Chapter 22: Emergency Mobilization

Little An’an thus began her life in Maple Forest City.

Afterward, Aunt Song did send one letter, saying she had already married into Wangjiang City. As a city renowned for its flourishing commerce, Wangjiang City ranked second only to Clear River City within the entire Clear River Prefecture. Moreover, her husband’s family bore the surname Lin and was considered a prominent local clan.

With that said, she truly had found herself a good destination.

No wonder she could not bring her daughter along.

As for the remaining Jiang family property in Fengxi Town, Jiang Wang no longer concerned himself with it. No matter what, Aunt Song had been husband and wife with his father, and after his illness she had cared for him diligently. Giving her some dowry was only reasonable.

But the relationship between them likely ended there. There was no longer any need for contact.

Four or five years old was precisely the age to begin education. Jiang Wang arranged for his younger sister to attend a private school.

It was the best private school apart from the clan academies of the three great surnames, one that did not accept ordinary families. Jiang Wang had dominated the outer academy of Maple Forest City Dao Academy for so long that he still possessed this much face. Especially now that he had entered the inner academy and manifested his dao vein, he was already a guaranteed future pillar of Zhuang Nation. Few people would casually offend him.

Every day after listening to scripture lectures at the academy and completing a round of cultivation, he would carefully time things to pick An’an up from school.

When accepting missions, he tried to choose only those taking less than a day, usually leaving and returning the same day so as not to delay caring for An’an. If there truly were missions whose timing could not be avoided, he would have Ling He, Zhao Rucheng, and the others take turns helping watch over her.

Life flowed onward, full and abundant.

Within the Heaven-Connecting Palace, the foundation formation became increasingly intricate, already revealing the beginnings of its shape. Yet the farther it progressed, the more difficult the arrangement became. Especially before foundation establishment, whenever dao essence was moved, the slightest mistake would cause it to dissipate, wasting the effort of meridian cultivation.

Because he had chosen the Zhou Tian Star Dou Formation, Jiang Wang’s foundation establishment was already slower than everyone else’s. Therefore, he did not allow himself a single failure in the placement of every formation point.

As for combat power, because his foundation was not yet complete, he could not cultivate dao arts. Jiang Wang could only pour more effort into the Purple Qi Eastern Arrival Sword Art.

This sword art contained nine training forms and five killing forms.

As the names implied, the training forms were methods of cultivation, while the killing forms were methods of slaughter. One used the training forms to temper the body and comprehend sword intent, while the killing forms were used for battle formations, ferocious attacks, and defeating enemies.

Fortunately, after mastering the nine training forms, their nourishing effect on flesh and blood was astonishing. Jiang Wang could even clearly sense his physical body feeding more power back into the dao vein true spirit, accelerating the condensation of dao essence.

After a period of time, he unexpectedly gained one additional opportunity for meridian cultivation, allowing him to condense three dao essence each day. This undoubtedly greatly shortened the time required for successful foundation establishment.

Life was fulfilling and satisfying.

And amid such a life, Jiang Wang welcomed his first large-scale mission since entering Maple Forest City Dao Academy.

…

“Emergency mobilization mission! No one is permitted to leave!”

In the scripture hall, just as the morning lecture ended, a black-robed military officer burst through the doors.

“Who’s that guy?”

“What’s going on?”

The disciples immediately began whispering among themselves, but someone quickly pointed out the truth.

“Keep your voice down—that’s Wei Yan!”

The entire scripture hall instantly fell silent.

Second on the Dao Merit Ranking. A real-power military commander of the city guard army. Either identity alone was enough to suppress everyone present. Especially because this military officer was famous for his cold and iron-handed style.

Wei Yan appeared unconcerned with everyone’s reaction.

Or rather, he only needed to display his own attitude.

“Starting from last week, there has been no news whatsoever from Little Forest Town for a full five days.”

Jiang Wang exchanged a glance with Ling He.

As a major town under Maple Forest City’s jurisdiction, Little Forest Town might not report every tiny matter, but routine reports every few days were unavoidable.

Five entire days without communication practically meant Maple Forest City had lost control of it.

A town with several thousand people suddenly cut off from the outside world—this was no small matter.

Wei Yan continued:

“I hold the City Lord’s seal and hereby requisition at least thirty inner academy disciples from the city dao academy to depart for Little Forest Town and investigate this matter.”

“Isn’t this the responsibility of the Criminal Investigation Division?”

A disciple asked unhappily.

This was such a large mission, mobilizing thirty inner academy disciples at once. The danger level would certainly not be low. Naturally, many people were unwilling.

“The Heart-Devouring Human Demon Xiong Wen has appeared in Three Mountain City. Right now, most of the Criminal Investigation Division’s forces throughout the entire Clear River Prefecture have been transferred there.”

Wei Yan did not answer. Instead, his deputy Zhao Lang explained from the side.

Zhuang Nation’s official system followed Yong Nation’s model. Ordinary cases were handled by local authorities, while anything involving transcendents fell under the Criminal Investigation Division.

The Criminal Investigation Division handled supernatural incidents throughout the nation. In theory, they were subordinate to local government control, but because of their direct connection to the national capital, local authorities often could not command them freely.

Like this time, the mobilization to pursue Xiong Wen came from higher authorities within the Criminal Investigation Division. Even Maple Forest City Lord Wei Qubing had no way to interfere and recall them.

“Then what about the city guard army?” the disciple asked again.

The city guard army was the City Lord’s direct military force, tasked with suppressing all evil and rebellion. An event like an entire town losing contact was already enough to warrant suppression by the city guard army.

“The city guard army has other important duties.”

Wei Yan impatiently cut him off.

“The dao merit reward for this mission will be increased by thirty percent. In principle, participation is voluntary. However, if the number of inner academy disciples volunteering does not reach thirty, I will invoke the City Lord’s order and conduct mandatory requisition!”

“I should remind everyone that before this mission, two Ninth-Grade Meridian-Wandering cultivators sent by the City Lord’s Estate to investigate have already disappeared within Little Forest Town. I hope everyone properly assesses the risks and acts according to their ability.”

The Dao Academy system was Zhuang Nation’s most important transcendent advancement structure.

Local city dao academies recruited cultivation seedlings from their regions. After cultivating for several years, they would pass examinations and advance to prefecture dao academies. From there, they could further enter the national dao academy, selected layer by layer.

In the end, all of Zhuang Nation’s geniuses would gather in the capital. Those who advanced would compete against the heroes of the world’s nations, while those who failed would be dispatched throughout the country to govern regions.

Though Maple Forest City Dao Academy only recruited ten inner academy disciples each class, the difficulty of entering a prefecture dao academy was extremely high. Many cultivators lingered in city dao academies for years, even decades.

Over many years of accumulation, excluding those traveling afar or cultivating in seclusion, Maple Forest City Dao Academy had around three hundred inner academy disciples.

From Wei Yan’s perspective, he probably hoped the number of volunteers would be insufficient. According to his own wishes, he would directly use mandatory requisition laws to gather the thirty strongest people in the entire Maple Forest City Dao Academy. That would give the mission a greater chance of success.

But the Dao Academy and City Lord’s Estate were not subordinate to one another. If conflict broke out, things would become difficult to smooth over.

“Boss, are you going?”

Jiang Wang quietly asked Ling He.

He was somewhat worried. This mission would definitely involve transcendent forces, while Ling He and Du Yehu had not yet even opened their veins. It could be said the danger was immense.

“Of course I’m going.”

Ling He did not hesitate.

He was already one step behind on the cultivation path. An opportunity like a thirty percent increase in dao merit rewards was something he absolutely could not miss.

As for danger?

If he feared danger, he should have stayed in the village farming long ago.

“I’m signing up!”

Du Yehu was already shouting.

“The four of us are all signing up!”

Zhao Rucheng unhappily bumped into him.

“What the hell? I was planning to go back and sleep.”

Among the four brothers, only he lacked all ambition, spending every day eating and waiting to die. His life consisted of relaxation, and then even more relaxation.

Wei Yan swept a glance over them. Seeing that none had successfully established foundations yet, he paid little attention and merely instructed his deputy casually:

“Record them.”

The deputy loudly announced:

“Registration is limited to one stick of incense’s time. Twenty-six spots remain.”

“We cultivators are supported by the nation and should contribute to the country and its people. I volunteer for this mission.”

As the voice sounded, Li Jianqiu stepped gracefully in through the courtyard gate.

For disciples of his strength, freedom was already considerable. Not only did he not need to attend scripture hall every day, he could even refuse mobilizations of this level unless the nation itself faced catastrophe.

They devoted themselves solely to climbing toward greater cultivation.

The moment he appeared, waves of low exclamations erupted.

“How could I allow Jianqiu to monopolize the glory ahead? Count me in as well.”

Unlike Li Jianqiu, who walked with sword at his side, Wang Changxiang’s temperament was much gentler.

He still wore the same coarse hemp dao robe Jiang Wang had previously seen at the Dao Merit Hall, strolling in slowly and calmly.

“With Brother Wang and Brother Li joining, this mission becomes far more certain!”

Even Wei Yan managed to squeeze out a rare smile from his stern face.

Facing Wang Changxiang, ranked seventh on the Dao Merit Ranking, even he could not act arrogantly.

With Wang Changxiang and Li Jianqiu joining, enthusiasm for registration surged immediately, and the quota quickly filled.

Thirty inner academy disciples.

Aside from Jiang Wang’s four sworn brothers, nearly every single person was at least Ninth Grade in cultivation. All were transcendents.

Such a transcendent force could practically sweep across all of Maple Forest City’s territory.

Wei Yan casually accepted the registration list and glanced through it before nodding.

“You people still possess some courage and blood in your veins. Your scripture reading hasn’t erased your humanity.”

Perhaps this counted as praise in his mind, but the superiority in his tone still irritated many.

The military and the dao academy were two entirely different advancement systems. There was both cooperation and competition between them. Mutual dislike was common.

Immediately, a disciple said unhappily:

“If Senior Brother Zhu were here, I wonder whether certain people would still dare point fingers and make comments!”

The “Senior Brother Zhu” he referred to was naturally Zhu Weiwo, first on the Maple Forest City Dao Merit Ranking.

Wei Yan did not become angry. He merely swept his robe and strode toward the academy exit.

“Move out!”

[End of Chapter]