Chapter 353: Three years passed

With the announcement of the Zhu Que Army's mission to take over the security of Nanxiang County, every corner of Lingguang Hall was in an uproar.

Since most cultivators became part of the Zhu Que Army, they had mostly been training. The tasks released by the Mission Hall were pitifully few, and feeling they had achieved nothing, they all felt they were "wasting their time too much."

They were the Zhu Que Army, after all.

The Zhu Que Army, one of the four most orthodox armies in the Four Spirits Realm, should have gone out to seize territory long ago.

Uh, not seize territory—the Hall Master had already said that Nanxiang City was the Zhu Que Army's garrison, and they were going to take over Nanxiang County in a legitimate manner.

Every part of Lingguang Hall was responding actively, and everyone was in a state of eager anticipation.

Compared to the Zhu Que Army members who couldn't wait to "build merit and establish a career," Hua Changxi was having a headache inside the main hall.

She discovered that raising an army was truly difficult.

The current Zhu Que Army had no unified armor, no unified weapons, no token like the "Xuanyuan Command" that could prove their identity the moment it was shown, and even less in the way of logistical support...

Hua Changxi didn't want to think about it anymore; the more she thought, the more she felt the Zhu Que Army was poor.

"Hoo~"

Hua Changxi let out a breath. Originally, she had planned to explore other blessed lands after some time, but now, since the Zhu Que Army was going to start maintaining the security and stability of Nanxiang County, she had to ensure sufficient logistical supplies.

After returning to Danyuan Peak to take a look, she would continue to explore other blessed lands.

"Hmm?"

Hua Changxi suddenly sensed the surging morale of the Zhu Que Army. With a sweep of her divine sense, she discovered that all the Zhu Que Army members were in a state of readiness, waiting for the order.

High morale was a good thing, but for no reason, Hua Changxi felt some worry.

She suddenly realized that the Zhu Que Army must have strict discipline.

An army sent out was like a fierce tiger descending from the mountain; without strong disciplinary constraints, it might trigger even greater chaos.

Hua Changxi pondered for a while and took out a lotus petal fragment she had collected at the Karma Fire Platform.

The Karma Fire Platform was huge, and each lotus petal was also very large.

Therefore, even a fragment of a lotus petal was dozens of meters long.

For the next period of time, Hua Changxi polished the lotus petal fragment into a red stone tablet ten meters high and five meters wide, and then began to carve characters on the tablet with her divine sense.

The first line contained only eight eye-catching characters: Zhu Que as the soul, forging iron laws.

"The Zhu Que governs the virtue of fire, presiding over loyalty, courage, clear discipline, and the slaying of evil."

"The Zhu Que Army stands in the world with the tenet of 'Zhu Que as the soul, forging iron laws': All who enter the army gate must first carve the four characters 'Loyalty, Courage, Strictness, Trust' into their bones, then learn the arts of battle formations and slaughter."

"Military discipline is like red flame; touch it and be burned. Orders are like the tracks of stars; those who violate them must be executed."

"This discipline is not the order of one person, but the life and death of the entire army—those who keep the discipline receive the protection of the Zhu Que and guard the peace of the home and country; those who break the discipline fall into the Avici Hell, their souls finding no peace."

"Zhu Que Army Military Discipline: Loyalty Chapter—Slay evil spirits and protect the nation, life and death unwavering; comrades are like hands and feet, advancing and retreating together in life and death; do not fawn on the powerful, do not bully the common people."

"Battle Formation Chapter—Advance upon hearing the drum, retreat upon the sounding of the gong; weapons and armor must never leave one's side day or night; scouts go first, intelligence is life; provisions are the foundation, do not move them without authorization; defeat does not mean collapse, remnants must return to the ranks."

"Camp Rules Chapter—Camp gates are strict, entry and exit must be registered; military appearance must be neat, no slackness allowed; gambling, drunkenness, and fighting are strictly prohibited; the wounded and sick shall be cared for, the dead shall be honored."

"Punishment Chapter—Those who flee in the face of battle; those who leak military secrets; those who embezzle military pay; those who insult superiors or bully subordinates; those who violate camp rules; those who disgrace the image of the Zhu Que Army—depending on the circumstances, they will face punishments such as corporal punishment or expulsion from Lingguang Hall."

"Rewards Chapter—..."

"The Zhu Que Army shall guard the land and secure the nation, fighting to the death without retreating; comrades shall help one another, military discipline shall be like a mountain; seal the discipline with the soul, manifest the heart with blood."

Soon, a red stone military discipline tablet appeared on the right side of the Lingguang Hall sect building.

With the erection of the tablet, the discipline of the Zhu Que Army spread rapidly.

Once the military discipline regulations were issued, the high morale gradually cooled down.

The managers and battalion commanders all stood before the military discipline tablet for a long while.

Yang Zhaoye, the Hall Master of the Discipline Hall, was the last to leave the tablet. When he returned to the Discipline Hall, he saw a line of red characters floating in the main hall: The Discipline Hall is responsible for the execution and supervision of military discipline; I hope Manager Yang will treat this with caution.

Yang Zhaoye came from an ordinary family and knew very well what impact an army in charge of security would have on the lives of the people. He immediately bowed to the handwriting and said loudly: "Yang Zhaoye will certainly perform his duties faithfully and not fail the Hall Master's trust."

The mission was issued, and the military discipline was announced. As for the logistical supplies of the Zhu Que Army, Hua Changxi planned to return to Danyuan Peak to take a look before coming back to make plans.

Before returning to Danyuan Peak, Hua Changxi thought that the Artifact Saint Palace was located between Lingguang Hall and the capital, so she planned to go to the Artifact Saint Palace first to find Tong Yao and have the karma boxes crafted.

She could not stay in Lingguang Hall forever; she had to rely on the mutual supervision between the managers, battalion commanders, and ordinary soldiers to ensure the strict discipline of the Zhu Que Army.

"The territory has grown larger again!"

Hua Changxi piloted the Somersault Cloud and flew for nearly an hour before arriving at the Artifact Saint Palace.

The Artifact Saint Palace was no longer hiding. Although the holy land was still unable to appear in the world due to the limitations of the external spiritual energy, the disciples of the Artifact Saint Palace had already built a small cluster of buildings like a village outside the holy land and began to openly recruit disciples.

The common people who had been displaced due to the explosion of the Artifact Saint Palace's mountain-protecting formation had also been settled here.

What surprised her most was that the spiritual energy shield that isolated the leakage of demon energy was gone.

"It hasn't been long, and the Artifact Saint Palace has already repaired the formation eye; the speed is fast enough."

Hua Changxi walked into the village and was just about to find Tong Yao when she ran into Yan Zhenzhen.

Yan Zhenzhen looked at Hua Changxi with pleasant surprise and walked up quickly: "Changxi."

Hua Changxi smiled: "Zhenzhen, why are you here?"

Yan Zhenzhen didn't answer. After reaching Hua Changxi, she looked her up and down carefully: "It seems you have fully recovered. You don't know how worried we were during the three years you didn't appear."

"I came to the Artifact Saint Palace because the Formation Saint Sect wants to craft..."

Hua Changxi interrupted her: "Wait, what did you just say? How long have I not appeared?"

Yan Zhenzhen stared at her for a while: "Do you still remember when we broke into the Xuanyuan Prefecture?"

Hua Changxi: "The seventh day of the first lunar month." As she spoke, she looked up at the sun in the sky and then at the obvious spring scenery around her, "It should be the end of March or the beginning of April now, right?"

Yan Zhenzhen took a deep breath: "Yes, today is March 20th, but more than three years have passed since we broke into the Xuanyuan Prefecture."

"How long has passed?"

Hua Changxi was stunned. She had actually stayed in the Nine Heavens Fire Spring for more than three years?!

"Changxi!"

Tong Yao arrived, and seeing Hua Changxi standing with Yan Zhenzhen, his face was full of pleasant surprise. As he approached, he quickly asked, "Have your injuries healed?"

Hua Changxi moved her slightly dull gaze toward him: "My injuries?"

Yan Zhenzhen looked at her: "We all thought you were seriously injured by the Duke of Liang, otherwise you wouldn't have disappeared for three years, not even caring about your own family."

Hua Changxi: "So the Spirit Platform Realm cultivator who attacked me was the Duke of Liang." She paused and suddenly looked fiercely at Yan Zhenzhen: "What did you just say happened to my family?"

Yan Zhenzhen and Tong Yao looked at each other.

Tong Yao: "Don't be anxious, nothing happened to your family, but the Duke of Liang has released word that unless you hand over the Profound Yellow Fruit and help him restore his physical body, he will be at odds with your family forever."

"For the safety of your family, Count Dingyuan took your whole family to live in the Count's Prefecture. For these three years, other than not being able to go out at will, nothing else has happened."

Hearing this, Hua Changxi laughed out of anger: "The Duke of Liang wanted to kill me and was injured by me in return; that was his lack of ability. How does he have the face to ask me to compensate him?" As she spoke, she prepared to return to the capital.

Before leaving, Hua Changxi handed the storage bag containing the lotus petal fragments from the Karma Fire Platform to Tong Yao and informed him of the requirements and purpose of the "suggestion box."

Yan Zhenzhen watched Hua Changxi's figure speeding away and looked at Tong Yao: "Did you notice that Changxi seems to have become stronger again?"

Just now, when mentioning the Hua family, Changxi's aura fluctuated, which actually made the hair on her body stand on end.

Tong Yao nodded. He was also a body-refining cultivator, so he felt it even more clearly. Just now, the surging blood energy like a flood from Changxi made him almost unable to breathe.

Yan Zhenzhen sighed: "We all thought Changxi was seriously injured and was recuperating. Now it seems she must have entered some relic where the flow of time cannot be perceived."

Tong Yao thought the same. He looked at the storage bag in his hand and opened it to take a look: "What material is this?"

Tong Yao couldn't recognize the material of the lotus fragments from the Karma Fire Platform and was just about to close the storage bag when Great Elder Yi Ming appeared in front of him and Yan Zhenzhen with a "whoosh."

"What were you looking at just now? Let me see it quickly!"

Looking at the anxious Great Elder Yi Ming, Tong Yao was a bit confused, but he still handed over the storage bag and explained that it was given by Hua Changxi, asking him to help craft four "boxes."

Great Elder Yi Ming felt the karma leaking from the storage bag and gasped: "Using this to craft boxes, Hua Changxi is wasting heaven's gifts!"

"..."

Tong Yao and Yan Zhenzhen looked at each other in dismay.

Great Elder Yi Ming took away the storage bag. Tong Yao was not happy and was about to say something when he was interrupted: "You are not yet able to refine this kind of material; I will personally craft the boxes Hua Changxi wants."

Yan Zhenzhen quickly asked: "Great Elder, is this some kind of extraordinary material?"

Great Elder Yi Ming glanced at the two: "This thing is smelted from karma." After saying that, he flashed and disappeared.

"Karma?"

Yan Zhenzhen and Tong Yao looked at each other.

"It seems the relic Changxi went to is very unusual."

Cultivators are most afraid of bearing karma.

After flying more than five thousand miles out of the Artifact Saint Palace, Hua Changxi discovered that people were building houses along the way, not randomly building here and there, but in an organized and planned manner.

And more than half of the people participating in the construction were cultivators.

When she felt the spatial fluctuations and the aura of Profound Yellow Qi in the air, she realized that the Xuanyuan Prefecture had arrived.

The Xuanyuan Prefecture had not yet appeared, but the location had already been set.

Since the Xuanyuan Prefecture was the center of power in the Central Continent, naturally, the closer one was to the Xuanyuan Prefecture, the closer one was to power.

"Is this the start of building Xuanyuan City?"

Flying over the Xuanyuan Prefecture, Hua Changxi also discovered that outside the Xuanyuan Prefecture barrier, there were Demon-Suppressing Army troops stationed, in a posture of strictly forbidding anyone from approaching.

Passing the Xuanyuan Prefecture, all the way to the capital, one could see scenes of bustling construction everywhere, and there were people from the Heaven Department responsible for maintaining order.

When Hua Changxi arrived at the location of the original Nancheng Gate of the capital, there was no trace of the city gate left, only the stone tablet forbidding cultivators from flying and fighting remained.

"Who comes there? Flying is strictly forbidden in the rear city area."

At the stone tablet, there was a team of five Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers on guard.

Hua Changxi flew down directly and stood in front of the stone tablet, looking at the five Demon-Suppressing Army soldiers in front of her, her eyes flickering.

The Demon-Suppressing Army has already started to take over the protection of the capital?

It seems that after three years, some things have quietly changed.

Hua Changxi took a deep breath and walked quickly into the "Nancheng Area" of the former capital.

"That is... Hua Changxi!"

"Hua Changxi has finally appeared. The Nascent Soul cultivators of the Duke of Liang's Prefecture don't have to stand outside the Count Dingyuan's Prefecture like statues anymore."

"Do you think Hua Changxi will bow her head to the Duke of Liang?" ===== CHAPTER 354 =====