As noon approached, warm sunlight fell upon the gate tower of Hanyang Pass, illuminating the formidable fortress and making it appear exceptionally imposing. Yet dense shadows also cast it in mottled, weathered hues, lending it an air of desolation.
Xu Zhongxing sat on the terrace of the west gate tower, a pot of warmed wine at hand. His eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed out across the vast, endless Western Regions.
Fan Donghe sat beside him, also nursing a pot of wine. Taking a slow sip, he said, "It's a blessing enough that you were able to return, Big Brother."
Xu Zhongxing gave a dry chuckle and pointed ahead. "Look. Three years ago, looking out from here, everything was lush and dark green. Now, in just over two years, it has faded to pale green, and there is even clear, pristine qi gathering beneath the clouds. Official rank and titles never mattered much to me, but guarding this place has truly become an idle posting."
Fan Donghe could only let out a long sigh.
To the uninitiated, Hanyang Pass remained the same magnificent, world-renowned stronghold it had always been.
Yet Fan Donghe knew all too well that, having lost its eight colossal ballistas and with its pass-guarding grand formation sabotaged, Hanyang Pass was now an empty shell—merely a somewhat taller stone fortress. In an actual battle, bare city walls were virtually useless; Blood Merging realm cultivators could scale them barehanded, and Bone Tempering cultivators could bound right over them with a running start.
Now, both men had been stripped of their ranks and stipends, banished to Hanyang Pass as the chief and deputy commanders of the west gate. Meanwhile, the new garrison commander was an elder ranked dead last in the clan. Fortunately, this elder had neither deep background nor great cultivation. Though both possessed dharma idols, Fan Donghe could likely thrash him in less time than it took for an incense stick to burn.
The elder was sensible enough never to interfere with affairs at the west gate, contenting himself with throwing his weight around outside the pass and wringing the locals dry.
Xu Zhongxing took a sip of wine and gazed westward, saying slowly, "Clear qi is gradually emerging between heaven and earth in the west. While that might not be good for us, it is a tremendous boon for the human race."
Fan Donghe sighed. "Who cares who benefits and who doesn't? I'm completely disheartened now. All I want is to idle away the rest of my days."
Xu Zhongxing suddenly said, "Do you want to come north with me to fight the Liao Clan?"
Fan Donghe started, then replied, "Big Brother, I've spent my entire life dealing with the Shamans. I know nothing about the Liao Clan! Besides, our territory doesn't even border them. Are we going to work for the Lu clan?"
"No. We won't stay in Western Jin. We'll go to Northern Qi. The fighting there is desperate right now—they're sorely in need of capable men."
Fan Donghe was taken aback. "Big Brother, are you abandoning your foundation within the clan?"
"After everything that's happened, I've realized that so-called foundations and prospects are utterly meaningless."
"What about my sisters-in-law, my nieces, and my nephews? They can't possibly follow you to Northern Qi, can they?"
Xu Zhongxing fell silent for a moment, then let out a sigh and said nothing more.
Right then, Fan Donghe shuddered and shot to his feet, murderous intent rolling off him as he barked in a low voice, "Military qi! An enemy approaches!"
Xu Zhongxing remained lounging lazily and remarked, "Where would an enemy come from in the west these days? Besides, judging by that military qi, Hanyang Pass could never hold out anyway. If they truly attack, we'll just open the gates and surrender."
Fan Donghe was baffled, unable to tell whether Xu Zhongxing was speaking in earnest or sarcasm. His cultivation was inferior to Xu Zhongxing's, and at this moment, he could only see a plume of military qi rising in the distance, rapidly drawing near.
A moment later, Fan Donghe finally caught a clear view of the military qi, and a chill struck his heart. The qi was squared and solid, coalescing into near-physical substance.
Hovering faintly above it was the phantom silhouette of an immense winged steed.
Judging by its quality and volume, it would take at least a hundred thousand elite border troops to match it. At present, Hanyang Pass held only fifty thousand soldiers—forty-five thousand of them raw recruits, and a mere five thousand veterans, and those were veterans in the most literal, aged sense.
If an enemy army truly attacked, such defenses would collapse at the first touch. Fan Donghe instinctively shouted, "Activate the city-guarding grand formation!"
Yet none of the officers in the gate tower moved; every one of them wore a strange, conflicted expression.
Only then did Fan Donghe remember that during the previous bandit trouble, the pass's grand defensive formation had been mostly dismantled, with the majority of the formation materials looted by the horse bandits. Afterward, Wei Yuan's imperial troops had entered the city and scraped the ground once more, stripping away much of whatever scraps remained.
And with Western Jin's imperial treasury depleted, there was no money to repair the grand formation or replace the colossal ballistas. Thus, the entirety of Hanyang Pass lay in a completely undefended state, without a single defensive formation capable of activating.
Fan Donghe's face shifted again. The speed of the military qi's advance was unfathomably swift. If it were a hundred-man elite cavalry squad, it would be understandable, but how could a force rivaling a hundred thousand border troops move so quickly? This speed was faster than the charge of most cavalry!
Suddenly, several riders galloped up like the wind, shouting from afar, "Lord Wei Yuan, Military Commissioner of Dingxi, travels to the capital for an imperial audience! Open the gates at once to let the escort army through! If you delay the Lord Commissioner's itinerary, you will answer for it!"
Hearing this, Fan Donghe was infuriated. "If you want the gates opened, present an order from the Ministry of War! We do not answer to the Military Commissioner of Dingxi! By what right do we obey his command?!"
Xu Zhongxing suddenly commanded, "Open the gates!"
All of Fan Donghe's retorts choked back into his throat, at a loss as to Xu Zhongxing's motive. Although Xu Zhongxing had lost his official post, his lingering prestige remained; thus, the soldiers obeyed and opened the pass gates.
In the blink of an eye, the military qi swept before the pass, and the army beneath it revealed its true form. It was a heavy cavalry force of over ten thousand men. Banners bristled like a forest, armor gleamed pristine and sharp, every rider clad in heavy plate and brandishing lances—surging forward like a roaring torrent of steel.
Just looking at the riders' armaments made Fan Donghe knit his brows tightly. Only the Wufeng Elite Cavalry, the finest of the Xu family's private army, possessed equipment of this caliber.
Yet there were only three thousand Wufeng heavy cavalrymen in total, so prized that the family hadn't dared deploy them during either assault on the territory. But beneath that military qi rode a full fifteen thousand Dingxi iron cavalry!
Since when had Qingming possessed such might?
A mere escort accompanying Wei Yuan to the capital numbered fifteen thousand heavy cavalry—a force capable of overrunning virtually any city along the way, short of the royal capital itself.
The army didn't pause for a moment, charging straight toward the pass gate. Just then, the Xu family elder serving as the new Pacification Commissioner flew over in a frantic rush, shouting in a panic the moment he arrived: "Where did this army come from? Why haven't you closed the gates? Close them! Shut the gates at once!!"
His face was flushed with wine, his cheeks stamped with rouge from multiple women. Though noon had not yet arrived, the newly appointed commissioner was already leading a colorful life.
He flailed in panic as he gave orders, but Xu Zhongxing said coolly, "It's already too late."
The Dingxi iron cavalry had already automatically shifted into ranks four abreast, thundering into the fortress and rushing along the main thoroughfare straight toward the east gate. The defenses at the east gate were far weaker than the west; having heard that the west gate had been flung wide open, the garrison commander there had followed suit long ago, praying only that these grand lords would leave as quickly as possible.
And so Wei Yuan's heavy cavalry rumbled through Hanyang Pass, pressing eastward without pause.
Only when the military qi faded into the eastern distance did the new Pacification Commissioner pat his chest and let out a long breath. Then he said, "How could you just open the gates? What if he turned hostile once his army entered the city? What would we have stopped him with?"
Xu Zhongxing cast him a glance, making no effort to conceal the contempt in his eyes. "If he wanted to fight, would closing the gates have made any difference?"
The elder bristled with embarrassment and snapped coldly, "Hmph! If we kept the gates shut and he dared attack, that would be open rebellion! We don't fall under his jurisdiction; if we refused to let him enter, what could he possibly do?"
Xu Zhongxing chuckled softly. "Elder, lest you forget how the seat you occupy became vacant in the first place, or how your predecessor vanished."
The elder instantly recalled his predecessor's fate, his face turning ashen. Hanyang Pass could not stop Wei Yuan's imperial troops, nor could it stop Wei Yuan's horse bandits.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuan was mounted atop the Azure Steed. The glow of a book page above his head faded away, and the army's pace gradually slowed.
Wei Yuan looked to his left and right. Vast expanses of land lay blanketed beneath snow. Yet in certain fields, the snow had already melted to reveal dark soil, where farmers were tilling the ground.
These were known as fire fields, maintained by formations that kept the terrestrial qi warm enough to grow vegetables and fruits even in the dead of winter, ensuring that high-ranking officials and nobles could enjoy fresh produce year-round.
Naturally, such produce was exorbitantly expensive. Even the most ordinary head of greens was far beyond the reach of the farmers tilling the soil. The laborers in the fields wore tattered rags, their bare feet wading through slushy melted snow, their exposed calves covered in large patches of chilblains. Shivering violently in the freezing cold, they were forced to toil on nonetheless, watched over by several cultivators in fur coats standing at the edges of the fields.
A fire field typically spanned a dozen mu or so, worked by nearly a hundred emaciated laborers.
Wei Yuan withdrew his gaze and looked toward a mountain village not far away. The onset of clear skies after heavy snowfall brought the bitterest cold, yet smoke rose from only a few households where fires burned within. Each of these was a standalone compound, clearly belonging to wealthy families, while not a wisp of smoke drifted from any of the rest.
After a short while, the tome refilled with spiritual qi, and the army surged eastward once again.
Several days later, Wei Yuan arrived at the royal capital. The sheer magnificence of his army and the solemn, imposing weight of their military qi shook the entire city! Lü Zhongzhi, Commander of the Nine Gates, mounted the city wall to observe before riding out in person to welcome Wei Yuan.
This time, Wei Yuan had brought five thousand Dragon Wing heavy cavalry, along with ten thousand Dragon Soaring cavalry and infantry, instantly filling every military camp within the barbican.
As usual, Wei Yuan stayed at the courier station, though half the compound had been cordoned off solely for his use this time. Wei Yuan stood on no ceremony, having Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and the others move in alongside him, while also accommodating dozens of his trusted officers.
They had barely settled in, before their luggage was even unpacked, when a drawn-out cry echoed through the station: "An imperial decree has arrived!"
Wei Yuan had no choice but to step into the courtyard to receive the decree. The one delivering it was Liu Quangong. Western Jin's most powerful palace eunuch unfurled the imperial scroll and intoned: "By imperial command: Wei Yuan, Military Commissioner of Dingxi, is summoned to court tomorrow. Respect this!"
Wei Yuan had come prepared. After giving thanks and accepting the decree, he retrieved a square box and pressed it into Liu Quangong's hands.
The box was about the size of a book, neither large nor small, and felt light when weighed in the hand, giving no clue as to what lay within.
Liu Quangong neither declined nor tucked it away, simply asking, "May I ask what this item might be?"
Wei Yuan lowered his voice and said, "Inside are ten Nether Blood Minor Longevity Pills refined from blood yingluo. Each can extend one's lifespan by three years without conflicting with other longevity medicines or diminishing their efficacy. However, as it uses blood yingluo as the primary ingredient, though not as violently vicious as raw blood yingluo, it is still very harsh on the body and must not be taken in excess."
Liu Quangong immediately cracked open the lid a sliver. A single glance and a whiff of the pill aroma left him visibly moved. "Such a treasure... This servant has no choice but to accept! Lord Wei is exceedingly thoughtful. Should you ever need this servant's assistance in the future, you need only speak the word."
Wei Yuan smiled. "I shall rely heavily on Chief Eunuch's care in the days ahead."
Liu Quangong's demeanor grew noticeably warmer. "It is merely this servant's duty. By the way, Consort Yuan has summoned you. She commands you to enter the palace for an audience immediately, without delay. You can ride in this servant's carriage again this time. Let us depart at once!"
***
Chunhua Hall.
By now, the warmth-preserving formation in Chunhua Hall had long been active. Thick brocade folding screens and thermal partitions were erected around the hall to keep out the bitter wind, while braziers burned in the four corners, making the interior uncomfortably hot.
Maids guided Wei Yuan to the entrance of Chunhua Hall before withdrawing, gesturing for him to proceed inside on his own.
Around Chunhua Hall stood thermal walls two zhang high, and a screen wall stood directly at the entrance, concealing the interior from view. With a slight trepidation in his heart, Wei Yuan stepped around the screen wall and walked into Chunhua Hall.
The moment he entered, he was enveloped in balmy warmth and drifting subtle fragrance, with two incense burners releasing curling wisps of smoke. Catching the scent, Wei Yuan felt as if a sheer pink veil had draped over his consciousness. A languid indolence washed over him, even as his body grew increasingly sensitive.
His aura sank precipitously, and his dharma idol grew sluggish and difficult to circulate, suppressing his overall strength to less than half.
Wei Yuan felt a jolt of alarm. This was far from just the incense at work; an exceedingly formidable formation had been laid within the hall, powerful enough to suppress half his strength. Had an ordinary dharma idol cultivator set foot here, they would likely have been knocked straight back down to the early Dao Foundation realm.
Consort Yuan sat regally upon an ornate throne in the center of the hall, backed by a folding screen embroidered with a vibrant phoenix. Flanking her stood the same two familiar maids, both looking at Wei Yuan with inscrutable smiles.
It had to be admitted that when Consort Yuan sat motionless, she appeared truly dignified and sacred, inspiring not the slightest thought of disrespect.
Yet in this regard, Wei Yuan felt he was hardly human.
Consort Yuan's voice was clear and cool, like pearls dropping onto a jade plate. "Come closer and speak."
Wei Yuan approached the phoenix throne and had no choice but to kneel in accordance with etiquette. Beneath Consort Yuan's throne was a red sandalwood platform; when Wei Yuan knelt, his head was just slightly higher than her feet.
Just then, Consort Yuan suddenly lifted the hem of her gown, revealing her feet resting on the wooden platform.
She wore gossamer-thin stockings, white on the left and black on the right. Their material was extraordinary—so delicate that even a dozen layers stacked together would barely match the thickness of a single strand of hair. Through the translucent stockings, her jade-like toes and pale red-painted nails were fully visible, down to the fine, delicate veins tracing the bridge of her foot.
Her feet drew closer and closer to Wei Yuan. As it turned out, the two maids had lifted the platform beneath the phoenix throne and carried it forward until it reached right in front of him. Consort Yuan extended her white-stockinged foot and gently nudged Wei Yuan's chin, tilting his head upward.
Looking up, Wei Yuan saw that the hem of her gown had risen above her knees. He could now tell that she wore thigh-high stockings extending past her knees all the way to the top of her thighs. Beyond that, amidst the hazy shadows, only fleeting glimpses could be made out.
Consort Yuan's voice was like a mountain spring—tinkling, icy, and enchanting. "Lord Wei is a clever man indeed. You know that only by coming to me to grease the right wheels can you hope to see the Young King of Chu."
Chapter 450