My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"Mr. Chen, you speak!"

Xiang Tingchun habitually cast a glance.

"Send a message to Hengkang Prefecture at top speed."

Chen Sansi gazed at the sand table and said in a deep voice, "The current situation has An Ding Prefecture, where most of Yunzhou's forces are stationed, under siege. Only Hengkang Prefecture might still be able to send reinforcements."

"It's no use."

Xiang Tingchun shook his head, "Well before the Xi River tribes sent troops to attack Po Yang, I had already written to Hengkang Prefecture. They said they are the last line of defense in Yunzhou. Unless there's an order, they won't send a single soldier or scout elsewhere.

"Under these circumstances, by the time the battle report reaches the Capital City Ministry of War and orders are issued from there, who knows how long it will take? How could it possibly be in time?"

"That was then, this is now."

Chen Sansi spoke, "Now that An Ding Prefecture is besieged, once Po Yang County falls, Hengkang Prefecture will be facing enemies on both sides. If we explain the gravity of the situation to them, how could they not help at all?"

"We can only try."

Xiang Tingchun nodded, "Who among you will go?"

"I'll go!"

Wang Zhi stepped forward, "I'm acquainted with the Commander of the Hengkang Prefectural guards. If I talk to him, I could at least muster a thousand men, no, two thousand!"

Chen Sansi remembered this incident.

Fatty Wang had twice gone to the Prefecture City to visit relatives, each time staying for ten days to half a month. Unexpectedly, he wasn't visiting An Ding Prefecture but Hengkang Prefecture.

"Good!"

Xiang Tingchun patted his shoulder hard, "Hundred Households Wang, the safety of tens of thousands of people in Po Yang is now relying on you!"

"Hm."

Wang Zhi didn't waste words and grabbed his Mo Blade, turning to leave.

"Senior Sister Sun."

Chen Sansi looked at Sun Li, "Is there any news from the Governor Mansion?"

Sun Li shook her head.

'That shouldn't be.'

Chen Sansi muttered to himself.

The existence of Han Cheng.

Showed that Sun Dushi at least knew most of Po Yang's situation.

How could there be no action at all?

It looked like the situation in the Northwest Three States was even more critical!

"Brothers, don't be disheartened!"

Xiang Tingchun's voice was loud and clear, "During Grand Ancestor's wars of unification, General Yin Wei defended Pu City with merely seven thousand men, while the enemy forces numbered 130,000!

"Do you think he held out for seven days or seventy days? Neither. He defended for a full seven months, annihilated 120,000 of the enemy, and successfully bought enough time for the Grand Ancestor to unify the Central Plains, leading to today's great Dasheng!

"We have plenty of food and resources, including the fresh recruits we still have over a thousand people, and with the help of the civilians, what is there to fear from a mere ten thousand enemy soldiers!"

Chen Sansi had read about this battle.

The Battle of Pu City was one of the three most important battles during the establishment of the Sheng Dynasty.

In his memory, there was a similar battle in history referred to as Zhang Xun's defense of Suiyang.

Po Yang County, although it was just a county, had very well-built city walls because it was a border town. If they could mobilize all the civilians in the city, it might not be impossible to hold out for two to three months. And with the reinforcements that Wang Zhi was bringing, there was still much hope.

What Chen Sansi was truly worried about was not knowing what County Magistrate Xue, or rather, the old Emperor was planning to do.

The Witch God Sect would also send experts above the Hua Jin level.

The chaos was likely to arise from within!

After everything was arranged, everyone dispersed to their respective posts to stand guard.

"Little junior brother."

Sun Li climbed up on the rampart and sat beside him, "Don't you want to take a look at Sister Lan?"

"With Senior Sister taking care of her, there's no need."

Chen Sansi had seventy or eighty men under his command, none of whom had gone home. If he didn't set a good example, how could he have the audacity to lead them into risking their lives?

"Hmm, don't worry. I've rented a house specially. Sister Lan is very safe."

Sun Li glanced at Xu Bin nearby and informed, "Also, your family is safe, mother and daughter alike."

"Thank you, Miss Sun!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Bin's expression brightened, and he became even more energetic in standing guard.

The next day.

Feng Yong and others were rushing around, mobilizing the civilians throughout the city to help strengthen the defenses.

It goes without saying that the refugees from the countryside were very diligent.

The ordinary civilians in the city who could fend for themselves also did not shy away, earnestly doing anything they were asked.

In the end, just from the gathered civilians, there were over five thousand.

Various local gentry and elders, however, refused to exert any effort, offering only donations of money and food, and still said that defending the city was their duty, and dying on the city walls was only natural.

As for the disciples of the Martial Arts Hall, they avoided it whenever they could, and only begrudgingly took to the task when they had no other choice.

Some even went so far as to think that with the city's fall being an inevitable event, they attempted to kill the gatekeepers in order to flee the city at night, but all were immediately executed on the spot.

These people had been practicing martial arts for many years.

Normally, they were good at oppressing civilians, but asking them to lay down their lives was utterly out of the question.

After several days of high tension among the city's people, the Xi River tribe completed their reinforcements and launched another fierce attack.

On the city walls.

Lai Zi clung tightly to Chen Sansi's side, holding the Arrow Bag for him, "Little Shanshi, if you run out, just tell Uncle. Uncle will get more for you. You just make sure to keep Uncle safe..."

Chen Sansi had no time to pay him any attention, continuously drawing the bowstring, killing one after another who were climbing up the siege ladders. When he couldn't kill them fast enough, he used his right hand to wield a spear and his left hand a sword.

An entire morning passed.

He had no idea how many arrows he had fired or how many people he had killed.

Finally.

The long-silent archery panel floated into view.

[Skill: Archery (Great Success)]

[Progress: (0/2000)]

[Utility: Instantaneous firing of arrows, within three hundred steps, no arrow will miss]

From shooting three arrows in a flash to firing arrows in an instant!

An instant is 0.36 seconds.

That is to say, he could now fire about three arrows in one second!

He had already surpassed the limit of an ordinary person!

Moreover, after reaching Great Success, his archery could still be improved.

But that wasn't something to consider on the battlefield.

Chen Sansi lifted his fifteen-stone bow, positioning it blocking the scaling ladders. His arm, pulling the bowstring, became a blur, and the arrows nearly formed a continuous black line. Unless the enemies carried thick iron shields, as many as came would die.

"How can you use them up so fast!"

Uncle Lai Zi lay prostrate on the ground, dodging flying arrows and stones, incessantly crawling back and forth to fetch Arrow Bags.

"Uncle Lai Zi, hurry up!"

Chen Sansi pierced two men with one spear, only continuing after the Arrow Bag was delivered to him.

"Thud!"

An assault chariot even larger than before successfully reached the city wall under the cover of a mass of troops. A barbarian general wielding a huge axe chopped down five defending soldiers with a wave of his hand.

From the exquisite full-body Armour he wore, he must have been a General, and with his striking moves being exceptionally swift and fierce, he was likely one of the three at the Refining Internal stage!

"Clang!"

Before Chen Sansi could draw his bow and shoot an arrow, a blade flashed and clashed against the giant axe in a struggle.

"Chen Hundred Households!"

Xiang Tingchun roared, "Leave him to me. Watch my back!"

Two at the Refining Internal stage were fighting desperately, each requiring full effort; amidst such chaos, there was a chance of being sneak-attacked by a martial artist above the Bone Forging Realm.

Chen Sansi turned the direction of his bow and arrow, aiming at the assault chariot, a one-man barrier impenetrable by thousands.

After dozens of exchanges, Xiang Tingchun managed to decapitate the Refining Internal barbarian General at the cost of light wounds.

He then joined Chen Sansi to defend the same spot, and together they killed innumerable enemies.

This round of the siege.

Lasted from morning until afternoon, the barbarians, realizing they couldn't take the wall, had no choice but to sound the retreat.

Both sides suffered heavy losses.

After a brief tally.

The barbarians lost at least two thousand soldiers, including one at the Refining Internal stage.

Po Yang had over six hundred dead, five hundred of whom were civilians who came to help.

The civilians, truly frail, had no choice but to fight to the death and rush forward.

Because they understood the principle that if the city falls, the people perish.

"Oh my heavens..."

Lai Zi lay in a pile of corpses: "Usually, it's we who suffer the hardships. Now in war, we're still used as cannon fodder. In my next life, I'd rather be a rich man's dog than a poor man again..."

At night.

Chen San left the blood-drenched city wall and found a secluded and quiet place nearby. He took the last Xuan Yuan Body Tempering Pill, ready to make a breakthrough.

Bone Training had four stages: tendons, bones, skin, and marrow.

Reaching Bone Forging Perfection was to Refine Marrow.

Marrow is the core of human blood; all blood is derived from marrow.

Only by refining the blood into the marrow, and creating new blood with the marrow to completely transform the body's blood, could one proceed to refine the internal organs.

The Medicine Pills given by the old Emperor weren't specifically for Marrow Refining but were for the entire Bone Training Realm. Moreover, the medicine's power was vast and boundless, and it didn't harm the body. The speed at which it enhanced Cultivation was second only to Spiritual Grain, truly a first-rate treasure medicine!

As Chen Sansi moved the long spear in his hands, the Dragon Elephant Blood within him changed from its initially burning turbulence to becoming more and more calm, its temperature dropping lower and lower until it was indistinguishable from that of an ordinary person.

The essence within seeped through his bones, sinews, Bone Membrane, infusing layer by layer into his bones and finally seeping into his bone marrow, like a raging fire touching combustible material.

"Hiss!"

An excruciating heat ignited from within the bone marrow. Chen Sansi was in so much pain that veins bulged over his body and even the long spear nearly slipped from his hands multiple times. His eyes turned red, and he ground his teeth nearly to the point of breaking, moving his spear technique at an excruciatingly slow pace.

All the essence of his Qi-Blood was absorbed.

At this point, his Qi-Blood was entirely like that of an ordinary person. Practicing his cultivation technique was an extremely painful ordeal.

Nearing the end of the practice, Chen Sansi's vision darkened, and he lost all sense of where he was, what time it was, relying purely on muscle memory to continue the drill. After an unknown duration, the pain from his bone marrow finally stopped, and the old blood in his body was quickly overtaken and replaced by new blood, which ultimately coursed through his entire body.

[Cultivation Technique: Undying Golden Snake Spear - Upper (Great Success)]

[Progress: 0/0]

[Utility: Dragon Elephant Blood, Nine Dragon Living Veins, Vajra Body]

[Vajra Body: Copper Skin Iron Bone, impervious to Sword and Spear, unaffected by Water and Fire.]

Copper Skin Iron Bone!

Even Chen Sansi felt a momentary weakness, collapsing onto the ground with spear in hand. But as the new Dragon Elephant Blood circulated, he recovered to peak condition within a few breaths, and even the fatigue from the battlefield was swept away.

He circulated his Qi-Blood, and every inch of his body, from head to toe, became terrifyingly hard!

Running the Zhenyue Sword lightly across his skin, it emitted a grating sound of metal scraping against metal!

Yet under these conditions, his body's movements weren't hindered at all, which was simply inconceivable.

He was confident that, if he were to stand here now and let a martial artist at the Blood Refining Great Success lash out wildly, his skin wouldn't even break for a short time.

As long as his Qi-Blood was sufficient, he would be an utterly terrifying killing machine on the battlefield!