Chapter 339: A Storm is Brewing

Willow Ash Town.

Yuan Qingyan was holding his regular council meeting when an official said, “Lord Yuan, we’ve set up three food relief centers. We’ll see the results in a few days.”

“Why three? Weren’t we supposed to open just one?” Yuan Qingyan asked, furrowing his brow.

The official replied, “One place just isn’t enough. To be honest, there are no refugees near the commandery seat at all, and those farther away simply cannot make it this far. Therefore, we can only recruit those from the area near Bianning, and even then, they only come in small groups. That is why we need to set up multiple food relief centers to recruit enough manpower. But rest assured that the number of food relief centers does not change the amount of grain we’re consuming for this endeavor. It’s still only one thousand catties per day.”

Yuan Qingyan’s expression softened slightly. “Very well. It is truly lamentable that I hold the title of commandery administrator, yet have no people to govern. Recruiting some refugees will allow us to clear the land and begin farming.”

“To start with, let’s recruit... ten thousand people?”

Yuan Qingyan nodded. “Ten thousand is plenty. And remember, we only take able-bodied men. Do not accept the elderly, the infirm, women or children.”

The officials chorused, “Do not worry, my lord!”

Meanwhile, the four gates of Bianning Commandery were wide open, and the garrison soldiers were all huddled inside the gatehouses, watching as wave after wave of menacing-looking refugees filed out of the city carrying bundles of various sizes.

A soldier on the city wall craned his neck to look around. Suddenly, he exclaimed in surprise, “Isn’t that Commandant Zhang?”

Several more heads popped up from the ramparts instantly. Mixed within the stream of refugees were groups of strong, able-bodied men. Their clothes were neat and uniform, clearly distinguishing them from the ordinary refugees. A good number of them were in the pinnacle of the Body-tempering stage, and some were even in the Dao Foundation stage such as the commandant who had been recognized.

These soldiers weren’t bound, but surprisingly, none of them attempted to escape. They obediently marched out of the city. The refugee procession also included many carts and carriages. Some of the curtains of the carriages were drawn back enough to allow a glimpse inside, and they could tell that they were filled with beautiful women and their families.

The garrison on the city walls found this a curious sight, but none dared to come down as a matter of course. The large group of refugees showed no intention of attacking the walls either. They simply left the city and headed west.

Within the refugee procession, people kept saying, “Up ahead is the food relief center set up by Lord Yuan of Ningxi Commandery, so let’s pick up the pace, yeah? If we make it there before dark, we’ll have something to eat!”

A burly man suddenly shouted, “I can’t pretend anymore! I’m a highly accomplished Dao Foundation stage cultivator! Anyone willing to follow me, gather within ten zhang of me and march in step to my chant. I promise we’ll get there in no time! I can only empower three hundred people though, so first come, first served!”

There was a whoosh, and several hundred people gathered around the burly man instantly. The man immediately cast a Dao spell and started calling out a cadence. The crowd marched in unison—at first just a light jog, but gradually picking up speed until the entire group was sprinting at full speed. They showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever. In the blink of an eye, they were out of sight.

The remaining refugees were stunned and began to murmur in a commotion. So, a dozen more Dao Foundation stage cultivators stepped forward, but that was all. The large group of refugees dared not delay any longer and quickened their pace, afraid that if they arrived too late, the porridge would be all gone.

As night fell, the large group of refugees finally reached the border. From a great distance, they could see a massive food relief center; one that was larger than all the food relief centers in Bianning Commandery combined!

Above the center, a large banner bearing the name “Yuan” flew. The name was over a zhang tall!

Hundreds of burly men were maintaining order at the food relief center while constantly shouting, “Keep order and line up properly! Commandery Administrator Yuan’s kindness knows no bounds, and for today at least, there’s plenty for everyone! There are fifty food relief centers in total, so everyone will get a meal!”

After receiving their porridge, many of the refugees knelt on the spot and kowtowed to Lord Yuan from afar.

It was at this moment a few people quietly slipped away from the refugee group, taking advantage of the cover of night to make their escape.

At the commandery administrator’s office in Willow Ash Town, Yuan Qingyan was eating dinner when suddenly, he noticed that a rare orchid he had been cultivating for a long time had actually bloomed!

Delighted, he rose to go take a closer look. As he moved, a sense of clarity washed over his entire body, clearing his mind and lifting his spirits. His mystic energy seemed to have improved, and even his hidden ailments had largely subsided.

On a whim, Yuan Qingyan glanced at the maidservant attending him... and immediately lose a third of his desire.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a single commoner in Willow Ash Town. The maidservant was already the best he could find in the vicinity. WIth no other choice, Yuan Qingyan scooped her up in his arms and headed toward the inner chambers.

The maidservant wore a bashful expression as she gently hit Yuan Qingyan. Her round, deep-red face was such that it nearly caused his hidden ailments to flare up again.

Meanwhile, Xu Xi had found a change of clothes and made his way to the commandery yamen. As he listened to the reports from several undercover agents, he gritted his teeth, slammed his fist heavily against the table, and growled, “You dare, Yuan Qingyan!”

In the realm of Qingming, Wei Yuan was leading his men to stake out a new plot of land in the southeastern part of the realm. It was to build a new city. In fact, half of the land fell within the borders of the Ningxi Commandery, but Yuan paid no heed to such details as a matter of course.

The city was named Xin’an. All accepted refugees would first be settled there, after which their abilities and potential would be assessed, and they would be assigned various jobs. New arrivals would also undergo preliminary screening to ensure that no enemy agents had infiltrated the group. In reality, the screening was quite lenient and set up only to prevent large, organized enemy forces from infiltrating the realm.

Taking advantage of the refugee unrest in Bianning Commandery, Wei Yuan had absorbed a full 150,000 refugees in one go. For the first time, the realm felt a tad oversaturated, though it would only take another two or three months to digest them all.

At the moment, the realm of Qingming had a population of nearly 500,000. It consumed 1 million catties of grain daily, or 30 million catties per month. Fortunately, this season’s crops had nearly ripened, meaning that another 40 million catties would soon be harvested. In another two months’ time, all 500,000 mu of farmland would enter the harvest season and yield 100 million catties of grain per harvest.

With this grain reserve as a foundation, Wei Yuan finally felt confident.

Among the refugees from Bianning Commandery were several thousand official troops. At first, they had no chance of escaping. Mixed among the refugees were the two towns of elites Wei Yuan had just created. Ordinary troops were simply no match for them. Later, they chose not to escape when they heard that they were headed for the realm of Qingming. After all, serving as a soldier was the same wherever you go, so why not a military commissioner?

One thing did not go as Wei Yuan expected, however—for some reason, his men had stolen Xu Xi’s harem of concubines as well.

On second thought, their motivation was understandable. The situation was chaotic at the time, and many refugees grew frenzied after storming the commandery administrator’s estate. Qingming’s soldiers couldn’t just stand by and watch Xu Xi’s concubines fall victim to the mob, so they took the women away under the pretext of presenting them to their leader. As a result, they were brought all the way back to Qingming.

Wei Yuan was both amused and exasperated by this turn of events. Obviously, it was far too late to return them to Xu Xi at this point, so he chose to temporarily house them within the city.

Now that he had new recruits, it was only natural to continue expanding the army and preparing for war. In an emergency, this batch of new refugees could be deployed directly to the battlefield. With a few months of training, they could become regular troops, and with a year or two of body-tempering, they could become elite forces. Wei Yuan planned to bring in several thousand loyal veterans to command the newcomers at a ratio of 1 veteran to 50 new recruits, ultimately forming a 150,000-strong militia. Only a few thousand craftsmen were exempt from combat duty.

Frankly, this could no longer be described as mere militarism—it was practically a martial deviation.

However, the true limiting factor for the number of troops in the realm wasn’t guns, but ammunition. First, the ammunition supply for the 10,000 elite troops must not be compromised no matter what. Second, the basic ammunition stockpile for the 20,000 standing troops must not be compromised either. And third, the ammunition supply for the Xu Clan youngsters must not be compromised either—they had already proven themselves to be the best candidates for eliminating opposing elite cavalry. Because of these three requirements, Qingming was sorely lacking in ammunition at the moment. In fact, there were more guns than ammunition right now.

The core of ammunition was still gunpowder. Although the new gunpowder was much more expensive, its benefits were comprehensive and obvious. Ammunition made with it was lighter, more powerful, and easier to store. Moreover, only the new ammunition allowed Body-tempering stage cultivators to significantly increase their firing rate.

Wei Yuan’s primary concern now was how to significantly increase production capacity and reduce costs. Sun Yu had already been racking his brains for a solution, but it was unlikely he would produce any new results anytime soon.

Just as Wei Yuan was strengthening his forces in preparation for future battles, the shadow in the moon suddenly stirred and bestowed upon him 30 wisps of advanced fortune in one go!

Wei Yuan was stunned as a single saying echoed repeatedly in his mind: If someone brings gifts for no reason, they must have an ulterior motive!

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, he saw 10 of his newly acquired fortune vanishing into thin air. At that moment, he only wished he could slap his past self—why did he always allow his mind to wander to such inappropriate thoughts for no good reason?!

Fortune never appeared out of thin air, so something must have happened for him to receive such a windfall. Wei Yuan immediately ordered the entire realm to enter a state of high alert. The two towns of elites and the standing army were put on combat readiness, while the border patrols were intensified.

Even after making all these arrangements, Wei Yuan remained uneasy. He stared at the sand table and pondered where the danger might be coming from.

It was at this moment a voice rang out behind him: “Are you guarding against me? Your spiritual senses are indeed keen.”

Wei Yuan spun around as swiftly as the wind. Standing behind him—he didn’t know when he’d appeared—was a gentlemanly cultivator. He was dressed in silver robes and carried himself with a dignified bearing as graceful as jade. He appeared to be in his early thirties, yet his eyes held a wisdom that seemed to penetrate the very essence of humanity.

He was standing right there, yet Wei Yuan could not detect his presence at all, not even after he scanned the area with his perception. If he hadn’t literally just spoken to him, Wei Yuan would have assumed that it was an illusion conjured by some master.

Wei Yuan bowed and asked, “May I know your name, esteemed senior?”

The cultivator replied, “I am Bao Manshan of the Bao Clan.”

Wei Yuan was taken aback. Bao Manshan was a man who ranked among the foremost among the True Lords of the present age—why would he suddenly appear here?

Bao Manshan said, “You’ve done a fine job with this place. You’re quite the talent for sure. However, I should warn you that, while the Shattered Realm may restrict the comings and goings of True Lords, it doesn’t prevent all of them from entering. Aside from me, other True Lords can also come and go if they’re willing to pay a certain price.”

Wei Yuan’s heart sank. Bao Manshan was clearly alluding to something—most likely the Xu Clan.

“I had come specifically to see you. Of course, it would be impolite for a senior not to give a junior a meeting gift. This is for you.” Bao Manshan handed him a pale yellow fruit.

The fruit felt familiar to Wei Yuan for some reason. When he took it in his hand, it vanished suddenly without warning. Then the sapling on the jade hill sprouted new branches and leaves and gave rise to a pale yellow twig. It seemed both tangible and intangible and appeared and disappeared intermittently.

Wei Yuan instinctively understood what the power was: it was the same concealment ability that had allowed Bao Yun to come and go without a trace!

Bao Manshan raised his hand to stop Wei Yuan from speaking. Then, he produced a jade pendant and said, “The gift you received comes from my girl. This is my meeting gift to you. I had originally intended to give you something else, but after seeing you, I realized that you wouldn’t need it, so I’m substituting it with this Yin Yang of Reversal Pendant instead. This pendant can take a fatal blow in your place one time—it’s for your master.”

Wei Yuan was well aware of just how precious such a life-saving artifact was. He accepted it without hesitation, bowing respectfully as he took it, and committed the favor to memory. Then he asked, “Why such generosity, Senior?”

Bao Manshan smiled lightly and said, “Xuan Yue cannot do anything against me. Only by ensuring that you both survive can you both come find me in the future and avenge your founder, right? Haha! I’m off!”

With a flick of his sleeve, he vanished into thin air. Just as he had appeared, Wei Yuan had no idea how he’d left. Clutching the jade pendant, Wei Yuan wasted no time and went straight to find Zhang Sheng.

After all, Bao Manshan’s sudden gift of this jade pendant likely meant he had foreseen that Zhang Sheng would face a fatal tribulation.

Zhang Sheng was not one to make a fuss. Knowing that he did not possess a particularly robust mystic body, he accepted the gift without hesitation and fastened the jade pendant to his body. He then declared that favors were favors, and grudges were grudges. The founder’s grudge must be avenged, so once they had repaid this debt of gratitude, they would continue seeking vengeance against Bao Manshan for the founder’s ambush.

Wei Yuan wholeheartedly agreed.

Just then, Wei Yuan received word that the Xu Clan was on the move—a large army was marching out of the pass.

At the same time, the Five-Clawed Dragon Blood Wood bore its first fruit. As it fell to the ground and sprouted, a surge of fortune erupted!

However, enduring the silent gaze of three immortal plants, the Five-Clawed Dragon Blood Wood thought it didn’t mind staying a while longer.