This Martial Saint's Health Bar is Too Thick!-Chapter 253 - 29: Closing the Mountain, Rain Is Coming

Military formations required at least a hundred martial artists to form, so local cities couldn't afford to maintain Imperial Camp Armies— they were too costly.

Not only was there the issue of training so many martial artists, but it also involved exotic beasts; even without forming cavalry units, at least a hundred sets of Sha Qi were required, which local Righteous Courts could simply not afford.

A set of Sha Qi, once used, would inevitably suffer wear and tear, and the military formations had to be practiced regularly, necessitating periodic repairs and replacements.

The two hundred Imperial Camp soldiers in Datong Prefecture City were maintained with great difficulty as a collective effort from all the Righteous Courts in the entire prefecture, and each quarter, additional subsidies for Sha Qi crafting materials had to come from the capital.

Here's a direct comparison, maintaining a single Imperial Camp soldier is more expensive than maintaining ten cavalrymen!

And according to the standards of the Da Lan Dynasty's Iron Cavalry, the cost of maintaining one cavalryman was enough to sustain six infantrymen.

Thus, the total expense for maintaining these two hundred Imperial Camp soldiers in Datong Prefecture City equated to sustaining more than ten thousand soldiers – several times more than the City Guard Army!

But expensive items, aside from their cost, had only advantages.

A hundred Imperial Camp Cavalry charging head-on could crush ten times their number of Iron Cavalry!

When two hundred Imperial Camp Cavalry were deployed, forming a military formation and releasing the Military Evil, even Martial Arts Masters wouldn't dare to face them directly!

At Iron Blade Sect, Gu Xianfeng received the news immediately and knew the City Guard Army and Imperial Camp Army were heading his way.

This caught him off guard but left him helpless.

"Sect Leader!"

The Elder Wang, who had previously suffered a loss under Xu Jing, entered the room anxiously and said to Gu Xianfeng:

"The Imperial Camp Army has reached the foot of the mountain!"

"I know."

"Sect Leader, what do we do now?"

"Wait."

"Wait?"

...

Gu Xianfeng glared angrily at him.

If he didn't wait now, did he expect him to go down the mountain and clash directly with those two hundred Imperial Camp soldiers?

He could only protect himself using Cloud Soaring Divine Power if it were infantry, but for two hundred Imperial Camp Cavalry, he had no choice.

"Bian Jingru is merely putting on a show right now. He won't really push the Iron Blade Sect to a dead end."

Gu Xianfeng's eyes flashed with a murderous intent as he spoke in a chilling tone.

If things got desperate, he had the Cloud Ascension Divine Power; he could leave anytime he wished, and nobody could stop him.

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Then a Martial Arts Master without any reservations would be something Bian Jingru and other high-ranking members of Datong Prefecture wouldn't want to see.

"I understand, but what if they want to take the sect's disciples for investigation?"

Elder Wang asked worriedly.

"If they have concrete evidence, let them take the people; if not, the investigation must be conducted here on the mountain, and we can't hand the people over to them!"

Gu Xianfeng said expressionlessly.

"...Alright."

Elder Wang hesitated, then eventually left the room.

Gu Xianfeng turned and looked out the window.

This 'Sword King' had been the leader of Datong Prefecture's martial world for decades, but in the past two days, he faced one setback after another.

First came Xu Jing, and now, even more harshly, the Imperial Camp Army...

On the morning of March 3rd, Iron Blade Mountain was surrounded.

The grand martial sect, Iron Blade Sect, could only frustratingly wait on the mountain to be investigated.

Bian Jingru's move showed everyone his resolve to pursue the investigation to the end!

That afternoon, news also came from the provincial capital:

Feng Province Inspector Pei Cang was 'enraged' and had already dispatched an investigation team to Datong Prefecture, simultaneously demanding that Datong Prefecture's Garrison Commander Bian Jingru must promptly find the culprit to uphold national prestige!

Usually, due to the presence of Wu'an University, Datong Prefecture held a unique status, and even though it was technically ranked lower than the provincial capital, even inspectors like Pei Cang, who acted as Governors, were quite respectful towards Bian Jingru, the Garrison Commander.

Issuing orders in a reprimanding tone was unprecedented.

Moreover, Pei Cang dispatched a high-level investigation team.

Previously, when an Imperial Official named Wu Yihua died in Xing City, the provincial capital sent out an investigation team, but it was not high-level, and ultimately, the investigation was mainly conducted by the Datong Prefecture team, and the case was closed by them as well, with Li Lei and others not only found innocent but meritorious.

But this time, it was different; the investigation team from the provincial capital was a 'luxurious lineup', led personally by a Deputy Inspector from the Inspection Department!

The Inspection Department oversaw the supervisory affairs of a province, and the Deputy Inspector was a powerful figure, holding a Fourth Rank position and being a level 15 official—two ranks higher than the deceased Zhang Zongyang, and on par with the Garrison Commander Bian Jingru.

This meant that the Deputy Inspector leading the team even had the authority to directly investigate Garrison Commander Bian Jingru!

If he wished, he could scrutinize everyone in Datong Prefecture, from top to bottom!

Suddenly, the entire Datong Prefecture felt a storm was about to come.

...

Li Fei learned of Zhang Zongyang's death on the evening of March 3rd.

A fifth-year male student stopped him on the road.

"Li Fei, my name is Zhang Xintian, I am from the Zhang Family."

The male student's face was somewhat pale, and he appeared very uneasy.

"Hello."

Li Fei looked at him curiously.

He had just finished the last class of the day and was planning to return to his dormitory to ingest an Elixir to provide energy for the "Illusion Leaf," not expecting to be suddenly stopped by someone from the Zhang Family.

"What's the matter?"

"Can you contact Zhang Xiao?"

"Zhang Xiao?"

"That's Shangguan Xiao, your teacher's aunt."

"Is there something wrong?"

"My second granduncle died; he was attacked and killed last night in a residence in the Jinsha District of Datong Prefecture City! My second granduncle's name is Zhang Zongyang; he's the head of the Zhang Family, your teacher's aunt's father!"