Flying boats that blotted out the sky swept across the lands of the Eastern Jin. No sooner had one formation passed than another followed closely behind.
To say nothing of over a million iron cavalry, even if it were a million pigs, rounding them all up would be no easy feat. Wei Yuan used an army of over six hundred thousand to divide north from south, withstanding simultaneous attacks from two directions: the Liao Clan's reinforcements and the breakout forces.
Then, Wei Yuan deployed two heavy legions of three hundred thousand troops each in the south, advancing layer by layer from south to north. They herded the Northern Liao iron cavalry along the way, intending to dash them to death against the northern fortress cluster.
Once the forces deployed, they launched steady assaults, continually whittling away at the Liao cavalry. By now, most of the Qingming officers had become believers and could receive orders from Wei Yuan in real time. Wei Yuan, of course, oversaw the overarching situation without micromanaging specific commands. He now possessed a massive staff team responsible for coordinating troop movements, capable of directing commands down to every hundred-man company and grasping the full battlefield situation in near real time.
The biggest difference between this battle and those of the past was that no prisoners were taken.
After every major engagement, a special force would patrol the battlefield, shooting and executing every wounded Liao cavalryman one by one.
Wei Yuan presiding in the northern borders also served to deter the immortals of the Liao Clan and Eastern Jin, keeping them from acting rashly. That was the public pretext; the true reason was that Xiaoyu and the officers were not yet closely bound to their fruitions. Wei Yuan's true body needed to be present on the scene so that the power of the Yellow Springs could be maximized to collect every single soul of the Liao Clan without letting one slip away.
From the start of the war to the present, Wei Yuan had already converted hundreds of thousands of souls. For a time, there were not even enough newborns in Qingming to accommodate them. Wei Yuan was forced to introduce a new policy: regardless of reason or social status, any woman with a child in her womb who registered and verified her pregnancy would receive a monthly subsidy of one qingyuan until the child turned one year old.
At this time, an ordinary household in Qingming made no more than twenty qingyuan a year, making this an unprecedentedly generous subsidy—to the point that many people began rushing to get pregnant just to claim it.
Wei Yuan naturally welcomed this development, patiently watching the Qingming army steadily tighten the encirclement, harvesting the Liao Clan troops along both the southern and northern lines bit by bit.
On this day, frosty winds filled the air, and leaden clouds weighed down from above.
Wei Yuan stood in midair. Below raged a battlefield engulfed in artillery fire, where over a million soldiers fought in blood. Before him appeared a radiant young woman draped in a snow-white fur coat, striding barefoot through the air step by step.
Wei Yuan said, "I thought the one coming would be the Wise King of the Left."
The young woman gave a light chuckle and said in a slightly awkward accent, "Seeing me, shouldn't you be happier?"
"Why should I be happy?"
"What, you don't like my type?" she asked in confusion, stepping closer. With every step she took, a stretch of snow-white thigh was revealed from beneath the fur's hem.
Wherever her feet came down, patches of frost formed. She walked across the ice like this, the frost smooth and pristine as a mirror, even seeming to reflect light. Wei Yuan instantly sensed deep, invisible malice. Who had been ruining his reputation behind his back? Had the rumors spread all the way to the Northern Liao steppes? He stared at her legs, attempting to project disgust. Yet her legs were pale, plump, long, straight, shapely, and firm; even with Wei Yuan's keen eyes, he could not find a single flaw.
Wei Yuan considered himself an honest man—good was good, and he could not defy his conscience to call it bad.
The young woman stopped before Wei Yuan and naturally leaned to the side, causing one leg to extend outward on its own and slide out from under the fur once more. Wei Yuan noted that it slid out.
He cleared his throat softly and said, "Benefactor... er, Senior, won't you introduce yourself?"
"Dharma King of the Snow Mountain Mahabrahma Esoteric Sect, Zanji Jinzhu. Just call me Jinzhu."
Wei Yuan wore a deadpan, serious face, looking so solemn that he practically radiated Buddhist light. "Senior, for what purpose have you come?"
Looking at Wei Yuan's demeanor, the girl suddenly broke into a soft smile. "Our Esoteric Sect has deep ties with the King Buddha. Strictly speaking, we are all your juniors. You needn't be so tense. Before we talk business, we can do a bit of dual cultivation first. It won't count toward the terms."
What did she mean, 'do a bit of dual cultivation first'... Wei Yuan internally grumbled at her brazen words while suppressing his stirring primal instincts. This girl was brimming with a wild, feral aura unlike any woman he had ever seen before. Furthermore, what she stirred was the very power within Wei Yuan that originated from the King Buddha, making it exceptionally difficult to resist. It seemed her statement about the Esoteric Sect having roots with the King Buddha was by no means an empty claim.
With an impassive face, Wei Yuan said, "That definitely has to count toward the terms. Let us talk business first."
The girl said, "What do you mean? Are you saying dual-cultivating with me requires paying you?"
Wei Yuan did not speak, letting his silence serve as tacit agreement.
The girl suddenly gave an uncanny smile. "With hundreds of thousands of years of accumulation, our Esoteric Sect has whatever you could desire. For one session of dual cultivation, how about I give you those million iron cavalry below?"
Wei Yuan shook his head. "They are already mine to begin with."
"You certainly are confident."
Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "I was simply giving you people time to come negotiate. Otherwise, had I air-dropped hundreds of thousands of troops directly into the center of the battlefield at the start, the fight would already be over."
"Bragging!"
Wei Yuan said calmly, "Along the thousand-li defensive line in the north, I stationed only six hundred thousand troops. The combined force of your southward relief army and northward breakout troops exceeds two million. And how did that go? Could you breach my line?"
"Hmph, it's nothing more than some bizarre, clever contraptions. A few curses cast down would slaughter every last one of your hundreds of thousands!"
Wei Yuan gestured with his hand: Be my guest.
Presently, Qingming generated over seventy million human luck each year, so much that it was impossible to exhaust. With such an immense sea of human luck in hand, Wei Yuan had no fear whatsoever of immortals striking at Qingming's armies. On one hand, martial aura blunted attacks layer upon layer, drastically diminishing the might of even immortal arts. On the other hand, most of Qingming's elite soldiers had received human luck blessings more than once, each bearing a measure of karmic luck. Slaying a single such person incurred over tenfold more negative karma than killing an ordinary person.
What was more, if the Qingming army had a surplus of anything, it was templates. A template Dao foundation was still a Dao foundation; slaughtering them generated immense karma. If Jinzhu steeled her heart and struck down hundreds of thousands with a single palm, her own Dao path would be finished.
Right now, the only vulnerability in all of Qingming was Golden Pellets. A Golden Pellet dharma idol was still a dharma idol; slaying one would likewise bring a bestowal of heaven and earth, though it was pitifully meager, virtually nonexistent.
Thus, the moment the girl appeared, Wei Yuan had secretly ordered all the Golden Pellets to hide, concealing themselves within the masses of templates.
Compared to true immortals, it was actually capable Scenery Command cultivators who gave Wei Yuan headaches, as he had few good ways to counter them. In the past, he could only rely on Zhang Sheng and others to deal with them, but now, with the added blessings of Buddhist power, formidable dharma idols could also hold their own for a time.
Therefore, Wei Yuan did not care in the slightest about Jinzhu's threat.
The girl looked deeply at Wei Yuan. "From what I see, do you intend to slaughter every last Liao cavalryman? You have already won; why leave no room at all? Aren't you afraid the Liao Clan will seek vengeance in the future?"
Wei Yuan replied flatly, "The enmity between our two clans traces back hundreds of thousands of years. Who was right and who was wrong can no longer be untangled. Today, with the advantage in my grasp, I will naturally see things through to the end. As for their clansmen and descendants seeking revenge? They are more than welcome to try—it will give me the perfect reason to eradicate them roots and all."
The girl did not get angry, stating her conditions directly: "I want the nobles and officers among the troops below, and I also want to take back the dharma god that fell into your hands. In exchange: one immortal artifact!"
These terms were actually quite good... But what about the dual cultivation? Wei Yuan's feelings turned unexpectedly conflicted.
The girl added, "Three days of dual cultivation."
"That could... no, won't do." Wei Yuan barely managed to suppress the stirring King Buddha instincts, correcting himself just in time. Evidently, dual-cultivating with Jinzhu carried tremendous benefits, so much so that even the King Buddha within him could hardly hold back.
The two haggled back and forth like this, never mentioning dual cultivation again, yet they remained unable to reach an agreement.
Jinzhu finally revealed her trump card. She extended her hand, revealing an egg in her palm. Within it was vitality boiling like a volcano, a heartbeat rumbling like thunder, and blood rushing like a surging river!
This was an escalation straight from an immortal artifact to an immortal beast. Moreover, the aura inside the egg felt familiar to Wei Yuan—he immediately thought of immortal chickens! Sure enough, not only was the creature in this egg an immortal chicken, but it was also a little hen.
Immortal chickens possessed noble status, but their combat prowess was actually an enigma, as such immortal birds often took more than a thousand years to reach adulthood. However, when such spiritual beasts and immortal birds were formed into a pair, their value far exceeded the sum of one plus one.
What was more, this pair of immortal chickens was Old Daoist Chuhe's Dao path! With this hen, Chuhe's road to immortal ascension was paved smooth as well.
With a conflicted look in his eyes, Wei Yuan said, "Is there someone I know among the Northern Liao? Every strike Senior makes hits right at the vitals!"
Jinzhu smiled slightly and said, "Don't be in a hurry; there is one more matter. Great Khan Silver Moon wants these iron cavalry you've encircled. He can make them abandon resistance, and once they return to the north, these warriors will never appear on the southern front again.
"As compensation, he will hand over ten million Liao tribespeople from the territories bordering Western Jin to you. If you raise them slowly, the souls generated by these tribes will be vastly greater in number, requiring only a bit more time. The Great Khan says you are someone who looks at the long term."
Wei Yuan frowned slightly. Just as the two were discussing this, the Liao army below, which had been ferociously attacking to break out, suddenly halted its offensive and receded like the tide. Those Liao units caught by Wei Yuan's forces surrendered where they were, ceasing all resistance.
When two armies clashed, Wei Yuan's heart would never soften no matter how many he killed. But if the enemy surrendered, they could no longer be slaughtered at will; that was Wei Yuan's baseline principle. If the surviving eight hundred thousand Liao troops all surrendered on the spot, Wei Yuan would not only harvest no souls, but he would also have to spend money feeding and maintaining them.
"Does Great Khan Silver Moon understand me so well?"
Jinzhu said, "There are over seven hundred books written about you in total, and the Great Khan has read every one of them."
Wei Yuan fell silent for a moment before asking, "What does the Great Khan want these soldiers for? Whom does he want to attack?"
Jinzhu said, "The Great Khan says a catastrophe approaches, and the Shaman Clan will invade on a grand scale. His territory is right in the line of fire, and he suffers from a severe shortage of warriors, which is why he wants to buy these soldiers from you. At a time like this, you initiating a war with the Shaman Clan is wonderful. The Great Khan only hopes you will expand the scale of the war even further. After all, an opportunity to take advantage of a burning house only comes once in thousands of years."
*Am I looting a burning house?* Wei Yuan hardly knew what to think.
He cleared his throat and said, "In principle, I can agree. There is only one issue: that dharma god's condition is a bit... peculiar. I cannot take you to see her, but I can have her come out and tell you herself."
"Fine," Jinzhu readily agreed.
Wei Yuan pointed a finger, and Hongmo stepped out of the void. At this moment, Hongmo was enveloped in glazed radiance that formed a long robe. The fire burning behind her wafted waves of sandalwood scent, faint Buddhist chanting echoed, and black lotuses flickered in and out of existence. Beneath her feet lay a forest of gems, where countless brightly colored little birds flew in and out among the boughs.
Such a bizarre appearance left even Jinzhu momentarily dazed.
As soon as Hongmo appeared, she said impatiently, "Why is it you people again? It's truly endless! I have a new home now, and my new friends are all formidable. I don't want to go back to that moldy place and stare at that old face pretending to be young all day! Tell Baoci never to come bother me again; I don't want to see him anymore!"
For the first time, Jinzhu showed bewilderment. "Then... what about his dharma god seat...?"
"Can't he just go swindle another one in the Dharma God Domain? Whoever wants to live through such miserable days with him can go; I certainly won't." With an impatient face, Hongmo added, "All right, my new home isn't finished yet, so I won't waste words with you!"
Hongmo turned and stepped into the void without looking back.
Wei Yuan spread his hands, showing he was powerless in the matter as well.
Pensively, Jinzhu asked, "Did she... turn into a true spirit within your mental imagery world? Can't you control her?"
Wei Yuan naturally would not tell her plainly that among his major true spirits, Hongmo was already considered one of the obedient ones; the others were each more absurd than the last. Even if Jialuo appeared exceptionally docile, her heavenly demon nature was hard to change—the more obedient she seemed, the more she was plotting something in secret. Jinzhu knew that this touched upon Wei Yuan's Dao path and that he would never reveal it to her, so she asked, "Then does this mean our deal is struck?"
Wei Yuan nodded. "If you dare march south again, I will show no mercy all the same."
"I don't have the final say in this, nor does Silver Moon. The Wise King of the Left is merely an executor; whether to fight or not isn't up to him either." The Liao Clan's tribes were as numerous as stars, possessing several decision-making mechanisms. Sometimes decisions were made by the Great Khans of the various Golden Hordes, and sometimes by regional tribal assemblies. As for when a given mechanism took effect, it depended entirely on the relative strength of the factions at the time, making it virtually impossible for outsiders to predict.
Before taking her leave, Jinzhu said, "Great Khan Silver Moon said that if our negotiations succeeded, he would gift you one more statement: Do you think the immortal tiers of the Liao Clan are very weak?"
The remark had neither head nor tail, yet it was clearly of great significance; otherwise, Silver Moon would not have specifically sent it along after the deal was settled.
Just as Wei Yuan was pondering this, Jinzhu suddenly asked, "A quick cultivation before I leave?"
Chapter 1293