After galloping for a while, Zhou Ming was shaken to the point of being completely disoriented.

In both his lives combined, he had never ridden a horse for this long; the insides of his thighs were burning from the saddle's friction, and his backside felt so battered it was as if it did not belong to him anymore.

After riding for more than an hour, Zhou Ming could no longer bear it and began to secretly circulate the magic power within his Dantian.

A tiny wisp of spiritual energy separated from his Dao Platform and slowly flowed along his Meridians into his legs; his aching muscles felt as if they had been soaked in a basin of warm water, and the impact of the jolting was largely cushioned by the spiritual energy.

At the same time, the muscle memory of his predecessor regarding horse riding was gradually awakening.

When to loosen the reins and when to tighten them, how to use his waist and hips to absorb the rhythm of the horse's back—these things that originally required conscious thought were gradually becoming instinct.

With both factors combined, he was finally no longer in that pathetic state of potentially being shaken off the horse at any moment; although his posture was still inferior to those battle-hardened cavalrymen, at least he was no longer in pain.

After riding for about two or three hours, the group stopped in front of a village, and everyone dismounted to switch horses.

The servants in the village had long been waiting by the roadside, leading the prepared horses.

Empress Su Mingyue had clearly made meticulous arrangements in advance for the journey.

They switched horses twice more, and it was not until nightfall that the group finally arrived at a rugged mountain range.

Zhou Ming looked through the twilight at the continuous mountains stretching across the sky and earth like a high wall, and secretly estimated that they had reached Duanyun Ridge.

Empress Su Mingyue led the group along the mountain path.

The mountain terrain was steep, and the road was extremely narrow; the widest part could barely accommodate two horses passing side by side.

On both sides were steep stone walls and pitch-black dense forests, and the sliver of sky above only had the last trace of dark purple afterglow.

After walking for about a quarter of an hour, the narrow mountain path suddenly opened up.

Before his eyes appeared a huge basin, surrounded by mountains on all sides, with an area of several tens of li; under the night, one could vaguely see the outlines of farmland and the shimmering moonlight reflected on the water surface.

Nearly a hundred men were guarding the entrance of the basin, their armor neat and tidy, and their torches crackling in the night wind.

Seeing Empress Su Mingyue and the others, the guards knelt on one knee in unison to salute.

Passing through the checkpoint and entering the basin, the scene before his eyes was completely different from what Zhou Ming had imagined on the way.

Fertile fields crisscrossed, irrigation ditches were clear, dim yellow lights shone from the villages in the distance, and wisps of cooking smoke rose from the chimneys.

This was not just a military camp, but a self-sufficient, hidden stronghold.

The group continued to gallop for a while, and a huge military camp appeared in front.

The camp was built against the mountain, the walls were made of thick logs and rammed earth, torches were erected on both sides of the gate, and soldiers on the watchtowers held heavy crossbows, their eyes scanning the night like hawks.

A team of people was already waiting outside the military camp; the leader was clad in iron armor with a battle sword hanging at his waist, and seeing Empress Su Mingyue's cavalry approaching from afar, he quickly stepped forward to meet them.

When Empress Su Mingyue dismounted, he knelt on one knee, and the attendants behind him knelt in unison, calling out "General".

Watching this scene, Zhou Ming thought to himself, it seems that Empress Su Mingyue's rank as General is real, not just a hollow title.

Following Empress Su Mingyue into the military camp, Zhou Ming quietly spread out his Divine Sense.

His Divine Sense could now cover a radius of more than forty meters, several times stronger than when he had first reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

His Divine Sense swept through the tents, and he saw that every tent was occupied by a group of strong men; they were not resting, but all sitting cross-legged on their beds, muttering words.

Although he could not hear the specific content clearly, from their lip movements and speed of speech, Zhou Ming knew immediately.

They were all reciting the Dushi Sutra.

The Causal Chain above these people's heads were thick and solid, and their cultivation was definitely not low.

Arriving at the central tent, the interior was brightly lit, and a huge map was hung in front, marking all the passes and cities of Youzhou and the three neighboring prefectures.

Empress Su Mingyue sat down in the main seat, with several generals arranged on both sides.

She began to ask the leader about the training situation of the soldiers.

"Reporting to the General, the ordinary soldiers have all reached the Peak of the Skin Refining Realm, and are only one step away from the Flesh Refining Stage."

"The generals' Qi Refining cultivation is the same as the soldiers', but combined with their Physical Body cultivation, their combat power can reach the Bone Forging Realm."

Zhou Ming, listening from the side, was secretly shocked.

From the journey just now, observing with his Divine Sense, the number of soldiers here was not small.

All at the Peak of the Skin Refining Realm; this was a force not to be underestimated in the entire Youzhou or even the Great Xia Dynasty.

He calmly sensed the aura of the Bone Forging Realm Martial Artists, but felt that their auras were not strong; he could crush them with a casual hand.

His Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation might already be considered top-tier in the entire Great Xia Dynasty.

But cultivation is one thing; when it comes to actual combat, he had never even killed a chicken with his own hands, and in real life-and-death battles with real blades and guns, he was probably not as good as these veterans who had come down from the Northern Border battlefield.

After a while, Empress Su Mingyue dismissed these generals, leaving only her personal maids in the tent.

She looked up at Zhou Ming and asked:

"Can these soldiers of mine hold Youzhou?"

Zhou Ming, although he had long known that these people were all Cultivating the Dushi Sutra, he absolutely could not show it.

He imitated the generals, stepped forward, cupped his fists, and saluted: "Reporting to Empress Su Mingyue, may I ask how many soldiers there are? Have they seen blood?"

"More than fifty thousand," Empress Su Mingyue said lightly, as if reporting a very ordinary number.

"They are all veterans from the Northern Border battlefield."

Zhou Ming was silent for a moment: "Empress Su Mingyue, if it is only for now, these fifty thousand plus soldiers can barely hold Youzhou."

"But if there are only these fifty thousand plus people, I am afraid they cannot hold it for long."

"If the Zongsheng Sect overthrows the Great Xia, it will not be long before they point their swords at Youzhou."

"By then, by then, these fifty thousand plus people will likely..."

Zhou Ming looked up at Empress Su Mingyue, and seeing her expressionless, continued:

"And there is also the Great Yuan Dynasty watching like a tiger eyeing its prey. Great Yuan will certainly not sit and wait for Youzhou to finish integrating before attacking."

"The Marquis had just left, and the Great Yuan light cavalry are likely already on their way."

"However, these fifty thousand plus people are more than enough for self-preservation."

He did not say the rest. Given Empress Su Mingyue's intelligence, he did not need to spell out every word.

More than enough for self-preservation meant that if she only wanted to guard the Marquis's small plot of land and wait for the situation under heaven to settle before choosing a side, fifty thousand people were enough.

But Empress Su Mingyue's thoughts were never on self-preservation, otherwise she would not have dragged him all the way here.

Empress Su Mingyue looked at him twice, lowered her head in silence for a while, and then said something that was unexpected to Zhou Ming:

"My father did indeed lead troops to support the King, but I reckon he has not left the borders of Youzhou yet."

"There are still two hundred thousand troops left on this border. If I can integrate these two hundred thousand people, it will be more than enough to protect Youzhou, and even..." She did not continue.