Chapter 48

Previously, the Grand Protector's General's Office did not directly dispatch troops from the Iron Stream Camp but instead organized Dao soldiers and martial troops from the Upper Seven Peaks and the Southwest Dao Academy to suppress the civilian unrest in the Jade Dragon Mountains, out of concern for the sensitive relationship with the Crane Soaring Military Town.

Now, it turned out that after this group of rebels defeated the Dao soldiers of the Taiwei Sect, they turned around and crossed the Jade Dragon Mountains to surrender to the Crane Soaring Military Town, which accepted them directly!

The Wuwei Army, the Taiwei Sect, and the Wuwei Divine Marquis Dong family could be said to have been slapped in the face this time.

Chen Hai, Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, Ge Tong, and the others looked at each other, with a lingering sense of worry, fearing that the Wuwei Divine Marquis would lose face and directly declare war on the Crane Soaring Military Town, which would force them back into a bloody and uncertain battlefield.

As the lowest-ranking Dao soldiers and martial troops, they preferred to focus on their cultivation, even if they had no hope of breaking through to a high realm. Living in the mundane world was not a bad choice. Apart from the middle and upper-level officers with ambitions for military merit, who would want to be cannon fodder on the battlefield?

Wasn't the bloody and惨defeat enough to shock everyone?

Only, since they were at the bottom of the Taiwei Sect and the Wuwei Army system, they had no say in anything. They were just screws in the super-large killing machine that was the military town.

In the following days, there were no signs of reinforcements around Chenqiao Fort. Then, rumors spread that the Grand Protector's General had sent envoys to the empire to report the matter.

Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, and the others breathed a sigh of relief. In private conversations, they comforted each other, saying, "The authority of the Tianzhu Academy still stands, and the situation has not deteriorated to the point where the two armies are directly at each other's throats."

"Perhaps neither side is ready yet," Chen Hai said, less optimistically, with a slight sigh.

Zhou Jun, recalling how Chen Hai had accurately predicted that the rebels had long fled, and how Chen Hai's composure and ability to quickly stabilize the situation in the Jade Dragon Mountains were truly admirable, wanted to hear his thoughts: "Why do you say that?"

"I'm just talking nonsense," Chen Hai laughed, unwilling to delve deeper.

Chen Hai saw that the Wuwei Army and the Taiwei Sect system clearly indicated that the central government of the Great Yan Empire had lost actual control over the Hexi Prefecture. The subtle changes in the situation after the Jade Dragon Mountain battle also revealed that the Crane Soaring Military Town had greater ambitions. The two major powers in the northwest of Yan Prefecture could temporarily coexist peacefully only because neither was ready.

However, some things could only be thought about in one's heart; saying them aloud would be considered treason.

Zhou Jun took Chen Hai's response as a sign of distance and smiled, not pressing further.

Shen Kun and Ge Tong were both straightforward and easy-going. If Zhou Jingyuan were there, he would have noticed that Zhou Jun was almost convinced by Chen Hai.

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Chen Hai, being at the bottom, did not need to worry about the subtle relationship between the Wuwei and Crane Soaring military towns. But from this series of news, he found some comfort in the fact that if the Grand Protector's General's Office and the Taiwei Sect's high-level officials believed that the Crane Soaring Military Town had been involved in the conspiracy from the beginning, then the responsibility for underestimating the enemy would be much lighter for Li Xianghai and others.

After all, the Grand Protector's General's Office, and even Wuwei Divine Marquis Dong Liang himself, had been deceived by the rebels' conspiracy and rashly dispatched Dao soldiers, suffering a devastating defeat. It would be unfair to blame Li Xianghai and other commanders for underestimating the enemy.

Chen Hai soon learned that Chen Qing, Xie Wenzhuo, and the other surviving inner disciples had already returned to Taiwei Mountain. Although they were temporarily not free to return to the Dao Academy, they stayed in Chenqiao to recuperate and cultivate...

Being confined in Chenqiao Fort with no alcohol and strict military discipline, everyone was bored out of their minds.

Chen Hai practiced his cultivation of true essence at dawn, which only took about an incense stick's time. Most of his free time was spent using his carving knife to continue practicing carving.

Chen Hai tried to carve more varied martial secret form statues to comprehend and refine the true essence of martial arts.

Chen Lie had once conveyed through Zhao Shan that he should not easily show these statues to others. Chen Hai now destroyed each wooden statue he carved.

To others, he was just immersed in the joy of carving.

Indeed, Chen Hai found great pleasure in it, and he continued to enjoy it for over ten days.

However, as his carving skills improved, Chen Hai's understanding of martial secret forms deepened, and even when he focused his mind, he could feel a mysterious and profound aura gathering on the carving knife...

Was this the true essence of martial arts?

Chen Hai himself was not entirely sure, as typically, one would only enter the realm of soul cultivation after reaching the Spirit Opening stage. Only when soul cultivation was sufficiently powerful could one touch the profound essence of sword arts, martial arts, or mystic cultivation, which usually happened at the Enlightenment stage or when one's soul perception connected with heaven and earth.

More broadly, this was the true essence of the Dao!

Of course, nothing was absolute. Some people, with extraordinary talent, could comprehend the true essence of the Dao without cultivation.

Examples of entering the Dao through calligraphy or literature had occurred multiple times in the history of the Great Yan Empire, but those were all great calligraphers and scholars of ancient times.

In terms of martial arts, if one comprehended a complete true essence of martial arts and integrated it into corresponding mystic techniques, the power of those techniques could be enhanced to an unimaginable degree...

But even Yao Xing, before his memory was erased, had not reached this level.

In the Taiwei Sect and other sects, any disciple who touched the true essence of the Dao, regardless of their cultivation level, would be directly designated as a core disciple for cultivation.

Chen Hai had too many secrets to hide, and he would never dare to foolishly run to the Upper Seven Peaks and tell the Dao Pill or Dao Fetus realm elders that he had touched the true essence of the Dao.

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Chen Hai, Zhou Jun, and the others were detained in Chenqiao Fort. It wasn't until early July that Li Xianghai, who had been detained for over a month, returned to Chenqiao Fort.

Seeing Li Xianghai in full armor, accompanied by a dozen attendants, riding into Chenqiao Fort, Chen Hai knew that he had not been severely punished for the recent defeat, though he might have faced some minor penalties.

The Grand Protector's General's Office did not blame the lower ranks for their own mistakes.

Recalling what Ge Tong had told him about Wuwei Divine Marquis Dong Liang, Chen Hai felt that Dong Liang was a good leader, which explained why he had risen from humble beginnings and managed to control the Hexi Prefecture in recent years.

Seeing that Yue Yi was also among Li Xianghai's attendants, Chen Hai was quite puzzled.

Yue Yi was a retainer of the Lu family and had been assigned to protect the direct descendant Lu Hongqian before entering the Jade Dragon Mountains.

Lu Hongqian died in the Yellow Dragon Abyss, and the Lu family would not easily forgive Yue Yi. Typically, as a protector, Yue Yi should have committed suicide to atone for his failure. Had Li Xianghai saved him?

Li Xianghai rode into Chenqiao Fort, and seeing the many Dao soldiers and disciples who had been left behind to welcome him, he dismounted and spoke to them.

After entering the western camp area, Li Xianghai showed a military order to the commander responsible for guarding the western camp area for the past month. Soon, the troops guarding the western camp area were withdrawn.

Chen Hai knew they were now officially free to return to the Dao Academy.

After a while, Li Xianghai, having completed the handover procedures, quickly summoned Chen Hai, Ge Tong, Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, and others to his tent.

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Chen Hai and the others entered Li Xianghai's simple tent and saw, besides Li Xianghai and Yue Yi, two unfamiliar faces.

"This is Yao Xing! We were able to successfully break out of the Jade Dragon Mountains thanks to Yao Xing's outstanding performance. He played a significant role. Yu Lin, you have no experience leading troops, so you should learn from Yue Yi, Yao Xing, Shen Kun, and the others..." Li Xianghai invited Chen Hai and the others to sit behind a simple table and said to the young man on his left.

"Yes," the young man stood up and bowed to Chen Hai and the others, politely saying, "I, Yu Lin, hope to learn from all of you, my fellow disciples."

Li Xianghai was the Armament Elder of the Iron Stream Ridge Dao Academy. Shen Kun, Zhou Jun, and Ge Tong knew that the young man was the most outstanding member of the Li family's younger generation, Li Yulin, and also Li Xianghai's nephew.

Li Yulin was also an inner disciple of the Taiwei Sect, with a cultivation level of the middle Spirit Opening stage.

In terms of cultivation and status, Li Yulin far surpassed Ge Tong, Zhou Jun, and the others. They could not accept his bow and quickly stood up to return it. Chen Hai also returned the bow, noticing that Li Yulin appeared humble but still had a hint of arrogance in his eyes.

Chen Hai thought that this was typical of noble family members and did not want to think too much about it. Then, Li Xianghai introduced another middle-aged man, who turned out to be another middle Spirit Opening stage cultivator from the Li family, Li Hu.

"Yao Xing, have you already reached the Profound Passage stage?" Li Xianghai asked with evident pleasure.

"I had a breakthrough in the Dao Academy and had the opportunity to cultivate true essence after arriving at Chenqiao Fort," Chen Hai replied.

The physical characteristics of different cultivation stages were evident, and while Shen Kun and the others might not have noticed, they could not escape the eyes of a middle Enlightenment stage cultivator like Li Xianghai.

Ge Tong and Shen Kun knew how difficult it was for Chen Hai to regain his martial path after his cultivation was destroyed. Even in the Dao Academy, he had struggled to break through despite consuming Essence Essence Pills like beans. They were all extremely pleased and congratulated him.

Li Yulin and Li Hu, however, smiled dismissively, thinking that it was not much to celebrate for someone from a noble family to reach the Profound Passage stage at nearly twenty years old. They considered Chen Hai to be someone who had not seen much of the world.

Yue Yi, however, was visibly moved and secretly observed Chen Hai several times.

After some small talk, Li Xianghai got to the point:

"The Grand Protector's General's Office has ordered General Chai Teng to be transferred from the Iron Stream Camp to patrol the Jade Dragon Mountains. I will serve as a Thousand Martial Commander under General Chai Teng. This time, we will select troops from the local military of Yulong Prefecture to garrison the Yellow Dragon Abyss. Are you willing to stay and serve in my command?"