One day, two days.
At last, on the morning of the third day, they were only a few dozen li from Weizhou.
"Good, we're almost there. Hang in there a little longer."
Monk Tianming was undoubtedly exhausted by now. Unlike Li Su and the others, who had managed to rest a little, he had remained on guard almost constantly, even while recovering through meditation. After two days and three nights, he hadn't closed his eyes for even a second.
Even a first-rate expert might have plenty of true energy, but their stamina could still be utterly depleted.
"Hm?"
Wang Jiantong spoke up. "Master Tianming, look at that road ahead. There's a checkpoint. Why don't we go over and replenish our food and water?" They had been in a hurry. Although they'd brought plenty of rations, they had used up nearly all of them by now. Almost everyone had gone five shichen without eating, and they had last drunk water two shichen ago.
At this, Ming Yulong and Xu Jing couldn't help but brighten.
They weren't pampered, but they had never marched like this before. Ever since the first day, they had felt uncomfortable all over.
Wherever there was a checkpoint, there was bound to be fresh water, too. If they could wash up a little, that would be good.
Xuanci and the others were also looking eager. Not only were they strong men who had long since grown ravenous, their throats felt as though they were on fire, making them all the more desperate for a drink.
Monk Tianming drew a breath and looked at everyone. Though he wanted to press on as quickly as possible, they had all nearly reached their limits. "All right. We'll rest for a while at the checkpoint, then set out again!"
Li Su was undoubtedly exhausted, too.
He'd thought that once he had true energy, lactic acid and the like would no longer be a concern.
But after exercising far beyond what he'd imagined possible, his whole body had started aching just as it had before he gained true energy.
Still, despite his exhaustion, Li Su found that the forced march had actually sped up his progress in the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art.
He had completed the first stage.
Once he activated the art, a vast amount of "force" would gather beneath his skin. Though he hadn't tested it, this would greatly increase his defenses; he could even touch a blade with his bare hand without leaving a scratch.
And that was only the first stage. According to what his master had taught him,
with each stage the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art advanced, its defenses underwent a tremendous transformation. By the fifth stage, even an attack infused with true energy couldn't hurt him unless it struck a vital point.
Just thinking about it made Li Su's heart stir with excitement.
If he mastered all nine stages of the Indestructible Diamond Divine Art, there probably wouldn't be many people in this world who could kill him, right?
Never mind the practicalities. A few centuries' worth of cultivation was beyond the realm of martial arts. It was practically immortal cultivation.
Of course, he still had to pay special attention to the Xiaoyao Sect.
After all, the Xiaoyao Sect was practically a sect of cultivators. Setting Wuyazi aside, Tianshan Tonglao and Li Qiushui were both nearly a hundred years old—one looked like a little girl, while the other still looked young. That was practically inhuman, wasn't it?
Li Su let out a breath, his eyes shifting. Now that he had completely finished the first stage, he could begin cultivating the second.
The second stage required a different Circulation Realm diagram and a different breathing method.
This Circulation Realm was much smaller, centered on the five internal organs. As for the breathing, he no longer had to inhale. Instead, he had to exhale.
He'd assumed this would be easy, too, but after trying it briefly the day before, he'd learned just how inhumanly difficult it was.
After inhaling and holding his breath, his body was full of oxygen, and with true energy besides, going half an hour without breathing wasn't difficult. But once he had exhaled all the air in his body, he couldn't manage half an hour—or even the time it took to drink a cup of tea. After a few attempts, he'd nearly passed out, and his Circulation Realm had almost fallen into disarray.
The route was much shorter, yet the difficulty had increased dramatically.
It was hard, but Li Su had the talent for it. He managed to form the circuit after only five tries.
As he began cultivating, he found that the Lesser Celestial Circuit also produced force, but rather than flowing outward, it moved inward.
That was right: all the force produced by each round of cultivation flowed into Li Su's five internal organs.
And how to describe this force? Its nature was completely different from the force produced by the first stage.
Once activated, the force from the first stage was obvious and lively. This force, on the other hand, was exceptionally calm. Aside from the fact that he could sense it, it made no movement at all, like a pool of stagnant water.
Faced with this result, Li Su couldn't help wondering if it was because of the oxygen. That couldn't be right, could it?
The group hurried toward the checkpoint.
When the soldiers stationed there saw them arrive, they immediately spread out into formation and grew wary.
"Who goes there?"
A soldier who seemed to be their captain spoke up.
Wang Jiantong immediately stepped forward and took out his identification token. "We are martial artists, ordered to go to Weizhou. The journey has worn us out, and we've used up our supplies. We hope to replenish them here."
Even after seeing the token, the captain didn't let down his guard. "Toss the token over."
Wang Jiantong wasn't surprised. At a time like this, inspections were naturally stricter. If they let someone through and he turned out to be a spy, the checkpoint would be held responsible.
The captain caught the token and examined it for a while. Then he nodded and told them to put down their weapons. "Sorry, heroes. With the Song and Western Xia at war, we have to be cautious."
"That's only right. Captain, do you have any extra grain here? If not, some water would be enough."
Wang Jiantong went over to retrieve the token and spoke.
"We do, though not much. We can give you some dried rations. I'll have someone prepare them. First, bring water for the heroes."
"Thank you."
Wang Jiantong turned and nodded. Monk Tianming waved for everyone to rest.
*******
"They really came!"
Inside a grass hut beside the checkpoint.
"At first, I thought headquarters was joking. I never expected it to be true. Someone in Yanan Prefecture really did guess His Majesty's plan. Fortunately, we infiltrated Song territory over a month ago. Otherwise, we'd truly be in trouble. The leader must be Monk Tianming, the head of Shaolin Temple's Arhat Hall. We'll take him out first, as planned."
"Yes!"
Soon, the soldier who had entered the hut came back out carrying bowls and a jar.
The captain's brow twitched. He immediately said, "Heroes, you've traveled a long way. Have some water first."
He called over the other soldiers and had them pour the water, then signaled for them to bring it to Monk Tianming and the others.
Wang Jiantong heard him and smiled. "Thank you!"
He took the water and drank it at once.
By now, even the two young ladies, Ming Yulong and Xu Jing, didn't care that the bowls were dirty. They took the water and drank immediately.
Soon, water was brought to Li Su and Monk Tianming as well.
Monk Tianming bowed. "Amitabha Buddha. Thank you, benefactor."
Li Su had been about to thank him, too, but when he took the bowl, he froze.
That smell was strong. Had the man been eating a lot of meat?
There was an obvious difference in body odor between those who ate vegetarian food all the time and those who constantly ate meat. This was especially true in ancient times, when people rarely bathed. Even when they did wash, they had nothing like modern soap, with its powerful cleansing properties, or scented soap. That was why transmigration novels loved writing about how making soap was sure to earn someone a fortune.
Hm?
The bowl was almost at his lips, but Li Su paused and stopped moving.
He hadn't gotten a good look before, but now he saw that the soldier handing him the water was very unusual.
He was huge, his clothes stretched tight over him.
Clearly, he was exceptionally strong, both in muscle and bone.
Something was wrong. Very wrong. Extremely wrong!
Li Su had seen Song soldiers along the way. Unless they were elite troops, ordinary soldiers were basically all thin and weak.
Song may have had a thriving economy, but its military wasn't well paid. No, it was paid very poorly.
In the Song Dynasty, only the capital's troops counted as a proper army. They were called the Imperial Guard. The local forces were mostly the Local Garrison—basically farmers in soldiers' uniforms who didn't train in their spare time and were also made to do labor. After all, the emperor was afraid of rebellion, and the whole army would suffer for it.
And it made no sense for soldiers guarding a checkpoint along this road to be elite troops.
After all, the purpose of checkpoints like this wasn't to stop an army. They were there to inspect ordinary travelers, or to spot signs of Western Xia troops and report them at once.
Without thinking, Li Su turned his gaze toward the place nearby where the horses were kept. Then his eyes fixed in place.
He hadn't noticed earlier because they'd been obscured, but now he saw there were more than ten horses.
The Song Dynasty was short on horses.
In fact, the Central Plains had always been short on horses.
A checkpoint might keep a few on hand, but no more than one or two.
One horse per man? Strong, well-built bodies? Using soldiers like these to guard a checkpoint? Was the Song Dynasty really that extravagant?
No!!!
And that wasn't all. He'd initially thought the men simply smelled strong, but now he recognized the odor. He'd eaten it plenty of times before transmigrating: mutton.
The smell of mutton. Elite soldiers. One horse per man?
Li Su drew a breath, breaking into a cold sweat. If he couldn't connect all these clues, he'd be a complete fool.
Western Xia soldiers!
But how could that be? How had Western Xia soldiers invaded this far and disguised themselves as Song soldiers?
No, that no longer mattered.
What mattered was that he was in danger—his life was at stake!!!
Li Su drew a breath. Like a cat with its fur standing on end, every muscle in his body tensed. He threw his head back and let out the first loud cry since arriving in this world!
"Ah!!!"
At the same time, under the startled gaze of the Western Xia soldier before him, true energy gathered at his fingertips. Without hesitation, he thrust out a finger.
Two-Finger Formless!!!