Chapter 189

"This spell array of the Engineering School shouldn't use the Zhaoyang Earth-Fire Array; it should use the Chongguang Earth-Fire Array, and the array base shouldn't use 'Earth-Copper Soil' but 'Tyrant Gold Sand'."

"Time is tight, and your Divine Might Army’s craftsmen aren't very proficient in this, so it can barely be used, but it’s best to replace it later."

"How can you use the Strong Foundation Method to cultivate this patch of fourth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses? Don't you know that the Analysis-Origin Method is the best?"

"Setting up the Yaoguang Returning-Origin Array at the Gan position, the earth vein fire isn't being fully utilized... who set the Returning-Origin array base here?"

Dong He pointed and gestured in the planting area around the Dongsang volcano, with Zhao Xing and Wang Ji accompanying him.

Seeing Dong He ask, Wang Ji said sullenly: "Reporting to the Lord, it was this subordinate who did it."

Dong He said lightly: "It’s understandable for young people to be careless. Fortunately, it’s only third or fourth-grade cultivation; you can't mess around with fifth-grade spell arrays; they need to be more meticulous."

Wang Ji opened his mouth, but in the end, he just cupped his hands and responded with a yes.

Dong He had been pointing out his work as soon as he arrived, and the problem was that Dong He wasn't completely ignorant, which made Wang Ji feel extremely stifled.

"Lord Zhao." Dong He looked at Zhao Xing again. "I heard you know a high-tier Analysis-Origin Technique?"

"Yes, it’s called..." Zhao Xing just wanted to speak, but Dong He turned his head away again, pointing to a lotus area in front: "You just stand at the Kun position of the fourth-grade Earth-Fire Cultivation Array and cast spells to assist me."

"In a moment, I will have the Profound Armor Army people debug the spell array. Also, I have arranged for the agricultural officials brought by the Profound Armor Army to be your helpers. In the area you are in, if the survival rate exceeds thirty percent, it will be quite good..."

Watching the endlessly talking Dong He, Zhao Xing felt a bit helpless.

Dong He seemed accustomed to giving orders; he completely treated him as his adjutant.

And this person was extremely self-assertive, which stemmed from his extreme confidence in his own knowledge.

After all, in the Profound Armor Army, Dong He was also a master who was pampered by all the camps in the army.

In just one hour, everyone Zhao Xing brought had been pointed out by Dong He.

This guy really had some substance; what he said was all correct, it was just that the "fatherly tone" was too heavy.

No wonder Xia Jing had a headache because of him.

"Lord Dong, shouldn't we discuss this again?" Zhao Xing said. "You just arrived in Dongsang City, I see everyone..."

Dong He waved his hand to interrupt Zhao Xing: "Lord Zhao, no need to discuss, the matter is urgent..."

"Clang!"

A mechanical sound suddenly rang out from Wang Ji’s waist.

A track behind him rotated, a row of crossbow holes flipped out from behind his shoulder, the mechanism was cocked, and a cold light flickered, aiming at Dong He.

Dong He’s words were interrupted, and like everyone around him, he looked at Wang Ji in surprise.

Wang Ji looked at Dong He and shouted: "Lord Dong’s eyes are like torches; please observe this crossbow bolt, is it sharp?"

Dong He glanced at the miniature crossbow bolt on Wang Ji’s shoulder and nodded: "Not bad."

Wang Ji sneered: "The material used for this object is exactly the fifth-grade Qilin Gold Wood planted by Lord Zhao."

"Why don't you listen to Lord Zhao’s insights?!"

Dong He was silent; he finally understood why Wang Ji had suddenly exploded.

Looking at Wang Ji’s gaze, Dong He had no doubt that if he dared to look down on Zhao Xing again, this young man would really shoot the arrow at him.

Zhao Xing had been interrupted by Dong He again and again, and he was already full of fire, so he just remained silent, pretending not to see Wang Ji’s rude behavior.

Damn it, he really couldn't tell who was the boss!

Dong He was silent for a moment and nodded: "Please continue with what you were saying, Lord Zhao."

Seeing this, Zhao Xing glanced to the side: "Wang Ji, the brothers from the Profound Armor Army are here to help; you are acting inappropriately. Go find Han Bing and accept your punishment!"

Wang Ji wasn't going to find Han Bing to accept any punishment. But those who didn't know, hearing Zhao Xing say this, would think Han Bing was a judicial officer.

It was purely Master Zhao bluffing to give Dong He a way out.

"Yes." Wang Ji snorted and left directly.

"Lord Dong." Zhao Xing cupped his hands and said lightly, "What you just said is not without reason."

"However, using the Zhaoyang Earth-Fire Array instead of the Chongguang Earth-Fire Array was my order, and not using 'Tyrant Gold Sand' for the array base but 'Earth-Copper Soil' was also my order."

"What you said is good, but the price is twice as expensive. My Divine Might Army cannot afford such extravagance and waste."

As soon as it came to professional issues, Dong He became competitive again: "Without these aids, wouldn't the success rate drop? Isn't this another form of waste?"

Zhao Xing was too lazy to argue with Dong He.

Everyone had different cultivation philosophies.

Dong He was used to fighting rich battles; as a sixth-grade military agricultural official, he was equipped with the best in the Profound Armor Army.

But Zhao Xing was used to being frugal; as long as the configuration could just meet the requirements, it was enough.

Take the Earth-Fire Lotus, for example; there isn't much difference between a magic robe made of fifth-grade low-tier material and one made of fifth-grade mid-tier material when crossing the Flame Mountain.

The two of them specialized in different directions of spells.

Dong He specialized in high-tier Strong Foundation Methods; he needed these aids to strengthen the foundation, but what Zhao Xing knew was the Analysis-Origin Method, which didn't need such harsh conditions at all.

Zhao Xing directly stated his distribution plan: "Lord Dong, you and I will each lead people to cultivate Earth-Fire Lotuses."

"If you need manpower or materials, whatever the Divine Might Army has, we will prioritize supplying it to you."

Prioritize supplying me? Dong He looked at Zhao Xing suspiciously.

Why did he feel that Zhao Xing’s words had another meaning?

As if his spells were stronger?

"As for how the results are on my side, Lord Dong doesn't need to worry," Zhao Xing said.

"Fine." Dong He nodded: "This makes it more convenient to work."

Flying back from the Flame Mountain to Dongsang City, Chen Shijie asked: "I heard you and Dong He didn't get along very well?"

"News travels that fast?" Zhao Xing said; he had just returned.

"What punishment did you tell Wang Ji to go find Han Bing for? He doesn't manage that."

"It left Han Bing confused, and he brought Wang Ji to find me," Chen Shijie said. "As soon as I asked, I knew what had happened."

"He looked down on people a bit," Zhao Xing said. "To make him listen to me quietly, Wang Ji directly cocked his fifth-grade shoulder crossbow."

"Could I really let Wang Ji be punished? I just said it casually. By the way, where is he?"

"Wang Ji, that kid, is a bit serious; he actually went to find the judicial officer and took twenty military strokes," Chen Shijie said. "Now Han Bing is applying medicine to his butt."

"..." Zhao Xing couldn't help but be speechless; a mechanism master couldn't tolerate sand in his eyes, and Wang Ji was even more stubborn.

"Sigh, they are all stubborn old men."

"Where are you going?"

"To find the military physician to get his butt recovered; I’m still waiting for him to start work."

The Earth-Fire Lotus seeds were stolen back on August 24th.

The volcano was activated on August 28th.

By September 1st, the scale of the Earth-Fire Lotus had expanded to one hundred and fifty thousand plants.

Starting from September 1st, Zhao Xing and Dong He each went their own way, leading groups of agricultural officials to start cultivating fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses.

One person started casting spells from the south of the volcano, and one from the north.

Zhao Xing didn't break his promise; he handed over most of the elites from the Sea-Suppressing Army, Divine Might Army, and Profound Armor Army to Dong He to help.

The precious materials prepared for planting were also mostly prioritized for Dong He.

Others even thought that Dong He was leading the planting of the Earth-Fire Lotuses.

Chen Shijie and Xia Jing even ran over to confirm, discovering that Zhao Xing wasn't acting out of spite but just didn't need so many auxiliary means as Dong He, and only then did they leave with peace of mind.

Dongsang Volcano, South.

Zhao Xing stepped on the Cloud-Treading and came to the sky above a magma lake.

"It’s Zhao Xing!" He Yu looked at Zhao Xing’s figure excitedly. "He’s here."

"Boss, why are you so excited?" Someone asked in confusion.

"Hey, a high-tier spell. Someone is casting a high-tier spell in front of you, how can one not be excited?" He Yu said.

"You don't know, I have quite a connection with him; back in the Cloud-Rain Pass during the branch examination, Zhao Xing and I were in the same group," He Yu said proudly.

"Why don't you mention the time you were tricked by Zhao Xing in front of the Ten Thousand Mile Thunder Pool?" Ouyang Song laughed. "That’s also a connection."

"..." He Yu glared at Ouyang Song; you don't talk about the sore spot, you kid were almost dying of thirst on the Earth-Fire Plain too.

Zhao Xing glanced below, and his voice spread with the wind.

"Please everyone return to your positions; wait for my order, and then activate the Earth-Treasury Returning-Origin Array!"

Wang Ji immediately gave an order, and the personnel of the Engineering Office immediately operated the mechanisms.

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

Array bases floating in mid-air at five meters suddenly dropped.

"Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish~"

The five hundred agricultural officials below were all eighth-grade and above, with the highest being seventh-grade.

In this magma lake, many spell arrays had already been set up, the largest of which was a classic of the Earth-Benefit School, the Earth-Treasury Returning-Origin Great Array.

Wang Ji led fifty people as the main control team for the mechanism spell array, while the other five hundred agricultural officials stood at various phases, providing primordial energy for the spell array and sharing the pressure for Zhao Xing.

In this location, there were tens of thousands of fourth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses.

Casting spells one by one was not only slow but also very wasteful of Zhao Xing’s primordial energy.

Therefore, large-scale planting auxiliary spell arrays were necessary.

The current spell array was still just a minor matter, not large in scale.

Back then, Cao Xi set up a Returning-Origin waterwheel in Gucheng and repaired the thirteen canals of Pinghuai; the thirteen canals were the foundation of the spell array.

It shrouded the entire Gucheng and even cultivated an East Lake Spirit Mountain.

That range was much larger than it is now.

"Group one in position!"

"Group two in position!" "Group three in position!"

"Group ten in position!"

Reporting voices came from everywhere; Ouyang Song and He Yu were the group leaders of the agricultural officials.

At this moment, they were also surging with emotion, shouting at the top of their lungs.

They were only eighth-grade, yet they could participate in the casting of a large-scale high-tier spell; what an honor?

Of course, whether it could succeed specifically still depended on Zhao Xing!

After everyone was in position, Ouyang Song, He Yu, Han Bing, Wang Ji... hundreds of people all looked at Zhao Xing in the sky with fiery eyes.

"Start!"

Zhao Xing gave an order.

The Earth-Treasury Returning-Origin Array operated first, and the primordial energy from the five hundred agricultural officials was injected into the ground.

Zhao Xing felt that the fourth-grade Earth-Fire Lotus pond at this moment was full of infinite primordial energy!

In terms of geographical conditions, it couldn't be better!

Zhao Xing pointed to the sky, and a Solar Term Order flew out from his dantian, ascending to high altitude.

The world suddenly changed.

It was as if a scorching sun had risen from Zhao Xing, and the surroundings suddenly became stuffy and scorching hot.

Solar Term Order, Start of Summer!

"Hum~"

The Solar Term Order flew high, directly breaking through the gale layer and hovering at an altitude of two thousand meters.

A fourth-turn Solar Term Order of the Knowing Realm could break through to the four-thousand-meter gale layer, but to maximize its power.

Stopping at two thousand meters was about right.

"Hum~"

Immediately following, the second Solar Term Order and the third Solar Term Order appeared.

They flew to eight hundred meters and stopped.

They were the [Minor Heat] and [Major Heat] Solar Term Orders.

Earth-Fire Lotuses like scorching heat, but it wasn't pure heat, but humid, stuffy heat.

So Zhao Xing raised clouds again.

Quickly shrouding the south of the volcano.

"Pitter-patter~"

A light rain fell into the magma lake.

Soon, the weather conditions also reached their maximum.

On the south side of the clouds, there was a flying ship, and Chen Shijie was watching Zhao Xing cast spells.

He didn't participate in the fourth-grade planting because the Nine-Section Battalion he led was going to cultivate fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotus seeds next.

"I never thought that the boy I casually brought out of Gucheng back then would have become so strong today," Chen Shijie watched this scene, remembering when he first met Zhao Xing during the Minor Heat assessment.

At that time, Zhao Xing faced the small "Grain-Eating Bird Natural Disaster" assessment, and the means he knew were just using straw men to drive them away.

He even had to fight with other officials for a stack of withered grass.

How many years have passed since then?

Now he could change the weather in this barren land of the Southern Barbarians and lead the cultivation of fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses.

"Start of Summer increases Minor Heat, and Minor Heat then merges into Major Heat."

"The fusion of Solar Term Orders causes the power of the Three Dog Days to be fully exerted."

Chen Shijie was extremely moved.

Xia Jing and Guan Junyang were also on this ship; he didn't run over to watch Dong He farm but came to cheer for Zhao Xing instead.

"Amazing." Guan Junyang sighed, "His Weather Spell is a world of difference compared to when he was at the Ten Suns Cave Heaven; I’m afraid even Shi Yong can't compare to him."

Shi Yong was the number one genius of the Weather Academy back then, but now Guan Junyang felt that Zhao Xing was enough to surpass Shi Yong.

Self-Nature School spells actually don't need such good weather and geographical conditions.

But the Earth-Fire Lotus is quite special.

If you say it’s delicate, it grows in magma.

But if you say it’s durable? If the surrounding conditions are slightly worse, it will die for you to see.

Plus, this time they were casting spells on a large scale, so Zhao Xing had to serve the Earth-Fire Lotus well.

"Instant Primordial!"

Zhao Xing waved his hand, and dots of starlight appeared, falling toward the lotus pond.

As long as the five hundred agricultural officials had learned the [Five Elements Observation] identification method, they all widened their eyes and watched this scene.

Because in their microscopic vision, a meteor shower was falling from the sky.

Countless meteors smashed toward the lotus pond area.

But most people could at most see the external manifestation; after the meteors entered the interior of the Earth-Fire Lotus, they found it very difficult to perceive.

Only a few seventh-grade agricultural officials who had practiced the "Yin-Yang Self-Nature Sutra" and sixth-grade agricultural officials like Chen Shijie could observe it.

"The method of Self-Nature is mysterious and profound." Chen Shijie watched for a while and then gave up observing because he couldn't see any logic in it at all.

Even if you used a few fifth-grade preaching paintings, you might not be able to learn the high-tier spells of the Self-Nature School.

As everyone knows, the threshold for entering the Dao of the Self-Nature School starts at the fifth grade.

That is to say, mainstream opinion believes that one must reach the fifth grade before studying the spells of the Self-Nature School to make any sense of them.

Among the millions of agricultural officials in the five great cave heavens, there are only thirty or fifty seventh-grade officials who know high-tier spells of the Self-Nature School.

Counting the sixth-grade agricultural officials, the number wouldn't exceed two hundred.

In the eyes of Chen Shijie and Guan Junyang, the Earth-Fire Lotuses that had already matured in that fourth-grade lotus pond suddenly started growing again for some reason.

Experts look at the doorway, but now these experts couldn't see the doorway of the Self-Nature School.

They only knew that in this lotus pond, many fourth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses started to break their growth shackles, grew again, and transformed toward the fifth grade.

After the first stick of incense passed, fifty fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses were produced, bearing fifth-grade lotus seeds.

But at this moment, Zhao Xing felt his primordial energy dropping.

Many lotus flowers in the pond were withering; this was because there were too many, and it was impossible for too many Earth-Fire Lotuses to survive at the same time.

"Rise!"

Seeing this, Wang Ji immediately organized the mechanism masters of the Engineering Office to control the second array base to float up.

Thousands of black cylinders emerged from the ground; these were the array bases they had just placed down.

Wang Ji raised two types of guidance arrays: Earth-Fire and Earth-Origin.

Its principle was like the water pump used by commoners to draw well water, except this spell array guided earth vein primordial energy.

Following Wang Ji’s operation, Zhao Xing felt primordial energy pouring into his body one after another; the number of withering fourth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses below decreased, and the number of fifth-grade ones increased again.

After a short rest, Zhao Xing cast spells again.

And so it repeated.

After the fourth stick of incense passed, the number of fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses had already exceeded five hundred!

The fire-red lotus flowers bloomed, and the lotus pod in the center was also like a cluster of fire; in the fire, some deeper-colored crystalline red light flickered.

That was the lotus seed of the fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotus.

"It’s done, it’s done!" Guan Junyang clenched his fists excitedly. "The lotus leaves of the fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotus can be used to make fire-repelling magic robes."

"These lotus seeds are also enough to grow to the fifth grade; hand them over to others for replanting, and very soon we can make the fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses grow exponentially."

"It’s not that simple," Chen Shijie said. "Conventional replanting drops in grade after three times; the Earth-Fire Lotus is quite harsh, and if cultivated carefully, it should drop in grade after two replantings."

The offspring of plant life always weaken toward lower grades; in ancient times, towering trees could be seen everywhere, but now they are rarely seen.

"Even so, it won't be long before we can equip the entire army with fifth-grade fire-repelling magic robes," Xia Jing rubbed his hands excitedly.

"Lord Chen, there’s no problem on Zhao Xing’s side; I’ll go check on Dong He."

"Please do as you wish, Prince." Chen Shijie nodded.

Xia Jing drove the flying boat excitedly to the north of the volcano; at this time, Dong He was also casting spells.

However, he was casting a Strong Foundation Method, and the method was completely different from Zhao Xing’s.

Dong He was wearing a fifth-grade top-tier fire-repelling magic robe, and his whole body was floating in the magma river.

At this time, many Earth-Fire Lotuses were floating around Dong He, and as Dong He cast spells, the lotus pond in the lake began to rotate.

While the lotus flowers were revolving around Dong He, self-rotating vortices formed beneath them.

Countless primordial energy gathered in the fourth-grade lotus flowers, and with Dong He’s breathing, the entire lotus pond seemed to be breathing as well.

Xia Jing pressed down the flying boat and quietly asked Dong He’s adjutant, 'Jin Ming': "Lord Jin, how many are there?"

Adjutant Jin Ming was also a seventh-grade agricultural official, and seeing Xia Jing ask, he said proudly: "Reporting to the Prince, Lord Dong has already cultivated one hundred fifth-grade Earth-Fire Lotuses!"

Xia Jing nodded and smiled; this speed wasn't slow either.

Jin Ming saw Xia Jing just smiling and not praising his boss, so he immediately said: "I don't know how the Prince’s good brother is progressing now?"

"It’s not that this subordinate is being talkative, but we didn't come to the Divine Might Army to help the poor. If they can't keep up with the progress, it will delay our Profound Armor Army too much."

"The Prince should still rely more on our own people."

The implication was that he felt Xia Jing valued the outsider Zhao Xing too much in this cooperation and should rely more on their own agricultural official camp.

Xia Jing showed a mouthful of white teeth and stretched out his palm: "My brother hasn't planted many either, just five hundred."

"That’s not bad either," Jin Ming nodded, then turned back in astonishment: "What? You said how many did he plant?"