Chapter 1725: Chapter 1725: An Extraordinary Commander

In front of the Martial Strategy Hall.

Yan Zhao’s face was astonished: "Three rings?"

And it was clearly not over yet. Immediately, the humming of the bronze bell resounded three more times, a full six rings, and an unusual phenomenon even appeared in the sky above the Martial Strategy Hall, with a crimson light like dawn soaring into the sky.

"Gulp."

Yan Zhao swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Six bell rings from the Martial Strategy Hall, though not unprecedented, had not been seen for nearly a hundred years.

What on earth did Li Feng do?

Wu Gang and Pang Yu also noticed Yan Zhao’s anomaly. Pang Yu asked, "Senior Brother, what’s going on with the ringing sound?"

Yan Zhao closed his mouth and regained some composure, saying, "The bells of the Martial Strategy Hall ring once to congratulate passing the assessment."

"Uh, then why did it ring six times? Is it broken?"

Yan Zhao turned his head and gave Pang Yu a sharp look: "Umph, even if you died, the secret treasures of the Martial Strategy Hall wouldn’t break."

"According to the settings within the Martial Strategy Hall, one bell ring celebrates passing, but it’s the lowest level of passing. According to the conclusions given by the Martial Strategy Hall, you are only suitable to be a warrior charging into battle."

"Three bell rings recognize a talent of a general."

"As for six bell rings, it’s for a commander, something rare even once in a hundred years. The last time was during the third Ancestor Dragon war over two hundred years ago."

Pang Yu and Wu Gang exchanged a glance, discovering this aspect of the Martial Strategy Hall for the first time, evidently never heard of Yan Zhao’s explanation before. But with Yan Zhao’s explanation, it was clear that Li Feng was about to soar high; even a fool knows that soldiers are cannon fodder, generals can be found, but commanders are hard to come by.

This Li Feng is destined to rise.

In the Nine Layers Heavens, everything is obtained through power, and gaining the acknowledgment of the Martial Strategy Hall is naturally a form of strength. Others might have to start from the reserves to enter the Nine Layers Mountain, but not Li Feng.

Yan Zhao was already contemplating whether to secure a connection with him in advance, as one can enjoy advantages being close at hand.

Squeak.

The doors of the Martial Strategy Hall opened, and Li Feng emerged from within, his face slightly pale. The illusion realm within the Martial Strategy Hall was too realistic, as if Li Feng personally experienced a battlefield. Even though Li Feng was the king of mercenaries in the outside world and had participated in numerous local wars,

warfare in cultivation civilization is a different matter; it resembles the era of cold weapons. The whole war is almost like a flesh-and-blood mill, unbearable to watch.

Without a strong will, one cannot withstand such torment.

"Are you alright?"

Yan Zhao proactively approached, reaching out to support Li Feng. Li Feng looked at the initiative and enthusiasm of Yan Zhao in astonishment: "I’m fine, just need a rest."

"Li Feng, what did you do inside? You were actually evaluated as a commander by the Martial Strategy Hall, with a full six bell rings. This achievement is indeed extraordinary."

Pang Yu spoke enviously on the side, also taking the opportunity to gather some information.

Li Feng looked at Pang Yu with some confusion, evaluated as a commander?

Seeing that Li Feng seemed a bit puzzled, Pang Yu quickly explained, "It’s like this, the Martial Strategy Hall gives a rating to those who pass. Passing generally rings once, and the rating is just as a soldier. Ringing three times indicates talent of a general, while six times signals a commander. Just now, it rang six times for you, and the Martial Strategy Hall rated you as a commander."

Li Feng responded with an "Oh": "Then what if it rang nine times?"

"Nine times signifies a military god, but to date, the number of these is less than five fingers. Now, the master at Nine Layers Mountain is a military god, having made his name over two hundred years ago. Now nearly three hundred, he is also the stabilizer of Ancestor Dragon City."

"You are already regarded as a rare occurrence in a hundred years by ringing the bell six times, and you might even be summoned by him."

"After all, he is most fond of talent."

Yan Zhao explained.

Upon hearing this, Li Feng’s eyes lit up. The Ancestor Dragon military god, the three-hundred-year-old mountain master—this could be an invaluable connection.

"I’ll rest for a while first."

With that, Li Feng moved to the side and sat cross-legged. The illusion realm created by the Martial Strategy Hall was not just a simple illusion technique, but instead could also reflect all emotions back, leading to real repercussions. Li Feng even suspected that this thing could damage the sea of consciousness, no wonder he heard from Baixiaosheng that the third stage of Asking Heart could lead one to madness.

Without having experienced such scenes of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, one might indeed be frightened to madness.

"Which of you two is next?"

"I’ll go."

Wu Gang’s eyes showed eagerness as he walked directly into the Martial Strategy Hall with large strides.

A short moment later.

Two bell rings rang successively over the Martial Strategy Hall.

"Uh, why only two rings?"

Pang Yu looked at Yan Zhao, who was unsurprised: "Two rings aren’t uncommon. Two rings are between a warrior and a general talent, indicating substantial potential. After all, not everyone gets a chance to experience the battlefield; most just engage in paper-based strategies."

"So, two bell rings are already an excellent rating."

After Yan Zhao spoke, Wu Gang emerged from inside, but compared to Li Feng, who managed to walk out himself, Wu Gang was much more disheveled, staggering out. He even felt like having escaped from a brush with death, collapsing to the ground, gasping for breath.

Pang Yu looked at Wu Gang’s condition, calculating internally, wondering how scary it could indeed be.

"Alright, only you are left. Hurry up, after the assessment, I can take you to the Nine Layers Mountain station."

This was just a branch of the Nine Layers Mountain, mainly for recruitment purposes.

Pang Yu took a deep breath and strode into the Martial Strategy Hall. Shortly thereafter, a single bell ring resonated over the Martial Strategy Hall.

Pang Yu emerged shortly, cursing and muttering: "I just charged out, and before I could kill to my heart’s content, someone backstabbed me and killed me. It’s absurd. My skin is thick and rough, yet they pierced my chest with one blow."

Pang Yu, slightly thick-skinned, despite dying somewhat miserably, didn’t suffer serious trauma to his sea of consciousness. Seeing this, Li Feng knew quick deaths were for cannon fodder, so naturally, it didn’t require much brain power to spare. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

"How many rings for me?"

"One," Yan Zhao glanced at Pang Yu. Well, this performance was expected to be normal, seeming Wu Gang was already quite excellent, but for Li Feng, he had no idea how he managed. After all, when he passed the assessment back then, it was just a single ring.

"Only one ring."

"But I killed over ten of the Demon Clan, and it only rang once."

Pang Yu showed displeasure. Even though he couldn’t match Li Feng’s six rings, he at least hoped for two.

"Humph, stop complaining. Passing itself is lucky for you. Now the three of you come report to the sect with me."

The Nine Layers Mountain’s sect is located in the Third Ring area, sharing territory with twenty-two first-rank noble families.

At the Third Ring’s city gate, the guards were far more stringent than even in the Sixth Ring, and the guards were Golden Core cultivators, clad in martial armor exuding an intimidating aura.

Yan Zhao brought Li Feng and the others to the gate: "Senior Brother Zhuo."

A Golden Armor cultivator stepped forward: "Hmm, I noticed some unusual phenomena around the Sixth Ring earlier. Any situation?"

"Reporting to Senior Brother, it was the Martial Strategy Hall’s assessment causing six rings. Hence the Martial Strategy Hall naturally made a bigger commotion."

"Six rings, a commander is born. Who is it?"

This senior brother’s eagle-like gaze looked past Yan Zhao’s shoulder.