Chapter 37

Although the Chai family had significant influence in the Tie Liu Grand Camp, Mengyi City, as a key traffic hub west of Jinzhou, saw increasing prosperity from commerce and trade, far surpassing other prefectures and counties.

Not to mention the other clans and noble families in the Hexi region, even the Wuwei Divine Marquis and the Grand Protectorate would not allow the Chai family to monopolize the benefits of Mengyi City. At least in the Hexi region, under the Wuwei military system, the sharing of benefits was an unwritten rule that had been passed down for generations among the clans and noble families.

Therefore, the clans and noble families loyal to the Wuwei Divine Marquis could enjoy the same privileges when managing their businesses in Mengyi City; no matter how powerful the Chai family was, they did not dare to exclude the businesses of other clans and noble families from Mengyi City.

If the Chai family really dared to do so, regardless of whether they had ambitions of independence, the Wuwei Divine Marquis would be the first to purge the Chai family's generals from the Tie Liu Grand Camp.

Zhao Shan's arrival in Mengyi City indicated Chen Lie's recognition of the Yishang Garden's armory. Although the Yishang Garden's armory did not directly use the Chen family's name, many things had already undergone subtle changes, and the costs for maintaining relationships in various aspects had decreased by nearly half.

The armory could generate nearly four million coins in revenue each month, which was sufficient to maintain the cultivation expenses of the group.

Chen Hai's cultivation, from taking one Essence Pill per day, gradually increased to taking three Essence Pills per day. However, cultivating the twelve main meridians simultaneously with various martial arts techniques was like a bottomless pit with no end in sight, and he could not see any hope of reaching the Profound Realm.

Chen Hai could still feel the slow recovery of the soul injury caused by his soul-snatching, and the faint, needle-like pain in his mind was gradually easing. He could even maintain a state of meditation for one or two hours, practicing the breathing and regulation techniques taught in the initial level of the Alchemical Cauldron Technique.

This was the greatest motivation for Chen Hai to persist in cultivating the twelve main meridians simultaneously, but on the surface, his cultivation seemed to have completely stagnated.

By the following year's Start of Spring, which was the 71st year of Emperor Yitian's reign, Shen Kun successfully opened his third main meridian in the army of Mengyi City and returned to the Dao Academy as a Purple Robe Dao Soldier disciple.

At this time, even Ge Tong could vaguely see the signs of opening the Foot Jueyin main meridian, while Chen Hai was still far from seeing any hope of reaching the Profound Realm. However, this did not hinder his growing status in the hearts of Ge Tong, Shen Kun, Zhou Jingyuan, and others.

The Yishang Garden had cleared out large areas of land, and Shen Kun, Zhou Jingyuan, Ge Tong, and others had formally applied to the Dao Academy to move their residences near the Yishang Garden.

The Dao Academy occupied the main peak of the eastern slope of Tie Liu Ridge, with vast valleys and ravines, covering a large area. With fewer than two thousand disciples occupying such a large mountain forest, it could be said to be sparsely populated. Both the Dark Robe and Purple Robe Dao Soldier disciples could have independent residences within the Dao Academy, but they needed the permission of the Chief Monitor, Zhao Ruhui, and could also build new residences.

As a result, the Yishang Garden and the residences of Shen Kun, Zhou Jingyuan, Ge Tong, and others formed a contiguous area, nearly occupying a twenty-acre rocky beach in front of the cliff, which was cultivated into medicinal fields.

With the addition of the maids and attendants from various residences, the Yishang Garden had over thirty people on a daily basis, making it suddenly lively. Besides the increasing number of transplanted medicinal herbs and spiritual trees, they also raised a small number of low-level spiritual birds to increase their income.

Although the Yishang Garden could not suppress the influence of the Chai family's disciples in the Dao Academy and was far from being able to compete with them, it gradually formed its own faction and flourished. Due to Chen Lie's clear support, the other clan disciples also reduced their suppression of the Yishang Garden, and at least there would be no more direct destruction of walls and fields.

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Chen Hai could not see any hope of reaching the Profound Realm in the short term, but in the preliminary Dao Soldier disciples' first three rounds of trials held at the end of May in the 71st year of Emperor Yitian's reign, Chen Hai still managed to knock three opponents off the platform, successfully improving his ranking to the top 100 among the preliminary Dao Soldier disciples.

The top 100 preliminary Dao Soldier disciples' trials were held simultaneously with the Dark Robe disciples. On that day, Chen Hai, Zhou Jingyuan, Shen Kun, Ge Tong, and newly admitted disciples like Shen Xiu all ascended to the square in front of the Transmission Hall at the top of the main peak on the eastern slope.

The four chief elders of the Dao Academy, Zhao Ruhui, Zhang Huaiyu, Xie Kun, and Li Xianghai, all appeared on the high platform in front of the square, ready to inspect the disciples' cultivation progress over the past half year.

However, just as the new round of disciples' trials was about to begin, a golden light shot out from the depths of Taowei Mountain, like a ten-thousand-foot golden rainbow spanning the blue sky, and finally landed in the hands of Chief Monitor Zhao Ruhui.

"Golden Sword Edict!"

The last moment was extremely short, and Chen Hai did not see clearly what landed in Chief Monitor Zhao Ruhui's hands. He only heard Ge Tong slightly moved and whispered with Shen Kun and the others.

Chen Hai knew that the inner gate of the Seven Peaks issued orders in the form of a Golden Sword Edict, but this was the first time he had seen one. He had been absent for a while and did not see clearly what the Golden Sword Edict looked like, nor could he guess what had happened that required the Seven Peaks to issue an order directly.

Zhao Ruhui, Zhang Huaiyu, Xie Kun, and Li Xianghai quickly summoned the heads of all the halls to the Transmission Hall to discuss matters. Over a thousand Dao Soldier disciples stood on the square, looking at each other, unable to leave.

Soon, Chief Monitor Zhao Ruhui and the others came out again.

Zhao Ruhui stood up to reveal the mystery, standing in front of the Transmission Hall and announcing, "The sect intends to suppress the rebels in Yulong Mountain. This time, 300 Dao Soldier disciples will be dispatched from Tie Liu Ridge. To avoid unnecessary casualties, this round of disciples' trials is hereby suspended, to be continued in the next session. The top 100 preliminary Dao Soldier disciples will all be granted Dark Robes, compiled into the Dao Army, and accompany the sect in the campaign against Yulong Mountain..."

Chen Hai thought about the inner gate disciples like Chen Qing, Xie Wenzhuo, and Lu Hongqian, who had requested orders to investigate the enemy situation in Yulong Mountain over two months ago. He did not expect that the matter would drag on for over two months before the sect officially organized the Dao Army to suppress the rebels in Yulong Mountain.

Although the disciples' trials were supervised by four Elders of the Enlightenment Realm, continuing the trials would result in some minor injuries among the four to five hundred disciples. To ensure the orderly suppression and prevent some disciples from using injuries as an excuse to avoid participation, it was necessary to suspend the trials.

Chen Hai looked around and saw several people he knew on the list of those to be dispatched, but their faces showed no worry, and their eyes even revealed excitement.

Chen Hai thought that the rebellion of the refugees in Yulong Prefecture had long been known in the Dao Academy. Everyone knew that Yulong Mountain was located at the border between the He Xiang and Wuwei military towns, a very sensitive location. It was not convenient to directly dispatch Wuwei's elite troops, so the sect had to dispatch disciples to suppress the rebels. In everyone's eyes, the refugees gathered in Yulong Mountain were a disorganized and weak force, and this was a good opportunity to accumulate merit for the sect.

Moreover, for Chen Hai and others who had entered the top 100 in the preliminary Dao Soldier disciples' trials, this was a rare opportunity to become a reserve officer in the Wuwei Army, wear a dark robe, and enter the Transmission Hall for cultivation.

Chen Hai thought about the disciples' trials a year ago, where the top 100 preliminary Dao Soldier disciples were also exceptionally compiled into the reserve officers. He had a strong suspicion that the Wuwei Army had been secretly expanding its forces.

However, whether the Wuwei Divine Marquis Dong Liang was secretly expanding the Wuwei Army's forces had nothing to do with Chen Hai at this time; his current status was low, and he could only go with the flow.

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Zhou Jun, Ge Tong, Shen Kun, and other Purple Robe disciples were left behind by Chief Monitor Zhao Ruhui and others to participate in the discussion. Chen Hai, Zhou Jingyuan, and others returned to the Yishang Garden at the foot of the mountain first.

Chen Hai and Zhou Jingyuan waited in the Yishang Garden until the afternoon, when Ge Tong, Shen Kun, and others returned from the main peak, bringing back more specific news.

"Yulong Prefecture has been suffering from famine for three years, with tens of thousands of famine-stricken people roaming the area, occupying the mountains and hills in Yulong Mountain, and frequently descending to invade the counties. The local military forces are weak and unable to resist, and the fortresses have been repeatedly breached. The Yulong Prefecture army has been defeated multiple times and has repeatedly requested the Grand Protector General to send reinforcements. This matter has dragged on for over half a year. The Divine Marquis saw that the local forces were truly unable to suppress the rebels, and the situation in Yulong Mountain was worsening, so he decided to dispatch 1,000 Dao Soldier disciples from the three Dao Academies in the southwestern part of Taowei Mountain, along with inner gate disciples, to form a sect Dao Army to suppress the rebels in Yulong Mountain and restore order. The Dao Academy will be led by Elder Li Xianghai and three Enlightenment Realm instructors. Elder Li has also named me and Senior Brother Ge..." Shen Kun said.

Elder Li Xianghai, who was also the Chief Instructor of the Wuwei Army's Tie Liu Grand Camp, was indeed responsible for the dispatch of the Dao Soldier disciples.

The 300 Dao Soldier disciples dispatched from Tie Liu Ridge included some Dark Robe disciples and over twenty Purple Robe disciples like Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, and Ge Tong. Zhou Jingyuan did not need to accompany the army and could stay behind to take care of the Yishang Garden and the armory.

In addition to his own weapons and armor, Chen Hai could temporarily borrow standard-issue black-scaled armor, a Tuo wood bow, and a fine iron shield from the Dao Academy for the campaign. Chen Hai did not have a mount and could also temporarily borrow a fine horse from the Dao Academy as a means of transportation.

The Golden Sword Edict issued by the inner gate of the Seven Peaks required the 300 Dao Soldier disciples from Tie Liu Ridge to complete their assembly within three days.

Chen Hai's double halberds and cold iron saber had long been mixed with a small amount of cold-patterned iron and red marrow copper using the infiltration casting method, making them rare high-quality items below the level of spirit weapons. He had already cultivated the Ten-Kill War Halberd Technique to a proficient level, but he did not expect to have the opportunity to participate in a military campaign so soon. He had not yet had the chance to formally practice the shield and halberd combat techniques used in military formations, nor had he had the opportunity to practice archery on horseback, and he did not know how to coordinate with others in a military formation.

In fact, although the other Dark Robe disciples had been compiled into the reserve officers, precisely because they were being trained as reserve officers, none of them knew how to integrate into a military formation and enter the battlefield as ordinary soldiers—apart from the Purple Robe disciples, no one had practiced military formations.

Chen Hai felt that the inner gate of the Seven Peaks was somewhat inexplicable. They had had over two months to prepare, but they had delayed until now to suddenly issue an order, requiring everyone to hastily prepare for the campaign within three days.

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