Chapter 553: Chapter 141: Soldiers Sharing Helmets
A starving camel is still bigger than a horse.
Mu Lan said that the legacy left by her Upper General Mansion was something Ning Zhuo absolutely believed in.
However, this didn’t stop Ning Zhuo from ruthlessly rejecting her again.
Once again thwarted, Mu Lan couldn’t help but retort coldly: “Then, Military Adviser Ning, go back and tell General Liu Er. I hardly find him admirable, so he should abandon such luxurious hopes.”
Ning Zhuo sighed, saluted, and took his leave.
Returning to the Three Generals Camp, he conveyed Mu Lan’s refusal as tactfully as possible to Liu Er.
Liu Er clenched his fist, indicating that he wouldn’t simply give up due to Mu Lan’s rejection.
He still wanted to keep trying.
“Liu Er is overly confident in himself, clearly holding some cards close to his chest,” Ning Zhuo realized more deeply.
After that, he no longer ran errands for Liu Er, instead saying, “Lord Liu, I need to take a few days off.”
“During this time, an envoy from my family has arrived with the latest command from our ancient ancestor.”
“I need to leave the camp to welcome him.”
Liu Er immediately said, “Why should the Military Adviser seek far when it’s near? This Three Generals Camp is already your second home, where your stipends reside and your effort remains night and day. Why not invite your prestigious family’s envoy to the camp? We will surely host him well!”
He was eager to use this opportunity to forge closer ties with the Ning Family.
Noticing that Ning Zhuo frequently produced treasures, Liu Er judged the Ning Family to be extremely wealthy and was eager to gain more support from the Ning Family for the Three Generals Camp, and for himself after fostering this relationship.
But Ning Zhuo shook his head: “I have already proposed this option in my letters.”
“However, the family is concerned because this is ultimately Liangzhu Country. My current participation in the war as a Military Adviser is already slightly inappropriate.”
“If family envoys were dispatched, brazenly entering the Three Generals Camp and bringing support, it may become difficult to justify externally.”
“Moreover, Lord Liu, we also need to consider the current situation of the Three Generals Camp.”
“Now that you also aspire to pursue General Mu Lan, you will definitely be seen as a thorn in the eyes of Shuangjing and Sun Gan. In such a scenario, if envoys from a foreign family openly enter the Three Generals Camp, that will certainly become their leverage against us!”
Liu Er was startled: “The Military Adviser has considered this most thoroughly, it makes sense.”
He then abandoned the idea of hosting the Ning Family envoy.
Ning Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief, and under Liu Er’s eager gaze, quietly left the camp.
He first met with Sun Lingtong, then using the Ten-Thousand-Li Travelling Dragon, traversed the void over long distances, and re-entered the region of Thousand Peak Forest.
In a prearranged forest, Ning Zhuo, Sun Lingtong, and the Stone Ball reunited to impersonate “Old Monster in Stone” and clandestinely met with Lu Hongtu, the Great Cave Master of the Six Cave Sect.
“Friend Shi Zhong.”
“Friend Lu.”
The two greeted each other.
Lu Hongtu, with a smile, said: “Friend Shi Zhong, plunging deep into enemy territory, braving great dangers, truly a role model for our kind…”
Before he could finish, Ning Zhuo bluntly interrupted him.
“Spare me the empty compliments.”
“I’m here to do business.”
“These spoils of war, I’m selling them all to you!”
Speaking, Ning Zhuo took out a pure Mana Pool, three Virtue Light Illuminating Towers, several hundred White Plume Light Dusts, and various military equipments such as the Serene Jade Armor, Shocking Light Spear, Moon Phase Shield, and placed them all on the mountain terrain.
The Mana Pool was intact, but all three Virtue Light Illuminating Towers were damaged. The several hundred White Plume Light Dusts had all severely lost weight.
As for the Serene Jade Armor, Shocking Light Spear, Moon Phase Shield, these pieces of military equipment were all of high quality.
Lu Hongtu, with a serious and cautious expression, immediately used his Divine Sense to scan the entire site, carefully discerning everything.
His Nascent Soul Level Divine Sense was extremely powerful.
Lu Hongtu, skilled in the art of painting, had his Divine Sense well-trained over time, able to oversee the overall situation and also focus on specific details.
Soon, he had counted the quantities and confirmed the quality.
He took out a Storage Bag and handed it to “Old Monster in Stone”: “The Spirit Stones here include low-grade, mid-grade, top-grade, and some top-grade spiritual stones. The total price is thirty-one million mid-grade Spirit Stones. Please verify.”
Ning Zhuo and Sun Lingtong also activated their Divine Senses to inspect and after confirming everything was correct, both were very satisfied.
“Friend Lu is straightforward! Maintaining such cooperation is beneficial to both of us,” Ning Zhuo responded.
The total value of these spoils of war from Ning Zhuo was about thirty million and fifty-four thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones. On the surface, Lu Hongtu had given nearly five hundred thousand mid-grade Spirit Stones more.
However, in reality, if Ning Zhuo had to sell these spoils of war in a short time, he would definitely be pressured to lower the prices.
Thus, the actual profits Ning Zhuo could make would be significantly reduced.
Collaborating with Lu Hongtu was not only convenient and cost-efficient, but it also avoided the need to meet with the Ginseng Whisker Dragon King in person. If this wasn’t killing several birds with one stone, what would be?
Seeing “Old Monster in Stone” preparing to leave, Lu Hongtu quickly gathered the spoils scattered on the ground and hastily said, “Hold on a moment, friend Shi Zhong.”
“Would you be interested in selling ‘Gao Sheng’s Legacy’?”
Ning Zhuo immediately refused: “Since the ambush, I’ve developed a great interest in military texts.”
“Even if I don’t succeed in cultivation, I can still gain insight and study military arts and battle formations to prepare for the upcoming major battles.”
As a Military Adviser, Ning Zhuo saw the training of soldiers by the three generals Liu, Guan, and Zhang daily. After participating in the ambush, not only did he witness but also personally experienced the advantages of battle formations.
Thus, he grew increasingly curious about this power and developed a strong desire to research it.
Even if he couldn’t master it now, gaining a better understanding of battle formations to increase his survival chances on the battlefield was very worthwhile.
Therefore, even though Ning Zhuo knew that ‘Gao Sheng’s Legacy’ could fetch a good price, he preferred to keep it in his possession.
Lu Hongtu found nothing odd about Old Monster in Stone’s statement and highly agreed.
“What friend Shi Zhong said is very true.”
“I fully understand that friend Shi Zhong would not part with ‘Gao Sheng’s Legacy’.”
“However, the greatest disadvantage of Thousand Peak Forest compared to Liangzhu Country is our scarcity of talented generals, and we desperately need superior military texts to close the gap.”
“Otherwise, once the decisive battle occurs, our chances of victory will be far lower than that of Liangzhu Country.”
Lu Hongtu said this with a slight smile, clearly having prepared his thoughts in advance.
“Let’s try a different method of transaction, friend Shi Zhong.”
“Since you won’t sell, we won’t pressure you to do so.”
“Why not collaborate?”
“We lend you the general helmets, helping you swiftly study ‘Gao Sheng’s Legacy’, and in exchange, when necessary, you give us ‘Gao Sheng’s Legacy’ and the general helmets to use in critical battles!”
“General helmets?” Ning Zhuo, remembering a segment from the book, suddenly became intensely interested.
Lu Hongtu threw his head back and laughed heartily: “Guaranteed genuine!”