Chapter 129 - 8,000 Soldiers, 8,000 Grandmasters
In the eyes of most people, this was the means of an Immortal. If it wasn’t an Immortal, what was it?!
Therefore, Cui Heng’s arrival on an auspicious cloud immediately caused a commotion in the entire Yunshu County.
Almost every citizen knelt on the ground and bowed to the sky.
After collecting the light of joy and love from these people, Cui Heng landed in front of Hui Shi, Chen Tong, and Meng Zhang.
However, he did not speak to the three of them first. Instead, he looked at the 8,000 soldiers not far away and nodded lightly. “Alright, they’re all good men.”
These soldiers were indeed good men.
Yunshu County bordered the grassland. Almost all the men practiced martial arts, and their physiques were very strong.
Although the martial arts they practiced were not any profound martial techniques and could only be cultivated to the Internal Nurturing level at most, and they could not even reach the Qi Sensing realm, it was enough to strengthen the body and strengthen their Essence, Qi, and Spirit.
“Lord Overseer, Yunshu County is filled with good men!” Chen Tong came over and bowed. “If we can recruit tens of thousands of soldiers and train them a little, we will definitely be able to defend this city.”
“Haha, Chen Tong. Lord Overseer himself is already here. Do we still need you to defend the city?” Hui Shi was a straightforward person, and always spoke his mind. After bowing, he said, “Lord Overseer, are you here because there’s something special about the grassland barbarians?”
Both of them could tell that since Cui Heng had come to Yunshu County City himself, he would definitely use his divine power to guard the city.
This battle was already guaranteed.
However, if it was just an ordinary battle, they should only receive a letter to allow them to conduct recruitment. There was no need to come personally.
Unless there was something abnormal about the grassland barbarians.
“The situation has indeed changed.” Cui Heng nodded slightly and looked at Meng Zhang beside him. He smiled and said, “Is this the Governor of Yunshu County?”
“Your humble servant, Meng Zhang, greets you, Lord Overseer.” Meng Zhang bowed respectfully to Cui Heng and could not help but ask, “May I ask if you are an Immortal?”
Cui Heng’s appearance just now was too shocking
Even this experienced old guard found it unbelievable.
He felt that his understanding had been overturned.
A human could actually ride on the clouds and fly in the sky. Wasn’t this an Immortal?
After all, in this world, even if one cultivated their martial arts to the Divine Treasure Realm, opened the treasures in their bodies, and possessed divine power, they would still be unable to fly.
Only an ancient inheritance with a deep foundation like the Daoyi Palace had methods to specially awaken divine powers like “Cloud Riding” and “Wind Riding”.
“I’m not an Immortal. I’m still a mortal. I just have some tricks up my sleeves.” Cui Heng shook his head slightly.
This was the truth.
To the current him, even this world still had too many unknowns.
Compared to the vast universe, the ability of a Golden Core cultivator was even more insignificant.
“…” Meng Zhang was speechless. He had lived for most of his life and had never seen a mortal who could ride the clouds. “Lord Overseer, you came here personally to help us defend the city, right?”
In the end, he still returned to the topic of defending the city.
Right now, guarding the city is the most important thing in Yunshu County. Whether the people in the city lived or died depended on whether Yunshu County could be defended in the future.
“That’s right, I’m indeed here to help you defend the city.” Cui Heng nodded and admitted.
He was not in the habit of beating around the bush.
He wasn’t a riddle man.
“Really?!” Meng Zhang’s eyes lit up when he heard that. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed. “Thank you, Lord Overseer. Please save the people of Yunshu County from war.”
“There’s no rush to thank me.” Cui Heng gently held his hand up and did not let Meng Zhang continue kowtowing. He smiled and asked, “May I know what kind of troops you think are needed to protect this city?”.
“At least 12,000 soldiers,” Meng Zhang said without thinking. He thought that Cui Heng was asking about the number of soldiers recruited, so he added, “If we want to attack the barbarians in the north and defeat them, we have to recruit at least 30,000 soldiers.”
Although the Great Jin Dynasty had already been ravaged by war and the people were struggling to survive, the border troops still maintained powerful combat strength and relatively superior equipment.
The grassland barbarians were good at riding and shooting. When they charged forward, they did not care about their lives.
However, their equipment and commanding skills were far inferior to those of Great Jin.
Therefore, during a large-scale battle, it was not strange for Great Jin’s soldiers to repel the barbarians who were several times their number.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of barbarians were craftsmen and laborers. The only ones who could really fight were 50,000 cavalry and more than 10 battalions of soldiers.
This was also why Meng Zhang dared to say that 30,000 soldiers could defeat the barbarian army.
“What if we only use these 8,000 soldiers?” Cui Heng asked again and emphasized, “What kind of troops are needed?”
“That’s impossible!” Meng Zhang was extremely agitated when he heard this. He shook his head and said, “Lord Overseer, are you planning to let these 8,000 men defend the city? No, no way. If there are only these few people, they might not even be able to defend Yunshu County!”
“Governor Meng, please calm down.” Cui Heng shook his head and smiled. “What I mean is, if these soldiers have profound martial arts and have the strength to fight one against ten or even one against a hundred, can they defeat the barbarians outside?”
“In theory, that could work, but how is this possible…” Meng Zhang was even more confused.
He was also a martial artist, but due to his limited talent, he was only at the Marrows Purification realm.
However, even if it was just the Marrows Purification realm, he could barely be considered a first-rate expert in the Pugilistic World.
Therefore, Meng Zhang knew very well that it was completely impossible to make up for the gap of hundreds of thousands of people just by improving one’s physical strength.
It was impossible.
Chen Tong and Hui Shi immediately understood what Cui Heng meant.
Especially Hui Shi.
He had actually experienced it himself.
“If I raise these 8,000 people to the Qi Transformation Realm, can they defeat the barbarians outside?” Cui Heng asked.
“W-what?!” Meng Zhang’s eyes widened as he looked at Cui Heng in disbelief.
He had never heard such a ridiculous question in his life.
That was the Qi Transformation realm. It was known as the Transcendent realm. In the Pugilistic World, such experts could be the ancestor of a sect.
“Lord Overseer, it should be enough,” Chen Tong replied.
As part of his missions, he had already helped the governor manage the military. It was appropriate for him to stand up and speak at this moment.
“Alright, let’s do that.” Cui Heng immediately decided and said to Meng Zhang, “May I trouble Governor Meng to order someone to send a cup of tea over?”.
“S-sure… I’ll follow Lord Overseer’s orders.” Meng Zhang was already filled with doubts, not knowing what Cui Heng wanted to do.
Could he really raise 8,000 people to the Qi Transformation realm?
Don’t be ridiculous!
How was this possible?
After a while, tea was served.
Cui Heng circulated his Dharmic powers and raised his hand to casually wave it around the teacup. He smiled and said, “Alright, bring this cup of tea to the men. Remember to ask them to drink more.”
This time, everyone was stunned and looked at Cui Heng in confusion.
Did the Lord Overseer mess up his words?
This cup of tea was clearly not even enough for two mouthfuls for an ordinary person. How could it be distributed to 8,000 soldiers?
The person serving the tea was a young adjudicator.
Now, the expression on his face was even uglier than crying.
This adjudicator had never seen Cui Heng riding on the cloud before. He was only called over at the last minute.
From his current point of view, Cui Heng was deliberately making things difficult for Meng Zhang
However, when the adjudicator saw the first soldier drink the tea in one gulp, the tea in the teacup was actually filled again. He was immediately shocked.
He almost knelt down in front of Cui Heng.
This was an Immortal!
Immediately after, something unbelievable happened that left the adjudicator and Meng Zhang extremely shocked.
After drinking the tea that Cui Heng had “handled”, the 8,000 soldiers’ bodies began to emit steam one after another. They immediately exercised their bodies.
For a moment, crackling sounds sounded in the sky above the training ground.
The auras of these soldiers were rapidly becoming stronger.
They could clearly feel that their martial arts were advancing by leaps and bounds. There was no need to communicate with each other at all. With just a bit of movement with their arms and legs, they had become stronger.
Unbelievable, it was really too unbelievable!
In the blink of an eye, these soldiers’ bodies were nourished from the inside. They even transcended the Qi Sensing, Qi Accumulation, Tendons Transformation, Marrows Purification, and Qi Condensation realms to reach the Qi Transformation realm!
8,000 Qi Transformation Grandmasters!
Such a force was born just like that!
The moment their transformations ended, the 8,000 soldiers knelt down to Cui Heng and prostrated themselves!
“Thank you Exalted Immortal, for your kindness!”
“Thank you Exalted Immortal, for your kindness!”
Their voices rose like a tsunami that reached the clouds.
At this moment, Meng Zhang was completely dumbfounded.
His eyes widened as he looked at the soldiers in disbelief. He subconsciously slapped himself to test if he was dreaming.
Hui Shi and Chen Tong, who were standing at the side, were also a little stunned.
Although they had guessed that Cui Heng wanted to improve the martial arts of these soldiers, they did not expect him to cause such a scene.
8,000 Grandmasters!
This was too exaggerated!
Has anyone ever led 8,000 Grandmasters to war?
Cui Heng, on the other hand, had a calm expression on his face, and his heart was unmoved.
After all, the so-called Transcendent Grandmaster was actually only equivalent to the Fourth level of Qi Refinement. They were even far inferior in many aspects.
With his current Golden Core realm cultivation, just by scattering out a few handfuls of soybeans, he could create tens of thousands of soldiers at the Fourth level of Qi Refinement.
It was too easy to raise these 8,000 soldiers to the Qi Transformation Realm.
“Lord Overseer is really an Immortal!” Meng Zhang bowed to Cui Heng respectfully, as if he was bowing to a god.
“There’s no need to be so polite.” Cui Heng shook his head lightly and gestured for Meng Zhang and the soldiers to stand up. He then faced Hui Shi and said, “In the next few days, help them familiarize themselves with the power they just obtained. You can also teach them some martial techniques.”
“Yes, Lord Overseer!” Hui Shi hurriedly bowed.
Six days later.
In the barbarian camp 20 miles away from Yunshu County.
One by one, the siege machines had been built, and the 300,000 soldiers, including the craftsmen and workers, were ready to set off. Chao Wushu sat on his horse at the front of the army, his eyes fixed on the distant Yunshu County City. He suddenly pulled out the scimitar at his waist and roared at the sky.
“Warriors, follow me! After we capture Yunshu Pass, we will have food for the winter, delicious wine and meat, and beautiful women!
“Charge!”