The grand forty thousand soldiers-strong army advanced forward slowly. Not too longer later, they finally arrived at the entrance of the wind valley. They entered slowly, just like the great sea flowing into a small river.
On the other hand, Fang Zhengzhi continued to move slowly at the front.
Teng Shisheng really wanted to give him some reminders. However, every time the words reached his mouth, he swallowed them back. Because, he had slowly began to trust Fang Zhengzhi.
"Leave two people at the entrance of the wind valley. After the army has completely passed, destroy all the holes in the mountain walls." After entering the wind valley, Fang Zengzhi gazed at the two mountain walls filled with frost and casually said to Teng Shisheng.
"Destroy?" Teng Shisheng didn't manage to catch it in time.
"That's right, don't tell me you wish for the wind valley of the Southern Mountain Range to turn into an ordinary road in the future?" Fang Zhengzhi asked back with a faint smile on his face.
"This… thank you Guard Fang!" When Teng Shisheng heard this, he understood Fang Zhengzhi's intentions.
Defeat the wind valley, yet not destroy the wind valley. This action undoubtedly caused Teng Shisheng to feel touched. After all, the wind valley had always been a barrier for the Southern Mountain Range.
A barrier that protected the Icy Monkey Settlement and the Sagely Mountain City.
Teng Shisheng acknowledged, then, quickly called out two Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops. However, what went unnoticed was that Teng Shisheng still spoke a few sentences softly to the two Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry troops.
After the great forty-thousand soldier strong army entered the wind valley, a white flying beast soared into the sky. Its speed was extremely fast, and disappeared without a trace in an instant.
At the exit of the wind valley
Beside a large, strange rock, a group of soldiers in shiny armours stood guard. Yet, the expressions on their faces were clearly a little exaggerated. Each of them stared with their eyes wide open, and their faces filled with disbelief.
"The wind… wind valley, did the wind stop?"
"Seems, seems that it… stopped!"
"What is this all about? Did any of you move the stone?"
"No, isn't the stone right in front of our eyes?"
"Then how did the wind in the wind valley stop? This is impossible!"
"Oh no! First, let's not bother about how the wind stopped. Quick,quickly go to the Icy Monkey Settlement and notify Young Master Nangong!"
"Roger!"
Two soldiers stood at attention and acknowledged, then rapidly leapt onto their horses and with a lash of the whip, they charged towards the Icy Monkey Settlement which was at a distance not too far away.
Within the Icy Monkey Settlement, in a large stone house built with strong stones, four middle-aged men wearing heavy armours stood at the two sides of a study table.
On the study table, there was a min sand table, and on it, various kinds of landscapes and markings were placed. It seemed extremely detailed.
Nangong Hao, who was dressed in a white scholarly robe, sat behind the study table, his calm eyes analysing a narrow mountain valley on the sand table.
"Report!" Right at this moment, a voice rang out from outside the door.
"What is it?" A middle-aged man dressed in heavy armour quickly walked to the door. After seeing two soldiers with worry written all over their faces, he frowned slightly.
"Report general, the wind in the wind valley has stopped!" After the two soldiers heard the middle-aged man's question, they replied almost in unison.
"Stopped?! Did you fail to guard the exit of the wind valley?" The middle-aged man frowned once again. A slight anger was evident in the way he looked at the two soldiers.
The wind valley was a natural barrier of the Icy Monkey Settlement. However, the middle-aged man had already expected it to be defeated.
Except…
He never expected it to happen so quickly!
"No, we didn't fail in our duties. However, the wind in the wind valley suddenly stopped. As for the reason behind it, we… we aren't too sure either." The two soldiers reported once again.
"What?! The wind in the wind valley stopped, yet you guys don't even know the reason behind it?" The middle-aged man's initially anger seemed to be on the verge of exploding after hearing the report.
One could make mistakes.
However, if one didn't even know what mistake they made and how they made it, then this was something that couldn't be forgiven.
"The… the huge stone didn't move, furthermore, we didn't discover any enemy soldiers either. Yet… yet, the wind in the wind valley stopped all of a sudden. In order to set up defences early, we… we decided to report back first!" When the two soldiers saw the anger on the middle-aged man's face, their bodies began to tremble slightly.
"Did you just say that the stone switch didn't move, yet the wind in the wind valley stopped?" At this moment, Nangong Hao's voice rang out. His tone was extremely calm.
However, there was still a slight trace of surprise on his face.
"Yes, that's right!" When the two soldiers heard Nangong Hao's voice, it was as if they had seen a glimmer of hope.
"What utter nonsense, the wind in the wind valley had all along been controlled by the huge stone switch. This had been part of the Southern Mountain Range's thousand-year history. How is it possible that the wind stopped without the stone switch moving?" The middle-aged man clearly didn't believe it.
"General, we are telling the truth!"
"The truth?" Just as the middle-aged man prepared to speak further, he saw Nangong Hao shaking his head lightly towards him and instantly closed his mouth.
In reality, he knew very clearly in his heart that the information reported by these two soldiers would never contain any mistakes.
However, he really couldn't understand.
How could the wind in the natural barrier, the wind valley, suddenly stop?
"Young Master Nangong, I feel that this might be related to Fang Zhengzhi. However, I really can't understand, how is he able to overcome the wind valley?" Another middle-aged man spoke at this moment.
"I don't know either." When Nangong Hao heard the middle-aged man's words, he nodded lightly and returned his gaze back to the sand table in front of him.
Then, his finger moved slightly and a stream of energy cut the narrow mountain valley into two.
"Young Master Nangong, based on my guesses, even though Fang Zhengzhi overcame the wind valley, he would definitely have suffered great losses. Why not we…" The first middle-aged man also walked to the center of the room at this moment.
"What if Fang Zhengzhi didn't suffer any losses?"
"General Lu, don't tell me that you believe Fang Zhengzhi wouldn't have lost a single soldier?"
"It is not impossible!"
"Ha ha… isn't this a joke?"
"Stop arguing, let's listen to Young Master Nangong's opinion." A middle-aged man standing on the leftmost side of Nangong Hao spoke at this moment.
When the two middle-aged men heard this, they closed their mouths and waited for Nangong Hao to speak.
"It's fine, so be it if the wind valley was defeated. We will still follow the original plan." When Nangong Hao looked at the four middle-aged men below, he smiled lightly.
However, when he said this, nobody noticed that the finger that he placed below the study table moved slightly...
Outside Princess Shan Yu's tent, a white flying beast dived from the sky and finally stopped on a tree branch outside the tent.
A soldier in rattan armour was slightly taken aback when he saw the white bird. Then, he quickly carried up the white bird and walked into Princess Shan Yu's tent.
"Princess, there is news."
"Open it." Princess Shan Yu, who was lying on a golden piece of animal leather and wearing a white leather skirt, said casually with her eyes half closed.
"Roger." The soldier nodded. Then, he untied a small bamboo cylinder at the claws of the white bird and pulled out a small piece of animal skin from within.
Sweeping his gaze across it, his eyes widened. Immediately after, the expression on his face became incredibly exaggerated, and the hand holding the animal skin even began to tremble.
It seemed as if he wasn't even able to hold on to the animal skin firmly.
"What's the news? Why are you so flabbergasted?" Some unhappiness was clearly evident in Princess Shan Yu's tone as she looked at the soldier's actions with her half-closed eyes.
"Report… reporting to Princess! Fang Zhengzhi defeated the wind valley outside the Icy Monkey Settlement without sacrificing a single soldier, furthermore, the method he used was to… to stop the wind in the wind valley completely!"
"Defeating the wind valley without sacrificing a single… what?! Repeat what you said!" Princess Shan Yu repeated softly, then, her eyes suddenly shot wide open and her entire body sat up from the chair.
"Fang Zhengzhi defeated the wind valley without sacrificing a single soldier!"
"The sentence after that!"
"The method he used was to... stop the wind in the wind valley!"
"Stop the wind in the wind valley?! How is that possible? How did he do it?" Princess Shan Yu was clearly in somewhat of a disbelief. Or, it could be said that she was simply unwilling to believe.
"The letter didn't explain that. It only mentioned that Commander Teng was involved in it from the start to the end, however, he still couldn't understand. There's another five words at the end."
"What are the five words?"
"Beyond logic and above reason!"
"Beyond logic and above reason? That's right… it is indeed beyond logic and above reason. Participating in it throughout the entire process yet still unable to understand? This Fang Zhengzhi… Hell! Why is this guy so overpowered!" Princess Shan Yu initially prepared to speak in a dignified manner, however, halfway into her sentence, she couldn't contain herself anymore and began to swear.
"..." The soldier stared at Princess Shan Yu who swore using a sentence that he had only heard coming out of Fang Zhengzhi's mouth and was instantly stunned.
After a moment, the soldier finally regained his senses.
"Princess, then we…"
"Pass down the order, ask Teng Shisheng to watch Fang Zhengzhi closely. Apart from that, the plan we previously agreed upon can be started in advance. About this guy… forget it, just pass down that order!"
"Roger!"
As Fang Zhengzhi was casually strolling into the middle of the wind valley.
A piece of news seemed to have been spreading continuously. Apart from the Icy Monkey Settlement and Princess Shan Yu's tent, a piece of news had also spread into a mountain cave not too far away from the Icy Monkey Settlement.
Fang Zhengzhi defeated the wind valley!
The means were direct, and the methods brutal. Yet, he didn't sacrifice a single soldier.
Bizarre, shock.
When Bai Xing, who was dressed in a black robe, heard this news, the look in his eyes turned extremely strange. However, he didn't speak.
Because…
Another person sat behind him.
A girl dressed in a wheat coloured white dress, her dark silky hair fell to her waist and within her eyes, there was the faint spreading of water ripples.
She was Yun Qingwu.
The mysterious girl in the hearts of the scholars in the Great Xia Dynasty.
And more importantly, the current demon young lord, a girl that dictated the great plans of the demon race.
Unfortunately, a black veil still covered Yun Qingwu's face, causing the most beautiful and real side of Yun Qingwu to be mostly covered up.
"Domain Chief Bai's plan is to stand by the side and yet reap the rewards?" After Yun Qingwu finished reading the letter, she didn't query the contents of the letter and instead posed a question to Bai Xing.
"Replying young lord, my initial plan is… indeed as such." Bai Xing didn't understand why Yun Qingwu would suddenly ask such a question. Because, he had already reported this plan long ago.
Furthermore, he even received Yun Qingwu's acknowledgement.
"Yes, the plan is not bad. However, the military situation has changed, hence, the plan naturally has to change." Yun Qingwu nodded lightly. The tone of her voice sounded extremely indifferent.
"I understand, I will listen to young master's plan!" Bai Xing didn't query Yun Qingwu's plan, instead, he quickly half-knelt onto the ground.
"Then, let's start."
"Roger!"
The wind in the wind valley stopped.
However, this didn't mean that the temperature within the wind valley would turn very warm. After all, it was already close to winter. In addition to taking on the powerful wind gusts for years, the two walls of the wind valley was filled with a thick frost. This caused the temperature within the wind valley to be extremely cold.
The soldiers of the Great Xia didn't prepare winter clothing in advance, hence after advancing in the wind valley for some time, they naturally began to shiver slightly.
When a few commanders saw this, their faces were filled with worry.
"General… General Fang, now that the wind valley had been defeated, under normal circumstances, it is the best time to launch a surprise speedy assault on the Icy Monkey Settlement.."
After holding himself back for half an hour, a commander finally couldn't contain himself any further. However, he ultimately knew that the duty of a soldier was to obey.
Hence, despite him having other thoughts, he could only use the method of making suggestions to voice them out.
"That is indeed the case under normal circumstances." When Fang Zhengzhi heard the commander's words, he nodded his head lightly as well. However, he didn't seem to have any intention of increasing his speed.
"Then…" Just as the commander prepared to continue speaking, the sound of weapons clashing came from the front. Furthermore, the sound seemed to be growing more and more intense by the moment.
This caused him to hold back the words that had just reached his mouth.
On the other hand, when Fang Zhengzhi heard this sound, a faint smile finally appeared on his face.
Of course, he knew what caused this sound.
Nangong Hao!
A person who was able to rank joint-first with him in the Court Theory Examinations. If all he depended on was a natural barrier, then that was a true miracle.
Even though the wind valley was defeated.
The real danger and plot had just begun.
How many troops did Nangong Hao have?
He only had two thousand. Yet, he firmly maintained his position in occupying the most important Icy Monkey Settlement among the four main settlements.
Even though this was somewhat related to his reputation, but, behind that reputation, there was a true reason for it. That was ability.
Nangong Hao wasn't dumb.
If he really required military strength, why would he stand guard at the Icy Monkey Settlement without moving at all?
Based on Nangong Hao's reputation and abilities, if he wished to move, right before Fang Zhengzhi stepped into the combat examination, it was possible that he would already possess at least twenty to thirty thousand troops.
In the art of combat, there was a saying that went, as unmoving as the mountain! It represented stability!
In the battle of stratagems and plots, there was a saying describing stillness as well - There is simply no need to move. Or, in other words, it was disdainful to move.