“Zhong Ting!”
Wu Ming looked down solemnly and called out.
“Reporting for duty!”
Zhong Ting stepped forward, knelt, and responded.
“I appoint you as my deputy!”
“Understood!”
In an instant, Wu Ming saw a mass of white qi solidifying above this person’s head, immediately knowing that although fate doesn’t equate to talent, at least this person could hold the position steadily.
“Niuyong! You will be my personal squad leader! Go choose your men!”
“Yuan Tai, I appoint you as squad leader, in charge of a squad!”
“He Zihai, you will be the scribe and logistics officer of this unit, responsible for supplies and recording merits!”
“The squad leaders remain unchanged, but now elect a corporal for each squad!”
…
One order after another was issued in an orderly manner.
In Wu Ming’s eyes, the entire squad’s fortune compared to just earlier had become even more consolidated and stable, orderly, and thus could provide increasingly substantial benefits to himself.
“Set up the cooking pots! Boil all the salted pork we brought. Tonight, we feast on meat!”
After all the miscellaneous matters were arranged, night fell.
Wu Ming gave the order, which was immediately met with cheers and even a bit of adoration, causing him to smile wryly again. The balance of a ruler’s grace and authority was right here.
…
“I never thought… you actually joined the Jiushan Army system and used it for cultivation!”
As night fell, martial law was in effect within the camp. The camp was heavily guarded with patrols, no other noise, and utterly silent.
Yet in the main tent, a single lamp flickered.
Xiao Di stared blankly at Wu Ming, then sighed: “Aren’t you afraid of backlash?”
In her eyes, Wu Ming was surrounded by an aura of killing intent, connected to the Jiushan Army, deeply mired in it.
Cultivators could draw upon fortune to enhance their cultivation, but there were naturally limitations.
From now on, being tied to this system meant shared prosperity or mutual ruin. If the Jiushan Army suffered a major defeat, Wu Ming would inevitably suffer internal injuries and damage his foundation.
This was still because his cultivation was shallow. If it were a conferred Nanshan Immortal, death was a real possibility.
However, Xiao Di was ultimately a clever person and guessed, “Even if you have secret techniques to sever fortune and suppress backlash, unless you reach the rank of Immortal National Preceptor, it’s still somewhat disadvantageous…”
After all, severing and suppressing were not the same as resolving.
If one had the cultivation base of an Immortal or a Taoist Master, perhaps the backlash could be gradually triggered and quietly dissipated. However, for a mere Alchemist or Taoist Priest, there was still a gap in rank.
“To be honest… I exhausted all my merits just to obtain a method to temporarily suppress backlash!” Wu Ming said, playing with the sword in his hand and smiling, “But our mission is to assist the True King. Do you think we have any retreat?”
Xiao Di was momentarily speechless.
Assisting a wise ruler to ascend the throne was practically propping up the Dragon Throne, a great karma and heavy burden, once entangled, difficult to escape.
She had thought that by not holding an official position, she could avoid karma, but that was just a dream!
She now smiled bitterly, clasped her hands in a bow: “Brother Tao, you are right!”
“If we are caught in calamity and cannot escape, we must only fight bravely upward for a chance of survival!”
This was Wu Ming’s own realization, and also the ultimate truth.
Xiao Di tilted her head in thought, then shook her head: “What you said is correct, but unfortunately, I am not born a man. Even if I wish to strive, I have no strength, unless…”
Naturally, a woman could not govern a territory or lead troops into battle. Her only option would probably be to enter the harem of that General Li.
However, considering her temperament, she would likely never do that.
Seeing Xiao Di’s conflicted expression, Wu Ming just smiled and said nothing more.
There was, however, a thought buried deep in his heart.
If the Dragon Throne project failed, and backlash came, where would that backlash originate? Nothing more than this heaven and earth!
But with the Main Temple’s great power, once his mission was completed, he could just leave this world behind. Could the heavenly intent and earthly energy of this world follow him all the way to the Zhou Kingdom?
Even if it did, whether the heavenly intent of that world would recognize the heavenly punishment from here was still questionable.
“However, for these loopers, failure of the mission would result in immediate annihilation by the Main Temple, so they wouldn’t even consider this issue…”
Wu Ming glanced at Xiao Di: “Take that Yu Shaojun as an example. She would definitely join directly, strive to climb high without fear… Only this female novice would be blinded by a single leaf, failing to see the whole mountain. After a little guidance from me, she should understand soon enough…”
After waiting for a while, Xiao Di remained motionless and showed no intention of leaving, so Wu Ming felt somewhat depressed: “Miss Xiao Di?”
“Hmm!”
Xiao Di softly replied, then suddenly raised her head, her star-like eyes staring straight at Wu Ming: “There is a question I still wish to ask Brother Tao to answer!”
“Alright, go ahead!”
In the dim light, Wu Ming felt that her expression was increasingly similar to Xiao Yu’s, so he said.
“I have a younger sister named Xiao Yu… who suddenly passed away months ago without reason…”
Xiao Di spoke slowly, causing Wu Ming’s heart to stir: “Oh? Do you know the cause of death?”
“No… I don’t know…”
A trace of sorrow appeared in Xiao Di’s eyes: “With my family’s defenses, outsiders could never infiltrate. Afterward, no traces were found, even on Xiao Yu’s body, no injuries were discovered, yet her soul perished, beyond even the salvation of immortals…”
“So those who die in the Main Temple really do vanish from the real world!”
Wu Ming’s heart was filled with alarm, knowing that it was easy to kill someone physically, but such a silent and traceless soul-erasing technique was truly terrifying, enough to scare anyone to death, even a powerful aristocratic family.
“My family has some influence and conducted a thorough investigation, but failed to find any clues about the real culprit!” Xiao Di continued.
“However, such strange deaths have occurred all over the country, which aroused my interest!”
“Having access to criminal information nationwide?” Wu Ming was secretly startled by the family’s power, which was at least on the level of a prominent clan, perhaps even higher: “Forgive my ignorance, but may I know which family you belong to?”
“The Xie family of Luoshui!”
Xiao Di, or rather Xie Xiao Di, said.
Unfortunately, Wu Ming had been a nobody before and had never heard of them, so he just memorized it secretly, planning to check the aristocratic family records when he returned.
“…With Xiao Yu’s revenge in mind, I naturally pursued the investigation further, but unfortunately found nothing. Although these people died under the same circumstances, their locations were scattered across the country, with no connection between them…”
“Finally… I moved into ‘You Ran Ju,’ where Xiao Yu lived before, and thought deeply for months, but found no clues. But a few nights ago, a mysterious call emerged, and the subsequent events, Brother Tao must surely know?”
Xie Xiao Di smiled bitterly: “At first, I thought it was an invasion by external demons or perhaps heavenly grace from the celestial court… Unfortunately, when I arrived in this world, I discovered it was actually a powerful being from the Main Temple, and understood that my younger sister Xiao Yu’s death was caused by this ‘erasure’!”
Her expression turned solemn as she deeply bowed to Wu Ming: “When Brother Tao first saw me, you had a moment of shock. I believe you must have met Xiao Yu before. I beg you to share what you know!”
“Oh, so that’s it!”
Wu Ming touched his nose, not expecting that brief moment of shock would still be remembered by this woman.
As for being intelligent, perceptive, and wise, Xie Xiao Di was no less than Xiao Yu, almost deducing all the truths.
Thinking that there was nothing to hide at that time, he simply said: “That was several months ago when I first encountered the Main Temple…”
Xie Xiao Di listened quietly, her hands hidden in her sleeves, obviously not calm.
When she heard how Xiao Yu was shot by an arrow from the barbarian cavalry, tears began to fall from her beautiful face.
“Please accept my condolences…”
Wu Ming said solemnly as he looked at her.
“Thank you, Brother Tao, for telling me the truth and for burying Xiao Yu properly!”
After a long silence, Xie Xiao Di slowly rose, performed a solemn bow, then walked outside, gazing at the moonlight beyond the tent.
A sky-blue talisman floated in her hand.
“My ‘Heart Inquiry Talisman’ showed no reaction at all… It seems this person is mostly telling the truth… Xiao Yu sister…”
A sense of melancholy emerged, filled with sorrow.
…
The next day, at dawn.
Fifty soldiers, led by their respective squad and corporal leaders, formed ranks, practiced formations, and trained in martial arts.
Morning, noon, and evening drills were major military affairs that could never be neglected.
At this moment, they raised their spears and thrust forward in unison, led by Zhong Ting, each movement precise and methodical, as if connected in a straight line, exuding an aura of an impregnable fortress.
“Wow!”
Xiao Ji Du approached, looking at the formation and Niu Yong, Wu Ming’s personal squad leader, with some envy: “What a magnificent and fierce sight! Brother, you’re really doing well. Unlike me… training every day, so annoying!”
“You’re the personal aide to the Commander-in-Chief, with a bright future ahead. If you were to let it be known that you wanted to exchange positions with a squad leader, I’m sure all the squad commanders in Jiushan Army would be seriously tempted…”
Wu Ming said: “Even I have something to ask of you!”
“Tell me what it is!” Xiao Ji Du slapped his chest, exuding a heroic aura.
“I should go to pay homage to my superior officer, but this trip might have dangers. I need your support!”
Wu Ming said solemnly, only to hear Xiao Ji Du burst into laughter.
…
“Subordinate Wu Ming pays homage to Captain!”
Wu Ming was a squad commander of the ninth rank, and his immediate superior was Captain Jin, an eighth-rank officer.
At this moment, entering the tent, he immediately performed the salute meticulously.
“Hmph!”
His immediate superior was a middle-aged man with an imposing demeanor, surrounded by a martial aura of blood and iron. His name was Jin Gang. Upon hearing this, he coldly snorted: “Get up! Squad Commander Wu, you must be very busy with important matters. Indeed, you were personally promoted by the Commander-in-Chief!”
The implication of these words was somewhat malicious.
Wu Ming raised his head, only to feel this person’s eyes sharp like swords. A brief glance felt like being attacked by spears and halberds.
“Another malevolent star with a martial destiny, having revealed his true martial might!”
“And my promotion was indeed too rapid, so naturally, there are those who envy me, perhaps even spreading malicious rumors!”
He immediately performed another salute and loudly said: “Subordinate, having joined the Jiushan Army, only knows to follow superior orders!”
“You…”
Jin Gang was instantly furious, not only because of the malicious rumors but also because Wu Ming’s promotion had taken a position he had prepared for his favorite subordinate.
However, seeing Xiao Ji Du’s figure flash outside, his eyes flickered: “Fine! You should just do your work well from now on! You may go!”
On the surface, he accepted the gift and dismissed Wu Ming, but secretly plotted to take action and send this subordinate to his doom!
After all, under strict military law and during a major battle, if orders were issued, could there still be resistance?
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