The Western Regions had always been an outlaw land where horse bandits ran rampant.
A seemingly ordinary merchant caravan set out from Yuyang Prefecture in the State of Zhao. Over half a month, traveling several thousand li, they were stopped and questioned four times by government troops, three of which saw attempts to confiscate the caravan's entire load of cargo. They were also raided six times by horse bandits, and once found themselves caught in a chaotic melee involving multiple bandit gangs, government troops, and a mysterious caravan. Only after braving such an ordeal did they successfully reach Qingming.
Very few members of the caravan were privy to confidential matters, so in the eyes of the vast majority, this had been a legendary journey. Had they not seen it with their own eyes and lived through it themselves, who could have believed that horse bandits in the Shattered City could be so numerous, so well trained, so finely equipped, so tactically coordinated, and so deeply versed in the art of war?
Furthermore, the horse bandits of the Western Regions had peculiar tastes and bizarre habits: whenever government soldiers appeared, horse bandits inevitably showed up as well, precipitating a three-way brawl. Guiding themselves by the principle of self-preservation, the caravan sought only to stay safe and avoided joining the fray whenever possible. As long as they huddled turtle-like within their defense, the government troops and the bandits were too busy fighting one another to bother paying them any mind.
In the very first clash they witnessed, the bandits had routed the government soldiers. That alone might not have been too shocking, but every subsequent wave of bandits proved fiercer and better equipped than the last, falling upon the soldiers with exceptional savagery. In particular, two successive bands wearing masks were extraordinarily ferocious; the moment they engaged, they beat both the caravan guards and the soldiers black and blue. Then, stripping the soldiers down to their bare skins, they swaggered off with every piece of armor and weaponry, leaving behind a field of naked men shivering in the wind.
The second time masked bandits appeared, they simply dragged the naked men away as well.
The caravan guards had thought they were dreaming. What kind of horse bandits captured an entire battalion of regular soldiers?
Fortunately, they later encountered two small bands of bandits and fought a couple of skirmishes, which somewhat restored the caravan's traditional impression of what horse bandits should be.
Yet before they had even penetrated deep into the Shattered Lands, they ran into another caravan from Zhao. That caravan was clearly suspicious—it had only a few carts, but several hundred guards, every single one equipped with two horses. It hardly looked like a merchant caravan; it was unmistakably an elite cavalry unit.
Where caravans went, Western Jin government troops followed. Sure enough, the soldiers materialized like specters, shouting from the outset that they would confiscate all the caravan's goods, carts, and horses. In response, this caravan struck back without hesitation, thrashing the troops soundly.
There was nothing surprising about Western Jin soldiers losing; it seemed they had never won a fight.
Yet right on their heels came a band of horse bandits matching the mysterious Zhao caravan in numbers—and boasting dozens of Dao Foundation cultivators! After an intense clash, the mysterious Zhao caravan actually found itself outmatched by the bandits and began to show signs of collapse.
At this moment, masked horse bandits burst onto the scene, launching a fierce assault against the bandits present. Though slightly fewer in number, the masked bandits actually fielded a hundred Dao Foundation cultivators!
The melee turned the world upside down. The mysterious Zhao caravan barely managed to break free and fled back the way it had come. Trembling in fear, the Yuyang Prefecture caravan skirted the edge of the battlefield and sped away, not daring to cast a single glance at the fighting.
This battle laid bare just how terrifying the Western Regions' horse bandits were. Even if several of Zhao's elite formations came here, they would likely only be fit to play the role of government troops—they certainly weren't cut out to be horse bandits.
The Yuyang Prefecture caravan consisted of thirty specially made carts, with five hundred cart drivers who doubled as guards. Having received far too many frights, they traveled day and night at tremendous speed. As long as they did not face major rivers or cliffs, they forced their way straight across rolling terrain without detouring at all, finally arriving at Qingming without further mishap.
The caravan brought fifty thousand bolts of cloth, a vast quantity of low-grade spiritual plants—primarily tea plants and amethyst grapevines suitable for winemaking—and several thousand jin of quintessence of the five metals. The so-called quintessence of the five metals was actually an umbrella term for various rare metals; alloying them with iron or copper produced diverse metallurgical materials with distinct properties. This batch of quintessence could be blended into at least five hundred thousand jin of high-grade metal.
When the caravan departed, they hauled away three thousand sets of breastplates, priced at twenty taels of immortal silver each. After balancing imports and exports, the caravan still left behind over twenty thousand taels of immortal silver.
However, as Pacification Commissioner holding sole command over the prefecture's military and administrative affairs, Cui Shutong could equip his own troops directly with these armors, cutting out countless intermediaries. But while the intermediate steps were eliminated, the expenditure on Zhao's official ledgers would not decrease by a copper; the saved costs naturally went straight into Cui Shutong's own pocket.
After this caravan left, Wei Yuan immediately organized manpower to clear another ten thousand mu of farmland and three thousand mu of hillside terraces, the latter designated specifically for cultivating amethyst grapes.
With bolts of cloth available, the people in the domain no longer had to constantly mend their patches. Without fresh fabric, even Dao Foundation cultivators would soon have had their skin showing. Lately, Wei Yuan had always stripped the government soldiers bare when robbing them, largely to scavenge a few sets of clothes.
Welcoming two merchant caravans in a single month had depleted their stock by five thousand sets of breastplates, netting a profit of one hundred thousand taels of immortal silver.
Having sent off the Zhao caravan, Wei Yuan sought out Yu Zhizhuo to discuss how to expand breastplate production.
Currently, the domain could produce one hundred sets of breastplates a day, equivalent to the output of fifteen hundred skilled artisans. But this was far from enough. The two caravans had not only consumed all the new breastplates made this month, but had also cleared out a substantial portion of their stockpiles.
If this continued, Qingming itself would run out of armor.
Yu Zhizhuo was troubled by the same dilemma. When Wei Yuan found him, he was drafting plans for a new type of smelting furnace. Shaped like an enormous cauldron, this furnace could take in ten thousand jin of prepared concentrate at a time and yield four thousand jin of molten iron. However, the Four Images Wind-Generating Array attached to it required four Dao Foundation cultivators to operate, preferably those with Fire-phase Dao Foundations, which would shorten the smelting time by a third.
Yet the domain currently possessed very few Fire-phase Dao Foundation cultivators, merely a few dozen.
"Fire-phase Dao Foundation?" Wei Yuan murmured thoughtfully, the Immortal Sword · False Sun manifesting in his hand.
At this time, nearly a thousand cultivators in the Weaponsmith Workshop were engaged in mining and smelting, with over seven hundred operating iron-forging machines, followed by fewer than a hundred conventional craftsmen. Aside from forging breastplates, the workshop's nearly two thousand workers also produced steel-tube guns, cast bullets, weapons, and farm implements, operating with remarkable efficiency. By traditional standards, at least three thousand craftsmen would have been required to produce an equivalent amount of goods.
Wei Yuan and Yu Zhizhuo spent an entire afternoon discussing and refining the details of the new furnace. Afterward, Wei Yuan headed to the cultivator training camp beside the drill grounds. Cultivators with Body Casting at great accomplishment—or close to it—who showed promise for achieving a Dao Foundation were gathered here for final training to make their breakthrough.
There were currently over four hundred people in the camp. The quality of this cohort was quite impressive, as most were former government troops taken prisoner. The latest batch had belonged to Xu Li's forces, including dozens of his former personal guards. Ji Liuli had inspected them personally; their natural aptitude was outstanding, and virtually all of them were capable of establishing a Dao Foundation—otherwise, they never would have been selected for Xu Li's personal guard.
Wei Yuan estimated that among these four hundred-plus people, slightly over a hundred would successfully forge a Dao Foundation.
Seeing Wei Yuan visit the training camp in person, the cultivators felt both excited and apprehensive. Most of them had originally had no intention of surrendering, but how could they resist when tempted with the Great Dao? Except for geniuses capable of entering major sects, who could turn down the chance to achieve a Dao Foundation?
In truth, they felt they had merely suffered a momentary lapse in judgment at first. But Wei Yuan had moved too fast, immediately hauling them along to raid government soldiers—some having participated more than once. With that blood pledge delivered, they knew there was no turning back.
Wei Yuan ordered all the cultivators gathered. Before their eyes appeared several hundred immortal swords, their edges flickering with faint flames.
Wei Yuan said, "Dao Foundations take myriad forms, but that doesn't mean there are no shortcuts. The immortal swords before you are simplified versions of the Great Sun. In a moment, each of you will come collect one. I will also transmit a mental formula to help you comprehend the profound nature of an immortal sword Dao Foundation. When you condense your Dao Foundation in seven days, align yourselves with this immortal sword as closely as possible, and your path forward will be far easier."
Some of the cultivators grew thrilled, though a few showed disdain.
Seven days passed in the blink of an eye, and the time arrived for the monthly foundation casting. After the routine warm-up of three Ephemeral Multitude activations, the power of Jia Wood Life-Mystic enveloped the grounds. Ji Liuli, Wei Yuan, Perfected Chuhe, Sun Yu, Yu Zhizhuo, and the others were all present, offering step-by-step guidance to each person.
In mere moments, the origin qi of heaven and earth poured down incessantly over the drill grounds. One flaming immortal sword after another rose into the sky, creating a magnificent spectacle.
Beholding such a grand display of cultivation, Wei Yuan was filled with emotion. These people had once been devoid of hope on the immortal path, yet now one in four could achieve a Dao Foundation. The senior who had refined the Qingming immortal stone back then truly possessed divine abilities of terrifying proportions!
What a pity that Xiaoyu could not see the splendor of so many immortal swords soaring into the sky.
Come nightfall, eight cultivators who had preliminarily stabilized their Dao Foundations arrived at the Weaponsmith Workshop. Sitting cross-legged around the two newly built smelting furnaces, each took up an array node. Four freshly formed False Sun immortal swords materialized and thrust into the furnaces, driving flames several zhang high from the openings.
In the end, this cohort of four hundred cultivators produced eighty-three who cultivated the Immortal Sword · False Sun. Another thirty-odd failed to forge a False Sun, ending up with plain flame swords—even with Wei Yuan's thick skin, he couldn't bring himself to call those immortal swords.
Yet a flame sword was still a Dao Foundation, merely half a notch inferior to Silken Rain.
There were also over forty haughty individuals who insisted on forging a unique Dao Foundation of their own. As it turned out, only six succeeded, a rate far below that of those who devoted themselves to comprehending the Immortal Sword · False Sun.
Failing to establish a Dao Foundation, they were unqualified to operate the furnaces and could only shovel slag.
Just as he stepped out of the Weaponsmith Workshop, Wei Yuan saw a cultivator sprint toward him and report, "An envoy from Western Jin has just arrived! He says there is a royal conferment for the Domain Lord, and the imperial commissioner will arrive tomorrow!"
Wei Yuan paused in surprise. "Where is the envoy? Take me to him."
Moments later, Wei Yuan met the Western Jin envoy in Zhike Town. The envoy had traveled at breakneck speed with only two attendants and ten guards, intending to give Wei Yuan advance notice so that he would not be caught unprepared and breach etiquette.
Upon questioning the envoy, Wei Yuan was astonished to learn that the incoming imperial commissioner was none other than the Grand Brush-Holding Eunuch of the Palace, Zhao Tong!
This man was an absolute confidant of the King of Jin, a late dharma idol great cultivator in his own right, and by all accounts a formidable figure whose Dao arts were eerie and unpredictable.
The conferment had come unexpectedly. Wei Yuan suddenly thought of Consort Yuan and felt a faint inkling of what was happening.
Having received the news, Wei Yuan wasted no time putting the domain in order, sealing off areas not meant for outsider eyes, and then focused on awaiting the commissioner's arrival.
At noon the following day, two thousand red-sleeved, black-armored Western Jin Forest of Feathers Guards marched into the domain. Their uniforms were crisp, their weapons gleamed, their strides were disciplined, and their military qi burned bright—they presented a magnificent spectacle. Cultivators of the domain had already gone ahead to guide them along the way to Zhike Town.
Wei Yuan had long been waiting there at the head of his people.
The two thousand Forest of Feathers Guards fanned out to both flanks as eight bronze-bodied mighty warriors carried forward a grand sedan chair, setting it down only once they reached Wei Yuan. Two palace eunuchs with painted red brows and bright white teeth dashed forward and lifted the curtains. Both possessed Dao Foundation cultivation; their movements were gentle, delicate, and perfectly synchronized, raising the curtains neither hurriedly nor sluggishly, like rolling and drifting clouds.
Another two eunuchs placed an incense burner before the sedan, and curling wisps of clear smoke instantly dispelled the surrounding foul air.
Only then did a pearl-embellished black boot emerge from the palanquin, stepping lightly onto the ground. A pale red robe hem whipped out, cinched with a green silk official sash adorned with a square of fine jade that radiated overwhelming spiritual energy.
From the sedan stepped a person with powdered white cheeks, cinnabar lips, and bean-shaped eyebrows. The moment he laid eyes on Wei Yuan, his face beamed with delight. Pointing a delicate finger at Wei Yuan, he chuckled, "Our Great Jin is in dire need of talent just like you!"
Chapter 306