Start with a red name

Chapter 109: Determine the general plan and march quickly

Dahuang and Baxiao, who had just been taken by Geng Xuan to Chiwu Mountain to stretch their muscles, were obviously still excited.

When Geng Xuan entered the underground space, they were chasing each other, pouncing on each other, and having a lot of fun.

When they saw Geng Xuan coming down, they all ran to his side and rubbed against his legs with their shameless faces.

They have obviously become addicted to running freely in the mountains and forests, and are no longer satisfied with staying in this small space.

Geng Xuan nodded and said:
"Want to run? Arrange it immediately. However, the task is arduous. I am afraid you can't do it."

Dahuang and Baxiao seemed to understand what he said. They barked twice with solemn faces, as if to show their firm determination.

Soon, Dahuang and Baxiao all calmed down, buried their heads in the wooden basins, and ate the fresh meat they had hunted themselves.

After eating, they came to the largest wooden basin, which Geng Xuan had poured several kilograms of medicinal wine into, and lowered their heads to lick the food quickly.

A solemn, ready-to-go atmosphere permeated the pack of dogs.

While Da Huang and Ba Xiao were making preparations, Geng Xuan was not just waiting on the side.

Instead, he sorted out more clearly the many flashes of ideas that had come to his mind after listening to Chen Rongshan's story.

He picked up a stone and drew a random broken line on the ground.

"This is the remnant of Chiwu Mountain that separates Kangleji and Anleji."

Then he drew a circle above and below the fold line.

"This is Anleji, and this is Kangleji."

Then, Geng Xuan lightly tapped above the small circle representing Kangleji, close to the lower edge of the fold line.

"This is Changpingfang."

Geng Xuan pressed the stone in his hand onto the ground and drew a long line starting from the small dot representing Changpingfang and heading towards the inside of the zigzag line bordering Chiwu Mountain.

"This is an underground tunnel deep into Chiwu Mountain."

Geng Xuan stared at the dots and lines on the ground and looked at them carefully.

It should be made clear that this tunnel, which he verified to be more than a hundred kilometers long, did not pass through the remaining branches of the Chiwu Mountain and lead to Anleji, but continued to go deeper into the depths of the Chiwu Mountain.

However, in the first few dozen kilometers, the distance between this tunnel and Anleji was indeed rapidly narrowing.

Then, after a certain point, the distance between this tunnel and Anleji quickly became farther.

Due to the lack of more information, Geng Xuan could not accurately determine where the closest point was, but in the general direction, he was not wrong.

Moreover, considering that each entrance and exit of the underground tunnel are extremely far apart, even if we really know which section of the tunnel is closest to Anleji.

In practical terms, it doesn't make sense.

He could only come out of a tunnel exit earlier or later.

Geng Xuan thought about it, pressed the stone in his hand somewhere on the long line, and then drew a straight line towards Anleji.

He whispered, "This is the fastest shortcut from Kangleji to Anleji!"

This route has obvious turns, as if it reaches the end along the obtuse angles of a triangle, and appears to be longer than the straight sides.

However, it shortened the distance traveled through the dense forests in the mountains by half, and completely avoided the steepest and most difficult area in the remnants of Chiwu Mountain.

The actual time taken is less than crossing the Chiwu Mountain in its entirety, and it consumes less physical energy and is safer.

When Dahuang and the eight children had finished eating and began to lick the medicinal wine from the wine basin, Geng Xuan stood up and started wandering around the underground space.

He stopped at a certain place and reached out to grab the rock wall in front of him.

From the outside, this area looked no different from the surrounding ones, but as he dug out a half-arm-deep pit like grabbing tofu, he touched a cloth bag.

With a slight force, he pulled out the cloth bag that was buried deep inside.

Then, Geng Xuan picked up the larger and heavier cloth bag that was placed in a corner of the underground space.

The heavy cloth bag contained nothing else but the full body armor stripped from Zhong Yuanba.

As soon as he brought it back, Geng Xuan cleaned it up.

After many adjustments, it has become the most suitable one for him to wear.

It truly lived up to its reputation. Apart from the complicated and sophisticated craftsmanship, the quality of the materials alone was better than those used in the best weapons in Geng Xuan's hands.

Whether it was the fine swords obtained from Wu Youren and Li Qun, or the specially made iron crutches of the ugly beggar with deformed legs, the materials used could not compare with the heavy armor.

……

Geng Xuan put two more bottles of blood-replenishing pills into his arms, and took with him all the throwing weapons such as darts and flying knives, as well as blowpipes and needles that did not take up much space or weight.

Finally, Geng Xuan looked at the black bow and the bag full of iron-headed feather arrows, and shook his head with regret, "I really need to find a good bow."

After completing all these preparations, Dahuang and Baxiao licked the wine in the basin and came to Geng Xuan eagerly.

"Let's go."

Geng Xuan, who had completely transformed into Su Ruiliang, entered the underground passage first, followed quietly by Da Huang and Ba Xiao.

Through the underground tunnel under Changpingfang, we arrived at the underground tunnel network under Kangleji.

Geng Xuan said to Da Huang and Ba Xiao, "Go ahead."

Relying on the life link established by the perfect dog-walking technique, they fully understood Geng Xuan's intention and trotted silently towards a tunnel.

This is the tunnel that leads deep into Chiwu Mountain.

They had passed by it once in the morning, and their keen sense of smell had already made them remember its unique scent.

Geng Xuan once again came to the headquarters of the "Giant Bear Gang".

As soon as he entered, all pairs of eager eyes were focused on him.

Geng Xuan said to Luo Qing, "Go and call all the brothers on sentry duty."

Soon, several people ran quickly into several tunnels connected to the base.

Geng Xuan glanced around the room, nodded and smiled:

“I came here this time to fulfill my promise made that day.

I will recruit all the remaining brothers to join the Giant Bear Gang. From today on, we are all brothers and sisters, and there will be no distinction between inside and outside the gang."

Those who have not yet joined the Giant Bear Gang all had relaxed smiles on their faces.

Luo Qing, Ding Yong, Teng Yu and Wang Xun, who knew more, showed excitement in their eyes as they were eager to try.

"but--"

As soon as Geng Xuan said this, everyone fell silent.

"Before that, you have to show me the results of your training these days."

Although the gang leader did not directly allow them to join the gang, it was a bit disappointing.

But everyone thought that what the gang leader said made sense.

Last time, the Giant Bear Gang took out spoils worth six thousand taels from Zhong Yuanba’s house, most of which were cultivation resources.

The gang leader did not take any of the money, and gave it all to them. Regardless of whether they were in the gang or not, everyone benefited.

They had never even heard of such a generous gang leader before, let alone seen one.

In a force, the stronger and more high-ranking people are, the more resources they will seize. This is the common sense of this world.

Moreover, these resources are not limited to cultivation resources, but also include money, power, beauty... and so on.

Therefore, it is very reasonable for the gang leader to see how much progress they have made with these resources after he has invested so much.

Ding Yong whispered, "Boss, shall we arrange for a real-life confrontation?"

This is the most intuitive way he can think of to confirm whether a person has made progress and how much progress he has made.

Geng Xuan shook his head and said, "No, I have plans."

While waiting for the sentries to come back, Geng Xuan asked, "Now, are there still people who have reached the second stage of body tempering?"

As far as he knew, among the four people who were most familiar with "Su Ruiliang", namely Luo Qing, Wang Lu, Liang Jun and Xu Lin, only Luo Qing and Wang Lu had broken through to the Blood Refining Realm, and Wang Lu had just completed the breakthrough in the spring and summer of this year.

However, the cultivation levels of Liang Jun and Xu Lin are still hovering at the threshold of the Flesh Refining Realm and the Blood Refining Realm.

Geng Xuan thought that the situations of other people should be similar.

Luo Qing shook his head and said:
"Except Zhang Ming, those who were originally in the Flesh Refining Realm have already broken through to the Blood Refining Realm. The other brothers who were originally in the Blood Refining Realm have also improved their cultivation to varying degrees."

Luo Qing continued:
"In fact, compared to the improvement of cultivation, we have improved more our actual combat ability and the ability to cooperate with others in combat. These days, everyone has thoroughly sorted out their own cultivation, and everyone knows each other's strengths and weaknesses.

Then, by learning from each other's strengths and weaknesses, we designed a variety of multi-player joint attack tactics for different situations.

If there are too few people, there will be deficiencies; if there are too many people, it will be crowded and lead to a waste of combat power. The advantage of a five-person team is most obvious. "

"So powerful? Can a team of five defeat Lian Gu?" Geng Xuan was curious.

Luo Qingdao:
“Yes, but if the opponent is someone like Zhong Yuanba, or has other advantages that far exceed ours, it still won’t work.

But if Zhong Yuanba doesn't wear heavy armor and fights us naked, even if we can't defeat him, we have the confidence to keep fighting him."

Geng Xuan nodded and said, "Take all the medicines that we seized from the Zhong family last time, especially the two types of medicines for detoxification and hemostasis."

Everyone was shocked. Teng Yu asked, "We want to fight in real life?"

Geng Xuan did not answer directly, but asked: "Are there any other cultivation resources left?"

Luo Qing said: "All the medicinal wine has been used up. Now only the blood-replenishing pills and essence pills are left to be used."

Geng Xuan nodded: "Take the blood-replenishing pills with you, and give me the essence pills... Also bring some drinking water and cooked food. You can bring more water, and the cooked food should be enough for one or two meals."

Everyone realized something and became a little nervous, yet also eager to try.

For them, this more than one month of underground life can be said to be a huge transformation.

The improvement in cultivation and strength is secondary; the biggest change is in the state of mind.

Before going underground, many of them were labeled as "operators" or "businessmen" rather than practitioners.

Unlike those practitioners who roam around, draw their swords and kill people at any time, and do evil things, they all have an industry in Kangleji where they can settle down and start a career.

Although most of these industries, like Su Ruiliang's Yunxiangju, can only provide them with a not-so-large amount of income, they are stable and sustainable.

This shapes their character.

Generally speaking, at this age, their mentalities are basically stable and it is difficult for them to have drastic changes.

But this underground life that lasted for more than a month, especially the repeated brushes with death, was shattered in the most brutal way.

Then, before they could react, a completely different mode of collective life and interaction, which was completely different from the previous one, "broken and reshaped" them.

It can even be said that they are now "completely unrecognizable" compared to before they went underground, and have become unfamiliar to themselves.

Not long after, the sentries stationed in various tunnels returned one after another.

Geng Xuan's gaze swept across the thirty-two people one by one. Whoever his gaze fell on would subconsciously stand up straight.

Geng Xuan nodded in satisfaction and said, "Okay, just follow me from now on."

After saying this, Geng Xuan turned around and walked back to the tunnel he came from.

Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a figure huddled quietly in a corner.

Geng Xuan paused for a moment, then walked towards him.

This person is Zhang Ming mentioned by Luo Qing. He was the one who was seriously injured in the last battle with Zhong Yuanba. Although he survived by chance, his lower body is paralyzed.

Although he survived, those precious cultivation resources would naturally not be used on him.

Moreover, as he had become a half-disabled person, he had no right to enjoy the care and protection of others.

He uses a pair of homemade wooden sticks tucked under his arms to get around, and he also has to work hard to do things within his ability to demonstrate his own value so as not to become completely useless.

According to the values of this world, useless people may be abandoned at any time.

Now, he is responsible for everyone's three meals a day and the cleaning of the base.

Under everyone's surprised gaze, Geng Xuan came to Zhang Ming, patted him lightly on the shoulder, and said:

"Zhang Ming, you will be the only one guarding this base for a while. When we are not here, please turn off all the lights. Be careful not to make any noise and don't go anywhere else. Wait for us to come back."

Zhang Ming stood there in a daze. After a while, he suddenly stood up from the ground with a pair of wooden sticks between his hands. With a choked voice and a firm look in his eyes, he said loudly:
"Yes, Gang Leader!"

Geng Xuan nodded to the others who were looking at this scene in surprise, then turned around and entered the tunnel.

Soon, everyone put aside all their thoughts, followed the gang leader closely, and disappeared into the tunnel.

No one spoke, but the gang leader's last seemingly casual action made everyone feel as if a huge rock had suddenly fallen on their hearts, and inexplicable emotions surged.

……

The underground tunnel was extremely dark. Even when the light was at its brightest, one could only see clearly a few steps away.

Moreover, as the time gradually transitioned from afternoon to night, the underground tunnel became darker.

Apart from hearing the footsteps ahead and following closely without falling behind, everyone could see nothing else.

Apart from knowing that they were still in the underground tunnel, they had no idea where the gang leader was taking them.

But gradually, the doubts in everyone's hearts turned into shock.

The gang leader who was leading the way in front obviously did it on purpose. Although they did not sprint at their most extreme speed, they were running as hard as they could.

How big is Kangle Group in total?
They believed that unless the gang leader took them around in circles underground, they would be doomed to fail.

Otherwise, Kangleji would have been crossed by them long ago.

But they clearly felt that this was not the case.

It was a wild ride with almost no noticeable turns.

Because of this, even though they were running at full speed while almost unable to see, they did not crash into the rock wall.

Occasionally, it would be accidentally scratched, but they could easily adjust it back.

How long is this tunnel?

Where does it lead to?

What on earth is the gang leader taking us to do?
At the beginning, some people had all kinds of random thoughts in their minds.

But later on, as their physical strength declined rapidly, everyone had to focus all their attention on running at full speed.

In this situation, no one dared to fall behind.

The darkness around him seemed to have turned into a huge, indescribable monster. If he was left alone, he would die without a burial place.

When sprinting short distances, the difference in the level of light body skills will be reflected.

But when this turns into long-distance running, the overall improvement in physical fitness, physical strength, and changes in endurance brought about by the level of cultivation become key factors.

When someone feels exhausted from running and their consciousness starts to become a little fuzzy, this is no longer the feeling of one person, but the common feeling of many people who have just broken through from the Flesh Refining Realm to the Blood Refining Realm.

Just when some people thought they were going to "drowned" little by little in such a situation, the monotonous, repetitive sound of footsteps finally appeared again.

"Okay, let's take a break."

It was the gang leader’s voice.

How pleasant to the ear!

It's like heavenly music!
As everyone's speed slowed down little by little and finally stopped, many people lay directly on the ground, gasping for breath, feeling their completely numb legs gradually regain sensation.

He led everyone to run about 20 kilometers, less than an hour, and Geng Xuan ran at a speed of 25 kilometers per hour without feeling any burden.

The set of heavy armor he carried on his shoulders added at least a hundred pounds of extra weight to his load!

"Don't lie down, get up and move around. Help each other move your legs..."

"Luo Qing, dissolve a few blood-replenishing pills in the water bag and let everyone drink some..."

"We should be more aware of each other's physical limits. Now we should adjust our weights. Those with better physical fitness should bring more water and food.

Those with the worst physical fitness, don't be embarrassed, give your weapons to other companions to carry. Your biggest task next is not to fall behind.

...You can discuss the specific allocation among yourselves. My requirement is to synchronize everyone's energy consumption as much as possible."

Geng Xuan arranged everything in an orderly manner.

But everyone who was expecting the gang leader to say "this test is over" sighed in their hearts.

From what the gang leader said, it's clear that this is just the beginning.

How long is this tunnel?!

After everyone drank the water dissolved in the blood-replenishing pills, physical recovery was significantly accelerated.

Thinking it was almost done, Geng Xuan clapped his hands and said, "Okay, let's continue."

(End of this chapter)