Grinding to Martial Emperor from the Border Army

Lu Yuan grew fiercer the more he fought, leaving Zhou Xiong, Wei Yong, and the others at his side in awe.

The bandits in the stronghold, however, were terrified out of their wits and did nothing but retreat.

The imperial troops were steamrolling them, and at an incredible speed.

Zhou Hongling stood on the fortress wall watching Lu Yuan, the admiration in her eyes plain to see.

’This guy’s cultivation has improved again. How long has it even been?’ she thought.

Her gaze never left him.

As Lu Yuan swung his Crescent Saber, a faint aura of wind and thunder gathered around his body.

A vortex seemed to coalesce around him.

Any enemy who got too close was sent flying by a single slash.

A Vulture Ridge leader, seeing Lu Yuan about to charge, immediately turned to flee.

But after only a few steps, he heard a clap of thunder by his ear.

By the time he could react, a cyan blade was already before him.

Then his world went dark, and he knew no more. To the onlookers, his head was already soaring high into the air.

Yet the Crescent Saber remained unstained by even a single drop of blood.

The battle raged on. There were too many men in the stronghold to kill them all, and with many trying to escape, the fight turned into a running pursuit.

By the time the battle ended, it was already afternoon. Vulture Ridge had been completely conquered by the imperial troops.

Several thousand men died in the fighting, but the majority escaped.

Notably, when the troops searched the stronghold, they found little in the way of treasure. It was only after interrogating the surrendered bandits that they discovered the reason.

It turned out Eagle had already moved the gold and silver away ahead of time. His plan had been to flee if they couldn’t win, but who would have thought he’d fail to escape?

Although there were no spoils, Zhou Hongling didn’t say much, as she hadn’t expected to gain much from this expedition in the first place.

「After the army returned to camp.」

Zhou Hongling sat in her command tent and looked at the three Captains under her command. "This battle can be considered a complete success. Your military merits have all been recorded. Tomorrow morning, you will all return to your respective posts."

"Just now, the Marquis sent a message by carrier pigeon ordering all Border Army troops to stay out of the buffer zone. From now on, you’ll all have to be careful."

This was clearly telling them that if they wanted to enter again in the future, they could not do so in their capacity as imperial officers. If discovered, they would face dire consequences.

"As you command!"

Helian Shang and the other two Captains quickly rose and replied.

A glint appeared in Lu Yuan’s eyes. He clearly hadn’t expected the Dayong court to move so quickly.

’It seems they’ve also tacitly accepted the existence of this buffer zone.’

’Then, the next step should be the entry of various forces.’

However, he wasn’t too worried about this, as he had already taken the first step.

’Wu Han should have already started recruiting the fleeing men from Vulture Ridge today.’

’As long as I can control this stretch of Wasteland outside the Three Cities, I’ll have secured a foothold in the Wasteland.’

What Lu Yuan didn’t know, however, was that Wu Han had a bet with Copper Lion Yang Xiao, which involved another twenty to thirty thousand men.

If all of them were added together, it would be an army of seventy to eighty thousand.

By any standard, that was a significant force.

Seeing the three men’s response, Zhou Hongling nodded with satisfaction, then gestured for Helian Shang and Yun Mo to withdraw, leaving only her and Lu Yuan behind.

"Sit down. Everyone else is gone, no need to stand," Zhou Hongling said, stretching languidly.

Lu Yuan didn’t stand on ceremony, immediately sitting down opposite her. He poured himself a cup of tea and drank it down in one go.

"Is there a reason you had me stay?"

Lu Yuan was actually quite anxious, as he was eager to return and attempt a breakthrough.

He had the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for Spleen Refining on hand. He hadn’t rushed the breakthrough last night because of the expedition, so today was the perfect time to try.

Zhou Hongling said softly, "Do I need a reason to have you stay?"

As she spoke, she raised a challenging eyebrow.

Lu Yuan immediately replied, "Of course you don’t."

He didn’t dare provoke his superior right now, and that was no exaggeration.

Zhou Hongling was his biggest backer at the moment.

Though her official rank wasn’t exceptionally high, her willingness to support him wholeheartedly was what was truly rare.

That was more precious than anything.

"That’s more like it," Zhou Hongling said with satisfaction after sipping her tea.

Then, her expression turned serious. "From now on, you should get involved in the buffer zone’s affairs as little as possible. I helped you eliminate Vulture Ridge this time, but the imperial troops cannot enter again."

"I don’t know why you wanted to attack this place, but I’ve already done everything I can."

"In the coming days, this area will be watched by various powers."

"That includes the decorated nobles of the court. They won’t give up a major client like the Northern Barbarians."

"Therefore, it’s inevitable that they will plant their own agents in the buffer zone."

"The Zhou Family will also try to cultivate a force here. My father has already said that when the time comes, he will give you a share."

"So don’t take any more risks, understand?"

Hearing Zhou Hongling’s earnest advice, Lu Yuan’s heart warmed. The feeling of being cared for was quite nice, after all.

He nodded and said, "I understand."

"As long as you understand. Now, hurry back and rest. I can see your cultivation has advanced again. About when do you think you’ll reach Blood Movement?"

Zhou Hongling asked with concern.

She seemed more attentive to Lu Yuan’s cultivation than her own.

"Tomorrow, probably. I’m preparing to break through tonight," Lu Yuan said calmly.

A flash of amazement crossed Zhou Hongling’s eyes.

She then said, "Then hurry up and do it. Have Zhou Xiong stand guard outside your tent as your Protector. You absolutely cannot be disturbed."

"Mhm, got it." After acknowledging, Lu Yuan returned to his own tent.