11 Message - 4.1

Once the people left the tent, a charged and tense atmosphere enveloped the two people left inside.

The inside of the tent was warm and brightly lit; a huge table was standing smack-dab in the middle with a large map depicting the terrain was laid down upon it with several miniature statues were placed on top of it simulating the environment and status of the battle outside.

A bunch of important scrolls and documents could also be seen lying on top of each other forming a small mountain at one side of the table which was all but ignored the moment they were alone.

The tall, intimidating man with greying hair in his bloodstained armor pierced the travel-worn man with a sharp gaze.

This very same army leader is no other than Commander General Feng Guo Liang, the highest authority in the military of the Chidi Kingdom, second only to the emperor, the old patriarch of the Feng family and father of Feng Bing Wen who is currently serving under him as the Deputy General of their army. He was the very same army leader who had just come back from fighting at the battlefield and was already talking military tactics with his officers without paying any heed to his bloodied armor.

Although Feng Guo Liang had just spent the day fighting with the enemy troops of the Cangdi Kingdom, even with his aged looks and grey hair, his whole aura exudes a sharp and domineering power similar to a sharpened blade that cuts down those that hinders it's path. There was no sign of exhaustion in him, instead, Feng Guo Liang looked stoic and alert despite being in his later years. This may also be because of him being a cultivator who is at the Seventh Level of the Water Rank.

For cultivators, this was already extremely impressive after all, there are nine ranks in cultivation. It starts at the Novice Rank which has ten levels, this is where most people fall at and mainly consists of the common masses and civillians; next would be the Disciple Rank which is still common for people to achieve even with average aptitude as long as they persist and work hard, for the average cultivators, it is relatively easy to advance to the next levels in the first half but gets progressively harder the higher the level gets and also has a total of ten levels.

After the Disciple Rank would be the Practitioner Rank. Cultivators who has broken through the bottleneck and reach this rand will start to gain an understanding about their spiritual cores, their abilities and an can slowly cultivate above average level of martial art skills to match. This also has ten levels and the level of power in their cultivation and the amount of power that they can use when using their martial skills determine the level they are at and if they can advance a level. This is also considered as the rank where cultivators truly take a step into the path of cultivation since both the previous ranks only serve as building up one's physical foundations and barely touches on the spiritual qi of the body.

Next would be the Master Rank. This is when cultivators start mastering most of their martial skills and has developed greater control over their spiritual core. in order for them to advance through the ten levels of this rank, profound enlightenment and a level of understanding about themselves is required and their skills is a must of they want to have any hope of passing this rank's bottleneck. This is especially hard since one can only gain understanding and enlightenment through experience and fortuitous encounters.

Then this would be the Earth Rank. Most cultivators' goal is to reach this rank since those who reach this rank are already highly respected since there is only a small number who can pass through the Master Rank. Cultivators who reach this rank are usually considered as pillars of support and strength for their families. It is also difficult to progress in the ten levels of this rank since it also requires the cultivator to be balanced in both physical and spiritual strength and during the previous ranks of Practioner and Master Rank, it had mostly focused on the spiritual strength and mental fortitude of the cultivator and not so much with the physical. Most talented cultivators find that they are stuck in this rank but there is a number of people who are still able to reach the peak and at time also surpass it, most of them are experts with above-average to genius level aptitude in cultivation.

The next rank would be the same one that Feng Guo Liang was able to achieve; the Water Rank. For him to achieve this is already a testament to his power and abilities since only a small number of individuals reach this rank. Most are experts with above-average or genius level aptitude since this rank requires a balance between physical and spiritual strengths that is to be supported by mental fortitude that is equal in strength as well. It is extremely hard to advance in levels and those who reach this usually spend twice to triple the time they spend to advance half the levels of the earth rank in just one level of the water rank. This is usually the peak rank most cultivators achieve even if they have genius level aptitudes. This has also ten levels and most cultivators who reach this rank finds it almost impossible to advance by the time they reach the sixth level.

The next rank will be the Sky Rank and contrary to the previous ranks, this rank only has five levels. Also, cultivators who reach this rank is extremely rare with only a handful appearing in the past couple of decades. For most cultivators, this is considered as the pinacle of cultivation and attaining this rank is something most could only dream of which is why those who do achieve it are revered and treated with the utmost deference.

Knowing all this, the man wearing the travel-worn cloak felt the intimidating aura of the man in front of him and he couldn't help but gulp nervously as he thought of how he is going to deliver the news he was sent to relay. It was a good thing that he wasn't just an ordinary messenger but also Feng Bing Wen's most trusted subordinate, Wu Qiang.

Seeing the man hesitating to speak, Feng Guo Liang couldn't help but feel a stab of irritation making him narrow his eyes.

"Report!" he barked out.

Bowing his body in respect, the man opened his mouth and hurriedly spoke.

"Commander General Feng, Deputy General Feng has ordered me to relay the message that we have already gotten the situation back at the capital under control but to also tell you that when we arrived, the assassins had already infiltrated and attacked the residence."

Hearing this, Feng Guo Liang's expression darkened and his presence became even more oppressive that even the soldiers guarding outside the tent could feel it.

"What are the casualties?" Commander General Feng asked quietly, his eyes glittering dangerously while the hands he had on top of the war table visibly tightened.

"In total, there were thirty-nine deaths, fifty-one injured with seven of them still in critical condition, there are eighteen are already stable enough but still not in any state to move and as for the rest, they have already been treated and are recuperating well."

"We lost quite a good number of men... Hmm..."

Crossing his arms, Commander General Feng, saw the agitated look in the man's eye so he went ahead and asked if anything else happened. Hearing his question, the man took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes there is Commander General... It concerns the Young Madam Feng."

Upon hearing that, Feng Guo Liang's eyes widened in worry as he hurriedly questioned Wu Qiang.

"Did something happen to my daughter-in-law?!"

"Yes Commander General. Madam Feng and Young Master Li Zian were apparently the main target of the assassins in spite of the information we were able to gather that they were after valuable military information."

Calming himself down, Feng Guo Liang asked, "What happened?"

"During the attack, Madam Feng was forced to protect the young master since the courtyard they were in were breached by the attackers and the assassins were able to get inside the room that Madam Feng and Young Master Li Zian were in and surround them. Because of this, Madam Feng was forced to fight and was injured during the attack."

Feng Guo Liang's face twisted into a mask of barely concealed fury as he spat out, "How dare they?! Did my son, Bing Wen manage to catch the perpetrators and find out who was behind it?"

"No Commander General..."

"Why the hell not?!" Feng Guo Liang roare in anger making Wu Qiang wince.

"It was because of Young Madam Feng. When we arrived, we saw how bad her state was and when Deputy General Feng was calling for a doctor, Madam Feng went into premature labor..."

Upon hearing this news, Feng Guo Liang fell silent.

"How is Wan Ting?" he asked softly as if nervous of what Wu Qiang would say.

"The Young Madam is currently in a comatosed state. Apparently, the blade that was used to injure her was lace with poison and the effects weren't immediately noticed due to the labor but this subordinate left, the Young Madam was stable."

"And the baby?"

"The baby was born safely, it was a baby girl. Deputy General told me to tell you that her name was Feng Ai Liena."