Stealing The Heavens
Chapter 33: Marquis

On the drill ground of Little Meng City, a large umbrella was blocking the scorching sunlight. Wu Qi was lying flat on a bamboo couch underneath the umbrella. On his left was a plate of braised wild boar ears, and in his right hand, a glass of fine red bronze wine. He was singing some song pleasantly while drinking wine every now and then.

A thin layer of water vapor was hovering around Wu Qi, forcing the heat away and preventing any dust from touching his clothes. In hot weather like this, Wu Qi could stay cool, dry, and clean, regardless of his surroundings. This might be the one thing that gave him the most pleasure in this world.

In contrast, the drill ground beside him was covered with dust. A few thousand City Guards were being cruelly trained by Zhang Hu and Hu Wei.

Zhang Wu and his barbarian hunters were teaching these City Guards the techniques and skills of melee combat while Hu Wei and the elites from the third battalion were responsible for training these rookies to work together in different formations. The combination of both was perfect. Very soon, the look and feel of real soldier had started to show up from these City Guards.

Within the woods outside the city, twenty thousand new recruits were undergoing more brutal and cruel training. The training program was prepared by Wu Qi himself. He used the special forces training program back on Earth as a guide, but had the key performance index increased by ten to twenty times. Since this world was so rich in energy, all the men here were extra strong as compared to men from Earth. Therefore, no matter how tough the training was, no one would die in the process.

Those soldiers who could get past the initial boot camp in the woods would get themselves the right to join the soldiers on the drill grounds, and be torturously trained by Zhang Hu and Hu Wei. At that time, they would be considered an official rookie of the City Guard.

Lu Chengfeng had become the new acting Mayor without any challenges. So, naturally, Wu Qi had taken over his previous job and become the new acting General. Since he had become the new General, Wu Qi had to show his abilities. With the incredible knowledge of Le Xiaobai that merged with him, it was a piece of cake for Wu Qi to develop a training program for new recruits boot camp, and he even made a set of new military rules.

The people in this world were born to be soldiers, it just took a little time and effort to train them. Also, Lu Chengfeng had brought a foundation skill - ‘Tome of the Enduring Soldier’, which was perfect for killing in combat, and was taught to these City Guards. In just a few months’ time, these soldiers had transformed completely. Now they actually looked like an elite army.

An elite army of nearly thirty thousand soldiers, this strong force made Lu Chengfeng become someone who shouldn’t be taken lightly. Therefore, these past few days, Lu Chengfeng had looked bright and breezy, focusing all his attention on managing Little Meng City and going through everything by himself, doing his best to make Little Meng City stronger and even more prosperous. After all, this was his first career. Shouldn’t he be working hard at it?

Three months ago, the ex-Mayor of Little Meng City, Yi Yan, and his men were killed by barbarians. The incident soon quieted down, like a drop of water under the hot sun. Even the Yi Family didn’t pursue it any further. Yi Yan was not the first Mayor of the Little Meng City who got himself killed by barbarians, and he wouldn’t be the last. Every couple years, there would be a batch of Little Meng City officials killed by these barbarians, so people of the Lu Kingdom had gotten used to it.

That was why Wu Qi could lie comfortably on the drill ground, watching the scene in front of him as if it was a monkey show, and examining how Zhang Hu and Hu Wei trained these unlucky City Guards brutally. For Wu Qi, watching those soldiers be torturously trained to extreme tiredness was one of the most pleasant feelings he had since coming to this world!

"Making other’s sorrows into one’s own happiness, this life lesson of Le Xiaobai is really ingenious!"

Casually crossing his legs, Wu Qi suddenly grabbed a wooden stick and threw it out forcefully. He shouted, "Xiaobai, are you trying to be lazy? Do you want me to break your legs? Hurry, move your body! Move it! Anyone who dares to slow down, I’ll beat you with this stick!"

Meng Xiaobai, who was wearing a custom training suit and carrying two hundred pounds of iron weight on his back, cried out in pain. He stroked his sore butt which was hit by the stick. He clenched his teeth tightly and followed the movement of the elite soldiers from the third battalion, who were teaching them how to change their positions in order to switch formations. For each formation change, the heavy pike in their hands, which was made especially for training, had to follow a specific sequence of actions, like stabbing, blocking, slashing, and matching their teammates beside them to perform an assault or defensive maneuver.

On top of their heads was the scorching sun, and they were surrounded by flying dust. The weight of the training gears on their bodies was more than four hundred pounds, painful, incredibly painful. But, no matter Meng Xiaobai or any other men from Meng Village, no one ever complained about this.

The ‘Mighty Ox Strength’ was circulating through their bodies at an incredible speed, keeping their strength replenished. Mighty Ox Strength, it was a skill of self-torture. Just like the hard working ox, the best way to cultivate with Mighty Ox Strength was to overload one’s body with a massive amount of exercises, and to squeeze every last drop of energy out of one’s body, making the body break through its limit and activating the strongest potential of the person.

The Mighty Ox Strength was not an advanced skill, but those who cultivated with it would eventually become powerful fighters who had super stamina, strength, and a great life force.

Wu Qi had made himself clear with Meng Xiaobai and the other men; there was no free lunch in this world. If these men from Meng Village wanted to have a bright and prosperous future by working for Lu Chengfeng, they had to work hard, harder than anybody else! If not, how would they expect Lu Chengfeng to pay them handsomely? Why did he have to give them the power and wealth? If they wanted to get all that, they needed to work hard for it!

Under the preaching of Wu Qi, these six hundred men from Meng Village transformed into six hundred wild oxen, training themselves with self-torturing exercises.

Meng Xiaobai was not a fully grown adult, as he was still young. Although he was having a hard time following the pace of the training, which had a rather frightening magnitude, under the supervision of Wu Qi, he still clenched his jaw tightly and followed every single training exercise. In just three months, Meng Xiaobai’s strength and skill had become completely different.

Finally, a sound of beating drums could be heard, and all the soldiers on the drill grounds stopped their exercises at the same time, regaining their strength by breathing rapidly. It was lunch time, and the overloaded training had made these soldiers feel extremely hungry. Their eyes seemed to glow with hunger.

The soldiers who worked in kitchen smiled and pushed some big carts out onto the drill grounds. Delicious meat, fine liquor, fragrant rice... Despite the fact that each of them was only allowed to drink half a pint of herbal liquor to stimulate their Qi and blood and regained their stamina, they were allowed to eat as much as they wanted. As long as there was more room in their stomachs, the food never ran out.

The few thousand soldiers on the drill grounds gulped simultaneously, producing a loud unified gulping sound.

Wu Qi let out a happy laugh and picked up the last few pieces of braised pig ears and swallowing them. Then, he finished all the wine in the glass and walked toward the entrance of drill grounds while clapping his hands. "My brothers, eat all you can and drink till you are full. Two hours from now, the training resumes." He then sighed, "I have a different mission. Now I need to go to the Green Mountain Restaurant and enjoy some delicacies and fine wine! But, why not bring some of you with me? Don’t worry, when you can defeat Zhang Hu and his men and become the personal guards of the Mayor’s Mansion, you will be able to join me!"

Wu Qi left the drill ground while laughing out loud, and a few thousand pairs of greenish eyes stared at Wu Qi, all of them gulping once again.

All of them turned their heads and stared ferociously at Zhang Hu’s barbarian hunters and Hu Wei’s elite soldiers. These rookies were not fooled; they knew it was impossible for them to defeat Zhang Hu and Hu Wei. But there was a chance they could defeat their subordinates! Leaving the City Guard and becoming the personal guards of the Mayor’s Mansion, this had become the biggest dream of these rookies. And it became the biggest motivation for them to train harder every single day!

What to do? Wu Qi was here every day and said something to provoke and seduce these rookies, and they were readily falling into his trap!

Walking out from the drill grounds in joy, Wu Qi clapped his hands. After that, he jumped onto a single horned deer that was brought over by one of the personal guards. The speed of Single Horned Deer was slower than the Raptor that the City Guards used, but it could travel through rough terrains, which made it a better choice when traveling through woods and mountains. Besides, it looked prettier, and its fur was soft. Thus, Wu Qi always preferred that Single Horned Deer over others.

Patting the horn of his deer, Wu Qi rode slowly in the direction of the Green Mountain Restaurant, then he asked with an indifferent tone, "Any news for the past few days? Young master was auditing the income tax some time ago. What was the reaction of those tradesmen?"

Four personal guards were following behind Wu Qi. They were all elites that Wu Qi had hand-picked from the personal guards of the Mayor’s Mansion. All of them had the cultivation of over forty years. Hearing Wu Qi’s question, the strongest and most experienced guard among the four, named Zhao Chenzui, said, "Someone was trying to bribe the young master, like they always did under Yi Yan, in order to escape from the punishment of tax evasion. But they were seriously punished by the young master. He even confiscated half of their belongings."

"They are so greedy!" Wu Qi scratched his head and said, "They have been making their fortunes in Little Meng City and they still want to evade their taxes? Tsk…They really thought our young master was like that damn fatty? Send someone to watch these tradesmen. If they try to do anything funny, let me know immediately!"

A bright smile jumped to Wu Qi’s face. Those tradesmen had long been on his list of targets, and he couldn’t wait to find some treasures in their coffers that could be used by cultivators. But, stealing from them without any valid reason made Wu Qi feel bad. He just wished they would do something that would give him a reason to steal everything from their coffers!

Zhao Chenzui affirmed the order, then swung his horse whip and chased away a few stray dogs nearby.

There was something odd about the prosperity of Little Meng City. The street was always packed with busy caravans traveling back and forth, and the chattering of human and cries of animals merged into an unpleasant melody. At any time, there was a huge amount of goods being distributed out from Little Meng City to every part of the Great Yan Dynasty. At the same time, there was a huge amount of goods that arrived back in Little Meng City.

However, when these people saw Wu Qi coming by on his Single Horned Deer, all of them moved to the side of the road and made way for him to pass, paying their respects by bowing down.

Now, among all the people of Little Meng City, who didn’t know Wu Qi? He was the chief hanger-on of the acting-Mayor, having the power of the General and a ferocious army working under him. He controlled the strongest military force within a five-hundred-mile radius of Little Meng City.

With such a terrifying background, who dared to show him even the slightest bit of disrespect?

But Wu Qi never showed a cocky manner. No matter who bowed to him, he always cupped his fist and greeted that person with a smile. The unique bright smile of Wu Qi made everyone feel like they were standing in a refreshing breeze. All of them felt Wu Qi was a friendly man.

After greeting the people he encountered along the way, Wu Qi and his men came to the best restaurant in Little Meng City, the Green Mountain Restaurant. For the past few months, Wu Qi had become a regular patron here. So, when the footman saw him, he hurried and greeted him, then led their rides to the side.

Clapping the shoulder of the footman, Wu Qi gave him a silver coin and said with a bright smile, "Take good care of them."

The footman grabbed over the silver coin happily and said, "Please rest assured, who would dare neglect the rides of my lord?"

Wu Qi nodded his head and brought Zhao Chenzui and the other men into the restaurant, finding themselves a table next to the street on the third floor.

Leaning on the window, Wu Qi looked down into the busy street while singing songs leisurely. Little Meng City, this was the first place he set his foot in after coming to this world. He needed to use the resources here and lay down a solid foundation for himself! He had an obligation, and must maintain the prosperity and stability of this city.

After all, for the past three months, Wu Qi had gathered dozens of soul stones with his authority of General. After giving a portion to Lu Chengfeng, the rest of them were used by him in cultivation.

In just three months, all the meridians in his body had been strengthened nine times by innate water energy. Wu Qi could break through to the Xiantian level at any time now.

Taking a deep breath, Wu Qi looked into sky afar and murmured while smiling, "Green Mountain Restaurant? Hehe. Green City Mountain, I will be back!"

Suddenly, an uproar broke out in the street. People were running wildly, yelling and screaming. There were even some animals howling in panic.

Wu Qi extended his head out from window hurriedly and saw a group of intrepid guards waving long whips made from steel threads, striking and whipping the people and animals on the street in front of them.

Behind these guards, a weird looking old man, wearing a glossy red long robe, was yelling with a sharp tone, "This is the coach of the Marquis! Who dares to get in the way? Kill them, kill all who gets in the way!"

Wu Qi instantly started to boil with rage. Marquis? What was that thing?