Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 182 Warfare is about trajectories.

In February of the third year of the Tianyou calendar, a train from Lingnan to Longnan was undergoing trial operation.

During the journey, it wasn't just the feng shui formation that was exerting its power; as one of the trains unfurled its sails, the front of the train was also emitting steam to assist.

Just as Zhendi emerged from the plague, a revolutionary industrial technology was completed in Lingnan.

A large quantity of iron sand from the Southern Frontier was transported to a large factory in Tianchi City, Lingnan. The ore was poured into a specially constructed pit, and the jade array activated a grand alchemy formation. At the bottom of the liquid-filled pool, metallic crystals appeared in the ore.

These gravel mixed with metal crystals were dredged up, and the metal particles were extracted through huge sieves, similar to those used in gold panning. The ore was then ground up for further refining.

In the Lingnan blacksmith workshop cluster, more than 500 professional engineering project teams, following the planned workshop assembly line, begin to select materials one by one, then inspect the jade array, clean the alchemy tanks that are comparable to swimming pools, and then test the quality of the steel products.

Alchemy is primarily a metal-based magic, capable of corroding or melting armor. Jamud is a mage with this attribute, and the bronze coffin he initially controlled was an advanced evolution of this technology.

It is now being used in production. Xuan Chong watched as large amounts of iron sand precipitated into liquid metal in the pool, feeling that his knowledge of physics and chemistry had been restructured.

Xuan Chong has always believed that steelmaking is a process of oxidation and reduction between iron and carbon at temperatures of over 1,000 degrees Celsius.

But now, in this pool filled with jade, under the power of alchemy, the metal in the iron sand is continuously precipitated out, with an average of one hundred kilograms of iron sand settling out every hour, and then poured into the furnace to be smelted.

Such a steelmaking pool can produce two tons of refined iron a day with three shifts; in a year, including the array's cooling time, it can produce seven hundred tons of iron.

…Steel was forged, and then transportation…

The mechanical train has now broken through Longyou, and the next stage is to enter Zhendi.

With the addition of rubber potatoes transported from the north, the train now looks more and more like a mechanical train. The rear power source is still jade, but the front section is a piston steam engine.

The iron wagons could maintain a transport capacity of 40 tons per month. This capacity was not high, and it could only support about 5,000 main combat troops. However, they could travel from Lingnan to Zhenzhou with almost no conscription or labor.

In the three months since Xuan Chong returned from the southern border, the entire world's sects have been plunged into a strange atmosphere; the major sects are still nominally unwilling to budge, but in reality, they dare not make any rash moves against Xuan Chong, who "has already formed the aura of a king" on the western frontier.

The "righteousness" of the righteous path is written on one's face, so one must not lose one's upright and dignified appearance. The major immortal sects have sent their disciples to Zhenzhou more than once to persuade the various forces that the Wu family army is dealing with.

These wealthy families who held sway over the region had all worshipped religious sects in the past. Over generations, many prominent local gentry had invited these orthodox disciples to exorcise evil spirits and ward off disasters for their families.

Xuan Chong said to Wu Juwang and the other disciples, "The sect's network of relationships is far more complex than you can imagine."

Now the sect is using every means at its disposal, all for the same condition of "ceasefire and reconciliation" that was agreed upon last time.

However, the Immortal Sect hoped that Wu Xiaoque would soften her stance and issue a decree of self-reproach.

…Xuan Chong: Hahahaha…

On a newly risen sacred mountain west of Zhenzhou, an inscription on a stele at its entrance reads "Shushan." A Daoist temple is being established here, a reward from Xuan Chong to his fellow Daoists who stood shoulder to shoulder with him in the south. This reward has aroused envy among the various immortal sects.

Bai Renfeng met with his friend He Chengda, who looked at Bai Renfeng with a hint of doubt on his face.

He: "Now all the fellow immortals are saying that you helped Lord Zhen obtain the ancient weapon."

Bai Renfeng: "I assisted Lao Guanghou in obtaining the ancient weapon, but whether it is 'inauspicious' is undetermined."

He: "If you commit violence, I will not forgive you."

Bai Renfeng stared at him: "The world is in chaos, but the 'righteous' Taoist sect always benefits and prospers; now I am doing this for the peace of a city, which will be detrimental to the Taoist sect. Is this 'inauspicious'?"

He: "You really want it?"

Bai Renfeng: "Yes. If you are a villain, we will sever all ties today; but if you are a gentleman, you can come here in the future to pass on a legacy."

Upon hearing this, He nodded: "Alright, we have different paths, so let's make our own plans today."

Having said that, he drew his sword. However, Bai Renfeng cleaved his sword in two with a single strike.

Bai Renfeng sighed as he looked at him, then rode his sword toward Zhendi.

…from the mountains and fields to the bustling city…

Upon seeing Xuan Chong, Bai Renfeng immediately bid him farewell and took out lotus seeds.

Xuan Chong paused for a moment: "Immortal Master, what is this?"

Bai Renfeng: "I am a Qi cultivator, and this item has been of great help to me. However, because I often benefit from it, my sword intent is unclear."

Xuan Chong, seeing this, was filled with respect, put away the lotus seeds, and nodded: "We are even. If you ever see me enriching myself at the expense of the people, you are free to draw your sword against me without hesitation. Of course, if you consider those who eat meat as 'the people' and hold me accountable, I will not accept it!"

Bai Renfeng: Take care, my lord. I hope we never meet again!
Xuan Chong watched as Bai Renfeng flew away into the distance once again and exclaimed, "A true sword immortal!"

"If I were to embark on the path of cultivation, perhaps I would take him as my role model," Xuan Chong murmured to himself.

The system suddenly appeared and mocked, "You don't have the qualifications, you don't have the heart for it. Just be a soldier."

Xuan Chong was not annoyed by these sarcastic remarks, and nodded nonchalantly.

…Entering the Dao does not require seeking immortality…

In May, with the official opening of the train service, three high platforms were erected in Lelang City. On these platforms, Xuan Chong led the people of the entire city in a grand sacrificial ceremony.

Despite possessing the power to overcome nature, the legitimacy by which he unites the people remains the divine right of kings under the Great Yao system.

Therefore, after accomplishing something, one must make a vow to Heaven in order to further strengthen the legitimacy of one's subsequent actions.

In his past life, Xuan Chong mocked other ethnic groups, saying, "I saved you, but you say it's God's doing?"

Xuan Chong's current behavior follows a similar logic: "I helped you save yourselves, but it wasn't me who saved you; it was the will of Heaven." Of course, he adds the line, "As Heaven's movement is ever vigorous, so should a gentleman constantly strive for self-improvement."

The belief in the Way of Heaven is somewhat different from certain narrow monotheistic beliefs.

Narrow-minded belief: If you save him, he thinks it's God's doing, and believers don't comment on the rescuer.

In the belief in the Way of Heaven, the rescuer saves all people, and Heaven certainly has pity on all people. However, those who can gain Heaven's favor are "those destined by Heaven, and the rescuer's actions are judged."

The rescuer is considered to have received divine mandate. This is the logic of "everyone is responsible for the rise and fall of the nation" in Eastern culture.

The act of saving someone should be seen as a divine mandate to do good, not as an attempt to atone for some original sin.

If there are no benefits, who will save the world? Only when a belief system designates someone as the one to save the world, bearing the mandate of heaven, can the blood of heroes be inspired.

Xuan Chong: "From this point of view, in the past, there was no more devout people than the people of the East. The West would still ridicule God and feel that God had no control over them; but when the world was at peace in the East, basically all the people of the Chinese nation would firmly believe that the person who brought peace to the world was 'ordained by Heaven'."

Since ancient times, the people of the Xia people have never speculated about the benevolence or evil of Heaven. Just like the Yellow River's elbow strike, no matter how unreasonable it is, they have to accept it. If one day someone can make sense of the fickle nature of Heaven and make the Yellow River Mother behave, then that is the will of Heaven. During the grand ceremony of worshipping Heaven, people from all walks of life in the Zhen region devoutly followed Xuan Chong in bowing and praying to Heaven.

Xuan Chong, who was tasked with suppressing the rebellion in Fengtian, was dressed more formally than ever before. After reciting the prayer, Xuan Chong was imbued with a sense of "divinity."

Even after stepping down from his pedestal, the people of Zhendi still looked at Xuan Chong with a sense of awe, as if he were a saint.

Xuan Chong concludes: In the process of civilization development, a country and a social group all need a core of reverence.

After the ceremony, as required by the ritual, Xuan Chong shot an arrow towards what he considered to be the direction of the disloyal. According to the ritual, this was to use the state as the foundation, the people as the platform, and divine weapons to suppress evil spirits from all directions.

Xuan Chong said to those around him, "These lewd cultists are always causing trouble, so I can't be blamed for it."

Xuan Chong's idea was to stabilize the people here, then sever the Immortal Sect's popular support; then he would use the technological weapons he had just acquired to bombard the Immortal Sect, and the ordinary people could just watch and enjoy it.

However, Xuan Chong overlooked the power of the human way in this world.

…When people harbor murderous intent, the world is turned upside down…

In the Wangheng Sect, the ordinary cultivators who were stabilizing the great formation couldn't help but wonder as they watched the sect place spirit stones at the nodes.

Although various demons and monsters often appeared at the foot of the mountain, they were dealt with by the fellow disciples as soon as they approached the mountain gate.

Why repair the great formation now?
These Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining cultivators were unaware of the power of the Mortal World Calamity.

At the main peak of the mountain gate, in the main hall, the sect leader summoned the second-generation disciple who had failed to ambush Chiyou Mountain a few days ago and asked, "Are you sure that General Zhennan really obtained that ancient weapon?"

This second-generation disciple was the old man who had been captured and then released after confronting Xuan Chong. He said with a bitter face, "It's absolutely true that this strategist obtained the ancient weapon. As for 'releasing us back to the sect,' perhaps he still has a shred of conscience left?"

The sect leader looked up at the dense, ominous clouds in the sky and said with a bitter smile, "He has no conscience? This child has stolen the will of Heaven. We have already made a grave mistake, and our sins are unforgivable."

The sect leader of Wangheng Sect also realized at this moment that he might be being plotted against by some behind-the-scenes manipulators.

They, the immortal sect members, confidently believed that they had found the possibility of controlling a province in the chaos of war, the "Way of Humanity"; but now they were being rejected by the "Way of Humanity".

All eight immortal sects' mountain gates are now shrouded in the malevolent energy of the mortal realm. As the surging malevolent energy pounds against the gates, the sects prepare to simply close their mountains as they have for centuries, only to be horrified to discover that the base of their mountains has been hollowed out by eerie blue flames. If they were to seal their gates to isolate themselves from the malevolent energy of the mortal world, their mountains would immediately be uprooted by the evil moon in the sky.

The sect leader glanced at the Heavenly Mystery Peak Master, who had gone mad from the divination. Before his madness, the peak master's last words were: "The Heavenly Secrets are blocked; this place, the 'Human Path,' is guided by a person of great fortune! Our sects have all become stepping stones for this king to unite the hearts and minds of the people."

Now that he's gone mad and his eyes have been burned out by blue flames, he keeps muttering, "It's all a conspiracy, there's a mastermind behind it all, a mastermind behind it all!"

Of course, there are hidden forces at play. These forces, using the "Dan Hui" (Alchemy Gathering) as a pretext, have begun to orchestrate schemes for various sects.

Ironically, the major immortal sects, which had always sought to avoid the mortal world, became fearful because of the "Yaotianling" incident and dared not close their gates, so they took the initiative to seek a solution in the mortal world; and in doing so, they fell into someone else's trap!

But does the mastermind behind this have it easy?
…The Realm of Xiren: Everyone has a share…

On the other side of Yaodu, Xian Daoren had just escaped from a disaster that nearly turned him into a Chaos Egg (similar to how villains in Resident Evil eventually turn into giant lumps of flesh), and he was clutching his chest.

Xian Daoren has a rather good physique. If Xuan Chong were to comment, his appearance is somewhat similar to Sephiroth from the game in his previous life, making him a true male succubus. His pale skin is now covered with golden lines, locking away the blue power within.

Xiandaoren did not become an idiot during the mutation, but a large part of his knowledge was updated and blocked.

The long-lost feeling of "ignorance" made him extremely uncomfortable, but compared to the feeling of almost becoming chaotic in endless knowledge just now, Xian Daoren bit his tongue to stop thinking about it for the time being.

Just as Xiandaoren began to find clothes to put on, the notebook in front of him suddenly started turning pages automatically. He paused, then remembered something; he was still controlling some plans.

He then opened the divination board and began to divine the situation of the major sects and Wu Fei. Afterwards, a rare look of fear appeared on his face.

Although Xie Yue was firmly holding onto the mountain ranges of the major immortal sects in the sky, he felt something even more terrifying pressing down on the lands of Zhenzhou, Lingnan, Longyou, and Yongzhou.

The current situation where the major immortal sects are gradually breaking away is more like a pimple about to be squeezed out from the edge during the process of this powerful being pressing down on the mountains and rivers!
The few remaining traces of Qingbao Daozun's faith under Xuan Chong's rule have now been completely eradicated.

The Taoist opened his third eye, glanced westward, and his eye was immediately covered in gold and could not be closed. Then smoke began to rise from it.

The faith of scattered mortals, when firmly united in one place, is extremely terrifying. This faith will ignite a terrifying flame of "psychic energy." And only gods can withstand such ignition.

Xian Daoren suddenly broke through a memory barrier, perhaps because the golden power deliberately released a wisp of memory. The purpose was to mock him and Qingbao Daozun behind him.

This glimmer of information is that the Xiren Realm is special compared to other planets. Although individual mortals in the Xiren Realm are similar to those in other worlds, at the level of tens of thousands of people, the collective beliefs of the people of the Xiren Realm are completely different from those of other ethnic groups on other planets.

In other planets, the beliefs of mortals may require dozens of planets to share in order to create gods, but in the Xiren Realm, a single planet can produce all gods.

This is why Xian Daoren, a failed time traveler, could still receive the favor and blessing of the Blue Evil Moon "Qingbao Daozun". Xian Daoren used "transforming the Fuxi Realm" as a bargaining chip to obtain the Blue Blessing.

It is said that even Xian Daoren himself had "forgotten" this crucial information and was unaware of the details of his past transaction with Qingbao Daozun, but now the golden outer god had directly "restored the historical information".

Xian Daoren is now using the Water Mirror Technique to look at the "unlucky fellow" who is receiving the power of divine faith a thousand miles away; however, his mouth is agape. Because in his third eye, which has been reconstructed by golden power, he sees that the person in the center of the vast divine spiritual energy in the Xiren Realm is completely unaffected.

Now Xiandaoren realizes that Xuanchong is not "difficult to corrupt" as he previously thought, but rather "conceptually incorruptible".

The faith power gathered in the Xiren Realm now is enough to corrupt any mortal hero on the scale of any blessing projected by the Evil Moon; but Xuan Chong is still refreshed and even shaking his leg when no one is around.

"Why, why, he receives the blessing without paying any price!" Xian Daoren roared in frustration as he watched Xuan Chong absorb the "divine power" as if it had sunk into the sea.

…System: No feudal superstitions are allowed on school grounds…

"We are all sharpshooters, every bullet eliminates an enemy," Xuan Chong sang while tapping his leg.

Last Monday, I delivered a batch of rare earth steel raw materials to the Chiyou warship. The ship's spirit activated the production line, producing one hundred electromagnetic cannon shells. Then, through a spatial transmission path, I clicked to download them, and the ammunition directly entered my folded backpack in my personal space.

Xuan Chong now deploys his personal mecha and begins charging and loading the electromagnetic cannon, preparing to fire.

Xuan Chong is preparing to conduct target practice against the Immortal Sect from a distance of one or two thousand kilometers! I wonder what effect an electromagnetic cannon could have on the Immortal Sect?
Xuan Chong had no idea that he could overturn these sects; he felt that his actions were merely an "effective warning."

Their mountain gate is an entire mountain, and their electromagnetic cannon isn't firing any nuclear warheads. — Xuan Chong specifically asked the AI ​​(spirit) within the mech to ensure that only conventional projectiles were being fired.

Xuan Chong now just fires a few shots now and then, like using a slingshot to shoot birds. Thinking about how the disciples of the Immortal Sect have to carry defensive magical artifacts around their homes every day before they can even leave, a wicked smile crept across Xuan Chong's face.

So Xuan Chong stood before the high platform, deployed the Chi You mecha, and used an electronic loudspeaker to rebuke the sky: "You block out the sky and the sun, cutting off the path for all living beings to seek the Dao, you deserve to be punished!"

Then, in front of everyone, he picked up the "Heaven-Shaking Bow"—Xuan Chong called the electromagnetic cannon the "Heaven-Shaking Bow," and the people spread the word: "Oh, so this is what a divine weapon looks like!"

However, Xuan Chong was unaware that his curses, which seemed to be a reprimand to the immortal sects, were actually an "edict"; all the city gods in the entire region were repeating Xuan Chong's words, just like "a high-ranking leader is giving a speech, and everyone below is studying and reporting."

Inside the courtyard, Yang Sanniang said to the martial arts furnace she was holding, "That 'cloud' in the sky does not represent the Way of Heaven. These 'clouds' are blocking your father's view, and now your father is going to shoot them down."

(End of this chapter)