Chapter 140: Please Take a Seat

At Night — A thousand miles away, Li Xian stood on a mountainside, gazing into the distance, holding the latest letter in his hand. The information was now completely conveyed through jade slips. This time, the message was substantial, including recent activities in Anyang and plans for the future.

Although he was a thousand miles away, Li Xian had a firm grip on Anyang, thanks to his loyal and like-minded subordinates. Honestly, this feeling… was amazing!

Looking up at the unfamiliar, yet dazzling, starry sky, Li Xian felt both satisfaction and a sense of regret. “The eastern part of the Great Xia Empire must be in chaos by now, right? Too bad, I can only stay here by the imperial tomb and can’t see it with my own eyes. Though I can remotely control Anyang, not being able to see it firsthand is still a bit of a regret.”

“But the Great Xia Empire is really in turmoil right now, with the princes competing for power and the vassal states dividing up. It’s quite spectacular. Since it’s so exciting, how could I, Li Xian, stay indifferent!”

On the same night:

Chang Lin sat quietly at the bow of the ironclad warship, feeling the sea breeze. Although he sat here every day, he never grew tired of it. As the general of the ironclad fleet, Chang Lin held a small booklet in his hand. This booklet not only recorded Li Xian’s thoughts on the future of warships and the navy but also included Chang Lin’s own “engineering designs.”

That’s right, despite being a general, in present-day Anyang, it wasn’t easy to be a good one. At the very least, one had to understand the principles of these new war machines, be able to summarize experiences, and constantly improve them.

Li Xian was very clear about this: if you can’t keep up, step down! If you can’t keep up with the development, you’ll be eliminated!

Turning gently to the last page of the booklet, there were only a few lines. “If warships develop into moving landmasses on the sea, what a grand spectacle that would be?”

Just then, a soldier on watch reported, “General, someone is using water escape technique to approach our ship. It’s probably from Luliang County!”

Using telescopes and the sharp eyes of cultivators, some abnormalities could still be detected. Additionally, An Yang had special reconnaissance equipment — a silk net. Specifically, a magical artifact net. This net, made from Soul Silk, was refined into a basic magical tool. However, this tool could float on the surface of the sea, covering a large area, much like a spider web surrounding the ironclad ship, with someone specifically responsible for it.

It went without saying, this could be considered an alternative form of radar. Those using the water escape technique, such as Zhao Youdan, were detected by this reconnaissance method.

When Zhao Youdan and his group thought they had stealthily approached the big ship, blinding light erupted once more. This time, Zhao Youdan and his group received a different kind of treatment — machine cannons!

Unlike ground vehicles, all weapons on the ironclad ship seemed to be a size larger. Near Zhao Youdan and his group, there were five machine cannons that unleashed a barrage. These 30mm caliber machine cannons, with a firing rate of 120 rounds per minute, were truly formidable killing machines.

A bullet hit Zhao Youdan. Even with preparation, Zhao Youdan was still struck so hard that his bones and muscles weakened, and his internal organs protested. Only cultivators at the Golden Core stage could withstand such an impact; those at the Foundation Building stage were directly torn apart by the violent machine gunfire.

The intense light, machine gunfire, and death finally caused the battle-hardened soldiers of Lüliang County to break down. Even Zhao Youdan himself was forced to flee in fear for his life!

One would think that a Golden Core cultivator shouldn’t be so weak, but without magical tools, even the full power of a Golden Core cultivator couldn’t be fully utilized. A Golden Core cultivator was like a strongman, capable of wearing armor and wielding a massive hammer, but instead, they were wearing simple clothes and holding a wooden stick on the battlefield.

The scarcity of resources had made cultivators extraordinarily weak. A large portion of a cultivator’s strength depended on magical tools. In this age of scarcity, the combat power of cultivators had been reduced to its lowest point.

This ambush was a complete failure; not only did they fail to achieve their goal, but Lüliang County also suffered significant losses. Their already dwindling elite forces were further reduced! The losses included powerful cultivators at the Foundation Building stage, the pillars of the army, the top experts, each one a rare talent. Now, these elites had been wiped out before they could even succeed in battle.

When Zhao Youdan, in a sorry state, returned to Nanliang Prefecture, the Governor of Lüliang County, Zhao Guoshan, finally sighed, “Indeed, we shouldn’t have attacked the big ship!”

Continuous failures and the loss of so many troops had left Zhao Guoshan completely worn out. He had lost all interest in the so-called “ironclad ship” by now.

After sighing, Zhao Guoshan looked north, “I hope… it succeeds. How could I, Zhao Guoshan, have fallen to such a state?”

No one around dared to respond. Why had Zhao Guoshan fallen to this point? It was all self-inflicted!

At this moment, Zhao Guoshan was in a state of frustration. The situation had developed to this point, and it was too late to even seek soldiers from the State of Cai. Who could he turn to for help?

However, it seemed that fate had not completely abandoned him. In the middle of the night, a guard suddenly came to report: “The civil official of Zhongshan County, Gu Songfeng, has arrived!”

At that moment, Zhao Guoshan felt as if he had been revived, like seeing the sunrise in the darkest of nights. With Gu Songfeng, a civil official and strategist from Zhongshan County, arriving, it must be a sign of hope!

Zhao Guoshan did not need anyone to inform him. He immediately went out of the city to meet him. After personally welcoming Gu Songfeng and having him seated, Gu Songfeng gave Zhao Guoshan a surprising revelation—”Let’s rebel!” Otherwise, there would be no excuse for carrying out the series of actions to come.

Zhao Guoshan was stunned. Yes, Gu Songfeng had indeed brought warmth, but it was not like sending charcoal in the snow; it was more like sending coal in the scorching heat of summer.

Gu Songfeng was calm and composed. “Governor Zhao, please take a look at the current situation in Lüliang County. If you had rebelled earlier, things wouldn’t have gotten so bad. You wouldn’t have been forced into such a desperate situation.

It is because you still have concerns that you’re hesitant and restrained.

What if there were no concerns?

In my opinion, now is the best time to rebel. The princes are fighting for power, and the various governors are mutually restricting each other. If we rebel, the State of Cai will have a legitimate reason to support us!”

Then, Gu Songfeng repeated the current actions of Zhongshan County: heading north to contact the First Prince, and south to make connections with the Kong family. “Now, as long as our two families join forces, we won’t ask for too much—self-preservation will be more than enough! And with self-preservation, we’ll gain a chance to breathe, slowly grow stronger, or even seek to ally with others. It’s far better than being stuck in the current situation, where we’re neither here nor there, and may even face the risk of collapse.”

To be honest, Zhao Guoshan was tempted! However, with his trusted civil official and strategist, Li Yuanming, not around, Zhao Guoshan had no one to discuss it with. After pondering for a long while, he finally nodded, “Rebel—no, it’s not rebellion, it’s an uprising. An uprising is certainly fine, but we still face a problem right now: the army of Anyang stationed not far from here!”

“That’s simple!” Gu Songfeng replied without blinking, “Pick someone from the army who looks similar to you, someone with the same body and face, to temporarily delay them. You, sir, should set off overnight to the southwest to take command of General Zou Zhiquan’s army. Once you have control of that force, you’ll have military power. With military power, you can then reach out to the various counties and towns in Lü Liang County to reclaim it!”

“Good!” With the decision made, Zhao Guoshan immediately gave the order. He didn’t care about the traps set for the morning, and together with his son, Zhao Youdan, they fled South Liang Prefecture in the dead of night, heading south.

As for Gu Songfeng, he took one last look at the critically endangered Lüliang County and left South Liang Prefecture. He planned to rush back to Zhongshan County that very night to oversee the critical strategic planning that would follow.

The night was deep, but Anyang was still bustling with activity; the busy, lively streets provided the perfect cover for those with ulterior motives!

More than a hundred shadows arrived and immediately rushed toward the inner city of Anyang’s Lord’s Mansion. Two of the figures were especially swift and were the first to enter the inner city, followed by a hundred elite soldiers filing in. The defensive arrays on the city walls were somehow bypassed without triggering any alarms.

However, after these people crossed the walls, suddenly, a brilliant light erupted. Xu Ren was seated behind a stone table, where a game of chess was laid out, half-played.

Upon seeing the newcomers, Xu Ren smiled faintly, “Please, take a seat.”

The chaotic night slowly “melted” away, revealing the hidden elite soldiers of Anyang, who had been lurking in the shadows.

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