Chapter 294: 303 Planning Before Acting

"Both inside and out. Inside, I truly didn't expect to succeed on the first try; outside, I didn't expect that we would still be safe and sound until now."

"What I mean is, I originally thought there would be a scene at the final moment of the Sword Casting," Tang Zhao said with a serious expression.

Xing Ji laughed and said, "Interesting. At this point, you still have no confidence. You have already prepared thoroughly enough. With everything sealed off inside and out, how can it not be called foolproof? Although it is only a Sword Casting Assembly at Zhuoyu Villa, I think the order is much better than that Sword Casting Conference which was full of rumors and caused Longyuan to stumble as soon as they debuted."

Tang Zhao looked left and right; Ju Tianxuan had indeed already left, and there were no other companions who had participated in the Sword Casting Conference who could hear him. He laughed and said, "Actually, we did indeed learn from the lessons of the Talisman Assembly. But compared to the situation faced at the Talisman Assembly, we had too many advantages. Just counting those who passed information, there were several families. Not to mention there were also inside agents. Because we grasped so much information, we inevitably became overly cautious, wishing we could settle everything once and for all."

Indeed, compared to Longyuan, who only vaguely knew their opponents were coming, Tang Zhao had a lot of first-hand information here. Long before the Talisman Assembly, he had received news—some sent by Second Senior Brother Xu Zhongnan, some by Lady Hua Rong, and there was also the warning from Deng's family. At that time, he had already received news that the force known as the Turtle Bandits was coming.

At that time, he was still completely in the dark about the Turtle Bandits, but after a trip to Kungang, he had an idea in his mind. He had seen the cruelty, strangeness, and power of the Turtle Bandits with his own eyes. Although he had turned danger into safety in both the battles at Kungang and Yunzhou, he did not underestimate them because of that. What kind of teammates did Tang Zhao have at that time? In that incident at Kungang, even a major power like Longyuan, combined with nobles like the Snow Mountain Wangfu, almost overturned their carriage, and it only settled down after the Kun Sword displayed its divine might. In Xun City, with Zhang Rong helping to calculate the lunar time and Mai Shiyu's sword happening to be able to turn the tide, they only managed to pass through danger after a Town Guardian personally shot and killed his own target. Therefore, Tang Zhao had experienced much; he did not have the slightest contempt for the Turtle Bandits, but instead became increasingly vigilant. At that time, he had the determination that his own strength was insufficient and he must invite outside help.

Later, Tang Zhao and Zhuoyu Villa still had some luck; they encountered a high-level undercover agent. Or perhaps one shouldn't call her an undercover agent; she was someone who was physically in the Cao camp but whose heart was with the Han. That was Tang Zhao's old friend, "General Pei" Pei Shoujing.

Back then, after the great battle against the White-haired Swordsman, Xing Ji took action to exile Pei Shoujing. At that time, in order to keep this Power Sword Envoy from interfering, she was sent quite far away. He thought that although this girl was young, she had strength to rely on, was not stupid herself, and could tell east from west, so he expected that a distance of a few hundred miles would not lead to any accidents. But later, an accident really did happen, and Pei Shoujing disappeared just like that. Xing Ji felt a bit guilty and even sent people to search around He Yang County, but there was never any news.

Unexpectedly, after several years of separation, Pei Shoujing had actually joined the Turtle Bandits and had risen to a not-insignificant position.

Pei Shoujing did not mention how she entered the Turtle Bandits, but her natural talent was excellent, so it was not strange for her to stand out anywhere. It was just that Pei Shoujing also expressed contradictions in her letters: first, someone with high power and position in the Turtle Bandits was good to her, and she was not without feelings; second, she did not enter the Turtle Bandits voluntarily, nor did she feel that restoring the old dynasty was a mission with a bright future or one worth dedicating her life to. Moreover, she was a person with a family and a career; once her identity as a woman of the Pei Family was discovered by the Imperial Court, the consequences would be unimaginable. For the sake of her family and herself, she still wanted to get out.

Notifying Tang Zhao of the intelligence was, on one hand, concern for an old friend, and on the other, a request for cooperation. She wanted a chance to completely break away from the Turtle Bandits. Tang Zhao would naturally not refuse such a win-win situation, and combining her intelligence, he set a grand plan for defense and counterattack for the Sword Casting Conference.

The core of the plan was to divide and conquer.

It was known that the Turtle Bandits were going to attack from at least three directions: breaking through from the outside, infiltrating with inside agents, and sneaking in through secret passages. Regardless of the strength of these three routes, if they were to converge, it would be very troublesome. Zhuoyu Villa was too small to fight on two fronts, so Tang Zhao did not allow them to converge from the beginning.

Among them, Tang Zhao could not control the route of Shi Chunqing coming to Zhuoyu Villa. There was no help for it; how many years had he been on the mountain? How many years had Shi Chunqing been there? If Shi Chunqing wanted to find a path to sneak up the mountain for a surprise attack, they certainly couldn't stop him and could only wait.

Then, the remaining routes were absolutely not allowed to come up the mountain. Those climbing the Snow Mountain outside were easy; how could the Snow Mountain be so easy to climb? The destruction of an avalanche was no less than Mount Tai pressing down on one's head, which could not be resisted by human power. By slightly inducing some Natural Disasters, most of the people were buried in the desolate mountains. It was also because Tang Zhao possessed a benevolent heart and did not kill them all, only using Art Tools like "Bu De" carried by cranes and owls to lead people astray in the mountains, and then using signs to warn them, urging them to go down the mountain. For those who were obsessed and refused to listen, there was nothing more to say; sending them off to become one with the Snow Mountain was enough.

As for the inside agent route, it was originally easy to handle; with Pei Shoujing, the leader, directly colluding with the enemy, how could it not succeed? However, what needed to be considered was letting Pei Shoujing have a perfect exit, so not a single person she brought could leave. If one left, it would count as a failure. Therefore, the best location for the decisive battle had to be closed off, so that the meat would rot in the pot.

To diverge from Shi Chunqing and to be closed off—Tang Zhao pondered for a long time and thought of a perfect stage.

It was the very world he saw when he first entered the Sumeru Sword in his youth.

The world inside the Time Jar had mountains and water; it seemed like a real world, but it was also fake, separated from the outside world by a thick wall of the jar.

At first, Tang Zhao wanted to build a world himself using the Lotus Pond and the jar storage, but that was truly a difficult method. He had to cast the sword and arrange the grand plan; he simply couldn't do it. Later, he closed his eyes and hardened his heart—it won't work, right? If it won't work, then I'm not playing along.

Bring me some help!

Anyway, he had to look for outside help from the beginning; looking for one was looking, so what was the difference in looking for ten? The only problem was that he didn't know that many people.

For this reason, Tang Zhao prepared paper and pen, opened his memory, and wrote as if flying. He would find everyone he could. Boss Xing, I've already called you Boss Xing, can you not come? Ping Xiansheng, I've also called you Ping Xiansheng, you have to come, right? Teacher Si... Tang Zhao also wrote a letter, but he, like Mai Shiyu, held a formal official position, and with duties on his shoulders, it was difficult for him to get away, unlike Xing Ji who was idle at home and could go anywhere.

As for Black Widow, Lady Hua Rong, Wei Zhangle, Feng Zhilie, and Yun Xiyan, Tang Zhao invited them all. If they came, they came; if they didn't, he had still invited them, and the invitations had been delivered.

Facts proved that Tang Zhao's popularity was not bad. On one hand, it was because there was indeed friendship back then; on the other hand, there was no need to shy away from the fact that Tang Zhao now had academic success, Sword Casting was in sight, and both his talent and status showed that he had a limitless future and was very worthy of being valued. Human relationships were all about give and take; if one could help, why not help?

In this way, Tang Zhao very smoothly pulled in a large group of outside helpers he wanted to find, the most important being Xing Ji and Ping Jiangqiu.

Not to mention Xing Ji, who was almost the actual host of the Reception Hall and Jichun City, besides the local Zhuoyu Villa, after Tang Zhao went into seclusion. Moving between the two sides and working overtime day and night, he could be called hardworking... but not complaining. Ping Jiangqiu also gave Tang Zhao a huge surprise.

Originally, in Tang Zhao's impression, although the world inside the jar was good, it was a dead land, lifeless and without even fresh fruit. Relying solely on the jar storage, it was impossible to build a living world; it still needed to be coordinated with the Lotus Pond to cover it up. However, after not seeing him for a few years, Ping Jiangqiu had actually made great progress—his world could actually accommodate living things.

Now, grass and trees could grow on the mountains in the jar, reeds could grow by the water, fish swam in the pond, and birds flew in the trees. This was the true Sumeru world. Staying in such a world for another few decades, I'm afraid it wouldn't be so hard to endure.

Tang Zhao was very curious how Ping Jiangqiu had such a big change after only coming out for a few years? Ping Jiangqiu was full of mystery and only said: "I found a new Sword Intent. If two swords are combined, wouldn't that be amazing? When the old man finds a third Sword Intent, standing like a tripod with three legs, I will be able to build my own Supernatural Power and pursue the Sword Immortal realm."

Tang Zhao didn't quite understand, but he thought of that White-haired Swordsman. His Pure Yang Sword's Sword Intent was a seal, and it only sealed things related to life; wouldn't that just happen to complement Ping Jiangqiu? Back then, that person even specifically snatched Ping Jiangqiu's jar; it must have been to strengthen himself and supplement his Sword Intent. Could it be that in the end, the hunter and the prey swapped places, and it actually benefited Ping Jiangqiu instead?

Ping Jiangqiu didn't explain, and Tang Zhao didn't have time to ask. Anyway, when the time came, he would definitely touch the Sumeru Sword again, and wouldn't everything be clear then?

With the two great helpers, Ping Jiangqiu and Xing Ji, Tang Zhao's layout had no more obstacles. He invited all the guests with invitations to go to Runcao Ferry, and then Jiang Shenyi would pick them up. He said openly that they were going up the mountain, but in fact, he was stuffing them directly into the jar. The wind bead that brought people up the mountain had a hypnotic effect; they would fall asleep upon entering, and when they woke up and saw the Reception Hall, how could they suspect that this was not Zhuoyu Villa?

In this way, anyone who went up the mountain via an invitation, regardless of whether they were real or fake, could not stay at Zhuoyu Villa, let alone converge with Shi Chunqing.

As for this jar, it was placed next to Xing Ji. Xing Ji also did not go up to Zhuoyu Villa, but stayed in Jichun City to take over the "Ghost Pushing the Mill"—how he took it over would not be mentioned, but anyway, with the cooperation of the local Land Inspection Division, what power of resistance did an organization like the Ghost Pushing the Mill have?

In this way, Xing Ji was busy on both ends, pretending to be Ba Mian Ren to lure people up the mountain while expelling people running around in the Reception Hall. Dealing with the Jianghu men with mixed motives in the Ghost Pushing the Mill was indeed troublesome, and expelling the various people who discovered the "jar wall" in the Reception Hall was not easy either. After all, the world inside the jar was limited, and running a little too far might mean "hitting a wall." While those with ill intentions among these people had to be caught, those guests who were simply bored also had to be persuaded to leave. Xing Ji really felt it was troublesome, so he took the opportunity to form a four-person team including Yun Xiyan, managing them separately so he could free himself up to handle matters in Jichun City.

In this team, Feng Zhilie had long known the inside story, Yun Xiyan had been kept in the dark the whole time and only realized the truth when Xing Ji brought her out of the jar, and Wang Fei had his own suspicions about the jar world but kept them hidden and never spoke of them. If one had to talk about these people, Xing Ji still liked Yun Xiyan the most.

Because this move of "Great Shift of Heaven and Earth" was done correctly from the beginning, exceeding the enemy's imagination, things went very smoothly. Those climbing the Snow Mountain, whether dead or alive, all failed to get up the mountain, and the base camp for climbing built outside the valley was also kicked over by Lady Hua Rong leading her adopted sons. The heroes in Jichun City forgot everything, and the Turtle Bandits in the Reception Hall were wiped out by inside and outside cooperation. No matter how the Turtle Bandits racked their brains, they never threatened Zhuoyu Villa for a single moment.

It could be said that before the Sword Casting succeeded, Zhuoyu Villa had already succeeded.

Xing Ji said: "The plan has already succeeded; do you still have worries?"

Tang Zhao sighed and said: "Yes, because there is still a clear enemy who has not appeared."