Chapter 730: Selection

King Ping said, “Guards, gather fifteen martial arts masters and bring them here!”

“Understood!” someone responded from outside the tent.

King Ping turned to Chu Li and said calmly, “I heard that you’ve conducted a search at the Ministry of War?”

Chu Li nodded. “The Ministry of War is clean as far as we know.”

“There are no more insiders?” asked King Ping

“It’s hard to predict a person’s actions since one can change their mind at any time,” Chu Li stated while shaking his head. “While they may be still loyal to the Ji Dynasty at this moment, they could their loyalty to the Li Dynasty the next. There’ll always be people who switch sides. We can only try our best to prevent it.”

“You’re very competent.” King Ping nodded in approval. “So, have you ever thought of coming over to serve in the military?”

Chu Li shook his head and smiled politely. “Once a secret guardian, always a secret guardian.”

“It’s okay. If it’s you, I’ll tolerate it,” King Ping said. “You can continue to be a secret guardian after joining the military and gathering information for the Secret Guardians Hall.”

Chu Li shook his head again. “I can’t bring myself to do such a thing. I have to turn down your generous offer, Your Royal Highness.”

“What a pity.” King Ping shook his head. “With such skills, you shouldn’t be wasting them on the trivial affairs of the Fairy’s Capital. You should be using your abilities to handle matters of national security. You’re wasting your talent!”

“You flatter me, Your Royal Highness,” Chu Li replied. “I’m aware of my capabilities but if I end up making a huge mistake and putting our national security at risk, I will be committing a great crime.”

“You’re just unwilling to join!” King Ping scoffed. “It’s because you feel that the military is a dangerous place to be in, right?”

Chu Li chuckled and nodded. “Yes, exactly.”

King Ping threw him a sideways glance and shook his head. “You’re not a person who’s afraid of death. I’m finding you more and more admirable. In the future, if you ever find yourself in an unstable position in the Fairy’s Capital, you’ll be welcome to join me. You’re always welcome!”

He waved a hand and continued to speak, “Don’t reject the offer so quickly. No one can know for sure what’ll happen in the future. A person’s fate is always in someone else’s hands, so how can one ever control one’s own fate?”

“… Indeed,” Chu Li replied slowly.

He frowned to himself as he noticed the hidden meaning in King Ping’s words. It seemed as if King Ping was really not planning to give up his military power.

In that case, carnage would await them. Nonetheless, it would not be appropriate for him to intervene in such a matter for now due to him being underqualified.

“Commander-in-Chief!” Someone called from outside, “They have arrived!”

“Come on in!” King Ping replied.

The thick curtains at the entrance of the tent were drawn as fifteen men strode in with calm expressions and sharp gazes. They held up a fist salute and greeted in unison, “Greetings, Commander-in-Chief!”

Chu Li scanned the group and it occurred to him that they were all Grandmasters.

“What do you think?” King Ping glanced at them with a pleased look and faint smile on his face. “Are you satisfied with them?”

Chu Li shook his head. “They won’t do.”

King Ping turned to look at him. “Hmm…?”

Chu Li shook his head again.

King Ping frowned and stared at him.

Chu Li calmly met his gaze and lightly shook his head once more.

King Ping huffed and waved his hand at them. “You may all leave now.”

The fifteen Grandmasters gave a fist salute in response and glared at Chu Li before exiting the Marshal’s tent.

“Why?” King Ping asked.

Chu Li shook his head. “They’re not strong enough. If you send them there, these men will get themselves killed.”

“You’ve seen that group of people then? They’re Asuras, right?” King Ping asked with a frown.

Chu Li nodded. “And they’re all Asuras with a profound level of skill. Even if those men were to use treasure swords to slash at the Asuras while the Asuras stood there and did nothing, they still wouldn’t be able to do any harm towards them, so they won’t do!”

Before entering the military encampment, he had already gone ahead and tracked down the group of Asuras.

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By using the All-Knowing Scripture, he could detect the thick scent of death and decay at their current location. It was like a bright sun that he could not ignore even if he was trying to look away. Thus, he had sneaked over to take a look at them and found that their skill level was very close to that of the group that had previously launched the sneak attack on the Ji Public House.

King Ping studied him closely. “You’re not exaggerating this on purpose, are you?”

Chu Li replied, “Actually, Your Royal Highness should know that very well just how strong they are. Think about it. Could those fifteen martial arts masters wipe out a hundred-man troop?”

“They can’t.” King Ping shook his head.

Chu Li smiled.

“So we’ll have to find fifteen men who, together, can defeat martial art masters who have wiped out a hundred-men troop, right?”

Chu Li nodded. “There are ten Asuras.”

“The ten of them have wiped out an entire hundred-men troop, so it would have been one against ten.” King Ping scrunched his brows together and thought it over.

“A battle formation has no effect on them,” Chu Li muttered. “If it were a hundred civilians, it wouldn’t have been a challenge for one Asura to kill them, but those were a hundred soldiers.”

King Ping nodded in agreement.

Among the soldiers in this hundred-men troop, there had been one Grandmaster and ten perfected innate masters. As for the rest, they were all innate masters that were adept at using the joint attack technique in a battle formation. Ten innate masters launching a joint attack would be equivalent to a Grandmaster.

Based on this calculation method, this hundred-men troop had amounted to eleven Grandmasters.

However, this calculation method is not exactly accurate, because the one hundred men had not been divided into isolated ten-men teams. These ten-men teams could also work together and launch a joint attack, which would be equivalent to having eleven Grandmasters performing that joint attack. The attack would certainly carry formidable power.

If those fifteen Grandmasters who showed up just now were to launch a joint attack, they might be able to suppress a hundred-men troop, but would never manage to wipe out the entire troop in a quick and efficient manner.

Chu Li said, “For Asuras, killing is a natural instinct. If you were to compare a man and an Asura of the same cultivation level, an Asura would certainly be more fearsome. That’s why we’ll need fifteen men with skill levels that are far greater than theirs.”

“… Alright then. Let’s try again!” King Ping exhaled a sharp breath and shouted, “Bring me the top fifteen martial arts masters we have!”

“Understood!” Someone replied from outside. Then, the sound of footsteps leaving could be heard.

“Asuras can’t be killed, only crippled.” King Ping frowned. “How are you planning to deal with them?”

“Send them over to Amethyst Mountain to be suppressed,” Chu Li replied.

“Amethyst Mountain…” King Ping slowly nodded. “Very good.”

Chu Li asked, “Do you have any qualms about that, Your Royal Highness?”

“As long as you can get rid of them, it doesn’t matter to me,” King Ping muttered. “Their presence is affecting our morale too much.”

Chu Li nodded in understanding. “To face an enemy who is immune to the effects of a battle formation can indeed affect the army’s morale.”

Battle formations formed the basis of an army. Upon entering a battle formation, a Grandmaster would lose much of their capability. Meanwhile, when placed in a battle formation, the strength and speed of a normal soldier would increase by a large extent, giving them the capability of a martial arts master. In this way, an innate master would be able to go up against a Grandmaster.

Therefore, in a battle formation, they would not need to fear any martial arts master. As long as they worked together, a martial arts master would not be able to stand against their strength.

However, if the battle formation were to lose its effects, they would be lambs waiting for slaughter. They would not be able to defend themselves in the face of a martial arts master and would easily be killed off.

“Commander-in-Chief!” The sound of footsteps approaching could be heard from outside.

King Ping replied, “Come in!”

The thick curtains were drawn up again, and fifteen Grandmasters walked in.

Chu Li glanced at them and shook his head.

King Ping glared at him with a dissatisfied frown and waved his hand.

The fifteen Grandmasters exited the tent.

“Those were the most skilled masters in our encampment!”

Chu Li shook his head and smiled as he replied, “They’re not the most skilled. The most skilled masters are in this tent!”

King Ping laughed despite himself. “You wish to use my Protectors?”

Chu Li replied, “Your Royal Highness, your Protectors and the Protectors of Deputy General Sun whom I’ve previously met are all exceptional martial arts masters!”

“… You’re rather bold,” King Ping muttered with a huff.

Once his Protectors were removed, he would not be safe in the military encampment as an assassination could occur at any time.