I Can See Your Combat Power

As he watched the young prodigy seated at the edge of the table, Tang Zhi sighed softly and slid a stack of half-sealed letters across the table, “Since you are here, help me with the clan affairs. Lots of things need to be done since the family and the alliance are in need of reform. I am too busy to handle alone.”

“Alright” Tang Luo didn’t refuse and picked up the first letter to begin reviewing. After all, these were typical matters within the clan, and he had handled many of them at home.

His playful mother always enjoyed taking Nuan Nuan, his younger sister, shopping. Thus, Tang Luo had been assisting with household affairs since he was a child. There was not much difference between the two, after all, the letters had been carefully sorted. Some decisions just had to be made, and the consequences accepted. There were already suggestions from the steward and the wise men; all he needed to do was approve or deny them, most of which did not require much thought.

Moreover, Clan leader Tang Zhi was right there. Anything too difficult to handle could be put aside, and Tang Luo was willing to lend a hand in such a small matter.

Now there were two people working at the long table that was meant for the clan leader alone. This not unusual, Tang Zhi was efficient because of his education and being honored as the Hidden Society Head, the best in political science.

Although Tang Luo hadn’t studied politics, he seemed to have an innate understanding. He picked up a pen and began to review and reply to the documents at a speed not inferior to Clan leader Tang Zhi’s.

The steward and the strategists of the clan were all old members of the Tang Clan. Seeing Clan leader Tang Zhi’s actions, they maintained their composure superficially, but they felt a storm brewing deep inside.

Everyone had a palpable feeling that the long-vacant position of young Clan leader in the Tang Clan was about to be filled. Everyone had no objections if Tang Luo assumed this role but what about the still unconscious Union leader Tang Yao?

In terms of contributions to the Tang Clan in this battle, the young people who contributed the most were Tang Luo, who was serving his term as the North Mountain Defense Minister, and Tang Yao, who initiated the Feather King banquet. These strategists and stewards believed that the position of young Clan leader would emerge from among these two.

However, since Tang Luo had already refused the Clan leader once, everyone felt that Tang Yao, who had made remarkable contributions to the Tang Clan, was more likely. Unexpectedly, Clan leader Tang Zhi seemed determined to give the position of young clan leader to Tang Luo and even brought him in to handle political affairs. This unexpected move sent waves of apprehension among the assembly.

From dawn to dusk, Tang Luo was in the command center of Xiangyun Valley, continuously dealing with letters. Most of those given to him by Tang Zhi were clan affairs, mainly about sending people to welcome back the four ranked branches who retreated.

Tang Luo also saw the damage suffered by the ranked branches in the replies. He couldn’t help but look up at Tang Zhi.

“What is it, Minister Luo? Do you have any problems?” Feeling Tang Luo’s gaze, Tang Zhi looked up and asked softly.

“I’m just a little curious.” Tang Luo pointed to the reply on the letter: ” Clan leader, did you already know that the Mi Clan’s attack focused on the ranked branches? Otherwise, why would you split so many ranked places?”

During the blood lineage separation, the Clan would not participate in the battle but would fully protect the retreat to preserve the clan’s seeds. However, even the strongest protection of the Longzhou’s elite Xian Bird Feather Guards could have loopholes, and the four ranked branches of the Tang Clan faced such a dangerous situation.

Without a doubt, under the relentless pursuit of the Xian Bird Feather Guards, the Tang Clan’s ranked branches suffered severe casualties. However, the data showed that less than 10% of the Tang Clan’s main lineage warriors died. Instead, the warriors from various clan branches who were evacuated with the ranked branches suffered extremely heavy losses.

Tang Luo didn’t believe that those evacuees from the Tang Clan were that elite. After all, facing the pursuit of Xian Bird Feather Guards, there was no difference between a peak human and an early transcendental being. You would either die or be incapacitated if you got hit by an arrow. Considering such a huge difference in casualty rates, Tang Luo wondered if the warriors from the clan had abandoned others to cover their retreat.

“I did know in advance that the Mi Clan’s attack would focus on the retreating ranked clans,” Admitted Tang Zhi, aware of Mi Jin’s scheme, had a different opinion on the casualties: “After all, compared to guarding unfamiliar clansmen, the clan’s warriors would naturally care more about our own lineage.”

“Alright…” Tang Luo knew that the Clan head, who prioritized the clan above all, would do such a thing, even though he really wanted to see his stupid younger brother. But for the stability of North Mountain, he said: “Then don’t rush to call back the ranked branches, after all, the situation in North Mountain is not completely stable yet. If other clans see their young ones suffering heavy losses, there may be chaos.”

“Let’s proceed according to the Minister Luo’s suggestion.” Tang Zhi smiled and lowered his head to continue handling the stacked letters.

As mentioned earlier, even though they were processing things as quickly as possible, there were still a lot of things that required decision-making piled up like a mountain in North Mountain, not only for the living but also for the deceased.

For example, the Mi Clan’s burial ground, which has not been cleared since the last battle.

Tang Luo picked up a letter and was silent for a long time. It was a recommendation on how to handle South Ridge’s Beast Valley.

Over the past few days, Tang Clan’s warriors and Wind Media had dug up South Ridge’s Beast Valley almost three feet deep. They had excavated and transported back to North Mountain everything that could and could not be looted, leaving only a ravaged South Ridge.

Some strategists suggested transforming South Ridge into a defensive city for North Mountain. In this way, Red Cloud Mountain would be to the east of North Mountain, South Ridge defensive city to the south, a deep mountain marsh to the north, and Yuxi Ridge to the west. North Mountain would be well-protected from all sides.

This suggestion wasn’t bad, but the only piece of land still intact in South Ridge was the Mi Clan’s grave. If a defensive city were to be built, it would be better to start from the land that had not been turned into ruins. Therefore, the strategist suggested leveling the Mi Clan’s grave and building a defensive city here.

To wipe out everything, to dig up ancestral graves, all Tang Luo had to do was write approval on the letter. Everything would become reality.

But for some reason, he hesitated. Everyone thought that Tang Luo was absent from the battlefield on the day of the great battle. In fact, he was on top of North Mountain, riding a beast, watching the great battle in South Ridge from afar.

He saw the chiefs of the seven clans fighting valiantly, and he also saw several spiritual ferries full of the descendants of various clans in South Ridge. At that time, if he had given an order, the four Fierce creatures of the Du Clan behind him could intercept them, and at least half of the clans’ descendants could be retained.

But he held back and did not issue the order. To put it bluntly, he was not cruel enough. Looking at the children on the spiritual ferry, who were about the same age as his little sister Nuan Nuan, Tang Luo was unable to issue the order lodged in his throat. He could only watch as the spiritual ferries sank into the water and left, separated from the battlefield.