Mid-Heaven Realm!

The next day, Zhu Youning led a thousand elite Longxiang Army cavalrymen and galloped nonstop toward Luoyang.

These thousand elite riders were the cream of the Longxiang Army, personally selected by Wang Yanzhang at Zhu Youning's request.

The Longxiang Army was, in fact, one of Great Liang's Six Armies!

After Zhu Wen proclaimed himself emperor, he reformed the military system based on the Tang Dynasty's Imperial Guard system, and thus the Great Liang Six Armies came into being.

Which six armies?

They were the Left and Right Dragon-Tiger Army, Left and Right Yulin Army, Left and Right Divine Martial Army, Left and Right Longxiang Army, Left and Right Tianxing Army, and Left and Right Guangsheng Army.

Among them, the Dragon-Tiger Army had once been Later Liang's main force and had participated in numerous campaigns during the struggle between Liang and Jin, as well as Liang and Qi. The Yulin Army originated from the Xuanwu Vanguard Army.

The Divine Martial Army was formed by merging forces such as the Jianrui Army, Jia-Ma Army, and Tujiang Army. It was more akin to Liang State's assault force.

Then came the Longxiang Army. It had been reorganized from Zhu Wen's personal retinue troops, cavalry units, and the like, and its ranks were mostly cavalry.

After that were the Tianxing Army and Guangsheng Army. These two were newly established legions, and their commanders were mostly princes.

For example, the Tianxing Army's commanding officer was Prince Jun, Zhu Youzhen.

As for the Guangsheng Army's commanding officer, it was Prince Bo, Zhu Youwen—the Ghost King of the Xuanming Cult.

However, Zhu Youwen was obsessed with martial arts and arrogant by nature. On top of that, he spent all year in seclusion training his martial arts and rarely visited the military camp, so the Guangsheng Army existed in name only.

Lastly, there was Zhu Wen's personal guard army, also known as the Crane-Control Army. It lay outside the Six Armies and was currently commanded by Zhu Yougui.

The distance between Luoyang and Bian Prefecture was not particularly great. With horses, they could absolutely arrive within ten days.

Yet Zhu Youning still chose to travel at full speed.

Who knew whether something might happen within those ten days?

It was better to reach Luoyang sooner.

Speaking of Luoyang, this place was no ordinary city. Not only was it an imperial capital as renowned as Chang'an of the previous dynasty, it was also Great Liang's Western Capital.

When Zhu Wen proclaimed himself emperor, he elevated Bian Prefecture to Kaifeng Prefecture and named it the Eastern Capital, while making Luoyang the Western Capital. Of course, Luoyang was also the Xuanming Cult's main stronghold.

That was right—the Xuanming Cult's headquarters was in Luoyang. Although Bian Prefecture also had Xuanming Cult outposts, they were merely branch headquarters in the end.

As for why the Xuanming Cult's headquarters had been established in Luoyang, it was naturally to keep Jin and Qi in check.

Wang Shifan had originally been the Pinglu Jiedushi. Only after surrendering to Zhu Wen did his entire clan of more than two hundred people relocate to Luoyang.

Though they called it traveling nonstop, that was really just a figure of speech.

Horses could not run without stopping, and people needed to eat and rest as well.

Zhu Youning had known in his previous life that endlessly staying up late and working a 996 schedule would only lead to one's body breaking down. One might even earn less money than one would later spend on medical bills.

At the end of the day, one's body was the foundation of everything. Thus, after traveling for a full day, Zhu Youning ordered the troops to halt as evening approached.

Zhu Youning first sent men to fetch water from the river, then had them stack stones into stoves and cook. The soldiers divided up the work: some fetched water and cooked, while others gathered firewood and lit fires... Before long, smoke from cooking fires rose into the air.

Naturally, Zhu Youning did not eat with the soldiers.

Dullness, exhaustion, monotony, hardship, and danger were the main themes of life in the military camp. Generally, only commanders who shared hardships with their soldiers would earn their support.

Yet Zhu Youning did not do so this time.

It was not that he was unwilling to sleep alongside his soldiers, eat alongside them, and share their hardships. It was because he needed to take medicine.

Tonics!

He was practically eating medicine as food now. Normally, a person would surely suffer problems from taking so many supplements, but Zhu Youning was, after all, someone with a system. The conversion efficiency of the system's automatic cultivation slots far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Moreover, Zhu Youning cultivated the Qi Scripture, an internal art that strengthened one's foundation and body. His constitution could no longer be compared to that of an ordinary person. No matter how many spiritual medicines he consumed, he could accept and fully digest them all.

In any case, he did not need to worry about money. As a prince, could eating a little tonic possibly bankrupt him?

The last time he had Wu Yi buy out every tonic available on the Bian Prefecture market, it had only cost a negligible fraction of Zhu Youning's wealth.

In this era, the saying that scholars were poor while martial artists were rich was not without reason.

This time, Zhu Youning drank a soup brewed from Tianshan Snow Lotus—the very Tianshan Snow Lotus Wu Yi had traded for using his treasured sword from an outer disciple of the Tianshan Sword Sect.

And the Tianshan Snow Lotus truly lived up to its reputation as a miraculous medicine. Not only did it further strengthen Zhu Youning's physique, it also allowed his internal force to break through into the Mid-Heaven Realm.

[Zhu Youning]

[Realm: Mid-Heaven Realm]

[Martial Arts: Tiger Roar Art, Dragon-Snake Spear Technique, Calm Heart Technique, Cold Heart Art, Nine Yin: Healing Chapter, Northern Dark Divine Art, Qi Scripture]

[Martial arts currently being cultivated automatically: Tiger Roar Art, Northern Dark Divine Art, Qi Scripture, Nine Yin: Healing Chapter]

[Qi Scripture: One of the most profound internal arts in the Central Plains. It can cleanse the body's meridians and channels, not only possessing the miraculous effect of strengthening one's foundation, but also allowing one to release qi externally. Traits: Tendon Transformation and Bone Forging, External Qi Release]

[Tiger Roar Art: An internal art formed by gathering the essences of many Central Plains sects. Its qi force is fierce and powerful. Trait: Fierce True Qi]

[Dragon-Snake Spear Technique: A spear technique developed by Zhu Youning through battlefield drills. Its moves are sharp and swift. Trait: Swiftness]

[Cold Heart Art: A relatively basic cultivation art that can cultivate cold-attributed true qi and can be used together with the Yin Yang Fusion Art. Trait: None]

[Calm Heart Technique: Built upon seated meditation, it controls one's breathing to direct the movement of true qi. It is the foundation for practicing more advanced internal arts and can regulate breathing and strengthen the body. Trait: None]

[Nine Yin: Healing Chapter: A healing chapter from the martial art Nine Yin Manual, greatly beneficial for recovering from internal injuries. Trait: None]

[Northern Dark Divine Art: The Xiaoyao Sect's supreme martial art. Once mastered, every acupoint in the body can absorb others' inner power and convert it into Northern Dark True Qi. Traits: Reversed True Qi, Constant Readiness]

[Talents: Battle-Hardened, Born Savage, Deep Inner Strength]

[Current Status: Full of Vitality]

[Items: Cold Steel Sword*12, Cold Steel Spear*12, Horse-Chopping Saber*8, Ring-Pommel Saber*5, Ghost-Head Saber*4, Green Mandala Flower*56, Jade Bee Honey Syrup*59, Tiger Bone*42, Bear Gallbladder*99, Schisandra*98, Velvet Antler*95, Bird's Nest*85, Polygonum Multiflorum*79, Lingzhi Mushroom*98, Trogopterus Dung*]

[Current Training Waves: 35]

With the aid of the system and the Qi Scripture, Zhu Youning advanced to the Mid-Heaven Realm without encountering any obstacles.

He instinctively sensed the mysteries of the inner power within his body and could not help clicking his tongue in wonder.

After reaching the Mid-Heaven Realm, he felt the inner power surging through his body to be endless, never ceasing. With a mere turn of thought, domineering Northern Dark True Qi coursed through his meridians.

In this world, martial artists trained in martial arts, built their foundations, and cultivated qi. Qi was divided into two classes and six ranks: the Heavenly Ranks of the first class, and the Star Ranks of the second.

Further divided, they were the Great Heavenly Rank, Mid-Heaven Realm, Small-Heaven Realm, Great Star Realm, Mid-Star Rank, and Small Star Rank.

Cultivation was no easy matter. For an ordinary person, beginning martial arts at six required three years to build a foundation, five years to cultivate qi, and ten years to reach the Star Rank. That was eighteen years in total. From the Star Rank to the Heavenly Rank, those of mediocre aptitude needed twenty years or even longer... Thus, though there were many martial artists in the world, those who could reach the Great Heavenly Rank were either martial arts prodigies or people who had found another path!

But how could there be so many martial arts prodigies in the world?

Therefore, those who could reach the Great Heavenly Rank in qi cultivation were few enough to count on one's fingers. Now that he had entered the Mid-Heaven Realm, Zhu Youning's cultivation alone already surpassed that of most people in the world.

However, he knew very well that there were always greater people beyond others and higher heavens beyond the sky. With his current strength, he was still far from strong enough.

And if he wanted to grow stronger as quickly as possible, the Northern Dark Divine Art was undoubtedly the best and most practical tool.

After cultivating the Northern Dark Divine Art, none of Zhu Youning's acupoints could be touched. Once someone whose inner cultivation was inferior to his came into contact with his body, the circulation of his cultivation method could absorb all of that person's inner power.