Longzang

Chapter 306 Rampant Bandits
The most common and prevalent practice was naturally to attach themselves to a vassal state, which was also the fundamental principle of humankind. All nine states bordered other ethnic groups, and their mission in being enfeoffed was to resist foreign invaders and protect the emperor.

The situation varies across the nine kingdoms. Although life is becoming increasingly difficult for ordinary people, they have not yet encountered a natural disaster that affects the entire territory and can barely survive. There are occasional sporadic peasant uprisings in various places, but they are not enough to cause the collapse of dynasties. In the past, the change of dynasties such as Dali was always due to the occurrence of terrible natural disasters that swept across the entire human territory, leaving corpses everywhere, which led to the people rising up in rebellion.

Because of the ferocity of the foreign tribes, under the immense pressure of resisting foreign enemies, Emperor Tang was still revered as the supreme ruler, and the human race remained unified.

Transforming it into the main gate of Taichu Palace would be fraught with difficulties, particularly persuading the surrounding states of Jin, Zhao, and Ji. Furthermore, Taichu Palace is currently focusing its efforts on expanding its northern gate, aiming to fully reveal the precious lands created by the ancestors who passed away here.

If it were to become the undisputed gate of the Primordial Palace, it would require at least approaching a Celestial Lord, passing away here, and transforming its lifetime of cultivation into precious soil. This is clearly not the current option.

There is, of course, a third path: complete independence. However, this would mean severing ties with humanity, which is impossible. Thinking of this, Wei Yuan pondered the historical records and also felt that the fate of the Great Tang Dynasty was not yet exhausted, and the time was not yet ripe.

Wei Yuan had no interest in declaring himself king; he simply didn't want to see the mortals around him slaughtered by foreign tribes. Moreover, the Western Jin Dynasty was corrupt, and the people would only suffer after being incorporated into it. The best way was for Wei Yuan to place them under his protection, regardless of their official status.

Just as he was pondering his future, a cultivator outside came to report: "Lord of the Realm, a general from the Zhao Kingdom says he is an old friend of yours and is waiting outside."

Wei Yuan couldn't recall any of his acquaintances serving in the Zhao state, so he left the main peak and flew to the town of Zhike. There he saw a valiant general admiring the calligraphy and paintings hanging on the wall. Even from behind, his bearing was extraordinary.

The general turned around and said with a smile, "Brother, it's been a long time!"

Li Zhi!

Wei Yuan was both surprised and delighted. He stepped forward, and the two embraced before taking a good look at each other. After several months apart, Li Zhi had grown a little taller, his youthful immaturity gone, replaced by a more dignified air, though his aura seemed somewhat unsteady.

Wei Yuan looked at the Zhao general's attire he was wearing and said, "Brother Li, how come you've become a Zhao general again?"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "My identity is sensitive, so I was not given important positions in Southern Qi. I heard that Zhao was recruiting talented people, so I went to join them. After fighting for half a year, I was finally promoted to deputy general."

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly coughed violently for a while, his face turning an unnatural red. Wei Yuan quickly supported him and asked, "Are you injured? I happen to have a senior brother named Sun here, whose medical skills are divine. Why don't you have him take a look at you?"

Li Zhi waved his hand and said, "It's alright. I suddenly fell ill a while ago, and I don't know why. Then I got better for no reason. It's just that the illness came on quickly and went away quickly. The doctors around me couldn't figure it out. I wrote to my father and asked him to have the imperial physician come and see me, but he couldn't come up with a conclusion. He just told me to rest well."

Wei Yuan found the symptoms somewhat familiar and asked, "Could it be a curse?"

Li Zhi said, "I also had my doubts, but I was facing the mountain people and the Ji Kingdom. The mountain people are only good at attacking and plundering, not at cursing. The witch tribe is good at it, but I haven't provoked them, so why would they curse me for no reason?"

Li Zhi smiled and said, "Let's not talk about that for now. Anyway, I'm almost recovered. How's your cultivation? I'm currently in the late stage of the Dao Foundation stage, almost at its peak. All that's left is to wait for the opportunity to achieve the Dharma Aspect. How about we have a little sparring?"

Wei Yuan hesitated and said tentatively, "This is not a good idea, after all, I am already in the Rebirth Realm."

Without a word, Li Zhi pulled Wei Yuan outside, saying, "My Four Symbols Three-Legged Cauldron has developed sentience and possesses many wondrous abilities. If I don't let you witness them properly, you probably won't know how powerful your elder brother is!"

A moment later, the two stood opposite each other in the martial arts arena, with eight Foundation Establishment cultivators standing in a corner around them, working together to maintain the arena and prevent it from being damaged too much.

Golden flames ignited on the longsword in Li Zhi's hand, and an ancient, massive cauldron appeared above his head. The surrounding world seemed to distort slightly, causing Li Zhi's aura to rise steadily. This ancient cauldron was indeed worthy of being a celestial foundation, already possessing some of the grandeur of a Dharma form. It was distorting the rules of the surrounding world, allowing Li Zhi to borrow its power and thus increasing the power of his Dao techniques by fifty percent.

Li Zhi raised his sword to eyebrow level, and the light on the sword instantly surged, reaching a full ten zhang in length. Then, with a long laugh, he slashed down at Wei Yuan with the sword, shouting, "Brother, be careful!"

It had been a long time since Wei Yuan had encountered such a conventional attack, and he was momentarily at a loss for how to respond, so he casually picked up a bundle of immortal swords and threw it over.

Hundreds of immortal swords roared out; the first forty or fifty extinguished Li Zhi's sword energy, while the remaining seventy or eighty impaled him like a hedgehog. But golden light shone through the hedgehog, clearly indicating that Li Zhi had used an immortal cauldron to protect himself.

Wei Yuan reached out and clenched his fist, causing dozens of immortal swords to explode simultaneously, instantly turning Li Zhi into a beggar.

A moment later, Wei Yuan set up a banquet. Li Zhi had already washed and bathed again and changed into new clothes and armor. However, a small patch of his eyebrow was still burnt and would not recover for a while.

Li Zhi was clearly sullen at the banquet. He had just made a breakthrough and came to find Wei Yuan with great enthusiasm, but he lost without even knowing how he lost. How could he be happy?

Seeing this, Wei Yuan comforted him, "Brother Li, don't worry too much. You are still very powerful, and others may not be your match." These words sounded a bit harsh... Li Zhi forced a smile and pretended to be relaxed, "Haha, my brother is powerful, and there must be many high-level cultivators around you. If I were also in Qingming, I'm afraid I could only squeeze into the top three."

You can't get in... Of course, Wei Yuan didn't say this out loud.

At this moment, everything in Qingming was in full swing. The banquet was simple, but Li Zhi didn't mind. He finished eating quickly, and after the servants cleaned up, he took out a piece of jade paper and spread it on the table. After activating it, a map of the Western Regions appeared in front of the two of them.

The map is three-dimensional, with detailed depictions of mountains, rivers, cities, and even the newly established prefectures of Ningxi and the Qingming Realm.

Li Zhi said, "Some time ago, the King of Qi finally relented, and Father took back the boundary stone that originally belonged to our family. However, I am disliked by Empress Dowager Xiao and cannot use it in Qi. Therefore, Father and the King of Zhao negotiated and reached an exchange. I plan to erect a boundary stone in the Western Regions to officially expand our territory!"

Wei Yuan said, "This is great news! Brother Li, where do you plan to place the boundary stone?"

Li Zhi said, "I came to find you precisely to discuss this matter. I plan to place the boundary stone a little to the west, neither too far nor too close to your territory, so that we can watch over and help each other. So my idea is here!"

Li Zhi pointed to a spot on the map. This location was southwest of Qingming, more than nine thousand li away. It was even deeper into the Wu Domain than Qingming, and the nearest border to the Zhao Kingdom was six thousand li away. Li Zhi's move was quite ambitious.

Moreover, this place is also a place of learning. If Li Zhi were to truly establish himself here, then this territory and Wei Yuan's Qingming could be connected, firmly blocking the westward route of the Western Jin Dynasty.

What is Li Zhi trying to do?
Wei Yuan then said, "Brother Li, you've really gone all out! But standing here must have been very difficult at first. Brother Li must have been prepared for this, right?"

Li Zhi smiled slightly and said, "This is a high-grade boundary stone. Looking across the nine kingdoms, there are only a few high-grade boundary stones left. Therefore, the elders of the Four Sages Academy will fully support this expansion. In the future, we will use my territory as the foundation to expand outwards and transform it into the academy's third mountain gate, comparable to the Taichu Palace."

“If that’s the case, why don’t you go a little further southwest, Brother Li? This place is a bit cramped as the main gate of the academy.”

Li Zhi said, “I’ve thought about it too. But I heard that you’ve been ostracized and suspected by people in the Western Jin, and they still won’t give you a title. I thought that since we’re both in unfamiliar territory, it would be better to be closer to you. That way, if the Western Jin attacks your territory again in the future, I’ll have an excuse to intervene. I’m a member of the Southern Qi royal family and also the military governor of the Zhao state. The Western Jin will have to be more restrained.”

Wei Yuan cupped his hands and said, "Congratulations on your promotion, Brother Li!"

Li Zhi laughed and said, "My boundary stone is quite rare even among top-grade stones, and it can expand the territory by 1,800 li. Furthermore, out of respect for my father, the Prince of Zhao simply appointed me as the Zhenshan Jiedushi (military governor of Zhenshan). The decree will be issued once the boundary stone is erected."

Wei Yuan's heart stirred, and he pointed to the map, saying, "I think Brother Li's territory might as well be established here."

Upon closer inspection, Li Zhi saw that the place was surrounded by mountains on three sides and faced a river on the other, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. It had various terrain features and was located at the border between the mountain people and the witch tribe, with few powerful enemies. It was indeed a very good base. However, this place was a full 19,000 miles away from Qingming. Li Zhi frowned and said, "In that case, if something happens to you, my good brother, I won't be able to come to your aid immediately."

Wei Yuan said, "We are still in the early stages of our establishment, and our greatest enemy is still the foreign tribes. Not long ago, I gave the Western Jin a hard time, so they shouldn't make any major moves for the time being."

Furthermore, if we openly block their westward advance, the King of Jin would likely be furious. It's better to give them ample space and allow them to advance westward. If they do eventually fall out with the Western Jin, then we can attack from both the north and south, cutting Jin territory in two. At that point, no matter how much land they conquer in the west, it will all be ours to claim.”

Li Zhi pondered for a moment before nodding and saying, "This place was originally one of the options. I'll go back and discuss it with my father. If there are no problems, we'll stay here. Oh, by the way, how far can your territory expand, my worthy brother?"

Wei Yuan thought for a moment and said, "It should be a little over two thousand miles, but that's many years from now."

Wei Yuan wasn't lying; it was indeed a little more than two thousand li. As for the ten thousand li figure, it was just information provided by Qingming and hadn't been verified yet.

After the matter was settled, Li Zhi continued, "I see that your territory lacks everything, and the people are barely clothed. When I came here, I heard that Prefect Yuan Qingyan had been blocking your territory. Here's what we'll do: the southern part of the Broken Territory borders Yu Yang Prefecture of Zhao. Cui Shutong, the garrison commander of Yu Yang, is a hot-tempered and greedy man. I'll contact his deputy and have them send a caravan over. You can see what you need, but it will cost a lot of money."

"Cloth, farm tools, fine hardware, and spiritual plants," Wei Yuan rattled off several items in one breath.

"No problem, I'll make arrangements as soon as I get back. This trip will most likely involve some conflict with the garrison. I'll send people in disguise to escort him. Even if he doesn't make it, I can guarantee a fight will break out. Yuan Qingyan has cut off Cui Shutong's source of income, he will never let this go."

Wei Yuan also said, "I will send people in disguise to meet you then, so we should be able to get through if a fight breaks out."

Li Zhi and Wei Yuan exchanged a glance; they were thinking the same thing. However, it seemed that the rampant banditry in the Broken Realm was unlikely to change anytime soon.

(End of this chapter)