Wei School's Three Good Students

Chapter 194 The Journey to the South: Slaying Demons and Exorcising Monsters
Just as the two emperors shone brightly within the great hexagram, all the feudal lords were faced with a choice.

However, the decision-makers of the Zhuzhou Lingnan Group did not waste any time on the question of whether the two major kings loved each other or not.

The decision-makers in Zhendi were working overtime. The administrative department, converted from the city lord's mansion, was no longer the leisurely place for scholars and gentlemen; meetings were constantly being held at a rapid pace. At each meeting, everyone laid out maps covered with bamboo slips on the table, chattering about "Can it be done?", "How long will it take?", and "Who needs to cooperate?".

Back when Xuan Chong taught Wu Juwang and others how to govern the prefecture, he used data such as "millet" and "beans" to quantify different resource elements. Now, as Wu Juwang begins to implement new laws, this method is being used at all levels of governance.

After the tasks were finalized at the meeting, each group immediately went to their respective work areas after receiving their assignments.

Some groups are responsible for cultivating fields, while other departments are responsible for supervising workshops to work overtime to manufacture related tools.

Under the coordination of this large administrative department, the Lingnan region mobilized the villages to support Wu Yuanchang's plan to expand Da Yao's territory by another three thousand miles.

Xuan Chong uses the "performance theory" system to evaluate his team.

A governing team must be fluid and avoid stagnation. To prevent deterioration, its energy must be focused on substantive matters such as education, public works, and the military. If the team gets bogged down in low-value issues like "choosing sides" and "opportunism," its capabilities will decline drastically.

In an era of vying for supremacy, Xuan Chong believed the timing was wrong and that strategic resolve was necessary, but it was also crucial to find tasks for the group to accomplish.

As a result, hundreds of thousands of people in Lingnan were mobilized. Even in slave camps, people were eager to contribute to support a brother so that he could enter the military, go out and make meritorious contributions to obtain a title and become their superior.

Note: Most people in the slave camps no longer wanted to leave communal life. The slave camps provided food and drink, and they encouraged people to take the imperial examinations, which could lead to release from slavery. Release from slavery meant receiving a salary, and it also meant that if you didn't perform well, your pay would be deducted, but you wouldn't be whipped anymore.

Xuan Chong: If cattle and horses can read and recite rules and regulations, then they are cattle and horses that cannot be beaten or scolded.

Even so, only one-tenth of the slaves in the slave camp managed to escape slavery through the exams. Therefore, many people in the slave camp now hope to support a brother to join the army in order to save themselves from their suffering.

A horse that doesn't want to improve isn't a good horse...

Xuan Chong's southern expeditionary force had already crossed the Hengjiang River 600 kilometers to the south, and after several months of exploration in the boundless southern jungle, they had carved out a path southward through the endless sea of ​​trees.

After the nutrient blocks on Chiyou Mountain were continuously transported to the southern army, the vast forests became readily available granaries.

After the energy barrier of cellulose, which is difficult for vertebrates on Earth to overcome, was broken through by technology, Xuan Chong's unit, which combines cold and hot weapons, experienced the enhancement of cutting-edge technology.

One by one, compressed biscuit pieces were stuffed into the livestock's mouths, and the horses' teeth developed cavities due to excessive sugar intake.

The horses on the transport line walked continuously, and instead of losing weight, they actually gained weight because they were eating solid grains.

Even during hunting expeditions through the jungle, the piglets left over from killing wild boars were fed with grain. This resulted in a herd of up to a thousand pigs accompanying the army.

The pigs that were kept in the pen stopped running around and stayed obediently in the wooden fence.

The army of 20,000 men tunneled through the mountains like a tunnel boring machine, forcefully carving a road in the south. This road was five zhang wide, with all the trees felled and a layer of rammed earth laid on top.

When Xuan Chong was planning this road, he consulted a feng shui master to determine the best locations for building a stronghold. The key points were proximity to a river for boats to navigate and flat terrain suitable for farming.

During their southward journey, the Xuanchong Group arranged for all the displaced people from the north who were difficult to manage, as well as generals with tainted records, to be relocated along this route, with the intention of forming natural villages in the future.

If this road is a rope hanging on a map, then these natural villages are the "nails" driven in to fix this route in place.

Even though Xuan Chong's army had "nutrient blocks," giving them a significant advantage in supplies, maintaining an army wasn't just about armor and provisions. Wounded soldiers needed care, and transporting goods home required trading posts.

Groups of internal affairs personnel were transferred from the rear, and even disciples like Wu Juwang were called over to take turns practicing.

Xuan Chong knew very well what the most critical thing was during the southern expedition!
In the next two or three years, when the troops are rotated back or when the rear troops come over, if there is not a single person to be seen on this long journey south, the morale of the soldiers who come to serve will waver.

Is the direction of expansion towards "desperate foreign territories"? This question has always existed among business people.

Xuan Chong, leveraging his prestige, declared that heading south would open up trade routes with other countries. However, this route was far too long.

If you can't find a village with a hundred people every hundred kilometers, that's a dead end.

Now, a village is set up every ten kilometers in Xuanchong. Even if the village has a small population, it will let the soldiers marching south know that there is a "thread" connecting them. Even if there are demonic realms and caves ahead, once they have passed through, "no matter how far, they will be within reach."

…and vanquished many demons and monsters along the way.

In Camp No. 03 of the Southern Expeditionary Force.

Shen Wanqing, as the scout of the vanguard legion, had forty brothers under his command, ten warhorses, and carried carrier pigeons and spirit paper figures as they advanced along the mountain road ahead.

After crossing four hundred miles of the southernmost border, they encountered many demonic realms and monstrous caves along the way. Calling them demonic caves is not an exaggeration at all, because many incomprehensible creatures grow here, such as monsters with three goat heads, or tigers with a snake in their mouths.

They even found a tree with a human head, whose body still existed and could speak, speaking the language of southern Xinjiang.

This fiend warned: This is the ultimate demon realm.

As for the Wu family army pushing down the tree and asking him how he managed to hang his head on it, the head, while thinking about it, exploded.

To the people of Da Yao, the people of Nanjiang are already considered demons, but according to their legends, there are terrifying demons in the far south.

The rubber boots stepped onto the leaf-strewn ground, which the soldiers considered their most useful invention, because more than once, these rubber boots had blocked poisonous snakes from the grass.

Shen Wanqing sniffed lightly, sensing a foul odor wafting ahead. Nervous, he immediately ordered his men to prepare their armor and load their muskets.

The so-called "foul odor" refers to the smell left behind after a large-scale biological activity, where the organism did not bury its excrement within its activity area.

Take human-inhabited areas as an example. In rural areas, the view through the window is idyllic, but once the window is rolled down, a strong smell of composting manure fills the air, and following the smell leads to the outhouse. This smell is the "foul odor" of large-scale human activities.

In the wild, lions, tigers, jackals, and wolves naturally don't have flush toilets, and their scent can be detected from hundreds of meters away.

In Journey to the West, those equally powerful beings who had achieved mastery of cultivation resided in elegant gardens filled with birdsong and fragrant flowers. Their outhouses were separated by corridors and concealed by shrubs and flowers such as osmanthus trees.

Sun Wukong judged a demon's cultivation level and background by observing whether it possessed "evil energy" or "divine energy." The Wu family army's southern expeditionary force can apply the same principle, judging an opponent's civility by observing their "energy."

Xuan Chong: We've been fighting the Dragonborn in the north for so many years, but we can't call them "Tartars." They have the ability to produce firearms and armor.

Meanwhile, the leaves in the jungle rustled and swayed with a howling sound. There was a stench, a foul odor, and a smell of rotting wood.

…war!…

After Shen Wanqing waved his hand, the surrounding soldiers immediately gathered together. Forty men, equivalent to the size of a primary or secondary school class, stood together to set up shields to defend the outer perimeter, while muskets were mounted on the shoulders of the front-line soldiers.

The roars from the jungle grew closer, and a being about five meters tall roared as it came running out. It was covered in powdery debris, some of which was hard to tell if it was dirt or dead skin.

The soldiers took a look and exclaimed, "Good heavens! This thing has three arms! The left arm is thick and holds a heavy hammer; the two right arms are thin and long, holding wooden stakes as shields. It's asymmetrical!"

The heavy hammer held by the monster appears to be the leg bone of this "species"; trees in the jungle scrape against its massive body, making a rustling sound, and leaves and insects of all sizes fall from the treetops.

"Musketeers ready!"

"Fire!"

After a round of smoke cleared, the bullets had only pierced the monster's superficial flesh. Bullet holes appeared on the monster's face like freckles, but the flesh and blood quickly fused together at a visible speed. Of course, all of this was within Shen Wanqing's expectations; this southern monster was extremely resilient, and it was impossible to kill it with just a musket.

His purpose in firing this volley of muskets was to determine if there were any reinforcements behind the monster.
After confirming that there were no enemies behind the monster, four agile spearmen and one hook-and-sickle spearman quickly rushed forward.

These warriors, wielding red-tasseled spears, began to dodge and weave in all directions with remarkable agility. When the monster looked to the left, the spearmen thrust to the right, but when they turned their heads to the right, they were met with hooks and sickles on the left, which pierced their ankles.

When facing an oncoming large monster, wielding a sword and shield is insufficient, as the blades are too short and the shields cannot withstand the impact of heavy objects. However, the monsters' clumsiness is precisely what makes the spearmen, whose length and strength are interdependent, a natural counter.

At this moment, the five spearmen easily halted the charge on the battlefield. Of course, these spearmen were no ordinary spearmen; judging from the marks left by the movement of their spearheads, their spears carried spiraling bursts of energy.

The cultivation techniques under Wu Hengyu's command are also available to Wu Fei's Southern Route Army, and are now recorded in the army's secret manual.

Just as the spearmen were engaged in battle, the armor-piercing lances in the formation were set up twenty meters away, their dark muzzles aimed at the monster.

As Shen Wanqing relayed the order, the spearmen holding the front line immediately moved aside. Half a second later, streaks of blood burst open on the monster's body. The monster, in pain, ignored the spearmen's obstruction and charged towards the musketeers, its ferocious aura resembling that of a tiger.

However, the hook-and-scythe group lined up in front immediately arrived, hooking the monster's feet and causing it to stumble and fall.

Of course, the monster was incredibly strong, and these hook-and-sickle soldiers were not as formidable as the previous warriors. They weren't even at the first level of the Acquired Realm. These ordinary soldiers struggled despite the pain of being pierced by the monster, their hands splitting open, and they had no choice but to drop their weapons.

Just as the monster was charging at the ranged units, Shen Wanqing pulled a gourd from his waist. A red light flew out of the gourd, and the giant monster stopped, with a line of blood spreading from its forehead.

Shen Wanqing put away the gourd, took a deep breath, and felt a wisp of malevolent energy entering his meridians along his magical artifact. He shook his head, looked at the military order on his body, and tacitly accepted his current identity.

Shen Wanqing was originally a cultivator. He followed his master's orders and entered Xuan Chong's camp.

After Xuan Chong used the "murderous weapon" to kill the immortal, all the major immortal sects sought to counteract this weapon by finding a "destiny" to overcome it.

Specifically, this follows the pattern of Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods. When a certain magical artifact truly hinders the progress of the plans led by powerful figures in sects, they find someone whose fate is incompatible with the artifact to solve the problem. Taking advantage of the artifact's wielder's laxity, they steal it or cause damage.

In this way, when the person who defied the heavens uses the magic weapon again, the magic weapon will suddenly become ineffective, and he will be killed on the battlefield.

When dealing with a villain like Xuan Chong, these righteous people won't care about any code of honor.

However, the righteous sects overlooked one problem: Xuan Chong avoided battle with Da Yao. Instead, he sent his disciples to the southern demon realm for training.

As a result, Shen Wanqing gradually became immersed in the Wu family army's reward and punishment system, and forgot his own mission.

Half an hour later, the military police who arrived checked the results of the battle, patted Shen Wanqing on the shoulder, and stammered in surprise, "Brother, you, you've accumulated another merit point!"

Along the way, Shen Wanqing accumulated merits and titles through countless battles. The allure of worldly fame and fortune—was it really that tempting? —Shen Wanqing discovered the truth: although murderous energy had entered his body, his martial arts were also rising.

After receiving the rewards for his merits, Shen Wanqing saw only various spirit stones, spirit jades, and demon blood that could be easily exchanged—his martial energy consumed a great deal of these cultivation resources.

Furthermore, the Wu family also provided a brand-new technique called "Red Dust Transfer".

This method involves planting a pine or cypress tree, which is believed to possess spiritual energy, and then transferring the negative energy to that tree. This allows the individual to regain their spiritual energy and resume their cultivation.

Under normal circumstances, the malevolent energy would cause the tree to be struck by lightning and killed, and the malevolent energy would return to its original owner. At that time, the original owner would be devoured and their cultivation would be destroyed. However, as long as the tree is continuously worshipped with incense, it will not be struck by lightning.

The Wu family army provides incense offerings to the loyal and brave soldiers within its ranks, so allocating a portion of their fiefdom for the residents to worship the community tree is not unreasonable. —This method was provided by Yao Sangu and relayed by Ang Ri.

As a result, Shen Wanqing felt increasingly "lost": when he left his sect, his master had carefully taught him. Wu Xiaoque was very ambitious. You were secretly by his side. When he wreaked havoc on the world, you would cut off his lifeline.

However, at this time, the world was in chaos, and after the various warlords "competed for freedom" within the Great Yao, Xuan Chong did not wreak havoc on the world, but instead went directly south to sweep away the demons.

Shen Wanqing returned to the main army and took a deep breath as he looked at the main tent under the canopy of clouds in the center of the 10,000-strong army. He needed to collect enough merit points from the front lines to report the situation to the main camp.

…System: Fortune telling belongs to feudal superstition. …

In the lamplight, Xuan Chong was arranging chess pieces one by one, while the staff officers were revising combat data in multiple battle reports.

Xuan Chong was summarizing: Sword and shield soldiers excel in close combat and possess exceptional agility in forest and urban warfare. However, this world is teeming with monsters—not just ordinary beasts like lions and tigers, but also monsters two or three zhang tall, and even colossal monsters five or six zhang tall. Long weapons become even more useful. In this world, where warriors can possess true qi (martial energy), wielding spears with the qi at the tip having a spiraling drill effect grants them a noble "anti-large" ability.

We now need to adjust the allocation ratio of troops to each battalion.

In this kind of jungle warfare, short weapons are mostly used to clear mountains, sweep away weeds, and chop wood, while long weapons are often the main source of damage.

Xuan Chong looked up at Shen Wanqing, the young sergeant. Xuan Chong had given him a chance to report on the recent encounter in person.

Most battle reports, following the normal procedure, were stamped by Xuan Chong and then reviewed by the General Staff; this "unnecessary" meeting to hear the report was a necessary procedure before "promotion to the grassroots level".

After listening to him recite the battle report verbatim, Xuan Chong looked at his hesitant expression, patted him on the shoulder, and told him, "Work hard, and you'll get resources and fiefdoms."

Shen Wanqing stared at the general for a moment, then bowed and pledged his loyalty. He thought to himself, "I will never have the chance to uphold justice when Wu Fei, this great demon king, is at his most arrogant, to settle the affairs of the world, and then return to the mountains to refine my cultivation with my reputation before and after my death."

Now, he finds himself caught in endless battles, receiving orders and rewards day after day in the army, thus becoming immersed in the mortal world, and his spiritual energy inevitably turns into malevolent energy.

Shen Wanqing received a set of armor made of black iron and a long spear that could release electricity and left. At this time, he was already a "special unit hero" in the southern expeditionary army.

…joining the ranks…

Xuan Chong actually knew that Shen Wanqing was a disciple of a certain sect. He had already been added to his list of targets when Shen Wanqing used his gourd to kill enemies several times. However, Xuan Chong did not know what his mission was! He had only heard that Shen Wanqing had come down the mountain to subdue demons and monsters, and that after settling matters in the human world, he would return to the mountain to cultivate.

Of course, it's unnecessary to know. Xuan Chong's list, which includes Shen Wanqing, is actually an "unreliable list." When faced with these unreliable elements, it's necessary to "cleanse" them.

This purge was certainly not a "physical extermination," but rather a way to divert attention from internal conflicts through external wars. Then, unreliable individuals were bound to positions they had assigned to them.

This is the significance of leading this wave of troops on a large-scale expedition to the south. "Bo Xi, valiant and capable, a hero of the state. Bo Xi wields his spear, leading the king's vanguard."

Xuan Chong watched as Shen Wanqing's steps grew heavier and heavier outside the tent, and he was restrained by the war drums.

He muttered to himself: "Cultivating immortality? You think you can just go back to the mountains and live a secluded life here? I used to dream of cultivating immortality myself. Just focus on your work in the army." —Xuan Chong has fallen into a pond before, and now he wants to push others into a cesspool.

Xuan Chong will promote Shen Wanqing. Even if this sect disciple may disdain staying in the Southern Frontier in the future, Xuan Chong will not hesitate to reward Shen Wanqing's subordinates with women, land, houses, and slaves, allowing him to settle in the Southern Frontier. Then, he will let Shen Wanqing speak on behalf of his subordinates in the heart of the Zhen region.

As for the "grafting of evil energy" spirit tree offering, Xuan Chong was completely unfamiliar with it and did not understand the appeal of the method provided by the Third Sister to cultivators.

With Shen Wanqing's aptitude of four spiritual roots, if he didn't undergo a period of training in the military to cultivate through martial arts, he simply wouldn't accumulate enough spiritual energy to reach the Foundation Establishment stage. This sect is quite ridiculous; they let Shen Wanqing complete the mission, but the cultivation resources they rewarded him with were extremely meager.

Xuan Chong then bound Shen Wanqing to the interest chain in southern Xinjiang. As for future conflicts in the north?

Xuan Chong: The war in the north? He and those unreliable people shouldn't get involved. Just focus on securing resource supplies in the south.

Just like Liu Bei arranged for Ma Chao! And after Ma Chao died, his next generation, who were indebted to Xuan Chong for building the country, would be able to rely on their own people.

Similarly, Shen Wanqing now has a strong appeal to his subordinates; but if these subordinates develop into the second generation and their interests become highly secure, then we'll have to see if these forces can offer a price high enough for "rebellion".

Xuan Chong: Now that my southern expedition has ended, the Great Yao has also undergone a round of intense internal turmoil; it's hard to say whether those forces with ulterior motives still have their strongholds, let alone using bargaining chips to buy off the Southern Frontier Expedition faction within their own camp.

(End of this chapter)