Although the Blood Battle Scripture had many outstanding advantages, few people still practiced it.
The reason was simple. The Blood Battle Scripture was easy to begin practicing but difficult to master, and it shared a common flaw with the Taoist Cultivation Methods from the martial arts novels of his previous life.
That was, it could only be cultivated slowly through painstaking effort. If someone wanted to speed up their cultivation of the Blood Battle Scripture,
then life and death combat was the only way. But life and death combat was far too risky; no one could guarantee they could prevent an accident at the last moment.
And if they intervened too early, the results would be greatly diminished. So compared to the slow progress of the Blood Battle Scripture, most Lineages preferred other Cultivation Methods.
At present, the only faction in Great Gan still cultivating the Blood Battle Scripture was the Wei State Duke Mansion Faction.
Moreover, after cultivating the Blood Battle Scripture, one's spiritual power naturally became imbued with a dense aura of killing intent.
When members of the Wei State Duke Mansion Faction released their spiritual power in battle, the sight was no less imposing than the Konoha Blue Beast charging into battle with a shout of "Konoha Whirlwind!"
So, on the very day the Old Duke of Wei completed his first assassination, when people came knocking at his door,
he immediately gave up training the family's death warriors and instead expanded the Imperial Guard, making its ranks severely overstrength.
Faced with this situation, both the Former Emperor and the Empress tacitly approved of the Wei State Duke Mansion's approach.
Looking at the soldiers before him, Mo Yunxuan asked, "Tieniu, can you still cultivate and advance your realms?"
This was the question Mo Yunxuan cared about most. If they couldn't advance, those 100 points of full loyalty would be such a waste.
Even at the Golden Core Realm, even if he could get 200 of them for free every year, they would still be no more than beings that high-level cultivators could casually erase.
But if they could advance, how wonderful would life be from then on! Maybe even the Empress would have to become his dog. Heh heh heh~
Before Mo Yunxuan could think any further, Li Tieniu's answer interrupted him.
"Your Grace, our original Dou Qi Cultivation System has already been converted to this world's cultivation system. We're now equivalent to Hardening Martial Artists, or Body Cultivators."
"Because of the change in our cultivation system, we can't continue cultivating to grow stronger on our own. But we can improve our strength by fusing with Magic Beast Essence, and in turn advance our realms."
Mo Yunxuan nodded to show he understood and said nothing more. He'd been a little disappointed by the first half of the answer.
But after hearing the second half, his mood instantly improved. There were no Magic Beasts in this world, but there were plenty of Fierce Beasts, and they were incredibly strong.
Judging from the Crusaders' current situation, Fierce Beasts could certainly take the place of Magic Beasts and meet the requirements for extracting their essence.
And as long as the essence they fused with was strong enough and plentiful enough, he could mass-produce high-level combatants.
Then the Empress giving him a leg massage would be no dream at all.
Just then, Wang Yuan, who had gone to the storeroom to fetch the equipment, arrived at the training ground.
Looking at the two hundred oddly dressed men, he asked in confusion, "My lord, who are these people?"
"Ahem... Uncle Wang, you're here."
Realizing Wang Yuan might have seen how he'd just been acting, Mo Yunxuan gave an embarrassed cough.
"These are the Imperial Guards I trained myself. We're going to take over the Imperial City Imperial Guard today, so I'll bring them along."
Wang Yuan didn't doubt Mo Yunxuan's words. After all, the Old Duke had trained a group of Imperial Guards of his own back in the day, so this was nothing unusual for the Wei State Duke Mansion.
But he still asked, "My lord, how should we arrange these Imperial Guards?"
At that, Mo Yunxuan looked over the two hundred Crusaders, pondered for a moment, then said, "Set these two hundred Imperial Guards up as a separate camp and name it the Elite Vanguard. Give them the same待遇 as the Imperial Guard, and include them in the Imperial Guard ranks publicly."
"All right, my lord. I'll make the arrangements." Wang Yuan nodded to show he understood, then continued:
"My lord, I brought two kinds of armor: one designed for agility, the other for defense. Which would you prefer?"
Mo Yunxuan glanced at the heavy armor worn by the Crusaders and replied without hesitation, "The defensive kind. These Imperial Guards will be dedicated to protecting me from now on, so higher defense is better."
"Besides, they're all Body Cultivators. Heavier armor won't affect their fighting ability; if anything, it'll give them decent protection."
As far as Mo Yunxuan was concerned, the Imperial Guard already had plenty of powerful and loyal members.
As Imperial Guards, the Crusaders didn't have any major advantages.
Their only real advantage might be that they could rely on the system to quickly grow stronger by fusing with Magic Beast Blood Essence.
All in all, they were simply a promising investment for the future.
So, as far as the Crusaders—the Elite Vanguard now—were concerned, Mo Yunxuan didn't need them to be especially good fighters. He had only one requirement: stay alive.
They said the thickest armor drew the harshest blows, but as long as the armor was thick enough, an enemy would have to strike an Elite Vanguard soldier one more time to kill him.
That would give the Wei State Duke Mansion Faction enough time to react and save the Elite Vanguard soldiers.
Once every Elite Vanguard soldier had reached the Spirit Transformation, Void Refining, or even Body Integration Realm, not even the Empress would dare make a move against him.
Mo Yunxuan's thoughts raced, but his eyes stayed fixed on the Elite Vanguard soldiers collecting their Standard Heavy Armor Sets.
Once all the soldiers had collected their equipment and put it on, Mo Yunxuan nodded and said,
"Let's go. It's getting late. We shouldn't keep them waiting."
Wang Yuan said nothing and quietly followed behind Mo Yunxuan.
When Mo Yunxuan got into the carriage, Wang Yuan naturally took his place at the reins.
The two hundred newly equipped Elite Vanguard soldiers automatically formed four columns, guarding the carriage front and back.
As the carriage began to move, the sound of clanking armor rang through the surrounding corridors, and another eight hundred Imperial Guards fell in behind it.
Unlike the Elite Vanguard's heavy armor, these Imperial Guards wore lighter, more agile Light Armor, and the only weapon in their hands was a long saber.
Their equipment was plain, but the killing intent and cultivation they emanated made their prowess plain to see.
What surprised Mo Yunxuan most was that, according to his memories, the strongest members of the Wei State Duke Mansion's Imperial Guard had only reached the Nascent Soul Realm, and there weren't many of them.
He hadn't expected all eight hundred Imperial Guards to be Nascent Soul Realm cultivators. Among them were even one Peak Spirit Transmutation cultivator, two late-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators, and more than a dozen early-to-mid-stage Spirit Transformation cultivators.
And their loyalty was all above 90 points. That gave Mo Yunxuan, who'd been feeling a little timid, a sudden burst of confidence.
If the Imperial City Imperial Guard tried to intimidate him later, Wang Yuan wouldn't be left standing alone and helpless.
Not bad! Not bad! Mo Yunxuan thought to himself.
When the procession left the Wei State Duke Mansion and came into public view, it instantly drew the attention of every high-ranking official and noble.
"Wasn't the new Duke of Wei just a green kid? How did the Duke of Wei's Imperial Guard rally to him so quickly?"
"Exactly! I heard the Duke of Wei has to prove his strength or influence to win the Imperial Guard's recognition. The new Duke of Wei doesn't look like he has either!"
"Maybe it's because today's his first time going to the Barracks. He needs to make an entrance, so the Imperial Guard is probably there to back him up."
"Don't you know? For some reason, Mo Yunxuan is the only one left in the main line of the Wei State Duke Mansion this generation. Who else would the Imperial Guard serve if not him? It's not as if they could go looking among the collateral branches!"
"Besides, the Old Duke's passing was so sudden, and they watched Mo Yunxuan grow up. They probably know what kind of person he is. His only shortcoming is his strength, so whether they test him or not won't make much difference."
"Most importantly, the Wei State Duke Mansion's Imperial Guard usually starts assessing the next Duke of Wei's heir once he reaches the Nascent Soul Realm. Unless the heir is truly hopeless, even someone who does nothing but eat, sleep, and bully people every day can pass. Surely this generation's Duke of Wei isn't even worse than that."
"Besides, look at those guards in heavy armor closest to the carriage. They're clearly not from the same system as the Imperial Guard controlled by the Old Duke. They're Body Cultivator Imperial Guards personally trained by Mo Yunxuan. That alone proves he's qualified to command the Imperial Guard."
"What! Body Cultivators? You've got to be kidding. Do you know how many resources it takes to train them?"
"Exactly! After a Body Cultivator reaches Foundation Establishment, they can fight two cultivators of the same realm."
"But Body Cultivators don't just suffer through their cultivation; they also consume at least five times the resources needed to train a cultivator of the same level. Wouldn't it be better to use those resources to raise five times as many cultivators?"
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