Chapter 824: The Four Arts of the Military – Riding

"Riding... in ancient times, it was called 'Driving'!"

"It is one of the two great arts passed down among the human race since the era of the Primordial Heavenly Dynasty."

Tuoba Tao led over his usual black Yanbo horse, vaulted onto its back, and paced slowly around the horse arena, speaking to the crowd of military disciples who had come to watch.

"Compared to riding, the art of Driving is closer to the origin of this art, but there are four types of Driving—Tools, Riding, Chariots, and Boats."

"Nowadays, apart from us military cultivators, the Buddhist and Daoist heterodox sects use Driving for tools, and the Hundred Schools of the Warring States use it for chariots."

"The Immortal Qin's invincible Stellar Warships are a method of boat-driving. Only the Demonic Path manipulates gods and demons, which is close to Spirit-Driving. Since King Wuling of Zhao, they have all used Spirit-Driving to subdue demons for use as mounts—this is the root of the four great methods of our military—the art of Riding!"

In this competition, Tuoba Tao also intended to use the opportunity to impart some military skills.

"The Central Lands are good at Driving because they can create and refine tools. But we Rong and Di are good at Riding because we struggle to survive in the wilderness, fighting against demons and fierce beasts; only by subduing them and riding them into battle can we survive!"

"And what about the Central Lands? In such prosperous lands, I fear they don't even have a single demon beast that has gained any climate, so what would they ride?"

"Hahahaha..." The surrounding military cultivators all laughed.

But there was no mockery in it.

Even the Han people among them laughed the loudest...

Disciples of noble families could raise demon beasts and train in the art of riding.

But what about ordinary cultivators? What about the sons of common families?

A tiger, leopard, or wolf demon beast requires hundreds of jin of flesh and blood a day just to eat. Purely raising one consumes as much as ten cultivators of the same level.

Only horses, which eat grass and grain and are good at running, are demon beasts naturally suited for riding.

The pressure of providing for them is a little smaller.

On the northern grasslands, where natural spirit veins converge, the spirit grass is lush and rich. The Hu people graze horses and herd sheep, using lead horses and lead sheep to ensure the purity of the bloodline.

Having enjoyed the spirit objects that grow rapidly on the grasslands, they naturally possess cultivation.

And the Hu people ride sheep from a young age, passing down riding skills within their tribes, struggling and entangling with demon beasts until they reach adulthood, so they are naturally proficient in riding.

Riding the Yanbo horse that fed on flesh and spirit grass, Tuoba Tao slightly surged his Qi and blood, and the abundant, massive Qi and blood of the Yanbo horse suddenly merged with his own. Man and horse galloped together, instantly turning into a black shadow, charging toward Yuwen Heita and Zhao Gui with unstoppable momentum.

Massive pressure rushed toward them; the two men struggled to stabilize their mounts, enduring the impact of that Qi and blood.

Seeing the two stabilize their horses, a smile finally appeared on Tuoba Tao's face.

"The first layer of the art of Riding is Blood-Connection!"

"Just now, I restrained the Qi and blood in my body without releasing it; the only thing I urged and commanded was the Qi and blood of the Black Yanbo God beneath my crotch, and it already had such power!"

"The Qi and blood of demon beasts are naturally dozens of times stronger than those of our human race. It is said they stole the essence and divine treasures of our human race, so we must ride them back fiercely!"

"The art of Blood-Connection is to ride upon the demon beast, sense the flow of its Qi and blood, coordinate with your own Qi and blood, gradually seize the initiative, and subsequently command it."

"In the legends of our Xianbei people, Mother Wa created all things and all living beings. On the first day, she created flowers, plants, and trees."

"On the sixth day, she created the hundred beasts, among which were the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, and horse... these are the Twelve Yuan Chen, creatures she created to assist the human race in ruling all spirits."

"And after the human race declined, they stole the divine treasures Mother Wa left for the human race and defected to the demons! Among them, the horse stole the divine treasure of essence that governs blood and physique, so generation after generation, they must be ridden by our human race and contribute their Qi and blood for us to fight!"

The Black Yanbo God beneath Tuoba Tao and the Li Dragon beneath Heita both snorted in dissatisfaction.

Tuoba Tao laughed loudly, brandishing the halberd in his hand, and forcibly drove the black horse beneath him to charge out.

The weapon in his hand, bolstered by Qi and blood, suddenly smashed a target made of refined iron in the middle of the arena into pieces...

"Blood-Connection means you must run, making the horse's Qi and blood boil!"

"Then, using our military secret arts, man and horse become one, like a large cycle of Qi and blood. Our Qi and blood must take root in the horse beneath our crotch! Only when they take root can their strength become our strength. How strong is a horse's strength?"

"Comparable to a dragon!"

"But they are born without claws and teeth, so they cannot exert their strength. However, with the help of our hands, our Qi and blood become one! With a casual wave, we can condense the strength they gain from running onto our weapons!"

"When our military cultivators ride horses and run, even a child who has just entered the art of riding can smash a Qi Refinement cultivator to death!"

Someone heckled: "What about Penetrating the Law?"

"People who have Penetrated the Law can fly!"

Tuoba Tao laughed loudly: "Even if they can fly, if you are proficient in archery, you can still kill a cultivator of a higher realm! When I was seven, a heterodox cultivator who had Penetrated the Law insulted me. I went home, rode my father's horse, man and horse became one, and I charged at him when he wasn't prepared, stabbing him to death on the street with a spear!"

His companions heckled: "What realm was that horse? What realm was that horse!"

"It had already condensed a Demon Core..."

Tuoba Tao did not blush at all.

"But being able to command a horse that possesses a Demon Core is a skill in itself!"

"Why is a military family a military family? It is because they have mounts and divine horses with extremely high cultivation and long lifespans! Young cultivators in the family, man and horse as one, as long as their riding skills are brilliant enough, can fight against Golden Cores in their twenties, or even kill Nascent Souls..."

"The Huo Cavalry Commander who once shook the world was able to drive the Wu Di's Heavenly Horse in his prime, fighting against Yang Spirit cultivators and striking down Nascent Souls on the grasslands."

"Although the Heavenly Horse was a remnant of the Yuan Chen, its bloodline comparable to a True Dragon, and although the one bestowed by the Wu Di was a divine horse that had cultivated an indestructible body, did the Huo Cavalry Commander not shake the world?"

Tuoba Tao was inciting them nakedly, making the military cultivators feel a dry heat inside.

Why do they pursue good horses and mounts? Isn't it because military cultivators have very short lifespans? Although they advance very quickly, once they die on the battlefield, they cannot leave anything for their wives and children.

Only a good horse!

Even if the master dies in battle, it can still recognize the way home, be loyal, and help the children in the family become military cultivators again!

In the past, the Overlord Xiang Yu only shook the world in his prime after obtaining his father's Black Steed.

It is said that the cultivation power of that Black Steed was even above the Heavenly Horse the Wu Di took from the Western Regions; it was a true ancient exotic species.

"The art of Riding starts only with Blood-Connection, then Qi-Penetration! Let your malevolent Qi and the mount's demonic Qi become one, and let its cultivation bolster you."

"Then comes Momentum-Unity; man and horse charge, their momentum becomes one, condensing into a single body, like a single life!"

"Then comes Law-Mastery! Control the innate divine abilities of your mount, combine them with your own cultivation and divine abilities, and evolve great divine abilities for battlefield slaughter..."

"Finally, there is Spirit-Driving. Just like the Dharma-protecting gods subdued by the Buddha, let the mount become a part of your Primordial Spirit, becoming a living sub-spirit of yours. A good horse is as important as your son!"

Someone below couldn't help but shout: "If the son is gone, just find a woman and have another. If the horse is gone, on the battlefield, you've lost your life..."

Everyone clamored together; a horse is closer than a wife, a true reliance for life and death on the battlefield.

For the Xianbei people, which is more important, their own seed or their own horse? They really have to think about it carefully, and the result is mostly the horse!

Although the military art of Riding seems rough, it is actually very powerful.

These principles were all developed by the Hu people during their long period of living with demons, fighting against those exotic species on one hand, and borrowing their power on the other, then integrating the Body and Driving arts from Witchcraft, the methods of controlling gods and demons and refining demon lords from the Demonic Path, and the various methods of subduing Dharma-protecting heterodoxies from the Buddhist sect.

King Wuling of Zhao used this to dominate for a time.

If not for the Central Lands' art of Driving, which also relies on creation to make treasures and forge war artifacts, and then using Driving for tools like Riding, reaching the level of the Immortal Qin.

Great military cultivators driving Stellar Warships are no worse than Spirit-Driving in the art of Riding.

But the power of war artifacts and Luo Tian Immortal Treasures is far stronger than exotic demon beasts.

What demon beast in the world could have the scale of a Stellar Warship? Even if the Ancestral Dragon were reborn... that's a bit of an exaggeration!

Even if the Primordial Heavenly Dragon were resurrected, it would be nothing but a toy for the Stellar Warship to slaughter at will!

Qian Chen knew that under Xu Fu's command, the Stellar Warship probably couldn't even exert one-tenth of its power; the artillery skills were weak, and the coordination was terrible. If it were left to great military cultivators like Bai Qi, it would be completely different.

It was only because the Dao-Reversal descended, and Xu Fu's Dao-fruit directly sank the warship and dragged down Wang Li, otherwise it wouldn't have been unable to hold on for even a single round.

After the art of creation and the Great Dao of Tool-Driving declined, the military art of Riding gradually dominated the path of Driving.

"Alright!"

After Tuoba Tao demonstrated the subtlety of the art of Riding, he turned to Heita and Zhao Gui: "You two shall fight using the art of Riding. Whoever is knocked off their horse loses immediately! But do not truly fight to the death and ruin the friendship between comrades, otherwise I will definitely not forgive you!"

"Yes! Commander!"

Both responded.

The true essence of this competition was to use charging, spear skills, and combat to destroy the opponent's man-and-horse unity, sever the connection of Qi and blood between the opponent and their mount, and knock the opponent off their horse!

Both sides drove their horses to the side of the training ground and then activated their riding arts.

Yuwen Heita only slightly urged the 'Military' character seal, and he felt his Qi and blood merge with the Li Dragon beneath him; even his momentum was vaguely condensing.

As long as they charged, the rapid circulation of Qi and blood between the two would slowly grind and merge into one; I fear that even the third layer of the art of Riding, Momentum-Unity, could be easily achieved.

The most important thing about the Momentum-Unity layer is to combine one's own malevolent Qi with the demon race's innate ability to break laws.

The demon race has a massive body and fears most the erosion of the flesh by spells, so demonic Qi has the ability to weaken spells and even break laws.

The military's malevolent Qi is the same. Once charging, the demonic Qi and malevolent Qi merge; it's not as simple as one plus one equals two.

At that time, the military cultivator's momentum moves, and all laws are warded off.

All methods of binding the form and spirit through demonic arts, and even the various extreme toxic fires and cold ices formed from primordial qi, all had to be broken by the momentum and qi, and if their power was reduced to only one percent, it would be considered fortunate.

Only cultivators driving flying swords can fight.

Yuwen Heita activated the 'Military' character seal and instantly reached the Momentum-Unity realm that a veteran of a hundred battles could only achieve after living and dying with his mount several times.

And his experience in honing the military art of Riding from childhood was also constantly polishing the 'Military' character seal, allowing the military Great Dao within it to gradually grind and merge with practice, revealing itself.

Qian Chen nodded slightly from the side: "He who holds the 'Military'... commands everything!"

"Kill!"

Zhao Gui and Yuwen Heita started at the same time. In just an instant, the two horses turned into arrows leaving the string and charged out.

In an instant, the Li Dragon's bloodline boiled, and its innate power was gradually drawn out by Heita. At that moment, the power surging within his flesh reached a terrifying hundreds of thousands of jin. Such power allowed a youth to instantly reach the level of a body-refining cultivator who had Penetrated the Law.

If Heita hadn't been bitterly tempering his body on weekdays, this would have caused his flesh to collapse.

Only by letting the Qi and blood take root, and only by letting his Qi and blood merge with the Li Dragon's, could the dragon-species Heavenly Horse bloodline bear a portion of the pressure.

The riding battle lasted only one round.

Heita's long spear intersected with Zhao Gui's, and in an instant, the massive power of both sides collided head-on.

At that moment, Heita twisted the spear shaft, vibrating it like a dragon, and channeled his own Qi and blood through this reverberating force.

The massive power of the Li Dragon and his Qi and blood merging instantly crushed Zhao Gui's Qi and blood, lifting him high.

Then, following the reverberation of the spear shaft, he pressed him to the ground, unable to rise.

Zhao Gui's blood rushed to his face; pressed tightly against his chest by the spear shaft, he couldn't breathe, roared, and was ashamed to the point of wanting to die! ===== CHAPTER 825 =====