Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1386 The Secret of Shangxuanying

Lu Ning did not expect this meeting to be so efficient. From defense to the movements of demons, every issue was discussed quickly. If it could be resolved on the spot, it would be dealt with immediately. If it could not be resolved immediately, the person in charge would be designated immediately. If no one could resolve the issue, it would be submitted to Grand Tutor Guan Yuan Qin.

Qin Luo and General Cui had basically no disagreements, and all matters were handled when it began to darken.

"Send the two guests to rest. Lu Ning, Tang Ye, come here." General Cui stood up and said.

All the generals bowed, and then a few personal soldiers came in and led everyone out of the conference room. Lu Ning and Tang Ye stayed behind.

"Tang Ye, you haven't fully sensed the changes in the Wind Howl Formation. Go get the formation diagram and I'll explain it to you later." General Cui said to Tang Ye, who quickly responded and ran to the back of the palace skillfully. Then, General Cui turned to Lu Ning: "Ye Cong has already informed us that you have become the second commander of the Ice Formation. After this mission is handed over, you can perform the duties of the commander. Lingjiang is different from Gou Chen. We are a more traditional master-disciple teaching, while Lingjiang is an actual combat. If you need to form a formation, you can select the manpower from Gou Chen, or you can find it yourself."

"Can anyone choose Gou Chen?" Lu Ning asked.

"As long as they are not holding an official position, you can choose them. You can also select the ordinary decurion commanders and centurions. The appointment of the Ten Absolute Formation Commander is a major matter, and we will make it easy for you."

"Is the Lingce Camp available for selection?" Lu Ning asked again.

General Cui smiled and said, "Although the Lingce Camp and Shangxuan Camp have special status, they also have no official positions, so you can naturally choose them."

"Thank you in advance, General." Lu Ning said.

"It seems that you already have someone in mind, so let's do it as soon as possible. Although it's usually not urgent at this time, but now the demons have made a big move, I hope you can select enough people within three days."

"I'll do it as soon as possible." Lu Ning nodded and bowed to General Cui.

After she left, it was already evening, so she returned to Shangxuanying.

But soon after Lu Ning returned to the camp, someone knocked on her door. She opened the door and saw that it was Akong - but compared to the first time she met this person, Akong's condition was obviously not very good.

"Hello... I heard you were back..." Akong stood at the door awkwardly, "I'm sorry to come to see you so late, but I have to come."

"how?"

"I didn't see you last time. I guess you were given some mission, but no one believed you..." Akong smiled bitterly, "Just like last time, I came to invite you."

"I am a little curious." Lu Ning stared at him and said, "You can join the Shangxuan Camp, so your ability must be quite high. Why did someone with such good ability become like this? You don't have to bear this humiliation, right?"

"I... am not really one of them." Akong smiled bitterly, "You may have misunderstood something. They won't do such a thing to humiliate others. At most, they will just take back what they promised. But for someone like me, this kind of thing is already hard to accept."

"Promise? What can they promise you? Martial arts secrets or qualifications to join a sect? You have fought here, you should know that these things are of no value."

A Kong opened his mouth, then sighed and did not answer Lu Ning's question.

"It seems that you have made up your mind, so I won't say much. There may be people who will come to recruit you. If you don't like it, just refuse it. There will be no real violence or coercion in Shangxuan Camp. Even if you are a martial artist, you have to abide by the rules here."

"Thanks for the advice."

Lu Ning watched Ah Kong leave in a somewhat depressed state. Judging from his mental state, it seemed that the loss was indeed a major blow to him. If it was not an ordinary thing, then it must be something special.

That being the case, she had an idea.

Sure enough, the next day, two more people from the Shangxuan Camp came to visit, and they were not from the same force.

The visitors were a man and a woman, both under 30 years old, in the prime of life. Compared to Akong, the two were in much better condition, and were quite polite to each other, not like a tit-for-tat power.

When talking to Lu Ning, the two men also made invitations one after another, and explained that Lu Ning could choose freely without worrying about anything. After listening to them, Lu Ning asked as she had thought long ago:

"Why do we have to join a certain side in Shangxuanying? I'm new here, so I hope you can help me understand my doubts."

"Miss, you don't know that the war in the northern border is ostensibly against the northern tribes, but in fact there are demons helping them from behind. Even people with great martial arts skills will inevitably encounter unexpected events when facing those evil tricks. That's why we have to bring everyone together to fight against the demons together." The man replied.

"Then why separate factions?"

The woman smiled slightly. "Gentlemen are harmonious but different. Although we have the same goal, we still have different ideas in choosing friends. In this case, there is no need to really gather all the people in Shangxuan Camp into one group. Those who can come here are all good in martial arts, and they can help each other. A dozen people are enough. Of course, the more the better."

These two people were quite eloquent, but Lu Ning could hear that there weren't many lies in what they said. It was obvious that the two people sincerely believed it.

"But I don't know much about the different factions, nor do I know which faction my personality matches. I'm afraid it's hard to make a decision based on the brief introduction you just gave me."

"In Shangxuan Camp, except for some discouraged people, everyone else is in one of the four factions." The man said, "Mr. Qiu of the Yunhua faction has the most people around him. It's normal for people to trust him because he's from a famous and upright family. But when it comes to the battlefield, he's not much different from us."

"We are not bragging. We have all participated in the campaign to wipe out the Saibei army." The woman said proudly, "If you were on the battlefield, you would find that it is completely different from ordinary martial arts fights, and there is not much difference between the level of martial arts."

No, there is still a difference.

It is true as it is said. Even if one has practiced martial arts such as the Golden Bell Cover or the Eighteen Drops, one can still be injured by the arrows and swords on the battlefield. However, martial arts masters who have cultivated both internal and external skills and have profound skills do have a greater chance of survival, even in the midst of a chaotic army.

I'm afraid these two young men have never fought a real battle.

Although Lu Ning had never fought before, she knew Yan Rong. That martial arts master had experienced everything from ancient swordfights to escaping from supernatural ghost waves, so her words were naturally more authoritative. In her words, strength was the hard truth, and a slight weakness would lead to death.

"What are the differences between your two factions?" Lu Ning did not point it out, but continued to ask.

"Our goals are different. Our faction seeks to achieve great things and join the army." The man said proudly, "The warriors of Wei should protect their country and have such ambitions."

"But what we hope to do is to rebuild Lingzhou and restore people's lives to what they were before the war." The woman said, "Although our goals are not conflicting, when faced with some critical issues, everyone's choices will still be different, so we might as well separate."

"In that case, what Elder Qiu wants is for us to help each other. One of you wants to make achievements, one wants to rebuild, and the last faction, what do you want to do?" Hearing this question, the man and the woman looked at each other, feeling quite helpless.

"We are here purely to kill the enemy." They said in unison.

The last faction has few people in Shangxuanying and no unified leader. They are a small group of pure martial arts lunatics who come here for the pursuit of wanton killing. They think that the battlefield is the most suitable place for them, and the enemy, whether it is the people of Saibei or demons, can be slaughtered without mercy. These people have a weak sense of morality, but in Shangxuanying, this idea is quite in line with the appetite of Qin Shu, the deputy general, not to mention that they will not kill indiscriminately even the people of Dawei, so they will be accepted here.

But these people are essentially people who cannot get along with the other factions. They all have their own pursuits. Even Elder Qiu, whose slogan is to help each other, is probably here to find some good talents for the sect. He is the same as those who come here purely for killing.

"Indeed, I am not interested in factions composed of that kind of people." After listening, Lu Ning nodded in agreement.

The man and the woman looked delighted.

"But I'm afraid I can't decide which sect to join, or even whether to join... I have a lot of things to do." Lu Ning spread his hands, "I don't know if you have heard that I rejected the invitation from the Yunhua Sect because I am not interested in what they offer. As for what you said, it actually doesn't have that much appeal to me."

"That's fine." The woman said quickly, "We only come to recruit newcomers, but we also want to advise you that the battlefield is not a place to travel the world, and you can't fight alone. Even if you reject us, you'd better have your own team."

"Although our goals are different, since we have all come here to guard the border, it would be best not to suffer any casualties," the man also said.

"Thank you both very much."

Lu Ning saw the two off and sat in the room in deep thought.

The two spoke sincerely. If it wasn't because of their low status that some information was hidden, then their faction was really like this. Referring to Akong's previous situation and the fat cook's advice, Lu Ning felt that there might be something fishy going on.

I'm afraid we need to investigate.

The area of ​​Shangxuanying is not very large, and most of the houses in this era are wooden, so it is not difficult for her to spread some spores to the surrounding areas. She didn't do this before because she was not interested in such gang-building. After all, using "wild plague" is not completely cost-free.

But this time she became curious, so she scattered the spores and used her inner strength to create wind to send them as far away as possible.

Soon, she received some fragmentary information from the direction of the kitchen. As the colony took root and grew with the help of the moist soil there, she could slowly hear the complete sounds there.

"Elder, I have invited him seriously, but he won't come. I can't force him..."

It was Akong's voice.

"Akong, you are well-informed, how could you not know that as soon as she came back, she was summoned to discuss matters with the commanders, and she didn't leave until it was dark. There are not many people in our Shangxuan Camp who can attend such a meeting."

The voice sounded young. Although Lu Ning had heard that Elder Qiu was also relatively young, she guessed it was not this person.

"Gong Zhiwen, since you know about this, you should know that it is not easy to invite such people. Elder Qiu, it's not that I am incompetent, but we still have to respect other people's wishes, right?"

"...No, it's okay for others, but she is special."

A somewhat hoarse voice sounded, which suddenly made Lu Ning feel a little chilly.

"Akong, you need to get this done. You must get it done. We all know what you did, so you can't just refuse. Let me tell you a little bit... Her aura has a great resonance with the law of the tomb. If you miss a person like this, you will never get the chance again. Although we have unique skills, if we can't stimulate their potential, we can only survive on the battlefield at best. It is impossible to survive in the more distant future."

Lu Ning's brows were furrowed.

This Mr. Qiu... She originally thought that he came here to make friends and even win over some good players by relying on the reputation of his sect, but after listening carefully, it seems that is not the case?
Ah Kong spoke again at this time: "Elder Qiu, I am not being nosy. Although this item is in our hands, it is something we took away during our mission. It is... It is something from Saibei. Is it really reliable to use it like this?"

"It's unreliable, so what? Ah Kong, although you didn't participate in person, you have heard us say that most of our 24 best fighters were killed, and only five returned to get this treasure. It was also because of the heavy losses that we got the military's permission to leave this trophy. We all know the foreshadowing scene, and we must make plans early. Now we have some understanding of it, that Huang Kui——"

"Elder, please be careful with your words here." Gong Zhiwen said.

"--Alas, if you had really been there, you would know how anxious I am at this moment. Even if she only comes here once, as long as she can stimulate her potential and give us a way out, I will not make things difficult for you." Elder Qiu sighed.

Akong could only agree helplessly.

Seeing that she couldn't hear anything, Lu Ning immediately got up and left Shangxuan Camp. She hadn't figured out how to deal with Akong next, so she might as well think about the ice formation first.

After going out, she turned several corners and finally arrived at the gate of Lingce Camp. This time she was familiar with the place, so she greeted the guard who was sitting not far from the gate and walked straight in. She walked all the way inside and soon found Xuan Yangzi who was enjoying the cool air in the yard.

"You seem quite leisurely." She walked forward and said.

Xuan Yangzi stood up in a hurry and said with a smile: "Take a break from your busy schedule. Take a break from your busy schedule. We just had dinner, so take a break."

"I asked you to find some people. Have you got enough manpower?" Lu Ning asked.

"I found three. All of them are trustworthy, but they are a bit older and not very good-looking."

Lu Ning's mouth twitched: "Why should I care what I look like?"

"Hey, I've seen the commander go to war. The scene is so impressive and the people under him have to support the scene. So I have to ask you if you want to find some good-looking ones."

"Among you, except for Bai Tieyi and Fang Huaisu who are relatively good-looking, who else is not ugly?"

Xuan Yangzi quickly touched his face and said, "I think I look okay..."

"Stop talking nonsense and find someone here quickly!"

"Hey, I knew you could do it!" Xuan Yangzi ran away happily. Lu Ning crossed her arms and shook her head with amusement. How could she not see that this cunning guy was testing whether she could take everyone away? However, since Xuan Yangzi was willing to continue to maintain this inferior attitude, she just let it go.