Chapter 629: Qingyang Guard

Lin Feng snapped out of his thoughts, moved slightly, and his figure transformed into a faint purple light, flying towards the teleportation portal.

Forty minutes later, he passed through the portal and returned to the Blue Star plane.

Without stopping, he flew straight to the council hall at Hangu Pass.

Jiang Zhaoyue, Jiang Yelan, Zhou Guosheng, Zhao Hu and other core members were already waiting in the hall.

Upon seeing him enter, everyone rushed to greet him.

Tie Dun scratched his head and asked in a simple voice, "Lord, what's the matter that you told us to wait here?"

Lin Feng smiled and said, "Of course it's a good thing."

As he spoke, he took out the golden box from the other dimension and opened it in front of everyone.

Fifty pieces of gold jewelry were neatly arranged in the box: Wind Whisper Gold Bracelet, Power Gold Ring, Wisdom Gold Ring, Life Gold Chain, and other gold jewelry of various colors shimmered and reflected each other, warming the entire hall.

Tie Dun's eyes widened in shock: "My goodness..."

"Fifty pieces of gold jewelry?" Wang Wu chimed in, "Lord, which tycoon's treasure trove did you raid?"

Zhao Hu chuckled and shook his head: "The lord is certainly generous, but these things might not be so easy to take, right?"

Lin Feng smiled as he looked at the crowd chattering away and said:

"Those brought back from Eternal Night City can be exchanged on credit using merit points by core members; others must follow the rules and collect their rewards only after accumulating enough merit points."

As soon as she finished speaking, Feng Qingyan cheered, "The lord is the best! He knows I owe quite a few merit points!"

She immediately picked up a Wind Whisper Gold Bracelet and put it on her wrist. The moment the bracelet touched her wrist, a faint golden light flashed, and the equipment was automatically bound.

"Wow! So beautiful!" Feng Qingyan twirled her wrist, unable to put it down.

Feng Qingshuang looked at her speechlessly: "How many merit points do you owe the lord? And you still want more?"

Feng Qingyan retorted confidently, "The lord said I could pay on credit, which means he trusts me! I can't betray that trust! Besides, I can just kill more alien races later and pay it back, right?"

"You call that betraying trust? You call that having too much debt to bear."

"Sister, the way you're saying that makes it sound like you've never owed anyone anything before."

"I have never owed anything."

"That's because you always have a long face; nobody wants to owe you anything!"

Feng Qingshuang ignored her and reached into the box to take out a Wind Whisper Gold Bracelet, silently putting it on her wrist.

Tie Dun chuckled, picked up a gold ring of power, and slipped it onto his thick finger.

As soon as he put on the gold ring, the muscles on his arm bulged slightly.

"Hehe, I've got enough merit points!" Tie Dun proudly raised his fist. "All the savings I've accumulated over the years are finally going to come in handy!"

Arrow Eye, Wang Wu, Shi Pojun and others also gathered around, each choosing a gold ornament that suited them.

Those above level 40, such as Jiang Zhaoyue, Jiang Yelan, Zhou Guosheng, and Zhao Hu, did not make any moves.

All three pieces of their jewelry were complete.

Lin Feng watched this scene and sighed inwardly.

Jiang Zhaoyue and the others were considered lucky; when the Nightmare Origin was extracted, it left them with this set of golden equipment and accessories.

If it had been delayed until now, even if you used the Nightmare Knight Token to change classes, you wouldn't be able to get bound gold equipment anymore.

Gold accessories are alright, as there's a new batch every thirty years, but collecting six pieces of gold equipment is still too difficult for the current territory.

The territory only has two golden energy crystals in its inventory, which is far from enough.

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and said to Zhou Guosheng, Jiang Yelan, and Jiang Zhaoyue, "Director Zhou, Yelan, Zhaoyue, you can distribute the remaining jewelry. I'll be leaving now."

"Okay." Zhou Guosheng nodded.

Jiang Yelan responded softly, and Jiang Zhaoyue glanced at him and nodded slightly.

Lin Feng turned around and walked into the depths of the council hall.

...

Three days later.

At Hangu Pass, on the open ground outside the Blood Soldiers' Gathering Camp, the first batch of Qingyang Acquired Martial Artists who had completed their training were pouring out of the stone gate of the semi-circular bunker.

They wore close-fitting outfits with red stripes on a white background, embroidered with golden sun emblems on their chests and abdomens, and white headbands.

Each time a group of people emerged, someone would guide them to a designated assembly point.

The line stretched from the camp gate all the way to the foot of the south city wall, densely packed yet orderly.

"My goodness, there are so many!" Tie Dun stood on the open ground 500 meters away, his mouth agape for a long time. "So many people have come out in less than an hour? How many will there be in the next few months?"

"The first batch is 240,000," Wang Wuli said calmly, standing beside him. "There will be a second and a third batch."

There were occasional mishaps in the team.

Bai Yi led thirty captains to patrol the ranks. Whenever they found a stubborn individual who refused to surrender, they would immediately subdue him and hand him over to the Qin elite soldiers to be imprisoned elsewhere.

"Were those the ones who were caught?" Tie Dun noticed as well, craning his neck to look.

“Yes.” Wang Wu nodded. “Those people are pretending to surrender in the Blood Abyss Plane, trying to sneak in and incite trouble.”

"If you ask me, these people just need to be taught a lesson." Tie Dun snorted. "The lord cleansed their blood and let them start over, and they still cause trouble? If I had that chance, I'd be laughing in my sleep."

As they were talking, another stubborn man in the queue was pinned to the ground. The man was still shouting something. Bai Yi didn't waste any more words with him. With a wave of his hand, two elite soldiers took him away.

Such incidents occurred sporadically across the training ground, but the ranks never fell apart.

Most of the Qingyang Acquired Martial Artists simply stood quietly in their positions, their eyes following those who were being dragged away, before silently looking away.

An hour later, the last group of martial artists also completed their assembly.

Two hundred and forty thousand people filled the open fields outside the South Gate, their golden crests stretching as far as the eye could see in the sunlight.

Lin Feng and Bai Yi flew into the air, looking down at the army of martial artists below.

He didn't speak immediately. Two hundred and forty thousand people looked up at the figure hanging in the sky.

The silence lasted for more than ten breaths, so heavy that even breathing became difficult for the entire formation.

"I don't care what your identities were before," Lin Feng said. "Whether you were disciples of the Blood Abyss Demon Sect or civilians of the Blood Nest, from today onwards, you only have one identity: soldiers under the command of the Beacon Fire Territory."

"I will treat everyone equally, remembering all merits, distributing all rewards, and strictly enforcing military law in the same way."

"If you achieve meritorious service, I will not hesitate to reward you. Merit can be exchanged for military rank, equipment, and wealth. How much you can get depends on how well you perform."

His gaze swept across the entire formation.

"I hope that you will all fight for the Beacon Tower from now on!"

After a moment of silence, a unified response erupted from the formation, like a mountain roaring and a tsunami crashing.

"We swear to follow our lord to the death!"

The sound waves rolled across the wilderness several times before gradually subsiding.

Lin Feng's gaze swept over the entire formation one last time before returning to his side, turning to look at Bai Yi beside him.

"I'm entrusting Qingyang Guard to you. Find Meng Yi and bring over some centurions and 500-man squads to establish the basic framework of the army and quickly build up its combat capability."

"Yes." Bai Yi clasped his hands in acceptance of the order, then turned and flew downwards.

Lin Feng watched his retreating figure, then glanced at the array of martial artists unfolding below, before turning his gaze away and flying towards the direction where the stubborn elements were being held.