A Taste of Sweetness

The moment this thought popped into his head, Wei Yuan immediately tossed it aside, promptly forgot about it, and dwelled on the matter no further. Fortunately, news arrived just then that a merchant caravan from Zhao had arrived, transporting five million jin of silk. The caravan bore no markings. They unloaded the silk at the edge of Qingming and also brought several hundred thousand taels of immortal silver to make up the difference in value between silk and brocade, as well as to cover the soldiers' board and lodging. Wei Yuan had not expected Li Chengfeng to move so quickly. Instead, he was the one caught scrambling; after a flurry of logistics and an entire day's effort, he finally gathered one million bolts of brocade and had them transported to the Qingming border. At the border, Wei Yuan met Li Chengfeng. Li Chengfeng was clad in a hooded cloak, completely concealing his face. Seeing Wei Yuan approach, Li Chengfeng stepped forward from the crowd to stand before him and said, "The silk has all arrived—top quality, full weight, and full measure. Can the soldiers of my Great Zhao now return home?" Wei Yuan had already swept his divine sense over the shipment, and hundreds of Qingming cultivators were also tasked with inspecting it. The delivered silk was indeed first-rate. Wei Yuan replied, "The Fourth Highness is indeed a man of his word. Among the soldiers currently in Qingming, there are over ten thousand healthy men who can be released first. However, there are still thirty thousand wounded soldiers undergoing treatment in Qingming. Moving them rashly right now might not be advisable." Li Chengfeng offered a bitter smile. "I knew you wouldn't let them go so easily. Do you want extra medical fees? If you have any other demands, state them all at once!" With an air of upright righteousness, Wei Yuan said solemnly, "Am I that sort of person? The Fourth Highness underestimates me too much! Your men can receive far better treatment in Qingming; I actually don't think there is any rush for them to return. If you don't believe me, Fourth Highness, you can accompany me to take a look." After a moment's thought, Li Chengfeng said, "Very well, I shall go with you to see." His generals and counselors hastily tried to dissuade him, but Li Chengfeng said, "No matter! If Realm Lord Wei wished to take my life, he could have done so long ago; there would be no need to wait until now." With that, Li Chengfeng accompanied Wei Yuan and flew into Qingming. The wounded soldiers of Zhao were all gathered in an encampment outside Zhike Town, barely a hundred li from the border—reaching it took only moments. The encampment was exceptionally tidy; within the grounds housing tens of thousands of men, it was almost spotless. Over a thousand lightly wounded Zhao soldiers were divided into dozens of teams, voluntarily clearing away refuse and hauling supplies in the camp, everything kept in perfect order. In front of several large central tents, over a thousand soldiers formed a long queue, waiting to enter for consultation and treatment. In addition, more than a dozen teams of physicians were making rounds tent by tent, inspecting the recovery progress of the soldiers' injuries. These physicians were all clad in uniquely styled white robes. Every one of them was young and beautiful—as vibrant as peach blossoms yet cold as frost. Behind them followed teams of assistants who were also either handsome young men or pretty women, with the majority being young women. Li Chengfeng watched dumbfounded. He noticed that whenever a team of physicians entered a large tent, the blood qi and vitality of the wounded soldiers inside surged violently upward, without them even needing medicine. Wei Yuan pointed toward the camp below and said, "Fourth Highness, what do you think of my medical camp? Over these past days, only a dozen or so have succumbed to their injuries." Li Chengfeng praised, "Unprecedented! Truly a sight to behold!" These words came from the heart. Normally, wounded soldiers were housed in standard military camps; no matter what, none could ever be as clean as this medical camp. With such a tidy environment, combined with the obvious Jianmu life-mystic power, only a dozen or so out of thirty thousand wounded soldiers had died. Anywhere else, the casualties would have numbered at least a thousand. Wei Yuan smiled faintly. "The soldiers of Zhao are among the world's finest troops; they deserve nothing less." Li Chengfeng bowed slightly to Wei Yuan and said, "With them staying here in Qingming, ten taels for medical expenses is indeed too little. Whatever requests you have, Lord Wei, pray speak freely." At this moment, Li Chengfeng lowered his posture considerably just to bring these wounded soldiers back—after all, no one else was watching. Wei Yuan replied, "Since the Fourth Highness has put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony. If you wish to take them back, that is fine too: two million jin of silk can bring back ten thousand men. I will accept it at Zhao's market price." Li Chengfeng calculated carefully. In truth, he would only lose a bit on transport costs; for six million jin of silk, at most it would amount to fifty thousand taels of immortal silver. Compared to recovering a large host of elite soldiers, this was negligible. He immediately said, "Agreed, but I need some time." Wei Yuan beamed radiantly. "No problem! I have plenty of patience." Then Wei Yuan pulled Li Chengfeng aside and elaborated in detail: "You don't necessarily have to gather the full two million jin all at once; sending several hundred thousand jin per shipment is fine as well. If there isn't enough top-grade silk, medium or low-grade will do too—we can just convert it according to market price. In any case, two hundred jin of silk for one man—you won't lose out in the least." Li Chengfeng had not expected Wei Yuan to be so long-winded with the mannerisms of a merchant. He could not help asking out of curiosity, "Lord Wei, while you may not manage ten thousand affairs a day, it isn't far from it. Why are you so obsessed with this silk?" Wei Yuan asked, "The Fourth Highness likely knows that Qingming produces brocade, but do you know how it is produced?" Surprised, Li Chengfeng asked, "Is it not produced in workshops?" Wei Yuan said earnestly, "Those who produce brocade in Qingming are all newly ascended Dao Foundation cultivators. I use this method to help them temper their state of mind and consolidate their Dao Foundation—it has miraculous effects! If the supply of silk is cut off, then many Dao Foundation cultivators will have nothing to do and no way to stabilize their realm." Li Chengfeng's expression turned solemn as he said, "So that is why! Then indeed, the silk must not be interrupted." Wei Yuan laughed heartily and said, "The one who understands me is truly the Fourth Highness!" The two looked at each other and smiled, both appearing very sincere. At this point, Qingming's second batch of fifty brocade-weaving workshops was nearing completion. Once finished, monthly brocade production would reach one million bolts, roughly equal to all eight commanderies of Ningzhou combined. Thus, the raw silk needed for a single year would be around sixty million jin—equivalent to six hundred thousand dan, or thirty thousand tons. Having settled over ten million jin of silk all at once from Li Chengfeng, Wei Yuan was actually quite satisfied. He then began calculating when he might secure another batch. Last time, Wei Yuan had utterly defeated Li Chengfeng using only artillery bombardment, before his new-model chariots and high-yield flying missiles even had a chance to be deployed. For the next battle, Wei Yuan intended to test the effectiveness of the chariots. Secret drills within Qingming had already proven that chariots deployed en masse were the bane of cavalry; even the Dragon Wing iron cavalry had been bested. Wei Yuan was looking forward to clashing with Zhao's world-renowned iron cavalry. Wei Yuan calculated the timing; it should be soon. At present, Jin was in turmoil: they had just suffered a defeat in the north, and the Crown Prince had taken a severe tumble at his hands. Given the King of Zhao's astuteness, he would never let such an opportune moment slip by and would surely tear off a piece of flesh from Jin. It remained to be seen whether he intended to bite off two or three commanderies, or even more. Li Chengfeng naturally had no idea what Wei Yuan was plotting, but having seen the medical camp, his mind was at ease, and he returned to the border with Wei Yuan. However, a faint worry lingered in his heart: since these soldiers lived so well in Qingming, the contrast upon their return could not be too jarring. It seemed the silver originally earmarked for purchasing flying swords would have to be redirected toward refurbishing their barracks. In the blink of an eye, the two reached the border. Over ten thousand healthy Zhao soldiers were still on their way. Wei Yuan suddenly asked, "Brother Li, it seems a few of your subordinates are missing?" Li Chengfeng's expression remained unchanged as he replied, "They were assigned to other duties and did not accompany me this time." Wei Yuan immediately sensed a subtle fluctuation in Li Chengfeng's primordial spirit; he was evidently lying. The subsequent handover was left to their subordinates, and Wei Yuan and Li Chengfeng each returned. By now, it was time for Wei Yuan's daily cultivation studies. Thus, he took out Immortal Monarch Tinghai's book and, steeling himself, headed straight for the Hall of Merits, preparing to continue his research into the Five Elements Dao Soldiers. The Five Elements Dao Soldiers was widely applicable and originally a very common Scenery Command spell; one could learn it casually without requiring extraordinary comprehension. Yet such a spell had been completely dissected by Immortal Monarch Tinghai and examined part by part, striking directly at the source of the Great Dao of the Five Elements. To be frank, Wei Yuan could not fathom this method of studying spells at all. It was like wanting to eat an egg—why on earth must one thoroughly investigate the entire life of the hen? Despite his silent grumbling, the Golden Light Water Blade Art had already given Wei Yuan a taste of sweetness. Although he still could not cast the Five Elements Dao Soldiers spell, his comprehension of the Dao of the Five Elements had advanced by leaps and bounds. This time, as usual, Wei Yuan stepped straight through the gateway into the Dao Comprehension Chamber, never expecting that someone was already inside. The chamber was small, and the two immediately collided. In that instant, Wei Yuan felt as if he had slammed into Nether Iron Mountain.