Whale Falls and Becomes a God

Chapter 193 Initial Gains from the Travels
Jiangdu, outside the north city wall.

Prince Jingwu left without informing anyone except Empress Xiao, citing seclusion as the reason for his departure.

Afterwards, Xiao Ying, along with two demons, four maids, and twelve monks—a total of nineteen people—disguised themselves and secretly left.

As for military training, without the aid of the "Blood Demon Diagram," the effectiveness of training would naturally be greatly reduced. However, now that most of the troops in Jiangdu and Hailing City would be withdrawn to take over and conquer the old territories of Shangliang and various counties in Jiangnan, Xiao Ying naturally could not and would not chase after the troops to train them.

The Sui army now needs to train its military skills, teamwork, and formations, which requires time and training and cannot be achieved by the Blood Demon Diagram unless it is directly fused with the Star Soul, which would be a waste!

The group of nineteen people, dressed in fine clothes, pretended to be wealthy young masters traveling together, while twelve monks wore felt hats and tight-fitting clothes as their guards.

"Young master... young master! Where are we going?"

Qianyun, excited and eager, asked first, "Although Jiangdu is large and prosperous, I get tired of it after a while. I've been wanting to travel around for a long time to find inspiration and understand music!"
Xiao Ying didn't have a fixed destination in mind. After thinking for a while, she didn't have a particular place she wanted to go, so she looked at everyone and asked, "What do you guys think?"

Qianhe, the head of the four maids, pondered and analyzed, "Now that we have initially stabilized Jiangnan, we can be considered the overlords of Jiangnan! Meanwhile, the Jianghuai army has suffered heavy losses, the Fengming army has retreated, the Wagang army has turned to Luoyang, the Demon Capital, and the Yuwen rebel army has invaded Jianghuai. It all depends on... on what the young master's goal or purpose is for this trip?"

The others remained silent; they were simply following Xiao Ying and had no particular destination in mind.

Xiao Ying nodded and replied, "The target... then Jiangnan, then Jianghuai, then the Central Plains, and finally Shanghai? If time and the situation allow, we can try Shanghai, but it's too far!"

Xiao Ying's goal for this trip was simple and pure: to collect star souls, preferably those at the True God level. Otherwise, relying solely on the Sui army's campaigns, how long would it take to gather them? Furthermore, it would waste many True God-level or high-quality star souls, since it's impossible for all renowned scholars, prodigies, or powerful figures to have been killed by the Sui army!

The so-called relaxation, mental cultivation, and travel are not entirely unrelated, but they only account for a very small part of the overall picture.

"Jiangnan? Let's take a look at the people's lives?" Qianhe nodded in agreement.

Xiao Ying's eyes lit up, and he looked north, replying, "First, go to Funiu Ridge, then check the situation in Jianghuai, and then head into the Central Plains to see if there's an opportunity to take advantage of the situation in Xingyang, the stronghold of the Wagang Army. If not, then go to Shanghai; the Wagang Army's target is very likely Shanghai!"

According to intelligence, in the Battle of Funiuling, the Jianghuai Army suffered over 100,000 dead and over 100,000 captured, resulting in enormous casualties.

As for the casualties of the Yuwen rebels, there is no relevant intelligence. It is likely that the Yuwen rebels were busy cleaning up the mess, making it difficult to calculate!
This world is a cultivation world. The power system is not too high, and there are no ghost cultivators or the like, but it is not low either.

Cultivators truly possess souls, and those with high levels of cultivation can even possess other bodies, and there is also the concept of Dharma forms. However, without a physical body to contain them, the soul, Dharma form, etc., will slowly dissipate, and the time it takes to dissipate varies depending on the level of cultivation!
Going to Funiu Ridge now, the souls of ordinary soldiers probably wouldn't be able to be absorbed and would have already dissipated. However, the souls of cultivators should still be there, especially in places with many deaths where the yin energy is heavier, which would slow down the dissipation of souls. With luck, even the souls of ordinary soldiers might still be there!

Qianfeng, who was in charge of military affairs, hesitated for a moment and reminded him, "Young Master! The casualties at Funiu Ridge have been enormous, and there are probably still quite a few rebels or personnel remaining there..."

"Young Master" was a title specifically given to him for this trip.

However, Xiao Ying didn't really like being called "Young Master." It was just a long-standing practice based on his relationship with Empress Xiao. Empress Xiao didn't object, and those close to Xiao Ying were happy to use it to build a closer relationship, so they continued to call him that. Xiao Ying couldn't really refuse the title "Young Master," so it was better to change it.

...The time spent traveling was indeed pleasant and leisurely, and it passed quite quickly.

With his vast wealth and countless resources, Xiao Ying naturally had no worries about logistics.

Adding to the fact that the entire group consisted of powerful individuals, including four Supreme Celestials alone… two demons and two Buddhas, their lineup was so luxurious and formidable that it could be considered the most impressive expeditionary force in the world. Although Xiao Ying was the strongest, his cultivation level was the lowest, and the mere presence and attire of the others were enough to deter anyone from daring to offend him.

The next day, Xiao Ying and the others arrived at Funiu Ridge.

The Funiu Ridge, covering only a few miles and at an altitude of about 100 meters, was almost completely barren. Even the mountain rocks and boulders were crushed, not to mention the trees. The entire area was dark red, covered with blood-red scabs. One can imagine how many people had died. It would not be an exaggeration to call it a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood.

Dozens of massive piles of corpses were burning in the flames, billowing black smoke into the sky and filling the air with a pungent, acrid stench. Dozens more were piling up, their blood staining the ground, while thousands upon thousands of people were busy at various locations. Due to the complexity of the situation, the exact number was difficult to estimate!
In this respect, the Yuwen rebels weren't entirely heartless; they still knew how to clean up the mess. Otherwise, leaving these corpses unattended might not only breed strange and bizarre phenomena, but it could very well have led to a plague, causing immeasurable harm!

"Halt! This is a military restricted area. Please detour!"

As soon as Xiao Ying and the others approached, dozens of elderly men with gray hair and beards gathered around and politely stopped them.

These people were clearly not Yuwen's rebels, not even ordinary soldiers or reserve troops. They were likely local civilians or refugees who came spontaneously, or were forced by Yuwen's rebels to come and clean up the mess.

It's worth mentioning that for ordinary people, cleaning up the mess is disgusting and frightening, but it's also a significant opportunity.

When the army roughly cleans up the mess, they usually take away weapons, armor, wealth, etc., but they can't clean everything up. They will leave behind a lot of things, such as clothing and hidden wealth that has not been found. This is the opportunity for the last person to clean up. If there are a lot of items, it can be a windfall!
The two demons, four maids, and twelve divine monks remained silent. Xiao Ying nodded to himself and sighed:

"I understand! They almost completely razed the mountains and leveled the wilderness. How many people died in that battle... What a tragedy!"

As he spoke, Xiao Ying's immense spiritual power surged forth, quickly covering the entire Funiu Ridge and even most of the battlefield...

The Blood Demon Diagram in the mind bursts forth with crimson light, and countless stars light up, representing the collection of countless star souls.

Xiao Yingyi communicated with the "Blood Demon Diagram" and learned about the general situation, obtaining a total of Star Souls: twelve sub-gods, more than three hundred minor gods, more than one thousand hairy gods, and more than thirty thousand blood stars.

The Blood Star was an unexpected find, the lingering souls of over 100,000 fallen soldiers. However, the number of Star Souls of the three levels was far less than expected, much to Xiao Ying's disappointment.

Think about it carefully; despite the huge number of casualties here, this is actually the normal situation.

Battles like the Jiangdu Rebellion, the Battle of Hailing, and the Battle of Yingzui Gorge, where powerful figures and great talents abound, are actually quite rare in a world of war and chaos.

The strong and powerful are not so common or cheap.

More importantly, Du Fuwei and other famous generals from Jianghuai, as well as the Black Cloud Cavalry, did not die here, so there were naturally not many high-quality Star Souls!
(End of this chapter)