Chapter 18 - Pill, cultivation level further improves
Now, he was no longer the newbie who had just time-traveled. He had a basic understanding of this world.
In this world, there were not only martial cultivators but also Daoists, Buddhists, and other cultivation systems.
Pills were refined by Daoists, Buddhists, or practitioners of other paths. They could heal injuries, aid in cultivation, or help break through realms.
"Yes, Sergeant, we have pills!" Hunter Tang shouted excitedly.
He couldn't help but be excited. Pills were very precious, and it had been two or three years since the Peace Garrison had received any.
Moreover, the pills that were distributed were only available to those with military merit.
Oliver Sheng quickly stepped forward and came to Hunter Tang's side.
In the large box on the ground were several smaller boxes, each containing jade bottles.
Oliver picked up a jade bottle and opened it, revealing several pills inside, emitting a fragrant aroma.
"Hurry, pack them all up. Take everything, don't leave a single pill behind," Oliver ordered.
Other items could be left behind, but these pills had to be taken.
"Hehe, we're rich, we're rich," Hunter Tang chuckled foolishly.
These two large boxes of pills could easily sell for tens of thousands of silver taels.
Oliver instructed the soldiers to quickly gather the supplies, taking as much as they could carry.
Zane Wang and Owen Hai returned with the cavalry, having killed all the fleeing herdsmen.
How could two legs outrun four-legged warhorses?
To prevent the fleeing herdsmen from leaking their information, Oliver had given a strict order to Zane Wang and the others to kill them all, leaving no survivors.
After collecting the necessary supplies, they burned everything else to the ground, leaving nothing for the Huns.
"Take the wounded and the bodies of our fallen brothers with us. We need to leave here quickly," Oliver ordered.
They loaded the supplies onto the horses and each rode a horse, leaving swiftly.
Two and a half hours later, a hundred-strong cavalry unit arrived at the battlefield.
Seeing the burned supplies and the corpses scattered everywhere, the Hun cavalry captain was filled with rage.
"Those damn Wei people, like rats, they managed to ambush a supply convoy. We're too late," the captain said angrily.
"Chase them down, find them, and bring back their heads."
...
Oliver and his group left the battlefield, unaware that a cavalry unit was pursuing them.
With horses, their marching speed increased significantly. After running for over fifty kilometers, they found a hidden place to rest.
The Northern Frontier grasslands were vast, so they could run freely as long as they avoided the Hun tribes.
Oliver and his group did the unexpected, heading deep into the grasslands, a move the Huns would never anticipate.
After stopping, Oliver gave orders, "Bury our fallen brothers and use the healing pills on the wounded."
"Yes, Sergeant!" Hunter Tang responded.
Hunter Tang went to treat the wounded and bury the fallen soldiers.
Owen Hai was busy setting up tents with the soldiers.
"Oliver, are you sure it's safe for us to go this deep into the grasslands?" Zane Wang asked, standing beside Oliver.
"Brother Wang, have you ever heard of the saying 'do the opposite'?" Oliver replied.
Looking at Oliver, Zane Wang thought he was incredibly bold.
Leading over seventy men to ambush five hundred and winning easily, and now taking them deep into the grasslands, which was Hun territory. One wrong move, and they could all be wiped out.
After setting up the tents, Owen Hai started a fire to cook dried beef and prepare dinner.
Hunter Tang buried the fallen brothers on the spot and used the healing pills on the wounded.
He then began sorting the pills, separating the healing ones.
There were more healing pills since they were meant for the frontline Hun army.
The remaining pills were for cultivation and a few bottles for breaking through realms.
Dinner was lavish, with stewed dried beef and mutton.
After days of battle, many soldiers hadn't had meat for quite some time.
After dinner, Hunter Tang asked Oliver how to handle the pills.
"Sergeant, what should we do with the pills? Should we use them ourselves or take them back to sell?"
He had counted the pills, and they could easily fetch over a hundred thousand silver taels on the black market.
The realm-breaking pills were particularly valuable.
If they sold them, they could get a significant amount of silver.
This was their spoils of war and didn't need to be handed over.
"What kinds of pills do we have?" Oliver asked.
"There are healing pills, quite a few, some for cultivation, and a few bottles for breaking through realms," Hunter Tang replied honestly.
"Bring me the realm-breaking pills," Oliver ordered immediately.
Hunter Tang brought the pills over.
Oliver poured out a pigeon-egg-sized white pill, emitting a strong medicinal fragrance.
He swallowed one directly, and a surge of powerful medicinal energy quickly transformed into True Essence within his body.
Unfortunately, he didn't break through, but his True Essence became more solid, increasing his strength significantly.
"Why didn't it work?" Oliver wondered aloud.
Zane Wang, Hunter Tang, Owen Hai, and several platoon leaders looked at Oliver as if he were a fool.
"What's with those looks? Why are you looking at me like that?" Oliver felt puzzled.
"Oliver, you need to understand that realm-breaking pills come in different grades.
These pills are effective for Martial Disciples and Martial Artists, but for Martial Masters, they aren't enough. Higher-grade pills are needed.
Also, breaking through requires reaching the threshold of a new realm. Taking the pill then can help break through smoothly.
Otherwise, it just increases True Essence and doesn't guarantee a breakthrough. If it were that easy, the world would be full of strong cultivators," Zane Wang explained earnestly.
This little brother knew nothing, and it was exhausting.
"You should have told me earlier! Why didn't you say anything?" Oliver put down the jade bottle with the pills, feeling a bit embarrassed.
"We thought you knew," Hunter Tang said leisurely.
That was a realm-breaking pill worth thousands of silver taels, wasted by Oliver. He felt heartbroken, no, more like kidney pain!
"Check how many brothers in the team are at the breakthrough threshold and distribute the pills to them to improve their cultivation," Oliver decided immediately.
To him, not using these pills was a waste.
"Yes, I'll go ask right away," Hunter Tang said happily.
He got up immediately to ask the other soldiers.
This was a rare opportunity.
"I'm at the peak of the mid-stage Martial Artist realm and can break through to the late-stage anytime," Zane Wang said shyly.
A realm-breaking pill could save a lot of cultivation time.
"How many do you need?" Oliver asked.
"One is enough to break through to the late-stage Martial Artist realm," Zane Wang said with a smile.
"Take it and break through as soon as possible!" Oliver handed a realm-breaking pill to Zane Wang.
"Sergeant, I've been stuck at the Great Perfection of the Martial Disciple realm for a long time," Owen Hai said, rubbing his hands together.
"Everyone will get their share. This is what we risked our lives for, so everyone will benefit," Oliver said.
Hearing Oliver's words, the platoon leaders were delighted.
Soldiers feared most that their superiors would take everything, leaving them with nothing.
Fortunately, Oliver wasn't that kind of person.
After counting the number of soldiers who could break through, Hunter Tang distributed the realm-breaking pills. He kept some cultivation pills and distributed the rest to the soldiers for their cultivation.
He hoped this team would grow stronger quickly.
With stronger soldiers, they would have a better chance of winning against more enemies.
After receiving the pills, everyone went to cultivate or break through.
Oliver checked the golden light screen.
Name: Oliver Sheng
Race: Human
Realm: Mid-stage Martial Artist (+)
Cultivation Method: [Wild Bull Strength (Small Accomplishment)] (+) [Blood Fiend Saber Technique (Small Accomplishment)] (+)
Strength: 3400 pounds
Talent: Silver Archer (+)
Kill Points: 163
During the daytime ambush, Oliver had killed two early-stage Martial Artist centurions of the Huns and slain the Great Perfection Martial Artist Wu Ligu, earning him twenty Kill Points.
He had figured out that an early-stage Martial Artist was worth five Kill Points, and a Great Perfection Martial Artist was worth ten Kill Points.
An early-stage Martial Disciple was worth one point, mid-stage two points, late-stage three points, and Great Perfection four points.
The daytime ambush had earned him seventy Kill Points in total.
Seeing that he could improve his cultivation again, Oliver didn't hesitate and immediately allocated points to enhance his cultivation.
He risked his life to kill enemies to gain Kill Points and improve his cultivation.
This time, he consumed 150 Kill Points, and a surge of immense power spread throughout his body, continuously strengthening it.
His True Essence also grew and solidified, making his body feel warm and every cell cheer with joy.
His strength kept increasing.
...
That day, the Hun army continued to rest and did not launch another attack on Peace Pass.
The two days of respite allowed the Peace Pass garrison to catch their breath and rest.
Meanwhile, the counties and prefectures, upon receiving General Who Pacifies the North Calvin Yang's request for reinforcements, sent county and prefecture soldiers to Peace Pass.
Peace Pass received a reinforcement of five thousand soldiers, restoring some of its strength, bringing the number of soldiers able to defend the city to over twenty thousand.
On the third morning, the Hun army resumed their assault on the city.
"Today, we must take Peace Pass. I don't want to see another failure," the Left Wise King said to his generals.
He had led a hundred thousand troops to attack the pass, and losing fifty thousand soldiers without taking it was a blatant humiliation.
"My King, Peace Pass has high walls and strong soldiers, and General Who Pacifies the North Calvin Yang is stationed there. Given our losses, it won't be easy to take it," the Left Guli King said.
"No matter. Peace Pass should only have ten thousand soldiers left. With our fifty thousand, we can't take one pass?"
"I will send strong warriors to deal with Calvin Yang!" The Left Wise King was determined to take Peace Pass.
The Left Guli King wanted to dissuade him, but the Left Wise King's attitude was resolute. His pride wouldn't allow him to accept failure.
"Woo woo..."
"Boom boom..."
The Hun army's attack horns and war drums, silent for two days, sounded again.
...
After breaking through, Oliver cultivated all night, running his cultivation method.
Name: Oliver Sheng
Race: Human
Realm: Late-stage Martial Artist
Cultivation Method: [Wild Bull Strength (Small Accomplishment)] [Blood Fiend Saber Technique (Small Accomplishment)]
Strength: 4000 pounds
Talent: Silver Archer
Kill Points: 13
The 150 Kill Points had raised his cultivation to the late-stage Martial Artist realm.
His strength reached 4000 pounds, and his True Essence was abundant. Now, even facing an early-stage Martial Master, he wouldn't be afraid.
Even against a mid-stage Martial Master, he was confident he could hold his own.
At dawn, they had to move again to avoid being tracked by the Hun cavalry.
To avoid being found by the Hun cavalry, they couldn't stay in one place for too long.