Bah!

"There is no one else here. The Immortal Venerable need not mind what others think." Only now did Wei Yuan truly look Fuyao in the face. She was ethereal and pure, detached from worldly strife, as if she were an organic part of heaven and earth itself—like the clearest pool of spring water, untouched by the taints of the mortal world. If ever there were a celestial orchid made flesh, she was it. "This is not a matter of what others think. It is a matter of principles and bottom lines!" Wei Yuan said, utterly stern. Fuyao looked somewhat puzzled. "What is the difference?" Wei Yuan said, "Such matters require mutual willingness, without the slightest coercion or extraneous motives mixed in. Offering yourself so that I'll save him—doesn't that reduce it to a transaction?" "The Immortal Venerable does not wish to save him merely because you feel he is not worth the investment. Therefore, I offered myself to make up the difference—what is wrong with that? Compared to women of the outside world, I believe I fall short in no way, and it would bring great benefit to the Immortal Venerable as well." Seeing her earnest, matter-of-fact manner, as if she were discussing something as trivial as how to cook dinner tonight—and genuinely seeing nothing amiss—Wei Yuan felt a headache coming on. Trying to persuade a girl who was like a blank sheet of paper would surely take an enormous amount of breath. In the end, Wei Yuan decided to save his breath. "In short, absolutely not! I will give it careful thought, but primarily, I might not even possess the items required to save him. If I can bring him back, there will be no need for you to do anything." Fuyao's brows knitted slightly, and she asked, "Why does the Immortal Venerable seem so guarded and secretive? Could it be that you think this matter is bad?" "Bad? It is downright terrible!" "Who defines what is good or bad, and how is it defined? Forgive Fuyao for speaking bluntly, but this notion of yours must stem from the codes of propriety, does it not?" Wei Yuan was taken aback. "Where did you learn all that?" "There are countless books within this realm, and their numbers grow each day. In my idle moments, I read them. The books say the codes of propriety do the most harm, devouring people without spitting out the bones." "That propriety eats people is an exaggeration, or rather evil men using it as an excuse to do wicked deeds. Even without such codes, they would do evil all the same, merely finding another pretext. Without moral codes, how would humans differ from beasts?" Wei Yuan retorted. "In the eyes of heaven and earth, all sentient beings are equal. Why should humans consider themselves superior to other living things? In the eyes of divine beasts and sacred creatures, wouldn't humans be mere beasts as well?" Confronted by such an earnest Fuyao, Wei Yuan felt a massive headache. "Never mind, I won't argue with you. What state is he in now? Will he remain here, or what?" "I will take him to Jianmu Island to settle him; that place can preserve his physical form from decomposing. Then I shall await word from the Immortal Venerable." "Very well, let us leave it at that." With a flash, Wei Yuan vanished. After Wei Yuan departed, Fuyao pointed a finger. A wondrous flower sprouted from the ground, its petals as large as cartwheels, wrapping Long Wushuang's corpse within. At that moment, a faint silhouette appeared behind Fuyao and asked, "Did he agree?" "No, he only said he would consider it." The indistinct figure said, "To think his Dao heart is so unyielding. Even with you stepping forward, you still couldn't sway him." "The Immortal Venerable's Dao heart is... ordinary at best." "Why do you say that?" Fuyao did not answer. Instead, she beckoned her garments over and began putting them on, layer by layer. The silhouette seemed unable to see what was happening on this side and merely asked, "What do you mean? What happened?" "It's nothing. I should be going." Yet after taking only two steps, Fuyao furrowed her brows slightly and muttered to herself, "The codes of propriety are useless, and all sentient beings are equal—such truths must be properly ironed out with him next time." Wei Yuan returned to the Jade Mountain and looked up at the full moon in the sky, only to find that the full moon was looking back at him. Wei Yuan bowed toward the full moon and said, "I have a capable subordinate named Long Wushuang who requires otherworldly karmic luck to save his life. I wonder if you might bestow another strand to let me rescue him?" The three-eyed bird head stared coldly at Wei Yuan and transmitted a chilling thought: *Current debt: seventy-five.* Wei Yuan was shocked. He had not realized he owed such a colossal debt once again! Over seventy strands of otherworldly karmic luck—this was far more expensive than the twenty million taels of immortal silver back then! Steeling himself, Wei Yuan bowed once more. "A human life hangs in the balance. Please make an exception." The three-eyed bird head transmitted another thought: *Not worth it.* After thinking it through, Wei Yuan understood the meaning of the three-eyed bird head. The Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World had elevated once more, Han Li and Jun Weizhi had advanced to dharma idol, and more and more people would awaken various innate Dao physiques, sacred physiques, and other unique constitutions. Given Long Wushuang's current aptitude, he would not necessarily hold much advantage upon advancing to dharma idol. Generally speaking, once a vast multitude of cultivators emerged, geniuses endowed with extraordinary talent would appear one after another. If Long Wushuang could attain a dharma idol on par with Han Li and Jun Weizhi's caliber, Wei Yuan would consider it worthwhile. But the three-eyed bird head evidently deemed his talent short of the immortal idol grade. Yet back in Dao Foundation, even if Long Wushuang's talent wasn't quite equal to Jun Weizhi's, it was at least slightly superior to Han Li's. How could it fall short once it came to dharma idol? At this thought, Wei Yuan suddenly remembered that over the past two months, he had not seen a single strand of Dao profound qi! Considering that, he roughly understood why the rank of Han Li and Jun Weizhi's dharma idols was so extraordinarily high. However, Wei Yuan had no intention of pursuing the matter. What was done was done, and both men had rendered great service toward his return. Yet Wei Yuan immediately remembered another thing: since not a single strand of Dao profound qi had been seen, Dugu Cangqiong had also fought bloody battles on the front lines—how come his aptitude hadn't nudged forward in the slightest? Since the three-eyed bird head had no intention of providing otherworldly karmic luck, Wei Yuan could not force the issue. Their relationship was one of grace bestowed, not something where Wei Yuan could make demands at will. Leaving the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, Wei Yuan summoned his commanders and began mustering troops, preparing to march into the two commanderies of Hanyang and Nanping to reclaim the lost territory. Li Chengfeng had withdrawn his army some time ago; if the Xu family intended to follow up, their forces should already be gathering at this moment, leaving Wei Yuan little time. Wei Yuan first reviewed the intelligence sent by Li Chengfeng. Currently occupying the two commanderies was the Sixth Princess of Great Zhao, commanding 150,000 elite troops and 100,000 auxiliaries, who had taken over the defense of Hanyang and Huangping Commanderies. After reading the dispatch, Wei Yuan sent word to notify the generals of all divisions to assemble at the military city's central camp for a council of war. The generals were now stationed in the newly constructed military city in northern Qingming. The Immortal City was relatively private, home to the cultivators of the Palace of Grand Beginning, who disliked outsiders disrupting their cultivation. Unless it concerned fundamental matters of immortal cultivation, Wei Yuan no longer summoned the generals into the Immortal City. The military city was already grand and imposing. At the central command camp stood a three-story hall, which served as Wei Yuan's council chamber. Usually, Cui Yu, Xu Yi, and the others handled military affairs here, having relocated their offices. Yu Zhizhuo, Sun Yu, and others also kept offices on site specifically to handle military armament and equipment. The military city was six hundred li from the core boundary stone, situated due north of Qingming. To the east, one could advance toward Hanyang Pass, and to the west, one could sally forth to ward off the Shamans. With a thought from Wei Yuan, the Dao Foundation warriors stationed in various posts simultaneously notified the key commanders to attend the council in the great hall. By the time Wei Yuan flew over, all the generals had assembled. Wei Yuan entered the hall from behind and took his seat directly upon the central commander's dais. Nearly a hundred generals and civilian officials stood in the hall, their presence evoking a faint surge of military vigor. Seeing so many people, Wei Yuan was rather astonished at first. But on second thought, Qingming's population was now fast approaching fifteen million. Thanks to All Living Beings in a Flash, the threshold for recruitment and training had been set extremely low; previously any able-bodied youth would do, and only recently had the bar been raised to requiring completion of muscle body casting. Currently, trained soldiers in Qingming exceeded one million, with three hundred thousand suits of heavy armor in reserve. In other words, if necessary, Qingming could muster a million-strong army on short notice. Furthermore, with firearms properly deployed, the baseline combat power of any unit was remarkably high. During the great war against the Country of Rain, countless commoners who had trained for merely a dozen days were sent to the battlefield, yet they still inflicted terrible casualties on the Shamans. At present, Qingming maintained a standing elite force of three hundred thousand, including two hundred thousand heavy armored infantry. For an army of such scale, a hundred people attending a war council was only natural. Seeing everyone gathered, Wei Yuan immediately began making dispositions. The first order of business was addressed to a civilian official: "Mr. Liu, as the saying goes, a military expedition must have a just cause. We are now reclaiming lost territory, so our moral legitimacy is already established. I ask you to draft a proclamation to be announced across the realm tomorrow morning to bolster our military prestige." The official had a short beard and was dignified in appearance. His name was Liu Tong. In literary circles, his reputation surpassed even Cai Shizhi's, yet he had willingly joined the Qingming army to serve as a military advisor. Hearing Wei Yuan's instructions, he agreed without hesitation. Wei Yuan glanced at the map and said, "It is Zhao's Sixth Princess commanding their forces, I see. Well, as the Art of War says, to subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill. Let us first write her a letter. If she withdraws on her own, that would be ideal, saving us the trouble." Liu Tong naturally took charge of this and asked, "What should be stated in the letter?" Wei Yuan said, "Mainly three conditions. First, none of the plundered wealth and property may be taken away; all of it must be surrendered. Any concealed goods will be considered an act of war. Second, all captives must be handed over, with no disguise or smuggling allowed. Third, to ensure the smooth execution of the first two terms, their entire army must submit to personal search and inspection, with no exceptions. Just these three points. Nothing more." Liu Tong was taken aback for a moment before remarking, "Lord Military Commissioner is truly benevolent!" Wei Yuan chuckled, then proceeded to muster his forces. This time, Wei Yuan called up a peculiar force: a main army of sixty thousand—twenty thousand heavy infantry and forty thousand light infantry—which was conventional enough. The strange part was that he mobilized two hundred thousand logistical and baggage-train transport troops, accompanied by five thousand light cavalry. Mobilizing hundreds of thousands of people was no small feat; even with Qingming's current mobilization capability, it still required several days. By the time the vanguard set out, ten days had already passed. In that interval, the letter had long reached the Sixth Princess, and her reply had already arrived. Seeing the exquisitely crafted envelope, and having long heard that the Sixth Princess was of the same mother as the Crown Prince—whose late queen's beauty had surpassed both Consort Yuan and Ningguo's imperial mother—Wei Yuan was quite intrigued by the Sixth Princess. For her to reply so swiftly, things had surely gone very smoothly. Filled with eager anticipation, Wei Yuan opened the letter, only to find a single, boldly flourishing character written across the page: "Bah!"