Leaving the City

Zhang Yuan had only ever heard his father say that, as a martial guard, his life belonged to Great Qin. He had never thought so much, so far ahead.

"Yes, live standing." Zhang Yuan murmured softly.

If not to live standing, how could three thousand martial soldiers have held Fengtian County City against twenty thousand Yan Army troops for Three months?

If not to live standing, why would five hundred battered soldiers fight to the death rather than surrender?

"Kid Zhang, this is a prescription I, Hu Chunniu, worked out." Hu Chunniu turned around and looked at Zhang Yuan, his expression solemn.

He held several thin sheets of paper between his fingers.

"Medicine for military wounds, medicinal food, and some methods for treating wounded soldiers." Rolling up the papers and placing them in Zhang Yuan's hand, Hu Chunniu lowered his voice. "Kid, take them out. Maybe more people will live because of them."

Zhang Yuan clenched the papers in his hand, drew a deep breath, and nodded.

That old fellow Hu Chunniu placed immense importance on the inheritance of medicine. The prescriptions he kept in hand were guarded like gold, never shown to others.

"Rest assured, this old man has memorized all these prescriptions. Giving you a copy is merely preparation against every eventuality."

Hu Chunniu chuckled, clasped his hands behind his back, and headed toward the rear courtyard.

After watching him disappear into the distance, Zhang Yuan unrolled the papers in his hand, silently read through them once by moonlight, then tucked them into his clothes.

By expending a trace of the power dispersed from an Insight Bead, he could achieve photographic memory.

He had memorized the prescriptions on those pages.

At noon the next day, Zhang Yuan saw Crimson Scale Army Commander Yu Lin again.

Yu Lin was clad head to toe in armor, a long saber hanging at his waist. His sturdy, upright figure resembled a mountain.

"Practice the Mountain Yue Saber Technique for me."

At the sight of Zhang Yuan, Yu Lin waved several military officers away before speaking calmly.

Zhang Yuan nodded, drew the saber at his waist, and began practicing within the small hall.

His movements were not fast, but every stroke was steady and powerful.

After completing the saber technique once, Zhang Yuan sheathed his saber and looked toward Yu Lin.

Yu Lin nodded and quietly pointed out several places in Zhang Yuan's saber forms where his strength and posture were lacking.

Then Yu Lin practiced the saber technique himself once, followed by two rounds of the Mountain Yue Fist Technique.

"The saber technique is a path of slaughter. The fist technique tempers the body's meridians, hardens the tendons and bones, and refines the flesh."

"I only taught you the saber technique before because it was more useful. I never expected your martial talent to be so high. Once you master this fist technique, you can solidify your foundation..."

Boom—

Boom—

Boom—

The drums from the city wall interrupted Yu Lin.

The Yan Army was attacking the city.

The Yan Army's assaults had not ceased these past few days.

Putting away his fist stance, Yu Lin looked at Zhang Yuan, who stood bowed before him, and said in a low voice, "Kid, survive."

With that, he reached out for the battle helmet resting on the long table and put it on, lowering the faceguard until only his eyes showed with sharp, brilliant light. Saber in hand, he strode out.

Outside the courtyard, the clangor of armored soldiers running sounded.

Zhang Yuan remained where he was. Raising his head to look outside, he murmured softly, "Survive..."

When he returned to the wounded soldiers' camp, all the wounded had already been helped or carried by the townspeople and gathered outside the medical hall.

Among the more than two hundred townspeople, some looked terrified, while others were pale-faced.

South City had already been completely surrounded by the Yan Army. If they wanted to leave the city, it would be nine deaths and one life.

"How is it?" Zhang Yuan went to Young Master Tao's side and asked in a low voice.

Two townspeople in cloth clothes supported Young Master Tao as he leaned against a corridor pillar.

"I won't die." Young Master Tao bared his teeth, tugging at the wound across his chest and abdomen until the corner of his mouth twitched.

Not far away, Hu Chunniu carried a large medicine chest on his back and was still gathering all kinds of herbs, as though he wanted to move out the entire medical hall.

"Zhang Yuan, can you still fight?"

Wielding a long spear and wearing half-scale armor, Duan Hong strode over and shouted loudly.

"I can fight!" Zhang Yuan cupped his fists and shouted back.

"Chen Wuxiong, Give him a set of armor." With a sweep of his hand, Duan Hong did not pause as he hurried onward.

"Once we receive word from the city wall, we leave the city."

For a dozen or so martial soldiers to escort over a hundred wounded soldiers and townspeople out of the city—the difficulty of that task was known only to Duan Hong himself.

He ran back and forth, drenched in sweat, clutching a map already soaked through. Whenever he saw a wounded soldier or townsman who had not been tidied up properly, he would shout a harsh reprimand.

Oddly enough, his cursing drove away much of the fear that had filled the small courtyard.

With Chen Wuxiong's help, Zhang Yuan put on a suit of armor whose Yan Army insignia had been ground away.

It was a suit of chainmail weighing over twenty jin, with only outer armor and no waist guard, knee guards, shoulder guards, or the like.

Even so, it was already the most complete suit of armor among the dozen or so battle soldiers present.

"Once we break out, follow me." Chen Wuxiong tightened the cowhide straps across Zhang Yuan's back and lowered his voice. "My home is Chen Family Village outside South City. I know the roads out there."

Seeing Zhang Yuan turn his head, Chen Wuxiong said gravely, "This was the commander's intention."

Duan Hong's arrangement.

Everyone in their battalion knew Zhang Yuan's background.

A martial guard under Inheritance from father to son, the sole surviving seedling of the Zhang family.

In every battle before this, he and Young Master Tao had always been assigned to the rear.

Zhang Yuan nodded. Looking at Duan Hong, who strode about with the character "prisoner" on his forehead drenched in sweat, he said nothing more.

The clamor in the small courtyard turned into silence.

Everyone waited, sweat covering their faces.

Beyond the courtyard, the clash of weapons, the cries of combat, arrows tearing through the air, and the pounding of gongs and drums seemed as though every strike crashed against their hearts.

Zhang Yuan pressed his left hand against the saber sheath at his waist, tilting the hilt slightly toward the position best suited for his right hand to draw it.

His eyes half closed, his blood and qi slowly flowed through his body. In his mind, a phantom figure moved through each stance and form.

Mountain Yue Fist Technique.

Boom—

A thunderous roar of colliding force came from afar, and half of South City seemed to shake.

"Yu Lin, if you surrender to my Great Yan, Chen will guarantee you the rank of fifth-grade general."

The rough shout carried the powerful aura unique to a Xiantian Realm expert, seeming to stir the low Cloud Waves into tremors.

The Xiantian Realm was not just about cultivating blood and qi; it also cultivated Xiantian True Essence.

The power of True Essence was the sublimation of blood and qi, the beginning of true transcendent power.

Though the Houtian Realm and the Xiantian Realm seemed separated by only one step, the gap between them was like a heavenly chasm.

The Houtian limit was the Strength of One Ox, Two thousand jin, but with Xiantian True Essence empowering them, those Xiantian experts could easily wield strength beyond one ox.

Not just strength—speed and many more mysterious methods could only be used through the Xiantian True Essence condensed at the Xiantian level.

In the martial world, Xiantian Realm experts could already establish sects and stand guard over an entire region.

Boom—

Another earthshaking blast sounded.

"Chen Jitang, you do not yet have the right to speak before this commander." Crimson Scale Army Commander Yu Lin's voice sounded, the force it stirred instantly overwhelming the other side.

The rumbling vibrations, combined with force tearing through the air, made it clear that two Xiantian Realm experts were fighting.

Zhang Yuan raised his head toward the city wall and watched the collisions of force churning the Cloud Waves.

As his cultivation rose, his understanding of cultivation became broader, and his comprehension of martial combat deepened further.

Bang—

The collision of force sent broken stones flying from the city wall, while banners tore with crisp ripping sounds.

Upon the city wall, a red flag was waved.

"Leave the city!" Duan Hong gave a low shout and rushed out of the small courtyard in a single stride.

"Charge—"

Seven or eight soldiers shouted at the top of their lungs and climbed the city wall by stepping on the stone blocks that had long been piled against it.

Zhang Yuan followed behind Chen Wuxiong and reached the city wall in several steps.

From high ground, one could see far.

The last time he had fought the Yan Army atop the city wall had been a month ago. Since the defending force had fallen below one thousand men, they could no longer fight the Yan Army upon the walls.

Standing on the city wall now, he could see rows of Yan Army tents across the distant flatlands, as well as scattered formations of Yan Army soldiers.

On the surrounding walls, Crimson Scale Army soldiers in red armor and Yan Army soldiers in black armor fought back and forth at every breach.

At the city gate, a red-armored general wielded a battle saber. With slash after slash, he forced a black-armored military officer down from the city wall.

Mountain Yue Saber Technique.

Empowered by Xiantian True Essence, every downward slash truly carried the force of a collapsing mountain.

As though sensing Zhang Yuan's gaze, the red-armored general atop the city wall a hundred zhang away turned around. His face was hidden behind his faceguard, but he gave a slight nod before leaping down in a single step.

Below the wall, two streams of force tangled and collided again as Yan Army soldiers gathered around them.

Commander Yu Lin had personally taken action, tying down the Yan Army's Xiantian Realm expert to cover the townspeople and wounded soldiers leaving the city!

"Go!"

Chen Wuxiong handed the knotted hemp rope to Zhang Yuan, then rushed from the city wall himself, descending on a hemp rope over two zhang long as he leapt down.

Zhang Yuan drew a breath and jumped down after him.

The hemp rope in his palm bit into his arm. His body struck the walls, then he released his grip and rolled forward, already landing on the ground.