“This must be a trick!”
As the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus recommended him, Wu Ming immediately judged in his heart.
General Meng Kuo, a great general of the imperial court, commanded numerous warriors and strategists, with an army of twenty-five thousand, including thousands of cavalry. In comparison, King Yimei only had over ten thousand armored soldiers, whose strength was far inferior. This was the first disadvantage.
The enemy held the moral high ground, while their side were rebels with incomplete organization, making them the second disadvantage.
Meng Tian came from a military family and was a descendant of military strategists, whereas their side consisted of the Red Lotus cult, a ragtag group. The Holy Mother of the Red Lotus was greedy for power and wanted to seize military authority. Han Hulin was a formidable figure, biding his time with fierce internal struggles, making this the third disadvantage.
Given these disadvantages, asking Wu Ming to take the field clearly revealed the Holy Mother’s sinister intentions.
“Haha… Then I shall appoint Brother Heixin as the Chief Military Advisor, and all under King Yimei’s command shall be at his disposal. How about that?”
Han Hulin waved his hand grandly, causing others to change expressions in alarm: “Absolutely not!”
The loudest protest surprisingly came from the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus herself.
“Oh? Why not?”
Han Hulin’s eyes gleamed with amusement as he deliberately asked.
“Your Majesty, I am a recluse who must abide by strict monastic rules. Today, I have seen that Your Majesty is the true ruler and have come out of seclusion to assist, which is already my limit. How could I dare to break my vows again by accepting such worldly wealth and honor?”
Wu Ming politely declined with a slight smile.
Are you kidding? Knowing Han Hulin’s tragic fate, if I became the Chief Military Advisor and shared his fortune, wouldn’t I be asking for an early death?
“Indeed! My junior brother has yet to achieve any merit. Your Majesty cannot bestow such a great reward, or you will discourage others!”
The Holy Mother of the Red Lotus was first taken aback, then quickly followed Wu Ming’s lead.
“Exactly! Exactly!”
This remark caused others to immediately agree.
“If that’s the case, then what should we do?”
Han Hulin feigned helplessness.
“Please rest assured, Your Majesty. Give me one day, and I shall present a brilliant strategy to defeat the enemy!”
Wu Ming said confidently.
“Oh?” Han Hulin was delighted: “If you can truly do that, I shall surely appoint you as the Military Advisor, second only to me!”
…
“Master?”
After everyone else had left, Bai Yulian knelt beside the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus, her eyes flickering with curiosity: “Why did you set such a trap for my uncle?”
“Hmph! You still call him your uncle?”
The Holy Mother of the Red Lotus snorted in dissatisfaction, then a look of triumph appeared on her face: “This little Taoist is still a fool, falling into my scheme! Matters of the military are no joking matter. Once he made that statement, it was equivalent to issuing a military order. If he fails to deliver, I will still be able to manipulate him as I wish!”
“But what if Han Hulin is defeated?”
Bai Yulian’s face showed a hint of doubt.
“Hehe… He has my master’s blessing. It is not yet his time to face calamity!”
The Holy Mother of the Red Lotus seemed very confident. After Bai Yulian left, a flash of cruelty appeared in her almond eyes: “Moreover… even if Han Hulin dies, what of it? Our Red Lotus sect has already won over most of the officers. Once Han Hulin is dead, I can immediately take power. With hundreds of thousands of disciples and military authority, if I call for action, won’t half the provinces fall into my hands in an instant? At that time…”
Of course, such a secret matter and her innermost plans would naturally not be shared with Bai Yulian.
Instead, watching Bai Yulian leave, the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus’s face showed a glint of coldness.
…
“Greetings, Father King!”
After leaving the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus’s tent, Bai Yulian made a few strange turns, skillfully shaking off the Red Lotus disciples following her, and entered a secret space.
Standing there was none other than Han Hulin!
But at this moment, he was nowhere near the appearance of a man entranced by lust. He immediately stepped forward and helped Bai Yulian up with a smile: “You are my adopted daughter; there’s no need to be so formal. Did the Holy Mother suspect you?”
“She has already suspected me, but she doesn’t know my true background. She has just been holding back!” Bai Yulian coldly laughed: “My adopted father’s move today…”
“Hehe… The military strategists have many descendants, and their families have been intermarrying for centuries, with deeply entrenched interests. A mere Seven-Battle Immortal is not that significant. The key is his junior brother; if mishandled, he could become a huge problem!”
“So my adopted father is planning to use Zhaixingzi as a scapegoat?”
Bai Yulian thought for a moment, then shook her head: “No, the Seven-Battle Immortal was originally killed by Zhaixingzi, so it’s just a matter of finding the culprit!”
“I don’t intend to bow to the military strategists at all!” Han Hulin sneered: “Diverting attention is one aspect, but another is that this Heixin Taoist seems to have some conflict with the Holy Mother of the Red Lotus. It would be good to use this to our advantage!”
“I have something important to report to my adopted father about this person!”
Bai Yulian’s expression turned serious, and she seemed to recall something, her face slightly blushing.
…
“If that’s the case, you can go to Zhaixingzi and secretly win him over. When necessary, directly expose the connection!”
Han Hulin sneered: “That woman from the Red Lotus sect dares to recruit soldiers in the camp, even five of my generals! What does she think she is doing? For now, we will pretend to go along with her, but one day I will make that wench pay for her actions!”
…
“Two sources of authority, internal depletion of fortune, another major defeat!”
Wu Ming observed the situation, slightly shaking his head, and called for his two beautiful apprentices.
“Master?”
Huang Ying looked somewhat puzzled but still respectfully saluted with Li Xiuyun, asking with a hint of confusion.
“With a major battle approaching, you two will also need some protective magical artifacts!”
Wu Ming looked at the two women, seeing their faces glowing with spiritual energy, obviously their Daoist cultivation had improved, so he nodded approvingly.
The cultivation method he had passed on to them was based on a fragmentary breathing technique from the Maoshan Sutra, which he had revised and supplemented.
Although the forty-nine mystical arts of the Maoshan Scriptures were fierce and overbearing, they were not orthodox Daoist practices, and some even shortened one’s lifespan!
The only fundamental Daoist method was fragmentary, with only half of the breathing technique, making it impossible to advance to the level of an Immortal.
But now, with Wu Ming’s insight, he immediately completed it and passed it on to the two women.
The breathing technique from the Maoshan Sutra, though its origin was unknown, had some merit, especially after Wu Ming completed it, making it balanced, moderate, and solid in foundation. Even if they later switched to other methods, there would be no obstacles, bringing many benefits.
“You two are still beginners. Ying’er is fine, having martial arts to protect her, but Yun’er lacks suitable protective artifacts!”
Wu Ming waved his hand, and a small black bag and a short rope landed in Li Xiuyun’s hands.
“This is the Binding Yin Rope. When activated, it silently binds even martial arts masters. The Yin Bag contains five types of toxic and malevolent energies—miasma, poison gas, evil qi, yin qi, and ghost qi. When aimed at a living person, these five energies instantly corrupt them, turning them into pus and blood… I have refined these two treasures to withstand battlefield blood and killing qi, so I will grant them to you as protective artifacts…”
Wu Ming said solemnly, then passed on the incantations for their use.
“Master…”
At this moment, Huang Ying beside him had her eyes wide with longing, calling out in a sweet voice: “You’re so biased; I won’t allow it!”
“Hehe… Ying’er, you’ve already mastered martial arts, so ordinary artifacts probably don’t interest you. I do have a few poisonous fire-flying swords for you!”
Wu Ming laughed, pulling out several black-red small swords. These were treasures collected by the late Heixin Taoist, with the highest power level being only grade two. He didn’t care much for them but found them perfect for giving as favors.
“There’s also this…”
He then took out several talisman horses and solemnly handed them to the two women: “If things go wrong, use these to escape!”
Frankly speaking, although he was confident in protecting the two women, the battlefield was unpredictable, and no one could truly foresee what might happen.
“Thank you, Master!”
Both Huang Ying and Li Xiuyun bowed deeply. Seeing that he had directly bestowed such precious artifacts upon them, although they also knew it was to ensure their safety so they could use their fate’s qi to change his destiny, their feelings towards Wu Ming had changed significantly.
…
“Meng Kuo? A descendant of the military strategists?!”
After dismissing the two, Wu Ming stroked his chin and waved his hand, revealing several more dazzling magical artifacts before him.
Among them were seven short spears, silver in color, with blood patterns forming a faint snake shape. Even now, they retained their spiritual nature, shimmering with light, appearing like seven lively little snakes, a testament to the Seven-Battle Immortal’s spiritual refinement.
Another item was a white-gold gourd, placed ordinary on the cloud bed, showing no signs of abnormality, but Wu Ming clearly knew its true terrifying power! It was equivalent to half the power of a star’s destiny!
Compared to these two items, the evil magical artifacts painstakingly refined by Heixin Taoist for half his life immediately became clowns, not worth mentioning, like pearls compared to rubble!
“In the future, I will still have to compete with many experts. Relying solely on a skeleton spirit is far from enough…”
Wu Ming pondered: “Moreover, these two items bear too obvious traces of the military strategists’ school, and may have hidden weaknesses. It would be better to refine them again. Fortunately… I remember a certain magical treasure that would be quite suitable…”
He immediately took out the Gengjin Gourd.
“Roar!”
Holding it in his hand, his spiritual sense entered the gourd, revealing a dense, liquid-like killing aura, with starlight flickering on it, forming the shape of a fierce white tiger, whose roar shook the mountains!
“What a dense iron-blooded killing aura! It must have come from a battlefield with at least one hundred thousand people…”
Wu Ming’s face lit up with joy, knowing how painstaking it was to refine this gourd. Let alone anything else, just the demand for such a killing aura would be enough to keep an ordinary person busy for ten years!
In fact, if it were not for the chaos at the end of the Shang Dynasty, with the world in turmoil and constant warfare, even ten years might not be enough to collect such a vast amount of killing aura!
In a way, this magical treasure could be said to have been created in accordance with the will of heaven.
“These seven short spears are also made of excellent material, incorporating deep-sea refined gold, secret silver, and coral iron?”
Wu Ming smiled, flames appearing on his hand, immediately engulfing the seven short spears…
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