Chapter 83 Black Dragon Army's Reward
Black Cloud City, City Lord’s Hall.

In the main seat in the main hall, a middle-aged man sat cross-legged. He was wearing a black robe embroidered with gold thread, and his brows revealed a calm and unhurried temperament.

This person is the city lord Xu Qingzhou.

The hall was brightly lit, the banquet was filled with all kinds of delicacies and fine wines, the guests were chatting and laughing, and the atmosphere was warm and solemn.

However, the festive atmosphere was soon interrupted by the sudden arrival of the old man. The old man walked slowly into the hall, his figure casting a long shadow under the light. He saluted with his hands, his movements respectful and steady, but his tone revealed a hint of urgency that was difficult to conceal.

"City Lord, something terrible has happened." The old man's voice echoed in the hall, attracting the attention of everyone present.

The guests' laughter and chatter stopped abruptly, and all eyes were focused on the old man.

"A team of rabbit scouts crossed the defense line of the Sunset Mountains." The old man continued, with a hint of heaviness in his words, "Inspector Sun Wandong killed the enemy's little arhat during the battle with the enemy, but he himself was also severely injured."

Hearing the Rabbit Clan scout, Xu Qingzhou's face changed slightly. His eyes were like lightning, staring at the old man closely.
"How is the situation now?"

"With the help of the local country lord, we have repelled the rabbit scouts." The old man said anxiously.

Xu Qingzhou was silent for a moment, then slowly stood up.
"Pass on my order. Immediately dispatch a hundred Black Dragon Army cavalrymen to provide support and eliminate the Rabbit Tribe scouts. At the same time, the entire city is on alert, the city defenses are strengthened, and vigilance is heightened. No slackness is allowed."

The old man took the order, turned around and left in a hurry.

Xu Qingzhou sat back on the throne, a trace of worry flashed across his eyes, but he quickly regained his composure.

He raised his glass and continued chatting with the guests.

Soon, the banquet ended and the guests left.

There were only a few dozen people left in the hall, all of whom were the confidants of the city lord Xu Qingzhou.

"Recently, during the 13th month of eternal day, the moon-worshipping demons have been causing chaos and wreaking havoc in the countryside, while the nobles of the dynasty have also taken advantage of the situation to annex spiritual realms everywhere. They have been secretly eroding our foundation, and now, even the dormant rabbit tribe has become restless. It is truly a troubled time."

A tall soldier in armor, with a stern face, his voice was deep and powerful, like the sound of a war drum, echoing in the hall.

"Why did the Rabbit Tribe send out scouts at this time? They want to explore the terrain around our Black Cloud City and draw a map. Their purpose is obvious."

There was a hint of disdain in the soldiers' words, as well as a bit of vigilance.

"The Rabbit Clan's Buddha was killed by our ancestors a long time ago. Now their power is declining, and only the four great Bodhisattvas are left to support the situation. This is a great opportunity for us to seize the opportunity, destroy their clan, and complete the unfinished work of our ancestors."

A hot-tempered general could not hold back his will to fight. His voice was as powerful as thunder, shaking the pillars of the hall.

"City Lord, I am willing to be the vanguard and lead the troops to attack Huanglong directly. I vow to wipe out the remaining evildoers of the Rabbit Tribe in one fell swoop!"

"All right."

Xu Qingzhou waved his hand to stop them. "The Rabbit Tribe has been recuperating for a hundred years. Their strength is not to be underestimated. It may be difficult to destroy them with the power of one city."

"A hundred years of recuperation?! Our ancestors followed Zhao Taizu, Shenzong, and Shenwu to drive out the monsters entrenched here. All the big monsters in their tribe were killed. How can they recuperate? ! ! Are they waiting for another big monster to appear in their tribe?! And then let our soldiers pay with their lives?"

Hearing this, the general became even more indignant.

"If the country had not had three consecutive generations of kings who were all incompetent, we would have occupied half of the most resource-rich spiritual realm within a hundred years of our founding. Now, two hundred years have passed, and we have only expanded to more than ten cities, and in recent decades, there has only been our Black Cloud City."

"When will we be able to unify this large spiritual realm? When will we be able to receive the mandate from heaven and use the destiny of the whole country to open up the thirteenth state of the human race? If our ancestors were to see this scene and see how useless we are, they would surely die with regrets. How about..."

"Be careful what you say."

Hearing this, Xu Qingzhou frowned and interrupted the general.

The general was about to speak, but his comrade next to him was quick to stop him. Most of the city lords knew this, especially after the incident with the Red Flame Army. They all followed orders but not announcements. However, Black Cloud City was now controlled by others and could only endure it temporarily.

At this time, a soldier stood up and snorted coldly:
"Jianyang City, Pingyang City, and Qingyang City are three medium-sized cities with tens of thousands of troops. There are actually moon-worshipping monsters who can pass through the Sanyang Pass and wreak havoc in the countryside behind Heiyun City. It's really ridiculous. They are all good-for-nothings."

"They may not be good-for-nothings." At this time, a counselor said, "It seems that the king is very wary of us. He is obviously worried that we will become the next Red Flame Army after we become powerful."

"The leader of the Red Flame Army became a True Martial Master in one day, swept through thirty-nine cities, broke through the pass, and marched to the capital, forcing the king to abdicate. How could the king not be afraid? This can only happen once, and the city lord has great ambitions and great talents like his ancestors. Naturally, he has become a major concern in the eyes of the king."

A man dressed as an official said.

"Over the past hundred years, all those heroes who had great ambitions and were determined to open up the wilderness were suppressed by the State of Zhao without exception."

The official continued, his eyes flashing with indignation, "Whether it's soldiers and horses, spiritual resources, or power, they have all been ruthlessly weakened, just to prevent us from becoming a threat."

"Thinking back to the founding of the country, King Zhao was so heroic. He fought side by side with three hundred heroes to rule the world and open up a new world for the human race. If someone wanted to open up new land, he would definitely be happy, regard him as a hero, and teach him everything he knows."

The official's voice gradually became louder, recalling that magnificent history.

"He once said that if the king of the next generation is incompetent, you city lords can lead the troops to take it yourself. Only in this way can we unite as one and serve with our lives. Haha, how could our ancestors have imagined that it would become so corrupt after only being passed down to the thirteenth generation." Someone in the hall continued.

"The king is now nearly 100 years old. I heard that he still needs someone to feed him. Why doesn't he abdicate when he is so old?"

"You are a king who doesn't even dare to raise an army? What qualifications do you have to be king? You can choose another young hero from the royal family to succeed you. Otherwise, if this continues, the world will surely rebel." "Alas."

"Everyone, let's talk about business, how to deal with the monsters and the rabbit tribe. In addition, the monsters in the Sunset Mountains are restless. The monster hunters and demon-suppressing guards have all been dispatched, but it's a drop in the bucket. There may be a monster tide, and the court is collecting 70% of the taxes this year."

"Rabbit Tribe, there seems to be a gap in the defense line of Longmen Pass. Xia Ting, take your men to check which city the person escaped from."

"Here."

……

The Black Cloud City was very efficient, and before long, everyone in the hall had discussed a strategy, and the soldiers who had received their missions withdrew.

"By the way, what's the name of the territory that repelled the rabbit scouts?" After the meeting ended, Xu Qingzhou suddenly asked the old man.

The old man said respectfully, "My name is Sheng Fengling, and he has a first-grade lower-grade spiritual vein. His old patriarch is a direct descendant of our Black Dragon Army. His eldest son is now missing and his whereabouts are unknown. His second son, Zhou Qingshan, is now the patriarch of the territory."

Finally, the old man pondered for a moment and told the results of his investigation:
"City Lord, he also submitted a document of succession this time. But... Zhou Qingshan had a serious illness when he was a child, and he has been weak since childhood. Now his blood cannot clot, and there are no adult children in his family. However, his wife is "Xuan Tie" who graduated from the Martial Arts Hall and is now a warrior at the level of a strong man. Can you allow her to take the position of lord?"

Low-grade spiritual vein? Black iron?
Xu Qingzhou was slightly surprised when he heard this.

Sitting on a first-class inferior spiritual vein, it is extremely difficult to raise spiritual species. How could such a territory guard be able to repel the rabbit scouts? Even the rabbit scouts who were seriously injured by the soldiers were amazing. This kind of guard team has a pretty good combat power.

"allow."

Xu Qingzhou thought about it, and added at the end: "Let the Black Dragon Army give some spirit seeds and rewards, and don't mistreat the descendants of meritorious officials. Let him recuperate and at least break through the blood coagulation. It's disgraceful for a lord to have such a strong force."

"By the way, let the Black Dragon Army tell him that if he comes to Black Cloud City to pay tribute next year and his blood hasn't been clotted yet, he will suffer the consequences."

"Here."

……

……

Three days later, Sheng Feng took over the outer courtyard.

This morning, I practiced martial arts with Mo Yanqiu, and now both of them have fully recovered their energy and unrivaled strength.

Zhou Qingshan fished in the stream and lake ten more times, then left the world of Yunding chessboard and went to the outer courtyard to teach the children to read and write.

"This word is pronounced as tian, tian."

Zhou Qingshan stood among the children, his eyes gentle and focused. He held a thin pointer in his hand and pointed at the neatly arranged Chinese characters on the stone slab in front of him.

The children sat around the slate, their hands folded on their knees, their eyes closely following the direction of the pointer, learning with full concentration.

"Heaven." The children below shook their heads and chanted along with the boy.

The boy encouraged the children to write with him. They held the bamboo pen tightly in their small hands, imitated the boy's writing style, and practiced seriously with a basin of sand. The pen tip scratched the sand, leaving a series of childish traces.

In between teaching, Zhou Qingshan would also insert some short stories to let the children learn in a relaxed and happy atmosphere. Whenever the story came to an exciting part, the children would always open their eyes wide and exclaim in amazement.

Time passes unconsciously.

This is Zhou Qingshan’s main business.

"Master, someone is coming from Black Cloud City." A guard team came to report.

"Finally here." Zhou Qingshan stood up, gently patted the dust off his hands, and went back to the house to change his clothes.

He also informed Sun Wandong of this matter and asked the guards to get a chair and carry him to the spiritual realm gate.

The group soon arrived at the spiritual realm gate.

The person coming from Black Cloud City was not just one person, but an army.

And they were cavalry.

What they rode were not ordinary war horses, but spiritual beasts, black dragon horses. They were special war horses that had stayed beside the dragon of "Lord Blood Drinker" for many years and were eroded by the power of spiritual weapons day by day.

This kind of horse has the strength and speed of a dragon. The powerful ones can be compared with exotic beasts. Its fur is as deep as the night, and its mane flies in the wind like black flames.

The cavalrymen were dressed in black armor, each holding a pitch-black spear that blended in with the fur of the black dragon horse. From a distance, Zhou Qingshan saw that it looked like an army made up of night and shadows.

There was a tall black dragon flag, fluttering in the wind, rustling.

Below the flag, there were corpses of two giant rabbits over three feet tall, lying in a pool of blood.

(End of this chapter)