Seeing Ye Jingyu's solemn expression and hearing his intensely earnest words, Gongsun Xiangyi suddenly realized how vital this mission was to him. Eight True Pellets—what immense power! Now, he was entrusting them all to her to refine into pills that would boost everyone's strength. This was absolute trust in her...

The sense of loss she had felt moments before about not being able to accompany Ye Jingyu vanished without a trace...

"Young Master, Xiangyi will absolutely not disappoint you!" Gongsun Xiangyi nodded heavily, inwardly vowing to utilize these True Pellets in the most perfect way possible...

"Heh heh, you never disappoint me. Brother Nangong, after I leave, the safety of the Nanyun Empire will truly rely on your care!" Ye Jingyu smiled and nodded, then turned to Nangong Shang.

"Brother Ye, rest assured. As long as I, Nangong Shang, remain, I will never allow the Nanyun Empire to fall into crisis!" Since consuming that Inner Pellet and achieving the Martial Saint realm, the power of the Weeping God Spear Technique passed down by the Nangong family had grown stronger and stronger, and the seal on the Weeping God Spear had even begun to subtly loosen, greatly boosting his self-confidence. Furthermore, the complete dissipation of I Ruoshui's corpse poison had filled him with immense gratitude toward the Nanyun Empire, making him consider himself an integral part of it...

Now that Ye Jingyu was departing, he would be the strongest military commander of the Nanyun Empire and naturally had to shoulder the responsibility for the entire empire's safety...

"Mm. Bie Li, Long Yi, Xiao Xiao, the three of you have now all reached the peak of the Grandmaster realm. I will have Bing Ming stay behind to train you. I hope that by the time I return, you will have broken through to the Martial Saint realm..." Ye Jingyu then turned his attention to the trio of Ye Long Yi.

"General, do not worry! I, Ying Xiaoxiao, swear here that if I haven't broken through to the Martial Saint realm by the time you return, I will... I will..." Upon seeing Ye Jingyu’s focused attention on them, Ying Xiaoxiao immediately jumped out, ready to swear an oath. But suddenly, she realized achieving the Martial Saint realm was no easy feat. Even if her power was infinitely close to that of a Martial Saint, if her state of mind hadn't reached the required level, it would be impossible. If she swore such an oath and failed to achieve the breakthrough, what then?

For a moment, she froze there?

"You'll what?" Seeing Ying Xiaoxiao’s neck reddening, Liang Xiaoke teased...

"I'll... I'll... I'll go into the palace and serve!" Ying Xiaoxiao’s neck grew redder and redder. Seeing Liang Xiaoke’s disdainful smirk, she could no longer hold back and suddenly shouted...

As soon as these words were uttered, a hush fell over the entire assembly. Everyone stared at Ying Xiaoxiao with strange expressions. That death curse seemed exceptionally harsh! Serving in the palace? Wasn't that equivalent to becoming a eunuch?

Did this fellow truly have such confidence in achieving the Martial Saint realm?

"Uh... well, the Jin Army is still short a Vice Commander, right? With my aptitude, it should be fine, shouldn't it?" Seeing the peculiar looks on everyone’s faces, Ying Xiaoxiao said sheepishly...

"Damn..." At this utterance, everyone present simultaneously rolled their eyes. This guy was too shameless...

No one paid him any further heed, and Ye Jingyu began arranging matters for his departure...

The only ones leaving Yunjing with him would be Luo Ling'er, Liang Xiaoke, and Lin Xiaoyi. Everyone else would remain in Yunjing to enhance their strength...

After all, this trip was to investigate the true nature of the Yuan Ling Sect. Against such a mysterious sect, sending more people was useless; fewer numbers would actually make them less conspicuous...

Especially since Ye Jingyu had instructed Hu Yanqi to train a batch of divine archers. After the battle against the Eight Heavenly Dragons and the Eight Pagodas that day, they had all felt the terror of Hu Yanqi's archery. Even though his strength hadn't reached the Saint level, he absolutely possessed the power to slay Saint-level experts with his arrows...

Such skilled archers weren't needed in large numbers; training just a hundred or so would constitute an absolutely terrifying force. Imagine, when a hundred such archers shoot simultaneously—even if you were a Martial God, you might not withstand it.

In the past, training archers like Hu Yanqi would have been impossible. But now, with those eight True Pellets, this was no longer a dream. Even if they couldn't reach Hu Yanqi's level of attack power, as long as they could threaten a Martial Saint, it would be sufficient...

Chi Yixiu also stayed behind to train a contingent of elite warriors. For the former Chi Yi Clan, achieving the rank of Fourth-Tier Warrior was already an unattainable dream. But following the body-tempering cultivation method passed down by Ye Jingyu, the number of warriors reaching the Fourth and Fifth Tiers was growing, and with the help of these True Pellets, the emergence of a few Sixth-Tier Warriors was not impossible...

Of course, all of this required time, and Ye Jingyu understood that confronting a mysterious sect like the Yuan Ling Sect demanded time above all else...

Bing Ming was also kept behind. His task was to help Ye Jingyu ruthlessly train Bie Li and the other two, and even to train a batch of super elites for him, elites who must reach at least the Master or Grandmaster realm...

In future battles, ordinary Martial Masters and Innate Martial Masters would find it difficult to pose a threat. High-end combat power was the path Ye Jingyu and his followers were continually pursuing...

In order to quickly enhance their strength, the most miserable one would not be Bing Ming, nor Chi Yixiu, and certainly not Hu Yanqi. It would be the poor Ni Bo...

One must know that although there were eight True Pellets, they were finite; once used up, there would be no more. Enhancing the strength of subordinates required not only True Pellets but also various spiritual herbs. If large quantities of spiritual herbs were given to Gongsun Xiangyi, she could refine them into pills that boost power—this was the current method for rapid strength improvement. To find spiritual herbs, who could compare to Ni Bo, who fed on them?

This creature's sense of smell for spiritual herbs was even more terrifying than Xiao Taotao's. This crucial task of tracking down spiritual herbs naturally fell upon its shoulders...

To hasten the increase in power, Ye Jingyu even ordered Chi Yixiu, Hu Yanqi, and the others to leave Yunjing City and head toward Baiyun Mountain. After all, Baiyun Mountain was remote and situated close to the Tiangang Mountain Range, making it the optimal secret base...

Everything was thus arranged. With Zhuge Yi Shi and Nangong Shang securing Yunjing City, Ye Jingyu had no need to worry unless an organization like the Yuan Ling Sect itself arrived...

After assigning these matters, Ye Jingyu told everyone to go rest. He, however, walked step by step toward his room. When he returned, Luo Ling'er, who should have been fast asleep, was sitting upright on the large bed, her pair of bright eyes blinking rapidly...

(Brothers, I originally planned six updates today, but a brother I haven't seen in a long time suddenly visited. I need to spend time with him, so there will only be five updates today. This Thursday, there will be at least nine bursts! Please support generously!)