Back to Chang'an After Many Twists and Turns

The route from the Yedie River Holy Land to Chang'an City was a familiar one that Zhang Xuezhou had taken many times before.

After traversing the vast grasslands and passing through the strategically important Yanmen Pass, one can travel over a hundred miles along the military road to reach a small border town.

As long as you keep traveling southeast, you'll get closer to Chang'an City.

This journey sounds simple, but before Hongku acquired the black and white horses that could traverse mountains and rivers with ease, it would be extremely difficult for Hongku to pass through. He could only do so by disguising himself as a Hu merchant engaged in border trade.

"Control your Xiong State over there! Coming to fight the Great Han when you have no food is utterly disrespectful!"

Zhang Xuezhou rarely encountered a situation where the military route was blocked.

As he approached Chang'an City, he encountered several groups of legions escorting supplies along the military road.

Given the limited social productivity at the time, both food and fuel, such as firewood, needed to be transported by horse-drawn carriages, mule carts, and human-powered vehicles.

This mode of transportation is inefficient and cumbersome, consuming a great deal of social, human, and financial resources, and the imperial court would not easily undertake such a task.

Zhang Xuezhou knew without a doubt that this was due to external pressure, forcing them to stockpile food and even increase troop deployments.

"Prisoners need a full meal before they die. When the Xiong State are hungry, they have to find food. If they can win the fight, they will eat their fill; if they can't, they will be beaten to death. We have to give them a choice," Hongku.

"Whether we succeed in the raid or suffer heavy casualties, the food crisis in the Xiong State will be resolved," said Venerable Lei. "When there are too many people, they will fight over resources, and that's something no one can control!"

"You need to teach them how to farm," Zhang Xuezhou advised. "Farming is the best way to ensure the survival of our race!"

"Are you kidding me?" Hongku asked in astonishment. "The grass here only grows in one crop after another. We have to keep migrating to find grass for cattle and sheep. Even the grass struggles to grow, so rice and millet simply can't survive!"

"If we can really solve the problem of feeding the Xiong State, not to mention the Great Han Dynasty, even the once mighty Qin Dynasty would be destroyed," said Venerable Lei.

"Venerable Lei is right. If the vast territory of the Xiong State can truly grow enough grain, then it won't be just occasional skirmishes and wars, but a single, decisive victory over the Great Han Dynasty, wiping out the Han people!"

Hongku nodded.

The Xiong State is a very complex country, filled with various tribes, backed by numerous Lineage, and supported by the three Sacred Land. It even includes the Immortal Court forces that were expelled by the Qin Dynasty.

Besides the native nomadic tribes, countless Lineage that had fallen into ruin since the Qin and Han dynasties also entered the Xiong State.

Unlike the nomadic people's concept of being well-fed and watered, these impoverished Lineage brought civilization and ideas to the Xiong State.

Among these ideas lies the thought of destroying this fertile land.

If he had sufficient power, Hongku would have been well aware of the inevitable consequences of stirring up these ideas.

This even included Hongku himself, who was also unwilling to accept the tragic fate of the Physiognomy School during the Qin Dynasty, and whose life of wandering required revenge.

When the Qin Dynasty was gone, the Great Han Dynasty became the successor to the old grudges.

"This grudge and resentment..."

"These grudges and grievances can't be let go of with just a few words!"

Zhang Xuezhou's society did not experience these things; after he rose to a high position, he even emphasized harmony and common development.

But his approach won't work here.

Zhang Xuezhou wasn't just casually chatting with Hongku others; after completing his lecture on "The Technique Within the Clouds," they had been discussing related topics ever since.

Zhang Xuezhou eventually realized that this was a dead end.

Every era has its own contradictions, and if we approach them with ideas detached from the times, we will inevitably suffer heavy losses.

This is like the Zhang Xuezhou system in real society, which is completely inapplicable in the Great Han Dynasty.

People his age aren't exactly young; some of his peers are already grandfathers.

If Zhang Xuezhou were to explain growth and development and the concept of marriage to these people, Zhang Xuezhou would definitely be scolded as "why don't they eat meat porridge?"

Limited food and medical care meant that most people could not live very long, leading to a completely different mindset compared to people living in affluent circumstances.

The idea that having children when you're young and strong means you'll suffer less, and that having more children means more labor, is commonplace and completely different from Zhang Xuezhou's understanding.

Individual perspectives are like this, but perspectives at the power level and at the national level are completely different.

Zhang Xuezhou originally wanted Hongku and others to change the political environment of Xiong State and reduce the ravages of war as much as possible, but he found that chatting with each other was just a way to pass the time and could not produce any real results.

"Now that we've arrived in your Chang'an City, what should we do?"

The black and white horses emerged from the mountains and stood on a hilltop near Chang'an City. Hongku gazed at the distant city and then looked at Zhang Xuezhou, who seemed more relaxed.

"You can wait for Li Shaojun near the Chang'an City. My residence isn't exactly secluded," Zhang Xuezhou said. "I'll be arranging the refining of the Creation Pill soon, and I'll also invite Li Shaojun to Shanglin Garden to discuss the Longevity Pill. We'll take care of everything together then!"

"Don't go too far," Hongku said worriedly.

"My home is in Chang'an City, where else could I possibly go?" Zhang Xuezhou waved his hand and said, "If you can't find me, you can always find my cousin!"

"Alright!"

Hongku waved his hand, indicating that Zhang Xuezhou was right.

You can run away from your master, but you can't hide from your temple Zhang Xuezhou's home is there, and he has been there several times. There is no problem with the checks and balances between them.

"Can you even enter the city looking like that?"

Hongku glanced at Zhang Xuezhou's strange-looking body and couldn't help but ask another question.

"If Venerable Lei could just grab me and dump me in my yard, I would be extremely Venerable Lei!"

Zhang Xuezhou shrugged.

People like Daojun are extremely rare in the world, and changes in appearance can cause enormous problems.

Fortunately, Zhang Xuezhou had Rong Tianding waiting for him in Chang'an City, and Rong Tianding should have no problem confirming his identity.

However, Zhang Xuezhou needed some convenient ways to enter the city.

The three could only wait until night fell.

"Wu Jin..."

After waiting for a while, Venerable Lei carried Zhang Xuezhou, their bodies rising and falling as they flew further away. Hongku watched the two figures disappear into the night and couldn't help but mutter to himself.

It took several days to travel from the Yedie River Holy Land to Chang'an City, Hongku spent a very long time in contact with Zhang Xuezhou.

The longer it went on, the more Hongku discovered about Zhang Xuezhou's abnormal behavior.

For example, Zhang Xuezhou's aura was extremely strange; he seemed to have achieved some level of cultivation, yet he also seemed to have no cultivation at all.

For example, Zhang Xuezhou seemed to have lost control of his body, Hongku could notice that Zhang Xuezhou's body seemed to have an indescribable 'weakness'.

During the discussion about Technique Within the Clouds, Hongku repeatedly asked Zhang Xuezhou about his cultivation of the Person-Fixing Technique and Acupoint-Fixing Technique. Zhang Xuezhou appeared extremely confused, dodging the question as if he had forgotten about the cultivation of the Physiognomy School.

If it weren't for Daojun's judgment and his extensive exchanges with Zhang Xuezhou, Hongku would have truly suspected that Zhang Xuezhou was an imposter.

"If he truly is the Holy Son of Kunlun and has fallen to this state, then there must be a major upheaval in Kunlun!"

With various factors being ruled out, and considering that Shangdaojun needed to travel far to investigate some matters, Hongku felt that something big might have happened in the distant Western Kunlun, and Zhang Xuezhou was most likely a victim of it.

"Could it be that he had a conflict with the Emperor?"

Hongku pondered back and forth, and he somewhat regretted not observing Zhang Xuezhou more during the Kunlun Gathering, which made it difficult for him to determine Zhang's identity now, and he could not fully define many things.

But Hongku was certain of one thing: regardless of whether Zhang Xuezhou had the identity of the Kunlun Holy Son, the benefits he could bring were real.

Thinking that he would be able to operate and trade the Creation Pill resources after a period of time, even Hongku, who had already become a Venerable, could not help but feel excited.