Territory Guards

Blue Silver Territory, North Mouth River Town.

Dugu Xin followed Long Yin, each riding a fine horse, as they walked along the bustling street. Behind them was a neat procession of eighteen people.

The group of twenty people were all dressed in standard silver light armor. The only difference was that Dugu Xin and Long Yin had two blue patterns on the shoulders of their light armor.

Patrolling the territory daily and maintaining order is the responsibility of the territory's sheriff.

As a Baron Rank territory, Blue Silver Territory is only permitted to have between one hundred and five hundred guards, the exact number depending on how much the Blue Silver Territory's own finances can support.

Thanks to the various policies established by the lord, the territory now has a population of over 41,000, but only 500 guards are far from enough.

Fortunately, although the lord has been away for the past few years, he had anticipated this long ago.

Therefore, apart from the Guard Team belonging to Mountain Sea Estate, all the towns and 25 villages under the Blue Silver Territory have militia teams 'spontaneously' formed by the people.

In North Mouth River Town, each household elected a patrol team of fifty people. In other villages such as Upper River Village, there were hunting teams of seven or eight to fourteen or fifteen people, formed under the guise of protecting against wild animals and bandits. In their spare time, they could also go into the mountains and forests to hunt various wild animals to supplement the meat supply of the villagers.

With the spread of "The Farmer's Three Forms" and the "Blue Silver Rice" whose yield per mu increased seven or eight times, as well as the poultry and livestock such as chickens, ducks, rabbits and pigs raised by every household, the people of the entire Blue Silver Territory are all physically strong. Those who can be selected into the Guard Team are all elite soldiers with physiques comparable to level ten Soul Scholar. The town's patrol team and the village's hunting team are also skilled in wielding spears and sticks, riding horses and shooting arrows.

It can be said that when needed, the Blue Silver Territory can readily deploy an elite force of over 800 men.

Three days after returning to Blue Silver Territory, Ling Yi, having taken Ah Yin to inspect the entire territory, arrived at North Mouth River Town with satisfaction, watching Long Yin, Dugu Xin, and the others on their routine patrol with a smile.

Although he had never met Dugu Xin, over the past three days, through conversations with many people, he had learned about how Dugu Bo brought his son Dugu Xin to Blue Silver Territory four years ago, in the summer of Douluo Calendar 2608. Ling Yi wasn't surprised by Dugu Xin's existence.

Thinking about it, Ling Yi suddenly felt a pang of emotion, realizing that he had been away from here for four years.

Through perception, I learned that nineteen-year-old Long Yin has now become a Soul Elder. Judging from his aura, he seems to have only recently acquired his Third Soul Ring.

Dugu Xin, who was following behind Long Yin, was young but had already surpassed him in strength. Not only had he also broken through to the Soul Elder, but his aura was also more condensed, indicating that he had broken through earlier. His Soul Power was also ahead of Long Yin's at the moment.

Perhaps due to the sensitivity of the snake-type Martial Soul, and also because Ling Yi did not deliberately conceal himself, Dugu Xin sensed something after Ling Yi stared at him for more than five seconds. Following his intuition, he looked in the direction where Ling Yi was.

"Um?!"

At first glance, Dugu Xin was stunned.

"What's wrong, San Jin?" Long Yin turned around and asked when he heard Dugu Xin's voice.

However, before Dugu Xin could reply, Long Yin followed the other person's gaze and saw a familiar yet unfamiliar face at the bustling street corner.

"Brother Yi—?!"

Long Yin's eyes widened, his face filled with disbelief and astonishment.

Half an hour later, at Mountain Sea Estate.

Several figures rushed towards the hall specifically used for discussing territory policies. Before they even got close, they shouted out, "..."

"Brother Lei—! I just saw Treading Snow being led to the stables, is it because Big Brother is back—?!"

This is my younger brother Ling Shan.

"Big brother! Is that you back? Big brother—?!"

This is my younger sister, Ling Si.

Behind them were her cousin Zhang Miao, her mother Zhang Xiaoyu, and her aunt Ling He.

Reunion of family and friends naturally led to another round of warm greetings and pleasantries. It wasn't until almost half an hour later that Zhang Xiaoyu, arm in arm with Ling He, said to Ling Yi:

"Xiao Yi, you two chat here. Your aunt and I are going to the kitchen to prepare some food for you and Miss Ah Yin..."

After speaking, he nodded to Ah Yin, who was sitting next to Ling Yi, with a kind smile on his face.

That smile made Ah Yin feel a little strange, yet her heart inexplicably warmed.

At the same time, thousands of miles away, on the border of the Fasinuo Province of the [Heaven Dou Empire].

In a caravan about to leave the Heaven Dou territory and enter the territory of the [Star Luo Empire], a beautiful and spirited young woman riding Hongjun suddenly sneezed.

Rubbing her pert nose, Yang Shelly looked up at the clear sky with some puzzlement, wondering why she would have such a physiological reaction when she was now only one step away from becoming Soul Ancestor.

'I wonder if Brother Yi has returned to the [Water Wood Duchy] yet. After I've made arrangements with Old Yang and Sister Hong, I'll head to the [Water Wood Duchy] as quickly as possible!' Yang Shelly thought to herself.

That's right, Yang Shelly calls her father and mother Old Yang and Sister Hong, respectively.

Mountain Sea Estate, the martial arts training ground.

On an extra-long table, various kinds of meat, vegetables, and drinks were laid out. Not far away, five large barbecue grills spewed flames. The oil dripping from the meat skewers fell onto the red-hot coals, making a "sizzling" sound and spreading a rich aroma.

Li Zhishu was busy using both hands to flip various skewers on the three barbecue grills, sprinkling spices on them.

Despite being so busy, Old Li had a long-lost, genuine smile on his face.

Chen Tianqi and Gao Yanlun each stood in front of a barbecue grill, their hands moving quickly, occasionally exchanging glances.

Chen Tianqi raised an eyebrow. "See? The lord is back, and my teacher's mood has immediately improved."

Gao Yanlun quickly flipped through a large handful of lamb skewers with his left hand, while sprinkling cumin and other spice powders with his right. He glanced at his teacher Li Zhishu, then at Zhang Lei, Long Yin, and the others gathered around Ling Yi not far away, before giving Chen Tianqi a knowing look: 'It's not just the teacher; the entire Mountain Sea Estate and Blue Silver Territory are going wild!'

"You two—"

Just then, Li Zhishu's voice rang in Chen Tianqi and Gao Yanlun's ears. "Pay attention! If even one skewer is ruined, don't go out saying you're my apprentice. I can't afford to lose face like that!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Zhishu, carrying two large plates of kebabs he had just grilled himself, strode toward the center of the crowd.

The three barbecue grills that were left empty were taken over by three chefs from Mountain Sea Estate.

"Old Li," Ling Yi put down his wine glass and greeted Li Zhishu, his gaze falling on the plate in the other's hand, his face revealing undisguised anticipation. "It's been so long since I've tasted your cooking, I've been craving it so much—"

Please take a day off tomorrow.