Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 327: Chapter 324 Action

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Chu Zhiyuan weaved through the rocks and quickly landed on shore, entering a small town.

Within the scope of Insight, the town was only about three miles in diameter, with a few thousand residents, and dried fish were hung out to dry everywhere.

A stench filled the air.

Smoke curled from every household, wafting into the air and suffusing the evening air with the smell of burning wood and the breath of life.

The busiest street in the town was lined with various stalls.

Fish stalls, meat stalls, vegetable stalls, fruit stalls, and some shops selling clothes and cosmetics, along with two grocery stores.

Children ran wild in the streets, and people were beginning to gather to eat in teahouses and restaurants.

Chu Zhiyuan had changed into coarse clothing in advance and applied Disguise Paste to his face, turning it brown, blending seamlessly into the town.

He entered a teahouse in town, sat in a corner, with a wooden plaque hanging from his waist.

This wooden plaque matched the color of his hemp clothing, so one wouldn’t notice it unless staring at his waist intentionally.

After sitting for a while, a small note appeared in his palm, delivered personally by the shopkeeper.

Chu Zhiyuan finished his tea and stood up to leave.

Following the guidance of the note, he arrived outside a small courtyard, knocked on the door, three short knocks followed by two long ones, and knocked twice in this pattern.

The courtyard door opened, and a chubby middle-aged man was waiting inside, clasping his hands in greeting, saying nothing.

Chu Zhiyuan entered the courtyard.

It was a very simple courtyard, clearly unoccupied regularly, with only occasional sweeping.

Chu Zhiyuan entered the house.

The house hadn’t been heated yet, and it was damp and cold.

The middle-aged man clasped his fists and said, ”I am Pang Si, and you are...?”

”Coincidentally, I am Qing Si.” Chu Zhiyuan smiled, ”I am here to ask for assistance.”

”Speak freely, I will do my utmost.”

”I have seen the defense map of the Western Realm. I want to understand our current location and where there are nearby troops stationed.”

”There is a garrison three miles away, with a shipyard. This is Rongxing Town on the Wangxi Road, and the nearby garrison is Rongxing Castle, with over a thousand troops, two large ships, and ten small ships.”

”Have there been any recent large shipments of supplies?”

”There have been some, but not many.”

”Any troop reinforcements or recruitment of soldiers?”

”No, there hasn’t.”

”No signs of mobilizing troops?”

”The Da Guang Dynasty is to the south. If there were to be a mobilization, it should be toward the Wangnan Road, not the Wangxi Road.”

Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

It seems everyone thinks alike, expecting an attack toward the south, aiming at the Da Guang Dynasty.

This spy from the Inspection Department hadn’t considered that the Da Lie Dynasty might attack the Da Jing Dynasty to the west.

The Da Lie are deliberately creating an Enchantment Formation, deceiving everyone into believing they would attack the Da Guang Dynasty.

Even the Da Lie Dynasty kept it a secret from their own people, deceiving everyone, including the Da Jing Dynasty.

This strategy is indeed quite clever.

”If they were to head south and turn west midway, where would they typically change direction?” Chu Zhiyuan asked, ”And possibly resupply?”

”...There is a large island in the southwest, Nanyun Island. Stopping there allows a direct turn west, and Nanyun Island is prosperous, making resupply easy.”

”Nanyun Island...” Chu Zhiyuan nodded, ”It’s not easy to enter Nanyun Island, is it?”

”Nanyun Island is heavily guarded, and entry requires a passage permit.”

”Can you obtain a passage permit?”

”...I’ll see what I can do.” Pang Si frowned, thought for a moment, and slowly said, ”You’ll know by tomorrow morning.”

”Thank you.” Chu Zhiyuan nodded.

He could tell Pang Si was confident, just deliberately delaying to emphasize the difficulty of the task.

”There’s more...”

Chu Zhiyuan and Pang Si talked until they were dry-throated, unconsciously drinking two cups of tea while clarifying the surrounding situation.

Chu Zhiyuan then bid farewell to Pang Si and wandered through the town, visiting the Rongxing Castle garrison three miles away.

He extended his Super Sense, illuminating the Rongxing Castle garrison.

Quickly discerning their strengths and weaknesses, he breathed a sigh of relief.

The over a thousand soldiers of Da Lie were lax, their discipline lax, and their martial arts cultivation mediocre.

In the evening training, many slacked off.

He knew from the Inspection Department’s intelligence that Da Lie’s military system differed from the Da Jing Dynasty’s, with less emphasis on merit.

Compared to the Da Jing Dynasty, Da Lie’s soldiers have fewer paths to advancement.

Promotion isn’t as easy, and merit isn’t as easily accrued, leading these soldiers to lack motivation, becoming nothing but old hands with no ambition.

Even against the Phoenix Camp, these thousand soldiers wouldn’t require the Phoenix Camp soldiers to use formations to swiftly destroy them.

He ventured south along the coastline under cover of night, traveling several hundred miles and inspecting several Da Lie military camps.

Overall, the Da Lie soldiers lacked combat power and formations.

It makes sense—naval battles don’t need formations; it’s all about ships firing arrows, then boarding for close combat.

The further south he went, the more elite the Da Lie soldiers became, more formidable individually.

Yet their elite units still fell short compared to the soldiers he had seen from the Da Jing Dynasty.

Chu Zhiyuan felt he might have overthought things.

Even if these elite units breached into the Da Jing Dynasty and entered the Eastern Territory, once the Da Jing Western Realm’s troops were mobilized, a single charge would send them scattering.

Seeing is believing.

After seeing Da Lie’s army with his own eyes, most of his worries vanished.

In the early morning of the second day, he returned to Rongxing Town, obtained a passage permit, and headed south.

Instead of boarding a Da Lie vessel, he used a small boat of his own, pushing its speed to the limit, reaching Nanyun Island in one go.

Upon entering Nanyun Island with the passage permit, he brazenly stayed at an inn, experiencing the local customs of Nanyun Island.

Also inspecting the island’s garrison.

The troops on Nanyun Island were even more elite.

He observed their usual training, their force deployments.

He noticed a continuous influx of military ships transporting troops.

Small contingents joined, bringing the island’s garrison to over ten thousand.

He could see troops being gathered from all around, selected elites from the military converging on Nanyun Island.

Yet these elites still paled in comparison to the Phoenix Camp.

Chu Zhiyuan was reassured.

The next day, he left Nanyun Island, continued south, reaching the Da Guang’s Northern Territory.

Entering the Da Guang Dynasty from the north, he reconnected with Inspection Department spies, surveyed the Da Guang’s Northern Territory.

Two days later, he returned to the Da Jing Dynasty’s Eastern Territory coastline, found two Heavenly Dragon Divine Horses, and headed back to Yujing.

...

Phoenix Camp began their operation.

They split into ten brigades, spaced approximately ten miles apart, with eighteen small units forming one brigade, marching separately.

On the road, Chu Zhiyuan continued to train their military formations.

The Heavenly Dragon Divine Horse allowed him to move like lightning, training one brigade and then the next.

In one day, he could cycle through training them all.

The troops utilized Qinggong, marching lightly while carrying heavy loads. Bai Ningyu had gone ahead to coordinate logistics.

In ten days, upon reaching the Eastern Territory, they had achieved a proficiency of five or six out of ten with the Phoenix Seeking Phoenix Formation.

Chu Zhiyuan considered this sufficient.

In a certain camp in the Eastern Territory, all the soldiers of the Phoenix Camp changed into Da Lie Dynasty armor and weapons.

They wore solemn expressions, feeling the gravity of the impending battle.

Chu Zhiyuan looked over the Phoenix Camp soldiers with satisfaction.

These soldiers had battle experience, having seen blood, if not directly having killed.

Such soldiers, on the battlefield, wouldn’t lose their nerve, and could unleash their full strength.

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