Chapter 85

Chen Hai insisted on his decision, and Chen Su would not interfere. If anything went wrong, it would be beneficial to his "young master" Chen Zhang. Chen Qing was focused on cultivation and rarely involved herself in the affairs of the Tinghou Manor.

Ge Tong, Zhou Jingyuan, and the others were somewhat worried and hesitant, still fearing that something might go wrong. Even if they carefully selected the people, if one of them betrayed or informed the enemy, it could have a significant impact on Chen Hai.

They did not expect that Chen Hai, who had previously dared to use the children of humble families, would now boldly insist on using slaves who were once prisoners.

Chen Hai made up his mind, and the selection of personnel was quite convenient.

More than two thousand slaves were mainly concentrated in the mines, smelting plants, casting workshops, and construction sites for roads and fortresses. These slaves, hearing that they could escape hard labor and might even have a chance to rise in status, were eager to seize this rare opportunity.

Even though they all knew that joining the army under Chen Hai would be dangerous, it was still much better than being a slave for life. Even if they had to flee, it would be much easier than being confined in the strictly guarded mines and workshops.

These slaves were originally bought by the Tinghou Manor to build the Yishiyuan fortress, and they were all carefully selected strong men. According to the criteria Chen Hai provided for archery, horsemanship, and strength, Ge Tong and Zhou Jingyuan selected over eighty qualified candidates.

Among these people were several wandering knights and swordsmen, some with a certain foundation in cultivation, some with natural archery skills, and some with natural strength, but none of them were easy to deal with.

The next day, Ge Tong and Zhou Jingyuan brought these people to the East Garden for Chen Hai to select.

As they entered the East Garden, many of the men's eyes were fixed on the beautiful maids Rong'er and Juan'er, showing greedy expressions. Some were defiant, looking at the young master Chen Hai with disdain and contempt, perhaps thinking that Chen Hai only had his status because of his good birth, but in their eyes, he was just a little kid. Others were more calculating, quietly observing everything in the East Garden, but they all shared a common desire to escape their current situation, whether out of sincerity or pretense.

Seeing these people in tattered clothes, mostly pale and emaciated, with numerous scars and the marks of heavy shackles on their hands and legs, and the defiant and fierce expressions in their eyes, Chen Hai felt a headache. He knew that subduing these people would not be as easy as he had imagined.

Judging from Chen Su's expression, he seemed to be watching the situation with a detached interest. Chen Hai said to him:

"Chief Chen, I want all these people. Is that okay?"

As the head of the Tinghou Manor, Chen Su was the overall supervisor of the more than two thousand slaves in Yishiyuan. However, now that Chen Hai wanted to select people from the slaves, he could only help run errands.

Of course, Chen Su secretly hoped that these people would cause Chen Hai a lot of trouble. He smiled and replied:

"Since Young Master is in a hurry to use these people, how can Chen Su dare to stand in the way?"

Slaves were not worth much; twenty pounds of fine copper could buy one. Removing these eighty troublemakers would make the remaining slaves easier to manage.

"Fine, if you agree!"

Chen Hai nodded, picked up the carefully compiled list by Zhou Jingyuan, which detailed the origins, crimes, and behavior of these people in Yishiyuan. It was clear from the list that none of them were easy to deal with.

Nearly half of them were small leaders from the first two waves of rebels.

The dozen or so wandering knights and swordsmen, though not involved in the rebellion, were implicated in the purge after the disastrous defeat at Yulong Mountain, had their cultivation stripped, and were reduced to slaves. It was not hard to imagine their deep resentment towards the Grand Protector's General's Manor and the Hexi aristocratic families.

The rest were mostly notorious bandits or outlaws who had committed major crimes, and three of them were even itinerant cultivators who had reached the late stage of the Profound Realm but committed serious crimes.

These were not ordinary slaves; they were more accurately described as bandit slaves, or perhaps bandit slave soldiers!

This was why Ge Tong and Zhou Jingyuan did not support Chen Hai's decision to use these people.

These people were too complex, with no sense of loyalty or integrity, and were difficult to tame. A slight mistake could lead to Chen Hai facing a major disaster, or even betrayal, harm to colleagues, or defection on the battlefield.

However, Chen Hai had no choice. He left his seat and approached these mostly defiant people, his gaze slowly scanning their faces. He formed a secret seal with his hand, and a ball of flame appeared, burning the list to ashes. He said slowly:

"This list records your past crimes or the reasons for your punishment. Now that the list is ashes, I no longer care about your past. From now on, you will serve under me. Those who perform well will be rewarded, those who commit faults will be punished, and those who commit capital crimes will be executed. I will create a new list for you, recording your names, specialties, and your achievements and faults from today onwards. In addition, this time, in addition to exempting you from hard labor and enlisting you as soldiers in the escort camp, those with families who wish to move to Yishiyuan will receive a higher salary. Those whose families were also implicated and reduced to slaves will also be exempted from hard labor, or the Yishiyuan will pay to redeem them and bring them here to settle..."

The reactions of the people were varied: some were excited, some were hesitant, some were cunning, and some were deeply calculating. Their responses were uneven and lazy, but Chen Hai did not care. He did not expect that a few words today would make them loyal and dedicated to him.

Chen Hai said to Ge Tong and Zhou Jingyuan:

"This time, I will take sixty people with me. The rest will be temporarily assigned to the escort camp for training. Prepare sixty fine horses, sixty sets of armor, swords, spears, and bows for me..."

Chen Hai originally planned to take thirty people and leave the rest to Ge Tong for training, but after seeing these defiant people, he changed his mind. From the fierce and cunning expressions in their eyes, Chen Hai feared that leaving too many people would make it difficult for Ge Tong to control them, giving Chen Su an opportunity. Therefore, he decided to take the most defiant and suspicious people with him, leaving the remaining twenty or so to Ge Tong, who should be able to handle them.

Sixty sets of fine armor, weapons, and horses were something Chen Hai could hardly afford before, but now they could be provided by Yishiyuan, so he did not need to worry about it.

Chen Su wanted to remind Chen Hai that Ge Tong was only responsible for commanding the escort camp, while the provision of armor, weapons, and horses was his responsibility. Even the horse stable with over a hundred fine horses on the back mountain was under his direct supervision. However, he realized that his words were meaningless. Could he still hold back these supplies from Chen Hai?

These armor, horses, and bows were provided by the Grand Protector's General's Manor to the escort camp of the Zhaoyang Tinghou Manor.

******

Apart from Zhao Shan, Chen Hai did not draw more people from Yishiyuan, and Qian Wenyi was left to assist Ge Tong.

Chen Hai brought Zhao Shan to his side because he was the first to follow Chen Hai into the army, was familiar with military affairs and training, and was a good assistant.

Chen Hai had already taught Zhao Shan the basic steps, footwork, fist techniques, palm techniques, and spear techniques. Now, with Zhao Shan taking over, he could save a lot of time, allowing Chen Hai, Zhou Jun, and Wu Meng to focus on cultivation.

Chen Hai had already reported to Li Xianghai's tent and was assigned to the patrol camp, under the command of the chief scout, Li Hu.

However, the patrol camp was set up at Nantian Gate, only forty miles from Yishiyuan. Chen Hai planned to train the sixty elite slaves until they could at least understand and follow military orders before heading to Nantian Gate to join the other elite soldiers of the patrol camp.

After opening the Linghai Secret Palace, Chen Hai could store true essence and magic power in his body, so he could temporarily put aside the cultivation of the main meridians. To quickly enhance his strength, he focused on cultivating the Object Control Technique.

The Object Control Technique is the foundation of the Sword Control Technique, derived from the second level of the Alchemical Cauldron Technique. Mastering the Object Control Technique allows one to control a sword, but it is far from being able to "control" a sword, and the controlled sword has no real power.

Even a skilled martial artist or a strong young man could easily knock a soft, weak sword to the ground.

To cultivate the Sword Control Technique, one must first master the Object Control Technique to the point where it feels as light as a feather and can be controlled at will.

Only then can one truly control a sword, which can then have speed and power, and pose a real threat to strong enemies. The ability to strike unexpectedly, as fast as a meteor, and cut off an enemy's head is a hallmark of this level.

The method used with a spirit sword, in addition to controlling it to strike distant enemies, also involves using true essence to drive the sword's aura to kill enemies.

The sword's aura, driven by true essence, can be said to be invincible, and ordinary iron weapons and armor are hard-pressed to withstand a few strikes from a sharp sword aura. At the same time, the spirit sword remains light and agile, and the increased range and power of the sword aura significantly enhance the spirit sword's attack.

If these two methods could be combined, the power would be even greater.

This is the key point where the strength of a Linghai Realm cultivator surpasses that of a lower-level disciple.

The spirit sword Chen Hai was refining was given to him by Chai Rong in the scripture hall, with the characters "Biyin" engraved on the blade.

As a mid-grade yellow spirit sword, the Biyin was more than sufficient for Chen Hai to use at this stage.

Although Chen Hai was still far from mastering the Object Control Technique to the point of effortless control, he could drive true essence into the Biyin, causing the blade to emit a three-inch-long green sword aura. Ordinary iron weapons and armor would be almost invincible against this aura, and its power was quite astonishing.

Chen Hai speculated that the green sword aura was the origin of the sword's name, "Biyin."

Chen Hai felt particularly satisfied when he wore the Biyin sword at his waist. It was a pity that Chai Rong had disappeared, or he would have shown off the Biyin sword in front of him, perhaps not just once or twice, but every time reminding him that he owed him a high-grade yellow treasure...

Of course, if Chen Hai could inject true essence into a war spear and use the Ten-Kill War Spear Technique, his strength would be even greater. However, to drive the spear's aura to strike strong enemies, he first needed a war spear equivalent to a high-grade yellow treasure.

Since most disciples of the Taowei Sect focus on cultivation and sword techniques after entering the Linghai Realm, the sect mainly produces high-grade yellow treasures and spirit swords, and rarely produces war spears. This made it extremely difficult for Chen Hai to obtain a war spear from the sect.

Chen Hai did not need a war spear with an array formation, but he needed one that could allow true essence to flow through the spear and drive the spear's aura. The power of the Ten-Step Water-Cutting Strike in his hands would increase by at least fifty percent.

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