Chapter 33: Chapter 33: Huashan County

A Flying Boat hovered in the sky above Huangyuan Marketplace. It was about seventy yards long, with beautiful, ornate pavilions built upon its deck.

As expensive, large-scale Magical Artifacts, few factions could afford the cost of building and maintaining a large Flying Boat. This one was built by the Chen Family, the Royal Family of the Chen Kingdom. It was rumored that if all the Array Formations on the boat were activated, it could even contend with a Golden Core Cultivator.

Outside San Yuanli, one of the Chen Family’s Guests was calling out names. He was a stern, unsmiling middle-aged man with a Late Stage Qi Cultivation. His aura was cold and harsh, and his eyes were as sharp as a falcon’s. Only after confirming that all fifteen Cultivators on the list had arrived did he take out a smaller Flying Boat.

“I am Yu Yingwu. During the Autumn Defense, you will all obey my orders. Anyone who disobeys will be sent directly to the mines for hard labor.”

He was making an initial show of force.

“Of course, if you perform great deeds, King Chen will not be stingy. There will be rewards.”

Yu Yingwu then explained a few more precautions for the Autumn Defense before leading everyone up to the Flying Boat.

The Flying Boat in the sky was far larger than it appeared on the outside. It was equipped with a profound Nasumi in a Mustard Seed Array, making the inner cabin a good two hundred yards long and over seventy yards high, divided into more than three hundred rooms.

Independent Cultivators like Yang Jing were naturally not given individual cabins. Along with over a thousand other conscripted Independent Cultivators, they were placed together in a large cargo hold.

The Flying Boat’s main mission was to transport supplies to the front lines. The Independent Cultivators brought aboard were merely catching a ride.

Yu Yingwu took out a stack of Jade Talismans. With a surge of Magical Power, they flew in front of each person.

“These are Merit Recording Jade Talismans. Read the instructions for use with your Divine Sense. Do not lose them. If one is lost, the penalty is ten years of hard labor.”

Yang Jing picked up his Jade Talisman and saw the words “Huangyuan Marketplace, Thirty-seventh Squad” carved on it. He pressed the Jade Talisman to his forehead. The talisman contained a passage of text explaining its function.

After reading the blank Jade Talisman with one’s Divine Sense, a signature of that Divine Sense would be recorded. As long as it was kept on one’s person, it would track location changes over time. Furthermore, if one killed a Demon, the Jade Talisman could be placed on the corpse within one hour of its death to record the Demon’s Power, which would count as Merit Points.

The rewards offered by the Six Great Sects were extremely high. All sorts of Celestial and Earthly Treasures and Miracle Elixirs could be exchanged for Merit Points. For instance, a Foundation Establishment Pill, enough to drive countless Independent Cultivators into a frenzy, required killing two Foundation Establishment Stage Demons. The requirements for various baleful auras were much lower; killing seven Late Stage Qi Cultivation Demons was sufficient.

Every year during the Autumn Defense, Qi Cultivation Perfection Cultivators among the Independent Cultivators would form teams to hunt Demons and accumulate Foundation Establishment Spiritual Objects. Even the patriarchs of the various Foundation Establishment Clans would take action to secure Foundation Establishment Pills for their most outstanding descendants.

The Cultivators from San Yuanli sat in a circle, huddling together for support. Only the Female Cultivator, Song Min, kept a slight distance from the others. There were many Female Cultivators present, but her beauty still made her stand out like a crane among chickens. She was like a lone, cold plum blossom, aloof from the world.

Some of the younger, amorous male Cultivators kept stealing glances at her from the corners of their eyes.

Yang Jing put the Jade Talisman into his Storage Bag and, like the other Cultivators, sat down cross-legged next to Village Chief Li Yuanqing.

“Brother Li, do you know where we’ve been assigned?”

Because Independent Cultivators from the same village were familiar and trusted each other more, they were always grouped together during the Autumn Defense.

Li Yuanqing was wearing a suit of Two-Tier Armor, similar in style to Yang Jing’s. Seeing Yang Jing sit down, he chuckled.

“Our luck is pretty good. We’ve been assigned to Huashan County. It’s over 150 miles from Yangyi Pass, with the major city of Fuyuan in between, so the Demon infestation shouldn’t be too severe.”

The Six Great Sects wouldn’t send weak Independent Cultivators to counties bordering the six major passes. Not only would they be unable to fend off the Demon infestation, but if Demons devoured the cultivators’ bodies, rich in Spiritual Qi and Magical Power, their Power would surge, leading to an even greater disaster.

Lin Guitian, who specialized in cultivating Spirit Rice, said:

“As long as it’s not a county right on the border, nothing major usually happens. The Chen Kingdom has set up an Array in the county town. We just need to slip that Yu Yingwu some Spirit Stones, and we can just sit guard at the County Yamen.”

Demons killed by an Array could not be recorded as Merit Points. Lin Guitian planned to be a proper gangster and just get through the Autumn Defense, which he would consider a success. He was over fifty years old and still at the Middle Stage Qi Cultivation. He had completely given up and had no intention of gambling on the slim chance of reaching Foundation Establishment.

The other few Independent Cultivators, however, disagreed. They were young and strong, and the Autumn Defense was the perfect opportunity for them to take a gamble. The gap in Cultivation and Power between Cultivators widened during each Autumn Defense.

The Flying Boat’s speed was considerable, and its flight was very smooth. It would stop every half an hour to an hour, deploying smaller Flying Boats to drop off the Independent Cultivators.

After sitting in the cargo hold for over three hours, the Flying Boat reached Fuyuan Prefecture. Fuyuan was the capital of the Chen Kingdom’s Zhenwu Military Road, with a population of 108,000 households. In the Chen Kingdom, which had been founded less than fifty years ago, this already constituted a major city.

Whenever Cultivators conquered a new territory and established a defensive line, they would migrate a large population to establish State Mansions or even nations. The lands of Demons were often places where turbid, baleful qi thrived. Even if Cultivators nurtured Spirit Veins and gathered Spiritual Qi, such places were difficult to transform even over a hundred years. However, after migrating a population and establishing laws, Dragon Qi would emerge from the earth’s veins, nourishing a Dragon Vein.

A Dragon Vein was extremely effective at converting the turbid, baleful qi. Once a Dragon Vein was nurtured, a land of foul mountains and corrupt waters filled with baleful qi could be transformed into a Land of Spirit Veins suitable for Cultivator settlement within ten years.

The Cultivators from San Yuanli disembarked from the Flying Boat. Without lingering in the city, they headed straight for Huashan County under Yu Yingwu’s lead.

Huashan County was less than fourteen miles from Fuyuan Prefecture. A large lake lay about a mile outside the county, and a ring of mountains encircled both the county town and the lake, giving Huashan County its name. At this moment, the area outside Huashan County Town was in a state of chaos. Wealthy families from the countryside were moving their entire households into the county town, blocking the gates completely.

Mortals were powerless against Demons. A small county like Huashan County couldn’t retain Cultivators or Innate Martial Artists, so during the Autumn Defense, only the county town was safe.

These wealthy families were better off; at least they could flee to the county town. The Tenant Farmers, however, had to remain in the countryside for the autumn harvest. They could only pray for their ancestors’ protection and hope they didn’t run into any Demons.

For the past few days, the County Magistrate of Huashan County had been waiting at the city gates with the officials from his yamen. When a sharp-eyed constable spotted the Flying Boat in the sky, the County Magistrate immediately ordered the Music Ensemble to begin playing. The constables waved their scabbards, driving away the county residents who were blocking the gates.

The Flying Boat landed outside the city gates, and the group was welcomed into the city. The County Magistrate had even prepared sedan chairs, but Yu Yingwu refused them. Although Cultivators could scan their surroundings with Divine Sense, at the Qi Cultivation Stage, it was far less convenient than using one’s own eyes.

Yang Jing was in the middle of the group, probing with his Bright Qi Talent.

Huashan County was a node on the Chen Kingdom’s Dragon Vein, so the Spiritual Qi was not thin. It was enough to support the cultivation of Qi Cultivation Stage Cultivators. This was arranged to ensure the Grand Array within the county town had sufficient Spiritual Qi to operate.

Among the crowd of onlookers, most were just ordinary mortals, with a few Martial Artists possessing Inner Strength.

Yang Jing did not let his guard down. Back in Huangyuan Marketplace, even Wang Tong had managed to smuggle Spirit Pills. In the mortal world, where oversight was weak, Cultivators like Wang Tong would surely be even more audacious.

After all, to Cultivators willing to do business with Demons, mortals were also excellent merchandise. The Autumn Defense was the perfect time for them to make a trade.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep