The Great Wei Music Bureau

Chapter 248 Wolf Mountain 9 Infant Valley

Last time, we talked about how Li Yi and Dugu Long had a serious fight, and Li Yi revealed the secret of the third-grade immortal body of martial arts, helping Dugu Long find an opportunity to advance to the extraordinary realm. He also asked Dugu Yu to gather the Black Armor Camp and prepare for the expedition. How will the story develop next? Let's read on.

In the afternoon, Li Yi was still recuperating when Zhenbei King Dugu Rong came to visit him in person. He said before he arrived, "Ah, my dear nephew Xiuyuan, my dear nephew Xiuyuan! Hurry up, move all the things in! Be careful!"

After entering the tent, he walked directly to the bedside and said with concern: "Hey, my dear nephew Xiuyuan, Yu'er told me everything. You said you helped our Dugu family so much, I don't know how to express my gratitude!"

Li Yi sat up and waved his hand for others to leave. Dugu Rong said sternly: "You all go out and guard. The king has important matters to discuss with Li Yuefu." The Zhenbei Army guards took the order and left, guarding outside the tent and not letting anyone approach.

Li Yi asked, "Your Majesty, do you understand what your Majesty wants?"

Dugu Rong said sternly, "To be honest with you, my dear nephew, I understand a little, but I don't understand everything yet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to see you in person."

Li Yi raised his hand to signal Dugu Rong to speak frankly. The latter smiled and said, "Last time your majesty promoted the imperial examination system, my nephew said it would not affect the soldiers of the Zhenbei Army, but this time it is different. Your majesty wants to reorganize the six towns, which will implicate too many people! Not to mention others, most of the officers and soldiers under my command are chieftains of the people, and they are in charge of at least tens of thousands of people. If the people of the people make trouble, I will not be able to suppress them."

Li Yi waved his hand and said, "Your Majesty seems to have misunderstood. Your Majesty reorganized the people just to confirm the population and combat power of the six Xianbei towns. Needless to say, Your Majesty knows better than anyone that most of the chieftains of the six Xianbei tribes also serve as tribal leaders. The court will not ask about the number and property of these tribesmen, so they incorporated the people into the tribe.

How many people were concealed here? I'm afraid even the prince doesn't know. I'll give you a number. In the town of Chi Le Chuan alone, the number of concealed people is around 100,000. By analogy, the six towns are around 600,000. If we calculate that 10 people support one soldier, this can support 60,000 Zhenbei troops.

The size of the Zhenbei Army was 170,000. In addition to farming for self-sufficiency and raising horses, the court also had to pay a large amount of military expenses to the Zhenbei Army every year. Of course, the expenses such as the maintenance and update of military equipment should be paid by the court, but over the years, the Zhenbei Army looted property and slaves from the grasslands in the northern border, except for a few female slaves who were sent to the Jiaofangsi, the court did not see anything else.

The old Xianbei people and the founding nobles cannot just care about their own tribes and imports, and ignore the life and death of the court! Your Majesty, don’t you agree? "

Dugu Rong waved his hand and said, "My dear nephew, you don't know this. This is the rule set by the Queen Mother and them. The women, slaves and finances that come up belong to each tribe. Only in this way can those wolf cubs fight to the death on the battlefield!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "At that time, Your Majesty was still young and did not rule the country. In order to stabilize the court, the Queen Mother naturally gave some privileges to the Xianbei old subordinates who held heavy troops and the founding nobles. But now that Your Majesty is ruling the country and the four borders are stable, some rights should be taken back. Otherwise, how can the court move the capital, how can it march south, and how can it unify the country?"

Dugu Rong shook his head and smiled, "Your Majesty is young and promising, and has great ambitions, which is a good thing, but you can't use us old guys as a knife. The previous knife almost cut the Yuwen family in half, and now you want to cut the flesh of my Dugu family. This is not fair."

Li Yi asked in confusion, "Your Highness, do you mean that the Dugu family intends to stand together with the old Xianbei people and the founding nobles?"

Dugu Rong said solemnly: "My Dugu clan is neither a former Xianbei tribe nor a founding noble, but we have been blessed by the emperor for generations, and we only want to guard the northern border for His Majesty and the court. No one is more unwilling to see chaos in the northern border than my Dugu family. If this chaos happens and the Xiongnu take the opportunity to invade the border, not only my Dugu clan, but the entire Wei Dynasty will be in danger of destruction!"

"The biggest enemy is not outside, but always inside us. Corruption, factionalism, and the struggle for imperial power are the most dangerous. The Huns are nothing to worry about."

"Xiu Yuan, this is too joking."

"I made a bet with Brother Yu before, how about I make another bet with the prince this time?"

"What are you gambling?"

"Which unit of the Xiongnu royal court do you think is the most difficult to deal with, or which unit do you hate the most? Brother Yu and I have agreed to lead the Black Armor Battalion to attack the Xiongnu in the north in seven days, and I will go and bring back the commander and flag of that unit to you."

Dugu Rong asked, "What do you plan to bet on, nephew?"

"There is a possibility of rebellion in the North at any time. I hope Your Majesty can make preparations early and minimize the casualties for Your Majesty."

Dugu Rong immediately asked, "Your Majesty wants to strike a chord with the enemy! Who are you going to target?"

"The Erzhu tribe robbed more than 20,000 slaves from the Western Regions and incorporated them all into his own tribe. He also established a 5,000-man Qiang cavalry battalion, and even the military horses were transferred from here. What did he want to do by using the court's money and horses to support his own soldiers?

This kind of situation is not uncommon in the Six Xianbei Garrisons, but he has the most troops. If we don't take action against him first, do we have to wait until he is fully prepared and starts a rebellion before dealing with him?"

Seeing Dugu Rong's embarrassment, Li Yi smiled and said, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. Although Brother Long is gone, I am still here. No matter how good Erzhu Hui is at fighting, in my opinion, he is just a traitor."

Dugu Rong pondered for a moment and said, "What if you lose?"

"Go back to Shangjing. From now on, the affairs of the northern border have nothing to do with me."

"Okay! I'm going to make this bet with you! If you can bring back the flag of the Xiongnu Royal Court Vanguard Camp and the heads of Murong Xingtai and Murong Bufan, I will admit defeat and help you deal with Erzhu Hui!"

Li Yi clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Thank you very much, Your Highness. Also, when I go to Mobei, please bring my family to the palace and take good care of them. They are not used to living in tents." Li Yi's original intention was not to let Dugu Rong take care of his family, but to keep them in the palace as hostages to reassure the Zhenbei King. After all, he was going to take away his Zhenbei Army's most elite Black Armor Battalion and his crown prince Dugu Yu.

Dugu Rong smiled and said, "Don't worry, nephew. I will definitely take good care of your family."

Seven days later, the Black Armor Camp assembled. Dugu Yu looked at the dozens of carts of food and supplies and asked Li Yi, "With so many carts, the march is too slow. How do you plan to carry out the long-distance raid?"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Who said I need to bring a baggage cart? Each person only needs to bring three days' worth of food, and I'll take the rest of the baggage." After saying that, he walked to the baggage convoy and loaded the baggage into the sacks one by one.

This really confused Dugu Yu, and he quickly asked, "Xiuyuan, this sack of yours is actually a magic weapon?"

Li Yi pretended and laughed, "How dare you take on this kind of work without some skills! Okay, the food and grass problem is solved, the next thing is water. You can't cross the desert without water."

Li Yi flew away on his sword and came to the bank of the Chi Le River. He chanted a spell and threw the sack into the water. The water level in the downstream dropped at a speed visible to the naked eye. After everything was ready, Li Yi returned to the Black Armor Camp, said goodbye to Shi Yu and others, and headed north with the 5,000 heavy cavalry of the Black Armor Camp.

There was no clear border between the Northern Wei and the Xiongnu. The desert was the natural dividing line between the two countries, which the Wei people called Shasai. There were four Shasai on the border between the Northern Wei and the Xiongnu. There were military towns between the Shasai, which were the three most advanced towns among the six Xianbei towns.

Since they were going to surprise attack the Xiongnu royal court, they naturally couldn't go through the three towns. Fortunately, he brought enough water, so it wasn't difficult to cross the desert. On the way here, Li Yi had already discussed with Dugu Yu that in order to achieve the purpose of the surprise attack, they would not take any prisoners, leave no one alive, not covet money and property, soldiers would not take off their armor, horses would not leave their saddles, guns would not leave their hands, swords would not leave their bodies, fires would not be lit at night, and smoke would not be raised during the day.

In this way, this surprise attack force successfully entered the heart of the Xiongnu. The problem now was that the Xiongnu royal court was elusive. Although everyone knew that the Xiongnu royal court often wandered around the Wolf Mountain area, it was a gathering place for all the Xiongnu tribes, with many people and horses. A rash attack would definitely be a one-way trip. So Li Yi took on the job of a sentinel, but he had no horse, only a sword. Taking advantage of the night, Li Yi flew away from the black armored heavy cavalry with his sword.

Normally, a cultivator would not choose to fly a sword when traveling long distances, because it would waste spiritual energy, but Li Yi did not care and flew two swords at a time. Why two? Because he was riding on a sword of joy, and another sword of love was carrying Nangong Xue, and the two of them were flying from high altitude to Langshan.

Nangong Xue said coldly: "If you dare to let me feel your mean sword intent again, I will go back!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "Look for yourself, the sword under your feet is the sword of love, how can it be mean? The most you can feel is my full love."

"Humph, it seems that after becoming a third-level cultivator, you no longer take my Dingnan Army seriously."

"Hey, that's not the case. Tuoba Jun and I have a gentleman's agreement to compete fairly. He doesn't need imperial power, and I don't need talent. Let's see who can win your heart."

Nangong Xue said contemptuously: "Then you two will be disappointed. I don't have a heart of love, only a sword heart, and a ruthless sword heart."

"Really? If you were so heartless to me, why would you accompany me to the heartland of the Huns?"

"I want to try your Seven Deadly Swords. If you die in Mobei, how can I have a chance?"

"If I were dead, you wouldn't have to try. In this battle between the two sects of heaven and earth, I would have directly counted this as your victory. So don't lie to yourself. If you love me, just say it directly. It's not like I haven't expressed my love to you before."

Nangong Xue stepped on her beloved sword, and naturally could feel the sword intent on it, and was inevitably affected by it. Looking at the affectionate Li Yi on the side, Nangong Xue immediately used the ruthless sword heart to resist Li Yi's interference. Li Yi had been doing this all the way. If she wanted to deal with Nangong Xue, how could she not be moved?

After a while, Nangong Xue was no longer affected by Li Yi's sword intent. She regained her indifference and said calmly, "It seems that your Seven Absolute Sword Intent is just so-so. By the way, what happened in your battle with Dugu Long? If you had used the Seven Absolute Sword, you would have won."

"You, the people of Tianzong, are watching. If I use the Seven Deadly Swords, wouldn't that reveal my strength in advance? The win or loss of this contest between me and Brother Long is not important, but the one against Tianzong must be won."

"Why?"

"Because I promised my senior sister that I must do my best."

"Shan Yiling?"

Li Yi chuckled: "Is it so easy to guess?"

"I'm stepping on your beloved sword. When you talk about that person, your sword intent has changed significantly. I never thought that the Seven Absolute Sword Master actually cultivates sword intent."

"Your Tianzong swordsmanship is known for its sword energy. It is wishful thinking to think that I can beat you in sword energy, so I can only start with sword intent."

At this moment, Li Yi suddenly turned his head and looked at the mountains in the distance. He felt something calling him, and this time it was stronger than the time in front of Yinshan.

"What's wrong? What's wrong in the mountain?"

"Did you feel anything?"

Nangong Xue shook her head and said, "Nothing unusual."

Li Yi took out the measuring ruler from the sack and turned it into a crescent bow, then took out the spirit feather arrow and shot it with the bowstring fully bowed. The arrow broke through the air like thunder, and Li Yi flew fast on the sword, closing his eyes and chasing the spirit feather arrow with his spiritual power. Because he had to use all his strength to fly the sword, Li Yi could not take care of Nangong Xue, who flew the sword herself and followed. The two came to a valley in Langshan, and Li Yi picked up the spirit feather arrow on the ground and looked around.

"What did you feel?"

“I think I’ve been here before.”

"You mean in the past life?"

"Previous life? Yes! I must have been here in my previous life, but why am I here?"

"What? Don't you remember this place?" A gloomy and low voice reached Li Yi's heart.

"Who's talking? Who are you?"

"You humans call me Jiuying, and you don't even remember me? You and I have been fighting here for nine days!"

"Nine Infants? I don't remember."

"Even I forgot? No wonder. It's been more than two thousand years. This place is no longer the same as it was before."

A monster with nine heads and a snake body suddenly appeared in front of Li Yi. The spirit feather arrow in Li Yi's hand kept trembling, as if it wanted to break free from Li Yi's hand and pierce the monster's head.

"Look, it still remembers me! If it weren't for it, you wouldn't be able to kill me!"

"Since you have been killed by me, why didn't you reincarnate?"

"I was born from the spirits of water and fire, without a soul or spirit. How can I reincarnate?"

"So you are waiting here for me to seek revenge? Then come on! Since I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time!"

"Once? You killed me more than once? It seems like you don't remember anything. Let me help you recall it!"

The nine heads of Jiuying opened their bloody mouths towards Li Yi. Four of them sprayed out water jets, which were acid water that could corrode plants and trees, cold water that would freeze things, black water that could carry away poison, and green water that could take away life force. The other five heads spit out flames of five colors: yellow, red, green, blue, and black.

In an instant, Li Yi saw his own figure, holding a bronze sword, carrying a red bow, and there were ten spirit feather arrows in the quiver. At that time, he was wearing a breastplate, animal skin skirt, shoulder guards and wrist guards, jumping back and forth on a turbulent river to avoid Jiuying's attack, and occasionally shooting a few arrows at Jiuying's head.

Li Yi saw that the spiritual feather arrows he shot could always pierce Jiuying's head. However, even if Li Yi shot through Jiuying's head or cut off its head, Jiuying could always use the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to heal the wound or grow a new head.

Li Yi covered his face and said awkwardly: "Why was I so stupid at that time? Obviously I had to kill all nine of its heads at the same time. Alas, I am just a crude warrior after all."

Nangong Xue suddenly interrupted and said, "More than two thousand years ago, the human race did not know much about the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, so you did not know how Jiuying recovered at that time. You only thought that it had an indestructible body like a warrior. So you must have thought that you did not hurt Jiuying's vital parts, so you tried repeatedly to find its weakness."

"So when do we have to find out?"

"It said it lasted nine days."

Li Yi was surprised and said, "Fuck, Jiuying, you don't intend to let us watch you get beaten by Jiutian here, do you? Can't you fast forward and jump directly to the moment when I killed you?"

The scene changed, and Li Yi injected all his Qi into a spirit feather arrow, which glowed red. Nangong Xue was surprised and said, "Red Qi? A first-class warrior! Red bow and white feather, you were Dayi in your previous life?"

Li Yi laughed and said, "Oh, you actually discovered such a big secret? That's right! I am both smart and beautiful, the embodiment of heroism and chivalry, the first first-class warrior of the human race, the idol of the whole nation, the dream lover of thousands of girls... Hey, why are you pulling me away!"

Nangong Xue pulled Li Yi and flew away on the sword, "Idiot, you killed it here in your previous life. It led you here for what else to do except revenge!"

"It's already dead, why are you afraid of it?"

"It is a ferocious beast transformed by the spirits of water and fire. Although its body is dead, its mind is still there! The resentment and hatred that have accumulated for more than two thousand years will all burst out after it meets you! Back then, you were a top-ranked warrior and were not afraid of it, but now, you are just a mortal!"

Li Yi gently patted Nangong Xue's hand and said with a smile: "You still don't admit that you love me? If you don't love me, why would you care so much about my life or death? Don't worry, although I am a mortal, I am enough to deal with this bit of resentment. Don't you want to see me fight with all my strength? Come on, kiss me, give me some encouragement, and watch me deal with it!"

Nangong Xue stopped her sword and turned back, wondering, "Are you crazy? That's the resentment of a first-grade beast!"

Li Yi smiled and said, "God has directed me to come here so that I can completely eliminate this resentment and avoid any trouble. Come on, come on, give me a kiss."

Nangong Xue said anxiously: "Are you sick? It's already this late and you're still thinking about something useless!"

At this moment, the scene around them changed to Dayi's final blow to kill Jiuying. He pulled the Heaven-Shooting Sun Bow to its full strength, and placed the red-glowing Spirit Feather Arrow on the string. He loosened the three fingers of his right hand, and the Spirit Feather Arrow shot out like a flying fire meteor, turning into nine arrows in front of Jiuying and hitting its nine heads at the same time! Then Dayi swung the bronze sword in his hand and pierced Jiuying's chest, nailing it directly to Wolf Mountain. Jiuying died.

The screen disappeared, and Li Yi and Nangong Xue were wrapped in darkness. This was Jiuying's resentment! Li Yi turned around and stood in front of Nangong Xue, saying contemptuously: "Jiuying! I said that if I can kill you once, I can kill you a second time!"

"Humph, I want to see how you can break my Nine Nether Seal! You and your sweetheart will search for each other in the endless darkness, feel helpless, and wait for death quietly!"

As soon as the words fell, Li Yi and Nangong Xue disappeared from the valley...