I Don't Agree to the Terms
Chapter 465 - 258: The Matter (Physical) is Resolved_2

Chapter 465: Chapter 258: The Matter (Physical) is Resolved_2

Overall, Daoist Soldiers are essentially the private property of their commanders, and to be more extreme, they are an extension of the commanders themselves.

The only flaw is that both the commanders and the Daoist Soldiers will experience a corresponding decline in strength once they are separated from each other.

Gu Shanhai was able to carry out decapitation strikes because the three commanders he faced did not have their Daoist Soldiers with them and also because they had a small number of them. Otherwise, if anyone thought a decapitation strike could kill a commander and thus defeat the Daoist Soldiers, it was tantamount to suicide.

On the battlefield, if you want to go one-on-one with a commander who has his Daoist Soldiers with him, the commander can unleash the combined strength of all his Daoist Soldiers.

It is precisely for this reason that commanders and their Daoist Soldiers are like tigers on the battlefield, but once off the battlefield and without their troops, their strength greatly diminishes.

It’s because by using military tactics they form a field-like presence, which can radiate onto each Daoist Soldier.

Take the Golden Mist Daoist Soldiers as an example, if there are a thousand of them led by a commander, they create a golden fog area wherever they go, which not only enhances themselves but also obstructs the enemy’s vision and weakens them, while at the same time strengthening two abilities in their Daoist Soldiers: the Golden Armor Technique and the Fog Shadow Blade.

Of course, even better Daoist Soldiers would be the Ghost Pattern Daoist Soldiers that Gu Shanhai had previously seen, which possess three abilities, whereas Golden Mist Daoist Soldiers have only two, and Daoist Soldiers like the Green Lizard and Mad Sand only have one ability.

The stronger the Daoist Soldier, the more abilities they naturally have.

"Raising Daoist Soldiers is prohibitively expensive, and the commander’s own cultivation of military tactics also requires various enlightenments. It’s truly not a system that ordinary people can practice; one has to at least have wealth and power."

It’s costly to maintain Daoist Soldiers, and the cultivation of the commanders’ military tactics is something they need to undertake on their own, which includes learning about military presence and strategy.

In gamer’s terms, military presence would be passive skills that amplify the Daoist Soldiers, whereas strategy would be the active skills that enhance the Daoist Soldiers.

For example, the ability to accelerate the Bow Cavalry Daoist Soldiers that Gu Shanhai saw at Wulaoguan being used by one of the leaders is one type of strategy, and being able to command an attack with the ease of moving one’s own limb is a military presence ability.

Both military presence and strategy are not easy to learn or perfect, but each time one learns or improves them, it will increase the training speed of the Daoist Soldiers or provide some sort of special effect.

Therefore, a qualified commander must have a good mentor; otherwise, even if one begins to learn, they would be like Jiang Lu, with only a half-baked understanding.

After seeing the requirements of a commander, Gu Shanhai understood something: to get started in this world’s system, one must have a sufficient social status and resources.

For instance, by allowing Jiang Lu to sort through the chaos and ascend to the throne as Emperor during the fractious times of the Dalong military cliques, what wouldn’t Gu Shanhai be able to have?

It would just be a matter of saying the word.

Then he could flip through any military tactic he desired and use any resources at will.

Otherwise, why would he eagerly take on Jiang Lu as a disciple, create momentum for him, and find wealthy backers, if not for it being an initial investment? After all, one can’t expect to get something for nothing without making any investment.

"Eh~ Has the fortune I amassed over more than two years of opportunity finally paid off?" Gu Shanhai suddenly found that the progress bar for this life’s fortune had finally filled up.

It had been slowly finding him until now, and the payout was likely slow because the energy level was so high.

"Since it’s an opportunity, let’s cast a divination." When Gu Shanhai cast his lot, he got an auspicious result, which he found somewhat unbelievable.

"Damn, no danger?!"

"This character is changing... oh, no, it’s that this world isn’t so malicious."

"Then I might as well invest a bit of destiny into it."

Gu Shanhai thought that although it was auspicious, it might not preclude a situation where misfortune comes with fortune.

"A volume of military tactics?" Gu Shanhai instantly received what the opportunity was.

It was an expected turn of events, but the military tactics that were an opportunity for him were likely to be top-notch and capable of training unequaled Daoist Soldiers.

This made Gu Shanhai somewhat tempted as well.

"If I’m tempted, I should act... damn it, I need to prepare first."

Lately, prices had risen significantly, and Gu Shanhai had learned of the beginnings of floods in the south and droughts in the north. It was only an omen at the moment, but it had been enough to set people on edge.

Gu Shanhai had come to the realization that this was likely the precursor to a peasant rebellion.

He even suspected that noble families were clandestinely adding fuel to the fire; for them, years of disaster were harvest years — whether it was annexing land or trading slaves, each transaction was a lucrative business that could be passed down through generations.

Such lucrative business was out of reach for wealthy merchants like Li Yu. They might not even get a taste of the profits and could possibly become part of the business themselves.

Without the corresponding power within one’s family, protecting oneself was an impossibility.

Take, for example, the two major families of Wen’an City; the death of a Family Head didn’t mean total collapse, since in each family, not just one or two, but all legitimate male descendants would become Daoist Soldiers. The eldest legitimate sons could even raise their own Daoist Soldiers in advance. Therefore, unless a family was completely eradicated, the lineage was unlikely to die out.

"I’ll cast a divination to see when the chaos will start," Gu Shanhai said as he began another Prophetic Divination.

If it had been before, when he hadn’t found the opportunity, Gu Shanhai wouldn’t have cared when the chaos started since he was well prepared.

Now it was different; he needed to seize the opportunity. What if the chaos broke out while he was en route?

He would have to fight his way back, which would be incredibly bothersome.

"It’s asking for three thousand years of my lifespan, is it that expensive?" Gu Shanhai complained, but then promptly paid the steep price of his years.

"Seven months from now? That should be enough... I hope."

Gu Shanhai saw that in seven months, someone would lead a ragged band to rise up. This was followed by a quick sweep that engulfed the territories of the Dalong Dynasty in just three months.

Then, naturally, all sorts of local chieftains continued the fight... and that was it.

To see just this for three thousand years of his life was an unexpected outcome for Gu Shanhai, as he had only wanted a timeline. Unexpectedly, he got a rough overview as well, proving to be a rather fair deal.

Given such fairness, Gu Shanhai felt almost guilty using methods of the Evil Path to exploit the system.

"Even though it says seven months, it will probably take about eight months to actually affect me. Realistically, a rebellion couldn’t fill the entire Dalong Dynasty instantly."

The group that started the uprising was simply the spark that ignited the gunpowder. The three months that followed were the stages of spreading.

"If the opportunity doesn’t involve any bizarre assessments or requirements, then a round trip should take at most two months. If push comes to shove, I could even rush there and back in ten days."

The plan sounded good, provided nothing went awry.

But Gu Shanhai had seen through Prophetic Divination that the location of the military tactics book was likely to require passing some sort of test, so a two-month round trip was out of the question. He even worried that the eight months he had allowed himself would not suffice.

"Oh, right, I need to ensure that Jiang Lu returns within seven months." Gu Shanhai also thought of a follow-up plan. It didn’t matter if he couldn’t return; as long as Jiang Lu could, that was enough — after all, he was the one doing the job.

"Still, I need to figure out a way to inform him, which is going to be tricky. Well, I’ll have to spend lifespan for it."

Gu Shanhai had no clue where Jiang Lu was on his travels, so he had to use Prophetic Divination to spend lifespan on locating him and then have Li Yu send someone with a message.

And the location couldn’t be current; it had to be in the future, meaning someone would have to go to the destination in advance and wait for him. Locating Jiang Lu’s current position was futile because by the time the messenger arrived, Jiang Lu would have likely moved on.

After all, traveling wasn’t about staying in one place for long.

"Thank goodness spending lifespan isn’t too expensive, it seems that as long as it’s not about the future trends or secrets of heaven and earth, the price is fairly reasonable." Gu Shanhai paid a month’s lifespan for the precise location of Jiang Lu at a specific point in time. If he had tried to see into Jiang Lu’s future, it probably would have cost him a lifespan counted in thousands of years.