Chapter 165: Military Affairs of the Soldier World, Beginning (Final Chapter of this Volume)

"Chen!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but smile when he saw Chen Shijie, looking travel-worn. "You're finally here."

"Hey, what about me? You're just calling him 'Old Chen'?" Long Xiao immediately protested.

"Haha, my apologies, Valiant Captain, please come in, come in," Zhao Xing said with exaggerated politeness.

"Hmph, who wants to come to your place?" Long Xiao scoffed, shaking the box on his back and ducking past Zhao Xing.

"He's not really angry, is he?" Zhao Xing looked at Chen Shijie.

"It's fine," Chen Shijie smiled and shook his head. "He's just being stubborn."

"I thought you weren't coming, and that you'd sold me off for a good price," Zhao Xing said. "You kept me waiting."

"The Tiger Jiao Army did offer a good price," Chen Shijie replied. "Do you want to know the exact amount?"

"Yes."

The two talked as they walked.

"Wei Yuan sought me out three times," Chen Shijie began. "The last time, his offer was one Tier 6 Divine Weapon and four Tier 5 Divine Weapons. He was even willing to trade Feng Qiu from the Heavenly Timing Institute for you."

"That much?" Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, that was a truly bold offer. The powerful figures certainly had sharp eyes.

"Honestly, it was a very tempting price," Chen Shijie said with a smile. "One Tier 6 Divine Weapon and four Tier 5 Divine Weapons, all for me personally. Since you were brought in by me, as long as I agreed and we compensated the Divine Might Army with a Feng Qiu, the Marquis would have given Marquis Mingwu face."

"I'm worth that much, and you still didn't sell me?" Zhao Xing asked jokingly.

"I, Chen Shijie, do not sell my comrades," Chen Shijie stated calmly. "Believe it or not, even if they offered me a supreme treasure, I wouldn't use you as a bargaining chip unless you yourself wanted to leave."

"How did you know I wouldn't want to leave?" Zhao Xing countered.

"What little I did in Gucheng hardly counts as so many favors," Chen Shijie chuckled. "Look at what you told Wei Yuan: life-saving grace, teaching grace, patronage... As soon as I heard it, I knew you were trying to use me to refuse the Tiger Jiao Army."

"You have great ambitions. While you may not be arrogant, you possess a proud spirit. Why should your path to success be given to you by others?"

"I didn't even need to send another letter to ask for your thoughts."

Zhao Xing smiled.

A thousand gold pieces are easy to acquire, but a true friend is hard to find.

He had to admit, Old Chen really suited his taste.

Entering the room, Zhao Xing saw Long Xiao unfasten the box.

"Meow!"

A small head popped out of the box, meowing at Long Xiao. But then, as if sensing something, it suddenly looked at Zhao Xing.

"Meow? Meow-wu!"

With a whoosh, the mountain cat instantly leaped into Zhao Xing's arms, rubbing against him frantically.

"The little mountain cat has gotten so big," Zhao Xing said, lifting the cat. Before entering the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven, the mountain cat and Zhao Xing had been separated. At that time, the mountain cat was only half a meter long.

Now it was over a meter long. Its fur still had grey and black patterns, but its coat was brighter, and a small tuft of golden fur had appeared on its forehead, with a streak of purplish-gold running down its spine to its tail.

Despite its size, which wasn't considered large, Zhao Xing felt as if he was holding a small mountain. No wonder Long Xiao looked like he was struggling with the box; this creature alone weighed several hundred catties!

"This..." Zhao Xing instinctively squeezed the mountain cat, then looked at Chen Shijie with surprise.

Chen Shijie nodded: "It's just as you're thinking. The mountain cat is already a Tier 7 exotic beast. It has passed its cub stage and entered its growth period."

"Its Golden Bones are initially formed, its vital energy is like mercury, and its bone marrow like thunder wood. Its vitality is exceptionally vigorous. Cultivating it to this point nearly bankrupted me and Long Xiao."

Chen Shijie had really gone the extra mile. If the mountain cat had been in the Ten Suns Grotto-Heaven, Zhao Xing probably couldn't have taken such good care of it, let alone allowed it to evolve to Tier 7. Only Chen Shijie, as a Military Agriculturist, with his mastery of transformation methods and the use of precious foods, could have enabled the mountain cat's perfect advancement.

For a Tier 7 creature to possess Golden Bones and bone marrow like thunder wood was incredibly rare! In Zhao Xing's words, this was a perfect refinement of the mountain cat's attributes!

"What mountain cat? It has a name now!" Long Xiao complained, hugging the mountain cat. "Kid, I've raised him so well, it's not too much to give him a name, is it?"

"Not at all," Zhao Xing chuckled. "What is it?"

Chen Shijie rubbed his forehead.

"Old Chen, what do you mean? You still think the name I picked isn't good, don't you?!" Long Xiao glared at Chen Shijie.

"I didn't say that," Chen Shijie waved his hand.

"Then why did you call it 'mountain cat' when you introduced it just now, instead of its name?"

Chen Shijie was speechless. *Why are you so observant today?*

Zhao Xing was puzzled: "So what *is* its name?"

Long Xiao held up the mountain cat and declared, "I gave it my own surname and a mighty name."

"Its name is now Long Aotian!"

Zhao Xing: "⊙_⊙"

Chen Shijie: "；￣д￣"

Mountain Cat: "＾ω＾"

Seeing their expressions, Long Xiao looked at Zhao Xing menacingly: "What, got a problem with it?"

Zhao Xing quickly replied, "No, no, of course not. It's quite mighty indeed."

The mountain cat had been raised so well, so Long Aotian it was. Giving the mountain cat his own surname showed Long Xiao's true affection for the little creature. If Zhao Xing had shown any hint of disapproval, Long Xiao might have gone berserk. Besides, the mountain cat seemed rather happy hearing the name.

"Do you know about the military assignments from the Ministry of War that you'll be undertaking?" Chen Shijie asked.

"Aotian, good boy, go out and play by yourself for a bit," Long Xiao said, releasing the mountain cat outside, seeing that they were about to discuss serious matters.

"The military assignments in the military realm are a series of linked missions," Zhao Xing explained. "My official rank will depend on how many missions I complete."

"Yes, I understand. Based on my performance during training, if I complete three linked missions, and each mission's evaluation is no lower than a C, I can be appointed as a Grade 8 Military Agriculturist," Zhao Xing elaborated.

Indeed, if Zhao Xing passed three missions, even if all three were C-minus, he could directly become a Grade 8 official. For regular reserve agriculturists, unless they were geniuses from the Four Great Academies, they would have to start from Grade 9, regardless of their own actual rank. This was because the Nine Great Garrison Armies had such high standards. It was similar to how a Grade 9 official in the capital held higher prestige than a Grade 9 local official. If a genius from one of the Four Great Academies had performed exceptionally well previously, their potential ranks were Sub-Grade 8 Lower, Sub-Grade 8 Upper, Grade 8 Lower, and Grade 8 Upper. After three missions, even if they just barely passed, the worst a Four Great Academies genius could end up as was a Sub-Grade 8 Lower.

"To become a Sub-Grade 7 official, you need to complete six missions from the Ministry of War, with each mission's evaluation no lower than a B."

"To become a Grade 7 official, you need to complete nine missions from the Ministry of War, with each mission's evaluation no lower than an A."

Most people wouldn't even have access to so many linked missions. Six linked missions were usually only assigned to genius agriculturists, and nine linked missions were generally only available to the original A-grade geniuses, a mere seventy-five individuals. Out of ten thousand reserve recruits, only 75 ultimately qualified for the nine linked missions in the military realm. These individuals were already the cream of the crop, yet still so few were qualified. Becoming a Grade 7 official right after training? It wasn't that easy!

"You're already familiar with the procedures, so I won't elaborate," Chen Shijie said. "The location is the Nine Heavens Primal Residence. We cannot interfere with the mission content; no marquis or prince can."

"However, we can pull some strings for you in other areas."

"Such as?" Zhao Xing asked.

"People," Chen Shijie replied. "You're not the only one being sent to the Nine Heavens Primal Residence, and not just agriculturists. We can make arrangements regarding your assigned location."

Chen Shijie pointed his finger, drawing a map on the ground: "Suppose this is the Nine Heavens Primal Residence." Then he clenched his hand, and a handful of sand appeared in his palm: "These grains of sand represent the talents who are about to go to the Nine Heavens Primal Residence: martial artists, agriculturists, artificers, and ritual masters."

*Sifting,* Chen Shijie let the sand trickle down. "When the military realm deploys talent, we can arrange for people you're familiar with to be deployed near you."

"Of course, this can only influence the general vicinity. If you're lucky, familiar faces might be in the same county or even military town."

"But if your luck is bad, they might be a whole commandery away."

Zhao Xing chuckled, "When it comes to luck, mine has always been good."

Chen Shijie tossed the sand and clapped his hands. "You can tell me your choices of personnel."

Zhao Xing pondered: "Military Physician Yuan Yang, Artificer Wang Ji, Ritual Master Zhang Yi, Martial Artist Xia Jing. No specific requirements for ritual cultivators. That should be enough. As for agriculturists, it doesn't matter; I can handle that myself."

Long Xiao snorted, "Enough? You're really thinking big, aren't you? Why don't you just ask for all the top talents?"

"That's not entirely impossible," Chen Shijie mused. "Xia Jing will depend on luck; he's a genius from the Black Armored Army, so we can't influence his posting location, not even broadly."

"As for the others, Wang Ji is from our Divine Might Army. Military Physician Yuan Yang is uncertain. Zhang Yi, however, is not a problem." Zhang Yi wasn't a particularly outstanding talent, but Zhao Xing felt they had worked together before and were familiar, so there was no need to replace him. As for other professions? Zhao Xing didn't care. Ritual cultivators were called strategists in the army, and he didn't need any at his current low-level. Why would a small unit need strategists? As for musicians, dancers, or weavers, Zhao Xing had no specific requests for them, as he didn't know many familiar people in those fields.

The first assistance Old Chen provided was raising the mountain cat, perfectly refining its attributes. The second assistance was providing personnel.

"This journey carries life-threatening risks," Chen Shijie said. "While we cannot interfere with other aspects, Long Xiao will accompany you. If you face a life-threatening situation, he will act as your protector."

"Furthermore, if you encounter an emergency or an unforeseen circumstance that exceeds your mission's difficulty limit, Long Xiao will also call for help. The entire Divine Might Army will be mobilized, and there will be no upper limit to the level of mobilization."

"Whatever the enemy's strength, we will send someone stronger. If the Marquis cannot defeat them, he can invite even more powerful individuals to intervene."

Chen Shijie added, "However, you must also act within your capabilities. Don't recklessly charge just for an A-grade evaluation. If you don't encounter an unexpected situation, and the difficulty doesn't exceed the mission's upper limit, calling for help will lower your evaluation."

"I understand," Zhao Xing nodded. The military realm aimed to train these geniuses but also didn't want them to die in vain, given the high cost of their cultivation. Therefore, those like Zhao Xing, who performed exceptionally well during training, had invisible privileges, ensuring their life safety was maximally guaranteed. Have A-grade geniuses ever died by accident in the various grotto-heavens of the military realm? Yes, but as long as they didn't deliberately court death, they were generally safer than others.

The third assistance was treasures.

"A Five Elements Staff, Tier 4 Supreme Grade."

"A Bright Moon Quake Armor, Tier 4 Supreme Grade."

"A Moshou Jade Pendant, Tier 5 Low Grade."

"Your almanac, straw cloak, Cloud-Stepping Boots, and bamboo hat have all been upgraded to Tier 4 Supreme Grade. There are also various other miscellaneous items; you can familiarize yourself with them on the way. They're all in this box," Long Xiao said, patting the box with his hand.

Chen Shijie continued, "We've also arranged a Swordfish Flying Boat for you, parked at the entrance of the Earth Advantage Institute. See if there are any other needs. The Marquis has already authorized me; anything available in the Divine Might Army's armory, as long as it complies with the military realm's rules, I can decide on."

"That should be enough," Zhao Xing said, flipping through the list of treasures and pulling out his Earth Mirror. "Just replenish my stock of seeds. Those are my bread and butter."

"Alright, I'll arrange that right away," Chen Shijie said. "It'll be done in two days at most. Is that sufficient?"

"That's enough," Zhao Xing smiled. "I just need to bid farewell to Marquis Tian."

"Then let's split up," Chen Shijie said without delay, heading off with Long Xiao to make arrangements for Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing, meanwhile, went to Fuchun Garden.

It was called a farewell, but in reality, Zhao Xing just wanted to get some extra resources.

"Teacher, your student is grateful for your guidance this past year. I'm about to embark on my journey, and I hope you take care of yourself," Zhao Xing said, his emotions seemingly sincere, tears welling up in his eyes.

Tian Yan was so amused he almost laughed: "This isn't a farewell; you're trying to send me off to my grave! Alright, get up. I've already prepared everything for you."

"Thank you, Teacher!" Zhao Xing immediately scrambled up from the ground with a grin. Tian Yan handed him a two-foot-long box.

"Inside this box are three blank letters bearing my secret seal, along with three tokens," Tian Yan explained.

"Letters?" Zhao Xing was puzzled. *Is that all?*

"Youngster, don't underestimate these three letters," Tian Yan said with a slight smile. "These represent the connections my Tian family has accumulated over a millennium. If you encounter difficulties, use them, and you can solve most problems."

"However, remember this: don't use them unless the situation is truly, truly dire. Do you understand what I mean?"

Zhao Xing seemed to realize something, and he solemnly took the box. "Yes, I understand. Thank you for your generosity, Teacher."

Seeing Zhao Xing's expression, Tian Yan knew he understood. He waved his hand. "Go on, and do well."

Zhao Xing bowed once more, then left, holding the box.

Watching Zhao Xing's retreating back, Tian Yan's eyes held a mix of anticipation and gravity: "Youngster, military promotions are far from as easy as you imagine. The Great Barbarian War is imminent, and various factional disputes will surface. Marquis Boping was suppressed but has risen again, and military affairs in the military realm are not just about fighting. I hope you truly understand, and I hope you never have to open this box..."