12: military expansion

Seeing that the matter was settled, Xu Qing took out two Storage Pouches!

"Uncle Xu Lin of Scripture Depository Hall, Uncle Xu Bai of Treasure Depository Hall! These contain Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, weapons, and Medicinal Pills. I am handing them over to you now. After you go down, register them, make two copies—one for yourselves and one for the Elder Council to keep!"

"Furthermore, all the Cultivation Techniques, Martial Skills, Medicinal Pills, and weapons in the Family treasury should also be stored away!"

Apart from the Sea Transformation Pill which he kept, Xu Qing handed all other Profound Grade and lower items to the two of them for safekeeping!

"Yes, Young Lord!"

The two stepped forward, took the Storage Pouches, and subconsciously checked them, involuntarily trembling!

This scene made Xu Ming and the others curious.

"Young Lord, this..."

"They are just some Mortal Grade and Profound Grade items!" Xu Qing waved his hand.

"Yes!"

The two looked invigorated; this batch of resources was enough to make the Xu Family surpass its Peak!

The expressions of the two made Xu Ming and the others itch with curiosity, but out of deference to Xu Qing, they did not dare to ask too many questions.

Xu Qing then said, "Uncle Xu Jie, Third Grandpa needs to enter seclusion for a Breakthrough, so you will temporarily act as the head of the Internal Affairs Hall. Currently, the two most important matters for the Family are Cultivation and the number of Family members; Uncle, you must oversee these two matters well!"

"As long as a Family member achieves a Breakthrough in Cultivation, they will be rewarded; if a Family member marries and has children, they will also be rewarded. As for the amount of the reward, you can discuss it with Uncle Xu Lin of Scripture Depository Hall and Uncle Xu Bai of Treasure Depository Hall!"

"Additionally, the Merit Hall can consider devising a contribution point System and submit it to me for review. In the future, contribution points can be used as monthly stipends. Once we recall enough Family members, we will finalize a complete System based on the actual situation!"

"Yes, Young Lord!"

The few of them responded simultaneously.

"Uncle Xu Song, the Outer Affairs Hall has been quite busy recently. If you're too overwhelmed, you can recruit some business talents to manage it! Don't be stingy with Origin Stones; the Family is not short on Origin Stones now!"

As he spoke, Xu Qing took out a Storage Pouch. "This contains three hundred thousand Low Grade Origin Stones, plus the one hundred seventy thousand in the treasury, which is enough for the Outer Affairs Hall to operate!"

Xu Ming and the others were shocked; they hadn't expected Xu Qing to trust Xu Song with so many Origin Stones!

Xu Song, on the other hand, was deeply moved. Compared to Cultivation, he preferred doing business. However, in the past, the Family had not allowed him to be heavily involved in business due to his Aptitude.

It was also for this reason that he was able to Cultivate to the Late Stage of the Zhenyuan Realm!

Now with the help of Essence Gathering Pills, his Cultivation would naturally improve quickly!

And Xu Qing had also given him authority, so how could he not be excited? A feeling of gratitude towards Xu Qing arose in his heart!

Xu Qing smiled and said, "Also, regarding Yang Dafu, since our Xu Family owes him this favor, we can give him some cooperative ventures!"

"Young Lord, rest assured, I will definitely not disappoint you!" Xu Song said with a solemn expression.

"I believe you!" Xu Qing smiled and nodded.

Then he looked at Xu Liang, "Second Uncle, there hasn't been much going on with the Ancestral Hall recently, so your task is to achieve a Breakthrough!"

"Second Uncle understands!"

"Starting today, for the next three months, the Family's resources will be supplied without limit to the main branch!"

Xu Qing once again proposed a decision that excited everyone present!

This was also a special privilege for the main branch, which received everyone's unanimous approval!

[Ding! Detected that the Host has initiated a series of reforms and overall cultivation for the Family for the first time, which is beneficial for enhancing the Family's Luck! Rewarding one Elementary Spiritual Grade Enlightenment and one bottle of Marrow Cleansing Pill!]

Xu Qing's expression stirred.

Having experienced Enlightenment once before, he naturally understood what this Elementary Spiritual Grade Enlightenment meant!

In addition, the Marrow Cleansing Pill was also very valuable; its only purpose was to cleanse the marrow and improve a Martial Artist's Aptitude. Its effect was extremely powerful, even for Spiritual Grade Aptitude!

Although its grade was only Peak Spiritual Grade, its refining difficulty was no less than refining Marquis Grade Medicinal Pills!

The required medicinal ingredients were rare, and not a single Alchemist in the entire Fengyan County could refine the Marrow Cleansing Pill!

Now with this Marrow Cleansing Pill in hand, he could use it to invest in Family members!

He possessed a System-bestowed talent: Investment Return!

A few days later, Xu Qing emerged from the secret chamber!

With the help of the Elementary Spiritual Grade Enlightenment, his Cultivation had reached the Early Stage of the Yuan Ling Realm!

His Divine Sense had greatly improved, allowing him to probe everything within a three-mile radius. The entire Xu City was only ten miles in circumference, meaning one-third of Xu City was exposed to his vision!

Furthermore, a Yuanhai Realm's Yuanhai was several times larger than a Yuanhai Realm's, and Yuan Ling Realm Martial Artists could store their Origin Qi weapons in their Dantian for nourishment. Over time, such nourished Origin Qi weapons would greatly increase in spirituality, and the power they unleashed would be even greater!

Yuan Ling Realm Martial Artists could condense Origin Qi wings to fly, covering a thousand miles a day was effortless, which Huahai Martial Artists could not compare to!

Moreover, at the Yuan Ling Realm, the Divine Soul was already stable and could manipulate objects. Additionally, they had one chance for Possession, so if the Possession was successful, they could live another life.

Most importantly, their Lifespan reached five hundred years. Cultivating martial arts, cultivating for longevity, in his previous life, five hundred years was enough for a dynasty to be replaced!

As his strength grew, his confidence naturally increased!

Therefore, while many Family members were Cultivating, Xu Qing summoned the city officials and Yang Dafu to the City Lord's Mansion!

In a city, besides military positions, there were naturally also civil positions. Previously, only the three city gate officials had come to pay their respects to him. These three represented military positions, while the financial officer and tax officer, who were the heads of civil officials, were originally held by Xu Family members, but they had died in that calamity!

Apart from the financial officer, there were also judicial officers, agricultural officers, treasury clerks, etc., all held by local families, but they had all been killed by Xu Qing because these people were all from the Chen and Su families!

"Hai Dagui!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

Hai Dagui's face was filled with panic, and he quickly knelt down!

This scene startled everyone present!

After a year, among those present, only Hai Dagui and Yang Dafu had seen Xu Qing. Originally, they had dismissed Xu Qing, only knowing that he was just a lucky young man!

But now, seeing Hai Dagui's demeanor, their expressions all became solemn!

"How are the remnants of the Chen and Su families being dealt with?" Xu Qing's tone was extremely cold!

Upon hearing this, Hai Dagui's plump body trembled violently, and he quickly pleaded for mercy, "Your subordinate was ineffective; there were too few people under him, allowing some remnants to escape. Please forgive this City Lord!"

Xu Qing's eyes turned cold!

"Whoosh!"

A streak of Origin Qi, like lightning, shot out, instantly arriving before Hai Dagui!

"Boom!"

He was blasted away like a cannonball, then heavily smashed against the doorframe!

"Pfft!"

Hai Dagui spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, instantly staining the ground red!

Everyone trembled, their faces filled with horror. Everything happened too quickly; they only saw a dark figure fly out from among them. By the time they reacted, Hai Dagui was already lying on the ground, his face full of pain.

The scene was silent, so quiet that a pin drop could be heard. Everyone was stunned by Xu Qing's sudden action, their eyes wide and their faces filled with shock.

One must know that Hai Dagui's Cultivation had already reached the Late Stage of the Zhenyuan Realm. Among those present, only Yang Dafu, a Peak Zhenyuan Realm Martial Artist, could suppress him!

Yet, with such strength, he was blasted away by a single streak of Origin Qi from Xu Qing!

Wait, a streak of Origin Qi!

In an instant, everyone's expressions changed drastically! This was a method that only Yuanhai Realm powerhouses could employ using their Yuanhai!

How old was Xu Qing? Even with the support of a Marquis's mansion, it would be impossible to reach this stage!

Thinking of this, everyone couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, while Yang Dafu's eyes gleamed brightly; it seemed he had placed his bet on an extraordinary treasure!

"City Lord, please give your subordinate some time. Your subordinate will definitely eliminate all the remnants of the two families!"

Among the crowd, Hai Dagui was undoubtedly the most terrified. Ignoring the pain in his body, he quickly crawled over to beg for mercy, even changing his self-address!

"Enough!" Xu Qing said coldly, "We'll talk about the remnants of the two families later. I called you here today to discuss expanding the army!"

"I'm giving you one month. I want you to recruit ten thousand city guards within one month. Are there any difficulties?"

"Ten... ten thousand?"

The expressions of many military officials changed!

"Are there difficulties?" Xu Qing's eyes turned cold!

"No... no!" Everyone shook their heads repeatedly!

"City Lord, for ten thousand soldiers, the annual military pay alone would be two hundred forty thousand Low Grade Origin Stones. In addition, each soldier consumes two hu of Mortal Grade spiritual rice per month, which means twenty-four hu per year. Ten thousand soldiers would consume two hundred forty thousand hu!"

"This expense..." Hai Dagui said nervously.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Hai Dagui as if he were an idiot. After all, at this critical juncture, this lord was definitely going to recruit soldiers. Speaking out to stop him now was like an old man eating arsenic—courting death!

However, what caught them off guard was that Xu Qing did not blame Hai Dagui; on the contrary, he felt that this person could be used!