Chapter 573: Rushing to Aid Across a Thousand Li

At the start of the Mao hour, a secret valley lay on the eastern side of Black Cloud Stronghold.

Frost-laden morning mist hung as five hundred cavalry stood rigid, each rider with three horses, bits in mouths and hooves wrapped.

Lin Chong, in black armor with a crimson tassel, stood before the ranks, his gaze sweeping over the sharpest blades of the Northward Aspiration Army.

Chen Wen stepped forward, without extra words.

He closed his eyes slightly, focusing to activate the system.

After level 5, the use of Ability Granting became markedly easier, its consumption greatly reduced and its duration significantly extended.

But what he needed to do now was not the limited remote granting that required a dedicated medium, effective only across a thousand miles, and with a feeble effect.

That was another path, a covert line prepared for Yue Fei.

And before him was the final, most direct direct granting performed on the troops about to embark on the expedition.

Power flowed from within him, clearly and steadily dividing into several tiers that enveloped the troops before him.

Lin Chong, Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo, Zong Ying and the other core leaders felt their bodies tremble slightly.

A surging force poured into his limbs and bones, his thoughts instantly clear as a mirror, his senses sharpened—every rustle of wind and distant flutter of wings became distinct. Power surged through his interior, his long‑trained sinews and bones seeming to be infused with molten steel, pushing his state to an unprecedented peak.

This was a sustained eight‑fold boost, intended for the commander who leads the charge to break formations.

The remaining four hundred‑plus elite cavalry felt a solid warm current rise from their dantian, dispelling morning chill and fatigue, filling their limbs with strength; their endurance for long marches and reaction speed in combat were raised to a level surpassing their usual training limits.

This was a sustained four‑fold boost, enough to make the elite even sharper.

This was the strongest, widest‑ranging direct group granting that Chen Wen could currently perform.

The effect would last a considerable time, enough to support them in breaking through the initial, and most dangerous, blockade zone.

But this power was not eternal.

It would wane with time and the exhaustion of fierce combat; after several days, the fatigue of long journeys and the damage from repeated battles would bring their condition back down to near‑normal levels—of course, the normal level of the Northward Aspiration Army's elite.

As for that weak sensing and temporary bolstering conveyed over a thousand miles by means of a token (the limited remote granting), it required a dedicated medium like Yue Fei's jade pendant, on which a Fortune Momentum Mark had been painstakingly impressed over years; its effect was brief, its cost huge, and it could hardly be applied to an entire force.

The two paths differ in route, cost, and effect.

Chen Wen had a clear understanding of this boundary in his mind.

When the granting ended, his face blanched imperceptibly for a moment, then returned to normal.

"The road ahead is high mountains and distant waters, full of hidden dangers." Chen Wen looked at Lin Chong, his voice low and solemn, "This strength will help you break the initial encirclement and crush the toughest obstacles. But the road beyond relies more on the martial skill you have forged by sweating and bleeding in daily practice, on Instructor Lin's strategies, and on the brothers' oath to live and die together."

"Remember, your lives are precious, and General Yue's life is precious too. I want you to act wisely and bring back as many of those who should be saved as possible."

Lin Chong nodded heavily, feeling clearly the surging yet controlled power within him, and he grasped the deep meaning of the lord's words.

This power is an aid, a key to open the door, but not a talisman.

"Lin Chong, I will remember!"

He said no more, swung onto his horse.

"Depart!"

A black torrent silently surged out of the valley and vanished into the morning‑mist forest.

Chen Wen watched them disappear, then turned to Chao Gai and the others, saying, "We should move as well. In an hour I will take the western side path. Zhao Lao Nian's newly made token must be brought closer to the south, or perhaps it will prove useful."

In his sleeve, the newly forged iron‑wood token grew warm, faintly sharing the same origin as Yue Fei's jade pendant in his bosom, yet it was a different "key." It was another covert line prepared for the most extreme contingency.

A thousand li away, Lin Chong's unit pushed its speed to the limit.

Thanks to the eight‑fold and four‑fold grantings given before departure, the unit's marching efficiency was astonishingly high.

Changing mounts flowed like clouds and water, the scouts' eyes were sharp, and in complex terrain they always found the optimal route quickly.

On the first day they slipped like ghosts through the edge of the Jin‑controlled zone, encountering only two small bands of cavalry, which they annihilated in thunderous fashion, letting none escape.

Lin Chong could feel that his state was at its peak; his sense of danger, his judgment of terrain, and his delivery of orders were fluid and precise beyond mortal. Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo and the others were equally valiant—ordinary Jin soldiers could not withstand a single clash with them.

On the second day they met five thousand troops of the False Qi marching toward Yancheng.

Lin Chong detached forces to harass while the main body sped up across the hills.

Guan Sheng and Hu Yanzhuo each led a hundred horsemen, relying on the still‑peak granting within them, moving like the wind; they executed their harassment tactics to perfection, delaying the False Qi army for most of a day.

On the third day they encountered three hundred elite Jin cavalry in the river valley.

By then the fatigue of long marches was beginning to show; although the granting still lingered, it was no longer as abundant and vigorous as in the first two days.

Yet the individual combat power of the Northward Aspiration Army's cavalry remained far above normal, and Lin Chong and the other leaders were unstoppable.

After a fierce battle, the Jin cavalry scattered, and the Northward Aspiration Army also suffered dozens of casualties.

Lin Chong clearly sensed that, after the fierce fighting, the extra strength that had been sustaining him noticeably receded.

The lord was right—this power has its limits, it is consumed, it wanes.

The true test lies ahead.

He ordered the wounded comrades to be tended, and the column continued southward.

Each face bore heavier streaks of wind‑frost and blood, yet their eyes remained sharp.

They knew that the god‑like strength granted at the outset was slowly fading back to the ordinary, but in its place came a firmer resolve—they were already elite picked from a hundred, and even without that extra power they remained the sharp fangs capable of tearing through enemy ranks.

The fourth day, the fifth day…

The journey grew ever harder, with enemy scouts and checkpoints appearing more frequently.

The granting's effect waned further, and the unit relied more on strict discipline, practiced coordination, and a death‑defying will to press on.

Casualties occurred from time to time, but no one fell out of the ranks.

At dusk on the fifth day, the vanguard scouts returned with news that Zhuxian Town had been seized and the road ahead blocked.

Lin Chong climbed a low hill to gaze afar; in the twilight, the smoke columns rising from Yancheng made his heart pound.

He drew his sidearm, its blade catching the lingering light of the setting sun.

Within him, the surging power granted at the start had diminished to two‑tenths of its former strength, yet a deeper, more personal fighting spirit had been forged in the blood‑and‑fire campaign, growing ever purer.

"Brothers!"

His voice was hoarse, yet it carried the firmness forged after a thousand tempers.

Ahead is Ying City! General Yue is waiting for us!

The Golden Dog blocks the road—what do we do?

In reply came five hundred voices, just as hoarse yet cutting as nails and iron.

Kill!!!

This cry of 'Kill' no longer relies on any additional bestowal.

Pure, direct, filled with the iron will that, after enduring a thousand li of journey and breaking through layer upon layer of obstruction, swears to achieve its goal.

For the final forty li, they will charge with this will and the name of the Northward Aspiration army.