Chapter 488: Standing Ready, Proud and Fierce Warriors

Outside the outer wall of Great Xia, northwest of the city wall, lies Ruhu Forest

Ruhu Forest is five kilometers long and wide—not very large—and since it is exclusively used for training underage Cold-Resistant disciples, hunting is strictly forbidden; apart from the Dragon Guard Captains responsible for its management and maintenance, and those invited to observe the talent trials, virtually no one ever comes here

But tonight’s situation is clearly unusual

“You thirty men are assigned to observe the sky above Ruhu Forest from the watchtower; if any anomaly occurs, blow your whistle immediately—I’ve stationed men at the city wall who will relay the alarm to the entire army the moment they hear it; not a single moment of negligence allowed!”

On the watchtower, over fifty meters high at the northwest corner of Xia Cheng’s city wall, Dragon Guard Commander Tie Xinchuan patiently assigned positions to each of the thirty Dragon Guard Captains before issuing his order in a stern voice

The thirty Dragon Guard Captains, clad in black-scaled silver armor, wore expressions of grave seriousness; upon hearing the order, they bowed deeply and shouted in unison: “We obey!”

“Commander, isn’t this enough? A post every fifty steps, a sentinel every hundred steps—we’ve encircled the entire western, northern, and southern sides of Ruhu Forest; not even a single insect could fly in; plus fifty Dragon Guard Captains are scattered throughout the forest on alert, and we’ve got five hundred Dragon Guard Captains guarding the Second Young Master personally—what could possibly go wrong?”

Yuan Bai, Deputy Commander of the Dragon Guard and Commander of the Second Battalion, stood atop the watchtower gazing into the distance; seeing the western, southern, and northern perimeters of Ruhu Forest now ringed by a continuous line of torchlight, he wore a peculiar expression, thinking Tie Xinchuan was overreacting

It was nighttime; the continuous line of torchlight came from the Dragon Guard Captains stationed along the three outer edges of Ruhu Forest

In the past, during the biweekly Ruhu Forest trials, no more than a hundred Dragon Guard Captains from a single battalion were deployed for outer perimeter duty; tonight, however, the entire force had been mobilized; though the Second Young Master’s safety was indeed critical, Yuan Bai still felt this display was excessive

More importantly, Ruhu Forest borders Xia Cheng directly, and all the Cold Beasts inside were captured and released here from across Great Xia—none were high-grade; not a single one existed

As for anomalies, with Xia Cheng’s population having surged over the years, exploration of the western Redwood Ridge naturally accelerated; especially by the end of last year, Great Xia discovered the Cold Beast nest deep within the Howling Moon Valley of Redwood Ridge, uncovering over a dozen Cold Beast clans and eliminating thirteen anomalies—since then, Redwood Ridge had no secrets left from Great Xia

The greatest danger of the Ice Abyss lies in the unknown; with Great Xia’s exploration of Redwood Ridge now complete, the region’s threat level has dropped dramatically

Today, a ten-kilometer zone between Xia Cheng’s western wall and Redwood Ridge has been cleared; the northwest corner of Ruhu Forest connects only to a small section of Arrow Bamboo Forest, so Cold Beast threats are virtually nonexistent

With no Cold Beast threat, the torches could be used freely; the torches now held by the Dragon Guard Captains are specifically designed to repel anomalies

Since neither Cold Beasts nor anomalies pose a threat, the only remaining concern is human

But humans? That’s even less likely!

These thousand Dragon Guard Captains are the Lord’s personal guards, and Yuan Bai, as Deputy Commander of the Dragon Guard, knew far more than others

The three frontier towns—Chuishan, Muyin, and Jiangxia—had long secretly merged into Great Xia; now the entire southern foothills were under Great Xia’s sole dominance; not even the northern five towns, combined with Yangqu and Longgu, could stand against Great Xia—they’d crumble like dirt and dogs

Under these circumstances, who would dare even consider targeting the Second Young Master? And even if someone dared, who had the strength?

Thus, in Yuan Bai’s view, Tie Xinchuan’s display tonight was truly excessive

Tie Xinchuan had just turned twenty-eight; looking at his younger deputy, Yuan Bai, he shook his head slightly: “Great Xia is currently at its peak—we must not be careless; caution ensures safety for ten thousand years; the northern five towns are under pressure from sixty thousand troops—they’re a pressure cooker now; who knows what foolishness they might attempt?”

After pausing, he added: “The Lady doesn’t keep the two Young Masters confined without reason”

Yuan Bai immediately understood; his brow furrowed, then his face twisted with disbelief: “Surely not that foolish? In just the past few years, Xia Cheng has uncovered nearly a thousand spies from the five towns; those five families aren’t stupid—they must have some sense of our methods by now—would they still dare come?”

Since the opening of Hongmen Port, Xia Cheng has always maintained an open policy toward the outside; not only the towns of the southern foothills, but even outsiders from foreign camps—so long as they registered in advance at Hongmen City—were permitted entry

Trade, exchange, gathering foreign intelligence, expanding the Xia people’s horizons, enhancing Great Xia’s productivity… the benefits of openness, if listed in detail, would take hours to exhaust

But as always, advantages and disadvantages travel together

While openness brought Xia Cheng many benefits, it inevitably also aided foreign spies; as Great Xia’s integration with the southern foothills deepened, the number of spies infiltrating Xia Cheng grew steadily

To guard against these spies, Great Xia implemented many measures: restricting foreign residents to only three outer-city districts—North 5, North 18, and South 2; limiting their gathering and hunting to temporary permits granted only when employed by Xia people; restricting their movement—strictly forbidding entry into the inner city, and even near government offices and military camps within the outer city…

Yet no matter how many measures were taken, loopholes remained; many spies still slipped into the city under the guise of travelers or temporary residents, gathering intelligence on Great Xia

But their capabilities were limited to gathering intelligence

Due to the existence of Sacred Marks, any Cold-Resistant outsider seeking to join Great Xia underwent a six-month review period; once that time passed, sincerity or deceit was immediately revealed; three years ago, Great Xia established a rule: all outsiders joining must undergo a one-year review

Thus, no matter how well disguised, foreign spies would eventually be exposed; not only could they never infiltrate Great Xia’s core, they couldn’t even obtain official Great Xia status—this alone sealed their fate

Over time, the foreign towns’ spies learned of the Sacred Marks, so they abandoned attempts at infiltration and focused solely on intelligence gathering

The thousand foreign spies Yuan Bai mentioned were no ordinary people—they were powerful Cold-Resistant experts, exceptionally skilled at disguise and concealment

“Every move these foreign spies make within Xia Cheng is monitored by the ancestral spirit tablet in the Prison Hall; any suspicious action triggers immediate arrest—over a thousand cases of caught spies with evidence have been recorded; yet the northern five towns still refuse to learn—sending more spies is useless!”

Like Yuan Bai, Tie Xinchuan was also a veteran of Great Xia; he naturally knew of the Ancestral Spirit Tablet; upon hearing this, he shook his head: “They dare not come inside the city, but outside? That’s uncertain—the Prison Hall has confirmed the tablet’s monitoring range is limited to within the city; the Second Young Master is leaving the city tonight—better to be cautious”

Hearing this, Yuan Bai’s expression grew more serious; he nodded

“Commander, Deputy Commander—the Second Young Master’s carriage has left the city!”

Suddenly, a Dragon Guard Captain’s voice came from the side; both men turned sharply toward the northern gate, their expressions brightening slightly

Three hundred Dragon Guard Captains escorted a crimson carriage slowly approaching Ruhu Forest along the northern city wall

“The last time I saw the Second Young Master was at the beginning of the year, when he entered the Martial Dao Pavilion; I recall his base strength was already 130,000 jin—now I wonder how much it’s grown; finally, I’ll get to see it”

Hearing Yuan Bai’s words, Tie Xinchuan also became intrigued: “I saw him in May; his base strength was already 170,000 jin; half a year has passed—I estimate at least 230,000 now”

The cultivation levels of the two Young Masters are among the most intriguing topics among the Xia people today; first, due to the prestige of Lord Xia Hong, the Xia people are eager to understand just how gifted the siblings are; second, because they rarely leave the Xia Palace, the brother and sister have become even more enigmatic, fueling greater curiosity.

Compared to the reclusive First Young Master, Xia Yu Yao, the Second Young Master, Xia Yu Sheng, occasionally leaves the Plucking Stars Palace to walk around the Xia Palace grounds, so those training in the Martial Dao Pavilion sometimes get lucky and catch a glimpse of him

Hearing Tie Xinchuan say the Second Young Master’s base strength had already exceeded 230,000 jin in May, Yuan Bai’s expression jolted

“He hasn’t broken through yet, but his Battle Body talent already surpasses Yuwen Sizheng and Sicheng, doesn’t it?”

As Great Xia’s population surged, the number of Cold-Resistant breakthrough samples increased, and the content of the “Xia Ritual: Cultivation Regulations” became increasingly refined

Yuan Bai recalled the regulation: during the Skin Renewal stage, if base strength exceeds 200,000 jin, then upon breaking through to Cold-Resistant, base strength won’t merely double—it will gain additional enhancement; the higher the base strength, the greater the enhancement.

He himself possessed a supreme Battle Body, but sadly, the upper limit for Skin Renewal had only been recorded at 170,000 jin; thus, when he broke through to Cold-Resistant, his base strength rose predictably to 340,000 jin.

Xia Yu Sheng’s base strength was already above 230,000 jin in July; now he’s almost certainly broken through to Cold-Resistant; his base strength must exceed 60,000 jin, possibly even more