The Rigorous Training

A few days later...

The prefecture overseer of Anzhou brought an imperial decree with the jade seal on it.

Master Shen took this seriously. His mind was quite messed up. He didn't understand how he had become the county magistrate of the Qi Hua City overnight.

However, when Master Shen saw the prefecture overseer staring at Shen Ling from a distance, he understood instantly.

Then, Master Shen took the imperial decree and the official uniform.

He turned around and went back to his room.

"Young Master Shen, are you satisfied now?"

After the ceremony to receive the imperial decree, the prefecture overseer looked at Shen Ling as though he was expecting something from him.

"Not yet."

Shen Ling knowing what he wanted to ask for shook his head. This made the prefecture overseer frown.

Just as he thought, Shen Ling was going to make some strange request to make things difficult for him. Shen Ling spoke again, "My things are yet to arrive. Can you please be patient for a few more days?"

"Alright! I trust that you'll arrange everything."

The prefecture overseer said with a nod.

Since he had a favor to ask, he had to lower his pride.

As long as he could get rid of the bandits in Anzhou so that the emperor would stop blaming him, he was willing to pay any price no matter how huge it was.

After all, it was very important for him to protect his reputation.

He had to do something about this!

He could either be dismissed from his position or sent to jail and this was something that the prefecture overseer didn't want to experience.

He didn't want to lose his life; nor did he want to give up his official position. For this reason, all he could do was hold on to Shen Ling, hoping that this Young Master would be able to bring the miracle of winning.

As for not relying on Shen Ling... it wasn't that he hadn't given it a thought.

But those bandits were either hiding in the city or the forest.

The prefecture overseer didn't dare to forcefully attack the city. His army of  20,000 couldn't afford such a waste of time and resources.

Although anyone who saw him would think he was calm, he couldn't help but feel agitated.

He was very worried that if he waited any longer, winter would come.

During winter, there was snow, which would make it inconvenient for the army to move. It would also be very difficult to transport resources.

There was even the risk of frostbite.

Under such crucial circumstances, trying to forcefully take back the cities that had been occupied by the rebel army was no different from dreaming.

After some careful consideration, the prefecture overseer chose the most likely method to achieve his goal.

He decided to ask Shen Ling for help.

When Shen Ling looked at the prefecture overseer, he was startled.

Originally, he thought that if he rejected the prefecture overseer's suggestion again, the man would have to ask a few questions to show off his power as a prefecture overseer even if he wasn't angry.

However, he didn't expect that the prefecture overseer would be so calm and collected. He was very cultured.

This surprised him in no small way.

After a while...

"Ha."

Shen Ling slashed down with his saber.

Two wooden sabers collided. Da Zhuang was sent flying by the terrific force. This stunned him greatly.

"Fourth level?"

Shen Ling wasn't surprised by such an outcome. What surprised him was that Da Zhuang's Mountain-splitting Saber Technique seemed to have been cultivated to the fourth level.

There were only three levels of Mountain-splitting Saber Technique!

Even the author of the cultivation technique failed to reach the fourth level.

However, Shen Ling's interface showed that his cultivation had gone way beyond the third level.

His Mountain-splitting Saber Technique was currently at the sixth level and was slowly moving towards the seventh level.

"Mm."

Da Zhuang replied in a simple and honest voice, "It's all thanks to you, Young Master, and that wine!"

He smiled happily as he got up from the ground.

The Mountain-splitting Saber Technique was very easy to get started with. Da Zhuang was able to cultivate to the third level in a short time because of his hard work.

Besides, Shen Ling always gave detailed explanation and instructions with patience.

"That's not bad."

Shen Ling nodded and asked, "How many people are eligible currently?"

Da Zhuang thought for some seconds and replied in a deep voice, "Young Master, they are less than ten."

When Shen Ling heard this, he was a little disappointed.

Although he had the flower wine produced by the blooming of the poplar tree to speed up cultivation, there were less than ten young men who could satisfy the first level of the Iron Shirt and the third level of the Mountain-splitting Saber Technique.

If they continued this way, even if Miss Qin delivered the goods he bought, it would be a problem because there won't be enough people to use them.

"We must act as fast as possible."

Shen Ling contorted his face in a frown as he looked at the sky.

Da Zhuang nodded. "Don't worry, Young Master. I will supervise them."

"Okay."

Shen Ling nodded.

After a few days, Miss Qin delivered the goods.

There were a hundred sets of armor, a thousand longswords, and more than a thousand flying ropes. She also sent some of the triple crossbows.

"This is fair enough."

Shen Ling put on his armor as he tried to check it out.

As he looked at himself in the bronze mirror, Shen Ling discovered that he looked stronger and even more handsome than usual.

He walked confidently, full of vigor.

"Young Master."

Da Zhuang called out to him respectfully as he walked over.

"What's the matter, Da Zhuang?"

Shen Ling asked as he turned around.

Da Zhuang replied, "There were 12 people who broke through last night. Right now, the number of people who are eligible has gotten to 50."

"Fifty people..."

Shen Ling narrowed his eyes and said, "That should be enough for now!"

"Bring them over here."

"Alright, Young Master!" Da Zhuang nodded and turned to leave.

After a while, Shen Ling brought the fifty young men in armor to the southern square to familiarize themselves with their equipment.

Each person was given his ration of a longsword, a triple crossbow, and a flying rope.

After the inspection, Shen Ling gave the first order, "Now start running!"

With so many items that needed to be inspected, it seemed like Shen Ling loved long-distance running the best.

In an instant, the young men began to prove their strength.

Since they had heavy armor on their bodies, they weren't able to run fast. After they ran three laps, Shen Ling shouted softly, "Get on the wall."

"Whoosh!"

One after the other, flying ropes flew up the camp wall and the young men began to move forward.

Although it wasn't the first time that most of them used flying ropes, some people had problems using them.

Besides, the armor was very heavy.

This also caused them to climb the wall very slowly.

Moreover...

As far as Shen Ling was concerned, this kind of adaptation training was just the beginning. There was still more cruel training waiting for these young men.

A day passed.

"Charge!"

They had to be trained fiercely. Fear had to be far from them. Including the fear of death!

Since Shen Ling was constantly urging them, the fifty young men were able to quickly understand this principle. They gritted their teeth and persevered, running wildly around the camp wall.

At the end of the day, most of them had serious leg injuries.

Even walking became very painful for them.

"You have all worked hard."

Shen Ling said softly as he treated their injuries one after another.

Thanks to the powerful effect of the longevity inner strength, all the injuries that they sustained the previous day healed up nicely.

Even their internal injuries were not left behind.

"We'll continue tomorrow."

Just as the young men were feeling the sweet comfort brought about by the longevity inner strength, Shen Ling's words caused them to fall into hell once again.

A few days later.

"Fair enough!"

Shen Ling spoke slowly, "After a few days, your performance has been quite satisfactory, but it's still far from what I had expected."

"Even at that, we don't have time to train anymore."

"If we do not eliminate the bandits who have taken over the city before winter, we can't tell how many people will die on the streets by next year spring."

"In addition to that, once the bandits gain a foothold, the Qi Hua City and even this village can be attacked at any time. Our fields will not be peaceful."

"For this reason, I think we must eliminate them as soon as possible."

"Brothers, please come with me!"