In chaotic times, skill points are added: from hunter to martial saint, only killing and no mercy!

咻咻 咻 ~

As Li Yi fired an arrow, a demonic black snake king was struck in vital areas by three iron arrows. After struggling for a moment, it died on the spot.

Hey~

Just then, Lingxue suddenly rushed out, transforming into a streak of white lightning, and plunged into a boulder, frantically digging at it.

Seeing this, Li Yi slightly spurred his horse, Red Hare, and slowly walked to the side of the boulder.

"Push that rock away!"

At Li Yi's command, a dozen soldiers stepped forward and began to move the boulder with all their might.

After more than half a month of fierce fighting, Li Yi led hundreds of soldiers to fight across a radius of two hundred miles around Qiufeng Pass, clearing out many of the catalyzed alien beasts.

The large number of demon cores propelled Li Yi's skills to new heights.

If Li Yi had a proper cultivation method for the True Qi Realm, he would have made significant progress in his True Qi Realm cultivation long ago.

As for Li Yi's soldiers, they also received many elixirs as rewards, and with the addition of the tendons, bones, and hides obtained from the strange beasts, their strength and weaponry were greatly enhanced.

As for Liu Ye and Li Tao, who were Li Yi's generals and core members, their cultivation levels continued to improve under Li Yi's generous support.

With Master Muxingzi's consent, Li Yi passed on the [Minor Purifying Qi Technique] to the two of them.

At present, apart from Li Yi, Liu Ye, who commands the cavalry, and Li Tao, who manages Li Yi's hundred personal guards, have all broken through to the True Qi Realm and become True Qi Realm martial artists!

With three True Qi Realm warriors in charge, the strange beasts and Qing Kingdom soldiers within Qiufeng Pass were gradually driven away and annihilated.

Before long, the soldiers pushed the huge boulder aside.

"Sir, there are many snake eggs inside!"

Several brave soldiers jumped into the snake's nest and took out the fist-sized snake eggs.

As soon as Li Yi got his hands on these snake eggs, he sensed the immense vitality they contained.

The Black Serpent King, the demonic beast that Li Yi just killed, was already a serpent king at the demonic beast level before being catalyzed by the Black Wind Sect's evil cultivators using the Spirit Transformation Powder. This nest of serpent eggs containing his bloodline naturally has extraordinary potential.

With his [Demon Recognition] ability, Li Yi immediately recognized that the young snakes hatched from these dozen or so snake eggs possessed extremely high talent, and perhaps after some nurturing, they could be raised into demonic black snakes.

Looking at the Red Hare beneath him and the smug Lingxue, Li Yi thought of his [Demon Control] skill.

Since that's the case, let's take these snake eggs and, once the young snakes hatch, arrange for elite soldiers to tame them and build an army of exotic beasts!

In the previous battle to breach the Qing Kingdom's camp, the Black Bear Monster clan, consisting of only four Black Bear Monsters, had already had a significant impact on Li Yi.

If one also possesses an army of strange beasts, it will be a powerful tool when conquering all directions in the future.

After ordering his soldiers to collect the snake eggs, and seeing that the bodies of many slain beasts had been cleaned, Li Yi immediately spurred his horse and led his soldiers to the next location.

After forming a contract with the snow fox spirit, Li Yi's reconnaissance abilities were also enhanced.

At the same time, Lingxue can also use her talent to assist Li Yi in searching for traces of the rampaging alien beasts.

As the moon rose and the stars moved, Li Yi, who had been fighting all day, led his soldiers back to the military camp under the moonlight.

To this day, more than a month has passed since the Qing Kingdom's camp outside Qiufeng Pass was breached and the Black Wind Sect's stronghold was discovered.

Just as Li Yi led his men into the camp, several people quickly rushed over.

Liu Ye, who was in the lead, became serious, stepped forward to lead Red Hare, and waited for Li Yi to dismount.

"What happened?"

Seeing the solemn expressions on their faces, Li Yi was slightly taken aback and subconsciously asked a question.

Upon hearing this, Liu Ye said in a low voice:

"Sir, General Guan has sent three messengers from the main camp at Yanmen Pass, seeking you!"

"However, these past few days, the lord has been leading a large army out to fight demonic beasts, which is why he hasn't been able to contact you immediately!"

Upon hearing Liu Ye's account, Li Yi immediately realized something was wrong and hurriedly walked towards the camp.

Inside the camp, several of General Guan's personal guards paced anxiously.

With a whoosh, Li Yi flung open the tent flap and walked straight in.

"Lord Li, you're finally back!"

Several guards turned around and saw Li Yi striding towards the main seat, their expressions immediately brightening with joy.

"But has something terrible happened at Yanmen Pass?"

Li Yi sat down in the main seat of the camp, while Liu Ye, Li Tao, Lin Lei, and others stood by his side, watching the guards in the center of the camp.

Seeing this, several guards reached into their robes, took out a secret letter, and handed it to Li Yi.

These secret letters are intact with the sealing wax, and bear General Guan's seal.

After verifying that everything was correct and confirming that the information had not been leaked, Li Yi tore open the secret letter and began to read it carefully.

The contents of the three secret letters were largely the same, but as time went on, the tone and wording became increasingly urgent, urging Li Yi to lead his troops back as soon as possible.

It turns out that ever since the evil cultivators of the Black Wind Sect scattered a large amount of Spirit Transformation Powder within a radius of 500 li around Yanmen Pass, many wild beasts have turned into strange beasts and have begun to kill everywhere.

These irrational and extremely ferocious beasts were completely unable to distinguish between Chen Guo and Qing Guo, and the Black Wind Sect lacked effective means of control.

Initially, these strange beasts only attacked villages and towns in Chen State near Yanmen Pass, affecting many battles fought by the Chen State garrison.

However, as time went on, the range of these strange beasts expanded, gradually affecting the Qing Kingdom itself.

About four days ago, these ferocious beasts formed a beast tide and stormed the Qing Kingdom's camp at Yanmen Pass.

This Qing Kingdom camp houses over 40,000 Qing Kingdom soldiers.

The Qing Kingdom camp was thrown into chaos by the beast tide, and the army's food supplies were completely destroyed by the beast tide.

According to intelligence obtained by Chen Guo's spies and inside agents, the grain and fodder that the Qing Guo army salvaged was only enough for this army of nearly 50,000 people to use for five days!

In other words, the Qing Kingdom army will run out of food in one day!

Even more critically, these rampaging hordes of strange beasts have severed the supply lines between the interior of Qing Kingdom and the Qing Kingdom's army.

For a time, the Qing Kingdom was unable to transport large quantities of grain to supply its 50,000-strong army.

General Guan, on the other hand, was preparing to seize this opportunity to launch a surprise attack on the Qing Kingdom's army, which was short of food and clothing, and annihilate it as much as possible.

Therefore, three orders were issued in succession, preparing to summon Li Yi and his Wind Tiger Battalion.

After confirming the information was correct, Li Yi clutched the secret letter tightly, looked up, and saw that Liu Ye and the others were all looking at him, waiting for Li Yi to give orders.

After a moment's thought, Li Yi made his decision.

"Pass down my military order: tomorrow morning, the entire army will carry only one day's worth of dry rations and march at full speed towards Yanmen Pass!"

"Apart from essential combat equipment, all other supplies are to be left behind!"

Right now, every minute and every second is a battle opportunity. In order to seize the opportunity to defeat the Qing Kingdom army in one fell swoop, Li Yi chose to rush back to the Yanmen Pass camp as quickly as possible.

As for the abandoned supplies and the soon-to-be-empty military camp, Li Yi also made arrangements.

Bai Youxing, as the captain guarding Qiufeng Pass, was not in this conscription order. Therefore, Li Yi could let Captain Bai lead his men to take over these supplies.

As Li Yi issued his military orders, the entire military camp sprang into action.

Two thousand auxiliary soldiers began preparing food and rations, while the elite soldiers organized their weapons and armor in preparation for the upcoming battle.

The next morning, Li Yi led three thousand soldiers of the Wind Tiger Camp on a forced march toward Yanmen Pass.

After this period of war, Li Yi devoted all his resources to cultivating the soldiers of the Wind Tiger Battalion.

To this day, all three thousand soldiers of the Wind Tiger Camp are Body Refinement Realm warriors, and among them, more than a thousand soldiers have entered the third level of Body Refinement Realm!

Within a 500-mile radius of Yanmen Pass, Li Yi's Wind Tiger Battalion was among the elite of the elite, ranking among the top five in many battle groups!

The Polu Battalion, which was handed over to Han Jia for command, was also a powerful battle group ranked among the top five!

With the speed of the martial artists, Li Yi led three thousand Wind Tiger Camp soldiers back to Yanmen Pass in just one day.

At this time, the Qing Kingdom army was already facing a food shortage.

As soon as Li Yi entered Yanmen Pass, he noticed the changes in the Yanmen Pass camp.

Squads of soldiers were seen carrying weapons and supplies, moving around the camp, while officers led their troops in drills.

"Li the God of Slaughter is back!"

"With Li the God of Slaughter leading the charge, we will surely drive out the Qing Kingdom invaders in this battle!"

The soldiers were overjoyed when Li Yi appeared.

For these soldiers, Li Yi had only been in the Yanmen Pass area for a little over half a year, yet he had already killed and defeated more than 50,000 enemy troops.

Now that General Guan, Song Jie and other generals are leading the charge, we are sure to win!

Listening to the soldiers' praise, Li Yi remained calm and composed.

After encouraging the excited soldiers, Li Yi, accompanied by his personal guards, arrived at the central army camp.

Inside the camp, several clerks were handing over supplies and equipment to some officers, while Song Jie and others were accompanying General Guan, discussing battle plans in front of the sand table.

Han Jia, who was left behind by Li Yi at the Yanmen Pass camp to command Li Yi's forces, was standing next to Song Jie, listening intently.

He was Li Yi's spokesperson, and no one in the tent dared to underestimate him.

"Colonel Fenghu and Colonel Polu, Li Yi, have arrived!"

With a guard's announcement, Li Yi entered the camp, and immediately everyone in the camp turned their attention to him.

"What?"

"Liu Ye and Li Tao have also entered the True Qi Realm?"

"Including Han Jia and himself, there are actually four True Qi Realm martial artists!"

Li Yi did not conceal his aura, and everyone immediately realized that he had broken through to the True Qi Realm.

Liu Ye, the cavalry commander, and Li Tao, the captain of the personal guard, followed closely behind Li Yi, making no attempt to conceal their presence.

Everyone was shocked to notice the change in the aura of the three people at a glance.

After all, they were old-timers in Yanmen Pass, and they had already met Li Yi when Li Yi and his group came to Yanmen Pass more than half a year ago.

At that time, Li Yi and the others were only martial artists at the third or fourth level of body refinement!

The speed at which these individuals progressed in martial arts astonished everyone.

The presence of four True Qi Realm martial artists made the atmosphere within the camp quite delicate.

It should be noted that even General Guan was only a martial artist at the True Qi Realm.

Although General Guan is extremely powerful and can deal with the siege of several True Qi Realm martial artists at the same time, in the end, General Guan is still only at the True Qi Realm!

There were only a little over ten martial artists at the True Qi Realm in the entire camp.

Li Yi's faction alone accounts for nearly half!

Immediately, these people started thinking and began to flatter Li Yi.

Li Yi naturally noticed the changes in everyone's behavior. After exchanging a few pleasantries, he went to the sand table.

Looking at Li Yi, who now possesses formidable strength and a solid foundation, General Guan couldn't help but nod.

Li Yi was a protégé he had personally promoted. Li Yi's strength also demonstrated his unique vision. At the same time, the powerful Li Yi was able to gain a lot of military merits, which allowed him to show his face in front of the civil and military officials of the court.

"Li Yi, take a short rest. Come to the central camp for a meeting in two hours!"

General Guan nodded to Li Yi and then gestured for Han Jia to accompany Li Yi to rest.

Han Jia, whose mind was full of muscles, had long been disgusted with the atmosphere in the camp. When he saw General Guan telling them to go and rest, he was overjoyed.

Li Yi was fully aware of this.

With the Qing army now running out of supplies, it's the perfect opportunity to launch a major offensive. Meanwhile, I've been stuck at Qiufeng Pass for almost two months, and I'm lagging behind in understanding the military situation in the Yanmen Pass region.

General Guan did this so that Li Yi would have time to obtain the most authentic first-hand intelligence about Yanmen Pass from Han Jia and others.

Accompanied by Han Jia, the group returned to the Polu Camp's encampment.

"The captain is back!"

As soon as Li Yi appeared, the soldiers of the Polu Camp excitedly rushed forward.

After Li Yi took over the Polu Camp, he also invested a lot of resources in training these soldiers, bringing the once-declining Polu Camp back to its current state.

Every single one of these soldiers had benefited from Li Yi's kindness!

Of course, the performance of these soldiers also made Li Yi much more satisfied with Han Jia.

During the days when he was not at Yanmen Pass, Han Jia, as the commander of the Polu Camp, did not do anything out of line, and everything was carried out according to the plan he left behind.

This defeated enemy battalion remains their core strength!

"Han Jia, you're not bad, kid. You've actually broken through to the True Qi Realm!"

After parting ways with the soldiers, Li Yi and his entourage returned to the main camp.

Without the siege of numerous soldiers, everyone subconsciously felt much more relaxed.

Liu Ye patted Han Jia's thick arm and teased him relentlessly.

Hearing Liu Ye's words, Han Jia smiled sheepishly:

"You fought fiercely all the way through Qiufeng Pass, advancing triumphantly, so of course I can't fall behind."

"After all, I'm here to help Yi-ge solve his problems!"

Han Jia's words made Li Yi smile unconsciously.

It was definitely the right decision to save Han Jia back then.

Looking around at everyone in the camp, Li Yi, who was sitting in the main seat, gently tapped the table.

The crisp sound of knocking echoed through the camp, silencing the playful crowd and drawing all their attention to Li Yi.

Li Yi turned to look at Han Jia and said loudly:

"Alright, enough with the nonsense, tell me everything that's happened recently!"

Upon hearing this, Han Jia composed himself, sat down seriously to one side, and recounted the battle situation over the past period in detail.

Through Han Jia's account, Li Yi gained a clear understanding of the battle situation at Yanmen Pass, and many thoughts naturally surfaced in his mind.

"By the way, how did you break through to the True Qi Realm too?"

After listening to Han Jia recount the battle, Li Yi asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Han Jia couldn't help but reveal a smug expression.

"After you and your men leave, Brother Yi, I will do as you said, select suitable opponents, and lead the Polu Battalion into battle for training."

"I've accumulated quite a bit of merit in the past month or so."

"And seven days ago, I even killed two Qing Kingdom centurions in an encounter!"

"Therefore, General Guan rewarded me with several great merits and allowed me to choose some cultivation techniques that could help me break through to the True Qi Realm!"

"After careful consideration, I feel I should make the most of my talents!"

"Therefore, I chose the [Mighty Dragon Elephant Technique] as my cultivation method for the True Qi Realm!"

Li Yi had also heard about the "Great Strength Dragon Elephant Skill" from Master Mu Xingzi.

This technique specializes in cultivating external strength, and practitioners are all incredibly strong, following the path of proving the Dao through strength.

Han Jia was born with superhuman strength and served as a warrior charging into battle, so this technique was extremely suitable for him!

For a moment, Liu Ye and the others couldn't help but feel a little envious of Han Jia.

Compared to Han Jia, who possesses a complete cultivation technique and has already begun subsequent cultivation of the True Qi Realm, Liu Ye and the others have only broken through to the True Qi Realm through the [Minor Pure Qi Technique].

This is merely a cultivation method created by the founder of the Qingyun Sect to benefit all martial artists. It can only help martial artists break through to the True Qi Realm, and there are no subsequent cultivation methods.

Li Yi glanced at Liu Ye and the other man and immediately understood their thoughts.

"Alright, you don't need to envy Han Jia anymore. Once you defeat this Qing Kingdom army, with your military achievements, you will naturally be able to obtain a cultivation technique that suits you!"

Hearing Li Yi's comforting words, Liu Ye and his companion felt much more at peace.

Soon, Li Yi learned everything he wanted to know from Han Jia.

Han Jia even recounted the current situation of the Li family members in Fenghu Village.

Right now, Li Zhuang is using the secret recipe given to him by the general to strengthen his muscles and bones day and night with the secret medicine.

Liu Ru was constantly cared for by doctors and physicians, and the development of her unborn child was within the normal range.

Seeing that everything was alright at home, Li Yi and the others felt much relieved.

Soon, two hours had passed.

Li Yi, along with Han Jia and the others, returned to the central army camp.

Compared to the chaos just now, this time everyone in the camp was standing or sitting according to their respective positions, waiting quietly in the main tent.

"Brother Song, you're back too!"

As soon as Li Yi entered the camp, he saw Song Jie sitting to General Guan's left.

Song Jie commanded four thousand elite heavy cavalry, the strongest fighting force in the Yanmen Pass region.

In addition, there was the Guan Battalion, personally commanded by General Guan, as well as Li Yi's Fenghu Battalion and Polu Battalion.

Song Jie, who had also broken through to the True Qi Realm, looked up and smiled at Li Yi.

"Brother Li Yi, don't be so polite with me, please sit down!"

Guided by his guards, Li Yi sat down to the left of General Guan, while Liu Ye and the others stood quietly behind him.

General Guan, seated in the main seat, felt much more at ease looking at Li Yi and Song Jie, who were seated at the head of the table on his left and right.

With these two valiant generals, victory in this battle is assured!

Seeing that almost everyone had arrived, General Guan said in a deep voice:

"This battle is our chance to completely defeat the Qing Kingdom; we cannot afford to lose!"

"If you have any questions or need any help, please tell me now, and I will resolve them for you!"

"But let me make this clear beforehand: if the battle goes poorly after it begins, or if you don't speak up now but become a hindrance during the war, don't blame military law for being merciless!"

As soon as General Guan said this, everyone in the camp became quite restless and began to discuss it in hushed tones.

Listening to these people's words, Li Yi knew that if he or Song Jie didn't speak up, these people wouldn't dare to say anything.

Looking up, Song Jie also turned his gaze in his direction.

The two exchanged a glance and instantly understood each other's thoughts.

Seeing this, Li Yi nodded slightly to Song Jie, then turned to General Guan and said:

"May I ask, General, is this information accurate?"

Warfare is based on deception!

Having led troops in battles against the Xiongnu and Qing Kingdom for a long time, Li Yi was no longer the naive young man he once was, and had read many military books in his spare time.

If the claim of being cut off from supplies is a false rumor spread by the Qing Kingdom, then if we lead our troops out of Yanmen Pass to attack the Qing Kingdom, wouldn't we be falling into their trap?

If this were the case, the Qing Kingdom would certainly arrange a large army to ambush and annihilate the Chen Kingdom's army that had come out of the pass.

Li Yi's question echoed the thoughts of everyone present, who nodded in agreement and looked at General Guan.

Upon hearing this, General Guan firmly agreed to the matter, and then added:

"This news has been investigated by the Qingyun Sect, Baiyun Temple, and our scouts. There is indeed a problem in the Qing Kingdom's camp."

"Our army also has some inside agents in Qinghai. Some of these agents hold high positions. The intelligence they transmit matches the intelligence that my people have gathered."

"The Qing Kingdom army's supplies were indeed destroyed by the beast tide formed by the strange beasts spawned by the Spirit Transformation Powder."

Seeing that no one had any more questions, General Guan took out a secret letter from his bosom.

"This is the latest intelligence from our inside agent within the Qing Kingdom's army!"

"The Qing Kingdom's commander is currently arranging for his elite troops to quietly retreat into the Qing Kingdom, leaving only some old, weak, sick, disabled, and auxiliary soldiers to guard the main camp."

Has the Qing Kingdom's army already begun its secret retreat?

General Guan's words thoroughly ignited the fighting spirit of everyone present.

Without food and supplies, soldiers not only lack the strength to fight, but more importantly, they will lose morale and the will to fight.

In this situation, the Qing army stationed outside Yanmen Pass was not a ferocious enemy at all, but a group of lively and energetic soldiers!

After examining the secret letter handed to him by General Guan, Li Yi passed it on to the next person to read.

"Since the Qing Kingdom army is withdrawing, these are the places they cannot avoid!"

General Guan stood in front of the sand table, pointed to several places that the Qing Kingdom army would inevitably pass through during their retreat, and spoke to everyone.

"In this battle, I personally led the main force to engage and hold off these 50,000 Qing Kingdom troops!"

"Li Yi, you will lead your Wind Tiger Battalion and Breaking Barbarian Battalion to set up an ambush here!"