It is very common in the Wei Dynasty for fellow townsmen to protect each other.
The most numerous factions in the Wei Dynasty were the local factions, ranging from small villages and towns to large counties and states, and there were simply countless of them.
Therefore, when Zhou Yuan came to Beijing from Huaizhou, he could not be said to have come in with nothing to rely on.
Even if he did not join the Huaizhou faction, as long as he entered the capital, he would be labeled as a Huaizhou scholar.
It can even be said that as long as he does not clearly distance himself from the Huaizhou faction, people in the capital will tacitly assume that he is a member of the Huaizhou faction.
After all, he was born in Huaizhou, grew up in Huaizhou, and worked in Huaizhou. He is a die-hard Huaizhou native.
Therefore, even though he and the candidate from Huaizhou were in a competitive relationship, they still regarded Zhou Yuan as one of their own from a general perspective.
"Thank you for your warning, brother. I'm a long-range archer, not a close combat warrior. I have the protection of the soldiers in the camp and I won't make any mistakes."
Seeing that Zhou Yuan had made up his mind, the two candidates for the spiritual test stopped trying to persuade him. They bowed to each other and returned to their barracks.
After Zhou Yuan left, the two got together again.
"Brother Gu, why don't you take this opportunity to demonstrate your martial arts skills."
"What's the point of acting? They've already mastered it. It's Sima Zhou who's a bit impulsive. The sudden and intense battle is exhausting, and ultimately it's not worth it."
"Indeed, Sima Zhou most likely came from a poor family. His family didn't inherit the secret realm, so he had to seize the opportunity to experience the secret realm."
"That's even more incredible. Someone from a humble family who can receive the imperial reward for his meritorious service must be either extremely lucky or a valiant hero.
But he is also a long-range archer, so he must be a sharp-shooting man with a sharp bow and arrow who never misses his target."
While the two candidates were analyzing Zhou Yuan's situation, Zhou Yuan also arrived at the secret realm of South City.
The entrance to the secret realm is in a spacious warehouse, where a blue-purple vortex is constantly rotating.
【Instance: Twin-Tailed Fox Country】
【Recommended challenge level 10, recommended challenger number 10-20】
"The secret realm in South City is easier to attack, but it also requires a warrior to lead the team. The injury rate in the secret realm in North City is higher, so the governor only opened the secret realm in South City for you.
The demon leader in this secret realm is a two-tailed demon fox. You need to kill it twice to kill it, so you must be careful.
Although General Liu believed that with Zhou Yuan's archery skills, it would not be a problem to attack the secret realm of the Fox Kingdom.
However, he still entrusted some information as a routine matter to prevent the new generation of candidate warriors in Huaizhou from getting hurt in the secret area of their own military camp.
Zhou Yuan was very grateful and only joined the attacking team after bowing and thanking him.
The captain leading the team was a very strong and bald man, and the scars on his head from the ordination ceremony showed his background.
"Young man, let's make this clear. I know it's not easy for you to get a place in the spiritual test, but what we do is also murderous and brutal.
If you perform poorly and endanger the lives of the soldiers later, you will be ordered to retreat.
Otherwise, I don't care whether you are Jiang Ren's confidant or the descendant of a prominent family, you will be severely punished by military law."
The title of Jing'an Captain Jiang Ren was no longer useful when he arrived at the Huaizhou camp.
The monk captain was obviously dissatisfied with the temporary transfer, but because of the order from the governor of Huaizhou, he had to accept it.
"Don't worry, General. The soldiers of Jing'an also know the military law and are definitely not playing tricks on me."
"Okay, if you can catch up with us after entering the formation, I will take you with me for the next few days."
If you are recognized, you can fight side by side with us. If you are not recognized, you will naturally be dismissed.
Zhou Yuan didn't say much. He had no reputation and could only prove his ability through actual combat.
"Huaizhou Tiger Guards, follow me into battle."
At the command of the monk captain, the soldiers wearing heavy armor and holding tower shields entered the secret realm first, followed by the archer team.
The Huaizhou camp is worthy of being the provincial garrison. The arrows equipped for the archer team in the camp are all blood-killing arrows.
The armors of those soldiers looked unusual. Not only were they exquisitely made, but they also had a large defensive area. Even their faces were protected, with only two holes left as observation ports.
As soon as Zhou Yuan entered the secret realm of Fox Country, he understood why the Huaizhou soldiers attached so much importance to defense.
Because on the low wall in front of them, which was less than three meters high, there were many fox archers about one and a half meters tall standing.
【Level 10 Fox Nation Pitcher】, 【Level 10 Fox Nation Archer】, 【Level 12 Fox Nation Vanguard】
Zhou Yuan made a rough estimate and found that there were about a hundred Fox Country soldiers on the low wall.
Moreover, these Fox Country soldiers mostly attack from a distance, so even if the Huaizhou soldiers continue to advance, they remain motionless.
They did not start attacking until the Huaizhou soldiers came into their range.
"Raise your shield, and the archer will strike back."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... the sound of flying arrows instantly echoed throughout the battlefield.
Each archer was attached to two tower shields, fighting a war of attrition in the most clumsy way.
Among them, Zhou Yuan's performance was extremely impressive, and he received much attention from the monk captain.
But even so, the Huaizhou soldiers were still overly suppressed and had to move with difficulty in the rain of arrows.
After about five minutes of confrontation, the monk captain ordered the soldiers to retreat in an orderly manner and replaced them with another group of soldiers.
Zhou Yuan discovered that the casualty rate of Huaizhou soldiers was quite high, with several injured almost every time a rotation took place.
After rotating ten teams in this way, the archers finally cleared out the Fox Country archers on the city wall.
Even so, they said that progress was smooth today, and usually it would take twelve or thirteen teams to rotate to complete the task.
Without the suppression of the long-range Fox Country shooters, the Fox Country pitchers on the city wall were quickly cleared out.
Just when Zhou Yuan thought they were going to break down the gate and attack the city, the monk captain suddenly lost his martial ethics.
"Send the engineers in, and Sima Zhou should go back and come back tomorrow."
"Captain, what are you planning to do?"
"Dig trenches and set them on fire. Otherwise, if we only rely on soldiers to advance, the losses will be too great."
The houses within the low city walls were mostly wooden structures and very crowded, making them ideal for burning.
When Zhou Yuan arrived the next day, he found that two trenches had been dug under the low city wall, and tinder had been laid inside.
The soldiers in charge of arson wrapped their mouths and noses with wet cloths and threw burning materials into the city one by one. After the fire broke out in the city, they ignited the incendiary materials in the trench.
As the fire spread, soldiers from the Fox Kingdom were led out of the city from time to time, fell into the first trench and were slowed down, then fell into the second trench and were stabbed to death by soldiers holding spears.
Under such rogue attacks, even the long-range Fox Country archers could not take advantage.
Because the distance of the first trench was just within their firing range, after they fell into the trench, they launched projectiles with absolutely no accuracy in the fire.
The sound of drums boomed continuously, and the flame-gathering drums used by the Jing'an Army amplified the intensity of the flames in the two trenches.
The Hairy Fox Country archer who fell into the trench became the new fuse, and his health bar continued to drop.
As the flames gradually rose and more and more Fox Country soldiers died, the boss in the city finally jumped out on his own initiative.
【Level 15 Double-tailed Fox Head】
A boss with a fox head and a human body appeared, swinging two huge tails. The long tails ignited by flames looked like two flaming whips.
"Melee fighters, prepare for a grappling match. After the demon leader sheds its tail and transforms into a beast, prioritize controlling its limbs, head, and tail."