Longzang

Chapter 67 The Three Immortals

Fang Hetong called in a few people to move three boxes of military supplies into the warehouse. He specifically instructed them to strictly check and record the inventory. Only after everything was arranged did he sit down next to Wei Yuan.

Fang Hetong was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "To be honest, it was also my fault. A few months ago, the Liao barbarians invaded, and I joined the army out of a surge of enthusiasm. But when I arrived in Quyang County, I found that the military commander here was embezzling positions without actually performing them, and the county magistrate was protecting him. If it were peacetime, it would be one thing to embezzle positions without actually performing them, but now that foreign tribes have invaded the border, the border troops are short-staffed, and it's the common people who suffer. In a fit of anger, I reported this to the prefect, and also impeached the county magistrate."

"I never expected the prefect to be in cahoots with them. After I sent my letter, I never heard from them again, and the magistrate and the military commander's retaliation followed one after another. At that time, I raised an appeal and gathered several hundred patriots to defend our home and resist the enemy, but the military commander refused to recognize them as militia members, and the county refused to provide them with a single penny or grain. I had to supplement my own food and pay. But what wealth did I have? Selling my fields and houses didn't even yield a few taels of silver. I only managed to survive until now thanks to the help of my fellow students at the academy, and in the end, we ran out of food. If Brother Wei hadn't arrived, I really wouldn't know what to do."

"Brother Fang is older, I dare not accept the title of Brother Wei."

"Since I am a few years older than you, I will humbly call you my worthy brother."

"Brother Fang, please continue."

Fang Hetong sighed and said, "Actually, I've thought about it too. If it weren't me, but someone else who was called up to guard the border, those brothers outside might have already obtained civilian status, and wouldn't have had to fight the Liao barbarians to the death while their families starved to death."

Wei Yuan was unfamiliar with the political situation of the Western Jin Dynasty, and his mission here was only to guard the border. The Taichu Palace had no intention of interfering in the politics of the Western Jin Dynasty, so he didn't know how to handle these official matters. However, if the government didn't care, there was still the Taichu Palace.

Each of the two boxes of jerky contained a thousand pieces, enough to feed the two hundred soldiers for ten days. However, the standard for soldiers of the Taichu Palace was that their muscles and bones had been fully forged, and such people had a much larger appetite than ordinary people. For the people in Shayang Village who had just begun to forge their bodies, half a piece a day would be enough. Ordinary people who had not cultivated would only be able to eat one piece of jerky every four days.

A box of dried meat like this costs one tael of immortal silver within the Taichu Palace. In other words, the monthly silver of a Taichu Palace disciple could feed thousands of ordinary people for over a month, and that's based on military rations. If it were replaced with coarse rice, it would be enough to sustain them for more than half a year. Wei Yuan could also feed these people by exchanging his own monthly silver for food.

Fang Hetong roused himself and said, "I was just feeling down for a moment and complained a bit. Junior brother, you don't need to take it to heart. Junior brother is new here, so let me tell you about the battle situation first."

The two approached the map, and Fang Hetong said, “Our immediate enemy is the Agula tribe of the Liao barbarians. The Agula are a medium-sized tribe among the Liao barbarians, but they still have over 100,000 archers. Several months ago, the Agula conquered the last three counties of Pingning Prefecture, annexing the entire Pingning Prefecture. Bianning and Ganning Prefectures have become the front line. Our Quyang County is also the poorest county in the entire prefecture. The Liao barbarians are not very interested in this area. Their main force is concentrated in Ganning Prefecture. There are only some auxiliary troops here, which usually come from the north and northwest. I suspect their camps are in these places.”

Fang Hetong pointed to several locations on the edge of the map and said, "According to the geomantic features, these places may have underground water sources and are natural campsites. The Liao barbarians are adept at finding water sources, and these places should not escape their notice."

Fang Hetong continued, “The Liao barbarians primarily engage in mounted combat, moving swiftly like the wind. To restrict their movement, in addition to raising the defensive walls, I also dug many pits, one foot wide and two feet deep, outside the walls to prevent the Liao barbarians from charging at full speed. However, the Liao barbarians sometimes launch night attacks, which is very troublesome. Many of them cannot see clearly at night, so I have to personally keep watch to ensure their safety.”

Fang Hetong then explained several defensive measures, the most important of which were the three powerful crossbows he had borrowed from the academy, whose power was immense within a hundred zhang (approximately 300 meters). In addition, he possessed a magical longbow capable of shooting three hundred zhang (approximately 250 meters). Fang Hetong relied on his archery skills to hold his own against the Liao cavalry.

Fang Hetong also gathered the elderly, weak, women, and children from the three villages and placed them in the two rear villages. Initially, the small Liaoman cavalry, seeing that Shayang Village was heavily fortified, tried to bypass it and attack the rear villages. Unexpectedly, Fang Hetong's magical longbow could cover all the passages to the two rear villages. The Liaoman lost more than a dozen riders in the process of bypassing the village, and afterwards dared not bypass Shayang Village again.

Fang Hetong had a good understanding of the Northern Liao and his defenses were well-prepared. Moreover, because everyone was fighting for their hometown and relatives, he was able to hold off the Northern Liao for three whole months with several hundred untrained farmers who had no food or pay.

Wei Yuan listened and was quite impressed with Fang Hetong. Fang Hetong had already cultivated to the Dao Foundation and could be considered to have embarked on the path of immortality. Yet he endured hunger and cold, led a group of farmers to resist the alien race, and did not hesitate to give up his family fortune. Even when he was suppressed and harassed by powerful people, he did not give up. Such integrity is rare.

“Junior Brother Wei, could we exchange information about our Dao foundations and the spells we are skilled in? This way, we can know each other better on the battlefield and cooperate more effectively,” Fang Hetong suggested. This was a reasonable suggestion, and Wei Yuan naturally agreed.

Seeing Wei Yuan nod, Fang Hetong said, "I am dull-witted, and after more than twenty years of hard work, I have only barely managed to forge my body. Originally, I had no hope of establishing my Dao foundation. Later, one day, I read about the three immortalities of the sages, and I was moved, so I established my Dao foundation. My Dao foundation is a book with three articles in it: one is 'Establishing Words,' and the other is 'Establishing Merit.'"

A book appeared before Wei Yuan, its style quite ancient, bound with thread. Seeing it, Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised; he hadn't seen a book made of ordinary paper in a long time. The entire Taichu Palace was made of jade paper; most books were simply a single sheet of paper, to be read with divine sense. Important books consisted of only three sheets of jade paper: cover, contents, and back cover. A single sheet of jade paper could hold a million words, and high-quality jade paper could even carry a trace of Daoist essence. Therefore, all cultivation techniques in the Taichu Palace were written on jade paper, often incorporating the writer's insights, greatly aiding the reader's comprehension. The highest grade of jade paper could even carry the insights of a True Monarch, but it required ten thousand sheets of ordinary jade paper to create a single sheet of the highest grade, so there weren't many in the entire Taichu Palace; they were all used to record the path to heaven.

Fang Hetong's book isn't very thick, but it's about an inch long, roughly a hundred pages. Although it's about the foundation of the Dao, the foundation of the Dao is also something that permeates people's hearts, indicating that this is how Fang Hetong's book should be.

"Why not use jade paper?" Wei Yuan asked. It wasn't that Wei Yuan disliked ordinary paper, but rather that jade paper and ordinary paper were fundamentally different in quality when it came to the foundation of one's Dao, possessing many extraordinary properties. Books could carry the Great Dao; they were not ordinary objects. If Fang Hetong's Dao foundation were a book written on jade paper, it might already be at the Earth Rank.

Fang Hetong said helplessly, "Our Baifeng Academy is a small and insignificant institution, how can it compare to a celestial sect? Apart from a few inherited cultivation techniques that use jade paper, everything else in the academy is made of ordinary paper. Since I entered the academy, I have been copying books and practicing calligraphy on ordinary paper, and the books I read are also made of ordinary paper. Even ordinary paper cannot be used at will. That's why my Dao Foundation looks like this."

"I see. So what is the use of these three articles?" Wei Yuan subtly changed the subject.

Fang Hetong's spirits lifted immediately, and he began to explain in detail.

Establishing a doctrine would make Fang Hetong's teachings and guidance twice as effective. Teaching wasn't just about reading; guiding disciples in cultivation also provided an advantage. For the past few months, Fang Hetong had led the people in building city defenses and busying themselves with farm work during the day, and in the evenings he taught them to read and write, followed by an hour of body-strengthening before bed. These people were originally illiterate farmers, but after a few months, some had learned over a hundred characters, while others had learned five or six hundred, and their body-strengthening had also progressed. To make progress in body-strengthening when they were often hungry was truly remarkable.

The original meaning of "establishing merit" refers to achieving great deeds and making a name for oneself. In Fang Hetong's Dao Foundation, it means temporarily enhancing the abilities of those around him. With the blessing of this technique, these former farmers can unleash the power they possessed when their muscles were fully trained, making them as strong as qualified soldiers in a regular border army. Although the duration is short, it can be incredibly effective on the battlefield if used properly. Fang Hetong used this technique to repeatedly turn the tide of battle, leading a group of farmers to hold off the ferocious Liao barbarians for several months.

Fang Hetong didn't mention what the third article was, and Wei Yuan didn't ask. After all, they had only just met, so it was normal for Fang Hetong to hold back.

When it was Wei Yuan's turn, he frankly admitted that he had only reached the Great Perfection of Body Forging and had not yet condensed his Dao Foundation. As for what he was good at, Wei Yuan hadn't really thought about it, and could only say that he knew a little bit about everything.

Wei Yuan's physical strength is seven or eight times that of others of the same level, and his Dao power is more than ten times that of others of the same level. At this stage, Wei Yuan can use Dao techniques almost at will, so he cannot be said to be proficient in them.

Fang Hetong did not look down on Wei Yuan because he had not yet established a Dao Foundation. The disciples of the Immortal Sect were from a completely different world than those of small sects, and challenging those of higher levels was commonplace for them. Even if the disciples of the Immortal Sect had mediocre Dao Foundations, their magical artifacts and Dao techniques could easily crush those of small sects.

Of course, what's even more terrifying isn't the disciples of the Immortal Sect themselves, but their teachers and fellow disciples. If you establish a foundation in an Immortal Sect, you have to fight your way up, and who knows, you might end up becoming a True Monarch of the Azure Sky. Unlike the White Maple Academy, where at most you only have one Dharma Aspect, and even that Dharma Aspect is at the bottom of its rank, requiring you to compromise and yield at every turn.

After exchanging ideas on Taoist abilities, Fang Hetong and Wei Yuan discussed defensive systems.

Fang Hetong first spoke of local defense. With the Northern Liao launching a major southward offensive, it was impossible to rely solely on local militia and civilian troops to resist. The main defensive force of Quyang County was actually 1,500 elite border troops stationed in a military camp thirty miles away. The commander, Liao Jingwu, had laid the foundation for the campaign twenty years ago, and it was said that there was still a glimmer of hope for further advancement.

The military fortresses are the core of defense for the northern border of the Great Tang Dynasty. Large armies build fortifications at key locations and defend them. These fortresses are equipped with powerful ballistae, which cannot be fired by anyone but a Foundation Establishment cultivator; a single arrow can kill a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Each fortress also has a cavalry unit; when encountering large foreign armies, they defend the fortress, while smaller detachments are dealt with by cavalry. These fortresses, stockpiled with elite troops, form defensive strongholds within a hundred li (approximately 50 kilometers), together with county towns and villages, creating a defensive network.

Wei Yuan immediately understood that the key figure in charge of local defense was actually the deputy commander Liao Jingwu, who had great power to mobilize troops, allocate military supplies, and control civilian militia.

It was this same Liao, the military officer, who had submitted the memorial to the prefect to impeach the one who was accused of embezzling positions.

(End of this chapter)