Protect Our Patriarch
Chapter 47: Wang's Clan's First Divine Realm

……

"Ancestor Grandfather, I'm sorry," Wang Ningxi quickly admitted his mistake. "I shouldn't have publicly mentioned your plans to take a concubine, delaying your plans. From now on, I'll make sure to say such things in private."

Having grown up in a warm and happy family, Wang Ningxi had no interest in the content of those little scripts. In this world, it's really tough for rogue cultivators to get by.

Take the Great Qian, for instance; rogue cultivators who reach the Purple Mansion Realm are few and far between, each having extraordinary luck.

As for rogue cultivators in the Divine Realm, sorry, there's not a single one in the entire Great Qian.

The Immortal Dynasty has produced a few Divine Realm rogue cultivators, but further advancement is nearly impossible. Eventually, they either join a faction or establish their own family and become an ancestor.

"Alright, alright, let's talk about the Heavenly Fire Master," Wang Shouzhe glanced at Wang Ningxi and said. "The master has come to our Wang's Clan as a guest and has taken a liking to your Leaving Fire bloodline, wanting to take you as a disciple. Isn't that a good thing? Why the headache? Or do you look down on a Divine Realm cultivator?"

"Ancestor Grandfather, it's not like that," Wang Ningxi sighed. "I found two ordinary mid-grade Leaving Fire and Yuan Water techniques in the family’s Scripture Repository and tried them both. I discovered that whether I focused solely on fire or water, not only was the progress slow, but it also caused my meridians to swell and ache."

"Later, I tried learning the skill of multitasking, cultivating both techniques simultaneously. There was some effect, but the progress was still not ideal, and after each session, I had to spend time merging the two types of profound energy into Cold Flame profound energy."

"Out of necessity, I started researching a new technique that combines the two. I've made some preliminary progress and named it the 'Cold Flame Art.' I hope to perfect it throughout my life, so taking the Heavenly Fire Master as a teacher seems pointless."

Wang Shouzhe was slightly surprised as he looked at Wang Ningxi. He knew the boy was smart from a young age, but he didn't expect him to develop his own technique.

Developing and refining a technique is an extremely complex and dangerous task. If not done properly, it could lead to severe consequences like going mad or even having one's meridians burst and sea of energy destroyed.

However, on second thought, Wang Shouzhe realized that Wang Ningxi's meridians and sea of energy had become exceptionally broad and sturdy after being reshaped multiple times, making it difficult to explode. Moreover, with him and Lixian at home, even if his meridians burst multiple times, they could be saved.

With such conditions for trial and error, Wang Ningxi developing a technique might not be impossible.

"You can develop your technique, but that doesn't affect taking a master," Wang Shouzhe pondered. "The 'Heavenly Fire True Art' from the Heavenly Fire Master's lineage is a very pure fire technique, which will be quite beneficial for you to perfect the Cold Flame Art in the future. Besides, you can also study the 'Yanshui True Art' shared by our Wang's Clan and the Chen's Clan."

"Whether it's necessary to accept the true Divine inheritance from both sides in the future is another matter. At least the early chapters of both techniques can serve as a reference before you reach the Purple Mansion Realm."

"Yes, Ancestor Grandfather." Wang Ningxi thought carefully and decided to take the Heavenly Fire Master as his teacher. Although the master's level was a bit low, since Ancestor Grandfather had spoken, he would make do.

However, Ningxi had a good personality. Once he took the Heavenly Fire Master as his teacher, he naturally regarded him as a father for life.

If the Heavenly Fire Master heard this, he would probably be so angry that he'd spit three liters of blood, then happily accept it.

……

Meanwhile.

At the Blood Dawn Sanctuary.

After a period of dismantling, the walls of the Blood Dawn Sanctuary now had missing pieces here and there, with traces left by the removal of formations, making it look like a patchy bald head, extremely unsightly.

However, the members of the Wang's Clan demolition team turned a blind eye to this and continued to work energetically every day. Under Ji Wuchen's command, they dismantled the "Composite Spirit Crystal Bricks" from the walls one by one. Due to the formations, each brick took considerable time to remove, yet they enjoyed the process.

Each brick removed was carefully labeled and registered by designated personnel, then placed into specially made wooden boxes, padded on all sides to fit snugly.

Once ten bricks filled a box, someone would immediately transport it out of the sanctuary and store it in a carriage specifically used by the Wang's Clan for transporting valuable goods.

The whole process was as orderly as ants moving house.

As everyone was busy working, a figure in a blue robe walked in from outside the hall.

The figure had a jade-like appearance and graceful demeanor, but his face showed a bit of helplessness and fatigue, as if he had encountered some trouble.

"Young Master Anxin, you're here to communicate with the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy again?" The on-site manager saw him and quickly approached with enthusiasm to greet him.

Except for those whose hands were occupied, everyone else immediately stood up straight and greeted him from afar.

As a direct descendant of the Wang's Clan, Wang Anxin's reputation, though not as high as his brother Anye's, was significant within the clan due to his extensive management responsibilities and frequent assignments from his great-grandfather.

Even those who were not his direct subordinates respected him from the bottom of their hearts.

"Mm. You all carry on; don't mind me," Wang Anxin waved his hand and casually instructed before heading deeper into the Blood Dawn Sanctuary.

Further inside was a secluded small room where the Spirit Artifact avatar left by Da Xue'er resided.

Upon entering the small room, the Spirit Artifact avatar immediately recognized Wang Anxin's identity and reported in a mechanical voice, "Honorable Young Master Wang Anxin, here is your daily report as requested. The overall dismantling progress of the Blood Dawn Sanctuary is currently at 58.35%, with the Expedition Hall at 73.23%, the corridors at 85.64%, the research lab at 22.69%, the storage room at 52.03%, and the incubation room at 32.15%..."

The dismantling progress of the research lab and incubation room was so low; the Wang's Clan really lacked skilled formation masters~

Wang Anxin lay back on the sofa, unable to help but mutter in his heart.

As a True Immortal relic, the Blood Venerable's research lab and incubation room naturally had many intricacies, making them far more complicated to dismantle than the hall. Although Senior Ji Wuchen's formation skills were strong, he still found it somewhat challenging, often having to ponder for a long time before confirming the next step.

Although Senior Ji Wuchen said he had gained a lot from this experience, significantly improving his formation skills, it also highlighted the Wang's Clan's shortcoming.

Too few formation masters.

Despite the Wang's Clan's efforts over the years to cultivate talents in various fields, finding those with a talent for formations was extremely difficult. Currently, only his brother Wang Anye's formation skills were quite impressive, even surpassing Ancestor Xiaoxiao of the Yingxiu Lu Clan, but still not comparable to Senior Ji Wuchen.

With his formation skills, setting up ordinary formations or small spirit-gathering formations was manageable, but unraveling formations in the Shenwu relics was still far beyond his reach.

It seems he still needs to suggest to Great-grandfather to increase the training of formation masters and cultivate more of their own. Otherwise, when encountering relics in the future, they can't always trouble Senior Ji Wuchen~ He is just one person and can't handle everything.

Sigh~ The road ahead is long and arduous~

Thinking about having to continue negotiating with the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy today, Wang Anxin adjusted to a comfortable position with a weary heart and sighed, "Spirit Artifact, connect me to the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy."

"Yes."

The Spirit Artifact avatar responded mechanically, and soon the room lit up with a red glow. Moments later, the Spirit Artifact's voice sounded again.

"The signal is connected. Honorable Young Master Wang Anxin, you may begin your conversation with the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy."

Wang Anxin pinched his brow, sighed, and greeted the other side, "Senior Chimei, did you sleep well last night?"

"It's you?" The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy, having conversed with Wang Anxin many times, was very familiar with his voice. Upon hearing it again, her eyes lit up, "So, did Wang Shouzhe agree?"

Her tone was slightly urgent, clearly hopeful for the outcome.

"I've conveyed your request to Great-grandfather, but... unsurprisingly, he refused. He said he has no intention of taking a concubine, so you might want to consider other conditions," Wang Anxin sighed silently.

Why is the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy so fixated on this? Of all the conditions to propose, why choose the most troublesome one?

"How is that possible?" The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy was incredulous, her tone becoming more urgent. "Didn't you tell him that my primordial yin is intact? Taking me as a concubine could directly boost his cultivation by two small levels, and with some luck, I could help him reach the Divine Realm within two hundred years. That's the Divine Realm! No matter how good your Wang's Clan's relationship with Emperor Longchang is, it can't compare to being strong yourself, right?"

"Senior Chimei, you might not fully understand the situation of our Wang's Clan," Wang Anxin was speechless. "We don't lack great prodigies, and my Great-grandfather himself is a peerless prodigy. Even if he follows the standard path of cultivation, he might not need two hundred years to reach the Divine Realm. Your offer doesn't hold much allure for him."

"What?"

The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy was stunned.

She had thought that Wang Shouzhe seemed excessively young, but she assumed it was because the Wang's Clan was wealthy and could afford the best cultivation resources to speed up his progress. She never expected Wang Shouzhe to be a peerless prodigy!

This was far beyond her expectations.

Even in the Demon Dynasty, peerless prodigies held extremely high status and were truly revered figures. In the True Demon Hall, some peerless prodigies in the Purple Mansion Realm with backing from elders could even command Divine Realm cultivators.

Her tone suddenly softened, "Even so, taking me as a concubine wouldn't be a loss for him~ After all, I'm a Divine Realm cultivator. Without such a bond, how could he trust me?"

It's not entirely her fault for clinging to the idea of concubinage; it was simply her habitual way of thinking.

In the True Demon Hall, if a significant figure wanted to recruit and command female cultivators from her branch, they would directly take them as concubines. And once they followed someone, they belonged to that person.

This was an unspoken rule.

After a pause, she suddenly thought of something and said, "Otherwise, I can consider your previous proposal. Although your cultivation is a bit weak, your potential is decent, so I might make do."

Previous proposal?

Wang Anxin's face darkened at these words, recalling the painful experience from the previous night.

During his last communication with the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy, someone had maliciously relayed his words to his wife, Gongye Xianqiao. As a result, his wife had traveled all the way to Dragon Marsh, and what happened afterward was too complicated to explain...

Forget it~~ Better not to mention it.

He took a deep breath and earnestly advised, "Senior, I suggest you abandon this idea. In our Wang's Clan, women can hold up half the sky, and we don't practice concubinage. This isn't the Demon Dynasty; we won't covet your primordial yin just because you cultivate the Chimei Demon Path. Just consider yourself an ordinary Divine Realm powerhouse."

With that, he didn't give the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy a chance to speak further and directly changed the topic, "Let me tell you about the treatment we can offer you."

"According to Great-grandfather's rules, if you agree to become a guest of our Wang's Clan, you will receive an annual stipend of thirty thousand Immortal crystals. In addition, we will provide daily necessities like pills, spiritual meat, and spirit vegetables. Moreover, as a guest of our Wang's Clan, you will enjoy VIP treatment in all our industries, with discounts on purchases and entertainment, and some industries even offer free quotas, which is much more advantageous than working for us."

"Since you would be our first Divine Realm guest, you would also enjoy priority status. You can choose first from the family's treasure trove, including Divine Spirit Artifacts, high-grade spirit fruits, and treasures that enhance aptitude, as long as you have enough contribution points."

"Of course, as a guest, you can still take tasks from our mission hall to earn contribution points, which doesn't conflict with your stipend."

"Additionally, as a guest, while you would need to accept family-assigned tasks, those tasks also offer contribution points, so you won't lose out. If you find a task too dangerous, you can refuse it."

Wang Anxin elaborated at length.

The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy was stunned, "Do all guests receive such treatment?"

"Naturally," Wang Anxin confirmed. "These are rules set by Great-grandfather decades ago, and they apply to everyone."

The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy fell silent.

She had personally witnessed how easy it was to earn contribution points from the Wang's Clan's tasks.

With a fixed stipend and the ability to earn contribution points through tasks, she might be able to afford a high-quality Divine Spirit Artifact in less than a hundred years if she truly joined the Wang's Clan.

Moreover, with the Wang's Clan's support, saving money wouldn't hinder her cultivation.

This was something she had never dared to dream of before.

In the True Demon Hall, despite its strength, resources were limited. For great prodigies like her to obtain sufficient cultivation resources, they had to cling tightly to Void Realm bigwigs. The amount of resources they could get depended entirely on the bigwig's mood.

Therefore, to obtain resources, they often had to do many things unrelated to cultivation, such as serving their masters, humbly pleasing other Void Realm Demon Lords, or finding a reliable bigwig to marry...

Ultimately, it was all for "resources."

If possible, did she really want to be a concubine? Her insistence on becoming Wang Shouzhe's concubine was merely an instinctive desire for an extra layer of security.

Growing up in the cutthroat environment of the True Demon Hall, she was instinctively unwilling to believe in such a good fortune falling from the sky.

But now, trapped in a refuge with no other options, the Wang's Clan had no reason to deceive her with generous conditions.

If the Wang's Clan ignored her, she might be trapped here until her lifespan ended. That was too terrifying~

After much consideration, the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy couldn't resist the temptation and nodded, "Alright. I'll trust you this time. I can tell you everything I know about the True Demon Hall, including the weaknesses of my master, the Yin Snake Demon Concubine, and the characteristics of the Blood Child Demon Lord's techniques. I believe your Wang's Clan would find these valuable."

"It's not 'your Wang's Clan,' it's 'our Wang's Clan,'" Wang Anxin reminded her.

"Alright. 'Our Wang's Clan,'" the Red Enchantress Demon Envoy readily complied.

Wang Anxin nodded in satisfaction and continued, "The information about the Yin Snake Demon Concubine and the Blood Child Demon Lord isn't urgent; we can discuss it later. For now, please provide us with your contact methods with the Yin Snake Demon Concubine and any necessary secret codes. This is more important."

Contact methods? Secret codes?

The Red Enchantress Demon Envoy was startled, instinctively sensing something amiss.

What exactly was the Wang's Clan planning?

However, at this point, she had no room for hesitation. Gritting her teeth, she decided to go all in, "The contact method with my master, the Yin Snake Demon Concubine, is..."

In the small room, Wang Anxin's spirits lifted as he quickly took notes. He couldn't help but feel pleased. The Wang's Clan finally had its first Divine Realm guest, further enhancing the clan's foundation.

However, Wang Anxin believed that the Wang's Clan would have more and more Divine Realm cultivators in the future.

……

At the same time.

The Wang's Clan's application for an armed force from the Longzuo Commandery Governor's mansion had been approved.

Typically, clans would increase their armed forces through clan soldiers and family guards, but these did not belong to the official armed forces of the Great Qian, resembling more of a private army.

Private armies had their advantages, but they also faced bottlenecks in development. Firstly, they did not receive state military pay subsidies. Secondly, they lacked official designations, so even if they achieved merits, they wouldn't gain much recognition. Thirdly, if the private army grew too large, it could cause trouble for the clan, or at least tarnish its reputation.

Under normal circumstances, clans could not establish regular military units on their own.

However, according to the laws of the Great Qian, in the event of a national war or other situations threatening the Great Qian, clans could organize "militia" to defend the nation and humanity.

Although the national war hadn't started yet, the justification was there.

Therefore, the Wang's Clan applied for a "Changning Wang's Clan Militia Regiment" designation, forming a regular militia unit with a full strength of 5,200 people. The tax revenue from Longzuo Commandery and Changning Garrison would provide funding equivalent to half of a "regular regiment's" military pay.

Typically, the total annual military pay and provisions for a regular regiment amounted to 300,000 Qian gold, meaning the Changning Wang's Clan Militia Regiment could enjoy an annual subsidy of 150,000 Qian gold.

As for the remaining portion, the Wang's Clan would have to find a way to cover it.

With the establishment of a regular militia regiment, the Wang's Clan began recruiting throughout the Changning Garrison area, with Wang Anye as the main person in charge.

The primary recruitment targets were the Wang's Clan's family guards and soldiers, as well as all "native residents" who had lived in the Changning Garrison for at least three generations. This meant that those wishing to join the "Changning Wang's Clan Militia Regiment" had to have settled in the Changning Garrison since their great-grandfather's time.

In the central square of Xinping Town, the main recruitment point was set up.

As the chief recruitment officer, Wang Anye donned a general's armor and sat upright in the main commander's seat, overseeing the entire recruitment process.

Meanwhile, the idle Emperor Longchang, wearing a red armband, disguised himself as an old general and openly supervised beside Wang Anye, "Anye, I've fought countless battles in my life, and no one can match my experience in military affairs."

"If it weren't for that rascal Wang Shouzhe not allowing me to go to the front lines, I wouldn't have to create so many tricks. Give me an army of 100,000, and I could march to the capital of the Southern Qin Dynasty. So, you should learn from me about military matters."

Wang Anye was Emperor Longchang's favorite junior from the Wang's Clan, and his attitude towards him was vastly different from his attitude towards Wang Shouzhe.

"Emperor Grandfather," Wang Anye replied via voice transmission, "it's just forming a militia regiment; there's no need for you to personally oversee it."

"Wang Shouzhe hasn't allowed me to travel far recently, and I'm just too idle. Finally, there's something serious to do, so I can't miss it," Emperor Longchang replied cheerfully. "By the way, you should ensure the quality of your militia regiment is high. After all, your Wang's Clan is wealthy, so it should at least match the main battle regiments like the 'White Tiger' and 'Rosefinch.' It would be embarrassing to create a logistics regiment."

The annual military pay and expenses for a main battle regiment were around 800,000 Qian gold.

Emperor Longchang naturally had a good idea: with only 150,000 Qian gold from the garrison and commandery taxes, they could raise a main battle regiment, leaving the wealthy Wang's Clan to cover the rest. It was a win-win situation for the nation and the people.

"Mm." Wang Anye nodded in agreement. "That's also my Great-grandfather's intention. Since our Wang's Clan is forming a militia regiment, we can't set the bar too low."

At this point, more and more people gathered around the square to register, and the patrol team and the Wang's Clan's family guards were maintaining order.

Wang Anye stood up and announced loudly, "The time has come. I hereby declare the official establishment of the 'Changning Wang's Clan Militia Regiment,' and we will begin recruitment under the principles of openness, fairness, and justice."

"The first condition is that applicants must have resided in the Changning Garrison for at least three generations and have no criminal record since their great-grandfather's time."

"The second condition is that ordinary soldiers must have a graduation certificate from the Wang's Clan's affiliated village school for basic education."

The crowd erupted in astonishment. The first condition was understandable, as it was a local militia regiment, so priority should be given to native residents.

The second condition was outrageous. How difficult was it to obtain a basic education graduation certificate from the Wang's Clan? Even Emperor Longchang, without systematic study, would definitely fail the exam.

"Quiet, quiet," Wang Anye said sternly. "Our 'Changning Wang's Clan Militia Regiment' is a military force with ideals, morals, and culture. The Wang's Clan has already popularized basic education. How can someone without a basic education graduation certificate be an excellent soldier?"

After calming the crowd, Wang Anye continued, "Additionally, there are selection criteria for ordinary soldiers. They must be under thirty-five years old, at the Qi Refining Realm, and have never taken blood refining pills or Xisui Dan. Those with lower-grade B or A bloodlines who pass the tests for willpower and character will be given priority as ordinary soldiers. The military will provide one blood refining pill and one Xisui Dan, along with corresponding cultivation resources."

"What?" Emperor Longchang was shocked, looking at Wang Anye in disbelief. "With such resources, they might reach middle-grade D or C. And these are just ordinary soldiers? What about your officers?"

With sufficient and reasonable resources, such individuals could easily reach the late Lingtai Realm, and if cost was no object, they might even have a chance to advance to the Celestial Realm.

"Our plan is for the lower-level captains to be at least small prodigies with B or A bloodlines after enhancement. Brigade leaders should be prodigies, and the thirteen battalion commanders should be great prodigies. As for the regiment commander, they should be a peerless prodigy."

Should be.

Emperor Longchang's head buzzed. What did he mean by "should be"? Was he kidding? This was just a local militia regiment, and it was already excessive to match the main battle regiments of the Great Qian. Was he trying to surpass even the elite regiments of the Great Qian?

"Your Majesty, didn't you say to make it as high as possible?" Wang Anye said. "My Great-grandfather said that if we're going to make it high, we might as well match the Shenwu period's regiment configuration. The officer aspect is fine; it's just the lower levels that are still lacking. We'll adjust that gradually."

Emperor Longchang felt a bit dizzy. Fortunately, he had given them a local militia designation. If he had given them a main battle regiment designation, wouldn't they have matched the Shenwu Royal Dynasty's elite regiments?

……

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