Chapter 158: Military Affairs of the Soldier Realm, Begin! (Final Chapter of This Volume)

"Old Chen!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but laugh when he saw the travel-worn Chen Shijie. "You've finally arrived."

"Hey, there's still a big person like me here, and you just call him Old Chen?" Long Xiao was immediately unhappy.

"Haha, my eyes failed me, brave Captain, please come in, please come in." Zhao Xing said with exaggerated courtesy.

"Hmph, who cares to come to your place." Long Xiao shook the box on his back and ducked past Zhao Xing.

"Hiss, he can't really be angry, can he?" Zhao Xing looked at Chen Shijie.

"It's nothing." Chen Shijie smiled and shook his head. "He's just stubborn with his mouth."

"I thought you weren't coming, that you'd sold me off for a good price." Zhao Xing said, "You made me wait quite a while."

"The Tiger Jiao Army did indeed offer a good price." Chen Shijie said, "Want to know the specific price?"

"I do."

The two walked and talked.

"Wei Yuan came to me three times."

"The last time, the price he offered was one sixth-tier divine weapon, four fifth-tier divine weapons, and he was even willing to offer Fengqiu of the Celestial Timing Institute in exchange for you."

"That much?" Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, offering this price truly showed some boldness. The eyes of the strong were truly sharp.

"Honestly, this is a price that makes one's heart stir." Chen Shijie smiled. "One sixth-tier divine weapon, four fifth-tier divine weapons, all given to me, Chen Shijie, personally. And you're someone I brought in. As long as I personally nod, and with a Fengqiu added to compensate the Divine Might Army, Wu Hou would give Mingwu Hou this face."

"I'm worth this much, and you still won't sell?" Zhao Xing asked jokingly.

"I, Chen Shijie, do not sell comrades." Chen Shijie said lightly. "Believe it or not, even if you gave me a supreme treasure, I would never use this as a transaction, unless you yourself were willing to leave."

"How do you know I'm not willing to leave?" Zhao Xing countered.

"The little things I did in Gucheng, how could they count for so much favor?" Chen Shijie smiled. "Listen to what you told Wei Yuan—life-saving grace, grace of imparting the Dao, grace of appreciation... The moment I heard it, I knew you were trying to use me to refuse the Tiger Jiao Army."

"You have great ambitions. Though you have no arrogance, you have a proud backbone. Why must the path to the skies be given by others?"

"I don't even need to write and ask your thoughts again."

Zhao Xing laughed.

A thousand gold is easy to find; a true friend is hard to seek.

To be fair, Old Chen truly suits his own taste.

Walking into the room, he saw Long Xiao untying the box.

"Meow~"

A small head popped out of the box and called out to Long Xiao.

But as if sensing something, it suddenly looked at Zhao Xing.

"Meow? Meow-wu!"

With a whoosh, the mountain cat instantly darted into Zhao Xing's arms, rubbing against him frantically.

"The little mountain cat has grown this big." Zhao Xing lifted the mountain cat. Before entering the Ten Yang Grotto-heaven, the mountain cat and Zhao Xing had been separated.

At that time, the mountain cat's body length was no more than half a meter.

Now it was over a meter. Its fur was still gray-black patterned, but the coat was brighter. A small tuft of golden hair had appeared on the top of its forehead, and a line of purple-gold ran along the spine all the way to the tail.

Such a size was still not large, but Zhao Xing holding the mountain cat felt like holding a small mountain.

No wonder Long Xiao looked a bit strained carrying the box on his back—the thing alone weighs several hundred catties!

"This..."

Zhao Xing subconsciously pinched the mountain cat, then glanced at Chen Shijie with a surprised look.

The latter nodded: "Just what you're thinking. The mountain cat is already a seventh-grade exotic beast. It has passed the cub stage and entered the growth stage."

"The mountain cat's golden bones have just formed, its qi and blood are like mercury, its marrow is thunder-wood, its vitality is vigorous and strong. Raising it to this point nearly bankrupted me and Long Xiao."

How thoughtful, Chen Shijie is truly thoughtful.

If the mountain cat had been left in the Ten Yang Grotto-heaven, he probably couldn't have taken care of it this well, let alone allowed the mountain cat to transform into a seventh-grade.

Only Chen Shijie, this Army Agronomist, who mastered the method of awaiting transformation, combined with precious food, could allow the mountain cat to undergo a perfect advancement.

A seventh-grade possessing golden bones and thunder-wood marrow is simply rare!

In Zhao Xing's words, this is a perfect tempering of the mountain cat's attributes!

"What mountain cat, it has a name now!" Long Xiao discontentedly held the mountain cat in his arms. "Kid, I raised it this well, giving it a name isn't too much, is it?"

"Not too much." Zhao Xing smiled. "What's it called?"

Chen Shijie held his forehead.

"Old Chen, what do you mean, you still think the name I picked doesn't sound good?!" Long Xiao glared at Chen Shijie.

"I didn't." Chen Shijie waved his hand.

"Then why did you just introduce it as 'mountain cat' instead of calling its name?"

"..." Chen Shijie was speechless. Why are you so perceptive today?

Zhao Xing was completely baffled: "So what is it actually called?"

Long Xiao held up the mountain cat and said: "I gave it my own surname, and picked a domineering name."

"It's now called Long Aotian!"

Zhao Xing: "(⊙_⊙)"

Chen Shijie: "(；￣д￣)"

Mountain cat: "(＾w＾)"

Seeing the two's expressions, Long Xiao immediately stared at Zhao Xing with ill intent: "What, you have an opinion?"

Zhao Xing: "No no, how could I, it's indeed quite domineering."

The mountain cat was raised so well, let Long Aotian be Long Aotian.

He even gave the mountain cat his own surname, showing Long Xiao truly loves this little fellow.

If he showed even a hint of anything else, Long Xiao might just go berserk.

Besides, the mountain cat seemed quite happy hearing that name.

"Next, you are to carry out the military duties assigned by the Ministry of War. Do you understand?" Chen Shijie asked.

"Aotian, be good, go outside and play for a bit." Seeing that serious matters were about to be discussed, Long Xiao also let the mountain cat out.

"The military duties in the Soldier Realm are chain quests," Zhao Xing said. "Whatever number of links I complete, I'll be matched with a corresponding official rank."

"I understand. Based on my performance during training, completing three-link quests with each quest's rating no lower than Grade C will qualify me for the rank of Eighth-Rank Proper Military Agronomist," Zhao Xing said.

Yes, as long as Zhao Xing passed three quests now, even if all three were Grade C-Lower, he could directly become an Eighth-Rank Proper official.

For ordinary reserve agronomists, unless they were geniuses from the Four Great Academies, regardless of whether they themselves were Eighth-Rank, they all had to start from Ninth-Rank.

Because the standards of the Nine Garrisons were just that high. It was the same logic as how a Ninth-Rank capital official outranked a Ninth-Rank local official.

If one was a genius at the Four Great Academies level with excellent prior performance, the ranks would be, respectively, Eighth-Rank Lower, Eighth-Rank Upper, Eighth-Rank Proper Lower, Eighth-Rank Proper Upper.

Three-link quests, as long as one passed, the worst a Four Great Academies genius could get was still Eighth-Rank Lower.

"If you want to be Seventh-Rank Lower, you'll need to complete six quests from the Ministry of War, and each quest's rating must be no lower than Grade B."

"If you want to be Seventh-Rank Proper, you'll need to complete nine quests from the Ministry of War, and each quest's rating must be no lower than Grade A."

Ordinary people didn't have that many link quests to take. Six-link quests were only given to genius agronomists. Nine-link quests were basically only available to the original Grade-A geniuses—a mere seventy-five people qualified.

Out of ten thousand reserve recruits, only seventy-five people in the end qualified to take the Nine-Link quests in the Soldier Realm.

These people were already the best of the best, yet still only this small number qualified to take the quests.

Wanting to come out of training and immediately become a Seventh-Rank official? It wasn't that easy!

"You're already familiar with the procedure, so I won't say more," Chen Shijie said. "The locations are all in the Nine Heavens Response Palace. We can't interfere with the quest content—no Wang Hou can."

"But in other aspects, we can pull a few strings for you."

"Such as?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Personnel," Chen Shijie said. "You're not the only one being sent to the Nine Heavens Response Palace, and not the only agronomist either. We can work on where you're assigned."

Chen Shijie reached out a finger and drew a map on the ground: "Suppose this is the Nine Heavens Response Palace."

Then he cupped his hand, and a handful of gravel appeared in his palm: "This gravel represents the talents about to go to the Nine Heavens Response Palace—warriors, agronomists, mechanism masters, and ritualists."

"Sift sift~" Chen Shijie shook the sand loose. "When the Soldier Realm deploys talents, we can place people you're familiar with around you."

"Of course, this can only influence a general area at most. If you're lucky, someone you know might be in the same county, even the same military town."

"But if you're unlucky, they might be a whole commandry apart."

Zhao Xing smiled and said: "When it comes to luck, I've always been very lucky."

Chen Shijie tossed away the sand, clapped his hands, and said: "You can name your candidates."

Zhao Xing thought and said: "Military doctor Yuan Yang, mechanism master Wang Ji, ritualist Zhang Yi, warrior Xia Jing, no requirements for ritual cultivators. That's about it. Agronomists don't matter, I can handle it myself."

Long Xiao snorted: "That's about it? You really dare to think big, kid. Why don't you just ask for all the top talents to be handed to you?"

"That's not out of the question either."

"……"

Chen Shijie considered and said: "Xia Jing will have to depend on luck. He's a genius of the Xuanjia Army, and we have no way to influence his assignment location—not even on a large scale."

"The others—Wang Ji is from our Divine Might Army, the military doctor Yuan Yang is also uncertain, but Zhang Yi is no problem."

Why was Zhang Yi no problem? Because Zhang Yi wasn't an exceptionally outstanding talent. Zhao Xing simply felt they'd worked together before and were familiar with each other, so there was no need to switch.

As for other professions? Zhao Xing didn't care. Ritual cultivators were called strategists in the army—he had no use for them. For a small operation like his now, where would he need a strategist to cooperate?

Musicians, dancers, weavers—these were all casual acquaintances. Zhao Xing didn't know many familiar people in those fields.

The first help Old Chen gave was raising the mountain cat—a perfect stat reset.

The second help was personnel.

"This time when you go, your life will be in danger. We can't interfere in other matters, but Long Xiao will go with you. If your life is in danger, he'll act—he's your Dao Protector."

"Additionally, if you encounter an emergency or accident that exceeds your quest's difficulty cap, Long Xiao will also call for help. The entire Divine Might Army will mobilize, and there's no cap on the level of mobilization."

"Whatever level the enemy is, we'll send out someone stronger. If the Marquis can't handle it, he can call on even stronger people to act."

Chen Shijie said: "But you must also gauge your own strength. Don't force your way to a Grade-A rating. If there's no accident and you haven't exceeded the quest's difficulty cap, calling for help will lower your rating."

"I understand." Zhao Xing nodded. The Soldier Realm both trained these geniuses and didn't want them to die in vain—after all, the cost of cultivating them was right there.

Therefore, those like Zhao Xing who had performed outstandingly during training all had an invisible privilege: their life safety could receive the maximum guarantee.

In the various grotto-heavens of the Soldier Realm, had there been accidental deaths among past Grade-A Upper geniuses? There had been. But as long as they didn't court death compared to others, they were actually safer.

The third kind of help was treasures.

"Five-Element Scepter, Fourth-Tier Supreme."

"Bright Moon Shock Armor, Fourth-Tier Supreme."

"Ink Guard Jade Pendant, Fifth-Tier Lower."

"The Almanac, Straw Raincoat, Cloud-Stepping Boots, and Bamboo Hat have all been upgraded to Fourth-Tier Supreme for you. There are also some miscellaneous things—familiarize yourself with them on the road. They're all in this chest."

Long Xiao patted the chest with his hand.

Chen Shijie said: "A Swordfish Flying Boat has also been arranged for you, parked at the entrance of the Geography Academy. See if you have any other needs. The Marquis has authorized me—as long as it complies with the Soldier Realm's rules, anything the Divine Might Army's armory has, I can decide on."

"That's about enough." Zhao Xing flipped through the treasure list and took out the Earth Mirror: "Just get me another batch of seeds. Those are what put food on the table."

"Alright, I'll arrange it right away," Chen Shijie said. "It'll be done in at most two days. Is that enough time?"

"Enough." Zhao Xing smiled slightly. "I just need to say goodbye to Tian Hou."

"Then let's split up and act." Chen Shijie, without the slightest hesitation, took Long Xiao and began making arrangements for Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing, meanwhile, came to the Fuchun Garden.

Saying it was to bid farewell, he actually just wanted to mooch some things.

"Teacher, this student is grateful for your cultivation over this past year. Now that I am about to depart, I hope you will take care of your health." Zhao Xing's emotions were sincere, brimming with hot tears.

Tian Shan was so exasperated by him that he laughed: "What kind of farewell is this? You're trying to send your teacher off! Enough, get up. Everything has been prepared for you."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Zhao Xing immediately scrambled up from the ground with a grin, and saw Tian Shan hand over a box two chi long.

"Inside this box are three blank letters stamped with my secret seal, and three tokens of trust," Tian Shan said.

"Letters?" Zhao Xing was a bit puzzled — that's it?

"Kid, don't underestimate these three letters." Tian Shan smiled slightly. "This is the network my Tian family has accumulated over a thousand years. As long as you run into trouble and use them, you can solve the vast majority of problems."

"But remember, don't use them unless things are very, very difficult. Do you understand what I mean?"

Zhao Xing seemed to think of something, and solemnly took the box: "Yes, I understand. Thank you, Teacher, for the gift."

Tian Shan took one look at Zhao Xing's expression and knew he understood. He waved his hand, "Go on, work hard."

Zhao Xing bowed once more, then left carrying the box.

Watching Zhao Xing's departing figure, Tian Shan's eyes held a trace of anticipation and solemn and heavy: "Kid, promotion in the military is nowhere near as easy as you imagine. The great campaign against the barbarians is imminent, all kinds of factional struggles will surface, the Marquis of Boping has been stripped and then risen again, and military affairs are far more than just fighting battles. I hope you truly understand, and I hope you never have a day when you need to open this box…"

That's the third update for today. A new volume is coming, so I need to sort out the subsequent plot.

Zhao Xing officially begins his path of advancing through the Qi Luck official ranks.

Next volume, 'Nine Heavens Divine Court'! Good night, everyone!