Those gathered offered their thoughts one after another.
Among all the cultivators present, only Li Zhi did not hail from the Palace of Grand Beginning. Thus, he was the first to speak: "Allow me to share my view first. I believe the Shamans most likely intend to use this canal to channel an endless deluge, altering the environment of this realm to halt Qingming's further expansion, or perhaps even cause our domain to shrink.
"Second, on matters that are not of vital, central importance, I propose we appropriately broaden the scope of our discussions. Master Cai Shizhi possesses immense erudition; beyond the classics, histories, philosophical treatises, and literary collections, he also understands how to govern states and command armies. I believe there is no harm in hearing his thoughts. If that is still not enough, I can also invite several teachers over from Four Sages Academy.
"Lastly, I have written a letter to my father. Before long, an elder of my clan will arrive to bolster our forces. I have also asked my father to send over a few more aides and retainers who can lend a helping hand across various affairs."
Wei Yuan patted Li Zhi on the shoulder without saying much. The bond between them had long since moved past the need for words of gratitude.
Zhang Sheng believed that once the canal was fully linked, it would become a strategic thoroughfare with which no other route could compare, possessing a transport capacity far exceeding all other means. Through this waterway, the Shamans could continuously ferry troops and supplies, potentially escalating the conflict to a scale no smaller than the previous great war that had shattered the world itself.
Still, there were currently no signs of Immortals entering the fray, which counted as modest good news.
Others held different views. Some suspected this might be part of an extraordinarily vast formation, possibly a precursor to curses on par with a Karma Great Curse.
Old Daoist Chuhe believed the Shamans would inevitably dispatch some form of aquatic war beast along the canal into the battle theater.
Yu Zhizhuo, on the other hand, argued that if the front lines were constantly drenched with canal water, digging underground tunnels would become impossible. Moreover, using the river waters to inundate the city could breach Ding'an City's incomplete defenses. He maintained that the most pressing task was to dig a deep trench along the front lines to divert the water the moment the Shamans opened the floodgates.
This advice was exceedingly practical. Wei Yuan immediately issued a task within Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World to plan this diversion channel, covering its location, course, construction methods, and more.
After assigning the task, Wei Yuan took the opportunity to inspect the state of his sea of consciousness.
At present, his sea of consciousness was truly a boundless ocean. This azure water was entirely formed of magic power. Wei Yuan could feel it steeping into his entire mindscape world, slowly remodeling it. In the process, the azure water was gradually being converted into a part of his mindscape world, though at a very sluggish pace.
In the middle of the sea stood a city of modest size, much of which was occupied by the colossal Jade Mountain. Aside from the mountain, the various immortal plants had also relocated themselves into the city.
The immortal plants naturally insisted on their own dignity, each demanding no small amount of land. In truth, the plants themselves were open to compromise regarding the space they occupied, but their mortal devotees would not hear of it.
Maiden Yin-Yang occupied a corner of the city, a sector that was utterly invisible to ordinary mortals. The immortal plants gave her a wide berth, while mortals who had attained success in cultivation could perceive that the area was horrifyingly perilous. Consequently, both masters of the Battle Saint Hall had sternly warned their disciples never to approach that zone.
Speaking of which, the Battle Saint Hall had not originally been located inside the city, and its old grounds were now submerged beneath the water. As a result, several hundred members were currently crammed into a five-courtyard residence, leaving them no room to spar.
The entire city was like this: two-thirds of the grounds were taken up by the Jade Mountain, the immortal plants, and Maiden Yin-Yang, forcing eighty to ninety thousand mortals to crowd into the remaining third.
However, the disciples of the Battle Saint Hall were far too restless to sit still. Having no place to trade physical blows, they resorted to verbal contests, matching moves through spoken combat. For a time, everyone in the hall sat discussing the Dao, pairing off to duel with words.
To everyone's surprise, one man whose martial skills were mediocre turned out to have an extraordinarily sharp tongue. He debated his way past numerous experts, all the way to the Vice Hall Master.
The Vice Hall Master was a natural talent who had looked down on him entirely, only to inadvertently walk into a verbal trap. Unable to out-argue the man, he was forced to concede defeat.
In the end, across the vast Battle Saint Hall, only the Hall Master remained undefeated. Hundreds gathered to witness this duel of the century. Yet just as the debate began, before the challenger could utter a single word, the Hall Master opened his mouth and spat a blast of Dao power straight across, instantly knocking him cold.
While the crowd stood dumbfounded, they could not help but feel admiration. The Hall Master was truly the Hall Master; an ordinary fellow had no chance of out-blasting him.
Despite the congestion in the city, once the task was issued, Maiden Yin-Yang rebuilt the network and rounded up mortals to work in the surviving research institutes.
Wei Yuan let his divine sense tour the city. Just as he prepared to withdraw, he noticed that someone had erected a platform upon the city wall, flanked by a sign that read, "Grand Duke Fishing Ground." Several people held fishing rods of unknown origin, leisurely angling.
Wei Yuan shook his head with a wry smile and withdrew from his sea of consciousness. The azure water was formed from the magic power of a Sacred Shaman; not even ordinary spirit fish could survive in it, so how could there be any fish? Naturally, those fishermen's hooks were straight.
Back in the council hall, the cultivators had nearly finished their deliberation. Wei Yuan promptly mobilized corvée laborers to begin excavating the diversion trench to guard against a Shaman water assault.
At the same time, Wei Yuan dispatched all of Qingming's caravans to make extensive purchases of spirit wood, thunder sand, and other primary ingredients for gunpowder. He had already stockpiled a substantial amount, but he knew full well that once war erupted, no amount of supplies would ever feel sufficient. While news of the impending Shaman offensive had not yet spread, Wei Yuan intended to sweep the surrounding markets clean. Once word got out, the materials Qingming required would command sky-high prices.
In addition, all cultivators awaiting breakthroughs to the Dao Foundation within the domain had their current schedules cleared. Wei Yuan planned to push them through their breakthroughs within three days, taking as many successes as they could get. This would buy them extra time for training before the fighting started.
Meanwhile, Wei Yuan halted all outbound grain shipments and shifted all military units northward, mounting six of the eight colossal ballistas onto Ding'an City's walls. At the same time, the Weaponsmith Workshop began operating at full capacity, churning out short-barreled cannons around the clock.
In the aftermath of the previous brief clash with the Shamans, one statistic had caught Wei Yuan's eye: of the Shamans who fell before Ding'an City, more than half had been killed by the barrage of short-barreled cannons.
The moment this finding emerged, Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World immediately reviewed all battle data and discovered that earlier calculations had been flawed. The effectiveness of short-barreled cannons on the battlefield vastly surpassed that of ordinary fire guns, matched the flying-sword gun, and even exceeded that of the multi-barreled flying-sword autocannon.
Just as Wei Yuan was frantically preparing for the approaching war, an unexpected anomaly struck the new city. All the adolescent boys and girls once again began pairing off and reproducing on a massive scale—even those stationed as sentries were no exception.
By the time Wei Yuan discovered what was happening, the vast majority had already finished.
Chapter 474