Chapter 9

"Taoshang, I, Xu Sheng, am not a bully. If anyone from your Hai Xi can defeat me, I will immediately withdraw my troops. Otherwise, you better wash your neck clean and come out of the city to face your death!"

Xu Sheng, outside the city walls, was extremely arrogant, daring to challenge anyone to a single combat, clearly very confident in his martial arts, believing no one under Taoshang's command could match him.

Taoshang was somewhat provoked, his brows furrowing as he looked at Hua Mulan.

In a direct confrontation, Taoshang was no match for Xu Sheng, but he had Hua Mulan, a mighty general with a martial arts value of 72. Although she was four points lower than Xu Sheng's 76, the difference was not significant, and she could still勉强一战.

"Lord, wait, I'll go and take care of that arrogant pirate," Hua Mulan, also enraged, said as she picked up her sword and walked away.

"You must be extremely careful; I think this person's martial arts are not weaker than yours," Taoshang urgently warned.

Unlike Taoshang, who had a system to see through the enemy's true strength, Hua Mulan did not know Xu Sheng's prowess and did not take him seriously. She strode confidently towards the city gate.

Just as she had taken three steps, she suddenly groaned, clutching her stomach and stopping, her brows furrowed, her face pale, and her lips tightly pressed together, suddenly looking very painful.

"Mulan, what's wrong?" Taoshang was startled and quickly stepped forward to support her.

"Damn... it's that time of the month..." Hua Mulan gritted her teeth, the word "that" on her lips, but her face suddenly turned red, and she did not continue, as if there was something she could not say.

Seeing her clutch her stomach and her face turn red, Taoshang suddenly realized and blurted out, "Mulan, are you having your period?"

The moment the words "period" were spoken, Hua Mulan's pale face instantly turned bright red, her usually fierce and frosty demeanor instantly turning into a shy girl's.

"Lord, what are you talking about? I'm fine, I'm going to fight," Hua Mulan, whose private matter had been exposed, glared at Taoshang in anger and pretended nothing was wrong, trying to continue down the city wall.

However, as she took half a step, the pain in her abdomen intensified, making her dizzy and unable to stand steady, and she swayed to the side.

Without hesitation, Taoshang reached out and caught Hua Mulan in his arms, seeing her eyes tightly closed, her brows deeply furrowed, and her long eyelashes trembling violently, her whole body in a state of pain and dizziness.

In this state, let alone fighting Xu Sheng, she might not even be able to fight Taoshang. If she insisted on going out to fight, it would be no different from suicide.

"Since you're in so much pain, don't try to be a hero. Someone, quickly take her back to the mansion to rest," Taoshang sighed and gave the order.

Several guards quickly came forward, supporting Hua Mulan and taking her away from the city wall.

"This is really too unlucky. At such a critical moment, Hua Mulan is suffering from menstrual cramps, and she's in so much pain. If only I had enough Benevolence Points, I could summon another mighty general's spirit. Unfortunately, I only have 10 Benevolence Points, but I have 73 Cruelty Points, which can only summon a strategist's spirit. Even if I summoned Zhang Liang, it wouldn't help much..."

Standing on the city wall, Taoshang looked at the arrogant Xu Sheng outside the city, feeling frustrated and anxious, unable to come up with a solution.

"Beep... System notification: Benevolence Points and Cruelty Points can be converted. The host can convert Cruelty Points into Benevolence Points to summon a mighty general's spirit." At this critical moment, the system's voice echoed in his mind again.

Taoshang was instantly overjoyed, but also angry, "You damn system, why didn't you say this earlier? You almost got me killed. Quickly convert all my Cruelty Points into Benevolence Points, I want to summon a more powerful general."

"Beep... Conversion complete. Deducting 3 points for conversion. The host now has 80 Benevolence Points and 0 Cruelty Points."

The conversion actually required points?

How black, truly black. The system didn't even warn him beforehand. Taoshang felt like he was playing a scam mobile game, where he was unknowingly charged.

"Fine, you're black, but I'll accept it. Quickly summon a spirit with a martial arts value of 80 or higher and an initial loyalty of 0 or higher." Taoshang had no choice but to "endure the pain," as dealing with the current crisis was the most important thing.

"Beep... One summonable spirit found: Fan Kui, brother-in-law of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty, a butcher by trade, with a leadership of 60, martial arts of 81, intelligence of 48, politics of 43, and an initial loyalty of 5."

Taoshang was frustrated and complained mentally, "This Fan Kui's martial arts value is decent, but why is his initial loyalty so low? He might rebel as soon as he's summoned. Is there no one with a higher initial loyalty?"

"The lower the spirit's background, the higher the initial loyalty to the host. However, due to the host's low charisma, only Fan Kui meets the host's requirements. If the host wants to expand the summoning range, please improve your charisma."

Charisma, that frustrating charisma again. Why did he have to be born into such a weak body? Even being born into a mediocre ruler like Liu Zhang or Yuan Shu would be better. Even if his abilities were weak, at least he would have a good background and high charisma, allowing him to summon powerful figures like Xiang Yu or Bai Qi, easily dominating the world.

"Fine, it's Fan Kui then. Summon him immediately." Taoshang had no choice but to make the decision, knowing that 5 points of initial loyalty were indeed low, but at least it wasn't negative. He had to deal with the current crisis first and then find a way to increase Fan Kui's loyalty.

"Beep... Please choose a physical body for the spirit, and the system will load the spirit."

Taoshang was prepared and had several martial arts students from the martial arts hall always by his side. He casually chose one of the male students and ordered him to kneel before him.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Zhang Ergou."

Taoshang placed his palm on the student's head and said solemnly, "Zhang Ergou, you have studied martial arts in the martial arts hall for a long time and have achieved a certain level. You are now capable of taking on important tasks. I, the young master, will now rename you 'Fan Kui.' I hope you will be as loyal and brave as Fan Kui, ready to face any danger for me."

"Beep... Loading spirit, ten, nine, eight..."

The physical body in front of him, like Xiao Huan before, immediately became stiff, his eyes vacant and motionless.

"Spirit loading complete."

As the system's voice echoed in his mind, the physical body's eyes suddenly opened wide, and his large body jumped up as if electrocuted.

Instantly, the physical body's demeanor completely changed, exuding a rough and rugged aura, with his eyes blazing with a terrifying killing intent.

The surrounding soldiers were startled and instinctively stepped back, as if intimidated by his killing intent.

Taoshang remained calm on the surface but held his breath, his heart pounding.

He knew the spirit of Fan Kui had been successfully summoned, but with only 5 points of loyalty, seeing his fierce appearance, Taoshang was a bit worried, fearing that his loyalty might drop to a negative value and he might attack him.

Fan Kui's bull-like eyes stared deeply at Taoshang for a moment, then slowly bowed and said indifferently, "Fan Kui pays respects to the lord."

"Since you call me lord, at least you are loyal to me now. I was really worried for a moment."

Taoshang secretly rejoiced, standing with his hands behind his back, assuming the posture of a lord, and pointed to the outside of the city, "Fan Kui, do you see that pirate leader Xu Sheng outside the city? I order you to go out and capture him alive and bring him back to me."

"Your subordinate obeys the order!"

Fan Kui responded promptly, grabbing a large saber and starting to run down the city wall. However, after a few steps, his legs gave out, and he plopped down on a stone bench.

Taoshang was taken aback, looking at him suspiciously, not understanding what he meant.

"Lord, I'm very hungry. Can you give me a leg of lamb? I need to eat to have the strength to fight," Fan Kui, clutching his growling stomach, complained.

Taoshang was frustrated and urged, "The enemy is pressing us, how can we wait for you to eat? Go and deal with Xu Sheng first, and then you can eat as much as you want."

"That won't do. I'd rather be a glutton than a starved ghost. If I lose and die, I'll go to hell with an empty stomach, which would be too tragic." Fan Kui grumbled, throwing the saber aside and pouting, "If you don't let me eat, I won't go out to fight."