114: Chapter 108: The First God of War!

114: Chapter 108: The First God of War!

This night, the hearts of the people in Lyuzhou were disturbed, yet it was also the most reassured they had been in days.

Clusters of people gathered in small groups to chat, and everyone began to voice their sorrows.

Although the cries filled the north and south streets, the atmosphere was surprisingly good, much better than the oppressive days before.

On the second day, contrary to Zhou Pangzi’s expectations, the willingness of the young men to enlist in the army surged unprecedentedly.

Those who had been hesitant before lined up at the government office’s door before dawn, which truly surprised Pangzi.

However, in a place hidden from Pangzi’s sight, Wei Gongcheng, who was secretly observing the human world, understood and felt comforted.

The substantial karmic energy expended at the Confucian Temple to create the scene where yin and yang converged was indeed very effective.

It not only spread the existence of the afterlife immediately but also gave people the courage to face death.

Because everyone knew that after death, there would be another place of rest.

This assurance deep in their hearts, especially for those who had just lost loved ones, the thought that they could reunite with family in the afterlife…

somehow made death seem not so terrifying.

Furthermore, as Zhou Haitao patiently explained, many understood that participating in the killing of the walking dead and rescuing more people was a great merit.

It not only helped to increase the longevity of relatives in the underworld but also ensured that if one were to die unfortunately, there would be a decent reputation and a good start when facing their own family.

After a night filled with longing for their families and expectations for the future, many mustered their courage!

Wei Gongcheng felt more convinced that coming to Lyuzhou was right.

With twenty years of military experience, he was well aware of how formidable an army that does not fear death could be, and after twenty long years of war, he also knew that in truth there was no army in the world that truly did not fear death.

Most were simply driven by a momentary surge of courage, becoming fearless in that instant.

But if morale were to decline, this courage could easily dissipate and even spread panic.

This is the real reason behind the military strategy that says: ‘once it declines, it’s twice exhausted.’

But the soldiers of Lyuzhou were different.

They might still be green, but Wei Gongcheng, looking into everyone’s eyes, knew that these naive young men would soon evolve into genuine iron-blooded soldiers – the perfect kind, those who face death without fear!

When death truly becomes a destination, what in this world…

could possibly scare them?

And so, in less than half a day, with the registrations by Pangzi, Gu Bei, and others, Lyuzhou had already recruited five thousand new soldiers.

This number had nearly surpassed the historical size of the garrison in Lyuzhou.

Hidden in the shadows, Wei Gongcheng estimated that if each of these soldiers received the blessing of the Gate Deity, they could possibly defend themselves against hundreds of thousands of walking dead besieging the city.

But he remembered what Chen Qing had said, that the current South Gate deity could bless at most a thousand gatekeeper soldiers.

To advance further, increasing numbers would not suffice, as the limit had been reached.

According to the rules, after advancing to the Yellow Rank Ninth Grade, the Gate Deity would need high-quality believers.

To move up two levels, there must be more than three hundred gatekeeper soldiers under the deity’s command to increase spiritual capacity.

Only then, with the gatekeeper craftsman restructuring the city gates, could an advancement to Eighth Grade be possible, permitting the blessing of over three thousand soldiers.

But now…

they were at a bottleneck.

The Mountain Deity could bless even fewer mountain ghosts, only up to five hundred, which was nowhere near enough for so many new soldiers.

They couldn’t possibly be recruited just to be cannon fodder, could they?

There was also the issue of food.

Currently, Lyuzhou had a population of nearly twenty thousand, and including those who had enlisted before, the number of soldiers exceeded six thousand.

On average, two people had to support one soldier.

Even the militaristic Ancient Huan Country never had such an exaggerated ratio.

How does His Majesty plan to feed this army?

He knew that upon accepting the blessings, the soldiers wouldn’t just gain strength, their physiques would improve rapidly too, but their appetites would also increase.

Now, the first batch of gatekeeper craftsman, including Maozi and a few others, required two pounds of meat and four pounds of rice or steamed buns daily, not counting the additional fruits, vegetables, and eggs.

If His Majesty intended to integrate the newly formed five thousand troops into the Divine Path System, how would he secure the logistics?

After ruminating for ages, Wei Gongcheng couldn’t figure out an answer but didn’t dwell on it, since he had plenty of other tasks to do.

The faith of tens of thousands from the day before had significantly boosted the karmic energy.

Having a good reserve, although building an underground city of the afterlife was premature, Wei Gongcheng felt creating a small town shouldn’t be an issue.

Later, he could allocate some “yin” houses to those with deep Virtue Power in exchange for sufficient Virtue Power to purify the resentful spirits.

In this cycle, his work on this end could slowly commence.

As for His Majesty’s troubles…

heh, he was no longer just a deputy general, but the master of the afterlife; let His Majesty worry about those matters himself…

————————————–

Chen Qing was indeed troubled at this moment, but not about the so-called logistics.

He dared to let Pangzi recruit so many soldiers because he was confident he could afford to sustain them.

What the Divine Path System least lacked were deities that provided logistical food supplies, and he had already planned the direction for the logistical base, so there was no worry on that front.

What he worried about were two current issues.

One was the cause of Shen Yiyun’s death, which was very important.

There was nothing more unsettling than a killer capable of silently assassinating high-level combatants within one’s own territory.

Furthermore, the victim was the astute and resolute Shen Yiyun.

Frankly, if even someone as mighty as Murong Yunji had died, Chen Qing could somewhat accept it.

But someone as cautious and resolute as Shen Yiyun dying without a trace was truly chilling.

Adding to that the information provided by the fox, it was even more unsettling.

Mister Five Poison is Master Yang, but does he have any connection to this?

If not him, then who was responsible for poisoning a group of Reincarnating Demons before?

Is that person currently in Lyuzhou?

Did they come on their own accord, or are they connected to the Emperor in the Capital City?

In fact, Chen Qing had his suspicions.

After all, based on what the fox had said, when the King of Qin was poisoned, the Siao Family was the main suspect.

If the Emperor placed the fox, who possessed Golden Crow Blood, by Chen Qing’s side, Chen Qing wouldn’t believe there weren’t any arrangements from his side.

Therefore, it was highly possible that the person who poisoned Shen Yiyun was the Emperor’s agent.

But there was one point that didn’t make sense, which was the motive.

Why?

Now that the Nine Heavens Mirror had sealed the river, nobody could leave.

If the Emperor truly had sent someone to hide among them, and they had remained undercover up to this point, why would they suddenly act and give themselves away?

And why was Shen Yiyun the target?

The Shen Family had no significant ties to him, and this time it was just a temporary collaboration.

There was no need for the Emperor to take action against the Shen Family members, was there?

Or perhaps Shen Yiyun had stumbled upon some secret and been silenced?

Another concern for Chen Qing was Ninth Elder Shen.

When he had left Ghost Doll in Lyuzhou and led a group out of the city in grand fashion, it was not only to rescue people, but also to lure out Old Jiu, after all, an Insect Sorcerer lurking in the shadows, especially one on the verge of corpsification, was truly terrifying.

However, it was bizarre that Ninth Elder Shen had vanished from the face of the earth without a trace!

After so long, where had he gone?

He hadn’t attacked any living person even through corpsification.

Chen Qing found it unbelievable that he could have escaped Lyuzhou unseen, given that the Gate Deity had marked him upon entry.

That was a mark on his very soul.

At this stage, he dared say that not even Ninth Elder Shen, nor the Imperial Court’s Nine Ministers nor even the Emperor themselves could leave Lyuzhou City without a trace while being marked.

Escaping through other city gates was also impossible.

Even though Old Wolf is only the South Gate’s Gate Deity, once enlisted, its consciousness spans the entire city of Lyuzhou.

Nothing enters or exits the city without the Gate Deity noticing.

Unless it’s a creature on the level of spiritual transformation.

But Chen Qing was well aware that without the revival of the Earth Spirit, the ultimate limit in this world was infinitely close to spiritual transformation—no living creature could be an exception, not even that sealed Ancient Worm.

Even though its power reached the level of spiritual transformation, in today’s world, it could not unleash this power.

Even if it could split into hundreds of beings with power infinitely close to spiritual transformation, when combined, they still could not break through.

That is the rule!

After much thought, Chen Qing believed that…

Ninth Elder Shen might have been controlled by someone in the dark!

“My lord, you were looking for me?”

Inside the Government Office, Chen Ying hurriedly arrived at the main hall and found Chen Qing, who had just returned.

“Hmm…” Chen Qing nodded.

“Shen Yiyun is dead, and his body has been brought back.

Help me with the autopsy later to analyze the cause of death.

You must be careful—Shen Yiyun might carry potent poisons, even possibly venomous insects.

Do not get contaminated or no one will be able to save you!

Also…

from now on, you and Murong Yunji must stick together when going in and out; don’t be alone.”

“Shen Yiyun?” Chen Ying’s eyes widened in disbelief.

She clearly remembered that just a few days ago, the Grand Sorcerer, who could crush her with a mere gesture, and who was likely beyond even her teacher’s ability, was…

dead?

“Don’t be so surprised just yet…” Chen Qing scratched his head.

He too was frustrated with the tricky situation, but, despite everything, the current pace couldn’t be broken.

“Where is Xu Hu?”

“In the backyard!” Chen Ying promptly replied.

“My lord, Xu Hu’s condition is dire.

Although he’s been able to maintain his consciousness thanks to your Spiritual Liquid, I feel that his state is increasingly wrong, a bit like a…”

“Demon?”

“Hmm?” Chen Ying paused, then nodded.

“Yes!”

Chen Qing smiled at this.

“Take me to see him!”

Murong Yunji, who was watching with curiosity, followed them.

The group made their way to a room in the backyard and saw Xu Hu strapped to an iron plank.

Xu Hu’s wife and daughter were crying with swollen eyes but kept their distance from their husband and father.

The reason was simple—Xu Hu’s appearance had become too terrifying!

At the moment, Xu Hu’s body was covered in black scales, his fangs were bared outward, and his eyes were a blood-red horror.

Where was there a trace of his former human form?

“My lord, you promised me, you said you could save my husband.

Why has he become like this?”

The woman cried out to Chen Qing as she approached with her daughter.

The little girl also stepped forward with red eyes, “Save Daddy, save Daddy.”

Perhaps hearing the cries of his wife and daughter, Xu Hu’s blood-red eyes cleared up.

Chen Qing looked over to see Xu Hu’s head covered in silver needles, as he had instructed Chen Ying to do, blocking the acupoints near his brain to prevent the corpse worm from attacking it.

“My lord…” Xu Hu cracked a smile, his exaggerated fangs making it a fearsome sight, but his voice retained the gentleness of the man he once was, “Am I…

about to die?”

“No…” Chen Qing shook his head and smiled, “You won’t die.

I, Chen Qing, assure you of that!”

Well done!

Amidst the flood of bad news, there was finally some good news.

He had initially wanted to see if this man could hold on a little longer, but he didn’t expect he’d be able to maintain clarity even after turning into a demon!

Excellent, excellent!

In that case, there was no need to waste talent; he would send this man to Wei Gongcheng.

His first true fighting god was about to be born today!!