Chapter 172

Zhao Xing launched the largest Cloud-Swallowing Art in history.

From the moment Xia Jing and the others took their positions, his Cloud-Swallowing Art had never ceased, continuously devouring the mist and Qi in the sky.

After covering Cloud City, it expanded to the surrounding areas, primarily spreading south of the Canglan River.

Theoretically, the Cloud-Swallowing Art has no limit; only the caster has limits.

For days, Zhao Xing had been casting the Cloud-Swallowing Art, spreading it five hundred miles into the depths of the Southern Barbarian lands.

Thanks to the existence of the Canglan River, there was no shortage of cloud Qi, allowing Zhao Xing to maintain the spell with ease.

The reason Cloud City is called Cloud City is that clouds hang over it all year round.

The Cloud-Swallowing Art Zhao Xing cast was not a solid, unbroken block.

Except for Cloud City, which he covered completely, he only extended "tentacles" in other directions.

The Cloud-Swallowing Art constructed "Cloud Paths" within the natural cloud layers.

Flying ships traveling through these "Cloud Paths" were guaranteed a high degree of safety and concealment.

"You prepared so early." Xia Jing looked at the cloud-mountains, and between these cloud-mountains, there were "Cloud Paths" connecting them.

Even for a Shaman who also knew how to control clouds, it was difficult to detect, because Zhao Xing’s cloud control was so sophisticated that it was no different from the clouds in the natural world.

"In every direction, there are five hundred miles of Cloud Paths."

"The Cloud Paths in the sky form a strategic transportation network."

"The Martial Office can depart from Cloud City on flying ships and quickly reach five hundred miles outside the city, in any direction."

Xia Jing couldn't help but feel a bit emotional; he was truly lucky.

Being assigned to Cloud City and meeting Zhao Xing—wasn't that luck?

If it were any other Agricultural Officer, they would probably be busy chasing bugs right now.

From the end of the Zi hour, when he sent messages to friends he knew, it was now the beginning of the Yin hour.

Some people had already woken up and replied to Xia Jing after seeing the messages.

You wouldn't know until you looked, and once you looked, you were shocked.

Along the Canglan River south of the Nine Heavens Response Prefecture, over a hundred locations had already been hit by disasters.

The types of natural disasters varied; some encountered floods, some earthquakes, others ice and snow... but the places hit the hardest were all caused by Insect Shamans.

In one county, seventy percent of the officials and civilians had already died!

Xia Jing heard this from others; the martial artist friend he had sent a message to had already sacrificed himself in the disaster.

"Finally found them."

Zhao Xing suddenly opened his eyes, stood up quickly, grabbed the flying ship's rudder, changed direction, and dove downward.

"Prepare for battle!" Xia Jing shouted, and the others were also eager to fight.

From the fifth quarter of the Zi hour when they started searching, it had been nearly an hour and a half.

The Shamans' casting range wasn't that far; it was just that they hadn't found them until now.

Now, there was finally news.

"Master Wang!"

"Understood." Wang Ji immediately understood, quickly activated the stealth array on the Tiger-Dragon flying ship, and then shouted into the array cabin: "God-Breaking Crossbows, prepare!"

"Crossbow Number One, in position!"

"Crossbow Number Three, in position!"

"Crossbow Number Ten, in position!"

Many voices responded immediately.

"Spider-Net, prepare to launch!"

"Net Number One, in position!"

"Net Number Three, in position!"

"Net Number Ten, in position!"

Hearing Wang Ji give the order, Zhao Xing opened the window and poked his head out from the operation cabin: "Master Wang, there are only ten enemies; you don't need to use the God-Breaking Crossbows, do you?"

The window of the rear cabin opened, and a half-bald head poked out: "Hehe, this is just for deterrence."

Zhao Xing said helplessly: "I know the brothers are feeling stifled, but don't get too excited; we don't have many God-Breaking Crossbow bolts in Cloud City."

Wang Ji waved his fingers in front of his brow: "Don't you worry, the God-Breaking Crossbow bolts are recoverable. Besides, I'll forge as many as you use up; we have to let the brothers have some fun today!"

After saying this, Wang Ji's head retracted with a whoosh.

Xia Jing was organizing the squad on the other side of the cabin.

"Brothers, did you hear what Master Wang said?"

"Those Mechanists want to do our job; can you agree to that?"

"No!"

Xia Jing laughed: "Good, in a moment, when Agricultural Officer Zhao lowers the flying ship to three hundred meters, we jump. Let's save some crossbow bolts for the Heavenly Craft Workshop."

They were crazy, all driven crazy from being cooped up.

The first two rounds of tasks mainly tested their wits and courage. They had finally reached the third round, but after analyzing the task content, it was all about being on the receiving end of attacks.

Now that Zhao Xing had created an opportunity, everyone couldn't hold back anymore.

They all wanted to let loose and charge into the fray.

"Zhao Xing, how about our Agricultural Supervision..." Cao Shuang rubbed his hands.

Zhao Xing looked back and saw that Cao Shuang, Che Shihai, and the other military agricultural officers were all eager to fight, and even the usually cold Han Bing couldn't hold back.

"Go and provide wind for the martial artists."

"Don't let them fall to their deaths."

"You got it!"

The military agricultural officers quickly stood on the deck.

Zhao Xing smiled.

Whether the military agricultural officers took action or not didn't really matter, because the third round was just to prevent natural disasters from damaging Cloud City.

They wanted to take action mainly to earn some credit and leave an impression on the military bigwigs monitoring the area.

There were only ten people... it wasn't enough to go around.

Zhao Xing himself had no intention of taking action, because there were over five hundred people on the Tiger-Dragon flying ship!

"What is saturation bombing..."

Zhao Xing nudged the rudder, causing the Tiger-Dragon flying ship to hover in the low-altitude mist.

At this moment, they were only three hundred meters from the ground.

"Swish, swish, swish~"

Xia Jing, Chen Fang, Hu Bing, Zhang Jie, and other martial artists immediately jumped off the deck.

"Whoosh~"

A gust of wind surrounded them, offsetting the wind resistance, and they descended silently and at high speed.

But they weren't faster than the Mechanists.

Before Xia Jing jumped.

The Spider-Net had already been shot out from the bottom of the flying ship.

"Hum~"

A large net as fine as silkworm silk descended from the sky, enveloping Zhaoke.

Zhaoke only reacted when the large net had descended to a height of fifty meters.

Because the flying locusts he had released into the sky to monitor were at an altitude of two hundred meters, but the speed of the Spider-Net was too fast.

By the time his flying locusts were sliced to death and he received the feedback, the Spider-Net had already descended to a height of fifty meters.

Although the flying locusts were not known for their defense, their carapaces were comparable to third-tier top-grade defensive armor.

Being sliced into a dozen thin pieces silently, Zhaoke immediately realized what kind of attack he was facing.

"It's the Heavenly Spider-Net!"

"At least a fourth-tier Heavenly Spider-Net!"

Zhaoke didn't even have time to shout a warning; he immediately made the move most beneficial to himself—bending over.

Because the hardest treasure on his body was the insect box on his back.

The rectangular insect box unfolded instantly, forming a shield.

Zhaoke curled up on the ground, frantically activating the mechanism on the fourth-tier insect box.

At the same time, he released twelve phantom insects in all directions.

"Chirp~"

With Zhaoke as the center, twelve streams of green smoke were ejected in all directions, and Zhaoke's image condensed within the smoke.

Only the skin was covered in scales and downy hair.

The Great Zhou's Heavenly Spider-Net was often accompanied by tracking strikes from Spirit-Breaking Crossbows.

Using the life's Five Elements Qi to lock onto the target, Zhaoke's phantom insects could confuse the Spirit-Breaking Crossbows' attacks.

"Click, click, click, click~"

The Heavenly Spider-Net rubbed against the insect box, sparks flying.

Of the remaining ten insect shamans, only three reacted and made the same move as Zhaoke.

The other seven were stunned on the spot, and in the next moment, their bodies scattered, turning into chunks of flesh.

"Split up and run!!!"

Zhaoke only shouted this now.

With a life-and-death crisis at hand, Zhaoke had no room for other thoughts; his only thought now was to run!

When insect shamans encounter the Great Zhou's patrol soldiers, they can only run; don't even think about fighting head-on.

Their close-combat ability was too fragile.

Not to mention that in terms of sharp weapons, the Great Zhou had always crushed the Southern Barbarians.

Zhaoke was the young patriarch of the Hana tribe, but his insect box was only at the fourth-tier top-grade level, and the other elders only had one fourth-tier low-grade item each.

But as long as they were Great Zhou soldiers who dared to cross the border to patrol, their flying ships were bound to be equipped with various fourth-tier sharp weapons, and they were large fourth-tier divine weapons!

It was possible that the equipment the soldiers wore was even more luxurious than that of this young patriarch!

"Shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo, shoo!"

The moment after Zhaoke shouted, crossbow bolts descended from the sky.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!"

The crossbow bolts were three meters long, their tips were specially made gold drill bits, the interior was hollow, and there was a wind-travel array running; the tips would rotate after being launched, increasing armor-piercing capability.

The crossbow bolts were three-stage; the middle and rear sections, besides providing power, could also explode to change the direction of the tip, used to track and hit the enemy.

The Spirit-Breaking Crossbow was the embodiment of the peak craftsmanship of the Great Zhou Ministry of Works; even a small third-tier crossbow bolt, this kind of craftsmanship could not be imitated by the Southern Barbarian tribes.

"Young Master!"

"Pfft!"

"Boom, boom!"

The other three shamans were directly nailed to the ground by the crossbow bolts, their entire bodies buried three feet into the earth.

Only Zhaoke, who reacted first, because he activated the insect box and used phantom insects, caused the crossbow bolts to land around him without hitting him directly.

But after landing, an air explosion occurred, and the shockwave directly flipped Zhaoke over.

"What! How can the Spirit-Breaking Crossbow have such power!"

Zhaoke's heart was shaken.

The soft armor on his body was directly cut open by the fragments, and deep bloodstains reaching the bone were exposed under his skin.

However, insects quickly crawled out from his muscles, sticking together to repair these wounds.

"It's not a third-tier Spirit-Breaking Crossbow, it's a fourth-tier God-Breaking Crossbow! Hiss!"

Zhaoke looked at the fragments on the ground, and his whole person fell into despair.

He couldn't help but look up.

He saw five hundred figures descending from the sky around him, and there were dozens of figures in the sky brewing gale winds and heavenly thunder.

Heavenly Spider-Net clearing the way, God-Breaking Crossbows firing in volleys, plus so many martial artists and mages.

What is meant by having no way to heaven and no door to enter the earth?

"I, Zhaoke, what virtue and ability do I have..."

Any martial artist's aura was not below his.

Zhaoke fell into despair in an instant.

"Damn it, these barbarians were all shot dead by Master Wang's people; is this the only one left?"

"I'm convinced, tell Master Wang not to waste money next time."

"Five hundred brothers, this jump was in vain!"

"..."

Zhaoke listened to the noisy voices around him, and only then did he realize what he should do.

He immediately wanted to commit suicide.

No one can stop an insect shaman from committing suicide.

Unless—

"Shoo, shoo, shoo!"

Eighteen silver needles sank into Zhaoke's body.

In an instant, all the life-bound insects in Zhaoke's body were sealed, especially the heart insect; it had originally opened its mouthparts, wanting to pierce its master's heart, but was accurately nailed to death by the silver needles.

"You... Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles!"

Zhaoke lay on the ground, his body twitching; this was because the magic insects in his body had lost control.

"Eh? Quite knowledgeable." Yuan Yang walked over in surprise, "This Southern Barbarian actually recognizes the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles; looks like a big fish."

Zhao Xing also followed down at this time, looking Zhaoke up and down: "Although this person's realm is average, his status is definitely not low; search him first."

Xia Jing waved his hand, and three big men who had practiced the Mysterious Turtle Secret Technique rushed over and stripped Zhaoke naked.

"What's his background?"

"Should be the leader of a small tribe, or the leader's son."

The others took out earth mirrors to search for relevant clues.

Zhao Xing looked at the patterns on Zhaoke's face and chest, and compared them with the skin and clothing on his body.

He immediately said: "The feather mark proves that he should be under the rule of the Golden Feather Royal Court; the three silver moons indicate that their tribe is directly managed by a 'Silver Moon Lord', and the three silver moons represent the leader's rank, which is also a symbol of power. Silver Moon-level lords are usually Earth Shamans."

"As for his own tribe, it should be called the Hana tribe."

Xia Jing knew Zhao Xing was right as soon as he saw Zhaoke's reaction.

However, he was a bit puzzled: "How come I didn't find it, where did you see it?"

Zhao Xing laughed: "The tribe's history is not long, probably only three or four hundred years; the Great Zhou military world is too lazy to update the situation of such small tribes. The Hana tribe is recorded in the county annals of fifteen counties in the Nine Heavens Response Prefecture; it's normal that you don't know."

"Do you really only sleep for one hour a day?" Wang Ji looked at the top of Zhao Xing's head, "No wonder you have time to read so many things, but why aren't you losing hair?"

Zhao Xing smiled it off and turned to look for someone.

"Chen Fang, where is Chen Fang?"

"I'm here." Chen Fang ran over eagerly.

"You have learned the Southern Barbarian common language the best, so he is handed over to you." Zhao Xing pointed at Zhaoke, "Don't kill him; although the Hana tribe isn't a big fish, it's a medium one... Hey? Sorry Brother Xia, I misspoke."

"It's fine, it's fine." Xia Jing covered his nose and mouth, his throat bobbing, "I'm already a bit used to it..."

"Understood." Chen Fang said, "We need to interrogate this kid to find the location of his tribe, right?"

"Yes." Zhao Xing nodded.

There is one bad thing about fighting the Southern Barbarians; except for a few alien races that have established nations, the other tribes have no fixed territory at all and run around in the Southern Wilderness.

Because the weather is unpredictable, the vast majority of barbarian tribes do not have "Shamans" who can control the weather and can only keep changing places.

This leads to the military world being unable to provide them with accurate maps, and they can only rely on finding people to kill themselves.

"Leave it to me." Chen Fang patted his chest.

"No, just leave the translation to you." Zhao Xing said, "Interrogation and such things should still be left to Zhang Yi and the military doctors."

"Don't let him die before we've dug out everything; the brothers' next tasks all depend on him."

"Understood!" Chen Fang picked up Zhaoke and carried him onto the flying ship.

On the way back, Zhao Xing also received a message reminder sent by the military world.

"The third round of tasks is completed, hmm? Temporarily changed from the seventh rank to the official seventh rank, can I be promoted?" Zhao Xing looked at the message in the earth mirror with some surprise.

Guaranteed second update.

No update today, adjusting my schedule.

Also, the chapter comments are not displayed on Qidian, it will be fine in two days.