Enlightenment: Beginning as a Disposable Warrior

A broken body was thrown out, flying several feet before landing heavily, accompanied by the dense sound of hooves and a series of low 'woo woo' roars incomprehensible to the common folk of the Great Yan Dynasty.

"Ambush… Damn it, we've fallen into an ambush!"

Barbarian cavalry suddenly charged from both sides of the wasteland, the earth trembling as clouds of dust filled the sky. The bloodline of the Demon Beast snow wolf existed within the barbarian's mount, the snow wolf steed, whose physical strength, endurance, load-bearing capacity, and attack speed far surpassed ordinary horses.

The only shortcoming, perhaps, was its significantly reduced endurance and attack speed in high temperatures, but this was only in comparison to the world's finest steeds.

The Great Yan Dynasty was short of horses, especially warhorses, while the northern barbarians possessed several of the world's finest horse farms, never lacking in breeding grounds, and never short of battle-ready warhorses.

The snow wolf steed was sufficient to allow barbarian soldiers, clad in heavy Iron Armor, to launch a fierce charge, coordinating their attack with a thousand Heavy Armor cavalry in formation, a charge even a typical Third Grade Great Cultivator would fear.

Veterans, having survived countless battles, having licked blood from the tip of their blades, possessing a menacing aura of bloodshed, exerted immense pressure on most cultivators outside the Martial Dao, particularly suppressing spiritual power and mental faculties.

If elite heavy cavalry formed a ten thousand strong unit, even a Great Cultivator caught within could be surrounded and killed unless they quickly broke free to escape; history books have documented such occurrences of Great Cultivators being besieged by elite Dynasty troops over the millennium.

Even within the last twenty years, the Great Yan's General of Conquest in the northwest fought to his death, refusing to retreat, resulting in the fall of Yuyang Pass and the demise of a Third Grade Martial Arts Grandmaster. When the Golden Horde's army breached the pass, they ordered the General's body to be crushed into a pulp, leaving the once-honored Martial Arts Grandmaster, Great Yan's Second Grade General, with no remains.

Once more, a scene from twenty years ago unfolded, as shattered bodies lay with broken tendons and bones, blood and flesh pulp under the barbarian warhorses' hooves.

"Protect me… I'm the Blood Eagle Captain, hurry up and protect me!"

"Men, protect the Captain… Sir, now is the time to break through. The enemy's line is weak in the southeast; breaking through southeast might give us a slim chance!"

Beside him, the deputy general gazed at the fallen comrades, then gritted his teeth at the Captain's cowardly demeanor. Had Captain Liu not insisted on coming here today, the Blood Eagle Camp wouldn't have faced this barbarian ambush and such losses.

A useless commander burdens the entire army!

"A breakthrough, yes we should break through. Relay my orders… Blood Eagle Camp will divide into two groups. From now on, you are the rear camp leader. We cannot risk everything; someone must deliver today's message back to the pass. I order you to lead your troops northwest to break through."

"Captain!"

"Deputy Zhao, are you defying my orders?"

"I follow orders…" Orders are as immovable as mountains, Zhao Shan suppressed his rage and roared with Qi Blood, "Live and die together, brothers in the Blood Eagle rear camp, follow me to break through north-west!"

The Blood Eagle Camp immediately split into two directions, one southeast, the other northwest.

At the rear of the barbarian army, an old man, clad in strange attire that resembled both Buddhist and Daoist robes, with crane-white hair and a youthful face, watched the Blood Eagle soldiers fighting desperately within the encirclement with a hint of admiration.

"Fifth Princess, observe closely… this is the terrifying aspect of the Central Plains Dynasty. Despite the many inept officials indulging in pleasures, neglecting their duties, and betraying the country, when faced with danger, there are still those courageous enough to stand up to death."

"You may consider it blind loyalty or… integrity, the blade may cut heads and instill fear, but it cannot sever the integrity of the Central Plains…"

"To rule the Central Plains, one cannot only rely on slaughter. Learn to embrace… then harness this integrity…"

Beside the strangely dressed old man, a stern, heroic woman clad in armor adorned with a snow wolf totem nodded thoughtfully.

"Teacher, I have learned."

The old man nodded lightly, reaching out to pat the shiny-furred, large snow wolf resting beneath him, which slowly opened its eyes and stood up gracefully and proudly before turning away.

"Kill all those heading southeast, let the leader return."

"As for the northwest… kill them all."

The old man departed, and the stern woman added before turning away, "Do not desecrate the bodies."

Soon, southeast, a horse and rider escaped in complete disarray, yet with a face full of joy, as they fled towards Yuguo Pass.

Northwest, blood flowed like a river.

The barbarian lead captain pulled on the reins, the snow wolf steed circled the pile of corpses once, confirming no survivors before snapping his whip.

"Withdraw!"

The hooves raised clouds of dust as the barbarian army departed.

After a long time, a delicate figure crawled out from the pile of bodies, finding a corpse whose neck had been severed, retrieving a blood-stained boxwood badge engraved with 'Eagle Number 3789' from its waist, then took the corpse and badge away.

"As agreed… today I collect your body."

As the soft whisper left its lips, the delicate face showed slight emotion before it returned to an expressionless demeanor, moving toward the pile to grab and devour a corpse.

Black Demonic Qi spread out, swirling and enveloping the body completely, quickly dissolving it into a haunting mass of blood light, swallowing its entirety, with a hue of eerie blue faintly visible within.

As the blood light was devoured, the delicate figure trembled all over, a strange light flashing through its eyes.