Chapter 186: Trade Route
At the Divine Mansion Sect, in the Lingzhou Army Camp.
Besides the main peak, all the other Thirteen Peaks of the Divine Mansion Sect had now become garrisons for the Lingzhou Army.
It was all under the noble pretext of forming a second line of defense against the Demon Sect.
The Divine Mansion Sect had not suffered such humiliation since its internal strife a thousand years ago.
Within the army camp.
"Young Master Lu, Miss Lu."
Ji Chang smiled faintly as he looked at the young man and woman before him.
These two were the son and daughter of the Lord General. However, as the third-most powerful figure in the Lingzhou Army, he had no need to grovel before Lu Yu and Lu Shanshan.
After all, he had been Lu Yu’s superior officer back in the Lingzhou Army, making it even less necessary.
"I hear the Imperial Music Office has a new batch of ladies from official families. When Uncle Ji returns to Ling Province, I’ll be sure to host you for a round of fun."
Lu Yu, ever the rogue, flashed a smile that only men would understand.
The best way to get someone on your side was, of course, to have been through the wars together.
In fact, he and his old superior had frequented such places quite often during their time in the Lingzhou Army. They were regulars.
Beside them, Lu Shanshan remained expressionless.
She was completely unaffected by Lu Yu’s vulgar talk. As a member of the Lu Family, she was long accustomed to such things.
Ji Chang finally showed the pair a warmer expression. "Xiaoyu, since the Lord General sent you, just come find Uncle Ji if you need anything."
Hearing Ji Chang’s familiar use of "Uncle Ji" and "Xiaoyu," Lu Yu instantly knew this trip had been a massive win.
"Young Master Lu" and "General Ji" were for official business—matters that could be done or left undone, leaving far too much room for maneuvering.
But "Uncle Ji" was completely different. If a nephew asked his uncle for a small favor, how could the uncle refuse?
"Uncle Ji, I won’t trouble you any further then."
Lu Yu gave a sly chuckle and turned to leave with Lu Shanshan.
Lu Shanshan glanced at this brother of hers, whom she was meeting for the first time.
’No wonder this man has such a good reputation in the army camp,’ she thought.
After leaving Shenfu Mountain, Lu Yu and Lu Shanshan returned to the Lu Mansion in Huanglong Prefecture City.
With the Lu Family’s wealth, they naturally resided in the city’s eastern district.
In fact, none of the factions that had come to Huanglong Prefecture this time were weak, and without exception, they had all become neighbors.
Caught in the middle, the Lord Prefect of Huanglong Prefecture was now overwhelmed by the attention, as if sitting on pins and needles, a fishbone stuck in his throat, and treading on thin ice.
The Lord Prefect had been sent to Huanglong Prefecture to suffer this abuse, of course, because he had no backing in the Imperial Court.
Now, faced with so many "living ancestors" from Ling Province, he could already tell his days ahead would not be easy.
Lu Yu and Lu Shanshan walked into the main hall.
Lu Shanshan suddenly spoke. "Do you really know Bai Yuan?"
Lu Yu immediately slapped his chest, making it ring out. "He’s my brother!"
Others avoided the Divine Mansion Sect like the plague, but as the Lord General’s son—even if an illegitimate one—he didn’t have so many scruples.
He had been sent to Huanglong Prefecture by his father, the General, because he was competent enough for the job.
Although the Lingzhou General had many sons, the most accomplished was indeed this illegitimate one.
’It’s just acknowledging a brother; it’s not going to cause any trouble.’
Besides, from what he knew, his father the General and the Prefect had joined forces to break the spine of the Divine Mansion Sect mainly for the secrets of the Divine Mansion itself.
He had been sent this time to continue investigating the Divine Mansion.
"Did he really defeat the Kaiyang Taoist?"
Lu Shanshan’s interest was piqued, her eyes filled with a strange light.
Because of the Divine Mansion Sect’s influence, Huanglong Prefecture knew little of Ling Province’s affairs, so the name "Kaiyang Taoist" didn’t mean much to them.
But for a native of Ling Province like Lu Shanshan, the significance of the Kaiyang Taoist could not be clearer.
An Innate Vajra, he began skin tempering at five, tendon refinement at ten, and blood forging at thirteen. Though the Kaiyang Taoist looked old, he was actually only thirty. This was considered one of the few drawbacks of being an Innate Vajra.
By seventeen, he had single-handedly defeated all the young geniuses in Ling Province, earning him the moniker "Genius Killer."
As Ling Province’s number one sect, the Longevity Palace’s Palace Master had even proclaimed that the Kaiyang True Man would be his successor.
For such a monstrously talented individual to be defeated by a mere True Disciple from the Divine Mansion Sect... no matter how you looked at it, it seemed unreal.
Lu Yu chuckled slyly. "Guaranteed authentic."
’I hear my Brother Bai is now ranked fifteenth on the Heaven List, while I’m still stuck lingering on the Earth List. It’s so embarrassing.’
However, Lu Yu had no intention of running off to challenge the Kaiyang Taoist just to prove himself.
’A lower ranking isn’t entirely a bad thing.’
Lu Shanshan suddenly glanced at this half-brother of hers. "Then do you have a way to find him?"
This time, it was Lu Yu’s turn to be embarrassed.
Ever since the great turmoil at the Divine Mansion Sect, Bai Yuan had taken the remaining sect members and fled into the deep mountains, disappearing without a trace.
"He... he’ll come looking for me."
...
The Hundred Thousand Mountains.
Rebuilding the Divine Mansion Sect was an extremely complex affair.
Cultivation techniques and spirit medicines alone were enough to cause a headache.
The good things inside the Divine Mansion Sect had long been looted by the Lingzhou Army, and even Ouyang Hua’s strenuous objections had been useless.
It was said the Instructor Hall had been burned to the ground.
Fortunately, there were enough powerful experts in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
"Everyone, I will take the lead. Let us write down our cultivation techniques and place them in the Instructor Hall. Consider it laying a foundation for all future generations of Divine Mansion Sect disciples."
Bai Yuan sat upon a large, tiger-skin-draped chair.
Also seated in the hall were Yu Hui, Ruan Xiuluan, and other experts from the Divine Mansion Sect.
With the rebuilding of the Divine Mansion Sect, Yu Hui was supposed to replace Old Dong as the new Grand Commander of the Divine Mansion Army. However, Yu Hui adamantly refused the position, and in the end, everyone voted for Bai Yuan to take on the role concurrently.
As Old Dong’s only True Disciple, it was reasonable for Bai Yuan to take over as Grand Commander of the Divine Mansion Army, so he did not refuse again.
Aside from the six Peak Masters who had gone north to join the Northern Garrison Army, the four Peak Masters still in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, like Ruan Xiuluan, remained Peak Masters. They just no longer had peaks.
Shi Bai Mountain had been slain by Bai Yuan, so True Disciple Shangguan Jin was promoted, breaking convention, to become the Peak Master of Feishi Peak.
"If I keep this cultivation technique, it’ll just be buried with me. It’s better to pass it on to the next generation."
Liu Donghai, the Peak Master of Taibai Peak, chuckled and was the first to state his position.
The others all nodded in agreement.
If the Divine Mansion Sect wanted to attract new blood, it needed to have sufficient appeal.
Cultivation techniques were the most direct way to do that.
They had all practiced many cultivation techniques from the Divine Mansion Sect’s Instructor Hall. Now was the time to give back.
Although what they cobbled together was far from the full collection of the now-incinerated Instructor Hall, it was about thirty percent of its former glory, which was enough to get by.
Without Old Dong’s approval, Bai Yuan could not place the cultivation techniques from the secret chamber into the Instructor Hall.
However, he wrote down the two saber techniques he had created himself.
In addition, there was the Tiger Form Crane Style and the Blood Tiger Saber.
The Tiger Form Crane Style was originally a Divine Mansion Sect technique, so it was only right to return it.
As for the Blood Tiger Saber... if Old Xue’s family legacy entered the Divine Mansion Sect’s Merak Pavilion, he would surely be grinning from ear to ear.
Even the Black-faced Ancestor himself would never have imagined his Blood Tiger Saber would one day have such a glorious moment.
But besides cultivation techniques, spirit medicines were also indispensable.
Monster flesh could still be obtained by hunting monsters in the Hundred Thousand Mountains; after all, monsters were a local specialty.
But spirit medicines were a more difficult problem.
Alchemists were already a rare profession, and on that night, all the alchemists in the Divine Mansion Sect had been captured by the Lingzhou Army and taken to Ling Province. There wasn’t a single alchemist in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.
The Divine Mansion Sect urgently needed to open a trade route to the outside world.
After some thought, Bai Yuan immediately took Hu Ben and headed for Huanglong Prefecture.
At least a dozen factions from Ling Province were now stationed in Huanglong Prefecture.
As long as he played his cards right, he was sure to find allies.
...
Huanglong Prefecture was still prosperous, even showing signs of surpassing its former glory.
The city’s businesses and industries had been carved up by the various factions from Ling Province, with the Lu Family and the Seven Star Sect taking the largest shares.
When it came to dividing the spoils, it all came down to whose backing was stronger.
The Longevity Palace advocated for the Daoist Sect’s principle of worldly detachment and reclusive cultivation. Thus, despite being the strongest power in Ling Province, it rarely got involved in the conflicts of the Jianghu or the Imperial Court.
Teaming up with the Lingzhou Army against the Divine Mansion Sect this time was a rare exception.
As for the Lu Family, their involvement went without saying.
The Seven Star Sect was a major Ling Province power second only to the Longevity Palace.
Its Sect Leader, like Murong Tian, was a Sensing Grandmaster. If not for the Divine Mansion Sect having Dong Wanjun, the Seven Star Sect’s strength would be in no way inferior.
On the streets of Huanglong Prefecture, a tall and a short figure were particularly conspicuous.
In truth, it wasn’t that one was short, but that the other was simply too tall.
"Brother Bai Shui, what do we do next?"
the nine-foot-tall man asked in a booming voice.
These two were none other than Bai Yuan and Hu Ben in disguise.
Although Bai Yuan had the means to alter appearances, he could only change Hu Ben’s face. Hu Ben didn’t know the Bone Shrinking Technique, so his towering frame was impossible to change.
"Let’s find a place to stay first."
Bai Yuan thought for a moment.
’The situation in Huanglong Prefecture isn’t like before; it’s far more intricate and complex now.’
Although the Lingzhou Army was no longer actively targeting the Divine Mansion Sect, in their current situation, they could only operate from the shadows.
The eastern district would be more convenient for contacting those factions, but it was crowded and full of prying eyes.
In the end, Bai Yuan chose the place he was most familiar with: the Yongfu Inn.
The Li Family hadn’t been too deeply implicated in the Divine Mansion Sect affair, but despite that, Li Wanqian had decisively cut off his trade routes in Huanglong Prefecture.
The waters in Huanglong Prefecture were too murky now; one careless move and you could be dragged under.
With the methods of those major factions, wiping out a small family like the Li Family would be absurdly easy.
Just as Bai Yuan and Hu Ben were heading toward the southern district, a young man and woman appeared on the street.
The man was roguishly handsome, the woman gentle and dignified.
Bai Yuan was startled.
’That young man is Lu Yu, who was supposed to have gone to the Northern Garrison Army. I didn’t expect him to be back in Huanglong Prefecture,’ he thought.
He had already found out that the Lord General’s Lu Family had come to Huanglong Prefecture.
The "Lu" in Lu Yu was the same "Lu" as in General Lu. Connecting that to his sudden appearance in Huanglong Prefecture, it was hard not to be suspicious.
However, Bai Yuan had no intention of revealing himself to Lu Yu.
’The one who destroyed the Divine Mansion Sect was the Lord General. Lu Yu has a close relationship with him. Revealing my identity now would be like walking into a trap.’
Bai Yuan glanced over coolly, just like any other passerby, showing no sign of recognition.
There was no need to acknowledge each other, but he was determined to figure out Lu Yu’s true role and identity.
’This piece of information might be very useful later on.’
After walking about a hundred meters, Bai Yuan turned to Hu Ben and said, "You go on to the inn. I’ll follow shortly."