Chapter 1087: Chapter 1074: The Individual Might That Surpasses the Masses Chapter 1087: Chapter 1074: The Individual Might That Surpasses the Masses “Twenty nobilities, if I were to enter the battlefield, with my abilities, I could easily secure at least a tenth rank noble title, right?”

A muscular and strong young man with sharp features shouldered a hoe stained with earth as he returned to the village. Watching the villagers covered in joy and a festive mood, he thought to himself.

“What are you thinking about?” At that moment, an elderly voice came from behind him. The young man turned around and immediately saw an old man, slightly hunched but still strong, looking at him.

“Nothing!” Avoiding his father’s plain gaze, the young man turned his head involuntarily.

“Thinking of joining the military? Going to the battlefield to fight for others?” The old man asked in a flat tone, but the flatter his voice, the more fear appeared on the young man’s face.

“No.” The young man instantly denied his father’s words, knowing well that his father despised those high and mighty rulers.

The specific reasons were unclear, but he guessed it might be due to some experiences his father had when he was young; otherwise, his attitude would not be what it was now.

“No? Then you better mask that envious look on your face, I’m not blind,” the elderly man said indifferently.

“Uh.” The young man rubbed his face somewhat awkwardly, feeling that he should not appear so weak. Although he truly envied them in his heart, he shouldn’t have made it so obvious.

“Let’s go back, stop looking. The more you look, the more you’ll envy.”

“Okay.” The young man obediently followed the shorter old man, as docile as a child.

When they reached their home, the young man couldn’t help but look towards his neighbor’s house—a newly-built residence with green tiles and blue bricks, starkly contrasting his own dilapidated mud hut.

This was one of the rewards his neighbor’s son—and his childhood friend—received after joining the army, achieving military merits, and becoming the first-rank nobility. He had watched an official lead a group of craftsmen to demolish his neighbor’s old mud hut and quickly build this new house.

It was just part of what his childhood friend had received for his military achievement; he also gained a piece of land and a servant for farming. Seeing all this, it was impossible for him not to feel envious.

His childhood friend was just an ordinary person, and he knew all too well his friend’s capabilities. To put it bluntly, he could stand still, hands clasped behind his back, and his friend would hardly be able to hurt him. Yet such an ordinary person had achieved wealth and status on the battlefield, how could he be calm and composed?

And yet, he who possessed strength far beyond an ordinary person and had already completed the Fourth Awakening at a young age, could only nest in this small place, following his father’s footsteps as a farming peasant. With such a disparity in treatment, who wouldn’t have some thoughts?

“Ah, it’s Allen, back from the fields with your dad.” Just as the young man and his father entered the house, a lean, dark-skinned woman holding a clay jar came out from next door. When she saw the young man, she greeted him warmly.

“Yes, just got back from the fields,” Allen replied with an awkward smile.

“Really now, at such a young age, why don’t you join the army like my son? Wasting your good years in the fields; don’t you find it stifling?”

Glancing at the old man who had already entered the house, the woman, who had worked in the fields for years, muttered to the young man.

“Farming is quite good; at least it’s a safe life. In battle, you never know when you might die,” another voice echoed faintly from inside the house at that moment.

“What are you saying!” The woman became upset upon hearing this voice. She slammed the clay jar onto the ground and shouted towards Allen’s home.

“Auntie, calm down, you know my dad’s temper. He’s just like that, don’t get angry with him, it’s not worth it.” The young man had to lower his head and put on a smile to appease the woman, as his father’s words had provoked her.

Fortunately, the woman didn’t make much of a fuss with Allen and went back to her house after picking up the pieces of the broken jar, while Allen carried his hoe back inside his house.

“Father, auntie came over kindly to give me some advice, why did you have to say that to her?”

“Kindly? Offering advice?” Hearing his son’s words, the old man’s eyebrows shot up instantly, “Let me tell you, all the nobles…”

“Nowadays in Gai Nation, there are no nobles left; the previous ones have all been expelled by My King.” Hearing his father’s words, Allen muttered softly, reminding his father of the incorrectness in what he was saying.

“I didn’t finish my sentence, why are you interrupting?” The old man glared at Allen, “I’m telling you, all those in power, they only have thoughts of using us, those from the lower classes. They won’t treat us equally.

Just like what our current King has created with this military nobility system. Isn’t it just using advantages that commoners can’t refuse, to make those soldiers risk their lives for him?”

“Isn’t that quite all right? Ordinary soldiers desperately defend their homeland and then obtain rewards by beheading enemies,” the youth responded. He thought the system was quite good, clear rewards and punishments, “We can’t expect the king to simply bestow land and these houses on us!”

“Stop being so stubborn with me, I don’t care what you think, in short, you are not to join the army, you are not to fight and kill for those in power.” The old man’s face showed a trace of anger, as if he was recalling something that happened in his youth.

“How can you say that, it’s other countries invading our country now, this war is also about protecting our own land,” the youth retorted.

“Even if it were your turn, even if Gai Nation were to fall, it would definitely not be because you didn’t participate in the battle,” the old man said with unyielding determination.

“If everyone had your way of thinking, it would be strange if Gai Nation didn’t fall,” the youth also expressed his extreme dissatisfaction.

The words of that auntie from just now really struck a chord with him. His prime years and his powerful strength were being wasted on the land, it was simply squandering time.

“You’re not to join the army, I’ll say it one last time, if you dare to go, I’ll break your legs.”

“This is not allowed, that’s not allowed, do you really want to keep me in this poor and remote place? If you want me to lead a mediocre life, why did you urge me to cultivate in the first place?”

Hearing his father’s warnings, the youth also got fired up. At his age, it was natural to be unable to escape the lure of fame and fortune. He too wanted to return to his homeland in glory, to enjoy wealth and prestige, and to be admired by thousands.

These things were clearly within easy reach for him, yet he was tied down by his father’s decree, stuck tending the fields as a farmer.

“I urged you to cultivate because the world is too chaotic right now, I just want you to have the ability to protect yourself,” the old man said, then went to prepare the meal.

Night fell, and after the youth practiced his cultivation, a habit he had maintained from childhood for a while, he lay down to sleep. But he tossed and turned, unable to find peace.

His heart was filled with unresolved resentment. He was not content with all he had, he wanted better, to enjoy better.

“My father must have experienced something when he was young, which is why he harbors dissatisfaction with those in power. And he probably has enjoyed everything, so now he can look past it all, but I am different,” the youth contemplated in bed, internally struggling. From childhood to adulthood, he has almost always listened to his father, but this time he was not prepared to keep complying.

“He is my father, he can give me advice, but I am not his puppet, I don’t need to listen to him in everything, I want to have my own opinions, I want to do what I desire to do,” the youth sat up in bed, then listened closely to the steady breathing coming from the next room. Waiting silently, finally, he gritted his teeth, opened his window, and climbed out, leaving the dilapidated earthen house behind.

What the youth did not notice was that, as soon as he left, the steady breathing from the room next door suddenly stopped, followed by a long sigh,
“Alas!”

…

“The war has developed to a point where it should stop now. You have nearly finished distributing the fields taken from the nobles, and if you continue, you will face the awkward situation of having nothing left to award.”

“Not enough fields for awards? Just fight and expand, there’s plenty of other countries’ land,” Muria said with a nonchalant smile, aware that once the system of military achievement for nobility was thoroughly implemented, the entire army, the entire nation would transform into a monster filled with a desire for expansion.

“But we’re running out of food, don’t forget, the majority of the able-bodied in the nation are already attracted to the battlefield by the system of military achievement for nobility.”

“Hmm, I understand,” Muria sighed somewhat helplessly upon hearing about the food issue. Even if the army’s morale was high, and both officers and soldiers were eager for war, it could not change the fact that Gai Nation’s food reserves were dwindling fast; high spirits couldn’t replace food to fill stomachs.

“I’ll step in, and put an end to this war.”

When an individual’s martial prowess reaches a certain height, they can transcend the group, and Muria was such an individual; his combat capability far exceeded the average level of the strong on the Ymir Plain.

Strong individuals on Ymir Plateau generally achieve the Sixth Awakening, with only Yas Country potentially having individuals who have reached the Seventh Awakening, but that was merely a possibility, with no confirmation of the news yet.

Muria’s combat strength, even he himself could not pinpoint at which level it was, but what he could be sure of was that it exceeded the Seventh Awakening, and he had the qualifications to end the war at any time.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read