Chapter 417

Zhao Yin died.

The maternal relative of the Great Jin Divine State, Zhao Yin, died.

Zhao Yin, whose mother was a beloved princess of the Great Jin Divine State and who, by blood relation, was the grandnephew of the current Divine Emperor of the Great Jin Divine State, died.

Not only was his maternal lineage noble, but Zhao Yin's father also came from the Great Jin military clan Zhao, which is a top‑tier clan comparable to the Jiang, Jiang, and First clans. In terms of pedigree, the Zhao clan unquestionably ranks among the top five military clans of Great Jin.

Despite such noble birth and his own diligence, Zhao Yin, who was considered a rising star in the Military Department's Law and Punishment Bureau, died just like that.

Moreover, it is said that he died in an extremely miserable way.

Rumors ran rampant in Anyang City; according to information gathered by informants from the Military Department, Zhao Yin was said to have been severely wounded by the famous monstrous villain Qiaoshe Wang of Daze Prefecture, then torn apart and devoured by several giant vultures under his command.

Pitiful, regrettable, lamentable, tragic!

Countless people widened their eyes, wanting to see how things would develop.

Whether it was his mother, that deeply beloved princess of Great Jin, or his father, a powerful figure of the Zhao clan in the Military Department, it was impossible for them to let Zhao Yin die so ingloriously.

But as time passed, neither his mother nor his father showed any reaction.

Or perhaps there was, but outsiders were unaware.

Time passed bit by bit, and Daze Prefecture was also undergoing tremendous changes.

There are those in court who seek office, and with backing, even a remote prefecture can develop rapidly in a short time.

The super-long-distance spatial gate of Daze Prefecture, which had been destroyed, took three months to rebuild and is now complete.

The rebuilt spatial gate was strictly constructed according to the war standards of Great Jin's frontline battlefields; not only was the gate's own structure reinforced a hundredfold, but twelve floating war forts were also built on the Daze Prefecture side to guard it.

Each floating war fort is one li by one li, each containing three super-large-caliber Pure Yang Aurora Cannons; in the main fort, a platform was even built whereby, if needed, one could activate the Solar Gold Shuttle from the highest heavens to unleash wide-area devastation on enemies within a certain range.

The Solar Gold Shuttle is a great weapon that can only be mobilized by the joint effort of the Suppress Demon Hall Master Sima Jun and the Pacify Demon Hall Master Sima Kuang.

Yet in Daze Prefecture there stands such a platform, capable of dispatching a small-yield Solar Gold Shuttle strike.

Wu Tie, well-versed in the Great Jin military system, could not help but secretly tremble at the energy wielded by the master behind Mr. Li; this person's status absolutely far surpasses that of Sima Jun and Sima Kuang, yet in the vast Great Jin Divine State, those who possess such status can be counted on one's fingers.

Wu Tie faintly saw a huge vortex, and he was actively jumping into it, drawing ever closer to its core.

He felt exhilarated, felt gratified.

This feeling was excellent.

Especially after the twelve war forts were completed, this spatial gate, whose maximum diameter expanded to six thousand zhang and whose maximum transmission range reached beyond a hundred prefectures, came entirely under Wu Tie's control.

As long as Wu Tie does not speak, no one can pass through this spatial gate safely to reach Daze Prefecture.

And these twelve war forts are not only for guarding the spatial gate; they also constitute a crucial defensive barrier for Daze City. The thirty-six super-large-caliber Pure Yang Aurora Cannons within the forts have a strike range spanning tens of thousands of li, making them veritable weapons for pacifying a prefecture.

On the city wall, Wu Tie and Pheasant Feng stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the spatial gate a hundred li away.

Because the twelve war forts guard it, the spatial gate is now much closer to Daze City, so Wu Tie need not worry about enemies suddenly attacking Daze City through the gate.

At this moment the spatial gate is spewing forth an introverted radiance, gradually unfolding outward.

When the spatial gate opened to about two thousand zhang, one after another large decked ship slowly flew out of it.

These decked ships are huge and bloated, their hulls as bloated as a pregnant sow in her tenth month, enormous beyond compare.

These are specially designed civilian transport decked ships; aside from their enormous capacity, they have no other merits—speed, defensive power, and combat ability are all so poor as to make one shake one's head and sigh.

Endless thousand-zhang-long giant civilian decked ships leisurely flew out of the spatial gate, heading toward Daze City for several tens of li before slowly descending. Outside the city, a vast plain tens of li long and wide had been cleared and paved with magicked stone ground, smooth and level, perfectly serving as the landing field for these huge decked ships.

With the twelve war forts guarding it, no vicious birds or beasts dare hide within tens of thousands of li around Daze City.

Now Daze City has become much safer, so after Wu Tie and Pheasant Feng consulted, they simply placed the landing field outside the city.

The huge decked ships lightly touched down, accompanied by the shouts of countless sailors and officials on board; the hulls opened door after door, and gangways extended from the hulls, landing heavily on the ground.

Accompanied by the crisp sound of whips, one after another disheveled men and women walked out of the hulls, crowding together in a messy heap on the landing field.

These men and women: some look fierce and evil, some have a sinister air, some appear honest and stupid, some are full of deceit...

But no matter how they look, these fellows are convicts who committed various crimes in the various prefectures of Great Jin; after trial, they were sent to Daze Prefecture to serve as frontier laborers to atone for their sins.

For a newly opened prefecture like Daze, population is the most important resource.

But which upstanding commoner would willingly come to suffer in such a newly opened prefecture? So we can only think of ways using the convicts.

As the Divine Might Army continually expands territory, the number of newly opened prefectures in Great Jin grows, the shortage of convicts widens, and each new prefecture desperately cries out to the court, wailing to heaven and earth, begging their superiors, patrons, and backers to send more convicts.

After dealing with Zhao Yin, in just half a year, the number of convicts sent from all over Great Jin to Daze Prefecture exceeded thirty million!

Aside from Daze City, Wu Tie and Pheasant Feng had people build several dozen large and small cities nearby, only then managing to barely accommodate these convicts.

With sufficient manpower, Daze Prefecture truly changes day by day, advancing rapidly in every aspect.

What especially pleases Wu Tie is that, among the convicts sent to Daze Prefecture through Mr. Li's efforts, there are actually many professionals.

Farming, mining, weaving, forging... even alchemy, education, administration... and even professional assassins, killers, officers versed in drilling troops, etc...

In short, the convicts sent by Mr. Li are of high quality; each possesses a skill, and even the ruffians among them are strong-bodied, brave and combative, possessing a certain cultivation and combat capability.

With these people, the basic framework of Daze Prefecture has already taken shape.

To put it bluntly, even if the outside world were destroyed, the people currently in Daze Prefecture could quickly develop a prosperous civilization.

Wu Tie does not know how much thought and effort Mr. Li expended to send so many convicts.

In short, this is a good thing for Daze Prefecture and for Wu Tie.

This time, again, a dozen or so giant decked ships entered Daze Prefecture, and five to six hundred thousand carefully matched convicts slowly disembarked and stood on the landing field.

Li Erhaozi, full of swagger, led a large detachment of prefectural troops to surround these convicts, shouting loudly, driving them along the wide road cleared through the forest toward a newly built city southeast of Daze City.

That city lies beside the marsh, situated on a small protruding peninsula.

Wu Tie intends to use this city as a pilot, gradually infiltrating Daze; now that Daze Prefecture's strength is growing, Wu Tie believes he can start making plans regarding Daze.

Pheasant Feng watched the receding convoy of convicts and suddenly asked Wu Tie, "I'm curious—who exactly are the people behind you? To be able to send so many convicts to Daze Prefecture in such a short time, his influence is simply astonishing."

Wu Tie spread his hands and remained silent.

Pheasant Feng turned her head to look at Wu Tie. Over these months, she has often met with Wu Tie to discuss and argue over various affairs of the Black Phoenix Army, and since they often drink together, they have unintentionally developed a pretty good rapport.

"My father once told me that in this world there is absolutely no love or hatred without cause. The amount others invest in you is what they hope to get back manifold... the greater the investment, the greater the expected return... and the risk also grows."

Pei Feng said in a deep voice: "Over the past six months, the convicts sent to Great Marsh Prefecture have been shockingly high in quality, each one meticulously selected. The value of thirty million convicts surpasses that of ordinary city foxes and shrine rats numbering in the hundreds of millions…… Huo Xiong, you need to be more careful."

Wu Tie looked at Pei Feng.

Pei Feng also looked at him.

After a while, Pei Feng turned his head and said calmly: "People with such methods and such ability often represent great danger, great trouble…… Getting involved in their affairs means…… someone will die."

Wu Tie smiled, and said in a deep voice: "I understand, I too, have my own plans."

Pei Feng placed both hands on the city wall's battlements, propped himself on his toes, half his body protruding from the wall, facing the fresh breeze blowing from the forest ahead, and took a deep breath: "What is your plan? Or rather, what do you want?"

Wu Tie fell silent for a moment.

What is his plan?

The task given to him by the two old monsters, Wu Yu and Xi Bu Bai, is certainly not something that can be spoken of.

So, Wu Tie recalled an old, nutritionally void joke that Lao Tie had once told him: "High office and generous salary, promotion and wealth, beautiful wife and lovely concubines, nights filled with music……"

Pei Feng pressed his lips tightly, a fierce cold light flashing in his eyes, and he slammed a hard elbow into Wu Tie's ribs.

Since they were standing close, when her elbow struck Wu Tie's body, from behind it looked as if half of her body were lying in his embrace.

Wu Tie let out a muffled grunt, angrily shouting at Pei Feng: "Don't think you can hit people just because you're a woman…… Well, my pursuit is to achieve great deeds, not waste this fine male form; at the same time, to find one or two lovely confidantes to share a long life……"

"One or two lovely confidantes?" Pei Feng gave a "hehe" cold laugh.

Wu Tie raised his head and said arrogantly: "Who knows? Perhaps an unparalleled beauty, seeing this general's heroic bearing and extraordinary might, would just happen to take a liking to me—one, two, three or four—who knows?"

Pei Feng snorted, then gradually burst into loud laughter, her laughter drifting far away on the wind, far and far.

Behind them, a convoy of civilian laborers from Great Marsh City was being escorted by dozens of soldiers as they walked along the city wall.

The laborers held various hoes, iron spades, and other tools, all of which were Primordial Soldier-grade fine implements, capable of cleaving mountains and splitting stone as easily as a sharp blade cuts tofu—truly the finest tools for construction projects.

Among the laborers, a thin-faced man with somewhat cloudy eyes narrowed his gaze, waving his hand at Wu Tie and Pei Feng. A wisp of ethereal light swirled in his palm, recording the scene of the two chatting on the city wall.

Far beyond Great Marsh Prefecture, Si Ma Lang sat cross-legged on a mass of azure clouds, gazing into the distance at dozens of hundred-zhang-tall mountain sprites, surrounded by his great army. These mountain sprites had crimson faces, bodies covered in white fur, as hard as vajra, leaping like flight, and innately able to move wood and stone, making them the most troublesome foes in mountain forests.

They wielded wooden staffs condensed by magic; a casual swing of these massive staffs could send hundreds of Divine Might Army elites flying.

Although these mountain sprites' own cultivation is roughly at the Life Pool Realm, relying on their extraordinarily strong physiques granted by innate talent, they can match commanders of the Divine Might Army at the Fetal Storage Realm level, and do so without falling short.

Si Ma Lang watched the besieged mountain sprites with interest: "Remember, capture them alive. I reckon I need to build an elite private army, and I'm worried about lacking enough sturdy shock troops—these big fellows are just right for the job."

The few civil officials beside Si Ma Lang smiled and nodded, quickly relaying his will down the ranks.

More and more Divine Might Army soldiers closed in, forming a trapping array that encircled the mountain sprites.

A garrison commandant closest to Si Ma Lang let out a soft "yeah", flipped his palm, and a small fist-sized jade ball appeared in his hand: "Sir, the scouts sent to Great Marsh Prefecture have sent word—this is……"

Strands of mist rose from the jade ball, and in the vapor appeared Wu Tie and Pei Feng standing shoulder to shoulder, Pei Feng's "affectionate" self, with "half" of her body "leaning" against Wu Tie's embrace. The vapor also carried sound—Pei Feng's clear, pleasant laughter, which caused Si Ma Lang's fair complexion to suddenly darken.

"She has never laughed at me like this." Si Ma Lang slowly rose to his feet, gazed at the scene in the jade ball, and said lightly: "She actually took a liking to this…… ordinary-born lucky one?"

"What, women, truly baffling." Si Ma Lang said coldly: "Originally I wanted to use a few coaxing tactics to make her obediently throw herself into my arms…… but now it seems, this vile person is not worth cherishing; I might as well just take her down outright."

With arms crossed over his chest, Si Ma Lang looked at the dozens of mountain sprites leaping about and shouting wildly, and said in a low voice: "Deploy a hundredfold more personnel, infiltrate Great Marsh Prefecture and stand by…… Furthermore, use every channel, every resource, to investigate thoroughly just who stands behind Huo Xiong."

Si Ma Lang murmured: "To be able to send so many skilled convicts to the frontier in such a short time…… this person's methods are extraordinary."

"But no matter who you are, Huo Xiong, Huo Xiong, no matter who your backer is, if you dare to provoke Pei Feng, you will surely die."

Turning around, Si Ma Lang looked at the row of subordinate officials standing at attention with a ninety-degree bow behind him, and said coldly: "Send word to Si Ma Xin, Si Ma Yu, and the others, saying that if I help them deal with Huo Xiong and let him die here, what benefits can they offer me?"

"Make it clear to them, spell it out thoroughly—I, Si Ma Lang, am not so easily used…… Without adequate compensation, don't expect me to lift a finger for them."

As he spoke, Si Ma Lang laughed: "Those few fellows can't offer much benefit either. Still, no profit, no early rise—even a mosquito's leg is meat, right? I, Si Ma Lang, have always had a big appetite; big meat, small meat, if it's meat, I'll eat it."

Turning around, Si Ma Lang slapped his palm toward the battle formation.

A massive hand condensed from azure clouds whooshed forth, striking the most burly mountain sprite until it vomited blood and fled in disarray for dozens of li.