Back in the early years, he probably wouldn't have said such things.

Twenty years of imprisonment, twenty years of being a caged beast in that small space, countless expectations, countless hopes, and countless madness, all ultimately turned into helplessness, grinding the life out of him.

Now that he's out, the group of people from the Mingshan Sect is still waiting for him, regardless of how much the Young Master Nan contributed to the situation, he's most aware of what twenty years of waiting entails.

Facing such a group, could he disregard their life and death for his own personal desires?

Wu Jinliang also thought this plan was good, nodding, "Hmm, let's see how things go for the safest approach."

He turned his head again to look at the personnel of Team 3000 and asked in a low voice, "What's their situation, are they capable enough?"

Who knows what the situation is. Shi Chun was only now starting to focus, pulling out the Centurion's token to check the personnel list using magic.

He didn't know until he looked, and after several checks, he thought he was mistaken and frowned.

Seeing his displeased expression, Wu Jinliang reached out, wanting to take a look himself, so Shi Chun silently handed it to him.

After checking twice, Wu Jinliang's face slowly dropped. Except for Han Bao, it seemed that the Mingshan Sect had the strongest forces in Team 3000, with at least three of them practicing fire attribute skills at the Earth Immortal level.

The eighty new teammates didn't even have a single Earth Immortal level. They were all at the Human Immortal realm.

Not just any Human Immortal realm, but the lowest level kind, all at the Human Immortal Minor realm.

And the problem is they were a bunch of riff-raff, not fake riff-raff but real riff-raff, mostly prisoners in for petty theft and robbery, and their familiar profiles made Wu Jinliang mistakenly think he saw a group of Life Prison refugees.

Wu Jinliang couldn't help but curse under his breath, "What the hell, wasn't Mulan Jin supposed to give special attention to her daughter? Why does it feel like she threw all the unwanted ones at us?"

He now understood why the eighty new recruits came eagerly over; they were hoping to find protection.

Shi Chun was also perplexed; he had just wanted to stand out, to have a moment in the spotlight, but reality hit hard, giving him a swift slap and waking him up.

He couldn't figure out what Mulan Jin was doing either; wasn't the Heavenly Court Team Commander supposed to provide special attention? And this is the attention he provides?

At this moment, Manxi was standing at the highest level of the pavilion by the railing, looking out at the dense crowd of troops with both expectation and pressure.

With departure imminent, personnel from the Five Directions Team were constantly coming and going at the Xunmen Central Hub, making final communications for all teams.

Mulan Jin appeared on the upper floor and slowly walked to Manxi's side, gazing out, trying to locate the position of his daughter.

Manxi understood his thoughts, pointing to the far corner, "Your daughter and her team are at the far corner, numbered 3000."

"Three thousand..." Mulan Jin muttered to himself, feeling that the opposite side valued them by placing his daughter and her team in the pivotal position, feeling more satisfied, and asked, "Are the top ones all in that team?"

Manxi hesitated, turning to him, wanting to say, are you joking?

He held back and instead kindly explained, "The top ones are meant for fighting and earning merits, and they're the focus of early strategizing from all sides, and they are my key forces for facing off against other sides; having them follow your daughter would make her unsafe."

The implication was clear; your daughter doesn't need to fight and earn merits.

Given the explanation, Mulan Jin found it reasonable, but as a father, he couldn't help but worry. With the top ones absent, he became concerned about the general strength level and asked for details, "How many Earth Immortal level arrangements were made?"

Manxi was forthcoming, casually replying, "I planned to use Han Bao, but since you recruited him, I didn't touch him. The rest are the three from Mingshan Sect, those brought by Shi Chun I didn't touch, and the whole team has just these four at Earth Immortal realm."

Mulan Jin was taken aback, slowly turning to look at him in disbelief, "You allocated over the personnel, not even one Earth Immortal level?"

Manxi replied quietly, "Commander, it's unnecessary, I'm monitoring them in real-time. What that team needs isn't strong individuals; strong individuals want to earn merits, but how can those with low cultivation levels manage? What they need is a team without merit prospects, capable of staying composed, obediently following orders, people who can hide when told to hide, and flee when told to flee."

Hearing this, Mulan Jin roughly understood, suspecting that a pile of low-end trash was swept over.

Although the argument held some logic, his gaze held a slight chill as he reflected on this being the promise he was given.

Manxi realized he'd displeased him, and hurriedly tried to comfort him, "Commander, truly no need for worry. I'm monitoring things in real-time, and I'll have them hide in the safest place; they won't encounter enemies, thus won't be in danger. If there's indeed any risk, I can immediately mobilize forces to resolve it, rest assured, there won't be any trouble."

His words were candid, though he did have doubts; any usable means or capable forces he would definitely need to employ for real actions, if all the top warriors were to protect his daughter, accompanying her in hiding, then this Battle of the Great Pardon would be pointless, and he'd have to consider how to report back to higher-ups.

Besides, recently too many people had asked him for favors for attention, could he possibly accommodate all?

Of course, Mulan Jin's biological daughter is different from those with distant connections, and given Mulan Jin's status, he definitely has to prioritize taking good care of her, otherwise he cannot afford to offend.

Hearing him say that not even the enemy would meet the daughter, Mulan Jin was finally reassured, and he nodded, saying, "Thank you. When do we set out?"

This time, he was also personally going in.

Manxi: "Soon, once the supervisors from several families are in place, we can depart."

In the Nanshan Royal City, the Xunmen Central Hub was also temporarily sealed off, and nearly four hundred thousand well-armored troops had gathered completely.

Facing the peak of the overlooking tall pavilion, a man of medium height with three slightly yellowish long mustaches and a solemn face, though his complexion appeared somewhat dusky, had a steady demeanor. He was Ming Chaofeng, the commander of the Nanshan Team.

He stood alone, hands behind his back, waiting at the railing.

Soon, the sound of someone ascending the stairs was heard; a general brought in a participating armored soldier and then withdrew.

This armored soldier was none other than Li Hongjiu.

Seemingly uncomfortable in the battle armor, Li Hongjiu awkwardly shifted his body from time to time, as if itching all over.

Ming Chaofeng glanced back at him with a steady expression showing a hint of a smile. He then took out a jar of wine and placed it on the railing, indicating, "This is a reward from the Saint King. Knowing you like this, I've saved it for you."

With no one else around, Li Hongjiu swaggered over, cheerfully saying, "Senior Brother is still the best, thank you, Senior Brother."

The commander of the Nanshan Team this time was none other than the Yanbao Sect Master Qu Wuming's first disciple, also an orphan, who although did not take the master's surname, took a character from his master's name as his surname.

Li Hongjiu hugged the wine jar and was about to open it for a drink.

Ming Chaofeng put his hand over the hand about to open the cover of the jar, his tone slightly reprimanding, "Restrain yourself a bit; if you drink and return reeking of alcohol, what would that be? Once we're inside, find a secluded place to drink slowly. Also, don't let drinking lead to errors."

Alright, Li Hongjiu had no choice but to put away the wine jar, sighing, "Senior Brother, just tell me, what's the matter?"

Ming Chaofeng looked at this junior brother with slight admiration and smiled, "I know you don't like such things, and this time truly puts you in a difficult position, but let's just say, my appointment as the commander might also be thanks to you."

"Me?" Li Hongjiu pointed to his own nose, then casually waved, laughing, "Stop joking, since when do I have the qualifications to influence appointments at your level?"

Ming Chaofeng gave a slight hint, "Only by me becoming the commander could you participate in the battle."

Upon hearing this, Li Hongjiu also fell silent, seemingly understanding the situation.

Ming Chaofeng's gaze shifted to the tens of thousands of troops ahead, sighing, "What happened in Juku State could be hidden from many, but not from above. The situation you stirred when you were in the Human Immortal Realm, surrounded by a group of experts, but still managed to kill a few Heavenly Immortal experts. Given your current cultivation, it's hard for the higher-ups not to pin hopes on you in this battle.

I was promoted to this position, and if you don't make your debut, there's no way to pry away others' talents. Naturally, the sect and master hope for me to attain higher positions for the benefit of the sect; since there is such an opportunity, they wouldn't want me to miss it, so inevitably, they're pushing you out."

Then he turned his head to look at Li Hongjiu, "With your ability, in this battle, I have placed great hopes on you. But you must be careful, the other four families have certainly already set their sights on you, definitely treating you as a major target to be solved."

Li Hongjiu folded his arms, sighed, and lamented, "Why do I always find myself in situations beyond my control?"

Ming Chaofeng chuckled, then changed the topic, "Did you hear? Shi Chun is joining the battle."

Li Hongjiu laughed at the news, "I heard, if it weren't for this Battle of Great Pardon, that guy would've never dreamed of escaping from Life Prison in his lifetime. That guy's misfortune turned into a blessing."

Ming Chaofeng: "This battlefield is extremely dangerous. How can it be said to be a blessing in disguise? You seem to have high opinions of him?"

Li Hongjiu: "It's not that I have high opinions; it's just that I've interacted with him and know he's not that easy to kill."

Ming Chaofeng made a sound of acknowledgment, his gaze carrying a different meaning as he asked, "He saved your life. If you encounter him, would you spare him?"

Li Hongjiu spread his hands, "I don't need to fight him to the death, do I? There's more than ten thousand tokens, and winning doesn't necessitate his token, does it?"

After saying that, he paused, suddenly having a realization, exclaiming, "I was wondering why you called me to deliver wine, worried I'd help him win? Rest assured, I know the priorities; if I dared help him, Master would have my hide. Since I've agreed to come at Master's request, I'll naturally strive to compete. If Shi Chun's tokens truly amount to a hindrance for Senior Brother, I'll rob them without hesitation."

Ming Chaofeng laughed, "That's the response I wanted. By rights, Mulan Jin is using Shi Chun to protect her daughter, not for the tokens, but seeing how Mulan Jin cares about that fellow, I also collected some of his past details for review. It turns out he's indeed capable, and mere force may not subdue him. Just in case, if he really goes for the tokens, I fear you'll be tricked by him."

Just then, a general came to report, "Commander, everything is ready; we can set out."

Ming Chaofeng raised his hand and patted Li Hongjiu's shoulder, "Return to your post; if things go well, I can at least ask the Saint King to reward you with more rare wines."

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