Imperial Cultivation

Chu Zhiyuan raised his voice: "Lord Qin."

Qin Guanghe floated out of the military formation and leaped onto a bamboo branch, standing opposite Chu Zhiyuan.

He was clad in iron armor, yet seemed weightless, only causing the bamboo branch to bend slightly.

Chu Zhiyuan pointed ahead: "Lord Qin, beyond that open ground lies a valley, protected by a formation that creates an invisible barrier preventing approach."

Qin Guanghe looked solemnly at the end of the open ground, slowly nodding.

Chu Zhiyuan said: "It's a layer of white light, like a glazed罩(zhào, cover), resilient and powerful, with the ability to reflect force. When you charge, maintain maximum impact while being mindful of dissipating energy. After the rebound, fly towards both sides."

He looked at the horses clad in iron armor, and said in a deep voice: "To protect the warhorses, dismount before impact."

"Understood!" Qin Guanghe solemnly nodded.

Chu Zhiyuan explained the opponents they would face, which would greatly help them adjust their attack methods.

Chu Zhiyuan continued: "What I want is the impact force of the iron cavalry, like the great river behind us, maintaining a continuous, unstoppable force to deplete the formation's power."

In military formations on the battlefield, the first thing to face is a rain of arrows, but of course, there are ways to defend against it.

Chu Zhiyuan said: "After breaking the formation, you don't need to charge in."

"Yes." Qin Guanghe secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

The valley must be filled with traps.

This is not what the Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry excels at. Once they charge in and get caught in the traps, they will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

This Prince is still benevolent, not deliberately trying to weaken the Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry.

Li Biyang laughed: "What about us, the Imperial Guards?"

Chu Zhiyuan said: "The Imperial Guards have already done enough. As for what remains, they will need to step forward to clean up after the main altar is breached."

"…Alright." Li Biyang nodded helplessly.

In the end, the Imperial Guards have really become errand runners.

He glanced at the Imperial Guards standing on the other side of the river, all staring excitedly at this side, looking like they were watching a show.

They didn't seem nervous at all, which was really speechless.

These evil sect experts who rushed out seemed very weak, killed without resistance.

But that doesn't mean they can be easily dealt with. The Imperial Guards will inevitably suffer losses.

It's better this way.

It would be even better if the Jade Cauldron Sect's main altar could be breached so easily.

He looked at the Imperial Guards, then at the solemn Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry, shook his head, and had already given up on the idea of these Imperial Guards making contributions.

Chu Zhiyuan looked at the opposite side and said calmly: "Then let's begin!"

Qin Guanghe solemnly clasped his fist, then floated down from the bamboo branch and landed in front of the military formation.

He mounted his horse, raised his arm, clenched his fist, and then made a gesture.

The more than a thousand Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry immediately changed formation, from a fan shape with both wings flying together to a fish scale formation, layer upon layer.

There were twenty-odd meters between each layer.

The iron cavalry began to move forward, the warhorses first walking slowly, then gradually accelerating, from a slow walk to a trot, and then a high-speed charge.

Within a distance of two hundred meters, they had already formed a high-speed charge.

They first dragged their spears, holding shields, and when the distance was close enough, Qin Guanghe shouted: "Raise spears!"

The spears were immediately raised diagonally, the spearheads emitting a cold light in the setting sun.

Chu Zhiyuan stood on the bamboo branch, staring intently at the opposite side, observing the distance between the knights and the formation.

Suddenly, he shouted: "Lord Qin!"

Qin Guanghe immediately roared like a bolt from the blue: "Flying Thrust!"

The knights on horseback immediately soared into the sky, thrusting out fiercely towards the opposite side.

The warhorses immediately slowed down.

"Bang bang bang bang bang…"

The spear tips immediately pierced a transparent light罩(zhào, cover), slightly sinking in, and then recovering.

The spear tips were pushed back, and the piercing force was reflected back.

The knights were immediately thrown out, flying diagonally to both sides.

The warhorses immediately chased after them, trying to catch their masters.

The next wave of iron cavalry arrived.

The spears were thrust out, and the people and spears flew diagonally to both sides, some were injured, and some almost lost their spears.

As the transparent barrier appeared, the opposite side, which was originally a bamboo forest, became a valley.

Layers of buildings were arranged in a well-organized manner within the valley, with fiery trees and silver flowers.

The valley stone walls were embedded with jade cauldrons.

Some of these jade cauldrons were large and some were small, the tallest being ten meters high and five meters in diameter, behemoths that would give people a strong sense of insignificance.

The entire valley also looked like the shape of a jade cauldron.

At this time, under the largest jade cauldron, more than a hundred people were kneeling on the white jade ground, murmuring.

Through the light barrier, Chu Zhiyuan saw pillars of light falling straight down from the void, landing inside the huge jade cauldron, which at first glance seemed as if the jade cauldron was shooting them up.

The pillars of light were as thick as fists, piercing straight into the void, as if connecting heaven and earth.

Chu Zhiyuan felt the powerful force surging from this giant cauldron, falling into the jade cauldrons on the stone wall, and these jade cauldrons condensed the power on the transparent light barrier.

Chu Zhiyuan frowned.

As expected, it was this trick!

The Jade Cauldron Sect disciples summoned extraterrestrial power to protect the valley.

This was a process of attrition, to see who could outlast whom.

Compared to smashing with boulders and grinding away bit by bit, the power of more than a thousand Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry was increased by hundreds or thousands of times.

The Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry was condensing its own power into one place, even magnifying it several times.

This was the power of a military formation.

The light screen became brighter and thicker, and the power descending from the void became stronger.

Xu Haode floated onto a bamboo branch, stood beside Chu Zhiyuan, and exclaimed, "This is much faster than the two of us breaking the formation!"

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "This is the power of the imperial court."

Xu Haode slowly nodded, his expression solemn, staring intently at the Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry.

…

Chu Zhiyuan suddenly looked towards the Imperial Guards by the river, noticing they were also eager to try.

The experts in the valley no longer emerged, all retreating into the valley.

Chu Zhiyuan judged that they had great confidence in the extraterrestrial power and did not want to come out and die needlessly.

Chu Zhiyuan turned his head and said, "Seventh Prince, would you like your Imperial Guards to take a look?"

"May we?" Li Biyang quickly asked.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Looking at the situation now, the danger is not high, it's worth a try."

"That would be wonderful!" Li Biyang also felt that deploying the Imperial Guards in this situation was a good idea.

After all, the Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry had already charged several rounds and were injured by the light screen's backlash, needing to rest.

Chu Zhiyuan raised his voice and said, "Lord Qin, take a break, let the Imperial Guards charge for a while."

"Yes." Qin Guanghe breathed a sigh of relief and waved his hand.

The Cloud-Treading Iron Cavalry regrouped by the river, standing quietly in place to rest.

Some took out wound medicine, took pills to heal their injuries, while others held their spears in their arms, regulating their breathing to calm their minds.

The Imperial Guards cheered and, in groups of two or three, rushed towards the light screen outside the valley, some wielding palms, some throwing punches, and some using weapons.

In an instant, the light screen lit up again, enduring the attacks of over a hundred experts.

They also divided into waves, one wave replacing another after becoming exhausted.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded in satisfaction.

Many hands make light work. Although their cultivation was not strong enough, and their attack power was not high enough, the consumption of so many people still had an effect.

Unknowingly, dusk had deepened, and a bright moon had already risen.

Torches had been hung outside the bamboo forest, their blazing light illuminating the area.

Li Biyang stood beside Chu Zhiyuan and asked, "Prince, in this situation, how long will it take to break through?"

He had also tried attacking the light screen and found his own power to be too insignificant.

At the same time, a sense of despair arose.

It seemed that no matter how frantically they attacked, they could not break through this palm-thick light screen.

The Jade Cauldron Sect's main altar's formation was very bizarre and too powerful.

He found it hard to imagine how to break such a formation and how to attack the valley.

Chu Zhiyuan said, "It should be about dawn."

"Attack madly all night?" Li Biyang asked in surprise.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded, "It's just a process of attrition, there's no other way."

Unless one had practiced the Jade Cauldron Sect's mental cultivation method and could instantly enter the valley, otherwise, without the Jade Cauldron Sect's mental cultivation method, one would be blocked outside upon approaching.

As for breaking the formation, that was useless.

Their formation was not mysterious, it was just a light screen formed by extraterrestrial power that enveloped the valley.

To destroy the formation, one had to destroy the Jade Cauldron or the Venerable's statue inside the valley.

To destroy it, one had to enter the valley, but to enter the valley, one would be blocked by the formation.

He had once tried to let a flying knife go in first.

But the formation reacted extremely quickly, and the flying knife was blocked as soon as it approached the valley.

Even the flying knife could not force its way in, let alone him, so he gave up on this idea.

It was just a matter of hard attrition, relying on the imperial court's large numbers and strength to form a crushing advantage.

Li Biyang sighed, "If we attack madly all night, they may not be able to hold on."

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "With spirit pills available, plus occasional rest, it should be about right."

"This move…" Li Biyang shook his head.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Seventh Prince, do you have a better idea?"

"We should think of a clever way," Li Biyang said.

"This method is a shortcut," Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Sometimes the dumbest method is actually the shortcut."

Li Biyang always felt that there should be a better way to break the formation, but he just hadn't found it yet.

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and didn't try to persuade him.

He had already thought of the methods he should have thought of, and found that the best method was to grind it down.

And this was often the method that people abandoned at the first thought.

This formed a blind spot, leading to the fact that no one had broken the evil sect's main altar formation to this day.

The only time it was broken was when the Emperor used the Son of Heaven Sword.

Chu Zhiyuan thought of the Son of Heaven Sword and couldn't help but shake his head inwardly.

There was a price to pay every time the Son of Heaven Sword was used, and it would be a bit of a waste to use the Son of Heaven Sword to break the evil sect's formation, using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Time slowly passed, and the bright moon moved from east to west in the sky.

As the last batch of knights charged weakly, the light screen "popped" and dissipated.

This batch of knights originally thought they would be bounced back, but they didn't expect the light screen to suddenly disappear. Caught off guard, they flailed their limbs and rushed into the valley.

The Jade Cauldron Sect experts waiting in the valley immediately rushed over to engage in close combat.

Then, a round of bright moon flashed before their eyes, and the bright moon suddenly turned into a blade of light, and was swallowed by darkness the next moment.

In the blink of an eye, the gazes of all the Jade Cauldron Sect experts in the valley dimmed and quickly extinguished.

Xu Haode rushed into the valley, heading straight for the largest Jade Cauldron, wanting to destroy this cauldron first to isolate the power of the extraterrestrial evil demon.

He flew halfway, and suddenly flew backwards, spitting out a stream of blood in the air.

Chu Zhiyuan's expression changed slightly, he reached out to catch Xu Haode, and looked intently at the largest Jade Cauldron.

It was slowly lighting up.

And more than a hundred Jade Cauldron Sect disciples below it had already turned into corpses, several times faster than the corpses in other places.

Chu Zhiyuan raised his voice and said, "Everyone, retreat from the valley immediately!"

His voice was calm, condensed and unwavering, transmitted into everyone's ears, carrying a convincing power.