My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"It doesn't matter,"

Han Xiang's eyes, previously filled with wariness, gradually cleared as he surveyed the chessboard, "Taking cities and land isn't a one-man effort. Once the army collapses, even if he survives alone, he'll be powerless to turn the tide. We can take our time dealing with him then."

"Just a few more days."

Zhong Wuxin said, "Moreover, I heard that a couple of days ago, he publicly burned a secret letter from the supervising army that had communication with us, and chose not to investigate. Afterwards, he opened the granaries to feed his troops every meal, using this method to forcibly stabilize the soldiers' morale. The more he does this, the more it shows they are at the end of their tether. Today's attack on the vanguard camp is probably just a sign of his anxiety, wanting to quickly probe for our vulnerabilities."

"But we must not be careless,"

Han Xiang, playing with a chess piece, said darkly, "I've dispatched troops to Wu City in secret, along with that Martial Cultivator in the True Power Realm, just in case."

...

A few days later,

Chen Sansi, who had been cultivating day and night, put down his long spear.

On average, he could breach one Jing Shen every one to two months. The last Jing Shen was no exception. Even in the Cultivation World, this pace would mark him as a supreme genius.

But it still wasn't enough...

Time was not on their side.

Upon returning to the military camp,

he saw Tong Xiaochu coming to report: "Sir, we'll run out of food and forage in at most two days. The good news is that Liao Fang is almost here. Immortal Master Wang Jun said he should arrive by tonight at the latest."

"That bastard."

Teng Le cursed from the side, "He keeps postponing the agreed-upon date, putting on airs, I tell you!"

In the end,

Two days!

...

Capital City.

Longevity Palace.

Behind the canopy,

Emperor Longqing's prolonged and profound voice arose: "Haven't we won at Guan Du yet?"

"To answer Your Majesty,"

Yan Liang sighed, "We have done our utmost in supplying food and forage, but despite that, victory eludes us. The supplies will be exhausted in another two days at most."

"Alas!"

Emperor Longqing lamented, "My great Sheng Dynasty has lost 150,000 loyal souls. After the war is over, I shall posthumously confer upon Chen Sansi the title of Duke Zhao, to be inherited by his descendants in perpetuity. If we can retrieve his body, we will bury him with the honors due to a king."

"Elder, I'll instruct the Ministry of Rites to make preparations immediately,"

Yan Liang respectfully responded, "Your Majesty need not be overly grieved. All we endure now is to bide our time and bear the burden of humiliation. Once Your Majesty advances further on the Immortal Path, we no longer need to concern ourselves with the Li family or entities like Shengyun Sect and Luoye Valley from looking down upon our great Sheng Dynasty."

...

Zhongjue Hall.

King Jin, Cao Huan, and numerous officials were there, engulfed in a deathly silence.

"Prince Zhen Nan's forces still can't reclaim the Three Prefectures,"

Minister of Revenue Tian Guang said despairingly, "Calculating the time, the front-line supplies will be depleted in another two days. A 150,000 strong army... gone! Do you realize how many silver taels that is!"

Minister of Personnel Yin Mingchun also sighed heavily, "After this battle, our Great Sheng Dynasty will lose one-fifth of its territories, and it will be difficult to restore the vitality of the West Territory within twenty years."

"Soldier Immortal Han Xiang! Han Xiang!"

The crowd gnashed their teeth.

Who would have thought that even the man in the White Robe would end up defeated utterly.

"Mr. Yan!"

Minister of War Ming Qingfeng suddenly spoke up, "Have you written to the generals at the Three Prefectures? Many of them are your Yan Family's protégés!"

Yan Maoxing paused, then answered with assertion, "Of course, I wrote letters! But what's the use? This battle isn't just between two armies; it involves Immortals who gave their men Immortal Pills. What could I do? Ming Qingfeng, don't start on about 'protégés'!"

"Enough! At a time when the court is in jeopardy, do you really have the luxury to attack each other?"

King Jin, Cao Huan, roared in thunderous fury, "Instead of fighting here, better think about how to minimize the losses after the supervising army's defeat!"

"Your Highness, rest assured,"

Ming Qingfeng stated, "With the Central Plains Army and Prince Zhen Nan there, they absolutely cannot enter the Central Plains from Jiazhou, they'll be stopped at the Heavenly Mountains! The court has plenty of time to recover and we will surely have an opportunity to counterattack in the future."

After saying this, he began to discuss future plans with the officials from the Ministry of War.

"Sixth Brother, may I have a moment,"

Cao Zhi approached him.

"What is it that you can't say here?"

After some hesitation, King Jin, Cao Huan, still led him behind the hall: "Twelfth Brother, do you have something urgent to discuss?"

"Sixth Brother,"

Cao Zhi said solemnly, "Don't you think there's something odd about this whole affair?"

"Odd?"

Listening to the faint sounds of arguing resuming behind him, Cao Huan asked, "Twelfth Brother, are you also suspecting Elder Yan? How could that be possible?"

"What's so impossible about that?"

Cao Zhi took out a sealed letter from his robe: "This is a clue discovered by my Jinyi Guard. Before the revolt in the Three Prefectures, the family of Du Xiaochen from Wu County vanished, but they were not sent to West Qi. Instead, they were secretly brought to the Capital City and are now detained in an inconspicuous estate on its outskirts."

"What?"

Reading the handwriting, Cao Huan, boiling with rage, exclaimed, "If this is true, the Yan family deserves death by a thousand cuts, to have their clan exterminated! But why? They hold such high offices, even I, the Prince Regent, have to consult his opinion when handling affairs of state, which can only be carried out after Cabinet agreement. What more could they want? Why betray the country?"

"Sixth Brother! Are you really that naive or are you pretending to be?!"

Cao Zhi said with a heavy tone, "Do you really think the Yan family has the audacity to do such a thing?"

"You..."

Staring into King Yan's eyes, as if seeing the answer within, Cao Huan nearly stumbled and fell, uttering with disbelief, "Twelfth Brother! We may be close, but there are things one must not speak lightly of!"