Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 171 The Immortal Path Creates Hegemony, the Human Path Unrivaled

In June of the second year of the Tianyou calendar, within Lelang City, Xuan Chong began to strengthen the control of order in the prefecture.

The General's Mansion issued several orders, and the administrators Xuan Chong brought from Bodi (including young men like Wu Juwang) also began to participate in various tasks in Zhendi.

The key focus is on effectively eradicating the plague, such as regularly inspecting all sources of pollution in rivers and implementing measures like filling in stagnant water near villages. This is a matter of humanely ensuring peace and tranquility on earth.

When these newly appointed young people were assigning tasks, they established performance ratings for thousands of officials and set up performance evaluation standards for promotion and scheduling.

Large quantities of draft paper documents replaced bamboo slips; this was because the number of government directives had increased dramatically. Bamboo slip production could not keep up.

No one knows that when Xuan Chong had Wu Ju and the other students do this work, another phrase actually came to mind—"to participate in the reform."

Historical experience shows that no successful reform begins in the imperial court. It always starts from the bottom up. Take the famous Shang Yang reform as an example: it was based on the land reclamation decree, and only after personnel selection was completed at the grassroots level could the policy of emphasizing agriculture and suppressing commerce be fully implemented in the Qin state.

Xuanchong is now preparing to replicate the "urban workshop cluster" policy currently used in Lingnan and southern Xinjiang in Zhendi; the key lies in the statistics of agricultural and non-agricultural populations. Now, Xuanchong is carrying out "epidemic control" and has quietly completed the investigation of the second and third sons of every household under its jurisdiction who do not have the right to inherit land and are attached to the heads of households with cultivated land.

This reform is like warfare. In warfare, the initial intention is to conceal the battle plan; if the intention is revealed, the enemy will use that plan to counterattack. The same applies to reform. When assessing resources, if the intention is revealed from the outset, various conservatives will emerge to obstruct the process.

This was the case during the Hundred Days' Reform at the end of the Qing Dynasty. Before a bottom-up implementation structure had been established and there were no real bargaining chips to negotiate with the Westernization faction and the extreme conservatives, they jumped onto the table and demanded that each faction give up some of their share.

Even though the Westernization Movement faction understood your desire to promote industry, you lacked the capability. Reform requires strength; having strength not only protects you but also your potential partners and the Westernization Movement faction.

The Westernization Movement proponents were worried about this: what if I compromised with you, and it turned into a pattern of "you only make me compromise when you encounter setbacks" and "you have to deal with me first, then fight other parties"? Then I would be left out in the cold. It's said that later generations, when dealing with those European reformers, didn't see things as clearly as Lord Li.

Xuan Chong arranged for Wu Juwang and the other young people to be placed in the newest state government office, provided them with the city lord's personal guards, and assigned them the performance evaluation of the guards.

After the plague, during the comprehensive reforms in Zhen, Wu Ju will have a smooth start in everything.

Decades later, when Wu Ju looked back on his journey under his lord, he suddenly realized that his mentor was actually paving the way for him.

…The world is a turbulent place, and even within it, one cannot see clearly; beyond it, one cannot gain true understanding either. …

Outside of Zhendi, those who claim to be aligned with the Heavenly Dao believe that Wu Fei is engaging in futile efforts.

The Sect Master of Wangheng Sect watched Xuan Chong suppress the plague in the city with the same detached, almost detached, gaze as a gamer observed struggling NPCs within a city. He shook his head with an air of otherworldly wisdom: "Ants struggling for survival, pitiful and lamentable."

The cultivator and his disciples were unaware that their eyes were incredibly blue at that moment, as if their perspective was filtered through a lens.

In these Heavenly Paths, people treat the common folk like straw dogs. When the Wu Family Army's southern route troops poured into Zhenzhou, they were terrified that their great formation was collapsing, after all, the rolling evil energy had already caused a wave of mountains to collapse.

In the eyes of the immortals, this malevolent energy, having dealt with the resistance forces in Zhenzhou, was now retaliating and crushing in all directions; their formation absolutely could not continue to be maintained.

On each mountain, the disciples of the immortal sect who had set up the formations stared in horror at the terrifying cracks on the mountain ranges that formed the foundation of the formations, as well as the scene of all the mountain streams drying up and animals fleeing into the desert.

However, in late June, after the Wu family's southern army occupied the entire territory of Zhen, they temporarily withdrew their evil energy, allowing these immortals to catch their breath.

So the array plates were set up again around Zhendi. Groups of cultivators rode clouds and escape lights to the mountain and water nodes around Zhendi, and set up the array plates again, attempting to seal off the mountain and water energy of Zhendi. In this way, the plague-ridden Zhendi was suffocated, causing the Wu family, who occupied this place, to finally collapse.

Those who practice divination and predict the future are very confident that they have correctly predicted the heavenly secrets. However, they do not care why the "evil energy" has paused, allowing them to recover and rearrange the formation.

…Before the tsunami arrived, the water was receding out to sea…

"Killing aura" is generated by the desire to kill. When the desire to kill is temporarily suppressed, "killing aura" is also temporarily suppressed.

Xuan Chong was quite adept at controlling his troops. When he ordered his army to wage war against a certain type of people in the world, his soldiers and generals would immediately unite as one and carry out the killing against the targets designated by Xuan Chong!
This is because everyone believes that they will benefit from Wu Fei's killing spree, and therefore they will recklessly direct their killing intent toward the enemy designated by Xuan Chong.

Xuan Chong has temporarily withdrawn his targets and is not attacking places like Jizhou that have offended him.

Once the soldiers realized that Xuan Chong had stopped ordering them to stop, and that it would be pointless for them to draw their knives again, and that no one else would follow suit, they temporarily suppressed their murderous intent.

In terms of troop control, Xuan Chong is now like a "dam," able to unleash a torrent at will. — Even Zhao Cheng, currently in the northern border, feels inferior in this respect.

Zhao Cheng: "Wu Fei can fight whenever he wants, but every war I fight is one I have to fight."

However, it is precisely because of Xuan Chong's reserved nature that the immortal sects, now separated from the mortal dynasties, mistakenly believe that Xuan Chong is weak. They mistakenly believe that the murderous aura of the Wu family army has subsided, and that the tens of thousands of troops following Xuan Chong are repenting, reflecting, and ultimately collapsing.

In fact, during the period from June to July when Xuan Chong was gathering the evil energy, he let the major immortal sects off the hook.

However, these immortal sects are all hopelessly "awakened".

In July, the eight major immortal sects, led by Wangheng Sect, repaired the great formation and invited many fellow Daoists from all over the world to come and seal the feng shui formation even more tightly.

Because the resistance of "mortals" was deemed unreasonable by the immortals, a wisp of blue concept was silently passing through the minds of the various immortal sects. In this great calamity, the "military strategists" could only respond under the guidance of the immortal sects.

These immortal sect leaders have all forgotten that in ancient times, during the "transition of the hexagrams," the predecessors of the Chan and Jie sects, whose Taoist lineages were far more complete than theirs, only dared to assist the kings and generals of the mortal world during the great calamity.

Were the two factions of cultivators in ancient times not powerful enough? No! Back then, the human path was even weaker, and spiritual energy could be mobilized in many uninhabited places.

The cultivators then stirred up trouble, causing floods, earthquakes, and plagues that affected villages and towns inhabited by humans. Unlike today, sealing off a province's waterways requires gathering thousands of cultivators and setting up magic arrays along the province's borders.

Overall, the human way will become stronger and stronger in the future.

Because a production revolution has begun in southern Xinjiang, transforming workshops into factories; the jade train has now traveled north from Lingnan through Yongji Pass.

In the next era, there will be fewer and fewer remote places; cultivators who used to "avoid evil energy with spiritual energy" may have to avoid all places in the future, whereas in ancient times they only needed to avoid certain points.

Contemporary immortals may not know what the future of humanity will look like, but they now sense that the version of humanity guided by Xuan Chong poses a threat to them, and they do not want this to happen. (Historical obstacles will not realize that they are obstacles; they will only see themselves as forces of progress recognized by future generations, and now they are hindering them.)

In Yaodu, disciples from various immortal sects were working to persuade the emperor to completely demarcate the various "spiritual mountains and great rivers," assigning them to their respective sects and forbidding ordinary mortals from entering and disturbing them.

…The will of the Xiren realm: “Ignorant of the times”…

In the clouds above the mountains, the immortals who presided over the grand formation continued to watch the "powerless" self-rescue of the city's ragtag inhabitants.

Wang Hengzong's leader, Yue Qunzhuo, calmly watched as the banners of the Wu family army waved continuously on the road in the plain, fighting against the rotten miasma.

A disciple, watching the human general's desperate attack in the water mirror, asked, "Master, shall we not go and help?"

The sect leader said, "Heaven is thus, and human effort is futile. For the sake of all living beings, we will contain this calamity within this city."

In the eyes of these immortal sect leaders, the ultimate result of the corruption of the land will be that the entire Lelang City will be swallowed up by the evil moon in the sky, and the Wu family army will bear the full consequences of the "corruption power" falling to the human world.

Having witnessed countless life and death in the human world, these ancient monsters, whose lifespans are hundreds or even thousands of years, are indifferent to this calamity in the mortal realm.

However, not all cultivators are like this. Within the Qinghua Sect, Bai Renfeng and several other junior brothers and sisters who had originally assisted Wu Hengyu returned to the sect.

As one of the righteous sects, the Qinghua Sect naturally knew the true situation of the source of the plague. So when Bai Renfeng learned that Han Jiangxue had been ordered to reflect on her mistakes, he wanted an explanation. The sect elders presented the facts and evidence to them.

The recording stone played footage, including the scene after Wu Hanluan's eventual death and subsequent absorption by Jin Dou.

In the ensuing silence, Bai Renfeng unleashed his sword's edge, questioning the sect elder: "This calamity originated from Wu Hanluan alone. How innocent are the people of Zhendi?! Just because humanity here is tainted by a slight flaw, you stand idly by. What is the purpose of our so-called exorcism and protection of the righteous path? Is it for our Daoist conscience or for the sect's selfish desires?" ...Human World Dividing Line...

In Lelang City, after Xuan Chong relinquished power, Yao San Niang decided to start brewing Emperor's Intoxication. She wanted to use the dreams and wishes of the entire city to achieve "spiritual enhancement" and bring forth the Black Prison where Wu Hanluan kept the Golden Bucket.

Xuan Chong glanced at the ingredients for brewing Emperor's Intoxication and, after confirming they were non-toxic, acquiesced. However, he then noticed that the ingredients weren't spiritual herbs or medicines, but rather living things that appeared under favorable conditions (like the fresh grass Xuan Chong casually picked after a heavy rain in Chapter 107).
Heavenly Grain: A stalk of nine golden wheat ears, with awns as sharp as needles, and the ears naturally curved into a ruyi (a traditional Chinese symbol of good fortune). It grows beside the altar where emperors offered sacrifices to Heaven, and matures when the extraordinary phenomenon of "millet raining from the heavens" occurs, signifying "the mandate of Heaven." It occasionally appears when a new dynasty is established, and the ears wither within three days of maturity, requiring a jade knife to harvest them.

Pan Tao Jiang: A dried, unripe peach that has grown on a thousand-year-old peach tree, shaped like a baby's clenched fist. Alternatively, it may be the fruit of a peach tree that has "withered but not died" in front of an old folk healer's door, symbolizing "reincarnation." It should be offered before the altar of a centenarian to condense the "energy of life and death."

Ice Heart Spring: Fresh water drawn from a frozen spring at midnight on the winter solstice each year; the water is frozen but not icy, and feels warm to the touch. It is taken from the source of the "Dragon Vein" and must be collected in a silver pot by a virgin who has not yet lost her virginity. It disperses when exposed to sunlight and must be stored in a silk pouch.

Lightning-struck millet: Red millet struck by lightning but not burned, with lightning bolt patterns on the surface of the grains. It is found near the Altar of Earth and Grain after a thunderstorm on the summer solstice, symbolizing "divine punishment cannot invade". When brewing wine, the millet grains must be placed in a bronze cauldron, with the lightning bolt patterns aligned with the Big Dipper.

Jade Paste Clay: A paste-like clay formed from five-colored soil, it feels like grease when kneaded and smells of rice blossoms. Symbolizing "sweet springs gushing from the earth," it must be stored in a sandalwood box. When applied to the inner wall of a wine jar, it can seal the wine and prevent it from evaporating for a thousand years.

Xuan Chong: Where am I supposed to get these materials for you all at once? And—

Yao San Niang: I have all these ingredients. With that, she brought out the jar of wine.

Xuan Chong paused for a moment, then continued reading the following content.

Brewing method: Mix and crush the Heavenly Gift Ears, Peach Blossoms, and Thunderstruck Millet, place them in a pottery jar coated with Jade Paste Mud, pour in Ice Heart Spring water until it is seven-tenths full, and cover the mouth of the jar with mulberry silk brocade (which must be woven by the Empress herself).

Xuan Chong pointed to the brocade on the wine jar. As if knowing what Xuan Chong was going to ask, Yao San Niang said: I wove it.

Xuan Chong continued reading: "The 'celestial catalyst' must be brewed at midnight, during the transition between the winter solstice and summer solstice in the Jiazi year, when the yin and yang energies of heaven and earth are in harmony. The wine jars must be placed outdoors to withstand frost, snow, rain, and dew for forty-nine days each, a process known as the 'Four-Nine Tribulation'."

Xuan Chong spoke slowly and deliberately: "Finally, 'Human virtue is the finishing touch.'" On the eve of the wine's preparation, the reigning emperor must personally pluck a frost flower that has condensed on the jar and drop it into the wine. If the emperor is without virtue, the frost flower will melt upon contact with his hand, and the wine will turn sour; if the emperor is virtuous, the frost flower will transform into the shape of a dragon upon entering the wine.

Xuan Chong: How did you complete this last step?

Yao San Niang dipped her finger into Xuan Chong's mouth, then opened the wine jar. She poured some into it, and instantly, a beam of light radiated out, as if a colorful phoenix had leaped out of it.

Yao San Niang poured the wine into a pre-prepared water vat. The wine, initially amber in color, shimmered with five-colored light as the vat was lifted and shaken. Finally, the wine was poured into the city's clean pool, and instantly the entire city was filled with its rich aroma. At the same time, the sound of birdsong echoed outside the city walls, the vegetation revived, and in the drying corners, mosquitoes were ignited by flames.

Next, the city of Lelang beat drums and gongs, and the people of the city carried buckets to scoop water from the pool and began to take it home to drink.

Yao San Niang raised a cup to Xuan Chong and offered it, saying, "Mortals who drink this can see their past and present lives; emperors who drink it can distinguish between loyalty and treachery, wisdom and foolishness, but cannot achieve immortality. This is your cup."

Xuan Chong looked at the cup of wine and shook his head. He didn't completely believe what Yao San Niang said; after all, the recipe for the Emperor's Intoxication was always associated with certain monarchs with bad posthumous titles in historical records.

Yao San Niang said, “You are drinking this cup not because the Emperor is drunk, but because after the wine is made, it will be distributed to nine virtuous people. Those who hoard it will suffer the calamity of the ‘Five Decays’. But you, my husband, have already distributed it to all the people of the city, and you are a person of great virtue.” After saying this, she looked at the colorful clouds above Xuan Chong’s head.

When the Emperor's Drunkenness was successfully brewed and distributed to the people, Xuan Chong's fortune began to soar.

Xuan Chong shook his head and said, "I don't drink." Wu Lu, standing nearby, said, "Mother, I'll drink."

Xuan Chong slapped the boy on the forehead: "Kids shouldn't drink alcohol."

So they summoned Wu Juwang and bestowed the cup of wine upon him. Meanwhile, Third Sister rubbed Wu Lu's forehead and whispered, "Don't worry, Mother saved a cup for you. Drink it when you're older."

…The waves of psychic energy surged, and the High Heavens began to move…

As the people of Lelang City returned home and fell into a deep sleep, the entire city was filled with bizarre and surreal light. In the eyes of the immortals throughout the land, Lelang City had transformed into a black hole absorbing spiritual energy from all directions, its absorption mechanism mirroring that of the Evil Moon. In other words, Lelang City was creating a "force field," isolating itself from the corrupting influence of the Evil Moon, and hurtling towards it.

Xuan Chong could easily sense that Lelang City, where he was, had become a sphere where space was constantly collapsing and compressing, as if he had fallen into another world.

This is like a sphere that looks only the size of a marble, but can actually hold a basketball inside.

The entire city was amplified by inspiration, and within the space influenced by this inspiration, some ghosts were even able to materialize out of thin air. Of course, upon seeing Xuan Chong, these ghosts trembled and knelt on the ground as if they had seen a ghost. Xuan Chong paused, then withdrew his evil aura.

Xuan Chong opened the prison cell, which contained four hundred unpardonable rebels who had launched a rebellion against Wu Hanluan.

Xuan Chong glanced at the eager demons behind them, trying to draw upon despair, and snorted coldly. These indescribable phantoms dissipated, and the previously insane convicts broke free from the demons' clutches.

Xuan Chong said, "Although you are guilty, the country now has a place where people are needed."

After saying this, the soldiers behind Xuan Chong brought over a basin of spiritual ointment and applied it to the faces of the convicts, removing the tattoos from their faces, but also erasing their appearance.

Xuan Chong had a bronze mirror brought in, and everyone saw that their facial features were blurred, with only their noses and eyes visible.

Xuan Chong: "I need some men to accompany me into the Black Prison, to uproot the evil sown beneath my state. Because this battle is perilous, I do not wish to use my personal guards; you are all sinners, and if you can join me in forming an army, after this battle you can be transformed, your current amorphous faces can be reshaped."

One man shouted, "I'm not afraid of death! I've been waiting to be killed at any moment these past few days!" However, under Xuan Chong's piercing gaze, the man then shouted, "If the general spares my life today, a true man will repay your kindness with his own."

With the first person taking the lead, the others readily expressed their willingness to follow, donning the iron masks distributed by Xuan Chong; there were four hundred people in total. Xuan Chong addressed the group, "Grab your weapons and prepare to come with me."

A soldier wearing a mask numbered 98 asked, "Now?"

Xuan Chong: "Of course, now. The Plague Demon's hiding place in Lelang City has been discovered."

Under Xuan Chong's instructions, everyone donned armor and took up weapons, feeling as if it were a dream. As the leaders of this rebellion, half a month ago they thought their entire families would be implicated, but in the end they were exiled to the southern frontier; now that Xuan Chong had arrived, they thought they were about to die under the executioner's blade, but Xuan Chong once again declared that they could atone for their crimes through meritorious service.

Wu Baichuan, Wu Hanluan's former personal guard, felt uneasy. He looked at Xuan Chong, clearly uncomfortable that the rebels had the opportunity to be pardoned.

Wu Baichuan looked at the warlord he had once forced to eat snake meat: "Could it be that the general is going to reconsider what the old warlord did?"

Xuan Chong's cold words rang in Wu Baichuan's ears: "They are redeeming themselves through meritorious service, so even after this matter is resolved, the traces of rebellion will remain. After this is over, they will be sent to guard the southern border for three to ten years. You will rarely see them in the future."

Wu Baichuan put away his ulterior motives. Serving on the southern border was a tough job, requiring enduring poisonous insects and diseases. From this perspective, these "pardonable" convicts were actually not pardoned. As for staying in the southern border for ten years, if they married and had children, they probably wouldn't return.

Xuan Chong observed the expressions on these people's faces and pondered, "In the process of building a colony, it shouldn't become a place for exiling prisoners; however, sending them to the harsh frontier, compared to other civilized areas, is sometimes indeed a form of punishment. I can't afford to pay the blood money for sending my own troops to the south, so I can only try my best to find those within the colony who have made mistakes and give them a chance to correct them."

…Xuan Chong's reputation was extremely good for these rebels…

As the spatial psionic energy within the city grew stronger, the former "Gladiator Arena" Black Prison building, which had disappeared in the city center, reappeared. At first, it resembled a toy model, but then it grew larger and larger.

At that very moment, a sword light streaked across the sky, and the soldiers nearby immediately formed a battle formation. Xuan Chong didn't have his men protect him; instead, he stepped out from the ranks and said to Bai Renfeng, "You're here to help, aren't you?"

Bai Renfeng stared at Xuan Chong: "What do you intend to do now?"

Xuan Chong: "Downwards, pull out the source of the demonic energy."

Then, revealing the lotus seeds in his hand, Xuan Chong declared firmly, "Purify that place!"

Looking at the vast and pure source of holy power in Xuan Chong's hand, Bai Renfeng sensed that this thing possessed the power to incinerate all things in the world.

Bai Renfeng cupped his hands and said, "If the general's purpose is to remove the source of this filth, I am willing to lead the way for the general."

(End of this chapter)