Chapter 91: Merit Bestowed

Fang Heng blinked, frozen in place: "..."

He saw a demon horse being led by Vice General Hong.

In front of them, over twenty Golden Falcon Captains returning from Qingfeng Mountain stood with solemn faces on either side of that young man.

Today, two women from the Inner Camp were in charge of the Foreign Affairs Hall; they were seen taking out items one by one and carefully presenting them into the hands of their colleagues.

First was a neatly folded great cloak with wide sleeves and a long hem, its texture silky, featuring a fierce wolf swallowing the moon on it; this was the insignia of the Outer Camp, adding a touch of killing intent.

Then they placed a jade girdle and a gilded openwork wolf-pattern hair crown, both magnificent and majestic.

"Ho! Promoted to Vice General."

The many Captains gathering around to watch the spectacle had originally wanted to see what urgent matter was so pressing that a demon horse was ridden into the Zhen Mo Si, but they never expected to witness a colleague's promotion with their own eyes.

For a moment, they couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

Although Qingfeng Mountain was dangerous enough to keep ordinary people tossing and turning in fear of being assigned there, for these true experts, it had become a rare opportunity; the promotion was far too fast!

Just then, the second woman from the Inner Camp similarly took out a brand-new black robe.

The Captains glanced over it slightly, intending to look away, but their bodies suddenly froze, and they looked back again in disbelief.

They saw that the cuffs of that uniform did not bear cloud patterns; instead, an exquisitely embroidered Yin-Yang fish appeared at the collar.

Yin-Yang Qiankun!

This was the mark belonging exclusively to Old Master Chen Qiankun among the twelve Zhen Mo Generals.

"..."

The crowd unconsciously swallowed their dry throats and suddenly fell silent; the shocked expression of watching a spectacle quickly faded, and after exchanging glances with those beside them, a hint of tension subtly arose between them.

The meaning represented by a personal attendant Vice General could be summarized in four words.

They had finally made it.

Massive merit and proud strength meant the other party no longer needed to do anything to prove themselves.

From now on, there would be no need to cross mountains and rivers, keeping one's head tied to one's belt all day; one only needed to follow the Zhen Mo General, set up camp, and keep watch over the demons and monsters outside the twelve prefectures of Outside Qingzhou.

They would deter each other, with well water never encroaching on river water.

As a Captain under the other party, it would be nothing but comfortable; standing guard every day, one might not even truly fight once in several years, and after serving enough time, the merit of guarding the border would be considerable as well.

If this personal attendant lord were willing to take a few people along before departing...

In an instant, a crowd of Outer Camp Captains eagerly squeezed forward.

Bai Ziming raised an eyebrow slightly, surprise welling up in his eyes.

Only Fang Heng's expression changed slightly; the delighted look he had when seeing the great cloak suddenly turned rather unpleasant after noticing the Yin-Yang fish, with a hint of disappointment lingering.

"We congratulate Lord Shen on his victorious return! Promoted three ranks!"

Excluding the few holding the precious robes, the remaining Golden Falcon Captains stepped back a few paces, then bent and clasped their hands, their voices booming like a great bell.

Under his lead, the hundred-plus Captains beside him, whether from the Inner or Outer Camp, all made the same gesture; even Hong Lei, standing far away, lost his previous teasing expression, loosened the reins, and respectfully clasped his fists: "Congratulations, Lord Shen!"

"Why are you looking at me? Don't you have hands?" Bai Ziming glanced at Fang Heng beside him.

"..." Fang Heng let his two arms hang down and tried to shake them.

Bai Ziming helplessly raised both palms, feeling that he shouldn't have left home today.

As long as one was a disciple of the Grand Marshal, one could at most become a Vice General; there was no precedent for serving as someone else's personal attendant.

Even Senior Sister Jiang only ascended to the position of Zhen Mo General after the previous one in Lady Yushan's prefecture died, suppressing Lady Yushan City through bloody means.

Therefore... Bai Ziming's rank was actually slightly lower than Shen Yi's current one.

He sighed.

Going directly from Captain to personal attendant Vice General; even if there truly was a Condensed-Demon Dragon Demon on Qingfeng Mountain, it would require the merit of beheading it; what, did the Zhen Mo General go strolling and walking the dog on Qingfeng Mountain? Not a shred of merit gained?

"Is Old Master Chen losing his mind? This fellow has only joined the Zhen Mo Si for less than a month; he really dares to give anything."

Hearing someone curse Chen Qiankun, Hong Lei suddenly stared over, then heard the second half of the sentence.

His expression instantly turned to shock: "Ah?"

Less than a month...

This is bad!

Hong Lei's heart suddenly accelerated.

Which scoundrel Vice General did this? Did he think he was going to die and couldn't get out of bed, simply too lazy to move like a dog? Recruiting such a person without even saying a word?

Whether Old Master knew was unclear, but at least this group of Vice Generals had never thought in that direction.

There was a very important reason for that, which was...

Having just entered less than a month ago, one hasn't even received a salary yet; why risk one's life for a mere feather?!

"..."

Shen Yi silently looked around, feeling somewhat unaccustomed.

After hesitating for a moment, he asked: "What about martial arts and treasure pills?"

Many Captains were stunned, then their faces showed a strange expression.

A woman from the Inner Camp gently covered her mouth, pushed aside a few colleagues, invited Shen Yi into the Foreign Affairs Hall, walked behind the large cabinet, and took out a sheet of paper: "Lord Shen, what do you need? I'll make a list; once everyone returns and the merit is fully tallied, I'll deliver it to you immediately."

"Anything?" Shen Yi looked at her in surprise.

Actually, his expectations were not high; Hong Lei had originally promised a low-grade Jade Liquid martial art; he had captured Dai Bing and the Executive, beheaded the Tu Dragon, and collected the dragon head for the Zhen Mo General.

In any case, it should be three or five books, right?

"Ah?" The woman was stunned for a moment and stammered: "If it is a mid-grade Jade Liquid Realm martial art, we do have some here, but there may not be many suitable for you; as for high-grade ones, the Foreign Affairs Hall has only one..."

"I haven't decided yet, can I—" Shen Yi casually withdrew his gaze, cleared his throat, and said: "Bring them all out for me to see; I want to choose carefully."

Upon hearing this, several Inner Camp Captains immediately showed difficulty, struggling to organize their words: "Lord Shen, in the past, the Zhen Mo Si encountered geniuses who could read ten lines at a glance and never forgot anything; these were talents specially cultivated and sent from outside to steal martial arts... After that, rules were established... It is not that we are guarding against you; Lord Shen certainly has no such thoughts, but rules are rules after all."

The Zhen Mo Si is indeed luxurious, but it depends on what things.

After all, the martial arts and precious medicines inside mainly come from seizing.

What the noble clans have, this place has dozens or even hundreds of times over; what the noble clans don't have, the government office cannot conjure out of thin air either.

For instance, Jade Liquid Realm martial arts — in the eyes of jianghu martial artists, there isn't even such a thing as a "grade."

The so-called mid-grade exists because noble clans and sects discovered that ordinary martial arts still had room for improvement, and, confident in their great estates and long lifespans, they painstakingly researched and developed martial arts whose effects far surpassed those of the same realm.

The reason it's called "mid-grade" is because above it still exist things like the five ultimate skills of the Commander, which are utterly beyond comprehension.

For instance, the Four Harmony True Gang can actually spend decades of accumulated foundation in the span of a short moment — the likes of which ordinary people truly wouldn't even bother to look at, even if handed to them.

The jade liquid painstakingly accumulated is used to enhance strength and speed, to reinforce the body and the blade in hand; at best, one might produce a sword gang or saber qi.

This kind of overwhelming True Gang method is equivalent to providing a way to use one's breath in massive quantities — not only obscure and difficult to grasp, but also something few can afford to use.

After all, once one breaks through to Jade Liquid Perfection, one's lifespan extends by a hundred years; even with the help of precious medicines, re-accumulating that foundation takes considerable time — who would gamble with their own life?

Gathering the full strength of Outside Qingzhou Zhen Mo Si, they could only focus their efforts on the most important internal cultivation first.

Only in the end did they deduce the Wind Thunder Sun-Melting Canon that shook all twelve commanderies.

"Fine."

The little scheme came to nothing.

Shen Yi was slightly disappointed, but did not show it: "Body-tempering method, lightness-step method."

Hearing the first three words, the two Misses from the inner camp suddenly froze for a moment.

Could it really be such a coincidence? Surely the other party hadn't come targeting that very upper-grade martial art…

"My lord Shen, have you heard of the Vajra Gate?"

"It's no major sect — a barely second-rate power."

Sorry, big shots — the latest update time is at the very latest eleven at night.

It's not fixed because earlier a big shot said they might be going to sleep at eleven, so if I can post earlier, I'll post a bit earlier.

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(End of this chapter)