Chapter 158

"This is too much!"

The solid wood desk was smashed to pieces; flying wood chips scattered like hidden weapons. Inside the small room, Meng Zhan's face turned iron green:

"How dare that old rascal treat me so?"

Amidst the flying wood chips, Meng Zhan's anger erupted; his clothes swayed without wind, making a 'rustle-rustle' sound.

Inside and outside the small room, all the experts of the Zhenwu Hall lowered their brows and eyes, silent as winter cicadas.

"Hall Master."

At this moment, a youth clad in green armor stepped in from outside the courtyard. He glanced at the others outside the room, then waved his hand to dismiss them.

"Ming Lu."

Seeing the newcomer, Meng Zhan's expression finally softened: "How is it?"

Wang Ming Lu walked quickly into the room, closed the door, and then answered in a low voice:

"The six altars at the Prefecture Office, the Wang Manor, Louyi Alley, Baicao Pavilion, and others have all been destroyed. The trash of the Xieshen Sect suffered heavy casualties..."

"Trash!"

Meng Zhan's face twitched; he could barely suppress his rage: "All of Su Su Wanxiong's subordinates are trash!"

Wang Ming Lu felt a chill in his heart and said in a deep voice: "Hall Master, your temper has been growing worse these past few days."

"I cultivate the Bai Shen Zheng Fa bestowed by the Main Hall; I rarely lose control and go mad. It is just that today, I truly cannot suppress the fire in my heart."

Meng Zhan waved his hand, feeling nothing was wrong, but his eyes were cold:

"Only I know the locations of those six altars. Even you did not know all the positions before today. How did that old rascal find out?"

"This..."

Wang Ming Lu shook his head: "This is also what puzzles me..."

"This matter must be thoroughly investigated!"

Meng Zhan's face was iron green, and he felt uneasy.

He considered that his actions had been extremely cautious; the six altars did not even know of each other's existence. Who had such great ability to find them all?

"Yes."

Wang Ming Lu nodded, yet could not help feeling worried: "If this matter is exposed, what shall we do?"

"The Divine Weapon Valley tolerates the blood sacrifices of the Xieshen Sect; what does that have to do with us? At most, this Hall Master is merely negligent."

Meng Zhan sneered repeatedly: "If not, that old rascal would not have issued a warning today; he would have attacked directly!"

"A warning?"

"That old rascal wants to force me to leave."

Meng Zhan regained his composure: "Ming Lu, send a carrier pigeon to the Prefecture Hall and the Prefecture Office. Afterwards, we shall temporarily leave Zhelong Prefecture!"

"Leave Fucheng?"

Wang Ming Lu felt somewhat unwilling, but could only nod and withdraw.

"Divine Weapon Valley!"

Inside the room, Meng Zhan's face was expressionless, but his chest heaved constantly; the fire in his heart was truly hard to suppress.

The duty of the Zhenwu Hall is to supervise the local areas, yet I am actually being forced out of Fucheng; this is simply a supreme humiliation!

"One day, one day..."

Even after taking a few deep breaths, he still could not suppress the fire in his heart. Meng Zhan pushed open the door, intending to vent his anger.

"Over fourteen hundred years ago, the Taizu Emperor enfeoffed the world, granting rewards to all sects that had merit. But after the Taizu Emperor passed away, the imperial court has been thinking constantly of leveling the various sects, sweeping the world clean, and reclaiming the right to collect taxes."

On the carriage returning to the Divine Weapon Valley, Jing Jing Shuhu spoke more than usual, discussing the imperial court and the situation with Li Yuan.

The imperial court relies on the sects to govern the world and collects taxes, but at the same time is extremely dissatisfied with the sects deducting and extracting; for hundreds of years, there has been open and secret struggle.

The Zhenwu Hall, the Jingping Bureau, and other violent agencies arose from this.

"Reducing the fiefs, then."

Li Yuan nodded to show understanding; Pang Pang Wenlong had the ambition to enfeoff the world, but his descendants might not all share it.

Even two brothers in one family might turn against each other over family assets; let alone the world?

Open and secret struggle is naturally the most normal thing.

Furthermore, expanding the thought: were the Emperors assassinated by the Star-Piercing Tower really assassinated by the Star-Piercing Tower?

Judging others by oneself, Li Yuan felt that if he were one of those great sects, pushed to the brink, he might even cover his face and fight to the death.

"Hmm, about right. Our sects are no different from the vassal kings of the previous dynasty; we just do not share the same surname as the Emperor."

Jing Jing Shuhu sat cross-legged, his breathing nearly imperceptible; this was a sign that his breathing method had long been integrated into his instincts:

"One Circuit, one Prefecture, one Commandery, one County; though the sects fight amongst themselves, once the imperial court intervenes, they will surely be attacked jointly!"

A grand alliance of sects, then.

Li Yuan understood well; compared to the imperial court, a single sect naturally appears weak and isolated; joining hands to resist is inevitable.

At this moment, the benefit of reading many books showed itself; once Jing Jing Shuhu spoke, Li Yuan could understand very quickly.

Great Yun established the nation through martial arts, and the sects govern the world. In one Circuit, one Prefecture, one Commandery, the land is self-governed by the sects, which have the right to extract taxes and train soldiers.

As far as he knew, the taxes of Zhelong Prefecture allowed the Divine Weapon Valley to extract two or three tenths; the rest was handed up to the Prefecture by Fucheng, and the Huailong Palace would extract another two tenths,

before being handed up to the Circuit City. The Circuit City also had the Dragon-Tiger Temple...

Layer upon layer of extraction; what actually reaches the imperial court's hands is merely two or three tenths.

This is truly sharing the world.

"The imperial court created the Zhenwu Hall with the intent of extracting the elite of the sects to suppress them. When the Taizu Emperor was alive, the various families still sold some face; now..."

Jing Jing Shuhu shook his head.

Li Yuan spoke little, merely listening, and gained a deeper understanding of the relationship between the Sect and the imperial court.

The imperial court seeks to reduce the fiefs; the Sects seek to carve out their own domains—simple enough to see at a glance.

"Enough, we've strayed too far."

Jing Jing Shuhu sighed a few times, then ceased mentioning the matter; at this moment, the carriage arrived at the foot of Divine Weapon Mountain.

"By the way, Old Lei told me you wish to visit the Secret Vault and the Divine Weapon Pavilion?"

Before disembarking, Jing Jing Shuhu suddenly spoke.

"Ah?"

Li Yuan nodded: "This disciple wishes to observe the weapons left by the ancestral masters of past generations and to comprehend their thoughts on forging weapons..."

"No."

Jing Jing Shuhu rejected him outright; seeing the latter somewhat disappointed, he felt a measure of satisfaction in his heart and said:

"However, for Old Lei's sake, this old man can grant you..."

Li Yuan raised his head; he had actually expected this.

Jing Jing Shuhu clasped his hands behind his back:

"For every superior-grade famous artifact you forge, this old man will retrieve a superior-grade famous artifact from the Divine Weapon Pavilion for you to observe; at the same time, I will go to the Secret Tower and select a Wu Gong of your choice!"

Jing Jing Shuhu was not surprised by Li Yuan's request.

He naturally knew well that the disciples of the Hammer Weapon Hall pursued root-bone alteration and Yi Duo Xing; what satisfied him was that this youth, besides practicing martial arts, had not forgotten the art of weapon forging.

"Thank you, Grand Elder!"

Li Yuan's heart rejoiced; he quickly clasped his hands and offered thanks.

"Hmph."

Jing Jing Shuhu nodded, just about to depart.

"Then regarding that inner armor I forged earlier..."

"Hm?"

Jing Jing Shuhu frowned, swept his sleeve, and strode away:

"Let it count for now!"

"Thank you, Grand Elder!"

Hearing the heartfelt gratitude from behind, Jing Jing Shuhu's lips curved slightly; within a few strides, he vanished along the mountain path.

He seemed to be in high spirits.

Southeast of Divine Weapon Mountain, outside the sunlit forest, lay the temporary encampment and recruitment site newly built by the Divine Guard Army.

On the trampled yellow-earth ground, tents stretched for miles; hundreds of soldiers practiced martial arts here, their intense blood qi seeming ready to melt the accumulated snow.

"The Yi Battalion has expanded three times; it now numbers eight thousand, among whom the lowest are martial artists who have cultivated inner strength; those who temper the body or strengthen the interior are not few."

Outside the open ground, Li Yuan gazed from afar at thousands of martial artists forming ranks to practice, a magnificent sight; Yu Jin spoke beside him.

This veteran of the Divine Guard Army was very familiar with military formations; on the road, he had told Li Yuan much about camp regulations and points requiring attention.

"Expand further, and it will reach ten thousand."

Li Yuan sighed somewhat.

A single squad of martial artists who have cultivated inner strength; a common force of hundreds would shatter in one strike against them, unable to stand as opponents.

Eight thousand is already enough to besiege cities and seize territory.

"I heard Duanmu Sheng intends to expand to thirty thousand."

Yu Jin was also well-informed about the Divine Guard Army; although he had retired, he still had disciples and their disciples within the Divine Guard Army.

"Is thirty thousand a bit too many?"

Li Yuan frowned slightly.

A battalion has only a thousand men; even if all are elite, controlling thirty to one will inevitably lead to bloat; combat power may not increase much.

An army must be trained; merely cultivating inner strength is not enough.

"Hard to say."

Yu Jin said nothing more.

The group walked toward the camp; Li Yuan still possessed the Divine Guard Army Commander's waist token, so passage was unimpeded; soon they found the officer responsible for personnel dispatch in the camp.

The fate of a few menial disciples naturally did not require seeking out a grand commander like Duanmu Sheng.

"Senior Brother Li?"

That officer clearly recognized Li Yuan; seeing him come to find himself, he was instantly flattered and hurriedly brought over a chair.

Hearing he wished to transfer a few disciples, he quickly brought out the roster and efficiently handled the matter that Liu Zheng and Wang Wang Peiyao could not accomplish even with silver.

"Thank you, Junior Brother Li."

Li Yuan nodded, departed, and on the way also retrieved the heavy armor he had not come to collect earlier.

Heavy armor and crossbows were the only things he could not easily obtain.

"Senior Brother Li, take care!"

That officer escorted him all the way to the camp gate, waving loudly, drawing the attention of many; his smile grew even broader.

But turning around, he was startled: "Elder Sun, Elder Sun..."

"Hmph!"

Sun Zan snorted coldly, swept his sleeve, and headed for the main tent.

Inside the main tent, Duanmu Sheng sat in armor, reviewing the Juan Sect, with a massive military sand table before him.

One could see a red line cutting through the mountains and forest, heading straight for Fucheng.

"Grand Commander!"

Sun Zan bowed in salute.

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"Mm."

Duanmu Sheng set down the Juan Sect dossier.

"After Wang Zhao and Lin Jia were assassinated, the Town Wutang reacted strongly, but they should be temporarily leaving Fucheng."

Sun Zan replied.

"The Sanyuanwu army is about to arrive; stability in the city comes first. That Meng Zhan is a sensible man."

Duanmu Sheng was not surprised; the only thing that puzzled him was:

"That Lin Jia had long since achieved Great Completion of Meridian Opening—how could the Star-Plucking Tower have such a skilled hand?"

"It is the Star-Plucking Tower, after all."

Sun Zan was somewhat wary. Not long ago, he himself had suffered an assassination attempt, after which he had stubbornly hidden in the Divine Weapon Pavilion for over half a month.

"Meng Zhan withdrawing is for the best—saves this old man from having to act."

Duanmu Sheng did not dwell on it and continued flipping through the Juan Sect dossier.

Sun Zan sat for a while, exchanged a few words with him, and on leaving, casually mentioned as if in passing:

"By the way, I ran into Li Yuan when entering the camp just now. Has he come to pay his respects to the Grand Commander?"

"Li Yuan?"

Glancing at Sun Zan's departing back, Duanmu Sheng frowned slightly. He set down the Juan Sect dossier and drew a letter from his robe.

He tapped the desk lightly, scanned the last line of the letter, suddenly laughed in spite of himself, and raised his hand to shatter the letter into powder:

"Shu Zhong? A man should know his own worth!"