Protect Our Patriarch

……

"Who asked you to be so filial?"

"And why did you bring back a rabbit? And such a big one... How could you... No, that's not the point."

Wang Shouzhe roared with a darkened face, "Wang Lilong, your father is a man of integrity. Do you think I'm that kind of person?"

This bizarre turn of events was too much even for the usually composed Wang Shouzhe to handle.

"But father, Sister Moon Rabbit is very pretty," Wang Lilong said with a face full of grievance.

"No matter how pretty, it's still a rabbit... No, your father is not that kind of person, it has nothing to do with rabbits," Wang Shouzhe righteously refused Wang Lilong. "Lilong, you must remember, your father and mother share a love as strong as gold, as deep as the sea. In each other's eyes, there's no room for even a speck of dust. You're still young, you don't understand~"

As soon as Wang Shouzhe said this, the gaze like a knife from behind him softened a bit.

"But father, I often see you and mother fighting," Wang Lilong said with a small, aggrieved face.

"It's quite common. When I sleep at the bottom of the lake next to Shuiyue Pavilion, I always hear..."

Before Wang Lilong could finish, Wang Shouzhe covered her mouth, exchanging a glance with Liu Ruolan, who also had a darkened face. In that moment, they communicated silently.

"Can we still keep this child?"

"She's our acknowledged daughter, what else can we do?"

"What else can we do? Spank her."

"Wouldn't it be a bit cruel for both of us to do it together?"

"Then I'll go first this time, and you don't shirk next time."

Having been married for over seventy years, Wang Shouzhe and Liu Ruolan had long developed a tacit understanding, communicating with just a glance.

Then, the innocent-looking Wang Lilong was grabbed by Liu Ruolan and dragged to a nearby valley. Soon, the sound of ghostly wails and wolf howls echoed from the valley.

Meanwhile, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and a torrential rain poured down, truly a scene of desolation.

Fortunately, the accompanying family guards were all at least Lingtai Realm cultivators, able to use their profound energy to form a thin protective barrier, keeping the rain out as they continued to focus on collecting the spoils.

The family guards couldn't help but feel a sense of awe.

Truly, the Wang family head's family is extraordinary, even disciplining a child is done with such grandeur.

Fire Fox Yuwen Chi Wei also looked at the Moon Rabbit with a faint gaze, secretly thinking that the inherited memories in her bloodline told her that Moon Rabbits were best at feigning innocence to gain sympathy, and she couldn't let it deceive Brother Shouzhe.

Immediately, she jumped next to Wang Shouzhe, rubbing her furry fox head against his leg, transmitting her voice sweetly, "Brother Shouzhe, you mustn't forget that you promised me you wouldn't dual cultivate with other spiritual beasts before I take human form. You can't forget your promise just because this Moon Rabbit looks good."

With that, she bared her sharp teeth and glared at the Moon Rabbit, her long fox eyes full of threat, "Big Rabbit, if you dare have any improper thoughts, I'll eat you."

Wang Shouzhe broke out in a cold sweat.

Who would be interested in a rabbit? He wasn't that bizarre, okay? And when did he promise her that?

The Moon Rabbit also trembled, sensing something amiss.

Why did it feel like becoming this man's concubine was quite competitive? Wouldn't this Fire Fox secretly catch and eat it when no one was looking?

The Moon Rabbit glanced around, feeling that everyone was hard to deal with, and finally hid behind Wang Anye, curling up.

Two incense sticks later.

When Liu Ruolan and Wang Lilong returned, they were once again the picture of a loving mother and filial daughter.

"Did mother hit you too hard?" Liu Ruolan asked with heartache, gently rubbing Wang Lilong's wounds, "It's all mother's fault, I was too heavy-handed."

"No, no, it's all for the child's good," Wang Lilong affectionately snuggled against her mother.

From now on, this young lady will never go to that ghostly Shuiyue Pavilion again, no matter how fiercely father and mother fight, she'll just pretend not to hear.

Fortunately, Ji Wuchen returned after tidying up the formation, finally resolving the current predicament.

"Eh, isn't this a Moon Rabbit?" Ji Wuchen looked at the plump, snow-white rabbit with surprise, "I didn't expect to find a Moon Rabbit in such a remote place outside our Han Yue Immortal Dynasty."

"Could it be that I've been dead for too long, and the world has changed too quickly... Have Moon Rabbits migrated to the Great Qian?"

This way of speaking made Wang Shouzhe somewhat uncomfortable. What did he mean by being dead for too long? Normal people wouldn't say such lines, right?

But Ji Wuchen was indeed not a normal person.

To avenge himself, he dared to go on an assassination mission in an enemy country alone back then, his thinking was not like ordinary people.

Anyway, if Wang Shouzhe were in the same situation, he definitely wouldn't be so reckless.

He would most likely first investigate the enemy's detailed information, and if he could use one force against another to eliminate the enemy, that would be best. If not, he would consider whether he could uproot the entire enemy force, once and for all...

"Master, is Sister Moon Rabbit very rare?" Seventh Young Master Wang Anye curiously examined the snow-white rabbit.

"Naturally, it's very rare," Ji Wuchen stroked his white beard, explaining kindly and patiently, "The Moon Rabbit's color is too conspicuous, its combat power is weak, and it's picky about food, making it difficult to survive in the wild. So, wild Moon Rabbits are almost extinct now."

"However, although Moon Rabbits aren't strong in combat, they excel at cultivating medicinal herbs and have a natural sensitivity to the properties of spiritual medicines. The herbs they cultivate are of higher quality than those of ordinary spiritual plant masters. Some special varieties of spiritual medicines can only be cultivated by Moon Rabbits. Nowadays, the Immortal Court's Hundred Herb Garden keeps a group of Moon Rabbits specifically for cultivating spiritual medicines."

"In addition, in the wild, Moon Rabbits are also excellent at finding spiritual medicines, rarely missing a precious herb."

Ji Wuchen's knowledge was evidently extensive, speaking eloquently about Moon Rabbits.

He even told Wang Anye a story: "It's said that back in the day, the Holy Emperor of the Shenwu Royal Dynasty had an immortal concubine whose pet was a Moon Rabbit, and she was very fond of it. The Moon Rabbits kept in the Immortal Court today are said to be descendants of that Moon Rabbit."

Wang Anye nodded earnestly, indicating he remembered, then naturally asked, "Are Moon Rabbits tasty?"

Hearing this, the Moon Rabbit shivered, looking at Wang Anye with wide, frightened eyes.

Ji Wuchen's eyelid twitched as he scrutinized Wang Anye, only to find him looking innocent and pure, as if he had just asked a perfectly reasonable question, not realizing how cruel it was.

Ji Wuchen was speechless but still nodded, "Delicious. And very nourishing."

It was obvious that since Moon Rabbits liked to eat spiritual medicines, their bodies naturally accumulated a lot of medicinal power. Plus, rabbit meat was inherently tender and smooth, making it naturally delicious.

Back in the day, he had a "friend" who was very curious about the taste of Moon Rabbit. One night, he sneaked into the Hundred Herb Garden and stole a rabbit, only to be chased for thousands of miles by the garden's overseer wielding a hoe, nearly missing the next day's sunrise.

The Moon Rabbit looked at Ji Wuchen in horror, then at Wang Anye, and quietly moved its butt further away from Wang Anye, its heart weeping.

Auntie Yao Yao, this world is so dangerous, it really wants to go home...

At this moment, Wang Shouzhe's voice suddenly rang out.

"Rabbit, can you really cultivate spiritual medicines?" Wang Shouzhe asked, looking at it, "Can you cultivate Zhu Guo?"

The Moon Rabbit nodded frantically as if granted amnesty.

Yes! Of course, it can! Not only can it cultivate Zhu Guo, but it can cultivate many spiritual medicines!

At this point, the matter of being a concubine was no longer important; preserving its life was the most crucial.

"As long as you can cultivate them." Wang Shouzhe nodded, then asked, "Would you be willing to stay with the Wang Clan and help us cultivate spiritual medicines?"

The Moon Rabbit nodded quickly.

What a joke, would it dare say no? Didn't it see that fox staring at it intently? If it dared say no, that fox would surely be the first to suggest eating it!

"As long as you're willing. Then you can stay in our Wang Clan's medicine garden and help cultivate spiritual medicines. As long as you work well for us, the Wang Clan won't treat you poorly. You'll understand this once you interact more with our clan's spiritual beasts."

Wang Shouzhe patted the Moon Rabbit's big ears, comforting it with a few words.

He could tell that this Moon Rabbit wasn't lacking in intelligence and could clearly understand human speech, even if it couldn't speak itself.

He felt a bit regretful.

It's said that rabbits reproduce quickly, but unfortunately, this big rabbit was alone. If there were more, they could pair up and reproduce, and it wouldn't be long before there was a whole group. By then, placing one in each spiritual field would be quite convenient.

Oh well~ One is better than none~

Senior Ji Wuchen had said that wild Moon Rabbits were already extremely rare, so encountering one was already considered lucky. He decided to let it stay in the Wang Clan's largest medicine garden.

Although Wang Shouzhe promised not to treat it poorly, under the watchful gaze of Fire Fox Ancestor Yuwen Chi Wei, the Moon Rabbit still felt insecure.

To demonstrate its value, it diligently led the family guards to gather a large pile of spiritual medicines, finally feeling a bit more at ease.

During this time, another group of family guards had already dug up the explosives they had buried, which Wang Anye then stuffed back into his storage ring. The Boundless Treasure Ring was full of resentment, complaining about how the tiger wasn't strong enough, why it couldn't hold on a bit longer, why it didn't wait for the explosives to go off before dying.

Unfortunately, no matter how much it resented, there was nothing it could do.

Meanwhile, with the efforts of the family guards, the Golden Tiger King's body had finally been dismembered into many parts. The tiger skin, tiger bones, tiger blood were all sorted and packed, and the tiger meat alone weighed over ten thousand pounds, filling several carts to the brim.

This was the meat of a seventh-rank fierce beast, highly beneficial for the cultivation of Basalt cultivators, a valuable commodity with no market. After all, domesticated seventh-rank great demons were usually clan guardian spiritual beasts, unlikely to be killed for meat, and wild seventh-rank great demons weren't easy to encounter. Didn't the Wang Clan only encounter one seventh-rank great demon after exploring thousands of miles into the outer regions?

The pair of "golden wings" on the Golden Tiger King's back was the most valuable part of its demon body.

These golden wings were a manifestation of the Golden Tiger King's bloodline power, retaining a small portion of its divine power, making them excellent materials for crafting flying feather spirit treasures and Purple Mansion artifacts, with a material value exceeding a million.

During this busy period, the team led by Luo Jing and Luo Qiu also returned.

Luo Jing and Luo Qiu walked at the front, their faces beaming with satisfaction, clearly having enjoyed the battle.

The family guards dragged several large fierce beast corpses behind them, the heavy bodies leaving deep tracks in the wet mud.

The Golden Tiger King had five subordinates: a sixth-rank Giant Horned White Jade Rhinoceros, a fifth-rank Red-striped Black Python, a fifth-rank Diamond Stone Ape, a fifth-rank Blazing Fire Luan Bird, and a Dark Moon Shadow Leopard, all now reduced to corpses.

The five fierce beast corpses together, with their massive demon bodies, were quite a sight to behold.

However, Wang Shouzhe didn't pay much attention to these. He first observed Luo Jing and Luo Qiu, seeing that they only had some scratches and no serious injuries, he praised them a few times for being obedient.

They were family, and Wang Shouzhe didn't want his own people to be too reckless, risking their lives at every turn.

After treating the two of them, he instructed the family guards to continue dismembering the corpses.

Although fifth and sixth-rank fierce beast meat wasn't as precious and rare as seventh-rank, it was still valuable, and many materials from their bodies were also good stuff, like the horn of the Giant Horned White Jade Rhinoceros, the skin of the Red-striped Black Python, the feathers of the Blazing Fire Luan Bird, and the skin of the Dark Moon Shadow Leopard, all excellent materials for crafting.

With Wang Shouzhe's meticulous nature, he wouldn't miss out on such opportunities.

Having developed the outer regions for so long, the family guards were already skilled at these tasks, adeptly dismembering the corpses. Their faces were filled with happy smiles.

After all, with such a big harvest this time, the family head would surely reward them with extra contribution points. Once back, they might finally be able to buy those good things they had been hesitating over.

After dealing with the fierce beast corpses, Wang Shouzhe personally led a team to the Golden Tiger King's lair. As expected, they found not only many valuable items but also discovered a large high-grade spiritual vein deep in the cave.

Seventh-rank great demons required a lot of spiritual energy to cultivate and advance, so they usually occupied the best spiritual veins in the area. The Golden Tiger King was no exception.

Therefore, Wang Shouzhe had initially speculated that there must be a high-grade spiritual vein near the Golden Tiger King's lair.

Unfortunately, this high-grade spiritual vein was a Geng Metal vein, where few plants could survive in such a concentrated Geng Metal spiritual energy environment. However, it was a good place for Wang Shouzhe to cultivate combat-oriented exotic spiritual plants.

Additionally, based on Wang Shouzhe's experience, there were likely metal deposits near the Geng Metal vein.

The previous small copper mine was also discovered by tracing the spiritual vein's direction.

He immediately dispatched family guards to expand the search area, looking for possible metal deposits, and arranged for someone to send a message back to the clan, organizing a prospecting team with professional mining equipment previously purchased from the Gongye Clan to conduct a detailed survey of the surrounding geological conditions, to avoid missing potential deposits.

As a result of this investigation, no metal deposits were immediately found, but several intersecting small to medium-sized spiritual veins were discovered in the lake and surrounding areas at the foot of the mountain. Although these veins weren't high-grade, their quantity was advantageous, and if utilized well, they could develop quite a bit of spiritual farmland and be used for aquaculture, making it a significant gain.

Of course, these were plans for later.

For now, the most important task for Wang Shouzhe was to find the Shenwu Royal Dynasty's training camp.

Therefore, after surveying the area, confirming the detailed situation, and marking it on the map, Wang Shouzhe and his group continued to advance deeper into the outer regions.

The family guard team was sent back, carrying most of the spoils back to the clan.

The Wang Clan continued to forge ahead.

Crossing the ridge, they were greeted by a vast expanse of rolling mountains.

Wang Shouzhe compared the map, confident that if the position given by the recruitment point's Spirit Artifact was correct, combined with the modern surveyed map, it should be nearby.

This mountain range covered a large area, connecting with the peaks beneath their feet and extending into the surging sea of clouds in the distance. Spiritual birds could be seen faintly flying in the mountains, appearing perfectly normal at first glance.

However, within these mountains, there were a few areas that seemed a bit blurry, with a semi-transparent quality. Through the hazy light and shadow, a corner of a grand building seemed to be visible.

"Formation?"

Almost instinctively, Wang Shouzhe immediately reacted.

It was like a modern military camp, camouflaged to avoid detection by enemy satellites. Some ground-to-air missile vehicles even changed locations after firing a shot to prevent the enemy from tracing the launch point and delivering a crippling blow.

The Shenwu Royal Dynasty's training camp likely used a formation for similar camouflage.

But over the long years, the formation had gone without maintenance, resulting in defects, which revealed a flaw before them.

Sure enough.

Not far ahead, the [Shenwu Army Token] on Wang Shouzhe and the others began to emit a faint glow.

Several streams of light soared into the sky, quickly disappearing into the "mountains" ahead.

The next moment, the light and shadow ahead shifted, and the formation's camouflage at the base of the "mountains" slowly dissipated, revealing a grand silver-gray metal gate.

The gate was painted with mysterious green patterns using an unknown paint, with energy flowing through them, exuding an invisible aura, seemingly possessing some special power.

In the center of the gate, a raised metal relief took the shape of a dragon's head, with antlers and long whiskers, majestic and imposing.

Sensing the approach of Wang Shouzhe and the others, the golden eyes made of unknown crystals embedded in the metal relief flickered and finally lit up slowly.

"The Shenwu Army truly lives up to its reputation as the core force of the Shenwu Royal Dynasty. Even a regular training camp under its command can maintain basic operation after ten thousand years without maintenance, albeit with some defects. The formation master who set up this formation must have been incredibly powerful."

Suspended beside Wang Anye, Ji Wuchen's form emerged from the "Years" as he watched the scene, unable to help but feel a surge of emotion.

Among those present, he had the highest level of formation expertise, and his understanding of the formation level displayed by this military camp was naturally deeper than the others.

Back in the day, he had exhausted all his efforts to set up a formation to leave behind a legacy, and even with regular maintenance in his spiritual form, it had only lasted a few thousand years before starting to deteriorate.

Yet here, it had persisted for a full ten thousand years...

The difference in skill was like night and day.

Wang Shouzhe had insisted on bringing his great-grandson Wang Anye along, even at the cost of neglecting his studies, mainly because he valued the formation skills of Spirit Artifact Ji Wuchen. After all, a formation master at the late Divine Realm was a rare talent even in the entire Great Qian.

"Senior Ji," Wang Shouzhe always treated Ji Wuchen with respect, "Do you think this formation can be broken?"

"Well..." Ji Wuchen replied with some embarrassment, "The gap between me and the creator of this formation is like the gap between Lu Xiaoxiao and me, as vast as the difference between heaven and earth."

"..." Wang Shouzhe was speechless. Did my cousin Lu Xiaoxiao offend you? She's currently the top formation master in Changning Garrison, and one of the best in the southern six garrisons.

"However, given that this formation hasn't been maintained for ten thousand years," Ji Wuchen observed the surroundings carefully, pondering, "if given enough time to slowly crack it, there's hope of breaking it. If that doesn't work, we can have Anye give it a try."

"That's true, having Anye around is reassuring," Wang Shouzhe agreed.

Wang Anye widened his innocent eyes, "Great-grandfather and Master, are you two being serious and childish? My understanding of formations hasn't even reached the threshold, and you're asking me to crack a formation from ten thousand years ago?"

At such a young age, was he really expected to bear such a heavy responsibility?

While everyone was discussing how to break the formation, suddenly, a cold female voice emanated from the dragon-head-shaped metal relief, "Warning, warning, unknown intruders, please cease your malicious attempts to break the formation. Otherwise, our Shenwu Army guards have the right to arrest or expel you."

"As expected, there's a Spirit Artifact, and it's still functional," Wang Shouzhe breathed a slight sigh of relief. Logically, if the Shenwu Royal Dynasty's recruitment point had a Spirit Artifact, and the blood nest base had one too, then surely the Shenwu Royal Dynasty's military training camp would have a Spirit Artifact in charge?

The only concern Wang Shouzhe had was that over ten thousand years, anything could have happened, and the Spirit Artifact might have perished.

"You're the one who's dead," the cold female voice inside carried a hint of anger, "Even though I'm just a Spirit Artifact, I have dignity too. Insulting a Spirit Artifact in the military camp is punishable. This is the Shenwu Army's New Recruit Training Camp No. 5, unauthorized personnel should retreat immediately."

This Spirit Artifact was indeed of a higher level, much stronger than the one at the recruitment point.

"Spirit Artifact, we are not unauthorized personnel," Wang Shouzhe produced the elite soldier token, "We are here to participate in the Shenwu Army's training."

"Elite soldier token?" The Spirit Artifact muttered something before emitting a light that enveloped the token, "Beep, soul wave matches the token, detected as a legitimate reserve elite soldier token granted by [Recruitment Point No. 37] Spirit Artifact, token holder's name: [Wang Shouzhe], gender: [male], age: [26], cultivation: [Peak Qi Refining Realm], contribution points: [0]."

"Wait, how did your cultivation reach the Celestial Realm?" The Spirit Artifact questioned.

"I was delayed for a while on the way... arrived a bit late," Wang Shouzhe replied.

"How long were you delayed?" The Spirit Artifact's voice sounded suspicious, "I hope you answer truthfully, otherwise, this Spirit Artifact has the right to deny you entry into the new recruit training camp."

"Delayed for sixty-four years..." Wang Shouzhe answered truthfully.

"..." The Spirit Artifact was speechless for a moment before saying, "According to the training camp regulations, unless there are special circumstances, being late for three years is considered voluntary forfeiture, and you would be held accountable for desertion."

"Of course, there are special circumstances," Wang Shouzhe said irritably, "Although it's only over ten thousand miles, the road was full of fierce beasts, including fifth and sixth ranks, and even a seventh-rank great demon blocking the way. It took us sixty-four years to fight our way through, which is already short."

"Fierce beasts? You mean bio-beasts?" The Spirit Artifact questioned, "From Recruitment Point No. 37, the distance isn't far, and there are patrols maintaining order along the way. Could there have been another bio-beast riot? Do you have evidence?"

"Here, this is the Heavenly Recording Disk, I just recorded the battle with the seventh-rank great demon not long ago," Wang Shouzhe showed the recording to the Spirit Artifact, "That place is only three thousand miles from here, do you think I could have passed through at the Qi Refining Realm? Wouldn't I need to cultivate to fight my way through?"

In fact, Wang Shouzhe had always been worried about being denied recognition as an elite soldier due to being late. Therefore, he had prepared a reason and evidence in advance.

Typically, Spirit Artifacts were quite procedural, and if there were penalties for being late, there would surely be exceptions.

"How could there be a wild bio-beast blocking incident? Reserve Elite Soldier Wang Shouzhe, you can file a complaint with the relevant department about this and seek compensation," the Spirit Artifact suggested, accepting the reason, "According to the new recruit reporting time management regulations, if there are unavoidable delays, the reporting time can be extended, so your reason is valid."

"Reserve Elite Soldier Wang Shouzhe, welcome to the [Shenwu Army New Recruit Training Camp No. 5]. Other family members accompanying you can rest in the family guesthouse for no more than ten days, after which they must leave on their own."

The Spirit Artifact at the Shenwu Army Recruitment Point No. 37 addressed elite soldiers with honorifics, but here, there was no such preferential treatment.

"Wait, we have more than one person signing up," Wang Shouzhe pulled his wife Liu Ruolan and gestured to Wang Luojing and Wang Luo Qiu.

"Reserve Elite Soldier Liu Ruolan, welcome to...""Reserve Elite Soldier Wang Luojing...""Reserve Elite Soldier Wang Luo Qiu..."

The four reserve elite soldiers didn't seem to excite the Spirit Artifact much. After all, it was just a Spirit Artifact, and perhaps it had seen many such cases. Wang Shouzhe believed that while elite soldiers had some status in the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, they weren't particularly rare.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have been given the title of "soldier"!

However, the Wang Clan had more than just these few who obtained reserve elite soldier qualifications, including Wang Liyao and Wang Zong'an. Originally, Wang Zong'an's bloodline was high-grade C-level, just short of passing the fourth level, but he had a stroke of luck, having his bloodline enhanced by the Longevity Tree to low-grade D-level.

With the low-grade D-level bloodline, Wang Zong'an didn't rush to break through to the Lingtai Realm but instead attempted the fourth level again. With peak Qi Refining Realm and three layers of Yimu bloodline, he easily passed.

Unfortunately, Wang Zong'an didn't receive any prizes or treasures in the third and fourth levels.

However, the Spirit Artifact at Recruitment Point No. 37 promised to make up for the rewards once they reached the new recruit training camp.

The Wang Clan had many prodigies, but many no longer had the opportunity to participate. Even if they did, it would be difficult. Normally, prodigies could pass the third level relatively easily.

But passing the fourth level required either a strong combat prodigy or a great prodigy.

Wang Shouzhe speculated that during the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, unless a prodigy was particularly weak, they would normally pass the fourth level. After all, the dynasty was so advanced, with better combat experience and techniques, even Basalt Battle Techniques were superior to now.

The fourth level at the recruitment point was based on the combat power of an ordinary prodigy from the Shenwu Royal Dynasty.

Therefore, Wang Shouzhe said to the Spirit Artifact, "Miss Spirit Artifact, we have a clan member who obtained the war soldier qualification. However, he is a hidden gem, with a bloodline level reaching prodigy, but his Basalt Battle Technique wasn't well-practiced during the test. I wonder if we can retest in the military camp?"

"What's a prodigy?" The Spirit Artifact was puzzled. Apparently, during the Shenwu Royal Dynasty, there was no such concept as prodigy or not."That refers to those with superior bloodline aptitude who awaken two levels of bloodline at the Qi Refining Realm," Wang Shouzhe explained.

"So, it's a superior bloodline. Hmm, normally those with a superior bloodline can reach the level of elite soldiers. If they can't pass the test, there must be some deficiency," the Spirit Artifact said seriously. "According to the rules, we can't make exceptions for such people."

"Here's the situation." Wang Shouzhe knew this Spirit Artifact was reasonable, so he explained again, "Mainly, we come from a poor family. Although we have some talent, we haven't received proper training, which makes our combat power weaker than others. Alas, it's all because our family is too poor... it delayed the child's progress."

Wang Zongchang, standing to the side, was sweating profusely. Fourth Uncle was even trying to deceive the Spirit Artifact to get him an opportunity.

If other families heard about their 'poverty,' they'd be furious enough to spit blood.

However, to cooperate with Fourth Uncle, Wang Zongchang put on a pitiful expression: "Yes, yes, Spirit Artifact Young Lady, our family is really poor."

"Being poor is no excuse. Our Shenwu Royal Dynasty implements compulsory education for all civilians, with resources subsidized by local governments. It's definitely because you didn't work hard. With a superior bloodline, you still couldn't pass the elite soldier qualification test," the Spirit Artifact Young Lady's voice sounded somewhat disappointed, "I won't make an exception for someone like you who doesn't try."

An exception?

Wang Shouzhe heard this and thought there might be a chance. As long as the Spirit Artifact Young Lady had the authority to make exceptions, he said immediately, "Spirit Artifact, here's the situation. You see, we have several talented children in our family, and their daily cultivation consumes a lot. The resources from local government subsidies aren't enough. So Zongchang, for the sake of those of us with better aptitude, went out to work and earn money to support our cultivation at a young age. Didn't that delay his own cultivation? Look at him, his face is so tanned. Alas, he used to be a handsome child."

Fourth Uncle... Wang Zongchang felt a bit melancholy. I'm tanned because I've been exploring the wilderness, contributing to the family, okay? Besides, being tanned is a healthy skin tone.

"He is a bit tanned and rough, indeed seems to have been through some hardships," the Spirit Artifact Young Lady began to relent, "A retest isn't impossible, after all, there have been precedents... but according to the rules, the difficulty of the test must be increased."

"No problem, no problem, as long as Young Lady can give me a chance to retake the test," Wang Zongchang was overjoyed. Back then, he couldn't pass the fourth level because he was too young and didn't have good techniques.

Over the years, he had been honing himself in the wilderness, walking the line between life and death. His mystical skills and combat techniques were extraordinary, and the family had even managed to get him a superior wind technique.

Even if the difficulty was greater, he was confident he could pass. Even if he didn't, at least he tried and wouldn't have regrets.

"Alright, seeing your efforts for your siblings, I'll give you a chance to retake the elite soldier test. I hope you seize it well," the Spirit Artifact encouraged.

"Spirit Artifact Sister, we have another hidden gem in our family," Wang Shouzhe pulled over the somewhat shy Ancestor Long Yan.

"..." The Spirit Artifact was stunned, seemingly frozen for a moment, then said quietly, "Reserve elite soldier Wang Shouzhe, may I ask how many hidden gems your family has?"

"There are still some hidden gems who haven't come, but let's not mention them for now. Alas, this is our family's ancestor. Back then..." Wang Shouzhe embellished Ancestor Long Yan's background, truly moving listeners to tears and breaking hearts.

"Later advanced to the Celestial Realm dao body? Then there's no need for a retest," when Wang Shouzhe reached the crucial point, the Spirit Artifact interrupted impatiently, "If true, and under two hundred years old, there's no need for the elite soldier retest. Go directly to the [Provisional Captain] assessment."

"..." Wang Shouzhe was speechless. So great prodigies had such privileges, skipping even the retest.

Provisional Captain? That sounded like a higher rank than elite soldier.

"Spirit Artifact Young Lady, what is a Provisional Captain?" Wang Shouzhe asked.

"A Captain is a mid-to-high-level officer in the Shenwu Army, mostly held by those in the Divine Realm. A Provisional Captain refers to young talents whose theoretical bloodline aptitude can reach the Captain level," the Spirit Artifact explained.

Only those in the Divine Realm could be Captains... The Shenwu Royal Dynasty at its peak was indeed unimaginably powerful.

Wang Shouzhe was about to reveal his identity, that he too was a Provisional Captain-level talent, when the Spirit Artifact interrupted, urging, "Alright, alright, let's not mention other things for now. Let's go inside first. Activating the formation consumes a lot of energy. New recruits, please note, family members must stay within the family quarters. As for your biochemical beast pets, you need to take care of them yourselves. Please ensure they don't relieve themselves anywhere, damaging the environment."

Biochemical beast pets?

Relieve themselves anywhere?

Fire Fox Ancestor: "..."

Moon Rabbit: "..."

Wang Lilong roared, "Awoo awoo, you're the biochemical beast, you're the one who relieves themselves anywhere."

...

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