Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 341, 351 White-Spear Army, Imperial Dragon Straight

Boom!
A heavy object fell to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

Blood flowed and spread along the cracks in the ground, staining a spider web red.

Tang Shan's limbs twitched, her lips and teeth were covered in scarlet blood, and her limbs were twisted at abnormal angles.

"Master Tang!"

Huang Bairen's heart sank to the bottom. He never expected Li Cunxiao to act so decisively.

Kill someone the moment they meet?
This is a blatant show of force!
In particular, Tang Shan is Tang Wei's spokesperson, and in a sense, he is also the face of Qingcheng.

If someone has an accident here, what will they think over there?
Wouldn't they think I'm a traitor, betraying the court so quickly after their arrival? Wouldn't that mean I'm cutting myself off from Sichuan?

“The person isn’t dead yet,” Li Cunxiao thought, watching the other person’s expression change as quickly as a Sichuan opera face-changing act. He could roughly guess what the other person was thinking, and he was somewhat speechless.

The true disciples and henchmen of the Qingcheng Sect have hindered the merger of Wenzhou and Fuzhou, so we cannot be lenient with them.

But he was not a bloodthirsty person. Tang Shan hadn't even had a chance to say a word, so Li Cunxiao wouldn't be so contemptuous of human life.

He didn't use much force just now; he just fanned me lightly.

With the vitality of a martial artist from the Yellow Court, losing an arm or a leg is not a terminal illness and won't kill him.

After resting for more than half a year, he's back to his energetic self.

"not dead?"

Huang Bairen was taken aback upon hearing this. He gave a wink, and Yang Xiuzhu, the head of the Yang family, bowed respectfully. He then quickly ran to Tang Shan, checked her over and over, and finally gestured in this direction.

The other three family heads finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Neither the imperial court nor Qingcheng Mountain can afford to offend them.

If even one of the inner disciples dies here, there will be no way to defend them. Once Li Cunxiao has accumulated enough merit to return to the capital, the four great families will face Tang Wei's wrath.

"You county magistrates seem quite concerned about that recluse? Are you quite familiar with him?"

Li Cunxiao asked the question knowing the answer already, and his words immediately made everyone's hearts jump again.

"I dare not deceive you, Your Excellency. That man is Tang Shan, an inner disciple of Qingcheng Mountain. The silk business in the county has benefited greatly from his help, so we are familiar with each other."

Huang Boren carefully observed the other party's expression, but Li Cunxiao showed no emotion upon hearing this, only giving a faint "hmm".

Inner disciples? They're nothing but small fry.

With his current cultivation level, wouldn't he be comparable to a sect elder or a noble family retainer anywhere?
Not to mention that he has a grandmaster like Qici by his side, even the head of Qingcheng Mountain, Master Yuhai, is nothing special.

To put it bluntly, with the Qin Dynasty backing him, even Wang Jian dared not underestimate him when he went to Shu.

Punishing an inner disciple who doesn't know proper etiquette is nothing to them.

"Now is the time for spring plowing, and everyone is busy persuading farmers and dealing with trivial matters. I am a straightforward person, so I won't waste any more words."

"I don't care about what Fuzhou was like before, but from today onwards, all matters concerning the four counties of Echeng, Dingkang, Shanle, and Junlian must be reported to the Imperial Envoy's headquarters."

"Furthermore, on my way here, I saw many starving people lying dead during this lean season."

"From this day forward, you shall open the granaries and distribute grain and porridge to relieve the disaster."

“My personal guards will be by my side, simultaneously registering and compiling the population and land registers.”

"Also, the armor, military provisions, and medicines in the treasuries of the four counties must be fully supplied, and the tax revenue from previous years must not be reduced by a single penny."

After hearing this, the heads of the four major families were all sweating profusely, and their faces became increasingly terrified.

The governor was more powerful than the county magistrate, so it was not unexpected that the other party would want to make the decision.

But the subsequent demands were a real pain.

As the saying goes, a field can change hands eight hundred times in a thousand years. Land consolidation is bound to be more intense in times of chaos than in the past.

To put it bluntly, the four major families have now taken over five or six tenths of the fertile land in Fuzhou, while the remaining two or three tenths have been taken over by the next level of local tycoons.

The last one-tenth are the self-sufficient farmers.

It's fair to say that if you randomly picked ten people in the countryside, half of them would be tenant farmers from those four families.

Li Cunxiao used the pretext of disaster relief to survey land, but his real intention was to clarify tax revenue.

The following clause, in particular, which ordered a thorough investigation of the county government's treasury, was a powerful blow.

What kind of official are you if you're not corrupt?

The so-called county government treasury had long been the treasury of the four major families, and various forms of misappropriation and embezzlement were commonplace. The accounts on the surface were already a mess.

To supplement?

This is a huge pitfall!
"My lord, as you know, there was war everywhere decades ago, and the previous magistrates all acted arbitrarily, changing their policies from morning to evening."

"The clerks of the four counties secretly stole and embezzled, lending and mortgaging, and now it's all a mess."

"Of course, I'm not trying to be unclear," Huang Bairen said, but then felt a cold gaze and quickly added, startled.

"What I mean is that this inventory should be done in a specific order, not blindly. It should be done in sequence, with a distinction between important and unimportant tasks."

"I don't care about these things," Li Cunxiao said, too lazy to listen to Huang Bairen's official jargon.

He extended his right hand, slowly making a grasping motion, and the gale and flames condensed in his hand, transforming into two wheels of wind and fire.

With a gentle toss, the Vermilion Bird and the Wind God soared into the sky, creating three fiery tornadoes over Goose City in the blink of an eye.

This strange phenomenon caused the city's residents to crane their necks and shout in alarm:

"A divine bird!"

"A strange phenomenon has appeared in the sky. Could it be that a deity has arrived?"

"It must be Buddha's intervention! May the Bodhisattva protect my mother and help her recover from her illness!"

Bang.

Without exception, the heads of the four major families all knelt down.

They weren't ignorant country bumpkins; they naturally recognized what the Wind and Fire Wheels were.

Divine weapon!

The other party is intent on killing!

"My true essence remains within this Wind and Fire Wheel; anything below the sixth level of the Heavenly Ladder that touches it will turn to ashes."

Li Cunxiao grinned and uttered chilling words.

"However, please don't misunderstand. There are many demons in the mountains of Sichuan. My personal guards are not as skilled as the county magistrates. They are here to protect them and prevent any accidents from happening."

"As for official business, I have already given instructions on how to handle things. You are all experienced and capable people, and I am sure you will not disappoint me."

"If it's really too difficult to do it on my own, I can also ask for the help of the family. I'm not a rigid person, as long as the work doesn't disturb the people."

After saying that, he called out, and Wei He and Ye Chengxiao immediately ran over.

"I'll leave these three tasks to you two: opening the granaries to distribute grain, registering the population, and searching the government treasury."

"Rest assured, my lord!"

The two responded in unison, rubbing their hands together and looking at the four family heads with eagerness in their eyes.

Wei He is honest and meticulous in his work; Ye Chengxiao is quick-witted and resourceful.

'With their complementary strengths and the support of divine weapons, they are not afraid of the four families' attempts at coercion and enticement.'

Li Cunxiao nodded to himself, and after giving his instructions, he prepared to leave.

"It's over now."

Huang Bairen felt numb and was speechless as he watched the other person's departing figure.

The other three family heads were also ashen-faced, but looking at the fiery wheels flying in the sky, they felt both fear and a sense of relief.

Fortunately, this deadly thing was suspended in Goose City County, not in their respective strongholds.

If you saw this deadly ghost head sword hanging overhead every morning as soon as you stepped out the door, you probably wouldn't even be able to eat.

"Oh, there's more."

Li Cunxiao paused, "My army will set up camp between Fuzhou and Wenzhou."

"Six or seven thousand soldiers, their food and supplies have been considerable. Once the supplies are cleared out, send them over as soon as possible."

"Afterwards, I will lead troops to wipe out the demons in the nearby mountains. This is a matter of great importance concerning the safety of the people." "You are all fellow villagers; you can't bear to see innocent people killed, can you?"

"Of course," the four agreed repeatedly, each gritting their teeth and making a solemn pledge.

Upon seeing this, Li Cunxiao turned off the light of the Hun Tian Ling and Zhao Gu Jing he was holding in his sleeve and returned to his Niwan Palace.

Having reached the seventh realm of perfection and achieved minor success in the Haotian Spiritual Manifestation, coupled with the blessing of the Three Altars Sea Gathering True Scripture, his primordial spirit is now far stronger than that of ordinary Xuan Guan martial artists.

The two external avatars can also remain outside for several days without perishing.

In comparison, keeping the divine weapon outside his body was a piece of cake for him.

If even one person had been negligent or perfunctory, Li Cunxiao would have shown them what it meant to "have five more of these divine weapons."

At that time, one task will be assigned to each county. If the task cannot be completed in time, the true essence will be activated, and the person will be killed on the spot!

Fortunately, these people, who have lived half their lives, are ultimately sensible and discerning.

Li Cunxiao left satisfied.

Ye Chengxiao and Wei He exchanged a glance, gave a shout, and their soldiers immediately pulled up a table at the city gate and began writing a notice on the spot.

While writing, he tapped an iron spoon he'd found somewhere on the table, his urging was all too clear.

"Please wait a moment, young generals. I will immediately order the granaries to be opened and the grain distributed."

Huang Bairen wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, while ordering people to rescue Tang Shan, he huddled together with the other three family heads, whispering among themselves.

"As you all have seen, this Prefect Li is both resourceful and capable; he is not the kind of person who can be bribed or dismissed in the past."

"This man is surveying the land and trying to win over the people; he has big ambitions. We can't fight city hall, so the only option now is to submit and save our lives."

As for our family business...

The four of them sighed in unison, knowing that this time they were bound to suffer serious injuries.

"What about Tang Shan?"

Chen Hemei, the patriarch of the Chen family, had a subtle expression as she looked at the young man covered in blood on the stretcher and gently made a cut at his neck.

"You won't stop until you do the same thing?"

“No,” Liu Rensong frowned.

"Li Cunxiao has only just arrived, and we don't even know what kind of person he is yet. How can we turn against him so quickly?"

"What if he treats us like trash and then sells us off to Qingcheng to curry favor? Wouldn't we have died in vain?"

"That's right, Brother Liu is right."

After a moment's thought, Huang Bairen said, "I'll keep it at my home for now."

"At worst, we can give him more drowsy tonics to prolong the time."

"We'll wait until we get news from Sichuan before making a decision."

"Right now, the most important thing is to fill that person's belly, sigh."

The four looked at each other and couldn't help but sigh in unison.

Faced with the imperial envoy and the Thirteen Protectors, could the Prince of Shu stand up for himself?
Jiannan Road has a rugged terrain with many mountains, and most of the fertile farmland is located in the central basin.

The term "Jiannan" means south of Jianshan Mountain.

The entire northern part of Sichuan is protected by continuous and precipitous mountain peaks, hence the name.

Li Cunxiao's military camp was located between Wenzhou and Fuzhou, and it took less than half an hour to travel between the two counties.

At the same time, this place is also close to Dajian Mountain, and it is only a day's journey to Jianmen Pass, the gateway to Sichuan.

The terrain here is extremely dangerous, known as "one man can hold the pass against ten thousand".

Even martial artists who are not capable of flight are inevitably limited by the terrain here, and can only use 60% or 70% of their full strength.

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

"kill!"

The soldiers' commands were perfectly synchronized, and under the fluttering banners, the blood and energy of thousands of soldiers seemed to solidify like a raging dragon, making the temperature here several degrees higher than outside.

Li Cunxiao stood on the command platform, watching his subordinates drill, while behind him, the Heavenly King Guangmu sat in his palace, overlooking everything.

The soldiers couldn't understand why the general always attended every morning exercise and never let anyone else do it for him.

On the one hand, it's a good thing to be able to show your face in front of your superiors, what if you get noticed and go to the Imperial Guard?

Putting aside other things, I heard that the Imperial Guard's supply of pills is twice that of other camps, and the quality is also higher.
On the other hand, for some reason, everyone felt clearer-headed and more effective in practicing martial arts whenever the general was present.

Is this innate leadership charisma? The aura of a king?
In reality, from an angle unseen by the crowd, specks of malevolent energy flew out from the bodies of thousands of soldiers, eventually converging into a small river that poured entirely into the vajra.

The golden light covered the dimness at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Right now, I have more than 6,000 troops under my command, who take turns training and can provide me with a wave of killing intent every three days."

"The current income is not as much as the income from eliminating demons, but the former is a steady stream of income, while the latter is a one-off deal. They are not comparable."

"When you have tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands, of men under your command, the daily profits will be a terrifying number."

Li Cunxiao was quite satisfied with this. With these two gains, he had already made preliminary deductions and improvements to "Eight-Foot Dragon Soaring".

The modifications made it easier to cultivate, less dangerous, and more suitable for the combat environment of the mountainous region of Sichuan.

The Central Plains and the North are mostly plains, so fighting in the field there is completely different from fighting in the field here.

By adapting to local conditions and specializing in different types of troops, it will be easier to conquer Sichuan in the future and establish a foothold there.

"Big Brother," Li Guangyi whispered as he jogged over.

"The supplies from Fuzhou have arrived."

"Not slow at all," Li Cunxiao smiled slightly as they walked to the entrance of the military camp.

Huang Bairen was waiting there respectfully, with an endless line of horse-drawn carts behind him, each one fully loaded.

Without even removing the tarpaulin, Li Cunxiao could smell it with his exceptional sense of smell.

Of these more than one hundred vehicles, more than half carried rice, flour, and meat, as well as consumables such as cloth and medicinal herbs.

In the middle of the caravan, there were four huge carts, which were not only pulled by strange beasts mixed with demon blood, but also covered with a lot of medicinal herbs to isolate their aura.

Huang Bairen noticed the other person's gaze and was about to explain when Li Cunxiao quickly walked over, lifted the lid, glanced at it, and revealed a hint of joy.

"This item has come at just the right time."

"Demon meat field?"

Upon hearing this, Li Guangyi quickly caught up, and after confirming it, he was taken aback and turned back to give Huang Boren a deep look.

The latter immediately stopped in his tracks and turned away quite consciously.

"Guangyi, I have made some modifications to the Eight-Foot Dragon Soaring Method recently."

"You shall teach this improved technique to all the soldiers."

"I will also take this opportunity to lay off the old and weak from my personal guards, and then select the best from among them."

"Young and promising individuals will be assigned to the Royal Guard, while the rest will be incorporated into regular units."

Li Guangyi took it and saw that it was a booklet titled "Red Scale Skill," with little content and simple, easy-to-understand language.

“Brother, now that you are in charge of the army on your own, things are different from before. The army should have a title.”

"Name?"

Li Cunxiao glanced at the soldiers practicing with spears and clubs in the drill ground and blurted out:

"Let's call the regular troops the White-Spear Army."

"As for the Imperial Guard," he pondered for a moment, then a flash of inspiration struck him.

"How about calling him Imperial Guards?"

(End of this chapter)