The setting sun dipped below the horizon, half exposed and half hidden, as the fiery desert gradually solidified into frost.
“Hot and cold alternate, burning everything by day and freezing for miles by night. They call it the Buddhist Kingdom of Bliss, but it feels more like Avici Hell.”
“Master, the oasis is just ahead. Should we announce our arrival?”
“No need.”
Meng Qingzhou snapped his fingers, and his Sword Sense domain spread out for miles, enveloping the oasis and locking onto Jiang Canghai, who was sitting cross-legged in the commander’s tent.
The essence of time and space penetrated Jiang Canghai’s Sea of Consciousness, manifesting as Meng Qingzhou: “I have arrived at the oasis. Lift the restriction barrier.”
Having done this, Meng Qingzhou walked straight into the oasis with his hands behind his back, saying, “Follow me. The Prime Minister already knows we’re here.”
Su Qingqiu, unfazed, curiously observed the oasis. She saw an invisible barrier tear open a crack just wide enough for the four of them to pass through.
The oasis was lush, with trees towering over a hundred meters high and soil as black as coal.
“An oasis in the desert, yet the vegetation is so lush. How strange,” Su Qingqiu remarked, looking around in amazement.
Wu Die scanned the area with her Divine Sense, shrugged, and explained, “There are several spirit stone veins buried beneath this oasis. Over the years, they’ve nourished this place, creating this scene. It’s not surprising.”
Shadows flitted through the forest, occasionally revealing sharp-eyed soldiers in armor, patrolling and keeping watch over the oasis.
These soldiers silently observed the four as they passed, not obstructing them. They had all received Jiang Canghai’s message and knew that distinguished guests were visiting.
However, upon seeing Su Qingqiu’s true appearance, some sharp-eyed soldiers were momentarily stunned. When they saw the young man with a blind staff and black silk covering his eyes, their expressions changed dramatically.
Su Qingqiu was the Empress’s only close maid. In the entire Great Jin, everyone knew that anyone assisted by Su Qingqiu, especially someone so recognizable, was none other than the Sword Saint himself!
The Space-Time Sword Saint, Meng Qin, had arrived in the Buddhist Kingdom to aid their isolated forces!
A few patrolling soldiers watched as Meng Qingzhou and his companions passed by. The centurion leading them was visibly stunned.
“Centurion, who is that? You look more shocked than when you saw the Prime Minister.”
The centurion, who was past his prime, waited until Meng Qingzhou and the three women had walked far away before slapping the questioning soldier on the head and scolding, “You must be a spy from an enemy nation if you don’t recognize the Sword Saint!”
Hearing this, the soldiers were instantly dumbfounded, their eyes reddening.
The soldier who had been hit rubbed his eyes and retorted, “I’m from Anlin County. Unlike you who serve in the Imperial Capital, I haven’t had the chance to see the Sword Saint.”
The centurion took out his pipe, took a few puffs, and sighed, “After this war, we’ll all be heroes. I’ll personally request to have you transferred to the Imperial Capital so you can see the Sword Saint every day.”
“But honestly, I thought the Sword Saint would be an old man of a hundred and eighty years. I didn’t expect him to be so young and handsome.”
The soldiers widened their eyes and asked, “Hey! Centurion, didn’t you say you’ve seen the Sword Saint?”
The centurion choked on his smoke, coughed a few times, and his old face turned red. “I’m a centurion, not a commander or a general, nor a palace guard. I haven’t had the chance to see him. I only recognized Su the Great Sword Immortal and guessed the Sword Saint’s identity.”
“Oh, so you were bluffing.”
…
…
As they walked, Su Qingqiu would always perk up her ears to eavesdrop whenever they passed patrolling soldiers. She remarked, “Master, it seems everyone in the world knows you now. Even the soldiers far away in the Buddhist Kingdom recognize you.”
Meng Qingzhou smiled faintly and shook his head, too lazy to respond. This girl had been chattering non-stop along the way, probably afraid that he would hear the soldiers’ discussions and figure out that Su Qingqiu was the Empress’s close maid, leading to more deductions.
For once, she was being clever.
Dongfang Liuli’s eyes sparkled as she stared intently at Meng Qingzhou’s back. Did the Salt Fish really not hear the soldiers’ discussions? Was he pretending, or did he deliberately avoid listening?
Something was fishy!
After a while, they arrived at a camp area where many soldiers sat exhausted on the ground, silently gnawing on hard biscuits to stave off hunger.
For three whole months, this isolated force had successfully diverted the Buddhist Kingdom’s attention, allowing Great Jin to annihilate the Ancestral Sect Alliance. However, their military supplies had been completely exhausted.
In the desolate Buddhist Kingdom, resources were scarce. They couldn’t even sustain themselves through war, as there were no resources to plunder.
Dongfang Liuli exchanged a bag of spirit stones with a soldier for a biscuit and tore it open to inspect the filling.
“Ground tree bark mixed with some spiritual plants, made into biscuits. No wonder many of the large trees in the oasis have had their rough outer bark stripped away, leaving only the inner tree membrane for food.”
Dongfang Liuli took a small bite of the biscuit and fell silent. It was as hard as a rock.
The army led by Jiang Canghai, composed of elite forces from various departments and regions of Great Jin, all had cultivation levels. They shouldn’t need food to stave off hunger.
The root cause of this phenomenon was the extreme shortage of resources.
“Cultivators below the Moon Shine Realm rely on spiritual energy to survive and fight. Without it, they become weak and, without long-term replenishment, could starve to death.”
“The Buddhist Kingdom’s desert has harsh conditions, with even spiritual energy being extremely scarce. Yet they have held out for months without losing morale.”
Dongfang Liuli looked at the biscuit in her hand, lifted her mask, and, shielding herself with her sleeve, ate it bite by bite. She wanted to experience this sense of despair and exhaustion.
“Give me a piece,” Meng Qingzhou said, reaching out with a smile.
Dongfang Liuli, still shielding herself with her sleeve, stared at him for a moment before silently tearing off half of the biscuit and handing it over.
Wu Die found an old soldier with a scruffy beard and disheveled gray hair, squatted beside him, and asked, “With resources scarce and victory seemingly out of reach, don’t you feel resentment or fear?”
The old soldier, head drooping, gave a weary smile. “Of course, there’s fear and resentment. But that was at the beginning when we felt like pawns making meaningless sacrifices. But when I heard the Prime Minister announce…”
“Her Majesty personally led the expedition, and the Sword Saint fought against a hundred Morning Glows, achieving a great victory against the Ancestral Sect Alliance despite overwhelming odds! Her Majesty bled, and the Sword Saint fought alone, yet they won. We’re just playing hide-and-seek with these Buddhist Kingdom bastards and going hungry. What’s so hard about that?”
“When the high and mighty figures, like us lowly soldiers, lead the charge and defend the nation, resentment turns into admiration, and fear becomes fearlessness.”
The old soldier mumbled, perhaps dizzy from hunger, and then suddenly remembered, “Hey? Who are you?”
Wu Die stood up, about to speak.
Suddenly.
A mocking voice rang out: “What an act! Did you stage this just because you saw our Moon Clan visiting? What nonsense about the Sword Saint fighting a hundred Morning Glows. If he’s so powerful, why isn’t he fighting the Buddhist Kingdom head-on? Instead, an old man in the Mountain Moving Realm is the commander.”
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