Chapter 305: Horse Bandits Rampant

The most common and most accepted practice is naturally to attach to a certain vassal state, which is also where the great righteousness of the human race lies. The nine countries all border alien races, and resisting alien races and guarding the Son of Heaven is the destiny they were originally enfeoffed with.

Now the situation of the nine countries is different. Although the lives of ordinary people are becoming increasingly difficult, they have not yet encountered natural disasters that cover the entire territory, and they can barely survive. There are occasional sporadic civil uprisings in various places, but it is not enough to cause the collapse of the dynasty. The replacement of past dynasties like Great Li all appeared with terrifying natural disasters that swept across the entire human race, with starving people everywhere, before the people rose up.

Also because the alien races are fierce, under the huge pressure of resisting foreign enemies, the Tang Son of Heaven is still respected as the co-lord, and the human race is still unified.

If it were to become a mountain gate of the Tai Chu Palace, it would actually be full of difficulties. How to convince the surrounding Jin, Zhao, and Ji countries is a problem. And the Tai Chu Palace is currently devoting all its efforts to expanding the Northern Shanmen, so that the precious lands transformed by several ancestors who passed away here can be fully displayed.

If it were to become a mountain gate of the Tai Chu Palace without controversy, it would have to be at least close to an Immortal Lord, passing away here, and transforming a lifetime of cultivation into precious land. This is clearly not an option at the moment.

Naturally, there is a third path, which is to be completely independent, but this is to cut oneself off from the human race, and it is impossible. Thinking of this, Wei Yuan thought through all the historical records and felt that the Great Tang's energy was not exhausted and the time had not yet come.

Wei Yuan had no interest in becoming a king himself; he just didn't want to watch the ordinary people around him be slaughtered by alien races, and Western Jin was muddled, and the people would only suffer after being annexed. The best way was for Wei Yuan to place them under his own protection, and the name didn't matter.

Just as he was thinking about the future, a cultivator from outside came to report: "Realm Master, a Zhao Guo general says he is an old friend of yours and is waiting outside."

Wei Yuan didn't remember which old friend of his was serving in Zhao Guo, so he left the main peak, flew to the guest town, and then saw a heroic general appreciating the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. Just looking at his back, he felt an extraordinary air.

The general turned around, smiled, and said, "Virtuous brother, long time no see!"

Li Zhi!

Wei Yuan was both surprised and happy, stepped forward, the two hugged, and then carefully looked at each other. Separated for a few months, Li Zhi was a little taller, the greenness and immaturity had disappeared, and there was much more majesty on his body, but his aura seemed somewhat unstable.

Wei Yuan looked at the Zhao Guo general uniform on his body and said, "How did Brother Li become a Zhao Guo general again?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "My identity is sensitive, and I am not valued in Southern Qi. I heard that Zhao Guo is widely recruiting talents, so I went to defect. After fighting for half a year, I was finally promoted to Assistant Regional Commander."

Before he finished speaking, he suddenly coughed violently, and an abnormal flush appeared on his face. Wei Yuan hurriedly supported him and asked, "Are you injured? It just so happens that I have a Senior Brother Sun here, whose medical skills are like a god. Why don't I let him take a look for you?"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter. Some time ago, I had a sudden acute illness, and I don't know the reason, but later it inexplicably got better. It's just that the illness came fast and went fast. The doctors around couldn't say why. I wrote to my father, he asked the imperial physician to come and see, and there was no conclusion, just let me recuperate well."

Wei Yuan felt somewhat familiar when hearing these symptoms and asked, "Could it be a curse?"

Li Zhi said, "I also suspected it, but what I faced were mountain people and the Ji Kingdom. Mountain people are only good at attacking and raiding, not good at curses. Shaman tribes are good at it, but I didn't provoke them, so why would they come to curse me for no reason?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Let's not talk about this first, anyway, my illness is almost better. How is your cultivation? I am now in the late stage of Dao Foundation, about to be fulfilled, and the rest is waiting for the opportunity to achieve Dharma Form. How about it, do you want to compare notes first?"

Wei Yuan hesitated and said, "This is not very good, after all, I am already in the Rebirth Realm."

Li Zhi insisted, pulled Wei Yuan and walked out, saying, "Li's four-elephant three-legged tripod has already developed intelligence and has many wonders. If I don't let you see it well, I'm afraid you don't know how powerful your brother is!"

A moment later, the two stood opposite each other on the martial arts field, and eight Dao Foundation cultivators stood at each corner, working together to maintain the martial arts field to avoid being destroyed too much.

The long sword in Li Zhi's hand ignited with golden flames, and an ancient giant tripod appeared above his head. The surrounding heaven and earth seemed to be slightly distorted, causing Li Zhi's momentum to climb step by step. This ancient tripod was worthy of being an immortal foundation, already having some of the style of a Dharma Form. It was distorting the surrounding heaven and earth rules, allowing Li Zhi to borrow power, out of thin air increasing Li Zhi's Dao technique power by fifty percent.

Li Zhi raised his sword to his eyebrows, the light on the sword suddenly surged, reaching ten zhang, and then with a long laugh, he slashed at Wei Yuan with a sword, shouting, "Virtuous brother, be careful!"

It had been a long time since he encountered such a standard attack. Wei Yuan was a little unsure of how to respond for a while, so he casually picked a bundle of immortal swords and threw them out.

Hundreds of immortal swords whistled out, the first forty or fifty extinguished Li Zhi's sword aura, and the subsequent seventy or eighty tied Li Zhi into a hedgehog. But golden light shone through under the hedgehog, clearly Li Zhi used the immortal tripod to protect himself.

Wei Yuan reached out and gripped, and dozens of immortal swords exploded simultaneously, instantly blowing Li Zhi into a beggar.

A moment later, Wei Yuan held a banquet, and Li Zhi had already washed, bathed, and changed into new armor. It's just that his eyebrows were still scorched for a small piece, which was difficult to restore for a while.

At the banquet, Li Zhi was obviously somewhat unhappy. He had just made a breakthrough and came to find Wei Yuan with great interest, but he lost without knowing how he lost, which made him unable to be happy.

Wei Yuan saw this and comforted him, "Brother Li, don't worry, you are still very powerful, others may not be your opponents." This sounded a bit harsh... Li Zhi barely squeezed out a smile and pretended to be relaxed, "Haha, virtuous brother is powerful himself, and the people around him should also be high-level cultivators. If I were also in Azure Void, I'm afraid I could only squeeze into the top three."

You can't get in... Of course, Wei Yuan didn't say this.

At this moment, Azure Void was flourishing, and the banquet was simple, but Li Zhi didn't care. After eating in a hurry, waiting for the servants to clean up, he took out a piece of jade paper and spread it on the table. After activation, a map of the Western Regions appeared in front of the two.

The map was three-dimensional, with all details such as mountains, rivers, and cities, and even the newly established Ningxi Prefecture commanderies and the Azure Void realm were listed on it.

Li Zhi said, "Some time ago, the King of Qi finally loosened his mouth, and my father took back the realm stone that originally belonged to our family. But I am feared by Empress Dowager Xiao and cannot use it in Qi. So my father and the Zhao Wang reached an exchange. I am preparing to establish a realm stone in the Western Regions and officially expand the territory!"

Wei Yuan said, "This is a great thing! Where does Brother Li plan to establish the realm stone?"

Li Zhi said, "I came to find you precisely to discuss this matter. I plan to establish the realm stone a bit to the west, not far or near your realm, virtuous brother, so that we can watch and help each other. So my idea is, here!"

Li Zhi pointed on the map. This place was located southwest of Azure Void, nine thousand li away from Azure Void. This place was deeper into the Shaman territory than Azure Void, and six thousand li away from the nearest realm of Zhao Guo. Li Zhi's handwriting could not be said to be small.

And there was knowledge in this place. If Li Zhi really stood firm here, then this territory and Wei Yuan's Azure Void could be connected into one, firmly blocking the Western Jin's exit to the west.

What does this Li Zhi want to do?

Wei Yuan said, "Brother Li truly has a big handwriting! It's just that establishing it here, I'm afraid it will be very difficult in the beginning. Brother Li should have been prepared, right?"

Li Zhi smiled slightly and said, "This one of mine is a top-grade realm stone. Now looking at the nine countries, there are not many top-grade realm stones left in hand. So this time expanding the territory, the elders of the Four Sacred Academies will fully support it. In the future, we will use my realm as a foundation to expand outward and transform into the third mountain gate of the academy, comparable to the Tai Chu Palace."

!.

"If so, why doesn't Brother Li go a bit further southwest? This place now is a bit cramped for the academy's mountain gate."

Li Zhi said, "I have thought about it too. But I heard that you are being squeezed out and suspected in Western Jin, and they still won't give you a name until now, so I thought that anyway, it's all raw land, so it's better to be closer to you. In this way, if there is any Western Jin attack on your realm in the future, I can have an excuse to intervene. I am a member of the Southern Qi royal family, and I am a Military Governor of Zhao Guo, so Western Jin will have to restrain itself a bit."

Wei Yuan bowed and said, "Congratulations to Brother Li for the promotion!"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "That realm stone of mine is considered rare even among top-grade ones, and it can expand the territory by one thousand eight hundred li. Looking at my father's face, the Zhao Wang simply appointed me as the Mountain-Guarding Military Governor. Once the realm stone is established, the decree will arrive."

Wei Yuan felt something in his heart, pointed on the map, and said, "I think, Brother Li's realm might as well be established here."

Li Zhi looked carefully, and that place was surrounded by mountains on three sides and faced a river on one side, easy to defend and difficult to attack, with various terrains, located at the junction of mountain people and Shaman tribes, with few strong enemies, and it was indeed a quite good foundation. It's just that this place was a full nineteen thousand li away from Azure Void, so Li Zhi frowned and said, "In this way, if you have something to do, virtuous brother, I have no way to support you in the first time."

Wei Yuan said, "Now we are all newly established, and the great enemy is still the alien race. Not long ago, I made Western Jin suffer a bit, and they should not have any major actions for a while. Besides, if we openly block their westward path, I'm afraid the Prince of Jin will be furious. It's better to leave them enough space and let them go west. If we really fall out with Western Jin in the future, then we can attack from north and south, directly cutting the Jin land into two sections. At that time, no matter how much land they have opened in the west, isn't it all in our pockets?"

Li Zhi pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "This place was originally one of the alternatives. I will go back and discuss it with my father. If there is no problem, it will be here. Oh, by the way, how far can your realm expand, virtuous brother?"

Wei Yuan thought for a while and said, "It should be a little more than two thousand li, but that's many years later."

Wei Yuan didn't lie, it was indeed a little more than two thousand li. As for the ten thousand li or something, it was just the information brought by Azure Void, which had not been verified yet.

This matter was settled, and Li Zhi said again, "I see that you lack everything in this realm, and the people are not covered in clothes. I heard when I came that the Commandery Governor Yuan Qingyan has been blocking you. How about this, the south of the Broken Realm borders the Yuyang Prefecture of Zhao Guo. The Yuyang Town-Pacifying Envoy Cui Shutong is irritable and greedy. I will contact his Assistant Regional Commander and let them send people to escort a caravan over. You see what you need, but you have to spend more money."

"Cloth, farm tools, essence of five metals, spiritual plants." Wei Yuan reported several things in one breath.

"No problem, I will arrange it immediately when I go back. This trip will likely have some conflicts with the garrison, so I will send people to disguise and escort, and even if they can't come over, I can guarantee a fight. Yuan Qingyan cut off Cui Shutong's financial path, and he will definitely not let it go."

Wei Yuan also said, "I will also send people to disguise and meet them, and if they fight, they should be able to come over."

Li Zhi and Wei Yuan looked at each other, and the two of them thought of the same place. It's just that the situation of rampant horse bandits in the Broken Realm seems to be difficult to improve for a while.

(End of this chapter) ===== CHAPTER 306 =====

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