amaotonovel Chapter 48 Autumn Hunting Conference
Chapter 48 Autumn Hunting Conference
The autumn hunting grounds are located in a river valley in the Zhulu Mountains, a hundred miles northeast of Huiyan City.
This practice has been passed down for hundreds of years. It is said to have been established by the Silverfrost Empire's direct legion stationed in Luzhou, specifically by the Western Expeditionary Army.
Nominally a hunting and archery exercise, it was actually a month-long military training and annual drill conducted by the entire Western Expeditionary Army.
However, over the past century, the number of added activities and entertainments has increased, turning it into a grand festival for social interaction among the upper class in the five northwestern states of the Silverfrost Empire.
After all, the Western Expeditionary Army controls five states and is one of the top five directly subordinate legions of the Silverfrost Empire, possessing considerable strength.
Luo Sifan rode his sword, receiving a large amount of relevant information in his mind. This information was all obtained by Xiao Yi from searching and organizing the Daoist boy's soul.
Xiao Yi's cleverness, shrewdness, and efficiency made Luo Sifan feel somewhat ashamed.
More importantly, Xiao Yi has no emotions at all; she is a ruthless, powerful, and selfless soul machine who is always thinking of Luo Sifan and can even cultivate and advance.
The journey from Huiyan City is filled with grasslands, gentle hills, and rivers, with similar scenery. Clouds gather on the green plains, where herds of cattle, horses, and sheep roam.
As towering stone towers, each hundreds of meters high, suddenly appeared, the headquarters of the Western Expeditionary Army, the Great Stone City, drew near.
At the top of the stone tower, the steel arrowheads of powerful crossbows gleamed coldly, seemingly relentlessly pursuing Losfan's trail.
Fortunately, the soldiers at the top of the tower did not shout to stop him. Lothar flew past quickly and, under the watchful eyes of the soldiers, rode his sword upstream along a huge river.
This river, commonly known as the Heavenly River, meanders for thousands of miles from the endless mountains beyond Mount Zhuolu. Thousands of miles to the southeast, downstream of the Heavenly River, lies the capital of the Silverfrost Empire.
A magnificent river valley emerges amidst the towering, rugged mountains.
Banners and tents stand out against the colorful backdrop of the river valley grasslands.
The two floating points in the air sped toward where Luo Sifan was.
Luo Sifan stopped consciously, the sword energy beneath his feet like frost.
An officer in light armor and a feathered helmet, riding a gray-black raptor, and a middle-aged man in plain clothes wielding a sword, approached Luo Sifan at approximately the same time, each within ten feet of him.
"Who goes there? Don't you know that flying is strictly prohibited here?"
The officer was young, with sharp eyes staring at Luo Sifan, and shouted in a deep voice.
Luo Sifan politely introduced himself, saying that he had come to visit because of the gathering of heroes at the Autumn Hunt.
A middle-aged man in plain clothes floated to the side, his expression gentle, his eyes taking in Luo Sifan's every move with great interest.
Luo Sifan was of good appearance, so the young officer did not make things difficult for him. His tone softened, and he told Luo Sifan to land on the ground. Then he turned around and flew away.
"Young master, you also have the surname Lin? What a coincidence."
A middle-aged man in plain clothes approached on his sword, smiling broadly as he struck up a conversation.
Luo Sifan and he descended slowly on their swords, chatted for a while, and under his guidance, they easily entered the camp of the Autumn Hunting Tournament.
This man's surname is Wang, his given name is Qingqiu, and he claims to be a rogue cultivator who has now taken a sinecure in the Western Expeditionary Army.
"This person has designs on you. How about I interrogate his soul?"
Xiao Yi offered her suggestion casually.
Luo Sifan, with his innate sword physique, naturally knew the deeper motives behind Wang Qingqiu's unsolicited kindness.
I was still taken aback by Xiaoyi's nonchalant tone.
"Xiao Yi, how can you interrogate people's souls like that? That's inhumane and will easily cause trouble."
Luo Sifan tried to persuade her earnestly, feeling that Xiao Yi was growing up too fast and becoming somewhat stubborn.
"Human relationships? I don't understand. I still think that directly interrogating the soul is the most effective and efficient method."
"Xiao Yi, all human interactions are about self-interest. We can't just interrogate everyone we meet because we suspect their motives, can we? Interrogating someone's soul will inevitably cause some damage."
After being interrogated by Xiao Yi, the Taoist boy from Jiuxian Palace had dark circles under his eyes, his face turned pale, and he was walking with his hands on his waist.
"What does this have to do with me? I won't get hurt."
Xiao Yi's tone remained unchanged, indifferent.
"In short, you can't act without my permission! Using subconscious reasons as an excuse is also unacceptable!"
Unable to reason with her or resort to violence, Luo Sifan simply set strict rules for Xiao Yi.
Wang Qingqiu glanced at Luo Sifan's absent-minded expression with some surprise.
I made some wild guesses about why Luo Sifan seemed so preoccupied.
Wang Qingqiu had seen plenty of talented but unappreciated commoners wandering the world. Their motives for desperately trying to squeeze into circles teeming with high-ranking officials and nobles were self-evident.
Wang Qingqiu warmly led Luo Sifan into a camp area and arranged a bed for Luo Sifan in a small tent on the edge.
The beds are separated by curtains, and the room is clean and tidy.
The soldiers guarding the small tent even registered Luo Sifan and gave him an identity tag.
A circular waist tag decorated with patterns has the character "林" (Lin) engraved in cursive script on the front and the three characters "林晓芝" (Lin Xiaozhi) engraved on the back.
The waist tag is made of wood that is dark, hard, and reddish in color, and it emits a faint fragrance.
The purple cypress of Beihai is not only rare, but also a top-grade medicinal material worth a fortune. It can strengthen blood and qi, restore vitality, and is one of the main ingredients in high-level healing pills.
"Brother Wang, the master of this camp is very generous, so his status must be quite high, right?"
After hanging up his waist tag, Luo Sifan followed Wang Qingqiu out of the camp area and couldn't help but ask a question.
Seeing that he had taken the initiative to ask, Wang Qingqiu realized that his judgment was not bad, so she stopped hiding her true intentions and praised her master lavishly, the implication of which was very clear.
His master, a young hero, was not only the deputy commander of the Western Expeditionary Army but also a first-class marquis of the Silverfrost Empire, indeed holding a high position and great power.
Wang Qingqiu spit out saliva, while Luo Sifan remained calm, his smile polite but insincere.
The sensible Wang Qingqiu refrained from soliciting Luo Sifan, his enthusiasm waning considerably. He briefly explained the arrangements for the Autumn Hunting Festival and hurried away.
The Autumn Hunting Conference brought together talented individuals and prominent families from the five states. The various tents stretched for miles, resembling a temporary city.
The various areas were rationally divided and separated by rows of wooden fences. The elite soldiers and generals of the Western Expeditionary Army guarded and patrolled the major areas. Although the flow of people was bustling, it was orderly and there was no dirt or disorder.
It seems that it won't be easy for Luo Sifan to find Ji Yuan among tens of thousands of people.
Strolling along, Luo Sifan passed several martial arts arenas, which were bustling with noise, the sounds of fighting were deafening, and the flashing of swords created a lively atmosphere.
One campsite, however, was unusually quiet, with wafts of the fragrance of medicinal herbs carried on the breeze from time to time.
Luo Sifan's interest was piqued, and he followed the path into the camp gate. The soldier noticed the waist tag on Luo Sifan's arm and nodded, letting him in.
The camp was small, with a wooden platform in the center, set up on the grass. Several people were concentrating on refining pills on the platform. The pill furnaces were different and of ordinary quality.
Beneath the wooden platform, there were several rows of benches, enough to seat hundreds of people, but the benches closest to the platform were quite crowded.
Luo Sifan didn't need to squeeze in to join the fun; he chose a quiet spot to sit on the second round of benches.
The aroma of the pills mingled, and after a moment of focused contemplation, Luo Sifan roughly discerned what kind of pill it was, its current state of refinement, and its quality.
The highest-grade pills were only third-tier, all common items with nothing special about them.
Just as Luo Sifan was about to sit up out of boredom, he was drawn to a notice on the shelf to the left of the wooden platform.
A three-foot-long sword hung above the notice, its scabbard a deep blue-green, resembling dragon skin. The hilt was a dark blue-black, slightly curved, with fine, dense scales, like a dragon's foot poised to strike.
Luo Sifan's innate sword physique seemed to harbor a faint yearning for this sword.
The notice, written in neat and powerful characters, stated that the sword was the prize for the champion of the Danhui competition. Most of the notice boasted about the sword's extraordinary origin and exceptional charm.
The signature at the bottom is Lin Qianxiu, which appears to be a woman's name.