After suffering consecutive losses of over a hundred thousand elites, even the Liao Clan had no choice but to sound the retreat, suspend hostilities, and reorganize their forces.
The Palace of Grand Beginning had already discerned the Liao Clan's main axis of attack and dispatched massive reinforcements. Subsequently, tens of thousands more Dao soldiers and large shipments of armaments were deployed in succession, until the tiny garrison city was packed with a full ten fang of Dao soldiers.
During these days, a flying boat from Qingming arrived every two or three days, ferrying vast quantities of military supplies. Before long, Wei Yuan refitted every last Dao soldier with Qingming cuirasses, and nearly ten thousand advanced Dao soldiers at peak Body Casting were fully equipped with flying-sword guns.
The area surrounding the garrison city was no longer a flat expanse of open ground, but crisscrossed everywhere with trenches, dense as a spiderweb.
Dozens of Dao Foundation warriors continuously cast the Water Blade Art to excavate new trenches.
Behind each Dao Foundation warrior followed dozens of soldiers; one group cleared away loose soil and shattered rocks, while another trimmed and reinforced the walls. Their work proceeded like running water, and one trench after another began extending at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Between these trenches, hundreds of strongpoints of varying sizes were erected. Their roofs were reinforced with steel shields shipped from Qingming, making them impervious to the heavy arrows of the Liao Clan.
Constructing satellite cities was exceedingly labor-intensive; now, switching to small strongpoints that could shelter a dozen or so men allowed hundreds to be built in one go.
While the Liao Clan rested and regrouped, Wei Yuan's Seventh Garrison armed itself at an astonishing speed, sharpening every bristle to razor sharpness.
Inside the garrison city's defense hall, Wei Yuan, Ji Liuli, Feng Chutang, and He Fang were discussing military affairs.
With a wave of her hand, Ji Liuli scattered countless starlike motes. As they settled onto the sand table, they turned into city-defense cannons deployed across various positions in the garrison city, each cannon marked with its arc of fire and range. The ground outside the city was divided into several dozen zones, with detailed markings showing how much artillery fire could cover each zone.
Ji Liuli said, "This is an optimized artillery deployment plan. This version is forty percent more efficient than the original. At the same time, with the zones outside the city properly mapped, during battle we need only relay the zone coordinate to the gunners, and they can adjust their cannons according to the preset indices. Reaction times will increase dramatically."
The new plan offered an immense improvement, and Wei Yuan implemented it at once.
Then Feng Chutang produced an array diagram and laid it over the sand table, saying, "This is the Extreme Karmic Fire Prison Array. It can greatly intensify the karmic debt surrounding the formation. A slaughter-filled battlefield is already where karmic debt is thickest, and with this array to stoke it, the karmic debt will climb to yet another tier.
"Moreover, karmic debt is most prone to interfering with immortal power. The more karmic debt there is on the battlefield, the harder it is for immortal power to function. The reason those few dharma idols among the Liao Clan are so difficult to deal with is primarily because they are blessed with immortal power. Within the vicinity of this array, the effects of their immortal blessings will be drastically diminished. They are bound to reveal flaws—and so long as there are flaws, you should be able to seize upon them."
He Fang expressed some worry: "If the karmic debt on the battlefield increases by so much, won't that adversely affect future cultivation?"
Wei Yuan said, "If we don't eliminate those fellows, there's no telling how many more lives will be lost to them. In comparison, a little extra karmic debt is nothing."
Just then, a bell tolled. Wei Yuan glanced at the hour and said, "That will be all for today. Let's deploy the array as well. I have to go attend my lessons."
Ji Liuli said, "Go on. Don't keep the True Monarch waiting."
Wei Yuan headed to the Northern Mountain Gate, arrived before a quiet side hall, and pushed the door open. Just as he stepped inside, the bells tolled.
Seated within the side hall was True Monarch Zhu Yan. Seeing Wei Yuan, he said, "Palace Master Yanshi is currently beyond the heavens debating the Dao with that old bastard, the Worthy Prince of the Left, and cannot pull away. So today, I shall be substituting for him."
Wei Yuan bowed respectfully and said, "Please enlighten me, True Monarch."
Ever since arriving at the Northern Mountain Gate, Wei Yuan came to the sect every seven days, where Immortal Monarch Yanshi would explain various techniques to complement and elevate the mindscape world. Occasionally, when Immortal Monarch Yanshi was called away to act, other True Monarchs would step in to take his place.
Xuanyue was still recuperating at the main mountain, so the task of instructing Wei Yuan was shared among Yanshi and the various True Monarchs.
Wei Yuan sat down across from Zhu Yan. The Master of Haotian View, who had the appearance of a young cultivator, said, "When it comes to the various methods of elevating mindscapes, the Immortal Monarch is the most adept, so naturally it is best left to him to teach.
"My Haotian View also possesses some unique techniques, though they are somewhat insidious and not particularly scrupulous... Well, you burned eighty fang of Shamans with a single karmic fire; compared to your methods, these techniques of ours can be considered remarkably benevolent."
Wei Yuan did not know how to respond to that and could only keep listening.
The Master of Haotian View continued, "Today, I will teach you the fundamental Dao of the mindscape world. Though your Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World is not yet complete, its spirituality is abundant enough that it is no weaker than that of an ordinary Scenery Command cultivator. Scenery Command—the 'scenery' under 'command' refers precisely to the mindscape world. But do you know where a mindscape world resides before it materializes into reality, or how it can manifest alongside its master across different locations?"
Wei Yuan naturally knew some of the basic principles, yet he still responded respectfully, "Please instruct me, True Monarch."
A desk appeared before the Master of Haotian View, bearing miniature lands, rivers, towering peaks, and vast seas. He said, "Consider this the heaven and earth we currently inhabit."
Subsequently, a stack of jade paper appeared above the desk. The Master of Haotian View said, "Each sheet of jade paper here is akin to a mindscape world. Yet viewed from within our heaven and earth, it is illusory, not real. Even if countless mindscape worlds occupied the exact same place, they would not take up even the tiniest speck of space, not even the point of a needle.
"Just like this stack of jade paper: in truth, it consists of countless sheets, yet it looks like a single one, and even this single sheet is as thin as nothingness.
"However, once one cultivates to Scenery Command, the stack in one's eyes will no longer look as it does now, but like this."
The stack of jade paper floated up, spreading out sheet by sheet, and then intertwined together—crisscrossing one another yet completely without mutual interference, like pure phantoms.
"Once you cultivate to Scenery Command, you will understand that every mindscape world is independent. Even if two mindscape worlds are in the same location, they will not interfere with each other. If I also possessed a Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World and also placed it in Qingming, then even though the two Smokes and Fires of the Mortal World overlapped, they would not affect each other. Only when both manifest into our heaven and earth at the same time will the two mindscape worlds make contact."
With another point of his finger, the imagery unfolded in a wondrous manner. Each sheet of jade paper drifted apart, with no actual intersection between them.
The Master of Haotian View said, "Yet in the eyes of immortals, the mindscape world actually appears like this. They in fact reside in different heavens and earths. Unless one ascends the immortal path and views them with immortal eyes, one cannot perceive this layer. However, at the Scenery Command stage, there are already methods to calculate the location of a mindscape world.
"Although this method is exceedingly complex—far exceeding the divine sense of a normal dharma idol cultivator to bear such massive calculations—you are no ordinary dharma idol. I have observed you: when it comes to raw computational power, perhaps even some cultivators at the mid Scenery Command stage cannot match you. It happens to be fitting to pass this method on to you. Watch closely: a complete heaven and earth, such as the one we currently inhabit, can be represented like this—"
Wei Yuan cried out inwardly in alarm, but before he could flee, the Master of Haotian View had already begun spouting countless numbers and Daoist glyphs, assembling in midair into diagrams of incomprehensible complexity.
Wei Yuan understood that what the Master of Haotian View meant was that through these symbols, numbers, Heavenly Stems, Earthly Branches, and formulas, the fundamental nature of this heaven and earth could be revealed.
Wei Yuan also knew that what was unfolding before him was indeed the true essence of this heaven and earth.
Wei Yuan recognized every single character.
Chapter 707