A Tough Stronghold to Take
The next morning, Shen Jingchuan walked refreshed to the second courtyard in the front yard. Xiao Mingshu was standing under the porch. She glanced at him and sensed something was different. She used her Qi Gazing Instruction, and her eyes lit up immediately after scanning him. She exclaimed in surprise and delight:
"You brat, you've actually reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer?"
Shen Jingchuan nodded with a smile, "I just broke through last night."
"Your cultivation speed is outrageous."
Xiao Mingshu clicked her tongue in amazement, looking him up and down:
"Great, that's a good thing you broke through, congratulations!"
After breakfast, the two went to the back garden. Xiao Mingshu said:
"Now that your Divine Sense is refined and you can fly on a sword, I will teach you."
As she spoke, she raised her hand and took out a flying sword from her Storage Ring; the blade gleamed with a faint spiritual light.
"This is a low-grade magic Law Artifact flying sword, nothing particularly valuable. I'll give it to you to use for now, and you can get a better one when we go to the market later."
Shen Jingchuan took the flying sword and, as Xiao Mingshu instructed, first separated a wisp of his Divine Sense and infiltrated it into the sword, then forced out a drop of his natal Spiritual Qi and struck the sword, completing the initial refinement.
The once cold sword blade instantly gained a sense of connection with the mind, like an extension of fingertips.
"The key to sword control is to use your Divine Sense to guide the sword and your Spiritual Qi to support yourself; balance is of utmost importance."
Xiao Mingshu stood aside and gave instructions:
"Make the sword fly up first, then slowly stand on it."
Shen Jingchuan focused his mind as instructed, and Divine Sense a thought, his flying sword hummed as it rose from the ground, hovering half a meter above the ground.
He lifted his foot and stepped on it. At first, his foot wobbled violently, and the flying sword swayed from side to side, as if he were on a skateboard. He had to spread his arms and legs to find his balance and almost fell over several times.
Fortunately, he had a solid physical foundation and quick reflexes. After swaying a dozen times, he gradually found his balance and his flying sword became much more stable.
From a foot off the ground to several feet, and then slowly flying around the garden, in less than half an hour, he was already able to control the flying sword to circle around, albeit clumsily.
"Take it easy."
Xiao Mingshu shouted from below:
"You've only reached the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, and your Spiritual Qi reserves are limited. If you can't hold on any longer, come down quickly, lest you run out of Spiritual Qi energy and fall."
Shen Jingchuan responded, but did not stop. He found the feeling of riding the wind on a sword novel and interesting, and the more he flew, the more comfortable he became.
He flew like that for a full hour, circling around in mid-air, showing no signs of lacking Spiritual Qi.
Xiao Mingshu, standing below, was stunned and couldn't help but mutter to herself:
"What kind of freak is this kid? He's only at the Qi Refining Fourth Layer, how come his Spiritual Qi is so abundant? His endurance is almost as long as when I was at the Qi Refining Sixth Layer."
Early the next morning, dust billowed on the official road in the direction of Chang'an Prefecture as a large contingent of government Government Army marched in.
The force of three thousand men were all regular soldiers transferred from the prefectural city. Their armor was gleaming, their weapons were neatly arranged, and their ranks were impeccable. In terms of both equipment and morale, they were far superior to the loosely organized local soldiers of Yuxi Prefecture.
The commander was Zhou Xian, a guerrilla general, around forty years old, a soldier by training, and known for his swift and decisive actions.
When the group had traveled to a place more than a hundred miles away from Yuxi Prefecture, Zhou Xian suddenly found that the road under his feet had changed.
No longer is it a bumpy dirt road that turns into mud pits after rain; instead, it is a smooth and solid gray stone road. Carriages and horses do not bump at all when they drive on it, and even the sound of horses' hooves is much more steady.
He reined in his horse and stood there in surprise for a long time. He asked the local guide who was traveling with him, and learned that the road had been paved by disaster victims recruited by Yuxi Prefecture some time ago. He didn't know what strange method was used, but the road surface was as hard as a whole large stone slab.
With this road, the marching speed increased by 30%. Originally, they had calculated that they would not arrive at the outskirts of Azure Cloud Stronghold until nightfall, but just after Shenshi (3-5 PM), the main force had already reached the official road at the foot of Azure Cloud Stronghold.
Further ahead is a winding path leading into the mountains, which is paved with cement all the way up.
Zhou Xian Xianle stood at the crossroads, glanced at the shadowy stockade walls on the mountain, and without rushing to attack, immediately ordered his men to choose a flat and open space to set up camp.
The soldiers in each battalion acted swiftly, setting up cooking pots, tents, and sentry posts. In just over an hour, a neat camp was erected. Outside the camp gate, barricades were dug and trenches were dug overnight, clearly demonstrating the style of a battle-hardened regular army.
As soon as they set up camp, Zhou Xian sent out two teams of scouts to explore the terrain and defenses around Azure Cloud Stronghold.
He then selected two personal guards to ride swiftly to Yuxi Prefecture, informing the local government Government Army that they had arrived and ordering them to prepare manpower and provisions, and to meet up with them early the next morning.
The two guards rode swiftly and arrived at the Yuxi Prefecture around 7 PM. It was already Big Black, and the city gates were locked. When the soldiers on the city wall heard that it was a Government Army messenger from Chang'an Prefecture, they dared not delay and quickly used a basket to lower the man up the city wall.
The prefect had already retired for the night, but upon hearing from his servants that the Government Army sent to suppress bandits in the prefectural city had arrived at the foot of Azure Cloud Stronghold, he was suddenly startled, put on his clothes, and got up to receive them.
Upon hearing the military news, he dared not delay and immediately sent men to the mansions of the Four Great Lineages in the city overnight to deliver orders, informing them that the Government Army had arrived and ordering each family to gather manpower so that they could go out of the city to assist in the battle at dawn; he also instructed his servants to make sure that his two personal guards could rest properly.
The next day, just as dawn broke and the city gates opened, the streets outside the city became bustling with activity.
The three heads of the Li Household, Pan Household, and Huang Household personally led their respective elite guards, each carrying a knife and a stick, and dressed in neat uniforms.
Even the Wang Household, which never gets involved in martial arts, sent more than a hundred strong servants, led by their instructors, to come together.
The four families, gathered together, numbered five or six hundred people, all of whom were trained guards, far from a ragtag mob.
The prefect also brought a team of yamen runners to accompany him, personally overseeing the operation, demonstrating the importance he attached to this bandit suppression campaign. Garrison Commander Li also accompanied him with his three hundred men.
The large group headed towards Azure Cloud Stronghold, and around 10 a. m., they arrived at the Government Army camp.
The guards at the camp gate checked the waist tag and quickly went inside to report.
At this moment, Zhou Xian was studying a map in his tent. Upon hearing that the troops from Yuxi Prefecture had arrived, he didn't even look up, simply ordering, "Bring them in."
Then, turning his head, he saw Prefect Zhang leading his men over in the distance. Zhou Xian straightened his armor and stepped out of the tent to greet them.
"Lord Zhang."
He clasped his hands in a military salute, his tone neither humble nor arrogant.
Prefect Zhang quickly returned the greeting with a cupped-fist salute, his face beaming with smiles.
"Lord Zhou, you have come from afar; you must be tired from your journey. Upon receiving the news, I arranged manpower and provisions overnight, thankfully without delaying important matters."
The two exchanged pleasantries and walked side by side into the tent, while Zhou Xian glanced at the group behind them out of the corner of his eye.
The four servants were all dressed in uniform, with sharp blades at their waists and steady steps, clearly elite guards who had trained for many years. Their faces showed no extraneous expression as they led the group straight into the tent.
Upon entering the main tent, Zhou Xian invited Prefect Zhang to take a seat. The three heads of the Li, Pan, and Huang families, along with the Wang Household's instructors, who were following him, could only stand with their hands at their sides, without even a seat.
A guard served tea, Zhou Xian picked up the teacup, took a sip, and then got straight to the point:
"Lord Zhang, I sent out three groups of scouts to the mountains to investigate last night and this morning. This Azure Cloud Stronghold is not easy to attack."