Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 176 Drawing the Bow to Shoot the Sky, Shifting the Source of Calamity

As Xuan Chong conquered his way to the highest heavens, vast amounts of spiritual energy fell from the heavens and poured into Lelang City.

The people of the city, still indulging in the "Emperor's Intoxication" dream, continued to maintain production.

In the workshops north of the city, the spiritual energy of the five elements is transformed into firewood, wooden poles, iron materials, and other items.

These things appeared out of thin air in these workshops; and the craftsmen used the materials in these workshops to forge bows and arrows and prepare kerosene. Some time-consuming processes, such as the painting process, required months of air drying; however, in the dream, all it took was to put the workpiece in the warehouse, close the door, and then open it again, and the workpiece was done in an instant.

The reason why the troops led by Xuan Chong can continuously generate weapons is because they are formed from the dreams of the people of the whole city as "oxen and horses".

Of course, the "oxen and horses" analogy is a joke. The "Emperor's Drunkenness" must be shared among the virtuous; if enjoyed alone, the five virtues will be depleted. What constitutes virtue? Naturally, it's "the more you work, the more virtue you gain," and this work in the dream isn't without reward. The more these city dwellers produce in their dreams, the more spiritual energy they receive; this spiritual energy can guarantee freedom from illness and disaster, and an increased lifespan.

Just after the Xuanchong Corps completed its final battle on the seventh floor, all the people in the city's dream suddenly heard the sound of gongs. They put down their work and went out, then followed the watchman's lead and gathered in front of the City God Temple.

In front of the City God Temple square, the Wu Hanluan statue, which was originally created by Xuan Chong, came to life and stepped down from the winged tiger that was still a stone statue under its crotch (the winged tiger was not dead yet, so it could not be used with the power of incense and prayers). With each step it took, it grew one zhang (about 3.3 meters) larger, and finally stood in front of the people like a giant spirit god.

Wu Hanluan, who had been resurrected in the dreams of many people, addressed the bewildered crowd, saying: "I was killed by an assassin! The assassin was sent by a treacherous minister in the court; my soul is about to return to the land. My nephew Wu Fei, courtesy name Yuanchang, is loyal, filial, respectful, honest, and trustworthy, and is capable of shouldering great responsibilities and can succeed me."

At this announcement, all the citizens of Lelang City awoke. After leaving their homes, they began to share their experiences from the dream.

Citizen 1: "Hey, General Wu just appeared in my dream!"

Citizen 2: "Yes, you saw it too?!"

Citizen 3: "I thought it was just me, but hey, there are treacherous officials in the court, did you hear that?"

Other people also seemed to be ignited, and they started discussing it all at once.

The hot-tempered man said, "Wang the bastard, they're still slandering us, saying it's a plague caused by our commander's moral failings. It turns out they're deliberately framing us!"

The public said, "Thanks to our General Yuan Chang, who rushed into the underworld and rescued the old marshal."

As they were discussing, a loud rumble of thunder sounded in the sky. The people of Lelang City, and even the people of the entire Zhenzhou, all looked up at the sky as a colorful cloud descended from above.

...above the nine heavens...

The seventh level has ended, and Xuan Chong holds the lotus seed high. At this moment, all the illusions around them are broken. After everyone walks out of the cell, they see that the cell is actually on a huge platform, which is made of mountain rocks.

The paved area is dragging everyone down towards the ground.

As he fell, Xuan Chong looked up in all directions and could feel the huge abscess below Lelang City beginning to dissipate.

These pustules are formed from the points projected by the evil moon above as it attempts to absorb planetary matter.

At this moment, within the green evil moon region, the projection of the Chaos Azure Lotus had fully descended; the blue beam of light had deciphered the information of the green evil moon and landed directly on the most "rich" and fertile area. Terrifying blue light burst forth in the garden, and the fertile nutrients collected by the Lord of Decay, upon encountering the unreasonable Azure Lotus, were directly decomposed into the purest spiritual energy.

The entire highest heavens echoed with the despairing cries of the Lord of Decay. As for the surging spiritual energy, it naturally flowed back to the Xi Ren Realm along the lotus seed trail left by Xuan Chong. Back then, Xuan Chong was very curious as to why Wu Qing could obtain attribute points from the system for free!
Right now, at Bai Renfeng's place, endless spiritual energy is being released in his dantian, endlessly replenishing it, and this replenishment does not consume the system's inventory.

Returning to the present, the influence of the evil moon on the mountains and rivers still exists.

Xuan Chong keenly observed that these "instabilities" that were originally located below Lelang City were now beginning to flow along the mountain and river veins to the areas surrounding Zhendi.

Note: All instability stems from emotions within humanity. After Wu Fei quelled the plague in Lelang City and resolved the root of despair, the "suspicion" and "speculation of conspiracy" within the entire Zhendi humanity flowed towards those who had previously instigated the problem!
Just like Xuan Chong's previous life in communication studies, when a certain school of thought deliberately exaggerates the seriousness of a problem.

Once the seriousness of the issue is clarified and the parties named in the dissemination are proven innocent, public attention will not disappear but will shift to the "initiator".

The immortal sects of Da Yao discovered the problem of Zhen Di in this incident, and to some extent participated in the discovery and amplification of the problem. After "despair" spread, Wu Hanluan finally lost control of Jin Dou and played with fire, resulting in his own demise.

Now that the Wu Hanluan incident is over, the problem of the "despair" among the people of Zhendi has been fundamentally resolved.

However, in the half of the world related to this matter, "doubt" arose in droves, and these "doubts" circled back to the previous "solemn vows".

Previously, the immortals had solemnly sworn that the plague and evil spirits affecting half the world were attributed to Wu Hanluan Shide of Zhendi.

The charge of "immorality" will not disappear, but will shift! Because the atmosphere of "punishment" has already emerged.

Xuan Chong is currently unaware of the specific connection between the power of the Evil Moon and the emotions of humans in the Human Realm.

Otherwise, given Xuan Chong's petty nature and extremely low moral standards as a modern person, he would inevitably cause trouble.

The system deliberately avoids explaining the connection between "the evil moon bringing evil to the world" and "the joys and sorrows of human life." It's like the "teacher" understanding this "student's" personality and being extremely prone to excessive retaliation.

The system had blocked information, but with Xuan Chong's intelligence, after seeing the huge "instability" flowing along the mountain range toward the few remote but radiant areas of the Great Yao World, he still realized the connection between them.

Suddenly, Xuan Chong understood why the surrounding immortals had set up formations from the very beginning.

Xuan Chong: They are not clean either. All the immortal mountains have been polluted by the evil moon. So these immortals are trying to make the problems in Lelang County worse, taking the calamity upon themselves.

The celestial mountain is under calamity, which means it will be drawn to the evil moon. The immortals are exacerbating the problems in Zhen by sealing off the mountains and rivers. In the end, they are waiting for the entire Lelang City and even Zhen to fall into the demonic realm and ascend to the evil moon above.

After consuming one city, Xie Yue will temporarily stop consuming the Immortal Mountain.

Xuan Chong is currently unaware of the current situation: human despair and hope are relative. When the masses place their despair on one object, they will leave their hope for another. Therefore, the Immortal Sect's operation is extremely utilitarian: "designating a certain force to represent incurable despair" so that they themselves can represent hope! This is what is known as stealing destiny.

This is similar to the logic of the lighthouse in Xuan Chong's previous life. The lighthouse is bad, but as long as it is proven that some other forces are even worse, and the lighthouse is at odds with them and can defeat these forces, then everyone will place their hopes on the lighthouse.

The evil moon devours the human world by relying on the power of emotions. The immortals are quite clear about this when they are doing divination. As long as they can ensure that the world has positive emotions towards them, the immortal mountain can be spared from calamity.

Xuan Chong was unaware of the details above, but his current understanding was that the Immortal Sect was trying to use him as a shield from disaster. This understanding was not incorrect.

Xuan Chong exploded in anger: "Why not direct this natural disaster to sparsely populated areas instead of making densely populated areas suffer it? What kind of logic is that?"

Xuan Chong gradually became certain: "The Immortal Sect and I have a natural conflict of interest."

Therefore, while he was still at a high vantage point, Xuan Chong shot arrows in ten directions towards the "location of the radiant light" of these immortals (the various sects). All the arrows were bound with "bamboo tokens," which were used to demand answers and punishment.

The arrow flew out from the sky, and under the combined influence of spiritual and malevolent energy, it flew straight toward those mountains and rivers.

The soldiers watched as Xuan Chong inexplicably drew his bow and shot a "command" into the sky, and they were all discussing it amongst themselves.

Soldier A: "What's over there?"

One of the soldiers, Ding Yi, with keen eyesight, said, "It seems like there's a halo around it."

Although mortals have impure bodies, they have all been in contact with lotus seeds after the recent battle; relatively speaking, their eyes are more likely to retain innate supernatural abilities such as spiritual insight and immunity to all poisons.

Soldier: "I'm afraid there's some strange beast in the sky. Our general is said to have been eating dragon meat when he was conquering the south."

…the mortal world's immortal desires…

Amidst the soldiers' lively discussion, Bai Renfeng silently gazed at the colorful clouds above Xuan Chong's head. Protected by these clouds, he felt himself being bathed in a peculiar power, a power that Bai Renfeng couldn't detect in any way, only able to clear away some dust and debris.

Bai Renfeng had only been cultivating for a short time, and he was unaware that his journey against the tide had yielded merits that even the God of Mountains and Rivers could not accumulate over a thousand years.

The gods of mountains and rivers are currently struggling to avoid being robbed by the corrupting and devouring power of the evil moon. They rely on the endorsement of the evil aura of the king and his ministers to protect themselves, and on the power of "merit" to ward off this contamination.

As for the cultivators, given the scale of merit Bai Renfeng has gained, if the elders had known in advance, they would have definitely made the trip themselves.

However, "merit" is something that can be encountered but not sought. In particular, actions driven by utilitarian motives often run counter to merit.

Bai Renfeng didn't come seeking anything; he came in accordance with his own Dao heart. He went against the utilitarian desires of others, seeking self-enlightenment.

Bai Renfeng paid little attention to merit. At this moment, watching Xuan Chong "pointing out the landscape," he couldn't help but recall the ancient texts that described someone with "enlightened insight, skilled in listening, able to discern reason, know the past and future, and understand all things!"

Bai Renfeng thought to himself, "It's a real pity that the sect didn't take him in back then."

In the cultivation world, many talents have been summarized, but not all talents are suitable for cultivating immortality; however, among those talents that cannot cultivate immortality, there are also top-tier talents. For example, the characteristics of the talent of Tongming are that they are good at listening, can discern reason, know the past and the future, and understand all things!

Four thousand years ago, when the "Cheng Dynasty" ruled the world, a person with such talent entered the Jade Vault Gate of the Chan School.

After joining the sect, this young man displayed remarkably poor aptitude, enduring until the age of seventy within the Jade Vault Sect. Although he could recognize all techniques, his cultivation made little progress, and the techniques remained elusive. As the foremost orthodox sect at the time, the Jade Vault Sect recruited only those with exceptional spiritual roots. Upon seeing this junior brother, they were quite puzzled and inquired why the sect did not advise him to return home.

At that moment, the sect leader of the Void Reversal Realm smiled.

Immediately afterwards, the world fell into chaos, the emperor lost his virtue, and the state of Yao, as a vassal state, began to add the title of king and conquer the world. It was this disciple who descended the mountain and successfully assisted the king, ultimately achieving a dynastic change that only happens once every few thousand years.

This disciple of the Jade Vault Sect, a prominent figure in the Chan School, erected the Investiture Platform in Qi, completed the conferment of titles upon 8,563 righteous gods, and re-established the order of command over the gods of the human world by the emperor.

This is the characteristic of the enlightened mind: "The mind does not worship all laws, yet all laws reside within the mind."

Xuan Chong now gazes at the sacred mountain where various sects reside, holding his bow and shooting arrows one after another.

Seeing Xuan Chong about to aim the arrow at "Qinghua Sect," Bai Renfeng quickly said, "General, please have mercy."

Xuan Chong paused slightly, and after listening to Bai Renfeng's explanation, he sighed: "Then so be it. But I need to explain to you that even if I don't shoot, your sect will still fly towards the evil moon."

Bai Renfeng was stunned for a moment and said helplessly, "Thank you for informing me, General."

Xuan Chong said to him, "There is a new mountain gate 800 li west of Lelang City. I can grant you the title there."

…The immortal path trembled…

The moment the Great Array of the Earth Collapsed, all the sacred mountains cried out in grief.

It was as if Mount Ling was locked in place by something. The bamboo-shaped decree flew over, proclaiming the karmic ties (conflicts) between Chong and the Immortal Sect under the witness of heaven and earth.

Of course, the first place to suffer the backlash is not the sect's sacred mountain, but rather the places where feng shui formations are set up.

In a certain main formation in the Zhen region, the originally ethereal formation base suddenly developed numerous cracks, within which a chilling demonic aura emanated.

When the Jade Mirror Sect cultivators observed the sudden appearance of the Demon Abyss underground using their magic mirrors, they cursed the sword cultivators of the Azure Flower Sect, saying, "Sword madmen, look at the mess your scum has made!"

Half-skeletal, half-rotten flesh creatures crawled out of the dark cracks and pounced on the sect disciples who hadn't had time to run away. The skeletons embedded themselves into the disciples, and then these disciples, who were controlled by the skin, began to fight other sects in a bizarre manner.

The many immortals who participated in blocking the land were now like unlucky guys who were squatting next to a latrine and ended up getting their faces covered in excrement from firecrackers.

After retreating in disarray for more than ten miles, the disciples of the various immortal sects discovered that the cracks were spreading towards their own mountain gates, and were horrified to glimpse the chaotic scene of demons dancing wildly deep within the cracks.

Seeing the rampaging demons, they finally remembered the plight of all living beings. The immortals gazed at the monster crawling towards them from the abyss.

A disciple of the Wuyun Sect, who had previously sealed off the mountains and rivers, activated his protective spiritual light. Facing the demons that had locked onto him, he shouted in fear, "We cannot allow such evil creatures to appear in the world, or all living beings will be in grave danger!"

Little did they know that while they were sealing off the entire Zhen region, these evil creatures would randomly spawn from the village wells at night.

A month ago, when the chaos in Zhendi was at its worst, Xuan Chong sent troops to sweep through the area, but "demons and monsters" still appeared in an endless stream, and no disciples from the Immortal Sect came to help.

These creatures now randomly spawn and gather at the foot of the mountain gates of various immortal sects. For these sects, the demonic calamity is now aimed at them.

At the Lingjian Sect, the sect leader sensed the demonic tide gradually approaching the mountain gate, and his expression changed drastically. He immediately and righteously requested that the patriarch leave a contingency plan.

Ignoring the objections of his fellow disciples, the sect leader immediately returned to the depths of the sect to prepare to retrieve the sect's sacred "Zhu Xian" evil sword to face the calamity.

…The stage and the viewing platform are reversed…

The colorful clouds landed on the west side of Zhendi, while Xuan Chong led his troops back to Lelang City. Sitting on his tall horse, Xuan Chong carried the martial furnace and paraded all the way to the Prince's Palace.

This martial arts furnace was not intimidated at all, and proudly accepted the gaze of the people of Lelang City.

It wasn't until they arrived at the city lord's mansion, when Xuan Chong was about to discuss serious matters with his advisors, that he deliberately poked Xuan Chong's face with his stubble. Only then did Xuan Chong jump away from him, but he still refused to leave.

After Gongshu Wang took out a small wooden toy car, Wu Lu happily drove it to the side to play.

Xuan Chong looked at the child and seemed to see a trace of his younger self, but it was also completely different. Then, he rationally recalled his memories and confirmed that it was the young Wu Fei, not the teenage Xuan Chong. He was now Xuan Chong, who was Wu Fei.

After realizing once again that he was a time traveler, Xuan Chong looked at the stars in the sky.

Xuan Chong: "My initial personality consciousness did not grow in this world. I have always been playing a historical role in this world. No matter how well I play it, I am still not a person of this world. Alas!"

Xuan Chong sighed and defined the nature of the family relationships here: "I can acknowledge them, but I can't commit to them."

Yao San Niang, now known as Wu Yao Shi, stood a hundred paces away. Now, meeting Wu Fei's rational gaze, she felt inexplicably flustered.

While everyone else was foolish, Yao San Niang was a high and mighty fairy. It was she who, with a flick of her wrist, manipulated the "evil moon attraction" that brought misfortune to the major immortal sects in Lelang City.

However, when she was with Xuan Chong, she unconsciously showed the demeanor of a little girl. Wu Yaoshi had the most contact with Xuan Chong and had been trying to "preach" to him all along, but without success. As a cultivator, she had repeatedly lost in "debates of reason," which was an unprecedented suppression she had suffered since she achieved enlightenment.

Fools will never know the truth, because they will forget it before it comes to light. But Xuan Chong, though not "particularly shrewd," is taking every step toward the truth.

Back then, Xuan Chong immediately sensed that Yao San Niang's motives seemed impure. And even today, that same vigilance hasn't dissipated.

Now, Yao San Niang saw the light of absolute rationality in Xuan Chong. She knew that Xuan Chong still carried that cold-hearted clarity today. Although he was happy to see family affection, he could wake up at any time. And once he was awake, when he looked at the martial furnace, and even himself, he would scrutinize it as if he were looking at the "sand of the Yellow Springs" and find out how many grains of millet there were.

Of course, it was precisely with this clarity of mind that Xuan Chong was able to step out of the "Rotten Evil Moon" space, which could distort reality.

Under Xuan Chong's gaze, mosquitoes would no longer suddenly grow larger, bricks and tiles would no longer suddenly sprout eyes, swords would no longer roar, and the characters in books would no longer dance.

After Wu Fei's return, Yao San Niang realized that she couldn't shake the person by her side at all.

…husband and wife in harmony…

Twenty days later, Xuan Chong held a cenotaph for Wu Hanluan. Wu Yaoshi accompanied him throughout the entire process, but she did not receive the status of a "legal wife." She could only approach him slightly while carrying her son, and she carefully accompanied Xuan Chong for the whole day.

Meanwhile, Xuan Chong was receiving military leaders from various regions! The former subordinates of Wu Hanluan from places like Donghua County Camp, Longyou Camp, Shui, and Zhuzhou all rushed over after receiving Wu Yuanchang's invitation to hold a funeral for the old marshal! They undoubtedly brought along skilled individuals to observe the aura!

Xuan Chong's original intention was just that. He had already cleaned his own house and invited them over to find out how to divide the spaces he had reserved. Although they were all Wu Hanluan's subordinates, when it came to consolidating his base and dividing power, he had to consider the positions of each party.

Xiang Yu made this mistake when he conquestd the land and bestowed titles upon kings. He failed to do so when he should have, and conversely, he conferred titles arbitrarily when he shouldn't. Almost all of the kings he appointed eventually rebelled against him.

Especially Ying Bu. Should Xiang Yu have rewarded Ying Bu? Yes, but he should have done so during the process of destroying Qin, when Ying Bu would have stood by Xiang Yu without hesitation. But when he consolidated his power base, Ying Bu hesitated and sided with Liu Bang, completely disregarding the loyalty Xiang Yu had shown him by bestowing upon him the title of king.

Xuan Chong's experience: Promote capable people when you can control them, and never delegate power when you cannot control them.

Upon seeing Xuan Chong in the camp, Li Zhao, the commander of the Donghua County camp, said without hesitation, "Now that the old general has passed away, we are willing to serve General (Wu Fei) as our lord."

Xuan Chong looked at this very capable fellow and nodded. As for those who weren't, they were the two garrison leaders from Zhou and Zhuzhou. In Xuan Chong's mind, once things had stabilized and he had completed the unification and arrangements with the people of Donghua and Longyou prefectures, he would have to replace the military commander of Zhuzhou.

Xuan Chong was very clear about what the officials in Shui and Zhuzhou were thinking; they simply wanted Wu Hengyu to return and succeed to the throne.

But is that even possible? It's simply that they feel Wu Fei isn't close enough to them; their ranking under Wu Fei is lower than when Wu Hengyu was in charge. They've forgotten "who the boss is." As a minority, they can't change anything. If they want a better life, they have to be sensible.

As for how to control the military commanders in both regions, the answer is to start with their subordinates. These two men have only eight hundred men under their command, and Xuan Chong firmly controls the retirement benefits and welfare of the veterans.

Replacing them would be like shaving their heads. Xuan Chong didn't directly harm them at the moment; he needed to separate them from the factions that supported him!

If Xuan Chong removes them without informing his subordinates, other factions will be afraid, worried that they too will be removed by Xuan Chong's word.

To be precise, one needs to have a general from another faction actively propose to strike at these two idiots (after severing ties with them), and only after the ordinary soldiers of the Wu family army in both places have also become disloyal to these two bastards can one take action.

This is similar to the situation in Xuan Chong's previous life in the international arena, where Mao Zedong's forces dwindled because he was too used to taking the initiative to discipline his underlings, making them afraid that their boss would resort to violence at the slightest provocation.

As for the Eastern side, after their business grew and they gained followers, they strictly adhered to the principle of "never taking drastic measures unless the clowns fire the first shot."

When it's necessary to discipline a younger child, it's often the other younger sibling who has to step in.

This gave the younger members a sense of security, and the team grew larger and larger as they fought.

(End of this chapter)