Chapter 961: Great Events Occur

The political situation in Ji State had now come to light; spring plowing was imminent, yet under the scourge of war, a thousand li lay barren, with no one left to till the fields. The counties burned by rebel forces had even their boundary stones torn up, destroying centuries of careful cultivation in an instant.

Wei Yuan felt a pang of sorrow, yet had no good solution. The rebels clearly had another goal—to create a vast wasteland. Once the boundary stones were removed, the land’s environment would gradually revert to its original state as a mountain folk domain; farmland cultivated for years would lose all fertility and vital energy within two or three years. Replanting the boundary stones would require starting the nurturing process anew.

Merely from this, Wei Yuan concluded that the so-called rebels behaved no differently from foreign tribes—yet their actions were even more hateful.

Wei Yuan left twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators to assist Liu Muzhi in governing the county, while ordering the rear fortress to dispatch several carts of grain—ten thousand jin in total. Fortunately, the fortress was only eleven thousand li from Liu Muzhi’s Guantun County, and the grain would arrive in a few days.

The poor and suffering people were resilient; though the city had nearly run out of food, Liu Muzhi told Wei Yuan that if the people were assured grain would arrive within days, they could survive on water alone for six or seven days.

After inspecting the city’s defenses, Wei Yuan said to Liu Muzhi: “I’ll give you a blueprint. First, plan your defenses according to it and organize able-bodied government office runners and civilian laborers to begin construction. In a few days, when the grain arrives, five hundred soldiers will accompany it to aid your defense. Your task is to send a few bold, fearless men to deliver something to Liu Heihu.”

“What should we send him?”

Wei Yuan paused, then said: “Send him a set of women’s clothing, and tell him I’m waiting here for him.”

The famous novel “The Romantic Saga of Three Men” was deeply ingrained in popular culture; Liu Muzhi had read it. He naturally understood the allusion of sending women’s clothing, and was stunned: “This—this is like throwing an egg against a stone!”

Wei Yuan said: “If we can force Liu Heihu’s hundred-thousand-strong army to march back and forth, exhausting their strength, they will collapse soon—and countless civilians will be saved. This is great merit. Sacrifices are worth it.”

Liu Muzhi gritted his teeth: “Even if we could only draw ten thousand rebels into endless marches, their defeat would accelerate dramatically. Even if we risk the entire county’s population, it’s worth it!”

Wei Yuan was again taken aback: “Liu Daoren, you’re not following the usual path. If our conversation got out, there’d be a storm of condemnation.”

Liu Muzhi replied calmly: “I’m no inept Confucian who clings blindly to the sages’ rules. Sacrifices for the greater good are only natural—as long as that ‘greater good’ isn’t just the few’s agenda.”

For some reason, Wei Yuan suddenly saw in Liu Muzhi the shadow of Fang He Tong. Both were learned men, differing only in their paths, yet sharing the same great righteousness.

Wei Yuan nodded and departed Guantun County, returning ahead to the fortress. The eighty Foundation Establishment cultivators followed slowly, re-surveying the terrain along the way.

Back at the fortress, Wei Yuan recalculated the transport capacity for supplies and personnel. The teleportation array could move hundreds of people daily, or over ten thousand jin of supplies. That seemed substantial, but Qingming was no ordinary power—its military needs weren’t just grain, but weapons, ammunition, war chariots, and cannons.

With this transport capacity, it would take Wei Yuan a full year to move a single ten-thousand-strong heavy infantry unit here—and even then, supplies would still fall short.

Fortunately, the Institute of Equal-Being War Equipment had begun researching this problem since the fortress’s construction began. Under Wei Yuan’s daily and nightly pressure, they’d finally managed to produce something.

In truth, the Immortal Plants and the institute’s researchers found the Creation Immortal Ancestor quite exasperating. Everyone had hoped he’d simply work harder—but now that he was working hard, it was only in overseeing and rushing progress.

The War Institute’s solution was a hodgepodge that left Wei Yuan speechless.

The device consisted of a balloon, inspired by airships from the outside world, beneath which hung a flying vessel. The vessel’s structure was stripped to the bare minimum, stripped of all non-essential equipment, then fitted with wings on both sides and two jet propulsion units at the rear. Each propulsion unit required eight Foundation Establishment cultivators to operate—called “jet handlers.”

Such a vehicle, normally crewed by thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators, could travel ten thousand li per day, nonstop, for fifty days. Fully loaded, it could carry five thousand shi of cargo.

But the device was extremely fragile; a few flying swords from any Foundation Establishment cultivator could easily bring it down. Wei Yuan’s countermeasure was to fly as high as possible—above three thousand zhang, a height even ordinary Law-Phase cultivators could not reach.

Zhang Sheng would personally escort the first two supply runs. Anyone who dared attack the vessel would be deemed at war with Qingming—not only hunted to death, but their entire tribe exterminated. It was an utterly tyrannical policy.

With Zhang Sheng’s current power, any ordinary Law-Phase cultivator who didn’t adopt the posture of facing Yu Jing would be obliterated in a single glance—soul and Dao extinguished. Then, their affiliated faction would be marked for retribution. If they dared utter even a single word of excuse, Qingming would immediately launch an invasion—no explanations accepted.

Zhang Sheng would escort the first two runs, then hand over to Ji Liuli and Feng Chutang for two more, followed by Feng Tingyu and Wang Hu. After these few demons passed, any unruly Law-Phase cultivators along the route would likely be wiped out.

Wei Yuan was highly satisfied with the plan and immediately approved it, ordering immediate construction within Qingming. Due to extreme cost-cutting, construction was exceptionally fast—likely a batch could be completed in two months. The flying vessels themselves could be sourced from existing models, with everything removable stripped out.

For the first batch, Wei Yuan ordered four built at once, capable of transporting twenty thousand shi of cargo per trip.

At this moment, a peculiar proposal emerged from the human world: equipping these flying vessels with a machine cannon capable of firing immensely powerful flying swords. But these swords required the power of Taiyin Moonlight, equivalent to an advanced version of Moonlight Heaven’s Mist Foundation Establishment cultivators. The proposal specifically requested Xiang Xiaoyu to come to the fortress to assist in gathering data from the mountain folk region.

Such a weapon exists? Wei Yuan immediately sent a message through Human Smoke to Xiang Xiaoyu, urging him to come to the mountain folk fortress as soon as possible.

The proposed airborne cannon was fragile and unstable, yet immensely powerful—a single shot could severely wound a Law-Phase cultivator, injure even a newly arrived Yu Jing, and damage the Heart-Phase realm. If each flying vessel could carry several such cannons, the round trips would become far safer.