Chapter 99: Divine Might Army, Cave Heaven, Soldier Realm

November 11th, Chen hour.

The sky was already bright with daylight.

Zhao Xing rode in Zong Zong Shichang's carriage, returning to the city together with the officials.

"... Last night I fell asleep, and by the time I woke up it was already Yin hour. At first I didn't know what had happened, but when I heard the teacher say that the Xuantian Sect had appeared last night, I nearly scared myself to death!"

"Good thing you let me sleep at the entrance—oh no, plant at the entrance. As soon as I woke up I was discovered by the East Lake Army. They say no fighting happened in that area." Zong Zong Shichang clutched his chest, still shaken with fear.

Zhao Xing listened to his account and was left speechless. Zong Zong Shichang had been eroded by a yin-soul entering his dreams, yet he had also slept straight through until Yin hour?

Was it good luck, or had he simply been overlooked?

The Xuantian Sect did not bewitch every clerk.

The vast majority of the Agricultural Administration clerks, once eroded, slept like the dead, completely unconscious.

Those truly targeted were only the long-standing top-rankers like Zhao Xing, Li Chengfeng, Wen Nanxing, and Xiao Ze.

But wasn't Zong Zong Shichang also a long-standing top-ranker?

Why did he get the noob treatment?

"Young Master Zong, Young Master Zong—truly don't know whether to be happy for you or feel sorry." Zhao Xing thought to himself.

Seeing him talk nonstop, Zhao Xing interrupted: "Brother Zong, let me rest a while."

Zong Zong Shichang immediately stopped talking at the sight: "I understand, I won't ask. Don't worry, I'll only remember this favor silently."

Zhao Xing closed his eyes and entered a dream in an instant.

Using the dream-storage method, he replayed the scenes of these three days and three nights, not missing a single detail.

After the review, he roughly confirmed the reason for the Blood Spirit Venerable's manifestation.

"It's probably because I practiced the Great Dream Spring and Autumn, and he saw through it."

Actually, the moment the Blood Spirit Venerable appeared, Zhao Xing had already thought of this possibility.

Because he had nothing else that could have drawn the other to appear in person.

At the time Zhao Xing had still wanted to conceal it, so he didn't even deploy his greatest trump card, the Sleep Bug.

But thinking about it now, deploying it or not made no difference.

The other party had no intention of fighting at all—he had only come to confirm something.

"Then what did he come to confirm? Confirm whether I truly cultivate the Great Dream Spring and Autumn? That I obtained the Great Dream Spring and Autumn and am a successor of the Nightmare Sect?"

"That's not right. The Xuantian Sect has no connection with the Nightmare Sect. There's no need to specially come check on me… Then was it for the Great Dream Spring and Autumn technique itself?"

"Perhaps not just the technique, but also the Soul Armor?" Zhao Xing pondered for a moment, then exited the dream.

"From the Blood Spirit Venerable's perspective, whether I am a Nightmare Sect successor or obtained it by chance, I hold enormous attraction for him. He probably wants to hunt me down and seize my treasures."

After thinking it through, Zhao Xing actually breathed a sigh of relief.

He wasn't afraid of trouble—he was only afraid of not knowing what kind of trouble it was.

The Xuantian Sect was a hostile faction anyway, and clashes were inevitable in the future. Whether it was the Blood Spirit Venerable or the Water Spirit Venerable, there wasn't much difference.

If he wanted to hunt down someone like himself who understood the Xuantian Sect quite well, the difficulty would be extraordinary. He was about to go to the Divine Might Army, where strong cultivators gathered like clouds. The Blood Spirit Venerable couldn't possibly come there to kill him and seize his treasures.

As for the future? Then it would be hard to say who would kill whom.

He wasn't worried about the Blood Spirit Venerable; rather, he worried whether there would be powerful cultivators within the Great Zhou who coveted him.

After all, external enemies weren't frightening—internal enemies were the truly frightening ones.

"As I obtain more and more treasures from the Great Dream Academy, the day will eventually come when I'm exposed."

"But since I dared to accept this opportunity, I must accept this karma as well." Zhao Xing's gaze was firm.

Fearing this and fearing that—what's the point of seeking longevity? Better to die early and be done with it!

As long as one becomes strong enough, one naturally fears no challenge!

"After this matter is settled, it's time to have a talk with Old Chen."

"My appointment as an official is already a certainty, and right after there will be an assignment opportunity. If we don't discuss it in advance and I get assigned to some other place as an official, that would be rather troublesome."

"Let's wait for Old Chen to handle this matter first."

November 11th, Gucheng County Office posted a public notice.

Xuantian Sect demonic cultivators on the night of the 10th intended to carry out treasonous acts in Nanyang Commandery.

A total of four county cities saw disturbances caused by demonic cultivators.

The various offices of Gucheng County, together with the East Lake Army, promptly prevented the demonic disturbance in this county, slaying a total of 178 Xuantian Sect demonic cultivators and believers.

As for casualties, the notice did not mention them, only glossing over them in a single stroke.

Zhao Xing later learned the specific battle report at Chen Residence.

"The situation is actually pretty much the same as what the county office announced." Chen Shijie said: "The Xuantian Sect's objective was to capture people, not to kill. And because it was handled properly, the casualties at Anping Town were very small."

"That night, the vast majority of commoners didn't even notice any movement at the scene."

"Still, there were casualties. The East Lake Army lost a few men during the pursuit, and about ten were wounded."

"The clerks actually weren't hurt. It's just that four clerks from the Agricultural Administration went missing, and two from the other offices. But this wasn't reported as missing—instead it was directly reported as heroic deaths in battle."

Zhao Xing nodded. It was obvious that those who went missing had been abducted.

Reporting them as missing persons meant their families could only keep thinking about it and gain no benefit.

Counting them as heroic deaths in battle, on the other hand, would yield a sum of compensation money.

Based on the Xuantian Sect's usual practices, the abducted clerks simply could not be recovered. If they did reappear, it would generally be decades later, by which time their relatives would likely all be dead.

So closing the case this way was perfectly normal.

Zhao Xing glanced at the missing persons list. Li Chengfeng was indeed on it—in the end, he had not been rescued.

The other two were also top-rankers, but compared to Li Chengfeng they were far inferior.

Chen Shijie said: "After the Commandery Prince of Nanyang slew that yin-soul, the Xuantian Sect's stronghold in Gucheng was completely exposed. All the cultivators and believers were discovered. Overall, Gucheng's performance was the most outstanding."

"Killing an outlander heretic has always counted as a major merit, and every office involved gets a share of the credit."

Speaking to this point, Chen Shijie revealed a faint smile: "My transfer order was signed before this happened, so I can count it directly as battle merit. The civil officials will receive commendations, and Li Wenzheng will likely be granted a loose rank, counted under the 'garrisoning the locality' political record."

As for the clerks? This merit is only enough to be divided among the officials; the clerks involved will only get a single bonus payment, and how much each office gets depends entirely on the conscience of that office's chief.

Still, even at the very most it'd only be a few dozen taels, and it's impossible for everyone to get that much.

Zhao Xing didn't mind, though. Being able to eliminate the Xuantian Sect stronghold entrenched in Nanyang Commandery and remove any worries at his back before heading to the Divine Might Army was already a good outcome.

With the Blood Sha Pearl and Blood Spirit Needle in hand, he no longer cared about that bit of imperial court bonus money.

"As for the results of the Agriculture Supervisor's Start of Winter assessment," Chen Shijie said, "everyone who participated passes, and the bonus is distributed in full—anyone who took the exam gets a share, about ten taels each."

"Long Xiao and I won't take ours."

Chen Shijie didn't mention Zhao Xing either, clearly treating him as one of his own, and directly made the call on this small sum of money himself.

"Then wouldn't I fail to get an Upper grade?" Zhao Xing said.

Chen Shijie laughed: "Li Wenzheng and I are sponsoring you straight into the Temple Exam, and Fan Dongping and Ji Ming at the commandery have already nodded their approval—what more evaluation do you need?"

"You don't even need to take the Winter Assessment. Just start preparing for the Temple Exam at the beginning of next spring."

The Winter Assessment is the one held on the Winter Solstice, and it's also the last assessment of the year.

But hearing Chen Shijie say this, Zhao Xing no longer had to expend the effort.

He only had to wait until the Temple Exam at the start of next spring was passed, and he could be enrolled as an official.

The Temple Exam combines practical combat and theory. The imperial court sets the questions directly through the Divine Temple, and Yin Gods and designated chief officials jointly oversee the exam.

The exam is finished that day, and results come out three days later.

There was basically nothing left to discuss. After thinking it over, Zhao Xing handed the Blood Sha Pearl and Blood Spirit Needle to Chen Shijie: "These two items are useless to me. Help me exchange them for money."

"Oh? Quite a haul, kid." Just then, Long Xiao walked in from the drill ground outside. "These are good stuff—where'd you get them?"

"He killed a vice hall master," Chen Shijie explained on his behalf. "I didn't even get to use those protective-law straw effigies you had me copy."

"Not bad—better than Chen Old-Two back in his day," Long Xiao praised.

Zhao Xing didn't respond, because he saw Chen Shijie's mouth twitch.

But it seemed Long Xiao had rendered great merit this time; Chen Shijie actually said nothing and let Long Xiao show off.

"I'll take this pearl." Long Xiao picked up the Blood Sha Pearl and unceremoniously tucked it into his robes. "Once you arrive at the Divine Might Army, I'll calculate it out for you at equivalent value in merit points. Whatever you need to buy then, just come find me and I'll help you get it."

"Works for me." Zhao Xing nodded. The army doesn't use gold and silver, but instead uses a merit point system.

This kind of merit point system isn't only popular in the army—the Great Zhou's seventy-two Dao Academies and academies also have the 'Three Societies Merit Point Method' and the 'Three Academies Merit Point Method.'

They preserve the 'Excellent,' 'Average,' and 'Poor' evaluation system while incorporating a highly practical numerical system.

If you have enough merit points, you can advance from the outer academy to the inner academy, from a lower society to an upper society, and even become a teacher at a Dao Academy.

The military merit point system, upon reaching a certain level, allows promotion in honors, titles, and loose ranks.

"I'll handle the Blood Spirit Needle for you." Chen Shijie put away the Blood Spirit Needle. "When you go to the Soldier Realm for training later, there'll definitely be places where it'll come in handy."

Zhao Xing's eyes lit up: "To serve as an Agriculture Supervisor in the Divine Might Army, I still have to go to the Soldier Realm for training first?"

Long Xiao said proudly: "Of course! You think just any stray cat or dog can enter our Divine Might Army?"

"If you get enrolled as an official through the clerk-to-official route, even if you waited a thousand years for a transfer, you still couldn't enter the Divine Might Army."

Zhao Xing asked curiously: "What rank did the Divine Might Army place in the last Soldier Realm Legion Martial Exhibition?"

"Five hundred and eighty-seventh!"

Over five hundredth place and you're showing off—what's there to be proud of!

Anyone who didn't know would think you were one of the Ten Elite Armies!

Seeing that Zhao Xing gave no reaction upon hearing this number, Long Xiao couldn't help getting anxious: "Kid, don't think five hundred-something is bad. Do you know how many armies participated in the last Soldier Realm Legion Martial Exhibition?"

"How many?"

"Eight thousand seven hundred and ninety-three armies!" Long Xiao said. "Our Divine Might Army can rank in the five hundreds—tell me, is that impressive or not?"

"Impressive." Zhao Xing nodded very cooperatively.

Over eight thousand armies—for the Great Zhou, which commands nineteen provinces and a vast population, that's actually a small number.

During the Founding Emperor's era, the number of armies participating in the Soldier Realm Martial Exhibition exceeded fifty thousand, but by the time of the Civil Emperor, he hadn't launched many wars.

The number of participants in the Soldier Realm Martial Exhibition hit a historical low, with barely more than five thousand armies taking part.

During the Jing Emperor's era, it picked up slightly. With multiple exhibitions held, his armies all numbered in the tens of thousands.

The most exaggerated was Wu Di, who directly broke the Founding Emperor's record. At its peak, that Soldier Realm Legion Martial Exhibition saw a staggering five hundred thousand armies participating!

Even on average, the number of armies participating in each Soldier Realm Martial Exhibition never dropped below a hundred thousand.

Wu Di liked mass-producing troops and waging war, expanding the realm. And he didn't pad the numbers—in fact, the threshold for the Soldier Realm Legion Martial Exhibitions he held was never low. Among all the Great Zhou dynasties, the quality of the armies under his command was second only to the Founding Emperor's era, and in certain periods it even surpassed it.

The Soldier Realm Legion Martial Exhibition has a participation threshold.

Local armies like the East Lake Army don't even qualify to participate.

"Does the Divine Might Army have a cave-heaven realm of its own?" Zhao Xing asked.

The moment this question came out, Long Xiao visibly deflated, and a dim look also passed through Chen Shijie's eyes.

"We were just one step away from having one."

Meaning they didn't have one.

Zhao Xing felt a slight twinge of disappointment in his heart.

What is the Soldier Realm?

The Soldier Realm is what the Great Zhou built by linking together cave-heaven worlds across the lands of the nineteen provinces.

Once one's realm rises, whether it's spells or Wu Ji, their power and range will grow exponentially.

The lands of the nineteen provinces truly cannot withstand being ravaged.

For someone at Zhao Xing's current Ninth Rank Realm, casting the Cloud-Swallowing Art can cover nearly half of Gu County.

A martial artist's secret techniques don't have that large a range, but their power is nothing to scoff at either.

Let's still use the Si Nong as an example. Many of the Dili Sect's spells require practicing on earth veins, and the same goes for the Heaven's Timing methods.

One moment the mountains collapse and the earth splits, the next it's winter then summer — how could ordinary people stand it?

So any army of relatively high caliber normally stations itself inside a Grotto-Heaven world for training.

Grotto-Heaven worlds have all sorts of marvelous qualities.

The land is vast and can take a beating — that's one aspect — and there are also unique, abundant produce.

For instance, there's a book in the Si Nong's texts called *Records of Grotto-Heaven Produce*, which describes the marvels of 'Guangling Grotto-Heaven'.

In spring, one can plant the Five Excellent Grains — plant in spring, harvest in spring — a single ear can feed five people.

In summer, one can plant the Hundred Blood Vines — plant in summer, harvest in summer — the vine fruits can supplement a hundred types of blood.

In autumn, one can cultivate the Golden Soybeans — plant in autumn, harvest in autumn — gather Yuan in three days, enter the ranked realm within a month, worth its weight in gold.

In winter, one can dig up the Bone-Continuing Ginseng — ten days to mend bone, a hundred days to regrow a severed limb.

In Guangling Grotto-Heaven, the Guangling Army — ranked in the top fifty of Great Zhou — is stationed.

Guangling Grotto-Heaven is still not the largest or most marvelous. The largest Grotto-Heaven worlds are occupied by the Ten Forbidden Armies.

The military world's legion martial exercises also take place in rotation among those ten largest Grotto-Heavens.

"A powerful army occupies a Grotto-Heaven alone. The Divine Might Army didn't even make the top three hundred, so it can only share one with other armies — even multiple armies."

"But what did Long Xiao mean by 'almost made it'?"

Zhao Xing saw that Long Xiao and Chen Shijie didn't elaborate, so he didn't press further. He had a vague guess in his heart — this probably involved the Divine Might Army's core secrets.

"If I go to the military world for training, which Grotto-Heaven would I go to?" Zhao Xing asked.

"Not clear yet." Chen Shijie shook his head. "Before, I stayed in both Golden Court Grotto-Heaven and Danxia Grotto-Heaven. Now that the Divine Might Army is being reactivated, there will surely be changes in this regard."

"But by next spring, it should be settled. Both Long Xiao and I will stay until that time before setting out."

Zhao Xing nodded, then asked about other matters: "Does the Divine Might Army have a good relationship with the Departing Fire Dao Academy?"

The Departing Fire Divine Altar, although it has conditions for use, isn't something just anyone can borrow.

Across the nineteen provinces, armies large and small are as numerous as cattle hairs, yet there are only seventy-two Dao Academies.

If you want to borrow it, the Academy still has to think you're worth their time.

"The Marquis has some connections with the Departing Fire Dao Academy." Chen Shijie said: "In earlier years, he studied there for a period."

"May I know the Marquis's given name and title?"

"Of course." Long Xiao said, "The Marquis's surname is Yang, given name An. He was enfeoffed as Marquis of Boping in the first year of Jingxin."

Not called Marquis of Divine Might? Boping… could it be a county marquis?

Zhao Xing was somewhat puzzled. Chen Shijie and Long Xiao both held the Marquis in the highest esteem, yet he was only a county marquis — this was rather strange.

The title bestowed upon a marquis can reveal a great many things.

First-class marquises usually carry the characters 'Wei' (might) or 'Ying' (valor), personally chosen by the Human Sovereign. Titles based on special deeds, personal characteristics, or expressing expectations and grand aspirations also count as first-class.

Second-class marquises take their titles from the soldier's five virtues: 'Yan, Yong, Wu, Zhi, Xin' — strict, brave, martial, wise, trustworthy. These are the Five Virtues titles.

Third-class marquises are usually named after their fief.

Fourth-class marquises are not in the Wu Hou ranks; their names are all over the place. Basically, they have no fief, only an estate — meaning you can only take some taxes from that land. A fief, on the other hand, doesn't just yield taxes; you can also raise troops, develop mineral veins, and so on.

Marquis of Boping sounds like a third-class marquis at first hearing, yet he commands an army called Divine Might?

"I wonder what story lies within. The future Marquis of Divine Might and Divine Might Army that will shake the world — right now he's just a county marquis of Boping. Could it be that Emperor Jing was just too stingy?"

Zhao Xing went on to ask about other matters concerning the Divine Might Army — its scale, numbers, battle record, and so on. In his heart, he now had a rough understanding of where he was going.

Overall, the Divine Might Army fit his next plan quite well.

Few soldiers, strong commanders — that means plenty of chances to earn merit. One could tell just from the personal caliber of Long Xiao and Chen Shijie.

Moreover, the Divine Might Army would one day shake the world. Riding along with the Divine Might Army, there was plenty of room to rise.

The only hidden danger was that, in the end, he didn't know why it had been struck off the rolls.

"But that is not unchangeable." Zhao Xing thought to himself. "My appearance will inevitably bring a butterfly effect. For instance, this time the Xuantian Sect's operation in Nanyang Commandery — without me, Old Chen couldn't have been alerted to invite Long Xiao, nor notified the Commandery Prince of Nanyang."

"A true strong person never complains about the environment. No matter how great the future changes, they cannot shake my resolve to live long and see far!"

At Chen's residence, Long Xiao watched Zhao Xing leave and couldn't help but stroke his chin: "This kid is no simple matter. His mind is steadfast. It seems like becoming an Army Si Nong wasn't something you persuaded him into — it was a direction he'd already decided on."

"In the Xuantian Sect incident, he was both brave and resourceful, able to deduce alongside you, and at the critical moment dared to make a move against a Hall Master-level figure."

"But during that inspection at Anping Town, even though he had a protective straw figure with him, he didn't rush in to claim the credit."

"Chatting with him, I only said a few words, yet he seemed to have already guessed at a great many things."

"I have a premonition — he will definitely bring us a surprise."

Chen Shijie smiled slightly: "Why are you more optimistic about him than I am? Still, let's not celebrate too early. We'll see after he passes the Temple Examination."