At the Palace of Grand Beginning.
Ji Liuli walked into the familiar courtyard and looked around.
She had not been away for very long, yet these few months felt as though several years had passed. Far too much had happened during this time, and the back-to-back battles alone were enough to leave one imperceptibly exhausted.
The young Taoist was not seated in the courtyard, nor was he meditating upon his cloud bed. At this moment, he stood at the edge of the sheer cliff, looking toward the north, silently calculating something.
The courtyard was devoid of its former ease, replaced instead by an inexplicable heaviness that made even breathing feel difficult.
Only when Ji Liuli came up behind him did True Monarch Yanshi, who bore the appearance of a young Taoist, turn around. "You have returned," he said.
"This disciple was meant to return, but... I would like to delay it a little longer," Ji Liuli said.
"Oh? Right now is the optimal time for you to return and make your breakthrough. Why the change of heart?"
Ji Liuli replied, "I have recently gained new insights and feel my Dao Foundation can advance another step. That is why I wish to remain in the Western Regions a while longer."
"Why the Western Regions?" True Monarch Yanshi frowned slightly.
"Your disciple has an opportunity to attain the Dao there. The perfection of my Dao Foundation should also take place in the Western Regions."
True Monarch Yanshi walked back into the courtyard and sat down. In just the span of those few steps, the world within the entire courtyard seemed to transform completely, turning into something entirely different from when Ji Liuli had first entered.
True Monarch Yanshi said slowly, "Your Dao Foundation was inherently close to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, endowed with numerous wonderful uses and supreme might. Through these years of tempering, its power has reached a higher level. Yet precisely because of this, the difficulty of condensing your dharma idol has risen accordingly. With every additional wonderful use, with every bit of added might, achieving a dharma idol becomes ever more arduous. The saying that going too far is as bad as falling short surely applies to you now."
"Your disciple knows."
True Monarch Yanshi nodded. "It is good that you know. What wonderful use have you comprehended this time? Let me see."
Ji Liuli released the Nine-Layer Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. At this moment, the small pagoda was faintly translucent, resembling a glazed treasure and giving off an exceptionally lively, agile feel. Merely drawing near it cleared one's mind and quickened one's thoughts.
Ji Liuli said, "In the Western Regions, I used the Demon-Suppressing Pagoda to simulate the nature of worldly matter and deduce its variations, adding an aspect of exquisite intricacy. I plan to perform more deductions and continuously reinforce this function, ultimately aiming to simultaneously deduce tens of thousands of material variations to prove the Exquisite Dao. Once I reach the dharma idol stage, I will achieve the Nine-Layer Demon-Suppressing Exquisite Pagoda."
"The Exquisite Dao is no trifling matter. Doing this will redouble the difficulty of condensing your dharma idol. Have you thought this through?"
"Rest assured, Master. Your disciple's aptitude is peerless; I can bear this bit of burden."
"Be that as it may, you should still spend less time at Wei Yuan's side. If you must stay, you must return here from time to time."
"Why is that?"
True Monarch Yanshi casually drew a handful of white sand from the flower bed and let it spill from his palm.
The white sand gathered in midair into a mountain peak, surrounded on all sides by bottomless darkness. Grains of sand continually slid down the peak, tumbling into the dark abyss, while new grains continuously formed at the summit—a deeply bizarre sight.
True Monarch Yanshi said, "This mountain peak is like Wei Yuan at present. For some unknown reason, his true karmic luck is piling higher and higher, none of which ordinary people can perceive. Yet his surroundings, like the area around this peak, have become an absolute abyss of karmic luck. Even those closest to him are like the grains of sand on the peak—even if they do not tumble off immediately, they cannot remain on the mountain for long. As time passes, they will inevitably plunge into the abyss.
"If you stay beside him constantly, you will not feel the effects yourself, but when preparing to advance to a dharma idol, a major mishap might occur. Most of my attention is currently focused on the north, so I may not be able to assist you in time. Therefore, you must return regularly to wash away the negative karmic luck."
"This disciple will be careful."
True Monarch Yanshi nodded. "Go on, then."
Ji Liuli prepared to depart, but still harbored some worry. "Is the north critical?" she asked.
"The contemporary Imperial Preceptor of Northern Liao wants to shear away the karmic luck of our northern mountain gate, but how could I let him have his way? We have already fought two bouts recently, and perhaps there will soon be a third."
True Monarch Yanshi's voice was laced with ease and formidable confidence. Ji Liuli's mood brightened as well, and she took her leave.
***
Western Jin, the Autumn Hunt grounds.
Day had already broken. Guided by a palace eunuch, Wei Yuan found the encampment of his cavalry and regrouped with his riders.
He entered the central command tent and spread out a map on the desk. The map had only been delivered into Wei Yuan's hands this morning. It marked the starting position of his unit, and small swords were drawn at each of the three central peaks.
Secret treasures were buried at these three sword marks: one concealed immortal silver, one held the official seal of a substantive fourth-rank post, and the last contained a treasure vase holding a tiny wisp of Western Jin's national karmic luck. Though the national karmic luck was not much, it was enough to bestow three chi of karmic luck upon someone. If that person originally possessed seven chi of karmic luck, gaining this national luck would push them past one zhang, transforming them into a child of karmic destiny.
These three hidden treasures were quite appealing even to military commissioners like Xu Tongshou and Lü Wenbai; they could create a powerful subordinate out of thin air, or allow an otherwise merely decent junior of their clan to step into the ranks of true prodigies.
However, compared to the national karmic luck awarded for sweeping the hunt, the karmic luck in the vase was utterly insignificant, hardly worth mentioning.
A total of nine factions were participating in this hunt, each restricted to five hundred troops, with no restrictions on troop types or equipment. Aside from Wei Yuan's own position, the locations of all the other factions on the map were completely unknown.
Among the participants were three princes, three military commissioners including Wei Yuan, the forces of Prince Ying and Prince Cheng, and a border army from the northern frontier. Essentially all the figures holding real military authority in Western Jin were gathered here.
The targets of the hunt were over ten thousand members of the Liao Clan, most of them prime-age men and women captured from tribes, alongside a portion of prisoners of war. They had been scattered across the vast mountainous region, where multiple secret armories stocked with weapons and provisions had also been placed; which Liao people found what was left entirely to heaven's will.
Looking at the map now, Wei Yuan ruled out the three marked secret vaults right away. For this hunt, he was striving to finish dead last, so naturally he was not going to fight over the secret vaults.
Wei Yuan had been assigned a position dead center in the north. A few dozen li south lay one of the secret vaults. This placement was practically cheating; as long as Wei Yuan led a full-speed charge, none of the other factions could beat him to it.
Yet Wei Yuan was considering heading west or east, not south. He felt his current position was still a bit too close to the center, making it inevitable that some force would pass by, so he had to shift toward the periphery.
Even so, Wei Yuan could not wander too far. He had to give the King of Jin some face and at least keep up appearances. Therefore, he planned to select a hilltop to dig in, waiting like a hunter by a tree for rabbits to stumble in, reaping whoever came knocking at his door.
Glancing over the map, Wei Yuan spotted a small river in the northwest corner, right beside a hill—ideal terrain for a camp that was easy to defend and convenient for launching attacks.
Since that spot was so good, he naturally had to stay far away from it. Thus, Wei Yuan decided to head east. Over there stood a bald hill, looking utterly forsaken by all. It would be perfect for sleeping in peace for a few days to coast through the hunt.
As the sky grew fully bright, continuous horn blasts sounded. Wei Yuan led his unit out of the camp, heading straight for the chosen hill as the Autumn Hunt officially began.
The mounts Wei Yuan brought this time were all acquired from the Xu family's private army—tall, magnificent steeds that were an entire grade superior to the mounts of the regular Western Jin cavalry. Even though they were marching across undulating mountainous terrain, they had galloped more than a hundred li in less than an hour, arriving at the designated area.
Along the way, they had encountered only a few scattered groups of Liao people. Wei Yuan did not waste time on them, accelerating his march until they finally ascended the small hill.
The hill was not tall, only several dozen zhang high, but it was the only elevation within twenty li.
After surveying it, Wei Yuan was extremely pleased. "Climb the hill, pitch camp, and first build the fortifications to hold the horses!" he commanded.
The riders rode up the hill and dismounted, locating a depression on the summit to serve as an enclosure for the horses, gathering the warhorses together. Wei Yuan manifested a large batch of flat cauldrons and distributed them. Though called flat cauldrons, they were effectively used as shovels—less than a finger thick, with sharpened outer edges.
Regardless of their shape, they possessed the true intent of a cauldron within, and were therefore cauldrons.
With his Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains currently dormant, the objects Wei Yuan manifested possessed no supernatural power whatsoever and could only serve as shovels. But at the very least, his soldiers did not need to carry an extra tool on their backs.
The five hundred riders immediately dug with all their might. Trenches extended outward at an incredible speed, and within an hour, the hilltop was thoroughly cratered, riddled with trenches and pits.
Wei Yuan checked the weather and felt heavy rain might fall tonight, so he manifested several large cauldrons and placed them in the center of the position to catch rainwater. There was no water source on the hilltop, and the hunt rules forbade bringing food and water, requiring participants to forage for pre-hidden supplies within the hunting grounds.
However, this rule had little impact on Wei Yuan. The five hundred riders he had brought were all Dao Foundation cultivators; after one full meal, they could go seven or eight days without eating, though they still needed to drink water.
Had they been in the Body Casting stage, they would have eaten far more and possessed very little tolerance for hunger. That was why elite human armies placed such great emphasis on provisions, and history was rife with battles lost to severed supply lines.
The hunt was not a matter of a day or two; it might well last three to five days, so water had to be secured in advance. Wei Yuan swept his divine sense through the surroundings, and finding no supplies within ten li, he did not bother wasting effort searching further.
Seeing the hilltop fortifications gradually take shape, the riders opened their packs, retrieved steel-tube guns and ammunition wrapped in oiled paper, and laid them out along the position. According to Xu Wenwu, it would be best to lay down several layers of barbed wire and landmines in front of the position.
However, Wei Yuan felt those two items were exceedingly useful and there was no need to display them before the King of Jin right now. When conflicts arose in the future, they could be used to give the Jin army a proper surprise.
By now, the riders were already thoroughly practiced in constructing positions. From top to bottom, the realm's army knew that before fighting a battle, one must first dig the ground. Dao Foundation cultivators were naturally adept at earthmoving; a single scoop of the shovel threw up several hundred jin of soil. Had Yue Jinshan's iron cavalry not arrived so swiftly last time, giving Wei Yuan half a day to dig three lines of trenches would have prevented even those three hundred casualties.
Wei Yuan paced back and forth, growing more satisfied the more he looked. Even he could find no fault in it.
Inspecting as he spoke, Wei Yuan said, "Excellent! Everyone put your backs into it. Once the fortifications are dug, pitch tents and rest. We aren't going anywhere for the next few days. We will hold our ground right here, keep casualties to an absolute minimum, coast through the Autumn Hunt, and then head home... Hm?!"
Wei Yuan suddenly spotted a unit appearing over a dozen li away, marching laterally across his front. From the looks of it, they were aiming to plunge straight toward one of the three secret vaults to seize the reward.
The moment he saw the unit's banner, murderous intent instantly surfaced on Wei Yuan's face. That was the force of Lü Wenbai, the Military Commissioner of Yunxiang!
Wei Yuan turned around and shouted, "Grab your gear and mount up! We'll hit them from behind and wipe that unit out! Anyone who resists is to be slain on the spot—show no mercy!"
Wei Yuan brought out the Azure Steed and leaped into the saddle. The accompanying palace eunuch rushed forward and grabbed Wei Yuan's leg, crying out repeatedly, "Lord Wei, think twice! Fratricidal slaughter will ruin your reputation! My lord, the bigger picture—you must consider the bigger picture!"
Wei Yuan kicked him away. "To hell with the bigger picture! I always settle private scores first!"
Chapter 318