

Foundation building refers to building a solid foundation of flesh and blood.

A master is someone who has exhausted the potential of ordinary people.

The Golden Gate is the final barrier to the Grandmaster realm.

The martial artists who have reached the pinnacle of martial arts in Zhen Dan are all people who have reached the end of the martial arts path in Zhen Dan.

The physical body and the internal energy become one, no longer separate.

A sea of ​​consciousness begins to grow within the brain, evolving into a faint divine awareness.

If Hua Lan can withstand a hundred men, and Zhen Gang can be impenetrable to ten thousand, then in the eyes of the Golden Gate martial artists, no matter how many ordinary mortals come, they are nothing.

They are no different from ants.

"Shouldn't Li Lin admit defeat?"

An officer from Shangyang suddenly spoke up, attempting to break the silence of the crowd.

"I bet on the Sixth Prince of the Southern Dipper to win, where do I collect my winnings?" he asked, but still no one paid him any attention.

Indeed, most people bet heavily on Li Lin to lose, and initially hoped that Li Lin would lose.

But when he was about to lose, not a single officer present wanted him to lose.

This notorious "gold digger" is indeed extraordinary.

Not only did he have the foresight to discover the undervalued foreign mercenaries within the Allied Forces, but he also commanded them skillfully on the battlefield, achieving a decisive victory and crushing the enemy's elite troops.

But what's the point of all this effort?

Regardless of which province's military exercise rules are followed, if the commander-in-chief concedes defeat, the entire army is considered to have lost.

The Six Young Masters of Nandou and others directly exchanged their right to meet Binlong for a Jinmen master to behead Li Lin.

Good guy.

Although it can't be said to violate the rules.

But what's the point of comparing anymore? They can just hire experts from Kinmen to compete in wealth and power!

What's the point of studying military books? What's the point of learning how to lead troops into battle?

Moreover, in the previous major battles, many martial arts practitioners contributed their efforts, but no one had ever seen this master from Kinmen make a move.

This person dared not come out to face a powerful enemy when defending his country.

Now that we're almost at Nangao, and there are no enemies along the way, we've started bullying the weak and fighting for our own interests.

Most of the young officers present were public-spirited and righteous people, and at this moment they were extremely indignant towards the Jinmen expert and the Six Young Masters of Nandou.

"It's not fair..." He Xu stood at the front of the crowd, arms crossed, and sighed, "It's really too unfair. It's a military exercise, a competition of leading troops into battle. But these Sixth Young Master of Nan Dou, his troops were beaten like grandsons. He resorted to beheadings to cheat. He has no gentlemanly manners at all."

"All's fair in war, and they certainly didn't break any rules," Jian Ping said in a low voice.

"What a load of bullshit rules," He Xu muttered, turning his head to the side.

Just then, Qiantang walked towards the gambling table, going against the regretful gazes of the crowd.

He took out two gold notes and handed them over.

"One thousand taels of gold, which can be cashed directly from my Qian family's bank upon arrival in Nangao," he said in a low voice, but everyone in the summer pavilion heard him clearly. "Bet all your money on Li Lin in Nanli and he will win."

The officer in charge of the chips looked at the gold notes in his hand, then at Qiantang, with an expression that said, "Are you out of your mind?"

Upon hearing the commotion, He Xu and Jian Ping quickly squeezed into the crowd, trying to stop their unreliable childhood friend.

"Are you crazy? The competition's already decided and you're betting on him? If you want to give me money, just give it to me! Look! I'm right here!"

Without turning his head, Qiantang slammed the gold note onto the table.

"Will you accept it or not?"

"Of course I'll take it. There's no reason not to accept money." The officer behind the desk was a man of some standing, and immediately accepted the gold notes and gave him the chips, despite He Xu's frantic shaking of his head.

Qiantang collected the chips and turned to leave, only to find two more groups of people waiting behind him.

"I also want to take Chief Steward Li into custody."

Zhao Yunxiu reeked of alcohol and looked extremely dejected.

The once disciplined officer of Nangao is now as dejected as a useless person.

He ordered his men to pile scrolls of calligraphy and paintings, stacks of martial arts manuals and jade slips, as well as several large boxes of women's clothing and jewelry on the long table, making it look like a small mountain.

"It's worth about a thousand taels of gold." Zhao Yunxiu's voice was dry and hoarse, and a foul stench of vomit emanated from his mouth. "He bet it all on Steward Li."

He is different from Qiantang.

Anyone could see that he was aiming to lose everything.

"What's wrong with him?"

"I'd like to know too. I heard the day before yesterday that his fiancée was rescued from that Wei camp by Steward Li."

"Huh?? Steward Li can actually get people out of that guy's hands? Why didn't you tell me? Several of my concubines are still in his custody!"

"Oh, could it be that his fiancée has already been...?"

...Alas! How pitiful!

The officer in charge of the chips picked up a woman's ribbon, looking troubled.

Can these worn clothes still be traded?

Logically, it shouldn't be allowed, but it seems there are specialized markets that buy these young women's intimate apparel at high prices...

Just as he gathered several officers to try and persuade the drunkard to leave, another aged voice came from the crowd.

A voice rang out from the back of the group: "I, too, will bet on Steward Li."

The crowd looked in the direction of the sound and saw an old man dressed in a white robe and wearing a white headscarf walking slowly towards them.

He is not from Aurora.

Their skin tone is darker than that of the Aurora Borealis, they have high nose bridges, deep-set eyes, and grayish-white sideburns that extend from their ears to their chins.

Previously, some people had seen him arrive with a Shangyang military officer, who was said to be a foreign advisor or something similar.

Behind the old man were four Kunlun slaves dressed in the same attire, carrying two copper-clad wooden chests with the lids half-open, filled with gold ornaments, gems, and spices sealed in wax.

As soon as the box was placed on the long table, the air was immediately filled with the scent of women's clothing, a mixture of pearls, sandalwood, and exotic resinous frankincense.

The old man, speaking in a Chinese language with a Wei Jing accent, said, "These are all gold and silver ornaments meticulously crafted by artisans of the Arab royal sultanate of my motherland. The spices were also brought from across the ocean by me. According to your Chinese prices, they are worth ten thousand taels of gold."

Ten thousand taels of gold.

The air inside the summer pavilion seemed to have been sucked out.

"Father-in-law, would you... perhaps you should reconsider?" The Shangyang officer who brought the Arab man asked cautiously.

The old man gently shook his head at him, his tone resolute: "I am very clear-headed and know what I am doing. Please help me explain to these friends that I want to bet on Li Linying."

On the battlefield, Li Lin's face was buried in the mud.

His consciousness swirled between excruciating pain and suffocation, each breath feeling like a knife churning inside his lungs.

The old wound on his forehead, caused by a stone hitting him, burst open, and blood mixed with mud flowed down his eyelids, staining the world before him a dark red.

"Those outside Kinmen are all ants, those inside Kinmen seek dragons and ascend to heaven..." His master's voice rose from the depths of his memory, like a cold needle piercing his brain.

The purple-clad expert from the Golden Gate stood still, without even raising his hand.

But the invisible pressure weighed on him and all his guards like a mountain.

Some people had vomited blood, some had lost consciousness, and some were convulsing like wild dogs whose backs had been broken.

Lost.

We're fucking going to lose.

Since transmigrating, Li Linmeng has witnessed many ways she could die: being besieged by Da Jinya's troops, being caught up by rebels, being ambushed by Wei Qiankun, and even falling off her horse and dying due to a moment of carelessness on the march.

But he never imagined that he would be pinned to the ground like a dying stray dog ​​by a strange, unknown "martial arts practitioner".

"Junior brother," Yue Pengrui's voice descended from above, as arrogant as ever, "pick up the compass, say you admit defeat, and this matter will be over."

A small Five Elements compass was tossed beside him, rolled twice, and stopped less than an inch from his fingertips.

"No matter what you think, none of us fellow disciples intended to take your life." Yue Pengrui paused, glanced at the heavily wounded and dead soldiers of the Weifu Banner, and a barely perceptible trace of pain and regret flashed in his eyes. "Let's stop here and not ruin our camaraderie."

Li Lin stared at the compass.

After a long while, he moved his finger and hooked the compass in the mud to his side.

On the distant hillside, everyone thought he was about to admit defeat.

There's nothing we can do about it.

But his subsequent roar made everyone's heart skip a beat.

"Chen Guizhou! Yi Ge! Listen up!"

Li Lin's hoarse roar resounded simultaneously through the compass and the auricle's runes: "Whether I live or die, as long as this military exercise is won, the rewards and supplies for all participating mercenaries and martial artists will be doubled!"

"I, Nanli Li Lin, will never admit defeat, even if it means death!"