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635 Fenghai Warfare
With Palace Master’s steadfast and unyielding character, he didn’t need to speak a lot, just this sentence was enough.
All the Sword Holders focused their gazes on the Palace Master. Their gazes were filled with persistence, respect, and trust.
“All of you made an oath the moment you became Sword Holders.”
“Protect the human race, slash all dangers, and bring light to the world.”
“This isn’t a slogan. You guys have shouted it before, and so have I. And now… we have to do it,” the Palace Master said calmly.
“So, from now on, you need to treat each other as brothers and do your best to help each other. Don’t waver and don’t admit defeat!”
“We will live and die with Fenghai County!”
“Even if the entire Fenghai County falls into chaos and collapses in the future… our human army will continue the battle under the Human Emperor’s sacred mandate.
“When the time comes, the fire of the Holy Wave Race’s inheritance will finally be extinguished!”
The Palace Master stared at the 100,000 Sword Holders.
“Now, I will give the order!”
“Xu Qing, record.”
The Palace Master’s voice was cold and grim.
Xu Qing took three steps forward and took out a jade scroll, ready to record.
“All human forces in Fenghai County, except for Yinghuang Province and Quzhao Province, which are currently engaged in containing the outbreak in the Corpse and Cloth Forbidden, will be conscripted!”
“The Holy Wave Race has invaded to exterminate our race. If those sects and forces don’t listen to the order, even if they don’t die in the hands of the Holy Wave Race, they shall be listed as traitors of our human race.”
“Inform the Sword Holding Court of the various provinces and get them to form an army with the human cultivators of their provinces. They will immediately head to the west and prepare for battle.”
“Inform the Observance Palace to organize the alliance army with the foreign races. Order the Yao family to cooperate and guard the northern battlefront!”
“Inform the Law Palace to organize the three major sects in the county capital to form a bridge between the two major war zones in the north and west and help with logistics!”
“Inform the Deputy Governor to use the county system to protect the county capital and maintain the public security.”
“Also… Inform all foreign races and forces in Fenghai County that haven’t participated in the war. Regardless of whether they are evil or bizarre, in order to prevent internal chaos during the war, all cultivators at the Spirit Repository and Nihility Realm must participate in the war. Not a single one can stay back. Those who disobey will face race extermination!”
“Four deacons.”
The four Sword Holding Palace deacons, including Daoist Sima, immediately walked forward and bowed solemnly to the Palace Master.
“The four of you are in charge of supervising. If anyone disobeys, kill!”
“We respect the decree!” The four deacons nodded solemnly.
Xu Qing recorded all the orders that were given. This was his duty. After the meeting, he had to immediately execute the orders and record the results.
“Brother Yunfan, Brother Shentu!” The Palace Master turned his head and looked at the two Sword Holding Palace’s Deputy Palace Masters at the side. These two old men took a step forward with respectful expressions.
“The escape of the prisoners from the Prison Department needs to be resolved as soon as possible. 30% of the Sword Holders in the county capital will stay behind to guard the county capital, and 70% will be divided into 700 platoons of 100 members each. They can be further divided into smaller squads.
Each of you will be in charge of a territory. Several Pawns will be allocated to you to kill the fugitives!”
“Arrest them if you can. If it’s inconvenient, kill them all.”
“Please lead them, Deputy Palace Masters. You have to finish this in ten days. In ten days, gather at the county capital and head to the battlefield!”
The two Deputy Palace Masters immediately nodded.
The 100,000 Sword Holders below also emitted killing intent and agreed in unison.
This was especially so for the Pawns. All of them had cold expressions and their killing intent was even denser. After all, their duty was to suppress criminals and they were extremely familiar with them. With the cooperation of the other Sword Holders, their efficiency would be even higher.
In reality, even if the Palace Master didn’t give this order, the Pawns had long come to a consensus. That was… they would capture the criminals of the cells they were guarding themselves.
Regarding this, Xu Qing also had this consensus!
With the orders issued, all the Sword Holders immediately began to move. Most of them left the county capital under the arrangement of the two Deputy Palace Masters.
Although Xu Qing didn’t go out, the work he had to do was extremely cumbersome. He almost didn’t have any time to rest. He had to help the Palace Master deal with the complicated government affairs and organize the battle reports from everywhere.
After the meeting ended, Xu Qing also stood at the side during the small-scale meeting the Palace Master had called for between the Observance Palace and the Law Palace. While recording everything, he also quickly released the Palace Master’s decrees.
Very soon, Xu Qing’s voice spread through the internal forces of the Sword Holding Palace to the various provinces of Fenghai County. After the decrees were transmitted, the various forces in Fenghai County learned of the edict bearer of the Palace Master overnight.
Xu Qing followed the Palace Master closely. In the following few days, he witnessed how mentally fatigued the Palace Master was. Almost every day, the Palace Master had to maintain communication with the Deputy Governor and the other two Palace Masters.
During this process, more decrees were issued. In an instant, Fenghai County was in turmoil.
As for the battle reports that Xu Qing needed to compile, there were also more and more of them. In the end, he simply recruited some Sword Holders to his side and established the Secretariat Department.
Qing Qiu was among them.
She had returned two days ago. Xu Qing knew about it immediately due to this position and recruited her.
After seeing Xu Qing, Qing Qiu’s expression was clearly complicated and strange. However, Xu Qing didn’t have the time to say much and quickly arranged a lot of things.
“If only the captain was here…” While being busy, Xu Qing thought of the captain many times. However, it was a pity that there was no news of him.
Other than that, there would occasionally be visitors from foreign races. Usually, Xu Qing would be the one to receive them.
At that moment, in the reception hall of the Sword Holding Palace, Xu Qing rubbed his forehead as he looked at the furious nonhuman cultivator in front of him.
This was an envoy of the Spirit Ears Race. This race looked similar to the human race but they had an additional pair of ears. Moreover, they had dual pupils, their skin was grayish, and they were bald.
“Lord Xu, it’s not that our race doesn’t want to participate in the war. The ancestor and the others really can’t leave. Once they leave, our race’s great enemy, the Purple Water Race, will definitely take advantage of the chaos and invade us.”
Xu Qing was holding a jade slip in his hand. The primary reason for the influx of envoys from various foreign races was the decree that mandated the involvement of Spirit Repository and Nihility cultivators from their respective races in the ongoing war.
This triggered a lot of backlash from various forces, but they dare not resist, so they could only come here to complain and protest.
“Your race has nine late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, 37 mid-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, 145 early-stage Nascent Soul cultivators, and over 300 Golden Core cultivators. Your strength is comparable to the Purple Water Race… How can they take advantage of the chaos?”
Xu Qing’s gaze was cold as he stared at the nonhuman in front of him. As soon as he spoke, the expression of the Spirit Ears Race’s envoy changed. The number Xu Qing mentioned was accurate and in reality, this was a secret of their race. 30% of the number Xu Qing mentioned were secret cultivators who hadn’t been exposed to the outside world.
After being exposed, he hesitated and was about to speak when Xu Qing received the Palace Master’s summoning order. Hence, he stood up and calmly spoke.
“You can either comply or your entire race will be exterminated. Qing Qiu, take over here. If he doesn’t comply, inform Deacon Sima.”
Qing Qiu nodded and walked in front of the Spirit Ear Race cultivator. Xu Qing didn’t bother with him and left for the Sword Holder Hall.
There were too many who came for the same reason as the Spirit Ears Race. Their thoughts were very simple. The experts of their race didn’t want to go to the battlefield and be tied to Fenghai County.
They might also have other thoughts. For example, if Fenghai County lost, the races and forces that still had experts would be able to secretly plunder some benefits. With the chaos of war, as long as they were careful, they wouldn’t have to worry about being exposed.
This was actually what the Palace Master was worried about. Hence, he issued this mandatory decree.
The four deacons had already exterminated a few races during these few days.
“There are internal and external troubles.”
Xu Qing muttered inwardly. What kind of state was the entire Fenghai County in now? The Secretariat Department knew about it the best.
All the battle reports had to be gathered at his place. After he sorted them out, he would report them to the Palace Master immediately.
This was the Palace Master’s order. During wartime, everything was simple. At the same time, Xu Qing’s responsibility was extremely heavy. Not only did he have to organize the battle reports, but he also had to confirm their accuracy.
As he pondered, Xu Qing soon arrived at the Sword Holder Hall.
As the only edict bearer of the Palace Master, he didn’t have to announce his visit. As the Sword Holders outside the hall respectfully lowered their heads, Xu Qing quickly walked in.
At that moment, the Palace Master wasn’t the only one in the hall. The Deputy Governor and the other two Palace Masters were also present. There was even a middle-aged cultivator dressed like a scholar.
Xu Qing had seen this person these few days and knew that he was Marquis Yao.
Right now, these five people were arguing.
“Brother Liangxiu, at such a moment, how can we overly oppress the various races in the county? If we can’t resolve this matter in a short period of time, our preparations for forming an army will be delayed when the Taboo’s power dissipates!”
The person who spoke was Marquis Yao.
“What Tianyan said makes sense. Liangxiu, isn’t this a little inappropriate? We can use other methods to make use of these experts of the other races.”
The Deputy Governor sighed softly and spoke.
The Palace Masters of the Observance Palace and the Law Palace were a woman and a man. At this moment, they just watched without speaking.
Xu Qing lowered his head and arrived behind the Palace Master. With a quick glance, he noticed the cold expression on the Palace Master’s face as he attentively listened to Marquis Yao and the Deputy Governor. Hence, he stood there and didn’t disturb him.
A long time later, the Sword Holding Palace Master calmly spoke.
“Xu Qing, read out today’s battle report.”
Xu Qing nodded and took a step forward, calmly speaking.
“The Corpse and Cloth Forbidden erupted on a large scale. Among them, the calamity of the Corpse Forbidden was the greatest, followed by the Cloth Forbidden. In the end, with the efforts of the Yinghuang Province and Quzhao Province, they successfully restrained their respective forbidden regions. The situation is currently in a stalemate. According to the report from the Sword Holding Courts of the two provinces, they can maintain this for a month.”
“Among them, the Seven Blood Eyes of the Eight Sects Alliance in the Yinghuang Province invited 93 foreign races of the Forbidden Sea and the Nanhuang Continent to help.”
“The Sword Holding Courts in other provinces have completed the conscription today. They have gathered 37 large sects, 975 medium-sized sects, and 7,831 small sects. They have already headed to the western battlefield.”
“A total of 39 large and small human sects refused to obey the decree. According to the orders issued by the Sword Holding Palace, they have been dealt with by their respective Sword Holding Courts as a warning to others.”
“30% of the alliance army of the foreign races organized by the Observance Palace and the Yao family has reached the northern battlefield. The remaining 70% asked for a huge amount of resources and haven’t initiated any action yet.”
“The Law Palace has organized the three major sects in the county capital to be fully armed. In particular, the three major sects have mobilized the entire sects to send the first to sixth batch of strategic resources to the battlefield.”
“Among the foreign races and forces that have never participated in battles, 421 races refused to send out their experts. Only 215 races responded to the decree. The four deacons exterminated 13 races today, which has had a significant deterrent effect.
“The transfer of authority over the human race’s Taboo magic treasures was completed an hour ago.”
“The Sword Holders killed 49,513 criminals today. This is 10% more than yesterday, but 971 Sword Holders were sacrificed.”
“The western battlefield is in imminent danger. Several third stage Nihility experts have appeared from the Holy Wave Race. The Earth Dynasty has participated in the battle. The county capital’s Taboo’s net has moved back by 35,000 kilometers.”
“The Heavenly Wind Dynasty appeared on the northern battlefield today, and its monarch personally led the army.”
Xu Qing spoke softly. After he finished giving the report, he took a step back.