Chapter 408: To Serve as an Official, One Loses a Million

Bianning Commandery.

Commandant Xu Xi put down the official documents, furrowed his brows, and summoned a secretary: "Why are the refugees increasing so rapidly? Fifteen thousand have passed through this commandery in the past ten days. Shouldn't we cut the porridge rations in half again?"

The secretary gasped in alarm: "Absolutely not! Last time we reduced the porridge portion at one stall, the refugees rioted and beat everyone from top to bottom. No one dares take charge of the porridge stalls anymore—but the refugees say…"

"What are you stammering for? Speak!"

"They say… if they can't survive, they'll come to the Commandant's mansion to eat!"

Xu Xi slammed his fist on the table in fury: "How audacious! Are we really powerless against a bunch of refugees?"

The secretary stammered: "My lord, the refugees are brutal. It's not that we're incompetent—we simply can't fight them."

Xu Xi's anger surged, and he grabbed the inkstone, ready to smash it on the ground. But halfway up, he slowly lowered it, sighed heavily, and after a pause said: "Do we still have silver for the porridge stalls?"

The secretary whispered: "We're about to run out. Grain prices have skyrocketed—tripled in just a few months."

Xu Xi walked to the cabinet, took out a sealed pouch of immortal silver, and handed it to the secretary: "Here's five hundred taels. Take it."

The secretary took the silver and said: "My lord, this won't last more than a few days."

"Get out!"

The secretary hurriedly withdrew.

Xu Xi slammed his fist on the desk again—his rage refused to subside. Since the entire mansion was looted last time, the refugees have grown bolder, causing disturbances nearly every day.

Xu Xi had once hired a high-priced Law-Form cultivator for protection, but after only three days, the man was ambushed at night and left grievously wounded. He then refused to stay, hiring porters to carry him away.

Now, the porridge stalls are the only means to stabilize the refugees. But Bianning Commandery isn't just served by the commandery's stalls—there's also Little Wei Yuan's. As long as the commandery gives less than Little Wei Yuan, the refugees will keep rioting. Bianning is a newly established commandery; its treasury held nothing to begin with, and the grain stores were long ago sold off clean by Sun Sun Chaoen and the former commandant, Li Li Weisheng.

Investigating the grain stores would anger not only the entire Ningxi Prefecture but also permanently enrage Li Li Weisheng. Covering up a predecessor's mess is one of the unwritten rules of officialdom, and Li Li Weisheng's mess wasn't hard to clean up—but then came these unprecedentedly fierce refugees.

The last time Xu Xi abruptly shut down the porridge stalls, the refugees stormed the Commandant's mansion that very night. He was drugged into unconsciousness, and when he woke, the mansion had been completely looted.

After that incident, Xu Xi knew he couldn't afford to offend these refugees, so he began using his own silver to subsidize the porridge stalls.

But he simply couldn't understand: he'd traveled thousands of miles to take up this post, expecting the Dingxi Military Governor to bear the burden, thinking it would be a peaceful, easy post. Instead, since taking office, troubles never ceased—he'd lost several beautiful concubines and now had to pour his own silver into the coffers. If things continued like this, by the end of his term, he'd be a million taels in debt.

He cursed Little Wei Yuan bitterly, but dared not raise his voice too loud.

At this moment, Little Wei Yuan had quietly entered the commandery city and was at Sun Sun Chaoen's residence.

Without pleasantries, Little Wei Yuan pushed forward a medicine box: "This is my Tai Chu Palace's Three-Flavor Ascension Elixir—it enhances the spiritual nature of your Dao Foundation and increases your chance of achieving a Law Form by ten percent."

"This is precisely what I need. I won't refuse." Sun Sun Chaoen accepted the box.

Little Wei Yuan smiled: "Brother Sun, you've been sheltering and aiding refugees along your route—over two hundred thousand have passed through here into Qingming in the past year. Such merit easily warrants one elixir. But Xu Xi stubbornly refuses to leave, and that's a real nuisance—we can't openly carry out many of our plans."

Sun Sun Chaoen sighed: "He's not having an easy time as commandant. His mansion has been stormed twice already—each time completely looted. Now he has only a few old maidservants left; all the maids were stolen, and he can't even hire guards. To keep the porridge stalls running, he's had to pay out of his own pocket. And still he won't leave—it's remarkable."

Little Wei Yuan pondered, then suddenly said: "Could it be he has nowhere else to go?"

Sun Sun Chaoen had never considered this angle—now that Little Wei Yuan mentioned it, the possibility grew clearer. After a moment's thought, he said: "Should we pull him into our scheme?"

Little Wei Yuan shook his head: "We've come this far—why not go all the way? Besides, if we pull him in, where would your position be? Once Bianning is truly stable, this commandant post won't be yours anymore."

Sun Sun Chaoen sighed: "It seems we have no choice. Let me plan carefully—find a charge we can pin on him so there are no lingering threats."

"One more thing—I need complete records of the seven western commanderies of Ningzhou. As detailed as possible—especially on grain, specialties, mining, medicine, salt, and iron."

Sun Sun Chaoen was startled: "Are you targeting the Xu family again?"

"No. Right now, I just want to make some of their money."

"Oh, by the way—I must warn you: the imperial court has secretly formed a new army in the northern frontier. Supposedly, they're using firearms."

Hearing this, Little Wei Yuan's expression grew grave. He had personally built the first firearm units—he knew better than anyone how much these weapons boosted ordinary mortals.

The Western Jin court had kept this secret exceptionally well; even Little Wei Yuan had heard nothing. It was only because Sun Sun Chaoen was close to achieving a Law Form and had caught the attention of court elders that he'd been given this hint.

Little Wei Yuan instructed Sun Sun Chaoen to gather more intelligence on this matter, then rose to leave.

…

Zhen Mountain Realm. Li Zhi had reorganized his army and now led thirty thousand elite troops, facing off against one hundred thousand mountain folk. Both sides stood ready—war was imminent.

After narrowly escaping death when surrounded by the mountain folk last time, Li Zhi had trained day and night. Now fully prepared, he led thirty thousand elite troops to confront the mountain folk's main force, determined to avenge his defeat.

For this battle, Li Zhi brought ten thousand elite cavalry from Nanqi. His personal hundred guards were all Dao Foundation cultivators, and the army included two hundred Dao Foundation company commanders, each equipped with newly acquired Flying Sword Guns.

As the two armies faced off, Li Zhi activated his Qi-Viewing Technique and gazed across the enemy lines—he spotted four Law Forms, and sneered.

Li Zhi had prepared thoroughly—he'd hired an additional Law Form cultivator, bringing his total to three. Three against four gave the human side a slight edge. And this time, the enemy had no giants.

Last battle, the mountain folk had fielded the same force—Little Wei Yuan had easily pierced their lines with a few thousand cavalry, charging back and forth, then launching a full assault that shattered them. It had been simple, effortless—any fool could have done it.

Li Zhi drew his sword and shouted: "The enemy is feeble! All cavalry, charge with me!"

Golden light shimmered along Li Zhi's blade, merging with the army's martial aura. Ten thousand cavalry surged behind him, their aura crashing like a tidal wave against the mountain folk!

The mountain folk responded in kind—their martial aura rose like an unyielding mountain.

The ten thousand Nanqi cavalry slammed into the mountain folk's formation—and instantly, like a blade through tofu, they cut deep into the center… then stopped. They failed to pierce through.

!.

Li Zhi slashed forward—his sword aura swept through dozens of mountain folk, instantly killing them. But more immediately filled the gaps.

Li Zhi slashed several more times before realizing something was wrong—he hadn't broken through!

How was this possible?

The mountain folk's formation hadn't changed from last time. Li Zhi's charge point had been carefully chosen. His cavalry were elite, and their numbers even exceeded Little Wei Yuan's.

Yet when facing Little Wei Yuan, the mountain folk's formation had been like paper—why was it now a wall of bronze and iron?

Li Zhi was stunned and furious. He believed his military skill surpassed Little Wei Yuan's crude tactics, and only fell slightly short of Bao Yun. So what had gone wrong?

But now was no time for doubt. Li Zhi knew the danger of being trapped after a failed charge—he roared orders to press forward, leading his cavalry in desperate combat. Meanwhile, the rear commanders, sensing disaster, launched the entire army to rescue him.

The two armies clashed in chaotic battle.

An hour later, a few thousand broken troops fled from the valley with Li Zhi. Seeing no mountain folk pursuing, they finally slowed.

Li Zhi's face was ashen. He reined in his horse and turned to look back.

A nearby Law Form cultivator said: "Many soldiers can scale mountains—they still have a chance to return. Fortunately, we had the Flying Sword Guns gifted by Commandant Wei of Ningxi, or breaking out wouldn't have been so easy."

Li Zhi suddenly said: "Send someone to Qingming to buy three hundred more Flying Sword Guns—each gun must come with two hundred flying swords!"

A general said: "My lord, these guns require Dao Foundation cultivators to wield—we don't have that many."

"When the guns arrive, we will."

"Yes, my lord."

Soon after Little Wei Yuan returned to the realm, a stack of jade scrolls arrived, detailing the customs, geography, specialties, mineral deposits, and key figures and power structures of the seven western commanderies of Ningzhou—the Xu family's territory.

Sun Sun Chaoen always acted swiftly.

The documents spanned hundreds of thousands of characters. Little Wei Yuan studied them carefully, unaware that an hour had passed. Even his formidable stamina felt slightly weary—this was the first time he'd considered strategies beyond warfare, the first time he'd viewed the problem from a holistic perspective.

Little Wei Yuan set down the documents and glanced into the Ten Thousand Rivers and Mountains.

The family that had just celebrated a wedding was now even more joyful—the bride, fair and lovely, sat in the courtyard, gently cradling her slightly swollen belly, her face filled with happiness and anticipation. A spiritual tree grew in the yard, and in the corner, newly planted spiritual flowers and herbs.

Little Wei Yuan watched for a while, his spirit growing calmer, then withdrew his spiritual sense.

The cultivation hall was nearly complete—three halls, six towers, substantial in scale. The builders clearly had ambition, having reserved space for future expansion. In the completed rear hall, three cultivation spots had been set up, and three people were now meditating.

Little Wei Yuan's spiritual sense swept over them—he immediately recognized the central figure as exceptionally gifted, already at the peak of Body Casting, awaiting the moment to achieve Dao Foundation. The second was also above average—world-class talent. But the leftmost man had mediocre talent; Little Wei Yuan estimated he'd barely reach Earth Foundation. Yet somehow, he'd displaced many others with far superior talent to sit inside the hall.

Though the heavens still glowed mostly crimson, the central patch of red had faded considerably, faintly revealing blue-green hues.

Western Jin, Imperial Capital.

The Jin King held a wine cup, gazing at the evening clouds, his mood cheerful. He raised his cup toward the setting sun and drank deeply. Beside him, Zhao Tong asked: "Your Majesty, why are you so pleased?"

The Jin King smiled: "The nation's fortune rises daily—how could I not be pleased?"

(End of Chapter)