Chapter 601

After advancing in realm, both the Mind-Reflection World and Azure Void needed time to slowly accumulate and develop. The Mortal World was too vast, and wanting to improve it as a whole was extremely difficult. It could even be said that however many times Little Wei Yuan's Dao power was compared to other Dharma Forms, that many times more accumulation would be needed when advancing in realm.

At this time, following Hongye being struck by the Yang Bullet, the Rain Kingdom contracted significantly, putting all its effort into dealing with the war against the Spirit Shamans. Thus, a blank zone of over a thousand li was left between the Rain Kingdom and Azure Void. This area was for Little Wei Yuan to occupy, enough to consume several years of Little Wei Yuan's time.

After all, Azure Void currently had almost no nourishment, relying entirely on natural expansion. It was already less than one li per day, and as the domain expanded, the distance of natural extension per day would also become less and less, but the total area would not differ much.

During the great war, Little Wei Yuan opened the "Instant Myriad Beings" too many times; almost every time there was a bit of nourishment, he had to open it once. The great war had just ended, and he had just conducted a Dao Foundation advancement, so Azure Void's nourishment was still at rock bottom.

Little Wei Yuan took out the map and studied it carefully for a long time, finally reaching the conclusion: for the time being, external enemies couldn't reach him, so it was time to start resolving the internal conflicts of the human race.

Nowadays, the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang was directly blocking the gate of Hanyang Pass, and the two sides had been deadlocked like this for some time.

Little Wei Yuan looked at the map, stretched out his finger and drew a straight line in the northern part of Azure Void, reaching the Northern Desolate Mountain Plains, and then decided to deploy the mobile cavalry here, preparing to intercept and kill the merchant caravans of the Xu family and the Lei Ze tribe.

The new portal outside Mount Yushan was still growing slowly, gradually revealing a strange and unfathomable aura. Little Wei Yuan was just about to make some targeted arrangements when the Fighting Saint Hall had already acted in advance.

They had built three rows of city walls around the portal, each one higher than the last, and then deployed heavy guards on the city walls. Basically, anyone with a bit of skill had to take turns on duty, all fully armed, which made Little Wei Yuan's liver ache; the Creation Immortal Venerable once again lost the opportunity to have foresight and point out the landscape.

What was even more speechless was that even Little Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation and Dharma Form warriors were transferred to the city walls, with the three great Dragon Guards—Wenwu, Long Ying, and Long Feng—each guarding one city wall.

Little Wei Yuan had never expected that besides himself, there could actually be someone else capable of mobilizing the Dragon Guards?

But the sect of the Creation Immortal Venerable still had few people, and it seemed no one connected the three terrifyingly imposing Dragon Guards with the Creation Immortal Venerable.

Seeing that there was no sense of presence in the Mortal World, Little Wei Yuan had no choice but to return to reality. Beside Yong'an City, ten brand-new workshops were rising from the ground. The number of Dao Foundation cultivators assigned under Yu Zhizhuo had exceeded a thousand, but during actual work, situations arose everywhere, and several disciples of the Heavenly Craft Hall were busy putting out fires everywhere, completely unable to keep up.

Therefore, the original plan was to build thirty workshops in the first phase simultaneously. Yu Zhizhuo worked for two days and found it impossible, so he immediately called a halt and changed to concentrating all manpower to start work on ten workshops in the first phase, which was the only way to get on the right track.

Little Wei Yuan then summoned representatives of the major merchant caravans, placed another order for three million catties of raw silk, and stipulated that the top ten suppliers could choose to use fair-priced armor to pay for the goods.

All the merchants went crazy. Azure Void's armor now had a very high reputation and was already selling for forty taels of immortal silver a set on the black market outside. Many Zhao soldiers secretly sold the Azure Void armor they were issued and then went to the market to buy a knockoff with a similar style. With such an exchange, they could earn ten taels of immortal silver.

Fair-priced armor was twenty taels of immortal silver a set, so selling silk could earn a profit, and the return trip could earn another profit. The only problem was that there wasn't enough silk.

The major merchant caravans immediately mobilized all their power to start purchasing raw silk. At this time, the large merchant caravans with strength and background finally began to exert their power. They either used their channels to instantly spread the news to the rear, mobilizing all stewards to go to the countryside to collect silk, and some stewards even directly circled trees, wrapping up trees that were not yet fully mature.

Other wilder merchant caravans simply purchased raw silk from generals, garrison commanders, and even mountain bandits. As for where these people's silk came from, the merchant caravans didn't care at all.

Thus, the price of silk soared, and the Brocade Firm complained endlessly.

On the city wall of Hanyang Pass, Xu Lanshan looked at the small hill twenty li away, her brows tightly furrowed, her face heavy. From afar, dozens of large cargo trucks appeared in a grand procession, and the ones escorting the trucks were again thousands of elite iron cavalry.

As soon as the cargo trucks arrived, they drove directly along the road that had already been built to the small hill, unloading the entire truckload of square stone slurry boards and steel plates, so the fortifications on the small hill became a bit more solid.

Every day these days, a hundred cargo trucks would arrive, unloading hundreds of thousands of catties of supplies, turning an inconspicuous small hill into an iron fortress armed to the teeth.

No one in the Hanyang Pass garrison dared to leave the pass gate anymore. As long as someone crossed the line, it would inevitably invite shelling. After more than a dozen people died, no one wanted to throw their lives away anymore.

Originally, closing the pass was to make Little Wei Yuan and Azure Void feel very aggrieved, but now that they were blocked at the pass gate and shelled to their faces, it was the Xu family's turn to feel aggrieved. Every shell was like a slap in the face to Xu Lanshan.

However, the several elders guarding Hanyang Pass were surprisingly unanimous and absolutely disagreed with reporting this matter to the family's Council of Elders. Their reasons were also high-sounding: Little Wei Yuan had just repelled the Shaman tribe, and his reputation was at its peak. Now he hadn't fired a single shell at Hanyang Pass; they were all hitting the open ground outside the city.

Xu Lanshan naturally knew that these elders resented her for cutting off their source of wealth, so they were dragging her down in everything. But the entire Xu family was like this—you have me in you, and I have you in me, and the interests were tangled and complicated. Unless she went directly to the Immortal Ancestor.

But unless it was a last resort, she was absolutely unwilling to step into that mystical realm. Xu Lanshan was still trying to resolve this matter through proper channels. On one hand, she sent a document to Azure Void, denouncing Little Wei Yuan for disguising himself as a bandit and acting recklessly. Such perverse actions would sooner or later squander the good reputation he had worked so hard to earn.

Little Wei Yuan replied with a letter containing only two large characters: "Bai Chi!"

Xu Lanshan sent someone to find Sun Chaoen again, asking him to withdraw the land deed documents given to the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang. But Sun Chaoen would have a cold one moment, be dead drunk the next, or his concubine's cat would die... In short, he just closed his doors and refused to see guests.

Xu Lanshan got a nose full of dust and realized that the officialdom of Western Jin had rotted to the core; they were either corrupt officials or bandits.

But now, the best time to fight the Heaven-Extinguishing Gang had passed. The small hill was already fully armed, and a wisp of faint killing intent always hovered around Xu Lanshan. Clearly, that assassin was also very patient; as long as Xu Lanshan showed a flaw, it would be a thunderous strike.

Only whenever this happened, Xu Lanshan's face was as calm as water, without any fear. This assassin underestimated her too much; with her status and position, how could she make a move against those of low cultivation?

The cargo trucks arrived, and the small hill was bustling with construction. Just like the previous few days, there was really nothing to see. Xu Lanshan was just about to go to the workshop to see if there were any improvements in musket production when suddenly several Xu family cultivators flew over at full speed, urgently saying: "The imperial court has sent an imperial envoy, who has now arrived at the Garrison Prefecture. The elders want you to go over immediately to receive the decree!"

Xu Lanshan said: "Can't the elders receive it? Why do I have to go again?"

"No, the imperial envoy specifically named you to receive the decree."

Xu Lanshan frowned. Although she was very reluctant, she still flew toward the Garrison Prefecture. Although everyone didn't take the Prince of Jin seriously, the Prince of Jin still had the mandate of heaven, so surface appearances still had to be maintained.

Thus, when Xu Lanshan arrived at the main hall of the Garrison Prefecture, she saw that Zhao Tong and Liu Quangong were actually both present, and there were also several experts dressed in imperial guard uniforms standing by the side. The several elders of the Xu family were standing to the side, looking at Xu Lanshan with a yin-yang tone. This woman delayed them from making money, so naturally, they couldn't wait for her to make a fool of herself.

At this time, Liu Quangong spoke: "Xu Lanshan, why don't you kneel to receive the decree?"

A flush suddenly appeared on Xu Lanshan's face, and she glared at them. But Zhao Tong and Liu Quangong were watching like tigers, all prepared to make a move. The atmosphere in the hall was also extremely oppressive, and Xu Lanshan's spiritual energy circulation was actually somewhat obstructed. She immediately understood clearly: to be able to suppress her, who was at the perfection of the Dharma Form and on the verge of advancing in realm, there must definitely be an Imperial Scenery expert among those imperial guards.

!

The several elders of the Xu family watched coldly from the sidelines, and not one of them stepped forward.

Xu Lanshan's expression changed several times. Although she was extremely unwilling, since she had accepted this official position, according to Tang etiquette, she had to kneel and receive the decree. Otherwise, if the matter of refusing to receive the imperial decree were to spread, the Xu family would be pointed at by thousands of people, and any scholar in the world would write articles to denounce the Xu family.

In the end, she knelt on one knee and gritted her teeth to receive the decree.

The imperial decree was held in the hands of a young eunuch with a plain face. He was expressionless, unfolded the decree, and read: "Xu Lanshan, you idiot, are you trying to harm over a hundred thousand refugees to death? If you don't know how to be an official, don't occupy someone else's position. I see that you have cultivated for a long time, but not a bit of magic power has reached your brain..."

This imperial decree was full of vulgar language, scolding Xu Lanshan until she was covered in blood. This young eunuch read it with cadence, and his tone and expression were very much in place.

Xu Lanshan was first stunned, then furious, but after being scolded a few more times, she calmed down instead.

Soon the imperial decree was read, and Xu Lanshan said: "Can I see the imperial decree?"

The young eunuch walked up to her, handed over the decree, and said: "This decree is to be recovered; you can read it once here."

Xu Lanshan took the decree and looked at it. It was indeed the words just now, and the young eunuch hadn't read a single word wrong.

After receiving the decree, the members of the mission didn't stay for a moment and prepared to fly away after leaving the main hall. Xu Lanshan suddenly said to an imperial guard: "Why does the Prince of Cheng also like these sneaky tricks?"

The imperial guard just chuckled and didn't answer.

After the imperial envoy group had all flown away, Xu Lanshan suddenly said: "Take all the account books for the porridge sheds and shelters prepared for the refugees to my study, now, immediately! Not a single one is allowed to be omitted!"

The attendants knew Xu Lanshan's temper and immediately went to handle it like flying. An hour later, several hundred account books were all placed in Xu Lanshan's study. Xu Lanshan's spiritual sense was powerful, and it took her only an hour to finish reading them all. All the account books were watertight, and not a single problem could be seen.

Xu Lanshan sneered in her heart. That there was not a single problem proved that there was a huge problem.

(End of chapter)