This Young Master is not Cannon Fodder
chapter-ss15

The martial master from the Gu Dynasty felt sweat drip down his forehead as he continued to fend off against Fenghua's attacks. He was in a sorry state. His clothes were burnt and filled with holes, practically rags at this point, his skin was full of soot, making his skin look extremely dark, blotches of his skin were burned, and his hair was singed randomly, making it look like an old mop. All in all, he looked like an experienced beggar that could even make an iron-hearted man pity him.

His current haggard appearance was the result of him foolishly charging at that martial grandmaster child. The moment he had charged at her, the girl had literally exploded with a fiery force that completely severed his momentum. At first, the Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster had thought that the little girl had used some sort of an overdrawing technique, such as burning her blood essence to temporarily increase her strength, in order to unleash such a devastating blow. The martial grandmaster had even grumbled, "Why did you blow up the moment the fight started? Can't you go according to script and explode with power when you're pushed into a corner?"

But after the smoke cleared, he realized he was wrong. There was not a single injury or signs of weariness from the little girl. Worse, she looked as pristine as ever, as if this wasn't even the battlefield. At this moment, the Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster realized the situation was as simple as he had thought.

Since the Gu Dynasty and Li Dynasty armies had appeared on the battlefield, he had long noticed Fenghua, but he didn't take her too seriously. Like the fifth prince, he thought she was bait until the group of twenty martial masters came to assassinate her, but even after finding the truth, he did not place her in his eyes.

True, she easily defeated the group of martial masters and was able to unleash streams of fire, but so what? He could accomplish the same acts if he wanted to, but it would be a waste of true qi.

There had been another young martial grandmaster once. He had reached the Acupoint Opening Realm at age twenty, but he appeared to be twelve due to all the pills and resources he had taken. It appeared impressive, but he had a shaky foundation. Against most martial masters, the young martial grandmaster dominated them, but against other martial grandmasters who had used blood and tears to cultivate to that step, he was practically a fake martial grandmaster.

That story served as a cautionary tale for powerful forces against blindly using external objects to raise their clansmen's cultivation forcibly. In fact, the clan who had done this had already fallen and was one of the former ten great clans that had descended from Ancestor Allfist.

The Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster had thought that the little girl before him was in the exact same situation. He had even snorted and muttered that which foolish clan did such an act, but now he knew his wrongs.

"Don't go too far!" The martial grandmaster roared as he shifted his body to dodge Fenghua's attack.

"Don't go too far?" Fenghua snorted in disdain. Her whole body was wreathed in a fiery robe formed from her Primogenitor Flame, making her seem like a flame immortal or devil. "Maybe you should have thought about the consequences after attacking me!"

Fenghua's hands flashed through several hand seals, and nine tails of fire condensed behind her. Using her spiritual to control these 'tails,' Fenhua attacked the Gu Dynasty martial master from all sides to the point that he didn't have any time to talk back. Rather than tails, they acted more like snakes and even had mouths that would attempt to chomp the martial grandmaster.

The saying two hands cannot defeat ten fists was not without reason, especially in the Allfist Realm, which focused on martial arts instead of spells or law concepts like the higher realms. Unless the martial grandmaster was far more skilled than his opponent, then a single martial grandmaster cannot defeat three or more at the same level. His only choice would be to flee. Granted, Fenghua's nine flaming fox tails weren't martial grandmasters, but that's beside the point.

Huh, instead of Nine Foxtail Flame, wouldn't it be more appropriate to call it Nine-Headed Snake or something like Yamata no Orochi from Japanese myths? Fenghua wondered. She completely looked down on these yokels that only knew how to punch and not integrate concepts and laws into their attacks. Granted, they were from a lower realm, and concepts and laws were harder to sense, especially unless you entered the Unity or World Merging Realm, but...

I have to make sure that Junfeng isn't like these people. Fenghua thought, but then she paused. Hmm, maybe Junfeng doesn't need my pointers. He is a protagonist-like existence, after all. It's highly likely that he would master a concept and reign supreme in the Allfist Realm before even reaching the peak of the Acupoint Opening Realm.

The Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster seized the chance when he saw a lapse in the Nine Foxtail Flame's assault. Even though he was arrogant, he was still a veteran martial artist. According to the last few minutes of exchange, he knew that he was unlikely to defeat Fenghua unless he placed his life on the line, so he decisively fled.

Fenghua raised her and pointed towards the fleeing martial grandmaster but slowly allowed it to fall to her sides. Simultaneously, her tails of flames dissipated. She had lost focus for a moment and allowed him to escape her encirclement, but if she really set her heart on killing, it wasn't impossible.

However, Fenghua didn't do so. The short exchange between them already expended over five percent of her true qi. Five percent didn't sound like a lot, but it could easily add up—not to mention that her generation of true qi was lackluster due to her injuries.

Gambling with her life and revealing her weakness for mere cannon fodder was not worth it.

Throwing that little episode, Fenghua returned to her flying carriage and laid down once more. She better things to do than waste her time on a bystander, such as cultivating and healing her injuries.

What Fenghua didn't know was that the Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster had been paying attention to her all this time, not that she would have cared. Although he sighed in relief when he saw that Fenghua wasn't chasing after him, the martial grandmaster still felt his heart become unbalanced. He felt as if his pride had been stomped on. "You bitch, dare to ignore me? I'll show you how much of a mistake you made by letting me go!"

After that little episode, the morale of the Li Dynasty army rose again by another level. Do you not see how brazen the Gu Dynasty martial grandmaster was? Before even displaying his abilities, he was scared to the point of running away with his tail between his legs!

And so, the seventh day of the war ended with even more casualties on the Gu Dynasty side. Still, after experiencing the ups and downs of war, the Li Dynasty army didn't celebrate like the first day and instead hunkered in preparation for the next battle. There was no way that the Gu Dynasty would allow their disadvantageous situation to continue.

There was no battle on the eighth day, but the battle on the ninth day brought a significant change.

In exchange for the lives of numerous martial masters and sacrificing several field generals as bait, the Gu Dynasty successfully eliminated the elite special task force that had been killing their field generals and grievously injured Leng Junfeng.

The momentary loss for the Gu Dynasty was absolutely worth it, in their opinion. The results spoke for themselves in the ensuing battles. Although the first few battles had a subtle equilibrium between the two armies, but it was quickly broken by the Gu Dynasty's superior tactics and soldiers.

It's funny how much one person has such an overarching influence in the battle between hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Logically speaking, a minor martial master like Leng Junfeng shouldn't be able to influence the flow of the battle too much, yet, in reality, without Leng Junfeng, the Li Dynasty army is beginning to collapse. Fenghua thought as she entered the tent where Leng Junfeng was being healed.

Right now, the Li Dynasty army was barely holding on, but soon, they would have to use their trump cards. If they used their trumps cards, but the Gu Dynasty hasn't, then their position would become even worse. According to Fenghua's calculations, the martial grandmasters should be moving soon.

"Brother Jungfeng..." A heartbreaking voice said. Just from the tone alone, Fenghua could tell that the speaker was doing her best not to cry.

Fenghua sighed. After the battle, Leng Junfeng's disguise technique was broken. Although there were no big waves about Leng Junfeng's true identity, Fenghua knew that those with power had already discovered Leng Junfeng's identity as the sole survivor of the Leng Clan.

And as Leng Junfeng's childhood friend, Wang Meilin naturally recognized his identity at first glance, causing her to cry and worry. In Fenghua's eyes, the worry and admiration turned into love.

She didn't blame Wang Meilin for worrying about Leng Junfeng. Even though Fenghua has complete confidence in Leng Junfeng's plot armor, some part of her can't help but worry. After all, Fenghua's view of Leng Junfeng as a protagonist was more of an emotional recognition, but it did not reflect reality. The truth was that Leng Junfeng had a high chance of dying due to his wounds.

Fenghua walked next to Leng Junfeng's bed and sighed. Wang Meilin quieted. She had seen Fenghua's strength, so she didn't treat Fenghua based on her appearance. "Student, if you continue to sleep, then Teacher will exterminate the Teng Clan. Do you really want someone else to claim your enemies' life instead of with your own two hands?"

Wang Meilin showed no surprise at Fenghua's words. When Leng Junfeng's identity was revealed, Junfeng had already informed her of Leng Junfeng's hatred. If anything, Wang Meilin was happy; she didn't want to marry that Teng Wuba.

If there were one matter that she was conflicted over, it would be her father, Wang Ming. Wang Meilin wasn't stupid. She may be naive and overly protected by her father, but she wasn't an idiot. With how close her father was walking with the Teng Clan, even if her father denied it, she wouldn't believe that the Leng Clan's fall had nothing to do with Wang Ming.

She couldn't ask Leng Junfeng to forgive her father. No matter how much she loved him, backstabbing your sworn blood brother was a despicable act. In fact, if Wang Ming weren't her father, with Wang Meilin's personality, she would have cursed him to the point that the saliva used would be enough to fill a lake. Alas, all she could do was ask Leng Junfeng to leave her father with his life and nothing else.

"If you don't wake up in seven days, Teacher will exterminate the Teng Clan." Leaving those parting words, Fenghua left the tent in no mood to cultivate.

Fenghua wasn't speaking empty words. Although their time together was short, she'd rather like this hardworking student of hers. Most of all, she valued his potential. Plus, if you raised a dog long enough, you would develop feelings for it, much less humans.

Three days later, Leng Junfeng woke up.

"Tsk, tsk, did you really want to kill the Teng Family by your own hands that much?" Fenghua joked.

Leng Junfeng smiled back before sighing, his face still sickly. "Thank you for those words. If it weren't for Teacher's words, I would have probably continued sleeping."

"Nonsense. I can see you are a man of great luck. Even without me, you would have woken up." Fenghua said, then she paused and stared at Leng Junfeng's body. "You've entered the next stage?"

Leng Junfeng gave a proud smile. "I was fortunate this time. In the midst of danger, I improved and completed the Bone Refinement Stage. Now, I just need a bit of time to enter the Organ Fortification Stage."

Tsk, tsk. Compared to Main Body, Leng Junfeng's speed is even superior! And Main Body's speed is already monstrous in the Buzhou Immortal Realm! Is it because there is a synergistic between the Wood Book and the Dragon Elephant Transformation Manual? Or is it because both of these cultivation methods are inferior to Main Body's cultivation method? Fenghua thought, feeling a little bit jealous, but Leng Junfeng's next words caused Fenghua to be even more speechless.

"Teacher, I feel that I can link my meridians and open up my spiritual qi sea at any time now. But I should do it after the war so as not to arouse any prying eyes." Leng Junfeng said after lowering his voice so that only Fenghua could hear.

Your mother! I should just kill you now!