Why do I have so many masters?

When Wang Anfeng appeared, the entire mountain valley had almost been flattened by the Qing Taoqi cavalry, who were such elite fighters that each could release Sword Qi. Even with just their Waist Sabers, their efficiency was astoundingly high.

On one side of the valley, a pile of wood had accumulated, and Gongsun Jing was about to lead these fierce men, usually tasked with killing and beheading, to draw out their Waist Sabers and chop the wood using Blade Qi, planning to build a few houses.

Upon seeing Wang Anfeng emerge, Gongsun Jing stopped what he was doing and prepared to call off the rest of the Qing Taoqi members.

He hadn't begun his Cultivation practice for the day yet.

Before he could speak, Anfeng had already steadily placed a large wooden barrel, big enough to drown a man, on the ground. The medicinal liquid inside sloshed about, emitting a pungent odor that nearly nobody could ignore—as heads simultaneously turned to look.

When they saw the suspicious color of the liquid, the others were curious and puzzled, including Gongsun Jing from Divine Martial Mansion, and the old soldiers all shivered uniformly, then involuntarily took a step back with concealed horror.

Wang Anfeng: "..."

By the time Gongsun Jing finally managed to suppress his instinct to turn tail and run, he gathered up the Qing Taoqi with a strained face, while Lao Lu had already left the valley.

To use the medicinal liquid in the barrel, the Martial Artists would need to be fully immersed. That would require roughly three hundred large wooden barrels.

There was no shortage of wood in this place, but having wood alone wasn't enough to make barrels.

Yuchi Jie instructed Lao Lu to fetch some Silver Coins and then, concealing his movement technique, headed out from another direction to the nearest county town to purchase all the necessary items. It so happened there were other things to prepare, so they bought everything all at once.

After casually passing the woodworking axe to Mo Xiaoqi and instructing him to give it to the only woodworker in the stronghold, Wang Anfeng, with his mind full of Cultivation methods, looked at the somewhat tense Gongsun Jing and then at the three hundred Qing Taoqi.

With his right hand, he patted the pungent medicinal liquid beside him, and a reflexive, gentle smile appeared on Anfeng's face.

"I have an idea, Gongsun..."

......…

Huang Xiaoping was the only woodworker or carpenter in the stronghold, responsible for creating all wooden objects with the help of others.

The bandits of the stronghold were spineless as robbers and clumsy at work, but the sturdy wooden houses they managed to build were all thanks to his efforts.

However, in everyone's eyes in the stronghold, including Mo Xiaoqi's, this carpenter was considered an extremely peculiar person. Aside from when he worked, he wouldn't speak a word and would just sit idly on a rock in the shade, sitting for hours on end.

But when faced with a desperate situation, he was the fastest runner.

When Mo Xiaoqi found Huang Xiaoping, or the carpenter old enough to be called Old Huang, the carpenter was sitting in a corner, legs crossed, staring blankly at the sky.

Mo Xiaoqi thought that if he could just change his slightly sour-smelling clothes and stop fiddling with his toes with his right hand, he might be able to pass for a scholar with a touch of concern for the country and people.

Now, he only saw a shifty old shirker.

He really didn't want to give the axe to this fellow, but who else was there in the stronghold, among nearly a hundred people, who knew any bit of carpentry? He had no choice but to go up to him.

Reluctantly, he approached, waving his hand in front of the old shirker's eyes until he came back to his senses, then extended the axe, grumbling,

"Old Huang, this is from the General. He wants you to put in extra effort to make some barrels. The nails and other things will be sent over soon."

Huang Xiaoping glanced at him, uttered an "Oh" and then picked at his toes again.

Mo Xiaoqi didn't move, and with a Gongsun Jing-like stern face, he said,

"Can't you be a little less lazy? At a time like this, you're still lazy?! You're always the fastest when it's time to run!"

Huang Xiaoping finally took a slight interest in looking at him, wiping his fingers on his garment then declared with conviction, "I'm such an incredible man, brought into this world because Master Lu Ban took pity on these people below the heavens."

"I can't die; if I do, it would be disrespecting my ancestors!"

"You're young, you don't understand…"

Mo Xiaoqi, teeth clenched in anger, retorted,

"Your mother's the young one!"

The carpenter, with a sly grin, asked, "Have you had a wife yet?"

Mo Xiaoqi froze, trembling with fury.

Perhaps sensing that if he boasted any further, the youngster in front of him would probably beat him to the ground, Huang Xiaoping muttered a few excuses about not yet showing his true skills, claiming that if he did, it would surely scare the kid shitless. Then he dusted off his pants and stood up.

Grasping the axe, he waved his hand to signal to Mo Xiaoqi that he got the message and would start working immediately, then strolled towards the rough logs. He had intended to watch the Qing Taoqi work, but since they had been pulled away for Cultivation, he had to do it himself.

Huang Xiaoping squinted at the sturdy logs, then at the axe in his hand, figuring that this job was going to be incredibly tough. Making three hundred barrels with a small axe was practically asking for his life.

He took a swing at a nearby stone, and it didn't even leave a scratch.

Huang Xiaoping wore a cold sneer on his face.

"Look, it's all about bluffing people."

"Three hundred wooden barrels? Just a token gesture, close enough."

Picking an angle carefully, Huang Xiaoping carelessly let his axe fall.

With a thunderous blast, a wisp of cold light flashed across the dusty axe, and the thick woodpile—as thick as a person's waist, two meters tall and five to six meters wide—was cleanly split down the middle.

Air waves churned.

Tumbling like a tide!

The carpenters, who only knew to brag and daydream all day, would spend their lives merely fixing wooden houses. Their eyes widened, legs turned to jelly, and they sat down on their bottoms on the ground, dazed for a long while. Clutching tightly at the axe that they had just sneered at, they murmured:

"The grandmaster... the grandmaster has shown his spirit..."

"The grandmaster has shown his spirit!!!"

Today, the Qing Taoqi experienced what it truly meant to reach one's limits. Every one of them had their pressure points sealed by Wang Anfeng, and the Inner Strength that they had painstakingly cultivated was completely locked away.

Then, the duration of their cultivation dramatically increased.

If it weren't for the fact that Wang Anfeng had also sealed away his own Inner Strength and trained far more than they did, there would have probably been people who couldn't hold on any longer.

Looking at the figure at the front who was still steady in his movements, Lan Hongyi felt his ambition and pride from shouting the name of Divine Martial the day before disappearing at a discernible pace.

At any moment, he felt he couldn't hold on any longer.

Even the armor on his body now felt as heavy as if he was carrying an entire mountain range. The sword techniques almost second nature to him became deformed after enduring the weight and executing them three hundred times.

At every instant, they wanted to give up.

But pride within their hearts and the thought of not wanting to be the first one to quit kept them supporting their own bodies, continually completing the modified training.

Until the last strike, when his consciousness was still clear, but his body seemed to no longer belong to him. Lan Hongyi heavily fell to the ground along the trajectory of his strike, and at the same time, a dozen other Qing Taoqi with poorer cultivation foundations lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.

The rest had no Mental Energy left to watch. They only struggled to maintain their movements, knowing that if they eased up even for a moment, they would probably face the same outcome.

The bandits in the stronghold quickly pulled the collapsed Qing Taoqi out and with practiced professionalism stripped the Martial Artists down to their underwear before throwing them directly into the medicinal barrels.

For some reason today, the carpenter, Huang Xiaoping, who was usually indolent, first cried and laughed like a madman and then worked with a frightening efficiency, as if he had taken some medicine.

The three hundred wooden barrels had already been prepared, and filled with a blend of medicine and water, they emitted a faint greenish hue.

When Lan Hongyi was thrown in, he choked on two mouthfuls of water and actually became somewhat more alert. The first thing he felt was an itchy sensation as the fatigue from his body was gradually driven away.

He did harbor some complaints and confusion in his heart.

They knew the current situation was critical, but simply increasing the intensity of their cultivation like this was useless and even harmful. If it wasn't for the fame of Divine Martial from the previous day, even if it was an order from Wang Anfeng, he wouldn't bother with it.

Among the three hundred people, many were already unwilling to endure such a massive amount of training today. If it wasn't for not wanting to lose to others, mischievous ones would have already jumped out.

Lan Hongyi subconsciously took a deep breath, intending to take a short nap there. However, his expression suddenly changed, as the Inner Strength originally sealed in his meridians was instantly opened by the external medicinal strength. Then, vast Inner Strength began to circulate at high speed.

The Inner Strength was absorbed by the meridians and bones at a much faster rate than usual. Host to this extreme fatigue, he suddenly burst through a meridian blockage. Lan Hongyi felt a rush of breath in his chest and couldn't help but raise his head and let out a long howl. His aura instantly surged by a third.

At the same time, from the barrels where more than a dozen big men were thrown in, two more long howls could be heard, drawing a series of glances.

With a slash of his knife, Wang Anfeng spoke in a deep voice:

"When you train to the limit of your body and then use the medicinal liquid to recover and stimulate growth in your cultivation, that's the best. It's your first time using this type of medicinal liquid today. It's best if you completely push to the limit for the best effect."

The Qing Taoqi had no strength left to respond. Their slicing motions, however, seemed to become even sharper. Gongsun Jing felt a little relieved in his heart and continued to cultivate with unwavering dedication.

Over the stoves unusually well-constructed by Huang Xiaoping.

Mo Xiaoqi watched as one after another, the big men collapsed and were then stripped by the original bandits and thrown into the barrels. He inexplicably felt as if he was making a human flesh soup.

He shook his head, tossing the thought to the back of his mind. Remembering Wang Anfeng's instructions, he carefully took out a small bamboo tube from his chest, glanced at the myriad of wooden barrels, and swallowed hard.

Upon opening the bamboo tube, a pungent medicinal fragrance rushed at him... identical to the one in the barrels, but three times more potent.

Mo Xiaoqi bit his lip and poured the medicinal liquid directly into the porridge.

"This... this isn't my fault..."

PS: This kind of chapter can't be skipped, so I will get through it as quickly as possible and then try to make it more interesting. Thank you for your understanding...