Bombarding Cultivators with Cluster Artillery

Three days later.

Jiang Ding watched silently as not far away, a girl effortlessly dealt with the onslaught of a Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi and two Warriors of Minor Completion of Inner Qi. From time to time, she would also force the opponents into a panic with a sharp, decisive strike of her sword.

Her body was petite and exquisite, dwarfed by the three towering warriors, almost like a child in comparison. Yet, she was exceptionally agile, darting in and out among the three swinging blades that moved so fast they seemed to leave no opening, full of peril but never getting cut.

During his travels, Jiang Ding had come to understand the customs and culture of Chizhou, as well as the Chizhong Mansion.

It was much larger than Dongzhou, with several times the population, and the land was more fertile. Therefore, it produced many more martial artists.

However, years of ongoing drought had plagued the region without any relief efforts or construction of water conservation systems by the government. Instead, taxes kept increasing, burdening many farmers who abandoned their land and fled to other mansions.

Martial artists, of course, did not starve, but their clothing, food, and especially the sufficient meat and variety of old medicines needed for cultivation were hard to come by, combined with the factors of refugees and starving people, public order had deteriorated rapidly, with several counties being captured and then recaptured.

The situation Gong Caiyu faced was a result of these circumstances.

A Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi merely brought two people to rob travelers, a rarity in Dongling City as their strength could put them in high positions within gangs or trading companies, allowing them to enjoy the fruits of others’ labor.

Of course, this had something to do with her beauty which was difficult to conceal even under a travel hat and a veil.

”Stab!”

Gong Caiyu cried out sharply, spotting an exploitable flaw when the Martial Artist of Great Achievement and leader of the bandits was overextended, and she swiftly thrust her sword like a shooting star—the ”Xuantian Sword” from the Qixuan Sword Technique.

With a flash of silver light, it was a direct hit, the leader’s body went limp as he fell, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Seeing this, the other two’s expressions drastically changed, and they fled without looking back, without any thought of avenging their leader.

Gong Caiyu’s round face was flushed red as she gasped for air, her Inner Qi severely depleted.

To be able to fight and overcome three people, including a Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi, while only at Minor Completion of Inner Qi, her ranking on the Dragon and Phoenix List was certainly not limited to just ninety-eighth place.

She didn’t rest, her starry eyes carefully scanning the surroundings again and again; finally, under a tree, she saw a youth in blue clothes wearing a travel hat, just watching her quietly.

”Young Master!”

Gong Caiyu cheered and hopped over to him, clearly expecting praise.

”How was my swordplay this time?”

It had been like this for days; Jiang Ding would correct her swordplay and cultivation mistakes at a set time every day, then disappear, reappearing whenever she had defeated an enemy.

”This time, there were three instances where your sword technique was lacking. The first was during the sixth strike when the order of the Inner Qi movement in the Lung Channel of Taiyin was disrupted... The seventh strike...”

Jiang Ding explained slowly.

Gong Caiyu’s face fell. I just overpowered three people by myself!

Yet, she focused even more, committing every word to memory. In just a few days of explanation, she felt her swordsmanship had improved to a new level.

”... That’s it,” Jiang Ding said, walking towards the Chizhong Mansion in the distance, the tall city walls gradually coming into sharper focus.

As they approached the city, the area became livelier, with no refugees to be seen, and the passing crowd did not look so haggard.

At the city gate, it was bustling with merchants, martial artists, and officials—a lively scene.

”One coin for the entrance fee!”

Jiang Ding and Gong Caiyu lined up at the back, slowly moving forward. In front of them was an old man in a short scarf pushing a cart full of bright red peaches.

”Aren’t you hiding some smuggled goods inside these peaches? Open them up and let us take a look,” a soldier demanded with a stern face.

”Sir!”

The old man’s expression changed, and he quickly stuffed a handful of copper coins into the soldier’s hand with a fawning smile: ”This humble old man’s small business can’t afford any smuggled goods. Please, take it easy on me...

The gatekeeper’s face then broke into a smile, and, to the old man’s distress, he took a handful of the fresh peaches and shared them with his companions, saying, ”I suppose not.”

Then came Jiang Ding’s turn.

”This young hero, please come through!”

The gatekeeper sized him up, flashed an apologetic smile, and surprisingly did not even ask for the entrance fee.

”Here.”

Jiang Ding did not accept the other party’s kindness and placed two copper coins in the bamboo basket.

This was not originally the case, as he never had copper coins on him before, the smallest being pieces of silver, which he had specifically exchanged at a shop before entering the city.

After the two passed by, a farmer’s wife buying vegetables was next, and the city guard’s smiling face vanished, reverting to a fierce and menacing appearance.

Stepping out of the gate tunnel, Jiang Ding carefully observed the city’s defending soldiers of Chizhou.

Specifically, not as good as the county patrol soldiers of Dongling City.

”... Streamed officials...”

Jiang Ding muttered to himself, then asked,

”Are there many places in Yue Country like Dongling City that are ruled by hereditary nobles?”

”Very few.”

Gong Caiyu thought for a moment, ”Only the Tianyun twelve generals and a few frontier regions where the founding emperor sealed his relatives as princes.”

With that being the case, perhaps a large-scale insurrection will sooner or later break out.

Jiang Ding thought.

Under noble rule, on their own lands, although the upper limit is low, there is at least a lower limit; they won’t fish until the waters are exhausted.

But these examination-selected officials, serving only one term, truly had no lower limit, especially in the late imperial era, where a spark could potentially set off a large-scale uprising.

Both were visiting Chizhong Mansion for the first time, and Gong Caiyu looked around, occasionally entering some shops to browse, almost forgetting their earlier stated goal of finding ’Clear River Fairy’ Chen Xi.

After a reminder from Jiang Ding, they finally learned that the other party was staying at the Chizhong Prefecture Palace and rushed over in a hurry.

The crowd suddenly began to converge in one direction.

”The Dragon and Phoenix List has been updated!”

”I wonder if County Lord Qinghe has made further progress?”

”Our Chizhong Prefecture’s talent, the Young Leader of the Flying Dragon Gang, ’Broken Water Blade’ Yang Ye should have a place on the Dragon and Phoenix List!”

The crowd consisted of not only martial artists but also peddlers and porters, men and women, young and old, all swept up in a fervent atmosphere reminiscent of celebrity fans.

Tianjilou had no Heaven or Earth List, just one Dragon and Phoenix List, which cataloged the top one hundred and eight young warriors under twenty-five years old.

The lives of these talents were colorful and full of ups and downs, not without their scandals, and many had legendary feats; in this world devoid of any newsprint, they naturally became the focal point of people’s leisure time discussions.

Each warrior on the Dragon and Phoenix List was a star-worthy figure, drawing significant attention from many people.

Jiang Ding and Gong Caiyu followed the crowd and quickly arrived in front of a tall building, where a list over ten meters high could be seen clearly from a hundred meters away.

”County Lord Qinghe is still number nineteen, at the Internal Qi Perfection realm.”

”There’s no mention of ’Broken Water Blade’ Yang Ye, how could he not be on the list? He defeated a Martial Artist of Great Achievement of Inner Qi on a public stage just one month ago while only at the Minor Completion of Internal Qi!”

”What is Tianjilou doing? Not a single person from Chizhong Prefecture made it on the list.”

Some began to complain and holler, but soon, everyone’s gaze was drawn to a line of red characters near the top.

”Number twelve, ’Black Flame Blade’ Hei Jin, cultivates the ’Black Flame Demon Art,’ bizarre and domineering, able to melt an enemy’s Inner Qi and flesh upon contact, disciple of a Xiantian Martial Artist, one of the eight heroes, ’White Bone Blade Evil’.”

”Achievements: Exterminated Chiyan School in Lingnan Mansion, killed the Master Chiyan and two other warriors at Internal Qi Perfection, and defeated ’Clear River Fairy’ Chen Xi within ten moves.”

The red characters signified the death of the top thirty-six cultivators on the Dragon and Phoenix List, specifically noted, unlike the replacement of deceased lower-ranked warriors on the list without such a notice.

”(Deceased.)”

Everyone held their breath and continued to look down the list.

”Cause of death: In a battle at Donglingshan Mountain, along with ’Heavenly Chaos Blade’ Zheng Ye, Zhendong Guard commander Chen Chen, and his Black Cloud Guard officers of several dozen Internal Qi realms as well as over a hundred body-tempered soldiers, ambushed ’Dream Eating Sword Demon’ Jiang Ding, all perished.”

The crowd gasped, their eyes widening in shock.