Long Tao was shocked by hearing the words spoken by the general. He wanted Long Tao to take the title of Dragon and assume the post of vice-general. What for. Long Tao didn't want to rise in the ranks of the army. He found it meaningless as he would leave the Jiao country within a year anyway. His strength as at 8th level QI master, and with the combined help of his avatars in cultivation, He was confident to complete his cultivation in Crimson lord art by the end of this month and take another month to complete the cycles of Hell soldier art.
The next step was body cultivation and the slowest of all, the cultivation of his soul. His soul was at the 3rd level of QI master as of now. He needed to run Heaven Pestle art till 9 times for cultivation to complete. Each rotation was extremely painful and torturing but he had to go through it if he wanted to strengthen his soul. Long Tao wanted to have a perfect power base. He would break-through to the next level only when all his stats for the current level were at max. Long Tao didn't like the posting for that reason.
He looked at the general and said" I beg your pardon my lord and am grateful for the favors you have shown me in this regard, but I don't feel I am capable enough to handle the post. My character doesn't suit that of a leader and politics is not one of my strong areas. I am sure young soldiers of Tamar would rise o the occasion and the general would find a suitable candidate for this position soon. I would like to stay down and serve in my post.". The general looked amused. He spoke to himself" Did you really think I would let you go so easily?"
"You don't seem to understand the statement I said earlier Vice-general Dragon. I said you will hereby inherit everything related to Lin Bao. It includes the title. Unlike your thoughts the most important thing to deserve this title is strength. You are stronger than Lin Bao and hence are totally deserving of this title. Also, wouldn't you agree you won't be able to define your current position properly." Long Tao understood the point the general was trying to make. No new vice-general or even existing vice-general would try to order him given his displayed strength.
The current strength of Long Tao makes his seniors be of fear of him. They have a junior that couldn't be controlled by them. This is a very dangerous kind of disruption especially in an army where orders were absolute. The absolution didn't apply in the case of Long Tao. "Also, I wasn't asking for your opinion in this case. You will take the position. Its an order. If you dare to not except. Not only will I take back all the rewards presented to you, but you will try on the basis of military law." The general said in a serious voice, which was betrayed by his expression.
Long Tao was irritated, but what could he do but accept. This guy was much stronger than him and had the right to enforce his orders on him as he wanted. Long Tao decides to wait till his time came. "I accept the offer general. I will first take possession of all the rewards given to me and then leave for the royal capital instantly." Long Tao bowed. The general was still trying to stop his laughter from bursting out. He left the venue, leaving the spectators in awe. A new genius was born today. Many wanted to get a chance to work under Long Tao now. Many began to request the Black-buck squad to enlist them in it.
Dwelling-
Long Tao was resting in his room as of now. The cultivation speed of his was optimum at the moment and he needed to decide the future pathway he was going to take for the time being. He didn't want to involve in politics but was forced to, which may bring unexpected turns for him. The biggest resource collector for his cultivation were the avatars in the sects. Long Tao 's biggest income was from the star emperor academy. His master, the dean was providing him withy loads of natural oddities to cultivate with. This eased his path a lot. He was confident to enter the Qi general realm within the next three months. He needed to get hold of more resources and this mission might provide the opportunity for that.
He called the member of his squad to group up at the meeting hall. All the members were present. The first command was to report the progress they have managed to undergo in this time period. After the reporting was done, Long Tao was happy to know that a big chunk of the talented members chose to remain faithful to the squad. The minimum cultivation of the squad members present was in the 4th realm of Qi master. The strongest was of course Su Menqi whose cultivation stood at the 7th realm as of now. She was appointed the commander of the squad. Long Tao left the paperwork to her and asked the squad to prepare for the journey to the royal capital.
They set out for the journey. The squad was currently consisting of 20 members. 10 were the original one and 10 were the recruits chosen by Su Menqi. The road to capital was a long one and according to the caravan speed, they would reach that place after 10 days. Long Tao didn't want to waste so much time. HE ordered that they would proceed at the maximum speed of the slowest person of this team. The new recruits were exhaust in the first half of the day" You have 3 incense stick of time to recover your lost strength. We won't delay any further." Qi stones were given to the new recruits. The voyage resumed once more.
The Jiao capital city-
The soldiers were doing their morning duty. The night shift was just about to end and the soldier was retiring to their dwellings. Just when the shift was about to begin, a loud shout was heard stating a disturbance to have been noted in front. The soldiers readied their gear and took a position. Soon enough a group of people arrived, dressed in black clothing, the fashion of which represented an army faction. "State your name and purpose of visit to the Jiao capital.". One of the figures walked towards the gate and handed a piece of document to the man at the entrance counter. The man opened and read the content, and he hadn't even gotten to the second line when he stood up and saluted Long Tao.
"I welcome vice-general Long to the capital city of Jiao. According to our information, you should be reaching here after 6 days. Kindly wait in the guest's dwelling of the military outpost. I will send a messenger to report to the ministry who will then send a guide to the royal court. You and your team can visit the city until then. I will report the news to you as soon as I get any update from the royal court." Long To nodded and went on with the newly formed Black-buck squad to the military dwelling in the city. The allotted room was soon occupied." Refresh yourself. The guide of the court would arrive within some time and we need to set out for the meeting."
True to his words, a guard came to inform Long Tao that the guide has arrived. The person was of a decent stature. When he found Long Tao examining him with care, he proceeded toward shim and reaching Infront, bowed in respect "I presume honor top have a meet with the newly appointed vice-general of the north-eastern military, Sir Long Tao.". Long Tao nodded in agreement. He didn't need to show respect in return, because the only forcible bow of the vice-general was before the king or the general. The guide requested Long Tao to follow him.
The court-
The black-buck squad reached the court amid lots of crowds. The throne was empty, but the guide bowed in front of Long Tao again." I request the vice-general to take his seat. The Jiao king will join the court in short while.". The king arrived, and all of the jesters, minister, and soldiers bowed during the arrival. The first matter of discussion was off course the matter of the capital's management and palace's regulation. After that came the matters of finance and military. One of the ministers stood forward and addressed the king" Your majesty, the newly appointed vice-general of the north-eastern military, Sir Long and his squad has arrived in the capital city.". Jiao Sheng was instantly alerted by the news and looked at Long Tao with a cordial smile on his face.
"I hope your majesty is in good health since the last time we met." Long Tao kneeled in respect in front of the king. "No need for the formalities vice-general Long. I hope the journey was not tedious. The mission you are called here to handle is an escort mission. Hope you will take it."
