"Command the border to connect with the Dangxiang people, bestow silver and silk, and invite them to enter the court for an audience,"
"The daughter of the Right Prince of Tuyuhun adores jade; send fine jade and beauties to offer congratulations,"
The old man issued command after command, blocking the great currents stirred by Yue Qianfeng, old yet solemn.
When he was writing the letter, his expression was calm, as if able to stabilize the great currents of the world, yet someone approached quickly—it was a eunuch from the palace, speaking urgently, "Prime Minister, the Emperor has received a Thousand-mile River and Mountain Peace Scroll, and the Prime Ministers in the court cannot appreciate it, the Emperor is getting angry."
The official, who had just reported important affairs, furrowed his brow and scolded, "Absurd, the Prime Minister has important..."
The old man exclaimed, "Absurd!"
The official was about to respond when the inkstone smashed into his forehead, leaving him dizzy and bleeding.
The scholarly old man put down his brush and hurried to the eunuch's side, seizing his arm, saying:
"This is a major event, no one can appreciate the Saint's great work."
"Although I am dull, I wish to see it."
"Please lead the way."
The official from the Ministry of War sat on the ground, clutching his forehead, lost in a daze.
The old man, dressed in a red official robe with a jade belt, walked briskly away, the young official gazing at the scroll that represented the major trends of the world, which he had only just begun to write. The old man's figure was no longer visible, only the night sky could be seen as the wind picked up and clouds hung high.
If General Yue Qianfeng had truly crossed the border city and reached the Capital City of Jiangzhou,
Or rather, the whole world knew that General Yue Qianfeng seemed to be planning to assault the border city, was that really his plan?
He watched the clouds in the sky move, obscuring the clear moon.
"A change is coming..."
......
In the secret realm.
Facing a question from General Xue.
Li Guanyi barely managed to respond with some anecdotes he knew from The Art of War by Sun Tzu, General Xue shook his head and said lightly, "Empty talk, the battlefield is not so simple, you must have never been on one. The words you speak are what any student of the Military School would say, but you do not grasp their subtleties."
"Hmm, just proper nonsense, you're only repeating what others have said, you speak well, but don't say it next time."
"Avoiding the real to strike the false, how can you know what is real or false; knowing yourself and the enemy, how can you be sure what you know is true or false? Five virtues of a general, how to behave, how to train troops, how to form Battle Formations, how to unite the spirit of Weapons, how to inspire soldiers to have a will to die but not a need to win, yet can fight and win?"
"Terrain and geography, where can you station a camp; timing of weather, how to take advantage of it to launch a strong attack?"
"If there are generals in the army with divided loyalties, how do you suppress them; if a War General is defeated, what should be done?"
"Thirty-two tactics of using spies, sixteen methods of using dead spies, what are they respectively?"
"How to recognize an enemy spy, how to use them against their own, thirty-six basic Battle Formations, these are just the capabilities needed for immediate battle in the Military School, and mastering these makes one a general, worthy of bearing the lives of hundreds and thousands and the state itself."
"A long-term vision is sufficient to plan the grand strategy of military campaigns, not just formations, to be considered a great general. Yet you are but a parrot repeating others, how could I have someone like you in my younger generation, has my Xue Family stopped studying military texts now?"
General Xue seemed to doubt his descendants, but his eyes mostly carried an air of teasing.
Li Guanyi's mouth twitched slightly.
As the General picked up his pen, he wrote a character on the young man's forehead.
His lips curved slightly, "However, it's good, it appears my preparation has not gone to waste."
"I will tell you how to break through various situations."
He began to recount leading Cavalry tactics and the Crescent Moon Impact Formation; an hour later, the young man emerged from under water, while Shaking Light, reading silently, saw Li Guanyi collapse onto a rock.
Shaking Light's voice calm, "You look very tired."
Li Guanyi clutched his forehead.
Thinking about how he was utterly exhausted while General Xue kept elaborating on Battle Formations.
Complex, meticulous, and systematic.
"I feel that the knowledge of military tactics has entered my brain in a despicable way."
Li Guanyi had settled into a regular routine, practicing archery and martial arts during the day, then heading out of the city in the afternoon to train in a secret realm. He wanted to obtain the celestial light's tempering of his foundation to prove the superior method of entry, which was essential. After each battle, upon consuming elixir pills and when his body was exhausted,
General Xue would unilaterally force teach him various military tactics.
"Battle Formation Overview," "Art of War Heart Essence," "Military Classics," "Cao Lu's Strategy," "General Garden," "Ten Thousand Mechanism Theory," "Six Arts and Three Strategies," "Water Battle Tactics"... With various military texts, Li Guanyi remembered everything at a glance and thought swiftly, capable of deducing principles from one instance, prompting General Xue to further increase the teaching difficulty.
For every person he overcame, he would be taught using the military and combat skills that person specialized in from five hundred years ago.
Only when Li Guanyi managed to break through was it sufficient.
This routine was fulfilling, and more than ten days gradually passed. Li Guanyi still did not understand the use of such teaching, but one day on his way back, as he lifted his head and scanned the city defenses, he paused slightly, naturally arriving at a conclusion.
The city defenses had tightened.
Even the changed city gate guards were elites experienced in real battle formations, adept in infantry combat, and equipped with bow and crossbow arrows in an interlocking firing method.
It was a defense intended to confront sudden intrusions by strong infantry combatants.
If the city gate was used as a reference, there should be a great general not far from there. Hmm, although these civilians are plainly dressed, they likely carry iron chain hooks, a special unit used to entangle horses, representing a very solid type of defense.
When Li Guanyi entered the city, he realized what assessments his brain had made.
His expression turned grave, and he reached up to press his forehead.
First, there was some joy, followed by confusion; joy that General Xue's teachings had led to such a transformation in him, but also shock and perplexity. If a large city like Guan Yi City was preparing defenses in this way, it meant someone was planning an attack?
Who would be so insane?
Since that was the case, he decided to first bring his aunt to the Xue Family. Li Guanyi made the decision and headed towards the Xue Family, while simultaneously pondering over another matter - he had run out of elixir pills. Due to the tempering in the secret realm, his consumption of elixir pills was much higher than ordinary people.
And since elixir pills were expensive, he couldn't keep asking the young miss for money.
Lately, however, he had been telling stories to Xue Changqing, and had received some silver, just enough to get by.
Turning around, he heard someone shouting, "Fortune telling and divination, mastery of Ziwei Doushu and Big and Small Liu Ren, all within my grasp, ah, young friend, stop for a moment. Old man here sees darkness on your forehead, you might face a bloody weapon crisis soon."
Li Guanyi recognized the voice and saw an elderly man.
It was the Siming who had climbed the wall before.
The elderly man also saw Li Guanyi and slightly curved his lips.
Just as he was about to speak,
Li Guanyi's pupils constricted, and his gaze shifted, spotting the giant Mystic Turtle beside the old man.
The old man's action of stroking his beard froze, and his eyes widened.
He saw the White Tiger on Li Guanyi's shoulder and the Red Dragon on his arm.
Both were momentarily frozen.
Then both noticed the direction of each other's gazes, and their expressions changed.
The old man said, "You can see?!"
Frowning, Li Guanyi turned and walked away, and the old man threw his stall aside, leapt onto the table, and chased after him, shouting, "Apprentice, apprentice, stop there!"
Li Guanyi walked even faster.
The old man made a flying leap, grabbing directly onto the young man's legs.
"Apprentice, no, it's not..."
"If you don't want to be an apprentice, how about you be my master instead?"
"Master!"