As a scholar, Cang Xu had served the Sha Ta clan for thirty-eight years, thus he was clear about the division of strength between practitioners.
A battle qi cultivator of the silver level, when not using battle qi would be able to lift objects weighing up to 350 kilograms and hit with a force of 800 kilograms, and would be able to face 20-30 ordinary people with no problems at all. Their tolerance against the environment and pain would exceed that of a normal person, but it would still be dangerous to face off against a strong crossbow.
In other words, silver battle qi cultivators were still within the category of a human and were restrained by the human body’s structure, they represented the limit of the human body’s physical development.
However, when cultivators reach gold level batte qi, their battle qi would be greatly improved and their fleshly bodies would be nourished and transformed to completely surpass mortal limits.
Without using battle qi, gold level cultivators could run at 120 km/hour and lift about 10 metric tons. When faced against a magnificent army
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of thousands of men wielding swords and riding horses, they would be able to cut down the general and seize the enemy’s flag.
Ordinary crossbow arrows were no threat to them at all. But enchanted crossbows would still pose a danger to them.
While the fight between the bellwether and Huang Zao was taking place, Cang Xu saw several times the bellwether crashing into trees, knocking the towering trees down.
This proved that although the bellwether was only at the bronze level, when it gave its all, its ramming power was powerful. It was far greater than any ordinary heavy cavalry’s charge.
Human silver level battle qi cultivators relying purely on their body’s strength would not be able to resist the bellwether’s charge.
Yet Zhen Jin effortlessly intercepted the bellwether who was still charging from a long distance.
The power displayed in this action had surpassed the silver level.
Therefore, Cang Xu couldn’t help but guess that Zhen Jin possessed gold level battle qi.
“As far as I know, the Bai Zhen Clan’s bloodline does not excel in strength, rather it stands out in precision and accuracy.
“Only if a knight had a constantly acting support spell such as the [bear’s strength] would they be able to do the same. However, there is a magic restriction here and constantly acting low level spells would stop functioning.”
“Maybe he took a strength potion?”
Ultimately, Cang Xu thought of the possibility of gold level cultivation.
“If Zhen Jin really is at the gold level, with this kind of strength and talent, the Bai Zhen Clan will definitely rise up again!”
As Cang Xu watched attentively, Zhen Jin suddenly shook his arms, he held the goat‘s horns and fiercely lifted the bellwether high into the air.
Then, he ruthlessly threw it.
The bellwether fell to the ground, struggled a few times before getting up, it looked dazed, as if the fall made it stupid.
Shortly after, its eyes went red again as it ruthlessly charged at Zhen Jin.
Zhen Jin once more pushed it down, letting it struggle for a while, before throwing it far away once more.
After several times of this, the bellwether’s unwillingness, anger, hostility, and so on dissipated and were replaced by fear and dread of Zhen Jin.
Zhen Jin took the initiative as he walked towards it, the bellwether bleated and lowered its head of its own accord. It looked away as its bleeding body kept trembling.
Zhen Jin patted its head and then touched its horns.
The bellwether shook with fright and unexpectedly took the initiative to lie down on the ground.
Under many admiring eyes, Zhen Jin nodded with satisfaction and commanded: “Take it away for me, treat it a bit, and carefully feed it, but don’t force-feed it.”
“Lord, are you trying to tame this bellwether as a mount?” Seeing that the fight ended, Cang Xu walked over.
Zhen Jin nodded, smiling as he asked: “Do you think it’s possible?”
“Of course it is.” Cang Xu agreed and laughed, “As far as I know, over on the dwarven continent the most common mounts are goats. Goats are extremely skillful at trekking across great mountains and precipitous ridges.
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A one year old wild goat can climb a snow covered mountain with great skill, crossing many obstacles that we humans cannot surmount along the way. However, I do not know the exact method of domestication.”
Zhen Jin nodded and asked again: “Are there any tamers among the survivors of the Hog’s Kiss?”
Cang Xu shook his head: “There doesn’t seem to be one.”
“It doesn’t matter that the Hog Kiss doesn’t have one, can’t I just find one in White Sand City?” Zhen Jin patted the old scholar’s shoulder.
In this battle, he had gained the things he had wanted from this fight.
Subjugating the bellwether to tame it as a future mount was only a minor benefit.
The main point was that Zhen Jin had displayed his power under the eyes of many,
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showing the entire exploration team how powerful he was .
His influence on these people had been greatly boosted.
He learnt his lesson from Huang Zao's betrayal, once was more than enough..
Zhen Jin had inscribed the Bai Zhen Clan motto in his heart. He kept Huang Zao under his watch, on one hand it was to squeeze out his value while on the other he used him to remind himself——how to become a qualified leader.
Looking around, Zhen Jin let out a heartfelt sigh: “This place is a treasure!”
To tell the truth, this was the first time he had found such a paradise on this island.
When they actually arrived, the exploration team was pleasantly surprised that the size of the goat flock exceeded previous investigations.
No one knew why this flock of goats had grown out so unchecked.
There were several flocks containing over a thousand goats.There were even more flocks containing hundreds of goats, the flock Zhen Jin hunted this time was such a flock.
The exploration team members began to process the dead goats.
The first step was to bleed them, skin them, and then discard their innards. After, some began cutting them into pieces of mutton, while another part of the team was washing the goat skins and stomachs.
After cutting the goat mutton, a bonfire was lit to smoke the meat. This would allow for the moisture on the goat meat to dissipate, thus it would last longer.
After the goat skins were washed, they were also smoked and dried.
Goat skins could be made into leather clothes and goat stomachs could be made into water canteens.
The exploration team was busy for three days.
Under Zhen Jin’s command, they killed three more flocks of goats.
Zhen Jin acted himself and made all of the bronze level bellwethers surrender.
The overwhelming majority of adult goats were killed, however a portion of the kids were left alive under Zhen Jin’s special orders.
These goats were easy to feed, thus they kept tens of kids as well as four bronze level bellwethers, all together they were not much of a burden.
This was the benefit of having a lot of manpower. If it were only Zhen Jin and Zi Di, they would not have the spare energy to do so.
On the fourth day, the exploration team officially began its journey back.
The current appearance of the entire exploration team had changed dramatically.
Almost everyone was wearing leather clothes. These leather clothes were crudely made, with simple holes cut out in them so they could be worn. On both sides of the body under the armpits were woven from rattan
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that tied the front and back of the sheepskin together.
The green-black wool faced towards their bodies while the yellow side of the goatskin faced outwards.
There was an enormous amount of animal skin bundles behind everyone that mostly contained the smoked mutton.
In addition, there were also the water canteens. Many of the goat stomachs were made into water canteens and were attached to everyone’s waists.
Food and water reserves were stocked to their limit that everyone couldn’t bear any more burden.
After all, everyone had a limit to how much they could carry.
Huang Zao was scouting up ahead of the group.
Zhen Jin, Zi Di, and Cang Xu walked in the middle of the group.
At the rear Lan Zao was pulling some goats.
Other than the few dozen lambs, there were the four important bronze level bellwethers. These bellwethers now had simple rattan reins on them as they carried heaps of supplies. The supplies were mainly dried meat and potable water. It also had tents, spare weapons, and other things.
During the whole morning, the team spent their time travelling through forests and mountains.
They only rested a few times, each time no more than a quarter hour.
At noon, they rested for half an hour.
The entire group was divided into two groups, one stood guard and inspected their supplies, while the other sat cross-legged on the ground, eating lunch.
Cang Xu carefully inspected the entire group before and after resting, no one was missing, and food, water and other supplies were counted for correctly. The goats who were the most worrisome were also calm and peaceful.
Behind the cracked glasses were the old scholar’s attentive and observant eyes.
He found: the people eating were very relaxed, some were teasing each other while eating, others were eating and stretching out their legs as much as possible. Those standing guard had their eyes up and their chests straight.
The entire exploration team’s morale was high.
Cang Xu had been with the exploration team ever since it had set out.
He had never seen these people exuding such vigor.
He knew what the cause of this was.
It was not the savory mutton jerky, or the relatively smooth journey, but the young knight.
Zhen Jin!
He was the one that changed everything.
He had formidable strength that gave everyone a strong sense of security, greatly increasing their morale and hope.
Huang Zao and Lan Zao were his servants, these days they worked hard for him. Although Zhen Jin didn’t reveal any battle qi, he still had a deep background, was suspected of having gold level cultivation, the brothers felt that they had bright prospects.
Along the way, Zi Di had been with Zhen Jin closely, never going further than an inch. This person was the president of the Wisteria Merchant Alliance and her skill in making potions for the last several days also surfaced in Cang Xu’s mind.
Cang Xu finally looked towards where Zhen Jin was sitting.
During much of his life, he had met many nobles.
At this moment, he was certain that among the noble youngsters, Zhen Jin was absolutely among the top.
His talent was extraordinary and his strength was outstanding. Even more remarkable was that he was also a qualified leader.
Under his influence, the whole team rallied together and their morale soared.
Cang Xu could foresee the currently down and defeated Bai Zhen Clan inevitably rising once more because of Zhen Jin!
“If possible, following this kind of lord and witnessing step by step his successes and exploits, would also let me participate in the Bai Zhen’s rise to power. Perhaps after several centuries, as a scholar, my name would accompany Zhen Jin and be recognized as a sage by future generations. How wonderful that would be.”
“It is truly a pity. If only I could’ve followed such a lord when I was younger…”
The scholar’s face did not show the slightest sign of the regret that he had in his heart.
He walked over to Zhen Jin’s side. With a respectful tone, he reported the results of the survey.
“Very good Mr Cang Xu. Thanks to your suggestion, we have hunted enough meat with plenty of reserves. Now sit down, let us eat lunch together.” Invited Zhen Jin
Cang Xu replied: “My suggestion was only secondary, if my lord hadn’t led the way, we would not have found ourselves in such circumstances.
Zhen Jin laughed.
These days interacting with Cang Xu made him more and more pleased.
This old scholar seemed to look like an ordinary person, however his brain was not ordinary.
The direction the team went in was decided by him alone.
All he used was a wooden stick thrust into the ground and sunlight.
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Cang Xu’s attitude and demeanor always upheld Zhen Jin’s noble status, this allowed Zhen Jin to feel comfortable.
He was very capable and reliable at handling affairs, thus the more Zhen Jin used him, the more pleased he was.
If Cang Xu had some strength, even if it were only at the iron level, then he would be the most optimal candidate for a noble’s steward. But he only had ordinary aptitude, which was a true pity.
Even so, Zhen Jin wanted Cang Xu by his side as much as possible.
This was a capable individual!
His scholarly knowledge even surpassed Zi Di’s.
However Zi Di was a magician.
Of course, this was also because Zi Di was too young. Furthermore when she was studying, most of her time and energy was spent learning about medicine.
Needless to say, Zhen Jin coud guess the reason why Zi Di studied medicine. It was because good potions had great market prospects and could bring in ample profits.
The farther they got from the snowy mountains, the more the temperature rose.
During noon the sunlight was at its most intense and the leather clothes began to display their efficacy at keeping cool. Maybe it was because everyone drank and ate their fill that everyone began to seem somewhat listless.
Without any kind of warning, a fatal crisis quietly attacked this tranquil atmosphere.
First the one of the youngsters within the group started to cry out.
“Lord, my lord, not good! The lambs are lying on the ground motionless, they are dead!”
“What?” Zhen Jin couldn’t hide his surprise.
This was indeed terrible news.
These kids were very useful. On one hand, the exploration team could kill and eat them in case of emergencies. On the other hand, if they reached White Sand City smoothly and the kids were still alive, there was a big possibility that they could be raised and domesticated. So in this way, Zhen Jin could train some calvary.
Zhen Jin’s plans were destroyed, he immediately stood up and wanted to personally investigate.
“What is the cause?” He inquired of the youngster who reported.
He had already recognized the youngster.
He was called Bai Ya, he was from a hunting family, he rode on the Hog’s Kiss to White Sand City to join the army.
Bai Ya’s face was flustered, and promptly shook his head: “I, I do not know, everything just happened so suddenly my lord.”
Zhen Jin groaned and just about to step forward when a sudden burst of dizziness attacked him. He was caught off guard as his body violently shook, nearly forcing him to the ground.
He remained standing with difficulty and found the recently vigorous exploration team members with high morale were all swaying and collapsing to the ground.
Almost instantly, the vast majority of the exploration team lost consciousness.
Zi Di, Huang Zao, and Lan Zao were holding themselves together with difficulty.
“What is going on?!”
“Everyone seems to be poisoned!”
“What kind of poison is this?!”
Huang Zao suddenly pulled out a dagger from his chest pocket and shouted with anger at the youngster Bai Ya: “Everyone is poisoned, but why isn’t anything happening to you? Did you poison us?!”
Notes
I see that calvary in this world is literally whatever magic beast one can get their hands on. Zhen Jin wants to use goats while the Sha Tan clan uses giant birds. It must be a logistical nightmare when multiple parts of, say the empire, gets together for a grand offensive. Take the war against the southern nobles for example. Every noble clan seems to have their own pick of either normal animals or magic beasts to be used as mounts. Imagine organizing the food and supply lines of dramatically different beasts with potentially divergent feeding habits and food types. One probably would also have to prevent mounts from killing each other. Finally trying to coordinate a unified cavalry charge with this mismash of mount types would be hell to attempt.
Deus’ Notes
This whole chapter: RIDING GOATS! DWARFS RIDING ON GOATS!
Imagine our mc suddenly riding into battle on a goat.
Translation Notes
(千军万马: magnificent army with thousands of men and horses (idiom); impressive display of manpower
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all the King's horses and all the King's men ) (崇山峻岭: towering mountains and precipitous ridges (idiom) ) (众目睽睽: thousands of staring eyes (idiom) (rattan is a type of thread made from grass, just search it up) (wow they finally addressed the problem of orientation, still why does no one have a compass from the ship?! Even a sextant would be usable)