Chapter 338

Not long after the flying boat took off, before it had gained speed, it suddenly slowed down.

Another flying boat caught up, flying side by side, and a young cultivator leaped up and jumped onto Wei Yuan's flying boat.

The young cultivator entered the cabin, bowed to Cui Yu, and said, "Since you have returned home, Cousin, why didn't you come to see me? If I hadn't known early, I would have missed you again."

Cui Yu's face was gloomy as he said, "There is no interaction between us; there is no need to meet specially."

"Cousin, that's not right. As members of the Cui family, and with the family in difficulty now, we naturally must bravely shoulder the great responsibility. This is not just your and my business, but the business of the entire Cui family. I have heard that you have made quite a name for yourself in recent years, Cousin, and have methods in both training troops and governing the local area, and the elders often praise you. So I would like to invite you to return to the Cui family and help me."

Cui Yu raised his eyebrows and asked, "What do you mean?"

"The clan elders recently decided to transfer the position of Domain Lord of a border territory to me. The border is turbulent, and I need help, and you, Cousin, are the best candidate. When I achieve the Dharma Form realm in the future, I will naturally go elsewhere, and won't that place be yours, Cousin?"

Anger flashed in Cui Yu's eyes as he said coldly, "Not interested."

The young cultivator said, "I know you are proud, Cousin, but human power has its limits, and a slight difference in talent is still a difference. We are of the same generation and naturally close, which is why I came to find you. Our past disputes are actually meaningless, and besides, the results are out now; why bother fighting?"

"Furthermore, in ten years, perhaps new people will emerge in the family. If we haven't seized the opportunity by then, we might be replaced by newcomers. Think about my words carefully, Cousin."

After speaking, the young cultivator left, and the flying boat accelerated again, leaping into the high sky and flying at full speed toward the domain.

Once the young cultivator was gone, Cui Yu's face darkened, and he cursed, "Too much bullying! What kind of thing is he, running in front of me and putting on an air of being respectful to the wise! Treating me like a subordinate?!"

"Who is he?" Wei Yuan asked.

Cui Yu took a deep breath, calmed his mood, and said, "Cui Tianlin, of the same generation as me, joined the Jiangong, and his Dao Foundation is one of the seven immortal swords that guard the Jiangong."

Wei Yuan said, "Wanting to recruit you into his camp now is really a bit early. Could it be..."

Cui Yu snorted and said, "No need for 'could it be,' he is doing it on purpose! He just wants to humiliate me! His branch was originally weak, but now that they have him, they are starting to fight for everything. My father has already handed over a medicine garden, four manors, and over a dozen properties, but it's still not enough for them!"

Wei Yuan knew that internal fighting in a great family was no easier than fighting in the imperial court, but he didn't expect the younger generation to have fought to this point, wanting to forcibly subdue the other party to their face.

Cui Yu suddenly slapped the armrest hard and said, "I refuse to believe that if it's not an immortal foundation, there is no path!"

Wei Yuan sighed secretly, not knowing how to comfort him, and could only say, "If this doesn't work, he definitely won't give up; you must prepare early."

Cui Yu's face was gloomy as he said, "It's nothing more than the usual challenges and arena duels. If I don't dare to accept the challenge, I'll lose all face, and I shouldn't think about standing on equal footing with him in the future."

"Cui, you also cultivate the immortal sword; how much worse are you than the Jiangong?"

Cui Yu said helplessly, "I am also someone who was gifted an immortal sword by the Ancestor, but my bone structure is insufficient, and I am unable to exert the full power of the immortal sword. Originally, the Ancestor's immortal sword was not inferior to the Jiangong's guardian sword, but it is I who am useless."

"In the arena duels, are there restrictions on the types and quantity of magic treasures?"

Cui Yu was startled and said, "There are no restrictions on that. However, he has the cultivation of the Jiangong, and the magic treasures in his hands are more numerous and of better rank than mine. Even if the elders of my branch gifted me treasures, we would only be evenly matched."

Wei Yuan said, "As long as there are no restrictions, that's fine. It's too late this time; wait until the next batch of training is completed, and I will accompany you back to the Cui family, and we will challenge him directly!"

Cui Yu smiled bitterly: "Do you think I'm you? This... to be honest, I have no certainty; I'm more likely to lose."

Wei Yuan laughed: "Don't worry, as long as there are no restrictions on various magic tools and treasures, we won't lose!"

Because the third batch graduated earlier than expected, the candidates for the Cui family's fourth batch were not yet ready and would not be sent for a few more days.

Wei Yuan estimated that the number of elders in this batch should be much higher. The elders paid much more than the young people and had no resistance to the Great Brightness Subduing Demon Sword, so this time, in addition to the original Great Brightness Subduing Demon Sword, Wei Yuan had carefully prepared a new Dao Foundation for them: the Ten Directions Glazed Golden Fire.

It was just that Wei Yuan had tried many times in the Ten Thousand Li Rivers and Mountains, and the temperature of this fire was still a bit high. The higher the temperature, the greater the difficulty of cultivation. According to the standards of the world outside the heavens, it is all fire; a temperature of several hundred is a human-rank Dao Foundation, and a temperature of several tens of thousands is an immortal foundation Sun True Fire.

So as soon as he returned to the domain, Wei Yuan found Yu Zhizhuo to ask about the problem of flame temperature. Regarding the way of material properties, Yu Zhizhuo was indeed a rare genius; he understood as soon as he heard, and immediately brought a jar of strong liquor, directly purified it with Dao power, and then lit it. Sure enough, the temperature of this fire dropped significantly, and its characteristics were clear and simple, not difficult to understand.

Wei Yuan was greatly impressed, and thus the scope of human Dao Foundations was broadened once again.

At this time, news came from Bianning County that the County Magistrate Xu Xi had arrived at his post.

Wei Yuan immediately set off for Bianning County, and at the same time ordered people to bring one hundred thousand catties of grain, setting up porridge sheds at the border between Ningxi and Bianning County, preparing to distribute grain.

At the Bianning County government office, the new County Magistrate Xu Xi gathered the large and small officials of the county and was flying into a rage.

"With so many refugees in the county, how are they to be settled?! Relief, porridge distribution! Where did so much grain come from? There isn't a single grain of rice in the granary now; what are these refugees to do? Magistrate Sun!"

Sun Chaoen hurriedly stood up and bowed: "This subordinate is here!"

Xu Xi had a fair face, wore two delicate thin mustaches, and had a cold gaze as he said, "Gathering so many refugees before I arrived at my post, are you trying to give me a show of force?"

Sun Chaoen was startled, fell to his knees with a thud, and said repeatedly: "This subordinate would not dare!"

Some officials were shocked, while others were secretly disdainful.

As the Vice Prefect, Sun Chaoen was second only to the County Magistrate in the county; if something happened to the County Magistrate, the Vice Prefect could act as the County Magistrate. Theoretically, the two sides were only half a rank apart, and there was no need to perform the kneeling ceremony at all. Who knew that Xu Xi would scare him a little, and Sun Chaoen would kneel directly, truly having no backbone at all. Xu Xi also didn't expect this, was startled for a moment, and then said: "Magistrate Sun, please get up. This official was just asking, I have no other meaning."

"Thank you, my lord." Sun Chaoen then stood up tremblingly and returned to his seat, only daring to sit on half of his buttocks.

In this way, Xu Xi found it difficult to continue his outburst, his expression softened, and he said: "Grain distribution cannot continue, but it cannot be stopped immediately either. How should we proceed? Let everyone discuss a plan!"

An official said: "We can use the method of gradual reduction, reducing the amount of porridge distributed daily by ten percent, so that it will stop completely after ten days. If the refugees can't find food, they will naturally go elsewhere."

Sun Chaoen said: "The method of gradual reduction is good, but it is a bit slow. For every extra day of porridge distribution, tens of thousands of catties of grain are gone. This subordinate suggests reducing it by half daily!"

Xu Xi mused for a moment and said: "Reducing it by half is a bit too fast; let's reduce it by thirty percent. In addition, let the soldiers be more alert; if any refugees cause trouble, punish them severely!"

"Magistrate Xu, your combination of kindness and severity is truly brilliant!" Sun Chaoen was the first to flatter him heavily.

Xu Xi stroked his mustache and smiled, feeling that this Western Region was not as terrifying as the legends said; on his first day at his post, didn't he manage to get the entire officialdom to submit?

After the discussion, the officials dispersed. Several officials had flickering eyes, clearly harboring some resentment.

This Xu Xi had scolded them to a pulp as soon as he arrived, and everything they had done in the past had become foolish in his mouth. Although these officials hadn't really done anything good in the past, being spoken to like this clearly made them unconvinced.

In the afternoon, the porridge sheds opened as usual, and the outside of the sheds was already full of people; many had come to queue before dawn.

!.

After only half an hour, with the queue only a small fraction through, the porridge factory closed its doors. The refugees immediately clamored, but there was truly no more porridge inside, and there were dozens more fat soldiers among the guards, who swung clubs and beat them, scattering the refugees. The refugees who didn't get porridge dispersed and ran to the other porridge distribution points.

At nightfall, the new County Magistrate Xu Xi held a banquet, inviting only his own confidants, while a large number of original officials in the county, including Sun Chaoen, were not invited.

When Sun Chaoen learned of this, he was not angry, but instead sent a batch of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, which made Xu Xi nod secretly, feeling that this Vice Prefect Sun was quite sensible.

The next day, the porridge factory opened half an hour later than usual and announced that the porridge was finished after only two quarters of an hour, telling them to come early tomorrow.

This time, five hundred government troops were deployed around the porridge factory, each one murderous. Seeing the refugees clamoring, the leading officer was immediately annoyed, gave an order, and the soldiers swung clubs and beat them; in an instant, hundreds of refugees were beaten until their heads were broken and blood was flowing.

A voice suddenly rang out among the refugees: "The government troops are killing people!"

The voice was shrill and heart-rending.

A knife suddenly protruded from the refugee crowd and stabbed deeply into the officer's abdomen! The officer looked at the knife in his stomach in astonishment, wanting to find the culprit, but there were refugees everywhere, and it was long impossible to tell who had done it.

Seeing the officer stabbed, the soldiers, accustomed to acting like tyrants, immediately threw down their long clubs, switched to swords, and began to hack and kill; in the blink of an eye, they had hacked down dozens of refugees.

Another roar came from the crowd: "Either way is death; let's fight these sons of bitches!"

The refugees who could escape outside the pass were originally strong, and the people of the Western Region were mostly hot-tempered, so they all gave up; seeing someone handing over knives and swords, they took them and rushed forward.

Several hundred soldiers were surrounded by tens of thousands of refugees and were all beheaded in the blink of an eye. Until this moment, many refugees were still confused; where did the knives and swords in their hands come from?

At this time, someone kicked open the gate of the porridge factory, and only then did they see over a thousand catties of rice piled on a cart at the back door. Suddenly, someone jumped onto the cart and said loudly: "The corrupt officials are even greedy for our life-saving grain! We can't live anyway; let's fight them!"

"Follow me!" several strong refugees roared, taking the lead and striding toward the County Magistrate's office.

The other refugees were still hesitant, and someone beside them said: "We killed the government troops; we definitely won't live, so we might as well have a big fight!"

Thus, tens of thousands of refugees turned into a torrent, rolling toward the County Magistrate's office.

Similar situations occurred in several other places in the city. Many government army officers saw that the situation was not good and mostly escaped. Then, in every porridge factory, the refugees discovered the grain transport carts, and their anger was completely ignited, killing their way to the County Magistrate's office.

The officers who were lucky enough to escape all called themselves unlucky; they were only temporarily assigned to guard the porridge factory, and then the porridge factory officials privately deducted a portion of the grain and shared it with the officers. This matter was actually a custom for many years, but it just happened that something went wrong today.

Several groups of refugees were like mudslides, and soon killed their way to the County Magistrate's office. The government troops rushed over, wanting to stop them, but cold arrows flew out from nowhere in the dark, shooting the officers one by one. Now the government troops also scattered in a rush.

Tens of thousands of refugees surrounded the County Magistrate's office, pushed open the gate together, and then saw the scene of the officials feasting inside, their anger increasing even more.

Xu Xi was full of anger, flew into mid-air, released the terrifying pressure of a Dharma Form cultivator, and instantly made tens of thousands of refugees crawl on the ground. He roared coldly: "You dare to rebel; do you not want your heads anymore?!"

His voice was like thunder, and the entire county city could hear it clearly.

The refugees were just ordinary people; let alone tens of thousands, even if hundreds of thousands came, Xu Xi could kill them all slowly by himself. Therefore, he faced tens of thousands of refugees alone, without any fear.

However, at this moment, a small black shadow suddenly rushed out from behind, appeared silently behind Xu Xi, and slapped him into the ground with one claw!

An hour later, Xu Xi woke up slowly.

At this time, the County Magistrate's office was like a natural disaster; all valuable items had been emptied, and even the chamber pots in the rooms had not been spared. And the entire household, regardless of personal guards, stewards, maids, or old nannies, had all disappeared. His eight wives and concubines also didn't know where they had gone.

As for himself, he had been stripped naked, lying on the mud ground.

Xu Xi was full of shame and anger, suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, yelled "Thieves bully me too much," and fainted again.

(End of chapter)