Chapter 197: Cultivating Along The Way

Huangfu Qianqi and a group of officials saw Sun Bingchen and the rest off at somewhere ten li away from Pingxi City before they finally returned.

Due to the fact that the Ye Clan had just been taken down and Gan Province was also situated along the border, the road which was too far out from the city was usually not that safe. Although Huangfu Qianqi had returned, he deployed a troop of six hundred cavalries to escort Yan Liqiang and the rest toward the east as they prepared to return to Gan Provincial City first.

The melting snow made the public road slightly muddy. Although it didn’t really affect the rhinodrake steeds, the horse carriages in the party couldn’t keep up. Therefore, the entire party had no choice but to slow down in order to accommodate the speed of the horse carriages.

Not long after that, Yan Liqiang spotted two familiar silhouettes mounted on their rhinodrake steeds at the roadside ahead, and they were looking in their direction.

Yan Liqiang’s heart was suddenly filled with excitement when he saw the two figures. After informing Liang Yijie, he went over to them on his rhinodrake steed. “Why are both of you here?”

“Hahaha, we were thinking of seeing you off, but Shen Teng said it was too crowded in the city and that it would be better to see you off here instead!”

The two people who were waiting at the roadside turned out to be Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng. Both of them seemed to be waiting here on their rhinodrake steeds since long ago because they knew Yan Liqiang and the rest would pass by.

Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng escorted Yan Liqiang about thirty li and only stopped to bid their farewells to him when they reached a place called the Cloud Gazing Pavilion.

“Let us all spar again together the next time we meet each other to see who is better. I may have placed third during the last Martial Arts County Trial, but that isn’t necessarily true in the future!”

“You are a target which motivates me to work harder in order to surpass you, Liqiang. By that time, I hope you won’t be defeated by me. I will travel to study abroad after I progress into a Martial Warrior. Then, I will come find you at the Imperial Capital!” Shen Teng laughed.

“That’s a promise then!”

“Have a safe journey!”

“Take care, everyone!”

……

After traveling a good distance away from the Cloud Gazing Pavilion, Yan Liqiang stopped his rhinodrake steed and turned his head around. He could still see Shi Dafeng and Shen Teng watching him from the hill where the Cloud Gazing Pavilion was. When both of them saw Yan Liqiang turn his head around, they waved, then spun their steeds around. They shook their reins and made their way back to Pingxi City. Yan Liqiang took a deep breath too, shook his reins, and let the rhinodrake steed below him trot back to Sun Bingchen again.

“There’s no need to feel regretful. Everyone has their own fate and opportunities. You are all promising youths with a lot of time ahead of you. You will definitely meet each other again!” Sun Bingchen turned his head around to smile at Yan Liqiang. “But make sure you have achieved some accomplishments the next time you meet. You must be a better and more powerful person than you are today. Otherwise, how will you be able to face the friends you have made during your youth?”

“Yes, you are right, sir. I will definitely do my best!” Yan Liqiang nodded solemnly.

……

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As they were leaving Pingxi Prefecture, the scenery around Yan Liqiang started to grow unfamiliar to him. Everything along the way turned into patches of dull and monotonous colors. All he saw along the sides of the road were tawny hills. They’d run into a few people from time to time, but no one could be seen for most of the time. Gan Province was a lowly populated province at the border in the first place. On top of that, it was only the first lunar month, toward the end of winter. The plants had all withered so green was rarely sighted, and many living things had gone into hibernation. The scenery along the way turned bleak and barren, creating another kind of atmosphere.

The party traveled in silence. The cavalry escorts were further split into three groups — one of them was dispatched as a scouting party to explore ahead, the other was assigned to escort Yan Liqiang’s party, and the remaining one brought up the rear.

The party of more than seven hundred people was the biggest crowd on the road. They appeared to be rather powerful in their eye-catching armor. Unless they ran into an army, ordinary bandits would dodge them in fear, let alone ask for trouble.

Aside from that, the officials from places they would pass by along their journey would expect them on the road as soon as they received the news. Delicious meals and accommodations would be prepared in advance, and those posthouses wouldn’t dare to be poor hosts either. Therefore, the entire journey basically felt like a peaceful and relaxing steed-riding tour to Yan Liqiang.

At first, Yan Liqiang could still tolerate it. However, on the next day, Yan Liqiang was already feeling the extreme boredom of traveling on his rhinodrake steed at such an unhurried pace every day. In the end, he’d rather take out his Horned Python Bow, gallop back and forth alongside the party, and practice archery on his steed.

Needless to mention, Yan Liqiang’s so-called ‘practice’ was not a normal type of practice.

He pretended to be a newbie in archery who appeared to have only grasped some basic archery techniques. Aside from his enormous amount of strength which allowed him to draw his Horned Python Bow, his aim was nothing worth mentioning. He tried to shoot the tree trunks, rocks, wild grasses, and those wild hares or wild boars which occasionally scuttled around the bushes from the back of his steed. However, his aim was simply too off in everyone’s eyes. Even hitting a tree trunk which was fifty meters away from the back of his horse would be a matter of luck, let alone anything else.

Just like this, Yan Liqiang fabricated his cultivation in archery by pretending to practice his ‘archery’ from the back of his steed in order to avoid exposing himself in the future.

It was extremely easy for a sniper to disguise himself as a newbie who always missed his targets. However, it was extremely difficult for a newbie to disguise himself as a sniper who never missed his targets. Hence, no one was able to see the flaw in Yan Liqiang’s practice.

Of course, no one in the party knew that Yan Liqiang wasn’t hitting his target because Yan Liqiang’s target wasn’t the same as what they thought. Yan Liqiang was indeed practicing archery, but the way he practiced it was beyond their expectation.

When they thought Yan Liqiang was aiming for the tree trunk in the distance, his real target was to let his arrow fly past three feet and seven inches away from a certain protrusion in the wood…

When they thought Yan Liqiang was aiming for a certain rock, Yan Liqiang’s real target was a very tiny branch on the ground.

When they thought Yan Liqiang was going to shoot the wild hares or wild boars, Yan Liqiang’s real target was the leaf of a shrub which was about to spring back to its original shape after the wild boar had just brushed past it — or the few water droplets from the melted snow on the withered grass.

This type of training was simply killing two birds with one stone. Not only did it allow Yan Liqiang to disguise himself as a newbie, it also allowed him to train his skill in drawing a bow on the back of a steed as preparation for him to attain the Fourth Heavenly Layer in the art of archery.

With this, the dull journey was no longer boring for Yan Liqiang.

Unbeknownst to him, Yan Liqiang’s standard in archery was improving steadily as it forged ahead toward the Fourth Heavenly Layer realm.

Sun Bingchen’s party traveled for only four days before they reached Weiyuan Prefecture on the 14th of the first lunar month.

As soon as they arrived at Weiyuan Prefecture and made it past the boundary stone along the road, one of the scouting cavalries came dashing back from the front. When he arrived before Sun Bingchen’s party, he pulled the reins back. With a neigh, his galloping rhinodrake steed raised its front hooves before it heavily slammed them down on the ground and then immediately stood still.

“Reporting to Lord Sun. We have discovered a large troop about ten li ahead. We have already sent someone to scout it out, but we have yet to identify the other party. For safety reasons, please wait here for moment…”

Many people among the party suddenly started to feel nervous as soon as they heard this…