The First Order

How many Eyes of True Sight were there on the battlefield in Ghent City? Before the soldiers returned with them, a lot of people had neglected this issue.

But when all of the Eyes of True Sight were placed in front of everyone, Chen Jiu, Summer, Mel, and the others finally realized something. So many sorcerers were dead since each Eye of True Sight represented one sorcerer. There were at least 300 to 500 sorcerers from the Houses of Tudor and Norman participating in the war, so that meant that 300 to 500 Eyes of True Sight had been dropped on the battlefield.

Moreover, with the status of the Tudor and the Norman families, the Eyes of True Sight that were in their possession were naturally the best ones in the entire Kingdom of Sorcerers.

There was not a single white Eye of True Sight to be seen. Even the lowest grade of Eye of True Sight they collected was orange.

White, orange, red, gold, and black. Among the Eyes of True Sight that Ren Xiaosu and the Northwest Army had seized, red was the most common color. Even the orange ones made up only a small portion of it.

With a red Eye of True Sight, one could activate the Enchanted Doorway.

Even for someone as experienced as the Sanctuary's leader, Chen Jiu was a little dumbfounded.

With so many high-grade Eyes of True Sight placed in front of him, it would be a lie to say he was not tempted.

However, no one was so greedy to ask Ren Xiaosu for an Eye of True Sight. Everyone waited quietly to see how Ren Xiaosu would deal with these spoils of war.

Ren Xiaosu looked around and waited for everyone to calm down before finally saying with a laugh, "Do y'all want these Eyes of True Sight?"

With just a simple sentence, everyone's breathing hastened again.

In the Kingdom of Sorcerers, the Eye of True Sight represented authority and order.

Chen Jiu thought for a moment before answering, "The Sanctuary was established by that Rider. Now that his descendant has appeared, everything of the Sanctuary is at your disposal. From today onwards, the Sanctuary will be your most loyal follower."

These words were very cleverly chosen. After all, Chen Jiu was an experienced person who had been through a lot in society. He would definitely not be willing to give up the Eyes of True Sight. Therefore, he was implying to Ren Xiaosu that since the entire Sanctuary was his, he could decide how to allocate the Eyes of True Sight to the members. Surely he wouldn't treat his own people unfairly, right?

Chen Jiu was not a crafty person. Moreover, his beliefs had always been very firm, so fighting for reasonable interests did not conflict with his beliefs.

Compared to Chen Jiu, Summer pursed her lips and did not say anything.

Mel was much more honest now. "Xiaosu, these are all your spoils of war. If you're leaving the Kingdom of Sorcerers, you should take them with you."

When he said that, everyone looked at Mel and thought to themselves that this child was way too simple-minded.

When Ren Xiaosu heard Mel say that, he laughed and turned to Summer and said, "Mel is really too easily pushed around, so it's better that you be the one to govern the Kingdom of Sorcerers."

Summer was stunned. "Huh?"

"In the past, my father took away a black Eye of True Sight from your Russell family to treat my illness." With that, Ren Xiaosu took out a black Eye of True Sight and placed it in Summer's hand. "Now, this black Eye of True Sight shall be returned to its original owner."

Chen Jiu and the others were all stunned. He was giving away a black Eye of True Sight just like that?

Actually, everyone knew Ren He had stolen the black Eye of True Sight with his own skill back then. Later on, he even had the Sanctuary help the sorcerers find a land of paradise after The Cataclysm, so it could be said he had already returned the favor.

Even Russell himself had thought so. That was why the Russell family and the Sanctuary enjoyed such a good relationship after The Cataclysm.

Of course, this was also because Russell was not one to bear grudges.

In any case, no one felt that Ren He owed the Russell family anything.

Moreover, the most important detail revealed through Ren Xiaosu's words was… if Ren He was Ren Xiaosu's father, how old was Ren Xiaosu now?!

Chen Jiu said in a daze, "You're the son of the founder? So he snatched away the Eye of True Sight to save you?"

"Yes." Ren Xiaosu nodded. "Before coming to the Kingdom of Sorcerers, even I wasn't too sure about it yet. But now, I've found the answer for everything."

"But…" What Chen Jiu wanted to say was, based on the timeline, Ren Xiaosu should be over 200 years old, so why did he still look like a young man?

Did he learn the Art of Immortality?

This feeling completely subverted their understanding of the world. Did they fucking encounter an ancestral figure?!

For some reason, Chen Jiu felt a little more reverence for Ren Xiaosu when he thought of this.

Within this reverence, half of it was due to the mysteriousness surrounding him, while the other half was purely out of respect for prehistoric creatures.

Summer suddenly asked, "Do you know what a black Eye of True Sight represents? You're from the Central Plains, so you might not know how important it is to a sorcerer. I can't take advantage of your lack of understanding about this."

Mel looked at Summer with a hint of admiration.

However, Ren Xiaosu shook his head and said with a laugh, "Of course I know what it represents. There's only three of them in the entire Kingdom of Sorcerers. Initially, I wanted to give Melgor another Black Eye of True Sight. But after consideration, I think I'll keep it as a gift for someone else, so I won't be giving it to Melgor."

Speaking of which, Yang Xiaojin was still camping somewhere at a vantage point with her guard up. She did not know about Ren Xiaosu's relationship with Chen Jiu and the others, so she was standing by to take out any target that might be a threat to Ren Xiaosu.

Summer insisted, "I need to explain to you what the black Eye of True Sight can do. First of all, any sorcerer who wields it can skip the initial training process in sorcery. In other words, you can cast spells directly without the need to practice them first."

"I know about that," Ren Xiaosu said.

"Also," Summer continued to share, "in the face of a similar spell, such as when two sorcerers use the Garuda spell at the same time, the one cast by the black Eye of True Sight will naturally suppress the other. Even the world elements can be turned against them."

"This is the first time I've heard about this, but it's not particularly important to me," Ren Xiaosu said.

"Lastly," Summer said, "those who possess the black Eye of True Sight can see through the rock layer and sense the grade of the Eye of True Sight within the stones."

Ren Xiaosu was stunned. In other words, it meant he could easily purchase stones from the black market using his black Eye of True Sight.

This left Ren Xiaosu a little regretful. Why didn't he learn about something so important earlier?!

Summer seemed to have guessed what he was thinking. "The function of the black Eye of True Sight is to search for ores. If it's only used to gamble on stones, there's barely any significance in that. Even if there's stones on the black market that have an Eye of True Sight in them, they'll only be the white ones."

When he heard this, Melgor suddenly felt a sense of sadness. So it turned out the dream his father had been pursuing for an entire lifetime was just a scam that someone had meticulously set up.

That was right. The black market had always been controlled by the Houses of Norman and Tudor. Since their patriarchs could see through the rock layer, how could they possibly release higher-grade Eyes of True Sight onto the market?

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu also had a few realizations. One was about establishing strength and status through a level of suppression, while the other was establishing resource status through prospecting.

With a black Eye of True Sight, one would become qualified to control the Kingdom of Sorcerers.

"All the more reason to give you this black Eye of True Sight then." Ren Xiaosu said, "I don't want the Kingdom of Sorcerers to fall into the hands of ambitious people again."

Summer was about to say something when Ren Xiaosu interrupted her, "I'm not only going to give you the black Eye of True Sight, I'm also going to share half of the spoils of war with you."

"Why?" Summer found it a little unbelievable. Half of the spoils of war equated to more than 200 Eyes of True Sight, and they were all high-grade ones too.

Ren Xiaosu said with a smile, "Consider this as a dowry Fortress 178 prepared for Comrade Mel."

If Ren Xiaosu had been given a little more time, or if he used the enchanted doorway to bring over some of the high-ranking commanders of Fortress 178, the Northwest would definitely get greater control over the entire Kingdom of Sorcerers.

But since that was not possible, Ren Xiaosu could only let Summer and the Sanctuary develop freely here for now.

He had previously heard from Chen Jingshu that there were still many members in the Sanctuary who were sharing their Eyes of True Sight due to an extreme lack of stones.

Chen Jingshu said that most of the Eyes of True Sight in the possession of the Sanctuary were left in the underground world, and only whoever had to go on a mission would bring along an Eye of True Sight with them.

This sense of hardship reminded Ren Xiaosu of the 1950s and 1960s of the 20th century.

At that time, everyone did not have enough to eat, and the poor families only owned one pair of pants. Basically, whoever had to go out for errands would get to wear those pants.

Ren Xiaosu thought this was probably what the Sanctuary was experiencing.

The purpose of sharing the Eyes of True Sight was to allow the members who could not obtain one to use them for practice. In this way, if they obtained a new Eye of True Sight one day, the Sanctuary would immediately gain an additional combatant.

After all, sorcery required practice, and it was an extremely slow and lengthy process.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu reminded everyone, "By the way, I might be leaving behind more Eyes of True Sight than you all are expecting."

"What do you mean?" Chen Jiu wondered.

"You might have overlooked the other battlefield." Ren Xiaosu said, "It could be more tragic there than here in Ghent City."

"The House of Berkeley!" Chen Jiu immediately reacted.

At this moment, everyone finally realized what they had neglected.

The Knights of the Inferno had marched towards Ghent City aggressively, but Midnight crushed them single-handedly. Therefore, before Chen Jiu and the others even got to see the House of Berkeley, the other party had already been defeated.

There was absolutely no sense of participation from them.

In other words, the House of Berkeley had absolutely no presence in this war.

Ren Xiaosu smiled at Chen Jiu and said, "It's time for us to return. You guys hurry up and clear the battlefield."

Chen Jiu took a deep breath and said in seriousness, "The next time you visit, the Sanctuary will definitely welcome you back to a brand-new Kingdom of Sorcerers with order restored."

"That's enough to assure me," Ren Xiaosu said.

All good things must come to an end. As Ren Xiaosu led Luo Lan and the soldiers of the 6th Field Division towards his enchanted doorway, Mel called out to him from behind, "Xiaosu!"

Ren Xiaosu turned around and saw Mel running over to give him a big hug.

Melgor said solemnly, "Thank you."

"Gratitude received from Melgor, +1!"

Ren Xiaosu smiled and said, "Take care!" He then walked towards P5092 and the others without looking back.

Melgor stood in place and watched quietly. He saw Wang Yun and the others greeting Ren Xiaosu warmly and joking around with him. He saw the soldiers of the 6th Field Division looking at Ren Xiaosu with longing in their eyes. He even saw a girl wearing a cap walking up to Ren Xiaosu and taking the initiative to hold his hand.

At some point, Melgor wanted to integrate with that group.

Strictly speaking, Summer and he were in love, but Ren Xiaosu was his first friend.

Mel said to Summer, "Why don't we go to Fortress 178 after you've unified the Kingdom of Sorcerers? I've heard a lot of amazing things from Ren Xiaosu, such as radios, binoculars, motorized vehicles, and so on…"

Summer smiled and said, "We can go wherever you want when the time comes."

"Then it's settled."

…

At Stronghold 144's Anning East Road.

In the huge temporary military base, patients were constantly being carried out of Ren Xiaosu's residence and brought to the temporary field hospital by the medical staff.

Throughout the night, nearly a 1,000 people were carried out of Ren Xiaosu's residence alone.

Moreover, the wounded who were sent back through the enchanted doorway were basically all seriously injured.

The soldiers who were only lightly injured did not want to return to the rear to recuperate if they felt they could still continue fighting.

Of course, the core figures of the 6th Field Division also had a brief discussion about this matter. The Great Hoodwinker felt that if everyone were unwilling to step back from the firing line due to their faith, that was actually a good thing.

However, P5092 felt that soldiers who suffered minor injuries should also get treated in time. If a battle did not reach a point where they had to fight to the death, the commander should first consider preserving as much of their strength as possible.

That was because the more soldiers that survived, the better they could deal with the impending danger.

This so-called impending danger was most likely referring to the Wang Consortium.

Of course, P5092 also had his own thoughts about facing the Wang Consortium.

Before this, P5092 had told Ren Xiaosu that the Pyro Company's higher-ups had strayed in the wrong direction. They had even wanted to annex the Kong Consortium to boost their own strength.

But this move was not in line with P5092's beliefs. He was more willing to fight against the expeditionary army and the Kingdom of Sorcerers than participate in a civil war between humans in the Central Plains.

Actually, this was also the reason why P5092 wanted to leave the Pyro Company. He felt that the Pyro Company's higher-ups had taken the wrong path in recent years.

The higher-ups had even deployed soldiers and commanders regardless of their quality, all so that they could expand their organization's power, and not because of their original beliefs.

After arriving in the Northwest, P5092 immediately made an agreement with Ren Xiaosu. If the Northwest were to start a war with the Wang Consortium, the Pyro Company troops he brought with him would only participate in logistical support and not go into battle.

P5092 believed that Ren Xiaosu would not go back on his word.

At this moment, countless Stronghold 144 residents were waiting outside the security perimeter around Anning East Road. Everyone was discussing this sudden war noisily.

The onlookers had already started gathering last night. At the beginning, only a few sporadic residents came over.

Then, when everyone realized the 6th Field Division did not have any intention of chasing them away, the number of residents gathering immediately grew.

Everyone had been waiting here for an entire night since last night. It was almost noon now, but the 6th Field Division was still not back yet.

"Do you think we can win this war?" someone asked amid the commotion.

"Of course we can. How can we not win with Future Commander taking charge personally? Even the 6th Field Division was activated."

Someone said, "But the elders said that the enemy beyond the Northwest is very ferocious. Fortress 178 was built specifically for this purpose. Have you forgotten about the memorial square in Fortress 178? More than 200,000 of our predecessors are buried there."

However, someone immediately retorted, "Our Northwest's military industry had not even started developing yet at that time. Besides, I heard that the enemy beyond the Northwest actually lost the war 17 years ago. Times have changed!"

"Well, that's true…"

But while they were talking, everyone suddenly saw the soldiers at the security perimeter running towards the temporary military base. The onlookers realized that something big was about to happen.

A moment later, the soldiers of the 6th Field Division lined up and walked out of Ren Xiaosu's residence. The temporary military base was initially only filled with nurses, doctors, and patients coming and going, so it looked a little empty.

But when Ren Xiaosu's door opened, ranks of soldiers retreated from the battlefield in an orderly manner. In an instant, this temporary military base was bustling with activity.

The stronghold residents asked loudly outside the temporary military base, "How was it, bro? Did y'all win?"

In the end, the soldiers who walked out of the base all stood ramrod straight with no intention of answering the residents. It was not that they were void of emotions, but that they were maintaining discipline.

Some of the soldiers were standing in formation right next to the security perimeter, so they were very close to the stronghold residents.

As they waited for their next order, they could even hear some people calling out behind them, "Lads, are you all hungry? I have some freshly cooked eggs at home…"

However, no one would communicate with the civilians without permission at this moment. They were soldiers, so all they needed to do was to wait for orders.

Gradually, as all of the 6th Field Division's combat troops came back through the enchanted doorway, P5092 looked out at the vast number of stronghold residents who had gathered with expectant gazes.

He said to Zhang Xiaoman next to him, "You can make the announcement."

Zhang Xiaoman got excited. However, he also saw Zhang Jinglin, Wang Fengyuan, and the other high-ranking commanders smiling as they watched from a roof not far away.

Zhang Jinglin nodded slightly. Zhang Xiaoman immediately perked up. He bluntly called for a soldier to bring over a loudspeaker and shouted with all his might, "We've won! It's a triumphant return! Long live the Northwest Army!"

His voice was like the tide, surging outwards bit by bit.

The stronghold residents exchanged looks with their family and friends around them before a loud cheer erupted in the stronghold. Everyone jumped for joy as though they were all feeling the same thing. Even strangers hugged each other without any awkwardness.

In recent times, Stronghold 144 had been busy building an irrigation infrastructure as per the general direction of their policy to solve the food shortage. A proposed contract responsibility system put forward the main theme of serving the people on a smaller policy level. The stronghold's administrative service center had completely helped to improve the efficiency of handling matters as well.

All of the stronghold residents witnessed these changes.

What was even more obvious was that everyone's lives were gradually getting better, and the crime rate in the stronghold had also become much lower.

Before the war broke out this time, Wang Yuexi led his staff to visit the households in the vicinity to discuss compensation matters. His warm and humble attitude left a good impression on everyone.

Some of the residents from the other strongholds lamented that it was only in the Northwest that the military and stronghold officials were willing to discuss policy matters and compensation with residents politely.

If it were the Yang Consortium, the Kong Consortium, or the Zhou Consortium, they would probably have forcefully kicked you out. Expropriating your property would be for the sake of the stronghold, so why should they have to compensate you?

Moreover, when everyone asked why they wanted to requisition the residential buildings near Anning East Road, Wang Yuexi and the others did not hide anything from them. This made everyone feel like they were given the right to know.

Stronghold 144 had become a united entity in a very short time.

The stronghold residents were involved in every detail. It was as though they had also taken part in this war, but it was just that they did not go out to the front line.

At this moment, Wang Fengyuan, who was standing next to Zhang Jinglin, glanced at his commander. "Commander, if you're happy, just show it. There's no need to restrain yourself."

Zhang Jinglin laughed heartily. "What do you all think of Ren Xiaosu now? Getting the people on your side, that's the demeanor of a true leader."

At the side, Wang Fengyuan and the others rolled their eyes. Commander Zhang had been waiting here since last night. He even had someone send his meals up to the roof so that he would find out about the outcome of the battle immediately as it happened.

Zhang Jinglin kept saying that he was only here to take a look, but in the end, he was more concerned than anyone else.

However, everyone also agreed with what Zhang Jinglin had said. The key indicator of a leader was not about having an off-the-charts combat strength or outstanding military talent. Instead, it was about being able to unite all of the forces by their side. It was not only about uniting supernatural beings and military geniuses in command positions but also about uniting the common folk.

"Eh, where's Future Commander?" the muscular Zhou Yinglong asked curiously. Currently, Zhou Yinglong was the commander of the 1st Field Division. Back then, the Razor Sharp Company Ren Xiaosu was in was under the command of his Forward Strike Battalion.

With Zhou Yinglong's reminder, everyone finally realized what was going on. Yes, all of the 6th Field Division's combat troops had returned, so where was the future commander?

"Aren't Wang Yun, Ji Zi'ang, the Great Hoodwinker, P5092, and Zhou Yingxue all back already? Why haven't we seen Future Commander yet?" Wang Fengyuan wondered.

At this moment, the Great Hoodwinker came to the top of the building and said proudly, "Commander, this battle was absolutely well fought. We descended directly upon the capital city of the Magi through Future Commander's enchanted doorway. Just like the Heavenly Soldiers and Heavenly Generals, we instantly shattered the core of their authority! Future Commander has made some arrangements there. I believe it'll be very difficult for the Kingdom of Sorcerers to threaten us again in the future."

"Don't be in such a hurry to claim the credit." Wang Fengyuan asked, "Let me ask you first, where's Future Commander?"

"Oh." The Great Hoodwinker chuckled and said, "He and Ms. Xiaojin did not come back with us. Future Commander said he wanted to send Luo Lan and Zhou Qi back to the Qing Consortium's territory first before returning."

"Wait a minute, Future Commander didn't come back with you guys?" Wang Fengyuan was stunned for a moment before muttering, "Don't tell me we've lost him again?"

"That won't happen." The Great Hoodwinker remarked, "Don't worry, he'll definitely be back after he's done taking care of his affairs."

Zhang Jinglin also said with a smile, "This time, he won't run away."

Wang Fengyuan wondered, "Commander, why are you so sure? Future Commander has never wanted to take over as commander of the Northwest."

"Because this is now his home." Zhang Jinglin said with a smile, "Let's go. We can have a few drinks today to celebrate."

"Wow, Commander, it's rare that you want to drink." The Great Hoodwinker said excitedly, "Commander, didn't you swear off drinking? Why did you break your vow today?"

Zhang Jinglin thought for a moment and said with a smile, "For… the Prosperous Northwest?"

…

End of Volume Seven: The Prosperous Northwest

Next Volume: Hope in the Heavens