Chapter 96 – Formation of the Five Battalions

Chapter 96 – Formation of the Five Battalions

After Cheng Yang had fully equipped Liu Xiyue, Yu Kai and the others had also finished selecting their personnel and completing their class advancements. In truth, they didn’t need to personally handle this task – they could simply have the former team captains choose the candidates. The only requirement was that those on the territory’s blacklist, like Hu Jun and his group, were forbidden from advancing.

These past few days, Hu Jun had secretly begged Zhao Chuan, hoping the man would grant him a class advancement. After all, when Hu Jun had been the mayor of Huimin Town, Zhao Chuan had been a teacher there. Though they hadn’t interacted much, they at least knew each other by name.

But how could Zhao Chuan agree to such a request? This was someone the lord had explicitly forbidden from advancing. Hu Jun served as an example – a warning to all who might consider defying the territory’s authority.

Hu Jun’s current situation was indeed pitiful. It wasn’t that he lacked food or clothing, but rather that everyone avoided him like the plague. His family members suffered the same ostracization. Everyone in Phoenix Village, whether long-time residents or newcomers, knew of Hu Jun’s past opposition to the lord and his attempted power grab. Who would dare associate with such a person?

To Cheng Yang and the others, Hu Jun was nothing more than a clown, hardly worth their attention. They had more important matters to attend to.

The five combatant forces had now expanded to 432 members each. The battalion structure they had previously discussed had come into existence sooner than expected. Each of Phoenix Village’s five combatant brigades now consisted of two full companies of 200 members each, with the remaining 30+ forming a platoon attached to one of the companies.

This brought Phoenix Village’s total number of combatants to over 2,000. While this might still be fewer than Xiangcheng City’s main forces, in terms of combat strength, they were at least equal, if not slightly superior – especially considering Cheng Yang’s extraordinary abilities that defied conventional logic.

With the battalion structure in place, leadership positions were quickly filled. Liu Hao and the others had prepared for this expansion, having already identified potential leaders within their ranks. As the units expanded, the command structure naturally fell into place.

The next matter was naming the battalions. As they put it, with hundreds under their command, each battalion needed a proper, impressive name.

Cheng Yang, who found naming things particularly troublesome, delegated this task to the others. What followed was a flurry of suggestions, some so bizarre they were immediately dismissed.

After about ten minutes, the names were finalized. Yu Kai’s battalion became the Foxhunt Battalion, Liu Hao’s the Windchaser Battalion, Niu Bing’s the Raging Bull Battalion, Li Wanshan’s the Tiger Tamer Battalion, and Zhao Chuan’s the Snow Leopard Battalion.

“Haha… we finally have proper names!” Liu Hao boasted.

Yu Kai teased, “As if you didn’t have a name before.”

Before Liu Hao could retort, Cheng Yang intervened, “Haozi and Zhao Chuan, if you haven’t cleared your dungeons yet, go do that now. Old Niu and Old Li, you’re free to handle your own affairs. Old Yu, you don’t need to do the Bloody Church dungeon – come with me to tackle the Death Canyon.”

Liu Hao suggested, “Lord, maybe we should try Death Canyon too. I’m already a high-level apprentice warrior. The final boss would be nothing before me.”

Cheng Yang shook his head, “If you only focus on the final boss, your team will suffer heavy casualties. Wait until you have at least three mid-level apprentice combatants in your ranks.”

Liu Hao grimaced but didn’t argue further. His team would have four or five mid-level apprentices within a few days anyway. He could wait that long to legitimately challenge Death Canyon.

With everyone in agreement, they split up to pursue their respective tasks. Cheng Yang’s group, nearly 600 strong including over a hundred civilians, marched toward Xiangcheng City. Along the way, any monster groups they encountered were swiftly dealt with by the combatants before Cheng Yang could even act.

Cheng Yang could only sigh at this – he couldn’t very well compete with his subordinates for kills.

After about an hour, they reached the entrance to Death Canyon. Yu Kai selected 47 members to join Cheng Yang, Liu Xiyue, and himself in the dungeon.

Cheng Yang opted for the normal difficulty. While he could likely handle hard mode, Death Canyon was a medium-sized dungeon accommodating 50 combatants. The final boss would be accompanied by several late-stage tier-one monsters that could easily one-shot most current combatants. For safety’s sake, Cheng Yang decided to wait until Yu Kai reached high-level apprentice before attempting hard mode.

In less than ten minutes, they emerged victorious. Despite Death Canyon having far more monsters than Bloody Church, the higher density made for faster clearing.

“Lord, how many teams can enter Death Canyon each day?” Yu Kai asked while organizing his equipment.

“Like all dungeons, it starts with five entries per day,” Cheng Yang replied.

“That’s too few. Are there other dungeon entrances around Xiangcheng? Should we look for them?” Yu Kai suggested.

Cheng Yang considered this, “I believe each settlement has a dungeon entrance nearby, including your East Mountain Village and Liu Hao’s Xianghe Village. But their exact locations are unknown.”

Yu Kai’s eyes lit up, “As long as they exist, I’ll find them when I get back to East Mountain Village.”

Cheng Yang didn’t object. In his view, these dungeons were equally important. Finding them would be beneficial.

Cheng Yang’s knowledge of these dungeon locations didn’t come from his previous life – in fact, the combatants of East Mountain and Xianghe Villages had kept their dungeon locations strictly secret. However, forum discussions had revealed that dungeons were standard for settlements. Small dungeon entrances were typically located 3-5 kilometers from the altar in wild settlements, while main cities had medium-sized dungeons nearby. Death Canyon was Xiangcheng’s dungeon, but the city’s combatants were currently too weak to challenge it, allowing Cheng Yang to claim it first.

The group then made their way to East Mountain Village, avoiding areas frequented by Xiangcheng’s combatants. While Cheng Yang wasn’t afraid of conflict with the city’s forces, he preferred to avoid unnecessary confrontations for now. When the time came, they would let their strength do the talking.

By the time they reached East Mountain Village, it was nearly noon. Yu Kai immediately went to advance to high-level apprentice before attending to village affairs. With all the profession statues upgraded, Yu Kai’s next task was to upgrade the settlement itself.

Unlike Xianghe Village, East Mountain wasn’t as conveniently located, necessitating the establishment of essential facilities like an alchemy lab. The lumber they’d transported earlier was intended for this purpose.

After using up all the village’s advancement slots, the upgrade conditions were met. Under Yu Kai’s direction, East Mountain Village successfully advanced to a level 2 settlement.

Cheng Yang didn’t linger in the village. Since Yu Kai wanted to search for the dungeon entrance, Cheng Yang decided to help. Returning to Phoenix Village would only mean hunting monsters for spirit energy, so he might as well stay active around East Mountain.

However, Cheng Yang didn’t plan to search with Yu Kai. After discussion, he and Liu Xiyue would search east of the village while Yu Kai took a team west.

Exiting through the east gate, Cheng Yang and Liu Xiyue ventured into the forest. Near the village, paths had been cleared by local combatants, making travel relatively easy. But as they progressed, the undergrowth thickened, forcing Cheng Yang to take on the role of pathfinder. Drawing an ordinary iron sword from his storage ring, he began hacking through the dense vegetation. His 8-point strength made short work of the obstacles.

Liu Xiyue proved her worth as well, easily dispatching any mid-tier one monsters they encountered. In this area around the main city, most monsters were only early or mid-tier one, making her nearly invincible – as long as she wasn’t surrounded.

The two searched methodically, spiraling outward from the village and carefully examining every suspicious sign. Three to four hours passed, including a quick lunch in the wilderness. Though only about ten days had passed since the apocalypse began, even the privileged Liu Xiyue had adapted to this rough lifestyle. It was still better than the precarious existence of the first few days.

“Lord, will these thorns always be here? If the whole world becomes like this, won’t long-distance travel become impossible?” Liu Xiyue asked, watching Cheng Yang tirelessly clear the path ahead.

Swinging his sword, Cheng Yang replied, “This rapid growth only happened during the first wave of the apocalypse. The growth rate will slow down significantly. Once we clear a path, it will stay clear for a while. Besides, future travel will likely rely more on roads established under the new rules.”

PS: Seeking recommendations and collections!