Spirit Cultivation

Although he got played by Ming and Ling, he had to admit it was a valuable lesson. He would rather fail now during training than dying on the battle later. 

'Even if it's hard to execute against humans, I think it would be perfect versus huge, immobile Spirit Beasts in the Hidden Realm so I will continue to train it after my Titan Bloodline loses its properties,' Xuefeng decided. 'I already have a nice idea how to improve it.' 

'What idea?' Ming asked curiously but Xuefeng kept it a secret, a little revenge for tricking him earlier. 'I will show you later. I can only tell you I will name it Sky Drill.' 

'Interesting… Let's move onto the second move then.' 

They didn't waste time on talking as Ming displayed another scene for him, showing the second move. 

'It's a counter-attack move that allows you to strike the enemy using your torque after blocking their attack,' Ming described as he watched himself block before disappearing from his position and reappearing behind the enemy, striking him at the blind point. 'This is where your Ether Qi comes to play. After a block, you quickly wrap your body with it and move behind enemy, using the enemy strike to your advantage.' 

"Nice! Let's try it," Xuefeng called out excitedly, lifting his sword to face his clone's attack. "I'm ready." 

At the same time, back their bedroom, Wuying opened her eyes, sensing vibrations coming from one of her Communication Crystal. They just finished listening to Wu's report of the recent events from the Trade Union when she got disturbed yet again. 

She pulled out the crystal and vanished from the bed, appearing on the balcony. 

'Wuying, I think we have a problem. We need your help.' 

Liu Xiaobei's voice came out of the crystal. 

It was the first time she heard him this serious which made her drop everything and rush to his office. Although not as powerful as Xuefeng's invisibility, her Shadow Art came in handy, allowing her to pass through multiple walls and floors without wasting time. 

When she reached the office, she saw multiple people inside, including her second hand from the Shadow Guard, the leader of Elvish Guards and someone from Xiao Family who she didn't recognize from face but rather his uniform, having the familiar logo on his chest. 

He looked middle-aged, having a short but neatly cut beard. She sensed his cultivation was much higher than her own so she guessed he was someone important. 

"What happened?" Wuying asked immediately, skipping all formalities. She knew the matter must have been serious seeing all of the leaders gathered in the office. 

"Wuying, thank you for coming. I know you are busy training," Liu Xiaobei acknowledged and glanced at the man in Xiao Family Uniform. "This is the Chief Officer of Xiao Family Guards."

"Greetings Milady," the Chief Officer bowed in greeting to which she only nodded. There was only one person above her in power and that was Xuefeng. 

He didn't seem to mind that and quickly pointed at the papers on the desk, moving straight to the point, "We have received multiple reports about Royal Family relocating their forces. They must be plotting something but we were not able to find out what yet."

Wuying's gaze turned much sharper as she glanced at the papers and asked seriously, "How much reinforcements are we talking about?" 

"Around three thousand Sages and two hundred Monarchs passed through the Central Region Barrier just this morning. They are coming from all four regions and even more should arrive by tomorrow," the Chief Officer answered patiently. "They are not coming to the Capital officially but rather incognito, hiding their identities. They even use long distance Teleportation Stations used by officials to reach the Capital much faster."

"When will they arrive in the Capital?"

The chief officer smiled bitterly and showed two fingers, "Two hours at the maximum." 

"Our forces are still much stronger than them even if they wanted to fight us directly," the Leader of Elvish Guards pointed out, sounding confident. "I think we should strike immediately. Together with Young Master Xuefeng and our Queen, we can sweep through the Royal Palace in less than an hour." 

"Hold on." Wuying frowned when she heard him, halting his approach. She didn't like chaos so directly attacking without proper plan was a bad idea. 

She thought deeply about their options and asked Liu Xiaobei, "How are the preparations for the take-over?" 

"We already started preparing, allocating our men throughout the Capital but we still need more time. We should be ready by tomorrow morning if we follow the plan," Liu Xiaobei reported. "I think we shouldn't risk the chaos. I called you here to help us decide."

"I understand," Wuying nodded, ready to express herself when the Chief Officer added, "There is also a rumor that the Ruler of the Realm decided to pass the crown onto his son. It's not yet confirmed but our spy reported the Ruler's son was bragging to his servant about it, promising her to be his Queen after his coronation. It could be as quick as tomorrow but it wasn't yet announced to the public so we are not sure what they are planning." 

His words didn't change her idea so Wuying suggested, "We should gather forces and take control over the Teleportation Stations. From what I know, there should be four of them in total. Perform a temporary lockdown of the Capital by disabling all of them. Normal citizens doesn't use them so they won't be affected much but we will be able to stop all the reinforcements no matter what the Ruler plans." 

Liu Xiaobei seemed to like the idea as he immediately supported it, "Let's do it."

Others nodded in agreement and only the Chief Officer from Xiao Family questioned, "What about the rumors of the Ruler's abdication? If that is true, there is a chance that the Ruler knows about our plans and decided to simply escape from the Capital, saving his skin. There is honestly no reason for him to stay, knowing his doom is inevitable." 

He didn't wait for her response and proposed, "How about we kill the Ruler today but keep quiet about it, only announcing when we are ready?" 

Wuying knew very well how bad of an idea that was, recalling all of the battles of the highest level. There was literally no way to avoid getting discovered. 

"Impossible. How do you plan to hide such a big war from public? If we were to storm the Royal Palace, it is bound to gather attention. Once the Ruler starts counter attacking and Xuefeng battles with him, all Royal Family expects throughout the Capital would be alarmed which would lead to one big chaos. The only way is to finish them in a full sweep, taking over all Royal Family buildings at once. Trying to kill him quietly is too risky as you said it yourself, there is a big chance he is expecting us," Wuying explained sternly. 

She didn't want to listen to any more agreements and ordered, "Gather your men and take control over the Stations. Limit the casualties to Zero. We can't afford to lose any of our people." 

"Yes Milady." Both leaders of the Liu Clan's forces nodded, knowing very well who had the last say in the matters while the Chief Officer agreed reluctantly. 

In the end, he didn't have choice even if he didn't fully agree to it. Wuying was Xuefeng's wife and Xuefeng was Xiao Family's Son-in-law. He lost at the start already. 

"Shall we notify Xuefeng?" Liu Xiaobei asked when the three left but Wuying shook her head, "No. He is training and preparing for our expedition. This was also another reason why we can't attack right now. Royal Family is not worth as much as the success of our expedition."

"Are you planning on helping directly or return back to the training as well?" 

Wuying thought for a moment and missing the action, she chose the first option, "Yes, I will join and lead the operation this time. It has been a while since I stretched my bones. I almost finished my training anyway so I'm free."

"There is also one more person that is free and would love to join in some fun," Wuying added with a smile, already imagining how eager she would be to follow her.