New recruits again???
Little B is fine too.
It's just that Lu Ping's current strength doesn't allow it.
Lu Ping chose A.
[You chose A.]
You look away and walk along the street towards the city center.
The shops lining the street were mostly weapons stores, armor shops, and medicine and healing Pills.
[You even saw a shop with a sign outside that read "Willwriting Service, Divine Sense Encryption, Military Merit Payment."]
The entire city was like a giant, cold, and efficient machine operating around the war.
[You've taken a walk around the city and found out what's going on.]
[Maoyuan City is merely a rear base.]
[To truly join the White Tiger Hall, earn military merits, and exchange for top-tier materials, you must go to West-Suppressing Sword Pass in the Western Front.]
[That's the headquarters of the White Tiger Hall, and also the core of the Sha-Suppressing Great Wall.]
[The White Tiger Domain doesn't have a Teleportation Array network as advanced as the Azure Dragon Domain, making it vulnerable to being used by the Ruin Sha to infiltrate through the Formation Technique nodes.]
[The only way to reach West-Suppressing Sword Pass is by Flying Boat.]
You arrive at the Flying Boat ferry crossing in the north of the city.
[Dozens of enormous black Flying Boat were moored in the harbor, their surfaces covered in marks from sword and axe strikes, with some areas still bearing indelible dark red bloodstains.]
[You paid the Spirit Stones, received a wooden token, and lined up to board the ship.]
[You step onto the deck and follow the signs into the cabin.]
This is a troop transport ship.
[There were no partitions inside the cabin; hundreds of cultivators were crammed into a large communal sleeping area.]
[You walked to the back of the cabin, found a corner against the wall, and sat down cross-legged.]
[Next to you sits a young man with a scar on his face, who is wiping his natal flying sword.]
He looked up and glanced at you.
"Is he new here?"
You paused briefly, then nodded.
"Did they owe the Azure Dragon Merchant Association a debt, or offend a sect from the Upper Domain Realm?"
He spoke in a flat tone, as if asking about the weather today.
[Brother, is that the right question? I'm a big shot in the Azure Dragon Merchant Association and the Si Clan!]
[Suppressing your inner turmoil, you said calmly,]
"I came by myself."
The scarred youth stopped wiping his sword.
He looked you up and down as if you were an idiot.
"You came to the White Tiger Domain by yourself?"
"Are you out of your mind?"
[You didn't reply, but simply closed your eyes and pretended to meditate.]
The scarred youth chuckled, held the sword up to his eyes, and blew on it.
"Those lords from the Azure Dragon Domain treat this place like a garbage dump."
"Those who can't pay their debts, those who have offended others, those who have committed crimes—they all stuff their money here."
"No matter how you got here."
"Once you get here, your life is no longer your own."
[Boom.]
[The Flying Boat emitted a tremendous roar, and its hull shook violently.]
[It's taking off.]
[You look out through the porthole of the ship's cabin.]
[The Flying Boat pierced through the clouds and flew towards the far west.]
The sky grew darker and darker, its gray hue resembling a rag that could never be cleaned.
[It's unclear how long they flew.]
The Flying Boat's speed began to decrease.
The previously lifeless cultivators in the cabin suddenly began to stir.
The scarred youth stood up and dusted himself off.
["Arrive."]
[You look out the porthole.]
[A black line appeared at the horizon.]
[As the Flying Boat drew closer, the black line grew higher and wider.]
That was a wall.
[A colossal, grayish-white wall, stretching as far as the eye can see and reaching a height of a thousand feet.]
The wall was densely covered with broken flying swords and dark red runes.
Above the giant wall, dark clouds churned, with faint flashes of lightning.
[Below the colossal wall, countless armored and sword-wielding cultivators scurried across the city walls like ants.]
[The Sha-Suppressing Great Wall.]
The Flying Boat slowly landed on a huge plaza behind the city walls.
[You follow the flow of people off the Flying Boat.]
[Just landed.]
["Ugh--"]
A piercing horn blast suddenly tore through the sky.
[All the previously listless cultivators in the plaza drew their weapons in unison.]
[The scarred young man turned and glanced at you, grinning to reveal his chilling white teeth.]
"Welcome to the meat grinder."
[Just as the scarred youth finished speaking, a loud shout came from the front of the square.]
"New recruits, get in line! Veterans, go to the Military Merit Office for reimbursement!"
[The several hundred cultivators quickly split into two groups.]
[You looked around; the vast majority of people on this Flying Boat were veterans. It headed straight to the other end of the square.]
[Only two hundred or so new recruits reported for duty and remained where they were, looking somewhat surprised.]
[Options pop up.]
[A: Keep a low profile, queue up, blend into the ranks of new recruits, and take it one step at a time.]
[B: Holding up his Fourth-Level Alchemist certificate, he shouted, "I'm a technical expert! Get the executives out here to greet us!"]
[C: Takes out the "White Tiger Domain Onboarding Anti-Pitfall Guide" and distributes it to the new recruits, establishes a mutual aid union for new employees on the spot, and requires an eight-hour workday.]
Lu Ping looked at Little B and Little C.
Sure enough, even with a different map, the erratic behavior of the Ox and Horse System remained unchanged.
Lu Ping chose A.
[You chose A.]
[You stay at the very back of the new recruits' line.]
[You were led to a row of gray stone halls at the edge of the square, with a plaque above the door that read "Recruitment Office".]
The team is advancing very quickly.
[Those in front of them basically only gave their names and cultivation levels; the soldier in charge of registration tossed out a token and then kicked them to the adjacent barracks.]
[Now you.]
[Behind the desk sat a Sword Cultivator at the Nascent Soul Realm stage. He wore heavy black armor, the edges of which were riddled with fine, closely spaced notches.]
He didn't even look up, but opened a register.
[Name, Cultivation Level, Special Skills]
"Lu Ping, Golden Core Early Stage, Fourth-Level Alchemist."
[Place the Fourth-Level Alchemist Certificate from the Azure Dragon Merchant Association headquarters on the table.]
"Applying to Pill Camp, responsible for Pills refining."
[You think you're a top-tier talent, this round should be a sure win.]
The Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator stopped flipping through the roster.
He looked up.
[It was a face tinged with a bluish tinge by Sha Qi, with a piercing scar running across its left eye.]
He glanced at you sideways and let out a cold laugh.
"Fourth-Level Alchemist? So young?"
He picked up the badge, weighed it in his hand, and then casually tossed it back onto the table.
[A crisp clanging sound.]
"You must be a young master from the Azure Dragon Domain?"
"You caused trouble at home and ran to the White Tiger Domain to lay low?"
[Several veterans nearby, responsible for maintaining order, also joined in the laughter, looking at you as if you were a fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered.]
"Did you think that by getting a license plate and refining a couple of batches of Qi and Blood- nourishing sugar beans, you could make a living in the White Tiger Domain?"
[The Nascent Soul Sword Cultivator stood up, placed his hands on the table, and unleashed his Nascent Soul Realm stage aura without hesitation.]
"We don't tolerate useless people here!"
He picked up a Cinnabar brush and drew a deep line after your name, the ink penetrating the paper.
"New recruits in the War Department, position: Army Alchemist."
He tossed you a cast iron plaque engraved with the words 'Black Moon'.
"Go to the Black Moon Gorge outpost and undergo a three-month battlefield assessment."
"Survive, then you can talk to me about the Pill Camp again. Get lost."
[Options pop up.]
[A: Take the cards and leave, settle down first.]
[B: Wow, Nascent Soul are so arrogant these days, let's teach him a lesson!]
[C: Shouts, "This is workplace bullying! I want to see your White Tiger Sword Lord! I'm applying for labor arbitration, and I won't leave until I get N+1!"]