Astral Apostle

Huyang, Azure Water Stronghold.

Tan Peng and the other leaders had gathered and were meeting the Imperial Court's envoy once again.

"… Chief Tan, these are the benefits of accepting a recruitment. What do you think?"

The envoy cupped his hands and said in a deep voice.

Tan Peng patted his bald head and said mockingly, "The Imperial Court is still the same. They want people to work for them just because they're given some fake official titles. I'm not a fan of being an official. I hate those officials the most in my life. I want to strangle each and every one that I see. Don't even think about me joining the Imperial Court!"

The envoy suppressed his anger and said, "There can't be two tigers in one mountain. You and Chen Feng have already become water and fire. Isn't it a good thing to have the help of the Imperial Court? I wonder why Chief Tan is so resistant. Even a Green Forest overlord like the Heavenly King Stronghold of Northern Yan was also recruited a few days ago. This is the righteous path."

When Tan Peng heard this, his expression immediately darkened. He slapped the armrest of the chair and spat out a mouthful of thick phlegm as he cursed out,

"Bullsh*t! I originally thought that the Heavenly King Stronghold of Northern Yan was a place where heroic people resided, but I didn't expect it to be a group of ball-less things. The Imperial Court threw a few pieces of meat and bones, and immediately imitated dogs to bark in response, going so far as to go up to lick people's butts. They immediately turned around and bit the brothers of the Green Forest which they've lived their whole lives in. How dare you to compare me to this group of rats?"

In June, the Heavenly King Stronghold of Northern Yan was publicly recruited. The Chief, Lu Longchuan, entered the capital with a group of important leaders and received an imperial edict as a reward. Then, he began to help the Imperial Court pacify the bandits in Northern Yan and Eastern Tai.

This matter caused a huge commotion on the Green Forest. There were people who despised them, and there were also people who envied them. For a moment, the name of the Heavenly King Stronghold became one of mixed reactions… No matter what, since they had joined the Imperial Court, no one would call them the overlord of the Green Forest anymore.

At that time, although the battle in Huyang was intense, they had also received news. Tan Peng was the kind of person who despised the actions of the Heavenly King Stronghold.

At this moment, a leader beside him could not sit still anymore. He twisted his body and coughed to smooth things over.

"The reason why the Heavenly King Stronghold was recruited might be to seek a way out for the brothers in the stronghold. It might not be because they're greedy for fame and fortune… Besides, that Chen Feng himself is basically equivalent to three armies. We also need assistance."

At the mention of Chen Feng, many of the leaders present revealed fearful expressions.

They had been fighting Chen Feng for more than a month and thought that they could take advantage of the situation, but they were forced back time and time again. They had all seen Chen Feng's strength with their own eyes.

Every time they remembered the scene of Chen Feng overturning the seas on the battlefield, the leaders would feel a lingering fear.

When Tan Peng heard this, he snorted, "What's so good about being recruited? Didn't you see what happened to Wan Chunyang?"

Wasn't that your fault!

The corners of the mouths of the leaders twitched.

Wan Chunyang had also suffered much wrongs. Before he was stabbed in the back by his teammates and cut down by Chen Feng as a sacrifice, the person he hated the most before he died was probably not Chen Feng, but you!

However, the winner takes all. As the party who had taken advantage of the situation, everyone naturally would not speak up for Wan Chunyang. They could only blame this person for being too stupid to actually dare to trust his teammates. Perhaps he felt that since the Imperial Court was backing him up, there was nothing to worry about.

The Imperial Court's envoy gritted his teeth and bowed, "I hope Chief Tan will reconsider…"

Tan Peng interrupted him and said firmly, "Don't mention the recruitment again."

A dark look flashed across the eyes of the Imperial Court's envoy.

This fellow still did not wish to accept the Imperial Court even now. He did not even dare to think about what this person would do in the future!

The expressions of the leaders changed, but they still held back their words.

Seeing this, the envoy of the Imperial Court came up with a plan. Without batting an eyelid, he stood up and said, "Chief Tan, you have too deep a prejudice against the Imperial Court. Since you're unwilling to be recruited, I won't stay any longer. If your stronghold changes your mind, the Imperial Court is still willing to accept you anytime."

With that, he bade farewell and was led away by the lackeys.

After the outsiders left, a leader finally could not help but ask,

"Chief, if we don't get recruited, won't the Imperial Court take advantage of us if we fight Chen Feng in the future?"

Tan Peng snorted, "Then is there no need to fight Chen Feng to the death just because we get recruited? The Imperial Court will still benefit either way."

"This statement is not entirely accurate. If our vitality is greatly damaged, the Imperial Court might send troops to exterminate us. If we're recruited, the Imperial Court won't deal with their own people… We can also imitate our predecessors and make a contribution to the court and become governors."

"Naive! I've made up my mind. I won't curry favor with those officials. Don't mention this again."

Tan Peng waved his hand to interrupt, not wanting to argue.

The leaders could only shut up and look at each other with uncertain expressions.

...

On the other side.

After Chen Feng's troops repelled Tan Peng, they retreated to the stronghold and began to reorganize, absorbing the surrendered soldiers and replenishing their troops.

Most of the soldiers did not have the intention to rather die than submit. Moreover, Chen Feng's martial prowess suppressed the current era, and he was a famous figure. It was not embarrassing to submit to him, so the recruitment work went quite smoothly and quickly had results.

Compared to a few months ago, the number of troops under Chen Feng's command had increased instead of decreasing. It could be said that he was nurturing himself through battle.

However, these surrendered soldiers needed to be trained, and the original soldiers also needed to rest. At the same time, the supplies needed to be stockpiled again, so no one was in a hurry to start another war and focused on recuperating.

On this day, Zhou Jing and the leaders stood on the cliff, looking down at the lake to inspect the scene of the navy.

The thousand sails moved, and the fleet of warships kept changing formations according to the instructions of the flag. It was quite methodical.

"Not bad."

Zhou Jing nodded to himself as he analyzed the situation.

The current soldiers under him could not be considered elite soldiers, but their successive victories had caused their morale to soar. They were all soldiers who dared to fight, so they were no longer considered weak.

In the past few months, he had captured many warships belonging to the state army as well. He had all kinds of naval weapons at his disposal, and the army was mainly composed of sailors. They were quite outstanding in naval warfare and were ranked among the top in the world.

However, due to the fact that there were only one combat type, his troops' combat standards were relatively ordinary on land, and they basically did not have any cavalry. It was not easy to use them after leaving a place like Huyang that was covered in water.

With the current strength of the army, it was fine to defend Huyang, but it was not suitable to fight elsewhere.

Zhou Jing also knew this problem very well. He could only slowly train to solve it. This was a problem that could not be rushed.

In his plan, after monopolizing Huyang, he would accumulate food and build high walls. After making sufficient preparations, he would find a reason to rebel, so he had plenty of time to nurture soldiers and leaders.

It was just nice that he could use the time to slowly seep and ferment his influence. At the same time, he could still develop steadily.

In addition, the people from the various sects who were imprisoned had already finished writing the secret manuals and handed them over.

After Zhou Jing confirmed the authenticity of the manuals, he fulfilled the agreement and let them leave with their faces covered in dust.

The secret manuals of the various sects were all in his hands now. Not only did he provide them to his soldiers, but he also sent people to teach the nearby villagers and spread them fearlessly… These might all be his source of soldiers in the future. Martial arts training was not something that could be done in a day, so it was a good opportunity to plant seeds and nurture them first.

The people who were most enthusiastic about martial arts secret manuals were naturally the wandering cultivators of the martial world. They ignored Zhou Jing's reputation as an evil cultivator and swarmed over to seek knowledge.

Zhou Jing did not refuse anyone. He chose an island in the Yueshan Lake for the people of the martial world to stay on. For a moment, it became a holy land of martial arts that was passed down by word of mouth among the people of the martial world. There were constantly people coming over to discuss martial arts and spar, forgetting to eat and sleep.

Although most of them had mediocre aptitude, these people actually showed signs of innovating and improving on the martial arts of the various sects.

The various sects watched helplessly as their ultimate techniques were leaked. They were heartbroken, but there was nothing they could do. With the intention that everyone would take advantage of them and not fall behind, they actually sent people to learn the martial arts of other sects.

The perception of the barrier to entry was forcefully broken, and the entire martial world was swept up. For a moment, there were actually signs of a martial arts era blooming.

In addition, Zhou Jing had already used three [Support Function Upgrades] to upgrade the [Map Radar], [Follower Function], and [Character Level System] when he had returned to the preparation space earlier. Not only did they meet his needs, but this also served as a test on the differences in the upgrade routes of the various support functions.

The [Map Radar] had always been quite practical. After upgrading, its detection range had increased greatly, and its function had been enhanced. Not only could it detect unfamiliar targets, but it could also mark the threat level.

Moreover, according to the introduction, items with special characteristics could also be displayed on the radar. However, Zhou Jing had yet to encounter them so far and did not know what the term "special characteristics" meant.

The upgrade route of the [Map Radar] was clearly to increase the detection range and the richness of the target's information. Zhou Jing could not help but be curious. If he upgraded it a few more times, would he be able to directly distinguish between the natives and foreign explorers one day… It was not impossible, because explorers were contaminated with Astral Energy when they traveled. Perhaps this was a factor that could be detected by the interface.

As for the upgrade of the [Follower Function], as expected, the second follower slot was activated, and the quality of the follower template had increased. If the follower summoned was considered stupid in the past, he was considered a mediocre person now.

The increase in the [Character Level System] was simple and direct. It went from the upper limit of 10 levels to 18. Moreover, the additional attribute range obtained for every level increased from 0 to 2 points to 1 to 3 points. If one's had good luck, the additional bonus at the maximum level would reach over 40. It was enough to allow a single attribute to cross a level, which showcased just how great the additional bonus was.

After this period of battle, Chen Feng's character level had long reached the limit. Now, there was room for him to continue leveling up.

However, the additional attribute points obtained from the previous upgrade would not be enhanced by the support function, so there was no additional attribute compensation. However, it could be made up for. When Chen Feng transformed into an Eternal Apostle and was released again, he could reset the support function.

Because there had been a war for nearly half a year, Zhou Jing would always travel to Chen Feng. Bill could only be left in the fixed placement mode.

However, Zhou Jing did not forget to check the log from time to time. He realized that Bill was doing quite well, having followed the Emperor to the capital and being idle in the Imperial Astronomer Bureau. Because his divine powers were strong and his status was extraordinary, he had always provided pills to the Emperor and the various high-ranking officials and nobles. Therefore, his position was stable and he was still favored.

"The Huyang war isn't over yet. When I'm free in the future, I'll project myself to Bill… However, there's nothing important for me to deal with personally, so it doesn't matter if I neglect his body right now."

Zhou Jing thought to himself.

Just as his thoughts were wandering, a leader in charge of gathering information suddenly ran over and hurriedly reported,

"Chief, I have something urgent to report!"

Zhou Jing came back to his senses and turned to look at him, "What's the matter?"

The leader took a deep breath before speaking.

"Tan Peng is dead!"

"What?"

This news was too sudden. Not only Zhou Jing, but the other leaders were also stunned.

"What's going on? Tell me in detail!"

Guo Haishen urged.

The leader explained, "Not long ago, I found out that Tan Peng was poisoned and died an unnatural death. The second-in-command of the stronghold could only take over his position and swear to avenge their chief."

Fang Zhen said in surprise, "That's strange. This Tan Peng is staying in his own base camp. How did someone succeed? Who poisoned him?"

Hearing this, the leader had a strange expression as he stammered,

"That group of people released a rumor that our Stronghold Chieftain is like fire and water with them. We must have done such a thing and were afraid that they were too powerful, so we bribed them and poisoned Tan Peng. This rumor has already spread in the Green Forest at the moment…"

"I did it?" Zhou Jing was stunned for a moment before he laughed, "Because I'm the enemy, any dirty water can be poured on me. They can all casually frame me, right?"

Fang Zhen said firmly, "My second brother won't do such a thing. There must have been an internal strife in Tan Peng Stronghold and someone snatched away his power. It's just that I don't know the reason… The second-in-command who took over is the most suspicious."

Guo Haishen sighed, "It's a pity about this Tan Peng. He has just grown stronger, but he was secretly harmed before his throne was even warmed up."

Du Ying's eyes lit up as he immediately offered,

"This matter is strange. The hearts of the enemy are fluctuating, so we can split up and rope them in. Moreover, the enemy leader has just died, so there will definitely be chaos internally. This is a heaven-sent opportunity. Time waits for no man!"

Zhou Jing narrowed his eyes and said decisively, "Men, follow me!"

He had originally planned to train the army until around October before fighting Tan Peng, but he did not expect the enemy to suddenly reveal a flaw. He could only be rude and grab onto this chance.

If he seized this opportunity to attack, he might be able to achieve twice the results with half the effort.