Red Heart Patrols the Sky

Xiao An'an thus began her life in Fenglin City. Auntie Song came by once more after that, telling me she had married into Wangjiang City. As a city renowned for its commercial prosperity, Wangjiang City stands second only to Qinghe City, the capital of Qinghe County. Moreover, the Lin family, her husband's family, was a locally esteemed clan. By all accounts, she had secured a good future for herself.

No wonder she couldn't take her daughter with her.

As for the remaining assets of the Jiang Family in Fengxi Town, Jiang Wang didn't inquire any further. After all, Auntie Song had been married to his father, and she had taken meticulous care of him during his illness, so it was only right to provide her with some dowry.

But it was likely that their correspondence would end there; there was no need to stay in touch.

At the age of four or five, the time had come for one's education to begin, and Jiang Wang arranged for his sister to attend a private school. This was the best private school aside from those run by the three major clan families, which didn't admit just anyone. Having stood out among his peers for so long at the external branch of Path Origin, Jiang Wang had enough clout, especially now that he had advanced to the inner sect—his veins visibly pulsing with energy—he was indisputably seen as a future pillar of Zhuang Country. Rarely would anyone dare to offend him.

After attending the scripture class at the Path Origin every day and following up with his practice, he would make sure to pick up An'an from the private school at the right time. He selected missions that would take no longer than a day, making a round trip within the same day so as not to neglect taking care of An'an. If there was a mission whose timing couldn't be adjusted, he would have Ling He, Zhao Rucheng, and others take turns looking after her for a while.

Life flowed fulfilling and content, and within the halls of Tongtian Palace, the foundational array diagrams grew increasingly complex, beginning to take shape. However, the further he went, the more difficult it became to arrange the diagrams, especially before the foundation was laid. Moving the Path Origin even slightly incorrectly would scatter it, wasting all his efforts in Meridian Rush Practice. Due to choosing the Zhou Tian Xing Dou formation, his foundation laying process was slower than others anyway, thus every movement of the array points during the foundation process was something Jiang Wang would not allow himself to fail at.

Because the foundation was not yet established, he couldn't practice Dao Techniques, so Jiang Wang had to devote extra effort to the Purple Qi Eastward sword technique. This technique comprised nine exercises for cultivation and five for combat. As the names suggest, the cultivation exercises were for refining the body and understanding the way of the sword, while the combat exercises were for fighting and breaking through enemy lines. Thanks to the remarkable effects of thoroughly mastering the nine cultivation exercises on the nourishment of his physical vitality, Jiang Wang could distinctly feel his flesh body providing more feedback to the True Spirit in his veins, accelerating the condensation of Path Origin.

Over time, he found he had gained an additional opportunity for Meridian Rush Practice—he could now condense three units of Path Origin every day, undoubtedly shortening the time needed to successfully lay his foundation.

Life was fulfilling and satisfying, and amidst such a life, Jiang Wang encountered his first major mission since joining the institute in Fenglin City.

...

"This is an urgent conscription order, no one is to leave!"

The class at the scripture hall had just finished for the day when a commander clad in dark robes barged in.

"Who is this guy?"

"What's he doing?"

The disciples quietly murmured among themselves, but soon someone identified the truth, "Keep it down, that's Wei Yan!"

The entire scripture hall quieted instantly.

Second on the merit list and a real power-holder in the City Guard Army, any of his titles were enough to command the attention of all present, especially since this military officer was known for his tough and icy demeanor.

Wei Yan seemed indifferent to the reactions of those around him, or rather, he only needed to assert his own attitude.

"Starting from last week, for five whole days, there has not been any news from Xiaolin Town."

Jiang Wang exchanged glances with Ling He. As a major town under the jurisdiction of Fenglin City, Xiaolin Town would routinely report its affairs, large or small, every few days.

Five days without any news was almost equivalent to Fenglin City losing control over it. The sudden isolation of a town with thousands of inhabitants was no small matter.

Wei Yan continued, "I hold the City Lord's seal of authority; I am conscripting at least thirty Inner Sect Disciples from the City Path Origin Institute to set out for Xiaolin Town to investigate this matter."

"Isn't this the responsibility of the Procuratorate?" A disciple asked dissatisfied.

For such a large mission, conscripting thirty Inner Sect Disciples from the City Path Origin Institute indicated a high level of danger, and so many were reluctant to volunteer.

"The Xiong Wen, a demonic man-eating monster, has appeared in Sanshan City. Right now, most forces from the Procuratorate in Qinghe County have been reassigned there," Wei Yan explained with no particular emphasis, leaving his deputy Zhao Lang to elaborate beside him.

Zhuang Country followed Yong Country's official system, where regular cases were handled by local government offices, but if it involved Transcendents, the Procuratorate would take over. The Procuratorate was responsible for handling supernatural events nationwide. In theory, they were subject to local governance, but due to their direct affiliation with the capital, local administrations often couldn't command them at will.

Just like this time, the decision to muster people to pursue Xiong Wen came from the Procuratorate. Even Fenglin City's Lord Wei Quchibi couldn't interfere and recall them.

"What about the City Guard Army?" the disciple from before asked again.

The City Guard Army was the direct force under the control of the City Lord, suppressing all evil spirits and rebellions. An incident as major as the entire town of Xiaolin losing contact was more than enough to trigger a suppression by the City Guard Army.

"The City Guard Army has other important tasks," Wei Yan interrupted impatiently, "This mission's Dao merit reward will increase by thirty percent. In principle, it will be voluntary, but if less than thirty Inner Sect Disciples sign up, I hold the City Lord's decree to conscript by force!"

"A reminder to everyone, before this mission, the Lord's residence has already lost two Ninth Grade Roaming Meridian Realm Cultivators who went to investigate Xiaolin Town. I hope everyone assesses the risks and acts according to their abilities."

The Dao Academy system is Zhuang Country's most important transcendent advancement system. It attracts the local cultivators, who cultivate for several years before advancing through assessments to the county-level Dao Academies, then from county academies to the national academy, in a tiered selection process.

Eventually, gathering all the talents of Zhuang Country in the capital city, to vie with the heroes of other countries if advancing, or, if retreating, to be distributed throughout the land to protect it.

Although Fenglin City's Dao Academy only admits ten Inner Sect Disciples each term, because of the difficulty in advancing to the county academy, many cultivators linger in the city academy for several years, or even over a decade. Over the years, excluding those who have traveled far and not returned, or those in seclusion, there are about three hundred Inner Sect Disciples in Fenglin City's Dao Academy.

From Wei Yan's perspective, he probably hoped that there wouldn't be enough volunteers. If he had his way, he would use compulsory conscription to gather the strongest thirty individuals from the entire Fenglin City Dao Academy for the mission, which would give them a greater chance of success. However, the Dao Academy and the City Lord's residence are not under the same jurisdiction, and a dispute would be hard to reconcile.

"Are you going, boss?" Jiang Wang asked Ling He in a low voice. He was actually somewhat worried because the mission surely involved supernatural forces, and both Ling He and Du Yehu hadn't managed to open their meridians yet, meaning it was extremely dangerous.

"Of course I'm going," Ling He said without hesitation. He had already fallen behind on the path of cultivation, he couldn't miss an opportunity like a thirty percent increase in Dao merit reward. And as for danger? If he had been afraid of danger, he should have stayed in the village to farm.

"I sign up!" Du Yehu had already started shouting, "All four of us sign up!"

Zhao Rucheng bumped him discontentedly, "What are you doing? I wanted to go back to catch up on some sleep."

He was the least ambitious among them, simply living day-to-day without purpose. Life for him was about relaxation, and nothing else.

Wei Yan glanced over indifferently, saw that none had laid a solid foundation yet, and did not take much notice, merely instructing his aide casually, "Record their names."

The aide proclaimed loudly, "The time limit for sign-up is within the duration of one incense stick, and twenty-six spots remain."

"As cultivators nourished by the state, we should contribute to our country. I sign up for this mission," Li Jianqiu's voice followed his presence, drifting in from outside the academy gates.

Disciples of his level of strength had a lot of freedom. Not only did they not need to attend daily roll call at the academy, but they could even reject this kind of compulsory conscription. Unless it was a time of national crisis, they focused solely on climbing higher in their cultivation. His appearance immediately stirred a buzz of murmurs.

"How can I let Jian Qiu outshine me alone? Count me in, Wang Changxiang," said Wang Changxiang, whose demeanor was much calmer than that of Li Jianqiu, who walked with his sword. He was still wearing the same hemp Daoist robe that Jiang Wang had seen before in the Dao Merit Hall, walking in slowly and at ease.

"With the addition of Brother Wang and Brother Li, this mission has an even better chance of success!" Even Wei Yan's stern face squeezed out a rare smile.

In the presence of Wang Changxiang, who ranked seventh on the Dao Merit list, even he could not afford to be harsh.

With the participation of Wang Changxiang and Li Jianqiu, the enthusiasm of the crowd to sign up surged, and the quota was quickly filled.

Out of thirty Inner Sect Disciples, excluding the four Jiang brothers, nearly everyone was a Ninth Grade Cultivator at the least, each one of them transcendent. Such a transcendent force could almost sweep through the entire domain of Fenglin City.

Wei Yan casually flipped through the list, nodded, and said, "You people still have some courage. You haven't read yourselves out of your humanity."

Perhaps for him, this was praise, but the condescension in his tone was quite displeasing.

The Military Division and the Dao Academy are two different promotion systems, each with its cooperation and competition. It was common for them to look askance at each other.

Immediately, a disciple expressed displeasure, "If Brother Zhu were here, I wonder if certain individuals would still dare to make remarks!"

Of course, he was referring to Zhu Weiwo, the number one on Fenglin City's Dao Merit list.

Wei Yan didn't get angry but simply flung his robe and strode toward the outside of the academy, "Let's depart!"