Chapter 9

General Guan followed Qingsong's guidance and looked over, shocked, "A mere barbarian girl, her life star is actually this bright? Impossible, right."

In fact, the star they saw at this moment was already dim, because it was already past the fifth watch, and the morning sun was about to rise.

The crescent moon had disappeared, and the stars were hidden; being able to be seen at this time already proved it was very bright.

Daoist Qingsong tilted his head and looked at him, saying, "Before, you might have complained in your hearts that for the sake of a mere Sha Man Yu, I, a little Daoist, actually drove the Great Shu's most elite Iron Cavalry Battalion to this godforsaken place, and even let a dignified Cavalry Commandant lead the team personally."

"This subordinate wouldn't dare!" General Guan showed a look of panic, immediately bowing his head to apologize to the Daoist.

Daoist Qingsong smiled and said, "It is human nature for you to have resentment in your hearts.

But this little Daoist wants to tell you that this little Daoist is not torturing you.

This little Daoist is saving your lives, saving the millions of common people of your Great Shu Kingdom.

If you hadn't come on this trip, at most in thirty years, Great Shu would face the crisis of national extinction.

If Great Qin couldn't spare a hand, it would directly perish at the hands of the Sha Barbarians.

Oh, at that time, it wouldn't be the Sha Barbarians, or even the Sha Qiu Kingdom, but the 'Western Sha Great Empire'."

"Western, Western Sha Great Empire... You... You are joking, right?" General Guan's face was full of absurdity.

The black-armored cavalry behind them changed color even more, everyone shocked.

The old barbarian in the leopard-skin skirt also silently followed at the very back, lowering his head at this moment, clenching his fists, his whole body trembling.

Daoist Qingsong sighed, "From Hengsha Pass to here, it is more than two thousand miles in a straight line; even though this little Daoist is good at the Five Elements Escape Technique, I can only travel fifteen hundred miles a day (PS).

Since yesterday afternoon, this little Daoist began to rush here, one afternoon plus one night, the escape technique didn't stop, didn't eat or drink.

This little Daoist is still far from becoming an immortal; I am also a mortal, I will get tired, I will be hungry and thirsty.

Could this tossing be just to come over and joke with you?"

"Think carefully again, the Lu Kingdom has millions of households, hundreds of thousands of armored soldiers, and there are ten Human Immortals just on the surface; when they formed the Anti-Shu Alliance, why did they personally find Sha Qiu, and even take the initiative to let the Sha Barbarian leader call himself king, recognizing the status of his 'Sha Qiu Kingdom'?"

Guan Huchen's expression shook, and he blurted out, "Could it be that the Lu Kingdom also has experts who see the extraordinary nature of the Western Sha Barbarian tribe?"

Daoist Qingsong smiled, "The Lu Kingdom has immortals, and observing astrology and measuring national destiny is not a peerless great divine power.

However, the people of the Lu Kingdom consider more.

The Sha Qiu Kingdom, which has the hope of transforming into the Western Sha Empire, is a threat to the Shu Kingdom in the south, and also a huge hidden danger to the Lu Kingdom in the west.

Pulling the Sha Qiu Kingdom into the alliance not only utilized the power of the Sha Qiu Kingdom, gathering the destiny of the thirty-six countries in one place to serve the ambition of the Lu Kingdom, but also consumed the essence of the Sha Qiu Kingdom during the wars, causing its vitality to be greatly damaged and its national destiny to decline—of course, I now know that the key to the Sha Qiu Kingdom is Sha Man Yu.

At that time, the people of the Lu Kingdom didn't know.

When the thirty-six-country alliance successfully destroys the Shu Kingdom, and when they discover that the astrology of the Sha Qiu Kingdom's rise hasn't changed, the Lu Kingdom will inevitably use other means to deal with it."

"Unbelievable, unimaginable, you must know that this subordinate's mere three hundred iron cavalry swept through the ancestral land of the Western Sha barbarians, and during the whole process, this subordinate didn't even draw his sword..." General Guan muttered.

"You don't believe in astrology?" Daoist Qingsong turned his head and said lightly, "Long before the thirty-six-country alliance led by the Lu Kingdom was established, the Great Qin Imperial Observatory had already seen the omen of great chaos in the west and reported it to Li Cheng at the first opportunity.

Two months later, Li Cheng summarized the information collected about the Western countries and formulated a plan to quell the chaos, all presented to His Majesty the Human Emperor for review.

By the time the thirty-six countries began to invade Western Shu, the King of Shu urgently sent a special envoy to Xianyang for help; the Marquis of Lieyang had already been transferred from the East Sea battlefield and was prepared for the westward advance.

From the East Sea to Western Shu, do you know how far it is? One hundred and eight thousand miles!"

General Guan didn't know what to say anymore.

Daoist Qingsong added, "To observe the national destiny through astrology, time and place are very important.

Not to mention the timing, the best location is the observatory near the imperial palace.

The more sufficient the ritual preparation before star observation, and the more cooperative the emperor of the dynasty, the better the effect.

Even the most brilliant warlock finds it difficult to observe the national destiny of an ordinary small country one hundred thousand miles away on the territory of their own country.

Basically, you can't see anything.

There is a saying, 'Looking at the mountain from the side, it becomes a peak.'

Under the same sky, we mortals look up at the starry sky, but the star scenes we see are different.

The Ziwei Meng Xingchen you see in your country is just your king, and the star map is one appearance.

The Ziwei Meng Xingchen he sees in his country mostly has nothing to do with your monarch, and the star map is another appearance.

If there is an astrological connection between the star maps, it must be bad news; either he invades you, or you offend him."

General Guan saw Daoist Qingsong looking up at the sky, his eyes covered with little starlight, mysterious and unpredictable.

He looked down, and saw Qingsong's right hand pinching a seal, his left hand's five fingers flying, constantly calculating something.

Daoist Qingsong didn't notice his gaze, and his sighs didn't stop.

"When this little Daoist left Xianyang under His Majesty's decree, I was instructed by Supervisor Zhang not to take the star maps observed by the Imperial Observatory as the absolute standard.

After destroying the thirty-six countries, this little Daoist met the King of Shu and found that the aura of decline covering the Shu Kingdom had not disappeared.

On your Western Shu observatory, this little Daoist saw that the great enemy of the Shu Kingdom was in the north, corresponding to this place.

This little Daoist also saw the root cause of the Sha Barbarians' rise."

General Guan frowned, "Sha Man Yu?"

Daoist Qingsong nodded gently, "That's right, it's her! If you don't find her, the crisis of your Shu Kingdom's national extinction will not be lifted."

General Guan pointed to the "Sha Man Yu life star" that was about to disappear in the gray sky and asked, "Is that the Ziwei Meng Xingchen of the Sha Qiu Kingdom?"

"No, the 'Western Sha Great Emperor' is not Sha Man Yu; the hidden dragon is someone else."

General Guan asked again, "Is she the Wenqu of the Sha Qiu Kingdom?"

"Neither. The Wenqu of the Sha Qiu Kingdom hasn't condensed into shape yet; the person who should respond to the fate either hasn't been born, or the timing isn't right, and they haven't established a connection with the Sha Qiu Kingdom.

Or the person is in the Sha Qiu camp, just hasn't started their momentum yet.

The Wuqu did have some signs, but it died prematurely not long ago.

It probably died in yesterday's iron cavalry charge," Daoist Qingsong said.

Song Changqing behind General Guan immediately thought of someone.

"Is it Sha Long?" Zhu Tong also thought of it.

General Guan asked in confusion, "Since Sha Man Yu is neither the hidden dragon nor the civil and military officials assisting the hidden dragon, then she... eh, could she be the hidden dragon's concubine? That's not right, concubines are just appendages of the true dragon."

Daoist Qingsong shook his head, "From the star map of the Sha Qiu Kingdom, Sha Man Yu's life star is in the highest position, even with the momentum of flying out.

Analyzing from the information this little Daoist has learned, even the true dragon was raised by her.

Who is worthy of having her assist with the phoenix fate?

At the very least, the true dragon of Sha Qiu cannot suppress it at all; forcing it would have great harm."

"This subordinate really doesn't understand, please enlighten me, Daoist," General Guan said.

Daoist Qingsong dissipated the starlight in his eyes, and the constant calculating movement also stopped.

He turned his head to look around in all directions, finally pointing behind the iron cavalry, shouting, "Bring that old barbarian over."

Everyone turned to look back together, their gazes focused on the old barbarian in the leopard-skin skirt.

"My Lord, are you looking for this servant?" The old barbarian was self-aware; although he was anxious in his heart, he still honestly walked forward, and upon reaching them, he performed a full prostration.

Daoist Qingsong smiled at General Guan, "Don't underestimate this old barbarian; if it weren't for the General's and this little Daoist's trip to Sha Qiu today, within ten years, he would definitely reach the position of a high official, holding the power of life and death over millions."

The old barbarian raised his head, dumbfounded.

On General Guan's elegant and dignified face, a stiff smile was pulled, "Could he be the hidden dragon?"

"This little Daoist just used the Qi-watching technique to find Sha Man Yu, and inadvertently saw that the gray-white Qi on top of this barbarian's head had almost dissipated, but at the very core, a wisp of light purple that was about to dissipate was hidden. It was very light and faint, but it could explain some problems."

Daoist Qingsong shook his head, then looked down at the old barbarian and asked, "Old barbarian, what is your position in the Sha Qiu Kingdom?"

"What... position?" The old barbarian's old face was confused, "What position is this servant?"

Daoist Qingsong coughed lightly and said, "This little Daoist will change the way of saying it; after your leader called himself the Sha Qiu King and the tribe established the Sha Qiu Kingdom, what official position do you hold in the Sha Qiu Kingdom?"

"Do those Sha Barbarians have official positions?" The black-armored knights were full of suspicion.

The old barbarian also had a tangled old face.

Song Changqing said, "Sha Man Yu calls herself Princess Yu, and yesterday there was a Sha Qiu Empress Dowager... By the way, isn't Sha Long the Pillar-State Grand General?"

The old barbarian buried his face on the ground and said tremblingly, "My Lord, please forgive me; this servant originally had no official position, but having accompanied the leader for many years, after the Sha Qiu Kingdom was established, I was forcibly appointed as the Right Prime Minister by Feather Yu Yu Ya Tou."

"My Lord, this servant is just a piece of rotten wood, an ignorant and incompetent aging barbarian; this servant doesn't even know characters, and has never read a book..." He wailed repeatedly, trying his best to distance himself from the relationship of a "top-grade powerful official."

Daoist Qingsong chuckled, "Does General Guan understand now?"

General Guan was thoughtful and said, "There is a Prime Minister, a Pillar-State General, and an Empress Dowager, naturally there will also be a Crown Prince... Even if the Sha Qiu King died outside Tianmen Town, the system has been established, and afterwards it only needs to be passed down in an orderly manner to restore the 'Sha Qiu Kingdom', and then slowly develop and grow..."

Daoist Qingsong sighed, "Sha Man Yu might have done it unintentionally, but she did indeed establish a system for the ignorant Sha Barbarians.

And she was quite accurate in judging people; the Pillar-State General and Prime Minister she recommended were all worthy of the name... at least they were the best choices for the Sha Barbarian tribe.

Of course, a system alone is not enough; a castle in the air cannot last long."

He looked around and said, "Has General Guan noticed that the Sha Qiu barbarians are not short of iron and copper tools."

"Are they not short?" General Guan also looked left and right, seeing no metal objects.

Daoist Qingsong said, "Their weapons are all refined iron. Perhaps Sha Qiu doesn't have much, but this little Daoist wants to tell you one thing: the weapons used by the Sha Qiu King and the five thousand barbarian warriors are all forged by themselves."

General Guan was shocked, hurriedly bent down, grabbed the old barbarian's neck, and shouted sternly, "You can actually forge iron?"

The barbarian's old face tangled into a ball, his eyes filled with bitterness, despair, pain, and fear, and he said tremblingly, "Fifty miles to the north, there... there is a large fire furnace built by Feather Yu Yu Ya Tou, which can burn red water from black sand; after the red water cools, it becomes black iron ingots."

General Guan hurriedly activated his Thousand-Mile Eye to look to the north, and after searching for a long while, he finally found the "iron smelting furnace" chiseled out of the stone wall.

If it weren't for the old barbarian's reminder, he would only have thought it was a strange cave.

However, outside the cave, there was a lot of charcoal ash, and the surroundings were also smoked pitch black.

"There is a desert all around, where did you mine the iron ore?" General Guan asked with a solemn expression.

The old barbarian lowered his head and said blankly, "There is no iron ore, only black sand. Five years ago, Feather Yu Yu Ya Tou used a black rod to roll back and forth in the sand pile by the river, and soon it was covered with lumps of strange black sand, and then... then it burned out iron ingots; it was very magical, this servant thought she knew demonic arts."

"What black rod?" General Guan asked.

Daoist Qingsong's eyes flashed, "It should be a magnetic iron rod, the magnet adsorbing iron sand with extremely high iron content in the sand."

The people of Shu didn't know, but he knew that in the Great Qin, many blacksmiths had mastered the "ancestral secret technique" of sifting iron sand.

"Could it be that the sand of the Flowing Sand River hides a lot of iron sand? Our Great Shu Kingdom is still mining in the southern mountains!" The black-armored knights were both surprised and happy, and their moods were very complex.

Daoist Qingsong pondered, "Why did Sha Man Yu build the iron smelting furnace fifty miles away?"

"Why?" General Guan went to look at the old barbarian, "Since it is a place for forging iron, why are there only two old barbarian women living there?"

"Originally, there were many young and strong men burning iron there; they were powerful warriors, from the third warrior to the seventeenth warrior, all forging iron there; last year, the leader went on an expedition and took all the warriors away, and the furnace went out."

After a pause, the old barbarian added, "Feather Yu Yu Ya Tou said that burning the furnace consumes too much charcoal, and Sha Qiu is a place where barbarians live; to get a few pieces of iron, burning all the trees would mean losing their home.

Also, she found a shallow water bay over there, where she could sift more black sand."

"Even if the iron sand is unevenly distributed, as long as there are enough people, it can always accumulate over time. At least it's better than going to the southern mountains to mine."

General Guan said, while calculating in his heart.

With the manpower and material resources of the Sha Barbarians, they were able to equip an army of five thousand people in a few years.

The Guan family is the number one noble family in Yingxiang Mansion, and the efficiency will only be higher.

When he goes back, he will form a "Ten-Thousand-Man Group" for sifting iron.

This isn't sifting iron, it's a mountain of gold and silver!

(PS: This setting refers to "Investiture of the Gods"; the original book clearly states that ordinary-level Earth Escape Technique travels a thousand miles a day.

The "day" here is not twenty-four hours, just a daytime, 12 hours.

There might be stops along the way to rest, eat, and defecate.

Proficient-level Earth Escape travels fifteen hundred miles a day.

The following is the speed of escape techniques in "Investiture of the Gods": Jin Guang of Earth Travel, thousands of miles a day. Earth Escape Technique travels a thousand miles a day. Zhang Kui's Earth Travel Technique can travel fifteen hundred miles a day, while Tu Xingsun only travels a thousand miles, so he couldn't catch up with him.

After the Three Xiao Niangniang used the Nine-Bend Yellow River Array to eliminate the Three Flowers of the Twelve Golden Immortals of the Chan Sect, Yuanshi Tianzun taught them the Jin Guang of Earth Travel, which also only traveled thousands of miles a day.

But this does not mean that the power system of "Investiture of the Gods" is inferior to "Journey to the West".

In fact, I think "Investiture of the Gods" is very reasonable, because at this time the Twelve Golden Immortals are no longer Golden Immortals, having been knocked down to the mortal world. When they were still Golden Immortals, they could still travel to the North Sea in the morning and Cangwu in the evening, one hundred thousand miles a day.

By the way, everyone knows that Wukong's somersault is one hundred and eight thousand miles.

But does everyone know how long it takes him to do one somersault? At least ten minutes!

Wukong said it himself in the original book.

The original text is as follows: Sha Seng said: "Brother, how far is it to Leiyin?" Xingzhe said: "One hundred and eight thousand miles, and we haven't even walked one-tenth of it." Bajie said: "Brother, how many years will it take to get there?" Xingzhe said: "This road, if it were you two virtuous brothers, it would take ten days or so; if it were me walking, I could walk fifty times a day and still see the sun."

One daytime, twelve hours, running fifty times "one hundred and eight thousand miles".

This should be when he is in a hurry, considered the limit speed.

In some plots, Wukong's round trip of one hundred and eight thousand miles takes more than half a day to fly.

Of course, this is before Wukong became a Buddha; after becoming the Fighting Victorious Buddha, his realm improved, and his speed became faster.

In addition, the PS of the public chapters, I put them directly after the chapters, not charging, and opening another chapter, also belonging to the public chapters.

After it goes on the shelves, I definitely won't do this.)