Hundred Arts Battalion

The clamor of the Market District still rang in his ears. Lu Zhao had just been about to enter his cave abode when the thing at its entrance abruptly pulled taut the string in his heart that had loosened slightly after obtaining the materials.

A talisman shimmering with azure light was embedded deep in the stone door, its edges sharp as blades. Its tail still trembled faintly, its spiritual energy chilling.

Lu Zhao's pupils contracted slightly as he carefully plucked the talisman free. It felt warm and smooth in his hand, yet carried an icy, unquestionable will-a transfer order from the Zhou Household.

"Guest Elder Lu Zhao is hereby ordered to report to the Artifact Cultivation Division of the 'Hundred Arts Battalion' west of Changfeng Commandery City within three days. Any delay will be severely punished without leniency."

A transfer order? Hundred Arts Battalion? Artifact Cultivation Division?

Lu Zhao's brows knitted tightly. In all his years with the Zhou Household, he had never heard of such a place. This "Hundred Arts Battalion"... its name alone suggested a gathering place for Zhou Household cultivators versed in the hundred arts of cultivation.

Early the next morning, Lu Zhao stood before a newly built encampment west of Changfeng Commandery City.

"Halt!" A sharp shout rang out from atop the wall. Two fierce-looking late-stage Qi Refining cultivators stood with hands on their swords, their gazes sweeping down like lightning.

Lu Zhao took out the transfer order and infused it with spiritual power. The Crimson Flame Cloud Pattern Seal rose into the air.

"Lu Zhao? With the Artifact Cultivation Division?" After verifying it, the cultivator on the left softened his tone slightly and waved a hand downward. "Open the side gate."

A small gate opened. A young cultivator in a short gray robe, his expression brisk and capable, was already waiting inside. His gaze swiftly swept over Lu Zhao's Guest Elder waist token and his slightly travel-worn face.

"Fellow Daoist Lu? Follow me." He spoke extremely quickly, turning to lead the way.

The encampment's interior was square and orderly, its roads paved with bluestone slabs. The buildings on either side were all stone houses of a uniform design, their doors tightly shut. Occasionally, metallic clanging, medicinal fragrance, or talisman energy drifted out.

An oppressive sense of busyness filled the air.

"Steward Li," Lu Zhao quickened his pace by two steps to walk beside his guide. "I've only just arrived. What exactly is this Hundred Arts Battalion... and what duties does the Artifact Cultivation Division oversee?" His question was direct, his gaze calm.

Steward Li glanced sideways at Lu Zhao without slowing. "No need to hurry, Fellow Daoist Lu." His voice lowered a little. "This matter... is a long story, and it was only recently established."

He led Lu Zhao into a somewhat quieter lane before continuing, "The Hundred Arts Battalion was personally ordered established by our Zhou Household ancestor a month ago, to prepare for the war against the Tianfang Zhao Family!

"It exists specifically to gather everyone among the lineage and the Guest Elders who possesses skills in the hundred arts of cultivation-cultivators of the four paths of pills, formations, talismans, and artifacts, all assembled here."

"To settle everything in a single campaign, the ancestor has resolved to spare no effort in preparing for war. This battalion was established to ensure military supplies for the front lines! The Pill Division refines medicines, the Talisman Division makes talismans, the Formation Division establishes defenses, and the Artifact Division... naturally refines and repairs all manner of magical artifacts!"

He paused, his gaze growing more appraising as he looked at Lu Zhao. "Fellow Daoist Lu, your command of the Tiered Puppet Art makes you a truly rare talent. Aside from a few Artifact Refining Masters, you are the only person in the battalion who specializes in puppets. Assigning you to the Artifact Division is also a sign of the importance placed on you."

His tone shifted, taking on a measure of reassurance and warning. "Rest easy, fellow Daoist. Though wartime is dangerous, those of you skilled in the hundred arts are treasures of the battalion. Unless there is absolutely no other choice, you will never be sent lightly onto the battlefield. Simply concentrate on refining here and keep producing the things we need, and that alone will be a great contribution!"

Lu Zhao nodded. "I see. Thank you for clearing up my doubts, Steward Li."

Seeing Lu Zhao's calm expression and none of the resistance he had expected, Steward Li seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. "I'll take you to register and collect your identity token. The division head will explain the battalion's rules to everyone later."

At the hour of the dragon the following day, Lu Zhao pushed open his door. In the faint light of dawn, over a hundred people were already scattered across the enormous drill ground at the center of the barracks. The crowd was divided into four sharply distinct groups, an invisible estrangement separating them.

The "Battalion Commander" Steward Li had mentioned had yet to appear. Lu Zhao's gaze swept swiftly across the grounds like lightning.

The Pill Division had the fewest people, around a dozen. Most wore robes bearing the Zhou Household's distinctive medicinal-herb patterns. Their auras were steady and restrained, faintly carrying either the clean bitterness of herbs or the dry heat of pill flames. They formed a small circle of their own, conversing quietly, their expressions bearing the reserve peculiar to lineage cultivators and a trace of barely perceptible arrogance.

The Formation Division had roughly as many people as the Pill Division, also a dozen or so. Their attire varied; some were Zhou Household disciples, while others were Guest Elders whose auras were as deep and still as an abyss.

Most were taciturn, either resting with their eyes closed or tracing invisible lines through the air with their fingertips, obscure fluctuations of spiritual power faintly circulating around them. Chen Moyang was among them, speaking quietly with a stern-faced Zhou Household cultivator who likewise held a Formation Plate. His brows were slightly furrowed, as though they were arguing about something.

The Artifact Division had somewhat more people, around twenty. Some were familiar faces from the Zhou Household's Artifact Refining Hall, wearing copper-red aprons, their muscles knotted and finger joints thick, with faint traces of metallic heat and spiritual fire lingering around them.

The others were Guest Elders with a mixed assortment of auras. Some specialized in refining swords, others excelled at making protective gear, and a few had soft, shadowy auras and shifting eyes, marking them at a glance as practitioners of unorthodox, ingenious crafts. Lu Zhao swept his gaze over them but found no other Puppet Masters. He was indeed the only one of his kind in the Artifact Division.

And the Talisman Division... accounted for nearly half the people! Over fifty people crowded together in a dark mass. Low-Grade Talisman Masters made up the majority, many still wearing the confusion and nervousness of newcomers. There were also a handful of First-Tier Middle-Grade Talisman Masters with composed auras and a natural order to their every movement, around whom the others loosely clustered.

Lu Zhao silently walked to the rear of the Artifact Division's group and stood still. His blue-gray Guest Elder robe was conspicuous amid the artifact refiners' copper-red aprons, drawing several curious or appraising glances.

About half an incense stick later, space twisted slightly on the raised platform at the front of the drill ground. An old man in a black cloud-patterned robe appeared out of thin air, his face austere and his exact age impossible to tell.

He made no deliberate effort to release his pressure, but as his eyes, deep as a cold pool, swept across the grounds, everyone unconsciously held their breath. The clamor stopped abruptly.

"I am Zhou Qixuan, honored to serve as Battalion Commander of the Hundred Arts Battalion." His voice was not loud, yet reached everyone's ears clearly, carrying the authority of one long accustomed to high office and an unquestionable will. "The battalion's rules will be stated only once."

His gaze slowly swept across the grounds, pausing on Lu Zhao for a brief instant before moving on.

"First, your sole duty here is to refine! Pills, talismans, formations, artifacts-each division will perform its own duties! The battalion storehouse will issue the necessary spiritual materials according to fixed quotas. You need only deliver finished products in the required quality and quantity. Based on market prices, the storehouse will deduct material costs and pay you eighty percent of the remaining profit as compensation! The more you refine, the more you earn!" Zhou Qixuan's voice was decisive, as if cutting through nails and iron.

At these words, a subdued stir immediately rose below the platform, particularly among the Talisman Division. Eighty percent of the profit after costs!

This meant that with sufficient skill and efficiency, the Spirit Stones they earned here might far exceed what they could make outside! A keen light was already shining in quite a few talisman masters' eyes.

"Second, all refining must be registered and recorded! What you refine, the methods you use, the materials you consume, and the grades and quantities of your finished products must all be recorded in detail and reported to your respective division supervisors before the hour of the monkey each day.

"Anyone who conceals information, secretly hoards goods, cuts corners, or passes inferior goods off as superior... will have their cultivation crippled, be expelled from the Zhou Household, and never be employed again!" Zhou Qixuan's voice abruptly turned cold, like ice scraping bone. The temperature on the drill ground plummeted, and every stir instantly froze.

"Third, wartime regulations apply, and the battalion is under martial law. Without orders, you may not leave your station, investigate another division, or engage in private combat! Anyone who disobeys will be treated as a rebel and killed without exception!" Those last words carried a chilling reek of blood that sent cold down everyone's spine.

"Fourth, wartime requisition orders take precedence over everything. If the front lines are hard-pressed and require you to join the defense or refine special military supplies, you may neither shirk nor delay! Violators will suffer the same punishment!" Zhou Qixuan paused, his gaze sweeping across the grounds like a hawk's, lingering particularly on Lu Zhao and the few others with specialized skills. "Is that understood?"

"We shall obey the Battalion Commander's orders!" Everyone below the platform answered together. Their voices were uneven, but no one dared object.

Zhou Qixuan nodded slightly. His figure flickered, and he vanished from the platform without a trace. That invisible pressure dispersed with him, and a wave of restrained exhalations rose from the drill ground.

"Phew..." A burly artifact refiner beside Lu Zhao wiped cold sweat from his forehead and muttered, "Killed without exception... did we fucking join a military camp or..."

Lu Zhao paid him no heed, his thoughts racing. Eighty percent of the profit... The Zhou Household was spending lavishly this time, and was equally determined to efficiently squeeze the value out of these "hundred-arts cultivators."

For him, this system was both an opportunity-he could legally obtain large quantities of materials to practice with and improve his Puppet Art-and a shackle: he was now bound completely to the Zhou Household's war chariot, sharing its fortunes and misfortunes.

Registration began, and the queues for each division slowly advanced. Lu Zhao was moving forward with the Artifact Division's queue when a low cry of mild surprise and delight suddenly came from the Formation Division. "Fellow Daoist Lu? It's you!"

Lu Zhao looked toward the voice and saw Chen Moyang leaning out of the Formation Division's queue. His slightly haggard face bore some of the delighted surprise of finding an old acquaintance in a strange land, and he hurried over.

"Fellow Daoist Chen?" Lu Zhao was also taken aback, then cupped his hands. "Have you been well since we parted at Green Vine Ravine?"

Chen Moyang came closer, a faintly bitter smile on his face. "I never expected that you... would also be transferred here, to the Artifact Division, Fellow Daoist Lu?" His gaze passed over the Guest Elder token at Lu Zhao's waist, then shifted to the Artifact Division's queue, a trace of puzzlement in his eyes.

As he understood it, although Lu Zhao's Puppet Art was unusual, it still seemed a step removed from artifact refining.

Lu Zhao remained calm, merely giving a quiet "Mm," without explaining his status as the "only tiered Puppet Master."

The two exchanged a tacitly understanding glance, each seeing deep in the other's eyes the gravity and helplessness they felt toward this vortex of war.