Chapter 76: General Lu Shu Part 1

Lu Shu was sitting on a black chair at the end of a long table, a map of the land stretching over the table's surface. On his right, sat the Practitioners with Matsuda Ken sitting closest to him. On his left, sat the mages. Likewise, Li Jiro sat the closest to him. He had two five thousand man commanders as his lieutenants and five one thousand man commanders as his captains. They also sat on the table.

"General, prince...," one of the captains began.

"Just general is fine. We will be exiting the empire," Shu said. "Tell me our current composition."

"Allow me," one of the lieutenants began. "I am Lieutenant General Lu Gong, a Practitioner of the ninth stage and member of the sub branch of the Lu Clan. Under my command are three thousand of the Lu Clan elite who have joined the army for over five years. All of them are Practitioners. They are the main infantrymen of our army and have fought under General Meng Ce before. The other two thousand are our cavalry. Each of them are required to contract a horse magical beast of the fourth rank or higher."

"I am Cao Wei," a general in light armor bowed. "I am a Mage Apprentice, my class being a Lava Mage. I have the rare ability to cast fire and earth magic, with the talent to fuse both elements and use lava spells. Under my command are one thousand white mage apprentices, one thousand elemental class mages, one thousand support class mages capable of summoning and other types of magic, one thousand Practitioners who specialize in long range fighting, and the one thousand staff. These staff consists of messengers, scouts, cooks, servants, and Practitioners and mages specializing in barrier magic and formation arrays. Each member of the staff is either a Mage Apprentice or a Spirit Shaman of the fifth rank. In the entire army, there are no mage novices and the weakest Practitioner is of the fifth stage, all of the few fifth stage Spirit Shamans among the one thousand staff."

"The fifth stage. That means they are already either Archons or true Archons. Good," Shu said. "For Mage Apprentices, I understand little. None of them can cast Advanced grade magic, right?"

"That is correct, unless it is a special magic that runs down their lineage," Li Jiro said. "Shu, what is the plan?"

"My ancestor, Lu Feng, wants us to travel through Giant's Chains, to the east," Shu said.

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"General, that means we must cross through several islands to reach the Hyperion lands. I was stationed there two years ago," Lu Gong said. "We only have near half of the chain islands under our control. None of us dared to assault the heart of the island chain. In the biggest islands, none of our scouts returned alive."

"We have no choice," Shu sighed. "No doubt, Lu Feng will tell Great General Meng Ce to march through Giant's Chains. You can consider it the first campaign of our new army. You all know the mortality rate will be high. Not only are we facing dangers from magical beasts, we will fight Hyperion beyond Giant's Chain. We might also come across dragons and demons."

"We know, general," Cao Wei answered. "Most of us don't come from powerful clans. We join the military to gain access to resources, techniques, and spells a regular citizen would never be able to attain. We joined the army, knowing the risk, for the power to change our lives."

"The sub branches too," Lu Gong nodded. "Our resources are not as great as the main branch family. We also joined, knowing full well we might not live to see another day."

"I see," Shu said closing his eyes. "Then make the necessary preparations. "Once they are ready, let the soldiers enjoy one last night with their loved ones."

"Yes, general," Lu Gong and Cao Wei cried and left with the captains.

"The lives of ten thousand lay on your shoulders," Jiro said, as the military leaders left. "Are you alright?"

"I'm not used to this. Killing is simpler," Shu said. "I have to change the way I think, the way I act......I'll burden you two to oversee the preparations."

"Yes, Prince Shu," Jiro and Ken bowed their heads as Lu Shu left.

Shu arrived in a hidden location under the palace. Currently, Shu had half his body submerged in a strange liquid as he meditated. This liquid was made by the Great Ancestor, for his wife. When the wife did not cultivate the spirit energy from the pyramid formation, she meditated in several special pools. As she had left, with the Great Ancestor and the five strongest Spirit Sages, the pools was now free to be used by Lu Yi and Lu Shu. They were the only Practitioners of the main branch who were not Spirit Sages. Thus, the pools were perfect for them as they were far weaker.

The liquid contained the blood of the Great Ancestor in his true form as well as other alchemical ingredients. Each pool had different properties and benefits. Naturally, those with demon blood considered this pool a priceless treasure. The Great Ancestor left behind one hundred pools of his blood and other alchemical materials. Each of the nine Spirit Sages left behind were given a pool of his blood. One pool would be shared among the emperors and Lu Shu was given a pool of his blood, Lu Kui also receiving one when she formed her demonic body. The Great Ancestor left ten more pools before taking the rest with him. His wife would surely need it.

"Cultivating in the portable demon pool?" Wraith asked as it separated from Hao's shadow as the Spirit Beast joined Shu.

"It helps my cultivation. Being able to carry a pool of a Golden Earth Fiend's blood, filled with inexhaustible demonic spirit energy, is too great. Beyond words. It's a shame my father's purity level is not high. The black blood never seems to dry and I feel my body becoming stronger as I bathe in it. I don't know what else is in the pool I was given, but it feels great," Lu Shu nodded.

"What about the lion wine?" Wraith asked.

"This greedy kitten," Shu laughed, patting Hao's head. "It has taken a liking to the lion wine. It does not empower me much, serving only as a supply of spirit energy to replace the loss. Luckily, Lu Feng poured all the lion wine in a magical gourd. Thanks to the gourd, the supply of lion wine is inexhaustible. However, I was told it won't recover my demonic sword spirit energy, the energy of Sword Immortals. By then, I should find a new way to replenish spent spirit energy before all my demonic spirit energy is permanently converted."

"Master, how goes the progress of the Sword Immortal cultivation?" Spook asked as Wraith returned to Hao's shadow as the guardian lion cub fell asleep by the pool.

"The Sundered Thorn Scripture is very powerful," Shu answered as he stared at the sentient ring. "By meditating under its methods, my Soul Realm is actually expanding. It's improving my foundations. However, it will be much harder to condense my soul later on. The more my Soul Realm's planets and galaxy radius enlarges, the bigger a planet of spirit energy must be made. The martial arts, I can grasp and I can understand sword energy better. However, it is truly difficult. The more I learn, the harder it is to progress."

"At least you made progress with the Tralagafa Totem," Spook said as Shu stared at a small, white wood totem with engravings made of radiant purple crystals. It currently shined, on his lap, under the pool's black blood surface.

"Perhaps," Shu smiled. "I can create a radiant purple light barrier and chains of light. Over time, the abilities I can use will increase. I just can't harness the power of my spirit reactors yet. I can feel it, but I can't bring out its power. My spirit techniques have all improved, thanks to the totem. The totem is able to attract far more spirit energy and makes it easier to cultivate. Especially my Great Spirit Integration technique. Since fusing my physical body with the Armored Ocean Tiger God spirit, it's power has increased tenfold. However, integrating the earth element is too difficult."

"However, you have progressed on Totem Fusion. Your left arm can become that of an adult guardian lion. No matter what the infant becomes to, when it enters its juvenile state, your transformation will be that of a guardian lion," Spook comforted. "Transforming your arm can already be considered a great achievement. It is a great trump card to use. One of many."