Weird Cultivation, I have a five-organ temple

Chapter 425 The darkness before dawn
If you ride a war horse from Chengfeng County to Pingdu Mountain, even if you travel day and night, it will take at least three to five days to arrive.

Even with the magic talisman, it would still take a day or two to work.

But by taking a flying boat, the time is greatly shortened.

Shang Lu and his companions set out at 3:15 pm, and by 1:15 pm, they could already see Pingdu Mountain.

It only took more than an hour.

In addition to the fact that the flight is in a straight line and is not affected by terrain such as mountains, rivers, etc., it is also related to the extremely fast speed of the flying boat.

Dr. Qiwu did not drive the flying boat, but flew directly into Pingdu Mountain.

Lu Dao stood at the bow of the boat. After making some gestures and chanting a spell, he took out a painting from his sleeve. A small bird with a green body flew out of the painting.

The little bird quickly flew away and disappeared. A moment later, a few flashes of fluorescent light appeared in a forest outside Pingdu Mountain.

The fluorescence was very faint, but Lu Dao and Dr. Qi Wu still saw it at a glance. The latter immediately drove the flying boat and landed towards the place where the fluorescence flashed.

After the flying boat descended from the clouds, ray of light immediately flashed above the boat, forming an illusion that enveloped the flying boat, making it difficult for people to detect its existence.

When the flying boat landed, Shang Lu and his men were surprised to find that Shulin Lian had actually built a camp with thousands of county soldiers inside.

Previously in the sky, they had been looking down from the deck.

There was a mountain fog in the Pingdu Mountains, especially in the areas around Guanhai Peak and Jiangjun Rock. The fog was so thick that nothing could be seen.

They also carefully observed this forest after the fluorescent light flashed.

But there was nothing to see except the lush trees.

I never expected that there was a temporary barracks hidden in this place, hiding thousands of people!

Shang Lu observed carefully and soon found that this camp and the thousands of county soldiers in it seemed to be integrated with the surrounding environment.

"It's a hidden troop formation."

Shang Lu’s military and witchcraft classes these days were not in vain. He quickly figured out that the reason why this camp could not be seen from the sky was because it used a kind of formation used in military formations.

This formation can cleverly utilize the surrounding environment and feng shui to form a unique maze.

Let the people and objects in the formation blend perfectly with the surrounding environment.

If you don't know the trick, let alone scouting from the sky, even if you get close to the hidden troop formation, you won't be able to find the people hiding inside the formation.

Because of these clever features of the hidden troops formation, it is often used for sneak attacks and ambushes.

If two countries are at war, many soldiers and wizards will be dispatched to engage in fierce battles over the arrangement and cracking of hidden soldier formations.

But the nine core members of the He thieves in Pingdu Mountain were all born beggars. They were good at cutting and dismembering living things, but knew nothing about the art of war and battle formations.

Even though they had exchanged a lot of martial arts techniques from the ghost market in Heifengdu over the years, they had no knowledge of military formations - formations were complicated in themselves, especially military formations, which involved knowledge of feng shui, geography, etc., and even required a certain foundation in mathematics. How could a He thief who came from a beggar family have the talent and time to learn these?

As for the He thieves recruited later, even if they have military wizards and knowledge of formations, if their cultivation is not high enough, they will not be able to discover that there is a formation for hiding soldiers here, let alone the thousands of county soldiers hidden in the formation.

Moreover, this place is located on the outskirts of Pingdu Mountain, a long distance away from the valley where the He thieves are hiding. The He thieves, who are well versed in military tactics and battle formations, will not come here to patrol.

Those who were sent here were either rampant ghosts, puppet corpses, or newcomers who had just joined the He thieves. It was even more impossible for them to see through the hidden troops formation here.

The appearance of the flying boat caused a brief commotion among the county soldiers in the camp.

But soon a witch light flashed and covered the county soldiers, allowing them to regain their composure.

When the flying boat landed, several military officers came to the boat to greet them, among them were two people wearing wizard robes.

This is the witch officer accompanying the army.

The troop hiding formation here was created by them.

Jian Cheng, Zhongli Da Wu and others got off the flying boat and started communicating with these military officers.

Soon, a military officer stepped in and took orders, assigning the prepared county soldiers to Shang Lu, Lu Yang and other students of the Witch Academy.

Each student in the Witch Academy was assigned a team of ten.

Although the number of people is not large, it is not difficult to tell from the size, equipment, and skills of these soldiers that they should be the elite among the county soldiers.

These elite county soldiers will follow Shang Lu and his men to clear out the enemies outside the valley, and patrol on the spot to prevent any thieves from escaping.

As for the remaining county soldiers, after they cleared out the enemies, they built a defense line and set up a magic circle outside the valley.

Use the power of the magic circle to speed up the purification of the evil spirit inside the valley.

Shang Lu climbed up from the bottom of the hierarchy as a constable and learned a lot of military and witch knowledge in the Witch Academy.

At this moment, when he saw the ten county soldiers assigned to him, he did not act like a witch officer. Instead, he smiled and asked the ten men's names, hometowns, and the skills they were good at.

He also exchanged a few words with the ten county soldiers in the usual way of the soldiers.

Shang Lu's attitude flattered the ten county soldiers.

In the eyes of these county soldiers, the witch officials were all high and mighty masters. They did not expect Shang Lu to be so approachable and even had a lot in common with them, the soldiers.

Coupled with his eloquence and sophistry, the county soldiers quickly developed a sense of trust in Shang Lu, even though it was their first meeting.

"Sir, you have also served in the army and as a private. How do you know so much about military affairs?" A county soldier couldn't help asking.

"How dare you! You are a witch officer. Even if you have served in the army, you are a general. How can you be a private?"

The sergeant scolded his brothers and was about to bow to Shang Lu to apologize, begging him not to be angry and punish him.

"What's wrong with that? Or do you think I'm a petty person?"

Shang Lu pretended to be angry and glared at the captain, then said with a smile: "Although I have never been in the army, I have worked as a constable in the county government, and later served as a county lieutenant and led soldiers."

Hearing that Shang Lu used to be a constable, this group of county soldiers couldn't help but be shocked.

Even the squad leader had a look of shock and curiosity on his face.

In the army, there might be soldiers who were promoted all the way based on their military achievements. But in the local areas, it was extremely difficult to be promoted from a clerk to an official, not to mention becoming a witch officer!
Just don't be too inspiring!

The county soldiers also felt that they had seen hope, and they all asked Shang Lu how he had gone from being a constable to a witch officer. Shang Lu picked up some stories that he could tell and told them to the county soldiers, leaving them stunned. They felt that Shang Lu's experience was more exciting and rich than many of them had experienced in their entire lives.

Their recognition of Shanglu deepened and their trust in it grew.

After telling his own story, Shang Lu also asked in detail about the experiences of these county soldiers to learn about their abilities.

Knowing yourself and knowing your enemy is the key point in the military wizardry class and is a required subject. Shang Lu will naturally not forget it.

While Shanglu was communicating with the county soldiers, Jiancheng and others used witchcraft to send out signals.

In a short while, more people came to the camp.

The wizard who came had the totem of Bai Ze embroidered on his robe, which represented his identity. He was the Wei wizard who collected intelligence on behalf of King Ba and monitored the officials!
After Wei Wu arrived, he exchanged simple greetings with Jian Cheng and others, and then held a secret meeting.

This secret discussion was blocked by witchcraft, and even though Shang Lu had sharp eyes and ears, he could not hear it.

After Wei Wu and Jian Cheng and others finished their discussion, maps were distributed to Shang Lu, Lu Yang and others.

These maps were drawn by scouts from Baiyi, Guling and Bizhi counties, who risked their lives to detect and survey the valleys.

Although I can't say that they are absolutely accurate, we can use them to understand the general situation of Pingdu Mountain, especially the valley from Guanhai Peak to Jiangjun Rock.

Only a few students from the Witch Academy whose cultivation was above the Tongtian Realm did not receive the map.

They will follow Jian Cheng, Zhongli Da Wu and others to rush into the fields, kill the bandits and save people.

The witch officer from the Discipline Department who distributed the map gave Shang Lu and the others the task:

"Each of you has an arrow marked on your map. What you have to do is to take the county soldiers and march forward according to the arrows to wipe out all the rampant ghosts, puppet corpses and rice thieves you meet along the way! Pull out the soul flags and destroy the center of the formation! If you receive a signal for help, you must reinforce it as soon as possible. Anyone who hesitates and fails to rescue will be regarded as evading battle and will be punished severely!"

"Yes!"

The students of the Witch Academy who received the map all responded seriously.

Shang Lu glanced at the topographic map he had obtained, then tilted his head to look at the one in Lu Yang's hand, and found that everyone's route was different.

At this moment, Bai Lingxu still couldn't change his habit of inquiring for information.

He poked his head around and looked at all the maps that were assigned to everyone, then found the Discipline Division wizard who was assigned the task, and said in confusion:

"Great wizard, I see that these attack routes do not cover all the valleys where the rice thieves are hiding. Do we need to dispatch personnel to other directions to form an encirclement? Otherwise, even if we completely eliminate the rice thieves and rampant ghosts in this area, if they escape from other directions, our efforts will still fail."

The witch officer from the Discipline Department who was assigning the task glanced at him, answering his question and telling all the students in the witch academy: "Don't worry about other directions. People from Guling and Baizhi counties will take care of them."

Then he said: "This time, the three counties are jointly carrying out the task of encircling and suppressing the rice bandits. You must show all your abilities! If you can complete the outer cleanup before the people of Guling and Baizhi counties, you will be rewarded. But if you are too slow and lose face for Baiyi County, you will be punished!"

Except for Shang Lu and Lu Yang, the other students of the Witch Academy did not know until this moment that this bandit suppression mission in Pingdu Mountain was actually a joint operation of the three counties.

Add to that the Wei Wu who had just arrived at the camp, it's no exaggeration to say that it's a four-way alliance.

The relationship between the various counties in Ba State was originally one of you not submitting to me and I not submit to you.

This time, the three counties may have regarded the task of eliminating the rice bandits in the mountains of Pingdu as an opportunity to compare and compete with each other.

The students of the Witch Academy were well aware of the competitive relationship between the counties. After listening to the words of the witch officer from the Discipline Department, they all intervened and responded.

Some people even thought quietly in their hearts: "If we can perform well in this operation and surpass others, we can not only win face for the Witch Academy, but also show off in front of the Witch Guards!
Weiwu has only been rebuilt recently, so it definitely needs manpower. If you can catch Weiwu's eye and be recruited as a member of Weiwu, you will be truly successful!

The Wu guards are the personal soldiers that the king has fully trained. Their training resources will definitely not be bad, and breakthrough materials will also be given priority..."

This kind of thought seems to be contagious. Even if no one says it out loud, within a very short period of time, similar thoughts will arise in the minds of many students in the Witch Academy.

Their fighting spirit and morale continued to rise because of this "big pie".

The military wizard doctor who was accompanying the army noticed this situation and was shocked. He never expected that without him doing anything, these students would succeed in making the pie in the sky for themselves.

On the contrary, Wei Wu, who came to serve as the military supervisor, was very satisfied with the reaction of the students in the Witch Academy.

He smiled and nodded, saying, "The army's morale is good!"

After the witch officers from the Discipline Department finished assigning the tasks, several doctors from the Witch Academy chanted spells and used witchcraft to help the people in the military camp avoid poison and open up their vision.

The valley where the He thieves were located was filled with poisonous miasma. If it weren't for these witchcrafts, the students of the Witch Academy might be able to rely on their skills to resist the poisonous miasma, but if the county soldiers entered the valley, even if they were just active on the periphery, they would definitely be contaminated by the poisonous miasma, go crazy, and rot all over.

In addition, Doctor Bingwu was also chanting spells and casting strengthening spells on the county soldiers, increasing their strength and speed, making their armor stronger, and the weapons in their hands sharper.

After these doctors from the Witch Academy released all kinds of enhancement spells, the county soldiers felt that they had infinite strength and could walk as fast as the wind.

Even students of the Witch Academy such as Shang Lu and Lu Yang have gained some improvement through a series of enhancement spells.

After completing the pre-war mobilization and preparations, Zhongli the Great Wizard spoke again and issued an order:
"You all go to your respective mission locations immediately. Once the magic circle in the valley is broken, follow the planned route and attack forward! Remember, attack quickly and fiercely! Show the style of our Baiyi County! Overwhelm Guling and Baizhi counties!"

After a pause, Zhongli the Great Wizard shouted, "Do you have confidence?"

"Yes!" The students of the Witch Academy responded in unison again.

"The voice is too soft to be heard. Tell me, do you have the confidence to defeat Guling and Baizhi counties?"

"Yes! Yes! Yes!"

The students of the Witch Academy responded loudly at the top of their voices.

The sound was as loud as thunder.

Fortunately, the camp was equipped with not only a formation for hiding soldiers, but also a formation for hiding sound.

Otherwise, such a noise would surely alert the thieves and alert them.

"very good!"

Zhongli the Great Wizard nodded in satisfaction, and then shouted, "Let's go!"

The students of the Witch Academy said nothing more. They took their respective county soldiers and, under the cover of the witch talismans, quietly sneaked out of the valley and ambushed.

Wait quietly for the magic circle in Pingdu Mountain to be broken, then rush into the valley and attack forward!

It quickly got dark.

Suddenly, the earth shook violently, and there seemed to be a deafening sound of cracking coming from the mountains!
(End of this chapter)