Degrade from Nobility to a Humble Slave

"It's me, Zen Luo. I want to speak with Martin, if I might, please?" stated Zen as he neared the door.

As the light from the torches shone on Zen, the two soldiers could see it was him, and there was a look of shock on each man's face. With a grateful tone, one of the guards said, "Hey brother! I can't believe it. You're alive! Thank goodness!"

The two were soldiers of the Green Haze group, or more accurately, surviving members of the troop!

Usually, Martin's battle plans were impressive, and he took many precautions, so he never jeopardized the lives of soldiers in his platoon, and there was rarely a death under his command.

However, in the battle that day, dozens of soldiers perished, which was a terrible blow to the Green Haze group.

The survivors knew that if Zen hadn't drawn the queen blade locust away, none of them would have survived.

If Martin were the only one to have drawn the queen away, she would've caught up to the troops after killing Martin.

Thus, it was Zen's sacrifice that saved the rest of them.

So, the survivors would be eternally grateful for what Zen did!

Until just now, they all thought Zen died. So, they were astounded at his safe return!

The soldiers knew that Zen was an outer disciple from the Cloud Sect, and although he was only at the marrow refining level, Zen was stronger than other disciples at that same level. Even with his strength though, the gap between his power and that of the queen blade locust was immense. They didn't know how Zen escaped.

"Zen, the captain isn't at the camp," one of the soldiers informed Zen.

Wondering why, Zen asked, "Wait, you mean he hasn't come back?"

"Oh, no, he came back, but...?" the soldier broke off his reply, not sure whether or not he should disclose the truth.

Seeing the soldier's concerned look, Zen was confused and asked, "But what? What happened?"

"Zen, the captain was... locked up!" announced the soldier in a sad tone as he bowed his head.

Zen frowned and in a deeper timbre asked, "Locked up? But, why?"

"Yesterday, someone changed our regular marching route. It must've been someone who intended for us to travel a more dangerous trail," the soldier stopped relating what had occurred, inhaling before he suddenly furrowed his brows indignantly and with an inflection of resentment in his voice said, "Captain Martin went to the higher-ups and complained, angering his superior officer. So, he was arrested. I'm afraid they will punish him for insubordination accordingly, by martial law..."

did this happen?' speculated Zen. What the soldier had conveyed to him, irritated Zen.

succeeded in getting them all killed! The disciples from the Cloud Sect, Roger, Sun, and Zen almost died, while a single slash from the queen

in his mind,

Martin's leadership skills. On top of that, Martin courageously sacrificed himself by luring the queen locust away, saving his troops and the disciples. It was shocking to

authority who can assist us and

the wrong, and shouldn't have been unfairly

Martin for a long time

reassured Zen callously. Admittedly, Zen was nobody special here or at the Cloud Sect, but, that wouldn't stop him from

building he was assigned to and swung the door open. He entered and saw Roger and Sun packing

walking into the room,

stood, staring at Zen in bewilderment as

escaped the queen blade locust! Did a master come along and save you?" Allowing for Zen's strength, Roger thought Zen's surviving the queen locust attack was impossible without the aid of a much

stationed at the Dragon Fort, it wasn't unreasonable for Zen to

deemed his theory to be the most reasonable

to respond to the questions, Zen just stared at

"Yes,

a bored tone, "I suppose. I

risked his life to save us! Do you know where he is

Sun had his cheeks turned pink, and he stated, "Zen, don't look at me! I'm merely an outer disciple from the Cloud Sect. What could I do

primary goal was to save his troops. By the same token, and for reasons known only to him, Roger

Roger couldn't rival the

needed to, he could have used his

Roger could easily intervene and bail Martin out. It would be a piece of cake to rescue Martin, and initially, he wanted

had overtones of calling Roger a coward which made him feel uncomfortable, so he arrogantly rebutted, "Zen, I won't meddle in Martin's matter, and I advise you not to involve yourself as well. The person behind

Who is it? Roger, will you tell me?" Zen

Clan is behind it," declared

in his eyes, considering that the top seven clans had a well-known reputation throughout the entire empire and that they were too large for

fear. As a matter a fact,

Zen guffawed and asked, "The Zhuge Clan, again? Hahaha! I understand

what do you mean?" curiosity compelled Roger to ask.

in the Green Haze group. They were just utilizing the platoon to push Zen into a desperate situation,