The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 706 To suppress the heavens, you need an army of ten thousand? Where am I supposed to find that?!

The French Open was in turmoil, its light flickering uncertainly.

Dozens of eyes stared intently at it. Dark clouds churned, and lightning struck intermittently, landing on the net of law and then spreading outwards along each node of the net.

At each node, small bursts of lightning erupted, and the power of the earth's veins rose along the porcelain tower, colliding with the strange forces falling from the sky, advancing or retreating.

With each tremor and each flicker, Shen Le's heart skipped a beat. The soft clicking of the porcelain tower made his back tense and sweat bead on his forehead.

However, these porcelain towers, and the light network they formed, truly withstood the attack!
The terrifying pressure that fell from the sky, requiring a dozen highly skilled cultivators to form an array to withstand, was evenly distributed and gradually dissipated by the "Twelve Yuan Chen Locking Array" composed of twelve porcelain towers.

Finally, it vanished three zhang above the altar and never fell on the crowd again!

"call……"

"Whoosh..."

"Huff...ha...huff...ha..."

The moment it was confirmed that the Dharma Realm was usable, everyone from the sect leader to all the disciples collapsed around the altar, gasping for breath.

Shen Le also slumped to the ground. He turned his head to the side, staring at the slight vibrations on the porcelain tower beside him, assessing the power of the magic array inside the tower and the wear and tear on the tower itself.

After a long while, Master Xuanming, skilled in crafting artifacts, staggered over, sat down in front of the porcelain tower, and performed a series of hand seals. He nodded, then shook his head:
"It's holding up for now. -- Hmm, judging from the wear and tear on this porcelain tower, it should last at least three months, maybe even five months?"

"So, in other words, as long as we fire another batch of porcelain towers and keep replacing them, we won't have to worry about it anymore? —Speaking of which, what exactly is going on with this anomaly? Could it be—"

Shen Le swallowed the rest of his sentence. He really wanted to ask, "You guys didn't orchestrate this, did you?"
Disciples of immortal sects can practice whatever techniques, spells, or experiments they want within their own sects. Who knows, maybe someone just accidentally blows this huge hole open?
"I don't know," Master Xuanming shook his head in frustration. Although the immortal sects don't discipline their disciples much, they still know the general situation. The masters usually have a good idea of ​​who is stirring up trouble.

On the day of the incident, the muffled sound did not come from the mountaintop, the mountainside, or any disciple's residence, so it was clearly not the work of one of our own.

Needless to say, after the incident, the disciples in the mountains quickly gathered, not one was missing, and none were seriously injured or suffered any abnormalities...

"At first, nothing unusual happened; the sky was clear and the mountain breeze was refreshing. Suddenly, a loud tremor came from the sky. We rushed out to see what was happening and found that the entire sky had cracked open..."

As he recounted the events of that day, he instinctively shuddered, clearly still shaken:

"The black wind, mixed with raindrops, lashed down, hitting the trees and causing the branches to rot. It hit the birds and beasts, killing most of them and turning a small number into demons."

Seeing that this wouldn't work, the sect leader gathered us together and built an altar, intending to seal the opening, but…

He shook his head, looked up at the dark clouds in the sky that still hadn't dispersed and were constantly spewing lightning, and sighed.

"Thank goodness you came back early, and thank goodness Mingde, you were a great help. Otherwise, if we had held on for a few more days, I'm afraid..."

"I've been taught by the sect for many years, and it's a great thing that I can help you today." Shen Le first offered a humble thank you, then continued to ask:

"So what's next? Should we keep replacing these porcelain towers? Or should we fire even more porcelain towers and set up a larger magic array to solve the problem once and for all?"

"I'm afraid that won't work." Master Xuanlin, the most skilled in magic arrays, swayed unsteadily, floating over as if his feet had no roots, and plopped down on his backside.
"The earth's energy in this mountain is finite. The twelve porcelain towers have already exhausted all the earth's energy; building more towers wouldn't help. As for your suggestion to keep replacing them..."

"That's probably no use either." The sect leader also rushed over, stumbling along, and sat down next to him.

He raised his hand to the sky, changing his hand gestures several times, constantly moving his palm while muttering incantations. It was as if he were probing or measuring, and after a while he finally reached a conclusion:
"The current magic array can only hold back the things that are spewed out when the crack in the sky has not expanded or moved."

If it moves even slightly, or even if the gale in the sky is stronger and blows the things inside away, tsk..."

His worried gaze turned to the northwest, stretching far, far away. Shen Le, and even the other disciples who had followed, sighed as well.

That direction leads to Chang'an City...

It was Chang'an, a city that had only been pacified for less than two years, had just emerged from the flames of war, and whose people had just begun to live in peace and prosperity, having only harvested two seasons of wheat and eaten their fill for two seasons...

If the "things" inside were moved to the walls of Chang'an, the peace that had just been restored would immediately turn into chaos again!

"Then... is there a way?"

Shen Le asked cautiously. The sect leader shook his head helplessly:
"It's hard to say in a short time. Luckily, we still have at least three months. Sigh... Let's take a closer look these days and see how we can get it sorted out..."

Catching their breath, they plunged back into their research. Shen Le crouched in the crowd, swaying left and right, observing for a whole day, and only came to one conclusion:
He couldn't understand most of those spells, magic arrays, and talismans, so staying put wouldn't be of any help...

"Sigh, I'm such a waste. I've wasted my time entering this immortal sect... After all these decades, I still haven't figured anything out..."

Was he busy making porcelain towers all this time?!
He couldn't understand it, and Lou Yun, as a powerful enforcer and operative in the sect, also only partially understood it. The two brothers, bewildered for a day, immediately bid farewell to the sect.

If we don't go far, just wander around the mountains and kill a few more newly transformed jackals, wolves, tigers, and leopards, we can at least help in some way.

By the way, walk down from the deep mountains to the mountain pass and see if the army guarding the outside of the mountain has encountered any trouble...

They emerged side by side, soaring and leaping while glancing around. The protective net had been erected, and the turbulent energy of heaven and earth in the mountains had been largely calmed, greatly reducing the difficulty of low-altitude sword flight.

The two of them spent less than an hour crossing five mountain peaks, and were only halfway to the exit from the mountains.

Shen Le sheathed his porcelain sword, flicked it lightly to wipe away the blood droplets, and his eyes suddenly narrowed. At the foot of the mountain, a small team was struggling to climb upwards, and upon seeing them, they waved vigorously.

Shen Le tugged at Lou Yun, and the two flew away on their swords, stopping in front of the group. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was someone they knew:

One was a low-ranking officer in the troops guarding the mountain pass, who had verified Shen Le's token and brought him before the commander.

The other one was a low-ranking clerk in the Prince of Qin's mansion. I've forgotten his name, but I've dealt with him before.

Upon seeing Shen Lefei approach, the minor official broke out in a cold sweat and collapsed to the ground.
"Oh, we've finally found you! These deep mountains are so hard to get into—we were ordered to come in and investigate, what happened in the mountains?"

Their gazes were a mixture of inquiry and wariness, but mostly, they reflected their utter exhaustion. Shen Le forced a brief explanation, and seeing their skeptical expressions, he could only cast a lightness spell on each of them and lead them further into the mountains.

After traversing mountains and valleys, enduring near-death experiences, they finally reached the mountain gate. Before they could even stand firmly, a person swept towards them like a gust of wind:

"Who are you?"

"Ah, Uncle-Master..."

Uncle-Master Xuanlin, busy measuring the earth's energy, was covered in dust and dirt, his robes stained with black and white patches. He looked at this small group of people as if they were rare treasures.

Before Shen Le could explain, he grabbed the leading junior officer and rushed inside:

"Come here! Come here quickly! You all, come with me! Hurry!"

The poor squad of ten soldiers were dragged along, stumbling and almost flying away.

A group of people were dragged to the altar, piled up, and placed there. Master Xuanlin measured them again, and his eyes immediately lit up:
"it works!"

"Yes, it really works!"

"Golden energy! Military energy! Even the combined military energy of a ten-man squad can suppress a tiny bit of the earth's veins and hold back the cracks in the sky a little bit... Let me calculate, let me calculate..."

The sect leader, carrying his robes, rushed over personally, a compass in one hand and a paperweight in the other. After fiddling with something for some unknown reason, he turned and dashed back like a whirlwind, plunging into the room.

Once the soldiers and clerks had caught their breath and, with Shen Le's help, had tidied themselves up, the sect leader rushed out again:

"Yes! Military energy is usable! As long as we have 10,000 troops stationed here, we can suppress this anomaly!"

Shen Le's face instantly darkened. Before he could speak, the clerk, having finally finished brushing the dust off his clothes, blurted out:

"Master, these two hills alone cannot possibly hold an army of ten thousand! Not even a thousand!!!"

"what?"

The sect leader's face showed obvious distress. Shen Le quickly stepped forward, separating the two, cupped his hands in greeting to the clerk, and pulled him to see the furnishings on the mountain:
"Look, there's a crack in the sky above, and something fell in. We had to use a lot of effort to seal it... See these twelve porcelain towers? They're newly made! They'll only last for three months!"
"A large army is definitely not feasible. Could you please think of a way to find military spirit and aura comparable to that of ten thousand elite troops?"

"This……"

The minor official's face, as pale and wrinkled as his green robe, looked around. He pulled out his brush and hairpin, took out a silk handkerchief, and began to write and draw rapidly.

After a long while, he slumped his shoulders and shook his head helplessly.

“I can’t say for sure… Don’t you have the Qin Prince’s token? I’ll write down what happened here, affix my seal, and you can take it to the Qin Prince’s residence to see if they can do anything about it…”

That's all we can do. Shen Le stared at him for a while, then exchanged a glance with the sect leader and nodded helplessly to each other.

The clerk quickly added a few more strokes, then pulled a small seal from his waist pouch. Before he could even turn around, Lou Yun had already presented him with the seal box.
The Taoist sect could lack anything, but it would never lack cinnabar...

In a short while, Shen Le and Lou Yun, shoulder to shoulder, flew up on their swords and headed straight out of the mountains.

Qin Wangfu.

Only the Prince of Qin's Mansion.

"Hopefully they can be of help... In the entire world, only the Qin Prince's Mansion can gather such strong military and metal aura... Besides, this is also related to them..."

If the Taoist sect can't hold onto this place, they can simply give up and move on. There are plenty of famous mountains in the world, like Emei Mountain, Qingcheng Mountain, and Kunlun Mountain; there will always be a place for them.
But Chang'an, the city of Chang'an, is right here. The capital of the Tang Dynasty is right here. The city cannot be moved, and neither can its people...

Filled with hope that "resources will be found once I reach the Qin Prince's mansion," Shen Le stepped through the gates, a silk handkerchief in one hand and a token in the other. Then, he was met with a devastating blow:
"What? The King of Qin is not here? What do you mean the King of Qin is not here?"

"His Highness is indeed not in Chang'an." They were greeted by their old acquaintance, Du Ruhui, who was presumably left in Chang'an to oversee logistics; he was extremely busy, his eyes sunken.
"His Highness is currently preparing the border in Bingzhou to defend against the Turks. As for the five precious metals you require, His Highness has already mentioned them before. You can directly go to the armory to find them, Mr. Si!"

"The armory doesn't have what I need." Shen Le spread his hands, bluntly stating his position:
"I've examined all the remnants salvaged from the battlefield. The quantity wasn't enough, and the quality wasn't good enough either—it had to be the strongest, sharpest, and most imbued with the supreme military spirit of metal!"

The two looked at each other blankly, feeling like they were talking past each other; at the very least, neither could figure out what the other wanted.

Du Ruhui lowered his head, read the scroll of silk written by the clerk from beginning to end, then from end to beginning, and shook his head:
"This is a matter of great importance. Therefore, I will accompany you to the imperial treasury to see if we can find what you are looking for. If not, we will have to send a urgent report to His Highness—"

You said before, three months, right?

Three months had actually passed several days. Shen Le suppressed her anxiety and followed Du Ruhui into the armory of the Prince of Qin's mansion, looking around at each shelf.

Armor, shields, swords, spears, halberds, axes, hooks, and forks were all displayed in abundance, all of them being of the finest quality. They were the kind of items that, when given as rewards to important ministers and generals, would inspire great joy and gratitude, even to the point of being willing to die for them.

Shen Le walked from one end to the other, then from the other to the beginning, only to shake his head helplessly.
"This, this, this, this... these are all useful, but it's not enough... it's still far from enough..."

Du Ruhui looked at him in surprise, then flipped through the list in his hand:
"Sir, you are truly extraordinary. These weapons were all used by the generals His Highness slew on the battlefield. Isn't that enough? Please wait a moment, sir, I will send a message immediately..."

The letter was sent out by express courier. Shen Le thought it would take about ten days to receive it, so he decided to fire another kiln of porcelain pagodas to have a replacement in hand.

To everyone's surprise, less than five days later, a messenger arrived at breakneck speed and dragged him directly to Chang'an:

"Quickly, hurry! The King of Qin has returned to the capital!"

"So fast?" Shen Le looked up at the sky. A light spring rain fell, and willow branches swayed gently. Had the war with the Turks finally ended?
Or is there something particularly important that requires Li Shimin to return?

He casually inquired about it. Then, a blunt object struck him squarely on the head:

"They say something terrible has happened to Princess Pingyang..."

(End of this chapter)