To speak truthfully, that Zhang Sheng had obtained otherworldly karmic luck made Wei Yuan even happier than if he had received it himself. Even if he still felt a slight twinge of discomfort deep down, it was something he could easily overcome.
Wei Yuan did not explain the origins of the woman in black. It was best that Zhang Sheng remained in the dark about this matter, lest she become entangled in the karma of an entire great world. Zhang Sheng’s heart was also as clear as a mirror; if Wei Yuan did not speak of it, she did not ask.
After just a few words of idle chatter, their conversation turned to the current state of affairs under heaven. Zhang Sheng casually called up an interface to the Splendor of All Realms. Numerous orbs of light materialized around her as she harnessed the power of the Splendor of All Realms to assist in analyzing the issues, leaving Wei Yuan completely dumbfounded. To an outsider's eyes, one would probably assume the Splendor of All Realms belonged to Zhang Sheng.
In truth, the cultivators across Qingming had long grown accustomed to utilizing the Splendor of All Realms. Not only had interfaces been constructed in every city, but with the growth of populations and cultivators, many large cities were building more and more of them.
The computational capacity Wei Yuan currently utilized amounted to a mere drop in the ocean within the Splendor of All Realms. Had he not possessed the minor privilege of accessing it without needing an interface, he would hardly have known where his dignity and status as its master lay.
Zhang Sheng had now cultivated the Three Lingxiao Palaces and the Endless Sword Plains; her mental image world was already complete, lacking only the final spark of opportunity. Yet she had never relied on overwhelming divine sense, so she could currently handle only around five thousand concurrent tasks.
With preparations complete, the two began thoroughly dissecting the current geopolitical landscape. Starting from the time of Zhang Sheng's killing tribulation, they analyzed the movements of each immortal one by one, taking every minute detail into account. Combining this with the present situation and past history, they gradually unraveled the pieces and trajectories of each faction's schemes.
Although neither mentioned it, both were acutely aware that they were indirectly dissecting the Martial Ancestor's grand design.
Orbs of light flickered and died within the room. Wei Yuan mobilized his full divine sense, running over twenty thousand tasks simultaneously. In the blink of an eye, several days slipped by. Wei Yuan's divine sense even saw a slight increase, gaining the capacity to process several dozen more tasks.
Through a comprehensive dissection of the immortal realm's secret history over the past century, a faint trace of the overarching pattern finally began to surface.
Only now did Wei Yuan realize that the mastermind's true objective remained breaking the Martial Ancestor's design, while simultaneously preventing him from destabilizing the foundations of the Seven Clans and Thirteen Prominent Families.
The most compelling piece of evidence was that the enemy had no inkling of the black-robed woman's existence. The Glazed Light Immortal Lord's strike had been intended as a guaranteed kill. Otherwise, whether directed at Yanshi or Zhu Yan, that blow would have instantly left either of them gravely wounded, requiring decades or even a century of recuperation before they could hope to recover; there would have been no need to squander it on Wei Yuan.
To play such a trump card only to accomplish nothing must have caught the other side completely off guard. Hence, they initiated a second hidden ploy, influencing Wei Yuan's judgment through unknown means and leaving him with the faint sensation that someone was shoving him into opposition against the aristocratic families.
So long as Wei Yuan grew suspicious, given his advantageous position where he could advance to attack or retreat to defend, he would inevitably pause his military campaign and adopt a wait-and-see stance. With that window of time, the enemy would have room to maneuver on many fronts.
Yet things were not quite so simple either. In the current match, Wei Yuan had successively slain Lu Changhe and Xu Shuhe and aided Zhu Yan in successfully ascending to immortality; his combat prowess had already surpassed that of Yanshi. It could be said that what was once a clear-cut situation had been thoroughly scrambled into chaos by Wei Yuan. The problem, however, was that the present turmoil was not necessarily advantageous to him.
At this moment, Wei Yuan needed only to lie low for a time to amass an immense amount of mortal karmic luck once again. Moreover, he had newly swallowed up vast swaths of territory that he had yet to digest. Originally, Qingming combined with Yizhou had barely surpassed two hundred million people; now, an additional 1.7 billion had been added all at once. If nothing else, even the grain production Qingming took such immense pride in had suddenly become strained.
Previously, the population that Qingming's grain output could sustain had already reached two billion, leading True Monarch Chuhe to shift his focus toward catering to the needs of the immortal chickens and spiritual pets. After all, no matter how many more fields were cleared, no one was around to eat the harvested grain. Even converting surplus grain into meat, eggs, dairy, and liquor had reached its limit.
Thus, in recent years, many people in Qingming who held respectable jobs developed a new grievance: they had grown fat!
Not only the humans, but even the oxen and horses working in the fields grew stout and plump from feeding on exceptionally fine fodder, only to end up suffering from a host of ailments unheard of in earlier days.
After thorough investigation, True Monarch Chuhe arrived at a conclusion: eating too well, pondering too much, and exercising too little.
He therefore decided that these draft beasts should work by day and exercise to shed weight by night. Because such cases were truly numerous, True Monarch Chuhe coined a special term for them: "defatted draft beasts."
Now that his sphere of influence had abruptly expanded by such a vast swath, Wei Yuan's power would multiply with time alone. Hence, responding to change with immobility was also a viable strategy.
Torn and unable to decide for the moment, Wei Yuan looked toward Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng pondered briefly, sword qi surging in her eyes, and said, "It is best to summon our remaining strength and chase the fleeing foe."
Wei Yuan promptly settled on his plan. Several military orders were generated through the Splendor of All Realms, whereupon several Golden Pellet dharma idols took the orders, boarded flying craft, and departed Qingming to deliver them.
Wei Yuan's order was to strike with full force, crush all resistance, and seize the Lu clan's ancestral lands!
He also had an order for Xiaoyu. The command was simple: purge all Xu family forces within five hundred li inside Eastern Jin's border.
...
Upon the northern snowfields, Xiaoyu stood suspended in the air. Down below, artillery roared as shells detonated against the city walls, and before long, a section of the wall collapsed with a deafening rumble.
This was a major city housing at least a million inhabitants and tens of thousands of defending troops. But the dharma idol generals within the city, gazing up at Xiaoyu—who hovered in the air bathed in a faint red glow like a radiant sun—dared not show their faces, each blending among the common soldiers and playing dead.
Xiaoyu did not mind, quietly watching over the scene. Unbeknownst to the enemy, Star Lord Shaoyang had already flown above the battlements, keeping his form concealed while waiting for any dharma idol to show their head so he could strike a vicious blow and pocket some heavenly merits first.
Only after considerable waiting did he finally spot a dharma idol pop his head out—yet the fellow was holding up a white flag.
Xiaoyu was not surprised by the garrison's surrender. Over this period, he had fought more than a dozen battles of varying scales within Eastern Jin. He had slain several dharma idol generals alone, captured over twenty thousand elite border troops, and taken around a hundred thousand city defense soldiers prisoner, thoroughly terrifying the Eastern Jin border forces.
Xiaoyu's appetite had grown with every victory. Leading fifty thousand troops deep into enemy territory on his own, he had now reached the commandery capital of a border commandery and breached it all the same.
As was customary, heavy infantry entered the city. A Golden Pellet dharma idol hovered above the battlements, bellowing orders for the defenders to form ranks and march out to await processing as captives. In an instant, numerous city defense troops filed out from the walls and barracks to assemble outside, with many of them surprisingly wearing joyful expressions.
Most possessed Body Casting cultivation and knew that going to Qingming meant they would likely be integrated into its ranks to enjoy prosperous lives from then on. Thus, aside from those with family members in the city, the rest obediently filed out.
Just then, several dozen Dao Foundation cultivators flew out from various parts of the city and encircled the Golden Pellet dharma idol, giving him quite a fright.
While outsiders remained oblivious, Qingming's Golden Pellet dharma idols knew their own limitations: if they encountered a truly genius Dao Foundation cultivator, they genuinely could not win, not even in a one-on-one duel. Wei Yuan had repeatedly cautioned them regarding this, and the military code explicitly stipulated that Golden Pellet dharma idols were forbidden from deploying alone and had to operate in pairs when on missions.
Fortunately, this Golden Pellet dharma idol knew that Xiaoyu was watching from behind—one of the twelve renowned celestial idols on the rankings. Hence, even when facing dozens of Dao Foundation cultivators capable of obliterating him multiple times over, he showed not the slightest fear, shouting with stern severity instead, "Do you seek death?!"
The dozens of Eastern Jin Dao Foundation cultivators exchanged glances, then dropped to their knees in unison, proclaiming their desire to forsake darkness for light. Furthermore, they knew the city inside and out, including which residents were kin to court officials in the capital and where dharma idol masters lay hidden; they offered to lead the way.
Overjoyed, the Golden Pellet dharma idol promptly reported back. Moments later, several Qingming dharma idols and over a dozen Golden Pellet dharma idols arrived in force, setting out aggressively to search and apprehend household by household.
Xiaoyu shifted positions, stationing himself high above the city's periphery. Radiating faint heat and sunlight, he simply stood there. From this vantage point, the entire city could see him clearly. With him standing watch, fighting within the city remained sporadic, and several decrepit dharma idols surrendered without resistance.
Xiaoyu's expression shifted as he turned to look: a flying craft streaked toward him like lightning, decelerating several dozen li away. A Golden Pellet dharma idol then flew out from within and delivered a military order into Xiaoyu's hands.
Xiaoyu opened and read it. Seeing that the order instructed him to sweep away all Xu family forces within five hundred li inside Eastern Jin, he summoned a staff officer and asked, "What is our current position? How far are we from the five-hundred-li mark?"
The staff officer replied, "We are already deep within Eastern Jin—seven hundred and fifty li from the border."
"We're that far?" Xiaoyu was taken aback. Looking down at the sprawling city of a million souls, he felt a headache coming on: tracking down Xu family forces within this city would be quite an ordeal.
At that moment, Star Lord Shaoyang manifested and murmured faintly, "Why make it so complicated? Requisition five hundred floating skiffs and airships from the rear, and you can transport every last soul out of this city in two trips. Who cares how many Xu family forces are inside—wouldn't that tear them all out by the roots anyway?"
Xiaoyu found the suggestion thoroughly reasonable. He immediately issued an order announcing across the entire city that all citizens should prepare for relocation; violators would be executed.
The moment the command was issued, thunderous cheers erupted across the entire city.
...
Within the Eastern Jin imperial court, gloom and despair hung heavy.
The King of Jin of Eastern Jin held the reign title King Jinxuan. Having just passed two hundred years of age, he was already in the twilight of his life and corpulent of build, his dragon throne a size larger than those of the other eight nations.
At this moment, the Prime Minister stepped forward from the ranks to memorialize: "...Qingming's influence is immense, its military mighty, and its firepower devastating; it is truly difficult to match. Wei Yuan has just crushed the Lu clan and slain two immortals; his momentum is fully established. In your servant's view, facing him head-on is utter folly. What General Chen suggested moments ago would truly bring ruin to the realm and misery to the people!"
An elderly general fumed, "Wang He, what do you mean by that? I said we should mobilize our full might to battle him—how does that bring ruin to the realm and misery to the people?"
The Prime Minister appeared barely thirty years of age, possessing an extraordinary bearing like a paragon among men. Hearing this, he looked toward the old general and asked placidly, "Mobilize our full might to battle? Does General Chen possess certainty of victory?"
The old general snapped angrily, "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war—who dares claim never to be defeated? But if we do not even dare to fight, where lies the court's dignity? Where lies Your Majesty's face?"
Wang He asked once more, "Does General Chen possess certainty of victory?"
General Chen said grimly, "Even if we lose, at worst I shall perish together with the invading foe! What is there to fear!"
Wang He sneered at once. "Our Eastern Jin's total armed forces number a mere three million. The one million border troops on our northern frontier are already stretched thin, and the remainder can hardly be called elites. In Western Jin, the Lu clan alone commanded an army of a million, yet weren't they swept away like dry weeds? Against such a ravenous tiger-and-wolf army of Qingming, by what virtue could you, General Chen, hope to win?
"When the time comes, dying is the easiest thing in the world for you, and you even get to win yourself a noble reputation. But what about our Great Jin? What about His Majesty?! Does the life of yourself and your clan amount to even a fraction of the danger facing Great Jin? You are nothing more than an old scoundrel fishing for fame, armed with nothing but reckless brute courage! Bah!"
General Chen was incensed, yet could find no words to rebut. At this juncture, who among the entire court did not know that Qingming's military might was invincible? A mere detached force of tens of thousands had been campaigning across the border for months, shattering hundreds of thousands of western border troops into disarray.
King Jinxuan flicked his sleeve and sighed. "Cease the bickering. What matters right now is deliberating a solution! Earlier, Qingming requested passage to campaign against Qi; if all else fails, should we simply agree to it?"
Wang He stepped forward from the ranks once more and proclaimed loudly, "Granting passage is court suicide; we naturally cannot agree. Your servant has a strategy that will ensure not a single Qingming soldier crosses our border, keeping our Great Jin secure from worry."
King Jinxuan's spirits lifted. Leaning forward, he hurriedly asked, "What supreme strategy do you have? Out with it at once!"
Wang He said, "Your servant has long heard that this Wei Yuan is an insatiable man who covets only wealth and treasures. Therefore, your servant believes we may grant him material benefits and riches without undermining national dignity, preserving the court's prestige. So long as Qingming's troops do not enter through the passes, ceding him a few more material benefits is of no consequence."
Many among the officials nodded in succession, finding his reasoning sound.
King Jinxuan then asked, "Then how much would be appropriate to grant him?"
Enunciating each word, Wang He declared, "Measure the material wealth of Great Jin to curry the favor of Qingming!"
Chapter 1152