Conscription Order

As it was nearly the hour of the rabbit, before dawn had broken, the training grounds were already abuzz with activity, exceptionally lively. Before Wang Hong even approached, he could hear Lu Jingou's voice, like a duck's, "Hua Wenjue, with such great news, you have to treat us to a meal."

Wang Hong approached and listened for a while before understanding. It turned out Hua Wenjue had broken through to the Houtian Stage. Hua Wenjue was a year older than Wang Hong, seventeen this year. Breaking through to the Houtian Stage at seventeen could be considered genius.

"Brother Hua is truly a martial arts genius. A Houtian Realm Martial Artist at seventeen, there are very few like him in the entire academy," Li Xiaoya said, her fists clenched, her face full of admiration.

"If you all keep saying that, I'll have nowhere to hide. Wang Hong broke through to Houtian at thirteen and didn't call himself a genius. If I were to call myself a genius, people would laugh their heads off," Hua Wenjue quickly defended himself humbly.

"I only reached Houtian by consuming an Immortal Elixir, so it doesn't count." Before Wang Hong could finish speaking, the sound of horns, "Wuwuwu," echoed across the training grounds. The grounds instantly fell silent.

After three blasts of the horn, Old Demon Feng appeared at the front of the formation, as punctual as ever. After taking attendance, Old Demon Feng announced an important notice.

Ten years ago, the Qin State sent an army of 100,000 to destroy the Wei State. From the royalty down to the commoners, everyone in Wei State was reduced to slavery.

Five years ago, the Qin State sent an army of 100,000 to attack the border of our Chu State. The Chu State, led by the great general Qu Wu with an army of 100,000, faced the Qin army at the border. Countless battles, large and small, occurred during this period, with victories and defeats on both sides.

Six months ago, the Qin State suddenly reinforced its army with 500,000 troops on the Chu State's border. After five months of desperate defense, it was finally breached, causing tens of thousands of casualties among the Chu State's army and civilians.

Therefore, the Chu State issued a Conscription Order, conscripting all those over fifteen years old from the major Martial Arts Academies across the country to join the army. They were to report to the border within three days to participate in the war against Qin.

Upon hearing this news, a wave of uproar swept through the crowd. Some were sharpening their fists, some were eager to try, and some were filled with worry.

The Chu State had always been known for its brave and warlike populace, rejoicing at the sound of war, taking pride in achieving merit on the battlefield, and shaming cowardice and fear of battle. Even if one died on the battlefield, their relatives would receive a substantial pension, enough to live without worry for the rest of their lives.

Moreover, the students were all hot-blooded youths in their prime. Soon, the crowd's enthusiasm surged, and they all expressed their desire to join the army, fight the enemy, and earn merit on the battlefield.

Wang Hong had originally planned to cultivate for another two years before heading to the Qingxu Mountain range to seek Immortal Destiny. However, with the Conscription Order now issued, refusing to comply would be treated as desertion, resulting in a nationwide manhunt, and capture meant certain death.

With Wang Hong's current strength, if he were to fight one-on-one, it would be difficult to find an opponent throughout the entire Great Chu State. But ultimately, two fists are no match for four hands. If he encountered a well-trained army, just one or two hundred men would be enough to surround and kill him.

If he tried to escape, he would never reach the foot of Qingxu Mountain before being intercepted along the way.

What's more, Chu State was his motherland, and Qingyang Academy had nurtured him for three years. Now, in the nation's time of crisis, everyone had the responsibility and obligation to fight for it. If he were to leave now, he feared he would not be at peace.

Besides, with Wang Hong's current strength, as long as he didn't fall into the enemy formation alone, ordinary people couldn't kill him.

Even so, he still needed to make thorough preparations. It wouldn't be worth it to die on the battlefield due to an unexpected mishap. He still had a bright future ahead of him and intended to cultivate the immortal path. He didn't want to perish with some unknown grunt on the battlefield right now.

Wang Hong went to the wine shop again and bought another thousand catties of wine. Over the past two years, he had brewed some medicinal wine, using some up, and now had several hundred catties left in his Mysterious Space. Combined with this thousand catties, it should be more than enough. Wang Hong picked some seventy to eighty-year-old Ginseng and Purple Ganoderma from his Mysterious Space to brew medicinal wine.

Currently, the White Jade Ganoderma, rarely seen in the outside world, grew in abundance in his Mysterious Space. The earliest batch he had cultivated had already reached fifty years of medicinal age. Wang Hong picked some and created a healing medicine called "White Jade Life-Extending Pill."

He also picked some White Jade Ganoderma with twenty to thirty years of medicinal age to prepare some White Jade Powder. Other elixirs like the "Dragon Tiger Elixir," anything that could be useful, Wang Hong prepared some.

Originally, Wang Hong had also wanted to get a set of armor, but there wasn't enough time to find any.

A contingent of over a thousand soldiers from the northern part of Chu State arrived mightily outside Jingzhou City. After a three-month long journey, the group from Qingyang Academy finally reached their destination.

Of the over thousand people in this contingent, combat soldiers only accounted for half, numbering over eight hundred. Eight hundred laborers were temporarily conscripted from Qingyang County to transport supplies, build bridges, and pave roads.

Eight hundred laborers seemed like a lot, but their tasks were actually very heavy. If each soldier consumed one jin of grain per day, the rations for three months would be nearly a hundred jin. And soldiers couldn't carry a hundred jin of grain onto the battlefield. Coupled with the grain consumed by the laborers themselves, this meant each laborer had to transport nearly two hundred jin of grain on average, while also being responsible for the transportation of various other supplies. War was like this, a huge drain on any side.

Their contingent was originally heading to the border to participate in the war, but halfway there, they received news that several border cities had already been captured and fallen to the Qin army.

The defenders of the cities captured by the Qin army had all died in battle. For every city captured by the Qin army, they would massacre the inhabitants for three days. The remaining were all enslaved, causing widespread suffering, with countless families torn apart.

Wang Hong and his group received orders halfway there, instructing them to change their original route and rendezvous with other reinforcements at Jingzhou City.

At this time, there weren't many troops stationed outside Jingzhou City, not because they had arrived too early. According to the information they gathered, the Qin army's offensive was fierce, and the initial reinforcements had been sent to other cities to assist in their defense.

Their lead instructor, Feng Li, Old Demon Feng, had already entered the city to pay his respects to the great general. When Old Demon Feng returned, they would likely be assigned to other cities for defense.

The contingent took advantage of the free time to quickly prepare their meals. Wang Hong was currently serving as a Ten-man Squad Leader, with nine soldiers under his command. The position of a squad leader in the army was actually not very significant; they had no autonomy and were almost the same as ordinary soldiers.

At this moment, Wang Hong and a few other soldiers were each holding a bowl of congee, with chopsticks spearing two steamed buns, squatting on the ground to eat. They had not eaten a full meal since the day of their departure, after three months of marching. Martial artists had large appetites; an ordinary beginner martial artist could eat a dou of rice per day. The small amount of food distributed currently was far from enough for martial artists.

After eating, Wang Hong sat alone in a corner and took out a piece of dried meat from his huai, slowly tearing and chewing it. This dried meat was a ration Wang Hong had made himself. He steamed the meat of fierce beasts with medicinal cuisine ingredients until tender, then mashed them together, adding salt and spices. He then pressed them into palm-sized pieces, sprinkled them with roasted sesame seeds, and baked out the moisture until they turned golden-brown.

Eating one piece a day, after refining it, could provide the equivalent of ten days of cultivation. It was delicious and filling. Unfortunately, due to the rush, he hadn't made much.

Not long after, Old Demon Feng returned. Old Demon Feng had been granted the rank of Captain. He had originally come from the army and had some connections there.

The great general ordered them to gather with four other academies and proceed to Huju City, a hundred li away, to assist in the defense.

The army set off that day, heading towards Huju City.

Huju City was not a large city, with only fifty to sixty thousand people including civilians and soldiers. However, it was situated between two mountains, making its terrain precarious, like a gateway to the Chu State. Once Huju City was captured, the Qin army could march directly into the Chu State territory from this location.

For such a strategically important location, they should have sent more troops. However, Huju City's terrain was steep and difficult to attack, making it easy to defend. Moreover, the city was too small, so no matter how many troops were sent, they could only be used in a piecemeal fashion.

However, what Wang Hong and the others didn't know was that before them, over five thousand people had already been dispatched to Huju City. They had been under constant attack by the Qin army day and night, and their casualties were too high, which was why they were sent as reinforcements.