Chapter 368: A Visit

Passing through the examination zone guarded by Tang Zhao, the end of the exam was already visible in the distance.

Before the finish line, there was also a large camp, ten times larger than the one Tang Zhao occupied, housing a hundred soldiers; this was the general command headquarters for this exam, and also where Li Yijian was stationed.

At this moment, Li Yijian was reclining in a chair in the main camp, not wearing armor, dressed only in a short tunic, his body leaning back, his expression relaxed; for a soldier of his temperament, this was considered quite unrestrained, even to the point of being unbecoming of his status.

In front of him hung a massive map, displaying the real-time status of several areas of the entire examination grounds.

It was not only marked with mountains, rivers, and streams, but also dense clusters of small red and green dots that moved constantly across the map; these were the real-time positions of all the examinees and even the examination staff.

This was not a purely rune-based Art Tool, nor was it new technology from Qianjin City; it was a Dharma Artifact created by Sword Law. Specifically, it was a Dharma Artifact of the Gaoyuan Marquis's sword.

The Gaoyuan Marquis's sword was inherently focused on observing the near and far, capable of seeing everything within a certain radius, the past and the future; although it might not be superior in combat, as an auxiliary Dharma Artifact, it was extremely powerful and diverse.

First, there were the Dharma Artifacts for testing aptitude in the Training Camp, and then this real-time map, which not only clearly marked everyone's location but could also distinguish between friend and foe, and even monitor the overall situation of all sectors from a commanding height.

This type of map had achieved strategic effects in large-scale battles in both Moyun City and Qianjin City.

Of course, such strategic weapons were not available everywhere; even Moyun City only had three. The New Sharp Battalion under Commander Li originally did not possess such a treasure.

This joint examination by the four departments was an important event for Yunzhou, and even though the Gaoyuan Marquis was too busy with another matter concerning the life and death of Yunzhou to get away, he still cared about the progress here and provided great support; besides allocating personnel and funds, he even sent a treasure to the main camp to ensure the smooth progress of the exam.

Thanks to this treasure, Commander Li was able to sit securely in the Central Army tent, focusing on conserving his energy and waiting for the students to break through the final hurdle before conducting the final wrap-up work.

As for monitoring the map...

There were specialized people to do that.

"The main force has now broken through Instructor Lan's defense zone and reached Instructor Tang's defense zone." Feng Nanming sat before the map, dutifully explaining to his superior.

There was no help for it; Feng Nanming was not a Talisman Sword Master like Tang Zhao who cultivated both combat and Rune Formulas; he was a traditional technical Talisman Sword Master who made a living by his craft, and aside from having skills, money, and a commission, he was useless.

When he came to Yunzhou to join the army, besides working, he had a head full of youthful passion and romantic illusions about war; he had heard that Yunzhou was the most serious about fighting on the front lines among the northern provinces, a pillar of the Human World defending against the Heavenly Demons, so he couldn't help but feel his blood boil and his respect grow, and he devoted himself to the military.

Hearing this time that the exam was on the front lines, he volunteered to follow Li Yijian up. Li Yijian, considering his ambition and the fact that there was still space on the Fire Seed Carriage, brought him along.

At first, Li Yijian agreeing to bring him to the front lines made Feng Nanming very happy. But after feeling the dry heat of the front lines, he started sweating; when the soldiers released cages of Fierce Beasts and Phantoms into the wild for the assessment, he was frightened; and when Li Yijian later brought him to the very front to watch the war against the Heavenly Demons, he was scared out of his wits, losing his beautiful fantasies of "devising strategies within a tent to decide victory a thousand miles away," and he obediently returned to the main camp to be a technician.

"Quite fast, the quality of this batch is decent. I heard that besides our New Sharp Battalion, the people from the Land Inspection Department are the strongest; Instructor Tang really has some skills." Li Yijian picked up tea from the table and took a sip. "By the way, where is the first-place candidate?"

"They have reached that patch of forest in Mao District. The one with the bandits."

Li Yijian frowned and said, "Why are they still there? The progress is not good. That kid too, he insists on getting involved in every incident he encounters; he isn't afraid of dragging down his progress? Is this overconfidence?"

Immediately after, he laughed and said, "What does this have to do with me? If the Land Inspection Department can't take first place, wouldn't it be better to let our New Sharp Battalion have it?"

Feng Nanming said, "Perhaps they have extraordinary strength and can still take the lead even after completing the tasks?"

Li Yijian said, "That's not necessarily true. Old Feng, I'll make a bet with you..."

Feng Nanming raised his hands and said, "I've quit gambling."

Li Yijian laughed heartily and didn't mind, saying, "Forget it then. Actually, it doesn't matter who wins or loses. For me, what matters is that this exam concludes perfectly, selecting truly useful talents without any major errors or unexpected crises. As it looks now, it's already nine-tenths certain. Isn't that great?"

At this time, Feng Nanming turned his head and said, "Boss, you shouldn't say things like that."

Li Yijian smiled casually and said, "Why, Sword Master Feng, do you have such taboos? What is, is; what isn't, isn't. Could things be turned upside down just because I said a couple of words? Now, Instructor An's and Instructor Lan's defense zones are empty; everyone is in Instructor Tang's defense zone. I'm not worried about Instructor Tang; although he is young, he is very steady and has a righteous character, better than Instructor An."

Feng Nanming said, "That's true, I haven't worried about Tang Xiansheng either."

Li Yijian said "Hmm," and then realized—you don't worry about Tang Zhao, so who are you worried about?

Behind Tang Zhao's zone is the finish line, and isn't the finish line the zone Li Yijian is responsible for?

You don't trust this General?

If it were any other subordinate, Li Yijian would have kicked them, but for a Talisman Sword Master like Feng Nanming, he still had to show some face. He just smiled faintly and said, "Instructor Tang is naturally good, but he is still too green. When it comes to the end, I will let you see what is called..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard someone say, "Report to the Instructor, someone has come from the rear."

Li Yijian was startled. The "rear" mentioned by the soldiers here could refer to Moyun City or Qianjin City, but generally, it refers to—the Human World.

But at this time, the situation in Yunzhou in the Human World was extremely tense; the Gaoyuan Marquis was pulling people from everywhere, and there weren't enough hands for important matters, having long ago stated he wouldn't interfere, so why would he send someone temporarily?

He stood up hurriedly and said, "Is it an envoy from the Governor? Wait for me to go out and welcome them."

He heard someone outside the tent laugh and say, "Not an envoy, nor an outsider, just an idle person, so I'll just come in directly."

Li Yijian hadn't seen the person yet, but he already recognized the voice, and hurriedly said, "Ah... Zhang Xiansheng, is it Zhang Xiansheng?"

A person walked into the tent, looking to be about forty years old, with a refined and elegant appearance, dressed as a scholar; it was none other than Zhang Rong, the current top advisor of the Gaoyuan Marquis Mansion, who smiled and said, "I didn't expect Commander Li to still remember this humble one."

Li Yijian bowed and said respectfully, "Not to mention an old acquaintance, even if we had only met once, who could forget Zhang Xiansheng's demeanor?"

It could be said that the two of them really had a story. Previously, when Zhang Rong had just joined the Hou Mansion, he had traveled to the front lines. Because he was an important guest, Moyun City had sent Li Yijian, who had just become a Commander, to accompany him.

At that time, Li Yijian was the youngest newly appointed Commander, and he was at his most spirited and arrogant, not thinking much of a scholar, assuming he was just a favorite new advisor of the Marquis coming to the front lines for a novelty.

Just like Feng Nanming's appearance.

However, there is no need to speak of Zhang Rong; as long as one spent time with him, there was no one who didn't admire him. Li Yijian was the same; after the trip, he admired Zhang Rong's strength, knowledge, and demeanor to the point of prostration, and naturally, there were no more grudges.

Zhang Rong also had the capacity, not minding Li Yijian's initial slight arrogance and small unpleasantness, but instead praising his talent and courage; the two actually became friends across generations.

Zhang Rong smiled and said, "It's like this: the Marquis is in Yunzhou and is still concerned about the exam here, but she cannot get away. Among the entire staff of the shogunate, only I am an idle person, so I came to the front lines to take a look, to help her check the situation of the examination grounds, so that the Marquis can be at ease."

He patted Li Yijian on the shoulder and said, "You don't need to worry about me, just do your own work. I didn't come in an official capacity; I'm just here as a private citizen to walk around and take a look. By the way, how far has our exam progressed?"

Li Yijian was thoughtful and said, "Xiansheng, please look."

He pointed and gestured on the map, saying, "The main force has now reached the Mao District, which is Tang Zhao's defense zone, and there are seventy-three people left in total. Those who haven't reached the Mao District can be considered eliminated."

"The fastest person is... eh? Why is he still on the mountain? This kid is definitely no longer in first place. I remember a squad from our New Sharp Battalion had already passed... hmm? Why are they running back in reverse? Could it be they were chased by something and were in such a panic that they lost their way... these kids are also disappointing; they are just some Fierce Beasts and Phantoms, and they are being chased around like ducks. Xiansheng, please don't mind; sometimes there will be some accidents."

"Many people are piled up here." Li Yijian saw another "bright spot" and said, "This should be a valley; we placed five people here. This is used to test squad team combat..."

He was a bit puzzled. This five-person valley hurdle shouldn't be difficult. Although these five guarding soldiers were an elite squad, they wouldn't chase after them once they rushed past; it wasn't expected to screen out many people. Why were so many people piled up in the valley at this time?

It couldn't be that they were all waiting for their squads, right?

He hadn't paid attention just now, but after Zhang Xiansheng came and looked, so many problems appeared; Li Yijian couldn't help but have some sweat on his forehead.

Li Yijian would never know that among the Phantoms he released, there was one quite outstanding Puppet Charm that had already conquered the Talisman Puppets in the exam, and what was blocking the road now was an army of puppets that obeyed orders. And the five-person valley had already become a battlefield between the Talisman Puppet army and the examinees.

Zhang Rong didn't seem to hear Li Yijian's nervousness, just quietly watching the map, his hands tucked into his sleeves. Li Yijian's heart stirred, and he gave Feng Nanming a wink.

Feng Nanming stared blankly, not understanding his meaning. Li Yijian was helpless and had to wave his hand to shoo him away, thinking: If you still don't understand, I can only tell you to get lost.

Fortunately, Feng Nanming's IQ was still normal; he cupped his hands and ran out of the tent himself.

Li Yijian waited for him to leave before stepping forward to take Zhang Rong's hand, saying, "Zhang Xiansheng, you said you wouldn't stand on ceremony with me, so I must beg you to tell me the truth. You are now stationed at the Yunzhou Dudu Mansion, and your responsibilities are no less significant than those of the Lord; how could you be so idle as to come here for a stroll? I know you possess the ability to understand all things under heaven; could it be that... there will be a change here?"

Ding Xu sat gloomily in the small room, boredly reading a book by the light of a Lamp.

"And they call this the prosperous Moyun City; they won't even provide a single Artifice Lamp. When I return to the Kan Realm and tell Mother, she will certainly..."

"Clatter—"

The door sounded, and a beam of light shone in.

At the same time, a female voice called out:

"Found you!"