In the tenth month, everyone slowly walked on the uneven mountain path. The mountain path was quiet, and the sound of footsteps was clear. Looking at this, Shen Zhen suddenly felt a sense of distance and unfamiliarity, as though it was a lifetime ago.
Thinking back to that day when he led seventeen riders over, he was in high spirits. But now, he only felt a deep sense of fear. Thinking about how many of his brothers would never be able to drink and laugh again, Shen Zhen couldn't help but tear up. He hurriedly wiped away his tears and asked, "Just now when we were underwater, how did you make a sound? If not for you, Brother Pei, I would have died. "
"It's the Secret Sound Transmission. The depths of the water are the most terrifying. As soon as I transmitted my voice, the fear disappeared."
"Oh, so that's what it is. I have heard that those who have reached the pinnacle of internal martial arts would be able to use the Secret Sound Transmission Technique. However, I have never heard of it before. Now, I have seen it for myself." Shen Zhen understood.
Pei Zi Yun laughed. How was this some sort of telepathy? This was a skill that he had comprehended when he became a level two Earth Immortal. He was able to communicate telepathically within a distance of three feet, and was even able to influence the mind of others to a certain extent.
However, the effect was greatly reduced for people with strong mental fortitude. It was just right for those who were sealed, gloomy, and filled with despair.
"We'll leave immediately." Pei Zi Yun looked up at the sky, then looked at the mountains and the army camp as he spoke. When the group of people heard him, they hurriedly acknowledged his words and climbed up the mountain. They then sped away.
Qiyuan Temple
Boom!
There was a clap of thunder and a heavy downpour. At this moment, there was a knock on the door. A Daoist official came to investigate. He opened the door bolt and swept the area outside before closing the door.
"The True Sovereign has arrived!" The Daoist official said as he invited Pei Zi Yun in.
Not long ago, he had used the talisman to communicate with them. Everything was prepared. This was a Daoist temple controlled by the imperial court. There were Daoist officials stationed here. Following the Daoist's words, seven or eight Daoists rushed out of the temple and bowed together.
"Forget it, get up!" After bowing, Pei Zi Yun waved his hands and said.
"True Sovereign, please take a shower and change your clothes. Everything is ready." As the Daoist spoke, he gestured with his hand, "Please, please, please come in!"
As he led the group into the main hall, he saw two Daoists busily preparing the dishes for the banquet. There were ten other rooms, all lit up. They invited Pei Zi Yun in and saw a huge bucket filled with hot water.
"True Monarch, the hot water is ready."
There were also high grade Daoist robes lying around. Pei Zi Yun smiled as he walked in. He washed up and changed into a new set of robes. When he walked out of the main hall, he saw that the banquet had already been served.
Pei Zi Yun, Shen Zhen and the other six martial artists were seated at the banquet table. A Daoist was serving them wine and explaining, "This Daoist has not treated you well, I hope everyone will forgive me."
"However, this is a special ginseng wine made by our monastery. It can replenish one's vitality …"
Pei Zi Yun took a look and noticed that the ginseng wine was golden yellow, and emanated a fragrant aroma. In the middle of the table, there was a plate of roasted pork chops. The skin of the pork had been roasted until it was golden brown, and was dripping with oil. Other than that, there were seven to eight other dishes as well. He smiled, "Brother Shen, everyone, since you've traveled a thousand miles to help me, let me offer you a toast."
Pei Zi Yun filled the cup and gulped it down in one gulp. The Jianghu cultivators did not reject his offer as they picked up their cups and gulped it down as well.
After three cups of wine, the eight of them were getting more and more friendly. Pei Zi Yun laughed, "I've already counted the number of enemies you've killed in this battle."
As soon as he finished speaking, he retrieved a booklet from his robes and placed it on the table before pushing it towards Shen Zhen.
Looking at the booklet, Shen Zhen's face lit up with joy. One of the Jianghu cultivators was eating a piece of meat when he stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a piece of meat. He was stunned as he stared at the booklet. This booklet was a record of the battles that had taken place throughout the entire battle. Thinking about this, the few of them fell silent, and some of their eyes turned red.
Shen Zhen received the booklet and placed it in his hands. He felt the weight of the booklet. This was something that his brothers had risked their lives to obtain. His eyes turned red, and he did not speak.
"If it weren't for our fallen brothers, we wouldn't be standing here today. Let us offer a toast to them." Shen Zhen raised the cup in his hands and poured the wine onto the ground. The Jianghu cultivators all raised their cups, "To our brothers."
After some time, Shen Zhen wiped the tears from his eyes and said to Pei Zi Yun, "Brother Pei, I've let you witness something embarrassing. I thought of my brothers and couldn't help myself."
Shen Zhen's voice was hoarse as he drank another cup of wine. He then picked up the booklet and looked at it. It was a detailed account of the entire battle. He had killed fifty six people, and had beheaded his brothers.
"Whew!" Shen Zhen let out a long sigh and passed the booklet to his brothers, so that they could read it.
Pei Zi Yun then said, "You and I are brothers, and I'll be frank. The rewards from the Imperial Court are very troublesome. If you don't want them, they might think that you're evil. If you want them, they might hate you. But overall, it's better to accept them. It's better to do it openly."
"Even if you want them, there's still a choice."
As Pei Zi Yun said this, he heaved a sigh of relief. He swept his gaze across Shen Zhen and the other six martial artists, only to see that they were all listening intently to his speech.
"If you want to become an official, you'll have to transfer into the army. Your rank will be lower. Based on your achievements in battle, you can be promoted to a Captain or Vice Captain. However, you're all Jianghu cultivators, and your status is a little sensitive. I'm afraid the Imperial Court may not allow it."
"If you're a Loose Martial Artist without any official duties, it'll be easier. You'll be able to be promoted to a Ninth Rank or Ninth Rank."
"It's all up to you now."
"As for our brothers who died in battle, they will be compensated, so that their souls in heaven will be comforted."
When Shen Zhen heard this, he laughed bitterly and sighed, "The rules in the army are very strict. I can't be a Rogue Ranked cultivator. That way, I'll be free and unfettered, and won't have to worry about dirty things."
"I'll follow big brother's lead and choose to be a Rogue Ranked cultivator." The remaining three chose to be a Rogue Ranked cultivator. At this point, two of them hesitated before raising their heads and said, "True Sovereign, I wish to join the army, and have a bright future ahead of me!"
Pei Zi Yun laughed, "That's fine. My brother has the heart to improve himself. Why not?"
As he finished speaking, he took out a brush and filled out the booklet. He then called for an official, "Send the booklet through the official channels. The news can be sent directly to the capital city."
The official received the booklet and acknowledged, "Yes, True Sovereign."
Temporary King Lu's Mansion
Although King Lu wasn't a lavish and extravagant person, he still managed to renovate and expand the place. A hall was built for him to meet with his officials. Along with the fact that there were soldiers standing guard with swords in their hands, the entire place looked solemn and dignified.
Eunuch Liao was in a sorry state and was drenched in sweat. He rushed to the front of the hall and saw an eunuch. When he saw Eunuch Liao, he said, "King Lu was just about to call you in. He's been in the hall for an hour now."
Eunuch Liao nodded his head and hurried in. He nodded to the guard at the door and reported his name. He paused for a moment before hearing King Lu's voice, "Come in."
When Eunuch Liao entered the hall, he felt that the atmosphere was strange. King Lu's eyes were dark and gloomy, and Eunuch Liao didn't dare to look at him for too long.
"Get up. You've traveled through the night for three hundred kilometers. It must have been hard on you." King Lu spoke plainly.
Eunuch Liao didn't get up as he kowtowed profusely, "This servant didn't do his job well, and is guilty. Please punish me, King Lu."
"Forget it. I've heard the details of what happened to you. You've been careful with your every step. It's just that I didn't expect an Earth Immortal to be so powerful. Since you've done your job well, you should be punished."
"I shall strip you of your position as a Transport Envoy. Serve me well in the future." King Lu spoke.
Eunuch Liao heaved a sigh of relief before replying, "Thank you, King Lu!"
He then stood up and carefully stood down.
The hall regained its silence once more. After some time, King Lu sighed and said, "When True Sovereign Xie was alive, I fell for his schemes time and time again. For me to be where I am today, it's all thanks to him …."
"I've already ordered a sacrifice. I wanted to kill Pei Zi Yun, and use his head as a sacrifice." King Lu then lowered his voice, "I didn't expect this to be the result."
"Earth Immortal, someone from the Immortals' Records. I had my suspicions about him, but I didn't want to see him for myself."
Everyone lowered their heads and didn't speak. King Lu swept a glance across the room before he heaved a sigh of relief, "Let's not talk about this. Initially, we defeated Count Zhong Qin, and our army's morale was boosted. Pei Zi Yun tried to assassinate us several times, and I suspect that the Imperial Court was trying to buy time to adjust to the situation. What should we do now?"
A civil official stood up and said, "King Lu, it's not just the Imperial Court that needs to buy time. We need to buy time as well. Our army has only gained control of the two prefectures for two or three months. We haven't even finished clearing out the prefectures yet. Many of the prefectures are still under the watch of the old officials. Furthermore, we have to pay for our troops.
"That's not true!" Another official spoke out, "I don't understand all these things. But there's one thing I do understand. Although our army has gained control of the two prefectures, to the Imperial Court, it's just a small part of the world. If we drag this out, the Imperial Court will send in their armies from the south, and it will be extremely difficult to deal with them."
This official's face was flushed red as he spoke out loud.
King Lu listened to this and didn't speak. He felt a little discouraged. Originally, when Xie Cheng Dong was around, all sorts of problems could be solved with a single word. But now, they were arguing over and over again. Thinking about this, King Lu squinted his eyes and looked out at the setting sun. He didn't speak for a long time.
At this point, a voice rang out, "Your humble subject has something to say."
"Li Cheng? Do you have the right to speak here? "Someone shouted out. King Lu snapped out of his daze and waved his hands," Speak your mind! "
"Yes!" The blind Daoist replied as his eyes flashed, "Just now, your excellency Xu said that we need time to govern the new prefectures. General Zhang also said that we can't give the Imperial Court time to make arrangements. Both of these have their reasons. However, this humble subject thinks that what King Lu said is more important."
"It's like rolling a snowball. Once the snowball stops rolling, the snowball won't be far from collapsing."
"According to your humble subject's opinion, these two things can be done at the same time. We can use war to gain stability and time to govern."
The official surnamed Xu laughed out coldly, "Once the army moves, the rations will be piled up like mountains. We will have no choice but to scavenge for food from the commoners. We will even have to recruit new soldiers to support the army. The fields will be barren and barren. How can we govern then?"
"Your excellency Xu, in the art of war, the most important thing is timing and sharpness. If Count Zhong Qin were here, although our blades are sharp, we wouldn't be able to do anything to him."
"Now that Count Zhong Qin has been defeated, he is surrounded by wooden barrels instead of metal barrels."
"Your Majesty, the quality of the soldiers is more important than the quantity. If we gather the best generals in our army, under your command, we will be able to conquer the city like a hot knife through butter."
"This will buy us more time, and we won't have to waste much of our rations."
"Besides, our army has many new soldiers. Instead of having ten times the number of soldiers, we will have to waste our rations and gain little benefit. Why don't we train them more? This is killing many birds with one stone." The blind Daoist spoke clearly, and didn't back down.
When King Lu heard this, he fell silent. All of a sudden, he turned around and spoke to someone, "How's the situation around here?"
"Your Majesty, ever since your Majesty defeated Count Zhong Qin, as well as your righteous cause, the citizens of Chen Prefecture have been in a state of panic. Many officials have been contacting each other privately, hoping that your Majesty can take over Chen Prefecture as soon as possible."
One of them was in charge of stirring up trouble, and was very effective. He then reported this to King Lu.
"Good, I've made up my mind. Immediately mobilize the elite troops, and I will personally lead them to attack Chen Prefecture. All of you will be in charge of the administration, or in charge of training the troops. Do not slack off."
"Yes!" Everyone acknowledged.
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