229: Three-point return to vitality! Xu Zhihu visits!

Chapter 227: Three-Part Spirit Unification! Xu Zhihu Visits!

Xu Xiao sent a reply to Li Chang'an, agreeing to the condition of exchanging Liang Province for Xu Fengnian.

Li Chang'an also gave a clear reply to the envoy, asking the Xu family to come and pick up Xu Fengnian themselves.

Such a request was already very clear; it was impossible for Li Chang'an to ask Xu Xiao to go to Sha Province. This request was clearly aimed at Xu Zhihu.

The imperial court bestowed a marriage upon Li Chang'an, and Xu Zhihu disappeared. This matter was known throughout the world.

Li Chang'an was not indifferent; it was just that he lacked strength back then. Now that he had strength, he would not let it go unaddressed.

Moreover, the imperial decree also stated that Xu Zhihu and Li Chang'an should complete their marriage as soon as possible.

Although Li Chang'an did not care about the imperial decree, he would never allow Northern Liang to repeatedly disrespect him.

In the main hall of the Tang Royal Mansion.

Li Chang'an's civil and military officials gathered in the hall, along with the Jianghu experts who had pledged allegiance to Li Chang'an.

"Everyone, this King's great victory over Northern Liang, and the acquisition of Liang Province, is largely due to your meritorious service."

Zhuge Liang bowed and said, "It is all thanks to Your Highness's strategic planning. How dare we claim credit?"

Li Chang'an continued, "Although we have now obtained Liang Province, to govern it well and defend against the Northern Mang tribes on its borders, we still need to rely on all of you."

Liang Province is even larger than Sha Province, and it directly Faces the threat of Northern Mang. It is not easy to assimilate such a vast territory.

However, fortunately, with Zhuge Liang sharing Li Chang'an's burdens, Li Chang'an would not be too busy.

"After Xu Xiao cedes Liang Province, the Military Advisor will assume the post of Governor of Liang Province, and Old General Zhang will be appointed Governor of Sha Province."

Zhang Yichao had started his career in Sha Province and held considerable prestige there, even being revered as a Heavenly God by the Fan People.

Li Chang'an's willingness to appoint him as Governor of Sha Province demonstrated his complete trust in him.

"Your subordinate accepts the order and will not fail in his mission!"

Liang Province and Sha Province were Li Chang'an's fundamental territories for his rise. Once these two provinces were well managed, they would be able to support an army of over 300,000.

"Great General, what were the losses in this battle?"

Gu Dazu replied, "The various units suffered over 20,000 casualties, with 5,000 cavalry and 15,000 infantry losses. However, the number of people who joined the army from the six commanderies was as many as 50,000!"

This time, the Xuanjia Army's reduction of 1,000 men was the largest loss for the elite troops with integrated templates to date.

The Xuanjia Army and the White Horse Volunteers, as Li Chang'an's core cavalry, would inevitably contend for the Central Plains with Northern Mang and Liyang in the future. Therefore, personnel must be replenished during the next System settlement.

Li Cunxiao knelt and pleaded guilty, saying, "Your Highness, 1,000 veteran soldiers of the Xuanjia Army were lost. Your subordinate is ashamed and asks for Your Highness's punishment!"

Li Chang'an waved his hand and said, "The Da Xue Dragon Riders Army is known as the World's First Army. Your Xuanjia Army charged at the forefront, which kept the Guiyi Army's losses minimal."

"To reduce the 9,000 Da Xue Dragon Riders to 2,000, your contributions are undeniable. What crime have you committed?"

"You will go to Liang Province with the Military Advisor. The task of resisting Northern Mang will be entrusted to the Xuanjia Army."

A fierce general like Li Cunxiao feared nothing more than a lack of battles. Hearing that he could engage in combat with the renowned Northern Mang army, Li Cunxiao's heart burned with fervor.

"Your subordinate obeys!"

After arranging the civil and military officials, Li Chang'an said to Wu Liuding and other Jianghu experts, "Recently, more and more Jianghu figures have come to pledge allegiance to this King."

"This King intends to build the World's First Building in Liang Province, and the Martial Forest figures who pledge allegiance to this King will be its revered patrons."

Everyone could see that Li Chang'an would become an undeniable force within Liyang. Becoming a patron of the World's First Building would ensure a high status in the future.

"We obey, Your Highness!"

Li Chang'an believed that as his power expanded, the World's First Building would surely attract more experts.

Before long, this World's First Building would have the capability to sweep through the Jianghu and demolish temples.

Xu Xiao agreed to cede Liang Province and had already begun to withdraw his troops from Liang Province. Li Chang'an thus gained control of Liang Province, and his power ranking immediately rose to fourth place.

Apart from the Liyang Emperor, the Northern Mang Empress, and the King of Northern Liang Xu Xiao, the most powerful person in the world was Li Chang'an.

Because Xu Xiao commanded more troops and had a larger population than Li Chang'an, he ranked ahead of Li Chang'an.

After more than a year of development, Li Chang'an's wealth, charisma, and artistic talent all entered the top ten, and his martial prowess also rose to twelfth place.

After all, in this world, there were still many reclusive old monsters, all of whom had cultivation above that of Terrestrial Deities.

Due to the comprehensive improvement in various rankings, the System finally conducted a settlement.

【Your influence in the Sword Snow Stride world has greatly increased, rewarding you with 30,000 Mortal World points!】

Once a significant number of rankings entered the top ten, the reward of Mortal World points would increase.

Now, with over 30,000 points as a reward again, the first issues Li Chang'an needed to address were naturally cultivation and military strength.

What Li Chang'an lacked now was a Martial Skill that could sense heaven and earth, further refining his Heavenly-Human Induction and mobilizing the phenomena of heaven and earth.

Among the many Martial Skills that could sense Heavenly Elephant, Li Chang'an chose the Three-Part Spirit Unification.

【Consume 8,000 Mortal World points to exchange for the Secret Manual "Three-Part Spirit Unification"】

The foundation of Three-Part Spirit Unification lies in Heavenly Frost Fist, Wind God Leg, and Cloud Dispelling Palm, then cultivating Heavenly Frost Energy, Ethereal Cloud Energy, and Divine Wind Energy from external to internal.

Afterwards, the three internal energies merge into one, forming the Great Heavenly Elephant-level Three-Part Spirit Unification. Once internal and external are harmonized, one can Breakthrough to a Terrestrial Deity.

After exchanging for the Cultivation Technique of the Celestial Phenomenon Realm, Li Chang'an began to replenish his elite forces. Both the Xuanjia Army and the White Horse Volunteers were brought up to 5,000 men.

These 10,000 elite cavalry could withstand 100,000 Northern Mang or Northern Liang cavalry in the wild. If the opponent was infantry, they could charge and kill at will, as if entering an uninhabited land.

The only Da Xue Dragon Riders Army in the world that could contend with the Xuanjia Army had now been crippled, with only 2,000 men escaping back.

【Consume 9,000 Mortal World points to exchange for 3,000 elite Xuanjia Army templates!】

【Consume 6,000 Mortal World points to exchange for 2,000 elite White Horse Volunteers templates!】

【Consume 7,000 Mortal World points to exchange for 7,000 Great Tang Gui Yi Army templates!】

After the replenishment, the Great Tang Guiyi Army with integrated templates also numbered 10,000.

Following this replenishment, Li Chang'an's integrated template forces reached 44,000, while Li Chang'an's total army already numbered a full 160,000.

The integrated template armies consisted of 2,000 Modao Soldiers, 2,000 Bai Er Soldiers, 5,000 Xuanjia Army, 5,000 White Horse Volunteers, 10,000 Guiyi Army, and 20,000 Great Tang Iron Cavalry.

After the battle with the Northern Liang Army, Northern Liang was severely weakened, but Li Chang'an's army grew stronger!

World: Sword Snow Stride

Age: 21 years old

Realm: Martial Artist First Rank (Great Vajra Realm, Great Zhi Xuan Realm, Celestial Phenomenon Realm Middle Stage)

Cultivation Technique: Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill (Perfection · Thirteenth Layer)

Martial Skills: Dragon Grasping Skill (Perfection), Eighteen Subduing Dragon Palms (Perfection), Crossing the River on a Reed (Perfection), Prajna Heart Bell (Perfection), Six Gods Art (Perfection), Great River Sword Intent (Perfection), Three-Part Spirit Unification (Not yet initiated)

Innate Abilities: Clairvoyant Eyes, Photographic Memory, Myriad Worlds' Commander

Abilities: (Expand)

Mortal World: 2,000 (Accumulated 280,000 points)

Rankings: Power 4, Wealth 8, Martial Prowess 12, Charisma 8, Artistic Talent 6

As Li Chang'an expected, seven days later, Xu Zhihu personally arrived outside Jinchang City.

Xu Zhihu, known as the most beautiful woman in Northern Liang, looked with teary eyes at Xu Fengnian, who had been hanging for half a month.

"Sis... sis... I don't want to die..."

Looking at this younger brother, exchanged for an entire province, a thought vaguely formed in Xu Zhihu's mind: Xu Fengnian might as well have died.

Now, living was both humiliating and suffering, and returning to Northern Liang would also be incredibly desolate.

At this moment, Xu Fengnian was like a dried corpse, completely devoid of the appearance of a teenager in his teens, looking as if he was on his last legs, barely clinging to life.

"Wuwuwu... wuwuwu..."

Xu Fengnian began to cry, and Xu Zhihu's heart immediately softened. It was at this moment that she finally understood Xu Xiao.

"Feng Nian, don't cry. Your sister is here to take you home."

Upon hearing this, Xu Fengnian burst into uncontrollable sobs, tears and snot flowing freely.

With this cry, Xu Zhihu's last trace of confusion and resentment towards Xu Xiao completely vanished.

Xu Xiao knew that once Xu Zhihu came, she would never be able to go back, so Xu Zhihu had no intention of returning either.

The north wind howled, and red robes fluttered.

"Princess of Northern Liang, Xu Zhihu, requests an audience with His Highness the King of Tang!"

Facing Xu Zhihu's request for an audience, the city guards and the Brocade-Clad Guards watching Xu Fengnian all ignored her.

But Xu Zhihu knew that the Protector-General of Anxi's mansion, with its numerous experts and far-reaching influence, must know of her arrival.

After half a day, the sound of horse hooves echoed, and Qingniao rode out of the city alone.

"Xu Zhihu, Your Highness is busy. Please wait, Princess."

Upon hearing Qingniao's cold reply, a surge of indignation instantly rose in Xu Zhihu's chest.

However, she quickly recalled the recent crushing defeat and the tens of thousands of Northern Liang soldiers who had died.

Sha Province was not a place where Northern Liang people could swagger around.

Xu Zhihu curtsied respectfully and said, "His Highness the King of Tang has just acquired Liang Province, so he must be busy with many affairs."

"Please inform the King of Tang not to forget that I am waiting here."

Qingniao nodded with satisfaction, "It's good that you know. His Highness will summon the Princess after he finishes his work."

The Princess's entourage and guards all wanted to speak up for her, but they all fell silent at Xu Zhihu's sigh.

Of course, they felt wronged, but what could they do? The most wronged was the Princess herself.

As his fiancée, she personally came to his doorstep, yet he didn't even want to see her.

Humiliation! Naked humiliation!

Xu Zhihu's mood was complex, because the mysterious King of Tang, Li Chang'an, in the city, was her future husband.

She didn't know how this enemy-like husband would treat her.

To be the main consort? That was absolutely impossible. She would be lucky to even be a concubine like Xu Weibear.

Xu Zhihu knew very well that Li Chang'an was expressing his displeasure at her disappearance and evasion of marriage.

In fact, it wasn't until Xu Zhihu truly stood at the gates of Jinchang City that she began to genuinely consider what kind of person Li Chang'an truly was.

If one didn't consider it from Northern Liang's perspective, this His Highness the King of Tang seemed to be very popular.

This could be seen from the constant flow of common people and heard from their discussions.

Because of Li Chang'an's arrival, Sha Province had reclaimed three commanderies. Currently, except for Dunhuang Commandery which was in Northern Mang's hands, the other six commanderies were all under Li Chang'an's control.

Li Chang'an had driven out the cruel foreign tribes, stabilized the refugees in two or three years, and truly enriched the six commanderies of Sha Province.

This King, of a different surname, who could rival her father's power, had risen in just four years and was not yet twenty-two years old, more than a year younger than herself.

From the discussions of the Sha Province common people along the way, it could be heard that His Highness the King of Tang was a hero in their mouths.

The sun rose, and then it set.

Xu Zhihu waited at the gate the entire time. Without Li Chang'an's permission, she could not take Xu Fengnian away.

At this moment, Li Chang'an was indeed busy, busy playing chess with Xu Weibear.

Xue Songguan and Huyan Guanyin watched intently from the side, their delicate brows tightly furrowed.

Xu Weibear was even sweating on her forehead, on the verge of losing again.

Li Chang'an was certain of victory, his hand under the table had already climbed onto Huyan Guanyin's leg.

Huyan Guanyin, who was intently watching the game, suddenly bit her lower lip, and her breathing became rapid.

Xue Songguan watched for a long time and had to sigh, "Your Highness's chess skills are unmatched. The three of us together are no match for Your Highness."

Li Chang'an played with Huyan Guanyin's jade feet. Huyan Guanyin's eyes were like silk, and a seductive moan escaped from deep within her throat.

Xue Songguan saw it and said sourly, "Your Highness is just fickle. Ever since Sister Guanyin arrived, you've forgotten all about us."

Li Chang'an moved his hand up Huyan Guanyin's jade leg, then embraced Huyan Guanyin and Xue Songguan, one on each side.

"All three of you come at once, what do I fear!"

Li Chang'an was having a wonderful time, while Xu Zhihu waited outside the city for a full seven days.

On the morning of the seventh day, Qingniao finally arrived with a carriage and Jiang Si to pick up Xu Zhihu.

Xu Zhihu's Face was expressionless; she could only get into Qingniao's carriage.

As the carriage passed through the streets of Jinchang, Xu Zhihu observed the scene on the streets along the way.

It was more prosperous than the counties along the route, and more harmonious than Northern Liang.

The streets were wide and clean, extending in all directions. People came and went, and they all seemed to feel secure.

These common people would respectfully stand by the roadside and bow when they saw the Royal Mansion's carriage. That expression was not one of fear of power.

This was different from the submission brought about by the oppression of the common people by the likes of Xu Fengnian and Chu Lushan; this feeling was respect.

Upon arriving at the Tang Royal Mansion, Xu Zhihu was secretly amazed by its cultural ambiance.

Carved beams and painted rafters, pavilions and terraces, were refreshing to the heart and spirit.

According to the legends along the way, King of Tang Li Chang'an was a perfect person who knew everything.

Now, looking at the scenery of the Royal Mansion, it already surpassed the Northern Liang Royal Mansion.

After some twists and turns, Xu Zhihu finally met her future husband.

This legendary young hero, a regional hegemon.

"Your concubine greets Your Highness."

Li Chang'an could tell that Xu Zhihu's voice was trembling.

Unexpectedly, the fierce Xu Zhihu was intimidated before even speaking.

Li Chang'an said with his usual expression, "Princess, you may rise."

"This King has been busy with worldly affairs, I apologize for making the Princess wait so long."

Xu Zhihu saw Li Chang'an's full Face and was momentarily lost, for the man before her was truly unparalleled in handsomeness.

Just by looking at his appearance, who would know that His Highness the King of Tang already possessed cultivation that made him invincible below the Earth Immortal Realm?

"Your Highness is too kind. Your concubine is grateful beyond words to be able to see Your Highness and bring my younger brother back."

Xu Zhihu quickly composed herself and got to the point.

"After the Princess was betrothed to this King, the Northern Liang Royal Mansion said you had gone missing."

"This King was worried and even had the Brocade-Clad Guards search everywhere. Fortunately, good fortune favors the good, and nothing major happened."