Chapter 63: The Iron Armor of the Eastern Palace

Outwardly, this was merely an ordinary construction site where a palace was undergoing bustling renovations. The Eastern Palace had long been in disrepair, and before the Crown Prince departed from the capital, he had already initiated large-scale construction projects. Therefore, nobody found it the least bit strange that the Imperial Grand-Scion was now repairing his own backyard.

This perfectly masked their true objective.

By day, they were sweat-drenched laborers, using bricks and stones to completely seal themselves off from the outside world.

Yet when night fell, the last vestige of daylight vanished, and the courtyard gates were firmly barred by heavy wooden beams, this place transformed into an entirely different realm.

Within the entire courtyard, only a few torches were lit at the center. The dim light was just enough for everyone to discern each other's silhouettes, yet too faint to allow anyone outside to pry into any details.

"Stand straight, all of you!"

Ye Wuji's voice swept across everyone's eardrums like a midwinter gale.

Two hundred men were arranged into twenty squads according to height, standing in a crooked formation.

"From this day onward, forget your former names, forget your past! You share only a single identity: you are the shadows of His Highness!"

"Drill formation begins! Left, dress! Eyes front!"

Ye Wuji did not teach any profound martial arts; he began with the most fundamental formations and physical conditioning.

Horse stances, push-ups, and weighted running around the courtyard walls.

These exercises were simple and tedious, yet they were the most effective ways to temper a man's willpower and physical endurance.

At first, the ranks were in disarray, filled with grumbling. Some grew winded after running only a few paces, while others wobbled unsteadily in their horse stances.

Yet Ye Wuji never scolded, nor did he resort to beatings or curses.

He simply made a mental note of the name of the first man to collapse, then calmly announced, "Those who fall today will have their meat rations halved tomorrow."

A single sentence proved more effective than any whip.

Lured by the promise of three full meals a day, with meat at every single one, not a soul was willing to have their share docked.

Thus, they gritted their teeth and wrung out every last ounce of strength from their bodies.

Li Chengche observed all of this in silence. He did not interfere excessively, save for calling Ye Wuji alone into his study one night.

Without any preamble, he reached into a hidden compartment and retrieved two rolls of blueprints.

"This is the [Individual Crossbow Blueprint], and this is the [Armor-Piercing Saber Technique]."

Ye Wuji had been standing at strict attention, but upon hearing these names, his breath hitched abruptly.

With trembling hands, he reached out and accepted the two scrolls.

The moment he unrolled the [Armor-Piercing Saber Technique], it felt as though he had been struck by lightning. There were no flashy or convoluted moves—only the simplest, most direct methods of hacking, slashing, thrusting, and slicing. Yet the angle and force behind every single strike targeted the human body's most vulnerable joints and the gaps in armor.

This was a genuine battlefield killing art! Every single move was lethal, devoid of any superfluous motion!

When he subsequently opened the [Individual Crossbow Blueprint], his mind was shaken to its very core.

The crossbow mechanism depicted in the diagram possessed an ingenuity that surpassed imagination, and many of its components featured designs he had never heard of before. In particular, the cocking mechanism utilized a clever lever principle, allowing an ordinary person to easily draw a heavy crossbow capable of piercing iron armor!

Even more terrifying was the fact that the blueprint meticulously detailed the dimensions, materials, and processing methods for every single component, even illustrating the required tools and the exact number of fabrication steps.

This... this was no longer a blueprint; this was a miracle!

Having served as a mess sergeant in the frontier army, Ye Wuji understood the vital importance of weaponry to an army. He could easily envision that if three hundred soldiers armed with such heavy crossbows formed a battle array, they could turn a thousand-strong force of heavy cavalry into a sieve from a hundred paces away!

"Thud!"

Ye Wuji dropped once more to a single knee, and this time, his forehead struck the floor heavily.

"Your Highness... this is a state-founding divine weapon! Your subordinate... your subordinate dares not..."

"Rise." Li Chengche's calm voice drifted over. "I give it to you so that you may use it. I care not by what method, but within one month, I want to see fifty finished pieces and two hundred soldiers proficient in the armor-piercing saber technique."

"This subordinate... obeys!" Ye Wuji's voice was fraught with fervent zeal.

He knew he had pledged his loyalty to the right person. The seemingly frail Imperial Grand-Scion wielded a power capable of overturning an entire era!

Time flew, and half a month vanished in the blink of an eye.

The high walls had been fully completed, standing more than twice as high as before, rendering it utterly impossible for outsiders to catch even a glimpse of the courtyard's interior.

Meanwhile, the two hundred men inside had undergone a complete metamorphosis.

They no longer bore the sallow, emaciated appearance and vacant gazes they had worn upon arrival.

Abundant food and high-intensity training had rendered every single man's physique robust and sturdy, with well-defined muscle lines visible beneath their bronze skin.

Their formations were uniform, their actions executed with absolute obedience to orders, and the desperate ruthlessness they once carried had been forged into a heavy, condensed murderous intent.

On this day, Li Chengche once again visited the courtyard.

Without superfluous words, Ye Wuji simply pointed casually at a man within the formation.

"Step out of the ranks. Fifty paces—shoot the willow leaf!"

The man strode forward, picked up a newly forged individual crossbow from the side, and executed the motions of loading the bolt, drawing the string, and aiming with practiced familiarity. The entire process flowed like moving clouds and flowing water, without a single redundant movement.

At the far end of the courtyard, a slender willow twig swayed gently in the breeze.

"Whoosh!"

With a soft sound, the crossbow bolt tore through the air.

The next second, fifty paces away, the swaying willow twig was cleanly severed right down the middle, the cut as smooth as a mirror.

A dead silence descended upon the courtyard.

Everyone stared at the half-cut willow twig drifting downward, their breathing completely suspended.

Li Chengche nodded in satisfaction.

This force was beginning to bare its edge. The faction points he had spent were well-wasted.

Observing this increasingly elite troop, a new thought arose in his mind.

Having sharp claws and teeth alone was not enough; they also required sturdy scales. On a real battlefield, bare-fisted soldiers remained mere cannon fodder when facing a cavalry charge.

They needed armor.

Li Chengche once again plunged his consciousness into his mind and opened the ruthlessly overpriced system store.

His intent bypassed all the flashy skills, finally resting upon a blueprint whose exorbitant price made his heart ache—[Light Scaled Iron Armor Forging Technique].

Redemption Cost: 1,500 points.

Gazing at his dwindling balance of faction points, the corners of Li Chengche's mouth twitched slightly.

Yet he did not hesitate in the slightest.

"No matter how expensive, I must buy it!"

Looking at the "1,500 points" attached to the [Light Scaled Iron Armor Forging Technique] on the system interface, Li Chengche felt an ache in his very heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

This black-hearted system was even more ruthless than the Hu merchants engaged in usury within Chang'an! Having just activated some sort of price inflation mechanic, it immediately served up such a heavy dish.

Was it treating him like a fattened pig to be slaughtered?

Yet he had no other choice.

An army devoid of armor, no matter how fiercely trained or how sharp its weapons, remained nothing more than a flock of lambs awaiting slaughter when confronting a massed cavalry charge on a genuine battlefield.

He currently lacked men, wealth, and influence, but above all else, he could not afford to lose his life.