A large force mobilized. Not long after departing Qingming, scout cavalry spotted them and galloped off into the distance.
Wei Yuan remarked, "They’ve already posted scouts right at our doorstep—how brazen. Huh? Those scouts have poor horsemanship; they're running a bit slow."
Before Wei Yuan could say another word, several Liuren heavenly soldiers flew from Cui Yu beside him, overtaking the scouts in the blink of an eye and dragging them back.
The scouts proved surprisingly stubborn. The moment they laid eyes on Wei Yuan, they broke into foul-mouthed abuse, proclaiming themselves to be high-class folk of Zhao and sneering that if Wei Yuan dared harm a single hair on their heads, Zhao would never let the matter rest.
Seeing that these scouts were only at the Body Casting stage, Cui Yu remarked, "Strange. Right outside an enemy’s doorstep, instead of elite Dao Foundation scouts, they use mere Body Casting cultivators. It makes no sense. Besides, we haven't even clashed with Zhao yet. Why are they so bent on dying?"
Wei Yuan pondered for a moment, soon grasping the essence of it. "It seems the other side wants to pick a fight with us, but fears they lack a pretext, so they sent a few men over for us to kill. If I'm not mistaken, not long ago, these men were either death row convicts or local ruffians who made their living by throwing their weight around."
Cui Yu immediately cast a soul-bewitching hex. Two of them had weak willpower and dazedly confessed their identities—it was just as Wei Yuan had deduced.
Wei Yuan said, "Bring them along. Let's go meet this Fourth Prince of Zhao."
The army pressed onward. By noon the following day, they finally reached the edge of Zhao's new domain.
The Zhao forces had received word early on and arrayed their army outside the domain, barring Wei Yuan's cavalry.
Behind Wei Yuan, nearly twenty thousand cavalry deployed in a disorderly clamor. As formations shifted, riders occasionally bumped into one another, resolved only after their captains unleashed a barrage of curses.
Originally, ten thousand were qualified mounted infantry, but mixed with eight thousand unqualified recruits, the entire force ended up looking thoroughly incompetent.
In contrast, Zhao had fielded only three thousand cavalry, yet their ranks were neat, their armor polished and bright, and their military qi consolidated into a unified whole—truly an elite force.
While the troops were forming up, Wei Yuan remained outwardly impassive, quietly tying a silk scarf around his neck and tucking it beneath his collar.
From the Zhao battle lines, a young cultivator flew out and hovered before the ranks. Wei Yuan also went forward to meet him, and after exchanging formal courtesies, sized up his counterpart.
The young cultivator looked very youthful, but if he truly was the Fourth Prince, he had to be over forty. He had remained completely obscure before now, yet judging by the elite troops he had trained, he was not someone to be underestimated.
Wei Yuan called out, "I am the Military Commissioner of Dingxi of Great Jin, Wei Yuan! Is that His Highness, the Fourth Prince of Zhao before me?"
The young cultivator replied, "Commissioner Wei is well informed. I am Li Chengfeng."
Wei Yuan looked Li Chengfeng up and down. "Your Highness looks youthful, but it turns out you aren't so young after all."
Li Chengfeng's expression stiffened for a moment before he said, "I have achieved very little in my mediocrity, so I must have given Commissioner Wei cause for amusement. Yet according to the conventions of the cultivation world, I ought to address you as 'Senior.'"
Wei Yuan's face instantly darkened.
Wei Yuan's two Yin-Yang Bombs had shaken the world, deterring the witch clan and repelling the Land of Rain. All related background on him had long since been dug up completely. With interested parties fanning the flames, it had become common knowledge.
Even when the elders of the Xu family spoke of the matter, they referred to him as that "two-hundred-and-nineteen-year-old Dharma Manifestation," laughing heartily as their worries dissipated. As for Wei Yuan achieving Dharma Manifestation at nineteen, they had conveniently forgotten it.
Wei Yuan looked past Li Chengfeng to see the new city built against the mountain, facing Qingming head-on. The city walls had already been raised over three feet high. In the distance, two cargo skiffs were drifting slowly across the sky, heavy and lumbering, clearly laden with abundant supplies.
To outline an inner city in such short order and transport materials via flying skiffs meant that Li Chengfeng had the King of Zhao backing him. Otherwise, forget him—even the Crown Prince of Zhao wouldn't possess such resources.
Wei Yuan glanced at the operation of the Heavenly Dao in this new domain and gained a clear grasp of the situation. He then said, "Your Highness has traveled from afar, surely seeking to establish great merit. However, placing your new city on the territory of Great Jin is improper.
"While the boundary stone has yet to take deep root, pull it up quickly and find somewhere else. A hundred and eight thousand li to the southwest lies the heartland of the mountain folk—that looks like a fine spot to me."
Li Chengfeng was not provoked, replying calmly, "Commissioner Wei must be joking. This is unowned land. How can you call it Jin territory?"
Wei Yuan declared, "I am standing here; therefore, this is Jin territory!"
Li Chengfeng was taken aback, then threw his head back in laughter. "How domineering of you, Commissioner Wei! By that logic, is everything you see also considered Jin territory?"
Wei Yuan nodded. "Precisely! I came, I saw, and it's all mine."
No matter how good Li Chengfeng's temper was, he couldn't suppress his rage. He denounced him, "What kind of rubbish logic is that?!"
Wei Yuan sneered. "Did I come here to reason with you? You built a fortress right beside my bed—did you intend to be reasonable? Since neither of us cares for reason, what more is there to say?"
For a moment, Li Chengfeng was left speechless.
Wei Yuan added, "Oh, right. I captured a few men on my way here. Just in time to show you."
With a wave of Wei Yuan's hand, the captured scouts were shoved forward from the ranks.
Li Chengfeng's face subtly shifted. Just as he was pondering how to frame his words, Wei Yuan made another gesture. A subordinate raised his blade and brought it down—lopping off the head of a scout!
The scout's head tumbled and rolled across the ground, his eyes wide open in death.
Blood gushed from the headless neck, soaking the Zhao military uniform in crimson. The warrior holding the blade kicked out, knocking the body to the dirt.
Li Chengfeng felt blood rush straight to the crown of his head!
He had indeed sent those men to be killed by Wei Yuan to provoke a conflict between the two states, giving him a pretext to establish the domain, build a fortress, mass troops, and turn the venture into a fait accompli.
If Wei Yuan couldn't resist attacking, that would be even better—he would hold the moral high ground.
Yet he had never dreamed Wei Yuan would drag these men right in front of him and execute them one by one before his very eyes. The feeling was as if he had spat on the ground in front of Wei Yuan, only for Wei Yuan to scrape it up and shove it right back into his mouth!
Li Chengfeng pointed at Wei Yuan and barked furiously, "What crime did they commit that warrants beheading before the battle lines?"
Wei Yuan answered leisurely, "They insulted me."
"So what if they insulted you? You deserved it! Even if they cursed you, it doesn't carry the death penalty!"
"Publicly insulting a superior officer constitutes grave disrespect. Under the laws of every nation, it is punishable by execution... But why am I explaining this to you? I didn't come to reason with you. Chop them all!"
Wei Yuan waved his hand again, and the remaining scouts were all beheaded.
Li Chengfeng's eyes turned freezing cold, murderous aura practically overflowing.
Wei Yuan smiled. "Your Highness is well along in years; why are you still so hot-tempered? Look at this old man—I never lose my temper. Oh, by the way, hurry up and finish that pathetic little fort of yours. When I return next time, I won't just bring this handful of men."
"Wei... Yuan!" Li Chengfeng ground out through clenched teeth.
Wei Yuan said, "What, does Your Highness want this old man to offer you some pointers on your Dao arts? Best not. You're no match for me anyway. Why humiliate yourself before your troops?"
Before thousands of Zhao soldiers, Li Chengfeng's face turned livid. "Had I known Commissioner Wei possessed such virtue, I would have pushed this city forward another thousand li!"
Wei Yuan remarked indifferently, "Put it wherever you like—either way, you're just wasting a boundary stone. Run along, Your Highness, I won't keep you."
With that, Wei Yuan returned to his battle lines. The army wheeled around and headed back toward Qingming.
Li Chengfeng returned with a dark face, the generals and strategists equally grim.
One strategist cursed, "This Wei Yuan is so insolent—a true scoundrel and tyrant in troubled times! How can the King of Jin tolerate him? Executing our Zhao soldiers before the battle lines touches upon the honor of Great Zhao! We must report this to the King; we cannot let this rest!"
Li Chengfeng took a deep breath and said, "Nothing we say now matters. There is only battle, and we must fight to win! Accelerate construction and drill the troops for war! Keep watch here over the next few days. I will return to see Father.
"Right now, Qingming is earning a fortune in immortal silver through trade with our Zhao and absorbing millions of displaced refugees. That immortal silver will turn into their weaponry, and those refugees will become Wei Yuan's soldiers! I will urge Father to halt all trade with Qingming and forbid any refugees from crossing the border!"
The strategists applauded in agreement.
***
Having met Li Chengfeng, Wei Yuan instructed the generals to lead the army back while he and Cui Yu flew ahead to Qingming. Upon returning, Wei Yuan went straight to Cui Yu's command tent, ordered a sand table brought out, and began devising a military strategy.
Since Li Chengfeng dared provoke him, he surely had confidence. Wei Yuan didn't know what made him think he could win, but one thing was certain: Li Chengfeng must feel he had at least a sixty to seventy percent chance of victory.
No matter how arrogant and swaggering Wei Yuan appeared in public, after infuriating Li Chengfeng, he immediately threw himself into war preparations, refusing to overlook a single detail. There were no small matters in war, and Wei Yuan was never careless in this regard.
Gazing at the sand table, Wei Yuan pointed to the area between Qingming and Zhao's new domain. "We must purge all Zhao scouts from this region. They might set ambushes with high-level cultivators to counter-hunt our patrols, so I'll assign two dragon guards to accompany you specifically to hunt their experts."
Cui Yu nodded, then said, "Should I make a request to my family to recruit some Dharma Manifestation cultivators over?"
Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised. "This means offending the Li clan of Zhao. Your Cui family has many businesses in Zhao; the Old Matriarch might not agree."
Cui Yu replied, "I'll find a way. Besides, the Cui family's assets aren't something the Zhao Lis can touch whenever they please. Song shares a border with Zhao, after all."
Wei Yuan nodded. "Just do what you can. It doesn't matter if it falls through."
Wei Yuan then instructed Cui Yu to dispatch scout cavalry extensively to map the terrain around the Zhao domain.
Wei Yuan had previously sent scouts to survey this region, but that had only been a broad overview recording major mountains and rivers. For an actual military campaign in this area, that was far from enough.
Just as he was arranging this, Wei Yuan felt a sudden stir in his heart.
In the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, a large patch of dark, bloody red suddenly swept across nearly half the sky. The celestial glow dimmed into a murky crimson, as if slathering the city in a layer of tainted blood, and a foul, rotting stench permeated the air.
Mortal residents all looked up at the sky in inexplicable terror. Far across the sea, the young Jianmu tree raised a light barrier, blocking all the bloody radiance outside.
The other immortal plants also acted in succession, raising colorful barriers of light to shield Central City. However, the newly formed island was temporarily undefended. The blood-red sky-light fell unhindered, causing immense agony to the many mortal artisans it touched.
Just then, a plain-looking young woman appeared, holding an orchid in her hands. She planted it in the center of the small island. The moment the orchid entered the earth, it released a burst of pure, clear light, blanketing the entire island under its protection.
Several thousand mortal artisans on the island spontaneously gathered around the orchid and began to bow in worship.
Wei Yuan entered the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and looked up at the vault of the sky in astonishment. Why had Western Jin's state fortune suddenly collapsed to such an extent?
Chapter 666