Fortunately, when Song Zining was expanding, he also established an effective management system. Song Hu and Duan Hao, who merged from the Ningyuan Group, were adept at handling administrative matters. Meanwhile, Qian Ye’s companions, like A Qi, A Jiu, and the Wu Shiying siblings, had also grown significantly, each excelling in their respective roles. This prevented General Qian Ye from being overly embarrassed.
The peaceful days didn’t last long. Qian Ye soon received an imperial envoy and a conscription order. Since he was nominally part of the Expeditionary Force and had not officially joined Zhao’s private army, he was not listed in the imperial military roster. The conscription order he received was of the voluntary recruitment type.
This type of conscription order offered a high degree of freedom. Qian Ye could choose his own war zone if he decided to participate, or he could select one of the major armies to join, or even enlist under a certain noble family to fight as part of their private forces.
The general topography of the floating landmass in the void had been explored, and the Empire had divided it into seven war zones. These war zones were currently unclaimed, which, according to imperial custom, meant that anyone who could conquer and hold them would be granted one-third of the territory they controlled once the war ended.
A new, blank territory is incredibly attractive to any imperial family. Military merit is primarily based on territorial expansion, and it’s easy to imagine that after this great war, several new noble families might emerge, with some gentry even ascending to become nobles, and perhaps even new clans forming.
For those with ambition, this vast floating landmass, roughly the size of seven provinces, is a ladder to the heavens.
When Qian Ye received the conscription order, he was already fully prepared. Everything in Blackflow City had been arranged, leaving him with no worries. So, without delay, he left that very afternoon, accompanying the envoy aboard the imperial airship.
The airship did not fly directly back to the mainland but took a circuitous route, picking up several more people on the Evernight Continent before finally leaving for the void.
Including Qian Ye, there were seven passengers on the airship, each exuding a deep and powerful aura. Like Qian Ye, they held the same type of conscription order, meaning they were not currently affiliated with any noble family or imperial army. Two of them were reportedly from the Expeditionary Force, but Qian Ye had never heard their names, and even the war zones they were stationed in sounded unfamiliar to him.
The atmosphere inside the airship was tense, like the calm before a storm. The passengers did not speak to each other, occasionally exchanging cold, piercing glances.
Though he didn’t show it, Qian Ye was on high alert from the moment he stepped onboard. He sensed a familiar aura from these people—a strong scent of bloodshed. One of them was even a fifteen-level warlord, whose primordial force level was sufficient to qualify for the rank of general, and the deputy commander of the Expeditionary Force was only a general.
In such a barren place as the Evernight Continent, a warlord typically commanded an entire division, serving as the pillar of a city or a war zone. The presence of so many unknown powerhouses indicated that the Expeditionary Force and the local gentry were not as weak as they appeared on the surface. This discovery made Qian Ye even more cautious.
Thus, amidst the oppressive atmosphere, the airship flew for several days before finally crossing the vast void and landing on the imperial mainland.
As Qian Ye stepped out of the airship, he entered a world of overwhelming noise and chaos. The deafening roar of engines resounded, drowning out almost all other sounds. Looking around, he saw over a dozen large airships unloading soldiers. In the distant sky, hundreds more airships zipped back and forth.
“Get down here! Don’t dawdle!” shouted a lieutenant colonel at the front of the airship, waving frantically at Qian Ye and the others.
The lieutenant colonel used his loudest voice, or else it would have been drowned out by the engine noise. Qian Ye understood and wasn’t bothered by the minor rudeness. He walked straight towards the registration point.
However, not everyone was as accommodating as Qian Ye. Behind him, a twelve-level warlord emerged from the cabin. On the Evernight Continent, this rank could command two divisions. The man squinted at the lieutenant colonel, his gaze cold and venomous, fixed intently on the colonel’s throat, as if ready to plunge his hand into the blue veins there.
Yet, the lieutenant colonel showed no fear, his eyes even carrying a hint of contempt and provocation. He spat forcefully and sneered, “What do you think you’re doing? Want to start something? Go ahead and try!”
The warlord grew furious, his face contorting. Thin strands of primordial force shot from his fingertips, hissing like a snake’s tongue. However, in the end, he did not attack; instead, he glared intensely at the emblem on the lieutenant colonel’s chest, representing the military.
The lieutenant colonel, however, showed no intention of backing down. He spat again, nearly hitting the man’s polished boots, and sneered, “You better know your place! If you dare touch me, I’ll make sure your whole family has no place to be buried!”
The warlord’s face turned ashen, giving the lieutenant colonel a deep, resentful look before striding away.
Although the lieutenant colonel held a low-ranking position and had mediocre combat abilities, he was an active officer in the imperial military, making his status quite sensitive. Any conflict with him would mean offending the entire imperial military. People like Qian Ye, despite their formidable strength, had various reasons for staying in a place like the Evernight Continent.
Qian Ye had no intention of getting involved, nor did he want to spectate. He simply walked towards the registration point. This particular point was reserved for generals, and there were only a handful of people present. It was Qian Ye’s turn in no time.
After reporting his conscription order number, a slightly plump major from the imperial military searched through several stacks of registers. After a while, he found Qian Ye’s information. With a quick glance, he immediately stood up, a hint of surprise in his voice, “Are you General Qian Ye?”
“It’s me.”
The major instantly smiled, saying, “Shi Duo is my brother. He mentioned to me more than once that you saved his life in the Evernight. Whatever you need while you’re here, just let me know. Our Zhang Clan still carries some weight here.”
Qian Ye was a bit taken aback. The major was clearly not young, looking around fifty years old. At this age, if he hadn’t broken through to the rank of warlord, he likely never would. His evident lack of interest in cultivation, as seen in his pronounced belly, suggested he had given up on it.
He hadn’t expected Zhang Shi Duo, a fierce general on the battlefield, to have such a brother, and the age difference between them seemed significant.
Regardless, Qian Ye naturally accepted the goodwill. With the impending war, any help, even just additional information, would be beneficial.
The major introduced himself as Zhang Shi Ming, having served in the imperial military for over twenty years. Although his combat skills were average and his future limited, his Zhang Clan background and his smooth-talking nature made him well-connected both above and below.
After a long chat, Zhang Shi Ming remembered he hadn’t finished his main task. He hurriedly filled in the registration book, then handed Qian Ye a handbook, an identification token, and a map of the camp. Pointing to the map, he said, “General, your quarters are here.”
Qian Ye checked the location; the generals’ quarters were built around a small lake, with a small forest nearby, making it a rather pleasant environment. Zhang Shi Ming had clearly made an effort to accommodate him, assigning a spot near the lake.
“Thanks,” Qian Ye said, taking the items and heading towards his assigned quarters.
The room was well-situated, with a shimmering lake view outside the window and a wide vista. However, being temporary quarters, the facilities were merely adequate, with no luxury. Qian Ye, however, was not concerned about such things. He would only stay a few days before receiving his mission and going to battle.
Qian Ye put down his luggage. He didn’t have much, except for Dongyue and Thunder. The rest of his belongings fit into a large tactical backpack. Of course, Anduya’s mysterious space was filled with real supplies, enough to last him a whole month in the wild.
Next, Qian Ye opened the handbook and read it carefully. The handbook had just been printed, containing a map of the floating landmass, though it lacked many details. The main areas, however, were depicted.
It was already quite an achievement. After the imperial army withdrew from the Great Beast’s Sleep in the Evernight, the base expansion and exploration on the floating landmass did not stop. Several small elite units were sent to scout, and this rough map was the result of their efforts, achieved at the cost of thirty percent casualties.
This time, the Empire had destroyed the passage from the Great Beast’s Sleep to the floating landmass, making airships the only way to reach it.
After King Qingyang annihilated the residual will of the Chaos Void Beast, the will of the great beasts that constantly drained the primordial force of the strong disappeared, allowing airships to land directly.
The floating landmass was located between the lower and middle continents, closer to the imperial mainland, while the dark realms were much farther. This gave the Empire a significant advantage in using airships to land troops.
Seeing this, Qian Ye suddenly understood why the Empire wanted to control the Great Beast’s Sleep and why they were so interested in the strange world behind the void passage. All his previous questions were now answered.
It seemed that the well-prepared Empire had already gained the upper hand against the poorly informed Evernight Council. The destruction of the Great Beast’s Sleep passage meant the dark races’ bases on the floating landmass were likely lost.
In terms of airship fleets, the gap between the Empire and the Evernight Council was not significant. The four major races of the Evernight focused on cultivating strong individuals. When they needed armies, the blood race created blood slaves, the spider demons used spider servants, the demon descendants rarely gathered armies, and the werewolves mostly operated in tribal units. In such circumstances, the dark races did not value low-level warriors and certainly did not invest resources in large machinery and equipment for them.
Qian Ye flipped to the next section of the handbook. The objective of this war was to clear the native creatures on the floating landmass and defend against attacks from the dark races.
The Empire’s main armies, except for those guarding key border areas, would take turns boarding the floating landmass to engage in combat. To maximize their combat effectiveness, the major noble families were assigned specific primary attack positions. Among the seven major war zones, the four major clans each claimed one, the imperial family took two, and the combined forces of the Nan Gong Clan and several other families, along with the later clans, were allocated one.
Other noble families could choose their own war zones from the seven available.
Qian Ye set down the handbook and walked to the other side of the room, looking out. In the distance, he saw a colossal airship, hundreds of meters long, slowly descending. On the landing strip, supplies had piled up like mountains, and even the long line of trucks was unable to transport all the materials.
That enormous airship was the largest Kunpeng-class airship in the Empire, capable of transporting over a thousand soldiers at once. In Qian Ye’s view, there were as many as seven or eight Kunpeng-class airships circling in the sky, waiting to land.
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