Chapter 165 The Morning Run Crowd
Winning the competition held among the troops stationed in Luoyang with a set of saber skills?

One had to know that the Southern Encampment did not consist of troops stationed at the border. Even though they underwent much training, their prowess in battle was still somewhat behind the border troops. During the previous competitions of such small groups of a thousand soldiers each, the four encampments were not favorites to win.

Ye Que had just allowed 1000 soldiers from the Southern Encampment to win the competition after teaching them a set of saber techniques consisting of only about a dozen moves over three days!

It was no wonder that Zhang Yue would find it necessary to report the matter to Li Jianqi.

“Is the saber technique related to the Southern Encampment winning the competition?” Li Jianqi asked somewhat suspiciously.

There were battle techniques in the army as well. Each encampment had its own recognized set of sword, saber skills or group formations that its troops were well versed in. If Ye Que claimed that his soldiers could win the competition just by using his three saber techniques, it was too incredible to be believed.

“Your Highness, you wouldn’t believe it unless you saw it for yourself. It’s really related to that set of saber skills. Each fight didn’t last longer than 15 minutes, and victory was achieved within three exchanges. The soldiers that used Mr. Ye’s technique seemed to have undergone a great spiritual transformation,” Zhang Yue said very confidently.

Zhang Yue looked at Li Jianqi before continuing, “I’ve another request to make, my Princess. Since Mr. Yue’s so wonderful, could you get him to explain the saber technique to the other soldiers? If all of them mastered it, the strength of the Tang Empire’s army would have improved by leaps and bounds.”

Get all soldiers of the Tang Empire to learn the three basic saber techniques of the Divine Sect Seminary?

Li Jianqi would have completely ignored the request, had it not been made by the lieutenant from an encampment such as Zhang Yue.

She was a genius of Silent Monastery herself and knew plenty of sword and saber skills learned by practitioners. As Li Chunzhi’s daughter and the Princess of the Tang State, she had thought about teaching some of them to the soldiers as well, but it was extremely hard to do so.

If she chose to teach them a cultivation technique that was offensively powerful, it would be taxing to the person using it. Most of the soldiers were simply martial artists and were unable to use cultivation methods. It was impractical to teach them True Energy cultivation, as most techniques from Truth Cultivation sects required their practitioners to possess the prerequisite talent, body structure and age.

The soldiers had gone past the prime age to begin cultivation, without a doubt.

It was for this reason that no army on the Divine Land was made up of cultivators, and that soldiers had never experienced the attacks from cultivators in battle before.

Secret Jianghu manuals were commonly found in the army, but their strength was limited. It could not be compared to the formations of the camps; at the very least, those were derived from the blood of their fallen comrades.

“Could the saber techniques that Ye Que imparted to the Southern Encampment soldiers be meant for cultivators?” The thought came to Li Jianqi’s mind suddenly.

Li Jianqi’s brows furrowed as she considered it for a moment before telling Zhang Yue, “General Zhang, the information you’ve just told me is worthy of further examination. I’ll investigate carefully, and if it can be taught to every soldier, the imperial court will not forget your accomplishments. I’ll help get your reward from Father myself.”

A look of joy and surprise flashed between Zhang Yue’s eyes as he hurriedly played down his accomplishments. “Your Highness, I’m doing what I should. The reward should go to Mr. Ye; I’m pleased to improve the battle prowess of our soldiers.”

Li Jianqi questioned Zhang Yue about a few details before allowing him to returning back to camp. She hopped onto a horse carriage herself and headed to the General’s Manor.

General’s Manor was already situated on Yong’an Street. The sun had just come up, and there were only a few people on the streets. The carriage moved at great speed and arrived at Yong’an Street in a short while.

A flurry of orderly footsteps came from behind the carriage as it made a turn. Even though they were not completely synchronized, they seemed to be following the same rhythm.

Li Jianqi peeled the curtains of the carriage apart somewhat curiously to look outward.

She saw a group of black figures running in her direction from the Bridge of Long Life. They were jogging at an extremely slow place, and they seemed to be adjusting their pace and rhythm as they ran.

A youth was running right in front of the group!

Li Jianqi had great eyesight and could tell the youth’s looks clearly as there was no one else beside him.

Ye Que!

It was Ye Que who was leading the group!

She patted the carriage door subconsciously. “Uncle Jiao, do these people come out to run every day?”

Uncle Jiao was the butler assigned to Li Jianqi by her father. In name, he was a butler, but he was in fact a Deputy Night Timekeeper of the Judicature and was in charge of collecting a portion of intelligence in Luoyang City.

Uncle Jiao turned back to glance at her, controlling the horses with one hand, before speaking, “They appeared during the last few days. Previously, no one ran at this time. It seems to be a task that the leader of Divine Sect Seminary added on at the last minute. He used to give lectures in the seminary before allowing his disciples to practice and concluded by answering any questions they still had at the end of the day’s training.”

He was worthy of this title of Deputy Night Timekeeper; he could provide very detailed information for Li Jianqi with just one look at the group.

“Go slower a little,” Li Jianqi suddenly said.

Without any hesitation, Uncle Jiao tugged at the reins lightly, reducing the horses’ speed.

“Pull the carriage to one side of the path and allow them to pass us by,” Li Jianqi continued.

Before long, Ye Que was leading thousands of disciples past Li Jianqi’s carriage.

“Be mindful of your breathing!”

“Pay attention to the rhythm of your feet!”

“Sense the changes in Nature when you breathe while exercising!”

Ye Que said seriously as he ran. Even though his voice was not loud, it was transmitted very clearly, allowing every disciple in the group to hear him extremely well.

Ye Que did not take notice of Li Jianqi’s carriage; he was focusing all of his attention on the disciples. He was the culmination of two lives and had traversed the Three Realms for decades, but he had never stopped to instruct others in the ways of cultivation. He never had the inclination, the proper environment, nor the chance to do so.

It was different now, however. It was the right place and time to do so, and he had the right group of people with him. He had to take matters of the Divine Sect Seminary seriously and treat all of them as though they were important. He could not do a haphazard job of it.

More than 1000 disciples passed by Li Jianqi’s carriage. There was no commotion or talking, nor was there anyone who tried to cut corners or who was just a token member. It seemed all of them were taking the simple run very seriously.

At first, Li Jianqi was only focused on Ye Que, but her eyes opened wide as she turned her gaze slowly to the disciples. “Cultivators!”

Everyone who was running behind Ye Que was a practitioner. The strength of their auras varied, and some seemed to have just been able to sense Nature’s Spiritual Qi, while others had already entered Pre-celestial Realm. There were a few that were already close to Psychic Realm.

However, they wore clothes of ordinary hawkers and civilians. They seemed to be from all walks of life, but generally they were normal citizens of Luoyang City.

“When did the citizens of Luoyang City begin to cultivate?”

“I thought the Divine Sect Seminary set up by Ye Que and Qian Shuxiao was just a joke. Is it for real now?”

“Also, why does it seem that all of their auras are interconnected?”