The cultivation atmosphere within the Cang Guard army reached new heights with the arrival of the Tai Lai Spirit Water.
In the past, the Cang Guard soldiers practiced diligently, but due to various factors like their innate talents and the speed at which they gathered spiritual energy, their progress was slow. Despite practicing every day for long periods, the results were not significant.
But now, everything had changed. The appearance of the Tai Lai Spirit Water allowed every Cang Guard soldier to truly experience the joy of cultivation.
Drinking the spirit water to quench their thirst, eating rice porridge cooked with it, and then indulging in intense cultivation while feeling the occasional release of turbid energy—this increased the speed of their spiritual energy gathering dramatically.
Some soldiers, with extremely weak natural talents, even felt their ability to channel and exhale spiritual energy had become smoother than before. They realized that the Tai Lai Spirit Water was slowly enhancing their talents!
This discovery was a huge breakthrough. After informing the four generals of the Cang Guard, they immediately went into action, working in shifts with the best 500 soldiers, guarding the Tai Lai Pool day and night. Only the designated water-fetchers were allowed near the pool. They feared that spies from the Jiuquan Kingdom might try to sneak in and steal the marrow-cleansing crystals from the pool.
After all, the marrow-cleansing crystals were the lifeblood of Tai Cang in the present day, and nothing could allow this to be stolen.
Upon hearing of the generals' actions, Ji Xia praised them repeatedly, admitting that he had overlooked this possibility.
A few days later, apart from handling state affairs daily, Ji Xia worked diligently on his cultivation. On the morning of the tenth day, he had reinforced the Great Snow Mountain to a point where it could accommodate more spiritual energy, and successfully broke through to the second level of the Heaven realm.
At the second level of Heaven, Ji Xia could now expel spiritual energy from his body, allowing him to perform martial arts techniques, such as the Hundred-fold Waves recorded in the Starry Secret Scroll.
The Hundred-fold Waves, as the name suggested, was a technique where spiritual energy accumulated layer by layer, each layer strengthening the next. The martial art could stack up to a hundred times, and when executed, it would unleash an attack akin to a hundred waves crashing forward, an extremely powerful strike.
However, Ji Xia's spiritual energy was still too weak. He could only stack up five layers before exhausting the spiritual energy in the Great Snow Mountain, placing him in an awkward situation.
"The Hundred-fold Waves is indeed a powerful martial art. I have been studying the martial arts texts in the archives these past few days, and I've discovered that the Starry Secret Scroll is not only profound in gathering and refining spiritual energy, but its martial arts techniques are also incredibly potent," Ji Xia thought. "The only issue is that these techniques require a massive amount of spiritual energy, and the Great Snow Mountain in its current state can't sustain that much energy for long. If it could, I might consider promoting these martial arts to the military or the general populace."
"Perhaps I should send the Starry Secret Scroll to Tai Cang's Academy? Let more people learn this powerful technique?" Ji Xia considered briefly before shaking his head. "The people of Jiuquan and Zhouqing Kingdoms look completely different from Tai Cang people. After all, it was only recently that Jiuquan spies disguised themselves as officials to deliver intelligence. If the Starry Secret Scroll were placed in the Academy, it's possible the people from Jiuquan might get greedy."
"Once I find a way to identify spies who have disguised themselves as Tai Cang people, perhaps I can start promoting this technique, so everyone can practice it."
With that resolved in his mind, Ji Xia continued studying the Hundred-fold Waves.
After some time, Lu Shangyin hurriedly entered the palace, and upon seeing Ji Xia, he immediately reported, "Your Majesty, the City Lord of Cang City, leading 3,000 Cang Guard soldiers, has arrived at Tai City and is now stationed by the Tai City River. Po Xian is here to pay respects to the late king and is awaiting your summons."
Ji Xia gave the order to bring the City Lord of Cang City into the palace. He changed his clothes and made his way to the Taihe Hall, where he sat on the throne.
Soon, a young man in a blue robe, with a gentle and jade-like face, appeared in the hall. He seemed to be in his early thirties and bowed respectfully to Ji Xia. "I, Po Xian, pay my respects to the King!"
Ji Xia looked up and down at the City Lord of Cang City, who only existed in his memories in fragmented pieces. He had to admit that while Po Xian might be slightly less handsome than him, he was undoubtedly a fine-looking man.
Apart from his appearance, Ji Xia, now on the cultivation path, could feel Po Xian's immense spiritual energy. Compared to him, Ji Xia's pitiful cultivation in the Great Snow Mountain seemed trivial.
"Po Xian's cultivation is probably already at the ninth level of Heaven!" Ji Xia thought, feeling quite pleased. "With this, I now have two ninth-level experts under my command!"
"City Lord Po, you must be tired from your journey. I appreciate your hard work," Ji Xia said with a smile.
Po Xian bowed again and said loudly, "Your Majesty is too kind. Cang City is so close to Tai City, and with the 3,000 soldiers, it only took us half a day to march. How can I say I am tired?"
Ji Xia immediately ordered a welcoming feast to be prepared for Po Xian.
At the banquet, Po Xian sat alongside Lu Shangyin, and after a few rounds of wine, he suddenly asked, "After Ji Xia ascended the throne, I could not come to Tai City to pay my respects due to the threat from Zhouqing's forces stationed at Cangqing Mountain. Does His Majesty bear any ill will toward me?"
Lu Shangyin shook his head and replied, "Your Majesty does not care about such trivial matters. He has been very busy with state affairs these past few days, and he certainly won't harbor any grudges over something like this."
"I've heard that when Your Majesty was still the Crown Prince..." Po Xian began but trailed off as he looked at Lu Shangyin.
Lu Shangyin smiled, "You're implying that His Majesty, when he was still the Crown Prince, was petty and vengeful?"
Po Xian stole a glance at Ji Xia, who was smiling back at him. He felt uneasy and quietly whispered to Lu Shangyin, "Though I've been in Cang City these past eight years, I've heard the rumors. It is said that if the Crown Prince smiled at a young woman, she would need to lock herself in her room for a month to avoid being abducted. And if he smiled at a man, the man would most likely end up getting a beating."
Lu Shangyin smiled even more, "You're the City Lord of Cang City, a powerful expert facing the Heavenly Barrier. Who could make you suffer such a beating?"
Po Xian sighed, "He is the only bloodline of my master and the King of Tai Cang. If he wants to punish me, I wouldn't dare resist."
"Don't worry, City Lord Po. While those rumors were true, the current King of Tai Cang is no longer the unruly noble youth he once was," Lu Shangyin reassured him.
At that moment, Ji Qianqing, who had been silently observing, suddenly spoke up. She looked at Ji Xia, who was frowning and struggling with a piece of beast meat on a stone platter, and continued, "Since Ji Xia ascended to the throne, in just ten days, he has made contributions to Tai Cang that can't be measured in numbers."
"He carries a heavy burden. Seeing you smile is because with your arrival, Tai City now has another ninth-level expert, which gives us a greater chance of survival in the upcoming calamities."
Po Xian glanced at Ji Xia and suddenly remembered the innocent child from eleven or twelve years ago, the one who always clung to him and called him 'Po Uncle' while his master taught him the Starry Secret Scroll.
"Master, I've been stationed at Cang City for eight years, guarding it day and night. I've never allowed Zhouqing's forces to cross Cangqing Mountain. But I never imagined that our last meeting would be a final farewell…"
"Now that Ji Xia is the King of Tai Cang and facing the harshest of challenges, Po Xian will surely dedicate himself to the country and repay the kindness of your teachings…"