Longzang

Chapter 416 The First Expedition

Beyond Qingming, the Wu tribe is distributed in the west and northwest directions. A thousand miles further north beyond the boundary are all towering snow-capped mountains.

Within the vast expanse of the Azure Sky, there are three major powers of the Witch Clan. The first is the Rain Kingdom of Red Leaves; the second is the Heavenly Will Tribe, where Sacred Heart, Painting Heart, and others reside; and the third is the Desolate Ancestor Tribe, where Heavenly Language resides.

The Heavenly Will Tribe is the most powerful, but it is at odds with the Rain Kingdom, having fought a major battle a few years ago in which both sides consumed hundreds of thousands of sacrificial offerings. The Desolate Ancestor Tribe is also quite powerful, possessing a highly skilled lineage of power shamans and having established its own stronghold in the Great Wilderness Realm.

The Ancestral Desolation and the Rain Kingdom are relatively close, but they are not without conflicts. Blood Witches, Power Witches, and Magic Witches look down on each other, and then the Dao Witches despise them all.

Before leaving, Tianyu took with her a list given to her by Wei Yuan, which included rare minerals, medicinal herbs, blood necklaces, and sacrificial offerings.

After Tianyu left, Wei Yuan went to the Hall of Merit and exchanged for a large number of books and materials, which he then ordered to be moved to his residence. Wei Yuan exchanged so many books that a special courtyard was built to store them and make them available for others to consult.

Now, Wei Yuan not only reads books for himself, but also for the ordinary people in the vast land, so the books he reads are all kinds of things.

At this moment, news suddenly came from the vast land of rivers and mountains: a small team of researchers had created an improved iron forging machine!

Wei Yuan scanned the area with his divine sense and immediately saw the new plan.

This solution changed the method of lifting the forging hammer in the iron forging machine to use a roller winch, but the most important point is that it no longer relies on the physical strength of the cultivator, but on the power of the magic array to drive the roller to rotate.

The magic array can be driven by spiritual objects or by cultivators. One magic array can power multiple iron forging machines.

The core of this plan is that it replaces cultivators with arrays. Previously, a cultivator could only operate one iron forging machine, but now a Foundation Establishment cultivator can power three, five, or even more than ten iron forging machines simultaneously through the array.

However, the plan was only a concept, and the specific magic array had not yet been designed. These mortals had not been spiritually awakened for long, and although they studied day and night, they were far from being able to design magic arrays. However, the girl Yin Yang seemed to think that this plan was feasible, so she pushed it to Wei Yuan.

However, creating a magic array isn't difficult. There are quite a few talented people in Qingming who are proficient in arrays, and this array isn't some profound or ingenious creation. Most of the cultivators in Taichu Palace can design one. Wei Yuan himself could actually do it, it's just that the array would be larger and less efficient.

Wei Yuan immediately took the formation to Yu Zhizhuo. After reviewing it, Yu Zhizhuo also felt that the method was feasible. Currently, in the weapon forging workshop, the cultivators were not exerting their full strength to the limit, and the effect of refining their mental state and Dao foundation was not very good.

For example, a cultivator who has reached the Great Perfection of Body Forging can now operate a forging machine for days and nights without getting tired. How is that possible? However, once a magic array is used, as long as the array's power is fully activated, even a Dao Foundation cultivator can only last for two or three hours at most.

Yu Zhizhuo believed that only in this way could the monks' work be considered fulfilling.

Wei Yuan deeply agreed.

As for designing the magic array, that was a minor matter, so the weapon forging workshop temporarily suspended operations for three days for upgrades and renovations.

Wei Yuan returned to his residence and began to ponder what he possessed that could impress the Bao family. With the one-year deadline fast approaching, Wei Yuan hadn't fought anyone since achieving his Dharma form, and he felt somewhat insecure about his own strength.

After much deliberation, Wei Yuan felt that the Bao family lacked nothing and was far away from Qingming, so there wasn't much he could do for them. Wei Yuan then spent some merit points to research information about the Floating World Dragon Map.

Records about the Floating World Dragon Map from the Taichu Palace are scarce. Legend has it that this is a celestial treasure passed down from ancient times, but it was already incomplete when it fell into the hands of Qiongshan Immortal Island. It is said that by cultivating with this treasure, one can borrow the fortune of the Heavenly Dragon and bestow it upon their offspring. Successful cultivation will inevitably result in nine sons, each with unique talents, all destined for immortality.

However, this method has extremely high requirements for cultivators, and Qiongshan Immortal Island has only succeeded three times in history. The current Supreme Elder on the island is one of the Nine Sons from that time, and the only one who survives.

Zhao Fusheng's talent in cultivating the Floating World Dragon Diagram is undeniable. Qiongshan Immortal Island searched for many years before finding Bao Yun, a person qualified to cultivate it, which is why they were willing to offer such an exorbitant price.

Logically, Wei Yuan felt he should offer more than the Immortal Island, thus giving the Bao family grounds to refuse it. For example, if the Immortal Island offered five, Wei Yuan would have to offer six…

Wei Yuan took stock of the bargaining chips he could currently offer. They were nothing more than forging the breastplate, cultivating the Bao family's Dao foundation, and fighting for the Bao family. Or perhaps he should be shameless and stake his glorious future?
This matter was really difficult to resolve, so Wei Yuan discussed it with all the cultivators of Taichu Palace.

Master Chuhe thought he could take Lord Diao to infiltrate the Bao family's ancestral land and steal her away. Lord Diao, familiar with the area, could easily bring Bao Yun out, and then the two could escape back to Qingming, far from the emperor's reach. After a few years, when things had calmed down, they could apologize to the Bao family. In any case, by then the die would be cast, and the Bao family's demands would have to be significantly reduced.

However, Master Chuhe avoided a crucial question: what if True Lord Bao wanted to kill Wei Yuan? Yu Zhizhuo suggested that Wei Yuan could mine at the Bao family's ancestral land. With Wei Yuan's current Dao power, having developed a Dharma form version of the Golden Light Water Blade Technique, he could easily defeat at least fifty or sixty ordinary Dharma forms, if not a hundred. Once Yu Zhizhuo also reached Dharma form, he could mine alongside Wei Yuan, and within a few years, they could hollow out the Bao family's ancestral land.

This method seems absurd, but it is actually quite feasible. Wei Yuan carefully calculated the workload and the normal compensation he should receive, and felt that it might not be entirely impossible.

But he quickly realized that Yu Zhizhuo was trying to trick him into going mining again!
Sun Yu's approach was simpler: let Wei Yuan focus on alchemy and medicine, and when a prominent figure in the Bao family contracted an incurable disease, Wei Yuan could use his alchemy and medical skills to cure it, thus making them owe him a favor.

What if important people don't have incurable diseases? That can also be solved through medicine. If there are no incurable diseases, then create a few.

Listening to the wind and rain... Wei Yuan decided not to consult the Mingwang Palace, otherwise he might be impeached.

After asking around, there really wasn't a good solution. Wei Yuan thought to himself that perhaps he should fight a good battle now and let his achievements speak for themselves, so that the Bao family might look at him with more respect.

At this time, most of the Xu family youths in the new city had advanced to the Bone Forging Realm, with only a few thousand still undergoing Blood Fusion. These youths possessed considerable talent and were now an elite force not to be underestimated.

As for the Witch Clan's target, it had already been set: the Rain Kingdom in the northwest.

Distributed in this direction are numerous large and small witch tribes, and five hundred li away lies a sizable city. This city is the traditional witch territory, which the human race has never conquered.

As Wei Yuan prepared for battle, the old Taoist priest Chu He finally returned, followed by two caravans. The first batch of goods brought back 50,000 bolts of Ning brocade and 200,000 catties of raw silk.

Wei Yuan put the raw silk into storage, but didn't unload the brocade. Judging by the time, Tianyu should be back by now. Sure enough, not two days later, Tianyu arrived at the edge of the realm with a caravan of the Wu tribe.

This time, Tianyu brought ores, medicinal herbs, blood necklaces, and 20,000 sacrificial offerings, in exchange for 50,000 bolts of cloud brocade. All the supplies Tianyu brought were more valuable than 50,000 bolts of cloud brocade, and the 20,000 sacrificial offerings became a bonus.

After Tianyu left, Wei Yuan estimated that the Desolate Ancestor Tribe should be stabilized, so he accelerated his preparations for war.

This was his first time fighting outside the border. Wei Yuan realized then that there were many factors to consider, from the selection of troop types to marching routes to logistical supplies—a myriad of things, countless times more complicated than simply fighting a defensive war within the border.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan was not fighting alone; over a thousand people across the vast land were helping him. Having undergone the trials of various missions over the years, many people across the land had demonstrated talents in different areas. Among them, about two thousand were talented in military affairs, and now half of them were being mobilized.

During the preparations for war, Wei Yuan continuously dispatched small scout teams to gather intelligence on the Wu tribe. Based on the intelligence and terrain data collected, the mortals across the vast land quickly devised several detailed plans for Wei Yuan to choose from within just a few days.

Every plan took into account every detail, even specifying what vehicles to use to transport supplies and when and where they would arrive.

Seven days later, Wei Yuan led an army of 30,000 men out of Qingming and officially entered the Witch Domain, beginning his first expedition.

The first stop for the army was the mine. After crossing the mine, the main force of the rear guard suddenly dispersed, splitting into ten thousand-man teams that advanced rapidly in a fan shape. Then, the main force of 20,000 men advanced along the main road.

Wei Yuan, dressed as a regular cavalryman, led over a thousand cavalrymen forward at breakneck speed, leaving villages behind along the way. He was not in the central army, but rather leading the vanguard of a thousand men.

If you look at the map, ten thousand-strong teams have already spread out across the land, destroying all the villages, towns, and fortresses of the Wu tribes along the way.

A thousand-man squad is enough for an ordinary small village. If it encounters a powerful village or town or a large army of witches, several thousand-man squads from the surrounding area will quickly arrive to either outflank the enemy or directly surround and annihilate them.

In this way, the ten cavalry teams gathered and dispersed intermittently, sweeping through the land and causing great panic among the Wu tribe in the blink of an eye.

Many small tribes, having received word of the danger, were forced to migrate northwest en masse, but they were caught and killed by Wei Yuan's cavalry before they had gone very far.

At this moment, a massive topographical projection was erected across the vast landscape. Whatever the Dao Foundation cultivators leading the ten thousand-man cavalry teams saw, would be displayed in the projection.

Wei Yuan could issue orders to the Dao Foundation Enlightenment Warriors leading the troops at any time, making corresponding adjustments. To some extent, this army had reached a level of complete control.

(End of this chapter)