Chapter 72 – One Shot to Settle the World

Zhan Changfeng surveyed the entire field. That a defensive line of two thousand soldiers could be breached by two Prenatal realm cultivators was neither surprising nor entirely expected to her. She simply noted the scene with her brush and said, “Switch formation, infantry advance.”

The command flags shifted again, and another thousand soldiers charged out from both flanks, cutting off the Bureau of Patrol cultivators’ retreat routes. Shield bearers and archers raised their Long Spears and pushed forward, encircling them completely.

Zou Tingwei felt the fury and contempt of being gnawed at by ants, and shouted aloud, “Five Elements Eight Trigrams Formation!”

Five people took five positions and raised their formation banners. In an instant, it was as though an invisible force swept outward, and the imagery of the Eight Trigrams flickered into existence.

“Fire of Li!”

“Water of Kan!”

“Thunder of Zhen!”

Nameless fire, boundless water, rootless thunder — even gale winds of mountain and marsh — shifted rapidly with each chanted command. Any who stepped within were either scorched by raging flames or struck by lightning. A Postnatal realm cultivator in peak condition would lose more than half their life within just a few breaths of entering.

Yue Kun and the others grew excited. This was the true power of cultivators!

Zhan Changfeng narrowed her eyes and quickly wrote down several lines. There was indeed a considerable gap in combat power between ordinary-world cultivators and those from the cultivation world. The key factors were the quality of cultivation techniques and heart sutras, the strength of external tools, and — most importantly — the lack of broader insight and capability that ordinary-world cultivators suffered from.

“Bring out the cannons.”

Ten Divine Martial Cannons were rolled out by their crews and lined up at the base of the command platform. What ability lacked, weapons would compensate for.

The nearby members of the Yue Family looked as though they had been struck by lightning. “C-Cannons?!”

Yue Kun’s face contorted. Cannons were never handed over to local military forces — only under special imperial dispensation could even a single one be deployed. Yet he never could have imagined that this person would have the sheer madness to bring the cannons here as well.

This was already considered sheer madness?

Yue Kun was still thinking far too naively.

“One cannon first. Open fire.”

That cannon’s powder charge was 3.7 kilograms. The fireball radius was 4.3 meters. Under normal conditions, it could flatten a small hill twenty meters tall.

As it happened, the Bureau of Patrol’s Five Elements Eight Trigrams Formation had cleared out an open space — the target was obvious.

“Overseer Zou, something seems off,” one of the cultivators holding a formation eye said, furrowing his brow.

“Why are they retreating?”

“Not good — run!”

Zou Tingwei swiftly pulled himself out of the formation, just as a scorching breath surged from behind him, covering the sky.

BOOM~!

“Hmm?” Zhan Changfeng recalled the expressions on the other formation-eye holders the instant Zou Tingwei withdrew, and quickly noted it down. There should be a connection between the eyes of the Five Elements Eight Trigrams Formation — if one person suddenly abandoned their position, the formation would become unsustainable, and the remaining formation-eye holders would suffer backlash to varying degrees.

When the dark fire and thick smoke dispersed, within eight or nine meters everything was charred black. Setting aside severed limbs, Zou Tingwei was gravely wounded, one more person was still crawling, and there were no other living things remaining.

“At the current stage, cannon assault is viable,” Zhan Changfeng concluded, and instructed the Xuanwu Guards, “Bring that person to me.”

“Reporting to Your Highness: thirty-one assassins captured alive, one assassin leader captured, seventeen escaped. Do you wish to dispatch men to pursue them?”

“No need. They’ll be back shortly.”

Assassin Leader and Overseer Zou: “…”

“Ignorant child, you will pay for this. I am an Overseer of the Bureau of Patrol — if you know what’s good for you, release me right now!”

Zhan Changfeng had spent the day remotely controlling two Eagles through the Soul-Mark, leaving her spirit somewhat depleted, so she had no intention of performing a soul search. “Take him away and investigate his connection to the Gongsun rebels.”

“Yes!”

Yue Kun watched as Zou Tingwei was dragged away like a dead dog, and felt a profound absurdity wash over him. This was the Bureau of Patrol?! This was the great support Li Mao had given him?! This was the aid the Cangyun Ravine noble houses had sent?!

Yue Kun laughed and wept at the same time. He looked desolately at his own blood-kin confidants, a suffocating pressure in his chest that nearly made him vomit. What madness had possessed him — to gamble away the Yue Family’s century-old foundation for a future that had yet to show even a shadow? He slapped himself across the face and cried out, “Your Highness! This guilty subject begs to render service in atonement! My crimes are beyond excuse even by ten thousand deaths — I only implore Your Highness to spare their lives from execution!”

Zhan Changfeng had once told the story of a donkey and a carrot, and Yue Kun himself was that donkey — the donkey that did not wish to starve to death where it stood.

He didn’t know why Zhan Changfeng had given him a chance to plead guilty at the very beginning, but he knew that no matter whether the farmer wanted to save on feed or wring every last bit of effort from the donkey, the donkey’s eyes could only ever be fixed on that carrot.

Even the most distant hope is still hope.

But compared to the hope Li Mao had offered him, winning clemency from Zhan Changfeng perhaps felt more tangible.

Bureau of Patrol

That day, the atmosphere in the Bureau of Patrol was truly difficult to describe. First, in the morning, a barely-clothed old man had suddenly burst through the gates demanding to see their Overseer — this became a comical joke among the staff. Then, in the afternoon, a group of cultivators came fleeing back in a panic, saying that Overseer Zou along with over forty people had been captured alive — it all felt like one big joke.

In the Overseer Hall, a cultivator who had escaped from the training ground trembled as he recounted the full sequence of events, standing under the gazes of eight Overseers with his head nearly buried into the floor cracks.

Lin Zhao’s eyes bulged wide as copper bells, looking furious yet not quite furious, more fearsome than any painted door deity. “You’re saying your Overseer Zou led a group of Prenatal realm cultivators to provoke the military and got blown back home with a single cannon shot?”

Yu Zhen, who wore three flowing whiskers, coughed once and cautioned, “Lin Zhao, mind your words.”

Before he could finish, someone spoke up with a cutting jibe. “Provoke — hmph. The matter isn’t yet clear and you’ve already placed the blame on Zou Tingwei. Wouldn’t people think that military commander is under your protection?”

“Pfft, Miss Cui, did you rinse your mouth before leaving the house? Should this Lin take you down to the river for a proper scrubbing?”

Cui Gu had her sore spot stepped on and immediately rolled up her sleeves, ready to fight. “Who are you calling ‘miss’ — you’re the miss! Your whole family are misses!”

“What’s wrong with being a miss?”

Before anyone could step in to mediate, a faint, unhurried voice drifted in from the doorway.

“Greetings to the Hall Master!” All the Overseers held their breath and stepped aside, cupping their hands in a proper salute.

“Alright, spare me the formalities. If I recall correctly, the matter of the deviant cultivators still hasn’t been resolved — what’s happened now?” The floor-length robe hung loosely over the newcomer’s frame. With a soft thwap, he tripped over his own robe hem and stumbled.

Several of the Overseers silently suppressed the urge to go help him, and averted their eyes, unable to bear watching.

The rich scent of wine wafted and spread, nearly intoxicating those present who hadn’t touched a drop.

The Hall Master picked himself up on his own and collapsed lazily into the armchair as if nothing had happened, lifting a wine jug and letting a steady stream pour down his throat.

Their magnanimous Hall Master, their hands-off Hall Master, their wine-soaked and dream-drunk Hall Master, their Hall Master who was likely demoted here from above — bore a name rich with character: Jun Wenjiu.

The Bureau of Patrol had an unspoken rule: Hall Masters were generally disciples dispatched from above for tempering, or disciples who had made mistakes, and thus never stayed long. So the true seat of power still resided with the two Deputy Hall Masters.

Deputy Hall Master Liu Zhao had already been sent out to investigate the disappearance of cultivators, so at this moment only the other Deputy Hall Master, Yu Zhen, was present.

Today’s affairs fell to him to handle.

So Yu Zhen stepped forward and said, “Reporting to the Hall Master: we are currently deliberating on the matter of Overseer Zou Tingwei’s capture.”

Cui Gu said, “I see nothing to deliberate here. This is a case of cultivation-world cultivators using the court’s banner to interfere with the order of the ordinary world. Overseer Zou was captured during his assignment, and we should immediately mount a rescue and bring the perpetrators to justice.”

“Miss Cui, I may not be level-headed, but are you? Reporting to the Hall Master: cultivators connected to Xiaohan Town have shown no unusual activity. I do not believe there is a cultivation-world cultivator backing that military unit.”

“In that case, what about Yue Lie’s call for aid?” Cui Gu challenged.

Lin Zhao let out a derisive snort.

Yu Zhen turned to explain to Jun Wenjiu, “The Yue Family is a martial cultivator clan of the ordinary world. Because of their knowledge of Xiaohan Town’s existence, they have been kept under Bureau of Patrol surveillance to prevent them from exploiting Xiaohan Town to assert power in the ordinary world’s officialdom. There has been no anomaly in dozens of years. Therefore, in this matter, I am more inclined to believe that the Yue Family, wishing to rise amid the chaos of the age, orchestrated the Huangzhou military exercise. However, as there were Prenatal realm cultivators among the Yin Dynasty’s envoys, the Yue Family assumed these Prenatal realm cultivators came from the cultivation world, and thus sent Yue Lie here to request that Overseer Zou investigate.”

Jun Wenjiu propped up his head and murmured a couple of affirmatives. “Continue.”

“Overseer Zou led fifty-eight cultivators to accompany Yue Lie on the investigation. Seventeen managed to escape back. The fate of the rest is unknown.” Yu Zhen said gravely.

Cui Gu said, “Hall Master, this matter truly brings great shame to the Bureau of Patrol. I request permission to immediately go and rescue Overseer Zou.”

“Shh, hold on.”

Everyone watched Hall Master Jun Wenjiu seriously. Their Hall Master did look rather distinguished when deep in thought — until the Hall Master nodded off.

Wait — does “hold on” mean hold on while you take a nap?!

(End of Chapter)