NOVPUBHua Xiong returned to the camp and burned down the original military camp in a fit of rage, then retreated over thirty li and on the opposite bank of a river that was several dozen meters wide, he rearranged his camp.
"General, the Hebei Army has returned the bodies of our brothers," Du Yuan said with a lowered head to Hua Xiong, who had not taken a bite of food or a sip of water all day.
"You go receive the bodies," Hua Xiong looked up at Du Yuan and said quietly. The bodies being returned were all from the Xiliang Iron Cavalry; as for the infantry, they had already taken their comrades’ bodies with them during the retreat.
"General, please eat something before you continue your studies," Du Yuan said with a mournful face. In war, deaths are unavoidable. Hua Xiong had always had the wind at his back, but that did not mean he would always enjoy smooth sailing like now, just as the entire Xiliang Iron Cavalry had almost been annihilated.
"Let me cool down, you go out first," Hua Xiong said, looking at Du Yuan as if he were a different person, his icy gaze giving Du Yuan a chilling sensation.
"Your injuries..." Du Yuan began to speak but then silently withdrew, no longer saying anything.
Hua Xiong sat beside the table in the large tent. His deputy who had followed him for over ten years, since their time in Xiliang, had now left him, and of the Iron Cavalry that once formed at Xiliang’s inception, only five hundred remained, each one wounded.
Reaching out to touch his chest, the pain from his broken bones invigorated Hua Xiong’s spirit once more. That moment before, he had been perilously close to death, with half his ribs broken and his organs punctured by the broken bones. If not for Hua Xiong’s astonishing strength, such injuries would have been fatal.
"Juo Yi, Vanguard." Hua Xiong’s eyes flashed with ferocity. He hated himself for being a top expert capable of Inner Qi Manifestation yet not comprehending the Legion Talent. If it were not so, even if Juo Yi wielded Military Spirit, Hua Xiong believed he would not have suffered such a disastrous defeat with the support of Military Formation and Legion Talent.
"I have let you all down!" Hua Xiong’s eyes grew bitter and rimmed with redness. "It is my dullness that led you to a terrible defeat at the hands of the Vanguard; it is my weakness that necessitated your desperate fight to the death."
Hua Xiong’s fists clenched tightly, veins bulging fiercely, and with one last fierce glance northward, he picked up the military books on the Three Changes within the Eight Gates Golden Lock that Li Youu had given him and committed them to memory. He knew he could not master these changes, but Chen Xi had once told him that there was a thing in this world called conditioned reflex.
Of course, what a conditioned reflex was, Hua Xiong did not understand. What he could grasp was simply how to develop a conditioned reflex. Chen Xi had provided two examples: one was the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, who, if left uncontrolled, would react instinctively with a Spearhead Formation charge, and the other was Zhao Yun, who would respond to an attack with a level spear thrust.
The reasons behind it, as Chen Xi had explained, were due to training ingrained to the core, completely irrespective of the environment, even beyond their own control, and enough repetitive training could condition a person to such responses.
Now, Hua Xiong resolved to drill the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock deeply into his men’s very bones; he refused to believe it was impossible. While he may not understand formations, Li Youu had given him the core principles, and with relentless training, he would ensure that the moment they were attacked, they would enter the state of the Killing Formation. If the Spearhead Formation could be taught, then despite its difficulty, the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock was not impossible, especially when there was someone to pave the way.
Hua Xiong had no idea of the immense difficulty of ingraining a Super Grand Formation into his men’s bones, but some people are just that stubborn, burying their heads and refusing to consider alternatives—this was the path he was set on!
"There’s still time," Hua Xiong silently memorized all the key points of the entire formation. He lacked the talent for changing formations and couldn’t unleash his own Legion Talent, so the only path for Hua Xiong was to engrain the entire formation into his bones with sweat, so deeply that no dispatch was needed, and everyone would naturally form the grand formation.
Perhaps in the past, even if Hua Xiong knew about this, he would have had no desire to spend time experimenting. But after experiencing a painful defeat, the anger of being unable to protect his comrades filled his heart, driving him to continuously become stronger.
Hua Xiong set up his military camp across the river. Yann Liang and Juo Yi both had headaches. If they were facing ordinary troops, they would have charged through the attacks, but Hua Xiong’s soldiers, despite being individually no less elite than Juo Yi’s, would decimate their Vanguard if they tried to strike mid-crossing.
After a stalemate of two days, Yu Jin, Zhang Fei, and Liu Ye finally led their troops to Hua Xiong’s camp, and they brought some good news: Zhang Yan’s condition had stabilized, and miraculously, he had survived.
Zhang Fei, looking at Hua Xiong’s emaciated figure, didn’t know what to say. He had learned upon entering the camp that of the Iron Cavalry who had followed Hua Xiong for nearly a decade, barely more than five hundred remained.
"Zijian, don’t be too heartbroken," Liu Ye opened his mouth but ended up falling back on the most helpless method of consolation.
"There’s nothing to be heartbroken about, generals are bound to die on the battlefield," Hua Xiong shook his head and said calmly, but inwardly he resolutely thought, "Juo Yi, our grudge is now set. Next time we meet, I will repay all the sorrow I feel now back to you!"
Liu Ye looked at Hua Xiong and couldn’t say much. They’d also heard about the losses of the Vanguard Death Squad and Yann Liang. Regarding Hua Xiong’s battle, they could only say the battlefield is unpredictable, and one never knows what the next moment will bring.
"Zijian, you should recover from your injuries. I’m going to deal with Yann Liang," Zhang Fei, seeing Hua Xiong’s expression, didn’t know what else to say and used the simplest way to comfort him.
"Alright, but you should be careful. Yann Liang might now be on par with Yunchang," Hua Xiong sighed and said.
"Heh, don’t worry!" Zhang Fei’s loud voice made Hua Xiong’s ears buzz. Before Hua Xiong could explain his previous encounter with Yann Liang, Zhang Fei charged out with a blaze of energy. Mounting Black Cloud Treading on Snow, he grabbed his Serpent Spear ready to seek out Yann Liang to give Hua Xiong a surprise.
But when Zhang Fei bellowed across the river, all he saw was a flock of birds scared out of the camp. Zhang Fei was taken aback. This scene seemed familiar, and thinking back, it seemed that the Military Books he’d read had many such cases, one of which said that this signaled either a ruse or an empty camp.
Zhang Fei hurried back with his Serpent Spear, shouting, "Military Advisor Liu, Military Advisor Liu, come take a look, has the enemy across already fled?"
Not waiting for Liu Ye’s response, Zhang Fei dragged him towards the outside of the camp. After setting the dizzy Liu Ye upright, Liu Ye sighed and said, "Before, I always thought Juo Yi was brave but lacking in strategy. I did not expect he would use such a clever trick, he must have left before we arrived."
As Liu Ye spoke, the Vanguard Death Squad had already encountered the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry led by Wei Xu and Hao Meng, and a major battle was about to begin. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian.com to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)
