Chapter 487: Military Formation Drills

"Perhaps."

Seeing him remain silent, Gu Niangzi did not press him, only smiling meaningfully: "It seems the people Wang Ji has found all have their own unique skills."

She bent down to pick up the shivering Black Jade Snake from the ground and coiled it back around her ankle.

As soon as the Black Jade Snake touched her skin, it immediately wrapped tightly around it, its head burrowing into the folds of her skirt, looking as if it would rather die than show its face again.

The Red Armored Beetle also flew up from the ground, wobbling as it landed back in her hair; it folded its wings and let out a weak buzz, clearly having been hit quite hard by that collision just now.

Gu Niangzi brushed the dust off her skirt and turned to spread her hands toward Liu Yu: "Lord Liu, I can't beat the helper Wang Ji found."

"His Horizontal Training is as hard as a turtle shell, and my Gu insects have no effect on him; this fight can't be done."

Though she said she couldn't beat him, her tone was very relaxed, even carrying a hint of pleasure.

Liu Yu said indifferently: "It is right that you know you cannot beat him. At the Martial Dao assembly two months from now, the opponents you face will only be more troublesome than him."

Gu Niangzi rolled her eyes, but she did not refute him, only turning around to look at Cheng Feng once more.

Her gaze held a scrutiny that made Cheng Feng feel somewhat uncomfortable—like a hunter seeing rare prey; although she could not act for the moment, she had already marked it on her hunting list in her heart.

"Alright, alright, that's it for today." Gu Niangzi stretched, revealing her curvaceous figure.

Her melons were absurdly large.

Cheng Feng felt a slight ripple in his heart.

She turned and walked back to her black-lacquered wooden chest, muttering as she climbed inside: "After being jolted for half an hour and then having a fight, I'm exhausted."

"Lord Liu, arrange for someone to investigate that matter in South City as soon as possible. I will release a few more Soul Chasing Moths tonight to see the situation there; once there is news, I will have someone pass the word to you."

She climbed into the chest, rested her hands on the edge, and suddenly poked her head out again, blinking at Cheng Feng: "Brother Cheng, let's have a good chat after the Martial Dao assembly ends. I am becoming more and more interested in that aura on your body."

After she finished speaking, the lid of the chest closed, fitting perfectly, and it was carried away by others again.

It was as if the chest were her sedan chair, requiring people to carry it.

The Martial Arts Arena returned to silence, leaving only the sound of Huo Luan, who had held it in for a long time and finally burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, Cheng Feng, you've been targeted by Gu Niangzi! Let me tell you, the way she looks at you is just like how she looks at her Gu insects; you'd better be careful!"

Cheng Feng shook his head and didn't say anything more, but he knew clearly in his heart—Gu Niangzi's words just now were not entirely a joke.

Anyone would be wary of something that can suppress their trump card.

The next morning, Wang Ji had matters to attend to and did not come, so the few of them began their formal drills; Liu Yu was familiar with this set of things, and Huo Luan was familiar with it, as they had both served in the military.

Only Cheng Feng and Gu Niangzi had not had much contact with it.

One was a wandering martial artist, the other a fugitive sect disciple.

There was no other way.

On the Martial Arts Arena, Cheng Feng took off his outer garment, revealing muscles like Refined Iron that shone with a cold, hard luster under the autumn sun.

His muscles were sharply defined, and his spine was as straight as a pine.

Huo Luan stood three steps away, looking at the physique Cheng Feng had forged through his Horizontal Training, and clicked her tongue: "To be honest, your muscle lines... they all look very hard."

As she said this, she was already preparing to reach out and touch them.

"You've changed quite a bit."

Cheng Feng turned slightly to dodge her hand, merely moving his shoulders, his joints emitting a crisp *crack-crack* sound.

"That's because we're all familiar with each other now, what's left to hide?"

Liu Yu stood on the high platform at the edge of the Martial Arts Arena, holding a scroll of cowhide parchment densely covered with drawn routes and positions for formation changes.

He spread the parchment on a wooden rack to the side, circled a few positions on it with a charcoal pencil, and said without looking up: "Stop joking around, we start formal joint training today. Wang Ji is not here, so I will set the rules for her first."

Huo Luan put away her playful mood, shouldered her blade, and walked over to Liu Yu. Cheng Feng also put his outer garment back on and followed.

Liu Yu pointed to a four-cornered formation on the parchment.

The four corners were labeled "Vanguard," "Guard," "Disturb," and "Kill," with a large "King" character in the center.

His finger tapped the four corners in turn: "In the melee competition of the Martial Dao assembly, there are five people per side. You already know the rules—there is one commander among the five; if the military formation is broken or the commander is eliminated, it is judged a loss."

"In the Great Zhou Imperial Court's Martial Dao assemblies of past years, the casualty rate for the military formation category has been the highest. Deaths and injuries are disregarded; the Imperial Court only takes responsibility for collecting the bodies."

His tone was very flat when he said this, as if he were reading an official document, but the weight of his words caused the few people present to fall silent for a moment.

Liu Yu raised his head, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the three: "Wang Ji is the commander; there is no dispute about this. She stands at the heart of the formation, responsible for coordination and support, and is also the target the opponent most wants to take down. Huo Luan, you are the 'Vanguard'; the task of meeting them head-on is yours. Cheng Feng, you are the 'Guard'; your position is right next to Wang Ji's left side, and any enemy breaking through from the flank must be blocked by you."

He looked at the last person.

Gu Niangzi did not know when she had come out of her black-lacquered wooden chest; she was sitting cross-legged on the lid, holding a thumb-sized ink-green beetle in her hand, gently flicking its back shell with her fingertip, making a faint *click* sound.

She sensed Liu Yu's gaze and raised her eyelids: "Why look at me? I am 'Disturb', right? Releasing insects to bite people and disrupting the opponent's formation—of course, such dirty and tiring work is mine."

Liu Yu nodded: "Your Gu insects have limited effect in a head-on confrontation, but they are extremely effective for disrupting the opponent's formation cohesion and creating chaos."

"Your position is at the rear right of the formation; you don't need to engage the enemy head-on, but you need to cut off the connection between the opponent's front and rear ranks at critical moments."

Gu Niangzi stuffed the ink-green beetle into her sleeve and clapped her hands: "Fine, I'm used to this work. But Lord Liu, I'll say the ugly things first: my Gu insects' effectiveness is greatly reduced against Horizontal Training and protective True Qi; Brother Cheng has already verified this."

She winked at Cheng Feng as she spoke, her eyes carrying an indescribable meaning, "If the other side is full of tough nuts like Brother Cheng, then I can only watch the show."

Liu Yu said indifferently: "There are not many people at the Martial Dao assembly who can master Horizontal Training like Cheng Feng, but I fear there is no shortage of Martial Artists who have reached the True Qi Realm."

"Therefore, your Gu insects cannot be used as a primary means of attack; they can only be used at critical moments to catch the opponent off guard."

"In the routine operation of the formation, your task is support and containment."

Gu Niangzi shrugged, indicating no objection.

Liu Yu turned the page of the parchment, revealing pages of densely packed formation change diagrams behind it.

He had drawn a total of seven sets of formations, each with more than three variation routes, marked with charcoal pencils of different colors: red represented attack routes, blue represented defensive positions, and yellow represented support movement directions.

"These seven sets of formations must all be mastered within two months." Liu Yu handed the parchment to the three to look at in turn.

"I don't expect you to practice these variations to the point of flowing water, but at least practice until you don't need me to shout commands, and you can react subconsciously when you see the changes in the formation flags."

In small-scale melees, if the opponent has high formation awareness and one's own side is sluggish, it is truly hard to hold out.

But if one's own side has high awareness and the opponent is sluggish, then taking on multiple teams is quite simple.

Huo Luan took the parchment and looked at it for a few moments, the expression on her face gradually becoming serious.

Although she was always laughing and joking on the Martial Arts Arena, when it came to real business, he was clearer about the gravity of the situation than anyone else.

She pointed to one of the triangular assault formations and asked, "For this 'Break Armor Formation', the vanguard position needs to have two people press forward simultaneously, the defensive position stays by Wang Ji's side, and the harassment position circles to the rear.

But if the opponent takes the opportunity to cut in from the side, only Cheng Feng will be left by Wang Ji's side; can he hold them off?"

"I can hold them off." Cheng Feng spoke; his voice was not loud, but very steady.

Huo Luan glanced at him and grinned: "Fine, if you say you can hold them off, I believe you. Anyway, if you can't hold them off and something happens to Wang Ji, all of our heads will have to move house."

Liu Yu ignored their joking, and continued: "Besides the formation, there is one more thing you must keep in mind. The military formation competition of the Martial Dao meeting is not a drill; it is a fight with real blades and real guns.

At that time, the people around you will use every means to break your formation; there will be no holding back.

What you need to do is to thoroughly understand each other's combat habits during the two months of joint training, and know what choices each person will make under what circumstances, so that you can form a tacit understanding on the battlefield."

He put away the diagrams, jumped down from the high platform, walked to the center of the Martial Arts Arena, used his toe to draw a circle on the ground, and then drew four points on the outer perimeter of the circle.

"Today, we will first practice the most basic Four Directions Defensive Formation. The core idea of this formation is very simple—Wang Ji stays in the center without moving, and the four corners rotate using Wang Ji as the axis.

I will simulate the opponent directly in front of Huo Luan, Cheng Feng on the left flank, Gu Niangzi on the right flank, and the vacant position on the rear flank will be filled by Wang Ji's guard.

Wang Ji is not here today, so I will replace her position in the center to issue orders."

Gu Niangzi jumped down from the box lid, patted her skirt, and walked to the position of the right flank to stand still.

The Black Jade Snake on her ankle seemed to sense something, poked its snake head out from under the skirt, and was stepped back in by her.

Cheng Feng walked to the left flank and stood ready, his feet spread to shoulder-width, his center of gravity lowered, his whole person like an iron stake nailed into the ground.

Huo Luan slammed the Iron Hammer onto the ground, stood at the vanguard position directly in front, and twisted her neck, emitting a series of joint pops.

Liu Yu walked to the center position and drew a palm-sized triangular command flag from his waist, yellow background with red edges, with the character "Wang" embroidered on it. He raised the command flag and said in a deep voice: "Four Directions Defensive Formation, rise!"

As soon as the words fell, his figure lunged forward violently, and a long, narrow Narrow Saber appeared in his hand from nowhere, the blade edge slashing straight at Huo Luan's face with a sharp whistling sound.

Huo Luan reacted extremely quickly, her Steel Saber slashing upward, the blade edges colliding and sparking a string of fire. The huge recoil made Liu Yu retreat half a step, but he stabilized his figure with a tap of his foot, the Narrow Saber sweeping horizontally, the blade pointing at Huo Luan's waist.

At the same time, Liu Yu shouted in a low voice: "Left flank, switch defense!"

The moment Cheng Feng heard the command, his body had already moved.

He stomped his left foot hard on the ground, and his whole person shifted horizontally, blocking the left side of Huo Luan.

Liu Yu's Narrow Saber just happened to sweep over, the blade cutting into his forearm and emitting a harsh metallic friction sound—his Horizontal Training had been pushed to the limit, a faint bronze luster appearing on the surface of his skin, leaving only a shallow white mark where the blade passed.

He wanted to use the Bronze Body Technique to hold it first, so that there would be no major depletion.

"Defensive position, retreat!" Liu Yu shouted again, while simultaneously withdrawing the Narrow Saber, his figure turning, and circling to the right side of Gu Niangzi at an extremely tricky angle.

Cheng Feng immediately retreated to his original position, blocking the left side of where Wang Ji should be.

Facing Liu Yu's surprise attack, Gu Niangzi did not choose to take it head-on; she tapped her feet three times, and amidst the fluttering of her skirt, she had already retreated three zhang away. At the same time, she raised her right hand, and three black threads as thin as hair shot out from her cuffs, heading straight for Liu Yu's face, throat, and chest in a 'pin' shape.

Liu Yu swung his Narrow Saber repeatedly, and with three light 'ding' sounds, the three black Gu needles were cut by the blade and fell to the ground.

He withdrew his saber and stood still, nodding: "Gu Niangzi's reaction speed is no problem, but the retreat distance is too far.

You retreated three big steps, and a huge gap appeared on the right side of the formation. If the opponent had a second person to cut in from the gap, Wang Ji would be directly exposed."

Gu Niangzi frowned, did not refute, just walked back to the right flank position, and muttered: "Used to fighting alone, I can't change it for a while."

"That's why we need to practice." Liu Yu raised the command flag again, "Again. This time, Gu Niangzi only needs to retreat two steps, and the remaining gap will be filled by Cheng Feng's horizontal shift. Cheng Feng, can your speed keep up?"

"We'll know once we try," Cheng Feng said.

Liu Yu didn't waste words; with a wave of the command flag, the second round of attack and defense drills began again.

This time his attack was even more rapid, the Narrow Saber turning into a bright streak of light in his hand, slashing at Huo Luan's different parts three times in a row.

Huo Luan's Steel Saber danced with a whistling wind, accurately blocking the path of the blade every time, but her figure was also suppressed in place by Liu Yu's fast attack, unable to take the initiative to strike.

While suppressing Huo Luan, Liu Yu's footsteps suddenly changed, his whole person slanted toward the right flank at a strange angle, the Narrow Saber stabbing straight at Gu Niangzi's shoulder.

This time Gu Niangzi only retreated two steps, and at the same time, her left hand flipped, and a Red Armored Beetle flew out from her palm, pouncing straight at Liu Yu's face. Liu Yu tilted his head to avoid it, but this avoidance made his saber momentum half a beat slower. Cheng Feng had already shifted over, his right arm horizontal, using his flesh and blood to block in front of Gu Niangzi, flicking Liu Yu's blade away.

"Good!" Liu Yu withdrew his saber and retreated, a flash of approval in his eyes, "This coordination is much better than last time.

Cheng Feng's horizontal shift speed is faster than I expected, and Gu Niangzi's timing for containment is also accurate. But there is still one problem—when Cheng Feng you fill the position, your own left side is completely exposed. If someone attacks Wang Ji from that direction, is your speed to return to defense enough?"

Cheng Feng was silent for a moment, thought seriously, and then said: "It's enough. I have specifically practiced movement techniques."

Liu Yu nodded: "That's good. When Gu Niangzi retreats, you must follow her rhythm and lean to the right. At the same time, Huo Luan must retreat half a step from the vanguard position. The three of you form a shrinking triangle, protecting Wang Ji in the middle. In this way, no matter which direction the opponent breaks through from, at least two people will block them from the front."

Huo Luan carried the Steel Saber on her shoulder and grinned: "To put it plainly, it's just shrinking into a ball? Turtle-shrinking formation, I'm good at this."

Liu Yu glanced at her: "It's not turtle-shrinking, it's shrinking. Turtle-shrinking is passive beating, shrinking is for the next counterattack. After shrinking, Huo Luan, you are the only counterattack point, Gu Niangzi's Gu insects provide support from both sides, and Cheng Feng guards Wang Ji's side, not letting anyone get close.

When the opponent's first wave of offensive is consumed, Huo Luan immediately presses forward, Cheng Feng and Gu Niangzi follow, and the formation is opened up again to catch the opponent off guard."

He dismantled this set of movements and led the three of them through it step by step. First shrink, then press forward; the positioning during shrinking, the route during pressing forward, and the movement speed and sequence of each person during the formation change were all polished extremely meticulously.

Liu Yu was a man of few words, but once it involved military formation drills, he seemed like a different person, polishing every detail repeatedly until he was satisfied.

In the morning, they practiced this set of shrinking and counterattacking formation changes no less than fifty times.

By noon, the autumn sun was baking the bluestone floor of the Martial Arts Arena until it was hot. Huo Luan threw the Steel Saber on the ground, sat down on her butt, wiped the sweat on her face, and panted: "Liu Ge, I, Huo Luan, have been in the army for so many years, and the number of times I've practiced formations until my legs went soft can be counted on one hand; today is one of them."

Gu Niangzi's state was not much better than Huo Luan's.

Her physical strength was not her strong point to begin with. The high-intensity running in the morning left a layer of fine sweat on her forehead, a few strands of broken hair sticking to her cheeks, and her breathing was much faster than usual.

She took a handkerchief from her sleeve to wipe her face, then walked to her black lacquered wooden box, lifted the lid to rummage, found a small celadon bottle, poured out three black pills the size of soybeans, swallowed one herself, and then threw the remaining two to Huo Luan and Cheng Feng respectively.

"Recovery Pill, I formulated it myself; it can restore some physical strength," Gu Niangzi said, swallowing it first.

Huo Luan caught the pill, brought it to her nose to smell it, and a pungent medicinal smell made her frown: "What did you add to this? Why is it like chili powder?"

"Seven Star Pepper, Red Sun Grass, and the poison gland of a Three-Legged Golden Toad," Gu Niangzi said with a smile, "Don't worry, the toxicity of the poison gland has been neutralized; it won't kill anyone."

Huo Luan's expression stiffened for a moment, but looking at Gu Niangzi's smiling face, she finally gritted her teeth and threw the pill into her mouth. A hot, spicy current rushed from her throat straight to her abdomen,

followed by spreading to her limbs and bones, and the muscles that were sore and weak just now actually recovered quite a bit of strength.

She was stunned for a moment, gave Gu Niangzi a thumbs up: "It's a bit weird, but the stuff is really effective."

Cheng Feng also swallowed the pill. After the spicy hot current wandered through his body, he felt as if his meridians had been gently stimulated by something, and the stiffness brought by the Horizontal Training seemed to have loosened up a bit. He glanced at Gu Niangzi and nodded in thanks.

Gu Niangzi blinked at him: "Brother Cheng, aren't you afraid that I put Gu in the pill?"

"You won't," Cheng Feng said.

"Oh? You trust me that much?" Gu Niangzi tilted her head with great interest.

"It's not trust," Cheng Feng said in a flat tone, "I have also studied medicine and understand some Medical Skill."

Gu Niangzi was stunned for a moment, then immediately burst into a giggle, laughing until she swayed, the Black Jade Snake on her ankle startled by her laughter into poking its head out to look around.

After she had finished laughing, she patted Cheng Feng on the shoulder: "Brother Cheng, you really don't know how to please a woman with your words. I don't know how your Medical Skill is, but when you have time, come to my room and we can discuss it; after all, medicine, poison, and gu are all from the same family."