Gao Wu: My freshman internship was a battle on the front lines.

Chapter 99 A city lord who's only 9 years old? Isn't that just ridiculous?

Shanhe Prefecture, City Lord's Mansion.

Zhao Gongming sat behind a huge mahogany desk, with an official document from Jiangcheng spread out in front of him.

He picked up the document, read it three times, and made sure he hadn't misread it.

Then slammed it onto the table with a "thud".

"absurd!"

Zhao Gongming's voice wasn't loud, but the entire office trembled slightly.

With his mid-stage seventh-order cultivation, even just moving his voice carried a suffocating sense of oppression.

The officials standing in the office all shrank back, none of them daring to look up.

Zhao Gongming is fifty-seven years old this year and has served as the prefect of Shanhe Prefecture for fifteen years.

He was shrewd and decisive, managing Shanhe Prefecture so well that it was impenetrable.

Throughout the entire Shanhe Prefecture, the military and the Night Watchmen were his people.

The heads of all important departments, including finance, civil affairs, and construction, were his sworn brothers.

Apart from the head of the Shanhefu branch of that Taoist academy.

Zhao Gongming was the absolute ruler of Shanhe Prefecture.

For the past fifteen years, no one has dared to challenge his authority.

But today, he received an official document from Jiangcheng, recommending a 19-year-old college freshman to be the city lord of Jiangcheng.

"Isn't this just ridiculous?"

Zhao Gongming stood up and paced back and forth in his office.

Jiangcheng has indeed performed a great service this time. They repelled the invasion of the Heavenly Demons, slew the Heavenly Demon envoys, and saved a city of millions.

This achievement is truly remarkable, not only in Shanhe Prefecture but also in the Great Xia Dynasty.

Rewarding those who have made contributions is a matter of course.

But promoting a nineteen-year-old to be the city lord is absurd.

What does a 19-year-old freshman know?

"Just because his parents were martyrs? Or because he comes from a prominent family?"

Zhao Gongming stopped in his tracks.

He was aware of the current situation in Jiangcheng.

The military and the Night's Watch were completely suppressed by the power of the Great Houses.

But such actions are not permitted.

"You can't do it like that."

"That Cao Keyuan is a complete waste."

He also believed that Cao Zhenshou did this because he had no choice but to compromise with the powerful clans.

No one dared to speak.

The office was completely silent.

Zhao Gongming glanced at the officials present and noticed the subtle expressions on their faces.

No one objected, but no one echoed either.

This silence was very unusual; his men, who were usually all very talkative, were now completely mute.

"What do you mean by not speaking?" Zhao Gongming frowned.

"Lord of the Prefecture..." an official finally couldn't help but speak up.

"That Ye Feng is indeed very strong."

How strong is it?

The official opened his mouth, wanting to say that he had watched the live broadcast that day and personally witnessed Ye Feng kill the sixth-level Heavenly Demon Envoy with a single strike.

But he swallowed his words. Zhao Gongming was an old-fashioned man; he didn't watch live streams and even scoffed at anything online.

If he said he saw it online, Zhao Gongming would not only not believe him, but would think he was unreliable.

"I heard it's very strong," the official said vaguely.

Zhao Gongming frowned even more deeply.

I heard?

Who told you that?

Where did you hear that?

Zhao Gongming was getting a little impatient, but he didn't press the matter further.

The situation in Jiangcheng must be thoroughly investigated; a decision cannot be made based solely on a single official document.

"Zhang Lizhuo!"

A middle-aged man in his forties stepped out from the crowd. He was tall and straight, with a stern face, and was dressed in a black official robe.

"Your subordinate is here."

"You, the inspector, are to go to Jiangcheng immediately. Investigate this matter thoroughly."

Zhang Lizhu clasped his hands in a fist salute: "Yes, Lord of the Prefecture."

"Why would Cao Keyuan recommend a nineteen-year-old as the city lord?" Zhao Gongming asked.

"Who exactly is this Ye Feng? What are his abilities? What makes him the city lord? Find out for me."

"Yes."

"Also," Zhao Gongming paused, "what is the true extent of the power of that aristocratic family in Jiangcheng? You can check to see if it's genuine."

Zhang Lizhuo responded and turned to leave.

He finally let out a long breath after leaving the city lord's mansion.

Zhao Gongming's oppressive aura was too strong; every time they met, it felt like being crushed by a mountain, making it hard to breathe.

He boarded the airship parked in the city lord's mansion square and ordered the pilot to head towards Jiangcheng.

The airship slowly rose into the air and flew towards the southern horizon.

Zhang Lizhuo stood at the porthole of the airship, looking down at the mountains and rivers below.

A vast land with cities, villages, mountains, and rivers.

Humans have lived and thrived on this land for thousands of years.

But the threat of the strange beasts has never gone away.

Jiangcheng is the front line in the battle between humans and alien beasts.

Over the years, Jiangcheng has suffered repeated defeats, losing one fortress after another.

Zhang Lizhuo had heard people say more than once that Jiangcheng was about to collapse and would be breached by alien beasts sooner or later.

"Sigh! Jiangcheng is regressing more and more!"

"How could they do something so absurd!"

Is a nineteen-year-old qualified to be the city lord?

Zhang Lizhuo didn't quite believe it.

He served as an inspector for over a decade and had seen far too many people who exaggerated their own abilities.

Someone boasted that he had killed a fifth-tier alien beast, but it turned out that it was his own protector who had killed it.

Some people boast that they are genius martial artists, but it turns out they have been fed countless pills.

seeing is believing.

He wanted to see for himself what kind of person Ye Feng really was.

The airship was very fast, and it arrived over Jiangcheng in less than half a day.

Looking down from the porthole, Zhang Lizhuo saw that the reconstruction work in Jiangcheng was proceeding in an orderly manner.

It was much better than he had expected.

Just then, three powerful auras erupted from within Jiangcheng.

Zhang Lizhuo's pupils suddenly contracted.

Sixth order.

Not one, but three.

Three streams of sixth-order aura simultaneously surged into the sky from different locations in Jiangcheng.

They converged and collided in the skies above Jiangcheng.

The aura was so strong that his airship trembled slightly.

Cao Keyuan successfully condensed his sword intent and broke through to the sixth level.

Director Zhou followed closely behind, condensing his sword intent and breaking through to the sixth level.

Old Zhang unleashed his final burst of power, his violent blood and qi erupting like a volcano.

Sixth order.

Zhang Lizhuo stood in front of the porthole, looking at the three auras, and remained silent for a long time.

One breakthrough can be attributed to luck, two breakthroughs can be attributed to mutual encouragement. But what can you say about three breakthroughs happening simultaneously?

Jiangcheng's luck has truly turned around this time.

"Get out," Zhang Lizhuo said to the driver.

"Landed directly at the Jiangcheng City Lord's Mansion."

When the airship landed in the city lord's mansion square.

Cao Keyuan and his two companions were walking out of the main gate.

The three men, full of vigor and high spirits, strode confidently.

Zhang Lizhuo stepped off the airship and went to greet him.

"Congratulations, Commander Cao."

Cao Keyuan stopped and recognized the person who had come.

"Inspector Zhang? What brings you here?"

"The Prefect has sent me to Jiangcheng to investigate some matters," Zhang Lizhuo said, not elaborating. "Where are the three of you headed?"

"The mountains in the south," Cao Keyuan pointed towards the outside of the city.

"Major Ye Feng has led three thousand new soldiers into battle. Let's go take a look."

Zhang Lizhuo's heart stirred.

Ye Feng, it's Ye Feng again.

What real skills does this young man possess?

How dare they lead three thousand people to the lair of the strange beasts in the southern mountains?

Is this really true skill?

Or is it just nonsense?

I need to go and see for myself.

"Perfect," Zhang Lizhuo said with a smile.

"I'd also like to see who this Ye Feng is. Would the three of you mind riding in my airship? It's much faster than a car."

Cao Keyuan looked at Director Zhou, who nodded.

"Then thank you very much, Inspector Zhang." Cao Keyuan and the other two boarded the airship.

The airship took off again, this time turning southwest and flying towards the southern mountains.

Ye Feng led three thousand men to the lair of the alien beasts.

Zhang Lizhuo wanted to see what this nineteen-year-old was capable of.