Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 840 - 698: Li Xuan is Full

Chapter 840: Chapter 698: Li Xuan is Full

Within the space of Tianxingtai, Lv Qiluo had successfully stabilized the newly condensed Hufa Divine General.

Standing over fifteen feet tall, clad in crimson battle armor, his features were defined and stern, with an exceptionally cold and piercing gaze.

Perhaps due to absorbing the endless malevolence within this space, the Hufa Divine General exuded a bloody aura and had an extremely violent temper, as if he was ready to choose someone to devour.

However, with the help of the eight-sided Han sword armguard, Li Xuan was still able to control this Hufa Divine General and prevent him from losing control.

"Is it done?"

Li Xuan scrutinized the figure closely, "Who is he? Which Marshal from the third generation of Heavenly Court is he?"

"He is one of the Five Elements Marshals, Marshal Zhenyou of Metal Virtue. You probably haven’t heard of him; he was one of the late emperor’s trusted generals. His existence was erased by the Buddhism and Taoism factions to prevent people from worshipping him, which would aid in the reformation of his True Spirit."

Lv Qiluo expressed regret, "Unfortunately, the True Spirit I gathered is still insufficient to condense his Rule of Extreme Heaven. Li Xuan, you can first let him use that ’eight-sided declining sword’."

Li Xuan raised his eyebrows and, without hesitation, tossed over the eight-sided Han sword he had within his sleeve.

This fake divine treasure had indeed been worrying him regarding its use.

Next, under the direction of Lv Qiluo, he took out all the usable materials from his pockets and, using the black ashen flames she had condensed, crudely forged an iron stele.

This stele bore only the words "Li Xuan," to which he then added some of his blood essence.

From then on, all the willpower associated with Li Xuan would converge here.

The void of Tianxingtai is one fragment of the Heavenly Court, hidden within the crystal walls of the world, capable of appearing in any corner of this world, according to Lv Qiluo.

Thus, this space could also be used as a divine kingdom to help Li Xuan gather the willpower of the world. It ensures that not just a tenth of the divine power ends up being collected.

Of course, this iron stele was just a temporary creation, not meant to last long.

Afterward, Li Xuan would still need a real artisan to help forge a truly useful divine stele for him.

After these endeavors, Li Xuan finally exited the space of Tianxingtai.

By this time, the sky was showing the first light of dawn, and the battle within the city of Xiangyang had already been quelled two hours ago.

Although Li Xuan was in Tianxingtai, he had brought his Second Mind with him.

Thus, the hundreds of thousands of soldiers both inside and outside the city were well-organized and orderly after the battle.

Li Xuan’s secondary body ended up only allowing the well-disciplined Huguang Standard Soldier Camp to station in Xiangyang; the other troops, including his direct command Shenji Camp, were all withdrawn outside the city to return to their camps to rest.

Outside each camp gate, thirty-plus fresh human heads were hung.

Li Xuan’s prestige in the army was now unrivaled, with few daring to defy his military orders and act rashly within Xiangyang.

Still, there were some who were bold and reckless, harboring hopes of luck.

Li Xuan’s secondary body showed no mercy; those who were found guilty were all beheaded as an example to the others.

However, the city of Xiangyang remained deathly silent; the residents had locked their doors and windows, scared to go out.

Having just experienced the chaos of a city breached the previous night, even those with great courage dared not venture outside at this time.

Li Xuan paid it little mind. He simply ordered that all businesses be forcibly opened and commanded the merchants to open for business, then left all follow-up affairs to be managed by the civil officials accompanying the army.

By now, he had learned of the battle’s outcome from the previous night, just as Lv Qiluo had predicted. Dasiming had successfully escaped.

In the battle the night before, Dasiming had been severely wounded by Shaofu Yu Jie and Master Zhongliu in two consecutive attacks, each time almost dying. However, he managed to recover his injuries in an instant each time, restoring his strength to its peak, and ultimately broke out of the formation when the Venus Star appeared in the sky.

However, many celestial-level beings who accompanied Dasiming were also severely injured in the ’Zhengfan Xiantian Beidou Stars Array,’ losing four celestial lives in the process. Adding the two dead and one injured from Jinque Palace, a total of six celestial-level beings were lost, significantly weakening their strength.

The spoils from the raids on Heaven Palace’s East Island, orchestrated by Xue Yunrou and Luo Yan, however, made Li Xuan’s head spin, his thoughts drifting, feeling as if he were walking on clouds.

These possessions, valued at ninety million Silver Coins, were estimated to leave seventy million in his hands after deducting the shares and rewards given to various parties.

Li Xuan thought of how Emperor Jiaqing of another world must have felt after seizing the wealth of the He family, probably just like this.

Fully sated, even stuffed!

Li Xuan nearly shed tears, thinking that he had been in this world for so long, and only today had he achieved financial freedom.

It took nearly half an hour before Li Xuan could suppress his emotions and begin to focus on military affairs.

The first important matter he dealt with was the distribution of rewards throughout the army.

At this time, all else was secondary; only the distribution of Silver Coins was crucial in maintaining morale.

Ancient armies operated in this manner: there were no national ideals, nor any creed to speak of, only tangible provisions or land could compel soldiers to fight to the death.

The Jin Army was in luck this time as they had also seized over seven million patterned silver from Prince Xiang’s mansion, allowing Li Xuan to distribute the promised rewards immediately. He was especially generous this time, temporarily raising the reward levels.

This caused the vicinity of Xiangyang to burst into cheers once again, calming the restless spirit among the troops considerably in an instant.

The Silver Coin rewards issued by Li Xuan did not pass through the hands of civil officials or officers at any level; instead, they were distributed temporarily by the accountants of merchants in the city.

Facing those fierce and brutal soldiers, these accountants did not dare to embezzle a cent, genuinely distributing all the reward money into everyone’s hands.

Moreover, Li Xuan did not shortchange the officers at any level; he gave them a generous amount of Silver Coin, so the entire army was very pleased.

After five days of rest and reorganization, Li Xuan sent nearly half of the 400,000 troops back to their original postings, retaining only the more elite 150,000, plus another 100,000 from the penal troops of Xiangyang to advance northward into Henan.

When Emperor Tai of Jin established the Weisuo system, it was to save money, claiming, "I maintain millions of soldiers without costing the nation a dime." However, one disadvantage of the Weisuo system was its poor durability in prolonged wars; the combat effectiveness would significantly decrease once troops were far from their hometowns.

This sentiment of missing home was even more pronounced among the penal troops from Nanchang.

Therefore, Li Xuan decisively disbanded them, knowing that even if he took them to Henan, they wouldn’t be of much help.

Three days later, near Nanyang, Li Xuan met with the Zongbing of Henan, Fang Ying, who was advancing southward.

Li Xuan was quite satisfied with Fang Ying’s progress in the area around Shaanxi. This man commanded an army of 250,000, advancing from Tongguan to attack Huayin.

In the region around Huayin, he fought dozens of battles against the Rebel Army of Prince Yi without a single defeat. However, due to the defensive lines established by Prince Yi, the advance was slow.

Prince Yi, aided by the resources of the Jinque Palace, had not only recklessly expanded his troops to 500,000 in these months but also conscripted 2 million civilians to build layered camps and a defense line stretching hundreds of miles at Huayin, Hancheng, and Daqing Pass.

Even for a renowned general like Fang Ying, skilled in siege warfare, the progress was less than ten miles a day.

Li Xuan had no intention of falling into this trap; he had seen the military reports sent by Xiuyiwei, even including portraits projected through taoist technique.

He knew that even if he went there, he couldn’t do better than Fang Ying.

Even with the advantage of firearms, facing those high walls and deep moats, he felt helpless; at most, he could push forward an extra five miles a day.

A daily advance of ten miles compared to fifteen miles wouldn’t greatly change the overall situation in the war.

The true deterrence of firearms and swords lies in their potential, most intimidating before they strike.

At that moment, Li Xuan and Shenji Camp were like a peerless sword, deterring the world.

But if this sword got stuck or seemed blunt, it would rather hinder the stability across the land.

Moreover, having been away from the Capital City for several months, Li Xuan’s control over the Dudu’s mansion and The Court wasn’t as strong as before; he needed to return soon to suppress the undercurrents within the Capital City.

Therefore, after meeting with Fang Ying, Li Xuan instructed him, "Apart from Shenji Camp, take these troops into Guanzhong. I won’t be going to Tongguan."

Upon hearing this, Fang Ying couldn’t help but feel slightly astonished, "Are you planning to return to Capital City, Your Highness? But all our forces have long awaited your arrival."

"Awaiting me for what? Thinking that after I arrive, I will sweep away the army of Prince Yi in one stroke? Then what would we need you military commanders for?"

Li Xuan gave Fang Ying a cold stare, and seeing a look of shame on Fang Ying’s face, he averted his gaze: "You are fully responsible for the warfare in the direction of Huayin. Make sure to coordinate with the forces from Taiyuan. Your main task now is to help the Shanxi troops cross the Yellow River. Only by attacking both from the south and the north can you achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Don’t rush for quick success that might give the army of Prince Yi an opportunity to exploit. With me in Capital City, you need not worry about public opinion in The Court or scarcity of provisions and funds."

He believed that it wasn’t strictly necessary to resolve the rebellion of Prince Yi through military means.

If the Jinque Palace still had tens of millions of bushels of grain, then a strategy to channel the northern cold snap through Dasiming would have been an excellent tactic.

But since Luo Yan had burned all those grains, the situation was entirely different.

However, he felt it unnecessary to explain this to Fang Ying.

Moreover, without maintaining strong military pressure, he could not force Yu Jianshen to expand his army and deplete his provisions.

"I understand, my lord!"

Fang Ying’s expression turned solemn: "Rest assured, Your Highness, it might take as short as three months or as long as half a year. I will definitely advance to the vicinity of Xi’an City!"

At this point, he showed a hint of hesitation: "I’ve heard that the Xuanweishi of Lu River, Si Renfa, has rebelled again?"

Li Xuan glanced sidelong at him: "This person, in just a few days, has attacked and occupied many forts in Yunnan, leading 270,000 troops towards Dali. However, several months ago, I had already ordered Prince Mu’s mansion and the Yunnan Zhihuishi Division to be on high alert.

I also instructed Guangxi, Sichuan, and Guizhou to reinforce with an additional 170,000 troops to defend against Si Renfa’s aggression. There won’t be much trouble there for the time being"

Upon hearing this, Fang Ying finally relaxed slightly, realizing Li Xuan was temporarily not intending to engage militarily with Lu River, focusing mainly on defense.

Then Li Xuan’s expression shifted as he queried Fang Ying: "Zongbing Fang, you’ve campaigned in Yunnan for over a decade and are well acquainted with the situation in Lu River. Do you know how Si’s Tu Division came by so much Silver Coin and so much grain?"

While the region controlled by Si’s Tu Division amounted to less than half a province with a population less than one million, they could still support a well-supplied army and have abundant military resources, despite years of warfare with The Court.

Upon hearing this, Fang Ying’s complexion turned slightly pale: "It’s Jiaozhi State and Damian State assisting Si’s family, especially Jiaozhi. Ever since our Court’s army of tens of thousands perished in Jiaozhi and had to withdraw, there has been continuous provocation from Jiaozhi fearing retaliation or another invasion from us to re-establish the Jiaozhi Buzheng Division, constantly instigating troubles along our borders. Jiaozhi has vast fertile lands that reportedly yield three harvests a year, naturally providing ample money and grain,"

This made Li Xuan’s brow furrow slightly.