Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Sikong Yue actually had Peony deliver a message to herself, indicating that if the war in Hedong dragged on for too long and Great Yu collapses, allowing Qinjian Villa to grow unchecked, her vengeance as a member of the Hou Clan would be indefinitely postponed. It seemed as if she was urging Hou Yuxiao to finish the war in Hedong as soon as possible.

Looking back on it, Hou Yuxiao felt that Sikong Yue had overestimated him. Not to mention ending the war in Hedong, he was currently helpless even facing Prefectural City with the Brahman World Purifying Army of one hundred thousand strong, let alone coordinating with the Wuwei King's strategy of holding the troops back.

Of course, he didn't wish for Qinjian Villa to grow stronger, but the problem was that not wanting it wasn't enough—he needed the ability to stop it. What did the Hou Clan currently have? At most, the family could muster an army of twenty thousand, and in terms of quality, they were at most on par with the Mansion Army. Against powerful forces like the Jinjia Army, Qingyang Army, Wolf Slaughter Guard, and Huben Guard, it was fair to say they stood no chance at all.

With such insignificant strength, did they hope to influence the course of the war in Hedong?

That was wishful thinking!

Nevertheless, despite the lull in the great battle, the Hou Clan couldn't afford to remain inactive. After passing the month of October without incident, Hou Yuxiao saw that there would likely be no major battles in the near future, so he began to shift his focus to the affairs of Hexi. The channel, of course, remained through Hou Fei, who had an excellent understanding with his brother. Some of the decisions passed back were also well understood by Hou Yuduan.

The first order he instructed Hou Fei to bring back was to take advantage of the war and continue to deplete the martial artists from prominent families in Hexi's three prefectures. They received a response at the beginning of November!

With the pressing war in Hedong requiring further troop reinforcements, they once again borrowed the name of the Rakshasa Holy Sect to issue the command, which enjoyed the moral high ground. Despite knowing in their hearts that the Hou Clan was undermining their strength, Fengbo Hall, Famed Sword Sect, and the Gao Family all had no choice but to acquiesce reluctantly.

If these three families were persuaded, then the other twenty or so third-rate powers naturally had no objections either.

In early November, the twelve thousand new recruits from the Hou Clan crossed the river. Just like the last time, five thousand were from the Hou Clan, and the remaining seven thousand were martial artists from the other families. Over ten thousand reinforcements came, and the troops under Hou Yucheng maintained a force of twenty thousand. Of course, they still couldn't play a significant role, but it was enough for showing loyalty to the Rakshasa Holy Sect and to Zhan Taiqing.

A battle at Long Guan had exposed the gap between the Hou Clan's troops, the Mansion Army, and even the elites from the Holy Lands. Hou Yuxiao's strategy was, while the great war was still some time away, to take turns sending their martial artists to the front lines to get accustomed to the battlefield conditions, refining their private army in the process.

According to his previous plan, the family would deploy five thousand troops at a time. After a period of training, they would return, and another batch would be sent. Currently, there were more than twenty thousand martial artists in the clan capable of being soldiers who had undergone five levels of body refinement. Rotating four times should be about enough.

Even though the great battle had paused, small-scale skirmishes continued. This moment was perfect for training troops. Hou Yucheng was also keen on military matters and wholeheartedly agreed with Hou Yuxiao's resolution.

In December, the second wave of five thousand rotated out.

In January 1323, the third wave of five thousand took their turn again.

In February 1323, the fourth wave of five thousand came to serve their rotation.

The operation by the Hou Clan of rotating troops was certainly too conspicuous anywhere else, but within the eyes of the tens of thousands of troops in Long Guan, it was extremely trivial. Moreover, Hou Yuduan knew that this was a sensitive matter and acted discreetly. Many people were completely unaware that the Hou Clan had rotated through four different groups of soldiers.

On the contrary, the outcome for the Hou Clan's forces in battle was never good. Even the Mansion Army was somewhat disdainful, mocking Hou Yucheng and saying the Hou Clan's forces were unreliable for significant combat.

Faced with such mockery, Hou Yucheng probably had some temper. He didn't argue with those people and instead let his strength do the talking—not the strength of the army, but his own strength.

With the fighting in Hedong calm and no major battles, the tents outside Longguan Prefecture housed a group of energetic martial artists, who enjoyed competing in martial arts when they had nothing else to do. For Hou Yucheng, this was like falling into paradise.

You like to mock the Hou Clan, do you?

Come on, let's see who's stronger!

Win against me, and you'll be right—I'll admit defeat;

Lose to me, and you're worthless—what right do you have to mock the Hou Clan?

Hou Yucheng upheld this attitude and began to show off in the camp in Hedong.

Why the arrogance? Because he fought over a hundred battles without a single defeat!

Logically speaking, Hou Yucheng was only at the level of the Gangqi Third Realm Bao Dan Period, not to mention the elite troops of Jin and the Demon Sect, even the Mansion Army was full of masters; all were unable to beat him, which seemed a bit exaggerated.

But it wasn't the case!

Hou Yucheng was bold and hot-tempered, but he was not foolish.

After teaching a lesson to a few commanders with Gang Qi Realm cultivation and making them fully submit, when others came to challenge him, he wasn't reckless in accepting. Specifically, he only accepted challenges from those who were also at the Gang Qi Realm.

Being at the Gangqi Third Realm Bao Dan Period himself meant that nearly all his opponents were of the Dan Embracing Phase as well. With his Fast Knife Technique having been elevated by Hou Yuxiao to the status of First-Class Martial Arts and his superb skills with the blade, how could anyone be his match?

Not to mention, the Demon Blade Black Extinction gifted by Maiden Hong, was a genuine Spiritual Artifact. With Hou Yucheng at full strength, not to mention opponents of the Dan Embracing Phase, even martial artists of the Grandmaster Realm wouldn't intimidate him.