Chapter 318: Biding one's time

Primordial Palace.

Ji Liuli walked into the familiar small courtyard and looked around.

She hadn't left here for long, but these few months felt as if several years had passed. Too many things had happened during this period, and the continuous battles alone made people feel exhausted unknowingly.

The young Daoist priest was not sitting in the courtyard, nor was he meditating on the cloud bed. At this moment, he was standing on the edge of the cliff, looking toward the north, silently calculating something.

The small courtyard was no longer as relaxed as before, replaced by an inexplicable oppression, making people feel that breathing was somewhat difficult.

It wasn't until Ji Liuli walked behind him that the Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi, who looked like a young Daoist priest, turned around and said: "You are back."

Ji Liuli said: "The disciple should have returned, but... I want to delay for a period of time."

"Oh? Now is the time for your return and breakthrough, why change your mind?"

Ji Liuli said: "I have gained some insights recently and feel that the Dao Foundation can go one step further, so I want to stay in the Western Regions for a period of time."

"Why the Western Regions?" Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi frowned slightly.

"The disciple has an opportunity to achieve the Dao in the Western Regions, and the perfection of the Dao Foundation should also be in the Western Regions."

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi returned to the small courtyard and sat down. With these few steps, the heaven and earth in the small courtyard seemed to have changed completely, completely different from when Ji Liuli first entered.

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi said slowly: "Your Dao Foundation is close to the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth, has many wonderful uses, and supreme power. After these years of polishing, the power has gone up a level, but precisely because of this, the difficulty of your achieving Dharma Form has also risen. Every time you add a wonderful use and a point of power, achieving Dharma Form will become more difficult. The so-called 'too much is as bad as too little' is probably talking about you now."

"The disciple knows."

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi nodded and said: "As long as you know. What wonderful use have you gained this time? Let me see."

Ji Liuli released the Nine-Fold Demon Suppression Tower. At this time, the small tower was faintly transparent, like a glazed treasure, giving people a particularly lively and agile feeling. Being close to it would make one's mind clear and thoughts speed up.

Ji Liuli said: "I used the Demon Suppression Tower in the Western Regions to simulate the physical properties of heaven and earth, deduce changes, and added the meaning of exquisiteness. I plan to do more deduction, constantly strengthen the functions in this regard, and eventually should be able to deduce the changes of thousands of physical properties at the same time, proving the Dao of Exquisiteness. When I reach Dharma Form, I can achieve the Nine-Fold Demon Suppression Exquisite Pagoda."

"The Dao of Exquisiteness is no small matter. In this way, the difficulty of your achieving Dharma Form will double; have you considered it clearly?"

"Don't worry, the disciple's innate talent is peerless, I can bear this burden."

"Although that is the case, you still have to stay less by Xiang Weiyuan's side. If you must stay, you have to come back from time to time."

"Why is this?"

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi casually picked up a handful of white sand from the flower pond and sprinkled it from his palm.

The white sand gathered into a mountain peak in the air, surrounded by bottomless darkness. Sand grains constantly slipped off the mountain peak and fell into the dark abyss. New sand grains constantly generated at the top, which was very strange.

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi said: "This mountain peak is like Xiang Weiyuan now. For some reason, his real good fortune is stacking higher and higher, and these are not things that ordinary people can perceive. And around him, it is like the surroundings of this mountain peak, which has become a valley of good fortune. Even his closest relatives and friends are like sand grains on the mountain peak; even if they don't fall down for a while, they cannot stay on the mountain peak for long, and will inevitably fall into the abyss as time goes by.

If you stay by his side all the time, you won't feel the influence yourself, but you might have a big accident when you are preparing to advance to Dharma Form. And I am putting most of my mind on the north now, I am afraid I cannot help you in time. So you have to come back often to cleanse the negative good fortune."

"The disciple will be careful."

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi nodded and said: "Then go."

Ji Liuli prepared to leave, but was still somewhat worried, and asked: "Is the north urgent?"

"The current National Master of Northern Liao wants to cut off the good fortune of our northern mountain gate, but how could I let him have his way? We have already fought two battles in succession some time ago, and perhaps there will be a third one soon."

Fenhai Zhenjun Yanshi's voice was filled with relaxation and powerful self-confidence. Ji Liuli's mood also improved, so she said goodbye and left.

Western Jin, Autumn Hunt field.

The sky was bright. Xiang Weiyuan found the camp of his cavalry under the guidance of the eunuch and joined the knights. He came to the central military tent and spread out the map on the table. The map was only issued to Xiang Weiyuan this morning, and on it was the starting position of Xiang Weiyuan's troops, and in addition, there was a small sword mark on each of the three mountain peaks in the center.

Secret treasures were buried in these three small swords; one contained immortal silver, one was a seal for a fourth-rank official position, and the other was a treasure bottle containing a little bit of Western Jin national fortune. Although there was not much national fortune, it was enough to bless someone with three feet of good fortune. If this person only had seven feet of good fortune, then after obtaining this national fortune, he would break through to one zhang and become a child of good fortune.

These three secret treasures, even to Regional Commanders like Xu Tongshou and Fan Wenbai, were quite attractive, capable of creating a powerful subordinate out of thin air, or making a somewhat outstanding descendant in the family step into the ranks of geniuses in one step. However, the good fortune in the treasure bottle was completely insignificant compared to the national fortune rewarded after sweeping the hunt, and it was not worth mentioning.

There were nine forces participating in this hunt, each limited to bringing five hundred soldiers, with no restrictions on troop types or equipment. Apart from Xiang Weiyuan's own position, the positions of the other parties were unknown.

Participating were three princes, three Regional Commanders including Xiang Weiyuan, the troops of Prince Ying and Prince Cheng, and a border army from the north. Basically, all the powerful figures of the Western Jin military were here.

The target of the hunt was more than ten thousand Liao people, most of whom were young men and women caught from tribes, and some were prisoners of war. They were scattered in the vast mountainous area, and at the same time, multiple secret warehouses containing weapons and supplies were set up in the mountainous area; which Liao people found what was entirely up to heaven's will.

At this time, looking at the map, Xiang Weiyuan excluded the three marked secret warehouses for the first time. He was striving to be at the bottom in this hunt, so naturally, it was impossible to grab the secret warehouses.

Xiang Weiyuan was arranged in the middle of the north, and a few dozen miles to the south was the location of a secret warehouse. This position was simply cheating; as long as Xiang Weiyuan attacked with all his might, it would be difficult for other parties to rush to the secret warehouse before Xiang Weiyuan.

However, what Xiang Weiyuan was considering was west or east, not attacking south. He felt that the current position was a bit too close to the center, and it was inevitable that some troops would pass by, so he had to move to the edge.

But Xiang Weiyuan couldn't run too far, at least he had to give Prince Jin some face and do some superficial work, so he planned to choose a mountain to guard, waiting for the rabbit, and harvest whoever came to the door.

With a glance at the map, Xiang Weiyuan saw a small river in the northwest corner, and by the river was a small mountain, which could be attacked or defended, and was an ideal camping site.

This piece of land was so good, so naturally, he had to stay away. So Xiang Weiyuan decided to go east, where there was a bald mountain, which looked like it was unloved by grandfathers and grandmothers, just right for him to sleep quietly for a few days and mix through the hunt.

As the sky brightened, the sound of horns continued, and Xiang Weiyuan led the team out of the camp, straight to the chosen mountain, and the hunt officially began.

!.

The horses Xiang Weiyuan brought this time were all obtained from the Xu family's private army, all tall horses, one rank better than the mounts of the Western Jin regular cavalry. Although they were marching in the undulating mountainous area, they ran more than a hundred miles in less than an hour and arrived at the designated area.

Along the way, they only encountered a few scattered Liao people. Xiang Weiyuan didn't waste time on them, accelerated the march, and finally climbed this small mountain.

This mountain was not high, only a few dozen zhang, but this was already the only mountain within twenty miles.

Xiang Weiyuan was very satisfied after looking at it and said: "Climb the mountain, set up camp, and first repair the works for storing horses!"

The knights rode up the mountain, then dismounted, found a depression on the top of the mountain to use as a work for storing horses, and concentrated the war horses together. Xiang Weiyuan manifested a large number of flat tripods and sent them down. They were called flat tripods, but they were actually used as shovels, less than a finger thick, and the outer edges were sharp.

Regardless of the shape, this thing had the true meaning of a tripod inside, so it was a tripod.

Xiang Weiyuan's Myriad Miles of Rivers and Mountains was silent now, and the things manifested had no supernatural power, so they could only be used as shovels. But at least the soldiers didn't have to carry an extra tool.

The five hundred knights immediately dug hard, and trenches extended at an incredible speed, digging the top of the mountain into a mess in an hour, full of ditches and pits.

Xiang Weiyuan looked at the weather and felt that there might be heavy rain tonight, so he manifested a few large tripods, placed them in the center of the position, and prepared to catch rainwater. There was no water source on the top of the mountain, and the hunt also stipulated that food and water were not allowed, so they could only search for pre-hidden food in the hunting ground.

However, this rule had no effect on Xiang Weiyuan; the five hundred knights he brought were all Dao Foundation cultivators, and they could go seven or eight days without eating after one full meal, but they still had to drink water.

If they were in the Body Forging stage, they would eat more and be very hungry. So the elite troops of the human race attached great importance to food, and there were many examples in history of being defeated due to lack of food.

The hunt was not a matter of one or two days, and it might last three or five days, so water had to be prepared first. Xiang Weiyuan scanned the surroundings with his spiritual sense and didn't find any supplies within ten miles, so he didn't bother to search.

Seeing that the works on the top of the mountain were gradually taking shape, the knights opened their backpacks, took out steel pipe guns and oil-paper-wrapped ammunition, and placed them on the position. According to what Xu Wenwu said, it was best to put a few layers of barbed wire and landmines in front of the position.

However, Xiang Weiyuan felt that these two things were quite useful, and there was no need to show them in front of Prince Jin now. When there was a conflict in the future, they could be used to give the Jin army a surprise.

Now the knights were already quite skilled in building positions. The army of the realm knew from top to bottom that they had to fight and dig the ground first. Dao Foundation cultivators were good at digging, and one shovel could dig hundreds of catties of soil. If the Yue Jinshan iron cavalry hadn't come too fast last time, giving Xiang Weiyuan half a day to dig three trenches, even three hundred casualties could have been avoided.

Xiang Weiyuan patrolled back and forth, and the more he looked, the more satisfied he was, and even he couldn't find any fault.

Xiang Weiyuan said while looking: "Very good! Everyone work harder, dig the position well and then set up tents to rest. We won't go anywhere for these few days, just guard here, try not to have any casualties, and go home after the Autumn Hunt... hmm??"

Xiang Weiyuan suddenly saw a troop more than ten miles away, walking horizontally in front of Xiang Weiyuan, looking like they were going straight to one of the three secret warehouses to grab rewards.

Looking at the flag of that troop, killing intent appeared on Xiang Weiyuan's face; it was the troop of the Yunxiang Regional Commander Lu Wenbai!

Xiang Weiyuan turned around and said: "Grab your weapons, get on your horses, we will cover and kill from behind, destroy that troop! Those who resist will be killed on the spot, don't be soft-hearted!"

Xiang Weiyuan pulled out the green horse and turned over to get on the horse. The eunuch accompanying the army hurriedly hugged Xiang Weiyuan's leg and said repeatedly: "Lord Xiang, think twice, killing each other will cause the reputation to drop! Lord, the big picture, the big picture is the priority!"

Xiang Weiyuan kicked him away and said: "Go to hell with the big picture, I have always reported personal grudges first!"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 319 =====

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