Haotian City was bustling with crowds, with a large number of cultivators from the Cloud River battlefield gathering here.
Although they were considered as part of the Bingzhou guard now, it had not yet been decided where exactly they would be sent. So in the short term, they could only stay in Haotian City, and only once their destination was determined, would they be dispatched to various front lines to serve.
Bingzhou had 12 Major Checkpoints, with each major checkpoint having dozens to hundreds of smaller passes. The frontlines were centered around these 12 Major Checkpoints, with the nurous small passes as nodes, forming a tight defense line to protect the Haotian Alliance's foundation in Bingzhou.
Each of these checkpoints and passes needed cultivators to guard them.
The frontline battles were intense, with many casualties among the cultivators, so the Bingzhou guard frequently needed reinforcents.
Especially now, with a large number of new Bingzhou guards gathering, Divine Sea Realm strong cultivators from the 12 Major Checkpoints were returning to Haotian City to divide these new guards.
Inside a grand hall in Haotian City, twelve people were seated, conversing and laughing.
Suddenly, soone walked in straight, holding a jade slip in both hands: "Report, Chiefs, the recent list of new guards is here, please take a look."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded. One handso young man raised his hand, and the jade slip inscribed with the new guard list landed in his palm.
He glanced at the other eleven people and smiled slightly, "Shall we begin?"
"Let's begin." Soone nodded.
"Alright."
The young man responded, and with a forceful squeeze, the jade slip shattered. At the sa ti, a powerful ntal consciousness surged, an invisible ripple spreading outward from him.
This seemingly young man turned out to be a Divine Sea Realm strong cultivator.
As the ripples spread, thousands of glimrs flew out from the shattered jade slip, instantly filling the grand hall, resembling the arrival of a stellar space.
The ntal consciousness of the twelve people spread out, instantly scanning the countless glimrs, imprinting the information encoded within the glimrs clearly into their minds.
Each glimr represented a new guard, including their background, sect, cultivation level, age, military rank, and more, detailed to the utmost.
This facilitated the twelve in selecting their desired talents.
"I'll take this one." One elderly man smiled slightly, pointing his finger, and a glimr was drawn, landing in a blank jade slip in his hand. This ant he had selected this new guard to be brought to the checkpoint he represented.
How the distribution would be handled there was a matter for later.
All twelve began to take action, although it seed slow, the countless glimrs filling the hall were rapidly disappearing.
Snatching talents!
This was a long-standing tradition among the Bingzhou guards; every checkpoint needed excellent talents. It's a matter of speed.
Therefore, every ti the representatives of the 12 Major Checkpoints ca to Haotian City to divide new guards, they were all individuals with strong ntal consciousness. Only with sufficiently powerful ntal consciousness could one gain an advantage in this process.
In just half a cup of tea's ti, the selection of new guards was complete, largely determining their future destinies.
The situations of the 12 Major Checkpoints in Haotian City were different; so had favorable positions in the conflict against Ten Thousand Demons Ridge, making it safer to go there, while others were the opposite, making those areas more dangerous.
The young man who had received the jade slip earlier looked around, smiling slightly, "It seems everyone has gained sothing, then let's end here."
"Wait." An elderly woman suddenly spoke.
Everyone turned to look at her.
The elderly woman looked at the cultivator who had brought the new guard list earlier, "Is this list incomplete?"
The cultivator imdiately replied, "All the new guards reporting to Haotian City are included, none are missing."
"Not necessarily." The elderly woman sneered lightly, "From what I know, there is one person not on the list."
"Oh?" The young man looked puzzled, "One person missing, Veteran Yu knows about it, it seems you are quite interested in that person. Who is this youngster you have your eye on?"
The others showed curious expressions. Logically, as representatives of the Divine Sea Realm from various checkpoints, they should be eager to head to the front lines with their selections rather than linger here debating the completeness of the list, which was the Recruitnt Departnt's concern.
Furthermore, most of the new guards were in the Cloud River Realm, a few in the Spirit Stream Realm, none of whom should attract undue attention from Divine Sea Realm strong cultivators.
Thus, the elderly woman's interest seed a bit peculiar.
"One worthy of my attention is naturally no ordinary youngster. You might have heard his na," she said, looking at the cultivator who had brought the list, "Hasn't Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect reported yet? As far as I know, the deadline given by the Heralds Office has long passed. If he hasn't reported, according to guard discipline, he should be executed! If he has reported, why isn't he on the list?"
Righteous Blood Sect...
Upon hearing this, everyone understood.
Bingzhou's Righteous Blood Sect was a particularly notable sect; many had benefited from it, and many bore grudges.
Clearly, the elderly woman was the latter, and her hatred for the Righteous Blood Sect was never hidden. Her only son had served under Feng Wujiang in the Righteous Blood Sect, made a grave mistake, and was executed by Feng Wujiang to stabilize military morale!
Later, Feng Wujiang died, the Righteous Blood Sect declined, but over the years, her hatred could not be erased.
Several years ago, the Righteous Blood Sect was nearly abolished, but then Lu Yiye erged, preserving the sect's lineage. Now the Righteous Blood Sect showed signs of revival.
The elderly woman had co here with both public and private motives.
Publicly, she represented her checkpoint in selecting new guards.
Privately, she aid at Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect!
If Lu Ye fell into her hands, his fate would certainly not be pleasant; there were many legitimate ans within the Bingzhou guard.
But the new guard list didn't include the person she sought.
"Veteran Yu, it's been many years, and the event back then..." The young man frowned, thinking it unseemly for a Divine Sea Realm cultivator to target a Cloud River Realm cultivator. After all, grievances have origins, and back then it was Feng Wujiang's execution, what did it have to do with Lu Yiye?
When Feng Wujiang was dominating the scene, Lu Yiye hadn't even been born.
Doing this, if word spread, could damage the reputation of the Bingzhou guard.
"Don't talk to about the past!" The elderly woman was furious, "I am now the Chief of the Sky Gate Checkpoint Recruitnt Sub-departnt, it's my duty to select elite soldiers for the checkpoint. Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect is a rising star, renown far and wide. I fancy him and want to take him to Sky Gate Checkpoint to build his career. What's wrong with that?"
Indeed, nothing was wrong!
Her lofty words left the others unable to argue, even though they knew her true intentions.
"Or are you all trying to compete with ?" Her cloudy eyes sparkled as she scanned the crowd.
So frowned, others remained indifferent...
Seeing no one speaking, the elderly woman looked at the cultivator again: "Lu Yiye is not on the list. Has he reported? If not, by law, he should be executed!"
"This matter... this disciple is not sure." The cultivator sweated. He was just delivering the list, how could he know what had happened?
Moreover, who knew about Yiye? He truly was unsure.
"Not sure? Then ask quickly!" The elderly woman ordered.
"Yes, please wait a mont, Chiefs!" The cultivator responded hurriedly and began inquiring about Lu Ye's status.
Soon the news ca, and he looked bewildered.
"What's the matter?" The elderly woman asked sternly.
"Reporting to Chief Yu, Lu Yiye from the Righteous Blood Sect reported several days ago, but..."
"But what?" The young man urged, seeing him hesitate.
The cultivator's expression turned peculiar, and he said, "But it's said that when he reported, he offended Chief Qian and Chief Fan and was sent to prison by Chief Qian to be punished. He has yet to report to the Recruitnt Departnt, so he's not on the list."
"Qian Wudang..."
"Fan Xiangyi..."
They were both Divine Sea Realm strong cultivators, both holding chief positions, so they naturally understood who Chief Qian and Chief Fan were.
What courage did Lu Yiye have to offend them? Or was there a hidden agenda?
Among the twelve, so looked thoughtful, so found it laughable.
The elderly woman frowned deeply, not expecting this turn of events, but she could see through it. Clearly, soone was trying to protect Lu Yiye by putting him in prison under the guise of punishnt.
"What was the punishnt given by the Justice Departnt?" The elderly woman asked sternly.
"Three lashes, ten days of confinent!" The cultivator replied, adding, "Today is the fifth day."
"A minor mistake, a light punishnt should suffice. Bring him out and have him report to the Recruitnt Departnt imdiately!" The elderly woman ordered.
Though Lu Ye's punishnt would end in five days, she couldn't wait for that here. With new guards selected, she must return to Sky Gate Checkpoint promptly.
As for Lu Ye, she intended to take him today!
"Ah..." The cultivator panicked, looking for help from other Divine Sea Realm strong cultivators. How could he proceed with such a task, even if the elderly woman ordered it?
The elderly woman was chief of the Recruitnt Sub-departnt at Sky Gate Checkpoint, while the prison was under the Justice Departnt, she couldn't manage prison affairs.
"Veteran Yu, why make things difficult?" The young man said, gesturing to the cultivator.
The latter, feeling relieved, quickly left. The situation here was perilous, he dared not be dragged into it.
The elderly woman realized she had been too harsh, so she didn't stop the cultivator from leaving but imdiately contacted her connections through her battlefield marking to rescue Lu Ye from prison.
Seeing this, the others shook their heads, knowing they couldn't interfere.
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