Chapter 303: Green Intent Treasure Bottle

"That was before." Hong Chenglue said bluntly, "After He Chunhua took office as Xiazhou Superintendent, he has been sending grain to the front line non-stop, and it looks like he can continue to procure and send it later. If Zhao Pan is not short of grain, Lord Nian, how do you intend to fight?" Nian Zanli suppressed a bit of anger and welcomed him with a smile: "Then what brilliant plan does General Hong have?"

If it weren't for Wu Qing sending word that Hong Chenglue had a brilliant method to kill the enemy, damn it, would he have to endure this kind of treatment?

Naturally, there was another subtle reason that both knew clearly, but neither could mention: Hong Chenglue was a proper general of the Beijia Nation with merits, while he, Nian Zanli, was a surrendered general who had only recently defected.

Who should be more polite to whom—did it even need to be said?

Hong Chenglue looked at the heavy rain outside the tent: "Stealing in the rain is better than stealing in the snow; such terrible weather is actually the best rhythm for an attack." The sound of rain and the darkness could cover up all preparations against the enemy.

Nian Zanli waited for his follow-up. No rational commander would force a river crossing at such a time; otherwise, the army would likely mutiny.

Sure enough, Hong Chenglue continued to ask: "What if I could let Lord Nian's army cross the river and land?"

It had come. Nian Zanli said solemnly: "Please continue."

"Twelve years ago, a disciple of State Preceptor Qingyang of the Beijia Nation, Juan Bao, defected. He was a foreign spy who had infiltrated, and fortunately, he was quickly brought to justice. But among the treasures he stole, several were never found, and the most important one is the Imitation Cloud-Water Treasure Bottle enshrined in the Qinggong, also called the Green Intent Bottle."

Beijia had four palaces—Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter—each stationed with a State Preceptor, whose status and treatment were transcendent. The other three palaces were easy to talk about, but putting the word 'Spring' in front of that 'Palace' word was somewhat improper and easily became garbled, so the word 'Green' was used instead, and the master of the Qinggong was State Preceptor Qingyang.

"Imitation?" Nian Zanli was curious, "Then what about the genuine article?"

"The genuine article is in the hands of an ancient immortal. So much time has passed that it has probably long since vanished." Hong Chenglue said, "The real Cloud-Water Treasure Bottle can collect the water of three rivers and five lakes; legend has it that an immortal once used it to resolve a great drought in a province."

"This imitation collected by the Qinggong was formed at the end of the ancient era, when the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was far more abundant than it is now, but immortals were becoming fewer and fewer, on the verge of disappearing. This imitation was also created by accident; it can only collect half a river's water, and its efficacy is far inferior to the genuine article, so the spiritual energy it consumes is also far less than the genuine article. Later generations spent all their efforts to carefully preserve it, and it has been passed down to the present."

Nian Zanli's eyes flickered as he listened. Hong Chenglue wouldn't mention this treasure for no reason, which meant? Sure enough, in the next second, Hong Chenglue took a soft cloth bundle from his bosom and opened it in front of Nian Zanli.

Inside was a gray bottle; the texture could not be distinguished as jade or stone, or perhaps it was called a gray stone vessel, with a round belly, narrow neck, and wide mouth.

It didn't match the poetic name of Cloud-Water Treasure Bottle at all.

The lid of the bottle mouth was carved into a gecko, its tail resting on the body of the vessel, its forelimbs hugging the bottle mouth tightly, but its head and nose had horns.

Four characters were carved on the bottle body: Moistening Mountains and Fertile Fields.

Nian Zanli was overjoyed: "Many thanks, General Hong! If Zhao Pan is defeated, the General will take the first merit!"

"No need, I am just lending you a bottle."

Nian Zanli carefully took the bottle to admire it, while asking: "Wasn't this treasure lost?" How could it be in Hong Chenglue's hands? "After I resigned from office, I passed through Xiling Town, and the neighboring county was where State Preceptor Qingyang's disciple was captured. I took my wife into town for a meal, and unexpectedly saw the Green Intent Bottle in a grocery store, placed on a shelf behind the door." Hong Chenglue shook his head, "The treasure was covered in dust and even had spider webs on it; it was very inconspicuous. If I hadn't seen it in the Qinggong back then, I would have missed it. In the end, I spent fifteen copper coins to buy it; the shopkeeper looked at me as if I were a big sucker."

Nian Zanli sighed: "Such a supreme treasure, yet no one recognized its value?"

"A heavy vessel is not something everyone can use, nor can it be used at all times. Lord Nian, holding it in your hand, can you feel a trace of magic power fluctuation?"

Nian Zanli shook his head.

Held in the hand, this thing was no different from ordinary stone or jade.

"Try injecting a bit of primordial power."

Nian Zanli followed suit, but as soon as a trace of primordial power was poured in, the gecko at the bottle mouth stretched its body and opened its mouth.

When it opened its mouth, the bottle opened.

Hong Chenglue picked up a teacup and poured some water into the bottle.

The bottle immediately shed its gray, plain stone outer skin, revealing the base color of mutton-fat white jade. "It also reacts to spiritual power, but even if all the spiritual power in your body and mine were added together, we couldn't wake it up."

Nian Zanli withdrew his primordial power, and the bottle returned to its original state within three breaths.

"To swallow half a river of water, how is this treasure bottle used?"

"Only two kinds of power can drive this treasure to full effect." Hong Chenglue said solemnly, "Either massive spiritual power or massive primordial power."

Otherwise, given how embarrassed he had been in Yuan North over the past few years, he would have sold the bottle for money long ago.

He had no primordial power after resigning, so he couldn't make the bottle show any changes; this thing looked like a worthless, inferior handmade product.

As for spiritual power, hehe, who in the whole world could still have "massive" spiritual power? "I must say this in advance: this treasure could originally only be driven by the State Preceptor. With our official status and rank, we still can't reach its requirements. If you want it to run, Lord Nian, you must mobilize the primordial power of the entire army and pour it all into it." Hong Chenglue had long considered this, "Even so, how long the Green Intent Bottle can swallow the river water depends on how long the primordial power paid to it can be maintained. The current Hanhe River has several times more water than usual."

The Hanhe River was currently in a flood state, and its discharge was an astonishing number.

Nian Zanli had no intention of retreating. As the commander-in-chief of the entire army, even in a non-combat state, there were endless troubles to deal with in the army; if there are many lice, they don't bite.

"General Hong estimates, if our army uses this bottle, how long can it calm the Hanhe River?" Suppose the army had crossed half the river, and suddenly the bottle couldn't hold up, and the raging tide rushed in—then this attack would become a huge joke, and Zhao Pan on the other side could laugh for several years, right? "I see your army's military appearance is neat and the laws are strict; Lord Nian should be very popular with the army." Hong Chenglue led troops himself, and some things could be seen at a glance.

"They are all old subordinates I've led for over a decade." Nian Zanli had guarded the frontier for many years and shared joys and sorrows with his soldiers, "Thanks to their trust, leading the army is worry-free for me."

"Are there fifty thousand people here?"

"Forty-six thousand people."

"Then, the primordial power stimulated by this army can at least support... a quarter of an hour or more?" Hong Chenglue couldn't give an exact number, "You and I both know that the essence of a magic tool is to use human power to resist heaven and earth. In the face of such a flood, how long your army can support, I dare not guarantee."

Although the Green Intent Bottle is magical, it is essentially a medium that allows the Xunzhou army to use primordial power to resist the flood.

How long it can hold on is not decided by the Green Intent Bottle, but depends on the military strength, morale, conviction, and determination of this troop under Nian Zanli.

"Only a quarter of an hour? Too reluctant." Nian Zanli pondered, "Besides, this attack is a one-way trip; the Green Intent Bottle shouldn't be able to be used twice in a short time, right?"

"Pour out the water, and it can swallow again." Hong Chenglue pointed out, "The key to the problem is that you won't have primordial power to supply it then. And because it will continuously extract all the primordial power of the army during the river crossing, everyone will feel depressed, heavy, frustrated, and even want to throw away their weapons."

In other words, this sneak attack on the other side must succeed; otherwise, there is no way back. And because the Green Intent Bottle used up all the primordial power, the Xunzhou army after landing would have no primordial power to protect themselves.

If Zhao Pan counterattacks quickly...

Nian Zanli fell into deep thought, then patted the table lightly: "It is not impossible. Only by cutting off the retreat can they have the courage to move forward."

Advance or die, retreat means death—the army will fight forward to seek a way to survive.

Otherwise, an army with negative morale might just scatter in a rout when there is a chance to escape.

The application of primordial power is truly a deadly art for commanders leading armies.

"But a quarter of an hour is far from enough."

Hong Chenglue had long thought of this problem and took out a maple leaf to hand over: "This is the 'Word Law' gifted to me by State Preceptor Shuangye. If General Nian wants to use the Green Intent Bottle, you might as well ask State Preceptor Shuangye to temporarily dispatch primordial power."

Look closely, this is not an ordinary maple leaf, but a talisman paper made of gold foil. According to Hong Chenglue, as long as you write on it, press a blood handprint, and set it on fire, the words on the talisman can be sent to State Preceptor Shuangye in real-time.

A one-time communication tool.

Nian Zanli was overjoyed.

How vast the primordial power of the Beijia Nation was, even he found it hard to imagine. Now that he was also leading the Beijia army, if State Preceptor Shuangye could allocate some primordial power to him, would the army still need to worry about the time limit for crossing the river? "But I must remind General Nian, the Green Intent Bottle has not been used for a very, very long time; it is not a good-tempered treasure, and occasionally it will be a bit disobedient, and using it will also cause great loss to your personal energy and spirit."

"Ancient treasures, it is inevitable." Victory always has a price, "It won't suck away my essence, blood, or lifespan, right?"

Some evil treasures are just that difficult to serve; Nian Zanli didn't want to jump into such a trap.

"That won't happen." Hong Chenglue stood up, "Whether to use it or not, Lord Nian can consider it slowly. If you are prepared to take action, you might as well choose a day with a favorable wind."

Nian Zanli was in high spirits, clapped his hands, and called someone to take him to a clean tent to rest.

￥￥￥￥￥

Three days later, the rain grew heavier day by day.

Even in the northern part of Xiazhou, the magnitude and duration of this torrential rain were rare, counting as once in a hundred years.

He Lingchuan woke up and found that the sky was still dark; he had actually only slept for an hour or so.

Probably because the rock wolf was grinding its teeth with a cow bone stick nearby? That clattering sound couldn't even be suppressed by the sound of the rain.

However, although the sleep time was short this time, He Lingchuan had defeated two challengers in the Panlong Dream and successfully defended the ring.

Although the Martial Arts Hall gave him forty days of recuperation time, he was in a full-health state every time he entered the dream; of course, he didn't need such a vacation, so he went straight to the stage to fight.

The skinny man was right; those who dared to challenge the ring master all had their own unique skills. The challenger He Lingchuan encountered for the last time was known for his agility, and his figure was so fast it was hard to capture.

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 304 =====