Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
His fists and feet stirred the wind, his movements nimble as an ape. Li Chen controlled Hu Ze's Avatar as he loosened its muscles and joints, briskly performing a set of the Five Animals and Five Beasts Fist.
This was a widely practiced foundation for initiation into the martial Dao on the Righteous Qi Continent. Everyone knew at least a few moves, which drew qi into the body and strengthened muscles and bones.
But halfway through the routine, one of Hu Ze's Avatar's arms fell off.
He helplessly stopped, picked it up, and attached it again.
"As expected, it still won't work. Ordinary thread can't withstand the strain of control. Any big movement snaps it. For high-rank martial artists, the pull of their whole body's movements generates tremendous force. At the very least, I'll need mid-grade or better treasured materials that match the body's strength..."
While lamenting that "it's not my tailoring skills that are lacking, it's the thread," Li Chen leafed through the ledgers, thinking of finding something suitable among the remaining stocks to properly stitch Hu Ze's Avatar together.
"This battle left both sides badly wounded. It seems to have damaged my prestige as Great General, but with the situation so dire, the Imperial Court has actually become even more dependent on me. Among the civil and military officials and all the different factions, those who suffered heavy casualties may bear plenty of resentment toward me. But with their powerful experts dead, they've lost their control over the army. My own core forces have grown stronger rather than weaker!"
Outsiders saw Hu Ze order a fight to the death and crush the Princes' Coalition Army head-on, only to suffer terrible casualties himself, and would merely think he had miscalculated too. In truth, Li Chen had