"One practice a day, fifteen practices; thirty years, and it will be achieved. In other words... it will probably take thirty years before I can become an Innate Realm Martial Master..."
Seeing this line of writing, Wei Tu's expression was both complicated and delighted.
What complicated him was—
His previous Health Cultivation Technique had taken only five years to cultivate, yet this Marrow Cleansing Scripture would take a full thirty years.
And he was only twenty-two years old now.
What delighted him was—
So long as he cultivated step by step, after reaching fifty-two, there was a great chance that he would become an Innate Realm Martial Master. Then he could extend his lifespan by an entire lifetime, living for two hundred years.
An Innate Realm Martial Master in his fifties was considered young even in Zheng State.
Otherwise, when Wu Yun Tower's elder Xue Du had tried to recruit him, he would not have offered to make him an Innate Realm Martial Master before the age of fifty.
"Plans can never keep up with changes..."
"If I can only become an Innate Realm Martial Master after fifty, then having children with Xinghua must be put on the agenda."
Wei Tu let out a silent sigh.
After extending his lifespan at fifty, he would still be a strapping young man, but Xinghua might not be.
Thirty years from now, Xinghua would be nearing sixty. Even if she wanted children then, she would no longer be able to bear them.
Even though, after having children, he might have to endure the agony of white-haired parents sending off black-haired children, he could not... delay Xinghua and deny her the chance to raise children.
Once Xinghua grew old—
Their children would be the only thing left for him and Xinghua to rely on.
"If my children cannot succeed in the Martial Way, there will still be grandchildren. There is no need to cling to this."
Wei Tu made up his mind.
He could not simply refuse to have children because they might turn out to be good-for-nothing in the future.
With his current standing, providing his children with a prosperous, stable life was already enough.
With that thought, Wei Tu rose. He stopped meditating, walked out of the cultivation room, drew a bucket of well water, and scrubbed himself clean. Then he entered the living quarters and slipped beneath Xinghua's covers.
"Wei, there's still fish maw bought today in the kitchen..." Xinghua said, her cheeks flushed and her voice trembling slightly as she gave Wei Tu beside her a push as a reminder.
"We won't use that anymore."
"Nor pig bladders."
Wei Tu said firmly.
"Wei, have you finally made up your mind?" Xinghua's face immediately lit up with joy.
She and Wei Tu had been married for nearly five years, yet there had never been any movement in her belly. Their neighbors had mocked her behind her back more than once. Even Cai Xia had privately advised her to visit a traditional medicine clinic and get some fertility medicine.
However.
In truth—
She had sufferings she could not speak of.
Over these five years, it was not that she did not want children. Wei Tu had simply kept telling her to wait.
The two of them had continually used pig bladders and fish maw as contraception.
Fortunately, after today, she would no longer have to wait.
Things unfolded exactly as Wei Tu had predicted.
Less than a month after he returned to the county seat from Sanyuan Township, the Auxiliary Army Office issued military orders to attack Wu Yun Tower's branch.
This time, it was an emergency order. The conscripted soldiers were commanded to set out within half a day, without the slightest delay. Anyone who missed the deadline would be executed.
Because Wei Tu and Wei Fei were highly skilled in martial arts and had both been Martial Scholars in the previous class, they were both within the Auxiliary Army Office's range of conscription.
Thus—
At the third watch of the evening, several hundred elite Auxiliary Army troops filed out through the county gates under County Lieutenant Xu's command and rode through the night.
"These soldiers may look elite, but they have no combat experience. Once they reach the battlefield, I'm afraid they'll suffer greatly..."
"Governor Wang is merely talking military strategy on paper..."
Along the way, Wei Fei rode side by side with Wei Tu. He glanced at the soldiers hurriedly marching beside them, shook his head, and spoke.
The Auxiliary Army in Qingshan County numbered roughly three thousand on the books, but the actual number of enlisted men was only a little over one thousand.
Of those thousand-odd men, most had become peddlers and laborers because Auxiliary Army rations and pay were low, and wages were often withheld. They had found other ways to make a living in the county seat.
Moreover, the military order for this troop levy had arrived too suddenly, leaving the Auxiliary Army Office without even time to prepare. Thus, aside from some Auxiliary Army soldiers, many of those conscripted were merely household guards and martial masters from local wealthy families.
Therefore, though these men looked braver and stronger than Auxiliary Army soldiers, they could not withstand a blow.
At the first clash, they would fall into chaos.
"Wu Yun Tower probably isn't much stronger than us."
"They are only a Martial Way sect, not enemies from a battlefield. They are no different from bandits."
"Besides, we're only dealing with one branch."
After pondering for a moment, Wei Tu tried to reassure him.
If County Lieutenant Xu were leading this motley rabble into a hard battle, Wei Tu would certainly flee before the battle even began.
But he believed that Wu Yun Tower would not be much better than their side. It might even be worse.
On the battlefield, it was all about seeing who was worse.
As long as their side made fewer mistakes than Wu Yun Tower, they would have a chance at victory.
"Right, we're only dealing with Wu Yun Tower's branch. A single branch surely won't have many men, much less be some great enemy!"
Wei Fei nodded at this and laughed.
After that—
Wei Tu and Wei Fei fell silent, conserving their strength as they awaited the coming battle.
An hour later—
The forced march came to a stop at a hillock. County Lieutenant Xu, who was directing them, ordered the troops to sit and rest, extinguish their torches, and prepare to don their armor.
"Baiyang County's Siyang Town?"
"Wu Yun Tower's branch is hidden here?"
Wei Tu urged his horse forward. By the bright moonlight, he studied the terrain beyond the hillock and compared it against the map in his hand, silently pondering.
He and Wei Fei were merely mid-ranking martial officers in the Auxiliary Army and had no right to see the detailed military orders. Only upon reaching their destination did they learn the specific target location.
From his high vantage point, Wei Tu overlooked all of Siyang Town. Combining what he saw with the map, he estimated which of the town's many buildings concealed Wu Yun Tower's branch.
Yet after looking for a long while, he could find nothing unusual about Siyang Town.
Like many small towns of this era, Siyang Town lay pitch-black at night. Only a few wealthy households still had lamps burning.
It seems I have no extraordinary talent for military affairs. Wei Tu laughed at himself.
—He had already memorized the several military treatises tested in the Martial Graduate military strategy examination so thoroughly that they rolled off his tongue.
Yet when it came to actual combat today, after racking his brains, he discovered that he could not properly adapt those military treatises to local conditions and formulate suitable tactics.
At this moment... he felt rather helpless.
If not for the Late Bloomer fate, which increased my strength, I would probably still be drifting through life in mediocrity...
Wei Tu sighed inwardly.
In only five years, his Health Cultivation Technique had reached completion, allowing him to enter the Qi Sensing Realm and accomplish what his master, Martial Graduate Dan, had failed to achieve in an entire lifetime. Inevitably, he had grown somewhat arrogant.
Yet at this moment, Wei Tu abruptly realized that he was exceedingly mediocre. Apart from the Late Bloomer fate, he seemed no different from ordinary people.
He was nothing more than a mediocre man.
Wei Tu turned his horse around and left.
He returned to the marching formation.
Before long, County Lieutenant Xu informed them of the hiding place of Wu Yun Tower's branch.
"Liu Family Fort is built against the mountain, easy to defend and difficult to attack. It lies in the northwestern corner of Siyang Town, with the Mao River flowing past it, forming a natural moat..."
County Lieutenant Xu said slowly.
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