Chapter 1818: Chapter 4: The Uncanny Three-layered World Mountain—Why Can’t the Boundary Divine Needle Stand?!
Back when Zhao Xing first took part in the Primordial Conference, he received no small amount of care from the Beihai Lord; even his World Technique was taught by the scholars Qiao Song and Yang Zhuo.
He also had several territories under his command, all gifts from the Beihai Lord.
If you owe a favor you have to repay it, and besides, the Great Zhou’s foundation lies in the Wuye Constellation of the Beihai Star System, which counts as his second hometown.
"The Beihai Star System is my homeland, and the Beihai Army is my own army."
"Please give your orders, my lord. As long as it’s within my power, I, Zhao Xing, will do my utmost."
The Beihai Lord immediately transmitted over a strange Star Map.
"The Tuoye Army led by Qiao Song and Yang Zhuo is currently carrying out a mission in the Langping Road and Wangliang Star Region of the Si Yue Desolate Domain."
"The Military Department wants us to open up stations there, but that area has Demon Race forces, so we’re constantly being attacked."
"I’ve ordered the rest of the Beihai Army’s command units to go support them, and once they pass the Jia Chen Thirteen Passes, there are only two routes to choose from."
"First, Boundary Boat direct flight through forty‑six constellations such as Shi Long–Jiyi Four–Yin Xiaojiu–Gong Four."
"Second, to borrow the Sea Passage’s eight Star Sky Ring Lands and teleport by shifting positions and shadows."
"However, the Sea Passage is not something ordinary people can borrow; the Beihai Army can only take the first route." The Beihai Lord was somewhat helpless.
Comparing it with the Star Map, Zhao Xing immediately understood where the Beihai Lord’s trouble lay.
The first route was direct Boundary Boat flight. Because it was within territory affected by the Desolate Domain, it was hard to establish Starry Sky Teleportation Arrays along this route, and even if there were any, they wouldn’t be available to the Beihai Army.
Zhao Xing looked over the list of the persons in charge along this route, including heads of the Boundary Transport Department, Array Formation Department, Dao Bing Bureau and so on; they basically all came from the Empire’s Southern Border, and the departments didn’t answer to each other.
If the Beihai Lord used this as his logistics line, it wasn’t that there was anything wrong with it; it was just too slow.
This route was essentially a public line. Since it was public, it naturally couldn’t be all that efficient.
Whether for shipping supplies or redeploying troops, it would take a long time. If anything really happened, by the time they reached Langping Road where Qiao Song and Yang Zhuo were, it would be at least fifteen years at the fastest.
If they used the Sea Passage and teleported via the great Arrays on the Ring Lands, they could skip a lot of time; it would only take three months to arrive—a bona fide high‑class VIP route!
The main force in charge of the Sea Passage was the Ancient Hill, with Emperor Hongshan as the chief in command, supplemented by several Sea Communication Envoys sent from the Primordial Realm like Zhao Xing.
The Sea Passage was not open to individuals or powers not on the list.
And the Beihai Army did not count as an Empire‑wide mobilized "official army"; in this exploration operation, its nature leaned more toward a "private army."
Without connections, the Beihai Lord wanted to borrow the route? No chance at all!
If the Beihai Lord were himself leading the army, there might still be some hope, but he was currently acting alone, exploring the Blue Butterfly Road, which only those in the Reincarnation Realm could venture into.
That was why he had come to ask Zhao Xing for help.
"I’ll take care of it at once. Please wait a bit, my lord."
Seeing Zhao Xing agree so readily, the Beihai Lord laughed. "Zhao Xing, my thanks. I’ll wait for your good news then."
...
The reason Zhao Xing agreed to the Beihai Lord’s request so quickly was mainly because he was a First-level Sea Communication Envoy, which gave him room to maneuver.
And he himself could actually get a word in with Emperor Hongshan.
"If we don’t allow people or powers outside the list to borrow the route, then we just add the Beihai Army onto the list. Have the Beihai Army do some work on the side, and the whole thing becomes perfectly reasonable."
"Just right; I can also add the Great Zhou’s exploration team to the list and fish for some benefits," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
He first notified the people of Great Zhou, telling Ji Che to get his men ready and place them nominally under the Beihai Army’s banner, belonging to the Beihai Army in name but not under its command. After that, he would requisition the Beihai Army into the Sea Passage’s Co-defense Army roster.
This way he could both resolve the Beihai Lord’s problem and let the Great Zhou profit.
The only issue was that his own people hadn’t arrived on site yet, and the Sea Communication Envoy position hadn’t formally taken effect.
"I don’t even need to bother Emperor Hongshan over this; I just need to find Yuan Qiusheng," Zhao Xing thought.
There were many Sea Communication Envoys on the Sea Passage sent by the Primordial Realm, just at different levels. Yuan Qiusheng was also a First-level Sea Communication Envoy, a support‑type Minister of Agriculture from the Self Sect, with very high status in the Desolate Domain exploration campaign.
Yuan Qiusheng’s teacher, Emperor Bishui, was in fact the person in charge of the Sea Passage’s Radiant Spirit Project, mainly responsible for building Spirit Seed Bases along the Sea Passage so that the Spiritual Energy environment on the route would stabilize. He and Emperor Hongshan were the two major heads of this route.
One led people to dig ahead; the other led people to plant behind.
There were originally supposed to be three persons in charge, with another combat‑type powerhouse to command the army, but Emperor Hongshan was strong enough on his own, and the Ancient Hill didn’t like too many people meddling in the project, so Emperor Hongshan just took that role as well.
After a burst of snowflake interference, the Star Mirror quickly showed an image: on the other side, Yuan Qiusheng was working in a seven‑colored field.
"Qiusheng, busy right now?"
"Busy with nonsense." Yuan Qiusheng’s honest face broke into a smile. "Chen An, what about you? I heard you’ve set off; you should still be on the road, right?"
"Just passed the Triangle Constellation of the Man Ya Star System; still three years to go. Qiusheng, I have something I’d like your help with..." Zhao Xing went straight to the point.
After listening, Yuan Qiusheng agreed without hesitation. "A trivial matter. Just put it under my name first; as it happens, I’m short on manpower here anyway."
"You’re short on manpower?" Zhao Xing was puzzled. "Didn’t Emperor Bishui assign people to you?"
