That was no longer part of Great Zhou’s native territory, but a vassal power’s domain.
To qualify for the preliminaries, the restoration of the Divine Chosen Department was necessary; the previous supervisors had struggled for eight years.
For them, it had been nothing short of a nightmare of eight years.
It had been three years since the previous supervisor had left, yet these people still hadn’t emerged from their psychological shadows.
Now that Zhao Xing had arrived and mentioned restoring the Divine Chosen Department, how could they not be afraid?
"Mr. Zhao," Tao Anchun said gravely, "shouldn’t we take a longer view on the matter of the Divine Chosen Department?"
Zhao Xing saw that these people were terrified and knew it was useless to talk now; it was better to wait until they saw some hope.
"Indeed, it’s all for next fall anyway," Zhao Xing said.
Princess You Ruo had agreed to rebuild the Divine Chosen Department next fall; there was no need to rush now.
Upon hearing this, Tao Anchun and the others breathed a sigh of relief.
They were truly frightened of such decisive, pioneering officials.
Not just the prospect of losing their positions, but watching the war beasts they had nurtured plump and healthy die before their eyes was an unbearable experience.
Just as they had relaxed, Zhao Xing abruptly changed the subject: "Let’s not discuss the Divine Chosen Department for now, but the rearing method at Tuquan Palace also needs to be revised."
"From today onward, I will be in charge of training the Heavenly Horses and Fire Fierce Horses," he declared.
Tuquan Palace originally had just over a thousand exotic beasts of low grade; only the Heavenly Horses were in groups, the rest were just thirty or forty, hardly enough to form a proper scale.
Now Zhao Xing was preparing in advance; although he wasn’t expecting to achieve immediate results, he needed to start practicing.
The young beasts Princess You Ruo had sent over needed time to grow.
He couldn’t rely solely on the "mentor halo;" he had to demonstrate some results to avoid embarrassment.
"At your command, sir," Tao Anchun knew he couldn’t dissuade him and could only compromise.
After all, Zhao Xing was new to this field and not as restless as the previous one; as long as he didn’t engage in exotic practices like cultivating gu, some supervision should prevent any major issues.
On December 15, he inspected the Heavenly Horse Palace and acquired a Fire Fierce Horse.
On December 17, he purged officials guilty of laziness and corruption.
On December 18, Zhao Xing began training horses.
He released both the Heavenly Horses and Fire Fierce Horses, taking them to a clearing in the wild.
The one assisting him was Ling Ruoxue, who had originally tended to the Heavenly Horses.
"Mr. Zhao, what are you writing?" Ling Ruoxue approached, leading a Naga, near the grasslands beside Heavenly Horse Lake.
Next to them was a pavilion, where Zhao Xing was writing at a desk.
Ling Ruoxue leaned over and saw a title: "Exotic Animal Military Training Plan."
"True Word Decrees, Decree Chapter."
Ling Ruoxue scratched her head, as she couldn’t understand what came after.
She too had studied the Ten Thousand Beasts True Word, but...
Did the True Word include commands like "attention," "at ease," and "march"?
"Mr. Zhao, is this your modification of the decrees?" Ling Ruoxue asked.
"Yes," Zhao Xing nodded.
"Mr. Zhao is so impressive, to be able to adapt the True Word Decrees!" Ling Ruoxue exclaimed joyfully.
She wasn’t just flattering; she genuinely believed it was impressive.
Creating new spells and modifying existing ones were no small feats!
"I’m not sure of the effects yet," Zhao Xing said, "but let’s start with the basics."
Indeed, Zhao Xing’s modifications were not just to the Ten Thousand Beasts True Word.
He had integrated the "Decree Chapter" from the Slave Seal Skill with the True Word.
"Let’s test the effects."
Zhao Xing put away the Classics and went out onto the grass.
At that moment, ten Fire Fierce Horses were grazing on Fire Chestnut Grass.
Zhao Xing extended his index finger, tracing it through the air, and suddenly, ten oddly shaped golden seals formed in front of him.
Compared to the blatant force of the Slave Seal Skill, these seals emitted a milder fluctuation.
But they still triggered the alertness of the ten Fire Fierce Horses.
Instinctively, they wanted to flee.
Zhao Xing pushed his hand forward, and the ten golden seals embedded themselves into the bodies of the Fire Fierce Horses.
The Fire Fierce Horses cried out twice, as if they had been bitten by a mosquito.
However, this level of pain was insignificant for their robust bodies.
Thus, they lowered their heads to graze again.
Seeing this, Zhao Xing immediately commanded, "Attention!"
The sound waves transmitted in a unique frequency, instantly activating the decrees within the bodies of the Fire Fierce Horses.
In just a second, ten Fire Fierce Horses snapped to attention, raising their heads and aligning their hooves.
The Fire Fierce Horse King looked puzzled at his tribesmen, unsure why the ten members of his tribe had suddenly adopted such a strange posture.
Was it because they were too excited while grazing?
In the eyes of the ten Fire Fierce Horses, there was great confusion; they completely did not understand the need for such a bizarre action.
They only felt a force binding them, making them uncomfortable if they did not comply.
This strange posture lasted for 15 minutes.
Zhao Xing then continued with the other tests.
About two hours later, he returned to the pavilion to summarize.
"Low-grade warhorses have weak spirituality and cannot comprehend complex commands," Zhao Xing thought to himself.
"But by improving and integrating the True Word Decrees, I can now command them to perform some complex operations," he whispered.
"With more training, these Fire Fierce Horses will qualify as warhorses faster than using the method of Taipu Temple," Zhao Xing mused.
Training warhorses primarily involved suppressing their wildness and accustoming them to obey commands.
Once Zhao Xing had perfected his technique, these warhorses, even under a different handler, could still coordinate excellently without the need for spells.
Fire Fierce Horses possess a natural ability—"Earth Fire Assault"—which is crucial to know when to release or withhold during battle. This required long-term collaboration between the rider and the horse.