Chapter 46: Xuanwu!

Ranked thirty-fourth among the great generals of the realm.

The undisputed master of land warfare in the Southern Court.

Wielding twin-dragon battle halberds, he can slay a martial sect master within thirty-three paces.

Leading his troops as Great Halberd Soldiers, he could kill cavalry on foot, fearless and relentless, crushing all who stood before him; alongside the Mo Dao troops of the Guanzhong aristocrats of the Ying State, they dominated the north and south. Yet such a fearsome general defected from his own army and became a great bandit.

“Yue Qianfeng…”

In the quiet chamber, the refined elder murmured the name, his tone laced with murderous intent and confusion.

“The Yue clan’s followers have all been exiled to the frontier, under the command of His Majesty’s younger brother, who has subdued them through repeated campaigns of mercy and might, granting each reward—yet all have grown obedient. Except him. Except Yue Qianfeng. He resigned his post, abandoned his troops, and charged into our borders like a mad dog.”

“What happened to Xiao Wuliang?!”

“He and the Lüzhou Sword Immortal joined forces—and still Yue Qianfeng lived!”

Someone bowed his head and replied: “...General Xiao said, General Yue...”

He paused, then said: “Yue Qianfeng’s martial foundation is fully perfected. When his Crimson Dragon Manifestation erupts, it can burn mountains and boil rivers. He ambushed us covertly, and I couldn’t bring my men. In a one-on-one duel, Yue Qianfeng isn’t his equal—but to escape? That’s not difficult.”

“The Lüzhou Sword Immortal’s sword qi is peerless, capable of splitting mountains and rending seas. Yet that warrior once claimed seventeen first-assault victories, slain eight enemy generals, seized three banners. His twin halberds plucked enemy heads from within ten thousand troops as easily as reaching into a pouch. Wearing the soft armor granted by the late Emperor, he survived.”

The refined elder slammed his fist hard onto the precious table and roared: “Absurd!”

“He wields the late Emperor’s sacred armor against our court—who is this traitor?!”

“Xiao Wuliang can charge through enemy lines with seven horses, and hurl his hand-cone to kill the strongest Turkic archers.”

“How many current generals surpass him? This is the second time. Ten years ago, he let a weak woman and a child escape with his night-riding cavalry. Now, ten years later, he can’t even stop Yue Qianfeng?”

“Ten years ago he was twenty-three. His martial foundation wasn’t perfected. He had help.”

“Now, at thirty-three, is his foundation still insufficient?!”

“He’s pretending obedience while secretly defying orders! He’s overconfident in his martial skill!”

“Has he forgotten who elevated him?!”

The responding man bowed his head: “General Xiao says he has failed the Chancellor’s trust and bears guilt.”

“We beg you to strip him of his rank and reassign him to the frontier as a common soldier.”

“To guard the gate of our nation’s border.”

The refined elder’s expression froze, and at last he had no reply. He swept his sleeve and cursed: “Youth! You don’t understand the great affairs of the realm lie in the capital, among the ministers, within these thousand-year lineages. All you ever talk about is rushing to the frontier, leading troops into battle.”

“Do you know how war burdens the people? Do you know that since ancient times, the military has been a deadly weapon, used by sages only when forced? At thirty, you still behave as you did on your first battlefield.”

He fell silent, staring at the map of the realm spread before him on the desk.

Chen State was detailed in full; the others were only rough sketches.

His gaze locked onto the border between Ying State and Chen State.

After the Yue clan was subdued, Ying State and Chen State grew friendly and opened mutual trade.

Two months from now, during Chen State’s ancestral rites, Ying State’s Second Prince Jiang Guang will come to pay homage.

Yet even so, Ying State has stationed thirty thousand Tiger-Marauder cavalry along the border.

The Yue army’s troops also face them across the river, creating mutual deterrence—this has forced the Yue clan’s veteran generals to remain there, unable to return and rescue their commander. Yet no one expected a reckless fool like this.

Since ancient times, great generals have always been this way. Without such a nature, they could never achieve fearless, death-defying valor.

Ying and Chen briefly reconciled. Ying State’s General Yüwen relocated part of his forces northward to drive out the Turks, while the Tuyuhun, a powerful clan of Longxi and Guanzhong, held the frontier—too occupied to attack Chen State. The realm’s grand strategy had settled into a stable equilibrium, a peace maintained by mutual checks.

It was precisely the perfect age the court ministers had predicted and deduced.

But now, things are different.

A top-tier general has turned his blade against his own nation, like a spear piercing into Chen State’s territory.

Yue Qianfeng’s repeated appearances have already triggered several covert shifts: martial sect masters have intercepted him, Chen State’s foremost warrior Xiao Wuliang has been deployed, and Jiangzhou has trembled under fleeting storms—forcing surrounding forces to recall troops in attempts to block Yue Qianfeng.

They’ve been forced to adopt a policy of complete conciliation toward the remaining Yue clan generals.

Meanwhile, Ying State’s Tiger-Marauder cavalry and its famed Shangzhuguo, the Great General Who Breaks Enemies, stand guard—yet to counter the troop movements caused by Yue Qianfeng, they’ve had to draw forces from the northwest, leaving the Tuyuhun restless and eyeing Chen State.

The Turks wait for Ying State, watching whether it will exploit Chen State’s turmoil with other strategies.

The elder’s gaze was sharp—he saw at once that the pivot of the realm’s fate rested on Yue Qianfeng.

If he breaches the border fortress successfully, and frontier troops are recalled to suppress him...

The old man clenched his fist in fury.

“Fool! Fool!”

“As stupid as an ox.”

“This is what they call a great general.”

“A herd of unbridled wild horses, freely devouring their masters. Once they go mad, heedless of their own lives, they can stir the winds and clouds of the realm’s fate. They call them the nation’s treasured weapons—but if they disown the Son of Heaven, they are nothing but traitors and rebels!”

The elder said: “The frontier troops must not move again. I will write a letter inviting the Ying court’s prince.”

“Order the Garrison Commander of Guan Yicheng to mobilize troops from another city, forming an encircling net. No matter what Yue Qianfeng intends, we must block him—block him dead.”

“Order the frontier to contact the Tangut people, grant them a thousand gold pieces and bolts of silk, and invite them to court for an audience.”

“The Tuyuhun Right Prince’s daughter loves jade. Send fine jade and beautiful women to pay tribute.”

The elder issued order after order, plugging the cracks in the grand tide stirred by Yue Qianfeng—old, steady, resolute.

As he penned his letter, his expression was calm, as if he could still the realm’s fate—when a eunuch rushed in, breathless: “Your Excellency, His Majesty has acquired the scroll ‘Thousand Li of Peaceful Rivers and Mountains.’ None of the ministers can appreciate it. His Majesty is furious.”

The official who had just reported urgent matters frowned and rebuked: “Absurd! The Chancellor has great...”

The elder roared: “Absurd!”

The official opened his mouth to reply—when the inkstone flew and smashed into his forehead, blinding him, blood streaming.

The refined elder set down his brush and hurried to the eunuch’s side, gripping his arm: “This is a matter of great importance. The Sage’s masterpiece cannot be viewed by anyone else.”

“Though I am dull, I beg to see it.”

“Please lead me there.”

The Ministry of War official sat on the ground, clutching his bleeding forehead, dazed and vacant.

The elder, clad in vermilion robes and jade belt, strode away swiftly. The young official stared at the map of the realm’s fate—only a few lines had been written. The elder’s back was already gone, leaving only the night sky, wind rising, clouds high above. If General Yue Qianfeng truly breaches the border fortress and reaches Jiangzhou’s capital...

Or rather—if the realm learns that General Yue Qianfeng intends to breach the border fortress—is he truly planning to do so?

He gazed at the swirling clouds above, veiling the bright moon.

“The heavens are about to change...”

………………

Within the secret realm.

Facing Xue Shen’s questions.

Li Guanyi Mianqiang answered with fragments of Sun Tzu’s teachings he remembered. Xue Shen shook his head, speaking coolly: “Empty rhetoric. The battlefield isn’t this simple. You’ve never fought on one. What you say is something any military student recites—but you don’t grasp its subtleties.”

“Hmm. Correct nonsense. You merely repeat. You speak well—but don’t speak again.”

“To avoid the solid and strike the empty—how do you know what is solid and what is empty? To know yourself and know the enemy—how do you know your knowledge is true? The Five Virtues of a General—how do you uphold them? How do you train troops? How do you form formations? How do you unify the spirit of weapons? How do you make soldiers feel certain death, yet no certainty of victory—and still win?”

“Which terrain is suitable for encampment? How do you leverage weather and wind for a decisive assault?”

“If a general in your army has divided loyalties—how do you suppress him? If a battle commander is defeated—what then?”

“The thirty-two methods of espionage, the sixteen methods of death spies—what are they?”

“How do you detect enemy spies? How do you turn them against their own? The thirty-six basic battle formations—these are merely the fundamentals of warfare. Master these, and you may call yourself a general. Only then are you worthy to bear the lives of hundreds, even thousands, and the fate of your nation.”

“Only with long-range vision can you plan grand strategy—not just formations. Only then are you a great general. You? You’re merely a parrot repeating words. How could I have a descendant like you? Has my Xue family stopped studying military texts?”

Xue Shen seemed to doubt his own bloodline, yet his eyes held mostly mockery.

Li Guanyi’s lips twitched.

The Shen General picked up his brush and wrote a single character “ Yi ” on the youth’s forehead.

A faint smile curled his lips: “Still, good. My preparations weren’t wasted.”

“Let me teach you how to break each scenario.”

He began explaining cavalry tactics and the crescent charge formation. An hour later, the youth surfaced. Xiang Yaoguang, watching him read, saw Li Guanyi collapse onto a rock.

Xiang Yaoguang’s voice was calm: “You look exhausted.”

Li Guanyi pressed his hand to his forehead.

He recalled how, during his deepest fatigue, Xue Shen had relentlessly lectured and simulated battle formations.

Complex, meticulous, systematic.

“I feel the knowledge of military strategy entered my mind through a dishonorable means.”

Li Guanyi entered a disciplined routine: daily morning archery and cultivation, afternoons spent entering the secret realm. To attain the Starlight Purification of his foundation and prove the highest entry method, he must come. After each battle, when he took the pills and his body ached...

Xue Shen unilaterally forced him to study military tactics.

“Compendium of Battle Formations,” “Essentials of Military Strategy,” “Military Canon,” “Drafts from the Thatched Hut,” “The General’s Garden,” “Treatise on Ten Thousand Affairs,” “Six Secret Teachings and Three Strategies,” “Naval Warfare Tactics”... Every military text Li Guanyi read, he remembered instantly. His mind was sharp, able to extrapolate from one example to ten. Xue Shen raised the difficulty.

Each time he defeated an opponent, Xue Shen taught him the military methods of that man’s ancestor from five hundred years ago.

Only if Li Guanyi shattered the method could he proceed.

These days were full. More than ten days passed. Li Guanyi still didn’t understand the purpose of this teaching—until one day, returning home, he glanced at the city’s defenses and froze.

The city’s defenses had tightened.

Even the new gate guards were elite veterans of real battle, skilled in foot combat, with bows and crossbows arranged in alternating volleys.

Designed to repel sudden assaults by foot warriors.

If the gate was the reference point, a great general must be stationed nearby. And these common folk, though dressed plainly, carried iron chains and hooks—special troops trained to trip horses. Solid, disciplined defense.

Only as Li Guanyi walked through the city did he realize what his mind had deduced.

His expression darkened. He pressed his hand to his forehead.

First, a flicker of delight—then confusion. Delight that Xue Shen’s teaching had transformed him so profoundly. Yet shock and doubt: if such a great city as Guan Yicheng had this level of defense... then someone was preparing to attack.

Who’s this crazy?

If that’s the case, I must first take Auntie to the Xue family, Li Guanyi decided, heading toward the Xue residence, while pondering one thing: his supply of pills had run out; due to the refinement in the secret realm, his consumption of pills far exceeded that of ordinary people.

Pills are expensive; I can’t keep asking the young mistress for money again.

Recently, I’ve told stories to Xue Changqing and earned some silver, barely getting by.

Turning around, he heard someone calling: “Fortune-telling and divination—I know all things! Ziwei Dou Shu, Da Liu Ren, all within my palm! Hey, young friend, stop a moment—old man sees your forehead darkened; you’re likely to suffer bloodshed and warfare soon!”

Li Guanyi recognized the voice and saw an old man.

It was the former [Sīmìng] who had climbed the wall.

The old man also spotted Li Guanyi, a faint smile tugging at his lips.

He was about to speak.

Li Guanyi’s pupils contracted; his gaze shifted and caught sight of the massive Xuan Turtle beside the old man.

The old man’s hand froze mid-stroking his beard, his eyes widening.

He saw the Bai Hu on Li Guanyi’s shoulder, the Chi Long on his arm.

Both sides froze.

Then both noticed the other’s gaze, their expressions changing.

The old man said: “You can see them?!”

Li Guanyi frowned and turned to walk away; the old man tossed aside his stall, leapt onto the table, and chased after him, shouting: “Disciple! Disciple, stop!”

Li Guanyi walked faster.

The old man lunged forward and clung to the boy’s thigh.

“Disciple—no, wait.”

“You don’t want to be my disciple? Then how about you be my master?!”

“Master!”

(End of Chapter)