The establishment of the Celestial Dynasty began with the bestowal of the title upon the River God.

The exploration of the cave took an unknown amount of time, but the return trip only took a short while.

Zhong Ming rushed out of the cave and indeed saw a mountain stream to the east and a steep slope to the west.

He turned to look at Ma Lian'er, "Yunzhi, ride on Meng Qianhu's two scout horses and hurry into the pass to seek reinforcements."

Horse-faced grabbed Zhong Ming and said urgently, "Among those present, besides you and me, we are the strongest. Send someone else!"

Zhong Ming's expression was cold and hard. "No."

Horse-faced Liu Yunzhi glanced at his men, his face extremely grim. "I, Liu Yunzhi, am just a soldier in the garrison, no more than anyone else!"

"This is a military order!" Zhong Ming roared, shoving the object in front of him. "Any further delay is only prolonging Lord Meng's chances of survival!"

Even though Horse Face had a lot of complaints, he knew it wasn't the time to throw a tantrum. He said no more, rushed out of the ravine, mounted his scout horse, and galloped toward Chengshan Pass.

Zhong Ming withdrew his gaze and thought to himself, "The Two Realms Mountain is the transformed body of the Five Elements True Man, so perhaps it will reveal a human form—the two caves are exactly the same, don't they resemble a person's nose and eyes?"

Regardless of which acupoint it is, they are always two parallel points.

Thinking about it this way, the Five Aggregates True Man should be situated between the two countries, with the north as the head and the south as the foot.

The cave here is right next to the east, which is the left opening. So just search due west, and you will surely find the right opening!

"Follow me!" Zhong Ming rushed up the hillside, drew two whistling arrows from his quiver, nocked them, and shot them into the sky.

It is located in the mountains, about two miles to the south.

Xiao Zhou suddenly turned around and heard two whistling arrows, which startled him.

Before the flag could react, two more whistling arrows shot into the sky.

"It's an emergency!" Xiao Zhou shouted in a low voice, recalling the routes taken by the various sentry cavalry, and said to the captain in front of him, "It's Lord Meng's unit!"

As they spoke, scouts fired whistling arrows, one or two at a time, one after the other.

If it weren't for an open area, the whistling arrow would usually only travel about a mile. Fortunately, the area was populated by elite soldiers, and there were always some with sharp ears and eyes who could hear it further. So, the message was relayed from one squad to another, and in no time, it could reach all the sentries.

The sentries of the Trapped Camp, located deeper inside, received the signal and also fired whistling arrows, but a sudden mountain wind blew the arrows away!

"Fire again!"

Lin Yue deftly removed the two whistling arrows, but they were still blown away by the strong wind.

"It seems that the Two Realms Mountain does not welcome us." The commander patted Lin Yue's shoulder mysteriously. "Your predictions are correct. There must be a Great Li Foundation Establishment cultivator gathering, intending to ambush and kill us—"

This will leave more areas with weak defenses. Let the rest of my colleagues continue their duties; two scout teams will be enough to handle the trouble in the north.”

Lin Yue looked up at the Five Elements Mountain Wind, his face hardened, and without saying a word, he followed his commander and rushed north.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

While the elite scouts of each camp were in trouble, Manxing County was in high spirits, setting up a stage in the open space in front of the former imperial palace.

One after another, numerous cultivators took to the stage, and girls below threw out embroidered balls to watch. In addition to the men and women on the roster, families in the county with thick cotton clothes also crowded in to join the fun, making the place almost overflowing with people.

Of the five brothers from Sanyi Village, Li Erhu is missing and is waiting to go on stage in the backstage queue.

Liu Zhi was pleased and asked in a low voice, "Wasn't it supposed to be the officers of each battalion who drew the lines to select them? What's going on here?"

Li Yi chuckled, offering no explanation, and simply replied, "Let's watch the show first."

Before Xiaoqi from Sanyi Village left, Li Yi suddenly received a telepathic message from Liu Tianyun, who instructed him on some tasks.

"Two scouts from Dali have infiltrated Manxing County. One of them is in the county town and they are bound to watch the matchmaking."

The military has assigned personnel to oversee the situation, and fireworks will be used as a signal. If anything unexpected happens, remember to help.

Li Yi was, after all, a late-stage cultivator of the Gallbladder Wood realm. In terms of eyesight and hearing alone, he could dominate among those of the same realm. Moreover, he had subdued his restless mind, and when it came to recognizing and judging people, he had few rivals.

He stood in the crowd, and with a quick glance, he identified the three people. Unfortunately, his field of vision was limited, and he couldn't see the entire crowd.

Be careful.

Li Yi gave a word of advice, then squeezed out of the front and headed towards the restaurant by the roadside.

After seeing him off with a smile, Zhong Wending rubbed his chin thoughtfully and began to look around.

The restaurant's corridors were also packed with people, but Li Yi's slight display of his aura made those around him feel uneasy, and they quickly made way for him.

The view from this vantage point was indeed much more expansive.

The prime location of this second-floor terrace was naturally occupied by the powerful and wealthy long ago.

Li Yi was wearing a cotton-padded jacket inside, and not armor outside, but a cloak; even so, several local gentry and county officials with official titles made room for him and dared not neglect him.

"Yo!"

A burly man squeezed through the crowd. "Does Lord Li also have such leisure and refined tastes?"

Upon seeing the man, Li Yi chuckled and said, "There's a guy in line waiting to find a wife."

Beside the burly man was a gentle woman, holding his arm; they were Mr. and Mrs. Huo.

Li Yi did not mention Huo An's matchmaker mother, but simply treated it as a chance encounter with an old friend, exchanging a few pleasantries with a smile.

Although Huo An had no intention of serving the Great Zhou, he had a good impression of Li Yi, so they joined him at the table.

The Great Yan had a population of over two million, making it one of the largest prefectures in the Great Zhou Dynasty, with a population even larger than that of Qifeng Prefecture; therefore, there were quite a few local gentry and powerful figures in various places.

These people were eager to establish a close relationship with the Great Zhou Dynasty as soon as possible. Not only did they want to marry off their daughters, but those who did not have daughters would go to their clans to select beautiful young women to marry off, and some would even do so.

In this way, the number of people is actually quite large. If they were sent to the army, there wouldn't be enough to go around for all the cultivators in eight battalions and one garrison.

According to the statistics from each camp, there were actually fewer than a thousand cultivators who participated; the rest were ordinary people.

Among these women, those with weak backgrounds or distant ties to their clans could only marry a squad leader with military merits and titles.

"After this incident, it will become common for our soldiers to marry women from Manxing County. In less than two generations, the two sides will be as close as family."

Huo An heard these words but remained unmoved.

He knew of Xu Gong's goodness and the strict military discipline of each camp, so he did not contradict Li Yi's "future".

even so……

Undeniably, Huo An had been tempted by Li Yi's courteous treatment more than once, and this time was no exception.

But there are always a few fools in the world who do stubbornly foolish things.

As long as someone remembers the Great Yan Dynasty, as long as the Great Yan Dynasty fades away more slowly...

Huo An looked at Li Yi and silently apologized.

Li Yi had long since given up on recruiting people, but then he saw a burly man in armor awkwardly following the procession onto the stage, and he pointed at him with great delight.

"That's my brother, look at his silly face!"

Huo An couldn't help but smile. Just as he was about to say a few words, he suddenly saw a beam of light rise in the distance, exploding into dazzling fireworks on the horizon.