Before they knew it, Jiang Kai and Yin Lingsha had talked a lot that night.
From how Jiang Kai had broken the rookie trial record, to how he discovered the ruins of the Goddess of Life. From moving to Jiangzhong City and living in the shantytown, dropping out of high school, to buying four villas in one go at Jingxin Lake Villa and forming an entire villa cluster…
Yin Lingsha was interested in everything about Jiang Kai.
As she listened to his stories, sometimes she would knit her brows tightly, full of worry because of the hardships or desperate situations he had gone through. Other times, she would burst into laughter because of some of the stupid things Jiang Kai had done.
And Jiang Kai also learned that Yin Lingsha had cultivated on Mount Hua since she was young, and at seventeen had taken part in the rookie trial early, using just a year and a half to advance to the Transcendent class.
From the beginning, Yin Tianguang had never expected this daughter of his to achieve anything in martial arts. Who would have thought her talent would surpass that of all the senior and junior disciples in the sect.
Unfortunately, time passed too quickly. There was no way to finish talking about everything in the past. One night was too short, and in the blink of an eye, dawn had already arrived.
Without realizing it, the sky had begun to grow faintly bright. Around their small boat, mist curled and drifted. The entire Zixian Lake looked like a fairyland.
"It's getting late. We should head back," Jiang Kai said.
Yin Lingsha looked at Jiang Kai and gently nodded. "Mm."
"I'll row." Jiang Kai smiled slightly, picked up the oar, and rowed the small boat toward the shore.
...
"Grandmaster, you were grumbling a hundred times about not wanting to go, so how did it turn into spending the whole night once you went?" Zhou Chu walked beside Jiang Kai, looking at him with suspicion. "A lone man and a lone woman, together on a boat, rowing straight toward places with no people… Grandmaster, nothing happened between you two, right?"
Jiang Kai shot Zhou Chu a glare. "Old Zhou, you're already so old. How can your thoughts still be this dirty? We were just rowing a boat and enjoying the moon!"
"Hmph, don't think you can fool me just because I'm old!"
"Really!"
"Then tell me. Who do you like more now, Chang Siyao or Yin Lingsha?"
"I…" Jiang Kai was instantly left speechless. Who would have thought Zhou Chu would suddenly ask such a sharp question.
"Damn it, Old Zhou, you're the head of a sect. Can you stop being so gossipy? I bet Sun Yuan and the others learned it all from you. Instead of thinking about how to develop the sect, you're obsessed with prying into gossip all day!" Jiang Kai lectured his junior earnestly.
Dodging Zhou Chu's question, Jiang Kai hurriedly quickened his pace, not giving him another chance to keep asking.
The two of them finally returned from Twilight Forest to the main city of Zone One.
That afternoon, someone from the military came to Qingyun Sect to look for Jiang Kai.
The preliminary handling results for Liu Qi were already out.
Liu Qi and fourteen members of his faction. Liu Qi received a major demerit, while the others were given demerits where appropriate or publicly criticized where appropriate.
In addition, the military suspended a series of cooperative relationships with the Dongfang family.
Hearing this outcome, Jiang Kai frowned. "That's it?"
Zhou Chu hurriedly said, "Grandmaster, this is already very severe!"
"Liu Qi's mistake wasn't in investigating you. After all, he's a lieutenant general. Investigating you was within his authority."
"The key issue was that he colluded with the Dongfang family and attacked you without conclusive evidence. A mistake like that isn't enough to get him expelled from the military."
"Don't underestimate a demerit. These people's future development in the military is basically over. They might even be reassigned to some insignificant departments later on, stripped of real authority. There won't be much they can accomplish anymore."
"As for the Dongfang family, without the military backing, and with this incident damaging their reputation, they'll also fall into decline in the ancient martial arts circle."
After listening to Zhou Chu's analysis, Jiang Kai finally felt relieved. It seemed Commander Dong had punished them quite harshly.
"Oh right, Grandmaster, I heard from Luo Shen that Liu Qi is the uncle of Liu Yuanxiang, the president of the Xuanwu Guild. This punishment involved seventeen people. It's basically like cutting off one of Liu Yuanxiang's arms!"
"There's that too?" Jiang Kai widened his eyes. But on second thought, Liu Qi was a lieutenant general, yet he still took such a risky move and violated discipline. It couldn't have been just because of encouragement from the Dongfang family. There had to be other reasons.
It seemed the ones pulling strings behind the scenes were still the Xuanwu Guild!
"No wonder Commander Dong made them write reports back then… Xuanwu still hasn't given up on destroying me!" Jiang Kai snorted coldly.
"Grandmaster, whether it's Xuanwu or the Dongfang family, if you need anything, just tell me!" Zhou Chu said firmly.
Jiang Kai smiled slightly. "No need. After this lesson, they won't make any moves for the time being."
Zhou Chu nodded, thought for a moment, then said, "What are your plans next, Grandmaster? I received a request for support from the military. They're hoping all guilds, including our ancient martial arts guild, will closely cooperate with the military in the near future and speed up territorial expansion."
"Hm?" Jiang Kai frowned. "Speed it up? Why?"
Zhou Chu took out a letter and handed it to Jiang Kai.
The letter stated that the military had decided that within 110 days, it would mobilize elite domestic forces to focus on capturing territory.
[Secret Realm of the God of Life notice: In 113 days, Ghost Star will enter the Transcendent stage.]
[After that, players who die will require a Rebirth Emblem to revive. The ways to obtain emblems are few and difficult. Therefore, we have decided to make use of the final 110 days when revivals do not require Rebirth Emblems, and accelerate the capture of more territory.]
[Based on the current development difficulty of each zone, it has been tentatively decided to mobilize elite forces to rapidly occupy the following seven maps. Please prepare accordingly. All players above Tier Four must cooperate with military operations in a timely manner.]
[Note: Wanderers may obtain early qualification to enter the Hall of the God of War based on their performance in BOSS battles.]
What followed were the zones these seven maps belonged to, the map names, and their current development progress.
"BOSS battle! Tsk… looks like the military is going to make a big move." Jiang Kai frowned. "Makes sense. Once Rebirth Emblems are needed, we'd better hurry and take more territory while we can!"
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Kai hurriedly stuffed the letter back to Zhou Chu. "Old Zhou, I need to go back to Zone Eighteen. I have two friends still in an unknown area. I need to call them back as soon as possible!"
"Grandmaster, are you coming back?"
"Yes! This BOSS battle is cross-zone cooperation. When the time comes, our Main God Guild and Qingyun will participate together!"
"Alright! Then I'll contact you when the time comes."
After giving his instructions, Jiang Kai immediately left the Qingyun Guild and returned to Zone Eighteen.
...
When He Shishi saw Jiang Kai return, she immediately handed him the military's letter. Jiang Kai skimmed through it. The contents were basically the same as the one from Qingyun Sect, except it didn't mention ancient martial arts sects.
"Shishi, how many Tier Four members does our guild have now?"
He Shishi replied right away, "23."
"Only 23… that's too few!"
"Most people in our guild aren't combat professions. Having 23 is already pretty good!" He Shishi said irritably.
"That's not what I mean… We're about to fight a BOSS battle. The minimum requirement for BOSS battles is Tier Four, which means we only have 23 people who can participate."
"Jiang Kai, with our current strength, can we even take part in a BOSS battle?" He Shishi asked worriedly.
"We can. We have allies!" Jiang Kai said urgently, his mind racing. "How many Tier Threes do we have?"
"There are 84 Tier Threes."
"84 plus 23, that's over a hundred… Add in the hundred-plus from Qingyun Sect, and we can scrape together two hundred…"
"Guild Leader, what are you planning to do?"
"Shishi, contact these people immediately. Have them gather at the guild and bring plenty of supplies. Wait for me for seven days."
"After seven days, I'll come back and level them up!"
"What? You alone, leveling up a hundred people?!"
Jiang Kai didn't explain further. "Just do as I say. I still need to bring Hu Yan and Ruan Yu back! There's no time. I'm leaving now. Remember, tell them to bring enough supplies. Anyone above Tier Three, call them all back!"
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