Who Still Cares About the Court?

In the ancestral lands of the Xu family, Xu Lanshan was personally demonstrating and passing down the five forms of the bayonet spear art. The spear techniques consisted entirely of fundamental movements, with the thrust being the absolute cornerstone. At this moment, several squares of warriors on the drill ground were repeatedly practicing the first form, Level Spear Thrust. A blue brick was tied to the spearhead of each warrior's weapon, and a thrust was deemed acceptable only if the tip remained completely level without drooping. As a peak dharma idol, Xu Lanshan had personally developed this bayonet spearmanship around the characteristics of fire gun bayonets, tailoring it to the slaughter of the battlefield—a clear sign of the immense importance she placed on it. Furthermore, she had ordered the army to discard all the mismatched personal weapons they had brought along. Broadswords, hand axes, ancestral blades, and sabers were banned without exception; hand-to-hand combat permitted nothing other than bayonets. They had been drilling for nearly an hour now. From ordinary soldiers to commanding officers, all of them had long been groaning in secret, yet not a soul dared utter a single word of complaint. Those bold enough to complain had already been turned into corpses, and none of their behind-the-scenes backers were greater than Xu Lanshan. In the midst of the drills, a figure flew in at full speed and delivered an urgent military dispatch to Xu Lanshan. She opened it and saw the report: General Wei Boyang, the Great Tang's Senior General of Anyuan, was approaching Hanyang Pass aboard the Regent King's flying boat. The garrison had failed to turn him away, and several guards had already been injured in the scuffle. A projection hovered over the dispatch, showing an exquisitely ornate flying vessel suspended just outside Hanyang Pass. At the prow stood an imposing general, locked in a standoff with a cluster of Xu family cultivators. Xu Lanshan's brows knitted slightly. She had read the intelligence regarding Wei Boyang's mission to reinforce Qingming. Wei Boyang appeared rough and boisterous on the outside, but beneath that exterior lay a mind as meticulous as a hair, exceptionally skilled in troop command and warfare. Born into an ordinary household, he had been close friends with the current Regent King since childhood, growing up together through thick and thin. It was because of this bond that, after achieving success in cultivation, Wei Boyang had continually served in the Great Tang. Though his official titles sounded grand, he had effectively been confined to the Tang domain, accomplishing little for most of his life. How could such a man suddenly turn up at Hanyang Pass and pick a fight with the Xu family? Xu Lanshan immediately instructed, "Continue drilling on your own. I have military affairs to attend to." With that, she took to the air, flying toward Hanyang Pass at top speed. Above Hanyang Pass, Wei Boyang's booming voice rolled like thunder across a clear sky, echoing throughout the fortress town. "Open your dog eyes and take a good look! This is the flying boat of the Great Tang's Regent King, equal in standing to an imperial tour by the Tang Son of Heaven! To block this ship is to block the Son of Heaven's own carriage! Earlier, someone claimed you were men of the Xu family? Come, come, say it louder! Let's hear which family you lot belong to, daring to halt the Son of Heaven's vessel!" Ahead of the flying boat, several Xu family dharma idol elders exchanged uneasy glances. Who among them dared speak up on such a subject at a time like this? Wei Boyang barked again, "Refusing to speak, yet refusing to yield—are you dead men? Men, forward! Ram these corpses to death before anything else!" Two voices rang out from the distance: "Hold!" Two figures flew in from different directions at roughly the same speed. One was Xu Lanshan; the other was True Monarch Qiuniu. Xu Lanshan and True Monarch Qiuniu exchanged glances. Xu Lanshan stepped back half a pace, signaling that True Monarch Qiuniu should take the lead. Wei Boyang was a powerhouse of Scenery Command. Xu Lanshan still fell short in both cultivation realm and status, making it far more suitable for Qiuniu, a fellow Scenery Command expert, to step forward. True Monarch Qiuniu said, "General Wei, why such a fiery temper? This is a frontier pass, and flying boats are forbidden from traveling overhead. That is common sense. Furthermore, if General Wei is returning to the imperial court, there was never any need to take this route. This detour is rather wide." Wei Boyang let out a cold sneer. "This general travels by imperial decree. I go wherever I please! Besides, I have never heard of any airspace ban over a frontier pass. Even if there were, it would only apply to common flying boats. Who dares bar the vessel of the Son of Heaven? You have colossal nerve! From where I stand, you lot are plotting rebellion!" True Monarch Qiuniu frowned, but still held his temper. "This seat was merely concerned that General Wei and the Son of Heaven's vessel might come to harm..." Xu Lanshan's heart sank. *Qiuniu spoke out of turn.* Sure enough, Wei Boyang's brows shot up, his voice shaking the open wilderness as he roared, "What is there to worry about? Harming the Son of Heaven's vessel is tantamount to assassinating the Son of Heaven! Wouldn't it suffice for you to simply pay with your life? And even after you're dead, nine generations of your kin will be executed!" Qiuniu's face flushed crimson with fury. Yet Wei Boyang's words held nominal legal weight, leaving him at a loss for how to retort. He could only sputter, "This seat—" Wei Boyang cut him off again: "What kind of thing are you, daring to call yourself 'this seat' in front of this general? In a barbaric, desolate borderland like this, Li Shenji is the only man I acknowledge! The rest of you aren't qualified to know my name! "To speak plainly: does a wild Scenery Command cultivator with a hollow foundation like yours even deserve to speak to this general? 'This seat'? Look at your own station—you don't even hold a seventh-rank imperial post! You dare style yourself 'this seat'?" A surge of furious blood rushed straight to True Monarch Qiuniu's crown. With a ferocious roar, he moved to charge forward and duel Wei Boyang. But Wei Boyang showed not the slightest hint of fear, his hand already gripping the hilt of his precious saber. Seeing disaster looming, Xu Lanshan flew between them to restrain Qiuniu, then turned to Wei Boyang. "General Wei! Hurling reckless abuse over a minor disagreement—as a high official of the imperial court, how can you act in a manner so beneath your dignity?" Wei Boyang scoffed. "Your Xu family openly rebels, treating the imperial court with utter contempt. This general has merely traded a few insults and refrained from dragging your ancestors into it—which is already showing you courtesy! What, is that wild Scenery Command beast still not satisfied? When Laozi was ripping Nether Shamans apart with my bare hands, where was that foul creature hiding? Shivering in his mother's arms?" A pillar of True Yang bright fire burst from the crown of True Monarch Qiuniu's head as he prepared to lunge forward in a fight to the death. Xu Lanshan held him back with all her might, then ordered men to escort Qiuniu away before speaking with chilling severity. "General Wei, if you want something, you may as well say it plainly! Otherwise, know that our Xu family is anchored by an immortal ancestor. We are not some house where any stray dog can come strutting up to bully us!" Wei Boyang looked her up and down. Xu Lanshan held her ground without the slightest fear. Her breakthrough to Scenery Command was imminent. Even though she would still be a minor realm below him and not his match immediately after breaking through, she would at least possess the strength to protect herself. If they were at the same cultivation level, she was confident she would hold the upper hand. That was the bedrock of her confidence. Wei Boyang suddenly grinned broadly. "You're not bad-looking for a female cultivator, just a bit on the bony side. Wouldn't be much fun to hold." Xu Lanshan's expression turned frostily frigid. "If General Wei continues to act like a common street rogue, you will only bring disgrace upon the imperial court." Wei Boyang let out a cold laugh. "In your eyes, there's still an imperial court?" Xu Lanshan had no answer for that. She thought to herself that in this vast world, apart from a few relics within the Tang domain who clung desperately to bygone glory and lived each day in their memories, who actually cared about the imperial court? Yet such thoughts could never be spoken aloud. After all, the house of Tang remained the shared sovereign of the realm and the symbol of political legitimacy. One could loudly proclaim rebellion against a particular state and simply flee to another, but if anyone dared rebel against the house of Tang, the realm was vast, yet there would be nowhere left to hide. Refusing to take Wei Boyang's bait, Xu Lanshan merely replied, "General Wei, if you truly believe that flying over this pass is the only way to save your pride, then by all means, fly over it. But using the authority of the imperial court for personal whims merely to satisfy your own ego is a matter we shall duly report to the court in the future." Wei Boyang snorted. "Think Laozi is scared of your complaints? File them wherever you like! Since you're letting me through, cut the chatter and clear the road!" Xu Lanshan flew aside, ordering the elders to yield the path. The flying boat slowly engaged its engines and sailed forward toward Hanyang Pass. Just then, one of the Xu family elders pointed beyond the pass and called out, "People have appeared over there! They look like horse bandits!" Xu Lanshan turned her gaze to see a band of horse bandits appearing on a small knoll twenty li outside Hanyang Pass. Astonishingly, they were busy leveling the ground and excavating foundations, looking for all the world as though they intended to pitch camp and build a fortress. The hill was only a few dozen zhang high and covered very little ground. Its vegetation was sparse, and it held no resources. Xu Lanshan had never paid it any attention, yet to her astonishment, horse bandits had taken advantage of the commotion to seize it. Standing upon the flying boat, Wei Boyang watched as the colossal vessel drifted slowly over Hanyang Pass. The Imperial Guards on deck carried themselves with arrogant pride, constantly making lewd gestures at the garrison below, tossing refuse, and spitting downward. Although the flying boat was sailing several hundred zhang in the air and their spit could never reach the garrison's heads, the curses and gestures were plain to see. This time, Wei Boyang did not repeat the grand spectacle of a thousand men defecating into the open air. The flying boat passed smoothly and safely above Hanyang Pass. Behind the pass, tents carpeted the mountains and plains, where countless merchant caravans were stuck in place. On the slopes and the grassy meadows lay swathes of displaced refugees, many of them so frail they could no longer stand. Even the sight of such an enormous, magnificent vessel drifting overhead could not prompt them to rise and cheer. Seeing the endless refugees blanketing the hills below, Wei Boyang understood what Wei Yuan had wanted him to witness. He immediately instructed, "Record everything below. Oh, and make a show of it—make sure the Xu family sees us recording!" The Imperial Guard commander perked up. "Rest assured, General! This humble officer will handle it flawlessly." The commander assumed Wei Boyang wanted to gather dirt on the Xu family so they would come negotiate, allowing him to demand a hefty price. He assembled a full hundred Imperial Guards, lining them up in neat formation on the aft deck, before bellowing, "Set up this image-recording formation properly! If you ruin this commander's recording quality, I'll have your skins!" The Imperial Guards roared in unison. The commander looked back, only to discover that the airspace behind them was entirely deserted; the Xu family cultivators were all flying toward the area outside the pass. By this point, Xu Lanshan had flown above the small hill. Watching the bustling horse bandits, she said to a dharma idol elder, "Go ask them what their origins are." One elder remarked, "These bandit leaders are all wearing masks. Why do they look so much like the Heaven-Battling Gang?" At the mention of the Heaven-Battling Gang, several elders' expressions grew unnatural, and some even showed signs of fear. Fortunately, another elder countered, "What is there to fear? Wei Yuan personally submitted a memorial to the imperial court stating that the Heaven-Battling Gang had been wiped out, and that it would never exist again. Could Wei Yuan possibly swallow his own words?" The inquiring elder descended, but as soon as he came within a hundred zhang, an uneasy chill crept through his heart, as if he were being watched by a natural predator. His heart tightened, realizing that these bandits were by no means ordinary. Hovering in the air, he cupped his hands in greeting and called out, "May I ask where you brave warriors hail from, and what brings you to this place?" A burly, muscle-bound man wearing a mask stepped forward and boomed, "We are the Western Regions' number one horse bandit crew—the Heaven-Destroying Gang! The so-called Fifty Blazing-Heaven Bandits of the cultivation realm refers to none other than us! We find this little hill to be an auspicious piece of blessed land, and we intend to establish our fortress right here and build ourselves a grand enterprise!" *The Heaven-Destroying Gang?* The elder swayed precariously, nearly tumbling straight out of the sky.