Originally, Icy Winds seemed to be pretty weak and useless in a general fighting scenario. Easily, your opponent could dodge it and even if they didn’t it didn’t really do much harm besides external cuts and injuries. 

Nonetheless, in a guerrilla warfare battle in the wild, it became exceptionally important, even more so than the Spears of Ice which was their main source of offense. Easily, there were many cultivation techniques that had offensive skills at the 1st layer. However, one that was supportive in nature like Icy Winds was pretty rare. 

“Leader Qian, what should we do with the bodies?” a soldier asked Qian Yu the next morning. Since it was night time, Qian Yu just had the soldiers retire to rest while he could keep guard with the help of Tian Xinyi. 

Now though, as Qian Yu looked down the battlefield, he let out a sigh. The previous white powdery snow landscape was long gone. Instead, it was painted with pools of blood, patches of dirt, and corpses at the bottom of the slope.

“Hmm… you soldiers can go loot the bodies if you guys are up for it. After that, just leave them there,” Qian Yu said. Disgusting as it was, the bodies acted as a physical impairment for the enemies, making it harder to move forward. Additionally, it served to decrease enemy morale and Qian Yu wasn’t sure whether his own troops wanted to build graves for the enemy either. 

“Loot the bodies!? Thank you leader!” the soldier enthusiastically yelled before calling over the other soldiers. 

Quietly, a few days passed as Qian Yu and the soldiers held their spot at the top of the plateau. 

‘Without a doubt, they know the importance of this area so I doubt they will give this area up. However, it’s been 3 days since the night attack already…’ Qian Yu continued to observe down the slope and past the trees they had broken down. 

‘Perhaps, I should have ordered them to cut down some more trees,’ Qian Yu turned to glance at the soldiers who were rather bored. He had wanted them to save their energy in case the enemy attacked them again but after three days, Qian Yu himself started wondering whether the enemy had given up on taking the slope.

“Leader Qian! The daily convoy is coming!” a shout rang out. 

“Alright, thanks Gu Zan,” Qian Yu smiled. Over the last few days, Gu Zan had gradually become Qian Yu’s right hand man, helping him with all sorts of tasks that came up. 

“Leader Qian, I pray that everything has been alright?” a familiar voice entered his ears. 

“Thank you, leader Zhao, everything has been fine,” Qian Yu replied with a smile. 

“I have a few things to talk about today,” Zhao Xieren said.

“Alright, let’s talk in private,” Qian Yu started walking towards his tent which was slightly larger than the others. 

“Start unloading the rations and materials,” Zhao Xieren turned around and shouted at the soldiers travelling with her before following Qian Yu. 

Qian Yu’s tent was simple, including an area where he slept and a small desk with a bunch of scrolls and maps. Nonetheless, it was spacious enough where he could sit down with Zhao Xieren.

Originally, he had thought that Zhao Xieren would be assigned to a similar position like himself. However, a few days ago, she had visited him under the context of being a convoy group. Moving between the other groups scattered around the area, they acted as a messenger transferring information while also delivering rations and supplies to the groups. At the same time, they were also a roaming support group that could reinforce other groups if needed.

“How are you doing? Any trouble yesterday?” Qian Yu asked Zhao Xieren as he sat down. 

“No, everything went smoothly yesterday. We did help another group yesterday but it wasn’t really eventful,” Zhao Xieren said as she sat next to him and hugged him.

“Well, nothing eventful is good. How is Zhen Yue doing? Did anything happen to her yesterday?” Qian Yu pulled Zhao Xieren into his arms. From Zhao Xieren, he had learned that Zhen Yue was stationed about an hour away from him.

“She was fine earlier when I visited her,” Zhao Xieren leaned her head against Qian Yu’s shoulder.

“Mmm, there was a small fight for her yesterday but they only suffered a few casualties. What about you? Your soldiers still seem bored out of their minds hehe,” Zhao Xieren chuckled.

“Hahaha, pretty much,” Qian Yu smiled. 

“I’m so bored too… I know it’s a war and I was expecting this when I decided to help the country but still… I hope it ends soon,” Zhao Xieren sighed. 

“Hehe, this is already pretty tiring even with your daily visits,” Qian Yu smiled. Without a doubt, everyday was pretty lackluster and cultivating in this environment wasn’t easy. He had been practicing Transcending Lightning Step every day but it was pretty limited as he could never exhaust himself otherwise it would be too risky. As such, he had pretty much spent the rest of the days roaming through his soul world along with Tian Xinyi using Soul Exploration from the Immortal Soul.

“But like you said, hopefully the war doesn’t last too long… Maybe if they find the culprit and figure out what happened, that might make a difference,” Qian Yu forced an optimistic smile. 

“Mhm, that’s true. Ahem, anyways, I can’t take too long today,” Zhao Xieren gave Qian Yu a light peck before standing up.

“I’ll be off now. Ah, yes, here are the daily reports. There’s a lot today,” Zhao Xieren took out a bag of scrolls and handed them to Qian Yu before leaving the tent.

‘Mmm, well at least there’s a few hours of content in there,’ Qian Yu looked at the bag of scrolls he just got.

Taking a quick look, Qian Yu found the battle records of yesterday before opening the scroll. ‘Like Zhao Xieren said, nothing serious happened for Zhen Yue at all yesterday. Hmm, in fact, the enemy have quieted down a lot in the last 2 days,’ Qian Yu concluded as he skimmed through the records.

A few hours passed as Qian Yu continued to read through the scrolls. These weren’t just scrolls about the local situation around here but instead, the current war state of the country. Additionally, there were a few scrolls about the situation in the Jiang Empire who were fighting against the Yuan Empire. 

‘Sigh, the battles in the Jiang Empire are a lot more reserved,’ Qian Yu sighed with envy. Data had been collected and shared across the two nations and the amount of battles and casualties between the Jiang and Yuan Empire were a lot less. 

‘Huh?’ This is an urgent information scroll!’ Qian Yu took out one of the few remaining scrolls at the bottom of the bag. By the end of the scroll, a small red ribbon was attached to it. 

“Enemy troops expected to regroup and attack your position. Reinforcements are being sent. Expected to arrive in the late afternoon,” Qian Yu read through the small scroll. 

‘No wonder they’ve been so quiet lately,’ Qian Yu thought as he read it. 

‘Master… it seems we have some company,’ Tian Xinyi said. 

‘How many of them?’ a stern expression appeared on Qian Yu’s face. 

Tian Xinyi fell silent for a few seconds before saying, ‘Over 1000 of them.’ 

‘What!? 1000? Against our 100?’ Qian Yu immediately ran out of the tent. 

“Enemy attack! All units get into positions! NOW!” Qian Yu’s shout rang across the camp.

‘They must know about Zhao Xieren’s daily visit and the timing she stays… did they wait for her to leave before attacking?’ Qian Yu gritted his teeth as he looked down the slope. 

“Brother! What’s going on?” a startled Gu Zan appeared and started following Qian Yu. 

“At least 500 enemies are coming for us,” Qian Yu quickly answered.

“5-500? Can we take that much?” Gu Zan’s eyes widened.

Qian Yu looked at the sun in the sky, ‘500 yes, but 1000 is another story.’ 

“Reinforcements should be coming soon. 1 hour max and they should be here,” Qian Yu answered.

“Let’s not give up too easily,” Qian Yu said as a spear appeared in his hands.

“B-brother…  are you going to fight?!” Gu Zan’s apprehension seemed to disappear as he grew excited.

“Mhm, now’s the time. Tell units 21 to 25 to get ready. We’ve gone over it in theory and practice a few times so let’s try that plan,” Qian Yu said. 

“Alright! I'll inform them immediately! Finally, it’s time!” Gu Zan excitedly ran off to find the others.