Longzang

Chapter 459 Looking for trouble
Fireworks burst across the night sky, and dazzling spells illuminated the heavens above the capital. This celestial spectacle, held annually, could be admired even by ordinary mortals. At this moment, heavy snow fell, blanketing the capital in a thick white coat.

It's New Year's Eve again.

The palace was brightly lit, with officials gathered in one hall. The air was filled with the melodious sounds of string and wind instruments, and the dancers were graceful and skilled, each one seemingly boneless, able to strike various poses.

Wei Yuan's position was quite high up, with a dancer serving him on either side. He ate and drank without lifting a finger. The dishes were delicacies, and the wine was piping hot. Once it entered his stomach, it released spiritual energy, providing an enjoyment that ordinary people could never even imagine in their entire lives.

The Prince of Jin frequently raised his cup to drink with his ministers. The emperor and his ministers enjoyed themselves immensely in the palace.

Tonight, the King of Jin was exceptionally happy. Among his ministers, those who were astute, curious, and well-informed knew the reason: the new year was approaching, the fortunes of the Western Jin Dynasty were improving, and several auspicious omens had appeared from the heavens. Naturally, the King of Jin was overjoyed.

In Wei Yuan's mental world, the sky was only dark red around the edges, while the central area had turned into a clear blue sky with a faint blue aura floating around it. The fate of the Western Jin Dynasty in this area had changed from blood-red to white, and then to pale blue.

Wei Yuan's thoughts suddenly drifted, as if he had returned to the time when he first arrived at Taichu Palace. There was something he couldn't understand then, and he still couldn't understand it now.

On this snowy night, many people will likely not be able to stay up until dawn, and will not live to see the New Year. This is true in the capital, and even more so outside the capital.

However, Qingming has no winter. Before Wei Yuan left, he had made arrangements to provide an extra pound of grain on this day, and everyone would receive some. Although the only thing plentiful was grain, at least now no one in Qingming would go hungry.

In the human realm, apart from a few secret realms and grotto-heavens, there is nowhere else where no one goes hungry.

Wei Yuan felt there was nothing left to do in the capital, so he decided to leave early the next morning. However, he wasn't going back to Qingming, but rather to the northern mountain gate to pay respects to the patriarch and check if his teacher and senior sister had emerged from seclusion.

Zhang Sheng's foundation has been repaired, so it doesn't matter whether he emerges from seclusion sooner or later. However, Ji Liuli's prolonged seclusion is somewhat abnormal. At the time, True Lord Yan Shi's words were vague, but the fact that even one of the two strongest True Lords of Tai Chu Palace was helpless clearly indicates that Ji Liuli's problem is quite thorny.

Whether studying or later in Qingming, Wei Yuan spent almost as much time with Ji Liuli as he did with Zhang Sheng. Although she hadn't risked her life for Wei Yuan like Zhang Sheng had, Wei Yuan could feel that his senior sister cared for him just as much. The ten years of body-forging alone had taken an immense toll on her.

The grand banquet did not end until dawn. When the Prince of Jin left his seat, he was already unsteady on his feet, clearly indicating that he was unusually happy that day.

After leaving the palace, Wei Yuan looked at the heavy snow and stopped thinking about mortal matters.

This world is a fragile edifice, and what Wei Yuan wants to do may seem insignificant, but it is actually removing the very foundation of the edifice. And the edifice is already teetering on the brink of collapse; even removing just a small piece could cause a large section to crumble and crush Wei Yuan beneath it.

Wei Yuan ordered Cui Yu to lead the troops back to Qingming, while he himself quietly left the capital and headed towards the northern mountain gate.

As dawn broke, a cloaked figure braved the heavy snow to arrive at the post station. She handed an item to the officer on duty, who immediately and respectfully let her in. She hurried into the courtyard where Wei Yuan resided, only to find it deserted.

The northern land was covered in white snow. Wei Yuan sat in a strange device, flying swiftly through the sky. This device was made by him when he escaped from the northern frontier. It was very useful when traveling alone, and its speed was no less than that of Yu Jing.

As he flew, Wei Yuan suddenly felt a surge of heat at his waist. Hanging from his waist was an ordinary storage pouch containing over a dozen large rubies. Each gem was now glowing, with a bright white Buddhist symbol at its center.

These rubies were the blood spilled by the assassin Yu Jing who killed the young Prince Chu on the day of his assassination. After falling to the ground, they turned into gems. Consort Yuan kept a few for herself and gave most of them to Wei Yuan.

At this moment, the blood suddenly reacted, and Wei Yuan instantly became alert. Either Yu Jing was already nearby, or it was someone closely related to him who possessed a secret treasure, which was why he could trigger the blood even through the storage bag.

A figure appeared on the horizon to Wei Yuan's side—a barefoot, bearded giant wielding a massive iron cudgel. He strode forward, riding the clouds, and called out from afar, "Fellow Daoist, please wait!"

"Screw you!" Wei Yuan made an obscene gesture at the big man, activated two spare nozzles, and the aircraft suddenly accelerated and disappeared into the distance.

By the time the giant arrived, Wei Yuan had already become a tiny dot in the sky and then disappeared.

The burly man glared angrily, a sudden gust of wind rose around him, and towering cliffs overlooking the sea appeared in the distance. Everywhere there were raging winds and huge waves as he chased after Wei Yuan in the direction he had left.

However, Wei Yuan added two more spray nozzles, which significantly increased the speed. A moment later, they completely disappeared from his perception, infuriating the big man so much that steam rose from his head, yet he was helpless.

Wei Yuan flew swiftly, his speed increasing, and encountered several more divine sense scans along the way, but he managed to leave them behind each time.

Wei Yuan activated his concealment ability at this moment. Although he could not completely hide while flying at high speed, he could only be detected when he was close by. At this time, Wei Yuan's speed was comparable to Yu Jing's full-speed flight, so by the time others discovered him, he would have already gone far away.

Another day passed, and Wei Yuan flew into the northern gate of the Taichu Palace, only then did the gazes behind him disappear. Upon returning to the gate, Wei Yuan's first act was naturally to pay his respects to the Ancestor. True Monarch Xuan Yue was sitting in the hall, observing the front-line sand table. Wei Yuan found it somewhat strange, as he had never seen the Ancestor show such great interest in troop deployment before.

Upon seeing Wei Yuan arrive, the old Taoist Xuan Yue beamed with joy. He beckoned Wei Yuan to the sand table and said, "This is the area that our Azure Sky Palace is responsible for defending. There are more than three thousand Taoist soldiers and thirty thousand mortal soldiers. This is the defense that I just set up. Come and see if there's anything wrong with it."

In terms of cultivation and combat skills, Xuan Yue Zhenjun is undoubtedly a formidable opponent, but when it comes to troop deployment and formation, he may not be so adept.

Wei Yuan glanced at it and saw several weak points, as well as some areas that could have been used as traps, but the old Taoist priest had blocked them with heavy troops.

Wei Yuan first inquired about the composition and origin of the troops. Recently, the strength of the Azure Sky Palace had greatly increased, and with Xuan Yue leading the charge and Fen Hai and Lan Hua fighting day and night, the Azure Sky Palace had accumulated a large amount of military merit. Therefore, the palace had recently allocated three thousand Dao soldiers to the Azure Sky Palace. Now, the Azure Sky Palace has four thousand ordinary Dao soldiers, one thousand Dao Foundation Establishment Dao soldiers, plus fifty thousand mortal soldiers, making it a formidable force.

When Wei Yuan heard that Fen Hai and Lan Hua were fighting day and night to earn military merits, he suddenly remembered that there was also a group of people like them in the outer world. They worked until their eyes were dark and their hair was falling out, just for a little more overtime pay.

Of course, an even worse group of people had dark circles under their eyes, gained weight, and lost hair, but still didn't get overtime pay.

Wei Yuan just didn't quite understand why the hardworking people at the bottom of society in the outer world were prone to getting fat.

Fortunately, the Burning Sea's overtime military achievements are quite numerous, making them slightly better than the people from the outer world.

Having led troops for many years, Wei Yuan possessed incredibly rich combat experience. Now, looking at the distribution of Liao troops on the sand table, he already had a contingency plan in mind. This plan, further refined by practical experience, formed a complete defense system.

At this moment, a virtual defense map appeared in Wei Yuan's field of vision, superimposed on the sand table. Wei Yuan only needed to follow the instructions.

So Wei Yuan said, "First of all, the position of this multi-barreled flying sword spear needs to be moved forward seven feet..."

Ancestor Xuan Yue suddenly felt a surge of heat rush to the top of his head and said coldly, "You little brat, you don't learn the good things, but you've picked up a lot of bad habits from Fen Hai! It seems that I haven't disciplined you for a long time, and you've forgotten how to write the words 'respect your teacher and value the Way'!"

Wei Yuan was taken aback, not understanding why the patriarch had suddenly become angry.

Xuan Yue grew angrier the more she thought about it. She thought to herself, "It's one thing for a flying sword spear formation to move forward or backward by a hundred or so feet, but this brat moved it forward by seven feet. Isn't this just looking for trouble?"
But considering that Wei Yuan was still young and had always been obedient and sensible, Xuan Yue suppressed the urge to hit the child and said, "Then tell me, why does it have to be seven feet? Can't it be six feet? Can't it be eight feet?"

Wei Yuan was also taken aback. This terrain was unique; moving the flying sword and spear formation forward slightly would greatly expand their firing arc, while moving it backward would prevent them from being attacked by enemy arrows from the flanks. Moving it forward seven feet was the position calculated to maximize the benefit after balancing these two factors.

Actually, it's fine to leave it as is, but this position is the most important; changing one part affects the whole. If we don't adjust it, it's like a black sesame seed falling into a bowl of white porridge; if we don't pick it out, we'll easily lose our Dao heart.

So the master and disciple argued about the seven feet of land for almost half an hour, and Wei Yuan finally won the argument.

After finally adjusting the defensive positions, Xuan Yue was still fuming; he rarely lost an argument. However, he didn't quite understand the long list of numbers Wei Yuan had listed, and he couldn't just admit he didn't understand, so he could only sulk.

After adjusting the defense system, Wei Yuan inquired about the situation of Zhang Sheng and Ji Liuli.

Xuan Yue spoke of Zhang Sheng with great ease, only saying that the girl had always been stubborn; her physical body was easy to deal with, but her Dao heart was difficult. She would naturally be fine once she figured things out, and judging by the time, she should emerge from seclusion in the next few days.

But when Ji Liuli was mentioned, Xuan Yue became serious and said, "This child also has a problem with his Dao heart. I heard Yan Shi say that it seemed to have been a small flaw, but it suddenly became inexplicably magnified. Now he has reached the point where he can no longer condense a Dharma form."

Wei Yuan was taken aback, not expecting Ji Liuli's problem to be so serious. His senior sister had always acted recklessly, possessing an invincible spirit that was more than invincible. Based on Wei Yuan's understanding of her, she relied on her terrifyingly innate talent for cultivation, lacking any strong convictions, principles, or principles, especially when dealing with enemies—she was ruthless and unscrupulous.

Wei Yuan felt that, apart from himself, everyone in the Taichu Palace probably had a problem with their Dao hearts, and Ji Liuli would be fine. How could it have suddenly become this serious?

However, even True Lord Xuan Yue couldn't explain it, so Wei Yuan decided to visit the Heavenly Mystery Hall again.

Xuan Yue Zhenjun suddenly frowned slightly, reached out and pulled a small pouch from Wei Yuan's waist, holding it in his hand. Instantly, a dense aura of blood emanated from the pouch, and countless black shadows emerged, trying to escape, but they were all sealed by Xuan Yue Zhenjun's Dao power, and not one of them could escape.

"Where did this true blood come from?"

Wei Yuan then recounted his visit to Consort Yuan in Jin and his unexpected encounter with Yu Jing's sneak attack. However, he naturally did not mention who Yu Jing's target was.

(End of this chapter)