Demoness, where are you Fleeing to?
Chapter 926 - 764: Going into Labor

Chapter 926: Chapter 764: Going into Labor

"Cannons?" Li Xuan’s lips twitched, then he resolutely shook his head, "They might appear in the future, for now, let’s make do with what we have."

The development of the ’retraction cannon’ by the Shenqi Union was progressing smoothly.

In a world where ’floating airships,’ ’mechanical puppets,’ and ’Solar Furnaces’ could be built, it was impossible that such modern cannons couldn’t be manufactured.

There was no technological barrier; the only issue bothering them was cost, which Leng Yurou was trying to reduce by all means.

Once the Shenqi Union’s ’retraction cannon’ was developed, whether it was the smooth-bore cannons commonly used by the Great Jin Dynasty or the future Armstrong cannons (breech-loading rifled cannons), they would all be discarded as rubbish.

All these cannons had one defect in common: recoil.

The recoil from firing these cannons pushed the barrel back from its position, not only forcing the artillerymen to laboriously push it back into place, which limited the choice of locations for deploying the cannons but also resulting in lost precision; recalculating the trajectory took time and was inefficient.

But the ’retraction cannon,’ perfectly solved this problem.

Thus, Li Xuan would never spend his limited funds on buying smooth-bore cannons that had low firing rates, weak firepower, and yet cost thousands of silver yuan each.

For the matter of using the Xinyuelian to seize Luo Yan’s body, he had already pinched his nose and purchased six hundred retraction heavy cannons to equip five flying warships; it was impossible to continue wasting money like this.

The ideal cannon in Li Xuan’s mind was akin to the French M1897 model 75mm cannon developed in 1897, also known as ’Mademoiselle 75.’

Its range was nearly seven kilometers, with a firing rate of fifteen rounds per minute—once such a cannon appeared, it would dominate the battlefields for decades to come.

It was expected that after incorporating the runes of this world, the firing rate, range, and firepower of this cannon would be even more formidable.

Of course, its cost would also be extremely high.

But Li Xuan preferred to spend more money later to purchase these ’retraction cannons’ rather than repeating his expenditures.

Just like now, he preferred to endure the high cost of ’brass cartridge bullets’ to equip his heavenly soldiers with ’striker-fired bolt rifles,’ rather than ’flintlock rifles.’

The Shenqi Union was still unable to mass-produce mercury fulminate and smokeless powder, relying on magic techniques and some crude methods to produce the necessary materials for these two types of metal bullets.

This caused the cost of brass cartridge bullets to remain high.

But Li Xuan preferred to spend more on these bullets in order to equip his army with striker-fired rifles.

Simply because these rifles had a high firing rate, great firepower, and could be used for many decades. They could even be further modified in the future to add magazines and be transformed into semi-automatic rifles.

Fu Youde felt a pang of disappointment when he heard this, then his brow furrowed slightly, "But without adequate cannons, our line column formation firepower might not meet expectations."

If it was just to handle the current situation, the firearms they were equipped with were sufficient.

The temples of Buddhism, not a single one could withstand the onslaught of thousands of ’striker-fired bolt rifles.’

But Fu Youde knew that the most thrilling part of this ’Destroying Buddha’ conflict would occur in a few days.

That upcoming battle, bound to be earth-shattering, would also be the moment when these 26,000 heavenly soldiers truly demonstrated their divine power.

Could the courage, strategy, and determination of the Mysterious Yellow Emperor ever be anticipated by those bald monks of Buddhism?

Li Xuan smiled upon hearing this, "That’s easy, at the time of battle, I’ll have the cannons from the Shenji Camp redirected here."

Now that Meng Wu had been pacified, both the Shenji Camp and the Forbidden Army of Jingying were en route back to the capital.

The thousands of field smooth-bore cannons were sitting unused, and Li Xuan planned to divert these cannons and their crews for the upcoming battle.

Seeing that Fu Youde still frowned deeply and looked uneasy, and Lan Yu beside him also appeared frustrated, Li Xuan slightly shook his head, "In at most four days, the first ’retraction cannon’ forged by the Shenqi Union will be assembled, and then you can come with me to see the trial of this cannon. Don’t worry, my Heavenly Court will definitely be equipped with the most advanced firearms and the most powerful cannons."

After comforting these two key generals, Li Xuan turned to Dugu Bilo, "Has the news been sent out?"

"It has." Dugu Bilo nodded expressionlessly, "Following the emperor’s instructions, I have ordered the Xiuyiwei to handle it. On the first of August, the Court will gather fifty thousand troops to encircle Song Mountain, and also borrow ten thousand heavenly soldiers from the Mysterious Yellow Emperor, preparing to take down Shaolin in one fell swoop.

From what I know, numerous high monks and powerful warrior monks of Buddhism are gathering at Song Mountain. They have also cleaned out all millennium ’Moon Lotus’ seeds from the market, probably to summon the spirit of the Xinyuelian Bodhisattva to descend to the mortal realm, estimated to be in the next few days."

"Oh?"

Li Xuan’s lips slightly lifted, a glint appearing in his eyes, "The Moon Lotus is about to descend? Then truly, heaven assists me—"

He was about to outline grand strategies and critique his opponents.

But he saw Yue Qianqian running out from his ’Lingxiao Treasure Hall,’ her expression somewhat panicked, "Yan has broken water, she’s about to give birth."

Li Xuan was taken aback; why would it be Luo Yan giving birth? Yunrou was supposed to be the one who was pregnant earlier.

His heart panicked, then he hurried like a gust of wind into the Lingxiao Treasure Hall.

※※※※

Meanwhile, in a prison cell within the Ruzhou government office, the abbot Shi Lingtong from Shanxin Temple had been whipped until his heavy robes were soaked in blood.

For someone like him, at the Twelfth Layer Stage of Buddhist cultivation, his flesh was extremely strong. Ordinary whips could hardly touch him, but this time, the punishment was administered by a Henan Xiuyiwei Qianhu at the eleventh house level, using the specially made ’Soul-Loss Whip’ of the Xiuyiwei.

Simple whipping could cause excruciating pain, penetrating deep into the bones and even reaching into the spirit.

"Speak!" the brocade clothed Qianhu Wei Chian coldly watched the man. "How did Shanxin Temple collude with Prince Ning and Prince Xiang? Was Shaolin of Song Mountain involved? Where are the treasures that Shanxin Temple has accumulated over generations?"

This time, the various treasures they seized in Shanxin Temple amounted to a staggering 1.7 million taels. However, before the battle, Shanxin Temple didn’t fully believe that they could withstand an assault from The Court.

Therefore, two days ago, they had most of their treasures moved out and hidden away from the temple.

Shanxin Temple is a thousand-year-old temple, and its accumulated treasures should amount to no less than five million taels.

Shi Lingtong, however, endured the pain, eyes on the nose, nose on the heart, silent and unspoken.

He thought something was amiss—

According to Shi Lingtong’s expectations, at this time, the disciples of Shanxin Temple, even if they hadn’t seized the granary of Ruyang, should have created significant disturbances within the city.

Also, there should have been some noise from the demons they had released.

Currently, the number of demons suppressed by Shanxin Temple’s Third Door amounted to over twenty, among them the White-striped Winged Tiger and the Black Blaze Demon, both fearsome big demons of The Fourth Gate.

The Liudao Division’s manpower in Ruzhou was utterly insufficient to handle this.

At this point, besides seeking help from Shanxin Temple, did The Court have any other option?

The eyes of the brocade clothed Qianhu Wei Chian showed a chilling radiance. "Were you waiting for those disciples to cause trouble? Stop daydreaming, your fellow disciple Shi Lingfei has already taken the gold and silver you provided and fled, his whereabouts unknown."

The man was indeed clever, sweeping away the gold and silver of Shanxin Temple to become a wealthy man or to establish another temple, which was surely better than inciting followers to rebel.

Yet the Xiuyiwei was still fully searching for this man’s trail; Shanxin Temple had allocated over three hundred thousand taels for Shi Lingfei to incite the followers.

The Xiuyiwei coveted that sum of money too.

"If you were hoping that those demons would create chaos to overwhelm The Court, that’s even more whimsical. Whether it’s the White-striped Winged Tiger or the Black Blaze Demon that you released, both have been annihilated by the Liudao Division with the power of the Mysterious Yellow Emperor!

Did you not think about it? From the day County Prince Fenyang began his campaign, when has he ever been defeated? Since he is intent on Destroying Buddha, he is naturally fully prepared. His might is as immovable as Taishan, making it impossible for you to contend against him."

Shi Lingtong remembered the great battle that took place at Shanxin Temple a few days ago; he recalled those splendidly golden heavenly soldiers and his face involuntarily twitched.

Shi Lingtong believed Wei Chian’s words, if they were indeed the heavenly soldiers and generals of the Mysterious Yellow Emperor, then the demons released by Shanxin Temple were indeed inconsequential.

However, the expenditure by The Court and the Liudao Division must also have been substantial.

Shi Lingtong was not unfamiliar with the recently notorious Mysterious Yellow Emperor, although he had heard that this Emperor charged astronomical fees.

This self-proclaimed "Supreme of the Three Realms" Emperor acted nothing like a Heaven Emperor in behavior.

Thus, Shi Lingtong remained silent and unwavering in his belief that The Court would eventually be unable to hold out.

The Court couldn’t possibly afford so much money to sustain this conflict with Buddhism.

Shi Lingtong believed in an old saying, "To stop the spear with martial arts, with martial arts stop the spear."

If Buddhism wanted to avoid the many troubles arising from this ’Destroying Buddha’, they had to make The Court feel the pain.

Seeing this, the brocade clothed Qianhu Wei Chian frowned and then cast away the whip in his hand. "I’ll give you one more day to think it over carefully. By tomorrow, I will have to use the soul searching technique!"

He then snorted coldly and strode out of the prison cell.

If it weren’t for the difficulty of soul searching a Fourth Gate Buddhist, requiring the preparation of an Array and the intervention of a skilled Fourth Gate Spellcaster, he would have already begun forcibly searching Shi Lingtong’s spirit!

Only after Wei Chian had departed did Shi Lingtong open his eyes. There was a trace of chill in his gaze. "Come out! He’s gone."

At that moment, a white light appeared in the cell.

Within the white light was a tiny old monk with white eyebrows. His expression grave, he locked eyes with Shi Lingtong. "Abbot Lingtong, I am dispatched under orders to rescue you from distress, but I must know how much of your cultivation remains to assist me?"

"About thirty percent. I have one of Buddhism’s six Divine Skills, ’Leak Exhaustion’ within me. The Zhenyuan Nail actually cannot trap me."

Shi Lingtong did not immediately struggle to free himself but stared sharply at the other party. "Who sent you? What is their purpose? What is the current situation outside?"

"The current situation outside is not good. Five days ago, The Court swept through twenty-five monasteries with a thousand monks each, and two days ago, they eradicated another fifteen, not even Jinshan Temple with its three thousand monks could be preserved,"

The white-browed old monk first sighed, then said chillingly, "Now, The Court has mobilized fifty thousand troops from other provinces and plans to borrow ten thousand heavenly soldiers and numerous cannons from that Mysterious Yellow Emperor, preparing a strong attack on Song Mountain on the first of August. As such, my abbot Shi Kongxin, under the decree of the Xinyuelian Bodhisattva, commanded me to come and rescue Abbot Lingtong from detention and assist at Song Mountain."

Shi Lingtong was stunned. "Borrowing ten thousand heavenly soldiers, where does The Court get so much money? Moreover, if The Court is mobilizing a large army, how shall Song Mountain hold up?"

The white-browed old monk then gave a bitter smile. "It is said that The Court is appointing the Mysterious Yellow Emperor as a legitimate divine Emperor in exchange for the unpaid troops. As for the exact truth, I am not sure. However, in recent days, The Court indeed issued a decree to officially recognize the Mysterious Yellow Emperor."

He then raised his eyebrows, his eyes filled with boundless murderous intent. "Abbot Lingtong, by the day after tomorrow, the True Spirit of the Moon Lotus Bodhisattva will descend into the world in the ’Lotus Seed Divine Body’ that our temple has forged. We have already prepared to evacuate Song Mountain and disperse into smaller groups.

But before leaving Song Mountain, both the abbot and the Bodhisattva wish to exact a price from the Great Jin Dynasty! Hence, they are inviting allies to gather at Song Mountain."

Shi Lingtong’s heart stirred slightly. Song Mountain is treacherous, and The Court along with the Mysterious Yellow Emperor’s firearms would likely be ineffective.

And with the entire force of Buddhism, could they not overcome those fifty thousand Wei Suo troops and ten thousand heavenly soldiers?