Chapter 1028: One Night Towards Dawn

Chapter 1018: A Night to Dawn

This had been announced and emphasized countless times beforehand.

Renie looked ashamed. "Some of the long-term workers snuck out there to collect the Emperor's Nectar!"

She had been incredibly busy all night, and in a moment of oversight, some people had started making their own plans.

"..." To choose a hurricane day to venture to the rocky northwest tip? Were those people out of their minds?

The Soul-Capturing Mirror shrieked bizarrely, "They deserve to die! No pity for their demise! Don't save them! Don't save them!"

Ha! Did they think they'd collect more Emperor's Nectar in a deserted spot? A nice thought, but they completely ignored the storm raging outside!

"That's outside the barrier," He Lingchuan said, taking a deep breath and speaking to someone behind him. "Zhao Yibing, go help rescue them."

He knew something like this was bound to happen. People with poor judgment were everywhere, and they couldn't be stopped.

He Lingchuan was frustrated, but as the master of Suoding Island, he felt obligated to save anyone he could.

In dangerous areas, puppets had an advantage when performing tasks.

Zhao Yibing, a man from Rongshan, stepped forward at the command.

With a wave of his hand, three refined gold puppets followed him, heading southwest.

Only then did He Lingchuan turn to Renie. "Once they're rescued, you'll handle the aftermath."

Renie quickly assented, "Yes."

The Emperor's Nectar ceased at the end of the Chou hour (1-3 AM).

The spiritual rain stopped falling from the sky, and the subtle, instinct-stirring fragrance vanished. The fervor of the creatures on the ground quickly receded.

People busied themselves moving jars back indoors, and the guard team no longer remained on high alert.

Half an hour later, both the dock and the passenger area returned to normal.

He Lingchuan finally had time to go indoors for a hot cup of tea.

He stretched, his bones lightly cracking.

First, a fight, then a showdown; first, killing, then management. This arduous night was finally drawing to a close.

Leading a motley crew and looking after seafarers from all corners of the world – what a task.

The challenges he faced overseeing Yuheng City and receiving the Emperor's Nectar in the Panlong World were not even a tenth of what he'd endured tonight!

Outside, several guard members slumped to the ground, falling asleep instantly without a care for the mud and footprints.

He Lingchuan spoke to Min Tianxi, who had just entered:

"The passenger area still needs to be patrolled as usual to prevent theft. Don't let all our efforts go to waste now."

This was when theft of the Emperor's Nectar would become rampant.

"Huh?" Min Tianxi reacted, retracting the foot he had just placed over the threshold. "Yes."

He Lingchuan watched him walk out, his shoulders visibly slumped.

However, a few yards out, Min Tianxi yelled at the others, "Huang Zhao! Huang Zhao! Hey, you good-for-nothings, don't pretend you can't hear me! The Master requires patrols in the guest area to continue as usual to prevent theft! Still sitting? Stop sitting! Everyone, get up and follow me!"

After a few gulps of hot tea, He Lingchuan also stood up.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror exclaimed excitedly, "Isn't it time to use the array to collect the spiritual nectar?"

"Yes, let's go."

He had long since obtained information about the Emperor's Nectar from his Netherworld Heaven clone, and with such a large territory under his command, how could he miss the spiritual rain that would generally descend upon the Yangshan Archipelago?

Despite insufficient manpower, he had a better solution:

Utilizing the Spirit-Guiding Grand Array.

He had learned about this array from Yuheng City. Yuheng City used it to collect spiritual rain in its suburbs, covering a vast area, saving both manpower and effort.

Over the past month, a portion of the tens of thousands of taels of silver Ding Zuodong had spent on his behalf was used to purchase materials for the grand array. Afterward, He Lingchuan and the Rongshan people went to various islands to set up the Spirit-Guiding Grand Array.

When the spiritual rain arrived, the array could automatically collect it as long as the array keeper activated it.

However, this array wasn't foolproof; it couldn't collect every single drop. He Lingchuan had conducted experiments in Yuheng City, which showed that the Spirit-Guiding Grand Array could at most absorb fifty percent of the spiritual nectar falling from the sky.

The remaining fifty percent would still fall to the ground.

Panlong City had tried diligently to improve the array, but without success. Perhaps this was Heaven's will, ensuring humanity couldn't seize all benefits at once, allowing plants and all living beings to also receive divine grace.

Naturally, the array was also susceptible to the hurricane's effects, so He Lingchuan had to equip each one with a protective barrier.

In summary, he hadn't anticipated the hurricane and the Emperor's Nectar arriving simultaneously. However, having meticulously completed countless tasks beforehand allowed him to manage the situation calmly when both good and bad fortune arrived.

Now that the Emperor's Nectar had finally ceased, it was He Lingchuan's turn to reap the harvest.

This was his well-deserved reward!

Despite a night of wind and rain, dawn was inevitable.

As Wang Xingyi stood beneath the Jingshe corridor, observing the rain, the hurricane had already passed over the Yangshan Archipelago and made landfall west of Blade Harbor. The wind had noticeably weakened, but the Yangshan Archipelago remained within its radius, still experiencing torrential downpours, as if the sky itself had ruptured.

Fang Canran entered from outside, holding an oiled paper umbrella, and smiled upon seeing him:

"Your Eminence, you're up quite early. Have you rested well?"

"I slept soundly, listening to the wind and rain," Wang Xingyi replied. He placed a small amount of a secret ointment in his palm, rubbed his hands together dozens of times, then pressed them against his temples. This was a cultivation secret technique designed to quickly achieve clarity. "You went to the dock last night, didn't you? How was it?"

Fang Canran had gone to observe the situation up close.

"It's alright. I made a few rounds last night, and there were no major incidents. The houses and buildings are largely intact, and everyone looks quite tired."

Many people had bloodshot eyes. After a night of revelry, how could they not be exhausted?

"What about casualties?"

"Between the dock and the passenger area, there were a total of fourteen or fifteen injured, but all were minor injuries. I heard they also rescued people from the northwest tip, and three more were injured there," Fang Canran said, closing his umbrella and stepping into the corridor. "No deaths have been reported so far."

"Oh?" Wang Xingyi was somewhat surprised. "With both a hurricane and the Emperor's Nectar arriving at the same time, there were fewer than twenty injuries on this island?"

Fang Canran had recounted his observations the previous night, so Wang Xingyi knew that He Lingchuan had prepared extensively for the Emperor's Nectar beforehand.

But preparation was one thing, and execution was entirely another.

Under extreme weather conditions, too many human factors were uncontrollable. Not to mention a bustling supply station like Suoding Island, even in the elite military camps of the Mou Kingdom, soldiers had previously fought over the Emperor's Nectar, sometimes to the death.

Fang Canran then recounted what he had learned at the dock. "The detained guests were furious once they sobered up, and a few were loudly demanding to complain to He Xiao. However, I believe most people are still quite satisfied. Order at the supply station has now been restored and seems no different from yesterday."

"His guard squad, huh," Wang Xingyi scoffed. "A few I saw yesterday were either slumping or leaning against walls, standing without proper posture, and their eyes were frivolous. They certainly didn't look like they could handle a tough fight." Wang Xingyi was accustomed to the elite forces of the Mou Kingdom; how could he possibly regard this group highly? "How could He Xiao have managed last night relying on such a team?"

The Emperor's Nectar typically brought chaos and unrest, posing a significant challenge for administrators. For He Lingchuan's subordinate group, it would have been commendable if they hadn't descended into disarray themselves when the Emperor's Nectar arrived. To expect them to manage others, let alone maintain perfect order, seemed preposterous.

Yet, surprisingly, they had succeeded.

"Your insight is truly remarkable, Your Eminence," Fang Canran replied with a smile. "Brother He mentioned that this guard squad was formed from pirates he subdued from the Yangshan Archipelago and drifters from various regions. They've been in training for less than ten days."

"Less than ten days?" Wang Xingyi's gaze sharpened, but he didn't mock. Instead, he seemed genuinely surprised. "How did he accomplish that?"

"From what I observed at the dock last night, it simply came down to 'clear rules' and 'accountability'," Fang Canran explained. "This guard squad is far from elite, but He Xiao clearly instructed them on what to do and what not to do, in a simple and straightforward manner. They just needed to follow those instructions and disregard everything else."

"Of course, this approach wouldn't work on a battlefield, where situations change in an instant, and rigid adherence to rules is detrimental. But for managing a passenger island during the Emperor's Nectar, it was perfectly adequate. He didn't need to instantly train them into elite soldiers, just make them competent enough."

"Competent enough, you're right," Wang Xingyi nodded. "He's good at utilizing people's strengths, that's commendable."

What's so impressive about winning with elite troops? That reflects well on the soldiers, not necessarily on your own skill.

The true mark of a great general is the ability to adapt to circumstances and individuals, playing a winning hand even with a poor set of cards.

Fang Canran smiled. "Just now, when I went to buy some things, I noticed the guard squad was still patrolling, and their demeanor was completely different from before last night."

A single night of arduous experience had transformed them.

Wang Xingyi murmured, "Quite interesting."

The Mou Kingdom had no shortage of clever individuals; they were not a rarity.

However, possessing planning, organizational, and adaptive abilities simultaneously was the mark of a truly rare talent.

Fang Canran smiled. "Otherwise, how could he have burned down half of the Heavenly Palace?"

He Xiao wasn't omniscient or omnipotent; it was impossible for anyone to precisely calculate the personnel, measures, and reactions of the Heavenly Palace.

There must have been countless twists, turns, and dangers during his raid on the Heavenly Palace, but he had overcome them all, making it appear effortless and systematic.

The true hardships and perils involved were not something to be easily disclosed to outsiders.

Fang Canran went a step further, saying, "He truly has the demeanor of your youth."

That compliment made Wang Xingyi laugh heartily, clearly pleased. "Where is he now?"

"He seems to have gone to other islands."

Wang Xingyi gazed out towards the cape.

The sea was still rough with strong winds and heavy rain. Was He Xiao rushing out to sea at a time like this to inspect the other islands?

It was only as the sun began to set in the west that He Lingchuan returned to Suoding Island.

The moment he stepped ashore, Dong Rui's voice, relayed through an eyeball spider, asked him, "Hey, did you forget something?"

He Lingchuan casually replied, "What is it?"

He had been exhausted for two days and was particularly disinclined to think.

"Didn't you assign Wan Qifeng to write that... that combat plan and development outline last night?" Dong Rui stammered, finding the terms a tongue-twister.

"Right, is he finished?"

He Lingchuan had given him a deadline of this morning, but He Lingchuan himself had been too busy and only now found a moment of free time as the sun was nearing the horizon.

Dong Rui complained, "Yes, he wrote it, but he wasted seventeen or eighteen sheets of my paper! And then he asked *me* what a 'development outline' was! For heaven's sake, was he testing him or me?"

The problem was, even he didn't know.

"Anyway, come over and collect it quickly."

He Lingchuan started walking towards the center of Suoding Island. "Don't rush, I'll be right there to take a look."

"If you pass the main street, bring me a box of peach crisps! I'm starving!"

Dong Rui's snail toad was hidden near Ding Lake. This area, originally designated as Suoding Island's administrative sector, was densely vegetated and rarely visited.

He released Wan Qifeng, who immediately approached He Lingchuan to submit his papers upon seeing him.