Chapter 175: Third Ring Mission Complete, Promotion to Seventh Rank?

Zhao Xing deployed the largest Cloud Art in history.

From the moment Xia Jing and the others took their positions, his Cloud Devouring Art had not stopped, continuously devouring the cloud-mist qi from the sky.

After covering Yuncheng, it expanded outward, mainly spreading south of the Canglan River.

Theoretically speaking, the Cloud Devouring Art has no limit when deployed—only the caster has a limit.

Over the past days, Zhao Xing's Cloud Devouring Art had already stretched five hundred li deep into the Southern Barbarian territory.

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

Why is Yuncheng called Yuncheng? Precisely because clouds hang in the sky year-round.

The Cloud Devouring Art Zhao Xing deployed was not a solid, dense mass either.

Apart from Yuncheng, which he covered absolutely, in every other direction he merely extended tendrils.

Within the natural cloud layers, the Cloud Devouring Art constructed numerous 'Cloud Paths.'

Flying boats穿梭 within the 'Cloud Paths,' with greatly enhanced safety and concealment.

"You really prepared early." Xia Jing gazed at cloud mountains one after another, with 'Cloud Paths' linking them together.

Even shamans who could likewise wield Cloud Arts would find it hard to detect, because Zhao Xing's Cloud Control Art was extraordinarily skillful—utterly indistinguishable from natural clouds.

"Every direction has five hundred li of Cloud Path."

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

"The Martial Division can depart from Yuncheng by flying boat and swiftly reach any point five hundred li beyond the city—in any direction."

Xia Jing could not help feeling a touch of emotion; he truly was fortunate.

Being assigned to Yuncheng and meeting Zhao Xing—was that not fortune itself?

If some other Agricultural Official had been assigned, he'd probably be chasing bugs right now.

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

Some people were already up, and upon seeing the message had replied to Xia Jing.

One look and it was a shocking sight.

South of the Nine Heavens Response Palace, along the counties and commanderies of the Canglan River, a hundred or so places had already been struck by disaster.

The types of natural disaster varied—some suffered floods, some earthquakes, some ice and snow weather... but the worst-hit areas were all caused by Bug Shamans.

In one county, seven-tenths of its officials and commoners were already dead!

Xia Jing only learned from others that the martial artist friend he had sent a message to had already perished in the disaster.

"Finally found it."

Zhao Xing suddenly opened his eyes, swiftly rose, seized the helm of the flying boat, adjusted its heading, and dove downward.

"Prepare for battle!" Xia Jing shouted, and the rest of them were also rubbing their fists in anticipation.

From the fifth quarter of the Zi hour when the search began, it had been nearly one and a half hours now.

Shamans' spell range wasn't that far; they simply hadn't been found until now.

Now, finally, there was news.

"Wang Gong!"

"Understood." Wang Ji immediately understood, swiftly activated the stealth formation on the Tiger Jiao flying boat, then shouted from the formation cabin: "God-Breaking Crossbows, ready!"

"Crossbow One in position!"

……

"Crossbow Three in position!"

……

"Crossbow Ten in position!"

Immediately, many voices responded.

"Net launchers, ready!"

"Net One in position!"

"Net Three in position!"

……

"Net Ten in position!"

Hearing Wang Ji's command, Zhao Xing opened the window, poked his head out from the control cabin: "Wang Gong, there are only ten enemies—do you really need to bring out the God-Breaking Crossbows?"

A window in the rear cabin opened, and a half-bald head poked out: "Hehe, isn't this just for deterrence?"

Zhao Xing said helplessly: "I know the brothers are itching for action, but don't get too worked up—we don't have many God-Breaking Crossbow bolts in Yuncheng either."

Wang Ji waved a hand across his brow: "Just you rest assured, the God-Breaking Crossbows are reusable. Besides, however many we shoot off I'll make up for you—today of all days, the brothers have to have their fun!"

Having said that, Wang Ji's head whooshed back inside.

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

"Brothers, heard what Wang Gong said?"

"Those Mechanism Masters want to take our job away—will you allow it?"

"Not a chance!"

Xia Jing laughed: "Good. In a moment, when Agricultural Official Zhao brings the flying boat down to three hundred meters, we jump. Let's save some crossbow bolts for the workshop."

They've gone mad—cooped up until they're all mad.

The first two rings of the mission mainly tested the mind and tested courage. It was hard-won to reach the third ring, but once the mission content was analyzed, it was all passive taking of hits.

Now that Zhao Xing had created an opportunity, none of them could hold back any longer.

All of them wanted to unleash themselves and go on a wild killing spree.

"Zhao Xing, should our Agricultural Supervisor..." Cao Shuang rubbed his hands together.

Zhao Xing glanced back and saw that Cao Shuang, Che Shihai, and the other Military Agricultural Officials were all rubbing their fists in anticipation; even Han Bing, usually so cold, could hardly contain himself.

"Go give the martial artists some wind."

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

"Aye-aye!"

The Military Agricultural Officials quickly took their positions on the deck.

Zhao Xing smiled.

Whether the Military Agricultural Officials stepped in or not didn't really matter, because the third ring was only meant to stop natural disasters from damaging Yuncheng.

They wanted to act mainly to earn some merit and leave a good impression on the bigwigs of the Soldier Realm who were watching this place.

Only ten people… not nearly enough to go around.

Zhao Xing himself had no intention of acting, because there were over five hundred people on the Tiger Jiao Flying Boat!

"Now that's what you call saturation striking…"

Zhao Xing gave the helm a twist, bringing the Tiger Jiao Flying Boat to a hover in the low-altitude clouds.

At this point, it was only three hundred meters from the ground.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"

Martial artists like Xia Jing, Chen Fang, Hu Bing, and Zhang Jie immediately leapt off the deck.

"Whoosh~"

A current of wind wrapped around them, canceling out the wind resistance, and they descended in utter silence at extreme speed.

But they still couldn't outpace the Mechanism Masters.

Before Xia Jing even jumped.

The net had already shot out from the bottom of the flying boat.

"Hum~"

A great net, fine as silkworm thread, descended from the sky, shrouding toward Zhao Ke.

Zhao Ke only reacted when the great net had dropped to a height of fifty meters.

Because the flying locusts he had released into the air to scout were monitoring at a height of two hundred meters, but the net was simply too fast.

By the time his flying locusts were sliced apart and he received the feedback in that instant, the net had already dropped to a height of fifty meters.

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

Silently sliced into a dozen thin pieces, Zhao Ke immediately realized what kind of attack he was facing.

"It's a Heaven Net!"

"At least a fourth-tier Heaven Net!"

Zhao Ke had no time to shout out a warning; he instantly made the most advantageous move for himself—crouching down.

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

The rectangular insect box instantly unfolded, forming a shield.

Zhao Ke curled up on the ground, frantically activating the mechanisms on his fourth-tier insect box.

At the same time, he released twelve Illusion-Shaped Insects in all directions.

"Hiss~"

Twelve plumes of green smoke shot outward from Zhao Ke as the center, and within the smoke, figures resembling Zhao Ke took shape.

Only their skin was covered in scales and fuzzy hair.

The Great Zhou's Heaven Nets were often accompanied by tracking strikes from Spirit-Breaking Crossbows.

They locked onto the target through the five-element Qi of life; Zhao Ke's Illusion-Shaped Insects could confuse the Spirit-Breaking Crossbow's assault.

"Crack crack crack crack~"

The Heaven Net scraped against the insect box, sending up bursts of sparks.

Of the other ten Insect Witches, only three reacted in time and made the same move as Zhao Ke.

The remaining seven stood frozen in place; in the next instant, their bodies fell apart into strips of meat.

"Split up and run!!!"

Only now did Zhao Ke finally shout it out.

Faced with a life-or-death crisis, Zhao Ke had no room for any other thoughts; his sole instinct at this moment was to run!

When Insect Witches ran into Great Zhou's patrolling soldiers, the only option was to run—hard combat was out of the question.

Their close-combat ability was far too fragile.

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

Zhao Ke was the young clan leader of the Hana Tribe, yet his insect box was only at the top-grade fourth-tier level; the other elders each had only one low-grade fourth-tier piece.

But any Great Zhou soldier who dared to cross the border on patrol would have a flying boat equipped with multiple fourth-tier sharp weapons—and large fourth-tier divine weapons at that!

Chances were the soldiers' gear was even more lavish than his own, the young clan leader's!

"Swoosh Swoosh Swoosh!"

The instant after Zhao Ke shouted, crossbow bolts rained down from the sky.

"Bang bang bang bang bang bang!"

The crossbow bolts were three meters long; their arrowheads were specially made hollow gold-diamond tips with Wind-Walking formations running inside, causing the arrowheads to spin after being fired, increasing their armor-piercing ability.

The crossbow bolts were three-stage; the middle and rear sections, besides providing propulsion, could also detonate to alter the arrowhead's direction, tracking and hitting the enemy.

The Spirit-Breaking Crossbow was the pinnacle craftsmanship of Great Zhou's Ministry of Works; even a single small third-tier crossbow bolt employed a工艺 that the Southern Barbarian tribes could never replicate.

"Young Master!"

"Puchi!"

"Boom boom!"

The other three shamans were nailed straight to the ground by the crossbow bolts, their entire bodies sunk three chi into the earth.

Only Zhao Ke, who had reacted the fastest, had activated his worm box and used the illusion worms, so the bolts landed around him without hitting him directly.

But after they struck the ground, an airburst went off, and the shockwave sent Zhao Ke tumbling.

"What! How can a Spirit-Breaking Crossbow have this much power!"

Zhao Ke's heart shook violently.

The soft armor on his body was sliced open by the shrapnel, revealing wounds deep enough to expose bone beneath the skin.

But soon, worms burrowed out from within his muscles, sticking together and repairing those wounds.

"This isn't a third-tier Spirit-Breaking Crossbow, it's a fourth-tier God-Breaking Crossbow! Hiss!"

Zhao Ke looked at the fragments on the ground, and his entire being sank into despair.

He could not help but look up.

He saw five hundred figures descending from the sky all around him, with several dozen more figures above brewing gale-force winds and heavenly thunder.

A net of heaven to clear the path, God-Breaking Crossbows firing in volleys, and on top of that so many martial artists and mages.

What does it mean to have no way to heaven and no door into the earth?

"I, Zhao Ke, what virtue or ability do I possess…"

Any one of those martial artists had a presence no less than his own.

In an instant, Zhao Ke was overwhelmed with despair.

"Damn it, these savages all got shot dead by Wang Gong's men, and all that's left is this loser?"

"Respect. Tell Wang Gong not to waste money next time."

"Five hundred brothers, all jumped down here for nothing!"

"…"

Listening to the嘈杂 noise around him, Zhao Ke finally realized what he ought to do.

Kill himself immediately.

No one can stop a worm shaman from committing suicide.

Unless—

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Eighteen silver needles sank into Zhao Ke's body.

In an instant, they sealed every life-bound worm inside his body, especially the heart worm—its mouthparts had already opened, about to pierce its master's heart, but was pinned dead by the silver needles with pinpoint accuracy.

"You… Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles!"

Zhao Ke lay on the ground, his body twitching in spasms—his law-worms had lost control.

"Huh? Quite knowledgeable." Yuan Yang walked over in surprise. "This southern savage actually recognizes the Ghost Gate Thirteen Needles. Looks like he's a big fish."

Zhao Xing followed down at this moment, sizing up Zhao Ke's entire body: "This man's realm is nothing special, but his status is definitely not low. Search him first."

Xia Jing waved his hand, and three burly men who had cultivated the Dark Tortoise secret art rushed over and stripped Zhao Ke bare.

"What's his background?"

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

The others took out their ground mirrors to search for related clues.

Zhao Xing looked at the patterns on Zhao Ke's face and chest, then compared them against his skin garments and ornaments.

He immediately said: "The feather emblem proves he should be under the rule of the Jin Yu Wang Ting. The three silver moons his people chase show that their tribe is directly governed by a 'Silver Moon Lord.' Three silver moons represent the chief's rank, and are also a symbol of authority. A Silver Moon-level lord is usually an Earth Shaman."

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

Xia Jing saw Zhao Ke's reaction and knew Zhao Xing had spoken correctly.

But he was a bit puzzled: "How come I didn't find that? Where did you read all this?"

Zhao Xing laughed and said: "That tribe's history isn't long, maybe only three or four hundred years. The Great Zhou Military Bureau is too lazy to update information on small tribes like this. Fifteen county records in the Nine Heavens Response Palace mention the Hana Tribe. It's normal that you don't know."

"Do you really only sleep one shi-chen a day?" Wang Ji looked at the top of Zhao Xing's head. "No wonder you have time to read so much. But how come you're not losing your hair?"

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

"Chen Fang, where's Chen Fang?"

"Here." Chen Fang trotted over eagerly.

"Your Southern Savage common language is the best learned, so he's yours." Zhao Xing pointed at Zhao Ke. "Don't kill him. Although the Hana Tribe isn't exactly a big fish, it's still a mid-level… Huh? Sorry, Brother Xia, misspoke."

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

"Got it." Chen Fang said, "We need to interrogate this kid's tribe location out of him, right?"

"Right." Zhao Xing nodded.

Fighting the Southern Savages has one downside—apart from a few of the foreign races that have founded kingdoms, the rest of the tribes don't really have fixed territory. They roam all over the Southern Wastes.

Because the weather changes constantly, and the vast majority of the savages don't have any 'shamans' who can control the weather, they can only keep moving from place to place.

As a result, the Military Bureau can't provide accurate maps for them, and they can only rely on themselves to find and kill the targets.

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

"No, I'm only leaving the translating to you." Zhao Xing said, "Interrogation is better left to Zhang Yi and the military doctor."

"Don't let him die until you've dug out everything. The brothers' next mission all depends on him."

"Understood!" Chen Fang grabbed Zhao Ke and carried him up onto the flying vessel.

On the way back, Zhao Xing also received a message notification from the Military Bureau.

"The third-ring mission is complete. Huh? Temporarily promoted from provisional rank seven to formal rank seven. I can advance now?" Zhao Xing looked at the message in his ground mirror with some surprise.

Guaranteed second update.

No update today — going to adjust my schedule a bit.

Also, the chapter comments aren't showing up on Qidian right now; it'll fix itself in a couple of days.