Chapter 177: Top-Tier Aristocratic Clan

"Young Master, the ocean is so dangerous, must we still go out to sea?"

Encountering the giant Kun fish beast, although it was only a simple description, Gao Hu, Gao Niu, and the others all understood the dangers of the ocean. No one knew exactly how vast the ocean was, but they all knew that the ocean was a forbidden zone for humanity.

For a long time, almost no one had been willing to go out to sea.

"If we don't go to sea, where will the meat come from? When training troops and practicing martial arts in the army, without meat to provide nutrition, how can they persist? Relying solely on grain and grass is not enough."

An ordinary person consumes no more than about one jin of grain a day, and even in difficult times, half a jin is enough.

But the soldiers in the army are different. Once they start training—not to mention practicing martial arts, just simple training—they need two jin or even more of grain every day.

An army of fifty thousand requires one hundred thousand jin a day, three million jin of grain a month. If meat is provided, this figure would be reduced by half or even more.

Of course, Su Fan's subordinates consume even more grain because the soldiers under his command are not just doing simple training; they are also practicing martial arts. Especially that eight-hundred-man personal guard battalion—every one of them is a big eater.

Su Fan has also begun raising livestock, but since it hasn't been long, the results have yet to appear. Although fish meat from the ocean is not as good as pork, horse, sheep, or beef, if they can catch big fish, the effect is also quite good.

The fact that so many martial artists practicing Qi-strength have appeared under his command within half a year is also related to eating more fish meat.

Having been baptized by the Qi of Heaven and Earth, this fish meat also contains quite a bit of blood-Qi.

"This..."

Su Fan's words left Gao Hu speechless. Without sea ships to provide fish meat, it would not be easy for him to train the troops. Eating only grain has too little effect on martial arts practice.

"The ocean is dangerous. In the future, I will instruct them not to go so far. For now, just catch fish here along the coast."

Fifty kilometers is still just the near coast, but the ocean is truly too mysterious. Even on the Earth of later generations where technology was advanced, human understanding of the ocean remained merely superficial.

Let alone in this super-martial era.

Fortunately, in this world, even along the edges of the coast, fish are countless, so there is no need to sail far to fish. Su Fan had previously ordered the sea ships to go a bit further out because he wanted to explore.

Unfortunately, they had only just gone fifty kilometers out when they encountered a whale.

With a body size of several hundred zhang, even an ordinary beast would be extremely terrifying. Sometimes, when strength reaches a certain level, even the top experts of this world would not dare to provoke it lightly.

However, if one could hunt such a sea beast, it would probably be enough to keep the soldiers in the army well-fed for a period of time.

Some adult whales of later generations weighed several tons, and blue whales reached over a hundred tons. In this world, with body sizes ballooning ten or a hundred times, wouldn't they be even heavier?

Of course, Su Fan also understood that these sea beasts had likely become demon beasts. Even without divine abilities or spells, they remained nearly invincible existences in the ocean.

Let alone Su Fan now, even if a Purple Mansion cultivator came, they might not necessarily be its match.

A whale is a treasure from head to tail, but unfortunately, he could only watch.

Luoyang City!

The imperial capital of the Divine Han Dynasty, a capital city newly built four thousand years ago. Its inner city alone spans four hundred li from north to south. This ancient capital now has a permanent population of a full thirty million, and as for the floating population, it reaches over one hundred million.

After all, as the largest city in the Divine Han, the prosperity of Luoyang is beyond imagination.

Even merchants from various countries in the Western Regions, hundreds of thousands of li away, come here to trade.

The eastern district of Luoyang City is where the princes, nobles, and great aristocratic clans reside.

In one of the mansions in the eastern district, which covers several thousand mu, with high walls and large courtyards, looking from afar, the sky above the mansion is filled with swirling spiritual light, shimmering, with a profound aura that is unfathomable.

"Benchu, Gonglu, Boye, sit!"

"How has your study tour been during this period?"

After Yuan Feng died, the Yuan family was headed by Yuan Wei. The Yuan family is already a top-tier aristocratic clan of the Divine Han Dynasty; only a few others in the entire Divine Han Dynasty can compare to the Yuan family.

But Yuan Wei understood that for a family to remain prosperous for long, the younger generation must have outstanding abilities. Therefore, for a long time, whenever any disciple of the family—whether direct or collateral—came of age, they were sent out to travel the mountains and rivers of the dynasty.

This was to exercise their abilities and broaden their horizons.

The duration of this process varies; some are short, one or two years, and some are long, even lasting several decades.

The Divine Han Dynasty is truly too vast. Relying on one's feet to walk step by step is naturally very slow. Moreover, traveling the world is not just about taking a cursory glance; sometimes one can even take up a post in a certain place.

As a disciple of the Yuan family, it is impossible to step into the center of power in one leap.

But in local areas, there is no need for the recommendation of filial piety and incorruptibility; serving as a county magistrate or a commandery official is no problem at all.

The reason the Yuan family has remained prosperous for thousands of years is precisely because of this. Disciples who go out to travel often already have the qualifications to govern a place before they even return home.

Returning to Luoyang, with the support of the Yuan family, as long as their ability is not too low, becoming a high-ranking official of the imperial court with a salary of two thousand shi is no problem.

If there are those with outstanding abilities, even the Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers are within reach. Otherwise, over the thousands of years of the Yuan family, who knows how many Three Excellencies and Nine Ministers have emerged.

In the previous generation, among their brothers, two Three Excellencies emerged.

In this generation, he naturally attaches even more importance to it.

Yuan Shu, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Yi are all capable among the younger generation. Especially since their talent is not bad, and they have been practicing the family's Soul Dao Great Art, they have all reached the Soul Refining Realm.

This is quite good.

In the Soul Refining Realm, one can cast spells and divine abilities externally, already possessing strong combat power, and internally, one can extend their lifespan, reaching the mortal limit of three sixty-year cycles.

The three of them can be said to be the future pillars of the Yuan family. Now that all three have returned to Luoyang, they have also made quite a name for themselves in Luoyang these days.

Yuan Wei was quite happy.

Now that he hadn't seen them for several years, he also wanted to see what kind of talent these Qilin talents of the Yuan family truly possessed.

So he found the three of them in the evening, brought them to his study, and specifically tested them.

Hearing their uncle's inquiry, Yuan Shao and the others were all delighted. However, Yuan Shao had a deep sense of strategy; this joy flashed and vanished in an instant. If Yuan Wei's soul cultivation hadn't been very high, he might not even have noticed.

Yuan Shu and Yuan Yi were a bit worse. It wasn't until Yuan Shu saw Yuan Shao that he restrained his smile, and only Yuan Yi remained excited and eager to try.

From this point alone, Yuan Wei discovered the characteristics of the three. Especially regarding Yuan Shao, Yuan Wei was quite satisfied.

"Not showing joy or anger, deep in strategy."

"Not bad."

He praised secretly. ===== CHAPTER 178 =====