Chapter Ninety-Nine So Heavy, So Heavy

"Six hundred plus? Exactly how many?" Qiu Xiang said gravely. "These all need to be recorded in the merit register. The figures must be accurate."

"This is a joke! You say six hundred, and it's six hundred? Ye Xin, this is a matter of military and national importance, not child's play!" Tie Renhao was furious that Ye Xin had casually tossed out such an enormous number. If Ye Xin had merely been bragging to himself, Tie Renhao wouldn't have deigned to argue with him—but spouting wild nonsense in broad daylight was clearly a deliberate challenge to him. Wouldn't everyone's attention be snatched away by Ye Xin?!

"Your Highness is right!" Zong Yunjin said in a deep voice. "Such reckless talk is a grave offense in the army! Heh heh heh... It's only because we're here. If this were His Majesty's palace guard, reporting false military intelligence would warrant immediate beheading as a public example!"

"What is Young Master Ye trying to do? That's way too far-fetched." A student nearby whispered.

"It's deliberate, don't you know? Young Master Ye has always had a grudge against the Fifth Prince. Seeing the Fifth Prince earn such great merit, of course he'd step out to knock him down a peg."

The students murmured among themselves; most didn't believe Ye Xin's words.

"Who has the patience to count exactly how many they numbered?" Ye Xin shook his head and curled his lip, full of disdain.

"In that case..." Qiu Xiang pondered for a moment. "Ye Xin, I'm not deliberately making things difficult for you, but I can only record your merit in the external register. The main register is to be submitted to His Majesty, and it must be verified by the inspector general."

"Fine," Ye Xin said carelessly.

Qiu Xiang had expected to spend considerable effort persuading Ye Xin to agree. Seeing him accept so readily, Qiu Xiang was momentarily taken aback. Tie Renhao and Zong Yunjin also fell silent, their eyes gleaming with mockery—everything recorded in the external register was mere hearsay; no one treated such entries as truth.

"However, we did encounter demon troops," Ye Xin said. "After a great battle, we reaped considerable gains. I collected all the demon soldiers' insignias. Those can be recorded in the main register, right?"

"Demon troops? You encountered demon troops?!" Qiu Xiang abruptly rose to his feet, staring at Ye Xin with wide eyes.

The demon soldiers under Xiao Mozhi were the bane of the Dawei Kingdom. It was precisely because of the demon soldiers that Tie Xinsheng's grand ambitions had never been able to unfold in twenty years.

"Yes," Ye Xin said.

"If you've captured the insignias, that counts as verification, and of course it should be recorded in the main register." Qiu Xiang said slowly. "May I ask how many demon soldiers the Wolf Riders encountered? And what did you take down?"

"I'm not entirely clear on that." Ye Xin turned around and nodded at Hao Fei.

Hao Fei turned and left. Before long, two veterans of the Heavenwolf Legion rode over side by side. One of them held a canvas saddlebag that clinked with the collision of metal as they approached.

All the students' gazes fell on the two old soldiers. When Ye Xin had claimed to have killed over six hundred enemies earlier, they hadn't believed him. Now that he claimed to have killed demon soldiers, they naturally believed him even less.

"Demon soldiers? Even in its heyday, the Heavenwolf Legion couldn't do anything about demon soldiers. With these ragged remnants and old men, they expect to fight demon troops?!" Tie Renhao sneered.

This time, Zong Yunjin uncharacteristically did not echo Tie Renhao. His gaze was locked tightly on the two veterans.

Qiu Xiang frowned. "Fifth Prince, the military affairs of Fenwu Camp ought to be managed by this academy alone. Is this academy truly so incompetent that even the trivial matter of recording and auditing merits requires Your Highness's personal instruction?"

"I overstepped my bounds." Tie Renhao's face turned beet red, and he hastily bowed his head. "It's just that I heard him spouting nonsense and couldn't bear to listen any longer, so—"

"True or false, this academy will verify it. The Fifth Prince need not say more." Qiu Xiang said.

Tie Renhao dared not speak again. He turned his head and shot Ye Xin a venomous glare. Being reproached by the Dean was, naturally, a great loss of face—but he chalked this up against Ye Xin as well.

By now, the two veterans had entered the arena. One of them dismounted and handed the canvas saddlebag to Ye Xin.

Ye Xin took it very casually—then his expression changed drastically, and the saddlebag thudded to the ground. His body pitched forward after it. Fortunately, he was a warrior after all, and his other hand caught the ground in time; otherwise, he'd have landed face-first in the dirt and made a complete fool of himself.

"Damn... this heavy?!" Ye Xin yelped.

The old veteran who had handed him the saddlebag's face twitched violently several times. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

The deans seated behind the table all averted their eyes. From the dull, heavy thud of the saddlebag striking the ground, they vaguely sensed that what Ye Xin had said was very likely true. What was hard to accept was this—if you'd accomplished such great merit, shouldn't you at least carry yourself with some dignity and bearing befitting a young hero? Nearly being dragged to the ground by your own spoils of war? What was that supposed to be? Even if the retainers' merit belonged to the household head, you, Ye Xin, were still a disgrace!

Qiu Xiang was also a little dumbfounded, then gave a dry laugh. "Ye Xin, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, I'm fine!" Ye Xin bent down, and by the look of it, he was summoning every ounce of strength he had. His face flushed crimson as he barely managed to hoist the saddlebag into his arms, then staggered over to the table, set the bag down, and started gasping for air.

Ye Ling pressed her hand to her forehead; she truly couldn't understand why her brother was putting on such a spectacle. Wen Rong let out a faint sigh on her side.

Qiu Xiang untied the saddlebag impatiently. Sure enough, it was filled to the brim with demon soldiers' insignias. A thick, cloying stench of blood emanated from them and spread into the air—clearly freshly taken in battle.

"How many insignias are there in total?" Qiu Xiang's voice trembled slightly. This was a great victory! An indisputably great victory! He had assumed Ye Xin would have at most six or seven insignias—never in his wildest dreams had he imagined so many!

"How many were there?" Ye Xin asked the old veteran.

"Sixty-seven in total," the old veteran replied slowly.

"Sixty-seven... a full sixty-seven..." Qiu Xiang's gaze went glassy. "You annihilated an entire formation of demon soldiers?"

The demon army had ten main camps in total, each camp divided into ten formations, and a formation's strength was generally between fifty and a hundred. Hearing the number, Qiu Xiang knew immediately that an entire formation of demon soldiers had been wiped out by Ye Xin's people.

"Yes," the old veteran replied.

"Who was their formation leader? Do you know?" Qiu Xiang pressed.

"Chief Qiu said it was Sima Qinghong," the old veteran replied.

"Sima Qinghong? Are you certain?!" Qiu Xiang was nearly shrieking.

"Yes," the old veteran replied. "Chief Qiu recognized the Heavenly Net Silkworm Arrow."

"Ye Xin!" Qiu Xiang struggled to control his surging emotions. "You were there at the time—you saw the demon commander with your own eyes?"

"I did see her." Ye Xin nodded.

"What did she look like?" Qiu Xiang asked.

"She looked... quite beautiful..." Ye Xin suddenly slapped his thigh. "Speaking of which, that reminds me! I told Uncle Qiu at the time to try to take her alive, but Uncle Qiu said her combat power was formidable, and taking her alive would cost a heavy price. Alas... what a pity about such a delicate, charming little beauty..."

If Ye Xin weren't already the representative of the Ye family, and acknowledged by the veterans of the Heavenwolf Legion, Qiu Xiang would have leapt up, kicked Ye Xin flying, and roared: What kind of moment was that? What else do you know besides that?!

But that was only something he could imagine in his own mind. The reality was that Qiu Xiang smiled and nodded at Ye Xin, then turned his gaze back to the old veteran—he had given up on Ye Xin. "The Heavenly Net Silkworm Arrow—Chief Qiu said this personally?"

"Yes," the old veteran replied.

"Excellent! This is an extraordinary feat! It seems I'll need to make a personal trip to see His Majesty." Qiu Xiang let out a long breath.

"It was merely a single formation leader. Isn't the Dean making too much of this?" The old veteran seemed puzzled.

"A formation leader? That was two years ago!" Qiu Xiang burst into laughter. "Sima Qinghong was promoted on merit to commander of a main camp!"

"Commander?" The old veteran froze. "No wonder she was that tough. Had it been us..."

"Had it been you what?" Qiu Xiang asked.

Ye Xin groaned inwardly. This was what he dreaded most—his plans were perfectly laid, but because he'd used the wrong person, the truth was about to slip out. He desperately wanted to tell the old veteran to shut up, but there was nothing he could do except trust in fate.

However, the old veteran had caught himself. He paused. "Had it been us two years ago, breaking that formation of demon soldiers would have cost us dearly."

"It seems you haven't wasted these past two years after all." Qiu Xiang sighed. "Just now I felt somewhat puzzled. Sima Qinghong was already at the peak of Pillar-of-the-State combat power—among the younger generation of the Dazhao Kingdom, none could surpass her except Yu Dao. The fact that you were able to slay her shows how much effort you've put in! That's why I say this is an extraordinary feat! His Majesty will surely be proud of you!"

Then Qiu Xiang narrowed his eyes, as if thinking of something, and suddenly spoke again: "How is Jiecha doing now?"

"Is the Dean referring to Chief Qiu?" The old veteran paused. "He is well."

"When I return from His Majesty's presence, I will pay him a visit. I hope he won't turn me away." Qiu Xiang said slowly.

Tie Renhao, Zong Yunjin, and the others' faces turned green. They could never have dreamed that Ye Xin had actually slain demon soldiers, even killing a demon commander—one so important that even Qiu Xiang, the Dean, was shaken to his core!

If it had been merit won by Ye Xin's own hands, they would have accepted it. But Ye Xin was a good-for-nothing, relying entirely on his family's retainers!

Tie Renhao had just mocked the Heavenwolf Legion as nothing but ragged remnants and old men, and reality had slapped him resoundingly across the face.

"Dean, may I ask how many contribution points our Fifth Camp will receive this time?" Ye Xin asked.

"This..." Qiu Xiang gave a wry smile. "That, I really cannot answer. Since this academy was founded, no one has ever achieved such merit. But rest assured, your Fifth Camp will definitely be satisfied."

(To be continued.)