On the streets that had once been bustling and ablaze with lights, a troop of entirely black cavalry slowly entered along the broad main roadway.
There were not many riders, thirty at most.
Yet every one of those thirty riders wore black leather armor from head to toe.
The cavalrymen were powerfully muscled and tall, the circumference of their exposed arms nearly twice that of an ordinary grown man's.
Each rider wore a black headscarf, with a longbow and quiver at the side of the saddle and a massive Zhanmadao strapped across his back.
Every warhorse beneath them stood over a man's height. Like their riders, the horses wore leather armor, snorting heavily as they strode along, tall and sturdy.
As the thirty-odd riders passed, utter silence fell everywhere they went, as though someone had pressed a mute button.
Everyone was cowed by the imposing presence of this Black Cavalry troop.
The most eye-catching person was the man at the very front of the cavalry.
He had refined features, broad shoulders, and the waist of a bear. He wore a set of black general's armor forged entirely from metal, while even his warhorse was clad in black metal barding.
His black hair was tied high behind his head, and he wore no helmet. He was not yet thirty, with a faint, half-smiling expression at the corners of his lips as he rode at the head of the troop.
Most exaggerated of all was the nearly two-meter-long black war spear strapped to his back.
The spear alone was as thick as a child's arm. One glance told anyone that it was extraordinarily heavy.
Yet he carried it on his back as lightly as if it were nothing. Even the warhorse beneath him seemed to move with easy, nimble steps.
If not for the dull, heavy thuds of the paving stones beneath its hooves—far louder than those of the other warhorses—those nearby might have thought the weapon was a fake.
"That man... is Hong Daoyuan!" At a second-floor window of Hundred Flowers Tower, Cheng Shaojiu murmured in admiration.
"He truly cuts an extraordinary figure!"
He was not the only one. Everyone who saw the man felt the same thing at first sight.
"The Tiger of Feiye truly lives up to his reputation!"
The man in green at the neighboring table also sighed in admiration. Unlike Cheng Shaojiu's simple praise, however, there was an added trace of gravity in his tone.
Wei He felt the same way.
Simply gazing at that enormous war spear from afar, he could roughly imagine the terrifying destruction it would cause when wielded by its owner.
As the thirty-odd Black Cavalry riders moved, their steps were uniform and synchronized, their momentum immense. It was as though wisps of black mist curled around them, forcing everyone before, behind, and beside them to keep an even greater distance, not daring to approach.
"That war spear is called Blood Dripper. It is Hong Daoyuan's personal weapon, forged by his own hand. It weighs three shi and twelve jin, and was forged from special alloy using a secret method. It is incomparably sharp."
An elderly man in white of unknown origins also came to the window and looked down. Watching Hong Daoyuan's troop pass by, he explained in a deep voice.
Wei He was inwardly astonished.
Having trained for so long, he naturally knew how heavy one shi was.
Here, one shi generally referred to the weight of one shi of rice. He had tested it before; it was a little over a hundred jin by the standards of his previous life.
Three shi, then, meant a metal spear weighing over three hundred jin—more than one hundred and fifty kilograms.
When swung, with human strength, horse strength, and the weapon's own weight all combined, its killing power would be simply terrifying!
"Incredible!!"
"Old Yang truly has remarkable knowledge!"
After sucking in cold breaths, the people around them followed with a few flattering words for the old man.
The old man in white stroked his long beard, his gaze profound.
"I saw the Tiger of Feiye, Hong Daoyuan, once years ago. Back then, he did not possess such imposing might. Now, however, he has grown ever more solid and formidable. The Tiger of Feiye truly deserves his fame!"
Cheng Shaojiu quietly introduced him to Wei He.
"That is Yang Zhen, Old Yang, a renowned Master Craftsman of Ingenious Mechanisms in the Inner City. He has deep knowledge of the Art of Mechanisms. Be careful not to offend him lightly."
Wei He nodded.
When he withdrew his gaze and looked down again, Hong Daoyuan and the Black Cavalry troop had already slowly departed, disappearing into the core district of the Seven Families Alliance in the Inner City.
Apparently, someone had led them inside to meet the city governor.
With nothing left to watch, everyone dispersed.
Yang Zhen, Old Yang, and the mysterious man and woman at the neighboring table also rose and left, without having touched a single dish on their table.
Wei He frowned inwardly at the sight. What a waste. If they were not going to eat, why order so much?
"Let's go." Cheng Shaojiu hurriedly ate a little, then rose and took Wei He to settle the bill and leave.
The two later went to a music hall to listen to songs, but Wei He had no interest at all. His mind kept replaying the formidable presence of Hong Daoyuan and those Black Cavalry riders.
Seeing that he was uninterested, Cheng Shaojiu did not force him. After idly having some fun, he rose and took a carriage back.
The two sat facing each other inside the Cheng Family carriage, the curtains drawn.
"Brother Cheng, how strong exactly is Hong Daoyuan? Do you know?" Wei He voiced the question that had been lingering in his heart.
"I've heard a little." Cheng Shaojiu thought for a moment and said gravely, "I once heard my uncle mention it. When Hong Family Fort fought the One-Ear bandits back then, Hong Daoyuan was the one who charged at the forefront.
He is the Hong Family's Kirin, born with divine strength and tough flesh and skin. He practices Hong Family Fort's inherited Nineteen Forms of Horizontal Mountain Spear, and he forcibly trained what was originally merely an ordinary spear technique into something with terrifying might."
Even now, when Cheng Shaojiu recalled the scene his uncle had described, his blood still surged with excitement.
A trace of shock appeared on his face as he continued.
"It is said that in that initial clash, Hong Daoyuan crippled two of One-Ear's trusted generals with a single spear strike. Then, with two blows, he smashed One-Ear's beloved mutant warhorse to death.
One-Ear nearly got shaken to death alive on horseback, while the mutant warhorse he rode had all four legs smashed apart and collapsed to its knees. He was so strong it made one's hair stand on end!"
"...Are military generals who are that formidable all this strong?" Wei He could not help asking.
"Generals and armies also depend on what force they belong to. Soldiers raised by great lineages and major sects differ enormously in strength from ordinary soldiers.
As for generals, many also come from gangs or martial arts schools. They vary greatly. I only heard these things from my eldest uncle, and I do not know the other details.
In any case, think about it. If military generals were not strong, would the Three Gangs and Two Sects in the city not have turned everything upside down long ago?"
Wei He understood. That made sense.
They could gain the chance to practice martial arts merely by paying some money. Those generals naturally would not be lacking either; they would surely have better cultivation methods, better food, clothing, and lodging, and better methods of nurturing qi and blood.
It was only normal for every one of them to be monstrously strong.
"Rumor has it that Hong Family Fort has a Black Wind Cavalry. Clouds follow dragons, tigers give rise to wind; it was established specifically for the Tiger of Feiye, Hong Daoyuan. Even the lowest-ranked applicants must have broken through in qi and blood once to qualify for entry. They are exceedingly formidable!" Cheng Shaojiu praised.
"This trip has truly broadened my horizons." Wei He felt the same.
He had originally thought that, after cultivating to his current level, he could be considered somewhat capable. Only after seeing this today did he understand why everyone feared Hong Family Fort so much.
But frankly speaking, all of that was still far too distant from him.
This was simply the first time he had truly witnessed what elite soldiers were.
"But do not overthink it. If you truly cannot break through, then with your intelligence, even without practicing martial arts, you could still carve out an undertaking for yourself. I believe that!" Cheng Shaojiu comforted him.
He knew that Wei He had recently begun preparing to break through the barrier. But that barrier was incomparably difficult, and given Wei He's potential...
"At worst, come to the escort agency. You and I brothers can work with one heart, and in the future, we will never be inferior to my uncle and the others!" Cheng Shaojiu said seriously.
"I understand." Wei He nodded, warmth rising in his heart.
However, he had also heard that Cheng Shaojiu had said the same thing to more than just him. Yonghe Escort Agency had taken in quite a few of his so-called friends and sworn brothers, most of whom did nothing but eat for free, angering his father and uncle no end.
After the two returned home, they showed no slack for several days afterward, spending every day diligently practicing Skin Grinding and improving their qi and blood.
However, Cheng Shaojiu was ultimately not someone who could stay put. Less than a month later, he began going out to the Inner City to carouse again.
Wei He was different. Stimulated by what he had seen that night, he buried himself in hard training, single-mindedly seeking to break through to a higher level.
The gap in martial strength in this world was simply too vast.
If Hong Daoyuan's terrifying feats were true and not exaggerated, then he was indeed incredibly fierce, possessing the courage of one man to stand against ten thousand.
Before him, Wei He would be trash, crippled by a single spear strike.
Fortunately, his own qi and blood were only a tiny bit away from perfection. After enduring and tempering himself so bitterly for more than two months, he finally brought that last trace of qi and blood to complete perfection.
With both the Boundary-Breaking Pearl and his own qi and blood complete, Wei He could finally make a proper attempt at breaking through the barrier.
Yet he was not in a hurry to break through immediately. If he could try to break through on his own, then he could save one accumulation of the Boundary-Breaking Pearl.
Would it not be better to save it for the next stage?
As it happened, the sparring event that had been mentioned before began at this time.
Old Zheng took his three strongest disciples—Senior Disciple Brother Zhao Hong, Xiao Ran, and the third-ranked Cheng Shaojiu—to the Inner City.
Wei He was only at the ordinary Ox Hide level and still far from qualified. Like the other disciples, he remained in the courtyard.
However, he had no mind to participate in sparring at the moment. Instead, he buried himself in the matter of breaking through this barrier.
He was not the only one. There were four people in the courtyard, including Wei He, whose qi and blood had reached perfection. Like him, all four madly tempered themselves every day, trying to break through the barrier as quickly as possible.
Once they broke through, their standing would instantly become completely different. Only the Stone Hide level counted as truly elite.
"I heard that during the sparring event, Xiao Ran's qi and blood reached perfection! He can immediately begin attempting Iron Hide!!" Suddenly, a quiet voice interrupted Wei He's complete concentration.
He had been lowering his head, grinding his fists against his skin again and again. Hearing the news, his mind stirred as well.
Xiao Ran had broken through to Stone Hide only a few months ago, yet his qi and blood had already reached perfection. It was truly unimaginable.
However, Wei He's heart remained as still as water. He calmed himself and continued his hard training.
His qi and blood and Boundary-Breaking Pearl were both completely full. He could break through at any moment, but he was unwilling to accept it.
People always harbored a gambler's hope, thinking that perhaps they could manage it through their own efforts alone.
Unfortunately, after several days of frenzied training, he still showed no sign of progress.
It was not only him. The other senior and junior disciples whose qi and blood had reached perfection were the same.
This barrier had trapped far too many people.
Cheng Jing had been stuck at this barrier for years, and Cheng Shaojiu had also spent years at this barrier before breaking through. If it were so easy to overcome, it would not have filtered out so many disciples.
"Senior Brother Wei, do not be anxious. I heard from my father that this barrier requires at least half a year to a year before one can possibly break through," Ouyang Zhuang could not help advising from the side.
"It is perfectly normal even if you cannot break through in your whole life. Many people are like that. If you truly cannot break through, then you can only go do other things first." The words that came out of Ouyang Zhuang's mouth were rather deserving of a beating.
Only because Wei He knew that he was not doing it deliberately, but was sincerely trying to comfort him.
Wei He slowly eased his movements.
"I am already eighteen. If I cannot pass this barrier within two years, my qi and blood will begin to decline. There is not much time left," he said calmly.
As usual, thanks to the friends who gave ten-thousand-point rewards last week~ The list is as follows:
Cigarette's Integrity
My Brother Is Called Threefold Discount
Genius Bob
Yangyang II
Chen Yu
After Ascension
Where Is My Bestie
Salty or Sweet Little Meatball
Qing Ningzi
Joy Above All
Before you continue