“Well, maybe there’s one more thing we can do!”
After Elder Meng discussed with Su Nongying, Gongsun Sheng, and the others, he commanded everybody to be prepared for a battle against the Eagle Men.
Looking at the Soul of Civilization in his hand that had just been dropped, Ji Ye had an idea.
“I should have a ritual with this Commander-level Soul of Civilization. Now that the settlement has reached Rank-5, there’s no need to worry that we’ll lose the power of providence if the ritual fails!”
That’s right. Ji Ye intended to welcome another hero to the Twin Dragon Mount fort before the battle.
Theoretically speaking, this Soul of Civilization was still Extraordinary Rank-4, but judging from the performance of the Eagle Man that dropped it, it was probably very close to Rank-5.
In the Twin Dragon Mount fort at this moment, there were no Extraordinary Rank-4 offerings, but there were offerings of higher levels…
They were exactly the Extraordinary Rank-5 Superior sticks made from the Heart of Purple Wood that the Forest Monster King dropped earlier!
However, the two purple sticks had already been fused into one at this moment.
[Purple Wood Stick]
[Level: Extraordinary Rank-5]
[Rarity: Perfect (offering)]
[Description: This is a weapon made of the rarely-seen Heart of Purple Wood in the territory of the Forest Monsters. Its power has been fully activated after the fusion. It boasts the rare Extraordinary power of transformation, absorption, and release!]
“If we can welcome another Perfect hero, we’ll definitely be winners in the battle against the Eagle Men!”
Ji Ye placed the Purple Wood Stick and the Soul of Civilization on the ritual spots inside the Temple of Providence.
Splash!
The two dragons of providence that were more concrete than before appeared and spat golden lights at the two items.
Hum!
The Extraordinary Rank-5 Perfect offering, triggered by the power of providence from the dragons of the Twin Dragon Mount, created different views than what had appeared before.
The stick made from the Heart of Purple Wood quickly expanded into a purple tree almost a hundred meters tall!
Wula! Wula! Wula!
Then, a hundred Forest Monsters jumped from the purple tree and glared at the Soul of Civilization opposite them while waving sticks in their hands.
“This is… Does he have to defeat so many Forest Monsters at once?”
It was definitely an extremely challenging task!
None of those Forest Monsters seemed to be Extraordinary, but they were all more than two meters tall and waving sticks in their four thick arms. Smashed by four hundred sticks at the same time, even an Extraordinary Rank-5 hero wouldn’t be able to handle it easily!
Besides, the Soul of Civilization was only Extraordinary Rank-4 after all. Was it possible that the ritual had failed?
Ji Ye frowned, as there seemed to be no reaction from the Soul of Civilization.
After all, it would be very embarrassing if a hero had to go back in frustration after failing to defeat the “offering”.
In particular, this was a Perfect offering that was linked to heroes who had Perfect potentials. They would never arrive recklessly unless they were confident!
“Huh? Something is happening?”
Just when Ji Ye was disappointed and thought that the ritual had failed, the Soul of Civilization suddenly emanated a bright light after being silent for more than ten seconds.
Hum!
“He’s the best in the cavalry and the infantry, the most respected of the Heavenly Spirits, and a star from the sky. He is invincible with his spear, and he soars like a qilin. He is both handsome and strong…”
At the same time, the magnificent voice echoed again in the temple, making all the Forest Monsters seem shocked.
“This is…”
Ji Ye’s eyes glittered when he heard the poetic announcement.
“It makes sense. He’s probably the only one of the 108 people in Liangshan Marsh that’s confident enough to challenge enemies above his rank!”
He then smiled and remarked in a low voice.
Ji Ye only said that because, as the first two sentences of the poem indicated, the hero that was summoned this time was very unusual.
The man was the best in cavalry and infantry and the most respected of the Heavenly Spirits!
Only such a man would be confident enough to challenge a Perfect offering above his rank.
The bright light from the Soul of Civilization dispersed, and a person with a fuzzy face appeared on the opposite of the angry and vengeful Forest Monsters, holding a long stick and riding a white stallion that was covered in striped armor.
“Roar, roar, roar…”
The hundred Forest Monsters roared at the same time and all charged at the person!
One of the parties involved in the battle was a hundred aggressive aliens, whereas the other party was just a man, a horse, and a stick.
However, the illusion of the hero whose face was vague looked no less intimidating.
Even the horse that he was riding showed no strong reaction to the enemies that were coming. It even shook its head and neighed.
Thud, thud, thud…
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Then, whipped by its rider, the horse charged at the army of Forest Monsters!
“Roar!”
The Forest Monster who ran the fastest jumped with its legs that weren’t too strong and swung the sticks in its four thick hands at the rider on the horse.
Pew!
But the rider’s stick was even faster. It penetrated the gap among the four sticks and jabbed the head of this Forest Monster as quickly as lightning.
Boom!
A power burst out and burned the Forest Monster into ashes!
Pa! Pa! Pa!
In the next moment, the rider who had collided with the main troop of the Forest Monsters simply shivered the stick in his hand, but a great number of shadow sticks were caused instantly!
He was only using one stick, but it felt like he was waving more sticks than the hundred Forest Monsters did. All the Forest Monsters on his path were crushed by him. Many of them were even flung to midair before they were hit in their critical parts and turned into ashes.
Thud, thud, thud…
Eventually, after galloping through the last Forest Monster, which was knocked away and dispersed in midair, the horse didn’t stop at all but continued charging at the purple tree, and its rider raised the stick and stabbed it right into the purple tree like a spear during the high-speed charge.
Pew!
The enormous force shattered the trunk of the purple tree that was more than two meters in diameter and hit the Heart of Purple Wood that was hidden inside!
Boom! Boom!
Then, the tall purple tree began to shrink.
In the end, the illusion disappeared, and a purple stick two meters long that seemed to be made of wood and jade was grabbed by the hero who had just arrived.
Hum!
When he grabbed the stick, the hero’s level very soon advanced into Extraordinary Rank-5!
The real face of the hero who challenged enemies above his level was revealed. He was a tall, handsome, and intimidating man with glittering eyes!
[Lu Junyi]
[Level: Extraordinary Rank-5]
[Rarity: Commander]
[Description:
[Title: Heavenly Spirit Start.
[Nickname: Jade Qilin.
[He’s the deputy commander of the army in Liangshan. He’s a trustworthy friend and a strong warrior best known for his expertise with sticks!]
Lu Junyi, the Jade Qilin!
The title, Heavenly Spirit Star, was indicative enough of his status in Water Margin.
For many people, the title “Heavenly Spirit Star” should’ve belonged to Song Jiang!
However, Song Jiang’s title was actually “Heavenly Leading Star”, and the title of “Heavenly Spirit Star” actually fell on Lu Junyi.
Before the Hall of Loyalty in Liangshan, only two flags with words sewed on them were established. One of them said “Protector of Justice From Shandong” and the other said “Jade Qilin from Hebei”!
The reason for that could be seen from a simple fact.
In a battle, Liangshan’s troops were scattered by the enemy, Lu Junyi engaged four tough warriors from the Kingdom of Liao when he was riding alone. After a fierce battle, he killed one of them and scared off the other three.
Right after the fight with the four generals, he encountered about a thousand Liao soldiers. He charged at them all by himself and crushed those soldiers.
That was the only case in Water Margin where one fought a thousand enemies on his own and won.
It was also the reason why Lu Junyi defeated the hundred Forest Monsters easily. Any other heroes from Water Margin would have barely been able to pass the test even though the offering was suppressed by the Twin Dragon Mount fort’s power of providence!
“Chief Lu, your arrival will be a great boon to the fort’s battle against the Eagle Men!” Ji Ye looked at the Heavenly Spirit Star and said with a smile.
Technically speaking, heroes all had more than one choice. For example, Yang Zhi and Lu Zhishen, as the military officers of the Song Dynasty in the past, could’ve chosen to arrive at the settlements with the setting of Song’s military, and Wu Song could’ve arrived in settlements like Qinghe County, Jingyang Ridge, and even Liuhe Temple.
Lu Junyi was only second to Song Jiang on Liangshan, and he was a real leader there. He was as unparalleled as Lü Bu in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
At this moment, Lu Junyi’s main memories were those before he went to Liangshan. Ji Ye was rather surprised that he was willing to “demean” himself by arriving at the Twin Dragon Mount fort as a rich landlord.
“You flatter me, Master!
“With Brother Wu, Brother Lu, and Brother Gongsun here, the aliens will fall sooner or later!
“It’s really lucky for me to arrive in time for the last battle with the aliens, or I would definitely feel regretful!”
Holding the purple stick that had qilin stripes, Lu Junyi smiled, but there wasn’t any arrogance on his face.
The heroes didn’t really have as many choices as they seemed to.
It was because most settlements could provide offerings that were required for them to arrive with their full strength. They might choose to arrive at a lower level, but most of them would rather not do that.
Of course, apart from this Perfect Qilin Stick, what really attracted Lu Junyi was the Twin Dragon Mount fort’s potential.
Arriving at this fort meant that he had to accept Ji Ye’s command, unlike in other settlements where the heroes could often claim the leadership after their arrival because they were much stronger!
However, “it’s better to lead than to be led” wasn’t true in the Land of Inheritance. All that mattered was to make the right choice at the right moment!