Chapter 1084

Chapter 1084: Expedition to the West (Continuation One)

That evening, Hanhai City was adorned with colorful lanterns and filled with joyous celebrations. Many citizens took to the streets, carrying flower lanterns to celebrate their victory.

During the siege of the county capital, everyone had been gripped by panic; now that the nightmare had passed, every face was lit with smiles of relief and happiness.

Shops throughout the city seized the opportunity to open their doors, offering discounts and promotions to join in the festivities.

However, just as thousands of citizens were reveling in the celebrations, the commander of the guard, Lu Yunfei, acting on Wang Chen’s orders, surrounded the governor’s residence and conducted a thorough inspection of the county treasury.

The investigation revealed that the treasury’s accounts were in complete disarray. More than half of the military supplies had mysteriously disappeared, and much of the provisions were found to be moldy rice, cleverly mixed with good grain!

This discovery enraged Lu Yunfei.

Under normal circumstances, the embezzlement of treasury supplies might have gone unnoticed, with false accounts covering up the losses.

But in the event of a war like the one they had just endured, where the county capital was besieged and required vast amounts of supplies, the situation would have been catastrophic.

Fortunately, the enemy’s siege of Hanhai City had not lasted long enough for these issues to come to light.

The mere thought of what could have happened sent a chill down Lu Yunfei’s spine!

Given the gravity of the situation, even without Wang Chen’s explicit orders, as the commander of Hanhai City’s guard, Lu Yunfei had no intention of letting the matter slide.

Thus, a new wave of retribution began.

Over the next three days, from the governor down to the lowest-ranking officials, nearly hundreds of corrupt individuals were exposed. Those guilty of serious crimes faced execution, while others were imprisoned or sentenced to hard labor.

This purge inevitably caused a significant upheaval in Hanhai City.

Had it not been for Wang Chen’s towering reputation, which deterred any dissent, the city would have been plunged into chaos.

Wang Chen decided to appoint Xi Jun, who had fully recovered from her injuries, to oversee the governance of Hanhai City.

Though Xi Jun lacked experience in administrative affairs, this was of little concern. She promoted several honest officials to assist her, and with the support of the disciples she had personally trained in the Dao Palace, she was able to maintain order in the county capital.

Wang Chen instructed Lu Yunfei to collaborate with Xi Jun in recruiting cavalry and gathering provisions in preparation for the expedition to the west.

In addition, he sent orders to the West Sea and neighboring border counties, calling for more cavalry to be assembled.

Meanwhile, Wang Chen rode alone through Hanhai County, revisiting the sites where the Columns of Mountains and Rivers had been installed years earlier. He sought to uncover the cause of the issues plaguing the Great River and Mountain Formation.

Eventually, Wang Chen discovered that the problem was not due to sabotage by someone who had uncovered the formation’s secrets, but rather the result of a recent earthquake in Hanhai County, which had displaced most of the Columns of Mountains and Rivers.

This displacement was the root cause of the formation’s malfunction!

Fortunately, the Columns of Mountains and Rivers were inherently protected and made of extremely durable materials, so they had not sustained any damage.

With the Columns intact, resolving the issue was relatively straightforward.

Wang Chen repositioned all the columns, restoring the formation to its proper state.

Upon his return to Hanhai Dao Palace, Wang Chen reactivated the Great River and Mountain Formation. The massive formation immediately regained its full destructive power, with spiritual energy flowing abundantly once more. Wang Chen couldn’t help but exhale in relief.

Previously, to keep the formation operational, Wang Chen had invested a significant amount of spirit stones.

However, no matter how many spirit stones he possessed, they could not sustain the formation’s long-term energy demands.

Now that the formation was restored, it would save him considerable effort and resources.

Next, Wang Chen used the Great River and Mountain Formation to establish contact with Ling Zhiyuan, who was thousands of miles away.

Although he had the Cangqing Ring, which allowed him to communicate with this projection across realms, the process was cumbersome and consumed a great deal of energy.

Now that he had descended into the Cangqing Realm, using the Cangqing Ring was still not as convenient as the Great River and Mountain Formation.

This exchange lasted for a full hour.

Wang Chen first gained a comprehensive understanding of the situation in the northern lands, learning that the so-called God of War, Ling Zhiyuan, had encountered a significant challenge, or rather, a rival of equal strength.

The God of War of the Great Qin, Qin Qi!

Qin Qi, a member of the Great Qin royalty, was only twenty-seven years old this year and had already reached the peak cultivation level of a Martial Saint.

Although Ling Zhiyuan was renowned as the God of War of the Great Zhou, he had not yet attained the supreme Martial God realm, and his strength was roughly comparable to Qin Qi’s.

However, Ling Zhiyuan practiced dual cultivation, which should have given him an advantage.

Yet, Qin Qi had a special physique that rendered him immune to all magical attacks, meaning he was exempt from all spell damage!

This was quite extraordinary.

Not only that, but Qin Qi was also an exceptionally skilled leader; although the Great Qin Army did not have the advantage in numbers and equipment, they had repeatedly caused Ling Zhiyuan difficulties.

Ling Zhiyuan was forced to retreat to his fortress, relying on field cannons and flintlock rifles to fend off the enemy’s military might.

But this was not a long-term solution.

The Great Qin side had also obtained relevant military technology, and they were vigorously developing these firearms. Once the Great Qin fabricated even stronger cannons, breaching the northwestern fortresses would become much simpler.

In this situation, Ling Zhiyuan found himself unable to withdraw and could only engage Qin Qi at the front lines.

Wang Chen then shared the situation from Hanhai with Ling Zhiyuan and instructed Wu Zhao, who was leading the expedition, to send a royal decree to the southern counties, ordering them to comply with Wang Chen’s orders.

Wang Chen planned to summon fifty thousand iron cavalry to march westward into Qin—not to occupy, but to destroy, forcing the main forces of the Great Qin Army to defend.

He worried that after ten years, his prestige might not be enough to suppress the southern counties, so he needed Wu Zhao’s royal decree to be transmitted as quickly as possible.

After communicating with Ling Zhiyuan, Wang Chen led a team to West Sea County.

West Sea County shared a border with the Hanhai army, mainly comprising grasslands abundant in cattle and sheep, making it easier to recruit cavalry since most of the herders excelled in horseback archery.

Moreover, lamb was one of the main materials for creating military rations.

The governor of West Sea County was more agreeable than the governor of Hanhai County; after confirming Wang Chen’s identity, he cooperated fully and did not cause any disturbances.

About ten days later, Wu Zhao’s royal decree finally reached several major counties in the south.

By the time Wang Chen organized a cavalry of fifty thousand, half a month had passed.

Although more cavalry from various regions would arrive eventually, he could not wait and immediately led the cavalry westward himself.

It is worth mentioning that this cavalry had no logistical support; each cavalryman possessed two warhorses, along with appropriate weapons and their own rations.

The food they carried would last only three to five days at most. However, Wang Chen had stored enough supplies in the Cangqing Ring to feed fifty thousand men for three months, along with medicine and various other supplies.

There was a considerable array of resources.

He even brought along over a hundred field cannons and a hundred thousand flintguns, including accompanying ammunition!

All these materials were requisitioned and drawn from various county capitals.

This was why Wang Chen had the confidence to lead his army into the Great Qin territory—because the Cangqing Ring had an enormous storage space and was unaffected by the rules of this world.

Wang Chen himself was the logistical backbone of the entire army!