The World Online

In terms of defense equipment, apart from the inner armor, Qing’er also crafted a pair of boots.

Compared to the unassuming and normal looking inner armor, the war boots seemed a lot more extravagant. It had a tiger head design, golden sides, and looked as intricate as the Mingguang Armor. Qing’er had an incredibly elite aesthetic sense as always.

Ouyang Shuo took the war boots and looked at their stats.

Name: Qingmang War Boots (Platinum)

Type: Armor

Weight: 1.5 kilograms

Defense: 85

Toughness: 75

Specialty: 10% increase in movement speed

Evaluation: Crafted from the rare material, king beast scale armor, it possesses a high grade toughness. High in quality, primordial energy can improve it. Channeling primordial energy into it can raise its stats and even upgrade it.

Another elite product.

The specialty of the Qingmang War Boots was the best for a pair of boots, as it raised the wearer’s movement speed by 10%. With that, along with the buff from Floating Ghost Shadow, Ouyang Shuo’s movement speed had reached a terrifying level.

With the addition of this pair of war boots, Ouyang Shuo was now stacked with high quality equipment.

”Go, let’s go and eat!”

Ouyang Shuo stored both the armor and the boots. His mood was simply too good, and he tapped Qing’er’s head.

”En, I’m so hungry!”

Qing’er grabbed Ouyang Shuo’s hand and hopped out of her workstation.

8th month, 18th day, imperial city.

The morning fog had not faded, while the fog blocked off the thin rays of sunlight.

As the morning breeze blew, it brought with it a cold feeling.

Ouyang Shuo had donned his golden Mingguang Armor, and his red divine martial cape. Additionally, he had the Chixiao Sword at his waist. Under the accompaniment of Song Jia, Cui Yingyu, and the others, he walked out of the Nanjiang Governor-General Manor.

A month had passed since Ouyang Shuo had worn all of his gear. This signaled the end of the internal changes of Shanhai City. Now, their expansion would quicken. The Southern regions of China would soon witness a blood rain.

The fully equipped Ouyang Shuo was not the warm and nice Lord of past. Now, he was a merciless general.

In the square of the imperial city, the Guards Division had already gathered up.

For this trip, they planned to teleport behind the enemy lines. Hence, they kept their mission a highly guarded secret. They had sealed up the entire imperial city, so outsiders could not see the situation within.

Xiao He and the other officials had all gathered really early in the square to send him off.

”Farewell, my Lord!”

”I’ll leave the territorial matters up to all of you!”

He had already spoken the words he need to, so there was no need to repeat anything. Hence, Ouyang Shuo only nodded, as he flipped himself onto the horse and took the lead to the teleportation formation.

The two hundred Divine Martial Guards followed quickly behind him.

As he passed them, each and every Guards Division soldier bowed in an orderly manner.

This was also the first time the Guards Division had headed out with Ouyang Shuo. Before this, although the Guards Division was the direct unit of the Lord, Baqi had always commanded them.

No wonder all the Guards Division soldiers were so pumped up this time.

”Brother, come back soon!”

Bing’er’s clear and crisp voice seemed exceptionally warm amongst the solemn military formation. Xiao He and the other officials could not help but smile. The solemn atmosphere was instantly lessened and lightened.

Ouyang Shuo waved back at her from his horse, smiling as he disappeared into the teleportation formation.

”Let’s go!”

When Lin Yi saw them go, he led the Guards Division and followed closely behind.

Zhaoqing Prefecture, Wulong County.

Wulong County was a grade 3 county, located at the northmost point of Zhaoqing Prefecture. In order to not expose himself, the Lord, Spicy Snack Prince, had no choice but to lead three thousand troops of his own down south with the alliance army.

The one guarding Wulong County was his most important official, Du Sijing.

Du Sijing, also known as Zi Jinpu. They treated him really well in the Pan Manor, where he learned from Xuheng. He was the government sub-prefect of Pingyang. Then, he became the censor, calendar ministry assistant minister, minister of the secretariats, and finally the supervisor of Shun De, An Xi.

28th year of Zhiyuan, he was appointed as a secretary and was allowed to join meetings. 10th year of Dade, he became a minister. While he was working, he grew interested in medical arts.

Although Du Sijing was not famous, he was a capable official. He was born in the Yuan Dynasty that the Mongols ruled. For a Han man to become a minister was not easy.

For Spicy Snack Prince to receive such a helper, he could be considered lucky to the extreme. Unfortunately, he met an obnoxious neighbour, Ouyang Shuo, so he had no choice but to surrender.

As they would say, only a wise man could understand the situation.

For Spicy Snack Prince to make such a decision, Du Sijing caused it. In his eyes, no matter if they won or lost, the Lords of Zhaoqing Prefecture would not have a good outcome.

If they lost, needless to say, the outcome was certain. Even if they won by luck, the Lords of Zhaoqing, who had lost many resources, would either be eaten up by the South Alliance, or they would face a second attack.

Whatever the outcome, it was not optimistic. This was the helplessness of the weak.

Rather than that, why not just place their bets on Shanhai City?

Sending help when one needed it was better than being the icing on a cake.

Naturally, Du Sijing was not the only to accurately judge the situation of Zhaoqing Prefecture. But to have such decisiveness, only Spicy Snack Prince managed to do so. Just based on this point, he was better than many others.

Reality proved that his choice was right.

His good intentions had granted him great rewards. A County Magistrate position and a rank. Although such fruits could not compared to being a Lord of Wulong County, it was still very stable.

After the Battle of Julu ended, the battles between the Lords in the wilderness had entered its climax. In the vast lands of China, wars would break out every day.

Territories were constantly wiped out, becoming a part of history.

The victors were delighted, while no one would care about the losers.

Only the strong could survive.

Each and every Lord were under a lot of pressure. They feared that when they woke up, an enemy would have taken down their territory. Hence, for Spicy Snack Prince to back down happily and gain such a stable job, he was fortunate.

Normally, when Lords surrendered, Ouyang Shuo might not accept it. After all, accepting too many Lord gamemode players was bad for his rule; they acted as an uncertain factor.

Hence, Ouyang Shuo would rather pay a heavier price to clear out the enemies in battle. However, South Alliance had forced him into a corner, so he had no other choice.

Apart from strategic considerations, Du Sijing was also one of the key elements. He sent his troops to Wulong County. Apart from attacking the enemy from behind, he also wanted to observe Du Sijing closely.

Before coming, Ouyang Shuo had even taken the time to research Su Sijing. His experience could be considered eye-catching, since he had handled administrative matters and worked in the imperial court.

If nothing went wrong, after the battle, Ouyang Shuo could grant him the position of Governor.

Amongst the civil servants of Shanhai City, scholars and student that graduated from Xinan University basically filled up the middle level and basic level officials. He only lacked important civil servants.

Especially choices for governors, which was exactly so.

With the game map being ten times larger than reality, a governor was more like an inspector-general of a province.

Inspector-General. In any dynasty, it was a huge position. It was a position that tens of thousands of officials would never reach.

Hence, scholars who did not have much experience definitely would not be up to the task.

For example, Leizhou Governor Bao Shuya had once held the position of prime minister of a country, but the size of the Qi Country was like the Shandong Province. In the game, it was just a prefecture.

The position of Governor was basically Bao Shuya’s limit.

Compared to him, Du Sijing was not any worse. In fact, he might even be better. The only problem was his loyalty toward Ouyang Shuo.

This was the problem with such talented people.

Since he was attacking Zhaoqing Prefecture, Ouyang Shuo had no choice but to plan for its future Governor.

Ouyang Shuo originally planned to choose Song Wen, but his performance in Tianshuang County was lacking. If he allowed Song Wen to take the position, he would be unable to appease the people.

Hence, Song Wen needed to gain more experience before he could receive a chance. The fall of Tianshuang County could be considered a huge lesson for him.

If he could learn from the matter, his future potential was something to look forward to.

Excluding him, there were even better choices.

……

The appearance of the Guards Division in Wulong County had caused a frenzy, as the commoners looked on in fear and apprehension.

Everyone knew that the current county only had several thousand city protection forces. If these troops were enemies, the county would fail to survive.

Luckily, the scene that followed let the gathered commoners heave a sigh of relief.

”Du Sijing greets the Governor-General.”

Du Sijing led the officials in the city to greet Ouyang Shuo.

Ouyang Shuo could not act arrogant toward him. After all, they were still partners for now; they were not master and servant.

”Sir Du, I’ve made you wait!”

Ouyang Shuo dismounted from his horse and cupped his fists; he looked warm and mysterious.

”Please!”

Seeing that the Nanjiang Governor-General was not arrogant, he also felt relieved. If nothing went wrong, the person in front of him would be his future Lord.

If one said that Du Sijing was not a little selfish, no one would believe him.

Lin Yi led his forces and took over the defense of Wulong County. Ouyang Shuo led the two hundred personal guards and moved into the Lord’s Manor.

Although Ouyang Shuo was confident that they would not try to pull any tricks, he had to be safe. Who knows whether Wulong County had any spies of the other Lords.

After moving into the manor, Ouyang Shuo had to meet the powers and nobles in the county. After the greetings, he used the excuse of feeling unwell to return to the accommodation that Du Sijing had prepared for him.

In less than ten minutes, the person in charge of the Black Snake Guards in Wulong County rushed outside Ouyang Shuo’s courtyard. The Divine Martial Guards waiting outside knew of the existence of the Black Snake Guards. As such, after checking his identity, they allowed him to enter.

”Lord!”

”Speak, what’s the situation?”

Currently, Ouyang Shuo did not have his usual polite and warm expression. In fact, he was cold beyond belief.

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