Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 158: Chapter 156 Ambush

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He stared blankly at the fallen golden eagle not far away, then turned his head to look at Chu Zhiyuan.

He never expected that there could be such a miracle technique in the world, with a hidden weapon that could shoot over such a long distance and still have such power.

The golden eagle is not an ordinary eagle, with incredible speed, and arrows cannot penetrate its golden feathers.

Yet now it cannot withstand a hidden weapon from such a distance.

If not witnessed with his own eyes, he would definitely think it impossible.

Inconceivable.

Chu Zhiyuan looked at the golden eagle: ”This time their target is probably you, General Li!”

Zou Fang stepped forward, retrieved the Day Blade, carefully wiped it clean, and returned it to Chu Zhiyuan.

Li Haoyuan sighed: ”My enmity with Da Meng is as deep as the sea. How can they possibly let it go?”

”Did you expect them to ambush you midway?” Chu Zhiyuan asked.

Li Haoyuan shook his head: ”I originally thought they would wait until I was imprisoned and kill me in jail, seamlessly.”

”Can they murder in our Yujing’s prison?”

”Deaths occur in Yujing’s prison daily.”

Chu Zhiyuan frowned: ”Da Meng’s influence in our Yujing extends so far?”

Li Haoyuan replied: ”Sir, Da Meng’s tentacles in our Yujing reach further than you imagine, you should be careful.”

Chu Zhiyuan laughed: ”Besides the prison, where else?”

Li Haoyuan said solemnly: ”There must be Da Meng spies in the prison, and I fear there are also spies in various government offices.”

Chu Zhiyuan was half skeptical.

Li Haoyuan said: ”As far as I know, Da Meng values intelligence gathering and spies the most. They cultivate spies with long-term plans of twenty or thirty years, not seeking quick results, hence it’s unfathomable.”

Chu Zhiyuan fell silent.

If this is the case, then it is indeed troublesome.

Twenty or thirty years, even coming in as a child, growing up step by step, almost flawless.

If they come to a small mountain village as a child, then grow up and enter the city or join some sect, it’s nearly impossible to verify if they are Da Meng people.

Moreover, with some protectors around, it becomes even harder to defend against.

At this thought, his mood grew inexplicably heavy.

Li Haoyuan saw him fall silent and was quite surprised.

Chu Zhiyuan, however, didn’t continue questioning, and instead said: ”The Inspection Department is aware of these, right?”

”Of course they know,” Li Haoyuan replied: ”But what good is knowing? They remain helpless.”

Chu Zhiyuan said: ”We can only use their methods against them.”

Li Haoyuan sighed: ”Our officials in Da Jing are eager for promotion, seeking quick success and instant benefits, unwilling to do such things.”

Planting trees for future generations to enjoy the shade, working for others’ benefit.

This kind of thing is hard to achieve in Da Jing, no one is that foolish, they think more about themselves, not the Court or others.

”Most Da Meng officials inherit their positions,” Chu Zhiyuan said: ”That’s the root cause, isn’t it?”

Li Haoyuan clapped and laughed: ”The Princely Heir is insightful!”

Chu Zhiyuan waved his hand: ”This difference results in a different style of conduct, everything has pros and cons. Their inherited and lifelong positions allow for long-term actions, slowly pushing forward major matters, but it’s easy to become corrupt.”

He felt it was no great insight.

In his past life, it was just basic common knowledge.

Yet, unknown to him, many patterns he learned in his previous life are quite novel in this world, unseen or unheard of, regarded as insight.

”Sir, what you say is very thorough. The root is over there, so there’s nothing much to say. The Inspection Department cannot change the major trend.”

”The trend of the times is unstoppable,” Chu Zhiyuan mused, suddenly raising his voice: ”Rest for a while, camp!”

Li Haoyuan was stunned.

With Chu Zhiyuan’s command, the Prince Mansion’s experts naturally carried out the order without hesitation, the two eunuchs also didn’t skip a beat, and began to bustle about.

Li Haoyuan looked at Chu Zhiyuan in confusion.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said: ”Guess what we are going to do, General Li?”

Li Haoyuan frowned: ”Since we’ve taken down the golden eagle, the Da Meng cavalry coming to assassinate us shouldn’t find us. Why not speed away?”

He immediately added: ”They may not catch up with us, but we have stopped...”

He pondered.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled knowingly.

Moments later, Li Haoyuan slowly said: ”Sir, is this a stratagem?”

Chu Zhiyuan asked: ”What stratagem?”

”... Is it that you are using us as bait?”

”No wonder you are General Li!” Chu Zhiyuan clapped and praised.

Li Haoyuan quickly caught on.

Apparently, Li Haoyuan’s position as General was not by chance, he truly had the material, standing firm in the Northern Territory for decades was not a fluke.

Unfortunately, in the end, he still suffered a disastrous defeat, losing Fuyuan Town.

This just highlights Da Meng’s formidable capabilities even more.

Li Haoyuan looked towards the direction of Gaoling Town, yet he didn’t see any soldiers coming.

Chu Zhiyuan said: ”Not from that direction.”

Li Haoyuan was stunned, then turned to look south: ”An ambush ahead?”

”Otherwise, how could we deceive the Stepping Cloud Iron Cavalry?” Chu Zhiyuan laughed.

Li Haoyuan felt emotional: ”Is this the means of Prince Ying?”

”Consider it as such,” Chu Zhiyuan replied.

This was actually his own last-minute suggestion before leaving last night, Chu Mingrui readily agreed, fully cooperating, dispatching those more than two hundred personal soldiers to ambush fifteen miles south under the cover of darkness.

Once Chu Zhiyuan gave the signal, these trusted aides would charge out.

These trusted aides were all trained by Chu Zhiyuan, the Thunder Spear Formation had been practiced to the point of mastery, and would only continue to become more familiar from then on.

As familiarity deepened, their power would grow stronger and stronger.

The stronger the power, the more diligently they would practice, and the more diligently they practiced, the stronger the power would become, forming a positive cycle.

He could imagine that the Thunder Spear Formation would soon become famous, and the fame of the Thunder Spear Iron Cavalry would soon resound throughout the land.

With this connection, even though Chu Zhiyuan was not the commander and did not possess the Tiger Talisman, he could still command these people and achieve seamless cooperation.

...

The group pitched camp, even setting up the entire encampment.

Chu Zhiyuan then had the Prince Mansion Guards practice the Four Symbols Soul Execution Formation on the cleared out space.

Liang Guanjie and four others soon returned and joined the formation.

Chu Zhiyuan quickly spat out instructions, guiding them one by one.

These Guards of the Prince Mansion were also exceptionally intelligent individuals, otherwise they wouldn’t have had the opportunity to become Guards of the Prince Mansion.

Under Chu Zhiyuan’s guidance, they had already begun to grasp the basics by the previous night.

Li Haoyuan was once again astonished.

He didn’t expect Chu Zhiyuan to be so adept with formations, with such sharp insights and incredible foresight.

Often correcting them before they made mistakes, thus avoiding errors, allowing the formation to quickly take shape.

Normally, it would take years of effort to see the beginnings of a new formation. Under his guidance, it only took an hour.

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly turned his head to look towards the northeast, and calmly said: ”They’re here!”

He then looked towards the south, nodding in satisfaction.

Li Haoyuan also had eyesight far beyond the ordinary, already seeing a group of small black dots appearing from the south, the Chasing Wind Cavalry from Prince Ying Chu Mingrui’s personal guards.

Chu Zhiyuan called out: ”Get spirited, set up the formation, prepare for battle!... A rare opportunity to earn merit is right in front of you, let’s see if you can seize it!”

The crowd grew somewhat frantic, like students about to take a test they haven’t fully prepared for.

Chu Zhiyuan snorted: ”Why panic, get into formation properly, just follow me into battle! The Stepping Cloud Iron Cavalry is nothing special!”

He secretly sighed: Martial Arts experts truly are a motley crew, even disciplined guards from the Prince Mansion were far inferior to the performance of Chu Mingrui’s personal soldiers.

The ground slightly vibrated, a thousand meters away, the Stepping Cloud Iron Cavalry began slowly accelerating, but not too much, demonstrating ample experience.

Chu Zhiyuan directed the guards, helping them get the formation set up properly.

He didn’t let Li Haoyuan’s personal soldiers participate.

These personal soldiers drew their swords coldly, protecting Li Haoyuan inside, forming a formation directed at the approaching Stepping Cloud Iron Cavalry, their expressions calm and composed.

”Charge, follow me into the charge!” Chu Zhiyuan shouted loudly: ”No matter when, always maintain the formation, the power of the formation will shield you, do not mind those who rush toward you!”

His voice was gentle and calm, soothing their excited and nervous emotions, quickly calming them down, allowing them to focus on their positions.

Chu Zhiyuan rode slowly at the forefront, accelerating while directing each guard, pointing out any mistakes and where to pay attention whenever necessary.

As the formation operated, power began to descend from the void.

With Super Sense, he saw a rush of power descending from the void, which made Chu Zhiyuan nod in satisfaction.

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