Chapter 356: 800 Bhikkhus, Narrow Escapes, Army Mobilization, Message Delivered (3)
"My mind is becoming more chaotic, it feels like my consciousness is collapsing. Whatever was extracted just now will affect my mental state!"
"No way, if this continues, going back will be useless. I have to find a solution!"
.........
His face grew increasingly anxious, and he frantically considered his options, barely noticing that the three vertical lines of scarlet Holy Patterns on his forehead were completely exposed and emitting a faint red glow.
As the red glow of the Holy Patterns fluctuated, Xu Ning's gaze continually shifted between clarity and fogginess. It was evident that he was still struggling to maintain a conscious state, all thanks to the Holy Patterns.
"Write it down, just write it down. As long as I can return to the Baiyang Realm and get discovered by the people of Great Xia, the message will surely reach Xia City!"
Quickly, Xu Ning thought of a plan. Without hesitation, he tore a piece of cloth from his clothing and then used his finger to dab some of the blood from his cheek, quickly writing on the scrap of cloth.
"To the east of Qinghe Village, there are over five thousand grey-clothed Bhikkhus with Hair, all with strength above the Three-maned level; inside Dajue Temple, there are eight hundred white-robed Formal Bhikkhus, all with strength above the twenty-maned level;
Among the Five Great Masters, the Vajra Master's physique is astonishing, his strength surpasses that of the Jiangxia Army Chief Xiahou Zhang; the other four Masters have not shown themselves, but their strength can be assumed to be at the Xianyang Level; the pair of glimmering green eyes just now is highly likely to belong to one of the remaining four Masters, and if you make eye contact with him, something will be extracted from your body;
There are spies from the Nine Towns lurking in Qinghe Village, likely to gather information about Dajue Temple. The Lord and the Minister need to be warned early…"
Relying on the last bit of consciousness he preserved through the Holy Patterns, Xu Ning wrote down what he deemed crucial information in a succinct manner on the piece of cloth.
Of course, this entire process was completed as he was running at full speed.
After all, merely writing it down wasn't enough; success would be when it was delivered back to Xia City.
Qinghe Village is north of Lower River Village, and heading west for nearly thirty kilometers would bring him within the Baiyang Realm. In the past, Xu Ning always felt this distance was too short, fearing the people of Qinghepu might discover the Baiyang Station and then become aware of Great Xia.
At this moment, he could only feel that these thirty kilometers were the longest journey he had ever traveled. The light of the Holy Patterns on his forehead grew increasingly faint, his gaze began to blur, his head felt increasingly heavy, his movements became more awkward, and his pace began to slow significantly.
Bang......
Xu Ning didn't know how long he had been walking west; his body, strained beyond endurance, finally collapsed headfirst into the snow, falling into unconsciousness. Before he passed out, he still clung tightly to the scrap of cloth in his hand, not daring to relax for a moment.
.........
In the seventh year of Great Xia, September 24, daytime
In Xia City, within the Political Hall.
Zhao Long, Yue Feng, Meng Yi, and Hou Tong stood inside the main hall, looking up at Xia Chuan, their expressions unusually excited.
"Reporting to the Minister, my Falcon Hunting Army recruits have been fully assembled."
"Reporting to the Minister, the Mountain River Army's one thousand men are also fully recruited."
"Reporting to the Minister, the entire Xiong Wu Army is standing by at the East City Military Camp."
"Reporting to the Minister, the Beizhao Army of one thousand men have also been fully recruited."
The decision to establish the four new armies of Falcon Hunting, Mountain River, Xiong Wu, and Beizhao was made on September 11-12, and today, nearly half a month later, the recruitment of soldiers naturally proceeded smoothly.
Xia Chuan turned his head to look at the excitement on the four men's faces, nodding slightly, before recalling something and smiling as he asked, "I've heard that over the past half-month, you four have gone to great lengths to recruit soldiers, even blocking doors and gambling amongst each other, causing quite a scandal in Xia City. Is this true?"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Long and the others blushed slightly, clearly not expecting that these minor matters would make their way to Xia Chuan's ears.
Seeing the four men's reactions, Xia Chuan lightly chuckled and shook his head, showing no signs of blame.
With the establishment of the four new armies and the need to recruit four thousand soldiers, it's only natural that they would compete to recruit quality soldiers to enhance the army's combat power. If they had chosen soldiers carelessly, that would truly be cause for concern.
Since the organizational structure of the four armies was now set, the next step was to begin training the troops.
Xia Chuan looked up at Yue Feng among the four and asked, "Yue Feng, you just returned from Long Mountain. How are things with the Lord over there?"
Yue Feng was the Longshan Guardian and was originally supposed to remain stationed at Long Mountain. However, with the recent establishment of the Mountain River Army, in order to personally select soldiers, he had been shuttling back and forth between Long Mountain and Xia City for the past ten or so days, hence he naturally knew about the situation over there.
"Reporting to the Minister, as of the day before yesterday, the Lord and the forces have cleared two silver mines. They should currently be working on the third one. When I visited during the clearing of the second mine, given this pace, it's expected that by early October, all five silver mines in Long Mountain will be cleared, and the forces can then proceed to Beimang Mountain to handle the remaining two."
"So quickly?"
Upon hearing that all five silver mines could potentially be cleared by early October, it wasn't just Xia Chuan, Zhao Long, and the other three who were visibly astonished.
The Cold Beast Clan occupying the silver mines naturally needed to be cleared before the mining process could begin. Xia Hong arrived at Long Mountain on the 14th, and by now, it's been exactly ten full days. To resolve the problem of the Cold Beast Clans in two silver mines within ten days — the efficiency was indeed somewhat astounding.
"There's no alternative; the Lord's strength is simply too overwhelming..."
Unlike Xia Chuan and the other three, Yue Feng had personally witnessed Xia Hong lead the forces against the Cold Beast Clans. Recalling the scenes of Xia Hong in battle, he sighed slightly and then continued, with a bitter smile, "The Beast Kings of those two silver mines were no match for the Lord. While Director Yuwen was leading the forces, yet to breach the Cold Beast Clan, the Lord had already slain the Beast King. This happened both times."
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