Chapter 291: Transmission

Shang Xiuxuan wanted to sneak a look, while Li Xiuning openly gazed at Bai Lang; as the guest of honor, it was only proper for her to do so—lifting her head to meet someone's eyes during conversation is basic etiquette. Of course, she was evaluating the man before her, and Bai Lang also knew Li Xiuning had come on a mission; sizing him up certainly wasn't out of any romantic feeling.

'Probably the art of physiognomy and aura reading.' Bai Lang thought to himself. This is also a kind of supernatural ability that can be great or small—minor uses scrape a living, major ones become the Support Dragon Court. Moreover, the entry barrier for this art is said to be high, yet the requirements for cultivation are actually low. Does Li Xiuning have the art of physiognomy and aura reading? Bai Lang felt she had probably worshipped the wrong temple.

Having served as an official and soldier up to now, no one could find any particular hobby in him—wealth, beauty, power, he didn't seem especially keen on any of them. If he were keen on wealth and power, he shouldn't be implementing his current governance policy in Xingyang Commandery; he should be trying every means to expand the army and seize land. If he were fond of beauties, he now has only a serving girl, and there's no talk of him enjoying music and dance—although the renowned Shang Xiufang once passed through Xingyang on her way to Luoyang, Bai Lang acted as if he didn't know her at all, not even seeing her.

Li Xiuning carefully pondered—could this man's hobby possibly be killing?

In any case, host and guest enjoyed themselves; Li Xiuning was lodged in the finest local garden, while Bai Lang's government office was at the other end, and he had no intention of speaking with her privately. The aura and killing intent about Bai Lang made it seem Li Xiuning wouldn't be discussing matters with him anytime soon—she needed to overcome her inner fear.

And later, Wei Zhenzhen went out and brought back a girl, seemingly taking her in as a maid—Bai Lang knew this because while he was practicing martial arts in the courtyard, he saw someone holding a teapot standing at the door. Bai Lang never forbade anyone from watching him practice, but when he trained, his fighting spirit overflowed, so just anyone couldn't loiter there.

Although the girl's face was deathly pale, she nevertheless persisted in standing at the doorway. After lowering his posture, Bai Lang let out a long sigh: 'Who are you? Wei Zhenzhen's newly hired maid? Hey, also interesting. Around here, hardly any maid can last three days—basically they can't stand it and leave, or else they fall ill.'

'I'm Bai Qinger, sir.' The girl looked as if Bai Lang's killing intent had shaken her; her face was unnaturally pale, yet Bai Lang could see that her complexion was naturally very fair and smooth. 'Bai Qinger? A nice name. Do well, and in a few years you can earn enough to go home and marry.' Bai Lang took the tea and set it aside casually.

'Bai Qinger...... she's already making a move?' Bai Lang thought darkly. 'The Yin Gui Sect, mainly composed of brothel and Chu Hall forces, has already sent someone; I don't know when that Wanwan will arrive. Walking barefoot...... practicing that zero‑gravity divine skill that lets one float three feet off the ground?'

But what does it matter? Bai Lang had long prepared to fight the world alone; how many spies hovered around him was irrelevant—his actions were utterly open, as if saying, 'Whoever wants to take the world must first defeat me.'

Bai Qinger wouldn't affect Bai Lang any time soon; in her view, this man was a martial arts fanatic—aside from handling official duties, he spent all his time cultivating martial arts, and at night she never saw him go to see Wei Zhenzhen, nor had she ever seen Wei Zhenzhen stay overnight in Bai Lang's room—moreover, she lacked the qualification to enter Bai Lang's private chambers; all that was Wei Zhenzhen's responsibility.

The manor did have a few other maids, but none were as close to Bai Lang as Bai Qinger; at least she could watch him practice while bringing him water, whereas those girls dared not even look, even though Bai Lang had never forbidden it.

They couldn't withstand the tiger's might.

Bai Lang's recent martial training wasn't for himself; he wanted to work out a breathing method to cultivate some internal art, which he intended to teach those commandery troops. 'The threshold should stay low, the ceiling needn't be high—these folks aren't youths anymore; they've long passed the prime age for internal cultivation. This art is meant to turn decay into marvel, letting even those in their forties or fifties with waning vitality take up training.'

As for how high to practice, that wasn't necessary—just strengthen the body, boost strength and stamina, and later be able to mobilize horsepower. The martial art he'd now devised came from extrapolating the Thirteen Guardians' horizontal training; Bai Lang circulated his qi three times and detected no issue, muttering, 'Hmph, using our clan's martial wisdom to create a top‑tier art would probably still be hard, but pulling together this "counterfeit and substandard" art is a piece of cake!'

These days the commandery troops had begun horse‑riding drills; many already knew how to ride, but their mounted skills were mediocre at best—good only for serving as mounted infantry. Bai Lang later thought it over and decided to simply have them all learn to ride first, then postpone mounted combat training until he had worked out a system and familiarized them with it, and only after genuine warhorses were gradually in place would they resume practice.

Bai Lang pondered the cost...... 'In training we'll probably have to replace all the horses, then get used to their temperaments—who let each horse's disposition differ so much? Raising shock cavalry akin to armored horsemen is truly a money‑draining endeavor.' Working it out, the entire Xingyang Commandery's government revenue spent to support such a force was already extremely strained.

Perhaps they couldn't even reach seven hundred horsemen; if we really followed Bai Lang's calculations, it looks like maintaining three hundred cavalry would be barely manageable—the commandery's tax revenue also has to be used for other matters. It seems the name 'White Tiger Shock Cavalry' would truly be a misnomer; raising seven hundred horsemen now appears to exceed Xingyang Commandery's capacity.

Seven hundred armored horsemen—yet the Great Sui only kept five thousand cavalry in total...... 'Good thing it hasn't been publicized; we might as well rename them the White Tiger Assault Battalion—let these fellows just learn to ride, then we can use inferior horses as mounted infantry.' In that case...... oh dear, the equipment money's already spent; I don't know if we can return it.

Bai Lang reckoned that this way they could equip the Ji Zhang crossbow, then each man would get a spear and a straight sword; shields were still to be decided, but if spears proved awkward they'd switch to Bu‑character halberds, which are better for hooking and pulling when breaking formations. Thinking it over, it didn't seem too wasteful—only the leather horse armor would be wasted, though stored in the armory it's no loss, and this still allows outfitting about a hundred cavalry with armor, mixing them with heavy infantry poses no problem.

Bai Lang arrived at the drill ground; the commandery troops had already been ordered to fall in there. He didn't bother hiding anything, directly picking up a copper‑skin‑wrapped large horn and shouting, 'You damned lot, listen up—your luck has arrived. Sir, I have here an internal energy‑cultivating martial art that strengthens tendons and bones and boosts vigor, making your weakling stamina endure longer and grow greater—never mind wielding a knife to cut people down, even if you maggots get cut, you'll be able to sprint away so fast they can't hit you!'