Chapter 1036: Returning the Army to the Liuzhen to Organize Military Preparations

Before the Southern Heavenly Gate, the iron cavalry of the Liuzhen were fully armored, marching in formation, with a large amount of baggage piled up in the box-carts.

These box-carts, forged from mysterious iron, had bodies made of ten-thousand-year ironwood as thick as a cutting board. The thick carriages spared no cost in spirit materials, were inscribed with cloud seals, and were supported by a black cloud, floating in mid-air.

The carriages were like two-story small buildings, with crossbowmen holding ten-thousand-jun divine crossbows on the upper level to keep watch.

The lower level was a material warehouse, sealed by strict restrictions. Inside, a vast space was opened up with cloud seals; even a small city could be contained within.

These box-carts were also important military weapons in the army. Besides transporting baggage, they were responsible for unfolding and surrounding themselves in the event of a surprise attack in field battles, forming a formation to serve as a camp.

Therefore, don't look at the many cloud towers of the true disciples in the Yingzhou Immortal City, which were dozens of stories high, towering into the clouds, vast inside, capable of housing hundreds of servants, and serving as cultivation, storage, war magic weapon, and expeditionary military weapon facilities.

But in reality, their cost and the number of restriction layers were far inferior to these seemingly simple box-carts!

Dozens of such box-carts were pulled by massive demonic beasts, arranged in formation, and slowly drove into the Heavenly Gate.

Cavalry escorted the baggage in front and behind, and crossbowmen surrounded the box-cart cloud towers in formation, ready to form a cart formation at any time to resist incoming attacks.

Just as the rear army of the iron cavalry slowly entered the Heavenly Gate.

Yingzhou's starships slowly appeared on the horizon.

They pressed down across the sky, their sides bristling with countless star-annihilating crossbows and cannon muzzles, the sharp edge of the divine thunder towers fully exposed, aimed at this place from afar.

The Great Expansion Hun-Tian Instrument on the starship had already locked onto the rear army of the cavalry, and a volley could just hit the tail of the Liuzhen.

A Nascent Soul True Immortal bowed to Han Zhong: "Fangshi! Their rear army is still within our strike range. Should we use the main cannons to bombard..."

Han Zhong remained silent for a long time, until the last bit of the tail slowly entered the Heavenly Gate.

He shook his head: "No need!"

"They kept the Two-Yi Yuan Magnetic Array to hold us hostage. If we use the main cannons to bombard, they will fight back and detonate the Yuan Magnetic Array. At that time, the earth veins within a radius of ten thousand miles will be shattered, and the idiots inside won't be able to escape with their lives!"

As he spoke, Han Zhong narrowed his eyes slightly, looking at the Yuan Magnetic Divine Furnace iron ball huddled into a ball in the sky, a flash of severity in his eyes.

"Save the people first!"

He pointed his horse whip at the giant furnace iron ball in the sky and ordered coldly.

Seeing the last heavy cavalry of the Liuzhen enter the Heavenly Gate, Qian Chen slowly released the bowstring of the Qiankun Bow. The divine bow turned into light spots, scattering into nothingness. Following Qian Chen, he picked up the wooden bowl again and turned to leave the battlefield.

In Wuchuan Town, inside the inner city, a large number of men, women, old, and young were tied from head to tail with a rope.

These talisman ropes, rubbed from thousand-year hemp, all had nine layers of restrictions. In a small sect, they could be considered a decent magic weapon, but on a real battlefield, they were just used by the soldiers to tie up captives.

These captives would be divided into "buqu" by the townspeople of the Liuzhen. Named buqu, they were actually slaves, branded by the sorcerers in the army and planted with blood curses.

The various warlords were already skilled in this daily routine of catching captives. Every autumn hunt, the military families of the Liuzhen would go outside the city to the grasslands to catch stray Hu people for grazing or labor.

Like driven cattle, if not for this, how could the warlords afford to raise groups of warhorses and buqu!

It's just that this batch was high-quality population caught from Yingzhou, whose cultivation and skills were far superior to the stray Hu, making them more troublesome to settle, and their value far exceeded that of ordinary slaves.

Not to mention the women and children, who could completely strengthen the main force if caught back, even the old cultivators among them were all proficient in alchemy and weapon refining, and at worst could draw a few talismans—they were all excellent craftsmen.

He Basheng rode his horse, counting the people from head to tail, and then from tail to head.

"Thirty thousand people!"

He Basheng couldn't help but praise: "Yingzhou people are much stronger than the stray Hu! The stray Hu only know how to graze sheep and herd horses, and it's hard to find a few who understand sorcery. But Yingzhou people know how to refine weapons, build, process spirit materials, and there are even those who know alchemy."

As he spoke, he sighed: "It's a pity that the battlefield has no eyes. Those Yingzhou true disciples living in cloud towers are all supreme Golden Cores, rare indeed, but few were left alive."

"They have captured quite a few of their servants. It is said they are all top-tier masters of miscellaneous cultivation arts; the alchemists and weapon refiners are enough to serve as elders or honored guests in a small sect. A few gardeners specializing in spiritual plants were snatched up even earlier!"

Gudu Tong said: "If we hadn't fought in formation, those Yingzhou true disciples fighting alone would probably not find it difficult to kill us."

"How could we have left hands to capture them alive?"

"Moreover, these people are arrogant and difficult to subdue. Their cultivation is high, and who knows what means they have to break free from the restrictions and rise up to kill in the city?"

Dugu Xin brushed his warhorse, applying a thick layer of Dragon Blood Jade Marrow Ointment on his beloved horse, patting it carefully to guide the medicinal power to temper and repair the horse's overloaded flesh.

During the war, he didn't spare the horse's strength, desperately urging the malevolent qi, driving the dragon horse's blood and qi, and raising his own cultivation by several grades.

He even used some spirit pills with fierce medicinal power, only then maintaining nearly two hours of high-intensity combat!

If he didn't take good care of it after the war, this horse would be ruined.

Now, the second-rank spirit medicine Dragon Blood Jade Marrow Ointment was used without sparing, nourishing the blood and qi, plus a Solidifying Spirit Pill from the Louguan Dao to nourish the meridians, essence, blood, and sea, only then could the warhorse fully recover. After this tempering, the flesh became even stronger, and the cultivation advanced a step further.

It is expected that it will condense a demonic core in the near future, and the bloodline will further transform into a dragon horse!

This is how the military families are. With sufficient resources, one battle can advance them a step further. But if the supply is insufficient and there is no Dragon Blood Jade Marrow Ointment to nourish the flesh, after this battle, the cavalry would probably be ruined for the most part.

Cao Xuanwei listened to the old eunuch coming to complain: "Crown Prince, the Tuoba old woman snatched ten spirit planters proficient in cultivating spirit objects. You must know, even the flower messengers in the warm rooms of our Great Wei palace who cultivate spirit medicines for His Majesty and the consorts don't have that level. It can be seen that Yingzhou is indeed wealthy!"

"Since the old lady wants people, just give them to her. Although cultivating spirit medicines is useful, it is not as good as the great craftsmen of construction, weaving, weapon refining, and alchemy!"

"These people must be watched well! Do not abuse them, and without my orders, do not kill them."

The old eunuch laughed: "Crown Prince! You have learned the skill of raising scholars, do you intend to raise those Yingzhou craftsmen as 'scholars'?"

"What I learned is the skill of raising slaves and using people! Back when the Immortal Qin Qin Qin Shi Huang conquered the six kingdoms, how many descendants of the six kingdoms, princes and nobles, were all Yang Spirit great cultivators, and even Nascent Soul True Immortals were not lacking! They were all dragged back to Xianyang by the Qin Qin Shi Huang to fill the palace, to be slaves and maids."

"It was all maintained by my Demonic Sect!"

"Crown Prince, you think, a Nascent Soul True Immortal is so arrogant, wanting to enslave such characters as slaves and maids is truly difficult. But when the Immortal Qin collapsed, only the nobles of the six kingdoms in the wild rebelled; there were no slaves of the six kingdoms in the Xianyang palace who rebelled!"

"This Immortal Qin palace, and even the palaces of all dynasties, were established by my Demonic Sect."

"Truly a model for all dynasties!"

"How to wear down their will, enslave and tame them, are all the demonic path's specialties... You hand these people to me, and then you don't have to worry about anything. By then, I guarantee they will be loyal to the Crown Prince, and if you give them a bite to eat, they will work for you to the death!"

Cao Xuanwei sneered: "It is true that the Immortal Qin palace was established by your demonic sect. When the Immortal Qin collapsed back then, it was your demonic sect general Zhang Han who led the Lishan convicts as an army, almost saving the collapse of heaven, if not for meeting the Overlord of Western Chu..."

"During the Immortal Han period, although the Overlord burned the Epang Palace with a fire, the Han King was broad-minded and preserved the palace system of the Immortal Qin."

"Therefore, during the two great immortal dynasties, your demonic sect had a deep foundation in the palace, and even stirred up witchcraft, almost collapsing the Immortal Han."

"If I hand the people to you, it will be convenient to use them."

"But whether it is convenient for the demonic sect or for me, it is truly hard to say."

The old eunuch shook his head repeatedly: "Crown Prince, when the Immortal Qin was established, the great Fangshi were the head of the hundred craftsmen and the crown of cultivators; the demonic sect managed the palace; the military family cultivators whipped the world; the Mohists built; the legal officials were teachers; and the Confucian path managed sacrifices and education."

"The ministers and officials were all in their places, dominating for ten thousand years!"

"Later dynasties all imitated the Immortal Qin system to dominate the world and build immortal dynasties. Although my demonic sect has a bad reputation, it is also a loyal blade in the Crown Prince's hand. The Three Religions and Nine Streams, the Hundred Schools of Thought, the Han family has its own system, originally based on the Overlord's path mixed with it, why favor one and abandon the other?"

"If the Crown Prince does not use my demonic sect and only gets close to the Buddhist and Daoist sects, I fear the waste of the late Han's collapse and the disaster of the clans are right before our eyes!"

The old eunuch bowed and laughed: "If the Crown Prince doesn't use me, could it be that you want to use Li Zhong?"

These words hit Cao Xuanwei's heart. His expression changed, and he suddenly raised his head.

"Crown Prince, the military family whips the world, and the demonic path ravages the common people, but if there were no military families killing the noble clans like dogs, and the demonic path abusing the common people indiscriminately, this world would have long ago become the private property of the clans!"

"The Yellow Heaven and Taiyi shake the Cang tiles! The iron cavalry of the sixteen kingdoms have stepped all over the northern land..."

"If there were no heroes like you and me in this world, should we let those wastes of Southern Jin comfortably enjoy the world?"

Cao Xuanwei snorted coldly: "Don't forget, if it weren't for that blade of Li Zhong, you and I would both be hung on the Undying Jade Tree as cured meat!"

The old eunuch laughed: "In that case, does the Crown Prince want to uphold his favor? Don't forget, Crown Prince, I fear the Li family deceived the World Ancestor, having a deep foundation in the ruins of the Western Queen Mother Kingdom, and even... that Li family Nascent Soul is not dead! They have entered the ruins of the Western Queen Mother Kingdom, right?"

"I have also heard of Li Zhong's brother, Li Er."

"His name shakes Jiankang, he is also a hero of his time, and should be the person who responds to the calamity of the Supreme Louguan Dao. In the future, he will reopen Louguan and continue the Supreme Dao tradition."

"Plus Li Zhong's foundation in the army this time, Li Bao of the Longxi Li clan is also a key figure in the Guan-Long clans' alliance in the court, and his influence among the Han clans in the North is not shallow. It is said..."

The old eunuch whispered: "It is said that back then when Li Ling fell to the Xiongnu, Emperor Wu executed the Li family's direct descendants, causing the Li family's classics and military strategy to be lost, but there was still a descendant of Li Ling who held a high position in the Xiongnu and continued the line! And this branch, it is said, later mixed into the Tuoba clan!"

Cao Xuanwei suddenly opened his eyes wide.

"Daoist sect, military, Xianbei, clans, and the Western Queen Mother Kingdom, the Li family's tentacles reach so far. Although the strangeness of that encounter is inevitable, it is not without the meaning of being favored by the mandate of heaven."

"In the future, when the Cao clan faces a crisis, such a deep-rooted great clan, I fear, will repeat the disaster of the Sima clan back then!"

The old eunuch killed the heart, deeply burying a seed in Cao Xuanwei's heart.

Cao Xuanwei's thoughts were like a blade, severing all kinds of distracting thoughts, and he snorted coldly: "Your demonic sect's skill in sowing discord is not..."

"No!" The old eunuch interrupted Cao Xuanwei and bowed deeply: "This is the art of the emperor!"

"I am not yet an emperor, what art of the emperor do I use? Having loyal and righteous people, not trusting them as confidants, but holding the handle of the blade upside down and sending it to rebellious ministers and thieves—is this the art of the emperor you speak of?"

Cao Xuanwei laughed: "Li Zhong is a loyal and upright person, and you... are a rebellious minister and thief!"

"You say these words, can I deal with that Li family Nascent Soul in the Western Queen Mother Kingdom, or can I intercept that Li Er of the Louguan Dao? Or can I find the Li family remnants among the Tuoba clan's confidants? Or do I have to fight Li Bao in the court who has no malice toward me? I cannot take action against any of these people. The only one I can move against is Li Zhong, who trusts me and helps me?"

"And then cut off one of my own arms, forcing Li Bao to become my enemy, to deal with those enemies that don't exist yet?"

"You underestimate me, and you underestimate yourself... wagging your tongue, the words of a villain!"

The old eunuch was not discouraged, but laughed: "The Crown Prince is currently the Crown Prince, so you can be so broad-minded, but when the Crown Prince ascends the throne in the future and shoulders the world of your Cao clan, can you still hold the Tai'e upside down like this?"

"Then we'll talk about it when the time comes!" Cao Xuanwei said frankly: "Get out! Don't force me to take action."

The old eunuch bowed and retreated, but immediately merged into the darkness, quietly coming to the Buddhist pagoda where Qian Chen was.

He knelt on the ground, kowtowing to Qian Chen who was meditating on the prayer mat: "A person of punishment who considers himself of the demonic path, pays respects to the Great Heavenly Demon!"

Qian Chen slowly raised his head: "Should I call you Wang Ju, or should I call you Zong Ai?"

Wang Ju, also known as the Guardian True Person Zong Ai, straightened up with a smile and flattered: "Still the Great Heavenly Demon, seeing through my little trick at a glance!"

"The Moon Demon Painted Skin naturally has thousands of incarnations, but in my True Transmission Dao, there are also means to sever the external incarnation. Apart from this Guardian True Person Zong Ai, there is also the eunuch Wang Ju who was ordered to come. In the palace and the court, I still have many incarnations left. If not for this, how could I see the Great Heavenly Demon plotting against Murong Chui and seizing the supreme position in one fell swoop!"

Qian Chen was noncommittal and said: "What is your intention in coming?"

"Although Cao Xuanwei has some cultivation, he does not know the number of heaven. Just now I advised him to take the lead in dealing with the Li family, but he held on to morality. With such a temperament, this time subduing the Liuzhen and returning to Chang'an will inevitably be extremely dangerous."

"I feel he will have difficulty passing this calamity, and seeing the Great Heavenly Demon's means, I have come to defect."

Qian Chen shook his head: "Holding on to morality is never a hypocritical or stupid thing! Back then, the twenty-eight characters of the Divine Land were mostly jokes, but the top two were worthy of their names. Whether it is Wang Longxiang or Cao Xuanwei, they can uphold the righteous path! Not falling from their original heart!"

"In such a filthy place as the clan court, such outstanding people can be born, which shows that the luck of the Earth Immortal Realm has not fallen."

"Zong Ai! Although you have become a demon, you will always be a villain!"

"I have no use for you..."

Zong Ai did not change his color and laughed: "The Great Heavenly Demon may have no use for me, but the Li family will definitely have use for me!"

Qian Chen's mouth curled slightly: "In my demonic sect, those who die the fastest are those who think they are smart..."

Only then did cold sweat appear on Zong Ai's forehead, but his expression remained as usual: "The Great Heavenly Demon does not know that my True Transmission Dao has long had guesses about the Great Heavenly Demon's identity. As a Supreme True Transmission, my True Transmission Dao preserves the true nature and is often slandered as the demonic path by ignorant people..."

"But in fact, in the True Transmission Dao, most are people of the Dao who preserve their true nature."

"It's just that, preserving the true nature, what is the true nature? All sentient beings in the world are greedy for pleasure and love to kill. I don't hide it from the Great Heavenly Demon, I have traveled through the three continents and ten thousand countries, and people of morality are rare. Instead, everyone eats people and eats meat. So, is eating people the true nature of man, or is morality the true nature of man?"

"The Saint controls the nature of heaven and uses it. I now defect to the Great Heavenly Demon, and the Great Heavenly Demon kills me because of my nature. Then isn't everyone in the world killable?"

Qian Chen looked at him strangely: "You might have misunderstood something! I am not a Saint, nor am I a person of morality. What I pursue is being human—being human means being greedy for pleasure and loving to kill. Killing someone like you is exactly my hobby and nature. I have never doubted it!"

Zong Ai finally couldn't hold it together, and the expression on his face trembled slightly with the cold sweat.

It's broken! I thought I defected to the Louguan Dao.

It turns out I met a True Transmission of the Whole Nature!

"Cao Xuanwei returning to Chang'an will inevitably stir up a huge storm. The Daoist, Buddhist, and Demonic sects, the Cao clan and Tuoba, and even many clans will inevitably make a big fuss. With such a mysterious situation, and the Great Heavenly Demon wanting to re-establish Louguan, the chaos in the Supreme Dao is just beginning to appear. Leaving me in the game, the Great Heavenly Demon can have one more hand to grasp the situation, and at the very least, protect the Li family's karma!"

Qian Chen nodded: "You should have said so earlier..."

Cold sweat flowed down Zong Ai's heart—I thought you were plotting against the world, placing pieces in the Dao and Demon, and being that sage who grasps the center.

I didn't expect you to want to take someone as a dog...

But Zong Ai had already touched some of the temperaments of this Great Heavenly Demon who, compared to the Louguan Dao, deserved to go to the True Transmission Dao. He immediately bowed and agreed, barking twice like a dog.

As night fell, the entire Liuzhen, like a massive war machine, slowly began to operate.

A large amount of looted spirit materials needed to be digested. They didn't even have time to be sent to the treasury before they were sent in a steady stream into the six-story Buddhist pagoda in the center of the town, under Qian Chen's nose, into the Western Queen Mother secret treasury, to be forged and transformed into military equipment.

Besides this, the warhorses also needed rest. In addition to applying Dragon Blood Jade Marrow Ointment, many kinds of spirit pills were distributed. According to their war merits, they assisted the military family cultivators who returned from the great battle to temper their malevolent qi. A round trip between life and death, a large amount of slaughter, besides tempering the malevolent qi of the warhorses and themselves, would also impact the original bottlenecks.

After a great battle, the soldiers of the great army would often collectively advance one or two small realms.

There were not a few who broke through just like this.

Especially the military family's malevolent qi, which is famous for not being picky about food. The demonic qi, blood and qi, dragon qi of the mounts, the blood malevolent qi, divine malevolent qi, and shock malevolent qi slaughtered on the battlefield, when the army is in formation, the qi of all the soldiers is practiced together, and even when the minds are connected, the malevolent qi transferred from others, and the blood and qi triggered.

These would all turn into nourishment after the war, making the military family's malevolent qi even more fierce.

The battlefield is like a heavy hammer, while sharpening the malevolent qi, it also fiercely polishes their flesh and soul. All the so-called barriers of the Qi Refiners, and the temperament of the Daoist and Buddhist sects, for the military family, can all be tempered on the battlefield.

Qian Chen looked at the qi from afar, staring at the towering Liuzhen defense line lying on the northern frontier in the night.

"After eight or nine such wars, I fear that within the Liuzhen, someone will prove the Nascent Soul... filling in its most lacking link. At that time, the Liuzhen will truly step onto the historical stage, and its rise will be unstoppable!"

"This war blade, I have already hammered and sharpened. Once it leaves the sheath like this, nothing can block it."

"The next one is Murong Chui!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1037 =====