"Fang Qingshi," Huo Buyan saw the situation and suddenly lowered his voice, his expression serious: "To establish oneself in the army, you must show some real skills."

After a pause, he continued, "Meng Zhen told me that Fang Qingshi successfully mounted the Blazing Fire Tiger Horse on the first attempt?"

Huo Buyan, sharp-minded, had been contemplating how to legitimize ’Fang Xiao’s’ position as a Personal Attendant after Xiang Yue ordered the concealment of ’Fang Xiao’s’ creation of a cultivation technique for condensing Qi Blood.

When he heard that ’Fang Xiao’ tamed the Blazing Fire Tiger Horse on the first try, a thought formed in his mind.

Chu Ming heard this, feeling a slight movement in his heart, he clasped his hands together: "Thank you, Commander Huo, for the reminder."

Huo Buyan meant for him to showcase his own strength so that others would be convinced.

He moved his gaze and chose a strong Blazing Fire Tiger Horse, leaping onto its back.

The warhorse resisted momentarily but then suddenly became extremely docile.

Huo Buyan watched, surprise evident in his eyes.

Since when did the Blazing Fire Tiger Horse become so easy to ride?

No wonder Meng Zhen was so shocked when he reported the other day.

"Commander Huo, let’s go."

Chu Ming glanced at the two lead horses not far away, a flash of determination in his eyes.

Before he met Xiang Yue, he was concerned about his identity being exposed and not being able to ride the Blazing Fire Tiger Horse, but now his thoughts were the exact opposite.

Xiang Yue already knew his true identity and had covered it up for him. With his position as a Personal Attendant cemented, he no longer needed to hide in many matters.

Not only did he not need to hide, but he also needed to display his strength.

Thinking so, he and Huo Buyan rode over to Xiang Yue and the others on the Blazing Fire Tiger Horses.

"Commander." Chu Ming jumped off the warhorse, bowing in salute.

"Hmm." Xiang Yue nodded slightly, smiling lightly: "Let me introduce you, this is Commander Duan Chong of the Sixth Tiger Camp."

"This here is Commander An Guang of the Fourth Tiger Camp."

"Commander Duan, Commander An." Chu Ming saluted each one.

"You know Commander Huo, so I won’t say more." Xiang Yue looked at Guan Zhen and said: "This is Commander Guan Zhen of the Second Tiger Camp."

Guan Zhen!

"Commander Guan."

Chu Ming felt a stir in his heart and saluted without revealing any emotions.

There was no sense of Blood Evil Qi or the smell of blood.

Guan Zhen returned the salute, his gaze like a torch, quickly scrutinizing ’Fang Xiao.’

His hair was slightly white, his face wrinkled, with an obvious look of aging...

Compared to the young Jiang Zhan beside him, the three commanders could not understand how such a person could become a Personal Attendant.

Their eyes flickered with strange hues, and the atmosphere subtly changed.

In the army, there had only been two Personal Attendants before, one was Huo Buyan, and the other was Jiang Zhan.

Huo Buyan was skilled in leading troops and joined the Tiger Armor Army early, thus becoming Xiang Yue’s first Personal Attendant.

Jiang Zhan had outstanding martial arts talent, reaching the Refining Organ Realm before the age of thirty, talent enough to rank in the top ten in Xirong County over the past century.

Currently, he was at the Middle Stage of the Refining Organ Realm, taming the lead Blazing Fire Tiger Horse in just ten months, almost guaranteed to become the Commander of the Seventh Tiger Camp.

What qualifies this gray-haired elder before them?

Not to mention a Personal Attendant, even a Centurion is not suitable.

After a brief silence, Commander Guan Zhen of the Second Tiger Camp glanced at ’Fang Xiao,’ then at the ordinary Blazing Fire Tiger Horse beside him, suddenly realizing something.

"Fang Qingshi, you just joined the army yesterday, didn’t you?"

"Yes." Chu Ming nodded. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Then how did you...?" Guan Zhen pointed at the ordinary Blazing Fire Tiger Horse and asked.

Hmm?

Commanders An Guang of the Fourth Tiger Camp and Duan Chong of the Sixth Tiger Camp also suddenly changed their expressions.

Their previous thoughts were focused on questioning why this aged person could become a Personal Attendant, thus overlooking the fact that ’Fang Xiao’ was able to ride the Blazing Fire Tiger Horse within just one day of joining the army.

"Commander Guan, Commander An, Commander Duan," before Chu Ming could answer, Xiang Yue spoke first: "I’m sure you are all wondering why I took Fang Xiao as a Personal Attendant?"

Guan Zhen and the others remained silent.

"Fang Xiao’s martial arts talent was previously average, only breaking through to the Strong Bone Realm in the last two days, incomparable to Jiang Zhan." Xiang Yue maintained a calm demeanor: "But that was before. Fang Xiao has now reached Enlightenment."

To prevent anyone from targeting Fang Xiao and exposing Chu Ming’s identity, Xiang Yue devised a strategy based on Fang Xiao’s age, stating that Fang Xiao had broken through to the Strong Bone Realm in the last two days under the state of Enlightenment.

Enlightenment?!

Guan Zhen and the others were shocked in their hearts.

Even Jiang Zhan, standing nearby, furrowed his brows, watching ’Fang Xiao’ intently, not expecting this attendant to only be at the initial stage of the Strong Bone Realm.

What is Enlightenment?

A sudden breakthrough after long preparation and a favorable opportunity, a moment of clarity amidst the clouds and moonlight.

In nearly a century, there seemed to be no one in Xirong County reaching Enlightenment in martial arts.

In the Great Qin Dynasty, there were several such individuals, each living an unremarkable life until their twilight years, when they saw through life and death and suddenly reached Enlightenment.

The gaze of Guan Zhen and the others became uncertain.

Even so, Enlightenment could not compare to true geniuses like Jiang Zhan.

One who demonstrated incredible talent from a young age was far apart from someone who meandered through most of their life, only to gain outstanding talent when life was nearing its end.

Enlightenment was indeed scare and remarkable, but arriving too late was no better than not arriving at all.

The few in the Great Qin Dynasty who did reach Enlightenment eventually hastened their cultivation pace but ultimately ended as nothing more than a handful of dust.

The truly talented are born on the peaks; those who reach Enlightenment have spent most of their life merely glimpsing the peaks; whereas, ordinary people will never climb those heights in their lifetime.

This was the essential difference between the three.

"I know you still believe that even if Fang Xiao reached Enlightenment, it doesn’t qualify him as a Personal Attendant of the Tiger Armor Army," Xiang Yue’s expression didn’t change as he scanned everyone present, finally fixing his gaze on Chu Ming. "Fang Xiao, I’ll give you three years to break through to the Refining Organ Realm."

"And another year to tame the lead Blazing Fire Tiger Horse. If you can’t achieve that, I will personally take back the Tiger Obeying Talisman."

Breaking through to the Refining Organ Realm in three years?

Huo Buyan’s expression remained calm.

He knew that Fang Xiao was not at the initial stage of the Strong Bone Realm but had reached Strong Bone Realm Perfection. Breaking through from Strong Bone Perfection to the Refining Organ Realm in three years was more than sufficient.

In fact, it would take one to two years, even shorter because breaking through from Strong Bone to Refining Organs depended on the mastery and vaporization of Qi and Blood Power.

Huo Buyan believed that since Fang Xiao could create a technique for condensing Qi Blood, his mastery of Qi and Blood must not be weak.

Jiang Zhan’s brows twitched slightly after hearing this.

Normally, advancing from the initial stage of Strong Bone to Refining Organs took an average of ten years; he, being a martial arts genius, achieved it in two and a half years, just under three.

Could Fang Shidi achieve it in three years?

Guan Zhen and the others remained silent.

In their view, it was indeed remarkable to break through to the Refining Organ Realm in three years, but for someone who had reached Enlightenment, it was challenging yet not unachievable.

The main issue was, even if this Fang Qingshi broke through to the Refining Organ Realm, it wouldn’t change the fact of his late age.

Reaching the Refining Organ Realm at over fifty, still fell short compared to their past achievements.

As for taming the lead horse in a year, it seemed almost impossible in their eyes.

Even someone as talented as Jiang Zhan only tamed the lead horse after reaching the Middle Stage of the Refining Organ Realm, illustrating how difficult it was to tame.

Before Jiang Zhan, no one in the Tiger Armor Army had achieved taming the lead horse at the Middle Stage of the Refining Organ Realm.

The only viable method for Fang Qingshi would be to advance further in a year, breaking through from the initial stage to the Middle Stage.

But, this was even less likely than attempting to tame the lead horse at the initial stage of Refining Organs.