Wang Xuan's true form closed his eyes and fell into a deep slumber to heal his soul's wounds. Without a word, the Xuan Yin avatar carried Wang Xuan's true form and headed out of the Changping Ancient Battlefield.
Chapter Eighty-Two: Yao Jin Robs the Way
After leaving the ancient battlefield of Changping, Wang Xuan headed east.
Three days later, he had arrived in Shandong province.
Now, chaos is beginning to emerge within the territory of the Great Sui Dynasty. If it were before, Wang Xuan would only need to spread his teachings and martial arts, and wouldn't need to care much about the struggle for supremacy among the feudal lords.
But now he has an additional Xuan Yin avatar, and he needs to go to the battlefield to absorb enough malevolent energy and death energy to break through his cultivation level.
Wang Xuan had no interest in being someone else's underling, so he decided to gather his own group and become the boss himself.
As the saying goes in warfare: "Gold in the corners, silver on the edges, grass on the belly." Throughout history, those who vie for supremacy have gained an advantage by placing their pieces in the four corners.
The southeast and southwest are too far away, and the Guanzhong Plain in the northwest is full of powerful clans. If he were to rebel there, he would inevitably encounter a lot of trouble. Therefore, Wang Xuan chose Shandong.
After a few days of rest, Wang Xuan's soul injury had healed somewhat, and he could move around normally again.
He strode forward, while Xuan Yin's avatar, clad in a black robe and wearing a sun hat, quietly followed behind him, like a loyal guard.
As dusk approached, Wang Xuan suddenly stopped and stared ahead with a very strange expression.
There was a group of bandits lying in ambush by the roadside, preparing to rob people. Moreover, Wang Xuan recognized one of the bandits; this man had once gone to the Golden Summit of Zhongnan Mountain to hear him talk about the "Mysterious Great Dao".
"You bunch of thieves up ahead, get out here right now!" Wang Xuan's head was still throbbing with pain, so he was naturally in a bad mood and shouted at the people in front of him.
No sooner had he finished speaking than shouts came from ahead, and several bandits rushed out, blocking Wang Xuan's path.
The leader was eight feet tall, with a strong and robust build. He wielded a huge long-handled axe, which sent chills down one's spine just by looking at him.
The man pointed his axe at Wang Xuan and shouted, "Passerby, leave your toll!"
Wang Xuan looked at the other party with a half-smile. If he hadn't disguised himself and concealed his true appearance, how would this fool dare to rob him? He would probably kneel down upon seeing him!
He sneered, "What kind of thief dares to block the road and rob people here? Do you really think I'm an easy target?"
Without replying, the bandit swung his axe at Wang Xuan.
This axe blow had a force of at least ten thousand jin. This person's cultivation had clearly reached the early stage of the Innate Realm. He must have also received the blessing of the world's origin to make such rapid progress in such a short time!
Wang Xuan didn't make a move himself. His Xuan Yin avatar rushed out from behind him and struck the axe with a palm, sending it flying backward and killing two bandit henchmen.
The bandit leader wielding the axe was startled and turned to run away, but was kicked by the Xuan Yin incarnation and fell to the ground.
“Cheng Yaojin, you are now a master of the Innate Realm. If you joined the army, you could be considered a match for ten thousand men. You would be more than qualified to be a general. How did you end up as a bandit?” Wang Xuan walked over, squatted down, and asked jokingly.
That's right, this person's surname is Cheng, given name is Yaojin, courtesy name is Zhijie, and he is none other than the famous troublemaker Cheng Yaojin.
"You know me?" Cheng Yaojin immediately backed down: "Brother, I'm just trying to make a living, please have mercy on me!"
After some questioning, Wang Xuan was even more speechless.
It turns out that Cheng Yaojin has gone back to his old ways, following You Junda to become a bandit, and Wang Xuan is his first job...
Wang Xuan looked at Cheng Yaojin with a hint of disappointment. "You're already a master of the Innate Realm. In a low-martial-level world like the Sui and Tang Dynasties, you're practically on par with a master of the Celestial Realm in the main world. Once you're on the battlefield, you'll be like mowing grass!"
With such skills, becoming a general wouldn't be too difficult for you, yet you've fallen so low as to become a bandit.
Being a bandit is one thing, but your first job was with Wang Xuan. Should we say you're ignorant and fearless, or just unlucky?
Wang Xuan patted Cheng Yaojin on the head and said in an unquestionable tone, "From now on, you are my little brother, Wang Aotian. Do you understand?"
Cheng Yaojin nodded quickly.
Don't let his rough appearance fool you into thinking he's a bit dim-witted; he's actually quite shrewd.
As long as I can keep my own life, what's wrong with being someone else's lackey?
Wang Xuan was about to give Cheng Yaojin another lesson when he suddenly sensed another large group of people approaching from behind.
He turned and looked into the distance, where he saw banners fluttering and swords gleaming, with the words "The Prince of Kao Shan's Pay" written on the banners.
Wang Xuan suddenly realized that this was the tribute money that Yang Lin, the Prince of Kao Shan, was sending to Luoyang. In the original story, Cheng Yaojin was forced to rebel because he robbed Yang Lin of his tribute money.
"Better late than early! This sum of over ten thousand taels of silver from Prince Yang Lin is perfect for recruiting soldiers!" Wang Xuan laughed loudly, then turned to Cheng Yaojin and said, "Yaojin, it's time for you to pledge your loyalty."
"Go and help me steal these things, and I'll take you on as my underling. If you can't even handle these small tasks, what use are you to me?!"
Cheng Yaojin shuddered, quickly picked up his Bagua Xuanhua axe, rode his horse over, and shouted, "Passersby, leave your toll!"
Upon seeing this, the junior officer who was scouting ahead immediately ran back to the army to report: "There are bandits blocking the road ahead."
The group of soldiers stopped in their tracks, and soon a general stepped forward and shouted: "Who are you thieves? Have you not heard of the power of the Prince of Dengzhou? How dare you block the road here!"
Cheng Yaojin did not reply; he was eager to complete the mission and prove to Wang Xuan that he was still useful.
He raised his Bagua Xuanhua axe and swung it down. The Sui general raised his spear to parry, and with a clang, the spear broke in two.
Cheng Yaojin's cultivation had reached the early stage of the Innate Realm. When he swung his axe with all his might, it had the force of ten thousand jin. After cutting the spear in the opponent's hand, his momentum did not decrease. He cleaved the enemy general and his horse in two!
Seeing their commander flee in defeat, the soldiers shouted, abandoned their carriages and horses, and scattered in all directions.
Cheng Yaojin didn't chase after him. He turned back to look at Wang Xuan and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Wang Xuan nod.
Wang Xuan walked to the carriage and saw that the carriage that the soldiers had escorted earlier was now filled with boxes.
He randomly opened a box, looked inside, and saw that it was full of silver.
Cheng Yaojin, who was standing nearby, had never seen so much money before. He couldn't help but swallow hard, feeling an urge to take it all for himself.
However, after considering the difference in martial prowess between himself and the burly man in black robes beside Wang Xuan, Cheng Yaojin had no choice but to abandon this suicidal idea.
Chapter 83 Raising the Flag of Rebellion
Wang Xuan scanned the silver coins with his divine sense and quickly counted them.
The total amount of silver on these carriages is 160,000 taels.
In ancient times, one jin (斤) was equal to sixteen liang (两), meaning that all this silver would add up to exactly ten thousand jin, or five tons. Given the density of silver, this would not even amount to a cubic meter, more than enough to fit in a spatial ring.
Wang Xuan was about to put all the silver into his spatial ring when another group of people ran up from behind. They were dressed similarly to Cheng Yaojin's henchmen, and were probably You Junda and his men.
A tall man, eight feet in height with eyes like cold stars, strode forward. Upon seeing the silver ingots on the carriage, his face lit up with a smile. He immediately ordered his henchmen to drag the silver ingots back along with the carriage.
Cheng Yaojin felt a jolt and immediately stepped forward to stop You Junda.
But it was too late. Wang Xuan's Xuan Yin avatar had already rushed over and punched You Junda, hitting him squarely in the stomach, causing You Junda to gag repeatedly.
Seeing this, the other bandits rushed over to help. But they were just ordinary people; how could they possibly harm the Xuan Yin incarnation in the slightest?
Wang Xuan didn't kill them, but commanded his Xuan Yin avatar to take them down one by one with a single punch. It didn't take long for him to knock all the bandits to the ground.
At this point, You Junda finally caught his breath. Under Cheng Yaojin's signal, he immediately backed down and became Wang Xuan's underling—or more precisely, the underling of Xuan Yin's incarnation.
Killing people will incur karma, and becoming a regional warlord and vying for supremacy will also incur endless karma. Such things cannot be done by one's own body; using the Xuan Yin incarnation to do it is the most appropriate thing to do.
Wang Xuan possesses the Eternal Tower of Heaven and Earth to suppress destiny. As long as it is not his true body that takes action, karma and cause and effect will not entangle his true body, but will only gather in his Xuan Yin body.
However, the Xuan Yin incarnation is a zombie body, which is already rejected by heaven and earth. It can absorb malevolent energy to strengthen itself, so why would it fear cause and effect or karma?
After subduing You Junda and a group of bandits, Wang Xuan stepped forward and patted each of the carriages several times.
The several carts full of silver ingots vanished in an instant, leaving Cheng Yaojin and You Junda speechless and filled with both respect and fear for Wang Xuan.
Seeing that it was getting dark, Wang Xuan did not linger there and, led by You Junda and Cheng Yaojin, went to You Junda's house.
You Junda was a bandit leader in Shandong with several hundred men under his command. In addition, they had recently robbed Prince Yang Lin of his salary, which amounted to a total of 160,000 taels of silver. This money was just enough to recruit soldiers and horses and serve as funds for their rebellion.
In the days that followed, Wang Xuan secluded himself at You Junda's house to recuperate, while sending his Xuan Yin avatar to recruit followers. In just half a month, he had amassed two thousand soldiers under his command.
This was largely due to Yang Guang's perverse policies, which made it impossible for many people to survive, thus enabling him to gather two thousand able-bodied men in a short period of time.
Although these two thousand young men were still just a rabble, Wang Xuan had obtained some fragments of Chen Qingzhi's memories, so training them into an elite force would not be a problem.
However, Heaven clearly wouldn't give him time to calmly train his troops. First, he robbed Prince Yang Lin of his salary, and then he openly recruited soldiers. Did he really think the Sui government was all useless?
So on this day, several thousand Sui Dynasty soldiers marched from Jinan Prefecture and surrounded You Junda's manor.
Neither Wang Xuan nor Cheng Yaojin were afraid of these government troops.
After all, these officers and soldiers were just ordinary people, and there were very few who had even reached the Acquired Realm. The generals leading the troops were only at the eighth or ninth level of the Acquired Realm.
"Cheng Yaojin, go and scatter the soldiers outside!" Wang Xuan gave the order, and Cheng Yaojin had no choice but to carry his Bagua Xuanhua Axe and go out alone to fight his way into the soldiers.
Although Cheng Yaojin was no match for Wang Xuan, he was still a genuine master of innate skill. A single axe strike could bring him tens of thousands of pounds of force, and killing ordinary soldiers was as easy as chopping melons and vegetables.
Wang Xuan watched as Cheng Yaojin displayed his might, directly slaying generals and seizing flags, single-handedly routing thousands of government troops, and secretly marveled at his skill.
The martial prowess of the Sui and Tang world was far inferior to that of the main world. A Cheng Yaojin, who was at the early stage of the Innate Realm, was able to defeat several thousand government soldiers, which would be impossible in the main world.
Because in the main world, even a lowly soldier in the army has the cultivation level of the Acquired Realm, which would allow them to fight against a hundred enemies in the Sui and Tang world.
Moreover, the armies of the main world have Dao patterns engraved on their weapons and armor, and their power and momentum are linked together. Dozens of people can form a military formation to kill a master of innate level, and hundreds of people are enough to kill a powerful person who has entered the Dao through martial arts.
To single-handedly defeat an army of thousands in the main world, one must at least reach the Transcendent Realm of Martial Arts!
"If I were to train an army in the Sui and Tang world using the methods of the main world, I would surely be invincible!" This thought lingered once it appeared, and the more I thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.
Just as Wang Xuan was lost in thought, the battle outside was coming to an end.
Cheng Yaojin charged into the ranks of the government troops alone, beheading generals and seizing flags. You Junda followed closely behind, leading one or two thousand newly recruited followers in a fierce attack, directly routing the thousands of government troops, who either surrendered or scattered and fled.
Wang Xuan came to his senses, and his Xuan Yin avatar walked out of the gate and entered the battlefield.
This was just a small-scale battle, yet thousands had already died here, and many more were wounded. The air was thick with the lingering stench of blood, which involuntarily heightened everyone's excitement.
Xuan Yin Avatar stood directly in the middle of the battlefield, opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Countless killing intents, baleful auras, and deathly energy gathered into a vortex and were swallowed into his stomach.
Not only that, the blood splattered on the ground began to flow strangely, forming a stream that flowed through his legs and into his body.
Cheng Yaojin and You Junda were nearly scared to death when they saw this scene. Could their boss be a vampire demon?
What they couldn't see was that the aura of the Xuan Yin incarnation, shrouded in black robes, was surging, and clumps of black fur were falling off.
When all the hair on the body of the Xuan Yin Transformation falls off, that will be the time for him to break through to the fourth-order flying zombie.
After about a dozen breaths, the Xuan Yin Avatar had completely digested the blood and killing intent on the battlefield, and its strength had increased slightly.
Wang Xuan closed his eyes and sensed for a moment before making a judgment.