Chapter 309: It Is Time to March On the Capital

Yuan Qingyan’s face alternated between pale and crimson, the corner of his eye twitching as he struggled to restrain himself from striking out and killing Wei Yuan on the spot!

Wei Yuan sat motionless, his teacup in hand and his eyes clear as stars, showing not a trace of fear.

Yuan Qingyan was certain that slaying Wei Yuan would be as easy as a flick of the wrist, yet looking at the young man’s expression, it seemed he was fully confident he could withstand his thunderous strike. That wasn’t all. Cui Yu and the other juniors seated across from him all appeared composed as well, showing no intentions of leaping up to protect their master. It almost looked like they believed that, no matter what kind of attack Yuan Qingyan unleashed, Wei Yuan would be able to handle it with ease.

Yuan Qingyan found this hard to believe. He was an Avatar; a high cultivator! Not a single person here including Wei Yuan himself was an Avatar. If he were to unleash his full power from a distance of one zhang, how could he possibly fail to kill Wei Yuan?!

However... if he killed Wei Yuan, he would have to resign his post and go into hiding.

Wei Yuan was the newly appointed military commissioner by the King of Jin; a high-ranking regional official of the second upper rank. Even if his crimes were heinous, no one could kill him without a joint trial by the Ministry of Punishments and the King of Jin’s final approval. The unauthorized killing of a superior official was a crime punishable by the extermination of his entire clan. No one could save him, and no one would. After all, he was nothing but a mad dog.

There were officials who acted like tyrants or mad dogs, but that was only because their greatest patron, the King of Jin himself, allowed them to. He, Yuan Qingyan, was the King of Jin’s dog. If he bit anyone, it was the same as the King of Jin commanding him to do so.

But now, Wei Yuan had been appointed the Military Commissioner of Western Pacification. At the very least, he enjoyed the King of Jin’s favor at the moment. If he were to “bite” Wei Yuan, then he would be disobeying his king. Yuan Qingyan knew very well that a disobedient dog was among the very first things to appear on the chopping block.

Yuan Qingyan weighed the pros and cons, hesitating. If he took this step, all his efforts in the first half of his life would vanish into thin air.

Yuan Qingyan said nothing, and Wei Yuan said nothing either. He simply held his teacup and gazed at the official calmly.

A minor official seated below Yuan Qingyan let out a nervous chuckle, intending to say a few words to lighten the mood. However, Wei Yuan glanced at him from the corner of his eye and killed his desire to show off his cleverness or make a scene for himself instantly.

Wei Yuan was a man of great patience. He could wait until the end of time.

Yuan Qingyan’s eye finally twitched, and he said, “You do not need to be concerned for me, Lord Wei. If you have business to discuss, then please speak. I am swamped with official duties at the moment, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to keep you company for long.”

The moment he spoke, all the officials below him breathed out a sigh of relief. However, several of them betrayed a hint of disappointment, while Cui Yu and the rest of the scions wore looks of undisguised contempt.

They all remembered how arrogant Yuan Qingyan had once been, and now, he was forced to bow his head meekly before Wei Yuan.

Some bows could never be taken back once given.

Take Wei Yuan, for example. He had always sat upright with his back as straight as a rod, never once slouching. However, he had only earned this posture after fighting a series of bloody battles against the Shamans to the death; facing off against numerous Great Warlocks and Avatars in mortal combat, and slaughtering 10,000 of the renowned Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry. Had he lost even a single battle, he would never have been able to sit so straight.

There were many others who had tried to sit upright like him, but the vast majority of them had had their spines crushed under the weight.

Wei Yuan slowly set down his teacup and said, “Being busy is a good thing, but only with the right matters.”

Yuan Qingyan replied coldly, “You’ll have to forgive this humble official for not understanding your hidden meaning, Lord Wei.”

Wei Yuan said, “I had originally intended to pay a personal visit to each of my old acquaintances, but there is one among the four commandery administrators whom I don’t know well. As for the other two—Lord Chen Dao and Lord Lee Weisheng—they have already been assigned to new posts and are likely packing their belongings at this very moment. I do not wish to disturb them, so I have no choice but to discuss this matter with you, Lord Yuan.”

Yuan Qingyan’s heart skipped a beat! Chen Dao and Lee Weisheng are both being transferred? How come I haven’t heard a word about this? How did Wei Yuan find out ahead of me?

The news itself wasn’t significant, but who knew it first and who knew it later was crucial.

Yuan Qingyan asked, “What instructions do you have for me, Lord Wei?”

His tone had unconsciously softened once more.

Wei Yuan replied, “There is a minor matter. Recently, I’ve heard that many passing merchant caravans have encountered horse bandits within your jurisdiction, Lord Yuan, with the Heaven Fighting Gang being particularly rampant. I’m very curious as to why these horse bandits operate exclusively within your territory and nowhere else. Quite a few schemers have slandered you to me, claiming that the Heaven Fighting Gang’s lair is right within your jurisdiction and that you must be colluding with them. Of course, I do not believe such talk.”

Yuan Qingyan nearly lost his composure and hurled insults at Wei Yuan there and then. Was there anyone in the western regions who didn’t know where the Heaven Fighting Gang truly came from? They just didn’t dare to speak their minds, was all.

“As you say, this falls under my jurisdiction. As I do not share a subordinate relationship with you, you need not concern yourself with this matter, Lord Wei.”

Wei Yuan cracked a grin and said, “In that case, please clear out the horse bandits within your jurisdiction so they do not disrupt the merchant caravans coming to me. Otherwise, we might just end up having a chain of command after all.”

With that, Wei Yuan left without further ado. He did not say a farewell.

Cui Yu, Hsu Yi, and the other generals rose in unison and likely offered no words to Yuan Qingyan. They simply flanked Wei Yuan and departed the hall with him. Their footsteps were like wind and fire, and their gait was arrogant and domineering, causing the courtyard and corridors to tremble and the pillars and beams to sway.

In the reception hall, Yuan Qingyan remained motionless for a long time. The white hair at his temples had never seemed as clear as they were now. The officials in the hall dared not move, dared not speak, dared not even breathe too loudly.

Suddenly, Yuan Qingyan grabbed a teacup and raised it high!

But the officials did not hear the crash they had anticipated. Yuan Qingyan simply held the teacup in the air and stayed like that. The cold tea within the cup sipped out continuously, dripping onto his head and running down his cheeks, yet he remained completely oblivious.

The commandery administrator’s office, Bianning Commandery.

The commandery administrator’s office had just been finished, yet it had fallen into disarray once more. Numerous servants were bustling about carrying trunk after trunk onto cargo wagons. The line of trunks loaded with luggage just kept stretching on and on, seemingly without end.

Several burly servants were working together to lift a trunk, chanting in unison as they moved it step by step toward a cargo wagon that was clearly a higher class than everything else around it.

Li Weisheng stood in the winding corridor, watching until the small but heavy trunk was loaded onto the wagon and the door was closed. Only then did he look away and sigh, “I never expected to have to move again after serving as a commandery administrator for several months.”

Beside him, Sun Chao’en remarked, “Lord Lee has been promoted twice in less than half a year—that’s quite a feat in the civil service, don’t you think?”

Lee Weisheng replied, “I must admit I’ve been quite fortunate. I had expected to stay here for at least two or three years, but I never imagined that person would rise so quickly! Now, the very reason we were assigned here had lost most of its meaning. One way or another, I was always going to have to leave.”

Sun Chao’en chuckled. “You make it sound like it’s a bad thing. Isn’t this why you’ve been put in an important position once more? This sudden rise to prominence is something many people could envy for a lifetime.”

Lee Weisheng broke into a smile and said, “Though my stay was brief, my gains were substantial indeed. It is all thanks to you, Lord Sun.”

Sun Chao’en bowed deeply. “If you haven’t sheltered me from all the wind and rain like a mighty tree, then my petty cleverness would have taken me nowhere.”

Lee Weisheng patted Sun Chao’en on the arm and said, “We will still be serving in the same court in the future. With the bond we have forged, I hope that we will continue supporting each other when the time comes.”

Sun Chao’en bowed deeply again. “I only hope to be of some use to you and help you rise to even greater heights, Lord Lee.”

Lee Weisheng laughed heartily. “Come now, there is no need for such words between you and me!”

The commandery administrator looked toward the west and asked, “I heard that the newly appointed military commissioner paid a visit to Lord Yuan recently?”

“He had visited him twice even before his appointment, but alas, he didn’t get to see Lord Yuan both times. A few days ago, I heard he finally met with Lord Yuan and exchanged a few words about those horse bandits.”

Lee Weisheng said curiously, “Oh? Has Lord Yuan withdrawn all those checkpoints?”

“Some of them were withdrawn voluntarily, while others simply vanished without a trace.”

Lee Weiheng gave a low chuckle and said after a moment, “Really, he didn’t need to go this far. Lord Yuan was actually quite a capable and intelligent individual. It’s a pity.”

Sun Chao’en added, “In fact, everything about him except his luck is pretty good.”

Lee Weisheng mulled over those words carefully and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. A cold sweat broke out on his brow as he said, “His luck really is quite bad, isn’t it? If I had been the one stationed in Ningxi, I doubt that I would have fared much better than him. Everyone knows now that Wei Yuan is a dragon that cannot be checked, but who could have known that back then?”

He then summoned his housekeeper and ordered, “Find the gift Lord Yuan sent me and return it to him. Tell him that I appreciate the gesture.”

The housekeeper accepted his orders and took his leave. Lee Weisheng then said to Sun Chao’en, “It’s best not to get too involved with someone whose luck is so poor, don’t you think?”

Sun Chao’en nodded. “Makes perfect sense to me. Besides, his gift is barely worth a few coins.”

Lee Weisheng burst out chortling and wagged a finger at him. “Lord Sun, you really are too harsh!”

Sun Chao’en shrugged. “I can’t help that I’m a petty man who holds grudges!”

It was late autumn before long, and the wind cut like knives.

As the Shattered Realm lay close to the Shaman realm, it enjoyed virtually no distinct seasons, and the heat remained largely constant year-round. If not for the fact that there was a minor decrease in rainfall during certain periods, there wouldn’t even be a wet and dry season.

During this time, over 200,000 mu of farmland within the realm had ripened one after another within the realm of Qingming, throwing everyone into a frenzy as they scrambled to harvest and store all the grain before the heavy rains arrived.

The earliest fields had already been harvested twice with slightly higher yields, while the newly cultivated 200,000 mu of grain had just ripened for the first time, with slightly lower yields. But either way, the amount was way higher than those of newly cultivated fields in other domains.

In the past, when the human race cultivated grain in the shaman realm, planting 20 catties of seeds per mu often yielded a little more than 100 catties. But in Qingming, Jia Wood Nurtures Life ensured that the crops matured much faster and produced twice as much yield, rivaling those well-tilled, long-established fields in the human realm.

For this harvest, the realm of Qingming had gained over 40 million catties of grain. For this reason, the people had been frantically constructing no houses for people, but granaries for the past months or so.

The ripening of the grain fields also allowed Wei Yuan to harvest a tremendous amount of spirit qi, advancing his cultivation slightly. Through this development, Wei Yuan was able to gain a rough estimate of the amount of spirit qi he needed for his next advancement.

Overall, the spirit awakening stage required twice as much spirit qi as the previous stage to complete. There was also the major hurdle of nurturing the spirituality of his Dao Foundation. Inspired by Xu Wenwu’s records, Wei Yuan had divided his cultivation progress into 100 small squares so he could assess his cultivation progress more precisely[1].

Based on the daily spirit qi provided by the sentient beings and spirit plants within the realm, he could fill up four small squares each year. This meant that he could expect to advance to the next minor stage in 25 years. He was actually progressing several times faster than when he was in the foundation-solidifying stage, and it was primarily thanks to the recent addition of the two immortal plants: the Red Lotus Bodhi and the White Lotus of Tainted Earth. The two plants alone contributed over two squares worth of spirit qi annually, while all the other spirit plants combined contributed less than two squares.

However, once the crops—both spirit rice and mundane rice—matured, they could also provide much, much additional spirit qi. Calculated this way, it would really take him fifteen to sixteen years to advance.

However, Qingming was still expanding. The number of farmlands would only grow over time, and Wei Yuan’s cultivation would only accelerate even faster.

With tens of millions of catties of grain in storage, Wei Yuan felt a deep sense of security and growing confidence. The trade routes had been reopened, and over a dozen caravans were traveling between the State of Zhao and the realm. They were bringing in all the necessities the realm needed while clearing out every last piece of armor in Wei Yuan’s warehouses.

However, the caravans’ appetite only grew larger over time. Some were even showing up with entire carts of immortal silver all to purchase the armor.

There was one time several caravans could not obtain immediate stock, and they decided to place orders for the next batch. At the time, Wei Yuan made the mistake of not imposing any quantity limits. In just one day, the orders had piled up like mountains, and he found himself owing 100,000 sets of breastplates and earning over 500,000 taels of immortal silver in deposits alone.

By this time, Western Jin was blanketed in yellow leaves, and the atmosphere of autumn was thick in the air.

Wei Yuan spent a million immortal silver in exchange for clouds of iron armor and a sea of banners. When the autumn skies were clear and the grass were lush, and the men were strong and the horses were fat, he decided it was the perfect time to march on the capital.

1. In other words, 1%~100%. ☜