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

The scouts, who were initially delighted to welcome the two lords back, found the atmosphere gradually becoming oppressive.

Meng Yunjie remained silent, his mind replaying the words of the monkey spirit and the local earth god, muttering to himself:

"A prodigy..."

He had previously dealt with the monkey spirit and even managed to break open the tree cage, but the tree trunk and splinters kept harassing him, and the cage closed extremely quickly, leaving him no time to escape.

Li Yi, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, was actually able to break through the tree cage...

Meng Yunjie recalled the towering tree and its overwhelming vines, "Could it be that He poured all His power into those things, thereby diminishing the wood energy within the tree itself?"

That makes more sense.

Otherwise, why would Li Yi have had a moment to escape after smashing open the tree cage?

Previously, the surrounding branches would have already closed the breach.

Upon realizing this, Meng Yunjie felt a slight sense of relief.

Calling a Foundation Establishment cultivator under thirty a "prodigy" is not an exaggeration.

He suddenly remembered the teachings of Commander Gongsun Boyan: if he could abandon his obsession and cultivate other meridians and acupoints, he might have already developed a second internal organ and achieved the foundational cultivation of the second realm.

"Am I, Meng Yunjie, destined to lack that fate? I must cultivate the Small Intestine Yang Fire!"

Li Yi was half a step behind the commander. Although he was not as good at understanding people's hearts as the Yin Fire cultivator, nor as meticulous as Zhang Junyi, he was not a fool. He could see that Shangguan was in a bad mood, so he wisely kept silent.

Unexpectedly, Meng Yunjie suddenly turned around and laughed.

"Commander Li has rendered meritorious service in rushing to the aid this time. Once the battle is over, I will personally report to you; the pills you lost will also be compensated double."

Li Yi was taken aback, not understanding why the commander's mood had suddenly improved, so he could only respond.

"Thank you, sir."

After crossing the border through three villages and fortresses, the road ahead was almost entirely smooth.

Occasionally, people could see large piles of broken branches by the roadside, and could also see the traces of the army's passage. After rushing into the county town and traveling another three miles, they joined up with the garrison army.

"Yi-ge'er!"

Li Erhu and Liu Zhi spotted the scouts behind them early on, slowed their horses, greeted Meng Yunjie first, and then approached Li Yi.

"I knew it! You and Lord Chiju would be safe!"

Li Yi nodded. "What's the situation right now?"

Li Erhu's spirits lifted. "That cunning monkey seems to have run into some trouble; he didn't really stop us. There are no border defenses here, so we can march straight in and reach the capital soon enough to join forces with the main army!"

The garrison army traversed the heart of the county town without encountering any local militia or soldiers. Occasionally, men and women would open their windows and cast curious glances.

The scouts, however, were not idle. As long as the army was still advancing, they had to go forward to scout and clear the way.

Meng Yunjie was about to lead his men on horseback to overtake the long line when he suddenly heard a woman crying behind him. He stopped his horse and looked back, and saw a soldier who had broken away from the ranks and was pulling and tugging at a woman by the roadside. There were also several other soldiers making a fuss around him.

"Only a few days into the campaign, and they're already so hungry and thirsty?"

Meng Yunjie raised his chin and said, "Take the man down and give him twenty lashes; the bystander and the lowly soldier will receive fifteen lashes."

Xu Rong immediately perked up and accepted the task with a fist and palm salute.

Meng Yunjie withdrew his gaze, spurred his horse, and said, "Catch up as soon as possible."

"Yes, sir!"

Xu Rong spurred his horse and charged towards the woman. Suddenly, he leaped off his horse, kicked the soldier aside, tightened his whip, and said in a cold voice:

"The commander has repeatedly given strict orders that no one should disturb the people after entering the city, but have you all ignored them?"

The soldier quickly got up and, along with several colleagues, kowtowed repeatedly, begging for mercy.

Xu Rong grinned coldly, "Your punishment was personally ordered by Commander Meng. Just accept it; consider it a blessing in disguise."

……

Li Erhu, riding alongside his scouts past the main army, couldn't resist approaching Li Yi and sarcastically remarking:

"That guy knows how to flatter his superiors. You haven't seen it, but many residents are very grateful to him."

"Say less," Li Yi replied indifferently.

Li Erhu pursed his lips, turned his head and saw a government office by the roadside.

"Is that the county government office? Should we ask someone to show us the way?"

Zhong Wending couldn't help but chuckle. "Someone was already leading the way. I reckon the magistrate heard the news and was waiting outside the county seat long ago. Look at this whole route, where have you seen any soldiers resisting?"

As they were talking, Meng Yunjie returned from the front, accompanied by an official.

"After leaving the county town, it's another ten miles, and we'll be out of the river bend. This is a constable from the county government; he knows the route well, so we'll follow him."

The scouts immediately responded, and then Meng Yunjie issued another command:

"Commander Li and Commander Zhong, each of you will lead a small flag and advance from the north and south routes respectively. If anything unusual happens, send someone back to report immediately."

The two men immediately agreed, each leading their scouts and splitting into three routes with the main army.

The maps of the Great Yan distributed by the garrison were incomplete to begin with, and now that they had entered the heartland, there was no way to find the route.

Fortunately, Kyoto is located in the southwest, so as long as I don't get the directions wrong, I can always get there.

Li Yi led the four men from Sanyi Village northwards, and Zhong Wending finally couldn't hold back any longer and inquired about the local earth god.

"Judging from Commander Meng's gloomy expression just now, it seems he suffered a setback in battle and failed to gain any advantage before the local earth god?"

Li Yi chuckled, "They are, after all, local deities; they are not so easy to deal with."

He suddenly remembered something and turned to ask, "Brother Zhong, you come from an extraordinary background. Do you know whether a Foundation Establishment cultivator or a Qi Refining Earth Deity is stronger?"

Zhong Wending shook his head. "There can be a world of difference between Foundation Establishment cultivators. Commander Meng and Commander Gongsun are both Foundation Establishment cultivators, but they cannot be compared."

Li Yi responded with an "oh." He had previously learned the basics of the Five Elements Golden Elixir Dao under Zhang Junyi's tutelage, but he didn't know what it would be like after Foundation Establishment. He then asked:

Please enlighten me.

Chung Wending's gaze swept over the other three, each of them looking on with curiosity, so he began to guide them:

"We Qi Refining cultivators can achieve Foundation Establishment by cultivating one of the internal organs. However, the human body has five internal organs, six bowels, and twelve meridians..."

Li Erhu immediately understood and exclaimed in astonishment, "Could it be that each time an internal organ is cultivated, one gains an entire Foundation Establishment realm?"

Li Yi listed them one by one, "Among the five internal organs and six bowels, ten are solid. Not counting the 'Triple Burner,' that makes a total of ten major realms?!"

"good."

"Those with exceptional talent throughout the Nine Provinces all aspire to cultivate all their internal organs and achieve the Golden Elixir. Usually, after cultivating one internal organ and achieving the Foundation Establishment stage, they must choose another major meridian or internal organ for cultivation."

Li Yi sensed something was amiss. "Are there any aspects we should pay particular attention to?"

"That's right." Chung Wending nodded with a smile.

"The five internal organs are Yin, and the six bowels are Yang."

Take Brother Li as an example.

Once you have cultivated your courage and achieved foundation building, the best choice is to select the Jueyin Liver Meridian and continue cultivating Wood Qi.

In this way, the yang wood of the gallbladder and the yin wood of the liver can be combined, so that the wood qi can be in harmony with yin and yang.

However, most cultivators in the world cannot achieve both Yin and Yang. They start by building the foundation of the five internal organs, but afterwards they can only choose to cultivate one of the five internal organs.

Conversely, if one builds their foundation on the six internal organs, then they often have to continue cultivating only one of the six internal organs.

Li Yi nodded, realizing that the difference between Foundation Establishment cultivators could be so vast.

Meng Qianhu was unlikely to be able to defeat the monkey spirit, probably because his cultivation level was not high. If a Foundation Establishment cultivator of the fourth or fifth realm came, the monkey spirit would probably be no match for him.

The monkey spirit is only a minor deity at the first stage of Qi cultivation. If it were to establish its foundation in the future, how majestic would it be?