Li Chong felt what he said was quite reasonable.
The thousand-household commander beside him had climbed from a common soldier to his current position. Merely relying on abundant martial prowess and a fearless, ferocious spirit wasn't enough, for the Great Yu Dynasty's army had plenty of such people.
What was more important was having a sufficiently intelligent and calm mind.
Yet Li Chong also knew that this thousand-household commander beside him had already reached his ceiling at this middle-ranking officer position; he could not advance any further.
Because he lacked something even more crucial.
That was vision.
At this very moment, standing outside the city wall was a youth who appeared to be only in his teens.
Although he wore only the simplest of coarse linen clothes, judging from his composed speech and expression, the aura of a superior he exuded far surpassed that of the many sons of princes, nobles, and powerful families Li Chong had seen at court.
To cross the Northern Desert alone, traverse through these thousands of rotting corpses and severed limbs, and then stand beneath the city wall conversing so easily with the murderously vigilant garrison of Sandwind Pass...
Furthermore, the desert beyond Sandwind Pass had little vegetation, so Li Chong wasn't worried that opening the city gate to welcome this handsome youth in coarse linen would suddenly reveal hidden Shanrong ambushers.
If large enemy forces were lurking, they would be spotted clearly by the garrison on Sandwind Pass's walls from ten miles away.
This was also one of the reasons why Sandwind Pass was so easy to defend and hard to attack.
Therefore, Li Chong quickly made a judgment.
"Open the city gate, let this youth enter."
Captain Li said softly.
"...Yes."
Although Commander Zheng didn't understand why, since his superior had already given the order, he naturally said nothing more.
"Open the city gate!"
He ordered the soldiers on the wall.
The sound of grinding gears creaked and groaned. As the gate of Sandwind Pass slowly descended, yellow sand shook loose from it, kicking up dust.
...
Chen Yan stepped slowly over the lowered gate of Sandwind Pass and entered the pass. Immediately after, the gate behind him rose slowly again with the sound of gears.
He chose to reveal his real name.
Because Chen Yan felt he currently had no need to conceal his identity.
The sound of footsteps came from above. Chen Yan looked up toward the steps on the city wall and saw a middle-aged man clad in heavy armor, followed by several people who looked like guards, walking toward him.
It looked terribly hot.
"My name is Li Chong. I am the captain of this garrison and the commanding officer of Sandwind Pass."
The middle-aged man clad in heavy armor introduced himself to Chen Yan.
"Chen Yan, greetings to Captain Li."
Chen Yan smiled, cupping his hands in salute toward the armored middle-aged man.
"Might I ask, young master, where do you come from?"
Li Chong continued to ask.
"From a very faraway place, just traveling around."
Chen Yan answered his question vaguely.
"I see."
Li Chong also nodded with a smile and did not press further.
A smart man.
One could tell from his attitude.
Chen Yan thought to himself.
"It happens to be an unfortunate time. Our Great Yu is currently at war. The Shanrong tribes have deployed hundreds of thousands of troops, invading our Great Yu's Northern Desert... If the young master wishes to travel and see the rivers and mountains of our Great Yu, I'm afraid now is not a very good time."
Li Chong said this to Chen Yan.
"With a fine general like Captain Li in Great Yu, why fear the Shanrong?"
Chen Yan praised.
"You flatter me, young master."
Li Chong cupped his hands in a martial salute.
The minds of the several guards standing behind Li Chong were in complete chaos. They truly could not understand why their captain would adopt such a humble and respectful posture before the youth in coarse linen who had just entered Sandwind Pass.
But Li Chong was different.
What he captured from Chen Yan's recent praise of him was not just an ordinary, polite pleasantry.
It was a certain kind of recognition of him.
This also represented that he had the possibility and hope to further converse with the other party.
Li Chong understood very clearly that the youth before him was absolutely no ordinary person.
"I, Li, have heard that west of Mei River, in the country of Yunxi, there is a great clan named Kang. Regardless of gender or age, all its members practice martial arts fervently. They have strong bones and sinews, and their skills are formidable. They are a true martial arts family that commands awe in the surrounding countries of our Great Yu. Might I ask, during your travels, have you ever visited the Kang family?"
Immediately after, Li Chong asked this.
Chen Yan smiled. From Li Chong's words, he also captured a lot of information.
For example, the other party had already discerned his extraordinary nature, but this captain surnamed Li seemed to think he was only a practitioner of martial arts and hadn't considered the possibility of him being a cultivator...
One must know, the other party was the commanding officer of a dynasty's border pass. His status and position were incomparably higher than that of a Shanrong foot soldier.
He should know much information that those below do not.
So, did this represent that, regardless of whether he was currently at some point in time on the Chenping Continent, this Great Yu Dynasty was located in a remote area far from the cultivation world, to the extent that very few people knew of the existence of cultivators?
This was just one of Chen Yan's speculations.
"I have not."
Chen Yan shook his head:
"But as for martial arts, I may know a little."
Even though Chen Yan currently had no cultivation and was just a slightly slender ordinary youth, he was confident that no so-called grandmaster of martial arts in this world could gain any advantage against him.
Any random Body Forging Realm cultivator, including those who had just recently entered the early stage of the Body Forging Realm, could easily kill any so-called martial artist within ten moves.
Because this was the gap between cultivators refining their bodies with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and mortals arduously practicing martial arts.
As for Chen Yan, whether it was his control over his own body, reaction speed, or combat experience, as a cultivator of the upper three realms, he existed on a completely different dimension compared to ordinary worldly disciples.
However, he also understood clearly that before he entered the Body Forging Realm, he currently could not defeat a Body Forging Realm cultivator either.
Because the gap in physical constitution between his current self and a Body Forging Realm cultivator was simply too vast, too large to bridge.
"I see."
Li Chong nodded repeatedly.
After hearing Chen Yan's answer, he roughly had an idea in his heart.
If an ordinary youth could traverse the Northern Desert alone, especially during this chaotic period of war, it was simply unbelievable no matter how one thought about it.
Of course, if the other party had practiced martial arts, Li Chong immediately understood.
The reason why Yunxi was the most prosperous and flourishing country among those surrounding Great Yu was precisely because Yunxi supported a martial arts family.
The Kang family, with its main family and scattered branch families combined, numbered several thousand people, all supported by Yunxi.
Any single martial-practicing member of the family, pulled out alone, could easily take on ten enemies on the battlefield.
The youth standing before him, who called himself "Chen Yan," undoubtedly revealed his extraordinary nature through both his bearing and his speech.
If he was a disciple from some distant martial arts family, and if one could befriend him, what could mere Shanrong do?
Li Chong thought this to himself.
As for Chen Yan, he had a completely different plan.
Currently, the most important things for him were gathering information and finding a safe, quiet place to cultivate to the Qi Circulation Realm and restore his cultivation.
From Chen Yan's own current situation, the best plan was for Great Yu to withstand the Shanrong invasion. Then he could find a place within Great Yu's borders to cultivate while gathering information, and then make his next move.
Therefore...
"Young Master Chen, I, Li, have an unreasonable request. If you are willing to help, I, Li, will definitely offer generous thanks!"
Li Chong said, cupping his hands.
"Captain Li, please speak. If it is within my power, I will not refuse."
Chen Yan answered with a smile.