Chapter 107: A Fearsome Reputation

Beacon Fortress!

The Serpent King gazed intently at the intelligence report in his hand, his eyes deep and contemplative.

Beside him, Zhu Yao stole several glances at the Serpent King's expression. Only when their eyes met did he shudder slightly, bow his head, and dare not look again.

“What do you want to say?” The Serpent King's voice was calm but carried an undeniable authority.

“I hold you in the highest esteem. Your insight is truly sharp; you saw early on that Fang Qingyun was different, which is why you kept providing them with support. And those two youngsters have repaid your favor so swiftly.” Zhu Yao’s face was full of flattery, though inwardly he was cursing.

Such sheer luck—how could the Serpent King have stumbled upon Fang Qingyun’s growth by chance? He refused to believe the Serpent King had predicted this all along.

Then what was really going on? Was the Serpent King himself the child of destiny?

“Hmph!” The Serpent King snorted coldly, his eyes still fixed on the report, falling into a moment of silence.

The intelligence detailed how Fang Qingyun led the Northwestern Military Academy’s Student Union to uproot a demon clan stronghold entirely.

This was no ordinary outpost; it functioned as a small-scale supply depot, a vital resource hub for the demon clan. Inside were vast stores of food and weaponry.

The garrison was formidable. Even the visible forces amounted to a full regiment. The troop arrangement met formal standards: battalion commanders numbering over a thousand were all commander-level experts, with the regiment leader being a high-ranking commander.

Moreover, the stronghold was notoriously easy to defend but difficult to attack.

If the humans dispatched a large force, it would be detected immediately, prompting the demon clan to send rapid reinforcements. Deploying too few soldiers would make capturing the outpost impossible.

Yet Fang Qingyun dared to attack with a small unit and succeeded in seizing the supply base.

An elite demon regiment was wiped out.

The Serpent King had reviewed Fang Qingyun’s operational report three times already.

After a long pause, he asked, “Where did he get so many spiritual energy bombs and bullets?”

“Made them himself,” Zhu Yao replied cautiously.

He didn’t understand why the Serpent King asked that—Fang Qingyun’s ability to craft spiritual energy bombs and bullets was no secret. Both he and the Serpent King knew this, yet the question was still posed.

“Made them himself,” the Serpent King repeated softly, murmuring, “The success rate is even higher than previous intelligence indicated. Not a hundred percent, but at least seventy percent.”

Otherwise, Fang Qingyun couldn’t have maintained the student union’s operations while stockpiling so many.

Such a high success rate was unheard of.

Ordinary warriors' handmade spiritual bullets and grenades rarely succeeded beyond thirty percent. This included the Serpent King himself—whose success rate was even lower because of his divine general.

Every month, warriors of divine general rank or above were required to contribute two handmade bullets as a mandatory quota.

This was a constant headache for the Serpent King.

Not only was Fang Qingyun’s success rate high, but his manufacturing speed was remarkably fast.

Fang Qingyun’s tactics were straightforward.

The demon supply point contacted the fortress every hour. If the contact failed, it meant trouble, prompting the fortress to dispatch reinforcements.

Fang Qingyun exploited this one-hour window to seize the supply base.

Once contact was confirmed, he immediately severed the enemy’s signal to prevent calls for help. Then he shot the regiment commander dead, followed by systematically eliminating the enemy’s high-ranking officers to disrupt command.

Qin Xiangjun and Xi Liuyan infiltrated the stronghold to wreak havoc and covered the patrol squad’s entry.

When the patrol squad approached, they began hurling grenades wildly to clear the area.

What even left the Serpent King speechless was that Fang Qingyun had manufactured a large number of third-rank grenades.

These had an effective lethal radius of three hundred meters!

No wonder Qin Xiangjun and Xi Liuyan could cause such chaos with just two people.

At this level, even a single mistake by a commander could be fatal.

This was the general outline.

Of course, the Serpent King also had a second, more detailed report.

It recorded the involvement of several commander-level warriors and hundreds of fighters from the City of Chaos, including members of the Blood Axe Gang and Lone Wolf Gang.

“Have all the warriors from the Blood Axe and Lone Wolf gangs in the City of Chaos been called in?” The Serpent King smiled faintly. “They really know how to amass power.”

“Not just them!” Zhu Yao said gravely. “Fang Qingyun brought Qin Xiangjun and Xi Liuyan to the City of Chaos. The three high-ranking commanders not only suppressed the unruly Blood Axe and Lone Wolf gangs but also borrowed several commanders from the city lord. Without them, they couldn’t have taken the demon outpost.”

“Recently, the Blood Axe and Lone Wolf gangs recruited several commanders. Together, the two gangs deployed ten commanders and two hundred warriors.”

“Fang Qingyun, Qin Xiangjun, and Xi Liuyan are all high-ranking commanders!”

“The patrol squad includes a hundred elite fighters!”

“The City of Chaos’s lord dispatched over ten commanders.”

“And with so many third-rank grenades, Fang Qingyun is also a master sniper!” Zhu Yao trailed off.

Looking at it this way, taking a demon stronghold didn’t seem so difficult... but that was far from the truth.

Zhu Yao knew well that the demon stronghold openly had only one regiment, but secretly, there were stronger forces.

Moreover, they were defending, and Fang Qingyun’s side was attacking.

“Let’s just say this time they did a damn fine job!” Zhu Yao laughed. “Commander, what reward are you planning to give them?”

“Reward?” The Serpent King snorted coldly. “Hasn’t he caused me enough trouble already?”

Zhu Yao smiled awkwardly.

After the battle, many had heard of Fang Qingyun.

Therefore, many sought to draw him in.

Commanders were hard to come by.

Besides, no one knew if Fang Qingyun would become a famous general someday; but becoming a powerful warrior was undoubtedly within reach.

His high success rate in crafting spiritual energy weapons was undeniable.

That alone made him invaluable.

He was also an exceptionally skilled sniper.

If he could be recruited into a legion or a family, the benefits would be immense.

Many tried every means to win him over.

Those who resorted to threats did not escape the Serpent King’s attention. He intervened multiple times, offending many.

It was said even a duke had stepped in.

Dealing with that duke’s interference left the Serpent King extremely vexed.

In the human empire, marshals and dukes were nominally equal, but dukes held unspoken superiority because their titles were often hereditary.

Marshals wielded real power but would eventually retire.

Upon retirement, marshals were usually granted a ducal title, but these were not hereditary. Their sons might be titled marquises, and grandsons counts, and so forth.

Without remarkable achievements, descendants would eventually become commoners.

Hereditary dukes, however, retained their titles generation after generation unless they committed grave offenses or lost territory.

Thus, the Serpent King knew that blocking the duke now might cause trouble later.

Thinking this over, the Serpent King’s anger boiled.

Just for this? A reward?

Hadn’t he already shielded him from countless problems?

Well, no matter.

The Serpent King wanted to keep such a talent in his ranks.

After some thought, he snorted softly, “I recall the Tenth Legion is missing a deputy division commander!”

Nonsense! When did that happen? As the secretary to the front-line marshal, Zhu Yao had no idea.

But he said without hesitation, “Yes, the Tenth Legion was just established, and many officer positions remain vacant.”

“Assign him a post,” the Serpent King said coldly. “We’ll deal with the rest later. He’s still a student and can’t formally join the army now, so let’s just give him a nominal position.”

“Also, assign Zhao Junhong as a military advisor at headquarters.”

“Yes!” Zhu Yao immediately understood.

They were staking their claim and signaling to everyone that this young man was under the Serpent King’s protection—better behave.

This method could deter many, but the influential figures wouldn’t care much.

If they were determined, they could take not only a deputy division commander but the entire division.

Hopefully, this would be the limit of his trouble. If he stirred up bigger chaos, even the Serpent King might not keep him.

But bigger chaos... Zhu Yao shook his head—seemed unlikely.

High-ranking commanders were strong, but at the front lines, they were common. Fang Qingyun had taken a supply base; what greater feat could he achieve?

...

At that moment, Fang Qingyun and his companions were tallying their spoils.

The captured stronghold was a demon clan supply point.

The food inside was trivial; none of them bothered to take it.

The real prize was the weaponry and equipment.

The group returned heavily laden, some nearly unable to move.

“What a pity!” Zhao Junhong sighed during the count, “We don’t have spatial weapons. Otherwise, so much good stuff wouldn’t have to be burned.”

They didn’t bring everything back—only about a third was taken; the rest was set aflame on site.

Spatial weapons were even rarer than Fang Qingyun had imagined.

Xi Liuyan, a top-ranked teacher at the Northwestern Military Academy, didn’t even possess one.

Qin Xiangjun had a small one, only ten square meters—lowest grade spatial weapon.

As for the one Fang Qingyun had, it was a prototype, impossible to classify.

“Don’t get your hopes up too much!” Fang Qingyun dexterously worked on a third-rank spiritual bullet, nearly complete in his hands.

“To be honest, I’m already quite satisfied we took the outpost. And the casualty count was almost negligible.”

“That’s true!” Qin Xiangjun smiled. “Besides, we did gain something. At least losses were replenished.”

Fang Qingyun’s mouth twitched.

Losses replenished? He had worked day and night to create those spiritual bullets and bombs, almost all consumed.

But those bullets and bombs were exorbitantly expensive.

Most of the loot from the demon supply point was ordinary equipment—meaning they were at a loss financially.

A huge loss!

Fortunately, slaying demons brought military merits and school rewards.

As students, they received double rewards.

The military merits earned from defeating a demon regiment were substantial enough to cover the deficit.

Finally, after settling accounts with the ten commanders borrowed from the City of Chaos’s lord, Fang Qingyun was stunned to realize the only profit was the equipment from the Blood Axe and Lone Wolf gangs.

They had fought a battle and effectively done the work for those two gangs.

If those gangs weren’t their own allies, Fang Qingyun would have considered taking action.

Risking everything, only to gain nothing.

“Any upcoming missions?” Zhao Junhong asked, eager.

“What else do you want to do?” Fang Qingyun rolled his eyes and said irritably, “Rest!”

Hadn’t he noticed Gu Xi’s strange looks? If he didn’t soothe things soon, she might already be planning to betray him.

Qin Xiangjun nodded. “We do need some quiet time. We have military merits and benefits, so better lie low for a while.”

She glanced at the two men. “You both be careful. This incident has stirred quite a commotion. Besides the demons and demons’ kin, humans may not remain peaceful internally either.”

“Don’t worry!” Zhao Junhong said carelessly, “We never trust outsiders—same with humans.”

“Heh, I feel like there’s more to that statement,” Qin Xiangjun teased.

...

After two days of rest, Fang Qingyun strode toward his secluded training place.

The Northwestern Military Academy’s location was conspicuous, so the school had prepared several secure seclusion sites.

Given Fang Qingyun’s status, he naturally had access to one.

“President!”

“President!”

Students along the way greeted Fang Qingyun enthusiastically.

This battle had not only earned him ample military merits and points but also cemented his fame within the academy.

Even teachers no longer underestimated him.

Upperclassmen students respectfully addressed him as “President.”

To command such respect, one needed strength superior to others.

Fang Qingyun had achieved that.

Soon he arrived at the seclusion site.

But at the entrance, a headache began.

A graceful figure awaited him.

“Oh!” Qin Xiangjun waved her fair, delicate hand.

Her skin was as smooth and white as polished jade, glowing even more under the sunlight.

“It’s not easy to catch you for a moment!” Qin Xiangjun smirked.

Fang Qingyun groaned, “Two days, just two days apart, and you have to do this? People might think you’ve fallen for me.”

Qin Xiangjun frowned thoughtfully, then shook her head after a long pause. “With your current abilities, you’re still a bit short if you want to marry me.”

Fang Qingyun grinned.

He was just eighteen.

A high-ranking commander!

A master sniper!

An expert in crafting spiritual energy weapons!

He even possessed a summoned beast at high commander rank, summonable countless times as long as he had spiritual energy.

And yet, he couldn’t marry Qin Xiangjun?

“Alright then,” Fang Qingyun said with a headache. “Princess, what do you want?”

Qin Xiangjun raised an eyebrow, unconcerned that her identity was known. “You need to change your cultivation technique.”

“That’s it?”

Fang Qingyun rolled his eyes. “You came all the way here just for that?”

In the past two days, he had been spending time with Gu Xi. He had heard rumors that Qin Xiangjun was searching for him, so he doubled down on the distractions.

His verdict remained: Qin Xiangjun was not someone to mess with; better to avoid her.

If she came looking for him, it was certainly not good news.

“Do you think so?” Qin Xiangjun said seriously. “Fang Qingyun, I know you’re proud, but you must stop cultivating the Killing Technique. Throughout history, those who have succeeded in it can be counted on one hand.”

“You’re a genius, a true genius, with the potential to become a divine general. I cannot let you recklessly pursue this path.”

“Wait a moment!”

Fang Qingyun frowned. “Potential to become a divine general? I’m eighteen, a high-ranking commander already. That’s not far from divine general, right?”