Chapter 169: Southern Barbarians have witches, heaven's might descends

The flood season of the Canglan River is from April to July, and is divided into major and minor floods.

Zhao Xing left the Ten Suns Cave Heaven at the end of February, crossed the river on the 7th of March, and came to Yuncheng after the Awakening of Insects.

After that, he spent another five days reporting Shao Wanjie, this scourge, and enjoyed himself for three days at Shao Wanjie's mansion.

The patrol office of the prefectural city sent people to solve Shao Wanjie, and it only took two days from beginning to end.

Xia Jing's batch of martial artists arrived in Yuncheng to take office on March 16.

Mechanism masters, agricultural officials, priests, ritual cultivators, and doctors were replenished in batches, and by March 21, they were basically all here.

As for the Seventh Rank chief officials of each office, they were replenished on March 18.

The list of chief officials of each office is as follows:

Namely, Yuncheng County Magistrate "Duan Ren", Junior Seventh Rank

Yuncheng County Lieutenant "Xia Jing", Junior Seventh Rank (temporary)

Yuncheng County Priest "Shen Mingyu", Senior Seventh Rank

Yuncheng Water Control Commissioner "Zhao Xing", Junior Seventh Rank (temporary) [172-1

Yuncheng Office Workshop Commander "Wang Ji", Seventh Rank Lower (Temporary)

Yuncheng County Physician "Yuan Yang", Eighth Rank Upper (Temporary)

In the five offices mentioned above, apart from the chief officials, many Eighth and Ninth Rank assistant officials have been added, either through appointments or transfers.

Among them, the chief official of the temple, Shen Mingyu, was not transferred, so his rank is not temporary.

Duan Ren is also not from the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven, but was transferred from elsewhere by the Nine Heavens Response Bureau.

Anyone holding a temporary appointment is basically a reservist within the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven.

From the sixteenth to the nineteenth of the third month, Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Wang Ji, Yuan Yang, and others were busy hosting banquets. It wasn't for eating and drinking, but mainly to get to know people.

Because there were over two thousand officials sent to the various offices this time, even if they were familiar with the chief officials, there were many others they didn't know. Thus, these past few days were spent holding meetings under the guise of dining.

By the twentieth of the third month, the four chief officials—Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Wang Ji, and Yuan Yang—met again, bringing along their assistant officials, such as Han Bing, Che Shihai, Zhang Jie, Chen Fang, Hu Bing, Zhang Yi, Cao Shuang, and others, all of whom were Eighth Rank.

There were fewer people this time, but the key figures of Yuncheng, excluding Duan Ren and Shen Mingyu, were basically all here.

Previous banquets were within individual offices, but now that Zhao Xing, Xia Jing, Wang Ji, and Yuan Yang were meeting and bringing their Eighth Rank assistants, it was clear they were going to discuss the path forward.

Zhao Xing had planned the meeting agenda in advance, and it was presided over by the master of ceremonies, Zhang Yi.

This method of conducting meetings was quite unique, but those present were basically used to it, because this was how Zhao Xing conducted large-scale drills in the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven—chief official meetings, expanded assistant official meetings, and main agenda items—which were quite efficient.

Zhang Zhong, Jiang Xi, and He Fengnian were also brought along by Zhao Xing. Seeing so many chief officials gathered, and with Zhang Yi, an Eighth Rank priest, being the first to speak, they found it very novel and immediately pricked up their ears to listen carefully.

"...The specific tasks for everyone in the five offices differ by profession, but the general direction is the same."

"Only those who originally held Grade A status in the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven have tasks with the highest number of rings; I have forty-six of them here in Yuncheng."

"The more rings a task has, the more detailed the intelligence on the military realm. I have summarized all this intelligence over the past few days. Everyone, please open the first document on the left side of your desk and take a look to see if there are any inaccuracies or omissions." After Zhang Yi finished speaking, he returned to his seat.

According to Zhao Xing's requirements, the first item of this meeting was the summary of personnel intelligence and the sharing of task content for each office.

The tasks for Warriors, Agronomists, Mechanists, Ritualists, and Priests were bound to be different.

People had arrived, but if they couldn't be twisted into a single rope and their task goals weren't aligned, there would be no point in huddling together for warmth.

Zhao Xing also picked up the document to check it. Although he had done similar ring-based tasks in his past life, it didn't necessarily mean this time would be the same.

However, after a rough browse, he felt relieved.

Regarding the third-ring task, although the content for each profession differed, the assessment standards and task direction were all related to war and pacifying the barbarians.

"Brother Xia, Brother Chen... do you have to kill thirty Eighth Rank barbarian soldiers to pass this third ring with a Grade A evaluation?" Zhao Xing first looked at the tasks of Grade A-plus geniuses like Xia Jing and Chen Fang.

"Yes," Xia Jing said. "To get the highest evaluation, among these Eighth Rankers, the number of mid-stage and late-stage Spirit Bridge alien race members cannot be less than fifty percent."

"Those of us from the Azure Dragon Office can fight one against a hundred; the number of kills is actually not difficult," Chen Fang said. "A passing Grade C evaluation is just killing two Spirit Bridge realm enemies. You tell me, how could that be hard? The main worry is not being able to find enough to kill."

Zhao Xing nodded.

Yes, it was currently just war preparation; both sides were at most training troops and probing. Large-scale conflicts hadn't broken out, so the difficulty was that there weren't enough people to kill.

Although the Nine Heavens Response Bureau was south of the Canglan River, this buffer zone was still a long distance from the fortified areas of the Southern Barbarian kingdoms.

To kill enemies, one either had to go deep into enemy territory or rely on luck.

If you were lucky, you wouldn't need to go deep and might complete the task quickly; if you were unlucky, you might not encounter any within half a year.

"Our Physician tasks are a bit more complicated," Yuan Yang said. "The third-ring task is scored based on the combat attrition of officials and civilians."

"I must treat the injuries of officials and civilians in Yuncheng caused by combat. The more combat attrition there is, the lower my evaluation will be."

Cao Shuang also looked at the Physician's task and felt confused: "Then if no fighting happens and not a single person dies, wouldn't you just lie there and get the highest evaluation?"

Yuan Yang said: "A physician's ideal is to wish for dust to gather on the medicine shelves, but in reality, that's impossible."

"The Southern Barbarian alien race occupies the upper reaches, and they carry out natural disaster strikes on the Nine Heavens Response Bureau downstream. The diseases brought by natural disasters are terrifying. Even if the officials can withstand them, the commoners cannot. That's when I'll have plenty of work."

"Besides, you Warriors can't possibly not go to the front lines to kill the enemy."

Wang Ji rubbed his shiny forehead: "The Heavenly Workshop has a lot to do as well—defending the city, repairing and replacing siege equipment, building magic arrays... Sigh... the hardest part is what the Agronomist Office has dumped on us. This mess in Yuncheng hasn't been repaired in years. I'm afraid I'll go bald again."

The workload of the Agronomist Office was indeed heavy; after all, water management was the top priority. Most of the third-ring tasks Wang Ji rolled were centered around the Agronomist Office's water management deployment.

Zhao Xing smiled and cupped his hands: "Sorry, Master Wang. I'll have Yuan Yang prescribe you more hair-growth medicine another day. Whatever good food you want to eat, just say it, and I'll get it for you!"

"Can you get Master Wang a Southern Barbarian woman?" Hu Bing joked. "Master Wang mentioned this idea before."

"Get lost!" Wang Ji said, his face turning red. "When did I ever say that? You bastard, you were watching Zhang Jie take a dump earlier."

"Master Wang!" Zhang Jie said anxiously. "Why are you bringing that up for no reason!"

"Hahahaha!" The small parlor was suddenly filled with a cheerful atmosphere.

"Quiet! Everyone is off-topic!" Zhang Yi solemnly tapped the table. "Meeting continues, let's start the second agenda item."

The first agenda item was determining the direction, and everyone's task direction was consistent.

Then the second agenda item was where to start.

Zhao Xing spoke first: "Yuncheng relies on the Canglan River and has many tributaries passing through; water management should be the top priority."

"If we want to defend against the enemy outside our borders, we cannot let the Southern Barbarians steal our home."

"Once a natural disaster hits Yuncheng and causes major damage, everyone's tasks, including mine, will be ruined. Therefore, preventing disasters in Yuncheng is the first priority. Do you all agree?"

"Agreed." Xia Jing was the first to express his stance. Zhao Xing's third-ring task was to deal with the flood season of the Canglan River and natural disasters. If the Agronomist Office couldn't spare the effort, he, Xia Jing, would never dare to enter the Fengming Mountains to hack at barbarians without a military agronomist.

Without Zhao Xing, this military agronomist, what would they eat? Taking a step back, Xia Jing, as the County Lieutenant, also had the duty to protect Yuncheng, so of course he supported it.

"Agreed." Yuan Yang was also the first to express his stance. If natural disasters couldn't be prevented, his third-ring task would also be ruined. After a natural disaster, epidemics would be everywhere. If he really let Yuncheng be hit by a natural disaster, he could just pack up and leave.

Wang Ji naturally agreed as well, because his task was strongly linked to Zhao Xing's. Putting Zhao Xing's task first meant putting his own task first.

"Agreed." The others also expressed their approval one after another.

Zhang Yi raised his own concerns: "I am not the chief official of the temple; Shen Mingyu is. Liu Jingwen is also not the County Magistrate. If he and I unite the subordinates to bypass Shen Mingyu and Duan Ren, it would be contrary to ritual and might lower our evaluation."

Everyone's gaze turned to the young man sitting upright below, wearing a high crown and scholar's robes.

Liu Jingwen was a Ritualist and a military strategist. He wasn't very outstanding during training and didn't even have Grade B status in the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven, just a Grade C-plus. However, during the last large-scale drill, he had acted alongside Zhao Xing and Xia Jing. Many Ritualists were sent over, but Liu Jingwen was the only familiar face among the "strategic generals."

Zhang Yi had entered the Four Saints Academy of the Priests at the end of training.

But both of their Daos had to follow "ritual." Zhao Xing and Xia Jing could be reckless, but they couldn't. If they did something out of line, the power of their spells would decrease. Violating the ritual in their hearts could, in serious cases, even lead to a regression in their cultivation base.

"This is a small problem," Xia Jing said. "Just let those two hand over all government affairs to the two of you."

"Will they?" Liu Jingwen said hesitantly. "Shen Mingyu is one thing; he was negligent in the Shao Wanjie case, so he can't do anything in Yuncheng anyway. But Duan Ren was just transferred here to take office."

"I say they will," Xia Jing said with a light laugh. "Forgot to tell you all, Duan Ren was a clerk in the 241st year of the Dingxin calendar and only became a regular official in the first year of Jingxin. He was a Ninth Rank County Magistrate in Huangyan Commandery. He couldn't enter the ranks for five years before that, but after serving in Huangyan Commandery for three years, he quickly rose to Eighth Rank Lower and was transferred elsewhere."

Everyone was confused, and Xia Jing immediately added:

"Huangyan Commandery is my father's fief."

Everyone: "..."

"Damn it, Brother Xia is showing off!" Chen Fang slapped the table.

"Brother Xia, why didn't you say earlier that Duan Ren was once your family's vassal?"

"Report! Someone is cheating!"

"Brother Xia, you didn't want a guardian, so you brought him instead?"

"Goodness, you anticipated that you would be the County Lieutenant, so you brought a County Magistrate along. You can quickly seize military and political power wherever you go."

"This person cannot be kept for long!"

"Brother Xia should be punished by eating a stone of hemp-fish fruit!"

"Ugh... Zhang Jie, I really want to tear this mouth of yours apart!"

"I'm dizzy, I didn't say that! It was Chen Fang imitating the speech! You know this kid got a perfect score in language class."

"Quiet!!"

Zhang Yi banged the table with a spell to make everyone quiet down.

Zhao Xing couldn't help but laugh as he watched this scene.

Why did he want to get Xia Jing on board? Because Grade A-plus geniuses could have existences similar to guardians.

And with Xia Jing's background, the range he could choose from was much larger. A transfer like Duan Ren's would have been impossible to arrange so perfectly if Xia Jing weren't the heir to a Marquis's estate.

"My father, the Marquis..." This sentence carried weight everywhere in Pinghai Province!

Just as Zhao Xing and his group were discussing the grand plan for Yuncheng.

Three thousand miles to the south, somewhere in the Fengming Mountains.

The clouds and mist drifted away, and light shone down on a group of giant stone buildings below.

In the center of the building complex was a delicately carved giant stone palace. Outside the palace stood two statues of beast-headed, human-bodied figures holding staffs, their aura solemn.

The palace was full of a sense of weight. Beside the palace were many beast-skin military tents. Many sturdy barbarian soldiers were patrolling with sharp weapons, and many exotic beasts were imprisoned in the camp, their roars rising one after another.

From time to time, people wearing totem robes with mysterious patterns painted on their faces shuttled through, bowing their heads and chanting.

Whenever these people passed by, the barbarian warriors on both sides of the road would stop and salute, their expressions extremely respectful.

Because these people were the most noble "Witches" in the tribe.

Following the Witches' actions, faint light radiated from under their feet, and lush green vegetation suddenly grew from the barren ground.

Soon, barbarian soldiers came to harvest this forage as food for the exotic beasts.

One young Witch, wearing a black satin robe and a helmet decorated with feathers, with a black cloak of the same style as the robe tied to his back.

He exuded a noble temperament as he walked into the giant stone palace in the center.

As he walked through the passage of the giant stone building, the entire space seemed to be breathing, presenting a strange and ancient charm.

A moment later, this young Witch arrived inside the palace. The interior was spacious, with only a throne flashing with purple light placed there. A massive figure sat on the purple throne.

The young Witch saluted respectfully: "Greetings, Envoy of the Pale God."

"Zhaoke," the figure on the purple throne spoke, the voice like a great bell. "The Sacred Mountain has ordered that the Witches of your 'Hana' force are responsible for the descent of Heaven's Might in the Nine Heavens Response Bureau area. It must be completed within one month."

As soon as the words fell, the armrest of the throne shot out a beam of light, and the purple light condensed to form a map. The phantom of the map flashed before Zhaoke's eyes.

"Did you remember?"

"Remembered." Zhaoke looked up and carefully examined the map, then stroked his chest and bowed his head. "The Hana force will certainly not fail the Envoy's order."

"Whoosh~" The purple figure turned into a stream of light, and together with the throne, flew out of the passage, disappearing into the sky in the blink of an eye.

Zhaoke quickly replicated the map and found the Great Zhou version of the Nine Heavens Response Bureau map to compare, then his gaze fell on a certain place on the map.

"Yuncheng," Zhaoke muttered. "The target area for the natural disaster strike is here."

The guaranteed second update will be around 12:30.