My Cultivation Starting from Archery

"Liven up!"

The Household heads responsible for defending the Great Wall at various stages began to encourage their subordinates to give their all.

Archery relishing its triumph was already a past affair from three days ago; although the awe it inspired lingered, the excitement had long since faded.

This was also why the barbarians were finally launching their siege.

Within the fortress gate.

Xiang Tingchun ordered, "Release arrows!"

An Order Officer immediately relayed the command.

Each signal tower was purposefully equipped with archers and crossbowmen. As soon as the barbarian soldiers approached within about two hundred steps, everyone aimed slightly above and in front of them and unleashed a barrage of arrows, creating a parabolic rain of projectiles.

The siege.

Unlike what's portrayed on television.

It was absolutely not a matter of wielding a shield and sword, yelling battle cries, and charging forward—if it were so, there would be countless deaths no matter how many came.

Laying siege required the use of many pieces of machinery.

Take, for instance, the barbarians in the frontmost ranks—all were shielded by wooden curtain carts and Fenwen Cars.

Wooden curtain carts.

These are siege engines covered with wooden planks for protection.

In front of the vehicle, thick wooden planks shielded from the arrow rain, while soldiers hid behind them and pushed the cart forward without showing themselves.

Fenwen Cars.

Similar pieces of equipment, all made of iron, essentially a group of soldiers rushing forward carrying an iron shed on their back.

Moreover, the barbarians also set up an Arrow Formation, shooting wildly at the city walls.

Relying solely on a barrage of arrows to stop them was impossible. At most, it would kill only a few of their soldiers. In the end, they had to wait until the enemy attempted to climb the walls before they could significantly reduce the enemy's numbers.

Chen Sansi's fifteen-stone bow could easily penetrate the common bamboo armor shields, cowhide shields, and thinner iron shields, virtually counting each flex of the fingers as a life claimed.

[Skill: Archery (small achievement)]

[Progress: (508/1000)]

With continued training like this, it wouldn't be long before his archery reached Great Success.

But in the end, he was just one person, unable to withstand the thousand-strong army.

Soon.

The barbarian soldiers reached the base of the city wall and successfully set up the scaling ladders.

Scaling ladders.

They weren't just any ladders but ladder carriages, extremely heavy pieces of engineering, weighing up to thousands of catties. They could adjust their angle flexibly, had iron hooks to secure to the wall, and the base could form a triangle with the wall, making them incredibly sturdy.

One after another, the barbarians began to climb up the ladders.

Log rams and boulders proved their worth, smashing down onto those below with the force of collapsing mountains. As soon as a brave warrior climbed halfway, they were doused from above with scalding "golden juice".

"I've saved this for you for days. Have a taste, all of you try it!"

Zhu Tong roared, pouring down bucket after bucket.

The boiling temperature, once it injured the skin, would lead to bacterial and viral infections. Without effective treatment, it was practically a death sentence.

Chen Sansi stood guard beside them; whoever dared to show their head would be stabbed with a thrust of his three-meter long spear.

On the defensive side, one man could indeed hold the pass against ten thousand.

Shortly, he had stabbed over twenty people to death, not allowing a single enemy soldier to climb over the wall.

Gradually, the area he was responsible for quieted down.

Over two hundred li of the Great Wall.

The barbarians couldn't possibly attack along the entire line; they mainly chose to attack weaker points.

Even so, the first round of the siege didn't last too long.

Two hours later, the barbarians sounded the retreat.

A siege was inherently a prolonged affair.

Today's assault was likely just a probe.

The soldiers began to clean up the battlefield and assess the situation.

In this round, the barbarians lost over four hundred men, while the Po Yang Thousand Households lost just over fifty, most of whom died from random arrows during the defense. The ratio of losses looked quite favorable.

But what the barbarians sent today were the so-called "old, weak, sick, and disabled."

This could be seen from the tattered leather armors on their bodies, and moreover, not a single bone training martial artist had yet appeared. It was clear they intended to use these four hundred weakened troops to gauge the true combat strength of the Great Wall.

[Skill: Commanding Soldiers (entry-level)]

[Progress: 388/500]

In live combat.

The skill of commanding soldiers rapidly improved.

With the mainstay's support.

The soldiers under Chen Sansi's command, despite feeling mentally tense, did not panic and always coordinated well. Coupled with him standing at the forefront, only two men died in battle and three were wounded.

"Lazybones!"

The stinking Zhu Tong dragged Xu Wencai, who had been cowering in a corner, out into the open, "Didn't you say it was the end for us? The barbarians look like nothing but wine sacks and rice bags to me!"

"It hasn't even started yet!"

Xu Wencai informed, "They haven't even brought out the bone training warriors. They haven't used digging tunnels or earth bags and such tactics yet!"

"..."

Chen Sansi let the old scholar enlighten his men while he himself wasted no time in practicing martial arts. He also took the opportunity to ask Xiang Tingchun for leave to go hunting in the mountains, claiming he wanted to reward his subordinates.

Having just earned a significant merit, he couldn't afford to grant rewards, so he was entitled to some privileges.

Riding the White Swan Horse, he went up to the mountains to soak in medicinal baths and practice martial arts, also improving his medical skills.

When he returned, he brought a couple of hunted animals to the Great Wall for everyone to share. This continued for ten days, during which the barbarians didn't seem eager to launch another full-scale assault. Instead, they beat drums every midnight and sent small groups of soldiers to shoot arrows and harass during the day.

"Siege exhaustion tactics, huh..."

Chen Sansi was well aware.

As long as they didn't lack food and fodder, such wear-down strategies would advantage the barbarians. On one hand, their numbers were vast, creating increasing pressure for the soldiers of the Great Wall. Plus, with the cold weather, it was a torture to huddle on the ground everyday.

Speaking of which, it was almost the twelfth lunar month, and the Northern Territory had yet to see snow.

If a blizzard did set in, that could press the barbarians as well.

[Cultivation Technique: Undying Golden Snake Spear. Upper (Small Achievement)]

[Progress: 899/2000]

The cultivation speed had slowed down.

The efficacy of the Dew Condensation Body Forging Soup was much less than before.

At this rate, it would take at least twenty more days to achieve Bone Forging Perfection.

However, medical skill was on the verge of a breakthrough.

Medical Officer Jiang also came to the Great Wall with the army. Chen Sansi used the excuse of helping, but in reality, he was improving his proficiency. After pushing the medicine mill, he began practicing acupuncture on a wooden man covered with drawn acupoints.

Medical skill included more than just herbs. Acupuncture was also one of its types.

He had memorized all the acupoints and acupuncture techniques - they were "etched in his memory" - and now all that was left was to familiarize himself with the hand-feel. In the course of an afternoon, he had basically learned it all.

Finally, the panel floated up.

[Skill: Medical Skill. Mortal (Proficient)]

[Progress: 0/1000]

[Utility: Recognize Medicine, Cure All Poison]

[Cure All Poison: Medical skill is unparalleled, knowing all there is to know, such that all poisons of the mortal world can be cured upon sight.]

Cure poison?

Chen Sansi had the ability to Recognize Medicine, which allowed him to prevent others from poisoning his food, but he lacked the skill to cure poison. Whether in the Jianghu or on the battlefield, there were always those who favored using poison, the cunning and treacherous ones.

With this skill at his disposal, he was essentially immune to "poison".

"Dong dong dong!"

After many days, the familiar sound of war drums echoed in his ears once again.

"Medical Officer Jiang, I must go."

Chen Sansi's heart tightened as he dropped the silver needles and left, arriving at the city wall only to see hordes of barbarians surging forward like a tide. This time, it was not the old, weak, sick, or disabled—it was a full-on assault!

The number and quality were far greater than before. Siege engines were placed at the very front, followed by Shield Gunners and Crossbowmen. At the back were two thousand uniformly arranged Cavalry.

Moreover, there were an additional five hundred Heavy Cavalry bringing up the rear.

These Heavy Cavalry were not just fully armored from head to toe, but even the vital parts of the horses beneath them were fully armored as well—truly the elite of the elite.

Last time, on the grasslands.

If they had encountered this group of people.

Zhu Tong and his men probably wouldn't have had a single survivor!

The Cavalry stopped at a distance of two miles, forming the rear guard. The remaining four thousand infantry spread out, some feigning attacks while others launched the main assault, blurring the line between the real and the fake to such an extent that the Great Wall's defenses couldn't adjust in time.

"We are here for a feint attack!"

At the section Chen Sansi was responsible for, some people initially came over to set up ladders, but those who climbed up were few, and soon everyone withdrew, leaving only the empty ladders behind.

"Chen Hundred Households! Quickly lead thirty men to the alpha signal tower on the east side of the city gate to provide support. Hundred Households Zhao can't hold on any longer!"

The Order Officer's command was delivered with a delay.

By the time Chen Sansi and his men arrived at the designated spot, he saw that four ladders had already been mounted on the wall. Zhao Kang was entangled in a fight with a Barbarian Hundred Households, and his men were guarding around the ladders, obviously unable to attend to other matters.

Not far behind the ladders, several large Siege Carriages were also taking advantage of the situation to advance.

Siege Carriage!

This carriage was the largest type of war carriage of the age. The one in front of them was not the biggest but nevertheless stood two fathoms high and many fathoms wide. The interior was divided into three layers, and aside from being able to accommodate nearly a hundred soldiers, it was also equipped with heavy crossbow poison arrows and heavy hammers.

The soldiers at the top of the carriage could directly leap into the city wall, while those at the bottom were responsible for chiseling and digging, damaging the city itself.

If they allowed them to arrive smoothly in front, coupled with an influx of barbarians, the Great Wall would be thrown into complete chaos, and then it wouldn't be impossible for it to fall!

"Set fire!"

Chen Sansi ordered calmly.

The torch basins had long been prepared.

The archers, including Chen Sansi himself, began using fire arrows equipped with iron cages. They first lit the oily cloth with torches, then pulled their bows and shot arrows, targeting the siege carriage.

But since the enemy dared to bring the war carriage over, how could they not be prepared at all? The Water Dragon Car followed right behind the war carriage, dousing any flaming arrows before they could ignite the vehicle.

Fortunately, the water carriage had a limited capacity.

Under the deluge of fiery arrow rain that was like an engulfing sea of flames, they ultimately managed to set two carriages ablaze.

At the same time.

The distant catapult started to hurl stones en masse. Huge boulders, like meteors from the sky, crashed thunderously onto the city wall, and within just a few rounds, they had smashed a giant gap in the century-old wall.

Unless they were martial artists with a minor achievement in Blood Refining or above, anyone who didn't dodge would be smashed into a pulp on the spot.

Amidst various distractions, eventually one carriage managed to stop right in front of the wall.

Barbarian soldiers came pouring out one after another, but the vast majority were killed by a long spear before they could even jump out.

"Charge, all of you charge!"

"He's just one man!"

"He who climbs the wall first shall gain the greatest honor!"

It could be seen that the people who had come with Chen Sansi to support were forced to put down their bows and help defend the scaling ladders that were close to being overrun. In front of the war carriage, there was only him!

The barbarians burst forth with incredible drive, wanting to achieve the great feat of being the first to mount the wall, surging forward like beasts freed from their cages.

Chen Sansi showed no fear and stood alone in front of the siege carriage. His long spear danced in the air like countless flying snakes, leaving no gaps unguarded. Any barbarian brazen enough to poke their head out would soon find a transparent hole in their body, and after a relentless attack lasting five minutes, the bodies piled up in the carriage exit, with not a single person managing to stand on the wall for more than two seconds!

"All of you, get out of my way!"

A deafening roar came from inside the carriage—a burly man used his own soldiers as human shields, seizing the chance to break out of the carriage and close in with a Wolf Fang Club raised overhead to strike.

"Clang—"

The Zhenyue Sword at Chen Sansi's waist suddenly unsheathed.

All everyone saw was a flash of cold light, and the head of the burly man, who had only minor success in Bone Training, rolled on the ground. He was no match for Chen Sansi!

"Ah..."

The barbarians inside the carriage were as if drenched with a bucket of cold water. Their desire for valor completely extinguished and their will to survive surged forward. Over a hundred pairs of eyes stared, shuffling in place, with no one daring to rush forward again.

On the contrary, Chen Sansi proactively charged into the crowd. His right-hand Lu Ye spear swept all around while his left-hand Zhenyue sword reaped those who slipped through the net, cutting down heads in a flurry of slashes.

Not knowing who started it, someone shouted "Retreat," and they all scrambled to jump down from the carriage. Those who jumped a bit slow gained a bloody hole, and inside the carriage, they trampled over each other, innumerable dead or injured; blood sprayed everywhere, staining the war carriage red.

And just at this moment.

Horns sounded beyond the Great Wall, and the barbarians beat gongs to signal retreat.