In this world, cultivation is not everything, but it can represent a person's status.
A third-grade grandmaster might not be considered a big deal in a place like the Imperial Capital, but in a small town on the frontier like this, he was already considered a distinguished guest among the distinguished guests.
It is precisely because of this that thanks to Ran Qingmo, Xu Yuan easily made an appointment to meet the highest military and political officer in Shengshan County.
Under the night,
A young man and woman, about twenty years old, led a young man and woman towards the inner hall of the county government office without any humility or saying a word:
"Master Zhou, please come this way. General Wang is waiting for you inside."
Xu Yuan walked all the way, looking at everything in the county government office.
This place is more like a military camp than a yamen for government officials. Everyone in the yamen is wearing the standard military uniforms of the Dayan Border Army.
The only other costume I saw was probably that of the Taxation Department.
However, looking at the calluses on the hands of the officials from the Taxation Department, which were so thick that they could spark sparks, it was obvious that a group of border soldiers had taken advantage of the Taxation Department.
The entire Shengshan County is a frontier city completely controlled by the border army.
However, even if they control the military and political power of a place, the life of these frontier troops does not seem to be easy. There is no trace of formations in the entire county government, not even the most basic bright pattern lamps, they all rely on firelight. illumination.
If we use modern society as an analogy, it is probably equivalent to a local government agency and military compound that is so poor that it uses kerosene lamps for lighting.
It can be said that poverty has reached the extreme.
The basic necessities of life are still secondary. The key is that the swords of these frontier soldiers are basically ordinary iron weapons.
The reason why Dayan Dynasty was so full of martial virtue was that Dayan's army was all composed of cultivators and warriors.
There are almost no mortals in the regular army except for some civilian jobs.
It's a very simple truth. When a mortal army faces low-level monks like Xu Yuan, they can barely rely on numbers to win. But once they encounter a powerful master like Ran Qingmo, they only need one powerful sword move and the rest will be defeated. Just watch the mortal troops flee.
The army of cultivators is completely different.
Because cultivators can form formations.
According to the evaluation given by the saint's remnant soul, the most important change in the sect's world becoming the dynasty's world was not only the changes in the source of energy of the world, but also the fact that things like military formations were studied.
Xu Yuan has never seen a large-scale military formation, but according to the internal counselor of the Prime Minister's Office, the large-scale military formation looks very powerful.
A third-grade grandmaster is basically defeated in an instant in front of a tens of thousands of troops.
Of course, a third-level expert would not be stupid enough to attack the military formation head-on.
There are two battalions in Shengshan County, which can be said to be one town. When full, there will be about 10,000 people. However, looking at the state of Shengshan County, it is definitely impossible to reach full strength.
Xu Yuan didn't know exactly how many people there were now, but along the way he knew that at least two-thirds of these border troops were armed with ordinary iron tools.
Cultivators use mortal weapons.
Ordinary iron weapons can indeed kill people, but their combat power will be reduced by at least half.
Because pig iron weapons cannot carry the source of Qi.
The weapons used by the big-muscled tyrants in the Wuxuan Academy of Jingjiang Xu Mansion are more or less mixed with some "black iron" and "iron essence" to ensure the strength of the weapons. Now it seems that the court really has no money.
The young general leading the way seemed to notice Xu Yuan’s gaze:
"Young Master Zhou is laughing. Most of the silver allocated by our Shengshan County court every year is used by General Wang to repair the city walls and city formations. To deal with those beasts, pig iron weapons are barely enough."
With that said, the general pointed to the saber on his waist.
Xu Yuan glanced at the blade and smiled slightly:
"Making the blade thicker and thicker is simple and crude, but it is also a solution. However, after your Shengshan County trade road is passed, the situation will be better after next year."
The young general grinned:
"General Wang also said the same. If nothing happens, our Shengshan Army will be able to replace a batch of equipment next year. This is all thanks to Miss Xu's formation."
When talking about Xu Xinyao, there was a hint of yearning in the young general's eyes, but he quickly restrained himself.
The group of people walked all the way to a courtyard gate where two sixth-grade integrated sergeants were on duty and stood outside. The young general clasped his fists at Xu Yuan:
"Mr. Zhou, General Wang is inside."
"."
When Xu Yuan heard this, he glanced at the courtyard in front of him and felt a rare fluctuation in the formation.
The soundproof array and the soul-avoiding array to prevent others from exploring are probably the most important places in the county government.
"Open the door."
The young general ordered the two sergeants on duty, and the sergeants quickly opened the door for the three of them.
The entrance to the courtyard is an open space that looks like a martial arts stage. There are burning bonfires all around to illuminate the entire martial arts stage. A wide avenue extends inward. At the end of the courtyard is a lobby, where a group of people are sitting around and seem to be discussing. What are you wearing?
Xu Yuan could clearly see that those people were all wearing military uniforms, but compared to the ordinary soldiers he saw just now, the group of people in the lobby were obviously generals.
The young general explained in a low voice:
"General Wang should be discussing military and political affairs with Mr. Liu and others now. Mr. Zhou, please go to the side room with me and wait for a while."
Xu Yuan was not in a hurry and nodded.
After leading Xu Yuan and Ran Qingmo to the side room, the young general left to report.
After the general left, the village fell into silence for a while.
Xu Yuan glanced at Ran Qingmo, who had been silent all this time, and laughed in a low voice:
"Why do you feel a little uneasy?"
Ran Qingmo took off the curtain and laid it flat on his lap. He thought about it and whispered:
"After the formation here is activated, the source energy fluctuates greatly. Tian Yan may follow this source energy to find it."
Xu Yuan smiled softly when he heard this:
"We have been lost in the Wanxing Mountains for more than a month. We don't know our final destination. If she can follow her and find her, then I will accept my fate."
After a pause,
Xu Yuan sighed and glanced at the fog on the sky outside:
"Besides, the top priority now is not Tian Yan's affairs, but I hope that prodigal bitch won't let me wipe the slate for her behavior."
"Prodigal, bitch?" Ran Qingmo tilted his head.
"Xu Xinyao."
Xu Yuan said with a smile: "My dear silly sister seems to have been taken advantage of by the Wanxiang Sect."
"oh"
Ran Qingmo seemed to understand, hesitated slightly, and asked: "Xu Yuan, why don't we run?"
Xu Yuan's words seemed helpless:
"If we can run, we will of course run. The key is that this formation cannot be broken, and we can't get out."
Ran Qingmo looked at Xu Yuan and said in a serious voice:
"Your teleportation sword skill should be able to break through the formation."
"I'm out, what will you do?" Xu Yuan asked.
"."
Ran Qingmo pursed her red lips and said nothing.
In the silence, the door of the side room was knocked gently from outside.
"Tuk-tuk-tuk-"
The sound of knocking on the door was steady and powerful.
Seeing this, Xu Yuan knew that the rightful owner he wanted to see was coming, so he immediately stood up and said:
"Please come in."
"Squeak——"
As the wooden door made a harsh creaking sound, a sturdy middle-aged man in military uniform appeared at the door. He glanced around the room like an eagle, stepped into the room and hugged his fists:
"Zhou Chen, Mr. Zhou?"
"It's Zhou who met Captain Wang." Xu Yuan also cupped his fists and saluted.
"The situation is urgent. I am rude and unceremonious." The middle-aged man in military uniform acted in a clean and neat manner. After the two of them sat down, there was no nonsense and he asked simply and neatly: "Why does Mr. Zhou want me, old man?"
Xu Yuan heard this and asked directly:
"Senior sister and I want to use the passage to get out of the battle. I wonder if Captain Wang can facilitate it?"
"Using a way to get out of the formation?" Wang Xiaowei frowned immediately after hearing this.
Xu Yuan asked in a low voice: "Are you having difficulty?"
Colonel Wang had no intention of beating around the bush:
"Mr. Zhou, this matter may not be possible for the time being."
Xu Yuan looked at the burly man and tentatively said:
"Captain Wang, if you are worried that the monsters will disrupt your arrangement, my senior sister and I will deal with the monsters along the way, and I will compensate Shengshan County with 10,000 taels of silver notes."
Colonel Wang shook his head and said in a low voice, "That's not the problem."
Xu Yuan's heart sank slightly when he saw this.
Things like formations are not static. It is not difficult to achieve technically to release a path on top of the psychedelic formation.
After carefully considering his words, Xu Yuan finally chose to ask directly:
"But something went wrong with the psychedelic array?"
General Wang's eyes suddenly condensed, but he didn't hide it immediately:
"Yes."
"Not under the control of your Shengshan border troops?"
"."
General Wang immediately frowned, with a look of scrutiny in his eyes, and just whispered:
"Mr. Zhou, this is a matter for our Shengshan border army. You are our guest."
Xu Yuan shook his head and took out a Tingfeng Tower Token from his arms:
"Have Captain Wang heard of me, Tingfeng Tower?"
"Are you information dealers?"
"."Xu Yuan.
General Wang's eyes flashed, he glanced at Ran Qingmo, his attitude softened obviously, and he asked:
"I'm sorry, Mr. Wang speaks more directly. Mr. Zhou, are you not from the sect?"
Xu Yuan smiled slightly: "Of course not."
Dayan's border troops have always maintained great hostility towards the people of the sect, especially in hard-hit areas like Shengshan County, which are attacked by monsters every year.
After a pause,
Xu Yuan asked: "General Wang, were what I just said correct?"
General Wang pondered for a moment and said in a low voice:
"Our Shengshan Army can still handle the current situation for the time being."
Xu Yuan sighed and whispered:
"Captain Wang, there is news about the Wanxiang Sect that I think you might be interested in."
Captain Wang raised his eyebrows and tapped the table with his calloused index finger:
"Oh? Mr. Zhou is planning to sell information to our Shengshan border troops?"
"It's not selling, it's giving."
"Do you still do charity in Tingfeng Tower?"
"Maybe."
Xu Yuan looked at the other party calmly and said nothing.
Sometimes silence is more convincing than explanation.
The room was quiet for a moment,
Colonel Wang narrowed his eyes and finally sighed:
"Then Wang is all ears."
"The Wanxiang Sect wants to create ghost fog in Shengshan County."
"." General Wang.
Seeing the astonishment and confusion in Colonel Wang's eyes, Xu Yuan said in a steady voice:
"It seems that Captain Wang, you don't know that ghost mist can be raised?"
"."
Captain Wang remained silent and did not speak, but his brows were furrowed.
Xu Yuan stared at the other person for a few breaths, and he roughly understood.
It may be a matter of course for him, the third son of the prime minister's government, that Gui Wu can be raised, but for Wang Xiaowei, it is a horrifying information that he has never heard of.
The formation technology for raising demons and ghosts is basically equivalent to a country's highest technical secret.
Xu Yuan leaned gently on the back of the chair:
"The following information is still given to me for free, but I also ask Colonel Wang to keep it confidential."
"Today's formations have developed to the point where they can control and limit ghost mist. Many sects in the world are secretly raising demons and ghosts. Big forces such as Tianyuan Sword Sect and Tian'an Chamber of Commerce have more than one ghost mist. The ones circulating on the market The 'Soul Pill' is refined from the 'demon breeding grounds' of these sects or chambers of commerce."
After Captain Wang listened carefully, he took a deep breath and said:
"I can believe Mr. Zhou's words about raising demons and ghosts, but the Wanxiang Sect wants to create ghost mist in our Shengshan County. Does Mr. Zhou have evidence?"
"There is no evidence." Xu Yuan shook his head.
Captain Wang seemed to be relieved when he heard this, and exhaled a long breath:
"To be honest, Mr. Zhou, I have never had any good impressions of people in the sect, but now there are 400,000 people gathered in Shengshan County, and the Wanxiang Sect doesn't have the guts."
"Why not?"
"As long as some of the 400,000 people escape and this matter is exposed, the Wanxiang Sect will be the target of Wanxiang Sect, and no one can protect him."
"Captain Wang, you are right."
Xu Yuan glanced at the sturdy middle-aged man in front of him and said in a very soft voice: "But wouldn't it be enough if no one can escape?"
"400,000 people, 400,000 pairs of eyes"
"But now 400,000 people are trapped in this illusory fog formation. Well, there may be tens of thousands of monsters outside."
"." Captain Wang.
"Tuk-tuk."
Xu Yuan lightly tapped the table and whispered:
"Another piece of news for Lieutenant Wang. In the past five years, our Dayan Dynasty has countless border towns that have been breached by monsters in the Wanxing Mountains on two hands. The destruction of Shengshan County was caused by monsters. He has everything Zong just happened to find that this place is suitable for the construction of Ghost Mist."
"But you still have no substantial evidence." Colonel Wang seemed unwilling to believe this horrifying information.
Xu Yuan can probably understand Wang Xiaowei's thoughts.
Four hundred thousand people.
If evidence of this inhumane thing spreads out, the imperial court will definitely take action to exterminate the sect.
Even if the people in Shengshan County did not die tragically, they would still forcefully destroy the Wanxiang Sect in order to scare the monkeys.
But in other words,
If what he said was true, the Wanxiang Sect must have made complete preparations and the most thorough preparations to implement the plan to massacre the city.
Under this kind of calculation, it is difficult for Shengshan County to escape the disaster.
This kind of information is suddenly placed in front of people, and no one can accept it immediately.
Sighing, Xu Yuan looked at Captain Wang and whispered:
"If you don't believe it, it's actually very simple to verify. Colonel Wang only needs to verify a few things."
Colonel Wang clenched his fists slightly and looked at the handsome young man in front of him:
"what?"
Xu Yuan whispered:
"The control of the Magic Mist Formation and the number of monsters around Shengshan County are much higher than in previous years. In addition, you can also check other city protection formations on the city wall."
Speaking of which,
Xu Yuan paused and whispered;
"Of course, and the most important thing is, Lieutenant Wang, you'd better go and see if the communication crystal in the county government is still functioning."
"If not...hehe."
(End of chapter)
