Chapter 415: The First Long-Distance Expedition

Beyond the Realm of Qingming, the Shamans were scattered to the west and northwest. As for the north, there was nothing but desolate ridges and snow-capped mountains for over 1,000 li.

There were three major Shaman factions within 10,000 li of the Realm of Qingming. The first was the Kingdom of Rain, led by Redleaf. The second was Heaven's Will Tribe, home to Sacred Heart and Painted Heart. The third was the Wild Ancestor Tribe, home to Tianyu.

The Heaven’s Will Tribe was the strongest among the three, but it was at odds with the Kingdom of Rain. A major war had broken out between them just a few years ago, in which both sides sacrificed hundreds of thousands of human sacrifices. The Wild Ancestor Tribe was also quite formidable; it possessed the profound legacy of the Strength Warlocks and possessed its own stronghold within the The Great Wilderness.

The Wild Ancestor Tribe and the Heaven’s Will Tribe were relatively close, though not without their conflicts. Blood Warlocks, Strength Warlocks, and Mystic Warlocks all looked down on each other, whereas Dao Warlocks looked down on all of them.

Before leaving, Tianyu took with him a list provided by Wei Yuan, which detailed rare minerals, medicinal herbs, Blood Yingluo, and human sacrifices.

After Tianyu left, Wei Yuan went to the merit hall and exchanged a large batch of books and documents, then ordered them to be moved to his residence.

Wei Yuan had exchanged so many books by this point that a separate courtyard had to be built to store them. He also made the books available for others to consult.

Today, Wei Yuan wasn’t reading only for himself, but also the mortals residing within the Great Realm. It was why the books he read these days covered a wide variety of subjects—basically everything under the sun really.

Just then, news suddenly arrived from the Great Realm: a small team of researchers had developed an improved iron forging machine!

With a sweep of his perception, Wei Yuan immediately saw the new design.

This design modified the method of raising the forging hammer to use roller hinges, but the most crucial change was that it no longer relied on the physical strength of cultivators. Instead, a mystic array was used to drive the rotation of the rollers.

Mystic arrays could be powered by spirit objects or by cultivators themselves. A single array could supply power to multiple iron forging machines.

The crux of this design lay in replacing cultivators with mystic arrays. Previously, a single cultivator could operate only one iron forging machine. Now, a Dao Foundation stage cultivator could use a mystic array to simultaneously power three, five, ten, or more iron forging machines at the same time.

However, the plan only existed in concept at the moment. The specific mystic array had not yet been designed. These mortals had only recently awakened their spirituality. Although they studied day and night, they were still far from being able to design a mystic array. It was simply that Yin Yang felt this plan was feasible and proposed it to Wei Yuan.

Creating a mystic array was not a difficult task. There were many talents proficient in the art of arrays in Qingming. This particular array was not some profound or intricate creation either—most cultivators in the Palace of Absolute Beginning could design it. Heck, Wei Yuan could design one himself; it would simply be a bit larger and less efficient.

Wei Yuan immediately took the plan and sought out Yu Zhizhuo. After reviewing it, Yu Zhizhuo also deemed the method feasible. At the moment, the cultivators working in the armament workshop were far from reaching their limits. The effect the work had on the refinement of their mental state and Dao Foundation was subpar as well.

For example, a cultivator who perfected the Body-tempering stage could operate an iron-forging machine for days and nights on end without tiring, and that was simply unacceptable. But things would be different if the array was put into use. At full power, the array would exhaust even a Dao Foundation cultivator in four or six hours at most.

Yu Zhizhuo believed that only in this way could a cultivator’s work be considered fulfilling.

Wei Yuan wholeheartedly agreed.

The matter of designing the array was just a minor matter. Thus, the armament workshop temporarily suspended its operations for three days to undergo upgrades and renovations.

After returning to his quarters, Wei Yuan began pondering what he currently possessed that might impress the Bao Clan. With the one-year deadline drawing ever closer, Wei Yuan—who had not engaged in combat with anyone since attaining his Avatar—felt someone unsure of his own strength.

After much deliberation, Wei Yuan concluded that the Bao Clan lacked nothing and, given its great distance from the Realm of Qingming, there was truly little that he could do for them. Thus, he spent some merits and looked up information on the Floating World Dragon Diagram instead.

The records of the Palace of Absolute Beginning regarding the Floating World Dragon Diagram was, as expected, sparse. It was said to be an immortal treasure passed down from the Distant Antiquity Era, though it had already been damaged by the time it fell into the hands of the Qiongshan Immortal Island. Through dual cultivation with this treasure, one could borrow the fortune of the Sky Dragon[1] and bestow it upon one’s descendants. If the dual cultivation was successful, the couple would definitely bear nine children, each with distinct gifts and all possessing an immortal foundation.

However, this method placed extremely stringent demands on the cultivators. Throughout its history, the Qiongshan Immortal Island had succeeded only three times. The island’s current Grand Elder was one of those nine children from back then—and the sole surviving member.

Zhao Fusheng was capable of cultivating the Floating World Dragon Diagram. Naturally, he was exceptionally gifted. However, it took Qiongshan Immortal Island many years of searching to finally find Bao Yun, a woman qualified to practice the cultivation method. She was also the only one they had found so far. That was why they were willing to offer an exorbitant price.

Thinking about it logically, Wei Yuan felt that whatever he offered to the Bao Clan must exceed Qiongshan Immortal Island’s offer in every way. For example, if the Qiongshan Immortal Island offered five things, then he would have to offer six. Only then would the Bao Clan have a concrete reason to reject them.

Wei Yuan took stock of his bargaining chips he currently had at his disposal. He could forge cuirasses for them, train Dao Foundations for them, and fight wars for them. That was all. If he were a bit more shameless, he supposed he could stake on his own brilliant future as well.

This was a truly difficult problem to solve, so Wei Yuan discussed it one by one with his fellow Palace cultivators.

Trueman Chu He suggested that they could bring along Grandfather Ferret to infiltrate the Bao Clan’s ancestral land. Since Grandfather Ferret knew the area like the back of its hand, it could easily bring Bao Yun out. The two of them could then flee back to the Realm of Qingming, where they would be out of the Bao Clan’s reach. After a few years had passed and the furor had died down, they could then visit the Bao Clan again to apologize. By then, it would be far too late to change anything, and the Bao Clan’s demands would surely be significantly lower.

However, the old Daoist had sidestepped one crucial question: What if the Bao Clan’s True Lords decided to squash him like a bug?

Yu Zhizhuo suggested that Wei Yuan could go mining for the Bao Clan. With his current Dao energy, he could develop an Avatar version of the Golden Light Water Blade Technique. Once he did, in terms of mining, he might not be able to singlehandedly outperform 100 Avatars, but 50 or 60 Avatars were no problem at all. Moreover, he could join Wei Yuan once he had become an Avatar as well. Together, it wouldn’t take more than a few years to hollow out the Bao Clan’s ancestral land.

The idea seemed absurd at first glance, but it was actually quite feasible. Wei Yuan carefully calculated the workload and the compensation he would rightfully receive and concluded that it wasn’t entirely impossible.

However, Wei Yuan soon realized that this was a ruse: Yu Zhizhuo was just trying to trick him into mining again!

Sun Yu’s approach was relatively simpler: he wanted Wei Yuan to focus on refining elixirs and studying medicine. When some high-ranking figure in the Bao Clan contracted an incurable illness, Wei Yan could then use his skills to cure them, thereby earning their debt of gratitude.

But what if none of them contracted an incurable illness during this time? This could also be resolved via a masterful grasp of the art of medicine and healing—he simply needed to invent some.

Feng Tingyu... Wei Yuan ultimately decided against seeking the opinion of a disciple of the Bright King Hall. He would likely face backlash in the form of a huge saber.

After asking around, he realized there really weren’t any good solutions. Wei Yuan reflected on the matter and ultimately concluded that he should focus on winning the next war first. Only by proving himself through military achievements would he have a chance of earning the Bao Clan’s respect.

By this time, most of the youngsters of the Xu Clan in the new city had already advanced to the bone-tempering stage. Only a few thousand were still in the blood-tempering stage. These youngsters possessed quite remarkable aptitude and had already become an elite force that could not be ignored.

As for who among the Shamans were they attacking, that answer had long been set in stone: the Kingdom of Rain of Redleaf to the northwest.

Scattered across this direction were Shaman tribes of varying sizes. A sizable city lay just 500 li away from Qingming. The city was a traditional Shaman city and had never been conquered by humans before.

Wei Yuan was preparing for battle when Trueman Chu He[2] finally returned, accompanied by two merchant caravans. The first shipment brought back 50,000 bolts of Ning Brocade and 200,000 catties of raw silk.

Wei Yuan had the raw silk stored in the warehouse but left the cloud brocade[3] on the carts. Calculating the time, he figured that Tianyu should be arriving any moment now. Sure enough, less than two days later, Tianyu arrived at the edge of the domain with a Shaman merchant caravan.

This time, Tianyu brought ore, medicinal herbs, Blood Yingluos, and 20,000 human sacrifices in exchange for 50,000 bolts of cloud brocade. The total value of all the goods Tianyu brought actually exceeded that of the 50,000 bolts of cloud brocade, so the 20,000 human sacrifices were effectively given away as a bonus.

After Tianyu left, Wei Yuan estimated that he probably had the Wild Ancestor Tribe in his pockets. So, he accelerated his preparations for war.

This would be his first time fighting outside the Realm of Qingming. Only now did Wei Yuan realize just how many factors he needed to consider: selection of troop types, marching routes, supply logistics, and more. There were countless details he had to manage, making it infinitely more complex than simply fighting defensive battles within Qingming’s domain.

Fortunately, Wei Yuan wasn’t fighting alone. There were over 1,000 people in the Great Realm helping him shoulder the burden. Having been tested over various missions over time, many in the Great Realm had demonstrated gifts in different areas. Among them, roughly 2,000 showed aptitude for military affairs, and he had now mobilized half of them[4].

During the preparations, Wei Yuan continuously dispatched small groups of scout cavalry to gather intelligence on the Shamans. Based on the intelligence and topographical data collected, the mortals of the Great Realm formulated multiple detailed plans for Wei Yuan to choose from in just a matter of days.

Each plan took every possible detail into account—even specifying which vehicles should be used to transport military supplies, or exactly what date and time they would arrive at each location.

Thus, seven days later, Wei Yuan led a 30,000-strong army out of Qingming. They officially entered the Shaman realm to commence their first long-distance expedition.

The army’s first stop was the mining camp. After passing it, Wei Yuan’s main force suddenly split into ten 1,000-man units and marched rapidly in a fan formation. While this was happening, the main force and middle guard of 20,000 charged forward along the main road.

Dressed in the attire of an ordinary cavalryman, Wei Yuan led over 1,000 cavalrymen in a rapid advance, leaving one village after another behind them. Despite being the chief commander, he chose to lead the 1,000-man vanguard directly instead of remaining with the middle guard.

Assuming there was a map showing what each individual force was doing in real time, one would see that the ten 1,000-man units had already spread out across the land and were destroying every Shaman village, town, and fortress they encountered along the way.

A single 1,000-man force was sufficient to destroy an ordinary small village. If they encountered a well-fortified town or a large Shaman force, the nearby 1,000-man forces would rush to the scene to either cut off the enemy’s retreat or directly encircle and annihilate them.

In this way, the ten cavalry squadrons gathered and dispersed at will, sweeping through the region and causing immense panic among the Shamans in the blink of an eye.

Many small tribes, having caught wind of the situation, were forced to migrate northwest en masse. However, they never went far before Wei Yuan’s cavalry caught up with them and slaughtered them.

At that moment, another massive topographical projection was created in the Great Realm. Whatever the Dao Foundation stage cultivators leading the ten 1,000-man cavalry squadrons saw would be displayed on the projection.

Wei Yuan could issue orders at any time to the sentient Dao Foundation stage warriors leading the units to make adjustments. To a certain extent, this army had reached a level of coordination where it moved as seamlessly as an arm or a finger.

1. Tentative, because it could be a sky dragon or the Sky Dragon. >_> ☜

2. Mister He, Mister He! ☜

3. In the real world, Yunjin (Chinese: 雲錦), Nanjing brocade or cloud brocade, is a traditional Chinese luxury silk brocade made in Nanjing since the end of the Song dynasty, and based on weft-weaving techniques from both the Song and Tang dynasties. ☜

4. Hence the 1,000 people. I was confused at first too until I reached this point. ☜