66 The Progress of the Army

After twelve grueling months in the forests Yun finally dismissed the camp back to their Lieutenants to train. They had performed their duties to an acceptable degree for a force made up of people who had never experienced military life. Yun had been given instructions repeatedly by Elder Lei on how to maintain discipline and order throughout the past year in secret, giving her the tools and education she needed to manage a military operation.

With knowledge in hand and orders to go off of, the entire force split up into its four component groups and dissipated at a remarkable speed, leaving Yun and Long Wuying standing next to the quarry at the top of a gnoll. Staring down at the quarry floor one could see that many of the massive blocks of stone that had made up the near-labyrinth at the bottom had been damaged pretty heavily. Some of them were split in half, some had large chunks taken off corners where attacks had landed, and some of them even had large holes punched through them from some heavy weapon wielder who went overboard.

"Wuying, what do you think of them? There were a few of the squads whose leaders were comparable to the Lieutenants, right?"

"Yes, they seemed to be quite good. Should we promote them, or just encourage their growth?"

"For now let's see what happens in half a month. The Lieutenants also promised their corps would have new gear before returning here for the second round."

Yun looked over at Long Wuying, appraising his current strength.

"Wuying, you've advanced during these months haven't you?"

"Of course, I couldn't sit in the tent on this side of the quarry and do nothing all day, could I? You've grown as well, though your cultivation is higher so it takes longer to achieve a breakthrough. How close are you to the second rank now?"

"Ehhh, this Yun isn't sure. Let's leave it at that. Care to spar and test out your new equipment Wuying?"

"Oh? You're willing? Then of course, let this fighter have some fun in the pit!"

With both of them smiling they began to leap down the cliffside, Long Wuying taking the lead slightly due to his naturally greater agility as a Felis. Finally, as the reached the half-way point they began to deviate towards opposite sides of the quarry.

Standing on top of two large stone blocks they both faced each other, weapons drawn. Yun took out a small stone and flung it up into the air as the start signal and prepared herself for the attacks to come.

Clack!

The sound of the stone impacting the ground echoed throughout the quarry like a thunderclap.

Almost instantly Wuying vanished as he dropped behind a stone, taking advantage of his darkness laws and the evening light to conceal himself before making his way forwards. Yun, on the other hand, advanced to the center of the quarry and began warming things up. Over a large region the air began to dry out and reach high temperatures, beginning the process of creating static arcs throughout the region. Each of these little lightning bolts created a large amount of light, banishing shadows around them and making it difficult for Wuying to advance while staying concealed.

Suddenly a black fist flew at Yun from behind, aimed straight for her head. She leaned aside and allowed it to fly past her face without blocking it. When it reached the stone wall it punched a hole in it nearly three meters deep.

"Impressive, but you'll have to do better than that to hide your presence from this Yun!"

Yun slashed out to her right with a simple energy projection technique, sending a crescent of pure condensed qi flying at a shadow just outside her Dragon Aura. With a startled yelp Long Wuying could be seen diving forwards to get under the incoming blade and avoid it before his eyes became huge at the sight of another one coming at him vertically just behind it.

Gritting his teeth, Wuying activated a battle skill and punched out with his gauntlet cloaked in black energy three times in rapid succession, making it look like one single punch, and succeeded in breaking the incoming blade.

"Very good, Wuying, you managed to break that energy blade! You really must be nearing your next breakthrough into the Perfect Neidan Forging realm!"

"That wasn't the least bit fair, you're a large realm above me! That was obviously too strong of an attack for a spar!"

"This Yun disagrees, that was an attack that this Yun was capable of at the eighth realm of Neidan Forging just like you."

Gritting his teeth, Long Wuying moved out into the open while muttering "Little monster. . ." under his breath.

Yun smiled sinisterly, "I heard that, Wuying. Are you sure you're ready to pay the bill for saying something like that?"

Long Wuying felt a shiver run down his back as his hackles raised unbidden. Suddenly he saw a menacing smile light up the dark before it faded from view without moving.

Afterimage!

Quickly he raised his gauntlets to block and stopped the butt of the spear from hitting him in the side in a wide sweeping arc, but he couldn't stop the full force of the blow and was sent flying dozens of meters before he crashed down onto the stone.

"Careful what you say, Wuying. That mouth could get you into some trouble."

Wuying struggled to stand, spitting out a mouthful of blood, "You really are something else, Yun. I can't even receive a single strike from the back of your spear, I can't imagine what would happen to me if that was the blade."

Yun's smile faded from her face as she said matter-of-factly, "You'd be cut in half, gauntlets included."

Wuying coughed twice awkwardly, "You didn't have to put it so blunt, did you? You're hurting my pride as a brawler and a man."

Yun cracked a smile before laughing lightly, like the sound of bells.

"Wuying, you're too much! This Yun wouldn't kill you and you know it. You've already been told my spear is one of a kind, Zhu Cai can't even work on it anymore! Don't mistake the sharpness of my blade for my individual strength. Without this spear this Yun wouldn't be nearly as strong."

Off in the darkness, at the top of the quarry, a pair of ears stealthily disappeared from sight after Yun made this statement.