I Can See Your Combat Power

After the dispute was settled by Tang Zuo, the several warring clans had moved to live together on Fuling Mountain, not far from Fuling City. The mutual support they had provided each other over the past few months allowed them to understand more about each other’s capabilities.

Although the Li Family has only grown in stature for about a hundred years and wasn’t notable, their body forging martial arts abilities were astonishing. They were key in disrupting enemy formations, protecting their rear. When they heard of his intentions to leave Fuling Mountain, the middle-aged scholar was immediately distressed.

“Head of the Liu Family, you are clear-minded about the big issues but confused about the minor ones.” A burly man with a dark complexion shook his head, “Right now it’s spring planting season. No one has the time to go out and loot for grains. After a harsh winter, which family would have plenty to spare?”

The families they belong to had received support from the fleet and fared well during the winter. But the spring brought what would seem like a death sentence. The noble families that had survived the winter through fighting with great hardship had enough numbers to sustain themselves with just a small plot of land.

The situation is complex, and it’s hard to say what’s good or bad. Perhaps everything naturally has its own cycle and cannot be forced.

“Sigh.” The burly man sighed sadly, “You all know that my Li family’s Xuanhuang Body is a cultivation technique that focuses on body forging. I gave most of the grains, but my consumption was also great. To be honest, my family ran out of grains ten days ago. If it wasn’t for Zhou’s hunting team’s help, the old and young in my family wouldn’t even have meat to eat.”

“Don’t say that,” a strong man who had been silent as he added more wood to the fire interjected upon hearing ‘help’. He frowned, not pleased at the word, “If it wasn’t for Brother Li’s lifesaving grace, my family would have perished by now. What does a bit of meat matter compared to that? But now that the flood has subsided, the few major families in Fuling City have also organized large-scale hunting teams. Our yields are getting smaller and smaller, and it’s me who feels guilty in front of Brother Li.”

In ancient times, mighty body cultivators roamed because of the abundance of fierce beasts and spirits. Martial artists could get enough to eat simply through hunting. But in the prosperous era of martial arts, body cultivation requires massive resources, otherwise, nothing substantial can be achieved.

The Fierce Realm warriors who practice body cultivation cannot be sustained by ordinary white rice and flour. This is because these foods contain too low an energy level, even for Fierce Realm warriors with high energy conversion efficiency.

If the burly man was to eat all he wanted, he would need at least twenty kilograms of flour to be full, and only a few hours after eating those he would be hungry again.

This is also why the Li family’s cultivation technique is so powerful, making practitioners fewer in number. Because when compared to the energy consumption of a typical warrior, the energy requirement of body cultivation is simply vast.

“In my opinion, let’s go together!”

All eyes were instantly focused on the thin, tall man who suddenly spoke, “Don’t underestimate ourselves. I heard Xiling was the area most affected by the disaster, with the entire city submerged. In my view, the Tang Family probably doesn’t have time to plot against us. The priority is to find a new city for our clans to settle. They probably want us to help with the attack.”

Listening and nodding, it was evident that what the tall, thin man said was the most logical assumption. After all, with Xiling city completely submerged, the Tang Clan wouldn’t all live out in the open like savages. The rich and powerful were always different from ordinary clans like theirs.

Seeing everyone nodding, the tall and thin man grew more vigorous, continuing, “If the Tang Clan wants us to come together to discuss a major issue, and it really is to request our aid in their attack, then we could refuse. We can’t just risk our lives because they gave us hundreds of thousands of kilograms of grain. But if the Tang Clan just wants us to help boost their momentum and put on a show of force, I think that’s reasonable. It wouldn’t be excessive to ask for another few hundred thousand kilograms of grain from them. As long as we make it to the harvest in summer, our food shortage will not be as severe.”

“I think Old Wu’s opinion is correct.” The burly man agreed with the thin man’s idea after listening, nodding at the others, “If two warriors from each of our families go, that would be a total of eight Fierce Realm warriors. The rapport we’ve developed from supporting each other these past days is not weaker than the martial ancestor teams of the influential families. We could all go to Xiling together. If the conditions proposed by Tang Zuo are unacceptable, we can leave, and he won’t be able to do anything to us! What do you all think?”

The few people gathered around the campfire glanced at each other, their eyes already showing their decisions.

This scene was being repeated at various places in the northwest of Longzhou. The noble families that were suffering from a lack of food in early spring were once again thinking of that miraculous fleet.

If one were to look down at the whole of Longzhou from ninety thousand feet in the sky, one would notice that since the start of the year, there were groups of martial ancestors rising into the sky from the northwest corner of Longzhou. Their target was all the same, a lone peak two hundred miles northwest of Xiling, named Qianyun Peak.

In just a few days, hundreds of Fierce Realm warriors had gathered in the mountains, a hundred miles west of Xiangyun Valley, completely surrounding the oblivious Mi Clan.

Danger was approaching.

Longzhou Calendar, 1781, January 11, Qianyun Peak.

The uppermost layer of the hollowed out mountain, which served as the meeting hall, was full to capacity. Every one was a Fierce Realm warrior. These Fierce Realm martial artists have come at different times, some three days ago and others only arrived today. They’ve all been gathered here, silently waiting for the host to speak.

Standing in front of the northern mountain wall painting, in the biggest meeting hall was the captain Tang Zuo. With his impressive gentlemanly features and a smile at the corner of his mouth, he wore a cyan snakeskin robe that clung to his body, with a patterned belt around his waist. A head of black hair spilled over his back, giving him a very suave appearance.

Objectively, if the average man who was at the peak of his cultivation phase faced hundreds of fierce gaze from Fierce Realm martial artists, he would be petrified. However, Tang Zuo, the leading figure, appeared undaunted and charming. Just seeing him, one would instinctively exclaim in admiration. However, many people felt a sense of pity after their admiration.

Looking at the crowd below, with their intense gaze, Tang Zuo stepped forward and said loudly, “Since almost everyone has arrived, I won’t waste any more time.” He nodded respectfully and said, “Firstly, thank you all for keeping your promises and coming here. Your presence truly graces Qianyun Peak.”

There were sparse claps from below, mostly from the martial artists of the big clans seated in the front rows. However, plenty of the martial artists at the back merely crossed their arms and scoffed, waiting to see how long Tang Zuo could continue to feign calmness.

After reaching Xiling territory, they had gotten a clear idea of the current situation of the Tang Clan. It was a disaster to say the least.

The Tang Clan’s relatives had retreated according to their family status but were being hunted down at various places by Longzhou’s most elite Xianyu Feather Guards.

The main force of their clan was almost entirely trapped in North Mountain’s Xiangyun Valley. They heard that it was surrounded by tens of thousands of cultivators and two hundred Fierce Realm warriors, who could only defend themselves using large formations.

Furthermore, rumors mentioned that the Tang Clan had initiated the bloodline diversion, sending the most outstanding members of the clan to Kunwu.

If before coming they held the hope that the Tang Clan would help them through this difficult time, then after they arrived their hopes were completely shattered.

Many martial artists had already resolved that if Tang Zuo wants them to join the war effort, they would refuse even at the cost of not receiving any more grain. They couldn’t risk their lives for a bit of food and clash with Longzhou’s fiercest martial ancestor, could they?