Chapter 88

Compared to training over sixty bandit slaves, what exhausted Chen Hai even more was training the martial soldier-level Raksha demons that Blood Slave Yao Laogen had recently subdued.

These Raksha demons seemed to be controlled by a strong will to kill. Although they were intimidated by the aura of Chen Hai and Blood Slave Yao Laogen as blood-refined superiors, they were difficult to control.

Chen Hai thought that compared to other Raksha tribes in the Blood Cloud Wasteland, they were still too weak. They could not confront the enemy head-on and could only adopt guerrilla tactics, ambushing and attacking other Raksha demons to gradually strengthen themselves.

However, every time something went wrong. Once the martial soldier-level Raksha demons emerged from the ambush caves, they were controlled by the will to kill and would no longer listen to Chen Hai's commands.

If Chen Hai's deployment was thorough and did not alarm a large group of Raksha demons, it would be fine. Otherwise, if a large group of Raksha demons surrounded and attacked, these newly subdued subordinates would not know how to escape.

Sometimes, even Blood Slave Yao Laogen would get carried away in the killing, and Chen Hai had to use the Soul Control Technique to forcibly awaken its spirit, causing it to flee in a狼狈 manner.

Blood Slave Yao Laogen had subdued several batches of martial soldier-level Raksha demons, but they were all consumed in these uncontrollable incidents. In the end, only Chen Hai and Blood Slave Yao Laogen remained as companions.

Chen Hai's efforts to establish his own Raksha tribe had not yet shown any breakthrough. Fortunately, after several setbacks, Blood Slave Yao Laogen's mind seemed to have opened up a bit, but Chen Hai could not share his hardships with Zhou Jun and Wu Meng.

Because of this, Zhou Jun and Wu Meng felt that these bandit slaves were difficult to tame. Even if they appeared to be tamed on the surface, there were still hidden concerns. Chen Hai, however, had no worries.

If he could subdue sixty obedient and intelligent Raksha demons in the Blood Cloud Wasteland, why would he live like a dog?

In the following two days, Ge Tong and Zhou Jingyuan arranged for the disciples' camp to conduct live combat drills with the bandit slaves.

The bandit slaves, whether in strength, combat experience, or personal bravery, were superior to the disciples, who were mostly teenagers around fourteen or fifteen years old and had just started their cultivation.

Once the cavalry formation was well-trained and formed a cohesive force, its potential truly showed.

In two days of live combat drills, sixty disciples were selected to compete with the bandit slaves' camp in ten matches. The bandit slaves' camp broke the disciples' formation six times, and the remaining four times ended in a draw.

Chen Hai said he wanted to select people from the slaves. Chen Qing neither agreed nor disagreed, but he secretly hoped Chen Hai would fail. Unexpectedly, Chen Hai selected sixty people and, after only a month of training, managed to defeat the elite reserve forces around his father!

Thinking back to the scene when they broke out of Yulong Mountain, even though Chen Qing still did not like Chen Hai, he had to admit that Chen Hai had some talent in this area.

After these days of special training and coordination, Chen Hai could command this unruly bandit slave cavalry as if they were his own limbs.

Next, Chen Hai was to bring this bandit slave cavalry to Nantianmen Fort and formally incorporate them into Li Xianghai's patrol camp.

Subsequently, he would select elite soldiers with cultivation potential to teach them the improved Ten Kill War Spear Technique, forming smaller cavalry units for deeper and more complex cavalry formation training. He would also provide further special training in cavalry archery, shield and spear infantry combat, as well as the use of special combat equipment such as capture nets, grappling hooks, ground stakes, and crossbows. Although these sixty bandit slaves were already capable of combat, they still needed repeated training.

A few days later, when Zhou Jun and others led the bandit slave cavalry to Nantianmen Fort, Zhou Jingyuan felt both pleased and pained by the enormous deficit incurred in less than a month.

Just the intense special training alone had resulted in the loss of over twenty fine warhorses. In Zhou Jingyuan's eyes, Chen Hai was nothing but a wasteful person.

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In the deep autumn of the 72nd year of the Yitian Emperor, after more than a year of construction, the Yulong Mountain defense line was basically completed.

Dong Shou, the second son of Dong Liang, the Martial Vigor Divine Marquis and the Grand Protector General of Hexi, and the Marquis of Qin Mu (a village marquis), officially took up the post of Yulong Protector General in the fall, representing the Grand Protector General's Office to command the newly formed 100,000 elite troops of the Yulong Camp.

Dong Shou did not go alone. He was previously the Left General of the Dao Office Camp of the Grand Protector General's Office, the most elite camp in the Hexi region. The basic soldiers were composed of Dao Academy's mystic soldiers or battle-hardened generals selected from various armies, also known as Dao Office soldiers, forming the core elite combat force of the Dong family's rule over the Hexi region.

They were also one of the few elite and powerful troops in the Great Yan Empire, with a total of only 30,000.

This time, Dong Shou led 3,000 elite Dao Office soldiers to be incorporated into the Yulong Camp.

Dong Shou himself had Dao Pill Realm cultivation, and his 3,000 elite Dao Office soldiers, led by ten generals, all had Bright Aperture Realm cultivation. With the formal establishment of the Yulong Camp, the Martial Vigor Army's fangs were officially bared at the Crane Soaring Army.

At this time, Chen Lie, as the deputy protector of Yulong and the Left General of the Yulong Camp, also went to Huanglong Abyss to oversee the defense and military camps within a 200-mile radius and the 30,000 elite troops of the left wing of the Yulong Camp.

Chen Hai also led 6,000 elite troops under Li Xianghai to set up camp at the southern foot of Yulong Mountain.

Although Chen Hai and his troops had not yet crossed the boundary of Yulong Mountain, the ordinary soldiers could vaguely sense that a major battle between the two regions was imminent.

As the elite patrol camp, Chen Hai's troops gradually infiltrated the territory of Lanchuan Prefecture in batches to gather intelligence, even disguising themselves as bandits to rob merchant caravans in Lanchuan Prefecture and raid some well-defended villages, probing the northern defenses of the Crane Soaring Army.

The Crane Soaring Army could not ignore the activities of the Martial Vigor Army in Yulong Mountain and increased the number of troops stationed in Yanchuan Prefecture, strengthening the fortifications of the city.

On a clear night, Chen Hai and his men, standing on the southern slope of Yulong Mountain, could faintly see the gathering spiritual light over Yanchuan Prefecture, 300 miles away, indicating the deployment of large defensive formations by the Crane Soaring Army.

On clear nights, the soldiers in the camps on the southern slope of Yulong Mountain could see the full moon hanging in the sky, its luminous light forming a faint light band converging toward Yanchuan Prefecture.

The temperature on both slopes of Yulong Mountain dropped rapidly as winter approached. Just two days into winter, the sky was covered with dense clouds, and the cold wind howled, making the night pitch black.

Chen Hai wore a cloak over his armor, covering his head and face to protect against the cold wind. He rode his horse up a cliff and looked out into the endless night, where a few lights occasionally emitted a faint glow.

Wu Meng, Zhou Jun, Shen Kun, and others rode their horses and stopped behind Chen Hai. In the valley below, the sixty bandit slave cavalry were ready to go. They were again ordered to disguise themselves as bandits and bypass Yanchuan Prefecture to probe deeper into Lanchuan Prefecture...

Snowflakes fell, and Zhou Jun reached out to catch a snowflake, saying, "Why has the harsh winter come so early this year? It might delay the battle until after the New Year."

It was just the beginning of winter, but the temperature had dropped sharply.

Although more elite troops had gathered from various places toward Yulong Prefecture, the snow and ice had sealed the mountains. The passage through the northern slope of Yulong Mountain had been cleared, but it would be extremely difficult for tens of thousands of elite troops to cross the southern slope of Yulong Mountain, and the subsequent supply lines would also be very challenging.

Chen Hai also thought the battle would be delayed until after the New Year.

Chen Hai shook off the snow from his cloak, frowned slightly, and planned to wait until dawn to infiltrate the heart of Lanchuan Prefecture. However, he now decided to leave at night.

By dawn, the ground would be covered with a thick layer of snow, and the tracks of their nearly seventy horses would be impossible to hide. If the tracks were exposed, their infiltration into the heart of Lanchuan Prefecture would easily attract the attention of the Crane Soaring Army's strong forces.

Leaving at night would be the best option. If the snow continued throughout the night, it would completely cover their tracks. They could suddenly appear on the eastern flank of Yanchuan Prefecture, and even if the Crane Soaring Army's troops noticed their movements, they would only consider them a regular escort team.

Chen Hai led his team through a dry stream bed, preparing to enter the southern plain and gallop. Suddenly, a slight tremor was felt underfoot, and the snowfall abruptly stopped.

Chen Hai was slightly startled and then sensed the elemental energy in the world rushing toward the northwest. The ground trembled more violently, and rocks rolled down from the cliffs on both sides.

To avoid being injured by the falling rocks, Chen Hai and his men, without concealing their movements, led their horses up a ridge. They saw a blinding light gathering in the northwest, tearing through the dark night, with the elemental energy in the world rushing into this light.

Chen Hai and Zhou Jun, Wu Meng, and others looked at each other in surprise. This light was stirring the elemental energy within a 400-mile radius under the Yulong Mountain sky!

What did this mean?

Soon, the light condensed into a towering golden sword, which suddenly slashed into the mountain in the northwest. The earth shook violently again, and even from 300 miles away, Chen Hai and his men felt the stone ridge beneath their feet crack...

"The sword cut through the Iron Wall Mountain ridge," Zhou Jun exclaimed in shock, "The Grand Protector General's Office's great power personally acted, splitting the Iron Wall Mountain to directly open a passage for the army to advance south to Heyang Valley!"

Chen Hai also recognized that it was indeed the direction of Iron Wall Mountain.

South of Yulong Prefecture, a stone gorge extended into the heart of Yulong Mountain. Over the past year, the Yulong Camp had mobilized tens of thousands of laborers and convicts to build the main road into Yulong Mountain, including the key road to Huanglong Abyss, which connected to the stone gorge.

To the south of the stone gorge was a rift valley called Heyang Valley, which extended from Yanchuan Prefecture to the southern slope of Yulong Mountain.

Although Heyang Valley was not far from the stone gorge, a stone ridge blocked the way, otherwise it would have formed a natural passage connecting the northern and southern slopes of Yulong Mountain and Yanchuan Prefecture.

Previously, no one had thought of opening this stone ridge. The ridge extended for 30 to 40 miles north to south and was over 3,000 meters high, extremely steep, like a sky-blocking stone wall, separating Heyang Valley from the stone gorge.

The Yulong Camp called this stone ridge Iron Wall Mountain. The rock layers of Iron Wall Mountain were mainly composed of black sandstone, extremely hard. Opening a 30 to 40-mile-long Iron Wall Mountain would require a significant amount of manpower and resources and could not be accomplished in a short time.

Chen Hai did not expect the Grand Protector General's Office to have no intention of delaying the war until after the New Year and to use great power to directly split the 30 to 40-mile-long Iron Wall Mountain!