The Steward Demonic Emperor

Zhuo Fan went over to Huangpu Qingtian, his gait casual, his tone calm, just like seeing an old pal, “Young master Huangpu, since this is the second round, you should’ve told me.
Where’s the pill then?”

“Ha-ha-ha, please.
It’d be the same as dangling the Brimming Sacred Pill in your face.
Now that I’ve seen what Steward Zhuo can do, let’s see you try getting it now!” Huangpu Qingtian raised a taunting eyebrow.

Zhuo Fan shook his head.
There was no point in doing anything, not when he had no clue of the item’s location.

“Young master Huangpu, since you won’t tell me, take it as my loss this time.
Let’s meet again in round three!” Zhuo Fan waved and was about to retreat, as if scared.

Huangpu Qingtian snickered, “Steward Zhuo, I admit that I have no way of stopping you from leaving.
Nor do you have a way of stopping me.
But I can’t say the same for them.”

Hinting at Luo Yunhai’s army, Huangpu Qingtian snickered with a light clap.

Furious roars filled the marsh, storming for the group of allies from both sides.
Just as Luo Yunhai predicted.

The attack was formed of two armies led by Yan Bangui and You Yushan, respectively.
There was no sign of Lin Xuanfeng.

The guy was double the cripple, true, but a Profound Heaven expert regardless.
He wasn’t about to miss out on springing an ambush.

With such an obvious answer, Luo Yunhai easily predicted the guy was waiting for them to retreat in his direction.

“Nice, you live up to the name of Tianyu’s Fifth Tiger!” Xie Tianshang showed his admiration.
His opinion of Luo Yunhai grew a notch.

The same went for the others.

If not for Luo Yunhai’s tactic, the sudden charge of so many enemies would’ve crushed them where they stood.
Some would chose to flee and run into Lin Xuanfeng’s team, sealing any means of escape.

Luo Yunhai may be weak, but his art of war was leagues above anyone from Six Dragons and One Phoenix!

Luo Yunhai just shook his hand.
The praise didn’t get to his head as he kept his cool in dealing with the sudden dual charge, “Listen up.
Only act when I give the signal!”

They all nodded, fully trusting Luo Yunhai.

Huangpu Qingtian watched it all with a smile, “Steward Zhuo, your allies look positively rooted in fear.
They huddle together like lambs, about to break, flooded by my men.”

“Isn’t it what you wanted anyway?” Zhuo Fan smiled back, completely confident of Luo Yunhai’s abilities.

Squinting, Huangpu Qingtian felt something amiss.

His side had ten thousand men doing the charge and even laid down an ambush.
While the tri-house alliance numbered three thousand at best, outnumbered five to one!

With them holding the field and numerical advantage, anyone would think this battle was in the bag.
So what did Zhuo Fan based his confidence on?

Huangpu Qingtian would find out soon enough.

“Kill!”

With an earth shaking roar, Luo Yunhai pointed behind him and his army followed.

Yan Bangui and You Yushan’s armies were stunned in bafflement.

[We haven’t even made contact, so why are they charging behind? The ambush hadn’t sprung yet either!]

The two were oblivious to its meaning and took it as a good thing.
Regardless of what trick they pulled, it would only work to show a hole in their formation.
[This will make things easier, killing them down to the last man!]

The two only grew excited in their charge.

How could they have known their crass assumption couldn’t be farther from the truth?

Luo Yunhai’s army did charge, but its flanks did their job in keeping the center shielded.
Despite the flanks clashing with the enemy, they showed no weakness in their defense as they also didn’t engage in a heated fight, moving with the center’s charge as well.

Yan Bangui and Yan Bangui’s armies found themselves in the worst situation.
They felt as if each man was facing five people.
Just as they attacked the front, a sudden retaliation came from the back.

The tri-house alliance moved like the sea, crushing the enemy armies in waves.
Amidst the turbulent waters, Yan Bangui and You Yushan found their numbers culled.

As for the lucky survivors, they landed far behind the battle, looking on at the endless strings of corpses left by the alliance’s charge.

They had the numbers, they had the flanking, but now they had the biggest losses.
While Yan Bangui and You Yushan looked positively glum, Huangpu Qingtian gnashed his teeth.

[You’ve got your ass handed to you even when five to one?! Just what do I keep you idiots for anyway?]

You Yushan’s back tingled from Huangpu Qingtian’s seething bloodthirst and he gave the signal to Lin Xuanfeng.

A three-pronged attack ought to save them from a gruesome and cruel death, no?

But as Lin Xuanfeng eagerly led his five thousand men to beat someone when they were down…

He heard a loud boom and his army was blown away.
Luo Yunhai’s vanguard, Drifting Flowers Edifices, was mowing his men like grass.

His only reaction… slackjawed.

[What.
The.
Hell?]

[Weren’t we supposed to catch a fish in a barrel at this point? Why the hell do I still see them holding strong?]

[How the hell does a huge fish like this just slip right past you?]

[Yan Bangui and You Yushan, are you more useless than manure? What are you doing letting a pristine army charge here? How am I supposed to stop them?]

While he was here cursing his allies, the duo cursed right back.

[You damn cripple! Is this how you lead an army? Are your men meant as cannon fodder? I don’t expect you to stop them, but you could at least curb their charge somewhat!]

[You’re 100% garbage is what you are! You got what was coming to you when Soaring Demonic Dragon took an arm and a leg!]

As the trio cursed each other like no tomorrow, Luo Yunhai had no problem punching his way through the encirclement.

Zhuo Fan laughed from pride.

When it came to armies, ambushes were the norm.
This couldn’t have been a better test for the fledgling Marshal.
The way Luo Yunhai set his army was the typical echelon formation, excelling in counter attacking the pincer attack and allowing high mobility.

This formation puts a price on speed above all else.
Once it was formed and picked enough speed, nothing could stand in its way.

Zhuo Fan flicked a grin to Huangpu Qingtian, “Young master Huangpu, my guess is that it wouldn’t be so hard for them to get away.”

Face twitching, Huangpu Qingtian looked ahead with a scorching gaze.
He wished nothing more than to kill those three wretched allies of his.

The reason for one’s defeat wasn’t an unbeatable enemy, but wretched allies.

[Those morons have higher numbers yet were still smacked around.
All they managed to do is drag my reputation through the mud.
They’re nothing but utter imbeciles!]

Taking a deep breath to quell the surging anger, Huangpu Qingtian laughed coldly, “Ha-ha-ha, Steward Zhuo is erudite in pen and sword.
You’ve had this planned all along…”

“No, no, no, there was no planning.
They did it all by themselves.
One must give credit where it’s due, and not take it for oneself.” Zhuo Fan cut him off with his snide remark.

Which only got Huangpu Qingtian even more worked up.

Zhuo Fan’s deceitful character was common knowledge, so losing to him was hardly shameful.
But those three sods of his lost to the likes of some broads from Drifting Flowers Edifices.
To make matters worse, it was the tyke from Luo clan leading them.

With his allies having lost any semblance of dignity, it was quite sensible for their leader to blow a gasket.

Grating his teeth and fuming mad, Huangpu Qingtian’s face took on a vile tone, “Steward Zhuo, I never wished to drag them into this.
You leave me no choice but to…”

“What, go and snap their necks yourself? Ha-ha-ha, you’ll have to go through me first.” With his trademark evil grin, Zhuo Fan’s urge for battle flared.

Huangpu Qingtian nodded, “Our fight is foreordained.
But first, let’s see if you can save them!”

Huangpu Qingtian’s eyes flashed with cruelty and roared at the sky.

“Ooh~!”

Shockingly enough, Huangpu Qingtian’s mere shout sounded closer to a dragon than a human.

Zhuo Fan squinted, but his reply was a calm gathering of eerie power in his eyes.

That dragon roar was a special martial art, just like his Wraith Style.
They both originated from dragons!

But no man could ever release a dragon’s roar, short of being a dragon himself.

Zhuo Fan shook that thought away, finding it utterly ridiculous.
A true dragon had the power of at least Gu Santong.

Despite being called a monster, his might had yet to shed the realm of mortals.
[So why then…]

Zhuo Fan’s train of thought was cut off when the earth rumbled with a dreadful sound…