hotmtlnovel Chapter 1112 Zhang Zhiwei's Thoughts, Zhang Huaiyi and Others' Movements
Chapter 1112 Zhang Zhiwei's Thoughts, Zhang Huaiyi and Others' Movements
“I can tell you all this, and I can say it so clearly and with such certainty…”
Zhuge Yunhui's smile faded, and he said seriously, "This proves that what I said just now was either a lie I made up and that I was deliberately trying to deceive you."
"In this situation, even if I am right in the end, it's just a lucky guess. Since it's a guess, it doesn't count as revealing a secret and I won't suffer any backlash."
He paused, then continued, "Or... it wasn't something I calculated; I was just relaying a message."
The head of the Gao family frowned, not quite understanding what the other party meant by saying these things.
Zhuge Yunhui didn't keep them in suspense any longer, and added, "When I tell fortunes, I never speak carelessly."
A flash of insight struck the Gao family head, and he instantly understood the key point: since it wasn't just random talk, it was a message being relayed.
His brow relaxed, and he looked at Zhuge Yunhui: "May I ask your name, sir?"
"My name is Zhuge Yunhui. I am but a junior, insignificant before Patriarch Gao," Zhuge Yunhui replied.
When the head of the Gao family heard that the surname was Zhuge, his face relaxed. People from the Zhuge family would never make fun of such an important matter.
In that case, the identity of the person who delivered the message is obvious.
He took a deep look at the majestic statue of the Heavenly Master in the main hall. Was this a disguised meeting with the Little Celestial Master? He wanted to ask Zhuge Yunhui more questions, but Zhuge Yunhui cut him off first:
“Senior, the temple has a rule that each person can only have one divination performed per day.”
Upon hearing this, the Gao family head did not insist. He nodded, took out a silver note and placed it on the table, but Zhuge Yunhui pushed it back.
"Senior, the fortune telling at the temple is free; you only need to burn one stick of incense."
The head of the Gao family put away the silver notes, straightened his clothes, and walked steadily to the center of the main hall.
He looked at the majestic statue of the Lord of Tiantong Sect in front of him.
Although Zhang Zhiwei is his junior in terms of age, on the path of cultivation, those who have attained enlightenment are his teachers, and Zhang Zhiwei is undoubtedly a senior whom he needs to look up to!
With a solemn expression, the head of the Gao family respectfully took incense, lit it, and placed it in the incense burner for the statue of the deity. Then he bowed deeply, turned around, and stepped out of the Taoist temple.
When he arrived, his face was full of sorrow, his eyes were vacant, and his steps were heavy, but when he left, his expression was firm, his eyes were bright, and his steps were firm and powerful.
The summit of Tianmen Peak.
Zhang Zhiwei sat kneeling under the crooked tree, watching the Gao family head leave. Then he slowly closed his eyes, no longer paying attention to the outside world's disturbances. Instead, he completely immersed himself in his inner cultivation, nurturing his sacred embryo.
That's about all he can do on his own.
He has already taken that step, transcending both the inner and outer realms. It's only a matter of time before he reaches true perfection.
Now, he needs to reflect on himself, distance himself from the world, and make his final spiritual practice.
This spiritual practice is like the Buddha's solitary journey through the snowy mountains, Bodhidharma's meditation in a cave, Lü Dongbin's seclusion on Mount Jiufeng, Chen Tuan's ten-year slumber, the Celestial Master's twenty-year sitting on Mount Heming, Zhang Sanfeng's more than ten years of seclusion in Wudang, and Wang Chongyang's long sitting in the Tomb of the Living Dead.
Even extraordinary figures like Buddha, the Celestial Master, and Lu Zu could not escape this period when they reached this point, let alone Zhang Zhiwei.
He once held the reins of power over the world, but now he has relinquished it.
In fact, before he truly "let go," he had already made enough and far-reaching arrangements.
Whether it's eradicating Bihe Mountain, crushing the Shinto sect's lineage, severely weakening the Shinto sect's supernatural beings, or the many industries of the Tiantong Church, such as the giant steel mill and the new pharmaceutical factory hidden in the mountains of Yucheng... these are all crucial strategic resources and seeds of revolution.
What happens next, how they proceed, and how they fight, is up to them. Every generation has its own war, and his war is over.
However, if he were to accept the invitation from the Gao family head and forcibly leave the mountain to enter the world out of momentary passion, then his cultivation level would only drop, and once his cultivation level drops, the tribulations he had previously overcome would return.
This kind of thing has happened before in history.
Among the successive Celestial Masters of the Celestial Master's Mansion, the most accomplished were naturally the Grand Celestial Master Zhang Daoling and the Young Celestial Master Zhang Jixian. However, in the hearts of most Taoists in the Celestial Master's Mansion, the third most accomplished was the 43rd Celestial Master Zhang Yuchu.
Even before Zhang Yuchu inherited the title of Celestial Master, he was already renowned throughout the land for his profound knowledge of both heaven and man. Even the Ming Dynasty's founding emperor, Zhu Yuanzhang, praised him highly.
The imperial plaque in front of the Celestial Master's Mansion that reads "Forever in Charge of Taoist Affairs Under Heaven" was bestowed by Zhu Yuanzhang during that period. He also spent a lot of money to send people to help repair the Celestial Master's Mansion.
After Zhang Yu was ordained as the Celestial Master, he was further bestowed the title of "Great True Man of the Orthodox Unity School, the Way of the Dao, the Way of Non-Action, the Elucidation of Ancestors, and the Radiance of the Model" by Zhu Yuanzhang, and was put in charge of all Taoist affairs in the world.
He was truly the foremost figure in Taoism, and was also recognized as the foremost figure in the three religions (Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism) at the time.
His level of cultivation at that time was so high that, according to legend, he was almost on par with the legendary Zhang Jixian, and he had already reached the stage of nurturing his sacred embryo.
According to the secret Taoist canon of Longhu Mountain, Zhang Yuchu suddenly returned to Longhu Mountain from the capital in the twenty-fourth year of Hongwu's reign and ordered his followers to build the Xianquan Hermitage at the foot of Huangruo Peak "as a plan for his final resting place."
This final plan is to nurture the sacred embryo and prepare for the final ascension.
For the next eight years, although he held the title of "First Person of Taoism" bestowed upon him by Zhu Yuanzhang and was in charge of all Taoist affairs, he remained in seclusion and never concerned himself with worldly affairs again.
After Zhu Yuanzhang's death, the Jianwen Emperor ascended the throne. Because Zhang Yuchu had been living in seclusion for many years, detached from worldly affairs, the Jianwen Emperor used this as a pretext to strip him of his power to oversee all Taoist affairs in the realm in the first year of his reign. However, Zhang Yuchu continued his seclusion at the Xianquan Hermitage, ignoring the turbulent events and power shifts in the outside world.
Later, the "Jingnan Campaign" broke out. In the fourth year of Jianwen's reign, Emperor Jianwen was overthrown and Zhu Di ascended the throne. He issued an edict to restore Zhang Yuchu's position as the chief Taoist official in charge of all affairs in the country, and earnestly invited him to come to the capital to meet him as a "participant in the sacrificial ceremony" for the new emperor's enthronement.
During the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, the emperor himself was the chief officiant, and the status of the accompanying officiants was undoubtedly extremely high.
At this time, eleven years had passed since he began nurturing the fetus for twelve years.
However, this grand ceremony of offering sacrifices to Heaven upon the ascension of a new emperor is only held once in a lifetime, which is enough to show how much Zhu Di valued him.
In the end, Zhang Yuchu passed away. Even though he was nurturing his sacred embryo and his strength was reduced to less than one-tenth, there were still few in the world who could harm him.
This time, however, it plunged him into a quagmire.
Because, at Zhu Di's enthronement ceremony, another person who accompanied him in the ceremony was Yao Guangxiao, the Grand Preceptor of the Ming Dynasty and the leader of the Quanxing Sect at the time, who was known as the "Black-Clothed Prime Minister"!
Furthermore, Zhu Di had invited another Taoist master to serve as a secondary officiant in the ceremony—Zhang Sanfeng of Wudang Mountain. However, Zhang Sanfeng completely ignored him. Zhang Yuchu went and participated in the sacrificial ceremony, during which he had a debate and magical duel with Yao Guangxiao. Zhang Yuchu lost, his mental state was shattered, and his cultivation level plummeted.
Subsequently, Zhang Yuchu, feeling greatly depressed, went to Wudang Mountain twice in an attempt to see Zhang Sanfeng, but failed to do so. Not long after, this peerless celestial master, who should have achieved even greater things, passed away peacefully.
It can be said that when Zhang Yuchu was nurturing his sacred embryo, the moment he chose to leave the Xianquan Abode to participate in the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven, his state of mind had already fallen into a low state.
If he doesn't go out, Yao Guangxiao won't be able to defeat him.
This is somewhat similar to Li Chungang in "The Sword and the Snow," who was originally an invincible swordsman, but became obsessed with the death of his beloved and went to Longhu Mountain to discuss the Dao with Qi Xuanzhen. As a result, he failed in the discussion, his state of mind was greatly damaged, and his cultivation level and strength dropped, far from what they used to be. From then on, he confined himself to his own little world and did not recover for decades.
If Zhang Zhiwei were to descend the mountain due to his obsession, his fate would be the same as theirs. However, this can no longer affect Zhang Zhiwei; he has already done what he should have done.
Zhang Zhiwei closed his eyes, immersing himself in his own little world of the human body, shutting out all the noise from the outside world.
While Zhang Zhiwei was in seclusion, the battles outside never ceased.
Zhang Huaiyi, Tian Jinzhong, and others followed Zhang Sanjia in several successful ambush battles in Longcheng.
The Taoists who crawled out of the hellish dungeon of the Guiyuan Formation possessed terrifyingly high combat skills. Even without using any supernatural methods, their physical abilities and tactical coordination alone would make them absolute elite soldiers.
In addition, their respective mastery of thunder magic, golden light spells, and other techniques made them virtually invincible. They repeatedly thwarted enemy plots, killed a large number of Japanese pirates, and eliminated the supernatural beings hiding among them.
However, now that the Battle of Dragon City has ended, they have withdrawn from Dragon City with the main force.
During the evacuation and reorganization, the extraordinary individuals recommended by Zhang Zhiwei were dismantled on a large scale.
The original main force entered several places, including Jin-Cha-Ji, Jin-Southwest, Jin-Northwest, and Jin-Ji-Yu, intending to carry out guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines.
Among them, Zhang Huaiyi, Tian Jinzhong, and other core members of the Celestial Master's Mansion were assigned to northwestern Shanxi.
After entering northwestern Shanxi, they were further divided up.
Because good steel should always be used where it's needed most. If these extraordinary individuals were to be organized into a separate "special forces brigade," their power would certainly be immense, but it would actually make commanding them somewhat inconvenient.
First, their individual abilities are too outstanding. The special forces team has a wide variety of skills, making it impossible to conduct regular unified command. Even if there are pre-battle arrangements, the battlefield can change in an instant, making it easy for things to go wrong.
Secondly, their fighting rhythm is too different from that of ordinary troops. If they are forced to coordinate with ordinary troops in attacking fortified positions, it is easy for them to become disjointed, leading to unnecessary casualties.
After several attempts and finding it difficult to coordinate perfectly, the commanders, with the consent of the extraordinary individuals, decided to "divide them into smaller units" and send them to various grassroots units.
In this way, not only is the pressure on the commander greatly reduced, but the superhumans' elusive abilities can also be maximized in guerrilla warfare.
The superhumans themselves were willing to make this decision. After several battles, they realized that when they gathered together, they were like a pile of dung, but when they scattered, they were like stars in the sky.
The fewer the personnel, the smaller the target, which allows them to better leverage their high mobility and explosive special operations advantages.
As a result, the extraordinary individuals were all relegated to various brigades and regiments.
The same applies to the extraordinary individuals in the Celestial Master's Mansion. Zhang Sanjia originally wanted to keep the dozen or so people in the Celestial Master's Mansion intact, out of consideration for Zhang Zhiwei.
But because they had all survived the major meat grinder battles set up by Zhang Zhiwei, their combat skills were so high and they were so useful! So every brigade and every regiment was scrambling to recruit them!
Some commanders were so anxious that they slammed their fists on the table and glared. No one wanted such a valuable asset, capable of fighting against a hundred men, to be taken over by someone else.
Ultimately, there was no other option but to carry out a major split.
Originally, Zhang Zhiwei had arranged for them to work in groups of fifteen for easier coordination. But now, they've all been separated.
Each of the extraordinary individuals in the Celestial Master's Mansion became an independent class leader, commanding the other extraordinary individuals in their class.
There was no other way; their combat skills were too high. Rather than gathering them together as a spearhead, it was better to spread them out as seeds, teaching their valuable combat experience to more people step by step.
Those who shared the same fate as the Celestial Master's Mansion included the extraordinary individuals from Lüjia Village and others who had been tempered in the Guiyuan Formation. They were also dispersed to various brigades and regiments.
Among them, Tian Jinzhong, Zhang Huaiyi, and Lü Ci were all assigned to the 386th Brigade.
Because of the unique and important investigative abilities of the "Ruyi Jin" technique, Lü Ci was left at the brigade headquarters.
Zhang Huaiyi was assigned to the new 1st Regiment of the brigade, while Tian Jinzhong was assigned to the Independent Regiment.
As for Lu Jin, he was assigned to the 385th Brigade. Upon learning that he couldn't be assigned to the same place as his nemesis, Lü Ci, he sighed with regret for quite a while.
Next, their mission was to wage guerrilla warfare: ambushes, night raids, taking down pillboxes, sabotaging railways, blowing up bridges, and implementing scorched earth policies...
Meanwhile, Chongqing, located far in the southwest.
Wang Ai, the "archbishop" of the Tiantong Church, sat comfortably in his headquarters, beginning to coordinate the vast resources of the Tiantong Church and the Tiantong Chamber of Commerce for the war.
However, Wang Ai is a smart man, and with Zhang Zhiwei's reminder, he was very purposeful and targeted in allocating resources.
He would never blindly donate money. In this chaotic world rife with corruption, he knew very well that if even one-tenth of the donated gold and silver reached the hands of the soldiers on the front lines, it would be considered good; the rest would all end up in the pockets of those corrupt officials.
Therefore, he mostly donated tangible supplies. Moreover, these were the kind of supplies that were most urgently needed at the grassroots level but were the hardest to resell for cash, such as large quantities of coarse cotton clothes and even handmade straw sandals.
Even if he were to donate money, he would only donate to a few of the units that Zhang Zhiwei had mentioned. As for the others, if they weren't on the list, he wouldn't give them a single penny, no matter how much he pleaded.
Since there's no money available, if it's military supplies, he'll just ship them over directly. (End of Chapter)