Dan Zeng cursed for a while, but the issue that needed to be resolved still had to be resolved, so he braced himself and climbed onto the city wall, yelling in awkward Da Xia language: “What do you want to do?”
Yuan Yun yelled angrily: “What do we want to do? You must have seen our Da Xia's national letter! Not only did you not send the Da Xia princess back, you even dared to extort money. Who gave you the courage?”
"This general will give you a chance today. If you put down your weapons and surrender now, I can spare your lives. If you resist stubbornly, I will send you to the Western Paradise immediately!"
Dan Zeng still had some backbone after all. Although afraid, he was not easily frightened by Yuan Yun’s words. His response to the Da Xia army was a rain of arrows.
The range of arrows was limited. Plus, their city walls were not high enough and the Da Xia troops were somewhat far away.
Most of these feeble volleys landed on open ground, with only a few arrows left, which were also blocked by the shield formations in front. They didn't even hurt a single hair on the Da Xia troops.
Yuan Yun asked Jing Yan, "Your Highness, do we attack?"
Jing Yan said, "I told you before. I have only read military books and have never fought in battles. The battlefield is ever-changing. General Yuan and the generals are all veteran commanders who have led troops. You should make the decisions."
"I came this time firstly to bring my elder sister back to the capital, and secondly to learn from the generals. I don't dare to point fingers rashly. In case I was just an armchair strategist, it would be a minor matter to become a laughing stock, but a major disaster if I disrupted the battle."
Yuan Yun grinned, "Thank you for Your Highness's trust."
As he spoke, his expression changed sharply and he waved his right hand domineeringly, "Thunderbolt, blow it up for me. Blast their damn city gate down!"
The Princess said that people were more important than weapons or anything else. Try to use gunpowder to solve problems whenever possible instead of manpower, to minimize casualties on our side to the greatest extent possible.
There were no more thunderbolts that could be produced again, but people were gone forever once dead.
Just as his voice fell, the front shield formations retreated in unison, and a row of grenadiers threaded their way to the front, with several fist-sized black thunderbolts hanging on them.
These were grenadiers who had received professional training. Among them, there were even some who were as good as divine archers, throwing very far and accurately, blowing up wherever they wanted.
The adjutant yelled, "Grenadiers - Prepare - Light fuses - Explode -"
Countless black thunderbolts, carrying the crackling flames of fury, flew into the sky instantly, like black hailstones, cutting across the bright sky, and landed on the Tubo city head, the city gates, and even at the Tubo soldiers' feet.
Before they could react, deafening huge explosions sounded everywhere.
Mushroom clouds of black smoke rose up all around, and the thick city gates collapsed instantly. The stone-built city walls were cut in half in an instant, and even whole sections were blown apart.
It was as if the whole earth was shaking.
Countless people were either blown to pieces directly by the explosions, or were blown into the air by the shockwaves.
The Tubo soldiers who were ignited by gunpowder rolled on the ground in agony, screaming and desperately crying for help. The surroundings instantly became a hellscape.
Just as Yuan Yun was about to order an attack after the smoke cleared, a white flag was surprisingly raised high on the city head, "Stop bombing, we surrender. We are willing to surrender and become Da Xia's citizens."
The person raising the white flag was a Tubo deputy general. As for Commander Dan Zeng, he had already been sent to the Western Paradise to see Buddha by the thunderbolts in the previous explosions.
The Da Xia troops were instantly delighted, laughing, "Why didn't you just do this earlier? You had to make us do it the hard way. Did you learn your lesson this time? What a pointless waste of our brothers' lives!"
Even Jing Yan showed a rare smile.
Yuan Yun waved his big hand, "Brothers, let's go. Enter the pass and collect the spoils of war!
Pay attention to military discipline, we are the mighty division of Da Xia, the division of civilization. Don't let me catch you making Prince Regent and the Princess laugh at us."
The soldiers immediately responded happily, "We can't do that! Then we would just be rogue soldiers!"
"Alright, less nonsense, into the city!"
Jiang Yuqing also went into the city with the army medics.
There were less than 30,000 surrendering soldiers left. This small number was no match for the 200,000 well-equipped Da Xia wolf soldiers.
That deputy general was also lucky that he had surrendered quickly. Otherwise, with so few people, they wouldn't even have been enough to plug the gaps between the teeth of the Da Xia army.
No one isn't born from their mothers. Why should they give up their lives and property for the things stirred up by the traitor Mu Ruo?
What followed further convinced the deputy general that his idea was right. Although the Da Xia army had confiscated their weapons, they immediately sent army medics to treat their wounded with precious medicinal materials that were extremely valuable to them.
Tubo also had witch doctors, but everyone knew that their witch doctors couldn’t even match the toes of the Da Xia doctors.
The Da Xia army also didn't confiscate their food at first, and they didn't understand why.
Until dinner time, when they saw the Da Xia soldiers eating fragrant white rice and sweet potatoes, and even large pieces of roasted meat, then looked at their own bitter wild vegetables and gritty millet balls, they instantly understood.
The others weren't stupid, they just looked down on Tubo food.
So the rumors were true that every household in Da Xia had enough food and everyone could eat their fill.
If they could really surrender to Da Xia in the future and become Da Xia's citizens, wouldn't they also be able to eat the sweet grain without having to dig up the bitter and hard to swallow wild vegetables?
Not only did the deputy general think this way, the surrendered Tubo soldiers thought so too.
After the initial victory, the army decided to rest here for two days and tidy things up at the same time.
Meanwhile, they sent a message inside Dingyang Pass to ask their families to send officials to take over this place, as well as a small Tubo border town not far behind them.
Like many Da Xia border cities, most residents of that town were dependent family members of border guards.
Now that the heads of households had surrendered, the dependent family members naturally would not resist at all.
After that, these surrendered troops would be demobilized on the spot and allowed to return to their hometowns to find their mothers.
The terrain ahead would gradually rise. Although the physical fitness of the Da Xia army was still decent, altitude sickness was not something that could be easily explained away by just saying they had strong bodies.
Although she had donated a large batch of anti-altitude sickness Chinese medicine pills and medicines to the army in the name of Tianyi Valley before they set off, this was far from enough.
She still needed to prepare a batch of small oxygen cylinders. It would be hard to explain their sudden appearance.
She thought about it again and again, and felt it best to be frank with Jing Yan.
Firstly, the two had a mutual understanding and were already engaged. He was indeed a reliable man.
Secondly, as Bai Xiaoshi said, Jing Yan was one of the few people in this world who had spiritual roots.
It now seemed to be time to bring him into the practice.
She talked about this idea with Bai Xiaoshi, and Bai Xiaoshi also agreed: “Since you have chosen him as your companion, then don't hesitate anymore.
You will be together for life. With your current late Foundation Establishment stage cultivation base, living two to three hundred years will be no problem. You can’t possibly watch him age and die before you, right?"
It was this sentence that dispelled Jiang Yuqing’s last shred of doubt.
That night when they set up camp to rest, Jiang Yuqing entered Jing Yan's large tent, and casually set up an isolating barrier.
Jing Yan was reading military books. Seeing her come in scantily clad, he frowned, "It’s so late, why hasn't Sister Qing gone to sleep yet?"
He got up to take a cloak to put on her, "The night is cold. You should wear more when going out!"
Jiang Yuqing let him pull her along, and said with a smile, "I have something very important to discuss with you."
"What is it? Sister Qing, tell me! I'm listening."
Jiang Yuqing pulled over a small cushion to sit opposite him, looking into his eyes very seriously, "What I'm going to say next may subvert your worldview.
Please don't be afraid, and definitely don't see me as a monster."
Jing Yan looked at her for a long time, then suddenly chuckled softly, "Even if you’re a monster, you would still be the most beautiful and kindest monster in the world."
She tilted her head and smiled, then went to a corner of the tent and plucked two unknown wild grass seeds from the edge, placing them in her palm.
She said to Jing Yan, "Watch closely, don't blink!"
Then she inputted Wood elemental spiritual power to stimulate growth.
Right in her palm, the two tiny seeds instantly sprouted, grew leaves, blossomed, and grew into two lush green plants identical to the mother plant.
Jing Yan stared at her palm, unable to speak for a long time.
After a good while, he finally reached out and touched the plants in her hand, "It really happened."
Jiang Yuqing asked him, "Are you afraid?"
He smiled and stroked her head: "Don't be afraid. I said that even if Qingqing is a demon, she is still my Jing Yan's demon."
Jiang Yuqing chuckled: "It's not that serious. I'm not a demon, just a person with some special abilities.
There are not only ordinary people in this world, but also a very small number of people with special physiques, which can also be called spiritual roots.
Those with spiritual roots can absorb the spiritual energy between heaven and earth and eliminate impurities in the body by practicing exercises, cultivating their state of mind, and increasing their cultivation level, thereby achieving the purpose of longevity.
We might call it cultivating immortality.
Cultivators of immortality are also called cultivators. The lifespan of cultivators will increase as their cultivation level increases.
At the same time, his (her) abilities will become greater and greater, to the point where he can fly freely, and even move mountains and seas."
She paused and then said, "So far, I have only discovered four people with spiritual roots in Da Xia.
One is Huayang Zi of the Three Purities Temple, one is his former disciple, but the latter is already dead. It's a pity that these master and disciple did not have the opportunity to truly cultivate immortality.
The third is me. I already have the cultivation base at the late Foundation Establishment stage.
What does this mean? I currently have at least 300 years of life. In terms of ability, although I can't move mountains or fill seas yet, I can still travel thousands of miles in a day.
That is to say, for me to return from here to the capital city, riding a sword and flying, it would only take half a day."
“And the fourth person with spiritual roots is you."
As soon as she finished speaking, Jing Yan immediately pulled her into his arms and held her tightly.
His voice was shaking as he pleaded, "Qingqing, teach me. I want to gain immortality together with you."
Jiang Yuqing felt the fear in the depths of this man's heart. She patted his back to comfort him, "Alright, don't be afraid.
The reason why I told you this today is because I want to bring you into the path of cultivation.
Because in the long life ahead, I don't want to be the only one left in the end."
Saying this, she gently pushed him away and pulled him to sit on the simple bed.
Then she took out a basic introductory exercise manual from her bag and gave it to him, "Just like when you usually practice qigong, sit cross-legged, empty your mind, then stick this jade slip on your forehead."
Jing Yan did as she said, then stuck the jade slip on his forehead.
Immediately afterwards, a large amount of information flowed into his consciousness from the jade slip. This feeling was truly magical.
He was excited and was about to open his eyes when he heard his wife say, "Don't get distracted, carefully read the jade slip.
Then, recite the spell to guard the original spirit, and concentrate on sensing the existence of spiritual energy and drawing it into your body.
You have a chaos physique favored by the Heavenly Dao. I believe absorbing spiritual energy into your body will not be difficult for you. Do your best!"
Since the ambient spiritual energy in the outside world was deficient, Jiang Yuqing was afraid he would not be able to feel the presence of spiritual energy particles as a beginner. She simply arranged a spiritual energy gathering formation around him using a large amount of spiritual crystals.
Then she stood quietly next to him to protect him with her energy.
