It doesn't matter what the lord is.

Before going to bed at night, when I held Fang Shisan's hand and told her a bedtime story, I was still thinking about this question.

What did I do wrong??

Obviously nothing has been done!

I just returned to this ordinary city and enjoyed the ordinary daily life with the people around me.

Maybe it’s because Qingyun was a master when he was alive.

But the masters are all invisible.

By the way, not to mention the two butterflies, Alayya has been promoted to the sixth level.

That morning, I opened my eyes dazedly, and I felt heavy on my body. I wanted to get up from the bed, and I found that Shiloh was lying on me. And he didn't just lie down in a normal way, he crawled into my clothes, poked his head out from the collar, and then hugged me to sleep.

She was probably a little tired, because she didn't wake up when I woke up. I don't know if she dreamed of a lot of delicious food, but she made a slight "smacking" sound next to my ear, and later she even licked and bit my earlobe in the dream.

I thought I couldn't bear it any more, so I just woke her up.

I stood up, and because we were so close, the tip of Shiloh's nose was right next to mine. She opened her eyes wide and stared at me from as close as she could get. I could even feel the itchy feeling when her eyelashes brushed against me.

I remember reading a theory before that said a man and a woman will feel their heart beating if they look at each other for ten seconds.

Seconds passed by and Shiloh still didn't look away.

My heartbeat also started to quicken.

Just then, a gurgling sound was heard.

She seemed to have lost all her energy, fell on my shoulder and said:

"hungry."

I rubbed her head, promised to cook for her, and asked her to get off me first. Then Shiloh sneaked back into my clothes, hugged my body and slid down slowly. When she slid to the waist, she suddenly loosened her hands and fell onto the bed.

He must be so hungry that he has no strength left.

Just as I was thinking this, Shiloh, who was falling onto the bed, stretched out his hand hastily, trying to grab something to steady himself.

The little hand grabbed the waist of my pants.

I knew then that it was over.

But what I never expected was that as my skin came into close contact with the outside air, a slightly cool feeling spread through my brain, and the door of the room opened at the right time. Everything was so coincidental, just like when I called my girlfriend in the middle of the night and she said breathlessly that she was running, and there was a boy next to her saying that he was going to sprint.

I think I will never forget that moment in the years to come: my pants fell to my ankles, my back was facing the door, and a little girl sat upright in front of me, her height just level with my lower abdomen, so close that I could feel her breathing. I looked terrified, and Alayya, who was holding a plate at the door, was also shocked. After looking at each other, Alayya came over very calmly, put the plate on the table, and then walked out very calmly.

But the hand that closed the door was shaking slightly.

The wooden door creaked shut.

A snow-white sword energy pierced through the vast sky.

According to He Yue, he rushed over when he heard the noise that day, and was shocked when he saw Alayya's blond hair moving without wind and blue eyes looking at him. At that time, Alayya did not draw the sword, but just put his hand on the hilt, but the sword energy flowing through her body could not be suppressed.

She walked calmly to the backyard and relaxed a little. Then the sword energy exploded, sweeping away all the vegetables and flowers that I had worked so hard to grow for a long time.

Of course I couldn't just sit there and watch, so I pulled up my pants and ran outside.

When I arrived at the scene, the backyard of the City Lord's Mansion was already in a mess. The hard soil was loosened by the sword energy, and the plants on the ground were uprooted. Alaiya stood alone in the middle of the backyard, looking at the sky above her head. The sky was gloomy today, and the wind blew through her hair. Alaiya drew her sword across her chest. Thunder rumbled faintly, and the wind and rain were blowing.

I was tying my belt while looking at this strange celestial phenomenon.

There is a calamity on the sixth level above the fifth level, called the [Calamity of Questioning the Heart].

But the problem is that no matter how I look at it, I feel something is not right. This is only the fifth level to the sixth level. How can there be such a big battle? It's as if the leader of a demon cult is about to return to the arena and stir up a bloody storm. Next time I have to get a few lightning rods, otherwise her realm will get higher and higher, and I'm afraid my city lord's mansion won't be able to withstand it next time she goes through the tribulation.

Just as I was thinking about it, Alayya had already raised her head. There were two kinds of sword energy on her body, one was scarlet blood color, and the other was pure silver white. The two kinds of sword energy became visible to the naked eye when they were promoted. Alayya stood in the wind and rain, and the sword energy rushed out, and the red and white mist filled the air.

Spring thunder falls.

It seemed like someone asked her a question.

Alayya raised her head, closed her eyes, and was silent for a while, as if giving her answer.

But the wind and rain still did not stop.

The thunder was deafening.

I looked at the sky coldly, thinking about what to do if Alayya couldn't get through this disaster. I had thought about this problem a long time ago and deduced some relatively mature solutions. But I didn't expect that the celestial phenomena today would change so seriously, catching me off guard.

After a period of stalemate, it seemed that the heaven and earth approved of her answer, and Alayya's realm suddenly jumped to the sixth level.

But she still didn't stop. I was closest to her and saw with my own eyes that her realm was still rising.

It was not until he had completed the sixth level and was on par with Heji that he reluctantly stopped.

2. New Problems

In fact, according to her initial momentum of realm improvement, it seemed natural for her to break through the seventh level. But when she was advancing from the sixth level to the seventh level, Alayya took the initiative to stop and maintained her realm at the sixth level of perfection.

This is good. Alaiya's realm has grown so rapidly, probably in large part because Qingyun shared his sword energy with her. But Qingyun's sword energy and Alaiya's own sword energy cannot be integrated together. From what we saw just now, it is equivalent to Alaiya having two kinds of sword energy coexisting in her body. In this case, the risk of experiencing the sixth level to the seventh level of [Asking the Way] is too high.

It's a simple truth. To practice sword, you must first understand what kind of sword you are practicing. If you have learned someone else's sword energy and sword moves, should you also change the sword path you follow to someone else's? Alaya still has great potential now. She doesn't necessarily have to practice according to the method I teach. Before the [Taoism], it's not too late to change the way you practice.

There are many swordsmanships in the world, such as the gentleman sword, the Zen sword, the sword I taught Alayya to kill people, and many more. But if there is no special way, you can only choose one after the seventh level. The question itself is that the heaven and earth ask you why you have chosen the path. To put it in an analogy, after playing the game to a certain level, the system requires you to change your job and you can no longer be a casual player.

Overall, Alayya's realm improvement was quite smooth.

However, I did not expect that Alayya's realm improvement would bring about such strange changes in the celestial phenomena.

Fortunately, the time was short and it was indeed the time of continuous spring rain, so it did not cause any commotion.

I was quite happy about this. Although I knew that Alaiya would reach a higher level sooner or later, I was still filled with joy when I saw her grow. Alaiya didn't show any joy, which was normal. My life during this period was not very peaceful, even more dangerous than when I was in Lingyun City.

Especially during this trip to the capital, she witnessed the collision of the forces that tore the sky apart. The broader her horizons, the more she felt insignificant and fragile. It would take some time to get over the shock. I plan to take her to the demon tribe again in the near future to help her release her emotions and regain her confidence through a hearty killing spree.

After resting for two days, I turned my attention back to the construction of Yuxi City.

He Yue is a bit of a workaholic. If possible, I plan to give him the title of "Iron Man". During my absence, He Yue has expanded a considerable market. The business of distilled liquor and elixir has begun to take shape. From the documents she submitted, it can be clearly seen that both of them are now in short supply.

However, with the resources that Yuxi City can obtain now, it can only produce some basic pills. The main reason for this situation is that the combat power is not sufficient. He Yue also mentioned it to me several times:

"Yuxi City has an obvious problem now, which is the lack of combat reserve. To put it simply, it is the lack of backbone forces. Remember Luger? He was originally the army commander you appointed, and he has the strength of the second level of swordsmanship. Including Fileta's two apprentices, Yama and Yaqian, they have already achieved the entry level of magic... But in Yuxi City, there are too few such people. Alayya, Fileta, and the assassin you kidnapped from Lingwu all have good strength. If they form a team to go on an adventure, they can perform well, but letting them garrison the five cities we own now is stretched to the limit."

I nodded, and He Yue continued:

"If we now have an elite army of about the fourth or fifth level, we can organize them into an expedition team and have them regularly go to the demon territory. Under the premise of ensuring their own safety, they can kill some high-level demons and bring back some precious materials. In this way, we can rely on the industrial base to produce more advanced pills and earn more lucrative profits."

I also agree with what He Yue said.

War is not a matter of one or two people, nor is it something that can be solved simply by improving top combat power.

After briefly chatting with He Yue about the matter, she suggested that I ask Fang Shisan for his opinion.

"With the money that Yuxi City has now, it is not impossible to recruit some people. However, the funds are not sufficient, so we should try to save as much as possible."

These are He Yue’s original words.

When she said this, she didn't look at me, and her slender fingers were playing with the black hair on her forehead.

I guess that the fact that Li Neng brought the army here before did have a certain impact on Yuxi City. I'm afraid that a large part of the high profits from elixirs and distilled liquor were used to fill the big hole of the war.

Fang Shisan was not having an easy time either. Training the army required her to return to the City Lord's Mansion about once a week. But every time she came back, she was still happy to spend her free time with me. This time too, I told her about the matter. Fang Shisan thought for a while and said:

"Well... lack of backbone forces is one problem, and insufficient armament production capacity is another."

Fang Shisan leaned on the wheelchair and said to me:

"During the time when you were away, Li Neng brought people to Yuxi City once, hoping to take back the four cities that were lost."

Although I already knew the result, I still asked her with a smile:

"The results of it?"

Fang Shisan replied happily:

"I beat him back. The overall strength of his army has only improved this time. I guess he borrowed people from Lord Yunyang. But his command is still as bad as before... As long as he is unwilling to put down his pride and hand over the command to others, it will be the same no matter how many times he comes."

Having said this, she paused for a moment and continued:

"But we also paid a certain price. In addition to the casualties of soldiers, many weapons and armor were damaged, so we had to continue to purchase them from the Yunhai Territory. However, during the last battle, I found that our equipment was not much better than Bili's. This time he got a batch of supplies from Lord Yunyang, and our advantage in this regard disappeared."

This was within my expectations.

I replied:

"The weapons and equipment currently used by Yunhai Territory are naturally much better than those of Yunyang Territory, but they will never sell them to us. The weapons and equipment we can buy with money must be those that they have already eliminated, which of course cannot be much better than those of Yunyang Territory."

Fang Shisan sighed slightly and said:

"Yes... I discovered this problem when I was in Tianxing City. I can make the soldiers' actions more coordinated through training, and I can also use formations to take their combat effectiveness to the next level. But there seems to be no other way to get weapons and equipment except to keep buying them."

I stroked my chin and fell into thought.

3. It’s not easy to handle

I often think that if Yuxi City is compared to a guild in an online game, then this guild cannot operate healthily at present. Compared with the initial situation, it is indeed much better. With He Yue helping to take care of internal affairs and Fang Shisan managing the military, the entire skeleton has been built.

But this guild is far from lacking in fresh blood, and its infrastructure is also lacking in many aspects.

These two things actually form a vicious cycle.

Due to the lack of fresh blood, there is a lack of sufficient talents to carry out construction; and if the construction progress is slow to advance, the strength of Yuxi City will encounter a bottleneck, and it will be difficult to cultivate or recruit more fresh blood.

It is no longer the pioneering period. Among the thirty-six territories of Yongtian, at least ten are well-developed. Not only are they rich in heritage, but their lords are also wise and virtuous. Talents from all over the world are happy to work there. Some, like Bai Feng, consciously manage their reputations, recruit heroes from all over the world to be their retainers, and constantly accumulate their own strength.

I have also thought about the problem that Fang Shisan mentioned. The solution is to give up the practice of purchasing arms from outside and instead go the route of self-research.

But the question is how to get there.

I have also seen the owner of the weapon shop in Yuxi City. It was a hassle for him to make a low-end staff for Fileta. It is OK for him to make a few kitchen knives for the villagers on weekdays, but if he is really asked to be in charge of the armaments of Yuxi City, I am afraid that we will be defeated on the battlefield next year and our hometown will be wiped out.

When the combat was close, the other soldiers were holding the Sword of the Heavenly Sword and the Dragon Slaying Sabre, while our soldiers were all in unison drawing out their kitchen knives and charging forward. Just thinking about that scene gives me a headache.

So I also understand Fang Shisan's distress. When she was in Tianxing City, she was in charge of both military and political affairs, and she didn't have any good solutions at that time.

It's not much better now than it was then.

Seeing that I hadn't spoken for a while, Fang Shisan held my hand and said gently:

"It's okay. Don't worry too much. The situation is much better now than it was in Tianxing City. I'm with the army, so nothing will go wrong. The impact on weapons and equipment is not as great as you think."

Looking at her slightly tired face, I felt a little distressed.

Like He Yue, Fang Shisan doesn't like to talk about his stress with others, and most of the time he only reports good news and not bad news.

Of course, it's also because I don't take charge of things. In fact, I know very well that I brought Fang Shisan out of Tianxing City and gave her a better environment. For example, I gave her full authority to handle military affairs, instead of Fang Lita, who knows nothing and thinks about seizing power all day long. For another example, with He Yue in charge of internal affairs, Fang Shisan doesn't have to worry about food and supplies.

But similarly, she used to assist Fang Lita, who was favored by Lord Zhaochen and had the opportunity to inherit the position of Lord Zhaochen in the future, which was equivalent to having the entire Zhaochen territory behind her. But now that she has come to Yuxi City, she has to face greater pressure, because we in Yuxi City really don’t have any backers.

I reached out and rubbed her cheek.

The feeling in my hand is not as soft as that of other girls, but I can clearly feel the texture of bones. Fang Shisan's beauty has always been a kind of skinny beauty. When I was in Tianxing City, I held her. Although she was quite tall, she was very light when I held her. I even felt like I was holding a cloud.

I smiled and said:

"Have you eaten well recently?"

Fang Shisan took my hand off his cheek and said with a hint of protest:

"Why are you asking me like a child... Don't worry, Tira urges me to eat on time every day. Even if I eat half an hour late, she will keep nagging beside me."

I asked again:

"Then you're too busy? Otherwise, you haven't gained much weight in all the time you've been in Yuxi City."

Fang Shisan did not deny it, but just smiled and said:

"What girl wants to be fat?"

I sighed and said:

"Weapons and equipment, you may say they are not important, but their importance is self-evident. Even if you hide it from me, I know it in my heart."

After all, I just experienced it in the royal capital.

If I didn’t have all the equipment with me, I wouldn’t dare to go to Tianyue Mountain alone.

After walking around there, I found that there is a world of difference between going out with top-quality equipment and going out without any equipment. The former is as exciting as using a big account to bully weaklings. Some attacks that should have been carefully avoided can now be taken without any problems; some defenses that used to require repeated attacks to break can now be cut open with one sword.

As I said before: If weapons and equipment are really useless, why are they divided into so many levels and sold at such high prices?

At present, the army uses almost all weapons and equipment of the [entry-level] and [handy] levels, that is, white equipment and green equipment. Don't look down on white equipment. The army is not an adventurer team. It is easy to equip an adventurer team because an adventurer team has at most ten people and the budget is sufficient. But equipping an army is different. A small amount of expenses multiplied by a huge number will become unaffordable.