The State of the War

In the eastern reaches of Southern Jin, rolling booms shook the mountains. Artillery fire carpeted the sky, thick smoke and raging flames engulfing the pass-fortress. Even the mountain peaks on either flank were not spared, having been plowed over again and again. Once the bombardment ceased, large detachments of the Zhenshan Army surged from their entrenchments, striding forward in a headlong charge toward the blazing fortress. Faster than galloping steeds, the warriors crossed the open ground before the pass in the blink of an eye, arriving at the base of the walls. Yet artillery roared from behind the pass, a dense barrage smashing into the area before the fortress, instantly inflicting heavy casualties upon the assaulting warriors. Above the siege lines, Li Zhi stood in midair, the corners of his mouth curling slightly. "Their positions are finally exposed!" he muttered to himself. He produced a precious orb and read out coordinates into it. Instantly, two artillery batteries that had remained hidden roared to life, fiercely bombarding the enemy's artillery positions. A large cohort of elite warriors took to the air. Clad in heavy armor and wielding massive shields, twin plumes of flame vented from their backs as they flew toward the pass-fortress at speeds far exceeding ordinary Dao Foundation cultivators. Seizing the window while the enemy's artillery was suppressed, they dropped directly into the city and began the slaughter. Another salvo of artillery shells whistled through the air. With a shift of Li Zhi's divine sense, flecks of golden light adhered to each shell, altering their trajectories. They branched off in different directions, descending upon distinct targets. This was a new divine ability Li Zhi had gained upon stepping into Scenery Command. It allowed him to commandeer and manipulate multiple low-tier artifacts, striking targets within several hundred li. Wherever his divine sense could reach could be designated a target. This ability was both useful and useless. In personal duels, it was completely worthless—Dao Foundation artifacts struggled to wound even a dharma idol cultivator, let alone harm someone at Scenery Command. But in warfare, especially in battles fought with Qingming firearms and munitions, using it to guide artillery shells and missiles made it exceptionally formidable. In multiple major battles, Li Zhi had taken to the front lines in person to guide artillery shells and missiles, clearing fortifications and strongholds along their advance piece by piece. According to Li Zhi's own calculations, his personal military merit accounted for thirty percent of the entire army's achievements. Amidst the artillery fire, Dao Foundation warriors also ascended into the air from time to time, flying alongside the shells over the pass-fortress. They first guided the shells into the vital sectors of the enemy positions, then leaped down to clash with the defenders. Already battered senseless by the bombardment, the defenders were thrown into panic by the sudden appearance of a Dao Foundation warrior. Slaughter ran rife, and only at the cost of grievous casualties could they finally bring such a cultivator down. Yet the chaos within their lines would only draw concentrated strikes from the Zhenshan Army, triggering another round of casualties. This tactic was also Li Zhi's invention: he selected a cohort of elite template Dao Foundation cultivators to fly alongside the artillery shells toward enemy lines, guiding the munitions in the early phase and plunging into the enemy lines to fight after the shells detonated. The results were remarkably effective; multiple fortified cities and stout defensive lines in Southern Jin had been breached in this manner. Li Zhi dubbed it "cultivator-artillery coordination." The fierce battle raged thus into the dead of night, then from night into dawn, and on toward dusk. Finally, the explosions within the pass-fortress began to thin, and remnants of fleeing cultivator troops abandoned the pass. After a grueling struggle, Li Zhi had finally taken the pass-fortress, opening the route into the heartland of Southern Jin. With this, all nine commanderies in eastern Southern Jin had fallen entirely into Li Zhi's hands. Before the fires in the fortress were completely extinguished, a preliminary battle report was delivered before Li Zhi. The officer delivering the report was very young, possessing a Dao Foundation cultivation. These young officers were all graduates of the Zhenshan Military Academy; back when Li Zhi saw Qingming's Battle Cultivator Academy flourishing, he had secretly followed suit, establishing the Zhenshan Military Academy and appointing himself its headmaster. Li Zhi offered several words of encouragement to this prized pupil of his before turning to read the battle report. In this battle, a total of six Southern Jin artillery batteries had been destroyed, though their counterfire had also wiped out two of Li Zhi's artillery positions. The Southern Jin army had fought with tremendous valor; many defending units had perished down to the last battalion and squad. The commanding general had fought to his final breath, falling only when the walls were breached. Yet the defenders' valor could not withstand the sheer firepower. Li Zhi had amassed several times more heavy artillery than the defenders and stocked ample ammunition, maintaining a relentless bombardment for several hours that practically overturned the defenders' positions from end to end. One could say Li Zhi had leveled the pass-fortress through sheer, brute artillery force. However, the Zhenshan Army's losses were far from light, especially among the fragile template Dao Foundation cultivators, of whom over a hundred had been killed. Li Zhi frowned slightly. Southern Jin's firepower had grown noticeably stronger in recent years. He himself had only attained his current scale by deliberately bolstering his heavy artillery units through Qingming's steady stream of supplies. Recently, Southern Jin had its arms purchases restricted by Qingming; they had to buy heavy artillery just two or three pieces at a time, and a shipment of shells rarely exceeded a hundred rounds. Even so, Southern Jin's artillery had expanded rapidly. There could be only one reason: Southern Jin had already established its own heavy artillery workshops. Li Zhi felt a hint of underlying concern, but he was a man of deep composure. He did not panic, instead calmly devising counterstrategies. Huai Pu was the Academy's favored son after all, and bloodline aside, the man did possess some competence. Even if his personal talents fell short, the Academy had a wealth of great minds to assist him. Thus, once Southern Jin realized the war was going poorly and could not withstand Li Zhi's ferocious firepower, they immediately shifted to defense in depth, trading space for time while aggressively constructing their own arms workshops. In truth, Qingming's weaponry was not overly complicated and presented little difficulty to artifact masters. Although Qingming's specialty alloys and steels offered exceptional performance, artifact masters also had access to a vast array of materials with comparable properties. The only difference was that one was mass-produced through industry, while the other was hand-forged by cultivators. In critical times of war, handcrafting was fine; as long as there was equipment to use, slightly lower quality did not matter, since it would likely be destroyed within a few battles anyway. *If only we had more heavy missiles...* Li Zhi picked up a brush, intending to write to Wei Yuan, but shook his head and set it down again. Up to this point, Li Zhi had procured military supplies from Qingming on a half-purchase, half-credit model. Although Wei Yuan had offered generous discounts, the prices still remained above cost. Li Zhi paid half in various resources and put the rest on account; that way, he could at least claim a measure of independence and keep alive his hopes of becoming the Human Sovereign. If he simply asked for handouts, the karmic ties would become too heavy, and he would likely end up as Wei Yuan's subordinate. "I'll fight it myself. At worst, it will just be more exhausting..." Having finished the report, Li Zhi seized a rare moment of respite to meditate quietly and restore his Dao power. Meanwhile, news of the fall of Jinglan Pass had reached the court of Southern Jin. The King of Jin's expression darkened, and he turned toward Mister Huai Pu, who sat at his flank. At this time, a new dais had been set up in the hall, below the throne and before the assembled officials. Upon it stood three chairs, their elevation nearly level with the royal throne. Mister Huai Pu sat in the primary seat, flanked by two fellow grand scholars of the Academy—one versed in artifact crafting, the other an expert in military strategy. Huai Pu stroked his long beard and said with composure, "Your Majesty, pray be patient. I have already made arrangements." At a gesture from his eyes, the grand scholar skilled in artifact crafting spoke up: "Last month, another of our Great Jin's heavy artillery workshops and two shell-casting workshops entered production. In a single month, we cast over two hundred heavy guns and a hundred and fifty thousand shells, in addition to sundry other munitions..." He rattled off a lengthy list of figures comprising dozens of entries covering multiple critical weapons. Only then did the King of Jin's complexion improve noticeably. Mister Huai Pu said, "At present, our Southern Jin's arms production is flourishing by the day. Only eight months have passed this year, yet our monthly production of heavy guns has already doubled compared to the beginning of the year. Li Zhi's foundation is shallow; he relies primarily on purchasing arms from Qingming to sustain himself. How can foreign purchases ever prove as enduring as domestic manufacture? Furthermore, Southern Jin's armaments are now comparable to Qingming's creations, with no fundamental difference between them. "When all is said and done, such mechanical contraptions cannot escape being mere clever trickery; they cannot decide the state of the war." The King of Jin was overjoyed and said, "Then I shall rely heavily upon you, Mister!"