Longzang

Chapter 669 I've arrived, I see

The large force set out, and soon after leaving Qingming, scouts spotted them and ran away.

Wei Yuan said, "They've already placed their spies right at our doorstep, how arrogant! Hmm? Those spies aren't very good riders, they're a bit slow."

Before Wei Yuan could speak, several Six Ren Heavenly Soldiers flew out from Cui Yu's body and caught up with the scouts in the blink of an eye, capturing them all.

Those spies were quite tough. They cursed Wei Yuan as soon as they saw him, and claimed to be the upper class of Zhao. They said that if Wei Yuan dared to lay a finger on them, Zhao would never let it go.

Seeing that these scouts were all only at the Body Forging stage, Cui Yu said, "That's strange. Why would the enemy use Body Forging cultivators instead of elite Foundation Establishment scouts at their gate? It doesn't make sense. Also, we haven't even fought against the Zhao Kingdom yet, so why are they so eager to die?"

After a moment's thought, Wei Yuan had a general idea of ​​what was going on. He said, "It seems that the other side wants to fight us, but they probably don't have an excuse, so they sent a few people over for us to kill. If I'm not mistaken, these people were either death row inmates or thugs who made a living by bullying others not long ago."

Cui Yu immediately cast a spell to bewitch two people, and they lost their will and mumbled their identities, just as Wei Yuan had predicted.

Wei Yuan then said, "Take these people with you. Let's go and meet this Fourth Prince of Zhao."

The army continued its march, and at noon on the second day, it finally arrived at the edge of the new territory of the Zhao Kingdom.

Zhao Jun received the news early and his army formed ranks outside the border, blocking Wei Yuan's cavalry.

Behind Wei Yuan, nearly 20,000 cavalrymen spread out in a chaotic manner, and every now and then, a few riders would collide with each other during the changing formations, requiring the captain to give them a good scolding before the situation was resolved.

Originally, there were 10,000 qualified cavalry infantrymen, but 8,000 of them were unqualified, so the entire army became unqualified.

In contrast, Zhao's army only fielded three thousand cavalry, but their formation was orderly, their armor was bright, and their military spirit was united, truly an elite force.

During the team formation, Wei Yuan remained calm, took a silk scarf, tied it around his neck, and then hid it under his collar.

From within the Zhao army formation, a young cultivator flew out and hovered in front of the formation. Wei Yuan went to greet him, exchanged greetings, and then scrutinized the man.

The young monk looked very young, but if he really was the Fourth Prince, he should be over forty years old. This person had been unknown before, but now, just by looking at him, the elite soldiers he had trained were not to be underestimated.

Wei Yuan said, "I am Wei Yuan, the military governor of Dingxi of the Great Jin! Is the person opposite me the Fourth Prince of Zhao?"

The young cultivator said, "Lord Wei is well-informed. I am Li Chengfeng."

Wei Yuan looked Li Chengfeng up and down and said, "Your Highness looks young, but you're not so young after all."

Li Chengfeng's face stiffened, and then he said, "I am a mediocre person, and I am sorry to have made Lord Wei laugh at me. According to the rules of the cultivation world, I should address you as senior."

Wei Yuan's face instantly darkened.

Wei Yuan's Yin-Yang Twin Bombs are renowned throughout the world. He used them to intimidate the Witch Clan and repel the Rain Kingdom. All related information had already been thoroughly investigated. Thus, with the help of those with ulterior motives, it is now common knowledge.

Even when the elders of the Xu family discussed this matter, they only mentioned the 219-year-old Dharma Avatar, then laughed heartily, their gloom dissipating. As for Wei Yuan becoming a Dharma Avatar at the age of nineteen, they had already forgotten about it.

Wei Yuan looked behind Li Chengfeng and saw that the new city was built against the mountain and faced Qingming. The city wall was already more than three feet high. Two cargo ships were slowly sailing in from the horizon, obviously carrying a lot of goods.

The fact that the inner city could be built in such a short time, and that goods could be transported by flying boats, clearly indicates that Li Chengfeng is backed by the King of Zhao. Otherwise, not even the Crown Prince of Zhao would have such power.

Wei Yuan glanced at the Heavenly Dao's operation in the new realm again, and roughly understood the situation. He then said, "Your Highness has come from afar, presumably to make a name for yourself. However, it is inappropriate for you to establish this new city on the territory of my Great Jin."

"Let's remove the boundary stone while it's still firmly planted and move it to another place. It's a hundred and eight thousand li to the southwest, the stronghold of the mountain people; I think that's a good spot."

Li Chengfeng remained unperturbed and calmly replied, "Lord Wei is joking. This is unclaimed land; how can it be considered part of Jin?"

Wei Yuan said, "I stand here, and this is the land of Jin!"

Li Chengfeng was taken aback, then burst into laughter, saying, "Lord Wei is truly domineering! Does that mean that everything you see is considered Jin territory?"

Wei Yuan nodded: "That's right! I'm here, and what I see is all mine."

Even with his good temper, Li Chengfeng couldn't suppress his anger and retorted, "What kind of absurd logic is this!"

Wei Yuan sneered: "Did I come here to reason with you? You built the city right next to my bed, and you want to reason with me? Since there's no reason to speak, what's the point?"

Li Chengfeng was speechless for a moment.

Wei Yuan added, "Oh, by the way, I caught a few people on the way here. I'll show them to you."

With a wave of his hand, Wei Yuan sent out the captured scouts from the army formation.

Li Chengfeng's expression changed slightly. Just as he was thinking about how to phrase his words, he saw Wei Yuan wave his hand, and his subordinates swiftly killed a spy with their blades!

The scout's head rolled off the ground, continuing to roll until his death, his eyes wide open, unable to close in peace.

Blood gushed from the headless corpse's neck, staining Zhao Jun's uniform crimson. The swordsman kicked the corpse to the ground. Li Chengfeng felt a surge of heat rush to his head!

He sent these men to kill Wei Yuan, so that he could have an excuse to provoke a conflict between the two countries, and then take the opportunity to establish a border, build a city and garrison troops, and turn this matter into a fait accompli.

If Wei Yuan can't resist attacking, that would be even better, as we'd have a righteous reason to do so.

But he never expected that Wei Yuan would bring these people to him and kill them one by one right in front of him. It felt like spitting in front of Wei Yuan, only to have Wei Yuan pick it up and put it back in his mouth.

Li Chengfeng pointed at Wei Yuan and shouted sternly, "What crime have these people committed that they should be beheaded on the battlefield?"

Wei Yuan calmly replied, "They insulted me."

"So what if I scold you? I have the right to scold you! It's not a capital offense to scold you!"

“To publicly insult one’s superior is a grave offense, punishable by death under the laws of all countries… Why am I telling you this? I’m not here to reason with you. Kill them all!” Wei Yuan waved his hand again, beheading the remaining spies.

Li Chengfeng's eyes were filled with a chilling murderous aura that almost overflowed.

Wei Yuan laughed and said, "Your Highness is getting on in years, why is your temper still so fiery? Look at me, I never get angry. Oh, by the way, hurry up and fix up your little dilapidated city, so next time I come, I won't bring just this many people."

“Wei, Yuan!” Li Chengfeng squeezed out these two words through gritted teeth.

Wei Yuan said, "What, does Your Highness want me to give you some pointers on Taoist magic? Forget it, you're no match for me. Why embarrass yourself in public?"

In front of several thousand Zhao soldiers, Li Chengfeng's face turned ashen, and he said, "If I had known that Lord Wei was such a person, I should have moved this city another thousand miles forward!"

Wei Yuan said indifferently, "It doesn't matter where you put it, it's all a waste of boundary stones anyway. Your Highness, please go ahead and do your work, I won't disturb you any longer."

With that, Wei Yuan returned to the army formation, and the army turned around and returned to Qingming.

Li Chengfeng returned with a dark face, and the generals and strategists also looked grim.

One of the advisors cursed, "This Wei Yuan is so arrogant; he is truly a treacherous hero in troubled times! How can the King of Jin tolerate him? He killed our Zhao soldiers on the battlefield, which concerns the face of the Great Zhao. We must report this to the King and not let this go so easily!"

Li Chengfeng took a deep breath and said, "There's no use saying anything now. The only option is to fight, and we must win! Speed ​​up the construction of the city and prepare the army for war! You all keep an eye on things here for the next few days. I need to go back and see my father."

"Qingming has made a fortune in immortal silver through trade with my Great Zhao, and has taken in millions of refugees. This immortal silver will all become their weapons, and the refugees will all be Wei Yuan's soldiers! I must have my father stop the trade with Qingming and forbid any refugees from leaving the country!"

All the strategists applauded and cheered.

After meeting with Li Chengfeng, Wei Yuan ordered the generals to lead their troops back, while he and Cui Yu flew back to Qingming first. Upon returning, Wei Yuan went directly to Cui Yu's main camp tent, ordered a sand table to be set up, and began to study the strategy for deploying troops.

Since Li Chengfeng dared to provoke him, he must have been confident. Wei Yuan didn't know what made him think he could beat him, but he was certain that Li Chengfeng must have at least a 60-70% chance of winning.

No matter how arrogant and flamboyant Wei Yuan was in public, after angering Li Chengfeng, he immediately began preparing for battle, paying attention to every detail. In the army, no matter was insignificant, and Wei Yuan was never careless in this regard.

Looking at the sand table, Wei Yuan pointed to the area between Qingming and the new Zhao Kingdom territory and said, "In this area, we must eliminate all Zhao Kingdom spies. They might ambush and hunt down high-level cultivators. I will send two Dragon Guards with you to specifically hunt down their high-level cultivators."

Cui Yu nodded, then said, "How about I apply to my family to recruit some Dharma Masters?"

Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised and said, "This is a matter of offending Zhao and Li. Your Cui family has many properties in Zhao. The old lady may not agree to it, right?"

Cui Yu said, "I'll think of a way. Besides, our Cui family's property isn't something Zhao Li can just move around on his own. The State of Song borders the State of Zhao."

Wei Yuan nodded and said, "Just do your best. It's okay if you don't succeed."

Wei Yuan then ordered Cui Yu to send out scouts to ascertain the terrain around Zhao territory.

Wei Yuan had already sent people to survey this area, but at that time it was only a rough look, recording some mountains and rivers. It was far from enough to actually fight a war in this area.

As he was making arrangements, Wei Yuan suddenly had a thought. Large patches of black and red suddenly appeared in the small part of the sky above the city, and the celestial light turned dark red, as if the city had been smeared with a layer of blood, while a putrid smell filled the air.

All mortals looked up at the sky, filled with inexplicable terror. Far overseas, a sapling of the Jianmu tree erected a curtain of light, blocking all the bloody light from entering.

The other immortal plants also joined in, their various colored light screens protecting the central city. However, the new island was unprotected, and the crimson light fell without restraint, causing many mortal craftsmen to suffer terribly from its glare.

At this moment, an ordinary-looking girl appeared, holding an orchid in her hands, and planted it in the center of the island. As soon as the orchid entered the soil, it emitted a ball of clear light, protecting the entire island.

Thousands of ordinary craftsmen on the island spontaneously gathered around the orchid and began to worship it.

Wei Yuan entered the mundane world and looked up at the sky, and was astonished. How could the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty have suddenly deteriorated to this point?

(End of this chapter)