The exchange of captives went well. Red Boy would first seal the cultivation of every cultivator of the religion of God in the Ground Immortal Realm. After 20 cultivators in the Ground Immortal Realm came one by one, Li Ye returned Yelv Abaoji to the other side.
After back to his side, Yelv Abaoji breathed a sigh of relief. Before leaving, he said to Li Ye, “Your Highness, Prince An, we will meet sometime. Be careful then, for I will capture you!”
When he said this, although he didn’t look bitter, he looked solemn and earnest.
Yelv Abaoji met Li Ye twice and suffered a lot. Last time in Hedong, he lost several Great Cultivators, and he lost 20 cultivators in the Ground Immortal Realm this time, to say nothing of the casualties in the previous battle. He was upset and miserable.
Li Ye was in a good mood now. He smiled and said, “You ran away the first time, and you fell into my hands the second time. According to this trend, if we do meet for the third time, you will die.”
Yelv Abaoji took a deep breath and didn’t argue with Li Ye. He saluted Li Ye and said, “See you soon, Your Highness, Prince An.”
With the help of the cultivators of the religion of God, who were in the Sky Immortal Realm, Yelv Abaoji and his men left the border of the Tang Empire to the north and disappeared out of sight in the dark.
When they went far, Li Ye withdrew his gaze and looked around the border. After a moment of silence, he said to the cultivators of the demon clan, “Collect the soldiers’ bodies and repair the border.”
After the battle, the border of Gubeikou was damaged and beyond recognition. The pit that was smashed by Yelv Abaoji directly damaged the barracks. However, for the cultivators of the demon clan, many of which were in the Immortal Realm, it was just a piece of cake to repair the border.
There were thousands of soldiers stationed at the border. Most of them were killed by the cultivators of the religion of God, and less than one in ten survived. Most of them were ordinary soldiers. The people who had the highest cultivation were just at high-level Qi-refining, and they didn’t have the ability to survive when meeting the cultivators of the religion of God.
Most of the survivors had injuries, and some of them even had their limbs broken. After the cultivators of the demon clan gave them treatment, Li Ye went to condole with them. Of course, he also told them that Youzhou and the northern border were in his charge from now on.
After the dozens of surviving border soldiers recovered from their injuries, they bowed to Li Ye together. “Your Highness, Prince An!” They all witnessed the fierce battle just now, and they were overwhelmed with admiration by Li Ye, who ended the battle with one sword. Even though many of their comrades died in the battle, they felt excited at this moment.
For they knew that what Gubeikou suffered tonight would never happen again.
Li Ye thought for a moment and said to Red Boy, “Take them all to Pinglu.”
Red Boy asked in confusion, “Why?”
Li Ye said, “I’m going to build a cultivation school in Pinglu and accept disciples. I will teach them the methods of cultivation so that they can serve on the battlefield in the future.”
Red Boy was a little stunned. “Do you really want to do this?”
Li Ye nodded.
He had been thinking about it for a long time.
Although there were a hundred million ordinary people in the Tang Empire, cultivators were limited in the world, only a few hundred thousand people in total. As one of the five major Taoist sects, Penglai only had several thousand disciples when accepting disciples widely in the chaotic world.
In fact, the people who were qualified to cultivate were more than that, but they didn’t have chances.
In the past, if ordinary people, who didn’t have family backgrounds, wanted to cultivate, they only had two choices. One was to pass the imperial examination and obtain the Taoist methods issued by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory on behalf of the imperial court. The other was to seek refuge with the sects in Jianghu.
Under the deliberate control of the imperial court, the sects in Jianghu had small scales, and even the disciples of the five major Taoist sects were strictly limited in number.
Half cultivators in the world were officials. This was the means of the imperial court to control the world.
In the chaotic world, the imperial court no longer controlled the world as strictly as before and cultivators increased greatly, but the absolute number was still small.
Cultivators represented strength. In order to clear the world, Li Ye had to expand the group of cultivators. He didn’t intend to do it on a small scale, so the best way was to build a cultivation school.
“How big a cultivation school do you want to build?” Red Boy asked.
Li Ye said without thinking, “It has to accommodate at least 100,000 people. What’s more, after we have the experience in building the cultivation school in Pinglu, I will build the same cultivation schools in Hedong and Youzhou in the future.”
Red Boy was stunned. “Do you want to bring all the people in the world, who are qualified to cultivate, under your command?”
Li Ye did not answer immediately.
He walked on the broken pass in the border and saw the surviving soldiers collecting the dead soldiers’ bodies with the help of the cultivators of the demon clan. He stroked the cold parapet wall with his palm. Finally, he came to the pass and looked north.
Under the starry night, the northern grassland was vast and quiet.
He slowly said, “Since ancient times, every dynasty was destroyed in its weakness, but only the Han Dynasty was destroyed when it still had strong national power. For many years, border threats haven’t ended. However, except in the Han Dynasty, foreigners attacked us and invaded our land. We were forced to defend. Even though we won and repelled the invaders, the people in the border still suffered a lot. The Tang Empire used to be vast and rich and fight outside the border as well. But it didn’t last as long as the Han Dynasty because it was not powerful enough.”
His eyes became sharper. “I hope the border battles will no longer be within the border from now on! I hope the cultivators and the troops of the Tang Empire will fight outside the border. I hope the people of the Tang Empire will no longer suffer from foreign invasion! The only way is to be powerful. Therefore, I want an army of a million cultivators to fight outside the border and frighten the foreigners so that they won’t dare to covet the Tang Empire!”
Red Boy stood stunned there.
A long time later, he clapped his hands. “That sounds exciting. I’m right about you. You and I are really the same kind of people! The world is so big that it won’t be peaceful all the time. If the conflict of interests doesn’t stop, battles will not end. Instead of waiting for someone to invade our border, it’s better to plunder others’ wealth!”
Li Ye laughed. He knew that Red Boy was keen on battles. He didn’t want to plunder others’ wealth and invade others’ land.
Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty wrote on the Barbarian-subduing Tablet, “Wherever the sun and the moon shine, it’s the territory of the Han Dynasty. Wherever the river flows, the people there are the people of the Han Dynasty!”
He just solved his family issues.
…
The two people looked at the northern grassland side by side, silent for a long time.
A long time later, Red Boy suddenly said, “I heard from my father that the Immortal Court has a Taoist army, which is the biggest means for them to conquer the world. They were so powerful that even the cavalry of the Qin Empire couldn’t deal with them. It’s said that this army is composed of cultivators. Even after they go down the human world, they still have high cultivation. Moreover, their armor and weapons are high-ranking magic tools. If you really achieve great forces, the Immortal Court will send this army down to help Zhu Wen conquer the world. I’m afraid that it won’t be easy to deal with them.”
It was the first time for Li Ye to hear this secret, so he couldn’t help being stunned. He thought that the Immortal Court hadn’t assassinated him for a long time and that they were probably plotting something big. Hearing Red Boy’s words, he was enlightened.
He asked in a deep voice, “How many soldiers are there in the Taoist army?”
Red Boy thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know. But there shouldn’t be few. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be called the biggest dependence of the Immortal Court to control the world. But there shouldn’t be too many, and it’s not easy for them to go down to the human world. Otherwise, the Immortal Court wouldn’t have let Emperor Ying Zheng destroy the six states of Shandong, unify the world, and almost wipe out all the cultivators of the Taoist sect that year.”
Li Ye didn’t feel relieved. “It seems that time will not wait for me.”
If Li Ye’s idea of building an army of cultivators was achieved, he would ask a military warrior of Militarism to lead this army so that its fighting ability would increase and it would become his secret power to conquer the world. But it would take time.
Red Boy scratched his head and had some trouble. “Even if you build a cultivation school and an army of cultivators, you still lack something to compete with the Taoist army.”
Li Ye nodded. “I don’t have so many magic tools to arm an army of a million people. I can’t even arm an army of a hundred thousand people, to say nothing of an army of a million people. Even if I organize craftsmen to produce weapons, it’s hasty, and it’s difficult to solve the urgent need.”
At this point, he glanced at Red Boy. “The technology of producing weapons in the human world, in the final analysis, is limited to the cultivator’s cultivation. If the cultivators of the demon clan produce weapons, they will be faster. Although your demon clan has helped me a lot, you don’t show me your true power. You have only sent me hundreds of cultivators so far. Although they have high cultivation, it’s not enough.”
Red Boy sighed. “It’s not because I don’t want to, but because I can’t.”
“Because of the Immortal Court?”
“If the demon clan made a too big move and completely angered the Immortal Court, no one could guarantee that they wouldn’t attack the native land of the demon clan. You know, the Immortal Court suppresses the demon clan not only in battles but also in our native land.”
“In that case, doesn’t it mean that the demon clan should have perished a long time ago?”
“That’s not necessarily the case. The demon clan doesn’t perish and still exists in the world because of the Great Tao. The Immortal Court can suppress the demon clan, but it isn’t easy to wipe out the demon clan. If the relationship of both sides breaks, the Immortal Court will kill the demon clan by suppressive means even though they have to pay a heavy price. They can also let the demon clan not recover within a thousand years.”
Li Ye kept silent.
The world’s order was what it was now, so there was a reason for it.
When Li Ye thought that the demon clan couldn’t go out into the world, Red Boy suddenly said, “If you achieve the Immortal Realm, you should take a trip to the native land of the demon clan.”
Li Ye asked in confusion, “Why?”
Red Boy tried to persuade him. “Don’t you want to build an army of cultivators? The demon clan can give you some cultivators and magic tools.”
Li Ye laughed. “What you said is inconsistent.”
Red Boy looked embarrassed. It was not suitable for him to be a lobbyist, so he told Li Ye the truth. “The demon clan has been waiting for someone to remove the suppression of the Immortal Court for us.”
…
In the boundless mountains, there was paradise with beautiful scenery and Spiritual Qi. The satin-like river meandered, scouring out a vast fertile plain. It bathed in the rosy clouds and the sunlight. Birds were singing, and flowers smelled good.
Ten thousand years ago, after the demon clan was defeated and left the immortal territory, the leader of the demon clan opened up an independent space in Jiuzhou, the divine land by all his cultivation, in order to avoid the chase of the Taoist sect. It became an independent world and the native land of the demon clan.
The Immortal Court finally found this world after several thousand years, but the Taoist sect found that they couldn’t destroy this world and that they could only suppress it.
Time passed, and things changed. The demon clan developed, and the number of people exceeded this world’s capability.
Therefore, from the Seven Sages of the demon clan to the ordinary cultivators, they would leave this world from time to time. They would search for places filled with Spiritual Qi in the human world and build caves among mountains.
They kept company with animals and birds and lived happily. Limited by their own strength, the demon clan didn’t dare to challenge cultivators from all over the world, so they couldn’t enter the cities of the mortal on a large scale. The demons with lofty ideals always took it as pity.
In the center of the plain, along the river, there was a city inhabited by the demon clan. To 15 kilometers east of the city, seven mountains rose straight up together. The mountains were not wide but tall and steep, so they looked extraordinary. But they seemed a little strange and incompatible with the surrounding environment.
In the native land of the demon clan, everyone knew these seven mountains because the Seven Sages would have meetings, discuss the big plans of the demon clan, and offer sacrifices to heaven and earth there from time to time. Whenever there was a great event and the Seven Sages arrived, it would be crowded with people.
However, it was always that only Six Sages would come, and the Monkey King was always somewhere else.
In the valley between the seven peaks, there was a large flat ground, which was built into a sacrificial square. In front of the tall altar, seven thrones were placed in different directions. These were the Seven Sages’ thrones.
At this time, there was a cultivator in the Daluo Golden Immortal Realm on each of the six large thrones.
They were in different figures. Some showed the figures of burly men and sat upright. Some showed their true figures.
A giant roc clutched his legs on the back of the chair and looked around arrogantly. His eyes were rolling, flexible but a little weird. A macaque held the long spear hanging on the throne with one hand and swung from side to side. He looked happy. A flood dragon coiled his body like a snake on the throne and seemed to fall asleep.
They had different postures, characters, and thoughts.
“Anyway, I disagree!” a handsome man with white skin said. He wore a wide-sleeved robe and held a folding fan. At first glance, he looked elegant. But he spoke very loudly and waved his folding fan as fast as the wind. It seemed inharmonious.
“Why don’t you agree with such a good thing?”
On the seat closest to the altar sat a muscular man with a rough face. He looked solemn. “Don’t tell me that you want to stay here forever. I think you’re scared! You’re as timid as a mouse. Why not call yourself Mouse Sage instead of Mountain-moving Sage?”
The handsome man immediately became angry. He put away his folding fan and sat up to stare at the other side. “You old bull! Don’t laugh at me. I know that you have sent Red Boy to help Li Ye! I don’t care about what you did, but I don’t agree to let Li Ye come to our native land! If the Immortal Court knows it, it will bring trouble to ourselves!”
He was Mountain-moving Sage. Of course, the cave he built in the human world was not called the Lion Camel Ridge because he was not the Green Lion.
The one talking to him was Pingtian Sage, Bull Demon King.
Clutching his legs on the back of the chair, the giant roc said in a weird tone, “I don’t like you from a long time ago. I thought that you just liked to be free, but I didn’t expect that you would rather be kept as a pet by the Immortal Court than restore the glory of the demon clan!”
“Well, do you learn to beg for mercy since you’re happy to be a pet? Look at you. You’re making yourself look like a white-faced scholar when you change into a human being. Do you think you are handsome? Do you know you are a stupid lion? Would you like me to send you some perfumes and cosmetics so that you can put them on your face to deceive ignorant girls?”