bookrebus Chapter 93 Returning to Mount Sekiho
Chapter 93 Returning to Mount Sekiho
The new recruit instructors issued a call to arms.
The recruits' morale was low. Despite receiving a large sum of military merit points as compensation, they were still gloomy, as the losses were too great.
When a unit suffers 30% casualties, its morale is easily shattered. What was the casualty rate in this battle? 100%! The mortality rate was 25%.
Zhong Ming joined the group. Apart from him, who had undergone an extreme treatment and was now full of energy, everyone else still had bandages and ointments on their bodies.
This was a large gathering, with all the new recruit instructors assembled here. It was clear that Xueyan's unit had suffered the highest number of casualties among the new recruits.
She stood in front of everyone and discussed with Team One and Team Two, "Your two teams have suffered too many casualties, which will put you at a disadvantage in the new recruit graduation assessment. Let's merge into one team. Matt, you will be the captain. However, in the records and assessment rewards, you will be counted as two captains."
The second captain was clearly indignant. "Why is he the captain?"
"Because Team One's casualties are slightly less than your Team Two's," Matt said frankly. It was certainly hurtful, but as a captain, authority is paramount. How can you lead a team if no one listens to you?
"You! Then let Master Cuihong be the captain. None of his team members died."
That's what they say, but the three teams didn't achieve much. Yue Kaishan, a cultivator skilled in fist techniques, was completely useless in the thunder trap formation shrouded in clouds and mist. Xuan Jing and Chen Dahai did their best, but they couldn't compare to the four-person team that destroyed more of the formation's foundation points.
Zhong Ming's military achievements... were completely ignored.
This time, Xueyan didn't firmly say, "This is an order." Perhaps it was due to the heavy casualties she had suffered leading to a lack of confidence, or perhaps it was indeed a matter that could be discussed.
In short, the second team leader couldn't beat Matt and joined the first team.
Zhong Ming and his team remain the same, consisting of three groups.
Xueyan began to explain the mission: "We will be heading to the Jishui Mountain mine to activate the great formation to resist the lingering power of the Twin Dragons' Waterfall. This mission is very safe. You only need to stay at the backup power supply point of the great formation on the mountaintop. The great formation is powered by spirit stones, so even if it needs extra spiritual power, it usually won't be needed by cultivators in the Qi Refining stage. If you are not needed, each of you will receive five military merit points; if you are needed, each of you will receive ten military merit points. Do you all understand?"
"clear."
Zhong Ming breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't have to risk his life this time. He had just exchanged so many spells and hadn't practiced them for long.
The group boarded the flying boat with ease, and everything was peaceful as they successfully reached the summit of Jisui Mountain.
The caves dug out on the mountain were for the cultivators to rest briefly; there were still nine hours until the Twin Dragons Run.
It's still that little pit on the mountaintop, but this time you don't have to walk through the "well" anymore; there's a proper mountain road to take.
The nine people walked silently to their respective caves like puppets for a short rest.
After Zhong Ming entered the small cave, he found it to be extremely rudimentary. The cave was hastily dug, most likely by ordinary laborers, and a rudimentary isolation array was set up outside.
Standing here, the spiritual energy isn't strong enough, so I can't rest properly. I might as well practice some spells.
Forget about the "Sword Control Technique," the space is too small, but the "Qi Cultivation Method" and the "Sword Drawing Technique" are possible.
Zhong Ming directly followed the method described in the "Qi Cultivation Method" and poured spiritual energy into the mother and child swords. The child sword could treat the mother sword as a scabbard and was not usually used. Moreover, the mother sword was definitely stronger than the scabbard and could contain more sword energy.
Nurturing sword energy requires accumulated investment over time, but for Zhong Ming, the consumption wasn't too great; it was simply that all the spiritual energy amplification from the dragon vein was used to nurture the sword.
He also has the "Body Refining Technique," and thinking about this gives Zhong Ming a headache.
The name "Body Refining Technique" is indeed kept secret, but it just sounds so... lacking in prestige.
According to the method of this technique, two good weapons are still needed when practicing. Since Zijian hasn't been drawn recently, let's try out the new weapon.
Hooked spear: Late spring cold snap.
The moment it was taken out of the storage bag, the gleaming weapon captivated Zhong Ming's heart; it was simply too beautiful.
The snow-white spear tip has pale silver flowing patterns on it. When you gently touch it, it feels cold and sharp. The barb is also engraved with golden runes, which means it must have been rendered useless due to a failed forging.
The spear is slender and made of yang-type armored dragon wood, which should normally feel very warm to the touch. However, it is coated with a layer of black lacquer mixed with the blood of an unknown monster, so when Zhong Ming held the spear, his first feeling was that he was holding a piece of frost.
The mother-and-child swords were slowly raised, and Zhong Ming gently cut his fingertip. A drop of blood fell onto the cold spring, but instead of immediately merging into it like ordinary magical artifacts, the artifact recognized its master on the spot. Instead, it made a "crackling" sound as it froze.
Blood covered the surface of the gun like frost.
Zhong Ming scratched his head. This thing was a bit of a trap. It couldn't be the same process as when a magic weapon recognizes its master, could it? He wasn't qualified. At least one had to be in the late Foundation Establishment stage to activate a magic weapon, and even then, one couldn't unleash its full power.
Could it be that there's a spirit within the artifact? We need to build a good relationship with the spirit.
It's okay, feelings often deepen through friction and interaction.
Come out, mirror polisher.
Zhong Ming took out his eating utensils, and just looking at them made his heart ache; they were covered in teeth marks.
The mine mole squeaked excitedly, climbed onto Zhong Ming's shoulder, and drooled as it gnawed on the spirit stone.
Zhong Ming slapped it, telling it to stay put to the side.
Come on, let's go through the process. First, sharpen the hook-and-sickle spear, and then try using it for training.
Spiritual energy flowed over the polished brick, causing the surface of the entire celestial mica to boil with spiritual energy, which was then gently rubbed onto the hook-and-sickle spear.
'Thank God, the paint shouldn't chip.'
After a quick polishing, the gun body became much shinier and didn't feel as cold to the touch as before. However, there was one rather awkward problem: the hook-and-sickle gun was too long and had a rather complex structure, so polishing it completely would be too tedious.
In the past, it was always done brick by brick.
He could grind the brick from end to end. Zhong Ming's arm was still quite long, but this spear was different. After one brick, it only ground down to less than half of the spear. Once Zhong Ming stretched his arm to its maximum length, it would stop grinding.
The gun barrel was still round and hard to sharpen.
He finally decided to pull hard, and his left hand, which was originally pressing down on the hook-and-sickle spear, directly pulled the spear horizontally, thus grinding the entire spear body in one go.
After this, the spear trembled slightly, the temperature rose a little, and the blood that had been frozen into frost showed signs of melting.
Come again!
Seeing that it was effective, Zhong Ming slightly rotated the gun and did it again. After polishing the hook and sickle head, "Late Spring Cold" shone with a unique luster.
Except... the blood still hadn't seeped in.
'Isn't it supposed to be a blood oath? Never mind, I've already cut my finger, let me drip some blood on the tip of the gun and see.' Zhong Ming thought to himself, and then smeared some more blood on the tip of the gun, but nothing happened.
'Whatever, spiritual energy is definitely real; I'll give it a try cultivating it.'
Zhong Ming placed his toes on the gun, held the mother and child swords with both hands, and began to cultivate with his five hearts facing the sky, circulating his qi and following the Great Heavenly Dragon Vein.
This was his first time cultivating after advancing to the fourth level of Qi Refining.