Broken Blade Horizon (Please Follow and Vote)

When Mu Hu left, he rode Thousand-Mile Snow. When he returned, however, he rode a Crimson Blood Steed.

Crimson Blood Steeds were even more precious than Thousand-Mile Snow, and three times faster. They could travel three thousand li in a day.

After hearing that the Divine Archer Liu Canglan wished to take him as a disciple, Gu Yi made his decision. He bid Mu Hu farewell and headed north for Broken Blade City with a unit of Crimson Blood Iron Cavalry.

As for Mu Hu, he remained in Yangzhou City, intending to build a commercial empire step by step.

Gu Yi and the Crimson Blood Iron Cavalry rode Crimson Blood Steeds at full speed for over half a month. After crossing tens of thousands of li, they finally arrived at Broken Blade City in the north.

Broken Blade City could only be considered a small city within the Snow Moon Kingdom, yet it housed hundreds of thousands of people.

Of course, most of them were soldiers and their families. Actual civilians made up only a small portion.

Looking ahead, Gu Yi saw an unbroken range of colossal mountains forming a natural barrier before Broken Blade City.

Yet shockingly, this natural barrier had been cleaved in two by a single sword strike, leaving a huge fissure through which one could pass between the mountains on either side.

Broken Blade City stood directly in this enormous fissure, sealing off the passage.

The mountains were towering and perilous, rising several thousand zhang high. Countless soldiers stood guard atop them year-round, arrows at the ready.

If anyone tried to cross this natural barrier, they could easily shoot them dead.

This natural barrier was Broken Blade Horizon!

It was precisely because of this barrier that the army stationed at Broken Blade City could resist the invasion of the Moyue Kingdom!

The Snow Moon Kingdom and the Moyue Kingdom were two of the nine nations under the four lower-grade empires of the Snow Region, each subordinate to a lower-grade empire.

However, in terms of national strength, the Moyue Kingdom far surpassed the Snow Moon Kingdom.

This was because the Moyue Kingdom was a unified nation. There were few sects within its territory, and the royal family controlled everything, able to mobilize an entire nation's resources to cultivate powerful experts.

The Snow Moon Kingdom, on the other hand, had a powerful royal family, but it did not control the resources of the entire country. Sects stood everywhere, noble families were countless, and each fought for itself.

Thus, the Moyue Kingdom could easily gather numerous martial artists into its army and form a force of a million troops.

Meanwhile, the martial artists of the Snow Moon Kingdom all pursued their own martial paths. Their sense of duty toward defending their homeland was extremely weak. They paid no attention to national affairs, and only a very small number of martial artists joined the military.

Broken Blade City now had an army of three hundred thousand, and a large portion of them had enlisted specifically because they had heard of the deeds of the Divine Archer Liu Canglan.

Otherwise, it would already be impressive if the Snow Moon Kingdom's northern army could even muster two hundred thousand men.

If not for Broken Blade Horizon, Broken Blade City's army would have been utterly incapable of resisting the Moyue Kingdom's million-strong army. The latter would have long since captured Broken Blade City and marched straight into Snow Moon Kingdom territory.

Following the Crimson Blood Iron Cavalry, Gu Yi rode his Crimson Blood Steed through the opened city gates and crossed the city toward the general's residence to meet the commander of Broken Blade City.

The Divine Archer, Liu Canglan!

Liu Canglan's residence stood at the innermost part of Broken Blade City, beside another set of city gates.

Beyond those gates lay the battlefield between the two nations!

Once the city fell, the general's residence would be the first to bear the brunt of the attack.

Broken Blade City—blades broke, hearts shattered!

Over countless years, the Snow Moon Kingdom and the Moyue Kingdom had launched untold wars at Broken Blade Horizon. Countless lives had been left behind on this battlefield, along with the broken weapons they had wielded.

The soldiers of both nations did not remove them. First, it was to commemorate the heroic souls who had died in battle; second, it was to serve as a warning to the living.

This was why the city was called Broken Blade City and the mountain range Broken Blade Horizon.

No wonder Liu Canglan could attract so many martial artists to enlist... Gu Yi sighed inwardly.

A warrior would die for one who understood him. From such details alone, it was clear that Liu Canglan loved the people as his own children and regarded the soldiers under his command as brothers. He had won the hearts of the military and civilians of Broken Blade City and the northern plains.

But it was precisely because of this that Liu Canglan was suspected by the Snow Moon Kingdom's royal Duan Family. Several years later, they would plot to eliminate him, resulting in the fall of Broken Blade City.

The contents of that plotline kept flashing through Gu Yi's mind, but he was not worried that he would be implicated by Liu Canglan after becoming his disciple.

There are still seven or eight years left—enough time for me to grow stronger.

With that in mind, Gu Yi followed another person into the simple general's residence and met Liu Canglan.

Liu Canglan wore a suit of white armor. Combined with his handsome face, sword-like brows, and starry eyes, he looked exceptionally heroic.

Beside Liu Canglan stood an exquisite and beautiful girl of seven or eight. Her appearance was no less striking than Xiao Wu's, and she wore a dazzling red dress as she curiously studied Gu Yi.

Gu Yi's gaze swept over the girl, and he immediately understood that she was Liu Fei.

"You are Gu Yi?" Liu Canglan shifted his gaze from the sand table to Gu Yi.

Gu Yi only felt that his gaze was like a sharp arrow, as though it could see through everything about him.

In fact, that was exactly the case. Liu Canglan saw through Gu Yi's cultivation at a glance, and a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Eh? Second level of the Qi Martial Realm? Wasn't your cultivation at the first level?"

"That was a month ago. My cultivation has already broken through."

Only then did Liu Canglan realize that he had underestimated Gu Yi's talent.

He had never expected Gu Yi, who was only six and a half years old, to already be a second-level Qi Martial Realm martial artist.

According to Mu Hu, Gu Yi had not even begun cultivating half a year ago. The cultivation art he practiced was the Yellow-tier High-grade Iron Blood Malice Art that Mu Hu had taught him.

Moreover, the medicinal baths and resources he used daily were the most ordinary kind, far inferior to those available to the children of noble families and disciples of sects.

Yet under such circumstances, Gu Yi had gone from drawing qi into his body to breaking through all the way to the second level of the Qi Martial Realm in only half a year.

With such talent, there were only a few like him in the entire Snow Moon Kingdom, or even among the Thirteen Snow Region Nations!

Liu Canglan was delighted, and the more he looked at Gu Yi, the more satisfied he became. "Gu Yi, are you willing to take me as your master?"

Gu Yi did not hesitate in the slightest. Liu Canglan was not Yu Xiaogang; he was fully qualified to be his master.

He immediately performed the formal disciple's bow. "This disciple greets Master!"

"Good, good, good! Hahaha! I never thought that I, Liu Canglan, would one day gain such an outstanding disciple as you!" Liu Canglan laughed heartily and helped Gu Yi up.

"Congratulations, General, on accepting such an excellent disciple!" The commanders and soldiers around them offered their congratulations one after another.

Liu Fei blinked and spoke with some delight. "Father, you've accepted him as a disciple, so doesn't that make me his senior sister from now on?"

"Fei'er, you have only just entered the first level of the Qi Martial Realm, while Xiao Yi is already at the second level. He is stronger than you. If anyone is to address the other as senior, it should be you calling him senior brother." Liu Canglan smiled and rubbed Liu Fei's head with his large hand.

"What? I'm obviously older than him..." Liu Fei pouted unhappily, glaring at Gu Yi. "I don't care. From now on, I'm your senior sister! Hurry up and call me Senior Sister!"

Gu Yi could only smile helplessly at that.

Thus, Gu Yi successfully became Liu Canglan's personal disciple and began receiving his guidance in martial arts.

The people of Broken Blade City, Liu Canglan, and Liu Fei have an important plotline later on, so I needed to lay some groundwork here. Sorry.