The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

Where does the merit come from?

Li Yi was taken aback by the question.

He only thought about reporting the amount of military merits. After listening to Commander Meng's righteous words, he realized that he and Xiao Zhou had made a big mistake and would not only not receive any military merits, but might also be punished.

Meng Yunjie slowly shifted his gaze. "If I say it this way, I'm afraid it will be difficult to persuade Commander Li. So I'll ask you two questions. If you can answer them, the matter of disobeying military orders can be forgiven."

Otherwise, this official will not bend the law for personal gain.

He raised his index finger. "Without the commander's reinforcements, how will you deal with that Foundation Establishment stage demon?"

He raised his ring finger again, "Even if all the demon kings and leaders are beheaded, will all the more than a hundred lesser demons on Luopan Mountain be captured, or will they be allowed to scatter and flee?"

Li Yi's face turned deathly pale in an instant.

Leaving aside the matter of the Germanium Star, Li Yi truly paid no attention to the many minor demons on Luopan Mountain.

Most of those lesser demons only had the cultivation level of the early stage of Qi Refining, and many of them had just gained sentience and had not yet entered the Dao.

Neither the small flag bearers of Sanyi Manor nor the soldiers under Captain Xiao's command were afraid of the group of minor demons and did not take them seriously at all.

But what if they are faced with ordinary people from the mountains?

If Zhu Xing's plea had not been heeded yesterday, the scouts would have, as usual, gathered intelligence...

Li Yi remained silent for a long while. After pondering for a moment, some color returned to his face, and he replied:

"At that time, the spirit of the Earth God had learned that if they did not take action, the monsters of Luopan Mountain would have to go down the mountain and hide."

If we, the scouts, disregard the military situation and insist on returning to the city, the lesser demons will have time to escape. At that point, the demon kings will naturally not leave them behind, leading to endless trouble.

Meng Yunjie scoffed, "If that's really the case, the lesser demons, being under the control of the greater demons and with the deterrence of our army, won't dare to plunder indiscriminately."

"Although there is no major threat now, the demons are leaderless and roam freely, committing crimes in various places, making them even more difficult to capture. What should we do?"

This matter will likely be debated endlessly, and if it must be determined who is right and who is wrong, then the one with the higher official rank is naturally more correct.

Li Yi did not want to argue any further, and looked up at Shangguan, feeling very confused.

"When did the tension between me and Commander Meng begin to escalate to this point?"

Not long ago, the two were comrades-in-arms facing Zhu Xing together, sharing weal and woe. How did things gradually change?

After a brief recollection, Li Yi realized that he had already made progress in the last time the military merits were assessed.

He wasn't sure then, but now he's certain that he's being deliberately targeted by Meng Yunjie.

"The matter of Luopan Mountain has been witnessed by the Commander-in-Chief. Since the Commander-in-Chief has not pursued it, we hope that you will be lenient and understanding towards your subordinates. Whether it is your subordinate or many soldiers under your command, we all rely on military merits to exchange for elixirs and Taoist magic."

"Wouldn't it be easier for us to assist you, sir, now that our cultivation has improved?"

Li Yi stepped forward slowly, picked up a brocade box, and placed it on the table.

"This acupoint-opening pill is my apology for my inconsiderate behavior. I hope you can help me with that."

He initially distributed one to one of his men, and before setting off on the campaign, he left another for Zhang Junyi.

I never imagined that the last one would be used today to curry favor with my superior.

Although the Acupoint Opening Pill cannot nourish the internal organs, it can still help Foundation Establishment cultivators open other meridians and acupoints, although its effect is slightly weaker.

Although Li Yi offered the pill, he didn't hold out much hope.

Since Meng Yunjie was deliberately targeting him, regardless of why he disliked him, since his malice had already been revealed, it was difficult to undo the damage.

This acupoint-opening pill was less of a way out offered by Li Yi, and more of a reason.

Reasons for turning against oneself.

Before leaving, Zhang Junyi earnestly advised him not to let Mu Mu run rampant. Li Yi thought he was being tolerant enough, but if the other party took advantage of him and showed no mercy, then he, Li Yi, would not be blamed.

"This is not a matter of loyalty, nor is it for me, Li Yi, to let Mother Mu rage run rampant. Meng Yunjie is my superior. If this matter is not resolved quickly, I fear I will suffer in the long run."

Meng Yunjie picked up the brocade box, opened it to take a look, then put it back on the table with a smile on his face.

"I still vividly remember how Commander Li fought bravely against Captain Xiao and won the championship."

In less than a month, Commander Li's cultivation has progressed rapidly, which must have been largely due to the effects of the Acupoint Opening Pill. Now, there's only one left?

Li Yi didn't want to say more, so he nodded.

Unexpectedly, Meng Yunjie's smile deepened, and he pushed the acupoint-opening pill to Li Yi.

"I know what you mean. The Acupoint Opening Pill is precious; you should keep it for yourself."

He opened the case file and wrote as he went:

"Since Commander Li has admitted his mistake, I will not pursue the matter further. He should take this as a warning in the future."

Li Yi glanced at the case file, which turned out to be a document reporting the merits of many scouts, with the five people from Sanyi Manor listed at the top.

Meng Yunjie quickly finished writing the document, a gentle smile familiar to Li Yi appearing on his face, and waved his hand, saying:

"Let's go back and wait patiently for the sergeant to review the plan. Once we've finished this busy period, we should be able to rest for a while. As for the many escaped minor demons, if the army or various government offices hear of any reports, they will send people to deal with them."

……

Li Yi remained completely bewildered until he left the government office.

What's going on?

One moment he's stern and stern, the next he's all smiles and gentleness.

Was Commander Meng truly selfless before?

Li Erhu took the brocade box in his hand, opened it, and saw a pill wrapped in wood qi. He exclaimed in astonishment:

"Was it a gift from Commander Meng?"

Li Yi retrieved it back into his spiritual acupoint and shook his head, saying:

"The military merits have all been reported. Erhu, Xiaoguan, and Liuzhi, you three should each receive ten points of military merit at the third rank, regardless of whether you are a celestial or mortal. As for Lao Zhong, as agreed before, I'll give you mine."

Zhong Wending immediately frowned. "Don't pretend to be rich in front of me. Wouldn't it be better to just exchange for more pills?"

"One thing at a time," Li Yi smiled. "Besides, I've already received benefits from the Commander-in-Chief, which are far more valuable than these military merits."

Hearing that Xu Gong was involved, everyone became interested and kept pestering Li Yi, which annoyed him so much that he immediately gave the four of them a break and rode his Jueying towards Laoni Village in the south of the city.

Meanwhile, Meng Yunjie came to the West Courtyard Water Pavilion to relax. The pond water was frozen, and the willow tree in the center was bald.

On the night the army entered the city, Meng Yunjie witnessed Zhu Xing praising Li Yi in front of Liu Tianyun. He knew perfectly well who that "proud son of heaven" was referring to.

"I've completely forgotten that Commander Li once won first place in the competition, obtaining five Acupoint Opening Pills and numerous Qi-Boosting Pills... After expending so much, his current cultivation level is not bad."

He raised his arm and casually released yin fire to dissolve the pool water. Standing in the cold winter, he breathed deeply, accumulating yang fire in his small intestine meridian. Only when it got dark did he reluctantly walk back to the inner courtyard.

"The Small Intestine Meridian's Third Grade Qi Absorption Method is already considered top-tier in the military, but after five years of Foundation Establishment, I've only barely reached the late stage of acupoint opening. How much more time will it take to fully open the Small Intestine Meridian's main channel?"

"Cultivating the Yang Five Elements is so slow. I've already switched to a different Daoist method to supplement my cultivation of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians to harmonize Yin and Yang, and it's still this slow. When it comes to nourishing the Yang organs of the Small Intestine, won't it take even longer?"

Meng Yunjie clenched his fists, his thumbs pressing firmly against the back of his index fingers, and whispered:

"I need to earn military merits to exchange for a sixth-grade Yang Qi cultivation technique..."