Book 12: Chapter 38: Borrowing Your Hand, Increase the Straw On Your Back
Zhang Qiuxuan fell in front of his opponent.
He felt more tired, powerless and weak than ever before, but he still struggled to raise his head with all of his strength. Before raising his head, he coughed and said, âYou actually had the guts to come to Sanskrit Passage.â
In this world, only âBig Blackâ could shoot down the Divine Wood Flying Crane from this type of distance, only âBig Blackâ could completely defeat all of his strength.
That was why this stranger who was standing in front of him right now could only be that Tangcang officer[1] who killed a Green Luan Academy Windstalker, and then after seizing âBig Blackâ, was too scared to remain in the military, could only hide in Tangcangâs Quicksand City.
âEven though Tangcang is large, there is no place for me. I can only stake it all.â
His opponent slowly replied in a desolate manner.
The person who appeared in Zhang Qiuxuanâs view was a face that already had all heroism and fighting spirit erased from a long period of hiding, all sharpness erased, not a trace of valiant spirit or might to be seen, only sentimental emotions and disappointment. His temples were entirely white, the corners of his eyes also filled with deep wrinkles.
Zhang Qiuxuan didnât have much interest in this man who had already concealed his identity for many years, to the extent where even most Tangcang people forgot his name. The reason he raised his head with all of his strength was just so he could take a look at this âBig Blackâ that hadnât made an appearance in many years.
He saw it.
Then, he was inwardly shaken again, making his entire body start to tremble intensely.
If Lin Xi could see this scene, he definitely wouldnât feel that this was extremely confusing or shocking.
It was because what was in this manâs hands wasnât a black bow at all, but rather a black ancient zither.
It was entirely pitch-black, just like that of the darkest night. At the very least, judging from its outer appearance, it was extremely close to a zither, having three black string-like objects.
However, Zhang Qiuxuan had seen âBig Blackâ many years ago, so he knew that this was precisely the worldâs most powerful soul weapon giant bow, âBig Blackâ.
Even if this âBig Blackâ wasnât in that personâs hands, Zhang Qiuxuan seemed to still be able to sense that personâs brilliance left on this soul weapon.
Zhang Qiuxuanâs entire body began to tremble, unable to help but say, âYou are wrong, you truly arenât worthy of this weapon.â
The worn out man looked at Zhang Qiuxuan. He could understand Zhang Qiuxuanâs emotions, but the corners of his lips instead produced a feeling of mockery. âArenât you and the emperor trying to do the same thing as us?â
Zhang Qiuxuan stared blankly, momentarily at a loss for words.
This weary man gave him a deep look, saying in a profound manner, âOnly, what I donât understand is that the reason we took on Green Luan Academy as our enemy was because we were forced to, left with no other choice, it is something extremely natural. However, how can you and Yunqin Emperor have the courage to deal with Green Luan Academy? Could it be that you all are already sure that Principal Zhang is already no longer in this world?â
With these words, Zhang Qiuxuanâs expression suddenly turned even more snow-white.
Then, he saw that there were people frantically trying to flee from the Divine Elephant Armyâs stampede. Some of these people were cultivators dressed in Sky Devil Heavy Armor, some of them heavy armored cavalry.
There were definitely some who recognized âBig Blackâ among these cultivators. Meanwhile, the ones who didnât at least knew that this worn out Tangcang officer was a Sacred Expert from that strike. That was why not a single person dared to try to break through, all of them only frantically trying to escape through the two sides.
However, the Divine Elephant Army didnât seem to be in a rush at all, allowing some people to flee at will.
âHeavenfall Provinceâs Provincial Supervisor, it was you all?!â He suddenly thought of a possibility. His breathing immediately stopped, looking at this worn out man while screaming out.
âNo.â The worn out man shook his head. He bent down at the waist and then patted Zhang Qiuxuanâs body. With a voice only the two of them could hear clearly, he said, âIf Changsun Jinse wants to investigate this⊠he will find that it was Jiang Familyâs people.â
Zhang Qiuxuanâs body shook fiercely.
He suddenly understood many things. He opened his mouth, wishing to say something, but under the other partyâs pat, his entire body already went rigid, already unable to say anything.
This worn out man looked into Zhang Qiuxuanâs eyes, as if feeling a bit of sympathy. He laughed in mockery, saying quietly by Zhang Qiuxuanâs ears, âWhat you are thinking should be correct. Previously, Zhangsun Jinse wanted to further weaken Huang Familyâs power. During the division of Jadewater and Heavenfall Provinces, the appointment and transferring of their officials all went through Wen Xuanshuâs hands. That is why all of this has gone through Wen Xuanshuâs arrangements⊠Otherwise, without the authority of the Grand Secretary of Yunqin Empire, how could a massive force like the Divine Elephant Army possibly silently appear in Yunqin Empireâs borders? The strength and current influence Wen Xuanshu has displayed have made our Divine Elephant Army feel that it is worth cooperating with him, worth making a gamble on.â
âŠ
In Central Continent Imperial City, Wen Xuanshu slowly walked out of the defense study, calmly returning to his own cabinetâs official residence.
When he thought about the emperor who was gentle and dignified before him in the study just now, he raised his head and looked into the Imperial Cityâs blue skies. There wasnât a trace of emotion to be seen on his face, but his pupils were suffused with laughs of cold mockery.
In the past dozen or so years, he always used Grand Secretary Zhou as a mirror, comparing where he was lacking compared to Grand Secretary Zhou.
After all these years of comparison and studying, he was finally sure that if Grand Secretary Zhou was Yunqin Emperor, he would definitely be much harder to deal with than Changsun Jinse.
It was because even  in all of Central Continent Imperial City, Grand Secretary Zhou was the one who understood how to maintain balance the most.
The various sectors and senators coexisted in harmony for so many years, moreover, not constantly trying to seize authority from one another was all because of Grand Secretary Zhouâs balancing.
He didnât incur the powerful retaliation of any one power, moreover able to make all of the power usable by the emperor, even if he didnât exert all of his energy in doing his, this was still already extremely terrifying.
If someone like Grand Secretary Zhou was Yunqin Emperor, then if something abnormal happened to him, what he would have to face would be all of those powers.
However, right now, even though Changsun Jinse was extremely powerful, even though he understood how to endure silently and store up power, his talent in tactics also seemingly inherited from the late emperor, the entire world had already seen his errors in judgment. His weakest point was precisely check and balance.
Wen Xuanshu understood himself extremely clearly. He knew that on certain aspects, he still couldnât compare to Grand Secretary Zhou, but for him to cooperate with the emperor, make the balance imbalanced, make the emperor suffer the repercussions of the imbalance, was extremely easy.
Today, the emperorâs mood was extremely good, likely thinking that Zhang Qiuxuan already finished his task in Jadefall City. According to the speed at which news returned, perhaps it would arrive tomorrow morning.
If at the time, he discovered that it wasnât the news he wanted, even Zhang Qiuxuan who he trusted and was closest to unable to escape, just what kind of reaction would he have then?
Under his rage, dealing with Jiang Family was inevitable.
As early as when the emperor intended to deal with Huang Family, during Jadefall Cityâs division into provinces, he who started to assume great authority already planted enough threads to frame Jiang Family and the Divine Elephant Armyâs collusion. When news arrived in the emperorâs hands tomorrow, all of the following proof, including the testimonies of those who returned alive from Sanskrit Passage, would state that the one Divine Elephant Army colluded with was Jiang Family.
After the crown prince died, Jadefall City, for the emperor, were taboo words.
Anything related to Jadefall City would make the emperorâs judgment ability and rationality greatly decline.
Subconsciously, the emperor might think that Jiang Family and the Divine Elephant Army would rebel just like Wenren Cangyue, that they were trying to occupy Jadefall City.
Moreover, many days ago, Yuhua Family already used the method of taking Lin Xi into Priest Hall as a way of retaliation, so the emperor would naturally believe that Jiang Family and the other influential families would also adopt various methods to retaliate.
That was why Jiang Familyâs complete collapse was but already but a matter of course.
âJust how many more pieces of straw will it take to completely break your back?â
Wen Xuanshu turned around. He gave the True Dragon Mountain behind Imperial City a look, inwardly saying this quietly.
He didnât know how many more straws would crush the emperor.
That was why all he could do was borrow the emperorâs hand to continuously place one straw after another on the emperorâs body.
âŠ
Heavenfall, Jadewater, the high ranking officials of these two provinces were about to go crazy.
The Yunqin officials who received the earliest secret military reports were also about to go crazy.
Tangcangâs Divine Elephant Army was definitely this worldâs most powerful heavy armored army.
Some of the top secret information in the military stated that if one wanted to defeat Tangcangâs Divine Elephant Army, there were only three ways.
The first was for several Sacred Experts to attack together with many cultivators.
The second was an ambush with large amounts of powerful military equipment.
The third was to use a tremendous army to wear them down.
However, the first and second method didnât even have high chances of success.
It was because the Divine Elephant Armyâs terror didnât lie in the power of the golden armored giant elephantsâ strength, but rather in their endurance and speed. Some military equipment that were heavy and difficult to transport, for this troop, it wasnât that difficult at all. That was why this Divine Elephant Army could always carry large amounts of powerful military equipment as long-range aid. They werenât only a heavy armored army, they were also a heavy military equipment army.
Even if Yunqin really could gather some Sacred Experts, when facing this type of army, they would have to prepare themselves for the price of losing many of these Sacred Experts and cultivators, let alone the fact there was still a Sacred Expert level Tangcang commander with Principal Zhangâs âBig Blackâ in his hands!
This type of army, if they didnât take the initiative to attack a city, they could easily fight in one place after another while carrying large amounts of military equipment. However, if Yunqinâs military wanted to transport large amounts of military equipment to carry out an ambush, it wouldnât be that easy.
That was why the most feasible way was to use tens of thousands of soldiers to surround and wear them down.
In the eyes of Tangcang and Yunqinâs military, the Divine Elephant Army that didnât number a thousand in total was equivalent to a powerful army with the strengths of tens of thousands to begin with.
In the past, when Wenren Cangyue guarded Jadefall City, an enemy troop of tens of thousands wasnât much either.
However, right now, it was precisely when Yunqin and Great Mangâs war raged endlessly, the frontlines were already extremely tense. If Jadefall City experienced a great battle, then it would be like the backyard of Yunqin Empire suddenly catching fire!
Moreover, the most crucial point was⊠through the description of the military intelligence, this might even involve a dispute between Jiang Family and the emperor.
A struggle between the emperor and one of the empireâs pillars, would this cause another corner of the tower to break?
While this secret report transmitted towards Central Continent Imperial City, some officials and powers who already knew the contents, out of shock and helplessness, started to prepare a contingency plan.
Meanwhile, a carriage from Auspicious Virtueâs farm traveled to the newly established Auspicious Virtue Town in Jadewater Province, entering a shop that exclusively sold soaps.
In Jadewater Province, apart from Wuren City where the Provincial Supervisor Manor was, the other towns of over ten thousand inhabitants were all built up with Auspicious Virtueâs assistance. These towns of over ten thousand populations were originally made up of seventy to eighty percent Auspicious Virtue employees. Even though now, as more and more people entered Jadewater and Heavenfall Province, Auspicious Virtueâs people already only occupying thirty to forty percent of the population, for the sake of satisfying the various lifestyle needs of Auspicious Virtueâs employees, Auspicious Virtueâs plans were extremely detailed, all types of shops opened up by themselves. That was why even now, in Jadewater Provinceâs various towns, all of the shops that satisfied daily needs and even some medical clinics were Auspicious Virtueâs.
Behind this soap shop, the taverns, restaurants, large workshop, the shop specializing in soy bean oil next to it, as well as the noodle shop, rice store, north and south commodity shop across the street, all hung Auspicious Virtueâs banner.
As more and more foreigners appeared, these shops that originally only served to satisfy the basic needs of Auspicious Virtue members, some even going in the red, also began to make money. As the scale became larger and larger in the future, they might instead bring Auspicious Virtue quite a good profit.
This shop that specialized in selling soaps was Auspicious Virtueâs largest soap store in Jadewater Province. Right now, all of the soaps in Jadewater Province came from the workshop behind this shop. There were several warehouses in the workshop, the shopfront only serving as a display and selling small quantities.
When he saw that the carriage parked at the front of the store had Auspicious Virtueâs banner, a shopkeeper in the shop immediately greeted it. After seeing that the one who walked out from the carriage was a gorgeous embroidered clothed woman, this shopkeeper was immediately stunned, exceptionally moved as he showed this woman a deep bow of respect.
The shop assistants who recognized that this woman was the great shopkeeper of all of Auspicious Virtue were immediately so moved they forgot what they were doing, all of them freezing in place, at a loss for what to do.
1. https://www.wuxiaworld.com/novel/immortal-devil-transformation/idt-chapter-330
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