Chapter 44

Chen Hai did not expect that in the fierce battle just now, he had unknowingly broken through the obstruction of the Foot-Shaoyang main qi meridian.

When the essence and energy of the hundred bones are sufficiently refined and abundant, they will break through the obstruction of the main qi meridian, enter the two kidney mystic orifices, and merge with the heaven and earth's spiritual energy inhaled into the two kidney mystic orifices, thus refining true essence; and when the true essence reverses, it washes and refines the qi meridians, and the qi meridians between the void and the real will manifest as spirit meridians...

Although Chen Hai had opened the easiest-to-cultivate Foot-Shaoyang main qi meridian, it also meant that he had taken a half-step into the Mystic Realm. Once he cultivated the first spirit meridian, he would officially enter the threshold of mystic cultivation.

However, they were surrounded by the rebels, and whether they would survive this battle was still unknown, so there was nothing to be happy about at this moment.

Damn! Chen Hai cursed inwardly. After his cultivation was ruined and he re-cultivated martial arts, being able to step into the Mystic Realm was a great cause for celebration, but he never expected to end up in such a dangerous situation.

The battle in the Shuangfeng Stone Fort of Huanglongyuan had already subsided. Hundreds of disciples who did not break through the encirclement, including two Mingqiao Realm elders, were either annihilated or captured. Only Li Xianghai led no more than two hundred disciples to break through, among whom there were fewer than forty inner disciples and their attendants.

This was probably the most devastating defeat that the Taowei Sect had suffered in recent years. With only about four hundred people left, it was unknown how many would survive and walk out of Yulong Mountain. It was only at this moment that Chen Hai had the leisure to observe the entire battlefield.

They were stationed on a stone slope opposite the Shuangfeng Stone Fort, about two thousand meters apart. The stone slope was about a hundred acres in size, only forty to fifty meters high, and not particularly rugged. Fortunately, it could avoid the falling rocks and rolling logs thrown from the Shuangfeng Stone Fort. The sparse shrubs around were all cleared, and the stone crevices were filled with blood, which had congealed into a dark purple-black color.

The bodies of those who died in battle had rolled into the stone ditches on both sides, densely packed with about one to two thousand corpses. However, there were still tens of thousands of rebels surrounding them.

On the cliff in front of the Shuangfeng Stone Fort, there was a group of elite rebels with complete bows and armor, and dozens of unarmored wandering swordsmen, who were sizing up the situation on this side.

Chen Hai guessed that these people were the leaders and close attendants of the rebels. Looking from a distance, many of them had deep-set eyes and sharp noses like eagles, and their appearance did not resemble the people of Yanzhou but more like the Xiqiang people of Jinzhou. They were tall and had sharp, piercing eyes, indicating that their martial arts cultivation was quite strong.

"Is this uprising actually instigated by the Xiqiang people?" Chen Hai looked at Shen Kun and Ge Tong, who were sitting beside him, puzzled and confused.

"Tieliu Ridge was once under the control of the Xiqiang enemy for many years. It was only after the governance of the Martial Valor Divine Marquis that it was recaptured. By then, a large number of Xiqiang people had already migrated to Tieliu Ridge. The population in the western regions was sparse, and the Divine Marquis did not drive these Xiqiang people out but instead resettled them in the Hetao Plain to fill the prefectures and counties. Some of them were settled in Yulong Prefecture, and it turned out to be a disaster!" Shen Kun sighed.

Seeing the hostility of the surrounding Dao soldiers and disciples towards the Xiqiang people, Chen Hai did not say anything more. He noticed that a few small groups of rebels were approaching the foot of the stone slope, holding bamboo and wooden shields, dragging the armored corpses from the stone ditches with hooks, and stripping the armor from the bodies.

The Dao soldiers and martial soldiers had only a few arrows left and could not afford to waste them, so they could only watch as the rebels collected the armor from the ditches. Chen Hai thought that the rebels, who clearly had the upper hand, could clean up the battlefield after the battle, but they were so eager to retrieve the armor, indicating their dire situation.

Among the Dao soldiers and martial soldiers stationed on the stone slope, nearly a hundred were dead or injured. However, it was also at this moment that the strength of the Dao soldiers and martial soldiers became evident. As long as they could hold their ground, even if the elite rebels launched several waves of attacks, they could not break through their defensive formation, and instead suffered casualties ten times greater.

The rebels were also exhausted and were reorganizing their formations around, with no immediate signs of another attack.

This was not surprising. Even after capturing a batch of armor from the local troops of Yulong Prefecture, the tens of thousands of rebels had few elite soldiers, probably not exceeding ten thousand.

Whether it was the ambush of the sect's Dao soldiers in the Shuangfeng Stone Fort or the siege of the defensive formation on the stone slope, the casualties among the elite rebels were extremely heavy.

If these refugees did not want to exhaust their remaining elite soldiers, Chen Hai thought they still had a good chance of breaking out of Yulong Mountain.

Seeing the situation clearly, Chen Hai's spirits lifted. He heard that the surviving inner disciples had gathered around Li Xianghai, discussing the strategy for breaking out. Most of them advocated avoiding the original route through the stone gorge and instead dispersing into the rugged mountains to the north...

Chen Hai frowned slightly. He had also considered not easily breaking out along the original route, but seeing that the rebels were clearly exhausted, he changed his mind. Before they ran out of supplies, dispersing to break out was definitely not a good strategy.

If they took the most dangerous and remote route, would they have to abandon the nearly a hundred severely injured Dao soldiers?

"Senior Elder Li, Yao Xing has a word to say, I wonder if it is appropriate," Chen Hai supported himself with his battle spear and stood up, moving closer to speak.

The surviving inner disciples frowned, not expecting Chen Hai to come over and interject, but they were also impressed by his fierce bravery and did not scold him for not following the rules.

"Yao Xing, speak," Li Xianghai, sitting on the ground, gestured for others to make way, allowing Chen Hai to come closer.

Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, Ge Tong, and others also moved over. They could not remain silent and let the inner disciples continue to dominate everything.

"We should have a chance to break out along the original route. This is the direction we are most familiar with..." Chen Hai said.

"Break out along the original route? Even if these rebels are all fools, they will set up layers of ambushes along the stone gorge!" Jie Wenzhuo's elaborate brocade robe was tattered from the battle, revealing a dull protective spirit armor underneath.

Jie Wenzhuo, being a direct descendant of the Jie family, had never liked Chen Hai's lack of decorum in coming over to interject. He could not help but sneer and rebuke him for his poor strategy.

Chen Hai did not see the white-faced scholar Lu Hongqian, thinking he might have already fallen in the stone fort. He did not want to conflict with the high-ranking inner disciples like Jie Wenzhuo, but if he did not insist on his own opinion, the lives of three to four hundred people might be dragged down by these arrogant inner disciples.

"Even if the rebels set up layers of ambushes along the stone gorge, we should still break out from there!" Chen Hai said firmly.

Jie Wenzhuo sneered and was about to have Chen Hai driven away, but Li Xianghai waved to stop him and patiently asked Chen Hai, "What reasons do you have to support your suggestion?"

At this moment, Li Xianghai knew that the two hundred Dao soldiers and martial soldiers on the stone slope had not panicked and could form a defensive formation here, merging with the disciples who had broken out of the stone fort, thanks to the effective organization of Chen Hai, Ge Tong, and others.

As the military elder of the Dao Academy and the military commander of the Tieliu Camp, Li Xianghai had experience in leading troops and knew that the inner disciples were not reliable. The chaos during the attack on the stone fort had already proven this. He wanted to hear the opinions of brave soldiers like Chen Hai and Shen Kun...

"The rebels are also exhausted, and they have already achieved a great victory. As long as we are determined to fight, why would they waste their remaining elite soldiers on us?" Chen Hai looked at Li Xianghai's pale face with bright eyes. "And once we disperse to break out, can we be sure that we can run faster than the local hunters who know the terrain? If we can regroup and walk out of Yulong Mountain and join the Yulong Prefecture troops at Chenqiao Fort, this battle will not be a complete defeat..."

Chen Hai believed he could persuade Li Xianghai.

The battle was already a disaster, but if Li Xianghai could lead more than three hundred people out of Yulong Mountain and join the local troops of Yulong Prefecture, it would at least be considered a success in salvaging the situation and could somewhat make up for previous mistakes.

If they dispersed to break out, even if two to three hundred people could eventually escape, the situation would be much worse. At that time, as the only surviving Mingqiao Realm elder, Li Xianghai would have only faults and no merits.

For the heavily injured and temporarily unable to use true essence, Li Xianghai, leading the group to break out was definitely better than dispersing. Once they dispersed, he would become the primary target of the rebels.

"What kind of reason is this?" Jie Wenzhuo, unable to bear being rebuked by Chen Lie's worthless nephew, shouted, and the other inner disciples clearly showed their dissatisfaction with Chen Hai.

Chen Hai looked around and saw that these inner disciples did not want to carry the injured and wanted to use the Dao soldiers as cover to escape into the mountains. It was no wonder they were unhappy when he stood up to stop their plans.

Facing Jie Wenzhuo's aggressive questioning, he calmly replied, "I suggest concentrating our forces to break out along the stone gorge, also for the sake of Senior Brother Jie. Ask Senior Brother Jie, if we really disperse to break out, will the elite rebels focus on chasing and killing ordinary Dao soldiers and disciples, or will they target important figures like Senior Brother Jie?"

Chen Hai's words left everyone speechless.

The inner disciples, who held much higher status in the sect and were direct descendants of the noble families, had always been arrogant. However, upon careful consideration, they found that the words of this supposedly worthless person, who had been expelled by the Yao family, made some sense. They could decisively abandon the Dao soldiers and even order them to cover their escape into the mountains, but after dispersing, who would the rebels target first?

They had only thought about getting rid of the burden to escape faster, but they had not considered that once they dispersed, they would become the primary targets of the rebels.

Chen Hai pointed this out and, regardless of the dissatisfaction of the arrogant inner disciples, bowed to Li Xianghai and retreated to rest and recover.

Chen Hai, after all, did not have a military position and had no right to participate in the military council. Li Xianghai did not retain him but kept Zhou Jun, Ge Tong, Shen Kun, and others to discuss the details of the next breakout plan.