Shortly after Rén Xuě and Liang Wei were condemned, Mei Xilan took over the army and began making sweeping changes to its infrastructure. The first thing she did was focus on training their cultivators. Out of the several thousand strong army, there were roughly five hundred cultivators. That was a small number to be sure. The average nation would have an army of at least ten thousand cultivators, and the Undying Sun Sect was estimated to have around eleven thousand.
Cultivators sadly did not grow on trees. If someone wanted to become a cultivator, they had to train when they were young, become strong enough physically to break through the Body Forging Realm and into the Hunger Realm. It was not something people could just do on a whim.
Most of the people in their army were older men in their twenties and thirties. A few of them had families, but they were all working at farming villages and were not actually part of the army. Mei Xilan also could not afford to pull those children away for training because their army required food and these farms were how they were getting them.
“Even with the army now under my control, it is going to be hard to overcome the power difference between us and the Undying Sun Sect,” Mei Xilan said.
They were once more seated around the conference table. Now that Rén Xuě had been ousted, Wu Jian, Hou Jingshu, Shuchang, and Zhou Lihua had become permanent fixtures at this table. None of the Four Pillars had a single thing to say about their presence. At the moment, they were discussing measures they could take to increase their strength.
“Since we can’t match the Undying Sun Sect in quantity, quality will be important,” Zhang Ming said. “Those pills will go a long way toward increasing the strength of our army. However, I don’t know if it will be enough.”
“Do you know what their forces look like?” asked Hou Jingshu.
Zhang Ming and Wang Jian, the two most seasoned veterans present, glanced at each other.
“They’re about eleven thousand strong. Most of their cultivators are only at the Hunger Realm, but they have roughly two hundred Anima Realm cultivators, another one hundred Asura Realm cultivators, and ten Human Limit Realm cultivators. Their elders are at the Human Limit Realm. Meanwhile, their leader, Qiang Bao, is at the Deva Realm,” answered Zhang Ming.
“Shuchang and Hou Jingshu are both at the Seeker Realm. They should be more than able to deal with Qiang Bao and his elders.” Mei Xilan cupped a hand to her chin. “The problem isn’t them but the larger forces. Using a single strong cultivator to annihilate their forces might be more easier, but it’s not necessarily the best option.”
The biggest issue with using powerful cultivators to wipe out entire armies was the amount of collateral damage they would cause. Sure, they could wipe out ten thousand cultivators by themselves, but they would also wind up destroying everything else around them. If they could lure the Undying Sun Sect out of their palace, she could have used them, but Qiang Bao was hunkering down instead of riding out to meet them. That meant he was aware of the powers at her disposal.
“The most important thing to do is avoid a confrontation that would result in civilian casualties, which means we can’t use Shuchang or Hou Jingshu to face off against their armies. We need to train our own forces so they can be strong enough to hold off the Undying Sun Sect’s forces so we can send a small group in to deal with Qiang Bao and his elders.”
“It is as you say,” Li Wei said. “Most of our cultivators are only at the Hunger Realm. Thanks to those pills you have provided, we were able to increase the number of Anima Realm cultivators to twenty, and we even have five more Asura Realm cultivators. However…”
“It’s still not enough,” Mei Xilan said with a sigh.
This was a situation that Wu Jian could not help with. He could help train their soldiers in combat, which he and Hou Jingshu had taken to doing, but that was the extent of what he could do. He could not teach someone else how to cultivate, and he wasn’t an alchemist, so he couldn’t refine pills for them to use.
“I should be able to refine more pills,” Zhou Lihua said, raising her hand to catch everyone’s attention.
“You can?!” asked a stunned Fang Heng.
Zhou Lihua nodded. “I was the one who made those pills you’re using right now. It won’t be hard to make more. However, I do need ingredients.”
“I don’t know what ingredients you need nor the quantities,” Mei Xilan said. “Create a list of all the ingredients you need and how much it will take to make roughly five thousand pills.”
Smiling wryly, Zhou Lihua said, “I do not know if you’ll be able to gather enough ingredients for five thousand pills, but I’ll let you know what I need.”
The pills that Zhou Lihua planned to refine were Low-Grade Chi Gathering Pills, Meridian Opening Pills, Middle-Grade Chi Gathering PIlls, and Three Layered Red Yin-Yang Pills. Each pill was between tier 2 and tier 4, so they would be easy for her to refine. However, the ingredients she needed for some of them were quite scarce. The Three Layered Red Yin-Yang Pill, in particular, required ingredients that were hard to come by.
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“I don’t know if we can find the ingredients for all of these, but I believe we can at least get the ingredients needed for the Low-Grade and Middle-Grade Chi Gathering Pills… and the Meridian Opening Pill,” Mei Xilan said, glancing at Zhang Ming.
He slowly nodded. “We do have ingredients for those pills, but not enough for five thousand of each. Because our nation is isolated and the Undying Sun Sect disdains the idea of opening our borders more to allow free trade with other nations, we do not have the means to import food. Most of our farmlands are used in food production. Our environment is also ill-suited to growing some of these. There are some places up north where these ingredients can grow, but the land is small, so production is limited.”
“In that case, we need to get ingredients from elsewhere,” Mei Xilan said, looking up at the ceiling as though praying for a solution.
***
A solution to their dilemma would not come for several days later. Mei Xilan sent out several squadrons to till the fields and gather ingredients for Zhou Lihua. She had also contemplated changing to another base, but it was clear that Qiang Bao would not attack them. He was wary of Hou Jingshu and Shuchang.
The soldiers came back with plenty of ingredients, but they were still lacking several that were needed for the Middle-Grade Chi Gathering Pills and Three-Layered Red Yin-Yang Pills. Since they couldn’t find the ingredients in the Sui Kingdom, she sent Wu Jian to retrieve the ingredients. He was the best option since he could use spatial manipulation to travel more quickly. Zhou Lihua also informed him that he could get the ingredients they needed from her master, so Wu Jian traveled all the way to the Southern Tang Dynasty.
It took roughly one month. He still couldn’t use long-distance teleportation very well. He could travel about ten li in an instant, but that used up all of his chi.
Teleportation was a highly advanced technique that, according to Wu Meiying, nobody else on this planet could use. It required a deep understanding of Dao of Space. Performing this technique required precise visualization and intent. Wu Jian had to mentally visualize the desire to fold space and then channel his chi to enact this visualization. This caused the space between one point and another to fold in on itself, thus reducing the distance he traveled to a single step. The further he was from his target destination, the more chi it cost to fold space.
Wu Jian could use this technique to travel ten li distance five times a day. He would teleport, then meditate to recover his chi, then teleport again, then rest again. He did this over and over until he reached the Southern Tang Dynasty.
Nothing had changed since the last time he traveled there. The bustling city remained as busy as ever, and the tropical temperature remained the same. Scents and sounds assaulted him from all sides as he walked through the city.
A person could not just meet with Alchemy Master Yun Chi. Even Wu Jian had to go through the appropriate channels. He traveled to the Alchemist Association’s headquarters and gave them a letter from Zhou Lihua. It was stamped with Yun Chi’s seal. The receptionist who received the letter had paled and rushed off to have it delivered. He was then given a room inside the association headquarters, where he waited for someone to contact him.
The person the alchemist master sent to greet him was Lili Ling.
“We weren’t expecting you to come all this way. So, what does that girl need from my master this time?” asked Lili Ling. Although her disposition was standoffish, Wu Jian was not bothered. Zhou Lihua had told him that this woman had a hard time expressing her true feelings.
“Zhou Lihua needs more ingredients to refine alchemy pills,” Wu Jian summoned a scroll from his storage ring and presented it to her. “Here they are.”
Lili Ling took the scroll, unfurled it, and read through the list. Her expression didn’t reveal what she was thinking, but she sighed after she finished reading.
“I suppose we should just be grateful she doesn’t want to refine a pillow higher than tier 4… but many of the ingredients she has requested are very rare.”
“Does that mean you don’t have them?”
“I didn’t say that, did I? We have them. However, even we cannot give away some of these ingredients for free, especially the ones required for the Three-Layered Red Yin-Yang Pill. And we don’t have enough ingredients for her to refine a thousand pills.”
“That’s fine. Whatever you can give us would be appreciated,” Wu Jian said.
Lili Ling scowled. “Listen you, do you think these ingredients grows on trees? That you can just find them like you might find weeds? Many of these ingredients are extremely rare and requires hundreds of years to cultivate. My master’s own alchemy garden has some of these ingredients, but they took centuries of care to reach the point where they can be used to refine pills. What can you offer us that would make it worth giving away something so valuable?”
He had already known this would happen. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world of cultivation. Even if Master Yun Chi was willing to help his apprentice, that did not mean he was doing it for free. He expected to gain something in return. When he sent Zhou Lihua off with those alchemy ingredients, he did so expecting a favor from her later on, which she had yet to pay. Now Wu Jian had returned asking for more. There was no way he would give Wu Jian the ingredients he wanted without a suitable reward.
Of course, Wu Jian did not have anything of value to offer.
Nothing except for one thing.
“I can offer you myself,” Wu Jian said.
Lili Ling blinked. “Excuse me?”
“I’m sure you know about my accomplishments,” Wu Jian continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “I am well-versed in the Dao of Space and I can defeat cultivators an entire realm above me. If there is something Master Yun Chi needs that he cannot acquire without help, I can help him get it.”
Lili Ling said nothing at first. It was not unusual for a cultivator to provide assistance with someone’s goals in exchange for help. It was very common, in fact. A cultivator’s greatest asset was their own bodies, which they had refined since young. Wu Jian, in particular, was worth quite a bit due to his unique cultivation and abilities.
“I will let Master Yun Chi know what you requested and what you are offering,” Lili Ling said at last. “I do know that he has several issues that require a strong cultivator’s assistance. Whether or not he requests this of you will depend on him.”
“Thank you very much,” Wu Jian said with a martial bow.
Lili Ling waved it off. “Don’t thank me. I’m just doing what my master asked of me.”