Chapter 396 Be the only one! (2-in-1)
Core urban area, Zhao Mansion.
“Hu Zhong did not agree.” A Zhao clan member reported.
"It's not surprising." Zhao Butong, the elder of the clan, said calmly, leaning on a cane and squinting his eyes.
“It’s just a small test, but Hu Zhong didn’t give in even half a step?”
"Hu Zhong has put Jingzhuo's name on the waiting list for the position of commander." The Zhao clan member said immediately.
“That’s all, it depends on whether Jingzhuo can live up to expectations.” Another clan elder, Zhao Xinlei said with his eyes closed.
"I heard that he is in retreat recently, but is there any chance of a breakthrough?" Zhao Butong suddenly asked.
The head of the Zhao family on the side nodded, "I asked Jingzhuo before he retreated, and there is about a 30% chance that he can open the last Tianwu vein."
"Thirty percent, no. Less." Zhao Butong nodded.
"Oh, if Jingtian was still alive, there wouldn't be so many things." Zhao Lie suddenly snorted coldly.
I don’t know whether he was dissatisfied with the commander-in-chief of the 19th Army, Zhao Jingtian, who died without permission, or he was dissatisfied with the military’s attitude towards their Zhao family.
In fact, the Zhao family has not been going well in recent years. The family's strength, prestige, and influence have all declined significantly.
Even if they don't want to admit it in their hearts, there are various signs that the family is going downhill.
Under such a situation, the death of Zhao Jingtian, an important clan member, is undoubtedly the result of adding insult to injury, which is upsetting.
"Go and check on Jingtian. If you need anything, the clan will give you full support." Zhao Butong stood up and left with a cane, not wanting to stay long.
The other clan elders also left one after another.
"Bo Qi, now that things have come to this, I would rather do something wrong than do nothing. You are the contemporary head of the family. You should see the current situation clearly and make your own judgment. I made you the head of the family back then, wasn't it? You will accomplish nothing."
Before leaving, Zhao Xinlei paused, and suddenly said without looking back.
When Zhao Boqi behind him heard this, his expression changed slightly, and he finally handed over his hand, not daring to argue further.
How could he not know the current predicament of the Zhao family, but knowing is one thing, and getting rid of the predicament is easier said than done.
Zhao Boqi's thoughts were up and down, and he didn't know what he was thinking.
A few days later, the news about running for the command position did not spread among the army.
This is also because the military department did not publicize this matter. The battle with the demon clan is currently fierce and they do not want the soldiers to be distracted by this matter.
Only people above the general level can catch the wind and learn something.
In fact, even Song Changming, Yang Zhen and other selected people did not know who was on the waiting list.
If you don’t know your opponent, you can only guess out of thin air.
Not to mention, Yang Zhen really guessed some people.
In fact, as long as you know enough about the various military forces and are well-informed in the military, everyone will have some must-selected people in their hearts and believe that they are qualified for the leadership position.
It can only be said that in the military, strong strength does not necessarily mean high prestige, but those with high prestige must be strong!
Song Changming was not as concerned about this matter as Yang Zhen. He continued to practice daily and guard the defense line.
I patrol around from time to time, and occasionally take the initiative to kill a few waves of small demon groups and collect demon blood for sacrifice.
When he has free time, he will also delve into other things. With a fulfilling life, he will soon forget about this matter.
This day.
In the third city area, the talisman array was activated by Ada and turned into a transparent light film, blocking the inside and outside.
No matter how big the noise is in the courtyard, it won't spread.
In the courtyard, a triangular copper tripod as tall as a person is located, resembling an oblate, fat gourd shape.
If anyone knows anything about it, they will definitely be able to tell that this is a medicinal cauldron, the most important tool for alchemy.
At this moment, a fire was lit at the bottom of the furnace, the fire was rolling, and all the heat was sealed in the cauldron without any leakage.
Song Changming was on the side using the alchemy skills he had learned.
In his panel, the green-level alchemist's characteristics were shining faintly.
Su Qingqing on the side looked curiously at the changes in the flames of the medicine cauldron.
She could not have imagined that in the years since she left, the young master not only learned the Tao of Talismans, but also the art of alchemy!
I just feel that there is really nothing in the world that can't live in my young master.
What does it mean to be an all-rounder? Someone like her son is called an all-rounder!
After waiting for another three hours, from morning to afternoon, the fire was extinguished.
"Open the cauldron!" After another night, Song Changming gave the order the next day.
A'er on the side quickly stretched out his arms and opened the lid of the tripod.
At this time, there was no heat remaining in the cauldron, and only the cool medicinal fragrance was left, which soon filled the entire yard, making people feel relaxed and happy.
"It smells so good." Su Qingqingqiong's nose twitched slightly and her eyes lit up.
I think this furnace of elixir is probably ready.
Song Changming raised his hand and wrapped it in the strong energy, and the pill pills formed in the cauldron flew out in rows.
Each one is smaller than a quail egg, with a round surface and a yellowish-brown color.
Seeing the appearance of the pills can prove that the two days of alchemy were indeed successful, and the batch of good medicinal materials was finally not in vain.
“After nine failures, it’s time to succeed once,” Song Changming shook his head and said with a smile.
This is not Song Changming's first attempt at alchemy. In the past few years, he has tried nine times, all of which ended in failure.
Until these two days were free, he practiced again on a whim. Due to the experience of the previous nine failures, he finally succeeded in refining the first potion of elixir in his life this time.
At this point, if anyone asks, he can say that he is an upright alchemist.
Although they are only at the lowest level of a first-level alchemist
“Twenty-nine in total, sir.” A’er put away the pills and counted them before saying.
After Song Changming heard this, he took the pills and looked at them one by one.
What he was refining this time was a first-level dehumidification pill.
It is quite common and common elixir, and its effect is mediocre. It is used to remove moisture from the body.
Song Changming only chose this elixir for his first elixir refining because it was not difficult to refine.
Refining twenty-nine elixirs at one time seems to be a lot, but compared with the amount of medicinal materials used, too much essence is wasted, and the loss rate of the medicinal materials is too high.
Normally, a furnace of dampness-removing pills will produce between fifty and seventy-five pills, which is considered to be extremely refined.
Between forty and fifty coins is the qualified standard.
Song Changming’s batch of twenty-nine finished dampness-removing pills was naturally fewer in comparison.
And the quality of these twenty-nine pills varies from good to bad.
The top grade is also the fine product. At first glance, there is not a single one. Even the middle grade only has a few three or five. The rest are low grade and inferior elixirs, with the most mediocre efficacy.
From this point of view, it is difficult to say that this furnace of alchemy is a great success. If it is sold on consignment, even the cost of the medicinal materials may not be recovered.
But as Song Changming was just starting out as an alchemy apprentice, he naturally couldn't set his standards too high.
In fact, compared with other alchemists who were just starting out, the results of his first batch of elixirs were already quite good.
Most of the people who succeed for the first time can only refine eight or ten finished elixirs, and even worse, they can only refine one or two finished elixirs, which is considered a dark history of youth. Compared with them, Song Changming is among the best.
On the one hand, this is due to the failure experience of the first nine times, and on the other hand, his alchemist characteristics come into play.
In fact, if he didn't have this characteristic, Song Changming would not have the idea of refining elixirs.
Now he suddenly felt that alchemy was quite interesting.
The feeling of opening the medicine cauldron and discovering a full harvest is no less than the sense of accomplishment you get when you make breakthroughs in practice.
"This can actually become a good hobby in the future," Song Changming thought as he watched A'er package the finished elixir.
It's just that this hobby is a bit expensive, but nothing else.
In fact, if this hobby is cultivated well, it will also be of great help to his practice.
Just like the earth-centered fire emulsion he took before, if it can be used as medicine to make a pill, the medicinal effect of taking it will definitely be much better than swallowing the drop of the earth-centered fire emulsion raw.
There is also the big demon heart core that has not yet been refined.
Precious medicinal materials, when combined properly, can often inspire greater and even more incredible things. A new effect, which is also the original meaning of alchemy.
Of course, Song Changming is not yet qualified to refine precious medicinal materials. Like Fu Dao, Alchemy Dao also needs a long time to accumulate and grow.
"Sir, do you want to give these elixirs to the housekeeper to sell?" A'er asked with an honest face.
In the past, including Fu Dao, some of the results of Song Changming's training were handed over to Song Ping'an for sale if they were of no use to him, so that he could recover some of the costs.
"This is the first time that Young Master has succeeded in refining alchemy. Keep it. It's very meaningful, Young Master." Su Qingqing stopped her immediately when she heard that she was going to sell it.
“Or, I can keep it for you.”
After Song Changming heard this, he let Su Qingqing take the pills.
Seeing how Su Qingqing carefully preserved it, I couldn't help but feel funny.
However, the first-order dampness removing pill is as important as some kind of panacea.
“Humph, you just don’t understand. Some key things can carry memories of the past. If you want to remember the past and return to the present day in the future, this is the best key to unlock the dusty memories. "
Su Qingqing whispered, put away the twenty-nine pills, and put them into her Qiankun Ring.
Her Qiankun Ring was not a gift from Song Changming, but was given to her by her mother. The quality was not low, and the space inside was larger than the one in Song Changming's hand.
Mid April.
On this day, Song Changming received news from the military headquarters that the position of commander of the 19th Army should be finalized.
This time point is much later than Song Changming expected.
I thought that since the military was anxious to rebuild the legion, this matter should be resolved as soon as possible.
Unexpectedly, it was postponed from March to April.
In fact, the military department really wants to put this matter on the agenda as soon as possible, but the demon clan outside does not stop for a moment.
It is really not an easy task to gather the candidates on the list.
Until recently, the demon clan in Cuibai Road did not know whether they were all killed, or for some reason, they had restrained themselves a little. Only then did the military have enough energy to summon everyone to complete this matter.
Actually, it is not necessary to have such a competition, but Hu Zhong wants to expel the candidates in this way and silence the mouths of all the wealthy families.
There is no cheating for personal gain, no behind-the-scenes operations, everything just depends on who is strong and who is weak.
This time, the strongest person will assume the position of the new commander, and the others will be secondary!
Outside the main city, seventy miles away, in an empty valley, two figures flew over.
"This is it." Yang Zhen couldn't help but said as he looked at the large, inaccessible valley below.
“Since we have seen the valley, we can’t go wrong.” Song Changming nodded.
The valley is full of rocks and not much vegetation.
The stone peaks, which are like pillars, stand upright in the valley.
Song Changming and Yang Zhen stood on two nearby stone peaks.
There was no one around, and I never thought that the two of them were the first to arrive.
The military department had previously sent them the address and directions, and stated that it was a rocky valley.
Today, they will run for the position of commander here.
It can be seen that the military department does not want to make a big noise this time, so the place chosen is only known to a group of people related to it today.
Soon, the two of them didn’t wait too long, and people began to arrive from a distance.
“Hey, you’re even earlier than me.” A man wearing the same armor appeared here and looked at Song Changming and Yang Zhen.
He followed suit and stood on another straight stone peak.
Song Changming and others also looked at this person.
Yang Zhen quickly recognized the identity of the other party and said: "It turns out to be the leader of Liao Banner, who has long admired his reputation."
"Who is your Excellency?" Liao Junmao couldn't help but see that the other party knew him. asked rhetorically.
He indeed did not know Yang Zhen.
There are forty-eight green banner armies in the entire military headquarters. They are huge in scale and have many soldiers. Even if you are a small banner leader, it is normal for each of them to defend one side and not know each other.
And if you don't have enough military prestige, it will be difficult for the other party to remember you even if you meet.
In this regard, Yang Zhen was not annoyed at all. He just smiled lightly and said: "I am Yang Zhen of the 41st Army. This is Song Changming."
When the name was mentioned, Liao Junmao was right. Yang Zhen was vaguely impressed, but when Yang Zhen introduced Song Changming, his expression suddenly changed.
"Song Changming? So you are that Song Changming!"
"I have admired you for a long time." Song Changming responded casually.
In terms of prestige, Song Changming's prestige in the military is much louder than that of Yang Zhen.
Liao Junmao doesn’t remember Yang Zhen, but he can’t forget the name Song Changming.
The killing of the elder of the Zhao clan back then was an earth-shattering event, and few people from all walks of life were unaware of it.
Song Changming's reputation also spread at that time.
"That's really a famous name that I have admired for a long time. What Brother Song did back then has made me admire him for a long time." Liao Junmao said with cupped hands.
"It's just that I couldn't help it." Song Changming also knew what the other party mentioned, shook his head, and had no intention of saying anything more, nor was he proud of it.
What else did Liao Junmao want to say, but suddenly two more people came from a distance and landed on other stone peaks, interrupting their conversation.
Liao Junmao immediately became energetic when he saw a familiar person.
"Brother Dou and Brother Wen, on such an occasion as today, I think I can see you two."
The expressions of the two of them were quite cold, not as cold as Liao Junmao's. He greeted them with a smile, just nodded without saying anything, and silently waited for someone from the military headquarters to come.
Song Changming looked around and saw that everyone who came was unfamiliar and he didn't recognize anyone, so he lost interest in saying hello.
Presumably they are all candidates on that list, that is, his rivals for the coaching position this time.
No matter who the opponent is, he can only get the handsome position and be the only one by defeating everyone here!
(End of this chapter)