Chapter 359: 332 Conquest Robe (Bonus chapter for Alliance Leader Qin Tianji's dog)

"Conquest Robe..."

This term sounds rather imposing.

It's just that...

Just saying the name, those who should know already know, and those who don't still don't.

Qu Huan stood with his hands behind his back and sighed: "It's a long story..."

Zhu Li had to remind him: "Boss, shall we put on our clothes before we talk?"

Qu Huan felt slightly embarrassed and said: "Wearing a Conquest Robe requires Internal Energy. This robe only needs Internal Energy to solidify." As he spoke, he demonstrated, kneading the paste with his Internal Energy, spreading it out like a pancake, and then wrapping it around his body like a robe.

Strangely enough, that mass of paste could not be lifted by hand, nor was it easy to grasp, but when kneaded with Internal Energy, it was smoother than silk, tougher than a burlap sack, and could be molded at will, holding its shape without falling apart—truly a magical material.

He demonstrated very clearly and provided commentary, so everyone understood quickly. The crowd swarmed forward, and everyone grabbed a bucket to dress themselves.

Because the pressure of being naked was gone and they had obtained "new toys," the youths became cheerful, each taking their "Conquest Robe" to knead and wrap around their bodies, creating all sorts of strange outfits. Some wore long robes with shorts, some had single sleeves with long and short legs, and others had threads crisscrossing, looking a bit like a "fishing net."

Since there was only one bucket per person, the material was limited, severely restricting the youths' creativity; otherwise, some might have created all sorts of alien-looking armor.

Qu Huan reminded his underlings: "Don't mess around. Once this Conquest Robe is shaped, it must be maintained with Internal Energy at all times. If you make it too complex, it will require too much Internal Energy, and if you can't maintain it for a moment, it will all fall off. Do you have an abundance of Internal Energy?"

Zhu Li nodded repeatedly, remembering that he had interrupted Qu Huan's speech earlier, and fearing he hadn't finished, he immediately made up for it: "Boss, why is this called a Conquest Robe?"

Qu Huan touched the robe on his body and said: "That's a long story..."

This time no one interrupted him, and some even stretched their ears to listen.

"You know, the Qianxian... is actually the intersection between the Human World and the Tianmo Jie," Qu Huan said. "The world there is very fragmented, and there is a gray zone collectively called the Qianxian, also known as the Suiyu. The situation there is very chaotic, and there are many strange things. For example, everything there becomes fragile. Grass, trees, and rocks will be flattened, and if a person enters, it feels like being under a thousand-pound weight; in a short while, their blood vessels will burst, and their bones will be crushed to death."

Someone who didn't know asked: "It's that dangerous? Aren't we going there? Can we still go?"

Qu Huan said: "In that era, you couldn't go. An ordinary person would die after taking half a step. But only two types of people were exceptions. One is the Sword Guest. A Sword Guest doesn't need preparation and can go directly, as normally as walking in the Human World. The other is the Loose Practitioner. They can't do it on their own, but they can wrap their whole body in Gang Qi, which can protect them like armor and allow them to fight the Fierce Beasts of the Qianxian. They are the main force in the Human World for eliminating demons and pacifying the people."

"However, how many Sword Guests and Loose Practitioners are there in the world? Especially back then, the Mysterious Technique was still a secret kept by major sects, and it was very difficult to cultivate. Loose Practitioners were very rare, and Sword Guests were even scarcer. How could just a few people protect the peace of the Human World?"

"At this time, a predecessor—perhaps a Sword Guest, perhaps a Sword Smith—discovered a material native to the Qianxian that could resist that pressure when wrapped around the body, and it could maintain its shape when encountering Internal Energy, so they tried to use it to make armor. However, most of the material was difficult to transport out of the Qianxian; it was as if people couldn't get in and things couldn't get out, leaving them at a loss. Finally, they set up a Workshop in the Qianxian, used special methods to process the material, and produced this kind of Conquest Robe."

"Of course, this material doesn't become clothing directly; it requires mixing with Internal Energy. If a person doesn't even have Internal Energy, then don't bother with a Conquest Robe; the only point of going to the Qianxian is to seek death."

"At that time, ordinary people going to the Qianxian generally had to turn this material into armor to cover their entire body, not exposing a single bit of skin, looking like a cloth doll from afar. So you couldn't even see a person's face, and you couldn't tell who was who. Everyone called each other 'comrades-in-arms' (paoze), and called this clothing a Conquest Robe."

"Oh..."

For a moment, the youths sighed repeatedly. Those who were making patterns with their Conquest Robes also stopped and properly put them on according to the standard shape, and the scene became solemn without anyone noticing.

Zhu Li asked: "Then should we also..."

Qu Huan laughed: "That's not necessary. This Conquest Robe is also an antique. It was left over from ancient times. Now, better and more convenient armor has been developed. And... if we go to the safe zone, we shouldn't need armor. The safe zone, especially Qianjin City, is fixed by an Array, and ordinary people can walk normally; it's no different from the Human World. This was all built by generations of predecessors. The predecessors planted trees so that later generations could enjoy the shade; compared to the arduous efforts of the predecessors, we are all the generation that enjoys the benefits."

As he was speaking, someone outside the tent said: "Are you dressed yet? What are you whispering about? Come out quickly."

The youths hurriedly came out wearing their clothes and carrying their supply packs. Although they wanted to be serious, they really lacked experience in making clothes, and even without needing to cut them, it was difficult. Even those from poor backgrounds didn't know any techniques, and most just wrapped them around their bodies like bathrobes.

After leaving the tent, the heat from the pool dissipated, and as the cold wind blew, everyone felt a chill. However, they thought: I only have a Conquest Robe on, no inner garments; once my Internal Energy is exhausted and the robe can't be maintained, wouldn't I be completely naked?

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but cross their legs tightly.

At this time, the girls from the opposite side also came over, also wearing Conquest Robes. Immediately, some people's eyes lit up, not knowing what they were thinking.

However, before they could think too much, several Instructors had already come over, and the soldiers around them lined up on both sides, their blades and spears bright, their momentum aggressive, truly murderous. Everyone unconsciously lined up and stood solemnly, silent as the grave.

Li Yijian said: "Very good, now you look like something. Now stand still and wait to go to the next examination hall. Stand straight, head up and chest out, like a human being."

Everyone followed orders and stood straight as a board.

According to what an ordinary person would think, waiting a while might mean waiting for carriages or horses, probably just for a short time, half an hour at most.

Who knew that after waiting for an hour, there was still no movement. Only the cold wind whistled, pouring into the collars of the Conquest Robes, truly chilling to the bone.

Qu Huan thought: This is bad, this is another test. If I had known, I would have eaten something in the tent. If we have to stand here for a day or half a night without food or water, starving and freezing, wouldn't we die?

Fortunately, this stage was not testing endurance.

An hour later, several Instructors walked back and forth in the ranks, as if checking something.

Tang Zhao walked for a while, stopped in front of a girl, and said gently: "This student, you may leave."

The girl was stunned, and then realized that this "leave" meant she had been eliminated, and said tremblingly: "W-why?"

Tang Zhao looked down and said: "See for yourself."

The girl looked down and saw a puddle of paste at her feet, which had dripped from her Conquest Robe. It was clear that she couldn't maintain the Conquest Robe and it had begun to disintegrate. She let out a soft "Ah" and grabbed the hem.

A boy standing next to her glanced over very subtly and discovered a flash of burlap color under the hem of her Conquest Robe, only then realizing that the girl had a burlap lining inside, and couldn't help but feel secretly disappointed.

"This is not a problem of the amount of Internal Energy, but your control of Internal Energy is insufficient. Nowadays there are no clothes, but in the past, this would have cost you your life. I cannot let you go to the Qianxian. You go out first."

The girl's eyes were slightly red, but she didn't lose her composure; she bowed to Tang Zhao and left silently.

It was clear that Tang Zhao was a gentler Instructor; not everyone would explain the reason. An would coldly tell the failures to step out, and if anyone asked one more question, he would start mocking them. Li Yijian didn't even need to speak; he would just stand there, and with one look, the person would know they should get lost.

In this way, they patrolled for another hour, and by the time two hours had passed, a large number of students began to sway.

Li Yijian finally said: "Sit down where you are. Eat."

Everyone felt as if they had been granted amnesty, sat down one after another, and opened their supply packs.

The supply pack really only contained emergency dry rations; the only difference was that there was actually dried Fierce Beast meat. This stuff was particularly good for replenishing physical strength and counted as high-grade food, but it was fishy, smelly, and tasted worse than dry rations.

None of these things tasted good. If it were normal times, the students would have to force it down, but since they hadn't eaten for more than a day, it actually tasted somewhat sweet.

Fortunately, everyone had experience and knew that these things couldn't be eaten to fullness, because they would expand when they met water; eating a few bites and then drinking water would make their stomachs round, and if they ate too fiercely, they would burst their stomachs in a while.

Li Yijian said: "You eat first, I will explain the rules for the next exam."

The students, who had relaxed slightly, immediately tensed their nerves.

"First of all, the exam is in the Qianxian. Of course, you also know that the real Qianxian is not a place for ordinary people. The real Qianxian is always fighting, tense like a drawn bow, especially recently, the Yunzhou Qianxian is tight, and we cannot allow you greenhorns to go up and fight as soon as you arrive; that would just be adding to the chaos. Even righteous warriors recruited from the Waijie need to train for three months before they can go on the field; we don't have that time."

"So we will take a step back and take you to the base camp of the Qianxian, Qianjin City."

"This Qianjin City of ours is called Moyun City, a small city of thirty thousand people. Most of them are soldiers, volunteers, and martial arts practitioners. There are also some native residents of the Suiyu..."

"Native residents?"

"Of course, the Suiyu also has native residents, and there are many factions. Some factions are as powerful as the Imperial Court—or rather, as powerful as the sum of all factions in the Human World. You shouldn't have known about these things; the Human World shouldn't know too much about things outside the world. But now you not only know, but are also fortunate enough to step into Qianjin City. This exam is less of a tempering and more of a reward for you."

"A carriage will come to pick you up in a while; you can sleep for a bit on the carriage. This is also the last peaceful sleep you will have before the real test. Originally, in my opinion, you should have ridden horses; if you had the ability, you could sleep on the horse, and if you didn't, you would have to endure it, and if you fell off, that would be that. But some Instructors thought it was too harsh, so be it."

As he spoke, he glanced at Tang Zhao.

"Now, let me talk about the discipline."