"Lord Chen, speak your mind!"
Xiang Tingchun instinctively turned his gaze toward Chen Sanshi.
"Send word to Hengkang Prefecture immediately," Chen Sanshi said, eyes fixed on the sand table. His tone was calm but firm. "Anding Prefecture holds most of Yunzhou's military strength, but they're now under siege. Only Hengkang Prefecture might still have troops to spare for reinforcements."
"It's useless," Xiang Tingchun replied, shaking his head. "Before the Xi River tribe even began their assault on Poyang, I already sent letters to Hengkang Prefecture. Their reply was clear—they're the final defensive stronghold of Yunzhou. Unless an imperial order comes down, they won't move a single soldier."
He sighed heavily and continued, "Now, if we send the battle report to the Ministry of War in the capital, and wait for the command to travel all the way back, who knows how long that'll take? By then, it'll be far too late."
"Circumstances have changed," Chen Sanshi said. "Now that Anding Prefecture is besieged, if Poyang falls too, Hengkang will be attacked from both sides. If they truly understand what's at stake, they'll have no choice but to help us."
"Then we can only try."
Xiang Tingchun nodded. "Who will go?"
"I'll go!"
Wang Zhi stepped forward. "I'm acquainted with the Commanding Officer of Hengkang Prefecture's garrison. If I speak to him, I can likely persuade him to send a thousand—no, two thousand men!"
Chen Sanshi recalled this connection.
Fat Wang had gone on "family visits" to the prefectural city twice before, each time staying ten days or half a month. Turned out, it hadn't been Anding Prefecture he was visiting, but Hengkang.
"Good!"
Xiang Tingchun clapped him heavily on the shoulder. "Hundred-Household Officer Wang, the lives of tens of thousands in Poyang rest on your shoulders!"
"Understood."
Wang Zhi didn't waste another word. Grabbing his saber, he turned and strode out.
"Senior Sister Sun," Chen Sanshi asked, turning to Sun Li, "any news from the Grand Commander's Office?"
Sun Li shook her head.
That doesn't make sense.
Chen Sanshi frowned inwardly.
Han Cheng's presence proved that Grand Commander Sun was fully aware of Poyang's situation. So why was there still no movement from his side?
It could only mean one thing—the situation across the three northwestern provinces was even more dire than here.
"Brothers, do not despair!"
Xiang Tingchun's voice boomed through the command hall. "When the Great Sheng Taizu Emperor founded our dynasty, General Yin Wei held the city of Pucheng with only 7,000 men against 130,000 enemy troops!"
"Do you know how long he held the city? Seven days? Seventy days? No—he held for seven months! He annihilated 120,000 enemy soldiers and bought Taizu the time he needed to unify the Central Plains! That victory was the cornerstone of our dynasty!"
He slammed his fist on the table. "We have plenty of provisions, over a thousand soldiers including the new recruits, and the common people stand with us. What's a mere 10,000 enemy to fear?"
Chen Sanshi had read about that battle before.
The Battle of Pucheng was one of the three decisive wars that built the Great Sheng Dynasty.
He also remembered a similar battle from his previous life's history—a man named Zhang Xun defending Suiyang.
Though Poyang was only a county, it was a border fortress, and its walls were solidly built. If the entire city rose to defend together, they could hold for two or three months. If Wang Zhi managed to bring reinforcements from Hengkang, their odds weren't hopeless at all.
What truly worried Chen Sanshi was Prefect Xue—or rather, the emperor's hidden motives.
And with the Witch God Sect sending experts above the Transforming Strength realm… chaos was inevitable.
When all the orders were given, the officers dispersed to their posts.
"Little junior brother," Sun Li said as she climbed up the city wall and sat beside him, "don't you want to see Sister Lan?"
"With you watching over her, there's no need," Chen Sanshi said.
He still had seventy or eighty men under his command, none of whom had gone home. If he didn't set an example himself, how could he expect them to risk their lives for him?
"Don't worry," Sun Li smiled. "I rented a courtyard specifically for her. She's safe."
She glanced at Xu Bin, who stood not far away, then added, "Your subordinate's family too—the mother and child are both fine."
"Thank you, Lady Sun!"
Xu Bin's face lit up when he heard the news. Even his stance while standing guard straightened with renewed strength.
The next day, Feng Yong and others began mobilizing the townsfolk to strengthen the defenses.
The refugees from the countryside worked the hardest, eager to prove themselves. Even the city's ordinary citizens cooperated willingly, doing whatever they were told without complaint.
By the end of the day, more than 5,000 people had been gathered to assist.
The local gentry, however, refused to lift a finger. At best, they offered some money or grain, insisting that "defending the walls is the soldiers' duty" and that "dying on the ramparts is their destiny."
As for the martial hall disciples, most tried to avoid any involvement. Only those who couldn't escape were forced to help.
Some even grew desperate and tried to murder the gate guards at night to escape the city, but they were all executed on the spot.
These so-called martial artists—arrogant bullies in peacetime—turned into cowards when real danger struck.
After several tense days of preparation, the Xi River tribe's reinforcements finally arrived, and the next wave of assaults began.
On the city wall, Baldy Lai clung close behind Chen Sanshi, holding his quiver. "Little Shitou, if you run out of arrows, just tell your uncle—I'll get more! Just make sure you keep me alive, all right?"
Chen Sanshi had no time to respond. His bowstring thrummed nonstop as he loosed arrow after arrow, cutting down one barbarian after another climbing the ladders. When they grew too many to shoot, he drew his spear in his right hand and sword in his left, killing relentlessly.
By noon, he had lost count of how many arrows he'd fired, how many men he'd slain.
Finally—
After countless battles, the long-silent system panel flickered to life.
[Skill: Archery (Major Achievement)]
[Progress: 0/2000]
[Effect: The arrow is loosed in an instant—within 300 steps, none shall miss.]
From "Three Shots in a Blink" to "Arrows loosed in an instant."
An instant —0.36 seconds.
That meant he could now fire roughly three arrows per second!
He had already surpassed the limit of ordinary humans.
And even after reaching Major Achievement, his Archery still had room to improve.
But this wasn't the time to think about that.
Chen Sanshi lifted his Fifteen-Stone Bow and blocked the top of the ladder. His bowstring hand moved so fast it left afterimages, the arrows forming an unbroken black line. Unless one hid behind a thick iron shield, anyone who came up died instantly.
"You're shooting too damn fast!"
Baldy Lai crouched low under the storm of arrows and stones, crawling back and forth to fetch quivers.
"Uncle Lai, hurry up!"
Chen Sanshi thrust his spear through two enemies before taking the new quiver and continuing to shoot.
Thud!
A new siege chariot—larger than any before—rumbled through the human tide and reached the city wall. A barbarian general with a massive battle-axe leapt out, cutting down five defending soldiers in a single swing.
From his full suit of refined armor and the sheer force of his strikes, he was clearly one of their leaders—likely one of the three tempering organs experts.
Clang!
Before Chen Sanshi could draw and loose his bow, a flash of steel collided with the axe—Xiang Tingchun had stepped in.
"Captain Chen!" he shouted. "He's mine! Watch my back!"
When two tempering organs warriors fought, neither could afford to hold back. Any distraction could mean a fatal blow from another expert.
Chen Sanshi shifted his aim toward the siege chariot, guarding the gap alone. He was a fortress unto himself—one man holding back ten thousand.
After dozens of brutal exchanges, Xiang Tingchun slew the barbarian general, taking a deep cut in return.
The two then fought side by side, cutting down enemies in droves.
That round of siege lasted from morning till afternoon. Only when the barbarians realized they could not take the wall did they finally sound the retreat.
Both sides paid dearly.
After a rough count, the barbarians had lost at least 2,000 soldiers, including one tempering organs expert.
Poyang, however, lost over 600 defenders, among them 500 civilians who had volunteered to help.
The common folk were frail, but they fought with desperate courage—because they knew if the city fell, they'd all die anyway.
"Ah, heaven help me…"
Baldy Lai collapsed among the corpses, panting. "We suffer in peace, and now we die in war. Next life, I'd rather be a lord's dog than a poor man like this…"
When night fell, Chen Sanshi left the blood-soaked wall.
Finding a secluded spot, he swallowed the final Xuan Yuan Bone-Forging Pill and began his breakthrough.
Tempering bone had four stages—tendons, bones, skin, and marrow.
Perfection in bone tempering meant entering the marrow-tempering stage.
The marrow was the core of human blood. All blood was born from it.
Only by refining one's blood into the marrow, then using the marrow to forge new blood, could the human body be completely transformed—paving the way toward tempering organs.
The emperor's pills weren't made specifically for tempering marrow, but they worked across all stages of bone cultivation. Their medicinal power was vast and steady, overflowing with vitality yet harmless to the body—second only to spiritual grain in accelerating progress. Truly, a first-class treasure!
As Chen Sanshi practiced, the Dragon-Elephant blood in his body shifted from searing heat to calm stillness, cooling until it felt no different from that of an ordinary man.
But the essence of that blood seeped into every layer—through the tendons and bone membranes, saturating the skeleton before finally merging with the marrow like a spark touching oil.
"Hiss!"
A scorching fire erupted from within his bones. Chen Sanshi's veins bulged, pain twisting his face. His grip on the spear faltered several times. His pupils turned red; his teeth nearly shattered as he forced himself to move, pushing his spear technique forward one motion at a time.
All the blood essence in his body was devoured.
His blood now felt utterly ordinary. Training in such a state was agony beyond words.
Halfway through, his vision darkened. He no longer knew where he was, or how much time had passed. His body moved purely on muscle memory.
Finally, after an eternity, the pain faded. The new blood merged with the old, replacing it completely and coursing through his entire body.
[Technique: Undying Golden Serpent Spear (Upper Scroll) (Major Achievement)]
[Progress: 0/0]
[Effect: Blood of the Dragon and Elephant; Nine Dragons Temper the Tendons; Body of Vajra]
[Body of Vajra: Skin of bronze, bones of iron—impervious to blade, spear, fire, and water.]
Bronze skin, iron bones!
Chen Sanshi collapsed to the ground, drained of strength. But as his newly forged Dragon-Elephant blood surged through him, his exhaustion vanished within moments. Even the fatigue of battle was swept away.
He stirred his qi and blood. Every inch of his body—from head to toe—was as hard as steel.
He drew the Mountain-Suppressing Sword and lightly scraped it against his forearm. The blade screeched, metal grinding against metal.
Yet his movements remained fluid and natural, completely unaffected.
It was incredible.
He was confident that even if a tempering blood expert hacked at him with full force, his skin wouldn't even break.
As long as his qi and blood held steady, Chen Sanshi was now—without question—a terrifying killing machine on the battlefield.