Xu Boliang pointed at him upon hearing this. "You've got quite the appetite, brat — already setting your sights on Junior Sister Bai? Do you know what a regular squad's composition looks like, and what yours at Chenxi has? And you're still not satisfied."
Yang Kai nodded. "This disciple naturally knows. It's already fortunate for a regular squad to have two Seventh Grade cultivators; many squads only have a single Seventh Grade captain. But our Chenxi has five Seventh Grades — quite a bit more than a regular squad."
Xu Boliang said with a snort: "Good that you know."
Yang Kai clasped his fists. "The military merit Chenxi has earned fully justifies our roster. If you count the Zhufeng Domain Lord that Junior Sister Bai and I slew together, we've far exceeded our share."
Xu Boliang nodded. "That's certainly true."
Seeing that he didn't seem particularly inclined to refuse, Yang Kai pressed his advantage. "Since its founding, Chenxi has been a special action squad. If the forces at Biluo Pass are a sharp blade, then Chenxi is the tip of that blade. The sharper the tip, the easier it is to cut down the enemy. So the stronger Chenxi is, the better it is for Biluo Pass. What do you think, Commander?"
"Spurious reasoning." Xu Boliang cursed with a laugh.
After a moment's consideration, he nodded nonetheless. "Fine. Commander Zhong Liang did say previously that anyone below eighth grade at the Pass was available for your Chenxi to recruit. Since you've set your sights on Bai Yi, then let her join the squad."
Yang Kai quickly clasped his fists. "Thank you, Commander Xu."
Xu Boliang then turned to Bai Yi. "Bai Yi, this matter depends on your willingness. If you're willing to join Chenxi, I'll register you immediately. If not, you can join another squad. With your strength, you're more than capable of leading a squad — there's no need to serve under this brat."
Bai Yi curtsied gracefully. "This disciple is willing to follow Senior Brother Yang's orders."
"Excellent!" Xu Boliang nodded slightly and immediately registered Bai Yi, then recorded the military merit she and Yang Kai had earned along the way.
Shortly after, the two bid farewell to Xu Boliang and returned to Chenxi's camp.
Learning that Bai Yi had also become a member of Chenxi, everyone was overjoyed. They hadn't experienced Bai Yi's strength firsthand, but anyone who could escape from Yang Kai time and again couldn't possibly be weak. Moreover, Bai Yi was a disciple of the Divine Feather Blessed Land — her addition would take Chenxi's long-range combat capability to a whole new level.
With her archery skills, they believed future encounters with the Mo race would become much easier.
They settled Bai Yi in and let her rest and recover. Her injuries hadn't fully healed — Zhufeng's lair was hardly a suitable place for recuperation.
Yang Kai was about to return to his own quarters when Feng Ying followed him over.
He let her inside, and the two sat down. Yang Kai asked: "Is something the matter, Martial Aunt?"
Feng Ying hesitated for a moment. "You're Seventh Grade now as well, and our ranks are the same. There's no need to call me Martial Aunt anymore."
Yang Kai laughed. "Then what should I call you? Senior Sister?"
Feng Ying nodded. "That works! Think about it — you call Bai Yi 'Junior Sister Bai,' and I call her 'Junior Sister Bai' too, yet you call me 'Martial Aunt.' That's a bit of a mess."
Yang Kai was quiet for a moment. He had noticed this too — it was indeed a bit chaotic.
"For cultivators, age has never been the standard for forms of address — strength is. If you'd come from one of the Grotto-heavens or Blessed Lands, it would be one thing, but since you didn't, there's no need to cling to that old hierarchy."
"Then I'll do as Senior Sister says." Yang Kai nodded.
Feng Ying smiled. "Now that sounds right."
"Is that why you came over, Senior Sister?"
Feng Ying shook her head. "No, there's something else — something important."
Yang Kai's expression turned serious. "Please go ahead, Senior Sister."
Feng Ying said: "Here's the situation. The base recently discovered a resource-rich region that was originally occupied by the Mo race. However, with our human forces now holding the advantage, we've been pushing the front line forward step by step until we reached that area. The Mo race doesn't seem willing to give it up, so they've concentrated considerable forces there to resist. Just about everyone from the base has been sent there. From what I gathered from Commander Xu's words the other day, both the Mo race and the humans intend to settle the matter in that region once and for all. If that's the case, it will be the final battle — and if the humans win, we'll secure the resources of this entire war zone."
Yang Kai's expression cleared. "No wonder I didn't run into any of our people or any Mo race creatures on the way back. They've all gathered in one place."
Feng Ying nodded. "This is a chance to achieve everything in one decisive battle — the Commanders naturally aren't willing to miss it. Even if we do take this war zone, the humans can only mine it for a few decades before we'd have to withdraw once the Mo race recovers. But several decades of mining would be more than enough to supply the Pass with abundant cultivation resources."
"Indeed!" Yang Kai nodded solemnly. "Has the fighting already begun over there?"
Feng Ying said: "Small-scale skirmishes have never stopped, but it hasn't reached the point of an all-out decisive battle yet. Still, it shouldn't be long now. What the Commanders were wary of before were the Mo race Domain Lords stationed in this war zone. Their numbers and strength were roughly equal to the Commanders', so neither side could gain the upper hand. But now that you and Bai Yi have killed Zhufeng, the Mo race is down one Domain Lord. The Commanders will definitely seize this opportunity to deal them a devastating blow."
Yang Kai raised an eyebrow. "What's the situation with the Dawn?"
Feng Ying said: "I just went to check. It'll take another seven or eight days to be fully repaired."