Chapter 59: Chapter 58 Kui Niu Skill Chapter 59: Chapter 58 Kui Niu Skill Zhou Lan laughed and said, “Who says this is Linguan Castle? This is our Left Camp military camp!”
“Linguan Castle was abandoned long ago, wasn’t it?”
Zhang Zhongxiang was stunned, looking at Zhou Lan in disbelief.
“General, this is Linguan Castle!”
“No, this used to be Linguan Castle, now it is our military camp!” Zhou Lan asserted forcefully.
“If you don’t believe me, go check at the Governor’s Office, there’s no Linguan Castle inside the Governor’s Office!”
Saying this, she also showed a cunning smile.
Thinking of taking advantage of me? No way!
Humph!
Don’t think I don’t know what you are up to.
It was Zhou Lan who initially proposed the reconstruction of Linguan Castle, and the Governor’s Office agreed.
The Governor’s Office’s idea was simple—if you want to rebuild, go ahead, as it was the Left Camp funding and doing the work, another garrison would not bother them.
Thus, from start to finish, the reconstruction of Linguan Castle was organized by Zhou Lan, with money and resources from the Left Camp.
Now they want Zhou Lan to hand over Linguan Castle to the Governor’s Office, why would she agree?
“Zhao Yuan, take some men and tear down the plaque for me!” Zhou Lan couldn’t be bothered to argue with Zhang Zhongxiang and directly ordered Zhao Yuan to dismantle the plaque.
Yang Zhenshan stood by, watching this scene with a calm expression.
He was not clear about the tangle between Zhou Lan and the Governor’s Office, but he understood that it was not his place to intervene.
Although he was the garrison commander of Linguan Castle, he was just a Trial Hundred Households and had no right to meddle in the disputes between Camp and the Governor’s Office.
Yang Zhenshan saw this very clearly.
I am just a minor character!
All I do is follow orders.
I only need to do my job well; as for the rest, I have Zhou Lan to handle it, don’t come to me.
Zhao Yuan, being a straightforward person, actually did as told by Zhou Lan—with the plaque carved from stone slab demolished in less than half an hour.
“This is our Left Camp military camp, cough cough, I, the general, have military matters to attend to, so I won’t entertain you all anymore!”
Zhou Lan looked at the shattered stones of the plaque before the garrison gate and started to grin.
Zhang Zhongxiang and the others looked at each other—none of them had expected Zhou Lan to act so shamelessly.
“General Zhou!!”
Zhang Zhongxiang wanted to say something, but Zhou Lan directly interrupted him and waved her hand saying, “See the guests out!”
“Mr. Zhang, please!”
Zhao Yuan stepped forward and made a gesture of invitation.
Zhang Zhongxiang and the others were extremely annoyed internally, but they dared not show the slightest dissatisfaction on their faces.
Compared to Zhou Lan, they were just minions.
Although they had the backing of the Governor’s Office, Zhou Lan had the support of Duke Ning Mansion.
Let alone them, even the Governor’s Office could not do anything to Zhou Lan.
Facing the unscrupulous Zhou Lan, they could only leave Linguan Castle dejectedly, without even daring to utter a harsh word.
After they left, Zhou Lan and Yang Zhenshan returned to the government office.
“You did very well, even better than I expected!” Zhou Lan looked at Yang Zhenshan with sparkling eyes.
Yang Zhenshan smiled and cupped his hands, saying, “All thanks to General Zhou’s support!”
His statement wasn’t entirely flattery. Without Zhou Lan’s protection, even if he could become the garrison commander of Linguan Castle, he wouldn’t be able to devote all his energy and time to the garrison.
Are there no competent low-ranking officers in Chongshan Town?
No!
There are, and quite a few.
But why can’t they achieve results?
Because they lack a strong supporter.
Without the support of Zhou Lan, Yang Zhenshan alone could achieve nothing.
This is not self-deprecation, but a fact.
Zhou Lan smiled and then called in a follower from outside the door, taking a wooden case from the follower’s hands.
“You must have entered the Postnatal Realm by now!”
Yang Zhenshan was startled, then responded, “I just broke through not long ago!”
Indeed, he had broken through to the Postnatal Realm a month ago, but he had not mentioned this to anyone, and he wondered how Zhou Lan had realized it.
“Hmm!” Zhou Lan nodded, handed the case to Yang Zhenshan, and said, “This Cultivation Technique is for you!”
“Cultivation Technique!”
Yang Zhenshan opened the wooden case, which contained a small booklet.
The dusty cover was inscribed with the three large characters “Kui Niu Skill”.
Body Refining Realm Martial Artists do not need any specific Cultivation Techniques; they only need to practice common Martial Arts like the spear technique passed down by the Yang family.
Once in the Postnatal Realm, one also might not practice any specific Cultivation Techniques until reaching the peak of the Postnatal Realm, where one requires the techniques for entering the Innate Realm.
Those divine techniques and secret manuals are exclusive to practitioners of the Innate Realm.
Of course, anything called a Cultivation Technique is an extremely precious existence.
Yang Zhenshan opened the “Kui Niu Skill” and quickly flipped through it.
It only had over a dozen pages, but after reading it, his eyes shone frighteningly bright.
“Many thanks for General Zhou’s generous gift!” Yang Zhenshan express his gratitude with clasped hands.
Cultivation in the Postnatal Realm does not necessarily require a Cultivation Technique since the method involves clear body refining and cultivation of Jin Qi, split into nine levels based on the richness of Jin Qi.
Thus, even without a Cultivation Technique, Postnatal Martial Artists can still progressively cultivate.
However, having a Cultivation Technique would make the process much more efficient and would allow the martial artist to have unique characteristics in their Jin Qi.
Kui, shaped like an ox, with a bleak body without horns, one foot, and creating wind and rain when visiting water; its light like the sun and moon, its voice like thunder, hence named Kui.
The feature of the “Kui Niu Skill” is that when releasing Jin Qi, it carries a dull thunderous sound.
With Jin Qi thrust and thunder rolling, the momentum is majestic and intimidating to the petty.
The dozen pages of “Kui Niu Skill” elaborate on controlling and nurturing Postnatal Jin Qi and how to control the release of Jin Qi with thunderous sound.
Such a Cultivation Technique, to Yang Zhenshan, and to the Yang family, represented a rare opportunity.
Calling it a generous gift wasn’t an exaggeration at all.
“There’s no need for such formality between us!” Zhou Lan said with a light smile and then added, “I came here because there’s something I want to discuss with you!”
“What is it?”
“We are scheduled for a military expedition in June!” Zhou Lan’s expression turned solemn.
June!
It was already mid-May.
Yang Zhenshan solemnly bowed and said, “This subordinate will follow General’s command!”
As a subordinate, one must maintain the proper attitude.
Since Linguan Castle had become the Left Camp, his position as garrison commander should be adjusted accordingly.
Without Linguan Castle, there’s no basis for a garrison commander.
“You will serve temporarily as the deputy Bazong, responsible for our Left Camp logistics with Zhao Yuan!”
Zhou Lan didn’t mince words and directly assigned the task.
With Chongshan Town preparing for an expedition, the training of troops naturally couldn’t proceed.
And as a member of Left Camp, Yang Zhenshan naturally had to join the military expedition.
“This subordinate accepts the command!” Yang Zhenshan had no objections.
He and Zhao Yuan were acquainted, and although Zhao Yuan was somewhat carefree as a noble’s son, he was serious about his duties, making working with him rather easy.
Zhou Lan didn’t linger in Linguan Castle; however, Zhao Yuan stayed.
Once Zhou Lan was gone, Zhao Yuan said with a grin, “Zhengshan, who would have thought we’d end up sharing a pot!”
Yang Zhenshan invited Zhao Yuan into the government office, saying, “I will have to ask Mr. Zhao for more guidance in the future!”
“What need is there for guidance, you know I’ve never been on the battlefield!” Zhao Yuan responded nonchalantly.
Despite always being by Zhou Lan’s side, he really had never been on the battlefield.
In fact, he was more like a retainer to Zhou Lan, handling miscellaneous tasks and mundane duties.
For generations, the descendants of Suiyang Marquis Mansion had followed Duke Ning Mansion, and Zhao Yuan being able to follow Zhou Lan was not without significant cost.