Chapter 178: Zhao Xing, the Junshuling, No. 6 Grain City, Encountering a Fat Sheep! (k)

"Coming out?" Long Xiao looked at the light blue vortex with joy, only to see a tall figure slowly flying out of it.

"Zhao Xing!" Long Xiao waved and shouted.

Zhao Xing nodded to Long Xiao, then bowed to Lu Bang: "Thank you Master Lu for your guidance."

"No need to be polite, it's all your own fault." Lu Bang smiled slightly, then pointed at Long Xiao and said, "This kid has been waiting anxiously, go ahead."

Zhao Xing bowed and quickly flew out of Taicang Courtyard with Long Xiao.

"Zhao Xing, you seem different." Long Xiao looked at Zhao Xing's appearance. Although he still looked the same, his temperament was completely different from when he was in Yuncheng. Before in Yuncheng, Zhao Xing's temperament was fierce and sharp, like a sharp sword out of its sheath, and he was also full of murderous aura.

But now he had a feeling of being out of this world, his whole aura was completely restrained. Sensing carefully, Long Xiao could feel the amazing vitality, like a volcano ready to erupt.

"There are some changes." Zhao Xing nodded. He knew it very well. Because he had just entered the Earthly Evil Realm, neither the seven spirits of his physical body nor his vitality had been able to completely melt away the evil spirit, so naturally he gave people a very fierce and sharp feeling.

However, after more than a month of training and enlightenment, especially after coming out of the original dojo, he has been able to completely control the evil spirit and achieve perfect integration.

The hidden danger of upgrading too quickly was finally solved by him.

"Lupin said that you were seeking enlightenment. What exactly did you realize? It took you so long." Long Xiao asked curiously.

"The high-level spell of the Self School, the Moment of Origin."

"How did I not hear it being said."

"It is a high-level elemental analysis technique, and not many people know how to do it." Zhao Xing explained. "It can help plant life break through the shackles of growth."

Long Xiao nodded, not quite understanding: "I hope your magic is really powerful. You have wasted a lot of time on it. The Pingman Battle Merit List has been open for more than half a month!"

"No hurry." Zhao Xing smiled, "Sharpening the knife does not delay the chopping of wood. How far can we advance in half a month?"

The war below the fifth rank has been going on for several years, so missing this half month will not affect anything at all.

"How far can it advance? Ha, you really underestimated the strength of the Great Zhou."

"The 50,000-mile border is advancing across the board. In half a month, the battle line has advanced 10,000 miles. The section closer to the border is also 4,000 miles." Long Xiao said, "South of the Canglan River, excluding Jiutian Yingyuan Prefecture, more than 3,000 cities have been newly built!"

"In terms of territory alone, we have already conquered five Yingyuan Prefectures!"

Long Xiao thought he would be anxious after hearing this, but Zhao Xing didn't react at all.

Ten thousand miles was indeed very far when he had just entered the ninth rank, but now that Zhao Xing’s mobility had greatly increased, he naturally knew that ten thousand miles was not a very far distance.

In addition, the more than 3,000 cities are purely "Emperor Jing-style reports".

The report cannot be said to be exaggerated, the figures are definitely true.

The workers were fast at building cities, but Zhao Xing estimated that most of these 3,000 cities were used for supply, such as grain cities, baggage cities, or cities under the jurisdiction of the Southern Barbarian King's Court.

This victory can only be said to be a boost to the Pingman War.

It’s not time for Zhao Xing to get anxious yet.

If there are large-scale casualties among the sixth and seventh ranks, then Zhao Xing should be really anxious, because that means the window period for gaining merit is about to pass.

"Where was I assigned?" Zhao Xing asked, "What is my new assignment?"

"You are in seclusion, how can I assign you?" Long Xiao said, "The Marquis has not sent anyone to disturb you, I will tell you when you come out."

"Now the battle orders of each battalion have been assigned. There are not many who are qualified for your seventh-rank official position. The ninth-rank commander position is already completely full. I estimate that you will not have much chance to fight."

"You don't have to be the ninth commander to make achievements." Zhao Xing was open-minded. There was no shortage of opportunities to make achievements in this war against the barbarians.

Taking Aotian Miao with them, Zhao Xing and Long Xiao boarded the swordfish flying boat and quickly headed for Xi'er City, the headquarters of the Shenwei Army.

Now Zhao Xing has joined the Shenwei Army, and now he is here to pay a visit to Yang An.

Six hours later, the two arrived in Xi'er City.

Yang An lived in a mansion in Xi'er City, which was named Boping Mansion.

Boping Prefecture was heavily guarded with spears like a forest. The two men came to the Grand Council Hall, where the commander-in-chief usually handled military affairs.

Outside the hall was the parade ground, with swords, spears, and halberds densely placed all around. Every soldier was wearing armor, a battle robe, an iron helmet, and had a serious expression on his face.

On the steps outside the palace, Jia Pu was holding a sword. The hilt was inlaid with gems, emitting a faint glow in the sunlight.

He was motionless, like a statue, and the soldiers passing by couldn't help but glance at the door when they saw him out of the corner of their eyes.

They knew that the military advisor was waiting for an agricultural official named Zhao Xing, and had been waiting for three hours in advance.

I don’t know what kind of ability Zhao Xing has to deserve such treatment.

"Here they come." Jia Pu suddenly looked up and saw Long Xiao and Zhao Xing appear at the door.

He immediately walked down the steps.

When Zhao Xing and Long Xiao approached, Jia Pu also happened to arrive at the bottom of the stairs.

"Greetings to General Shenwei." Zhao Xing bowed and saluted when he saw Jia Pu. Since Yang An had demoted himself to a small soldier, the one who was temporarily taking over the position of the commander of the Shenwei Army was the man in front of him.

"Zhao Xing." Jia Pu smiled and gave him a false support. "No need to be polite. You have been in seclusion for many days. Have you gained anything?"

"Replying to the General, we have made some progress."

"That's good." Jia Pu said, "The Marquis is not in Xi'er County now, so I will issue your appointment on your behalf. Is there any place you want to go?"

"It's up to the general." Zhao Xing said. "I'll go wherever the general tells me to go."

"My Lord specifically told me that Zhao Xing is an all-round talent in Shiyang Cave Heaven, who can fight and farm. He must listen to your ideas first." Jia Pu took out a mirage bead from his arms, "It records the camps of my Shenwei Army in the Southern Wilderness. You can choose any one."

Any? Long Xiao muttered, the battle sequence is already full, do we need to add another battalion for Zhao Xing?
Seeing this, Zhao Xing stopped being polite and started to look at it seriously.

The Shenwei Army now has many sixth-rank soldiers fighting on the front lines, and they are also using the Nanhuang Forge City as a place for supply and rest.

The one who is fighting the fastest now is a captain named "Liao Rulong". He commands eight camps including Wuxing, Shenji, Jiujie, etc., with a total of 12,000 people. Chen Shijie and Long Xiao work under Liao Rulong.

At present, Liao Rulong is resting in a place called "Machang City". He has penetrated more than 6,000 miles into the Southern Wilderness and is fighting with the "Wolf God" tribe under the Golden Feather King's Court, because Machang City was originally the territory of the Wolf God tribe.

"General, I want to join the command of Captain Liao Rulong." Zhao Xing gave the answer. If he wanted to go, of course he would go to a stronger team. It just so happened that Lao Chen and Long Xiao were both there, and it was of course much better to have acquaintances around than to go to a completely unfamiliar team.

"The only seventh-rank military officer position under Liao Rulong is Junshuling. Under the other commanders, there is still the position of Jiujie Commander." Jia Pu said, "If you want to take charge of a battalion by yourself, I can also arrange for you to be the chief commander."

Zhao Xing shook his head: "My subordinates are not very talented, so it is better for me to get familiar with the environment first."

Lao Chen and his men attacked too deep. Although the military farmers could grow food, it was only for temporary consumption. Many supplies could not be grown quickly in the harsh environment.

That's why the military community built a city in the Southern Wilderness. The duty of Junshuling was to forge key treasures such as "medicines", "industrial equipment materials", "recovery supplements" and so on needed by the army, and organize people to deliver them to the army's location.

This position is very important. The large-scale retreat of Southern Wilderness is intended to extend the battle line in order to consume the power of Great Zhou.

There are too many opportunities to make merit under the Junshu Order, even more than in the previous wars, because the various tribes in the Southern Wilderness would launch surprise attacks on supply cities from time to time.

Furthermore, Zhao Xing went to support Chen Shijie in order to prevent this old man from dying in the Southern Wilderness.

"In that case, follow me!"

Jia Pu took Zhao Xing into the hall, where there stood a statue of a deity.

"Zhao Xing, listen to my orders!"

"My subordinate is here!"

"In compliance with the imperial decree of the military, you are appointed as the commander of Liao Rulong's army in the Shenwei Army, and in charge of the Shenwei Army's 92nd Grain City! You are responsible for the food and fodder supply of the army, effective immediately!" Jia Pu stretched out his hand, and a golden document emerged from the furnace under the statue. Jia Pu then stamped it with the seal of the commander-in-chief of the Shenwei Army.

"Yes, sir!" Zhao Xing knelt down before the statue and respectfully took the document.

The army needs to consult with the military community for the transfer of seventh-rank officers. If the order is too outrageous, such as sending a seventh-rank general to attack the camp of the Golden Feather King's Court, then the evil spirits in the military community will question the rationality of the order.

Of course, under normal circumstances, the military would not interfere.

After the process was completed, Jia Pu said seriously:

"Zhao Xing, Long Xiao, when you go to the Southern Wilds, don't bring disgrace upon the reputation of the Divine Might Army."

"Yes."

On June 20th, he arrived in Xi'er County to accept the appointment. On the same day, Zhao Xing and Long Xiao crossed the river with the appointment.

"Now, Yuncheng has become the hinterland of Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion."

The Swordfish flying boat shuttled through the sky, and Zhao Xing looked down.

He had been in seclusion for one month and twenty days, and the list of military merits for pacifying the barbarians had been open for eighteen days, and the changes were indeed significant.

Originally, Yuncheng was a border town of Jiutian Yingyuan Prefecture.

But at this time, one hundred and twenty new mountain cities had been opened up in the south of Yuncheng, and powerful people had changed the surrounding weather.

It seems that they are planning to turn this piece of land into mature land.

"To the south of Yuncheng, six counties have been demarcated. And this is no small feat. The boundary markers have been moved over there, and the construction of county-level temples has begun."

When the Great Zhou Dynasty expanded its territory, whether it was a virgin land or a cultivated land depended on whether it built a temple!

If there is no temple, or the specifications of the temple are not high, it proves that it is virgin land, which means that this land may experience repeated situations, or it may be easily conquered, or it may be abandoned in the future if the environment is found to be harsh.

"There are more than 3,000 cities and 30% of the land, and they are still being developed rapidly." Zhao Xing thought to himself, "The Southern Wilds want to lure the enemy deep into their territory and stretch out the battle line. The Great Zhou will build cities step by step to swallow up the land and shorten the supply line. No one is stupid."

"Look at the battle merit list."

Zhao Xing took out the ground mirror and opened the list of military achievements.

[Zhao Xing of the Divine Might Army: Rank 7, Lower]

【Battle Merit: 0】

[Ranking: 5518712]

The battle merit list was jumping in real time, and the next second, Zhao Xing dropped down several hundred places.

"I haven't done anything, so I'm at the bottom." Zhao Xing thought to himself, "Even a soldier is ranked higher than me, but as long as I go to the No. 92 Grain City, I will be able to move up quickly."

His starting point was the seventh rank equalization order. As long as he started to carry out 'daily military affairs', he could easily rise hundreds of thousands of ranks in a day.

"Look who's number one."

Zhao Xing flipped to the front row.

[First on the Battle Merit List: Lü Yuanwei of the Divine Thunder Army; Grade 1041015, Upper; Battle Merit: ]

"A million military achievements already?" Zhao Xing was secretly amazed, how fast it was. "The name Lv Yuanwei sounds familiar. The Divine Thunder Army... the son of a prince from Lvliang Prefecture?"

"Long Xiao." Zhao Xing pointed to the number one on the battle merit list, "Do you know who this Lü Yuanwei is?"

"Isn't it written here? It belongs to the Thunder God Army."

"..."

I really appreciate what you said.

"Is he from Luliangzhou?"

"How would I know? I don't pay attention to these things." Long Xiao shook his head. "That should be the case. The Shenlei Army ranked 116th in the last military performance. It's not easy to be a captain in such a strong army."

"Okay, go pet the cat." Zhao Xing knew it was useless to ask, so he started watching it himself.

He skipped the sixth rank and looked directly at the classification list of seventh rank generals. When promoting officials, they would ultimately follow the list to select the best.

Therefore, as long as Zhao Xing can rank among the top in the seventh rank, he can be promoted to the sixth rank in the phased rewards.

The same is true for the other grades.

In addition, military merits also involve rewards such as land, titles, ranks, and various other honorary titles.

For those of rank seven and above who have made outstanding military achievements, even their families will be rewarded.

For example, if Zhao Xing could get first place in the seventh-rank list, his wife or mother, according to the rank of "Mingfu", could be conferred the title of "Seventh-Rank Wuhua Ruren".

This kind of imperial decree can also increase lifespan, luck, the right to practice, and even help improve the Ju Yuan rank.

The fighting capabilities of the ladies of the first to fifth ranks are also very strong, because their ranks follow the positions of their husbands.

"There are so many unfamiliar names in the seventh rank?"

"Xia Jing, he's actually ranked outside the top 2,000."

Zhao Xing was a little surprised.

Xia Jing is now also a seventh-rank official, but his position on the military merit list is more than 2,800th.

However, Xia Jing's advancement was very fast. In the blink of an eye, he rose three places.

“The competition is huge.”

"The new generation of seventh-rank and the old seventh-rank are competing together."

When Zhao Xing saw Long Xiao, he immediately understood.

Because Long Xiao's ranking is 500 places higher than Xia Jing, he is a brave captain of the seventh rank.

Furthermore, combat effectiveness and the list of military merits are not exactly the same thing. If you are unlucky, you may be assigned to a tough task, and it is possible that you will not achieve any achievement for more than ten days.

In addition, military exploits do not only increase but also decrease.

If you lose the battle or suffer heavy losses, your military merits will be deducted.

"The military community has a rule that if more than half of the troops are killed or wounded during a war, no additional merit will be awarded. Instead, merit will be reduced depending on the situation, except in special circumstances."

Zhao Xing looked at the top ten rankings on the seventh-grade list again.

Outside the top 50, the rankings change frequently.

But the rankings for the top 20 are relatively stable and may not change for several days.

【Battle Merit List (Grade 7):】

[272142: Zhaoyuan Army, Qiyuan Army, rank , first rank, military merit ]

[250145: Yuanhua Army 'Yi Yue', rank , upper rank, military merit ]

[Three: Phantom Army 'Nangong Ye', rank 242514, upper, combat merit ]

[Four: Zhaoyuan Army'Pang Zheng', rank 240211, upper rank, military merit ]

【Five: Yuan Hua Army...】

……

[Ten: Wei Hong of the Tiger Dragon Army, rank 215475, upper rank, military merit ]

[Twenty: Helian Lie of the Lieyang Army, rank 172451, upper rank, military merit ]

It was not until the tenth place that Zhao Xing saw a familiar name.

"Wei Hong is Wei Yuan's fourth son. He is also a member of the Tiger Dragon Army."

"Helian Lie and Wei Yuan have both tried to recruit me before."

Zhao Xing remembered these two people. Wei Yuan and his teacher Tian Yan were old friends, so he naturally knew Wei Yuan. Wei Hong was Wei Yuan's fourth son.

His first three sons all died on the battlefield when they were developing Jiutian Yingyuan Prefecture in their early years.

"The armies in the other four caves are ranked higher than the eight armies in the Ten Sun Caves. Only the Tiger Dragon Army can be on par with the powerful armies in the other four caves. The Black Armor Army, the Fiery Sun Army, and the Navy Army are ranked lower."

"Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing are doing well in the Tiger Dragon Army. They are almost entering the top 10,000 of the seventh-grade list." Zhao Xing said secretly.

"Compared to the sixth rank, there are more seventh rank people. Being within ten thousand is already considered pretty good."

As for the sixth rank, based on the total number of sixth rank followers participating in the war from the five major cave heavens, the total number of sixth rank followers is probably only about 50,000.

The main reason is that there are more sixth-rank officers in strong armies. If they were placed in weak armies, the sixth-rank officers would be able to take charge of the power of the chief general. However, in strong armies, there have even been cases where the sixth-rank officers have been commanders. For example, in the Shenwei Army, the eighth-rank officers are generally commanders.

After flying across the river, the Swordfish Flying Boat continued to move forward at a very fast speed.

Because the Pingman Army was advancing on an all-round basis, the military was not impatient and the battle lines were all pushed forward together.

It is basically safe four thousand miles south of Yuncheng.

The only slightly dangerous area is four thousand miles away.

The progress of each army is different. It is very likely that the four royal courts of the Southern Barbarians will bypass the strong army and use point-to-point attacks to break through the defense line of the weak army.

In about four hours, Zhao Xing had crossed the safety line of 'four thousand miles'.

The weather began to change unpredictably.

Long Xiao also came out of the cabin: "Is there anything going on?"

"Nothing has been found yet."

Zhao Xing shook his head.

"Stop if you need to." Long Xiao said, "I wasted several days trying to find you. If you run into a young enemy, don't let him go. He will be a real merit."

"Don't worry, I'll watch over it for you." Zhao Xing smiled.

The combination of him and Long Xiao is that even if they encounter a team consisting entirely of seventh-grade warriors, as long as there are no more than 500 people, they can basically bully the weak ones.

Of course, if there is also a genius on the other side, that’s a different story.

However, it is unlikely to occur on a battle line of 4,000 to 8,000 miles.

Because the general policy of the Southern Wilds at this time is to fight and retreat at the same time, the four royal courts are unlikely to send out the kind of genius picked from a million. If they are killed, it will be very painful.

And flew thousands of miles safely.

At this time, Zhao Xing had already lowered the altitude of the Swordfish flying boat to a low altitude of less than 3,000 meters.

Because above three thousand meters, there are strong winds raging from time to time, and it is difficult for a seventh-grade Earthly Demon Realm cultivator to fight in such an environment.

The harsh environment in the Southern Wilds is not entirely due to innate reasons. There are also cases where the celestial wizards in the Southern Wilds actively cast spells to deliberately disrupt the weather and serve as a protective belt to hinder the progress of the Great Zhou.

The Swordfish Flying Boat is a fifth-order low-grade warship. When flying in the strong wind, its speed will decrease and the core driving materials of the warship will be consumed faster.

After half an hour, Zhao Xing descended to an altitude of one thousand meters again.

At this time, the battle line had reached more than 5,500 miles.

Originally, Zhao Xing could see many cities of the Great Zhou during the flight.

But now the number of cities has become smaller, and it takes a long time to see one if you follow the map.

Just when Zhao Xing thought he was about to arrive at Grain City No. 92 safely.

"Ok?"

Zhao Xing suddenly had an idea and looked towards the sky ahead.

"Long Xiao, come out quickly!"

"Shu~"

Long Xiao rushed out immediately.

"Is there a situation?"

"Have."

Zhao Xing pointed in a certain direction.

"Looking southeast, raising the altitude by a hundred meters, we can see traces of the enemy."

Long Xiao looked up, but saw nothing but loneliness.

Because he didn't see the enemy at all.

Zhao Xing did not explain, and immediately changed the direction of the flying boat, moving rapidly towards the southeast for ten miles, and flew a hundred meters higher, reaching the 'Gangfeng Layer'.

"Whoo~"

Zhao Xing used cloud magic to form a long and narrow cloud path, which stuck to a certain place in the sky.

"Change!"

Zhao Xingling's cloud technique turned into blood red - this was the 'blood cloud mimicry' in the Swallowing Cloud Technique.

"see it?"

Long Xiao became excited: "I see, it's the wake of the Nether Flame warship."

"Yes." Zhao Xing nodded. "The craftsmanship of the Southern Wilds' Dark Flame Warship is completely modeled after the Great Zhou's 'Splitting Flame Warship'. Its Yangfeng sails and Fire Cloud sails, as well as the Five Elements Flags, can cover the spacecraft's tracks, allowing it to remain invisible even in the strong wind."

"But the material used by Nanhuang is the dark rock, which has a flaw, which is that it will leave a shallow cloud of fog at the tail of the spacecraft, just like a ship sailing in the water, the water at the tail will be discharged outwards, making a lot of noise."

"Although Nanhuang has made many improvements and the traces have been well camouflaged, it is only a twenty-meter wide track now, but it can still be detected within an hour."

"If it exceeds this hour, I won't be able to detect the abnormality of this layer of strong wind, because it will be blown away by the strong wind very quickly."

Long Xiao was also a man who had fought many battles with Chen Shijie. As soon as Zhao Xing said it, he understood: "In other words, a foreign warship just flew over, less than an hour ago?"

Zhao Xing looked at the long track and said thoughtfully, "Judging from the width and density of the spreading clouds and mist, it should have been just half an hour ago."

Long Xiao immediately flipped through the map and slid his fingertips across it: "There is a military supply city within 300 miles to the southeast. It belongs to the Navy."

"Eight hundred miles ahead, there are three supply cities, one for the Zhenhai Army and the Xuanjia Army."

"Wow, these supply cities are of high quality. We have hit upon a big fish!"

Zhao Xing nodded and said, "That's right. If they dare to attack these three cities, there must be a seventh-grade leader. The Dark Flame Warship is a fifth-grade upper-grade ship that can accommodate three thousand-man battalions and carry giant city-breaking magic weapons... Long Xiao, do you want to do it?"

Long Xiao laughed and said, "You've already driven the boat so high, and you're still asking me if I want to do it? Of course I'll do it! But can we catch up?"

Zhao Xing said: "The Swordfish Flying Boat is a lightweight model, and its speed is its strength. The Dark Flame Warship cannot run too fast in order to hide its tracks. I can probably catch up with them when they reach the city of the Navy in half an hour."

Long Aotian on the side roared to the sky: "Meow~"

Long Xiao took off the big sword behind him and said, "Hahaha, look, Aotian asked us to charge, hurry up, don't save money at this time, it will be a great achievement if we destroy it! Quick, speed up the warship!"

　There are a lot of things to do during the holidays and I am too busy during the day. This chapter only has 6,000 words, so tomorrow's update will have 10,000 words.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)