Imperial Cultivation

Chapter 150: Chapter 148: Encounter

```html

The progress on the first day was immense, and the same was true for the second day.

By the third day, the Thunder Spear Formation of the eighteen men was taking shape.

Chu Mingrui observed from the sidelines and had already grasped the essentials.

Chu Zhiyuan was able to easily identify their minute errors due to his sharp senses and peculiar intuition,

and a kind of indescribable spirituality.

Errors that he couldn’t see, Chu Zhiyuan could see; things he couldn’t think of, Chu Zhiyuan could anticipate, and he would remind them before they made mistakes.

If they were to figure out these training points and guidance on their own, it might take years, or even a decade or more, obscured by a veil.

The pivotal insights that Chu Zhiyuan could easily uncover might have taken them a very long time to discover by themselves.

Chu Zhiyuan was also constantly guiding and inspiring them to understand the Thunder Spear Formation, guiding their understanding of heaven and earth, their bodies, their breath, and even their mindsets.

This was not only beneficial for their array practice but immensely helpful for their own cultivation.

He opened up a new world for them,

a world unprecedented, unheard of, and beyond imagination—introducing a new way of thinking and a new concept.

They felt enlightened and awakened, feeling that their previous efforts were in vain, in a state of lacking clarity, akin to training blindfolded.

Not to mention them, even Chu Mingrui was profoundly touched, feeling he had gained greatly.

He couldn’t help but sigh.

This is understanding, but in truth, it’s spirituality.

Innate spirituality is something no one can envy or replicate.

No wonder his cultivation progressed so rapidly, crossing realms as effortlessly as drinking water, as if there were no barriers at all.

By the fifth day, the group of eighteen youths had already mastered the Thunder Spear Formation and began practicing on horseback.

After mastering it on the ground, practicing it on horseback was far easier than imagined.

They were the elite of the Chasing Wind Cavalry, skilled at controlling their horses in perfect harmony with their bodies, quickly forming the Thunder Spear Formation on horseback.

——

At dusk, with the last rays of the setting sun.

The group camped at the foot of a hill.

As they traveled northward, the terrain gradually flattened, no longer the hilly area like Yujing, with fewer high mountains and more small hills.

Eighteen riders sped across the land like the wind, forming a spearhead, charging forward like arrows, with Chu Mingrui standing atop the hill, gazing into the distance with excitement: ”Old Four, I will request a commendation for you!”

Chu Zhiyuan laughed, ”Great, Tenth Uncle, don’t forget it should be a Fifth Grade Merit!”

”No problem, Fifth Grade Merit, haha...” Chu Mingrui laughed heartily.

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Tenth Uncle, it’s time for the second group. I’m still waiting for another Fifth Grade Merit!”

”We’ll start today!”

Chu Mingrui had already prepared the second batch of eighteen people. Eventually, Chu Zhiyuan decided to have him organize a third group for simultaneous training of the two groups.

The training ground was large enough, and on the flat land, the two groups were ready to move.

He stood on the hill, looking down at the thirty-six youths, the ground already covered with footprints, guiding them to step on the marks.

He shouted out instructions and pointed out mistakes.

”Right eighteen, you’re off to the right!”

”Right three, too slow!”

”Right four, too fast!”

”Left ten, head to the left, more to the left!”

...

For a while, the training field was filled with his shouting.

The thirty-six youths were divided into two teams, each practicing their own array, their movements growing faster.

Standing next to Chu Zhiyuan, Chu Mingrui watched with shining eyes.

The strongest aspect of the Thunder Spear Formation’s power is speed, and increasing speed creates an overwhelming impact.

To see if the formation has succeeded, one must observe if the speed increases—the faster the speed, the more complete and perfect the formation.

The speed of these two groups increased rapidly, indicating they had already formed the formation.

This speed was far greater compared to before.

With the experience from training the Thunder Spear Formation once, this time the results were even more astonishing.

Chu Mingrui was filled with admiration.

The speed of his progress was astonishing.

This fourth nephew before his eyes was truly a marvel, with such understanding and spirituality, almost like a heavenly being descended to earth, unfathomable.

A day’s training time was equivalent to three days before.

At this rate, his training speed would become even faster, training more soldiers.

Thinking of this, he turned and went into the camp to instruct them to prepare the remaining groups, to prepare more groups.

...

On the evening of the seventh day, the final eleventh and twelfth groups had already mastered the Thunder Spear Formation, with all over two hundred of Chu Mingrui’s personal soldiers having mastered the formation.

From then on, these over two hundred personal soldiers had mastered two formations: the Wind Chasing Formation and the Thunder Spear Formation.

The Wind Chasing Formation was as fast as the wind but still lacked compared to the Thunder Spear Formation.

The Thunder Spear Formation was not only faster but also had greater impact; the charge of eighteen men had the momentum of over a hundred men charging.

The charge of two hundred men was more powerful than two thousand.

This kind of impact often decided victory or defeat on the battlefield as soon as it appeared, serving as a trump card.

The Thunder Spear Formation was much more complicated than the Wind Chasing Formation and stronger in power, yet more difficult to train. If it weren’t for Chu Zhiyuan, even the smaller formations of eighteen men would’ve taken an unknown amount of time to master.

At this moment, he suddenly felt a strong desire to bring Chu Zhiyuan to his side, to train soldiers and create a true Thunder Spear Iron Cavalry.

Even more complex military formations!

Thinking of this, his attitude became more amiable, and he said with a smile: ”Old Four, we must reach Gaoling Town within ten days, and now it’s the seventh day, so we need to speed up the remaining journey.”

”Tenth Uncle, can’t we make it?”

”If we maintain this speed, we might not make it in ten days.”

”Then...”

”We have to speed up for the remaining three days, no more leisure.”

The Chasing Wind Cavalry had no baggage. The military towns and city towns along the way would provide supplies. The Court had already informed the government offices of the cities along the way in advance.

So the speed was extremely fast.

Chu Zhiyuan nodded and said, ”Then we’ll speed up.”

”What do you think about us leading a small squad of Thunder Spear Iron Cavalry?”

Chu Zhiyuan smiled and said, ”A small squad?”

”To test their strength,” Chu Mingrui said. ”The road ahead is not peaceful, especially as we near the Northern Territory; bandits are inevitable.”

”Sounds good.” Chu Zhiyuan laughed.

In the following two days, he learned what a forced march was like.

One person with two horses, switching between riding, galloping for two hours at a stretch, resting for half an hour before continuing to ride, continuing from morning until the moon rose at night.

The speed of the journey increased severalfold.

On the evening of the ninth day, with the setting sun’s last light, they were surrounded by the vast grassland.

It was now winter, and the grasslands were yellow with a desolate beauty spreading across the endless plains.

They slowed their horses down.

Nearby was a small hill where they could camp, have a hearty meal, build a campfire, and spend a warm night.

Just upon reaching the foot of the hill, Chu Zhiyuan suddenly felt an imperceptible tremble in the ground, frowning as he looked to the right.

Pointing in that direction, Chu Zhiyuan solemnly said, ”Tenth Uncle, is there someone there?”

Chu Mingrui turned his head to look, frowning, then lay on the ground to listen, his expression changing slightly: ”There are people!”

Chu Zhiyuan said, ”Bandits? ...There aren’t that many bandits, are there?”

With his Super Sensing ability, Insight reached two hundred meters.

But these cavalry soldiers were over a kilometer away.

He deduced from the difference in ground tremors between here and the other side that there were more than a hundred people.

”Doesn’t seem like bandits.” Chu Mingrui’s expression was solemn as he whistled sharply.

Eighteen Chasing Wind Cavalry members instantly spread out, forming the Thunder Spear Formation.

The two young eunuchs immediately became tense, while Song Feiqiong calmly watched the other side.

Suddenly, Chu Zhiyuan said in a deep voice, ”Stepping Cloud Iron Cavalry!”

```