Whale Falls and Becomes a God

Chapter 157: Entering the World to Refine the Heart
At night, the waning moon hangs high in the sky and the stars shine brightly.

Under the dim moonlight, Hailing City was generally quiet and peaceful, except for the South City District, the five major military camps, and the City Lord's Mansion in the central part, where torches were everywhere and lanterns were like stars, making it as bright as day.

The dilapidated and ruined South City was bustling with people, as countless soldiers and civilians were busy repairing many buildings.

Many civilians crowded the streets, alleys, squares and open spaces, amidst dense wailing and crying. This was the aftermath of being affected by the war.

After the high-level meeting, the Demon Sect left and the generals went about their business. King Jingwu Xiao Ying, accompanied by four maids and monk guards, inspected the southern city district, encouraging the soldiers to work harder and not to bully the people.

The Sui army is now in crisis and is threatened by many powerful enemies. Combat power is very important, especially the threat of the "Yun Xi Hai" combination.

In reality, Xiao Ying wanted to seize the time to cultivate diligently and improve his strength as quickly as possible. However, Xiao Ying was now a third-grade master who cultivated three elements. Whether he was a second-grade divine general or a supreme celestial being, the star soul possession could only provide about ten times the blessing. If the compatibility was poor, the blessing multiple would be even lower.

For example, Eunuch Yang, one of the two celestial star souls, whose original name was Chen Shushen, was a top general of the Southern Chen Dynasty.

Logically speaking, Chen Shushen, a top-notch general, should be a good match for Xiao Ying, who is a master of the battlefield.

However, after Chen Shushen surrendered to the Sui Dynasty, he revised the "Sunflower Manual" and used it to advance to the supreme celestial being.

Currently, the degree of compatibility between Chen Shushen and Xiao Ying is only 23%, which is not as good as those second-grade star souls, or even third- or fourth-grade star souls with extremely high qualifications and talents.

Another Celestial Star Soul, Yuwen Dao, styled Bodhisattva and known as the Blood Buddha, was similarly a top general of the Western Wei Dynasty. He later retreated into seclusion to cultivate, gradually shifting towards the jianghu element, and indeed, a sinister one. His compatibility with Xiao Ying was only 42 percent, even inferior to those of the second-grade Star Souls.

This is the reason why Xiao Ying has always used the second-grade star soul and rarely used the first-grade celestial star soul for cultivation, because the efficiency is too low due to the lack of compatibility!
"Why are there only nine ranks and nine realms in this world? Without the support of super-powerful star souls, the efficiency of cultivation plummets. I can only rely on those star souls with extremely strong qualifications and talents. How can I catch up with monsters like Li Yuanba, Yuwen Chengdu, Pei Yuanqing, and Wu Yunzhao..."

While on patrol, Xiao Ying was secretly thinking hard, trying to think of ways to make himself make rapid progress.

The Blood Demon Diagram was indeed incredible. From the initial nearly 2,000 times the efficiency of cultivation when possessed by a Star Soul, to hundreds of times later, and now several times. It was still incredible, but if you wanted to increase your strength significantly in a short period of time, well... it was impossible!

"Young Master! The three thousand personal guards have been selected. The average realm is the sixth level of the transformation realm. They are warlike and skilled in fighting, have a calm temperament, and have a clear background!"

As Xiao Ying walked and thought, Qian He reported in a low voice, and then went on to elaborate: "Among them, there are 1,127 warrior monks, 251 new recruits, 23 military servants, 74 brave soldiers, and the rest are selected from the nine elite legions of the Five Directions and Four Borders!"

Xiao Ying thought for a moment and replied, "Yes! Give Qiling Temple a credit for this and compensate it with some resources and wealth!"

The Demon Sect's generous reward truly shocked the world, especially the Qiling Temple that had invested heavily in Xiao Ying.

By selecting the Jingwu Guards and giving them some rewards, we can appease the Qiling Temple and repay the ten Arhats who died in the battle of Nancheng!
It is worth mentioning that the selection of the Royal Guards and special forces is quite strict and complicated, and is more difficult than the selection of disciples by sects.

This time, Xiao Ying only formed 3,000 personal guards, which may seem like not many, but it was mainly influenced by weapons and armor, warhorse experience, temperament and background, especially the former.

The weapons and armor of the Jingwu Guards will primarily be repurposed remnants of the three renowned armies: the Xiaoguo Army, the Tianmen Guard, and the Nanyang Iron Cavalry. Their warhorses will primarily be derived from the Nanyang Iron Cavalry!

The war horses of the Nanyang Iron Cavalry are quite extraordinary. They are named Mojia Red Dragon Colts. Their quality is comparable to the Dragon Scale War Horses of the Xiaoguo Army. They were purchased at a high price when King Zhongxiao Wu Jianzhang was still in power and Wu Yunzhao was stationed at Nanyang Pass. After many long-term wars, there are now less than 5,000 of them.

The Mojia Red Dragon Colt is a hybrid of the Moyan Horse Farm, a well-known force, and the famous horse Red Dragon Colt, which contains dragon blood, through generations of efforts. It has strong defense, endurance, toughness, recovery ability, and super gravity-bearing capacity, but its speed is relatively weak.

It was originally a high-end luxury product that could have been a general's mount, but it was not popular among generals due to its slow speed. However, it was produced in large quantities and became the flagship product of Moyan Horse Farm!
In the Battle of Eagle's Beak Gorge, the Nanyang Iron Cavalry was nearly destroyed. Xiao Ying obtained nearly 4,000 war horses as trophies, but there were only more than 3,100 Black Armored Red Dragon Colts. Many of them recovered after treatment, and now Xiao Ying has taken away 3,000 of them!

This also proves the poverty of the Marquis of Nanyang. The five thousand Nanyang Iron Cavalry could not even be equipped with the corresponding war horses. There were only about four thousand four hundred horses in total, and most of the weapons and armor had not been repaired or replaced!

"Yes!"

Qian He responded seriously, and then happily continued, "We've contacted Moyan Horse Farm and have accepted our order! However, we need to go there to do the transaction and be responsible for the delivery ourselves!"

Xiao Ying shook his head and smiled, "I understand! Then we can allocate manpower to quickly carry out the transaction and transportation... It's safer to go by water, so we can allocate the Heavenly Ship that will suppress the world!"

Today, there are many rebel kings, bandits everywhere, and war is raging everywhere.

The Moyan Horse Farm is far to the north. You have feelings for me, I have intentions, and we have money. Trading is easy, but transportation is extremely difficult. Not to mention the Moyan Horse Farm, even transporting it by the Sui army would be extremely difficult. Nine out of ten times, they would be intercepted and plundered. We could try going by water!
Of course, in the era of cold weapons, cavalry is king, and the warhorses and mounts in the cultivation world are correspondingly stronger.

The Sui army contacted not only Mo Yan Horse Farm, but also several well-known horse farms and nearby large and small horse farms!
The focus is on Mo Yan Horse Farm, but Xiao Ying wants to form a heavy armored cavalry, and the Mo Jia Chi Long Ju is relatively the most suitable!

"Young Master (Prince), be careful..."

As soon as Xiao Ying finished speaking, several shouts were heard, and there was even a restless atmosphere. Xiao Ying waved his hand in time to stop them.

"boom……"

A ragged child, about three or four feet tall, stumbled and bumped into Xiao Ying with his short legs, staining his shirt.

"what?!"

A dozen meters away, three or four children, all in their early teens, stood frozen in place, faces etched with fear. Two or three more children scrambled and tumbled, desperately trying to get to the busy adults on the street.

Young men repairing collapsed buildings, soldiers patching up broken roofs, the elderly, women, and children busily trooping along the streets, soldiers closely patrolling nearby... Time sluggish, space frozen. Those who noticed this all looked in stunned panic at the clearly extraordinary Xiao Ying and the others...

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

"Greetings to the Prince (General)!"

"Your Majesty, a thousand years old!"

As the sounds of intense movement began, countless people nearby began to prostrate themselves and shout in surprise.

"Your Highness, please spare me! Linlin was ignorant and it was an unintentional mistake..."

A pretty woman with intact clothes, who had obviously lived a good life, knelt down and begged for mercy in fear and trembling body.

Xiao Ying waved his hand to stop the woman from begging for mercy, and even the panicked people nearby gasped, not daring to speak. But then Xiao Ying leaned over and directly picked up the girl, snatching the exquisite wooden windmill from her hand, and glared at her with a stern face:
"Your name is Linlin, right? How dare you deliberately bump into me?"

Now Xiao Ying is practicing three disciplines at the same time, his spiritual awareness is powerful, and he naturally won't neglect himself after a sky-high bounty was issued.

Because the Sui army had strict discipline and was friendly to the people, and also helped repair houses, settle down and distribute grain, the people of Hailing gradually accepted them and lived happily.

The children were playing around a dozen meters away, and the girl in front of him was running with a windmill. She was at a distance, so she bumped into Xiao Ying, but it was intentional. Xiao Ying also noticed that when she saw him, her clear eyes shone with passion and anticipation.

"Whoa! Whoa! Whoa..."

Linlin was affected by the atmosphere and suddenly became dazed and flustered. Her eyes, which had been shining with anticipation, dimmed and she suddenly burst into tears, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed miserably:

"Linlin is hungry...hungry...hungry...mmmm! Mmmmm!"

Xiao Ying flipped her hand and stuffed a piece of crispy cake directly into the little mouth filled with tears and snot, blocking the crying sound...

"Hahahahaha..."

Despite such rough behavior, Linlin's dull eyes brightened up, and she chewed and swallowed the food heartlessly, her dirty little face... smiling like a flower.

Xiao Ying held the child in her arms and looked around...

Dilapidated buildings, beleaguered soldiers and civilians, stained clothes, dazzling white clothes and silk under the dim moonlight, and faint cries...

This is the reality under the war!
Just looking at Linlin and the woman, whose clothes were unpatched, one could tell they once lived a good life. But now, they're forcing children to think hard to fill their stomachs...

Xiao Ying's divine sense, scanning and patrolling, revealed that Nancheng District was the hardest hit area, with tens of thousands of casualties recently. The Sui army was providing resettlement, assistance, and food relief, clearly demonstrating their benevolence. While they weren't starving to death, getting enough to eat was difficult, and eating well was even more impossible. After all, the Sui army wasn't a philanthropist.

This is the life of the lower class under the war, eighty to ninety percent of them just want to have enough food and clothing!
Xiao Ying watched with a heavy heart as the child in her arms quietly hid a small piece of cake in her arms, showing no sign of realizing it. With tears and dirt all over his face, he muttered pitifully with bright eyes:
"Uncle! Linlin is still hungry...hungry...do you want more?"

"Yes! All of them..."

Xiao Ying's heart alternated between cold and warm. With a wave of his hand, countless bags of grain, flour, dried meat, and other things fell like flowers from the sky, spreading over a distance of more than a hundred meters...

Such a large amount of supplies, in the dilapidated environment and the atmosphere of countless embarrassed soldiers and civilians, is particularly conspicuous and extremely shocking!

"His! His! His..."

Countless gasps followed, and countless people were stunned and shocked, as if they had seen a miracle!
Xiao Ying had indeed plundered Jiangdu before, and had gained countless things, but the resources and wealth were not endless. It was just that now that he had come across...

Money can't buy my happiness!
Having a clear conscience is enough!

In these turbulent times, it is not necessarily a bad thing to maintain a little bit of your true self!

While his mind was in a mess, Xiao Ying flipped his hand and another small pile of cakes and meat appeared. He stuffed it all into Linlin's arms, still with a stern face, scolding:
"You little brat! Remember not to do this next time. Don't approach strangers. Go..."

As he spoke, he put Linlin down from his arms and gestured to the kneeling woman!

"Boom! Boom..."

As soon as Linlin landed, she stretched out her short legs and ran straight towards the woman without looking back, cheering in a voice like the sound of nature.

"Let's go!"

Xiao Ying chuckled and shook his head, then resolutely turned and left, his steps brisk, steady, and resolute...

Qian He's four maids looked at Xiao Ying secretly with bright eyes, looking and looking again and again...

(End of this chapter)