Military Realm Duties Begin! (Final Chapter of This Volume)

"Old Chen!" Zhao Xing couldn't help but smile when he saw Chen Shijie, who looked travel-worn. "You've finally arrived."

"Hey, there's a grown man like me here, and you call me Old Chen?" Long Xiao immediately became displeased.

"Haha, I must be blind, Valiant Commandant, please come in, please come in," Zhao Xing said, feigning exaggeration.

"Hmph, who cares to come to your place?" Long Xiao shook the box on his back, lowered his head, and walked past Zhao Xing.

"Hiss, is he really angry?" Zhao Xing looked at Chen Shijie.

"It's nothing," Chen Shijie said with a smile, shaking his head. "He's just being stubborn."

"I thought you guys weren't coming and had sold me for a good price," Zhao Xing said. "I've been waiting for you for ages."

"The Tigron Army did offer a good price," Chen Shijie said. "Would you like to know the exact price?"

"Think."

The two walked and talked.

"Wei Yuan contacted me three times."

"The last time, he offered one Sixth Level Divine Weapon, four fifth-tier Divine Soldier, and was even willing to exchange you for the Feng Qiu of the Celestial Timing Academy."

"So much?" Zhao Xing raised an eyebrow. He had to admit, setting such a price was quite bold. The eyes of the powerful were truly sharp.

"To be honest, this is a very tempting price," Chen Shijie said with a smile. "One Sixth Level Divine Weapon and four fifth-tier Divine Soldier are all for me, Chen Shijie, personally. And you are someone I brought in. As long as I personally agree, and with the addition of a Feng Qiu to the Divine Might Army, the Marquis will also give Marquis Mingwu face."

"I'm worth so much, why aren't you selling me?" Zhao Xing asked jokingly.

"I, Chen Shijie, do not sell out my comrades," Chen Shijie said calmly. "Whether you believe it or not, even if you gave me a priceless treasure, I would not use it as a bargaining chip, unless you are willing to leave on your own."

"How do you know I don't want to leave?" Zhao Xing retorted.

"What I did in Gucheng is hardly a favor," Chen Shijie laughed. "Look at what you said to Wei Yuan, about saving my life, passing on your knowledge, and being recognized for my talent... As soon as I heard that, I knew you were trying to use me to reject the Tigron Army."

"You have lofty ambitions, and though you are not arrogant, you possess unwavering integrity. Why should you need others to pave your way to success?"

"I don't need to write to you anymore to ask for your opinion."

Zhao Xing smiled.

Gold is easy to come by, but a true friend is hard to find.

To be honest, Old Chen is really to my liking.

Upon entering the room, one could see Long Xiao unpacking the box.

Meow~

A small head popped out of the box and called out to Long Xiao.

However, it seemed to sense something and suddenly looked at Zhao Xing.

"Meow? Meow!"

With a whoosh, the Mountain Cat leaped into Zhao Xing and began rubbing against him frantically.

"The little Mountain Cat has grown so much." Zhao Xing mentioned the Mountain Cat. Before entering the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, the Mountain Cat and Zhao Xing had been separated.

At that time, Mountain Cat were no more than half a meter long.

It is now over a meter long, and its fur is still gray and black with markings, but its skin is shinier. A small tuft of golden hair has appeared on the top of its forehead, and a line of purplish-gold runs along its back and extends to its tail.

This size is still not considered large, but when Zhao Xing hugged the Mountain Cat, it was as if he were hugging a small mountain.

No wonder Long Xiao looked like he was having some trouble carrying the box; it alone weighed several hundred pounds!

"This..."

Zhao Xing subconsciously pinched the Mountain Cat, then looked at Chen Shijie with a surprised expression.

The latter nodded. "It's just as you think. The Mountain Cat is already Seventh Rank Exotic Beast, having passed its cub stage and entered its growth stage."

"The Mountain Cat's golden bones are just beginning to form, its blood and qi are like mercury, its bone marrow is like thunderwood, and its vitality is vigorous and strong. After being nurtured until now, it almost ate me and Long Xiao out of our lives."

That's so thoughtful of Chen Shijie.

If the Mountain Cat were kept in the Ten Yang Grotto-Heaven, I probably wouldn't have been able to take such good care of it, let alone help it transform into Seventh Grade Mountain Cat.

It was only because Chen Shijie, the Military Sima Nong, mastered the method of observing changes in weather, and combined it with precious food, that the Mountain Cat was able to achieve a perfect advancement.

It's extremely rare for Seventh Grade to possess golden bones and thunderwood marrow!

In Zhao Xing's words, this perfectly refined the attributes of the Mountain Cat!

"What Mountain Cat? It has a name now!" Long Xiao said, hugging the Mountain Cat to his chest with dissatisfaction. "Kid, I've raised it so well, giving it a name isn't too much to ask, is it?"

"Not at all," Zhao Xing said with a smile. "What should I call you?"

Chen Shijie rubbed his forehead.

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

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

"Then why did you call it Mountain Cat instead of its real name when you were introducing it?"

"..." Chen Shijie was speechless. Why are you being so observant of people today?

Zhao Xing was completely confused. "So what is it called?"

Long Xiao held up the Mountain Cat and said, "I gave it my surname and a powerful name."

"Its name is now Long Aotian!"

Zhao Xing: "(⊙_⊙)"

Chen Shijie: "(;￣д￣)"

Mountain Cat: "(^ω^)"

Seeing their expressions, Long Xiao immediately glared at Zhao Xing with ill intent. "What, you have a problem with that?"

Zhao Xing: "No, no, how could that be? It is indeed quite domineering."

The Mountain Cat is being raised so well, let the Long Aotian be Long Aotian.

They even gave the Mountain Cat their own surname, which shows how much Long Xiao truly loves this little guy.

If I were to reveal any other intentions, Long Xiao might just go berserk.

Besides, the Mountain Cat seemed quite happy to hear the name.

"Next, you will be tasked with carrying out military duties assigned by the Ministry of War. Are you aware of this?" Chen Shijie asked.

"Heaven Defier, go out and play by yourself for a bit." Seeing that it was time to talk about serious matters, Long Xiao also let the Mountain Cat go outside.

"Military Realm are conducted in a series of missions," Zhao Xing said. "The number of missions I complete determines the Official Rank I am assigned."

"I understand. Based on my performance during my training, as long as I complete the three-ring missions and my evaluation for each mission is not lower than C, I can be appointed Official Eighth Rank Military Sima Nong," Zhao Xing said.

Yes, Zhao Xing only needs to pass the task three times, even if all three times he gets a grade C or lower, and he can directly become an Official Eighth Rank official.

If you are a regular reserve Agricultural Official, unless you are a genius from Four Great Academies, regardless of whether you are Eighth Grade official or not, you have to start from the Sub-Ninth Rank.

Because the nine garrison units are of such a high standard. It's similar to how a Ninth Grade official in the capital has a higher status than a Ninth Grade local official.

If they are geniuses at the level of the Four Great Academies, their previous performance was quite good. Their ranks are respectively: Lower Eighth Grade, Upper Eighth Grade, Lower Official Eighth Rank, and Upper Official Eighth Rank.

For the Three Rings Quest, as long as you pass, even the most talented students from the Four Great Academies will at least be classified as a lower -Eighth Grade genius.

"To become Seventh Grade, one must complete six tasks assigned by the Ministry of War, and the rating for each task must not be lower than B."

"To become Regular Seventh Rank, one must complete nine tasks assigned by the Ministry of War, and the rating for each task must not be lower than A."

Ordinary people don't have that many quests to accept. Six-ring quests are only available to geniuses like the Agricultural Official, and Nine Ring Mission are basically only available to the original top-level geniuses, a mere seventy-five people.

Of the 10,000 reserve recruits, only 75 were ultimately qualified to take on the Nine Ring Mission in the Military Realm.

These people are the best of the best, yet there are still only so many qualified to take on the mission.

Want to be trained and become a Seventh Grade official? Not so easy!

"You're already familiar with the process, so I won't say anything more," Chen Shijie said. "The locations are all in the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture. We can't interfere with the details of the mission, not even any king or noble."

"But in other areas, we can help you with some things."

"For example?" Zhao Xing asked.

"People," Chen Shijie said, "You're not the only one sent to the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture, nor is it just the Agricultural Official. We can make some moves in the locations you've been assigned to."

Chen Shijie pointed and drew a map on the ground. "Let's say this is the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture."

He then clenched his fist, and a handful of sand appeared in his palm. "These grains of sand are the talents who will soon be going to the Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture. There are martial artists, Agricultural Official, Mechanism Master, and Ceremonial Official."

"Sift, sift~" Chen Shijie shook off the sand. "When the Military Realm is deploying talent, we can send people you know to your side as well."

"Of course, this can only affect a general area at most. If you're lucky, the people you know might be in a county or even a military town."

"But if you're unlucky, it might be just one county away."

Zhao Xing laughed and said, "When it comes to luck, I've always been very good."

Chen Shijie threw away the sand, clapped his hands, and said, "You can tell me who you're considering."

Zhao Xing pondered, "Military Physician Yuan Yang, Mechanism Master Wang Ji, Ceremonial Official Zhang Yi, martial artist Xia Jing, and Ritual Cultivator are not required. These should be enough. I don't care about the Agricultural Official; I can handle it myself."

Long Xiao scoffed, "More like it? You're really bold, kid. Why don't you just say you'd give all the top talents to you?"

"It's not impossible."

"..."

Chen Shijie pondered, "Xia Jing will have to rely on luck. He is a genius of the Black Armor Army. We can't influence his post location, not even on a large scale."

"As for the others, Wang Ji is from our Divine Might Army, Yuan Yang, the military doctor, is another story, but Zhang Yi is fine."

The reason Zhang Yi was not a problem was because Zhang Yi was not a particularly outstanding talent. Zhao Xing simply felt that since they had worked together before and were familiar with each other, there was no need to replace him.

As for other professions? Zhao Xing didn't care. Ritual Cultivator was called a strategist in the army, but he didn't need one at all. These days, small families don't need strategists to help them.

Musicians, Dancer Master, and the Weaver Weaving Girl —it didn't really matter; Zhao Xing didn't know many acquaintances.

The first help Old Chen gave was raising Mountain Cat, which allowed him to perfectly reset his skill points.

The second form of assistance is manpower.

"Your life will be in danger this time. We can't interfere with other matters, but Long Xiao will go with you. He will help you if you encounter any danger. He is your protector."

"In addition, if an emergency or accident occurs that exceeds the difficulty limit of your mission, Long Xiao will also call for help, and the entire Divine Might Army will be mobilized. There is no limit to the level of mobilization."

"We'll send out stronger forces depending on the enemy's level. If the Marquis can't defeat them, he can call in even stronger people."

Chen Shijie said, "But you also need to be realistic about your abilities. Don't push yourself too hard just for the sake of an A-level rating. If you don't encounter any unexpected events and haven't exceeded the mission's difficulty limit, asking for help will lower your rating."

"I understand." Zhao Xing nodded. The Military Realm wants to train these geniuses, but it doesn't want them to die in vain, given the cost of training them.

Therefore, those Zhao Xing who performed exceptionally well during training all had Invisibility privileges, namely, the greatest guarantee of their life safety.

In the various Grotto-Heaven of the Military Realm, have any of the Grade A died unexpectedly? Yes, but as long as they don't court death, they are actually safer than others.

The third type of help is treasure.

"Five Elements Staff, fourth-tier top-grade item."

"Bright Moon Shock Armor, fourth-tier top-grade."

"The Mo Shou Jade Pendant, a fifth-grade low-ranking item."

"I've upgraded your almanac, raincoat, Cloud Stepping Boots, and bamboo hat to the fourth-tier top-quality. There are also some other miscellaneous items. You can get familiar with them on your journey. They're all in this box."

Long Xiao patted the box with his hand.

Chen Shijie said, "I've also arranged one Arrowfish Flying Boat for you, parked at the entrance of the Earthly Advantage Institute. See if you need anything else. The Marquis has authorized me; whatever the Divine Might Army's Arsenal has, as long as it complies with the rules of the Military Realm, I can make the decision."

"That's about enough." Zhao Xing flipped through the list of treasures and took out the Earth Mirror: "Give me another batch of seeds; these are what I need to make a living."

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away," Chen Shijie said. "Heavenly Timing at most, is that enough time?"

"That's enough," Zhao Xing said with a smile. "I just need to say goodbye to Tian Hou."

"Then let's split up." Chen Shijie didn't hesitate and took Long Xiao to make arrangements for Zhao Xing.

Zhao Xing then went to Fuchun Garden.

He said he was saying goodbye, but really he just wanted to freeload off some food.

"Teacher, I am grateful for your guidance over the past year. Now that I am about to embark on my journey, I hope you will take good care of yourself." Zhao Xing said sincerely, his eyes filled with tears.

Tian Yan was amused by his words: "This isn't a farewell, it's like you're sending your teacher away. Alright, get up, everything's ready for you."

"Thank you, teacher!" Zhao Xing immediately got up from the ground with a grin, and saw Tian Yan hand him a two-foot-long box.

"Inside this box are three blank letters sealed with my secret seal, and three kinds of tokens," Tian Yan said.

"A letter?" Zhao Xing was somewhat puzzled. That's all?

"Young man, don't underestimate these three letters," Tian Yan said with a smile. "These are the connections my House Tian has built up over a thousand years. Whenever you encounter difficulties, use them, and you can solve most of your problems."

"But remember, don't use it unless it's absolutely necessary, do you understand what I mean?"

Zhao Xing seemed to have thought of something, and solemnly accepted the box. "Yes, I understand, thank you for the gift, Teacher."

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

Zhao Xing bowed again and then left with the box in his arms.

Watching Zhao Xing's departing figure, Tian Yan's eyes held a mixture of anticipation and seriousness. "Kid, promotion in the army is far from as easy as you think. The Pacifying Barbarians War to Pacify the Barbarians is imminent, and various factional struggles will surface. Boping Marquis has been weakened and is rising again. Military Realm affairs are not just about fighting. I hope you truly understand, and I hope you never open this box..."

This is the third update today. I'm about to release a new volume and sort out the upcoming plot.

Zhao Xing officially began his path to promotion through the ranks of official positions.

The next volume, "Nine Heavens Responding Origin Prefecture"! Goodnight everyone!