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In the territory under Lord Chen Qing’s influence, a very special group of entities now existed, who disregarded the dominions of the yin-si, capable of moving between multiple regions, and could observe the mortal world with impunity day or night, unimpeded by the Night Traveling Gods of various regions! !

These entities typically kept a low profile, merely wandering the lands without impacting the lives of common folk.

This somewhat relieved the local yin-si authorities, though naturally, the masters of these domains, particularly the Shen Family, were not fond of these uncontrollable spirits.

No one knew where they had come from, but they certainly didn’t seem like natives of the Central Plains.

And on a day-to-day basis, it was Jiang Xiaoling who was in charge of communicating with this group of special spirits.

On this day, as per usual, Jiang Xiaoling once again applied to go to Beihai City, bringing a new batch of spirits with him, and this time, there was a presence among them that even made him feel somewhat nervous.

"Elder Zhang, the passage to Beihai is just ahead," he said.

Jiang Xiaoling had already seen many formidable beings in this world, such as Lord Wei Gongcheng, the master of Lyuzhou City’s yin-si; Lady Zi Yue, the headmistress of Dragon Palace Academy; and even Lord Chen Qing, the being said to have singlehandedly altered the world’s landscape from Digital City!

Any one of them was an entity that those so-called advanced life forms of the Federation had to look up to, but the one before him now was a historical figure in the Central Federation, one who had influenced generations and to whom Jiang Xiaoling still felt great reverence.

It was none other than Zhang Zhengyuan, who was once the Central Federation’s strongest fighting force, the leading figure of the righteous path in the Immortal Executioner Realm!

It had been about a month since Zhang Zhengyuan had arrived in this world and, despite facing such a junior as Jiang Xiaoling, he showed a gentle demeanor, "You’ve worked hard."

"Not at all..." Jiang Xiaoling quickly waved his hands, his words tinged with evident nervousness.

Seeing Jiang Xiaoling’s nervousness, Zhang Zhengyuan’s gaze turned complicated.

He was used to the awe and reverence he inspired in the younger generation of Huazhong within the Federation, owing to both his identity and strength.

But things were different now...

A whole new world, a fresh start—where the other party’s reverence was merely habitual. In fact, when it came to potential and opportunity, perhaps even he didn’t realize that this junior named Jiang Xiaoling had far more advantages than he did now.

He had arrived a decade earlier than many, and he had been tested to possess the aptitude of a Magician, particularly in the blessed land of Jiangnan; at least for the time being, his prospects for growth seemed much better than theirs.

During his days wandering the expanse of Chen Qing’s influence, Zhang Zhengyuan had roughly come to understand the structure of this power.

Jiangnan was the foundation from which Chen Qing rose, and thus, all educational resources were concentrated there. Jiangnan Academy combined modern science and engineering with the inheritance of Dragon Palace, possessing Magician knowledge that lead the world.

To gain power quickly, this was the best place, but of course, Chen Qing would not allow the Federation to overtly intrude here.

Hence the regulation was established with the Federation: either they couldn’t retain their memories, or if they did retain them, they could only be born in Southeast Province.

This rule effectively cut off the Central Federation’s ambitions to seize control over the academy. Zhang Zhengyuan had already spent most of a month in the Southeast, clearly seeing that Chen Qing had no intentions of developing the Southeast in the same way as Jiangnan.

The Southeast, with its many mountains and less convenient trade, served as the prime agricultural land.

Up until now, Chen Qing had ennobled hundreds of mountain gods, vigorously promoting agronomy and medicine, while that Western Sea God named Tian Heng was bolstering the reputation of the Western Sea Army in the Southeast.

The men of Southeast had historically held a strong tradition of joining the military. Scholars were few, let alone those proficient in the theoretical arts.

Therefore, it was almost certain that the culture there would become one where everyone took pride in military service, and even those who pursued education would likely find agronomy and medicine to be the most popular fields.

Escaping one’s originating family and resolutely aiming to enter the academy would by no means be easy.

As for joining the military, the Western Sea Army... was not an ideal place for rapid growth...

For ordinary people to rise in status, there were two paths: either enter the academy to become a respected Magician, or join the military and seek fame and honor on horseback!

Chen Qing deliberately limited education outside of Jiangnan, and many Federation engineers were chomping at the bit, believing that their proficiency in science and engineering would completely overwhelm the indigenous people here.

But after reviewing the curriculum, he was not optimistic about those engineer schools from the Federation.

They had some advantages, but nowhere near as great as they imagined. With Chen Qing deliberately suppressing them, the path to the academy was honestly not necessarily an easy one to tread.

Compared to that, the cost-effectiveness of joining the army is even higher.

During this period, Zhang Zhengyuan found that the military forces within Chen Qing’s influence were quite complex.

In the War God faction, Xu Hu dominates alone, and almost no one is willing to join the other two War Gods.

Tian Heng of the West Sea took advantage of the turmoil in the Southeast to quickly build influence, and it wasn’t as harmonious or simple as it seemed.

Xu Hu’s influence had already become substantial, and a high-ranking figure like Chen Qing would never allow him to expand indefinitely. It was inevitable that he would cultivate other Military Officers to balance power.

Tian Heng is likely to be the most rapidly developing military leader in the short term, with growth expected over the next three years.

Unfortunately, if people like him were to reincarnate, just growing up would take more than ten years; they would have to be at least fourteen to join the army.

By that time, Tian Heng would probably have already reached saturation, and where would that leave them?

If one desires greater room for development, the Northern Wasteland is actually a very good place.

Chen Qing even promised that the first batch could be given priority to be born into Bloodline families.

Soldiers of the Spirit Path don’t necessarily need Bloodline Power to rise, but from his observations, people with Bloodline Power always have a better starting point and potential.

But the question is, if they invest in the Northern Wasteland, will there still be a market in a decade?

Chen Qing deliberately opened up the Northern Wasteland, allowing a million of the Federation citizens with retained memories to settle there. Could it be without any precautions?

There were many things he couldn’t figure out, but one must see for oneself to understand.

"Elder Zhang, this ice path is truly magnificent," said a tall soul beside Zhang Zhengyuan.

As a spirit body, he could keenly feel the power of the Dragon Soul on that ice path, which was enormously vast. Their own energies were like fireflies, while the residual power on the ice path was like the blazing sun.

The energy of this world was truly incomparable to that of Immortal Executioner, no wonder Chen Qing was able to act with impunity within the Federation!

"Yes, indeed... truly magnificent," Zhang Zhengyuan also nodded and smiled. A new beginning made his blood boil with excitement; the more powerful the world’s energy, the more excited he became.

Once, with an ordinary civilian birth, he managed to reach the apex in the Immortal Executioner Realm. And now... he could do it again!

"Elder Zhang, do you think... the Northern Wasteland could be a good place?" another soul beside him asked with a frown.

"We’ll know when we go take a look," Zhang Zhengyuan said with a smile.

He was not alone; as the leader of the righteous forces in the Immortal Executioner Realm, many were willing to follow him. Under his arrangements, at least ten thousand followers—old-timers of the Immortal Executioner Realm—would join him.

This was also why the choice had to be made very carefully, because one misstep could not only damage his future but also trap those who had followed him for years.

"Oh? Elder Zhang is also here?"

A familiar voice from afar made Jiang Xiaoling startle, and she quickly turned around. Her entire body stiffened when she saw the face of the newcomer!

She hadn’t expected... for him to come too!

Zhang Zhengyuan looked up, his eyes deep. "Elder Hou has come as well?"

The person who arrived... was none other than Hou Tianhua.

The leading figure of the Hou Family, the number one family in the Central Federation, not sitting in Digital City but instead coming here without hesitation—his vigor... was much greater than before.

According to Jiang Xiaoling, a batch of people had already gone to the Northern Wasteland. Now that the Hou Family was catching up so quickly, it would soon attract the attention of other great families.

It seemed... that the land of Northern Wasteland would be busier than expected in the future.

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Unseen by them, at Beihai City, two people were watching this group of free souls crossing over with crystal clear vision.

"Is this really a good idea?" The one watching was Zi Yue, and beside her was Chen Qing, the one who had arranged everything.

"The Northern Wasteland will be the future vital essence passage, and you’ve arranged for Weichi Feihong to be there, to form the second War God Army. At this juncture, you want to send that group from the Federation here, what are you thinking?"