Translator: Aristophaneso Editor: Caron_
After the Scarlet Warriors had disappeared down the road, Ye Tian had to take a long moment to recover.
“Martial Warriors! All of them were incredibly powerful Martial Warriors, and each of them was at least as strong as my father. The man with the spear was even more powerful than our Village Chief! He might even be a Martial Master!”
Ye Tian was completely floored. All of the Scarlet Warriors had strong Qi and also carried a ferocious aura. Clearly, each warrior had traversed the boundary between life and death many times. They were also all stronger than the village’s Martial Warriors.
“How strange. Where did they come from?”
A group of powerful and distinctive Martial Warriors suddenly appearing in the region obviously made Ye Tian very curious.
As he looked down the road that the Scarlet Warriors had headed down, Ye Tian frowned. Worry filled his heart. “Our Ye Family Village is the only thing around here. It couldn’t be…”
Ye Tian’s heart pounded. The day was nearing its end as he hurried forward, rushing towards the village.
At that moment, most of the Ye Family villagers were preparing for dinner. The hunters had returned home and Ye Meng was out looking for Ye Tian, calling him home for dinner.
Ye Meng had taken down several beasts today and although none of them were higher than a Level Six Martial Warrior, there were plenty. He wanted to drain the blood for his son, but after waiting for a long while without any sign of Ye Tian, he was beginning to get very worried.
Where did the boy go? Ye Meng wondered, almost frantic as he finished searching the entire village. He looked out at the dim forest outside the village and prepared to search there.
Right at that moment…
The earth began shaking and all the domestic animals in the village began crying out in surprise. The peaceful village was suddenly upset by the tremors.
“Horses!”
“So many! Mountain bandits?”
The villagers gathered nervously and all the men picked up their weapons and followed Captain Ye Feng to the village gate.
Shocked, Ye Meng could only follow as well.
Not too far from the village, several hundred Scarlet Warriors raced forward on their powerful horses, their aura crossing the distance of several hundred meters and shocking the villagers.
The Scarlet Guard! Ye Feng thought, his eyes falling wide open and shock filling his entire face.
“Stop!” A gate guard yelled out towards the Scarlet Warriors.
“Hmph!”
A tall figure rushed forward from the Scarlet Warriors, snorting coldly. His eyes were sharp and his face cold, the tip of the black spear in his hand gleaming dangerously.
“Crack!” The stone gate before the Ye Family Village suddenly cracked apart, the gleam from the spear actually springing forward and smashing the gate with physical force.
“True Qi Manifestation! A Martial Master expert!” Ye Feng and the other village warriors were terrified.
The leader called out and pulled back on his reins.
Hundreds of their spirited horses came to a halt, their front hooves pawing the air as they neighed to the sky.
“Have your Village Chief come out. The Scarlet Guard has questions for him!” The man with the spear ordered coldly, his voice so loud that the villagers felt their ears go numb and their hearts quiver.
The villagers were still in a dazed shock and not one person dared to speak. Only Ye Feng recovered, walking forward and respectfully replying, “Honored Lord, please wait one moment. We will immediately send for the Village Chief.”
“A Peak Level Nine Martial Artist!”
The man holding the spear glanced at Ye Feng and nodded in praise. “Not bad! I would not have guessed that a remote village could have a powerful Martial Warrior like you. Are you interested in joining the Scarlet Guard? You should know who we are.”
“Honored Lord, it has been my dream to join the Scarlet Guard but the village still needs me and I cannot leave. In a few years, I will head to the Blood Jade City and take the Scarlet Guard test!” Ye Feng respectfully answered.
“Good, righteous and frank. Good!” The man with the spear nodded, a small smile crossing his cold face.
The Village Chief rushed out as fast as he could. If Ye Tian were here, he would’ve been amazed at how quickly this white-headed old Village Chief could run. Quick as a flash, the chief arrived at the village gate.
“Scarlet Guard!” The Village Chief’s heart tightened at the sight of the hundreds of Martial Warriors dressed in scarlet, his eyes incredibly solemn.
“This Old Man Ye Shi salutes the Scarlet Guard. What was your noble will in visiting Ye Family Village? If this old man can help in any way, please give me your command,” the Ye Village Chief said humbly. None of the villagers considered their leader’s attitude inappropriate; they all knew how terrifying the Scarlet Guard was and they could all sense the incredible strength of their leader.
“Peak Martial Artist. So your Ye Family Village is the most powerful village in White Cloud Town,” the man with the spear said when he saw the Village Chief, surprise flickering across his eyes. He smiled as he continued. “I will introduce myself. I am Li Tian, Hundred-Commander of the Scarlet Guard. These are my subordinates.”
“Greetings, Honored Lord Li. May I ask why Lord Li has come to our Ye Family Village?” Ye Shi asked politely, curiosity dancing across his eyes.
It was at that moment that Ye Tian arrived back at the village and was sneakily traversing the walls.
So they aren’t here for trouble, but what are they talking about with the Village Chief? Ye Tian thought, glancing over at the spear-holding man as he quietly mixed in with the crowd.
“Tian er!” Ye Meng immediately spotted Ye Tian and hurriedly dragged his son over to him.
“Where were you? Why are you so late?! Your mother was worried sick!” Ye Meng angrily scolded him.
Ye Tian smiled apologetically, understanding that his father wasn’t truly blaming him and just expressing his concern. He quietly asked in reply, “Dad, who are these people, and what do they want from our village?”
“They’re the Scarlet Guard. Dad has told you about them before. Didn’t you say you wanted to join them?” Ye Meng replied gravely.
“The Scarlet Guard!”
Ye Tian’s heart skipped a beat.
In the ten thousand mile radius around the village, there was only a single city—Scarlet Jade City. The Scarlet Guard were the guardians of the city and were a powerful army in and of itself. All the villagers in the region viewed joining the Scarlet Guard as the most honorable of achievements.
But the Scarlet Guard had incredibly high requirements, and only Martial Artists above Level Seven could even take the exam, and only a tenth of those passed.
It was said that every Scarlet Guard was a powerful Martial Warrior, and any village guarded by a Scarlet Guard Warrior was safe from any bandit attack.
When Ye Tian was younger, he had dreamed of joining the Scarlet Guard. For him, the guard seemed like this world’s equivalent of the special forces, and he was well inclined towards joining them from the get-go.
“So they’re the Scarlet Guard. No wonder they’re all so strong!” Ye Tian understood. He peered over as best as he could through the crowd, secretly observing the group of scarlet-robed warriors.
The hundred-plus scarlet-robed warriors gathered together was truly a magnificent sight. Each warrior seemed to be waiting calmly, but the killing intent hidden in their eyes was truly frightening nevertheless. They were clearly a troop of iron-blooded soldiers!
Ye Tian sighed. In his previous life, this would be considered a group of elite special forces.
“Hahaha… Honored Scarlet Guard Warriors, please have a good trip. This old man salutes you all!”
After some time passed, the Village Chief’s laughter rang out and the Scarlet Guard troop turned. Like a gale of wind, here and then gone, they disappeared from the Ye Family Village’s gate.
Here like a shadow, gone like the wind.
Not long after, the villagers dispersed to their homes. The hunter team captain Ye Feng came over to Ye Tian and his father and whispered to Ye Meng: “Follow me. The Village Chief needs to talk to us.”
“Yes!” Ye Meng nodded seriously, telling Ye Tian to hurry home first.
Ye Tian watched them leave, noting that every Martial Warrior over Level Seven was following Ye Feng to see the Village Chief.
What did the Scarlet Guard say to the Village Chief? Ye Tian wondered, carrying his little white tiger with him back home. When he got home, his mother pulled him in and hurriedly sat him down for dinner.
Ye Meng only returned very late into the night, and the curious Ye Tian rushed over immediately as his father ate his late dinner. “Dad, what did the Village Chief say? What did the Scarlet Guard want?”
“Why is a youngling like you filled with so many questions? This is adult business—why do you care?” Ye Meng laughed.
“Hehe, I’m curious!” Ye Tian awkwardly rubbed his nose, peering up at his father expectantly.
Ye Meng slowly drank a bowl of alcohol, sighing in satisfaction and dallying as Ye Tian grew impatient. Finally, he smiled and answered: “The Village Chief said that the Scarlet Guard has been hunting a Martial Master realm beast. Apparently, the beast was about to give birth and a Scarlet Guard Warrior spotted it and reported it to their leader, so now they’ve coming hunting all the way down here.”
“Oh?” Ye Tian replied in shock, the white tiger’s form flashing through his mind.
“You have no idea how rare a Martial Master realm beast is, and a pregnant one at that! If you can find the baby and raise it, it would be a Martial Master realm mount! That’s the dream of even Martial Master Warriors!” Ye Meng said with admiration.
“So that’s why!” Ye Tian nodded, his heart filled with glee. The little white tiger was already in his hands, and that Martial Master realm mount would be his, not the Scarlet Guard’s.
“Okay, it’s getting late. Go get some rest. I hunted a lot of beasts today and I already placed the blood in your room.” Ye Meng waved his hand as Lin Mei came to clean the table.
“En, okay. Thank you dad!”
Ye Tian was excited by the news and rushed back to his room. A large basin of beast blood lay on the floor, and there was even more blood than the last time.
He expertly and quickly performed the spell to extract the Martial Spirit Energy, but the result was just as disappointing as before. Even though there was more blood this time, the beasts’ realms were even lower, so the Energy that he extracted was even less than before.
“It’s barely enough for a mouthful!” Ye Tian looked helplessly at the small pool of Martial Spirit Energy, disappointed.
But even if he was disappointed, he still carefully stored the small pool of Martial Spirit Energy. His father had worked his ass off to earn this, and he would never waste it.