Longzang

Chapter 215 Beating
Wei Yuan can't go to the Netherworld for now. He's made such a big mess, he has to wait until things calm down before making any further plans. At the same time, he needs to make some targeted preparations.

Although Wei Yuan had only visited the Netherworld a few times, his gains were already considerable: a pair of top-grade magic weapon short blades, several thousand Netherflies, and a small mountain of Nether Soil, weighing hundreds of thousands of kilograms. Of course, his greatest gain was the primordial spirit girl and her Dao Foundation Yin Yang.

Compared to Yin and Yang, the pool of black water in Jade Mountain seems even more mysterious. The eldest sister has been here before, but she couldn't see through Jade Mountain at all, knew nothing about the black water inside, and didn't discover the shadow in the moon.

For the time being, Wei Yuan focused all his energy back on the realm. On one hand, he needed to follow his senior sister's advice to cultivate many karmic connections; on the other hand, Zhang Sheng had said that having more people under his rule would increase the cost of the Karmic Curse. Currently, the realm had 120,000 people who had already contributed over a thousand strands of azure energy to Wei Yuan. He estimated that if the Karmic Curse were to be cast now, all of them would likely be affected.

At this moment, Wei Yuan was still facing the same old problem: food shortage.

The food reserves within the boundary are only enough to last five days, and the Wu tribe outside the boundary remains a menacing force, continuously reinforcing their camp. The main force of the Wu tribe in the north is missing and could appear outside the boundary at any moment.

Wei Yuan is currently employing a hedgehog strategy. If the main force of the Wu Clan launches a full-scale attack at any cost, he will definitely be outmatched, and Wei Yuan will ultimately have to capture Qingming and flee. However, before that, Wei Yuan must inflict heavy casualties on the Wu Clan, until all civilians are wiped out. With the blessing of "Instantaneous All Beings," the complete annihilation of 120,000 civilians would be enough to devour 50,000 of the Wu Clan's elite troops.

With the strategy finalized, Wei Yuan summoned Cui Yu to discuss the corresponding mobilization and deployment.

Wei Yuan planned to manufacture a new batch of miniature firearms, each with a two-ounce charge, so that every civilian, regardless of age or gender, could have one. According to Wei Yuan, this would ensure that everyone would have the ability to resist bandits.

However, Cui Yu remained silent for a moment before saying, "Junior brother, when we fought against the Northern Liao, there was a saying that those who were not taller than a cartwheel would not be killed. When we fought against the Wu tribe, they would not kill women and children, but would keep them in captivity to prepare them as sacrifices in the future. Although keeping them in captivity is no different from raising livestock, they can at least live for several more years. But what we are doing now is tantamount to pushing the old, young, and women to the front line. They will die on the battlefield."

Wei Yuan said slowly, "Senior brother, you said yourself that you were captured by the Witch Clan and lived like livestock. If that's the case, why live? It's better to die a glorious death in battle! If Qingming is lost, none of these hundreds of thousands of civilians will live for long. In my opinion, it's better to fight to the death than to live a wretched life. There's still a chance of survival."

Cui Yu said, "The people in the Broken Realm can survive for a few years and then wait for Qingming and the Western Jin to reopen their prefectures and counties. At least they have a chance if they survive, but if they die, they have nothing left. I think we can't make the choice for them."

Wei Yuan frowned and said, "Senior Brother is decisive and ruthless when dealing with enemies and rival families, and he is strict in military discipline when leading troops. He is not like this at all."

Cui Yu sighed, “The scions of noble families have been educated since childhood and have no shortage of basic resources for cultivation. They have had countless opportunities from childhood to adulthood. No matter how I push them, I feel no guilt whatsoever. Even if I trick them into going to their deaths, it's because they are too stupid. But these commoners are different. They have never been to school and have just lived their lives in a daze. They have never had the right to choose, but now that we have the ability, we should naturally let them make their own choices.”

Wei Yuan finally understood: Cui Yu was quite harsh on people from aristocratic families, but had an inexplicable sympathy and care for commoners.

However, Wei Yuan had no intention of listening to Cui Yu at this moment, and said, "Senior brother, most of these people are illiterate. If it weren't for the war, they would never have traveled more than a hundred miles from home in their entire lives. Moreover, they are about to starve to death. You want them to make their own choices now?! Choose what? Choose where to starve to death? Senior brother, your ideas are high and mighty, all in the clouds. But these people are living on the ground, living in the mud. Before they are full, the things in the clouds are meaningless."

Cui Yu sighed and said, "The sage said to sacrifice one's life for righteousness. Righteousness is a great principle that cannot be changed even by death."

Wei Yuan said, "Senior brother, even if we lose just a little bit of our fighting strength, Qingming might not be able to hold on. This involves the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, and it also concerns my path to cultivation. So I will use every possible bit of my fighting strength. Besides, they have survived until now because of Qingming. Since I gave them their lives, it's okay if I don't want to watch them live a wretched life, right?"

Cui Yu simply sighed, stopped arguing, and prepared to leave.

"Senior brother!" Wei Yuan called out to Cui Yu, "Senior brother, you've never gone hungry, have you?"

"That's certainly not the case."

“I’ve experienced hunger,” Wei Yuan said frankly. “When I was very young, I saw refugees eating people, which I couldn’t understand at the time. My father starved me for several days, giving me only water. To be honest, by the third day, everything looked edible, and by the fifth day, even passersby thought it smelled delicious, and I wished it could be roasted. Only after that did I realize that people are capable of anything when they are extremely hungry. Those things in the clouds have absolutely nothing to do with them.” Cui Yu paused, then pushed open the door and left.

Wei Yuan then left the main peak, taking with him ten young masters and ladies from aristocratic families. They put on masks and left the realm.
-
Quliu Town.

Yuan Qingyan had already eaten breakfast and was sitting in the temporary government office, preparing to read, when he came in to report: "Sir, General Xu requests an audience."

Yuan Qingyan frowned slightly, but still put down the book in her hand.

A moment later, a burly general entered the study, bowed respectfully, and sat down. Yuan Qingyan's brows furrowed even more, but the general seemed oblivious, saying casually, "Lord Yuan, I've been here for three days. I was rushed here and barely brought any rations, which is why I arrived before the deadline. I came to see you early this morning to ask where the rations are?"

Yuan Qingyan coldly replied, "General Xu has a large and powerful family, why would he worry about such a small amount of food and provisions? Besides, as soon as the general arrived, I had already allocated ten days' worth of military rations. How could they be gone already?"

General Xu sneered and said, "Lord Yuan, all you've allocated is military rations, not even a bit of meat. Are you expecting my ten thousand brothers to eat nothing but rice? Besides, I thought the city would at least have some fun, but it's just an empty city. There aren't even as many people in the city as my soldiers! Lord Yuan, to put it bluntly, if this continues, I won't be able to control these brothers. If something happens, it won't look good for anyone!"

Yuan Qingyan's eyebrows shot up, and she was about to explode.

General Xu immediately raised his hand to stop him, saying, "Stop! Lord Yuan, your tricks work in the court, but they won't work on me! I'm just a rare Heavenly Foundation cultivator, so at worst I'll quit this damn general position and go home to cultivate properly. But before I lose my post, I'll smash everything I can! If I'm not going to be a general anymore, what are you going to do with impeaching me? Lord Yuan, my demands aren't high. Within three days, the brothers in the camp need to see chicken, duck, fish, and meat."

After saying this, the general got up and left without saying goodbye.

Yuan Qingyan's face was ashen, and his hands trembled slightly. He gritted his teeth and muttered, "A rare celestial foundation, a rare celestial foundation..."

He suddenly grabbed the teacup and smashed it heavily on the ground!

Although Yuan Qingyan was a Dharma Aspect cultivator, while General Xu was only at the late Foundation Establishment stage, Yuan Qingyan's Foundation Establishment was at the Earth Rank, and achieving Dharma Aspect was already an accident; it would be difficult for him to advance further now. Therefore, in the eyes of cultivators, General Xu was far more important than Yuan Qingyan.

After smashing the teacup, Yuan Qingyan calmed down a bit and called in his advisor to ask for a solution.

The clerk was quite old, but he was well-nourished and had a sleek, healthy complexion. After hearing this, he laughed and said, "It's just some chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Why do you need to worry, sir? Not to mention, isn't there a family in Quliu Town who eats better than us?"

Yuan Qingyan suddenly realized: "You mean the Xu family?"

"Exactly! Although the common people are gone, aren't the wealthy families still here? One wealthy family is much richer than a thousand ordinary families."

Yuan Qingyan immediately said, "Take a few men and go see Xu Jingfeng right now. Ever since we sent him the gift last time, this guy hasn't said a word. He's really being unreasonable!"

"Don't worry, my lord, this old servant will give him a good talking-to."

(End of this chapter)