Wei Yuan led Li Chengfeng through several medical camps. Everywhere they looked, the situation was much the same: two out of every three wounded soldiers had no desire to return to the State of Zhao.
Having seen it all, Li Chengfeng could only smile wryly and say to Wei Yuan, "Lord Wei, this really isn't decent of you. You feed these wounded soldiers better than our generals eat—how could they not turn their coats? If I didn't have a wife and children, I wouldn't leave either."
Wei Yuan replied, "What they eat is merely a bit better than ordinary folk to help them recover from their injuries. I haven't given them any special meals; the soldiers in our army eat like this every day."
Seeing that Li Chengfeng did not believe him in the slightest, Wei Yuan did not bother to explain further.
There were also many other wounded soldiers in the medical camps. When Li Chengfeng inquired who they were, he learned they were recruits newly trained by the Xu family. Originally stationed at Hanyang Pass, they had been completely rounded up when Li Chengfeng breached the pass. Naturally, these fresh troops possessed little combat strength and even less will to fight; the vast majority had surrendered and been placed in collective detention.
Even after the Sixth Princess took over the garrison, they had not been released. Many had suffered torture and bore injuries, so they were being treated here as well. However, they kept strictly separate from the surrendered Zhao soldiers, having nothing to do with one another.
Li Chengfeng asked suddenly, "Do you plan to release these Xu family men back to them?"
Wei Yuan said, "Provided the price is right, everything is negotiable."
Li Chengfeng felt somewhat relieved at that—it seemed the Xu family soldiers wouldn't be returning either. He then asked, "I can at least take the uninjured ones with me, can't I?"
Wei Yuan smiled slightly. "Provided the price is right, everything is negotiable."
Li Chengfeng knew what Wei Yuan wanted. Gritting his teeth, he said, "Within a year, I will develop another three million mu of mulberry fields! On top of that, I'll trade able-bodied refugees: five refugees for one soldier. How does that sound?"
"Ten refugees. Refugees aren't worth much these days."
With the flames of war raging, displaced refugees were indeed scattered across hills and plains, though most could never survive the journey to Qingming. After some thought, Li Chengfeng decided that organizing a massive throng of refugees would merely cost time, effort, and grain, yet it was by no means impossible. So he agreed.
Wei Yuan was delighted. Patting Li Chengfeng on the shoulder, he chuckled, "I would never let you leave empty-handed whenever you visit. Look, what do you make of this?"
Seeing the wisp of grayish-black qi hovering at Wei Yuan's fingertip, goosebumps instinctively prickled Li Chengfeng's skin. Being well-traveled and knowledgeable, he swiftly searched his memory and identified its origin, crying out in shock, "Dao profound qi!"
Wei Yuan said, "Indeed, Dao profound qi. Consider this wisp a personal gift from me. Brother Li, you and I will have plenty of dealings in the days ahead.
"However, with so many people in Qingming right now, the volume of inbound and outbound goods is falling short. Aside from silk, I also need to purchase massive amounts of cotton, hemp, timber, and coal. Would Brother Li consider constructing a road between the Bishui Territory and Zhao? I will take care of the stretch from Bishui to Qingming."
This gave Li Chengfeng genuine pause. Once a thoroughfare was built, Wei Yuan could march straight down the broad highway unimpeded. But then Li Chengfeng reconsidered, recalling the words his strategist had once spoken: *Attend to the duties of your own post.*
Once this road was built, if anyone was going to suffer a headache, it would be the Crown Prince. For Li Chengfeng at present, it brought only benefits without drawbacks. Nodding, he said, "Draw up a list, Brother Wei, specifying how much of each material you require, so I can return and make preparations."
Wei Yuan handed over an itemized list. Beside the required quantities for the vast majority of goods, it read: *The more, the better.*
Li Chengfeng agreed without hesitation. He then carefully put away the Dao profound qi, his gratitude showing plainly on his face.
Noticing Wei Yuan's slight confusion, Li Chengfeng explained, "To tell the truth, Brother Wei, I have a beloved confidante with whom I have shared a deep bond for many years. However, her talent and cultivation were mediocre, and she barely formed a Mortal Tier Dao Foundation before hitting her limit. The traces of time are already beginning to show upon her. With this wisp of Dao profound qi, her Dao Foundation can be elevated to the Earth Tier, giving us at least another thirty years together. My gratitude is beyond words!"
Wei Yuan had originally intended for Li Chengfeng to bestow it upon a junior, never expecting such a romantic reason. Frankly speaking, Dao profound qi was best utilized on a strong Earth Tier cultivator; it could reliably elevate them to the Heaven Tier, drastically improving their chances of advancing to a dharma idol. Elevating from the Heaven Tier to an immortal foundation was much harder, dependent on luck.
Using it on a Mortal Tier would, at most, raise them to a powerful Earth Tier—still falling short of the Heaven Tier—and their hopes of forming a dharma idol would remain slim. It would merely allow them to cultivate from the early stage to the late stage, which was a genuine waste.
Yet each person had their own predestined lot. How Li Chengfeng chose to use it was his own affair, as long as it produced the desired effect.
Afterward, Wei Yuan brought Li Chengfeng to the prisoner-of-war camps to finalize the soldiers he would take back. In the end, out of a hundred thousand wounded captives, sixty thousand returned home. Li Chengfeng recorded the remaining forty thousand as killed in action.
With this, the entanglements with the State of Zhao were temporarily settled. Seeing that trade between both sides would inevitably multiply several times over in the foreseeable future, Wei Yuan immediately set to work, breaking ground on a road leading to the Bishui Territory.
In any case, things like roads, waterways, and harbors naturally belonged to whoever was stronger; in Wei Yuan's eyes, the more there were, the better.
For the moment, the surroundings of Qingming were quiet and peaceful, while the interior was occupied by the routine tasks of resettling a vast population, which could be handled in an orderly fashion even without Wei Yuan. Within the Smoke and Fire of the Mortal World, new figures continuously emerged. These were all people who had lived and passed away from natural old age and sickness in Qingming. Their hearts remained tethered to Qingming, so even after death, they naturally refused to leave.
Now autumn was approaching again. Wei Yuan estimated that circumstances in the surrounding areas would not change much before winter arrived, so he returned to the main mountain of the Palace of Grand Beginning to petition the palace for an immortal weapon to protect his dharma, preparing to completely conquer that high-rise.
With Wei Yuan setting out to explore a perilous land, Xuanyue naturally treated the matter with utmost gravity. He personally led Wei Yuan to the Dao Mountain Ancestral Realm to seek the assistance of an ancestral immortal weapon.
Xuanyue soon brought Wei Yuan to a secluded spot within the sect. The scenery was fairly ordinary—not at all an immortal wonderland, lacking wonders such as floating peaks or suspended isles; it was just a plain, earthly landscape.
The moment Xuanyue arrived, he dropped to the ground and ceased flying. Wei Yuan followed behind him. After walking forward a short distance, Wei Yuan suddenly felt his body grow heavy; his entire Dao power vanished without a trace! Furthermore, his frame felt ponderous, as the formidable dharma physique gained from Body Casting no longer functioned. Right now, he was completely identical to a mortal who had never cultivated.
Xuanyue's posture and stride changed instantly as well, growing heavy and dragging. It was clear that he, too, had lost all Dao power, with the might of his dharma physique nullified. For True Monarch Xuanyue's cultivation—verging on ascending to immortality—to be suppressed so completely showed that the world laws in this realm were exceptionally formidable, truly rare in all the world.
The two followed the path forward, walking for nearly half a day until a low hill appeared before them. It stood only a few dozen zhang high, with a bubbling stream flowing down its slopes. A few meager fields were carved into the incline, and fruit trees and flowering plants grew along the steeper spots, evoking the peaceful charm of an earthly paradise.
Several people were tilling the fields. Thatched cottages could be seen partway up the hill, with women bustling in and out, while several children laughed and played beneath the trees.
As Wei Yuan followed Xuanyue up the hill, the people watched Wei Yuan inquisitively. Their gazes were full of curiosity, yet none gave Wei Yuan the piercing sensation of spiritual scrutiny; to all appearances, they were ordinary mortals and mundane creatures.
Xuanyue walked all the way to the open clearing before the thatched cottages, knelt facing the central cottage, and respectfully kowtowed three times. "Unworthy disciple Xuanyue brings junior Wei Yuan to pay respects," he said. "As junior Wei Yuan is about to venture into an exceedingly perilous land, we wish to borrow an ancestral immortal weapon to suppress karmic luck. May the Ancestral Masters grant permission."
Following Xuanyue's instructions, Wei Yuan manifested the damaged high-rise building he planned to explore. At once, a chorus of gasps and exclamations arose around them.
Without realizing it, the men and women who had been working in the fields gathered around, and the children stopped playing. What left one even more speechless was that the oxen, horses, chickens, and dogs joined in, crowding close to watch the excitement.
A hen strutted over and pecked fiercely at Xuanyue's shins, scolding him with every peck: "Su Chunqiu, how do you have the gall to wear human skin! Such a young junior, not even fully grown, and you send him to such a dangerous place! Even if you want to glorify Sky Azure Hall, you can't act like this! Why don't you go yourself?"
Xuanyue hopped from foot to foot as he was pecked, hurriedly explaining, "Junior's cultivation is inadequate; if I went, I wouldn't be able to hold the ground. It requires senior masters like yourselves to step forward so the enemy won't dare act rashly."
An ox still hitched to a plow chimed in, "Even if the enemy acts rashly, it matters not. We have our own ways of dealing with them."
Before it could finish speaking, *smack!* A sharp slap landed on its head!
Beside it appeared a woman with downturned eyes and mouth, wearing a thoroughly sharp and harsh expression. She snapped at the ox, "Who asked you to speak! Is your work finished, coming out here to gawk? Get back to plowing!"
The ox grumbled reluctantly to itself, "I only came over for a drink of water."
"In a single day's work, you drink water eight hundred times!"
Left with no choice, the ox had to return to work. Finding the fields empty, the woman ferreted out a horse hiding nearby and chased them both back to the fields.
Just then, Xuanlu appeared before Wei Yuan and smiled. "If all else fails, I can go with you this time as well. I'm already familiar with that place."
Before her words had faded, an ice-cold voice rang out: "I will go."
The door of a side cottage opened, and a young woman with a face as cold as an iceberg stepped out. The instant she appeared, Wei Yuan's skin pricked with faint pain, as though pierced by countless sharp needles.
The door of the cottage on the right opened as well, and out walked a youth with a shaved head and loose robes whose beauty was not inferior to any woman's. Bowing, he said, "Why trouble Elder Sister over such a trivial matter? It will suffice if I go."
The iceberg maiden's brows knit slightly. "Are you trying to compete with me?"
The youth hastily replied, "How could I dare vie with Fourth Generation Elder Sister? I merely find that world rather novel and wish to experience it. It seems my predestined affinity lies there, so I hope Elder Sister will grant me this favor."
The icy young woman cast a glance at the high-rise Wei Yuan had manifested. After a moment's thought, she said, "Very well."
For some reason, an intense sense of foreboding welled up in Wei Yuan's heart—as if he were standing on the ledge of a skyscraper, barely keeping his balance, only for someone to come up behind him and give him a push.
Never one to resign himself to fate, he darted forward in a single stride, bowed to the icy maiden, and pleaded, "I beg Elder Sister to lend your hand!"
The young woman merely knitted her brows and took a step back, putting distance between herself and Wei Yuan. "How utterly insolent!"
Wei Yuan was stunned, not daring to take another step forward.
Just then, the youth walked over, caught Wei Yuan by the arm, and chuckled, "What are you afraid of? It's not like I'm going to eat you."
Chapter 778