Longzang

Chapter 601 Idiot
After advancing to the next level, both the Mind World and the Azure Netherworld will require time to accumulate and develop. The mortal realm is far too vast, making overall improvement extremely difficult. In fact, it could be said that Wei Yuan's Dao power is many times greater than that of other Dharma Aspects, and he will need many times more accumulation to advance to the next level.

At this time, with Hongye struck by the Yang Bullet, the Rain Kingdom drastically retreated, focusing all its efforts on the war against the Spirit Witches. This left a gap of over a thousand miles between the Rain Kingdom and Qingming. This area was meant for Wei Yuan to conquer, enough to keep him occupied for several years.

After all, Qingming is currently barely being nurtured and is relying entirely on natural expansion. It is already less than a mile per day, and as the territory expands, the distance it naturally extends each day will become less and less, but the total area will not be much different.

During the great battle, Wei Yuan activated the Instantaneous Life Technique too many times, almost every time there was a slight need for nurturing, he would activate it again. The great battle had just ended when he launched another round of Foundation Establishment advancement, so Qingming's nurturing was still almost depleted.

Wei Yuan took out the map and studied it carefully for a long time. Finally, he concluded that the external enemies would not be able to reach them for the time being, and it was time to start resolving the internal conflicts of the human race.

The Extinction Gang has now blocked the gate of Hanyang Pass, and the two sides have been locked in a stalemate for some time.

Wei Yuan looked at the map, drew a straight line in the northern part of Qingming, reaching the northern wilderness, and then decided to deploy his cavalry there to intercept the caravans of the Xu family and the Leize tribe.

The newly formed portal outside Jade Mountain was still growing slowly, gradually exuding an eerie and unpredictable aura. Just as Wei Yuan was about to make some targeted arrangements, the Battle Saint Hall had already taken action.

They built three rows of city walls around the gate, each one higher than the last, and then deployed heavy guards on the walls. Basically, anyone with a bit of martial arts skills had to take turns on duty, all of them armed to the teeth. It was a pain in Wei Yuan's heart to see this, as the Creator Immortal Venerable had once again lost the opportunity to have a broad vision and command the world.

What's even more absurd is that even Wei Yuan's Dao Foundation and Dharma Aspect Warriors were transferred to the city wall, with the Civil and Martial Guards and the Dragon Eagle Guards each guarding one section of the city wall.

Wei Yuan never expected that someone other than himself could mobilize the Dragon Guards.

However, the sect of the Creator Immortal Venerable is still sparsely populated, and it seems that no one connects the three terrifying dragon guards with the Creator Immortal Venerable.

Seeing that he had little presence in the bustling world, Wei Yuan had no choice but to return to reality. On the outskirts of Yong'an City, ten brand-new workshops were rising from the ground. The number of Dao Foundation cultivators assigned to Yu Zhizhuo's command had exceeded one thousand, but in actual work, all sorts of problems arose, and the few disciples of the Heavenly Crafts Hall were constantly putting out fires, completely overwhelmed.

So, the original plan was to build thirty workshops at the same time in the first phase, but Yu Zhizhuo found it wouldn't work after two days and immediately stopped it. Instead, he concentrated all his manpower to start construction on ten workshops first, and that's how things got on the right track.

Wei Yuan then summoned representatives from various merchant caravans and placed another order for three million catties of raw silk, stipulating that the top ten suppliers could choose to use affordable armor to offset the payment.

All the merchants went crazy. The Azure Nether armor now had an extremely high reputation, selling for forty taels of silver per set on the black market. Many Zhao soldiers were secretly taking their issued Azure Nether armors out to sell, and then buying a similar knock-off from the market. In this way, they could earn ten taels of silver with each transaction.

A set of affordable armor costs twenty taels of silver. This way, you can make a profit selling silk, and then make another profit on the way back. The only problem is that you don't have enough silk.

The major caravans immediately mobilized all their resources to start purchasing raw silk. At this time, the large caravans with strength and background finally began to exert their efforts. They either used channels to instantly transmit the news to the rear, mobilized all their stewards to go to the countryside to collect silk, and some stewards even directly enclosed trees, including those that were not yet fully mature.

Other unscrupulous caravans simply bought raw silk from generals, garrison commanders, and even mountain bandits. The caravans didn't care where these people got their silk.

As a result, the price of silk soared, and the brocade trade suffered greatly.

Standing atop Hanyang Pass, Xu Lanshan gazed at the small hill twenty miles away, her brows furrowed and her face grave. In the distance, dozens more large trucks appeared in a grand procession, escorted by thousands of elite cavalry.

As soon as the truck arrived, it drove directly up the hill along the already repaired road, unloading the entire load of square stone slabs and steel plates, thus making the fortifications on the hill even more solid.

These days, hundreds of trucks arrive every day to unload hundreds of thousands of kilograms of supplies, transforming an inconspicuous little mountain into a heavily armed steel fortress.

No one in the Hanyang Pass garrison dared to leave the gate anymore. Anyone who crossed the line would be bombarded. After more than a dozen people died, no one wanted to die anymore.

Originally, the closure of the pass was extremely frustrating for Wei Yuan and Qing Ming, but now that they are being blocked from closing the gate and bombarded in person, it's the Xu family that's feeling aggrieved. Every barrage of criticism feels like a slap in the face to Xu Lanshan.

However, the elders guarding Hanyang Pass were surprisingly unanimous in their opposition to reporting the matter to the family elders' council. Their reasoning was quite plausible: Wei Yuan had just repelled the Witch Clan and his reputation was at its peak. He hadn't even fired a single shot at Hanyang Pass; the fire had only reached the open ground outside the city.

Xu Lanshan knew that these elders resented her for cutting off their source of income, so they were always trying to sabotage her. But that's how the entire Xu family was; everyone was interconnected, and the entanglements of interests were complex and chaotic. Unless she went directly to the Immortal Ancestor...

However, she would absolutely not set foot in that secret realm unless absolutely necessary. Xu Lanshan was still trying to resolve the matter through proper channels. On one hand, she sent a message to Qingming, denouncing Wei Yuan for impersonating a bandit and acting recklessly. She said that such perverse behavior would eventually squander the good reputation he had worked so hard to earn.

Wei Yuan replied with only two large characters: Idiot!
Xu Lanshan then sent someone to find Sun Chaoen and ask him to withdraw the land deed from the Extinction Gang. However, Sun Chaoen kept refusing visitors, claiming he had caught a cold, was suffering from a hangover, or that his concubine's cat had died.

Xu Lanshan was thoroughly humiliated before realizing that the officialdom of the Western Jin Dynasty was rotten to the core, filled with nothing but corrupt officials and bandits.

But now the best time to attack the Extinction Gang has passed. Xiao Shan is fully armed, and there is always a faint killing intent around Xu Lanshan. Obviously, the assassin is also very patient. As long as Xu Lanshan shows a weakness, he will strike with lightning speed.

But at these times, Xu Lanshan remained calm and fearless. This assassin underestimated her; how could someone of her status possibly lay a hand on those low-level cultivators?
The truck arrived, and the small hill was under construction; just like the previous days, there wasn't much to see. Xu Lanshan was about to go to the workshop to check if there had been any improvements in musket production when several Xu family cultivators flew over at full speed, urgently saying, "An imperial envoy has arrived from the court! He's already at the garrison headquarters, and the elders want you to go there immediately to receive the decree!"

Xu Lanshan said, "Isn't it enough for the elders to receive it? Why do I need to go again?"

"No, the imperial envoy specifically requested that you accept the decree."

Xu Lanshan frowned, though she was very unwilling, she still flew towards the garrison headquarters. Although no one really took Prince Jin seriously, he still had a mandate from heaven, so they still had to put on a show.

When Xu Lanshan arrived at the main hall of the garrison headquarters, she saw that Zhao Tong and Liu Quangong were both present, along with several experts dressed in imperial guard uniforms standing by. Several elders of the Xu family stood to the side, looking at Xu Lanshan with sarcastic expressions. This woman was interfering with their money-making, so naturally they were hoping she would embarrass herself.

At this moment, Liu Quangong spoke up: "Xu Lanshan, why aren't you kneeling down to receive the imperial decree?"

Xu Lanshan's face suddenly flushed red, and she glared angrily. However, Zhao Tong and Liu Quangong were both ready to strike. The atmosphere in the hall was extremely oppressive, and Xu Lanshan's spiritual energy flow was somewhat obstructed. She immediately realized that among those guards, there must be a powerful expert at the Imperial Realm who could suppress her, who was at the peak of her Dharma Aspect stage and about to advance to the next level.

The elders of the Xu family watched coldly, and none of them stepped forward.

Xu Lanshan's expression changed several times. Although she was extremely unwilling, since she had accepted the official position, she had to kneel and accept the imperial decree according to the rites. Otherwise, if word got out that she had refused the imperial decree, the Xu family would be condemned by everyone, and every scholar in the world would write articles to denounce the Xu family.

In the end, she knelt on one knee and gritted her teeth to accept the imperial decree.

The imperial edict was held in the hands of a plain-looking young eunuch. He unfolded it expressionlessly and read aloud: "Xu Lanshan, you idiot! Are you trying to kill hundreds of thousands of refugees? If you can't be an official, don't take someone else's position. I see you've been cultivating for so long, but you haven't managed to get any magic power into your brain..."

The imperial edict was full of vulgar language, cursing Xu Lanshan to no end. The young eunuch read it with great intonation and expression.

Xu Lanshan was first taken aback, then flew into a rage, but after being scolded a few more times, she calmed down.

The imperial edict was read aloud quickly, and Xu Lanshan asked, "May I see the imperial edict?"

The young eunuch walked up to her, handed her the imperial edict, and said, "This edict is to be withdrawn. You can read it here."

Xu Lanshan took the imperial edict and saw that it contained exactly the words she had just read; the young eunuch had not misread a single word.

Upon receiving the imperial edict, the members of the delegation did not linger for a moment, and prepared to fly away immediately after leaving the main hall. Xu Lanshan suddenly said to one of the imperial guards, "Why does Prince Cheng also enjoy these clandestine dealings?"

The imperial guard just chuckled and didn't answer.

After the imperial envoys had all flown away, Xu Lanshan suddenly said, "Bring all the account books for the soup kitchens and shelters prepared for the refugees to my study. Now, immediately! Don't forget a single one!"

Knowing Xu Lanshan's temperament, his attendants immediately went to carry out the task, and within an hour, hundreds of account books were placed in Xu Lanshan's study. Xu Lanshan possessed formidable spiritual insight and finished reviewing them all in just one hour. All the account books were flawless, and he could not find a single problem.

Xu Lanshan sneered inwardly. The fact that there was no problem at all proved that there was a huge problem.

(End of this chapter)