Chapter 163: Striking a deal.
Yao Jun turned his head towards the location where Diana's voice came from. She had been standing not too far from Yao Jun just recently, so he was slightly shocked to see that she was now standing a small distance away, rows of people standing respectfully behind her. The people standing behind her seemed to be divided based on their rank, their armor getting less gaudy the further behind Diana they stood.
Half a step behind Diana stood two people, a man and a woman, who were clad in very simple robes that looked like they were made out of silk. The woman was from the same race as Diana and was a bit shorter than Diana, her robe a light purple in color. She had long blonde hair that was tied into a braid that went down to her hips, her orange eyes looked at the new recruits with an excited expression.
The man was clad in a brown robe and was surprisingly from a different race than Diana, standing at a more normal height of around 1.90. But while his height was closer to the one Yao Jun was used to, he had several traits that showed he was from a different race. His skin was a light brown in color and his head was completely devoid of hair, finger-sized bony horns growing along the top of his head in two orderly rows. His eyes were a deep blue in color, but there was a third eye on his forehead, this one golden in color.
Behind these two people stood a further 10 people, these ones clad in a full suit of armor that was pure white in color and resembled the one Yao Jun had been given by Leylan. The last row of people consisted of 100 people, and they stood half a step behind the row of 10 people. All 100 of the people in the last row were clad in armor that was bright green in color, leaves and vines engraved into the entirety of the armor. While Yao Jun was inspecting the people standing behind Diana, he could feel her gaze land on him.
“Listen up! Everyone report to your chosen Squad Captain to receive your briefing and your positions, there is no telling when the next skirmish will be, so I want everyone combat ready tomorrow morning!”
Diana's sharp eyes swept over not only the new recruits, but even the people standing behind her. Everyone who met her gaze unconsciously froze up, their backs trembling slightly. Facing her sharp gaze, the new recruits and the older soldiers gave a loud reply.
“Yes!”
The reply was rather loud, forcing Yao Jun to cover his ears, but Diana's face sank slightly upon hearing it. Her eyes narrowed as she swept everyone with her eyes again, an unsatisfied voice leaking out from between her lips as she cursed.
“Am I going deaf? I couldn't hear a single fucking thing, do it again!”
Her voice was slightly lower this time, but it held a trace of her Qi, causing it to resound like thunder in the ears of everyone. The soldiers quickly straightened their backs and let out a unified shout that shook the building.
“YES MA'AM!”
Diana seemed to be satisfied with this shout, as she gave a slight nod and relaxed her shoulders. While the new recruits were walking towards the people standing behind Diana, Diana's eyes landed on Yao Jun.
“You, come with me.”
There were quite a few curious gazes thrown at Yao Jun, but he paid them no heed as he stepped forward and started following Diana. Diana walked in silence, leading Yao Jun out of the large hall and out of the building. The world that revealed itself to Yao Jun after they left the building was a world covered in dry earth that was light red in color. He could not see a single tree, only tents of various sizes spread out into the distance. Not only the ground, even the sky was a light red color, the few clouds he could see were a dull gray.
Diana brought Yao Jun to a large green tent located not far from the building they had just left, both of them entering. The inside of the tent was very simple, only containing a single bed and a large table filled with what seemed to be maps and reports. Diana brought a chair out from her interspatial ring, placing it next to the table and sitting down on it. Once she sat down, her eyes landed on Yao Jun.
“I know that you have not joined this army because you want to fight to protect my World Tree clan, the current conflict probably means nothing to you. Despite knowing this, why do you think I brought you along?”
Yao Jun was not quite certain what Diana was getting at with her question, so he simply gave a short and somewhat uncertain response.
“Because Leylan asked?”
Contrary to what Yao Jun expected, Diana responded with a slight shake of her head, speaking with an indifferent voice. Her position was special, so there was no need for her to follow the orders of the current Leylan.
“Ley might be the Young Master, but he is not the patriarch yet, so I have no need to care too much about his word. He also cannot do anything to me, as there would be no one else to lead the army at that point. Even if I refused to bring you along, he could do nothing.”
Yao Jun could not help but raise an eyebrow when he heard Diana's indifferent reply. As the Young Master of a large clan such as the World Tree clan, was there really nothing Leylan could do against Diana? Was there no one else to lead the army?
“Nothing? Does the title of Young Master mean nothing?”
Hearing Yao Jun's question and seeing his slightly surprised face, a light chuckle escaped Diana's lips. After she finished chuckling, she moved her eyes away from Yao Jun, as if she was trying to see something in the distance.
“Do you know how Ley got the title of Young Master? He got it because the density of his World Tree bloodline was thicker than ours, that's it. He does not have Art's talent for cultivation, nor Gil's talent for politics, nor my talent for leading armies. He simply has the thickest bloodline.”
Yao Jun did not know who this Art was, but be could guess that it was most likely another one of Leylan's family members. At the same time, Yao Jun could not help but be a little shocked. They chose their future patriarchs based on bloodline density, not on who was the most suited? How could a clan continue surviving if it acted like that? Diana stopped looking into the distance, her gaze falling on Yao Jun again as she spoke with a slight wave of her hand.
“Don't mistake my words for defiance against the clan rules. With me and Gil to help him, Ley will surely become a great patriarch in the future. But even if we refuse to follow some of his orders, he won't mind too much. That is because all of us are working towards the same goal, the survival and prospering of the World Tree clan.”
To Diana and the rest of her family, the World Tree clan was everything. For the World Tree clan, they could sacrifice everything. That was the reason she and Gilberd did not mind if the less suitable Leylan became patriarch, because no matter how unsuited he was to become patriarch, they knew that he was willing to sacrifice everything for the World Tree clan. If he was uncertain about something, he would come to them and lower his head to ask for advice, even if it hurt his pride as patriarch.
Diana gave a slight shake of her head after she finished talking, her eyes growing sharp again. She swiped her interspatial ring, taking out a red palm sized token engraved with a small flame, tossing it to Yao jun as she spoke.
“So no, Leylan is not the reason I agreed to bring you. The reason I agreed to bring you is because I felt that you could be useful. You want information on your own planet, correct? The closest branch of the Heaven's Secrets Company is four planets away, guarded by the Spark army of the Final Fire clan. Their Spark army is the same as our Sprout Army, an army consisting of people that have yet to break past the 9th Xiantian Heaven, the weakest army used to train the younger generation.”
Yao Jun could only feel like shaking his head at the difference between what he knew and what was normal here. An army consisting of people who had yet to break past the 9th Xiantian Heaven, and they were just considered the weakest army, the younger generation. But at the same time, he got slightly excited upon finding out that there was a Heaven's Secrets Company branch located nearby.
Yao Jun did not say anything, only looking at Diana with a calm gaze. Since she had mentioned that the branch was guarded by people from the Final Fire clan, the enemies of the World Tree clan, it was clear that it would not be easy for him to get to it. Diana took his silence as a sign to proceed, so she continued to talk.
“Now you know where you can get your information, but how will you pay for the information, you have no money. Let me tell it to you straight, for each ranked head from the Spark Army you bring me, I will give you a certain amount of money. Either you prove to be useful and the money will be well spent, or you will prove to be useless and I won't have to spend any money. Do you accept?”
Diana's eyes were calm as she looked at Yao Jun with a sharp gaze. Had it been anyone else, or any other time, she would not have made an offer like this. But Yao Jun had already proven that he could beat someone with a higher cultivation, and he had a lot of room to grow. Such a person was something that the Sprout army desperately needed, someone that could help raise their morale. This deal was a way for Diana to ensure that Yao Jun would not simply leave right after arriving here. Yao Jun spent a short moment in silence, thinking it over, before opening his mouth.
“What is a ranked head?”
Yao Jun had to admit that he was interested. It was just like Diana said, Yao Jun was completely broke, even if he managed to reach the branch, he would be unable to buy any information. He also felt that he needed to increase his strength, so this deal would allow him to manage both at once. A faint and almost unnoticeable smile appeared on the corners of Diana's lips as she started to explain.
“The Sprout and Spark army that are fighting on the Scorched Valley planet each have about 100 000 soldiers at any time. At the very top stands the General, who is followed by two Legion Commanders, who each control half of the army. Each of the Legion Commanders have five Division Leaders, who each control 10 000 soldiers. And beneath the Division Leaders are the Squad Captains, each controlling 1000 people, all of these leaders are considered ranked heads. The higher the rank, the more money I will give you.”
Yao Jun rolled his eyes for a short moment, thinking it over. He could easily guess that most Squad Captains were not like Azemar, someone he could easily beat. But he also felt confident that as long as he did not encounter someone at the 8th or 9th Xiantian Heaven, he would be able to easily escape with his life.
If he managed to increase his strength a bit more, carving the third channel of his Crumbling The Nine Heaven's technique, he was confident he would not even need to fear people at the 8th and 9th Xiantian Heaven. With those thoughts in mind, Yao Jun decided to nod his head.
“Good. I accept this deal.”
The faint smile on Diana's lips grew a bit larger after hearing Yao Jun's reply. She gave a nod of her head, digging into the papers placed on the table next to her and handing a list of names to Yao Jun. The name Berthol Azemar was at the top, so he guessed this was a list of who was part of the squad he would be joining.
“Very well. You beat Azemar so easily, but I cannot make a stranger like you a Squad Captain, so I will have you join the squad that Azemar is leading. Whenever you want to deliver a ranked head, you can just come to my tent.”
Diana took out a crystal from her interspatial ring, filling it with a bit of Qi and speaking a few words into it. Shortly after, a soldier covered in gray armor entered the tent. Diana gave a quick order to the soldier, making him lead Yao Jun to the location of Azemar's squad. The last thing Yao Jun saw before leaving the tent was Diana looking at the papers on the table with a frown on her face.