Chapter 51

With no worries about his rear, Yuan Fang rested in Linzhi City for a day before advancing eastward with his troops.

The army advanced with overwhelming force, sweeping into the Beihai Kingdom.

To resist Yuan Fang's attack, Kong Rong, the Chancellor of Beihai, repeatedly sent troops to block him, but all were defeated by Yuan Fang.

Within a few days, Yuan Fang successively captured the counties of Dong'anping, Ju, and Pingshou. His troops were unstoppable.

Kong Rong and Liu Bei, unable to resist, had to retreat to Duchang City with their remaining forces, closing the gates to defend themselves and not daring to fight again.

In late autumn and early winter, Yuan Fang's army arrived at the gates of Duchang City, setting up camps and forming a siege.

Duchang was Kong Rong's stronghold, which he had painstakingly fortified to resist the Yellow Turban rebels. It was a well-defended city.

Moreover, Kong Rong and Liu Bei still had over four thousand troops in the city, while although Yuan Fang had swept through half of Qingzhou, he only had about ten thousand troops under his command.

With over ten thousand elite troops, Yuan Fang was confident he could defeat Kong Rong and Liu Bei in an open battle.

However, now that the enemy was entrenched in a fortified city, it was a difficult task for Yuan Fang to break through with less than twice the number of troops.

Therefore, Yuan Fang did not rush to break the city. Following Guo Huai's advice, he divided his troops to attack the remaining cities of the Beihai Kingdom, gradually isolating Duchang City. He planned to wait until the enemy's food supplies were exhausted before attacking.

The siege lasted nearly a month, and the first snow arrived.

The vast land of the northern kingdom was covered in snow, with the mountains and rivers dressed in silver.

Outside Duchang City, in the Yuan army's camp, the fire burned brightly, and the soldiers gathered around it to keep warm.

Yuan Fang was well-prepared, having provided winter clothing for the soldiers and collected enough firewood to withstand the cold. Therefore, although the snow had arrived, the morale of the Yuan army remained high.

"Hey! Hey! Hey!"

On the training ground behind the main tent, Yuan Fang was practicing the Tiger Step Fist. His punches were as swift as the wind, and his movements were as agile as a tiger, stirring up a flurry of snowflakes.

Despite the cold, his strong muscles effectively resisted the chill. Even in a single layer of clothing, Yuan Fang felt no cold.

On the contrary, his blood boiled as he practiced, and the heat he generated melted the snowflakes around him.

As he punched, Yuan Fang frowned, showing some dissatisfaction.

His current realm had reached the stage of Condensing the Membrane.

Condensing the Membrane means further advancing from the stage of Shrinking the Tendons, making the skin and membranes of the entire body tough and resistant to blows. When exerting force, the skin becomes as hard as oxhide, capable of fighting against a dozen people.

In the army, the main armor is made of oxhide, which, although not as hard as fish-scale iron armor, can still resist arrows and even direct attacks from swords and spears to some extent.

If the Condensing the Membrane stage is fully developed, it is equivalent to wearing an additional layer of oxhide armor in battle, greatly enhancing one's ability to resist damage and survive on the battlefield.

Historical records often mention that certain warriors could suffer "dozens of wounds" but still break through the enemy's encirclement. This is because their Condensing the Membrane stage was fully developed.

In fact, although suffering dozens of wounds sounds terrifying, the thick skin and membranes meant that these injuries were not fatal.

Yuan Fang found that the Condensing the Membrane stage was somewhat similar to the Iron Shirt technique of later martial arts. The claim of being impervious to blades and spears is somewhat exaggerated, but it does exist in ancient martial arts.

"After reaching the stage of Condensing the Membrane, cultivation becomes even more difficult. The Tiger Step Fist has already been practiced to its limit and offers little help in improving my martial arts. I need to learn a more advanced martial art..."

As Yuan Fang punched, his thoughts churned in his mind.

Suddenly, he noticed that Yan Liang had appeared on the side of the training ground, watching him practice with great interest.

A thought flashed through Yuan Fang's mind: "Yan Liang's martial arts have reached the stage of Cultivating the Organs, far surpassing Zhu Ling. He must have a more advanced martial art than the Tiger Step Fist. If I can learn it, it will certainly help me improve my martial arts."

With this thought, Yuan Fang delivered several more punches and gracefully ended his practice.

Turning to Yan Liang, Yuan Fang smiled and asked, "Zi Zheng, what do you think of my fist technique?"

"Forgive me for being frank, but your fist technique is quite inferior. The martial arts I practiced at the age of ten are stronger than this," Yan Liang walked forward and answered frankly.

Yuan Fang was slightly taken aback. The Tiger Step Fist was Zhu Ling's family martial art, and Zhu Ling had used it to reach the initial stage of Condensing the Membrane.

As for Yuan Fang, he had used this fist technique to advance from the initial stage of Tempering the Flesh to the initial stage of Condensing the Membrane in just half a year.

A technique that had greatly helped Yuan Fang was considered by Yan Liang to be a common skill, and Yan Liang's tone was indeed arrogant.

However, Yuan Fang thought about it and realized that although Zhu Ling was about the same age as Yan Liang, Yan Liang's martial arts were far superior to Zhu Ling's, almost reaching the level of killing in a single move. This alone gave Yan Liang the right to speak arrogantly.

Yuan Fang pretended to be unconvinced and shook his head, "I advanced from the initial stage of Tempering the Flesh to the initial stage of Condensing the Membrane in just half a year with the Tiger Step Fist. I don't believe there is a more advanced martial art than this."

Seeing that Yuan Fang did not believe him, Yan Liang became anxious and said, "If you don't believe me, I will teach you our family's Dragon Elephant Fist. You can practice it yourself to see which martial art is stronger, and you will know that I am not lying."

Yan Liang was straightforward. Yuan Fang used a bit of provocation, and Yan Liang revealed his family's advanced martial art.

This suited Yuan Fang's intentions.

That night, Yan Liang spent the entire night teaching Yuan Fang the techniques and essentials of the Dragon Elephant Fist.

Yuan Fang, being extremely intelligent, immediately recognized that the Dragon Elephant Fist was an extremely advanced martial art, not only useful for Condensing the Membrane but also for Tempering the Bones and even Cultivating the Organs.

"Yan Liang is indeed Yan Liang. No wonder he has such high martial arts; he has such an advanced martial art..."

Yuan Fang was greatly delighted. Having learned the Dragon Elephant Fist from Yan Liang, he abandoned the Tiger Step Fist and began to diligently practice the Dragon Elephant Fist.

Relying on his self-repairing abilities, Yuan Fang practiced intensively. In just ten days, he felt a significant improvement in the toughness of his skin and membranes, and his cultivation progressed much faster than before.

While practicing martial arts, Yuan Fang also intensified the siege of Duchang City.

After a month of dividing his troops, the cities of Xiamì and Chunyu within the Beihai Kingdom were all captured by the Yuan army, leaving Duchang City completely isolated.

Yuan Fang then ordered thousands of edicts to be shot into the city with arrows, warning the people of Duchang not to resist, or they would be killed without mercy when the city was breached.

With no reinforcements and under Yuan Fang's psychological pressure, the entire city of Duchang was in a state of panic, with low morale.

Worse still, the city's food supplies were almost exhausted.

After the Yellow Turban rebels were defeated, Kong Rong, thinking he was safe, generously gave the city's stockpiled food to Tian Kai to help him fight Yuan Fang.

Who would have thought that Tian Kai's defeat would result in the large stockpile of food in Luoyin City falling into Yuan Fang's hands.

Yuan Fang advanced so quickly that before Kong Rong could gather more food in Duchang City, Yuan Fang's army had already arrived and surrounded the city, cutting off its supply lines.

After more than a month of siege, the food in Duchang City was almost depleted.

In the main hall of the government office in Duchang City, the flickering lights and cold drafts made the worried people shiver involuntarily.

Kong Rong sat at the top, his face dark, while Liu Bei, sitting below, looked gloomy and melancholy.

The other generals, including the fierce warriors Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, also had serious expressions.

A deathly silence filled the room.

"Everyone, our food supplies will be exhausted in ten days. If you have any good strategies to defeat the enemy, please don't hide them," Kong Rong said with a pained expression, pleading for help.

Liu Bei opened his mouth to speak but then seemed to think it was inappropriate and swallowed his words.

His gaze shifted to the middle-aged man kneeling opposite.

The man in fine clothing, seeing Liu Bei's gaze, nodded slightly in response.

Then, he took a deep breath and said, "Chancellor Kong, it seems that the only option now is to send troops to escort me out of the city to seek aid from our governor Tao in Xuzhou."

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