Chapter 187: Preparations Before the Plan and Bad News

Zhao Xing said, "Didn't I just say it? Our Agricultural Bureau's planting capacity is overflowing, so we just happened to look elsewhere. It's purely coincidental."

No one would believe that, not even a ghost.

You prepared so thoroughly that you practically shoved a gun into the Fire Demon Clan's nostrils, then claimed it wasn't intentional... Who would believe that if it got out!

You clearly had the Fire Demon Clan in your sights all along!

Zhao Xing, meanwhile, took a tactical sip of water.

Whether you believe it or not, I certainly do.

Liao Ru listened to the conversation between Zhao Xing and Chen Shijie and began to grasp the meaning.

The Fire Demon Clan is strong, and they can be defeated in a relatively easy manner.

"You're going too?" Chen Shijie asked. "There's no need for that. I'll just take some people to steal it."

Everyone was too enthusiastic; he was starting to feel overwhelmed.

Days continued to pass, no different from usual.

"Afterwards, I didn't undertake any missions, but instead focused on studying the Benwo Sect's spells and the Yin-Yang Benwo Scripture, which caused me to drop back five hundred ranks when the August 1st settlement occurred."

There might still be some reserve; it felt somewhat unsatisfying.

On August 22nd, Wen Shaoyang's and Liao Ru's units of the Divine Might Army began dispatching vanguard troops to search eastward from the Wolf God Tribe.

He revealed the location of the Earth Fire Lotus and appointed Chen Shijie as the plan's architect and the operation's commander.

"He really is popular," Long Xiao sneered. "Even Song Fang, that old Seventh Rank, can't bear to part with him."

"Just look at what Zhao Xing has brought them," Chen Shijie said with a smile. "In the two months since he arrived at City 92, everyone's battle merit has doubled."

"Battle merit exceeding 250,000 has also broken into the top thousand."

Wang Ji explained, "The Thousand Mechanism Transformation mask adjusts according to the user's face, perfectly fitting the facial meridians and the flow of blood and qi."

At the same time, Chen Shijie's operational plan for the Fire Dragon Pass continued to be refined.

"For now, we still have to rely on external objects for disguise."

The prerequisite is obtaining a Fifth-Rank Earth Fire Lotus from beneath the Flame Mountain Range; a mature specimen isn't required, seeds or seedlings will suffice.

…………

Chen Shijie looked at the list, unsure what to say: "You still claim you don't have the Fire Demon Clan in your sights?"

Of course, gaining 50,000 battle merit in 8 days was still incredibly fast.

"Impressive," Long Xiao said, touching his cheek one moment and the horn on his head the next, thoroughly enjoying himself. "By the way, isn't it called Thousand Transformations? Does that mean it can only transform into a Fire Demon Clan member?"

After parting with Chen Shijie, Zhao Xing returned to his room.

"Huh?" Long Xiao examined Zhao Xing. "Wang Ji, why does the form he transformed into look more handsome?"

In this way, even if Old Chen died, he could transform into a Yin Spirit body, effectively buying insurance.

Of course, Zhao Xing would not tell Chen Shijie these thoughts; even Pu Zhong only assumed Zhao Xing wanted Chen Shijie to earn merit.

What is battle merit? It is one's future—bestowing land, conferring titles, bringing glory to one's ancestors.

For others, achieving enlightenment in a single high-grade spell during the Seventh Rank period was enough to be called a genius.

Chen Shijie nodded: "Good."

On August 20th, Liao Ru's unit expanded to 38,000 men.

The Dragon Head Tower Ship is faster than the Swordfish Flying Boat and General Ming Yan's warships.

He hadn't slept well during the day, tangled up over the plot.

"Hmm? Why?" Liao Ru looked at Pu Zhong in confusion.

August 21st.

With Zhao Xing's reminder, Liao Ru purchased a great deal of Artificer equipment from the Soldier Realm.

Liao Ru's unit loaded a batch of machinery and supplies, boarded the Dragon Head Tower Ship, and departed for Zhiyou City.

Ultimately, Chen Shijie was the one he trusted and was closest to.

"Prepare some more mechanisms; this list is what I figured out after reading that book. It might be useful."

"Is it that obvious?" Zhao Xing looked up.

Liao Ru and the others had no heart for drinking anymore; they immediately took Pu Zhong and other commanders to discuss the attack on Fire Dragon Pass.

"……"

Afterwards, two demon horns grew on Long Xiao's head, his cheeks turned crimson, and his two eyes became twice as large as before, as if his eye corners had been widened.

Pu Zhong noticed that Zhao Xing still had more to say.

He wanted to push Chen Shijie's battle merit above one million as quickly as possible!

The Southern Wasteland also needed a victory to halt the Great Zhou's momentum.

"You don't necessarily have to go," Chen Shijie reiterated. "It is still somewhat dangerous."

Perhaps he wanted to leave the credit for Chen Shijie?

"Why do I feel that by emphasizing this point, you want to take command?" Chen Shijie looked at Zhao Xing with a half-smile.

The Southern Wasteland had been fighting while retreating for over two months; the front line, pushed back more than ten thousand li by the Great Zhou, finally couldn't resist wanting to counterattack.

"……" Chen Shijie always felt that Zhao Xing was simply a monster.

If Chen Shijie's fate could be changed and he did not die in the end, then Zhao Xing's plans for the future could be adjusted further.

"The action team must be led by you," Zhao Xing said. "Don't find an amateur to command."

"The Hou Transformation Method, practiced internally, allows one to directly transform into the appearance of a Barbarian."

The difference was that many more people had arrived successively at the frontline military cities.

Otherwise, constantly retreating would eventually turn into a true rout.

"Fine, that's all for now. Call me when we depart," Zhao Xing said.

"No, I must go," Zhao Xing said. "Fire Dragon Pass is no simple matter. The Earth-Flame Lotus is a treasure highly valued by the Fire Demon Clan, and the path is fraught with traps and complex terrain."

Liao Ru's strategist behind him, 'Pu Zhong', was pondering the latter half of Zhao Xing's words.

"As of today, August 21st, military merit has increased by 50,000, reaching 480,000."

The data in the Military Realm is vast as smoke; had Zhao Xing not reminded him, Chen Shijie would not have known where to start looking to learn about the Fire Demon Clan.

If he did not go personally, Old Chen and the others would surely face many setbacks, at least things would not go so smoothly.

"Ho~" Long Xiao glanced at the bronze mirror. "It looks just like the real thing! I can even feel the flow of blood qi beneath my cheeks."

Zhao Xing glanced over: "Wang Gong, teach him how to use it."

"On the fourth of last month, my progress on 【Instant Primordial】 reached High-Grade Third Transformation."

With the equipment in place, he spent a day familiarizing himself.

"He wrote 'Records of Strange Things in the Southern Barbarians', so he must have seen the Earth-Flame Lotus. I guess he knows the Fire Demon Clan very well. There should be archived geographical intelligence on the Fire Demon Clan recorded by him in the Military Realm."

Once the two great Wang Ting of the Southern Wilderness moved, the Great Zhou naturally had to pay attention; most armies pulled back their military edge, began reinforcing and repairing, and prepared for a major engagement.

But as long as Zhao Xing joined the action team, these useful pieces of equipment would inevitably be put to use.

However, no one was willing to let Zhao Xing leave.

Thus, for the past month, it has been small-scale hundred-man scout teams engaging in minor skirmishes.

But for Zhao Xing, it was as easy as eating and drinking.

"Now my ranking has entered the top five hundred of the Seventh-Grade List."

How to navigate the underground magma river, how to harvest the Earth-Flame Lotus, and what the defensive strength was roughly during the Jing Emperor's era—these strategies are known only to Zhao Xing.

So why did Zhao Xing want to do this?

There were two reasons. First, taking Fire Dragon Pass would indeed bring huge benefits; as long as they could get a share of the Qinggang Mining District, he, Long Xiao, Chen Shijie, and even many others could be ennobled as Marquises.

The Jin Yu Wang Ting and the Holy Spirit Wang Ting had both moved many troops into the Fire Demon Clan's territory.

In the list, some items were useless, some useful; truth and falsehood were mixed together.

The farewell procession lasted a full hour.

Since Liao Ru's forces decided to rest, the military merit assigned to his primary duty was reduced to the minimum.

Chen Shijie also did not know where Zhao Xing got his confidence.

There wasn't even a single hair on top of his head, only layers of wrinkles, as if his brain matter was exposed to the outside.

"The head divine weapon of the Thousand Mechanism Change set."

"Now I can achieve the union of three arts; if I can achieve the union of five arts, then I can comprehend the Original Self Straw Man Art."

"Commandant, let Chen Shijie stay behind. Call them when the main army moves out." Just as they were about to leave City No. 92, Pu Zhong suddenly spoke in a low voice to Liao Ru.

After getting up, he deleted all four thousand words he had written, rewrote them, and only now is he posting.

"Pity, I have not yet reached the required level for any of the above."

Perhaps he could complete the leap across more than ten levels of the four titles: Man, Zi, Bo, and Hou in one go.

Seeing Zhao Xing's persistence, he nodded: "Very well, I will speak to Liao Ru and have him transfer you to the front lines."

"If you can tell it is fake, then every single person on this production line—the mechanists and weavers who craft the Thousand Mechanism Change set—must go to prison and squat." Wang Ji said proudly. "Generally, only a Fifth-Grade expert can detect its flaws."

Because at this time in the Southern War Zone, many armies had their eyes on the 'Fire Demon Clan Territory', that piece of fat meat.

Attacking Fire Dragon Pass from the inside would reduce the difficulty immensely.

Vmm~

When Long Xiao put it on, the mask instantly covered his entire head, extending all the way down to his neck.

After boarding the Dragon-Head Tower Ship, Zhao Xing breathed a sigh of relief.

"With me added, things will go more smoothly for you."

Because this is the largest source of military merit in the early stage.

"Those two, the Agricultural Ministers of their respective armies, might still have some specific discussions on planting," Pu Zhong said.

"Zhao Xing adjusted the task directions for each department, benefiting everyone; for such a superior, even kneeling to bid farewell would not be strange."

Then, when Fire Dragon Pass is taken, Old Chen's contribution will surely be very significant.

"On August 13th, I restarted my missions."

"The Invisible Straw Man in the Straw Man Art; its invisibility technique is also a High-Grade art, and is an essential spell for infiltration."

"That 'also' makes me want to hit you." Chen Shijie's mouth twitched. "Fine, then you can come along."

After Zhao Xing said that.

Once he left, the position of the chief officer fell back to Wang Ji.

"Not many, just nine kinds."

"The Agricultural Minister is the source of the industry; the efficiency of the Agricultural Minister's Bureau has increased, and the military merit missions for the other departments have increased accordingly."

"Old Chen." Zhao Xing called Chen Shijie to a separate room in the outer city. "This time, when we go to Fire Dragon Pass to steal the Earth-Flame Lotus, I will go with you."

Long Xiao was speechless. He rummaged in the box and pulled out something that looked like a mask: "How does this thing work?"

The last reason was that Zhao Xing wanted to try changing Chen Shijie's fate.

At this moment, he was inspecting the quality of these treasures.

"Infiltrating into the enemy's interior, the Straw Man Art and the Wait-Change Art are both useful spells."

According to the list Zhao Xing gave, they bought quite a lot. This would cost a lot of money, but Liao Ru bought it without hesitation; he trusted Chen Shijie, and Chen Shijie trusted Zhao Xing.

But listening to this, Long Xiao could hardly bear it: "That's enough! Stop showing off."

Zhao Xing knows these things so clearly; he has probably already figured out how to steal the Earth-Flame Lotus.

At this time, Liao Ru was also standing on the landing plaza inside Zhiyou City to welcome them.

High official rank and high military merit actually make it harder to die in some cases.

Preparations for a major war were underway.

Long Xiao nodded and moved aside to familiarize himself with the operations.

Without war, naturally there was no need for so many military supplies, so the merit awarded was lower. Although advancement missions existed, since Zhao Xing had not followed up immediately, there was no particularly exaggerated increase.

"Huff~"

That was equivalent to him being able to trust Zhao Xing's judgment as well.

Boom~

The dragon-headed tower ship rose from the ground, plunged into the layer of gale winds, and headed toward Zhiyou City.

If they could obtain it, then the Flame Mountain Range would no longer be an impassable barrier.

He turned his head and saw Zhao Xing walk out wearing two demon horns.

"Boom~"

Second, Zhao Xing had a detailed military strategy and mechanism map of the Fire Dragon Pass in his mind.

If he went along, even just giving a slight reminder, without saying much, he could make the plan proceed more smoothly.

Long Xiao fell silent for a moment, then angrily ran off to the side.

This was the first time the Southern Wasteland had mobilized forces exceeding three million for confrontation.

He guessed this matter might only be intended for Chen Shijie to hear.

"What do you mean?"

"When the law is needed, one regrets having too little."

"I also know high-level escape techniques; you need not worry about me," Zhao Xing said with a smile.

"Just how many high-level techniques do you actually know?"

The tower ship landed inside Zhiyou City.

In fact, if it were anyone else, he certainly would not have gone to the Fire Dragon Pass to risk his life personally.

"Depart," Chen Shijie ordered.

The Divine Might Army had added a large number of Fire Element mages to his and Wen Shaoyang's unit.

"During the reign of Emperor Wen, he served as an envoy and was dispatched to the various Southern Man tribes."

"However, the speed of gaining merit has clearly slowed down," Zhao Xing said, looking at the merit and rankings in the Earth Realm.

He too had equipped the Thousand Mechanism Transformation.

Everyone had little merit to gather; it was not just Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing, meanwhile, was at City No. 92, continuing to complete his own official duties and advancement missions.

"The people of the Ministry of Agriculture have even more than doubled."

Liao Ru, this main commander, had only been together for a short while, making some things inconvenient to discuss.

Even though Zhao Xing did not think so, in Long Xiao's eyes, this young man was just showing off!

Wang Ji immediately defended, "If I knew nine high-level techniques, I would too."

On August 23, Liao Ru's unit had already arrived at Zhiyou City.

Wang Ji handed over the manual: "Touch your earlobe to transform. There are eighteen transformations in total. Memorize the sequence before using it; absolutely do not transform incorrectly."

"Go to the Soldier Realm and find the book 'Record of Strange Objects of the Southern Man'. Find the author of this book," Zhao Xing said. "His name is Zhang Chunfang."

"The meaning is that Zhao Xing is more handsome than you; even after putting on the mask, it is the same."

"After you put it on, your head will turn into the appearance of a foreign race."

Zhao Xing looked at the boxes one by one; inside were colorful divine weapons and sharp blades, all purchased by Chen Shijie.

Upon their first meeting, Liao Ru delivered bad news.

"Otherwise, your infiltration would turn into a direct assault."

How could anyone have expected Zhao Xing to know the Fire Dragon Pass inside out? And to be hiding so many schemes.

I was stuck on writing yesterday and didn't sleep until four.

"On July 20, although I did not focus on missions, my merit still reached 430,000, ranking 431st."

Wang Ji nodded, ran over to grab the mask, and pressed it onto Long Xiao's head: "Thousand Mechanism Transformation Mask, Fifth-Rank Supreme Grade."

"I will definitely secure command of the action team," Chen Shijie said. "Is there anything else you want to say?"

Zhao Xing received the transfer order and also prepared to leave City No. 92.

It was even possible to allow Chen Shijie to reach the Sixth Grade, or even the Fifth Grade, faster.

Beyond that, Zhao Xing himself was also making preparations.

It took only three shichen to fly to the sky above Zhiyou City.

If Chen Shijie's fate could not be changed, Zhao Xing would be even more cautious afterward.