Just three days later, the "Two Bureaucracies and One Guard" had gathered a large number of skilled martial artists in Luoyang, while also recruiting a great many wandering martial artists with deep internal power.
Ever since the Evil-Warding Sword Manual had become widespread, the martial "masters" of old had lost some of their appeal. Instead, seasoned fighters with deep internal power had become highly sought after. After all, when everyone knew top-tier sword techniques and there was no significant difference in talent, the one with greater power usually had the better odds!
So, since the "Two Bureaucracies and One Guard" were heading to Mount Hua on a mission, martial artists with deep internal power would be far more useful. The soldiers' fate against the Huashan Sect's disciples, who seemed to have begun cultivating immortality, had already been demonstrated by the troops of the Xi'an Prefecture Three Guards, whose record had been zero to several hundred.
In the end, the "Two Bureaucracies and One Guard" assembled a "martial army" of roughly six thousand. They also brought more than four thousand soldiers from the Luoyang garrison and the Hongnong Guard. Once they had formed an army of ten thousand, they set off for Mount Hua in grand fashion.
However...
Three days later, when they arrived safely at the foot of Jade Maiden Peak, they were all dumbfounded.
Yuhuatian, Eunuch Cao, and Lu Bing of the "Two Bureaucracies and One Guard" discovered that the Huashan Sect was hiding behind its mountain-protecting formation and simply ignoring them. No matter how they called out, shot arrows bearing letters, or tried any other means of negotiation, they received no response whatsoever!
To be fair, many martial artists, Daoist cultivators, and even ordinary people had gathered around Mount Hua during this time. They had tried nearly every