Chapter 188: Chapter 137: Sudden Turn of Events
Translator: 549690339
As for the cultivation conversion, progress was going smoothly, which made Lu Yuan in a good mood.
However, while cultivating, he also took some time to instruct his cheap apprentices to continue their old trade.
Originally, because he had reached the limit of the Replenishing Qi Heart Sutra, the demand for Rejuvenation Pills had greatly decreased, and he only prepared enough Rejuvenation Pills for the completion of the Replenishing Qi Heart Sutra.
Later, as he didn’t have much money left, he didn’t continue to purchase century-old herbs.
But now that he had acquired the Chi Yang Divine Skill, the number of bizarre meridians Lu Yuan needed to cultivate suddenly increased by two.
Under such circumstances, if he wanted to quickly improve his skills, he would naturally need to prepare more Rejuvenation Pills.
As for the financial aspect.
Although more than 200,000 silver tales of the five hundred thousand military salary had been spent over the past few months, half of it still remained in his hands.
Therefore, it would be an effortless matter to take out tens of thousands of silver tales to purchase century-old spiritual medicine.
What?
Would this be considered embezzlement of military pay?
The entire army is mine; if I take some silver from my own family, is that considered embezzlement?
And so, Lu Yuan’s named apprentices, who had been resting for more than half a year, began to hustle around the world for their master’s needs again.
Now that more than half a year has passed, Da Yue has become even more chaotic, with military disasters occurring everywhere. It was conceivable that the risks they would take on this trip were much greater than before.
But the master’s orders were not to be disobeyed.
Facing Lu Yuan, who had now been promoted to a general, the rebellious thoughts and intentions of these apprentices had become even smaller than before.
Furthermore, with the return of Zhou Qing, these apprentices, who were still only named disciples, felt even more pressure in the face of the true disciple.
Now they are all rubbing their hands and eager to make achievements in order to become the master’s second true disciple, right?
After all, becoming a true disciple would grant them a top-tier martial arts inheritance and an official military officer position.
These two benefits combined could drive anyone mad, risking their lives for them.
However, Lu Yuan didn’t pay much attention to these disciples’ thoughts.
As far as genuine emotional investment in apprentices, having one, Zhou Qing, was enough.
If there were more, Lu Yuan was genuinely afraid that he would not be able to bear it if his apprentices died one after another in the future.
Perhaps after those named disciples made their contributions, he would give them the title of true disciples and reward them with the already retired Replenishing Qi Heart Sutra and a promotion to military officer.
But to truly treat them as their own inheritors, that would be purely wishful thinking.
However, with these substantial benefits, these disciples would probably not care too much about whether their teacher genuinely regarded them as apprentices or their own people, right?
Emotions are like this.
Those who care about them care a lot, but those who do not, they’re worth nothing.
Compared to this idealistic matter, tangible interests are even more captivating.
After ordering the procurement of century-old medicinal herbs, Lu Yuan focused on secluded cultivation.
With Zhou Qing managing the army and the named apprentices handling the cultivation medicine, there were no distractions, and the cultivation speed was naturally fast.
In just two months, Lu Yuan had completed the conversion of the first six meridians of the Chi Yang Divine Skill and entered the second-rate realm of this skill.
By this time, it was already Hongdao’s fourth year and the ninth month.
At the beginning of the month, Lu Yuan still retreated as usual. After the cultivation, he picked up the news from various sources compiled by Zhou Qing and began to read.
Then, after reading for a short period, he froze.
“Xi Shu colluded with Zhou Country, drawing the Zhou army into Xichuan, and then cooperated with the Zhou army to ambush the Marquis of Wuan at Xuanwu Prefecture. Now, the court has lost 50,000 soldiers, and the remaining troops have retreated to Anyue Prefecture to defend?”
Reading the news, Lu Yuan felt somewhat shaken.
The Wuan Marquis of the court had arrived in Dongting County with 50,000 Pingnan Army soldiers in March this year.
Instead of dealing with the sporadic rebellions in the county, he led the army to confront the Xi Shu army.
Zhou Qing later told him that the Marquis of Wuan Bai Mengyang had contacted the martial arts heroes of Xichuan to start an uprising, creating chaos within the Xi Shu front-line army.
Soon after Zhou Qing returned to Shaoyang Prefecture, Lu Yuan received the court’s report of victory in mid-July, stating that Marquis Wuan had defeated the Pseudo-Shu rebels, beheaded 30,000 of them, and had led the army into Xichuan, capturing several cities and besieging Linjiang Prefecture City. Another month passed, and it was half a month ago when he received more news.
Marquis Wuan donned his armor, led the army to attack the city, beheaded the first-rate family head of the Linjiang Su Family, and captured Linjiang Prefecture City.
With this obstacle removed, the court’s army was able to march directly into Xichuan and join forces with the Xichuan gentry who had been crying for mercy and had just returned to quell the rebellion.
Then, incorporating these local forces, the court’s army was greatly invigorated, with troops expanding to more than 100,000. Out of the nine counties of Xichuan, four had been recovered.
Now only five counties are still controlled by Xi Shu. As for the soldiers under Li Xiong’s command, they are less than 50,000 after successive losses.
No matter how you look at it, the Xi Shu rebels, who had been creating chaos for four years and established their country for one year, wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer.
If they collapse any further, the court will push harder. It is possible that Marquis Wuan might be able to lead the army to annihilate the Shu Thieves by the end of this year..