However, at the moment in Eternal House of the Imperial Palace in Ba Chu County,

"Transmit this order. 200,000 armored cavalry troops of the Xiang clan are to come out and to either rout, or kill, or capture any Qin clan troops wandering outside the cities. Don"t worry about anything." Xiang Yang"s voice comes out from behind the beaded curtain.

Mister Lan however says doubtfully: "Master, you want us to bring out the trump card army and attack the Qin clan troops with it?"

"Yes." Xiang Yang says indifferently.

Mister Lan immediately bows and says: "Master, but the Qin clan armies are surrounding our Ba Chu County on 3 sides. At the moment we don"t have enough men for defense, why do we still dispatch the all-important 200,000 armored cavalry troops? This …"

"Xuemou, how long have you been following me?" Xiang Yang asks in reply.

Lan Xuemou says respectfully: "Master, I"ve been following you for nearly 100 years."

"For nearly 100 years I"ve thought that you"re the brightest among several disciples. But now it looks like … You"ve really disappointed me." Xiang Yang says with a sigh. Hearing the sigh behind the beaded curtain, Lan Xuemou is immediately struck by a thought.

Suddenly, he remembers one thing -- his master"s might.

"Could it be you have reached some agreement with Qin De, Master?" Lan Xuemou enquires carefully.

Xiang Yang laughs out loud cheerfully: "Looks like you"re still not too stupid. Qin De has already made an agreement with me. As long as I don"t personally get into action, his armies on 3 sides won"t be allowed to attack. We"re going to keep things status quo."

Lan Xuemou becomes doubtful: "Status quo? So this means we"ll keep getting stuck in this deadlock?"

"Of course not!" Xiang Yang"s voice becomes fierce. "No matter what happens, this is the country that my father and I founded through battles. For the last nearly 1000 years, I"ve been watching this country of the Xiang clan. No one can take it from my hands."

Lan Xuemou says again: "Then do you have any way to handle the current situation, Master?"

Xiang Yang calms himself down then says with an indifferent smile: "Now I only need some time, some transitional time. I"ve ordered your 4th martial younger brother to take several tens gifted descendants of the Xiang royal clan to a secret place."

Lan Xuemou frowns. Now that the Xiang clan"s lineage has been safeguarded, he knows perhaps his master is about to get ruthless.

"Within one year, I"ll force all the leaders of the Qin clan"s armies to surrender by threatening to take their lives. This little trick is child"s play to me. Of course, before the counterattack, I want to boost the morale of the Xiang clan"s army!" Xiang Yang says indifferently.

Lan Xuemou secretly nods as well.

Right, it is morale.

An army"s morale is extremely important. This period of time, the Qin clan armies have taken 3 of the Xiang clan"s 4 counties with almost unstoppable momentum. Due to this, now the morale of the Xiang clan"s troops is nearly exhausted, and so restoring it is the first priority.

"Even though the highest echelons of the Mu clan and the Shangguan clan have yielded to the Qin clan, I don"t think those generals and vice generals are totally loyal to it. As long as I threaten them with deadly force, humph, I believe they"ll easily surrender to the Xiang clan too."

Xiang Yang"s voice becomes ice-cold: "During this extraordinary period of time, I can only use extraordinary tricks. Since the Qin clan is very strong at the moment, we have to undermine its armies" fighting spirit and morale first. Then, in addition to me threatening the enemy"s leaders, the Xiang clan"s army will spring into action at the right time, so, there"s no doubt that we"ll win."

Now Lan Xuemou totally understands.

"So he sends the armored cavalry out to attack the enemy"s wandering troops at this point to increase the Xiang clan"s morale. The Qin clan won"t dare to attack and will only defend. Hha, you"re really brilliant, Master." Lan Xuemou has understood completely.

The talk with Qin De apparently put Xiang Yang at a disadvantage but he is definitely no ordinary person so almost immediately afterwards he already thought of a series of follow-up plans.

After all, he is virtually the 1st emperor of the Chu dynasty.

Moreover, he has prepared a way out. Even if the 1st wave of attack fails, members of the Xiang clan will have already been brought to a secret place. With its wealth and secret forces and with the existence of Xiang Yang, it will not be difficult for the Xiang clan to rise again.

"Alright, just do as I said, Xuemou. Sending the Xiang clan"s armored cavalry to handle these small matters is like killing a chicken with a battle knife." Xiang Yang says with an indifferent smile. The armored cavalry is absolutely the finest army of the Xiang clan. All of its troops are qualified ones who have experienced real fighting and b.l.o.o.d.y battles.

The Xiang clan"s armored cavalry was very famous during the time of the West Chu Conqueror. For so many years it has been maintained from behind the scenes by Xiang Yang so it has never loosened its training in the slightest.

******

In Lei Xue County, following the large-scale attack by the Xiang clan"s armored cavalry, almost all of the Qin clan troops in the cities no longer dare to wander outside because anyone who goes outside will be destroyed at one stroke by the Xiang clan"s armored cavalry. All of the Qin clan"s armies thus withdraw into pa.s.sive defense in the cities.

In a short time, the Xiang clan"s morale has increased greatly. The Xiang clan"s soldiers often go from city to city to issue challenges to the Qin clan"s troops from outside the cities. The Qin clan"s troops however have no choice but to refuse to fight. Due to this, the Xiang clan"s troops unavoidably become more and more arrogant.

Even though the Qin clan"s troops are angry, none of them dares to disobey strict military orders.

However, there is still a corps that dares to go from city to city, namely the Fierce Tiger Corps. It is made up of only 50,000 Fierce Tiger troops but these troops are the finest in the Qin clan"s army.

In terms of quality, the Fierce Tiger Corps is even a tier better than the Xiang clan"s armored cavalry. Also, the fierce tigers" offense is far superior to that of the steeds. It is a combination of 2 powerful forces when a Fierce Tiger soldier rides a fierce tiger. Moreover, if the 50,000 fierce tigers of the corps give a roar in unison, they will scare the life out of the armored cavalry"s steeds.

Therefore, not even the 200,000 armored cavalry troops of the Xiang clan dare to attack the 50,000 Fierce Tiger troops.

However, only the 50,000 Fierce Tiger troops dare to go around outside the cities. The other troops of the Qin clan in Lei Xue County can only defend pa.s.sively according to military orders. None of them knows when this situation will stop.

******

In the town of Xiyang,

"Big brother, 2nd brother, bottoms up."

The 3 brothers, Qin Yu, Qin Feng and Qin Zheng, are sitting around the stone table under a willow in the courtyard, drinking wine with each other to their hearts" content. After receiving the news about Qin Yu"s return, Qin Zheng immediately rushed extremely fast from the town of Wuxue to the town of Xiyang in ecstasy.

During this reunion, the 3 brothers talk emotionally about their respective experiences unceasingly.

When they remember how they larked about with each other in the hot spring of Misty Villa in Qin Yu"s childhood, that scene seems to appear before their eyes. However, it has been 10-odd years since then, and each of them has made achievements of his own.

Qin Feng has become a marshal and his army was the 1st to break through the defense of Lei Xue County. He is currently just 28 years old but has reached the late phase of the Xiantian level.

Qin Zheng is the next, dignified head of the Qin clan. Later he will even become the emperor of the new Qin dynasty.

Qin Yu is the youngest. His abilities were obscured in the past, but now he can make other people"s eyes pop out of their heads. Despite being only 20, he has already surpa.s.sed such a Shangxian as Fengyuzi. He can even handle Wu De.

Each of the 3 brothers of the Qin clan is really outstanding.

"When we were on the verge of unifying the entire Chu kingdom, who would"ve thought an old geezer who has reached the early Yuanying stage would appear in the Xiang clan?" Qin Feng drinks up the wine in his cup at a gulp then suddenly throws the cup on the ground. Obviously he is very angry.

Qin Zheng says with a sigh: "Father already said that Xiang Yang is exceptionally strong. Even if he and Uncle Feng join forces, they won"t be able to withstand one of Xiang Yang"s strikes."

Qin Feng looks at Qin Yu, saying: "Xiao Yu, remember, you"re the Qin clan"s only hope. You must remember, we aren"t allowed to lose, the Qin clan isn"t allowed to lose, no matter what. If you lose, the Qin clan will be finished. So you must endure, endure until you"re totally certain of winning to get into action."

His eyes, which are looking at Qin Yu, are full of expectation.

"Xiao Yu, you have to endure." Qin Zheng also looks at Qin Yu.

"Big brother, 2nd brother," Qin Yu has thought about many things in only a short while, but seeing his big brother"s and 2nd brother"s expectation, he can do nothing but nod his head.

...

At night, in Qin De"s room,

"Your Highness, the Xiang clan is running riot, attacking our wandering soldiers everywhere. There are some cities that no long have enough food. Even the Fierce Tiger Corps has had to personally undertake the transport of food. This really is …" Xu Yuan says with a sigh.

The fact that the Fierce Tiger Corps, their absolute trump card, has had to be put in charge of the transportation of food naturally makes Xu Yuan feel powerless.

Qin De looks outside through the window of the room, frowning deeply.

"Xu Yuan, the current situation is bad for us, extremely bad. Even though it looks like Xiang Yang is afraid our armies and doesn"t dare to do anything. But … who"s Xiang Yang? How was the Chu dynasty founded? And how did it become the strongest of the 3 big dynasties?" Qin De says in a depressed manner.

Following the death of the West Chu Conqueror, the Xiang clan became everyone"s target. In that situation, Xiang Yang was still able to lead the Xiang clan to establish the Chu dynasty and, moreover, turn it into the most powerful of the 3 big dynasties. Some tricks and stratagems used by him at that time have even been recorded in books to pa.s.s down to later generations.

Xiang Yang"s wisdom must not be taken lightly.

Moreover, what old man is not extremely cunning? This genius of the Xiang clan has been living for even 1000 years so he is very ruthless and therefore must be paid a lot of attention to.

"We can"t attack but we basically don"t know what tricks Xiang Yang is going to use either. Moreover … he"s just too strong. We can"t threaten an early Yuanying expert like him." Qin De says with a sigh.

Xu Yuan says: "Xiao Yu and that black eagle can even handle late Jindan experts, can"t they? If they join forces, maybe they can beat Xiang Yang."

Hearing Qin Yu"s name, Qin De says with a smile of satisfaction: "Luckily the Qin clan still has Qin Yu. The son I paid the least attention to and cared the least about has now unexpectedly become the person who can decide the Qin clan"s future."

"But … now is definitely not the time for Yu"er to get into action. You"re not a Xiuzhenist so you simply can"t imagine the gap between the 2 stages. To make up for it is extremely hard." Qin De"s eyes radiate absolute resolution.

"Why? Your Highness, we can"t drag on this situation. The longer we drag it on, the more dangerous to us it becomes. Who knows what tricks Xiang Yang is preparing?" Xu Yuan is rather afraid of Xiang Yang. This nearly 1000 year old geezer is not only good at using tricks but also very powerful, so it is really difficult to deal with him.

Qin De slowly shakes his head, saying: "We"ll wait for 10 years, or 20 years. Given Yu"er"s current progress in practice, he"ll definitely be able to kill Xiang Yang in 10 to 20 years. Only then will I let him get into action. The Qin clan mustn"t lose!"

"10 to 20 years? During this time, many things can happen. 10 to 20 years will be enough for Xiang Yang to turn the tables." Xu Yuan says hurriedly.

"Turn the tables?" Qin De says grimly. "The situation won"t stay like this for long, but I won"t be so powerless that I"ll let Xiang Yang turn the tables. At least I"ll preserve the armies" power. The best Xiang Yang can do is to threaten some military leaders. Alright, then I"ll lower the influence of the generals and increase the influence of the Qin clan."

Qin De after all is an outstanding person so he will not play into Xiang Yang"s hands.

"Your Highness, when the Xiang clan has stabilized to a certain extent, perhaps Xiang Yang will a.s.sa.s.sinate the Qin clan"s members." Xu Yuan says worriedly.

"a.s.sa.s.sinate?" Qin De says with a cold smile. "He can kill some people, including me. But that"s not important. As long as Xiao Yu is alive, he"ll kill Xiang Yang and the Xiang clan will be done for. Otherwise, with Xiang Yang"s existence, even if we can seize the kingdom, we won"t be able to keep it."

Xu Yuan lets out a sigh but he has no choice but to accept that this is the only solution.

In Qin Yu"s room,

Qin Yu, who is sitting with legs crossed on a bed, opens his eyes, which seems to be covered in a layer of mist at the moment.

"Father …" Thanks to his holy sense, Qin Yu is aware of everything that happened just now. His eyes flash. "Don"t worry, father. I won"t disappoint you, no matter what. 10 to 20 years is too long, long enough for many things to happen. I can"t stand the pain of losing you and brothers."

A faint smile suddenly appears on the corners of his mouth: "Master, perhaps this time I"ll have to use that move of yours."

...

Qin Yu stays in the town of Xiyang for several days, during which time he is very happy. The 3 brothers meet each other regularly and Qin De often spends time with his 3 sons as well. For so many years, the 4 of them have rarely gathered like this.

In the early morning of a day, when Qin De has just walked out through the door of his room, suddenly --

"Father, father, Xiao Yu has disappeared. This is the jade case he left. I can"t open it." Qin Zheng runs up to him holding a jade case.

"Disappeared?!" Qin De"s face changes color. He immediately receives the jade case. He knows at a glance that this case is protected by the most basic restrictive spell that only Xiuzhenists can remove. Of course, anyone who is not a Xiuzhenist cannot open it.

Qin De easily opens the jade case. There are a letter and 3 old books in it. The letter has the words "Dear Father" written on it.

Qin De"s heart skips a beat because of a bad feeling. He opens the letter at once.

"Father, when you open this letter, I will probably have reached Ba Chu County. I believe you know my speed. I can only guarantee that, in this battle, Xiang Yang will definitely die no matter what happens.

The Ancestral Dragon Art left by s.h.i.+ Huang only has the practice method for up until the Jindan stage. The 3 secret books I left are top-cla.s.s Xiuzhen techniques that describe in detail how to practice from the Jindan stage to even the Dacheng stage. These techniques are different from the Xiuzhen techniques of the Overseas Immortal Islands so you don"t have to worry that other people will come to trouble you. This is all that I can do.

Yours sincerely, Yu"er!"