Chapter 488: Cultivating Talent

Within a forest outside a city, a group of soldiers snuck stealthily over. The soldier in the lead bowed toward a group of ornately dressed people.

"Immortals, the city lord in this city is celebrating a new decade of life. He's an Immortal of high station in Dazheng, and twenty neighboring city lords and generals have come to join the celebration. If we take them all down, we'll be able to claim twenty cities in one fell swoop," the soldier reported.

"Immortals guarding cities? The sect masters of various small Immortal sects across the Eastern Sea, are they? Ha! Do they think they're strong now that they've become Immortals after throwing their lot in with Xiao Nanfeng? What a joke," one richly dressed man scoffed.

"Is he the only Immortal present here?" another richly dressed man asked.

"I expect that only two or three Immortals would attend the celebration at most. According to what we've gleaned, this city lord doesn't particularly like allying with others."

"Good! Let's make our move, then. We'll take them all down."

"May luck bless you, Immortals," the soldier said immediately.

"Ha! If there are only two or three Human Immortals at best, we'll easily take them down. We don't have to go together. All of you can stay here while the five of us siblings head over to have a look," the man said.

He beckoned for his four siblings to join him in the city.

The next moment, a shout could be heard from within. "Who dares disturb my celebration?!"

One richly dressed man was sent flying into the air.

"Spirits from afar! Activate the city's defensive formation immediately. Immortals, accompany me to protect the people!"

"If it weren't Sir Zhang's birthday, none of us would have known that there were enemies daring to invade Dazheng. They ought to die!"

"We'll kill all who dare attack Dazheng!"

The five Immortal spirits were sent flying into the air as a group of Dazheng Immortals gave chase. A huge tempest was unleashed as the fighting began in earnest.

At the same time, the city's defensive formation rose up.

Outside the city, in the forest, the remaining richly dressed people glared at the soldiers. One demanded, "Didn't you say that there would only be two or three Immortals at most? There are at least seven of them! How dare you lie?!"

"I didn't! That's what the report I received said. I didn't expect more would show up. They came of their own accord, and I didn't have any intelligence on them," the soldier stated hurriedly.

"Enough. We'll take them all on and deal with them together," a richly dressed woman declared.

"Got it!"

The spirits rushed into the air, transforming into their spirit forms as they did so. A frightening aura exuded from their bodies.

They easily suppressed the Immortals of Dazheng.

"Come help us, Old Li! We'll worry about our grudges later. Defending the empire is our top priority!" one Immortal shouted anxiously.

"Very well!" a shout came from within the city. More Immortals rose into the air, as many of them present as there were spirit Immortals. The fighting was evenly matched.

Outside the city, in the forest, the band of soldiers gaped at the sight of more Immortals as reinforcement. Why are there so many Immortals of Dazheng here? Aren't we being far too unlucky?"

At the same time, in a small cottage surrounded by fog, Wen Zhong and a group of youths observed the fighting Immortals in the air.

"What do you think?" Wen Zhong asked.

"Thank you for your guidance, Sir. This is something we haven't been exposed to at all," one youth said.

The others all nodded in excitement.

"Summarize what you've learned," Wen Zhong declared.

"Intelligence is crucial to warfare—not just ours, but others. A single error can propagate into the destruction of an entire army. Intelligence must be foremost among our considerations," one youth began.

"Very good. Continue!"

"The outcome of many fights is decided beyond the battlefield. All that covert warfare is comparable to direct combat in importance."

"Continue!"

"In order to lure enemies into traps, we need to understand what makes for a good story. Only by tricking our opponents into believing these stories can we lure them into our traps. We can't drop our guard even if they believe us. We'll have to come up with further developments to ensure that they can't differentiate reality from fabrication."

"Continue!"

"We shouldn't reveal the full plan even to allies. Secrecy is what determines the success of our plotting."

The youths excitedly stated the conclusions they had drawn from this exercise.

"I only sketched out what you all had to do. You were responsible for carrying out the details of the plan. How do you think you fared?" Wen Zhong then asked.

"I was responsible for leaking information to the enemy spies and getting them to summon Immortal spirits to attack the city. Although I succeeded, I didn't do it as well as I could have. Fewer spirits showed up than would have been optimal."

"I was responsible for convening the Immortals of Dazheng, but I didn't make things natural enough. The Immortals realized that something was amiss, and word could have spread."

"I was responsible for..."

The youths evaluated themselves as Wen Zhong gave them pointers.

Wen Zhong was astonished. Xiao Nanfeng did tell him that he had a batch of promising scholars at hand, but he didn't realize they would be so skilled.

This was their first time devising a scheme in practice. Although what they had done was rough around the edges, they had been, by and large, successful.

"What should you do next?" Wen Zhong asked.

"We need to kill off the majority of the Immortal spirits, allowing only one or two to run off to convey incorrect information to their camp. The majority of our Immortals also have to become injured or 'die'—those unskilled at acting have to go into hiding, to be replaced with new ones. They'll keep fishing out the Immortal spirits bit by bit."

"Very good. What else?" Wen Zhong asked.

"We'll have to come up with a new story for the enemy spies to convey to their camp and pacify their troops. They need to think that, although they were defeated, we suffered as much. That will allow them to feel better about their loss and cultivate rage and hatred toward us, forcing them deeper into the trap."

"Very good. Focus on carrying out those objectives. I'll leave this area to your group. Everyone else, head to the next trap with me. We'll see if other Immortal spirits have fallen for our plans. Summarize your experience and shortcomings in writing so that others might learn from them."

"Understood!" the youths chorused.

Wen Zhong and the youths he chaperoned set off once more.

Fighting raged over the next two days by the borders of Dazheng. Because of the particularly delicate spycraft that Dazheng had implemented, Immortal spirits from all over were lured into traps all around the borders according to Wen Zhong's plans.

Three days later, in the imperial study at Yongding, Wen Zhong glanced at Xiao Nanfeng, who was perusing a stack of imperial edicts. "Your Majesty, these youths are truly remarkable. That they can be so skilled without any experience speaks volumes as to their future success."

"You taught them well, Mr. Wen," Xiao Nanfeng replied, putting down his brush.

Mr. Wen shook his head. "There are many prodigious talents in the world who have never had the opportunity to rise to the station they deserve. These youths might not be particularly skilled at cultivation or literary pursuits, but they have incredible genius as strategists. You've given them what they need to flourish, Your Majesty."

"Then I'll thank you on their behalf for the praise." Xiao Nanfeng smiled.

"I think they'll quickly be able to stand on their own," Mr. Wen continued.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded. "I'll need your support for that, Mr. Wen. I know how difficult it is to recruit those as skilled as you are, and you've seen the lengths I went to to recruit you. With you around, I hope to cultivate a whole host of strategists."

"You overpraise me, Your Majesty."

"You've seen what the empire needs to grow stronger. Strategists will be in great demand throughout the empire. We're only facing five kingdoms at the moment, but soon enough, our enemies will be empires, even divine empires. I beseech you to teach these youths to the best of your ability. You will be rewarded in kind," Xiao Nanfeng asserted.

Mr. Wen nodded. "I will do my best."

"Thank you, Mr. Wen!"

"That said, these youths are more than enough for me to handle, Your Majesty, and I don't have the capacity to take on more in the short term."

Xiao Nanfeng shook his head. "That won't do. The Xiao Academy now draws from the academies throughout the empire. Strategists are hard to find, but a second batch of students shall be arriving in a few days."

"What?!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Wen. If you can't handle it, have the first batch of students teach the second. They can learn from each other," Xiao Nanfeng proposed.

Wen Zhong sighed. "Very well."

"Mr. Wen, you're an incredibly talented strategist, and Mr. Zheng is an incredibly talented administrator. He takes on several times the number of students and officials you do," Xiao Nanfeng joked.

"Your Majesty, you intend to work us to the bone, don't you?"

"You'll be able to rest soon enough. Once you've trained enough talent, they'll be able to assist you with the rest. For now, however, I'll need to count on you."

Wen Zhong smiled wryly. "Very well, Your Majesty."

Though he had an incredible amount of work on his plate, he could see the signs of Dazheng's ascension like a bright light illuminating the empire from the horizon, light that would one day grow into blazing radiance.

Wen Zhong dedicated himself to the border conflict.

The next day, in Yongding, Xiao Nanfeng convened a session of court.

The officials of court, administrators and generals alike, denounced the five neighboring kingdoms for their malicious acts and prepared for war. Ye Sanshui was designated commander of the forces against the five-kingdom alliance, and Ye Dafu the general. Dazheng was officially sending out troops against the five kingdoms and waging war anew.

An imperial edict was distributed throughout the empire decrying the misdeeds of Dazheng's five neighbors, drumming up the soldiers' and civilians' morale as they prepared for a war of conquest.