Chapter 010: The City in the Sky (Part 1)

“Auntie, it really isn’t appropriate. As you know, the army doesn’t need women—even the combat units are staffed by men,” the staff member hurriedly said.
“You young man, please do me a favor and let me join the army! When I think of His Majesty’s father and how my mother was killed by that scoundrel Fischer, I’m filled with rage. I really want to go ahead and beat that Fischer senseless!” the old woman said fiercely.
Seeing how determined she was, the recruiters started laughing.
“What are you laughing at?” The old woman grew embarrassed upon seeing them laugh. “My old ox has a terrible temper. It never obeys when plowing the fields; I have to punch it to get it to work. After punching that ox for over a decade, my fists have become very strong! If I see that Fischer, I’ll beat him just like I beat my ox!” she said, raising her fist.
“Auntie, you’d better go back first!” the staff member said. “Our rules truly don’t allow us to recruit women.” Seeing the old woman compare Fischer to her ox, the staff couldn’t help but laugh even more.
This laughter made the old woman feel embarrassed, and she quietly ran away with her head down!
…
“Your Majesty, this recruitment drive has seen great enthusiasm from the common people. After strict screening, two hundred thousand people show potential to become excellent soldiers. Given the current situation, with a major war looming, we suggest recruiting all of them for evaluation to prepare for future challenges,” a government official reported to Du Fan.
The recruitment campaign ahead of the decisive battle was a huge success—far beyond Du Fan’s expectations. The common people supported him so much!
No wonder—having a king like Du Fan, who not only waived taxes and rents but even funded things out of his own wealth, was truly unprecedented!
It could only be said that Du Fan had immense financial resources!
Relying on the specialties of the dwarves, elves, and magical beasts, along with the sales strategies and business models he learned from his past life, Du Fan’s businesses generated substantial profits every month!

Branches established in each country’s capital could generate steady income simply by auctioning the special products provided by Du Fan—such as life-giving springs, orbs that enhanced physical fitness through cultivation, and masterpieces created by the dwarves! With such a continuous stream of income, there was no need to worry about the common people at all!
“Since that’s the case, order an additional 200,000 soldiers!” Du Fan said directly.
At the speed of the Bilu tribe, it would only take a month or so to produce 100,000 sets of weapons and armor!
Moreover, since Du Fan took control of the four southern provinces, their favorable political environment had attracted residents from many surrounding provinces!
Now, the population of these four provinces had reached 20 million!
With such a large base, selecting 700,000 soldiers was more than sufficient!
Furthermore, among these 700,000, 150,000 were elite warriors from the former northern armies, and tens of thousands were local troops who had migrated from the Gavin Empire after listening to Du Fan’s words at the Xiaohan Pass!
“Yes, Your Majesty. We will immediately assemble these newly recruited 200,000 soldiers, train them, and equip them with weapons,” the official replied without hesitation after hearing Du Fan’s orders.
This official was one of the talents Du Fan had recruited along the way from the north, passing through various provinces. And it was these talents chosen by the people themselves who were truly capable!
Once they arrived in Du Fan’s territory, they immediately organized everything efficiently. Just like this conscription drive—Du Fan only needed to issue an order, and 200,000 outstanding potential soldiers were recruited immediately. With a single nod, someone would take charge of training the recruits, prepare all necessary supplies, and even ensure that all instructors were in place.
Watching the efficient work of these officials below, Du Fan nodded in satisfaction. The next step was to train these new recruits as quickly as possible!
Just then, while Du Fan was deep in thought…
“Report!” A messenger soldier rushed in hurriedly, knelt down, and said to Du Fan and the others, “Just now, a one-eyed man asked me to deliver this to Lord Du Fan. It seems to be some confidential matter. I didn’t have time to ask him more before he left. Should we bring him back?”
“A one-eyed man?” Hearing the messenger’s words, Du Fan smiled slightly and waved his hand. “You may go. He’s our friend.”

“Yes!” Hearing Du Fan’s order, the messenger slowly retreated at that moment.
The others looked at Du Fan with some confusion. The one-eyed person they knew was probably Randy, whose eye had been blinded by Du Fan in the underground world. But Du Fan and Randy were now enemies sworn to each other’s destruction—how could Randy send him anything?
“Third brother,” Bashah said doubtfully, looking at Du Fan, “That Randy would rather tear us to pieces than help us. How could he send you anything? I think we’d better be careful.”
“Don’t worry,” Du Fan replied after a moment of thought. After calming Bashah and the others, he turned to Long Yi and asked, “I’d like to ask the Dragon Clan Leader—what’s the difference between the modern dragons and the ancient dragons?”
“If you don’t look closely, you really can’t tell the difference,” Long Yi chuckled before slowly explaining to everyone, “To be precise, modern dragons aren’t much different from ordinary magical beasts. But if we’re to talk about the difference between the two races, it’s their claws. Modern dragons’ claws grow very slowly, yet they’re already at the fourth or fifth level of magical beasts when they’re born. Most of their claws are formed naturally through elements. Aside from the modern Dragon God, who has ten true dragon claws, I doubt any other dragon has all ten. The difference between ancient dragons and modern dragons lies in their wings. Ancient dragons’ wings are like those of the Archangel Corps. Ordinary dragons have two wings, while the highest level is the twelve-winged dragon. Speaking of this, we feel a bit ashamed—although our strength is the same, none of our ancient dragons have ever had twelve wings. So if the Archangel Corps has a twelve-winged commander, we dragons can only run away.”
“Ahem,” Du Fan coughed awkwardly and unrolled the scroll, surprised. “This kid sent me a map? Who knows this script?”
“Let me take a look,” Raymond snatched the map from Du Fan’s hands. After glancing at it, he said disdainfully, “This is the common script from the time of the Divine Wars. Although the script changed with the change of dynasties, it’s still familiar to us. It seems to be map annotations, but it doesn’t look like it’s on land.”
“Not on land?” Du Fan took the map back from Raymond, puzzled. “It really does not seem to be on land. To me, it looks like it’s in the sky.”

“Heaven?” Upon hearing Du Fan’s words, Long Yi slapped his thigh forcefully and said angrily, “Bastard! That’s why I couldn’t find my people on earth—they must have moved to heaven.”
“Is the Dragon Clan leader interested?” Du Fan handed the map to Long Yi at this moment, saying doubtfully, “The markers on this map seem to show castles in the sky. They must be man-made. Do you think your dragon clan might be there?”
“The Sky City…” Long Yi gulped quickly, looking at the map in disbelief. Long Er and the others also gathered around.
To Du Fan and the others, the Sky City might be extremely unfamiliar, but for Long Yi and his people, it was a place they longed for deeply.
The Sky City was built before the War of the Gods and was also the residence of all the gods. Whether in the past or in the future, it was truly extraordinary. First, it could float in the sky solely relying on elements in the air, without any divine power. Second, during the War of the Gods, thousands of gods lived there, all of whom were aggressive. Perhaps some of them engraved their divine techniques on the Sky City. The number of divine weapons it contained was undoubtedly vast—perhaps not just ten, but hundreds.
After the war ended, without the support of those gods, the Sky City kept moving. Many gods flew over the continents day and night, searching for its whereabouts. Unfortunately, they never succeeded. Thus, the Sky City held an irresistible attraction both for humans and gods. Most importantly, it wasn’t only the residence of the gods during the war but also a place where they hid their treasures.
“We’re going to get rich!…” Long Yi looked at the map in excitement, treating it as a precious treasure. He said to Du Fan, “Kid, this time we might not only find my people but also become rich.”
“Rich?” Hearing Long Yi’s words, Du Fan asked doubtfully, “Dragon Clan leader, have you lost your mind? Just a map without coordinates—how can we get rich from that? Stop trying to trick me and think more practically about how to strengthen our forces.”
“Idiot!”
Hearing Du Fan’s words, Long Yi pulled him outside and started explaining frantically.

Hearing Long Yi’s words, Du Fan’s mind also became dull, and his speech became less coherent. During the half-hour conversation, Du Fan uttered words one by one: “Really? Truly? Sure? Is it true or not?”
After some explanations, Du Fan finally calmed down. Looking at Long Yi, he slowly said, “If it’s as you say, then the Sky City is probably not as simple as we thought. It’s almost like a dragon’s lair or a tiger’s den. If even Count Wade can possess this treasure map, I’m sure Fisher does too. To be safe, we should discuss this carefully.”
“Discussing nonsense!” Long Yi snapped angrily, using a curse word, and said to Du Fan in frustration, “Kid, do you think the Sky City is dead? It’s a living city that moves automatically every ten years. A few years have already passed. We shouldn’t delay—we need to make a decision quickly.”
Hearing Long Yi’s words, Du Fan didn’t dare to hesitate anymore. After thinking for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, “In that case, we still need to discuss this carefully. I have to be responsible for my men. Give me two days. We’ll set off definitely after two days. Don’t worry.”