While Shen Changqing remained at the Demon-Subduing Division, the situation in Great Qin was changing rapidly.
Wei Gao, the commander of Great Qin’s Fire Qilin Army, led 800,000 troops toward the Great Wilderness Prefecture. The Fire Qilin Army was a famous and powerful force in Great Qin, completely on par with the Black Tiger Army. The difference was that the Fire Qilin Army guarded the Central Plains, while the Black Tiger Army defended the Great Wilderness Prefecture.
Now that 1,000,000 members of the Barbarian Clan were fiercely advancing, the Black Tiger Army, caught off guard, had suffered heavy losses. Temporarily resisting the Barbarians posed no problem, but to annihilate them or drive them out of the Great Wilderness Prefecture was beyond their capability.
「The Great Wilderness Prefecture.」
This place, formerly a major city in the Great Wilderness Prefecture, had now fallen into the hands of the Barbarian Clan, becoming their main stronghold against Great Qin.
Within the city, Barbarians patrolled back and forth. Here and there lay the corpses of civilians, yet they attracted no attention from the Barbarians. The former Yamen had now become the Barbarian Clan’s headquarters.
Inside the inner hall, courtesans danced, each forcing a smile while fear lurked hidden in their eyes.
"Our army has been in the Great Wilderness Prefecture for some time now. I assume Great Qin must be making its move. How long do you think it will take for Great Qin’s reinforcements to arrive?" a middle-aged man, his upper body bare and skin tattooed with strange patterns, asked with a smile, holding a courtesan as he addressed the other Barbarian generals.
This was Isaac, the commander of the Barbarian forces invading the Great Wilderness Prefecture; the 1,000,000-strong Barbarian army was under his command. The courtesan in his arms tried her best to maintain a gentle smile on her beautiful face, yet her delicate body trembled slightly.
Upon hearing this, one of the Barbarian generals took a sip of liquor and declared loudly, "Dispatching troops isn’t a matter of a day or two. In my opinion, even if Great Qin has reinforcements, it will take them at least half a month to arrive. However, the resistance in the Great Wilderness Prefecture is strong. It’d be difficult for us to conquer it within half a month."
As he finished, another Barbarian general interjected, "The Eternal Alliance hasn’t exerted much effort on their part. If they’re willing to cooperate, we still have a hope of success."
The Eternal Alliance. At the mention of these words, the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment. Deep apprehension showed on each Barbarian general’s face.
"We cannot rely too much on the Eternal Alliance," Isaac said, a cold light flashing in his eyes. "No matter what, Demon Evil are fundamentally different from our people. The Demon Evil power behind the Eternal Alliance is formidable. If our clan truly depends on the Eternal Alliance to take down Great Qin, the outcome will not be what we desire." Cooperating with Demon Evil was akin to asking a tiger for its skin. However, the Barbarian Clan’s current situation was so critical that they had no other choice.
Shortly after, he shifted the topic. "But the Eternal Alliance has indeed made a considerable effort this time. The members of the three major Demon-Subduing Divisions in the Great Wilderness Prefecture have been tied down. If they hadn’t been occupied, our army wouldn’t have taken nearly half of the Great Wilderness Prefecture so easily."
The ability of 1,000,000 Barbarians to invade the Great Wilderness Prefecture so easily owed much to the Eternal Alliance’s substantial help. The Demon-Subduing Division was not only Great Qin’s primary means of combating Demon Evil but also an important instrument for maintaining stability within the empire. In the past, whenever the Barbarians plundered the Great Wilderness Prefecture, they often suffered heavy losses at the hands of the Demon-Subduing Division.
"Hmph, if the Eternal Alliance had truly managed to keep the Demon-Subduing Division occupied, Mairba wouldn’t have been slain!" a middle-aged Barbarian general stated with dissatisfaction.
Upon hearing this, a murderous intent flashed across Isaac’s face but quickly vanished, leaving only eyes as sharp as knives. "According to our intelligence, the person who killed Mairba is named Shen Changqing. He isn’t from the Great Wilderness Prefecture Demon Suppression Division but from the Capital Demon Suppression Division of Great Qin. Previous intelligence suggested he was only an Innate Martial Artist. However, when he appeared this time, he had already reached the late stage of Grandmaster. I suspect he had been concealing his strength all along. Mairba was simply unlucky to have crossed paths with him. However," Isaac continued, "even if he is a late-stage Grandmaster, so what? If I encounter him, I will personally twist his head off."
Isaac held the courtesan in one arm and, with the other, raised a large bowl of wine, draining it in one gulp. Afterwards, he slammed the wine bowl onto the ground. The sudden noise startled the courtesan in his arms, causing her to tremble once more. The courtesans dancing in the inner hall also paused involuntarily before gradually resuming their performance.
"Half a month," Isaac declared. "We’ll wait another half a month. If there’s still no news after that, we’ll adopt a defensive stance and plunder as many resources as we can from the Great Wilderness Prefecture, sending them back to our clan."
Isaac made his decision outright. Compared to Great Qin, the Barbarian Clan was still much weaker. Capturing half of the Great Wilderness Prefecture was almost the limit for their 1,000,000-strong force. Of course, if the Barbarian Clan were to truly exert all their power, their numbers would certainly exceed a mere million. But now was not the time for total commitment.
Suddenly, someone hurried in from outside. "Leader, according to the scouts’ report, an army of 200,000 is approaching! They are now less than 100 miles from Jiuhuang City!"
"Who is leading them?"
"Dongyang!" Isaac’s eyebrows rose, a cold smile playing on his lips. "So it’s him. Good, let me personally test the true might of the Black Tiger Army!"
Having said that, he turned to the other generals. "Pass my order: everyone prepare for battle!"
With those words, his hand clutching the courtesan tightened suddenly.
The sound of breaking bones rang out, twisting the expression on the courtesan’s face. Before she could even scream, she was dead.
The courtesans who were dancing screamed in terror at the sight. Just then, the other Barbarian generals drew their swords and swiftly killed the remaining courtesans. In a short while, the inner hall was littered with bodies, blood pooling on the floor.
Isaac stood up, not sparing a glance at the corpses. After giving a simple order, he left. "Clean this up!"
As a stabbing pain pierced his mind, Shen Changqing’s spirit withdrew from his Sea of Consciousness.
It had been 10 days since he joined the Hidden Heart Pavilion. In these 10 days, apart from the first day when he recklessly touched the Jade Wall on the 5th level, he had been silently cultivating in seclusion. His main focus was the True Intent of Battle.
Unfortunately, the improvement in his True Intent of Battle was much slower than Shen Changqing had anticipated. So far, he had not broken through to 20% of the True Intent of Battle.
At this rate, even with another month, I might not break through to 20%, let alone achieve True Intent Manifestation. That’s just wishful thinking.
At this point, Shen Changqing had come to understand just how difficult it was to advance in the later stages of the Spiritual System. Just as Dongfang Zhao had said, entering the Spiritual System was easy, but making substantial progress thereafter was very hard, making it the polar opposite of the Physical System.
However, if I could enter the secret chamber for intensive training, I would likely make faster breakthroughs in the Spiritual System, Shen Changqing thought to himself.
Speaking of which, he had not yet entered the secret chamber to cultivate. Every member of the Martial Hall had the right to cultivate in the secret chamber once a month for three days. If he gave up this opportunity, it would truly be a waste.
With that thought, Shen Changqing wasted no more time and immediately left his courtyard, heading for the Martial Hall. The Hidden Heart Pavilion was vast; the living quarters for Martial Hall members occupied only a small corner of it.
At the entrance of the Martial Hall, the person on duty had changed from Zhao Bai to Zhong Ning.
"Elder Zhong, why are you here today?" Shen Changqing asked, surprised to see him. He hadn’t expected that Zhong Ning would one day be guarding the Martial Hall’s entrance.
Zhong Ning was currently resting in a recliner. Upon hearing Shen Changqing, he cracked open his eyes slightly, glanced at him, and replied irritably, "The Martial Hall has a rule: we Elders must take responsibility for guarding it. The six Elders take turns. Last time it was Zhao Bai; this time it’s me."
As he spoke, Zhong Ning was clearly quite discontent. Honestly, for a dignified Elder of the Martial Hall to be watching the door was somewhat demeaning. If word got out, it would lower his status. But the rules were set by those above; although he was an Elder of the Martial Hall, he had no power to object. Therefore, despite his dissatisfaction, Zhong Ning could only suppress it.
Seeing Shen Changqing still standing there, he asked, "Why are you still here? What do you need?"
"I would like to enter the secret chamber for cultivation. Could you tell me how to do that?"
"Enter the secret chamber for cultivation?" Zhong Ning realized, then pointed inside and said, "You can just go in. If a chamber is occupied, a sign on it will indicate so. If it’s empty, it will show as vacant. However, you only get three free days of cultivation. Once the three days are up, if you haven’t come out, I’ll have to personally go in and drag you out."
"I understand," Shen Changqing nodded.
Zhong Ning closed his eyes again, appearing to have fallen deep asleep.
Seeing this, Shen Changqing knew he wasn’t actually sleeping. After breaking through to Grandmaster, Shen Changqing had come to understand the true difference between Grandmasters and other Martial Artists. To put it another way, even though Zhong Ning seemed to be merely lying there asleep, his Divine Sense had already spread out. Any movement within ten zhang would be impossible to conceal from his perception. Moreover, the ten-zhang range was just Shen Changqing’s estimation based on his own abilities. Zhong Ning was certainly not at a mere entry-level in the Spiritual System, meaning his sensing range was likely even vaster.
After a respectful bow, Shen Changqing stepped inside.
The first floor of the Martial Hall contained a total of 26 secret chambers. A sign hung on the door of each chamber. The front read "Occupied," the back "Vacant." Shen Changqing glanced around and saw that only about a third of the chambers were actually in use; the majority displayed the "Vacant" sign.
He randomly selected a chamber and pushed the door open.
In an instant, a surge of rich, overwhelming Spiritual Energy rushed towards him, causing all the pores on his body to open.