Start with a red name

After Tao Bin finalized the adjustment plan for the "first aid camp," the accompanying first aid personnel had almost finished preparing the necessary materials.

Geng Xuan specially set aside some time to perform the "life-harvesting technique" and "fracture technique" on more than 2,000 disabled people who were about to undergo limb reattachment and organ replacement.

Now, apart from these two secret techniques which he must perform himself, all other tasks can be confidently delegated to others.

Even the most technically demanding parts can be handled by experienced professionals with ample technical expertise.

As he walked among the wounded who had fallen into a deep sleep, he seemingly casually touched each person's forehead with his finger, applying the two secret techniques of "Life-Gathering Technique" and "Cut-Off Technique" to their bodies.

But the same thought once again crossed Geng Xuan's mind:
"How about... passing on these two secret techniques as well?"

This was not the first time Geng Xuan had such a thought.

From the Black Wind Gang to the Black Wind Army, many of their own men who suffered fatal injuries died because he was unable to attend to their needs and did not receive timely medical treatment.

Moreover, he felt that spending too much time on such repetitive work was somewhat wasteful.

Therefore, Geng Xuan had considered passing on these two secret techniques to others more than once.

However, he quickly suppressed the thought himself.

This time, it is no exception.

Considering the Black Wind Army's current momentum and its upcoming plans, Geng Xuan thought to himself, "Let's wait a bit longer; the timing isn't right yet."

It took Geng Xuan nearly two hours to resolve the matter.

When he finished doing all this and was about to leave the area, he saw Liu Mu and three others not far away, staring in disbelief at everything that had happened.

Moreover, Geng Xuan could see that their inner emotional changes were far more shocking and intense than what they showed.

Geng Xuan could understand this.

It's entirely possible to imagine the intense emotional impact on someone witnessing this scene for the first time.

Thousands of severed hands, feet, and organs such as the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, and eyes were carefully dissected from fresh corpses and then arranged in categories.

The thousands of corpses, carefully selected to provide these "raw materials," lay there like broken dolls before they could be disposed of.

However, these "dolls" are far too terrifying; just thinking about them can give you nightmares.

Missing limbs, gouged-out eyes and ears, disemboweled... the intense visual impact, coupled with the overwhelming stench of blood.

Even Liu Mu and the others, who were already used to killing and death, felt a sense of physical discomfort the moment they saw these things.

As Geng Xuan walked past each of the unconscious, injured, and disabled individuals, experienced "first responders" would take out sharp instruments and swiftly and efficiently dismantle their broken limbs or cut open their chests...

Judging from their focused attitude, they didn't seem like they were about to kill someone.

—If it were just about killing, why go through all this trouble?

With too many questions lingering in their minds, when they saw Geng Xuan walk over after he finished, Liu Mu immediately asked, "What are they doing?"

"Save people."

"..."

Geng Xuan's answer was simple and clear, and they all understood it, but when connected with what they saw before them, it made them feel a bit mentally blank.

Therefore, upon hearing this answer, the group simply blinked in bewilderment.

Geng Xuan said, "If you're curious, you'll understand after watching for a while... Well, just watch from the side and don't disturb them while they're doing their work."

After giving a brief explanation, Geng Xuan left the place.

Before he could catch his breath, Tie Lang and Ruan Ruizhe arrived together.

Previously, Iron Wolf had reported to him the size of the enemy and his own forces, as well as the casualties.

This time, Iron Wolf reported on the main gains from the battle.

Among them, the most important gain was naturally the Xuanyou Horse.

"There are 25,000 Xuanyou horses on the island."

In addition to each of the 20,000 riders being equipped with a horse, some servants and guards were also provided with horses, and some strong and high-ranking riders even had spare Xuanyou horses.

In this battle, more than 800 horses were lost for various reasons.

The remaining 24,100+ Xuanyou horses have all been taken over by us.

"...If we include our original three thousand or so horses, we now have over twenty-seven thousand Xuanyou horses at our disposal."

"In addition, there are 24,000 complete sets of armor. Except for a very few that need to be repaired because they participated in this battle, the rest of the armor is very well maintained and is almost as good as new."

At this point, Iron Wolf paused, then added:
"After a more careful count, we also discovered that among the surrendered auxiliary troops, more than one hundred were specialists in the repair of armor and weapons."

Among them are even more than a dozen forging craftsmen who have reached the level of master craftsmen.

Given the right materials, they could easily forge a new batch of armor.

...The armor we obtained from the previous battles at 'Wild Wolf Gorge' and 'Swallow Peak' was mostly damaged, so we can hand it over to them for repair.

Once all these armors are repaired, we will have over 28,000 sets of high-quality armor.

Geng Xuan was overjoyed upon hearing Tie Lang's report.

Clapping his hands, he exclaimed, "We've really gotten rich overnight!"

Besides the Xuanyou horse and its matching armor, which are of utmost importance to everyone, there are also a large number of weapons.

This includes both the diverse and high-quality "personal weapons" provided to each individual, and the equally high-quality standard weapons provided to the Xuanyou Iron Cavalry by the military.

Personal weapons, plus standard weapons, are standard equipment for every Xuanyou rider.

Many riders also have a primary weapon, a secondary weapon, a ranged weapon, a melee weapon, a backup weapon, and a backup weapon of a backup weapon...

Those with high status, great strength, and abundant wealth even designed different combat strategies and different weapons for different combat scenarios.

Many people have servants specifically to carry their weapons, not for their extra combat power.

It can be said that the weapons harvested on Huangwei Island alone were enough to rearm the Black Wind Army and still have some left over.

In addition, the largest quantity was the Xuan You Dan, with 100,000 pills.

However, although this number seems like a lot, when divided among each Xuanyou horse, there are only four.

Then there's the food and fodder that the men and horses need.

In the original plan, tomorrow, the eleventh day of the first lunar month, was the day when all the soldiers on Huangwei Island would set off.

The logistics system rigorously controlled the supply of provisions to the island, which were allocated in multiple batches, with only one day's surplus and the needs for three days on the ship calculated.

That is, 20,000 riders, 10,000 servants, 5,000 laborers, and 25,000 Xuanyou horses for four days.

Now, all of these resources have been taken over by the "Black Wind Army".

Given the size of the "Black Wind Army," the "supply anxiety" deeply rooted in the hearts of every high-ranking member was postponed for about three days.

Oh, every Xuanyou horse is a "monster". Even if you skin and debone it, you can still get at least 3,000 catties of clean meat from a mature Xuanyou horse.

If the more than 800 Xuanyou horses that died were also considered as provisions, it would have allowed the "Black Wind Army" to hold out for longer.

Although the meat of the Xuanyou horse is even more unpalatable than that of the Canglan horse, this is not the time to worry about such things.

In addition, there was a considerable amount of medicine and a small amount of cultivation resources.

Then there were the numerous martial arts techniques confiscated from personal and military treasuries.

—In the Xuanyou and Youzhou states, if you want to go further on the path of cultivation and obtain higher-level body tempering techniques and more powerful skills, joining the army is the best and first choice.

For this reason, the Xuan You Iron Cavalry has accumulated a vast number of diverse and comprehensive cultivation techniques, far surpassing those of any family or gang in Yuanzhou.

In addition, there were many precious jewels, gold and silver treasures.

Geng Xuan simply instructed Tie Lang to take inventory and record the information, without listening to his detailed report.

Ruan Ruizhe, who came with Tie Lang, reported another situation that Geng Xuan was concerned about.

"There are ten large ships, one hundred vehicle ships, and four hundred rammed boats on the island. Except for a few that suffered minor collisions and scratches, we have taken them all in."

After Tie Lang finished reporting, Ruan Ruizhe immediately informed Geng Xuan of another gain that was no less important than the Xuan You Horse.

The differences between these three types of ships are primarily in their carrying capacity and secondly in their power source.

Among them, the multi-story ship has the largest carrying capacity, but it is also the most cumbersome. If it is only for carrying people, it can carry 5,000 people. If it is slightly more extreme, it can squeeze in 8,000 or 9,000 people.

It can be powered by sails, or it is equipped with rollers that require human pedaling to accelerate.

The vehicles and boats were not much different from those that Geng Xuan had seized from other places, except that they were more uniform in their design.

It can normally carry around a thousand people, and at its maximum, it can carry about double that.

Compared to vehicles and boats, rafts are smaller and have a lower load capacity.

It has sails and is also equipped with wheels.

Because of its small size, if pushed to its limits, it can be as fast as a car or a boat. That's why it got the name "rush".

If it's just a matter of transporting 35,000 people from Huangwei Island, five large ships would be enough.

In reality, the 35,000 people were just an "add-on," and the most terrifying strain on transportation capacity was the 25,000 Xuanyou horses.

Transporting one Xuanyou horse requires the equivalent of twenty or thirty adult men's transport capacity!

In addition, there were other miscellaneous supplies.

The goal is to transport all the people, horses, and supplies from the island at once.

Ten large ships, a hundred vehicle ships, and four hundred rammed boats were to be used to complete all of this at once. Not only was there no spare capacity, but the transportation capacity was even somewhat stretched.

Ideally, of course, we would equip ourselves with more large ships.

However, the larger the ship, the more demanding the requirements for timber and craftsmanship.

The two states of Xuanyou are already poor in producing large timbers. Being able to squeeze out ten "super giant ships" to "Huangwei Island" is already the limit of what logistics can achieve.

— By worldly standards, a vehicle or ship with a standard carrying capacity of 100 tons is a true "thousand-ton ship".

With a carrying capacity five times greater, that is, a "5,000-ton" tower ship, it was undoubtedly a super-giant ship of this era.

Each one is a floating fortress, a super behemoth.

Horses can run on the deck; that's what it's all about.

"...I have already taken some men to do a rough inspection, and everything is navigable."

Beside him, Iron Wolf hurriedly said:
"Should we arrange some vehicles and boats for Song Mingzhu and the others to go there?"

They all knew very well that the biggest limitation on Song Mingzhu and his group was the insufficient number of ships.

With more ships, the entire fleet will be faster.

Even combat power will be released rapidly.

Geng Xuan nodded and said:
"Once things are settled here, we'll send all the vehicles and boats over to them."

The ship was too big. Although it was equipped with wheels, its inherent limitations prevented it from reaching the speed of a car or ship.

The boats were too small, and for Song Mingzhu and his men who were sweeping southward, it wouldn't be difficult to obtain boats of the "hundred-mile" class.

There was no need to make a special trip there.

……

What they had to do next left Liu Mu and the others completely bewildered, but for the "Black Wind Army," it was all part of the established procedures.

The first step was to "digest and absorb" a total of 13,881 prisoners.

Although, “professionals” have already done the necessary persuasion work for them.

But it's the same old problem: surrendering and completely switching sides are two completely different things.

Getting these Xuanyou riders and their vassal soldiers, who had long been immersed in Dong Guan's power, to join the enemy camp was far more difficult than getting a group of sand bandits to join the Black Wind Gang.

If they were given more time, things might be better.

The truth is, there isn't that much time.

The Black Wind Army must assimilate these surrendered troops as quickly as possible and then immediately prepare for the next clash.

Any delays are not allowed.

Therefore, Geng Xuan used the "old method" - arranging all the prisoners into several teams according to their cultivation level.

Then, starting from the Skin Refining Realm, the "game" of everyone passing the test begins.

The quality of Xuanyou riders is very high, with only a small number at the Body Refinement stage, and they are all known for their strong combat power, possessing some special skills.

The vast majority of the surrendered Xuanyou riders were cultivators at the Blood Refining Realm and Bone Refining Realm, with a dozen or so at the early stage of Marrow Refining Realm and a handful at the middle stage of Marrow Refining Realm.

Cultivators at the Skin Refining Realm are all born servants and perform all sorts of menial and menial tasks.

Of the more than 5,700 servants who surrendered, only a little over 1,000 were at the Skin Refining Realm.

Because they were not yet fully aware of the situation, when they were the first to face Geng Xuan's "death interrogation," most of them were caught off guard and remained in a daze, unwittingly becoming the "chickens" who frightened the "monkey."

Of the 1153 prisoners who surrendered, only 342 survived.

Another 811 people were beheaded in front of everyone.

As nearly eight hundred heads, filled with fear and bewilderment, flew into the air, the remaining prisoners finally realized with horror what kind of "game" they were playing.

Because everyone had this realization, when the "game" progressed to the second round...

The number of people who survived and became "one of us" increased directly from less than 30% in the first round to nearly 50%.

Only slightly more than half of the participants were eliminated in this round.

However, among the nearly 14,000 prisoners, the number of those at the Flesh Refining Realm far exceeded those at the Skin Refining Realm.

This ultimately resulted in the absolute number of "players" who died in the second round of the "game" being greater than in the first round.

The "Black Wind Army" treated prisoners in such a cruel and mocking way.

Using a game-like approach, thousands of prisoners were tortured and killed in a short period of time.

This was, in the eyes of the other prisoners, inhumane and utterly unreasonable.

They also did not believe there were any clear standards behind this large-scale killing.

In their view, the so-called "joining the 'Black Wind Army' from the heart means life, otherwise death" is nothing but a pretext.

Whether one lives or dies depends entirely on the decision of the "game host".

Many prisoners could not endure such harsh treatment.

Even with enemies surrounding them and their cultivation suppressed, the nearly 10,000 prisoners expressed their dissatisfaction through their actions after someone suddenly protested the injustice and started a commotion.

This minor "twist" took about half an hour to resolve.

The nearly two thousand prisoners who caused the most trouble became the price to quell the unrest.

The remaining prisoners did not lack the will to resist; it was simply that their current predicament had driven them to despair.

Just when they had completely despaired and were waiting for the executioner's blade to fall on their heads, Geng Xuan, who had been pushed aside since the beginning of the "storm," stood once again on the high platform that they could all see and calmly said, "The game continues."

At that moment, all the surviving prisoners were somewhat bewildered.

Are you really going to keep playing this lousy game to the very end?

or--

Are you guys serious?!
Everyone's mind was in turmoil.

Geng Xuan then began his third "death interrogation".

The result satisfied Geng Xuan, and the prisoners were also quite surprised.

Of the Blood Refining Realm prisoners who were still alive, more than 70% survived and became "one of their own" in the "Black Wind Army".

Of those that died, "only" less than 30% died.

Playing for real? !

Because of this change in mindset, when Geng Xuan began his fourth "death interrogation" of thousands of prisoners at the Bone Refining Realm, more than 80% of them had survived and joined the Black Wind Army as "one of their own."

Less than 20% remain stubbornly refusing to change.

Finally, during the "death interrogation" of more than a dozen people with early and mid-stage Marrow Refinement combat power, only one mid-stage Marrow Refinement prisoner was executed, while the rest of the prisoners all survived.

Through his simple yet brutal methods, using the concepts of "life" and "death," he screened nearly 14,000 prisoners.

In the end, a total of 13881 prisoners were captured, and 6207 died.

The remaining 7674 people all became fresh blood for the "Black Wind Army".

This brutal treatment brought Geng Xuan nearly 250,000 points of good fortune.

After incorporating these 7,600-plus people into the "Black Wind Army," in terms of scale, not only were all the losses from this battle recovered, but there was also growth.

The number of people has increased from 13,000 when they arrived to nearly 15,200.

However, the number of people in the Skin Refining and Flesh Refining realms exceeded two thousand.

Even including the newly recruited ones, the Blood Refining Realm has not recovered to the size it was when it first arrived on the island.

The number of people at the Bone Refining Realm has increased significantly since they first arrived on the island.

In this single battle, nearly three hundred combatants at the Marrow Refinement Realm were lost, and this attempt to recover their strength yielded almost no replenishment. (End of Chapter)