Chapter 51: Having just observed Lieutenant Li practicing his boxing, his skill is truly lacking by quite a bit

The Black Cavalry were the secret war riders of the Black Ice Platform, deployed to handle thorny matters and eliminate formidable enemies.

Back when the powerhouses of the Black Ice Platform were nearly wiped out, they lacked the strength to support their massive martial guards and thus relinquished ownership of the Martial Guard Bureau, retaining only control over the Black Armor and the Black Cavalry.

According to the configuration, one prefecture was to have one hundred Black Armor units, commanded by one Black Armor Captain.

However, these hundred units were distributed across various locations; within the city of Luyang Prefecture, there were never more than twenty Black Armor soldiers.

As for the Black Cavalry, one commandery was to have five hundred riders, commanded by one Lieutenant General.

The Black Cavalry maintained their own secret garrisons, and all expenditures were drawn from the internal accounts of the Black Ice Platform.

The five hundred Black Cavalry of a single commandery constituted the strongest deterrent of the Black Ice Platform.

The group of Black Cavalry transferred to Luyang Prefecture this time consisted of exactly thirty men, commanded by two Lieutenant Commanders, and they were stationed in a small camp outside the city that had formerly housed the local garrison.

Sitting in the carriage, Wang Qinian whispered, "I have witnessed the combat strength of the Black Cavalry; three to five men can easily surround and kill a mid-stage Houtian expert."

"Those few mid-stage Houtian guards from the Tang family were dealt with by just over ten riders in a single charge."

Wang Qinian had not come to Jiulin County empty-handed.

Although Tang Wenshang had escaped, his departure had been so rushed that many loose ends remained unaddressed.

Evidence of collusion with the enemy, several Tang family guards, and supplies that had not yet been moved out of the city.

Had it not been for Tang Wenshang's escape, Wang Qinian would indeed have achieved a great feat.

"If they didn't truly have the strength, there would be no need to transfer them here."

Zhang Yuan nodded as he spoke, fastening a black half-mask to his face.

The mask covered the left half of Zhang Yuan's face and was engraved with bronze patterns resembling a flying tiger.

To outsiders, the Black Armor Captain of Luyang Prefecture, known as "Black Tiger," appeared exactly like this.

The carriage stopped before a mountain hollow. Zhang Yuan and Wang Qinian stepped out, and the dark guard driving the carriage retreated to the side.

At the entrance of the hollow, two middle-aged men dressed in black martial robes saw Wang Qinian. Their expressions remained calm, but their gazes fell upon Zhang Yuan's mask.

"Captain?"

Though they addressed him as "Captain," neither man bowed; they simply stared intently.

Upon arriving in Luyang Prefecture, they already knew that the local Black Ice Platform had a Black Armor Captain named Black Tiger.

"I have brought Captain Black Tiger here to familiarize himself with you. He will be conducting your reorganization and training moving forward."

Wang Qinian walked forward with his hands behind his back, but he was stopped by the lead black-robed middle-aged man.

"Chief Inspector Wang, please wait while I inform the Lieutenant Commander. Then, we shall invite you in."

"Chief Inspector" was the title used for the presiding official of a local Black Ice Platform; the full title would be the Chief Inspector of a certain location's Inspection Bureau.

The official name of the Black Ice Platform in the Great Qin government was the Inspection Bureau, though civil officials secretly referred to it as the Martial Suppression Bureau.

As for the origin of the name "Black Ice Platform," it was said that the Emperor had originally placed the Inspection Bureau's prison beneath the Imperial City's ice cellar. Once criminals were captured and sent into the cellar, if they froze to death, they were simply encased in the solid ice.

Because so many encased criminals had accumulated into a platform, the name "Black Ice Platform" was born.

The phrase, "By order of the Emperor, please pay a visit to the Black Ice Platform," had become a death warrant for officials in the imperial court.

Over time, "Black Ice Platform" became a codename for the Inspection Bureau that struck fear into the hearts of the bureaucracy, to the point that even the Emperor referred to it directly by that name.

Blocked at the entrance of the hollow, Wang Qinian did not grow angry; he merely turned back to glance at Zhang Yuan.

A moment later, the black-robed martial artist hurried back, cupped his fists, and said, "Gentlemen, the Lieutenant Commander invites you in."

...

Entering the hollow, they found a brick-and-wood camp enclosed by wooden fences.

In the distance, near the river valley, dozens of black warhorses grazed leisurely with their reins loosened.

Within the camp, over a dozen black-robed martial artists were either sparring or using stone locks and clubs to temper their strength.

There were also several men with bare chests, wearing only black trousers, practicing their footwork and strikes.

Upon seeing Zhang Yuan and Wang Qinian, the martial artists merely glanced at them without pausing their activities.

"Chief Inspector Wang, Captain Black Tiger, please wait a moment. We will talk after we have finished tempering our bones and muscles."

A burly man nearby, carrying two hundred-jin stone locks on his back, shouted loudly. He did not even look up, merely rolling the stone locks across his back.

The movement looked simple, but it actually required the strength of one's back and skeletal structure to drive the rolling of the stones.

In other words, this man possessed over two hundred jin of strength through the vibration of his back alone.

When his full body strength was combined, it would surely exceed a thousand jin.

"Commander Chang, please carry on with your business," Wang Qinian chuckled, then turned and whispered, "Commander Chang Ning, late-stage Houtian realm."

"The one practicing strikes over there is Commander Li Changwei, also at the late-stage Houtian realm."

In this world, strength always spoke for itself.

At the late-stage Houtian realm, aside from encountering those few Xiantian realm experts, one could act with impunity throughout Luyang Prefecture.

Although Wang Qinian was the presiding official of the local Black Ice Platform, his own strength was meager, making it impossible for him to truly suppress these Black Cavalry.

Furthermore, this was a military camp, and the military did indeed have regulations regarding daily training times.

"When I requested the transfer of the Black Cavalry, I had the intention of letting them stay in Luyang for a long time; I even arranged for this garrison..." Wang Qinian's expression was wretched, looking as if he wanted to cry.

Investigating the connections between the Kong family and the Northern Suppression Army, as well as the bandit matter in Jiulin County, all required the use of the Black Cavalry.

Wang Qinian had intended to gamble for great fortune by transferring them here.

However, before the fortune could even begin, he was on the verge of being dismissed because Tang Wenshang had escaped.

Zhang Yuan's gaze swept over the martial artists tempering their bodies in the camp. A sharp light flashed in his eyes as he saw through the cultivation and strength of everyone present.

The forty-year-old Li Changwei already possessed half-step Xiantian strength, but he had not tempered the Xiantian True Essence within his body, making him inferior to Ouyang Ming back in Fengtian County.

Having failed to condense Xiantian True Essence by age forty, he likely had no chance of stepping into the Xiantian realm in this lifetime.

His Iron Armor Fist was extremely proficient, but judging by his movements, he was still a hair's breadth away from Great Completion.

He was likely a dedicated practitioner, but lacking in both talent and opportunity, leaving him no chance to advance further.

Chang Ning was slightly younger than Li Changwei, and his methods of tempering his bones and muscles showed some promise.

In the camp, besides these two commanders being at the late-stage Houtian realm, there were two others at the mid-stage Houtian realm whose strength exceeded a thousand jin.

In this single camp alone, Zhang Yuan had already spotted five mid-stage Houtian experts.

As far as his eyes could see, even the two weakest Black Cavalry were only one step away from the Houtian realm.

It was indeed an elite military unit.

Zhang Yuan had encountered the Crimson Scale Army before; even the Crimson Scale War Riders led by Bai Shaoting did not have such a configuration of strong soldiers as these Black Cavalry.

"This subordinate, Chang Ning, greets the Captain."

"Li Changwei greets Lord Black Tiger."

The men tempering their bodies in the camp finally ceased their training and stepped forward to salute Zhang Yuan.

The two leaders clearly ignored Wang Qinian, causing his expression to stiffen.

"Chief Inspector Wang, do not blame us for not giving you face," Li Changwei said, donning his black martial robe and looking at Wang Qinian with a cold voice.

"The Black Cavalry's first case in Luyang was botched; we have lost face as well."

"If you had not insisted on coming personally and delayed our progress, with the speed of our Black Cavalry, we could have charged straight to Jiulin and captured Tang Wenshang."

Zhang Yuan turned to look at Wang Qinian.

This fellow hadn't mentioned before that he was the one who had hindered the Black Cavalry.

Wang Qinian raised his hand to cover his face, his expression full of regret. "Don't mention it, don't mention it..."

Seeing this, Li Changwei and Chang Ning exchanged a glance, then looked at Zhang Yuan.

"Captain, when we arrived from the commandery prefecture, the Commander arranged that we are all to follow your orders for reorganization and training."

"However, our Black Cavalry have our own methods of training. To change them rashly might cause our combat strength to decrease rather than increase."

"If there is nothing else, you need not concern yourself with us in the future."

"When you need our strength, simply send word."

*Need not concern myself?*

Zhang Yuan's eyes narrowed slowly, and his expression turned cold.

Everyone present held the status of Great Qin soldiers; they were paid by the Great Qin treasury, not by mountain bandits.

Under the military laws of Great Qin, there was a strict hierarchy of command. As the commanding official of the Black Cavalry here, even if he ordered these thirty riders to their deaths, they should not utter a single word of complaint.

And now, they told him he needn't concern himself?

This was a total disregard for military discipline!

"I was just observing Commander Li's fist techniques; your proficiency is quite lacking."

With that single sentence, Li Changwei's face instantly darkened.

The expressions of every soldier in the camp shifted simultaneously, their fists clenching tight!