Chapter Ninety-Eight: Reporting Merits

Ye Xin circulated a trace of primal energy and gently stroked the Boundless Sky Wolf at the nape of its neck. Then he said to Ye Ling, “Come and touch it too. Be careful to stroke its nose and mouth lightly. That will help it grow accustomed to your scent more quickly.”

“Oh.” Ye Ling did not understand, but she came over and cautiously reached out with her small hand to touch the wolf’s nose.

After a moment, Ye Xin patted the Boundless Sky Wolf on the waist. “Lie down.”

The Boundless Sky Wolf obediently lowered itself to the ground. The wolves of the pack were fierce toward outsiders, but within the pack their obedience was absolute; it would carry out every command Ye Xin gave it.

“Little Ling, climb on slowly,” Ye Xin said.

“What... what?” Ye Ling could not help jumping up. “Brother, are you giving me a Boundless Sky Wolf as my mount?!”

“You’re my younger sister, and you’re basically an adult now. Of course you can have your own mount,” Ye Xin said.

Ye Ling stared blankly at him. There was an old saying that it is easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but hard to go from extravagance to frugality. The Ye family had once been wealthy, but these past few years had been truly difficult. Ye Ling had grown used to enduring hardship and to relying on herself. Since Ye Xin returned to Sky Cauldron City, her life had undergone a complete transformation. The two hundred thousand gold notes he brought back were only a trivial matter; if they lacked primal stones, they could go to Xue Baiqi. And Ye Xin had promised that as long as her state of mind remained steady, he would surely find her a batch of ranked primal crystals to help her temper her innate art. Now, he was even giving her a Boundless Sky Wolf.

In truth, this idea had long been in her heart, but seeing that Ye Xin and the veteran officers of the Sky Wolf Legion seemed rather distant from one another, she had never dared to mention it, afraid of putting him in a difficult position. Yet only a few days had passed, and her wish had already come true.

All that could be said was that life with someone shielding you was too blissful for words. Ye Ling nearly wanted to scream at the top of her lungs.

“Why are you standing there like an idiot? Get on,” Ye Xin said.

Ye Ling hurriedly sat astride the Boundless Sky Wolf’s back, and it slowly rose to its feet.

“The Boundless Sky Wolf is different from ordinary warhorses,” Ye Xin said. “They’re smarter than warhorses and can understand far more signals. If you want to become a true rider, you’ll need some time to work out the coordination. In fact, it was the same for Hao Fei and the others. I took them all over the place for several days before they gradually got the hang of it.”

The students of the Fifth Battalion, along with the students crowding around to watch from the outside, all went wide-eyed. They suddenly realized they had made a fatal mistake: they had treated Ye Xin as nothing more than a useless nobody and had not bothered to interact with him. They had overlooked his background. No matter how weak Ye Xin might have seemed, he still held the Ye family’s resources. If they had become friends with him, even brothers, from the start, might they not also have obtained a Boundless Sky Wolf?

Wen Rong, Shen Miao, and Shao Xue all smiled. They were sincerely happy for Ye Ling. It could be said that bitter days had finally given way to sweetness. Although they did not know Ye Xin’s true face, they could feel it. The current Ye family was radiating a miraculous vitality.

Ye Xin called over another Boundless Sky Wolf and turned his gaze to Wen Rong. He then beckoned to her. Wen Rong had given him all the primal stones she had saved over several years. Ye Xin did not care about that little amount of primal stones, but he could not ignore the fact that they were all she had.

Wen Rong froze. She did not quite understand what Ye Xin meant. Shen Miao, however, reacted more quickly. She quietly nudged Wen Rong and said in a low voice, “Go on! What are you standing there for?”

Wen Rong walked over at a measured pace. “Ye Xin, what is it?”

“Try it. First let this Boundless Sky Wolf get used to you, then practice riding with Little Ling,” Ye Xin said.

“That won’t do,” Wen Rong shook her head. “The Boundless Sky Wolf is a mount of the Sky Wolf Legion. I’m not a warrior of the Sky Wolf Legion. That would make no sense...”

“Take it as keeping Little Ling company,” Ye Xin said.

“Ye Xin, you don’t understand the complications here,” Wen Rong said with a wry smile. “I know you mean to repay me, but have you thought about what kind of pressure you’ll face if I accept this Boundless Sky Wolf?”

“What pressure could there be?” Ye Xin smiled.

“The Boundless Sky Wolf is the Wolf Marshal’s private treasure. Back then, from the ruler himself to the Wolf Marshal’s relatives and friends, who did not want a Boundless Sky Wolf?” Wen Rong said. “It was only because the Wolf Marshal flatly refused them that he killed those thoughts. Now you’re giving a Boundless Sky Wolf to me, and I can already imagine that starting tomorrow, the various deans, the Grand Dean, the Taiwei lords, and even the ruler may all reach out to you. How many Boundless Sky Wolves do you have in hand? How could you possibly hand them out? No matter whom you refuse, it will not end well. And your standing is far inferior to the Wolf Marshal’s; trouble will only grow and grow.”

“When I get ruthless, I don’t even recognize my own kin. I’d like to see who dares reach out to me,” Ye Xin said indifferently.

“You really don’t understand the ways of the world at all,” Wen Rong said again with a bitter smile. “The Sky Wolf Legion is no longer what it once was, and neither is the Ye family. We can’t afford to offend too many people.”

“Enough nonsense. Get on,” Ye Xin said.

“You...” Hearing Ye Xin’s tone turn so firm after she had meant well, Wen Rong grew somewhat annoyed. In the end, she grit her teeth, walked up to the Boundless Sky Wolf, and was about to leap onto its back when she saw it bare its gleaming white teeth at her.

“You need to get it familiar with you first. You’re too reckless,” Ye Xin said.

Wen Rong had no choice but to imitate what Ye Ling had just done, slowly stroking the Boundless Sky Wolf until its emotions gradually calmed.

“Instructor, when do we go into battle?” Li Chonglou finally managed to tear his eyes away from the Boundless Sky Wolf and turn to Xie En.

“If you want to go into battle, then go. What does that have to do with me?” Xie En replied lazily. Last time, Li Chonglou’s attitude toward Ye Xin had been terribly poor. Ye Xin did not bear grudges, but Xie En could not let it go.

“But...” Li Chonglou hesitated. “If we keep refusing to fight and don’t earn any contribution points, the Cold Martial Hall won’t be able to hold on!”

“All right, all right. We’ll talk about it later,” Xie En said, sounding a little impatient.

Seeing that Xie En was quite helpless, Li Chonglou no longer dared pester him. Resentment flickered in his eyes.

The siblings had not seen each other for many days, and now that Ye Ling had just obtained a Boundless Sky Wolf, she was thrilled beyond measure and seemed to have endless things to say. Ye Xin had nothing else to do for the moment, so he simply devoted himself to teaching Ye Ling how to control the Boundless Sky Wolf.

When riders communicate with their mounts in battle, they rely on all manner of body language. The Boundless Sky Wolf was far smarter than a warhorse, with keener instincts, making it easier to reach the state of perfect harmony between rider and mount. Even so, training was still required.

By dusk, Tie Renhao’s mounted squad finally returned to camp, and the camp erupted into excitement, for they had won a great victory today.

Strictly speaking, since the founding of the Martial Valor Battalion, this was the first formal battle of any scale, and the spoils were bountiful.

Even Grand Dean Qiu Xiang was alerted. He simply set up an open-air table in the camp and publicly tallied the merits, summoning all the students over. This was also meant to boost their morale.

Tie Renhao had killed one hundred and seventeen enemy soldiers in this battle, and the Grand Academy had even sent people to verify the count. It was accurate without error.

The ones who had contributed the most in the fighting should have been Wei Qingfan and Zong Yunjin, but Tie Renhao was the leader of the unit, so the great merit had to be credited to his name.

The students of the Fifth Battalion were also present. Watching Tie Renhao and the others, all of them looking smug and triumphant, their expressions turned rather unsightly.

“This is disastrous...” Li Chonglou muttered. “They’ve already killed so many enemy soldiers. By the academy’s rules, that’s enough to exchange for more than three thousand contribution points. If we still want to keep the Cold Martial Hall, it’s going to be an almost impossible task...”

“Instructor Xie, we’re not convinced!” Shen Miao shouted at Xie En. “Why don’t you look after us?!”

Because of Ye Ling, the little group of four was very close to Xie En, and only she dared speak to him like that.

“It’s fine. The great war has only just begun. We still have a chance to catch up,” Xie En said.

“How can there still be a chance?” Shao Xue also felt a little wronged. It was not that they were afraid to fight, but that the academy would not let them go out. “Although the ruler has ordered the Martial Valor Battalion to guard the left flank, he knows our weight. Right now he can still let us go out and move around, but once we truly face the demon army, he absolutely will not let us enter the battlefield recklessly.”

Everyone understood this. No matter what Iron Heart Saint’s temperament might be, as long as he was still the ruler and still thinking for the future of the Great Wei Kingdom, he would not allow these students to throw themselves into a real battle to the death. Otherwise, if serious casualties occurred, the very foundation of the kingdom would be severed.

Grand Dean Qiu Xiang loudly praised Tie Renhao’s achievements, which also made the students gathered around grow ever more excited. Then, abruptly changing the subject, he asked, “Has Tie Shudeng returned yet?”

“Not yet,” said a dean nearby.

“I wonder what harvest he’ll bring back today,” Qiu Xiang said, his voice full of expectation.

“Heavens, please let Tie Shudeng come back empty-handed...” Shen Miao murmured over and over.

“Shen Miao, do you have a grudge against Third Brother?” Ye Ling asked.

“How could I have a grudge against him?” Shen Miao said mournfully. “Don’t forget, Tie Shudeng is also in the First Battalion. If he also makes a huge haul, then we’ll have no hope at all.”

“No hope?” Ye Xin smiled. Then he pushed aside the people in front of him and squeezed forward. “Make way, make way...”

The students he pushed aside were somewhat displeased, but when they turned and saw Ye Xin, they sensibly shut their mouths. When the wolf riders first entered the camp, they had caused a massive uproar, and Ye Xin had been walking at the very front. By now, almost everyone recognized him.

“Reporting to the Grand Dean, this student also has military merit to report!” Ye Xin said loudly.

“Oh?” Qiu Xiang looked over, and when he saw Ye Xin, he paused for a moment before smiling. “So it’s Ye Xin. Go ahead, tell us where you encountered the forces of the Great Summoning Kingdom.”

“Yesterday, this student encountered the Great Summoning Kingdom’s army on both banks of the Raging River outside Autumn Sunset City,” Ye Xin said. “The enemy was routed across the board, and our side killed... about six hundred enemy soldiers.” To be continued.

P.S.

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