Once Cui Chengxiao departed, Zhang Sheng lifted her head to gaze at the sky, sensing the degree of the heavens' integrity. Then she said, "Come out, all of you."
At her words, the cultivators from the Palace of Grand Beginning stepped out from beneath the veranda and entered the grand hall. They had been watching and eavesdropping the entire time, yet shielded by the power of the Qingming domain, Cui Chengxiao had remained utterly unaware.
Cui Yu’s expression was naturally none too pleased. Zhang Sheng had stood up for him, while Cui Chengxiao’s conduct had forced him to see the Song Cui clan’s true colors. He had never wished for matters between the two sides to reach such an impasse, but caught in the middle, it was difficult for him to take a stand.
Once the palace cultivators had assembled, several dozen more entered from outside the hall, some clad in Daoist robes and others in scholars' attire. Most were at the Dao Foundation stage, with a few having reached the dharma idol stage; none belonged to the Palace of Grand Beginning, having instead risen through the ranks entirely within Qingming. Because they had proven their unwavering loyalty, Wei Yuan had promoted them vigorously, elevating them to a level where they could be entrusted with state secrets.
As for verifying loyalty, that was never an issue for Wei Yuan; one needed only look at whether they contributed karmic luck.
After everyone had gathered and silence settled over the grand hall, Zhang Sheng spoke: "Certain people among the Qinghe Song Cui have broken faith and acted with arrogant tyranny, even moving the boundary stone without authorization to encroach upon our Qingming territory. This cannot be tolerated, and I have resolved to punish them. However, our Palace of Grand Beginning is an orthodox sect of renown; we must ensure our cause is just. Furthermore, the Qinghe Song Cui is an established cultivation clan with a living Immortal Ancestor, not one to be treated lightly.
"Therefore, I need a capable person to serve as envoy to the Song Cui's 'Mujia' domain to denounce their crimes. This journey will be perilous in the extreme. Whoever volunteers shall be granted a seventh-rank official post in Great Tang. If you perish, your son shall inherit your post, with your family enjoying hereditary privilege for three generations, and degraded privilege thereafter."
While the cultivators were still exchanging glances, trying to fathom the meaning behind Zhang Sheng’s words, a scholar standing on the outermost perimeter suddenly rushed forward and dropped to his knees. In a ringing voice, he proclaimed, "This humble subject, Su Qian, is willing to go! I swear I will not fail the Domain Lord's trust!"
Zhang Sheng nodded and asked gently, "Do you understand the intent behind this journey?"
"Rest assured, Domain Lord, I understand completely! In seven days, you may send someone to the Mujia domain to look for me," Su Qian declared.
"Good! In that case, you shall be our envoy. What I have promised will certainly be fulfilled," Zhang Sheng said.
Su Qian rose, bowed deeply to Zhang Sheng, and turned to leave the hall without another word of waste.
Once Su Qian had vanished from sight, Zhang Sheng said, "Deploy fifty dare-to-die warriors to accompany Envoy Su."
She then began deploying troops and assigning generals, the cultivators taking their orders and departing one after another. Half a day later, a large contingent of soldiers marched out of camp, leaving Qingming and vanishing into the vast Western Regions.
With all preparations complete, Zhang Sheng walked out of the hall and looked up at the sky once more.
Ji Liuli appeared by her side and said, "Within Qingming's boundaries, heaven and earth are nearly complete. While that is a good thing, enemy Scenery Command experts will also be able to unleash nearly their full combat power. If Cui Chengxiao casts aside all shame and mounts a solo sneak attack, you might be in danger."
Zhang Sheng replied, "No matter. The moment he steps into Qingming, I will know; he cannot ambush me at all. And if I lead the army outside, as long as I remain among the ranks and the martial qi does not scatter, he cannot kill me either. Furthermore, I suspect someone in the Cui family tried to pull the wool over people's eyes and secretly withheld the reward meant for Cui Yu. That means Cui Chengxiao will certainly not want to blow this out of proportion, lest an Immortal discover it and leave them utterly humiliated."
"Still, you must be careful."
A woven doll appeared in Zhang Sheng’s hand. She said, "I have this in my possession now. It is of utmost yin and extreme malice, vicious beyond measure, and still inextricably tied to a Heavenly Shaman. With this in hand, ordinary Scenery Command cultivators cannot divine my whereabouts at all; even if an Immortal makes a move, they will have to pay a price. As for sending an envoy, it is merely to offer the Immortal a graceful way out. But if he refuses to take the step down, that will be another story."
Only then did Ji Liuli put her mind at ease. She asked, "To what extent do you plan to take this battle?"
"I hear the Song Cui haven't fought a major war in centuries. They make a fine whetstone. I intend to rotate our divisions to temper them thoroughly. The newly promoted generals should be tested as well. Once the Song Cui are exhausted, I will uproot their boundary stone," Zhang Sheng said nonchalantly.
Ji Liuli countered, "Everything before that is minor, but uprooting their boundary stone creates a feud that cannot be undone. There is another method now, perhaps even better than pulling up the boundary stone. But I need to know: how do you mobilize the domain's power?"
With that, Ji Liuli fixed Zhang Sheng with a sharp, searching gaze.
Zhang Sheng said, "An immortal stone like Qingming's developed spirituality early on. I channel the domain's power through the boundary stone's spirit to suppress powerful foes."
Ji Liuli's eyes shifted. "Just as I thought. If it can suppress powerful foes, it can suppress other domains. A while ago, I observed the Bishui domain and noticed that its boundary facing Qingming was ten li shorter than the opposite side, which gave me an inkling. Qingming is still growing, far from reaching maturity. The Song Cui erected their boundary stone nine thousand li away; when the time comes, it will naturally be engulfed by Qingming—and that will become a struggle between two boundary stones."
A sharp glint flashed in Zhang Sheng's eyes. "That is an excellent idea. I will communicate with the stone spirit right away to see if it is feasible. We can run an experiment on Bishui first."
Ji Liuli added, "That is not all. There is another secret technique that can assimilate an opponent's boundary stone, turning it into a daughter stone of our own!"
Zhang Sheng was startled. "There is such a method? If boundary stones across the world assimilate one another, wouldn't there end up being just one single boundary stone in the end?"
Ji Liuli shook her head. "The cost of this method is extraordinarily steep; it is essentially equivalent to consuming a high-grade boundary stone. Thus, if the other party's boundary stone isn't of sufficient quality, the gains will not cover the losses."
Zhang Sheng pondered this. "This is the first enclave the Song Cui have established in centuries, and they place immense importance on it. In less than three months, they transported nearly three hundred thousand people here, and most of their materials were brought in from the State of Song. The quality of that boundary stone is definitely not low, and it is bound to harmonize with the Western Regions' heavens and earth."
"However, its nurturing and accumulation may not be sufficient yet. Still, the Cui family is sure to possess secret techniques or precious medicines to accelerate its nurturing. Such things are exceedingly rare and impossible for us to have, so it all depends on how we make them bring those out," Ji Liuli mused.
Hundreds of tiny specks of light suddenly surfaced around Zhang Sheng, flickering faintly. The moment Ji Liuli saw them, she grew exasperated. "How is it that you can bring the terminal out with you? Are there any more? Give me one!"
"The stone spirit gave it to me; there is only this one. Stop arguing for a moment, let me think."
Before long, the hundreds of light specks extinguished one by one. Zhang Sheng said, "There is a way, but it is not something accomplished overnight; we must proceed step by step. First, we must hit the Cui family's enclave hard and inflict damage upon their domain, making them feel an imminent threat of annihilation so they will spare no expense to accelerate their boundary stone's nurturing.
"Next comes drilling our troops and carrying out sustained harassment and attacks, keeping them in a state where they can barely resist by straining every nerve while retaining just a sliver of margin to develop. In this way, we will force them to continually pour in resources. This phase will take roughly ten years.
"Ten years later, as the Qingming domain expands and the two domains border each other, that will be the third phase. At that point, we apply initial pressure to keep forcing the Cui family to invest, and once they have poured in nearly all their resources, we unleash our full strength to suppress them!
"Then we shall see whether the Cui family's Immortal steps in. If he appears and demonstrates sufficient sincerity, we leave him five hundred li. If his sincerity is lacking, we leave him one hundred li. And if they turn hostile, we assimilate it."
Hearing this, Ji Liuli could only let out a sigh. "When it comes to angling, nobody beats you. Casting a line for ten years—and hooking an Immortal at the end of it!"
Zhang Sheng smiled faintly. "I will personally lead the campaign against the Cui family. As for Bishui, I leave it to you."
Ji Liuli said, "The Zhenshan Domain has been developing well lately. Should we probe their depth and give them a tap while we're at it?"
"Send Baoyun. She is best at disguise. And have Xiaoyu lead a detachment of troops as well, to temper him and broaden his horizons."
Ji Liuli nodded. "Indeed. Xiaoyu is rather simple-minded; he really could use some tempering."
Zhang Sheng asked, "Are there any other enemies in the vicinity?"
Ji Liuli pondered. "None, it seems, but we can manufacture a few. The Xu family has been very cooperative lately, and the Shi family is too far away, leaving only the King of Jin. I hear he has been doting exclusively on Prince Chu recently, which seems somewhat off."
Zhang Sheng looked thoughtful. "Cleanse the sovereign's court?"
"That would be the inner palace."
"Too blunt; history books wouldn't look kindly on it. Let's stick with the sovereign's court."
Ji Liuli considered it and agreed. She then said, "It's just that an excuse isn't easy to find; we need to lay some groundwork first. Once we've cleansed the court, we can take Hanyang Pass while we're at it."
Zhang Sheng shook her head. "That pass is currently a trading hub; the fortress itself is of little use. Seizing it directly would look unseemly and could easily provoke pushback from the Xu family. We cannot make enemies of the entire world. In my view, leasing it will suffice—let's lease it for ninety-nine years first."
"That works."
Thus the two deliberated, gradually fleshing out the details of their plan for the next ten years.
In the City Lord's Mansion of Yong'an, Xiaoyu was taken aback upon receiving the new mission dispatch. He read it twice more before convincing himself that he hadn't misread it.
Star Lord Shaoyang let out a heavy sigh and said, "I told you to stay far away from people who cultivate the heart of invincibility. See now? Even a passing dog gets bitten!"
Chapter 921