Longzang

Chapter 1059: The Master
After a short rest, Wei Yuan's consciousness entered the bustling world of the myriad realms.

At this moment, the ancient full moon was complete, and the shadow within it had migrated into the ancient full moon. Wei Yuan then dragged the two fragments of the Heart World to the side of the ancient full moon and unfolded the Heart World.

A shadow appeared on the ancient full moon, from which a three-eyed bird head emerged. With a single inhale, it swallowed Ling Canglan's mental world, but it was picky about the mental world that had been torn off from Su Wuwang, only taking a few bites. It ate the area around the Thousand Machine Hall, leaving only the Thousand Machine Hall itself. Then, a voice rang in Wei Yuan's consciousness: Filial Piety.

A seemingly real yet elusive crystal pillar landed in Wei Yuan's hand; this was the top-tier fortune from beyond the heavens!

With this luck, coupled with Ling Canglan's luck, Wei Yuan instantly felt his back straighten up again. Although Wei Yuan didn't rely on luck in battle before, he clearly fought much better now that he had it.

After consuming the entire Heart World, the Three-Eyed Bird became drowsy and retreated into the round moon, never to reappear.

Wei Yuan possessed both great fortune and a clear understanding of the Dao.

He gathered up the remaining ruins of the Thousand Machines Palace, placed it in the middle of the sea, and used the power of the deep sea to suppress it before leaving the bustling world.

In the aftermath of the war, many things were in disarray, and the first priority was to deal with Ling Canglan's physical body and the puppet remains left behind by Su Wuwang. The puppet remains were easy to handle; Wei Yuan had them all sent to Yu Zhizhuo of Qingming. However, he hesitated regarding Ling Canglan's remains.

Along with Ling Canglan's remains, more than a dozen utilization plans were presented. Each plan had its own merits. The technical bureaucrats in Qingming, adhering to their consistent style of efficiency, responsibility, and ruthlessness, planned the use of every single hair on Ling Canglan's head and toes.

As a seasoned sword cultivator, Ling Canglan's remains are even more valuable than those of ordinary Imperial Realm cultivators.

However, Wei Yuan looked at the top-tier fortune in his sea of ​​consciousness, remained silent for a long time, and then said, "Transport the remains back to Qingming and bury them in Ding'an City."

The back mountain of Ding'an City was originally the place where True Lord Huangyun passed away. Later, Wei Yuan built the Qi Luck Fishing Array here. This place has become the second Qi Luck node in the entire Qingming after the Qingming Boundary Stone.

Wei Yuan chose to bury Ling Canglan here, which can be considered a burial in an auspicious location that can bless future generations. This can be considered a fitting tribute to his top-tier destiny.

As time goes by, Ling Canglan's remains will, like those of Huang Yun Zhenjun, slowly merge with Qingming and become a part of it.

After dealing with this matter, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a sense of relief, and his Dao heart became much clearer. So he continued to handle the follow-up matters.

Following this great battle, the State of Ji suffered a setback, but its overall strength remained. Wei Yuan then organized several elite cavalry units, which were stationed behind Guantun County, ready to attack as soon as the main army of Ji arrived.

At this moment, in the court of Ji State, the ministers were debating whether or not to attack Wei Yuan.

Some of the more experienced and prudent individuals, led by the Minister of Revenue and the Grand Secretary, believed that Wei Yuan was actually the military governor of Qingyang under the Great Tang Dynasty, and that he had come under imperial decree to quell a rebellion, making an attack on him without just cause. At present, no one could prove that the Great Wilderness Spear Saint was Wei Yuan's man. Besides, Wei Yuan only occupied Guantun County, a mere few hundred miles of territory; even if it were given to Wei Yuan, what difference would it make?

There was also a more conservative faction, who believed that the national treasury was empty, the government army had suffered repeated defeats, and had been utterly crushed by the Great Wilderness Spear Master, resulting in low morale. They argued that it was time to bide their time, reorganize the army, and then challenge Wei Yuan to a decisive battle. This faction was led by Xiao Jingyuan, the Minister of War and Grand General.

The Minister of War believed that Wei Yuan was located in a remote corner of the country, and the mountain people's territory had just been opened up. All supplies had to be transported from Qingming, so it was impossible for it to develop. Therefore, Ji State could focus on training its army.

At this moment, Xiao Jingyuan, whose hair and beard were already white, stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I have recently acquired some interesting trinkets. May I bring them to the palace for my colleagues to see?"

Prince Ji said, "Granted!"

General Xiao Jingyuan ordered his men to bring up several weapons, all of which had been captured from the Qingming troops, including muskets, flying swords, armored swords, and even an infantry cannon and several cannonballs.

The arrival of these weapons in the palace immediately startled the civil officials.

Xiao Jingyuan picked up a long sword and said, "Your Majesty, please look. This is the slashing sword used by the elite cavalry under the command of the Great Wilderness Spear Saint. It is the most basic weapon. These are the military weapons used daily by the armies of our Great Ji."

Xiao Jingyuan suddenly raised his long sword and slashed at the Ji Army's weapons that the eunuchs had brought up! With a swift movement, he swung his sword more than ten times, cutting through all of the Ji Army's standard-issue weapons, while the steel sword in his hand only slightly bent at the edge.

This result immediately shocked the court officials, and even King Ji was affected.

Then Xiao Jingyuan picked up the Ji Kingdom's military saber and straight sword and slashed at the Qingming armor. Sharp weapons like sabers and swords were no match for the forged breastplate, and ordinary arrows couldn't penetrate it either; only blunt weapons were effective.

One of the ministers, who had also served in the military, immediately said, "Aren't these armors and weapons of comparable quality to those of my Ji Army captains? Are all of them really equipped like this?" "Yes, all of them are equipped like this! And this is just the basic equipment. Next, I will demonstrate the use of muskets and firearms. Please pay attention, gentlemen."

Immediately, someone brought out a dummy, dressed it in full armor that only a captain of the Imperial Guard could wear, and then a general picked up a musket, loaded it with ammunition, and fired a shot at the dummy!
The loud gunshot startled the officials again. However, most of the ministers were Dharma Ministers, and a few were even Imperial Realm experts. Only a few had low cultivation levels, but they were all at the Dao Foundation Perfection stage. Therefore, they were all surprised but not flustered.

Everyone looked at the armor and saw that the chest of the heavy armor was shattered, with a large hole blasted in it! The general standing behind the armor held a bullet the size of a jujube in his hand, his palm was red and had already been grazed.

The ministers were all shocked. This strange weapon was far more powerful than a bow and crossbow. After penetrating heavy armor, it was almost able to injure the Dharma body of the Dharma Image.

Xiao Jingyuan said, "Everyone has already witnessed the power of the musket. This big thing is called a cannon, and its power far surpasses that of the musket. It poses a fatal threat to those at the Dao Foundation stage and can also injure those at the Dharma Aspect stage. These are all standard equipment in the Great Wilderness Spear Saint Army. So what I mean is that this battle cannot be fought, at least not at this time."

The Minister of War stepped forward again and reported, "Your Majesty, there is good news: the principles behind these strange weapons are not complicated, nor are they difficult to manufacture. I have already begun to arrange for skilled craftsmen to replicate them, and it will not be long before our Great Ji army is also able to use these weapons!"

Prince Ji's expression softened considerably, and he said, "My dear minister and General Xiao have shared the nation's burdens with commendable loyalty. Do any of you ministers have anything to add?"

At this moment, Hanlin Academy scholar Liu Hanlin stepped forward and said loudly, "Your Majesty, I believe that with the bandits rampant and General Xiao suffering repeated defeats, losing soldiers and territory, how dare he still talk about victory? Such empty talkers who harm the country should be imprisoned and held accountable! At this moment, we should raise a large army, appoint famous generals, wipe out the bandits, and restore a bright and clear world to our Great Ji!"

Xiao Jingyuan, a man of deep composure, remained silent, but he had already angered the other generals. One general roared, "You pedantic scholar, it's all empty talk that's ruining the country! I ask you, you only talk about fighting, how are we going to win?"

Liu Hanlin immediately declared, "I am the royal tutor of a great nation, and I am here to punish the rebels with righteousness. My cause is just! As the saying goes, righteousness breeds strength, and strength breeds a mighty army! With my powerful royal army, how can I not be victorious against petty thieves?"

The generals were so angry they laughed, but Liu Hanlin continued, "Your Majesty, the generals have been saying that they either dare not fight or suffer defeats! It's one thing to suffer defeats, after all, victory and defeat are common in war. But to not even dare to fight is a disgrace to the prestige of our Great Ji Kingdom! How can such cowardly and self-serving men not lead an army to defeat?"

The generals were furious: "We have fought bloody battles, our bodies are covered in scars, and our loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon! How dare you, a pedantic scholar, slander us?"

Liu Hanlin sneered: "Loyalty is as clear as the sun and moon? And then you lose two counties today, another county tomorrow, day after day, without a single victory? You generals can't even win a single battle, what use is loyalty? If loyalty is all you care about, even my concubine can lead an army into battle."

In terms of eloquence, how could those generals possibly be a match for Liu Hanlin? They were immediately blushing with embarrassment, yet they couldn't win the argument.

Prince Ji finally said, "We'll discuss it again tomorrow." The matter was temporarily put on hold.

That night, Sun Chaoen visited Liu Hanlin's residence and placed a booklet in front of him, saying, "Liu Hanlin, your selected poems have been confirmed to be published as a special issue in this issue of 'Literary Miscellany,' with an initial print run of 10,000 copies. From now on, your literary name will be known throughout the entire Da Tang literary world!"

Liu Hanlin thanked him repeatedly, picked up the booklet with great care, opened it and examined it closely, and couldn't put it down.

Sun Chaoen smiled and said, "Your Majesty is actually already tempted, but it is not easy to make a decision on the spot. Tomorrow you will have to put in more effort. In terms of governing the country, no one in the court can surpass you. Tomorrow, Censor Cui will also impeach the Minister of War. I know that Censor Cui and you have always had a grudge, but on such a matter of national importance, it would be best if we could cooperate."

Liu Hanlin pondered for a moment and said, "Cui Moxuan is a petty man, but he is quite capable. His writing is concise and sharp, and I sometimes admire him. With him involved, the chances of success in this matter have increased. However, there is one thing I don't understand, and I would like to ask Lord Sun for clarification."

"But it doesn't matter!"

A sharp glint suddenly flashed in Liu Hanlin's eyes, and he said solemnly, "If the army is mobilized and is truly defeated at Guantun County, what will become of my Great Ji?"

Sun Chaoen smiled slightly and said, "As long as General Xiao and his disciples are not eliminated, how good do you think the Great Ji will be, Lord Liu? Small defeats every day, accumulating over time, while incompetent people occupy high positions, this is the cause of the country's downfall! If there is a major defeat, it would be a good thing to dismiss that old fool Xiao Jingyuan. Wouldn't that be a good thing for our Great Ji?"

Liu Hanlin narrowed his eyes slightly and asked again, "Then what kind of person is Wei Yuan?"

Sun Chaoen smiled again and said, "Lord Liu doesn't need to know now. He will know when the time is right. If you want me to say it, I only have two words to describe it."

"Which two words?"

"A wise ruler".

　Happy Mid-autumn Festival!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)