Though it seems like a reckless act, as a descendant of the Yuezhi, Vasu Deva I cannot find anything that proves he's surpassed Yano Gaozhen without having faced the Han Dynasty.

However, now with the records of defeating the Han Navy in direct confrontation with the Imperial Navy, Vasu Deva I's confidence to challenge the Han Dynasty has increased significantly.

[The Iron Cavalry in the northern desert of Khwarezm has never had a good chance to train, so this time, let's send them to Onion Ridge, along with a Valiant General achieving Inner Qi Manifestation, to masquerade as bandits and test the strength of the Han Cavalry and infantry there.] Vasu Deva I pondered silently.

Li Jue had no idea that to simplify things, and to keep the entire Western Regions within the Han Dynasty's territory, he moved his station from a small Western Regions country to Onion Ridge—the location is at a high altitude, reputedly the site of Mount Buzhou's ruins—would cause any problems.

At that place, Li Jue's soldiers had difficulty breathing. Li Jue and Guo Si believed it was the pressure left by the ancient sacred mountain, so they took advantage of the situation to occupy the land.

This land originally belonged to Dayuan or some other country, but since Li Jue previously exterminated bandits too ruthlessly in the Western Regions, now the king of that place didn't even appear, so Li Jue claimed the land as his kingdom.

After claiming the land as king, Li Jue originally planned to build a small city and relocate the remaining soldiers of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry Headquarters there. However, the soldiers initially struggled to adapt to the environment, so the city couldn't be built. But over time, Li Jue discovered that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry Headquarters, which appeared to have reached its limit and ceased to grow stronger, actually became a bit stronger.

Though it was only a little, truthfully, these soldiers had followed them for many years as elite troops with extremely strong capabilities. They had achieved near perfection at their level and couldn't even find a direction for growth.

Otherwise, they wouldn't have claimed to have reached a dead end on the path forward, as the strongest legion below the Military Spirit. However, after moving to the monument of Mount Buzhou, when they descended to the plains to fight, Li Jue unexpectedly noticed his soldiers had grown stronger, as their strength hadn't changed for years, so even a small change seemed significant to someone like Li Jue.

So Li Jue claimed this plateau, around five thousand meters above sea level. Despite breathing difficulties, the wind felt like knife cuts, freezing in the morning, and scorching at noon, considering that merely running and jumping every day would strengthen them, Li Jue wanted this place.

The Xiliang Iron Cavalry had reached a level where every bit of progress meant surpassing oneself for Li Jue, having no path forward unless they suddenly jumped to the height of Military Spirit. Otherwise, only combat experience could grow.

Now Li Jue could clearly feel the soldiers' resilience and endurance were slowly increasing at an extremely slow rate, which was terrifying; endurance and resilience, though they couldn't directly enhance combat power, significantly supported sustained combat capability!

"Whew..." Li Jue exhaled a breath of white air, complaining to Guo Si beside him, "Staying long in this damn place even makes breathing tiresome. Is this the so-called residual power of Mount Buzhou? How are you two holding up?"

"It's unbearable too, when can we unleash Legion Talent? If not, let me achieve Inner Qi Manifestation." Fan Chou was exhausted as they climbed the monument of Mount Buzhou, which was the world's second highest peak, with his subordinate soldiers.

"I'm wiped out too." Guo Si grabbed a handful of ice and snow, stuffed it into his mouth, chewed it crunchy, then washed it down with a gulp of wine.

"Climbing this mountain, I can't see the top at all." Li Jue's breathing was somewhat hurried as well, as his body, not yet achieving Inner Qi Manifestation, required a significant amount of oxygen, and climbing naked in the tens of degrees below zero wind and snow was enough.

"Climb another thirty feet, let the brothers drink and rest to avoid accidents." Li Jue turned to Guo Si, who then instructed the Chiliarch a dozen steps behind and passed the message down level by level.

Once, the first time, Li Jue couldn't make it when he climbed to slightly below this point. Turning back, he saw his comrades, barely a step away, struggling upward—almost forming a pyramid—with the top climbers being the military officers among the Iron Cavalry, to which Li Jue was highly satisfied.

At least the Xiliang Iron Cavalry's tradition wasn't lost; those capable leaders demonstrated impressive prowess, proving Li Jue wasn't blind, so he signaled the soldiers to prepare for descent.

However, the loud voice triggered an avalanche. If not for the remarkable endurance and resilience of the Iron Cavalry soldiers, along with fearlessness that allowed them to instantly form into a military formation and execute a Legion Attack to break through the moderately sized avalanche, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry might not have succeeded in their mission before unexpected deaths.

Since that incident, this group dared not shout loudly while climbing this mountain, opting to pass messages step-by-step for fear of repetition.

Only when Li Jue and the others descended back to camp did this group dare to shout loudly again.

"Have you noticed, the higher we go, the more exhausting it becomes." Fan Chou took several deep breaths to calm himself before saying.