Chapter Six: Clouds and Fog

  The subjugation of Zhang Hui was a matter that delighted Zhang Xu greatly. Although he had great prestige in this land as the Xian Shi, with one million two thousand loyal followers, without a general to lead them, it was an undeniable fact that they could not expand their army. In this late Han era, only those who cultivated their essence and blood could become generals. Zhang Xu's foundation was still too shallow. In other aspects, he might have had ways to make up for it, but in cultivating martial generals, two years of time was already the limit, and the general he cultivated, Wu Zhong, was only a mediocre martial general who could only command five hundred soldiers at the initial stage of refining his essence and energy.

  However, with Guan Hai joining in, it's already vastly different. The power of refining and purifying the air has reached its peak. Zhang Xu looked over and saw a dense golden cloud of air above Guan Hai's head, constantly churning. Guan Hai himself can be said to have the ability to command an army of 10,000, and further, he is a great general!

  "Hmm, no wonder it's so difficult to recruit a general like Kanji. The golden clouds are gathering, if I hadn't planned for a long time and added some unknown factors, such a powerful general wouldn't be someone I can recruit now!"

  Zhang Xu looked at the cloud energy on top of Guan Hai's head, and was also extremely shocked. At this time, Guan Hai's cloud energy only saw that it had just begun to connect with Zhang Xu's cloud energy, stimulating a change in Zhang Xu's cloud energy.

  According to ancient books, this cloud energy seems to be divided into several levels. The humble commoners without any foundation only have weak innate cloud energy, which is colorless and extremely dull. Above that is the white cloud energy, which represents civilization in rural areas. My own cloud energy is thick and dense with a white top, which means I've already reached the peak of rural areas. Further up is the red cloud energy, representing capital that spans an entire county. And then there's the golden yellow cloud energy, which means reaching the pinnacle of a prefecture, capable of influencing provincial-level affairs. Now that this person has joined, no wonder my cloud energy is boiling so violently!

  In the Information Age, although secret information is still difficult to access, Zhang Xu has read a lot of cultivation records and has his own understanding. In his view, cloud energy is the accumulation of various opportunities, status, and so on. For example, he now controls Qinglin Town, which is a peak town with extremely dense white cloud energy. Further, it means that he can enter the county level. Before Guan Hai came, his army was not enough to control a county, but now it's possible.

  With a clear understanding in his mind, Zhang Xu shouted: "Guan Hai, listen to the order!"

  "The believers are coming!"

  At this point, Guan Hai didn't hesitate and directly knelt down on the ground. At this point, Zhang Xu's head was once again surrounded by a rolling white cloud, and in the core of the white cloud, a faint red cloud slowly emerged. With a sudden realization, Zhang Xu said: "Guan Hai, listen to my orders! Your ability lies in commanding troops. Currently, Qinglin Town is about to expand its guard squad, and I appoint you as the commander of the second battalion of Qinglin Town, with a quota of 500 people. After the harvest, you can select soldiers on your own, and there will be Chen Gang and eight other officials assisting you in selecting soldiers. Train them well!"

  "Qinglin Town Second Regiment received orders!"

  Guan Hai knocked his head and said, at this time a loud noise was heard, only to see that the original thin red cloud had transformed into about one-third of the white cloud on top of his head, which had quickly changed into a light red cloud. This stopped him from continuing, and he had an epiphany in his heart, "It seems that I now have the capital to enter county-level power, as long as I seize control of a county, this white cloud can truly transform into red, and when the time comes, it will be completely different!"

  Having subdued Guan Hai, it can be said that Zhang Xu truly possessed the capital to seize a county. As long as he completed his military training, he would have even more capital at his disposal. This greatly delighted Zhang Xu, and after two years of effort, he had finally reached this point. Once he grasped control of a county, both his foundation and his cultivation speed would be vastly different.

  This has precious reference significance for the perfection of his Xianghuo faith, and many books record the extraordinary power of those in power. Those in power have clouds that make countless practitioners envy, and the help of these clouds to practice is imaginable.

  But his incense faith was his own creation, and it was unexpectedly created by mistake, which made it possible for him to gather the vital energy of all living things, this made Zhang Xu's confidence in his incense faith suddenly full.

  "It seems that gathering the strengths of all families is my greatest capital. Although in this era, it will be even more difficult, after all, during the Han Dynasty, aristocratic families controlled the world, and the Yellow Turban Rebellion made the entire world extremely resistant to cultivators. This is also one of the reasons why I couldn't recruit talent. Cultivation has already broken through its own destiny, only by gathering the power of all living beings can it develop. This is the path of rising from humble beginnings!"

  In an instant, he understood many things. Zhang Xu was indeed a very intelligent person, otherwise he would not have been able to create the unprecedented incense faith, which could break through the extreme cold of cultivators. This was his opportunity and also his tribulation. From now on, his cultivation path was completely tied to his own power. If his power collapsed, it would also severely damage his cloud energy and undermine his foundation, and even years of hard work would be reduced to nothing. This was a very dangerous road, but it was also a great opportunity and challenge. Success would bring enviable benefits!

  Guan Hai is the catalyst for Zhang Xu's rise, although Guan Hai is currently only a first-rate general and has not reached the level of a true great general. However, he has great potential and is also the strongest general that Zhang Xu can currently possess. Commanding the troops of an entire prefecture would be no problem at all. Thinking this, Zhang Xu said: "General Guan Hai, you may proceed first. Let Shi Wu arrange your accommodations. This place is still in its pioneering phase, conditions are simple, and we need to work together!"

  "Master Xianshi is too polite. Now I am Master Xianshi's humble disciple, and being able to serve Master Xianshi is a great honor for me!"

  After listening to Zhang Xu's words, Guan Hai hurriedly and respectfully kowtowed before getting up. It was clear that after understanding Qinglin Town, the current Guan Hai had completely believed in Zhang Xu's abilities.

  "Excellent!"

  Zhang Xu nodded in satisfaction, extremely pleased with Guan Hai's words. He knew that this man was a loyal general, and now that he had surrendered to him, there was no need to worry too much.

  Zhang Xu nodded slightly, waved his hand, and let Wu Zhong and Guan Hai retreat. After the two left, Zhang Xu stood up, thought for a moment, and sighed: "It's still the first time, but there are too few talents now. The internal construction of Qinglin Town is not bad, if there were more leaders, how could they fall into such a situation!"

  However, he is not a sentimental person. The difficulties of this path were already known when the decision was made. Establishing a sect has its own benefits; otherwise, Zhang Xu would only be a nobody in this late Han era, and it would be impossible to establish his current foundation. But precisely because of this, recruiting talent becomes too difficult. If not for a coincidence, how could Gan Hui, who had the potential to become a great general, submit to him?

  "Child!"

  After thinking for a while, Zhang Xu called out.

  "Great Immortal Venerable!"

  Two clever and nimble boys, Zhang Yao and Zhang Liu, hurried over, knelt down and kowtowed.

  "Are there talented people in Tongziying now?"

  Nodding his head, Zhang Xu said.

  Zhang Yao knocked his head and stood up, saying: "Immortal Master, the Tongzi Camp has 138 people. Except for us 15 chief disciples, there are now three more who can be considered talented!"

  Zhang Yao is the leader of the Tongzi Camp Tongzi Army and also a very spirited Tongzi, deeply trusted by Zhang Xu.

  "There are only three people!"

  Zhang Xu let out a slight sigh of regret. Although he was disappointed in his heart, he still said: "Hm, call the three of them over, and Zhang Liu as well."

  "Great Immortal Venerable!"

  Zhang Liu knelt down and kowtowed.

  "Go and call Stephon, the steward!"

  "Yes, Great Elder Xian!"

  Zhang Liu bowed his head again and went down with Zhang Yao.

  Tongziying is Zhang Xu's reserve talent for the future. He selects clever and talented children, forms a battalion, and teaches them himself first. Later, Zhang Yao, Zhang Liu, and others learn quickly and take over the teaching responsibilities. These fifteen people cannot be moved, so they can only call the remaining three to discuss further.

  The cultivation of talents also requires a certain aura, these children are said to be spirited, in fact, they are just some children with a certain aura that Zhang Xuwang has obtained, at least they have a relatively strong white aura, but compared to ordinary people, it's not much stronger. Those who possess red cloud aura are extremely rare.

  Sitting in meditation, his mind was actually thinking about the future. For the Three Kingdoms, a world more cruel than he had imagined, Zhang Xu knew that once he failed, it would be a fate of death and disappearance. The cruelty of this world exceeded his imagination. In the future, he would face not just one or two exceptional individuals, but people with vast and profound abilities, such as those who possessed majestic cloud-like auras. Just looking at Liu, Guan, and Zhang, they all had green cloud-like auras, and Liu Bei was even more extraordinary, with an aura that was difficult to imagine. This was the difference between someone with great innate abilities and great destiny, and him, a self-made man from humble beginnings.

  There were also Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, Sun and others he had met, who weren't all heroes in their own right. Zhang Jue's magical powers reached the heavens, his cultivation almost achieving spiritual transcendence, yet they all ended up like this. Zhang Xu was arrogant about his natural talent, but his foundation wasn't even as good as Zhang Jue's. To grow in this world, he had to be extremely careful and plan meticulously.

  As he thought so, Zhang Xu's heart slowly calmed down, and the joy of getting Gan Hui slowly subsided. He was not blinded by joy, and now all the vassals were accumulating strength for development. However, the time left to him was not much, and soon Yuan Shao's army would attack Qingzhou. This is a first-class warlord in the early Three Kingdoms period. If he doesn't establish enough power early on, it will be too late by then.

  After a bumper harvest, we should mobilize our troops and horses as soon as possible to seize one county's land, which is an indispensable task.