June 5th.

Grain in Ear.

Deep within the stronghold of Daze Mountain, currently residing are the villagers from several villages outside Pingting County, who are the families of the first batch of Divine Brave Guard, later called the direct lineage of Immortal Master Chen.

Sun Meng, Lu Yuan, and a group of martial artists, along with the families of craftsmen, also live in the stronghold, with focused protection.

Others who joined later have all been arranged to reside in the city.

The 1,400 Defense Army prisoners trained by Gao Yuming, with over 300 showing excellent results, have now officially filled the ranks of the Divine Brave Guard.

At the rear of the stronghold.

An arrow shot forth from the bowstring like a brown lightning, heavily embedding itself into a pine tree a hundred steps away.

"Snap..."

Instantly, a crisp sound of the tree splitting was heard, followed by a loud crash as the waist-thick pine tree fell to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

[Name: Chen Mo.]

[Age: 17.]

[Cultivation Technique: Purple Sun Transformation Skill (Proficient 121.8/10000).]

[Realm: Qi Absorption (Fifth Grade).]

[Power: 712+36.]

[Skills: Great Sun Qi Slash (Basic 397288/5000000), Cloud-Chasing Arrow (Basic 4828/5000).]

"Good." At the moment the tree fell, cheers erupted from behind Chen Mo.

"Immortal Master Chen, Divine Shooter!"

"Immortal Master Chen, powerful!"

"Well shot."

Hu Qiang, Hu Zhiyong, and nearly 300 other archers gazed at Chen Mo with admiration.

Chen Mo put down the strong bow, and someone stepped forward to take it from him as he exhaled lightly: "This is the Wind-Chasing Arrow. Study hard, and if you encounter any difficulty, ask Captain Hu. If even Captain Hu doesn't know, let him come ask me."

During this period of training, 300 archers were selected from nearly 2,000 Divine Brave Guard.

Ten days ago, Chen Mo first taught the Wind-Chasing Arrow to Hu Qiang, Hu Zhiyong, Hu Tie, and two others. Three days ago, he taught it to all archers.

Chen Mo doesn't expect them to master it, but even grasping some basics can significantly improve accuracy, which will aid in future battles.

"Yes." The crowd responded in unison.

"Continue practicing." Chen Mo noticed Wang Ping approaching with Zhang Xiaolou, the shopkeeper who had previously crafted two Tang Blades for him.

After the arms factory was established, Chen Mo promoted Zhang Xiaolou to chief engineer to oversee all craftsmen, with a monthly salary of twenty thousand coins.

This amount was high because Zhang Xiaolou's blacksmith shop previously had a net profit of nearly ten thousand coins each month.

Skilled craftsmen, naturally, must be hired at high prices.

"Is the Bright Armor finished?" Chen Mo looked at the dozen people following Wang Ping, each carrying a tray.

"Indeed, County Magistrate, you're indeed insightful." Zhang Xiaolou flattered Chen Mo.

Wang Ping, on the other hand, said with great distress: "County Magistrate, the cost for this entire set of armor is nearly forty thousand coins, spending so much money is just too wasteful."

After becoming the Clerk of the Government Office's Household Department, Wang Ping changed his title for Chen Mo from Immortal Master to County Magistrate, as did Zhao Daoxian.

Wang Ping, who held the financial authority of the entire county, kept track of every expenditure, and spending nearly forty thousand coins on just one suit of armor bled his heart dry, thinking of how much grain could be bought instead.

Strategically, he lacked foresight, failing to realize that a soldier wearing such armor might be able to save their life and kill a few more enemies. Instead, he worried that if the armored soldier was killed, the armor would be captured by the enemy, deeming it wasteful.

"Forty thousand coins." This cost surprised Chen Mo, thinking if the entire Divine Brave Guard is to be equipped, wouldn't it cost up to one hundred thousand coins?

"Find someone to wear it and let me see." Chen Mo said.

Wang Ping called over a Divine Brave Guard and had two others help him wear the armor.

Due to the numerous components of the Bright Armor, including the Treasure Crown, Shoulder Swallow, Neck Guard, Shoulder Guard, Chest Plate Armor, Arm Guard, Shin Guards, and Abdominal Mirror Armor totaling sixteen pieces, it was impossible to wear it alone.

Quickly, with assistance, the soldier donned the Bright Armor.

Although this Bright Armor was just experimental and not yet colored, it already looked impressive, far surpassing the plate armor they'd previously captured and, most importantly, covering almost every part of the body with some fatal areas reinforced with iron.

"Walk a few steps and let me see." Chen Mo knew that to evaluate armor, first the ease of movement had to be observed, and then its defensive capabilities.

The soldier felt the weight of the armor but found no difficulty in movement.

Chen Mo raised an eyebrow and instructed, "Run a few laps and let me see."

A training ground was built on the mountain, an open area where Gao Yuming would often lead the soldiers for practice.

As the soldier ran, Chen Mo inquired about the weight of the Bright Armor.

"The whole set weighs thirty-one pounds," Zhang Xiaolou answered.

Historically, a normal leather armor weighs ten pounds, and the Defense Army's plate armor weighs similarly, whereas over twenty pounds is considered heavy armor.

Of course, the term heavy armor does not imply unsuitability for soldiers, as armors weighing over fifty pounds exist. According to Gao Yuming, the step armor worn by the Qingzhou Army weighed sixty pounds, though only personal soldiers could wear such armor.

All in all, for armor weighing over twenty pounds, its defensive capabilities are deemed decent.

"Can this weight be reduced?" Chen Mo asked.

"If you want to reduce it, you can only reduce the accessories," Zhang Xiaolou replied.

Chen Mo thought for a moment and decided to call Gao Yuming, someone knowledgeable in this area, as he didn't understand much about it himself.

Gao Yuming was in the village for training, and upon learning that Chen Mo was looking for him, he rushed over without stopping.

Meanwhile, soldiers wearing Bright Armor were doing deep squats.

Overall, the flexibility of Bright Armor wasn't bad.

After Gao Yuming caught his breath, Chen Mo had him try wearing the Bright Armor and give some suggestions.

After an initial try, Gao Yuming's eyes lit up a bit. "Immortal Master Chen, the protective quality of this armor is outstanding, the best I've seen among all armors, even surpassing Step Armor. It also has high elasticity and resilience."

Obviously, Gao Yuming was quite satisfied with the Bright Armor.

"So, is there any room for improvement?" Chen Mo asked.

"I think this armor uses too much iron, which is prone to rust and has high maintenance costs. It could use red copper as the main material, with iron leaves inside. This would make it more sturdy and lighter," Gao Yuming thought for a moment and said.

"Quick, note it down," Chen Mo looked towards Zhang Xiaolou.

"County Magistrate, red copper is more expensive than raw iron. If we use red copper, the cost will increase significantly," Wang Ping reminded.

"We'll talk about the cost later, let's first create it and see," Chen Mo said. If you want to build a strong army, you can't penny-pinch.

"But..." Wang Ping had a bitter expression, not realizing how expensive things could be until he had firsthand experience. He now desperately wanted to split a copper coin in half to spend.

"Immortal Master Chen, I remember Xia Lin has a red copper mine. Since we joined the Celestial Master Army, maybe we could ask them for some," Gao Yuming suggested.

Before Chen Mo could speak, Wang Ping cursed, "Instructor Gao, don't mention it. Those bastards don't treat us as one of their own. Originally, we sourced coarse salt from Yuan Youchun at forty cents per pound, but now this bastard raised the price to sixty cents. If they know we need red copper, I'm afraid they'll raise the price again."

"Oh, this is news to me." Since Gao Yuming wasn't involved in this area, he wasn't aware of the coarse salt price hike, but he knew the county's main economic source was refining coarse salt into fine salt. He was worried, "Immortal Master Chen, will this affect us?"

Gao Yuming genuinely considered himself part of the village now. During his time here, he felt more alive, receiving respect and admiration.

In Qingzhou Army, the civilians privately called them bumpkins.

Since some members of Qingzhou Army were from the Border Army, there were even people calling them Rebel Army, feeling no hint of respect.

Sometimes he couldn't even grasp the meaning of defending the nation.

"For now, it doesn't affect us," Chen Mo said. They were still making a profit despite the unpleasant behavior of the other side, but he worried they might hike the price again later.

"It's odd why hasn't the Celestial Master Army moved south yet? They've been here quite a long time, it's June now," Gao Yuming wondered.

"If they want to move south, they need to capture Fengzhou, and to capture Fengzhou, they must cross the river. I guess they're building ships, which isn't something that can be completed quickly," Chen Mo said.

After capturing Pingting County, Chen Mo obtained a simple map at the government office. To move south, they must cross the river.

"Then why don't they bypass it and take the land route to the south?" Wang Ping interjected.

"They'd have to detour, and if someone cuts their retreat and supply line, they'd be done for," Gao Yuming replied.

"I'll send Hu Qiang to negotiate with Xia Lin's side, as long as it's lower than the market price, we'll buy," Chen Mo quickly shifted the topic seeing it diverge.

"Understood," Wang Ping and the others replied.

...

After Wang Ping and the others withdrew, Chen Mo continued practicing archery.

[Archery attempts +1, Cloud-Chasing Arrow experience +1.]

Chen Mo carried a quiver on his back with over a hundred arrows inside, saving time as he didn't need to retrieve arrows after shooting them.

Quickly, as the Cloud-Chasing Arrow experience reached (Basic 5000/5000).

A surge of vast memories flooded into Chen Mo's mind. In the memories, he saw a youth training sword under a waterfall, standing atop a peak that towered into the clouds, holding a strong bow, practicing archery with the distant white clouds day in and day out.

The white clouds weren't stationary; they moved and even dodged the youth's arrows.

One day, the youth achieved mastery, his arrows could track, though the tracking distance was short.

[Name: Chen Mo.]

[Age: 17.]

[Cultivation Technique: Purple Sun Transformation Skill (Proficient 121.8/10000).]

[Realm: Qi Absorption (Fifth Grade).]

[Power: 712+56.]

[Skills: Great Sun Qi Slash (Basic 397288/5000000), Cloud-Chasing Arrow (Intermediate 0/50000).]

Chen Mo executed the Cloud-Chasing Arrow, locking onto a dragonfly fifty steps away perched on a vine. As he drew, he deliberately deviated.

Unexpectedly, the arrow corrected itself, pinning the dragonfly on the vine to the tree.

This was the effect of the Cloud-Chasing Arrow, locking and tracking.

Like when the Demon-breaking Saber Technique could unleash Sword Qi.

Chen Mo nocked another arrow, this time locking onto a target a hundred steps away, intentionally deviating once again when firing, but this time, the arrow didn't correct.

He missed, failing to hit the target.

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