Shennong Dao Master
Chapter 359 - 20: Jun Shu Orders Zhao Xing, Granary Number Ninety-Two, A Chance Encounter with a Fat Sheep! (6k)_3

Chapter 359: Chapter 20: Jun Shu Orders Zhao Xing, Granary Number Ninety-Two, A Chance Encounter with a Fat Sheep! (6k)_3

"I have no idea; I don’t pay attention to these things," Long Xiao shook his head. "That should be the case, though. The Divine Thunder Army was ranked 116th in the last Military Realm exercises. To be a Capital Commandant in such a strong army is no easy feat."

"Fine, go play with your cats." Knowing his question was in vain, Zhao Xing started looking through the materials himself.

As a sixth-grade, he skipped right over those ranks, looking directly at the list of seventh-rank generals.

The promotion of officers ultimately followed the principle of selecting the best from the rankings.

As long as Zhao Xing could be among the top ranks of the seventh-grade, he would be eligible for promotion to sixth-grade during the periodic rewards.

The same was true for the other grades.

Besides, battle achievements could involve land, titles, and various honorary distinctions.

For those seventh-grade or higher with outstanding battle achievements, even their family members could be rewarded.

For example, if Zhao Xing managed to take first place in the seventh-grade rankings, his wife or mother could be granted the title of "Seventh-rank Military Merit" as an "Imperial Mandate."

Such imperial decrees could also increase lifespan, fortune, grant the right to cultivate, and even help improve the Gathering Essence Stage.

The Imperial Decree Ladies of first to fifth grades were also very powerful, as their ranks derived from their husbands’.

"So many unfamiliar names in the seventh-grade?" Zhao Xing was taken aback.

"Xia Jing, to think she has fallen beyond the 2000th rank." Zhao Xing was a little surprised.

Now, Xia Jing, holding a position just below the regular seventh-grade, was ranked over 2,800 in the battle achievements list.

However, Xia Jing’s rise was swift, moving up three ranks in the blink of an eye.

"The competition is fierce."

"The new generation of seventh-rank, and the old seventh-rank, are all vying for a spot."

Upon seeing Long Xiao’s name, Zhao Xing realized immediately.

Because Long Xiao’s rank was 500 places ahead of Xia Jing, as he was a Valiant Colonel of the regular seventh-grade.

Moreover, combat power and the battle achievements rankings were not entirely one and the same; one might have bad luck and be assigned a tough nut to crack, and it was possible to have no achievements for ten days or more.

Also, battle achievements could decrease as well as increase.

If one lost a battle or suffered heavy losses, battle achievements would be deducted.

"The Military Realm stipulates that in wartime, if casualties exceed half, no battle achievements are awarded, and according to the circumstances, achievements may be deducted, except in special cases."

Zhao Xing then looked at the top ten in the seventh-grade rankings.

Past the fiftieth name, rankings would change quite frequently.

But within the top twenty, the rankings were more stable, and there might not be any changes for several days.

[Battle Achievements List (Seventh-grade):]

[One: Zhao Yuan Army ’Qi Yuan Army,’ regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 272142]

[Two: Yuanhua Army ’Yi Yue,’ regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 250145]

[Three: Huan You Army ’Nangong Ye,’ regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 242514]

[Four: Zhao Yuan Army ’Pang Zheng,’ regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 240211]

[Five: Yuanhua Army...]

...

[Ten: Tiger Flood Dragon Army Wei Hong, regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 215475]

.....

[Twenty: Fierce Sun Army Helian Lie, regular seventh-grade upper, battle achievements 172451]

It wasn’t until the tenth name that Zhao Xing saw a familiar name.

"Wei Hong is Wei Yuan’s fourth son; he’s also from the Tiger Flood Dragon Army."

"Helian Lie and Wei Yuan have both tried to recruit me before." Zhao Xing remembered these two; Wei Yuan was an old friend of his teacher Tian Shan, so he naturally knew about Wei Yuan; Wei Hong was his fourth son.

His first three sons had fallen in battle while pioneering the Jiutian Yingyuan Mansion in earlier years.

"The rankings of the armies within the other four Grotto Heavens were all higher than those of the eight armies of Ten Suns Cave Heaven, with only the Tiger Flood Dragon Army being comparable to the other four Grotto Heavens’ strong armies. The Xuanjia Army, Fierce Sun Army, and Zhenhai Army were all ranked a bit lower."

"Shi Yong and Zhuang Ziqing are also doing well in the Tiger Flood Dragon Army, almost breaking into the top ten thousand of the seventh-grade list." Zhao Xing thought to himself.

"Compared to sixth-grade, there are more seventh-grade soldiers; being within the first ten thousand is already quite good."

As for the sixth-grade, considering the total number of sixth-grade soldiers participating in the war from the Five Grotto Heavens, the total number of regular and secondary sixth-grades was probably around fifty thousand.

Mainly, the stronger armies had more secondary sixth-grade soldiers; if in a weaker army, a secondary sixth-grade could command main general authority. However, in stronger armies, there had even been cases of sixth-grade serving as army leaders, like in the Divine Might Army, where usually an eighth-grade was a leader.

....

After crossing the river, the Arrowfish Flying Boat continued to advance at great speed.

Because the Pacifying Barbarian Army was advancing as a whole, the Military Realm was not in a hurry; the battle lines were pushed forward uniformly.

Within four thousand miles south of Cloud City, it was fundamentally safe.

The only marginally dangerous area was beyond four thousand miles.

Since different armies advanced at different paces, it was very possible that the Southern Barbarians’ four Royal Courts might bypass the strong armies and use targeted strikes to break through the weaker armies’ lines.

Around two hours later, Zhao Xing had already crossed the ’four thousand miles’ safety line.

Heavenly Time began to change unpredictably.

Long Xiao also came out of the cabin: "Any situations?"

"Nothing spotted so far."

Zhao Xing shook his head.

"If there’s any situation, just halt for a moment," Long Xiao said. "To come to find you, I’ve delayed several days. If we encounter any minor enemies, don’t let them slip away; those are live battle achievements."

"Don’t worry, I’ll keep an eye out for you," Zhao Xing smiled.

With their combination, even if they encountered a group solely composed of seventh-grade soldiers, as long as they didn’t exceed five hundred people, it would essentially be a walkover.

Of course, if there was also a genius among the opposing side, it would be a different story.

However, on the battle line stretching from four thousand to eight thousand miles, such an occurrence was unlikely.

Because at this time, the Southern Desolate’s overall strategy was to retreat while fighting. It was highly improbable that the four Royal Courts would risk deploying one-in-a-thousand genius soldiers; losing them would be a severe loss.

Another thousand miles flew by without incident.

At this point, Zhao Xing had lowered the Arrowfish Flying Boat to an altitude of three thousand meters—a low flight.