Longzang

Chapter 138: A Battle of Attrition

Receiving this gift from heaven and earth, everyone was invigorated. The benefits were far greater than those recorded in the palace, and there would be additional heavenly merits to be gained later, which would be another layer of benefit.

The gains from this battle alone propelled the three of them forward significantly, saving them years of arduous cultivation or nurturing.

Although Wei Yuan did not receive any direct benefits, the nurturing effect of Qingming improved, the growth of Jiamu Shengxuan was slightly enhanced, and Wanli Heshan received feedback. The tender bud on the top of Yushan Mountain grew a little taller, as if a second leaf was being conceived.

Wei Yuan deeply felt the inadequacy of his ordinary cultivator troops. At the beginning of the campaign, there were seven hundred cultivators, but in less than three days, only a little over a hundred remained. Thinking of this, Wei Yuan thought of Xu Wenwu, only to realize that the guy had disappeared.

At this very moment, Xu Wenwu was still writing furiously in his hut. The hut was a world unto itself, completely unaware that a great battle had been fought outside, and another great shaman had fallen.

In western Ningzhou, a flying boat, bearing the mark of the Taichu Palace, was slowly flying. Suddenly, several cultivators appeared ahead and stopped the boat.

A middle-aged cultivator came onto the deck, cupped his hands, and said, "This is the Taichu Palace flying boat. Fellow Daoists, what brings you here?"

An old cultivator opposite us cupped his hands and said, "We are from the Qin Jian Sect. We have come here to inform you that the place ahead is our sect's mountain gate, which is now closed. Please take a detour or return directly."

The middle-aged cultivator frowned and said, "I fly this route every month, how come I've never heard of closing the mountain gate? I have an urgent mission, you all get out of the way immediately. Otherwise, if I go back and report to my superiors, your small Qin Jian Sect probably can't afford the consequences!"

"Alright! Since the Taichu Palace acts so domineeringly, then we won't meddle in their affairs." The cultivators blocking the way exchanged a knowing glance and made way for them.

The flying boat continued its journey, but the middle-aged cultivator grew increasingly uneasy. Suddenly, two flying boats burst forth from the sea of ​​clouds above, without any warning, heading straight for the Taichu Palace flying boat!

The middle-aged monk was startled and immediately sounded the alarm.

The two flying boats that appeared later were extremely fast and quickly caught up with the Taichu Palace flying boat, and then a barrage of crossbow bolts and magical weapons were fired.

The Taichu Palace airship fought back desperately, but being a cargo airship, it was not fast and was not as well-prepared as its opponent. In the blink of an eye, it was at a disadvantage and was then caught up by the enemy airship and firmly bound to it.

Left with no other option, the middle-aged cultivator gestured for surrender.

A moment later, the three flying boats sped away, leaving dozens of people, including the middle-aged cultivator, bound tightly, their consciousness and Dao power sealed, and abandoned in the wilderness.

The middle-aged cultivator was both ashamed and angry. His trip was originally intended to transport supplies to various Taichu Palace properties in Ningxi, but he received a batch of supplies before departure. He was originally planning to deliver them to a stronghold in Hanyang Pass, but he did not expect such an accident to happen on the way.

Fortunately, the hijackers did not intend to harm anyone, which saved their lives.

Hanyang Pass.

There were many more guards than usual at this time, and a long queue had formed at the western gate. The guards at the gate questioned everyone leaving the city carefully, and most caravans were not allowed to leave the city to travel west and had to return the way they came.

At the Hanyang Pass Garrison Headquarters, a burly general sat in the center at the head of the table, with a row of officers sitting to his right. The one in the lead exuded a commanding presence and a murderous aura; he was clearly a high-ranking cultivator of the Dharma Aspect.

On the left sat only two Taoist priests, a man and a woman, namely True Man Fenhai and True Man Lanhua.

The general on the right slammed his hand on the table and roared, "You two are making such a scene, do you not respect my garrison?"

Master Fenhai didn't even raise his eyelids, and said indifferently, "Indeed, I don't take it seriously. So what?"

The general was furious. He stood up abruptly and shouted, "Don't think you're so powerful! Even if you are, I'm not afraid!"

Master Lanhua sneered, "I don't care if you're afraid or not, you can't beat me anyway."

The general's face turned ashen. He said, "I was just careless for a moment!" "Even if you weren't careless, you would still lose. You'll lose every time you play a few more matches. If you don't care about your reputation, then I can give you a few more pointers on behalf of your master."

At this moment, the general in the center finally raised his eyelids, and his eyes flashed with a divine light, like a long sword and axe!

He glanced at Master Lanhua before concealing his divine light and said, "The two of you have been arguing here for over a day. I have already stated that no large-volume goods are allowed to leave the pass and travel west, and this order cannot be changed. Why do you insist on making a fuss?"

Fen Hai said, "If I think this order is inappropriate, then we must reason with it. Admiral Xu has a great reputation. I probably won't win if I fight you, but it's also hard for me to lose. So let's continue to reason with each other until we reach a conclusion."

Admiral Xu's face was gloomy as he slowly said, "Wouldn't it be better to wait until the two lords in the sky have reached a conclusion before we spar? There's really no point in making a move now."

Fen Hai nodded: "I think so too, so it's best not to take action if possible. Isn't it good for us to just discuss things like this every day? If Admiral Xu insists on testing my abilities again, then I'm happy to oblige."

Admiral Xu was deeply troubled.

The two sides have been locked in this stalemate for two whole days. The day before, Fen Hailanhua wanted to leave the pass and head west, but was stopped by the guards at the pass. The two then caused a scene at the governor's mansion, and in the process, they injured dozens of guards at the city gate.

Xu Zhongxing, the admiral of Hanyang Pass, had achieved the Dharma Aspect realm two hundred years ago and had led troops in battles against the Wu tribe for many years. His cultivation and combat prowess were both top-notch, making Fenhai slightly inferior in comparison. He knew immediately that something was amiss. How could a Dharma Aspect realm cultivator be stopped by the guards on his westward journey?
The two sides naturally couldn't agree on anything when they met, so they secretly clashed with each other from afar.

Xu Zhongxing had a slight advantage, but he wasn't certain of victory. The Heavenly Fire cultivated by the Old Daoist of Burning Sea was extremely insidious and could erode one's Dao power. Fighting him for too long would permanently damage one's Dao power, though not by much, but it was extremely troublesome.

Therefore, after testing the waters, Xu Zhongxing did not want to fight Fen Hai again unless absolutely necessary.

Seeing that he couldn't defeat Xu Zhongxing, Fen Hai changed his strategy and sat down to argue with Xu Zhongxing. The general sitting at the head of the table on the left was named Fan Donghe. He had only been a Dharma Avatar for less than fifty years, but he was no match for Lan Hua.

With two Dharma images on each side, the situation became a stalemate. The two sides argued until after midnight on the first day, and even fought twice during that time, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Before the rooster crowed today, Xu Zhongxing and Fan Donghe had barely settled into their beds when Fen Hailanhua came knocking again. As long as Xu Zhongxing didn't show up, these two old Taoists were extremely arrogant and domineering; if the garrison soldiers' responses were slightly unsatisfactory, more than ten of them were injured.

Fan Donghe arrived first, but before he could even exchange three sentences, Fen Hai fabricated several charges against him and attacked him directly. Master Lan Hua tried to break up the fight, but only intervened to stop Fan Donghe.

If Xu Zhongxing hadn't arrived in time, Fan Donghe would probably have been seriously injured.

At this point, Xu Zhongxing finally understood that Fen Hai Lan Hua had come to cause trouble, and he had no choice but to personally quell the situation. So the two sides started arguing before the roosters had even risen, and before they knew it, it was almost dusk. Xu Zhongnian hadn't been able to process a single official document all day.

With these two Daoists sitting in the Governor's Mansion, the entire mansion was practically paralyzed. In the blink of an eye, a high stack of official documents piled up on Xu Zhongnian's desk, too many for him to read. Whenever he touched a document, Fen Hai would immediately start a contest of Daoist power.

Ordinary official documents can't withstand a contest between two real people; they'll simply vanish into thin air.

With the governor's office paralyzed, the troop movements within a thousand miles of Hanyang Pass came to a standstill, and all kinds of affairs were delayed significantly. The Xu family had originally managed this area like an impregnable fortress, but as a result, many loopholes appeared.

At this moment, Xu Zhongxing was at a loss. If he let Fan Donghe leave and handle official business in his place, then Fen Hai Lan Hua would definitely take the opportunity to attack him, and he might be seriously injured in the process. To get rid of the two of them, he would need at least another Dharma Aspect, but the Xu family was short-handed at the moment, and all Dharma Aspects had important tasks and none of them could spare the time.

After much deliberation, Xu Zhongnian realized the only solution was to find someone to replace him and wear down the two old Taoists. However, there was no suitable candidate at the moment, so he could only force himself to endure it, secretly vowing in his heart: "Let's see how long you can remain so arrogant!"

Despite his fierce determination, Xu Zhongnian knew he was the one who couldn't afford to waste time. The two Taoists were carefree and idle, and to put it bluntly, they had nothing to do all day, while he was in charge of frontier military affairs and had to coordinate the blockade and interception of the Broken Domain along the entire border.

With heavy responsibilities on his shoulders, how could he waste his time with two idle people? But the Burning Sea was no ordinary person either. If it weren't for Xu Zhongnian, a high-level cultivator who had reached the later stages of cultivation and was also skilled in combat, how many people could suppress him? Xu Zhongnian pondered for two whole days but couldn't come up with a good solution.

(End of this chapter)