Chapter 439: Struggling for Life

Chapter 439: Striving for Life

Quanshan City Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion Office, Underground Level Two.

In the dim light, Xie Bi'an, completely naked, hovered in midair, his silver-white hair undulating like waterweed. A bundle of nerve cables as thick as three fingers shot up from the ground, plunging straight into the spirit aperture at the back of his neck.

"The body is void, I fish for souls in the Yellow Millet Dream. My name is Zou Sijiu, by the title of Dream-Eating Boqi, I borrow permissions, open backdoors, dig into the Nine Abyssal networks, and lead lost souls back to the light!"

Zou Sijiu, clad in a bright yellow ritual robe, sat cross-legged beneath Xie Bi'an, two fingers pressed together like a sword, pointing toward the heavens!

Hum...

A dull mechanical hum, accompanied by a faint tremor, came from beneath the ground where Zou Sijiu was seated.

The source was that Huangliang Mainframe, which had never been returned after being borrowed from the Thousand Household Office and was buried directly underground by Li Jun beneath the Quanshan City Centurion Office.

"Come!!!"

Zou Sijiu let out a thunderous shout. His robe embroidered with the Yin-Yang Eight Trigrams fluttered without wind, rustling loudly. The glossy strands of hair plastered to his scalp stood on end, his black pupils dilated, and deep within them, a waterfall of dim light flowed back and forth.

This bizarre and terrifying scene lasted for the length of an incense stick, until the mechanical hum echoing in the room faded to near silence, and Zou Sijiu's hollow eyes finally regained focus.

"Damn it, strange as hell. I've maxed out the ritual sense, so why is Xie Bi'an's dream just a sea of red with no concrete constructs?"

Zou Sijiu scratched his head, muttering to himself.

"That's because you've broken into the cave-heaven illusion that Luo Cheng left behind in Xie Bi'an's mind. His real dream is buried even deeper, so of course you can't see it."

Zou Sijiu turned around. Chen Qisheng, his hair tied in a ponytail, was standing at the door, no one knew when he had arrived.

"You mean—"

Zou Sijiu frowned in thought for a moment, then raised his hand and traced a circle in front of him.

"When Luo Cheng died, his shattered Huangliang Cave Heaven wrapped around Xie Bi'an's dream?"

"That should be it. Because the final step in refining a Yellow Turban Warrior is to link to the Dao Sequence's Huangliang Cave Heaven and complete the consciousness binding."

Chen Qisheng crossed his arms, his expression grave. "If even you, this Huangliang rat, can't burrow into his dream, then there's only this one possibility."

"But didn't Yuan Mingfei's Buddhist kingdom cut off his connection with Luo Cheng at the time? How could this still happen?" Zou Sijiu asked, utterly baffled.

"Cutting the connection only kept Luo Cheng from remotely controlling Xie Bi'an's body. It couldn't purge the Dao Sequence decree that had already invaded his consciousness."

The speaker was not Chen Qisheng, but Yuan Mingfei, who had just appeared behind him.

"I have to say, the Gezao Mountain methods have really improved over the years."

Yuan Mingfei stepped inside, her tone filled with admiration. "First, they developed portable miniaturized talismans. Then came the Four-Beast Dao Armor that vastly enhances close combat. And now this method that can forcibly refine other sequences into Yellow Turban Warriors. I'm afraid among the 'Four Mountains and One Palace' of the Dao Sequence, Gezao Mountain's overall strength might rank first by now."

As she spoke, Yuan Mingfei narrowed her phoenix eyes and glanced at Chen Qisheng.

"When it comes to innovating methods, Mount Longhu truly cannot compare to Gezao Mountain."

Chen Qisheng frankly acknowledged the gap, but then shifted his tone dismissively. "But if that's enough to put them in first place, you're overestimating them. These methods have their merits, but they're just icing on the cake. To bring about earth-shattering qualitative change is still far too early!"

"The only hard part of you is your mouth!"

Yuan Mingfei snorted coldly. "Luo Cheng wasn't even an Earth Immortal—just a Dao Five peak—and with the Four-Beast Dao Armor he could trade blows with Li Jun. That's not a qualitative change?"

"You said it yourself: Luo Cheng was Dao Five peak, while Old Li had only just advanced to Martial Five. Even so, he still killed him. Can you call that a qualitative change? Besides, the old-school cultivators of Wudang Mountain didn't rely on such things, and they could still fight head-on against sect martial sequences."

Chen Qisheng retorted. "The real future of the Dao Sequence lies in 'dual cultivation of spirit and flesh.' Gezao Mountain's methods are nothing but a desperate patch for the new-school Dao Sequence."

"Wudang's orthodoxy has been destroyed. Their sword cultivation methods have long been lost."

"As long as the path is correct, it's only a matter of time before the methods are rediscovered."

"But how much manpower and resources will that take? And how many generations of genetic iteration and adaptation, to match the Wudang Mountain of old?"

Yuan Mingfei pressed on. "Now on your Mount Longhu, only the 'Dou Ministry' branch remains. How many Dao Sequence cultivators can walk that path, and how much resource support can you get from Mount Longhu?"

"Old-school sword immortals have believers spread throughout the entire Daoist path. If just one person successfully walks this road, followers will flock to him instantly!" Chen Qisheng's words were forceful.

"But the current trend is already in the hands of the new-school cultivators. Will they give you that chance?"

"And is your Buddhist Sequence any better?"

Chen Qisheng sneered. "At least we have other paths to take. All of you are crammed onto that narrow road of the 'Earthly Buddhist Kingdom.' I won't even mention the risk of reduced genetic diversity. Just the problem of karmic computational power alone is an insoluble dilemma for you. Too many monks, too little porridge. Now that sect martial sequences—those high-quality computational power donors—are gone, infighting within your Buddhist Sequence is only a matter of time."

Yuan Mingfei's thin brows shot up, and she planted her hands on her hips. "Who says improving karmic computational power can only use the brains of sect martial sequences? Optimizing the Buddhist Kingdom mainframe can do the same!"

"And then you'll just keep playing the same old game of hypnotizing and converting, and when you fail, you fly into a rage and pull out your Dharma Protectors to forcibly send people to the afterlife?"

Chen Qisheng said contemptuously. "What era is this? Your Buddhist Sequence hasn't made a single bit of progress."

"You—"

"Alright, alright, this isn't a debate convention between your Buddhist and Daoist sequences. How did we end up discussing method technology?"

Zou Sijiu stretched his crossed legs and slumped to sit on the ground, speaking weakly. "Folks, the key now is how to wake up Xie Bi'an. That's the priority!"

Yuan Mingfei huffed and stopped arguing with Chen Qisheng. She turned to Zou Sijiu and said in a low voice, "I've been thinking. Maybe we could try the Dharma Protector method."

"You mean fighting poison with poison?"

Zou Sijiu jumped three feet high. "Aren't you afraid you'll turn Xie Bi'an into a complete idiot? Then Old Li will come after us with a blade."

"It's still better than just watching him sleep like this, isn't it?"

Yuan Mingfei's face was cold and stern as she looked at the two of them. "Do you have any other ideas?"

"..."

For some reason, Zou Sijiu felt that ever since Yuan Mingfei joined the Quanshan City Embroidered Uniform Guard, the deep-seated charm that had permeated her bones was gradually fading, replaced by an increasingly sharp and capable demeanor.

"No, the risk is far too high."

Zou Sijiu pondered for a long time, but in the end, he shook his head and rejected Yuan Mingfei's proposal.

"Whether it's the Yellow Turban Warriors or the Dharma Protectors, both are methods with strong aggression. Xie Bi'an's current physical state can't withstand any more damage."

"I agree with the mystic."

Chen Qisheng took over the conversation. "To untie the knot, you need the one who tied it. To wake Xie Bi'an, we have to go after the people from Gezao Mountain. Only by mastering their method of refining Yellow Turban Warriors can we completely eliminate the cave-heaven fragments lingering in his consciousness."

Yuan Mingfei frowned. "But the only Gezao Mountain Dao Sequence cultivator in the Japanese region right now is that Earth Immortal who hasn't even shown himself yet! Someone like that is not someone we can afford to mess with."

At these words, the three of them fell into speechless silence.

The word 'Earth Immortal' was like an invisible mountain, pressing heavily on their hearts.

"To hell with all that! If we can't afford to mess with him, can we just avoid him? He'll come knocking sooner or later anyway. So we'll deal with it as it comes. Whether we dare to fight or not, we've got to keep up our spirit!"

Zou Sijiu slapped his thigh hard, looked up at the other two, and forced a reluctant smile. "What are you guys planning to do next? I mean after we settle the Gezao Mountain business. The Japanese region has more than just this one problem now."

"I've been running long enough. This place isn't bad. I'm not planning to move again."

Yuan Mingfei leaned against the wall, stretched, and spoke lazily.

"What about you?" Zou Sijiu raised his chin toward Chen Qisheng.

"I'm not leaving either."

Chen Qisheng shook his head, his ponytail swaying behind him.

"Still not willing to give up?"

"Of course not. Are you content to just tuck your tail and run?"

"How can one achieve longevity without giving up?"

"If you give up, can longevity be easily obtained?"

Chen Qisheng chuckled: "We all have people we want to kill, and a fate we must fight for! Without a big tree to shade us, isn't all we can do but press on under the scorching sun?"

He paused, then countered: "Or are you planning to give up?"

"Me?"

Zou Sijiu laughed heartily, "Don't forget, old ox-nose, the Yin-Yang Sequence has been called the Yellow Millet Fat Rat."

"What does that mean?"

"Greed!"

Zou Sijiu's face twisted with ferocity: "This time, if I don't push my Zou ranking into the top hundred, I'll die before I leave!"

Edo Castle.

"This Cantonese cuisine tastes just like home. It's rare to find such an authentic restaurant in the land of the Wa. Come on, try it."

King Gida called out to Li Jun, then picked up his chopsticks, placed a morsel in the procuress's bowl.

"You should eat too. These years have been hard on you."

"Don't say that. I've been living quite the high life back in Osaka."

The procuress snickered, "It's a pity you never had the time to visit. Otherwise, I'd have had my girls take good care of you."

"There will be a chance."

In the private room, the three ate in silence until all the dishes were cleared. Only then did Li Jun ask, feigning nonchalance: "Old Ghost, how are things at the Thousand Household Station now?"

King Gida smiled: "Not bad. Much easier than when I was a Hundred Household officer at Inuyama Castle."

"No one's making trouble for you?"

"Don't underestimate me, boy. I'm a Thousand Household officer now, even if there's a 'deputy' in front of it. That still doesn't mean just anyone dares mess with me."

King Gida laughed and swore: "Instead of worrying about me, you'd better figure out how to deal with the trouble in front of you."

"What trouble do I have?"

"Still pretending in front of me? I heard long ago that quite a few Dao Sequence from the infiltrators into the Wa region fell by your hand. First, two Dao Sequence from Yongle Temple were killed by you in Osaka. The remaining Fuhe were stripped clean—even their pants were pawned off just to save their lives. Gezao Mountain had it even worse; you wiped out all the elites of their younger generation."

King Gida's tone was mocking: "The prison of your Hundred Household Station in Inuyama is probably already overflowing, isn't it?"

Li Jun spread his hands: "Can't blame me for that. They came knocking at my door. I can't just take the beating and not fight back, can I?"

"No one's blaming you. On the contrary, Thousand Household Su has been full of praise for your performance, going on about it countless times in front of Old Qian and me. Don't know what that old man is so happy about. You two—one's a lone Martial Sequence, the other's a sect Martial Sequence—aren't even on the same path."

King Gida paused abruptly, a sly smile flickering across his face as he sized Li Jun up.

"This trip to Edo Castle... it's not just for the meeting, is it?"

"No one knows me better than you, old man."

Li Jun picked up the teapot on the table, earnestly refilling King Gida's cup: "I wanted to ask you for some information."

"I knew you wouldn't come knocking without a reason. You want to know what tomorrow's meeting is about, right?"

King Gida didn't beat around the bush: "You should already know about some of the recent moves by the New Eastern Forest Party, right?"

"That I know, but what does it have to do with us, the Imperial Guard?" Li Jun asked, puzzled.

"Times are different now. In the past, how they carved up their interests had nothing to do with us. But not anymore. Old Su wants everyone to pick their own fallback, so even after the Imperial Guard in the Wa region is disbanded, you'll still have a decent way out."

Clatter.

A half-eaten chicken leg clattered onto the plate.

The procuress, sitting nearby, gaped at King Gida in stunned disbelief.

"Find a fallback?"

Li Jun was equally astonished: "The New Eastern Forest Party is coming after us?"

"The fact that the Imperial Guard survived the Great Court Debate was nothing more than the Imperial Family testing the New Eastern Forest Party's bottom line. Disbandment is just a matter of time."

King Gida's tone was calm: "You've been in the Imperial Guard long enough. You should be able to see that its structure in the Wa region is actually deformed."

"Take the Wa region alone. Here, we have tens of millions of convicts and an area the size of a whole imperial province, yet there are barely a thousand Guardsmen. And each Hundred Household officer stationed in a city is at most Sequence Five. To put it bluntly, without Thousand Household Su, relying on people like us, we'd be wiped out by the Honghu within a month."

"Manpower, funding, equipment—everything from the court's support can only be described as 'feeble.' And it's not just us in the Wa region; the empire's other convict zones are the same."

"The New Eastern Forest Party needs the Imperial Guard to watch their territory, but at the same time they fear the Guard growing too strong. Once the New Deal is stabilized, these concerns will vanish."

King Gida spoke with deliberate slowness: "This time, the high-ranking Confucian Sequence clans and powerful families have sent people to harvest the fruits of the New Deal. That's only the New Eastern Forest Party's first step. Next, these clans who've profited will turn their blades on us!"