"Master Gu, you flatter me. I am not that amazing. Please rise, seniors. I cannot accept such praise."

Master Gu nodded and said:

"Thank you, General Li."

Then he gestured for everyone else to stand up.

“General Li, I’ve noticed you’ve been looking worried and preoccupied these past few days. Are you concerned about the horse’s injury?” Master Gu asked.

"Under Master Gu's careful treatment, the horse's condition has begun to improve. It's already able to eat some fodder, which means the horse is gradually recovering. I'm not worried about it, but..."

Li Guang hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.

"General Li, please don't be so polite. Just let me know if you need anything, and I will be happy to oblige."

"There was a reason for this incident. I never expected to stumble into this place. Currently, many foreign powers are about to invade the Central Plains. Our country is about to be shattered, and the people are suffering. I am eager to serve my country, but I have no way to do so. Hence, I am filled with sorrow."

"It turns out that General Li is worried about national affairs. This place is hundreds of miles in circumference and rarely has contact with the outside world. But we are also citizens of the Great Northern Dynasty. The rise and fall of the country is the responsibility of every citizen."

General Li is highly skilled in martial arts and a brilliant strategist; how can it be said that he has no way to serve his country?

"If General Li is willing, my Gu Family Village's more than a thousand men can be brought under your command, and you can lead this army to defend our homeland."

“How can that be? Your Gu family army is meant to protect your homeland, how can you be used by me?” Li Guang said.

"General Li, you may not know this, but for hundreds of years, there have been many families in this area who have suffered greatly from the ancient forces. They had no choice but to establish their own private armies."

Over the years, the ancient faction has destroyed many powerful families. If General Li helps us eliminate this scourge, the people within a radius of several hundred miles can live in peace, and there will be no need to keep these large private armies.

Another point is that the ancient faction has thousands of slaves, most of whom are prisoners of war. These people have a deep hatred for the ancient faction. If General Li rescues them, they will definitely follow him.

In this way, General Li can easily assemble an army of several thousand men.

"Really? That's great!" Li Guang said excitedly.

"General Li, it's settled then. After the ancient faction is completely wiped out, I will come to help you build a team."

"Thank you, Master Gu. I have another request."

"General Li, please feel free to ask if you need anything."

"I would like to learn marksmanship from Master Gu. I wonder if Master Gu would be willing to teach me."

"General Li wants to learn the Gu family spear technique, that's wonderful! If General Li can master the Gu family spear technique, he can carry it forward and make it great!" Master Gu said excitedly.

"Is Master Gu willing to teach this spear technique?" Li Guang was overjoyed.

"Of course I'm willing. This set of spear techniques will play its greatest role in General Li's hands, truly carrying forward the Gu family spear style. Starting tomorrow, I will begin to teach you this set of spear techniques."

Li Guang thought for a moment and said, "Let's teach it in a couple of days. Let's make the most of this time and completely wipe out the ancient sect. That way, I'll feel more at ease learning spear techniques."

“Yes, General Li, so be it,” Master Gu said excitedly.

At this moment, some family members came over to report.

"Master, General Li, the victory celebration banquet is ready and may begin."

Master Gu nodded and said:

"General Li, the soldiers are waiting for you. Let's go over there."

Li Guang smiled and left with the others to attend the victory celebration banquet held in Gujiazhuang.

Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in Narcissus Village, Zhao Xian finished a day's work and felt aches and pains in his back.

He came out of the workshop to get some fresh air, and saw a carriage driving by.

Isn't this Li Guang's carriage? He should have finished attending the sacrificial ceremony for the gods of the land and grain and was rushing back from the capital.

Zhao Xian calculated that it had taken more than a month from the time Li Guang set off until his return today, which was indeed a considerable amount of time.

Zhao Xian hurriedly went to greet him and saw two attendants getting off the carriage, but he did not see Li Guang.

"You're back? Where's Li Guang?" Zhao Xian asked in surprise.

"Li Guang has not returned; he has disappeared. Lord Yao sent us back to report this."

"What? Li Guang has disappeared?" Zhao Xian exclaimed in surprise.

Zhao Xian ushered the two into the house and hurriedly asked what had happened.

The attendant then recounted in detail what had happened on the day the sacrificial ceremony for the gods of the land and grain was held in the capital.

Zhao Xian understood. It turned out that during the ceremony, a precious horse named Di Nu was startled. Li Guang stepped forward to try to subdue the horse, but was instead carried away by it and fled the capital.

Li Xue and Lord Yao arranged for people to search everywhere, but after more than ten days they still couldn't find Li Guang's whereabouts. He was nowhere to be found, neither alive nor dead.

That's why they were sent back to deliver the message.

They wanted to know if Li Guang had returned, and if they found out that Li Guang had returned to Shuixian Village, they would immediately inform Lord Yao and the others.

"Let's go to the military camp and tell General Yao about this so we can see how to deal with it."

In the past ten days or so, the military camp has recruited more than 2,000 new soldiers, and the current size of the force has reached more than 7,000.

Half of them are new recruits, and further training is needed to develop them into combat-ready personnel.

General Yao was drilling his troops when he saw that the two attendants who had accompanied Li Guang to the capital had returned. He did not see Li Guang, but Zhao Xian had come with him instead, and he had a bad feeling.

Yao Lin quickly stepped forward to inquire, and the two attendants had no choice but to recount what had happened to Li Guang in the capital.

Yao Lin remained silent after hearing this, and only spoke after a long while:

"Li Guang was not a weak scholar; he was a fierce general who would not be in any danger even if he charged into the midst of the enemy's thousands of troops."

A startled warhorse poses no danger to him. He's probably encountered some trouble; he should be back once that's resolved. We don't need to worry; just wait for him to return.

Yao Lin's biggest worry was that Li Guang's identity would be exposed after he returned to the capital. Other things would not pose any risk to Li Guang at all.

Yao Lin's words made some sense, and Zhao Xian felt that he didn't need to worry too much. Besides, he didn't have any good solutions, so he could only wait for Yao Lin to return safely.

As for Li Guang, two days later, he disguised himself as a hunter and led a few people to survey the terrain around the ancient sect's forces. He quickly devised a plan to attack the ancient sect's forces.

Two days ago, in the battle between Gu Family Village and the Ancient Faction, Gu Family Village won a great victory, eliminating more than 2,000 troops of the Ancient Faction.

This severely weakened the ancient faction, while the Gu family village lost fewer than a hundred soldiers.

The reason for Gujiazhuang's victory this time was that they received help from a master, which caused a great stir in the local area. Some families that had been bullied by the Gu faction came to seek refuge.

This was a golden opportunity for Li Guang, who took in the soldiers who came to join him.

Within a few days, the number of soldiers in the Gu Family Village army quickly increased to three thousand, returning to the peak of Gu Family Village's power.