Longzang

Chapter 943 What do you mean?
Beside the small lake, beneath the cedar trees, Cui Zhengxing held a small red clay teapot that had just boiled, pouring snow water into two new cups, instantly filling the air with the aroma of tea.

With a gentle wave of his hand, two cups of tea appeared before Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng. He said, "These Snow Peak Pine Needles are quite rare. Drinking them will help solidify your foundation and enhance your comprehension. You should give them a try."

At this moment, Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng were sitting in front of Cui Zhengxing. Wei Yuan heard the words "consolidate the foundation" on behalf of Zhang Sheng. Wei Yuan himself heard the words "enhance comprehension." Indeed, the objects the immortal was handling were not ordinary.

Without any hesitation, Wei Yuan accepted the tea and drank it all in one gulp. He immediately felt his mind clear and said, "Thank you, Immortal Lord."

Zhang Sheng also drank it all in one gulp, but did not speak, gesturing for Wei Yuan to go and talk.

Cui Zhengxing said, "Wanyi suffered many hardships in her childhood. Her mother died in my place, and I have always felt guilty about it, so I spoiled her a bit. As a result, she has developed her current arrogant and willful personality. If Wanyi dies, it will be an obstacle to my Dao heart, so I must save her life."

But this doesn't mean I'm sending you to your deaths. I came here personally so I can control the Life-Forbidden Pearl at any time. If necessary, I will take it away without harming your lives or your cultivation paths.

That sounded plausible, so Wei Yuan remained silent and waited for the immortal to name a price. Since Immortal Lord Cui was personally negotiating, the price couldn't be too bad.

Cui Zhengxing sighed softly and said, "Chengxiao and Wanyi secretly gave the elixir promised to Cui Yu to Lianxi, and then used the fortune of the new city to strengthen Lianxi's foundation, and then seized Cui Yu's position as city lord. By the time I found out, things had already gotten out of control, and the battle was over. But don't worry, I, a dignified immortal, would never owe a junior a share of the elixir. It's just that the elixir is rare, and I'm still missing two ingredients before I can start the furnace again. It will probably be about a year before I have seven more pills. We'll have to wait a while."

Wei Yuan said, "Immortal Lord, you are overthinking it. I have other ways to help Brother Cui on his path to immortality, so that elixir is no longer necessary. There is no need for you to trouble yourself."

Cui Zhengxing was taken aback and said, "You have such a wonderful method?"

"It was just a coincidence." Then Wei Yuan hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but stopped himself. The unspoken second half of his sentence was, "Since the agreement is null and void, the Cui family should remove the boundary stone and leave." Wei Yuan believed that Cui Zhengxing understood the subtext of this sentence; it was just a matter of what price he could offer to salvage the situation.

Cui Zhengxing slowly finished his tea. As he put down the cup, he had already made up his mind. He said, "'Wooden Armor' is quite compatible with Qingming, and Chengxiao and the others' choice of placement for the boundary stone is somewhat inappropriate. Sooner or later, there will be conflict. In that case, why not assign the Wooden Armor boundary stone to Qingming, making it a subsidiary stone of Qingming? The new city will still belong to Song Cui, and all military supplies will be purchased directly from Qingming from now on. However, from now on, half of the taxes and fortune of the entire Wooden Armor domain will be given to Qingming. What do you think?"

This time, it was Wei Yuan's turn to be taken aback. The conditions were far too good, better than Wei Yuan had ever dared to imagine before. Now, Song and Cui were fighting the battle, they were the ones dying, and Qingming would get half of all the spoils. The wooden armor itself even turned into Qingming's stones, which eliminated any future troubles.

Wei Yuan acted decisively, bowing and saying, "Thank you, Immortal Lord! You are so magnanimous!"

Cui Zhengxing nodded, and a wisp of snow water flew out of the red clay pot and fell into the ground below. He then said, "The wooden armor will begin to merge with the Azure Nether in three days, and the fusion will be complete in eighty-one days. If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

Wei Yuan rose and bowed again, his attitude respectful and his voice sincere, saying, "Respectfully seeing off the Immortal Lord."

Before leaving, Cui Zhengxing seemed to want to say something to Zhang Sheng, but in the end he said nothing and disappeared.

……

In the new city of Cui, the atmosphere in the city lord's mansion was oppressive. No servant dared to breathe loudly, and no one whispered. The Immortal Ancestor was currently in the mansion; nothing that happened in any corner of the city could escape his notice. Anyone who dared to gossip behind someone's back was courting death.

In the main hall, Cui Chengxiao and Cui Wanyi stood before the Immortal Ancestor, both with expressions of disbelief. Cui Wanyi could no longer contain herself and exclaimed, "How could you agree to such conditions?! If you ask me..."

With a sharp crack, a wisp of celestial energy appeared out of thin air and slapped Cui Wanyi hard across the face! Her face, which showed no signs of her age, swelled up rapidly, and her eyes and mouth were cut.

Cui Wanyi covered her face, utterly incredulous. She wanted to scream hysterically, but found she couldn't even make a sound; her mouth was sealed shut by immortal power.

Cui Zhengxing said, "Men, take her away and immediately send her back to her family home, where she will be confined for ten years."

Two maids came up and dragged the struggling Cui Wanyi away.

Once the room was quiet again, Cui Zhengxing said, "Do you know why I agreed to these conditions?"

Cui Chengxiao honestly replied, "I really don't know. Even if Wei Yuan and Zhang Sheng were to make up their own stories, I doubt they would dare to ask for such conditions."

Cui Zhengxing said, "I didn't want to at first, but after seeing your series of defeats, I made up my mind. In today's decisive battle, even if Wanyi had no chance of survival, I would still secretly intervene to make her lose this round."

Choi Sung-hyo was genuinely surprised this time and asked, "Why is that?"

Cui Zhengxing said, “My Cui family’s cultivation method is different from Xu Wangu’s. The Song Kingdom is the Cui family, and the Cui family is the Song Kingdom. The family and the country are different in name, but in reality they are one. When the Song Kingdom is strong, I am strong; when the country is weak, I am weak. In the past hundred years, the Song Kingdom has been in a great situation. Everywhere there is peace and prosperity, the people live in peace and contentment, the literary world is thriving, and famous scholars are emerging one after another.”

Logically, this should be a scene of revival, but my cultivation level has declined instead of increased. I couldn't understand it at all until I saw your series of defeats. Fifty thousand elite troops, squeezed into a long snake formation by five thousand Qingming soldiers, and then slaughtered from beginning to end! Six or seven thousand died from trampling, it was a complete rout! And then the two commanders were truly remarkable. One was an incompetent commander who only knew how to indiscriminately kill his own soldiers to vent his anger. The other only cared about his own fighting and fled when the army was routed!" Cui Chengxiao's face flushed red, and he lowered his head in silence.

Cui Zhengxing grew angrier as he spoke: "Now, the selection of officials in the court is not based on merit or ability, but on family background; the selection of generals in the army is not based on military strategy or tactics, but only on how close they are to me by blood! This is what the Song Dynasty calls a golden age!"

If this battle hadn't turned out so badly, even if I said that 50,000 elite troops might not be able to defeat 5,000 enemy soldiers, I'm sure you wouldn't believe me. But the battle just happened, and that's the reality!
The State of Song borders the Tang Dynasty, and has no other borders with other tribes. Its daily life of singing and dancing has fostered this outwardly magnificent but inwardly rotten state. I ask you, Qingming has a million fierce and powerful soldiers. Even if I were to hand over all eight million of Song's troops to you, could you win?"

"But..." Cui Chengxiao was still somewhat unconvinced, but dared not say anything more. The Immortal Ancestor was in a fit of rage, so he naturally couldn't say that the defeat was all due to Cui Wanyi.

Seeing his expression, Cui Zhengxing became even more furious and said, "If it weren't for the fact that there are really no promising talents among my younger generation, how could it be your turn to preside over the Western Regions! The Song Dynasty is rich but not strong now, just meat on someone else's chopping board. The situation is extremely critical, and I can't give you any more chances to be willful! Can you handle the affairs of the Western Regions this time? If you can't, get out of here as soon as possible!"

Cold sweat poured down Cui Chengxiao's back, and he knelt down with a thud, saying, "This time, I will certainly not fail the Immortal Ancestor's trust!"

Cui Zhengxing's expression softened slightly, and he said, "When I return this time, I will undergo a painful but necessary medical treatment. The Western Regions are a training ground for troops, and I will continuously send various forces here to fight against the alien races, honing them into a formidable army."

Your tasks are twofold. First, bring He Zhiyou back. Talented individuals are rare; if every elder in the family bears the surname Cui, decline is not far off. Second, train a new army to fight against the foreign tribes. The training of this new army can be modeled after Qingming's; equip it with whatever you can afford. I am not afraid of casualties, as long as victory! If the battle goes poorly, you will resign from your position as elder and become a free man.”

Choi Sung-hyo repeatedly said he would do his best.

Finally, Cui Zhengxing said, "I promised to give half of the tax revenue and fortune to Qingming. No one is allowed to touch this half. If you want to be greedy or take it, take it from my Cui family's half. If you dare to touch Qingming's share, it won't be as simple as being a free spirit."

Cui Chengxiao knelt down with a thud, not daring to speak, just kneeling. When he raised his head a moment later, the seat above was empty; the Immortal Ancestor had already departed.

……

Having made a pact with the Cui family's immortal ancestor and with Zhang Sheng having forged an unparalleled Dharma form, Wei Yuan was in high spirits. He then resumed the Qingming affairs that had been neglected for several days, convened a meeting of all cultivators, and prepared to make up for the lost time.

Zhang Sheng did not participate because he needed to solidify his Dharma image.

As Wei Yuan laid out the sand table map, he said, "Whether it's Qingming or Qingyuan, they both rely on their invincible military strength. The army can't be idle. Let's first check what other hidden dangers there are around, and then eliminate them before the territory expands there. Hmm, are there any enemies within four thousand miles?"

Cui Yu said, "No, that's all."

"Hmm? The Witch Clan is so honest?" Wei Yuan was somewhat surprised, and asked again, "What about six thousand li?"

"nor."

"...Eight thousand miles?"

"No."

"...Ten thousand miles!"

"No."

Wei Yuan kept expanding the sand table area, but all he could see on the map was bright green, with not a single red dot representing the enemy.

"What's going on? Is the map broken?" Wei Yuan asked, puzzled.

The cultivators remained silent, their gazes all fixed on Wang Hu and Xiao Yu. Wang Hu was a newcomer, strong and senior. Xiao Yu, on the other hand, had always been at odds with Wei Yuan.

As expected, Xiaoyu was unwilling to let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, saying, "We have already taken down all the larger Wu tribe strongholds within a ten-thousand-mile radius. We divided our forces into several groups and it took us about fourteen months. In order to find the enemy, Sister Bao even went as far as the homes of mountain people fourteen thousand miles away. Later, Master Zhang said that going any further was pointless, so we withdrew our troops."

As for the nearby forces, Song Cui's garrison in Xincheng has already been annihilated in one and a half waves. Li Zhi has already warned them several times and they've become docile. Li Chengfeng has become docile, but he hasn't been let off the hook yet. We're considering whether to conduct a few exercises with him to see how quickly we can wipe out 100,000 of his men.

Even Wei Yuan, with his personality, felt this was going a bit too far. He was about to call a halt to the exercise when he suddenly remembered something: What did Xiao Yu mean by saying all this?!

(End of this chapter)