Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 1663 - 1656: Military Transformation

Chapter 1663: Chapter 1656: Military Transformation

It seemed that Lady Lanxiu was struck by the aura of Cheng Ziang. She froze in place, staring at him blankly for quite a while before snapping out of her daze.

The words of Cheng Ziang, without a doubt, revealed the unspeakable tragedy of cultivators—the stark impossibility of achieving true ascension into immortality. At most, one could only reach the state of a Nascent Soul, becoming neither fully human nor fully a ghost.

Cultivation does have an endpoint, yet no one dares to admit it. All cultivators relentlessly pursue boundless power, but in the end, are trapped in the half-human, half-ghost state of the Nascent Soul Realm. If this truth were spoken aloud, it would undoubtedly send shockwaves across Kyushu and the entire East Continent.

But that is the reality. Cultivation has an end. The fantasy of eternity held by the people of Kyushu was shattered during the Twilight of the Gods in the Ancestor Era. The so-called "Gods" without divinity have never brought order to this world—only chaos and destruction.

As the representative of the Advance Team, Cheng Ziang followed Lady Lanxiu and Baiyang Yu to the central courtyard. Finally, Baiyang Yu found the opportunity to interject a few words. Through him, Cheng Ziang gained a general understanding of the current state of the Dongsheng Court.

The West Outer Heaven War was the most brutal war the Dongsheng Empire had ever fought. Although the Dongsheng Empire had not formally declared surrender, it had effectively withdrawn from West Outer Heaven in disarray, signaling its intention to capitulate through its actions.

The Empire’s central army was left in tatters by this war. The once-prevalent Civil Military System had now become a mere shadow of its former self.

The Dongsheng Empire unilaterally reported that its central army had suffered over 500,000 casualties, including regular troops as well as conscripts.

The most devastating loss, however, was the more than a thousand generals killed in action. These generals, the primary force of the Wu Family’s control over the army, were entirely wiped out in the very war they had instigated. It was nothing short of catastrophic.

The Dongsheng military had always embodied a balance between the Wen and Wu factions. While the Wen Family’s Cabinet maintained tight control over military power through the marshal, they could do nothing about the generals backed by the Wu Family.

This war shattered the fragile and unequal system, ushering the Dongsheng Empire into a new phase of military reform. The key focus was the complete expulsion of the Wu Family’s influence from the central army, transforming it into a military force solely under the control of the Wen Family’s Court.

It was not uncommon for the Empire’s central army to operate independently of the Court’s jurisdiction. By law, the ultimate commander of the military was supposed to be the Emperor Wu of the Dongsheng Empire. However, Emperor Wu had long been tightly constrained by the Wen Family’s Court.

Thus, the Wu Family had given up on relying on Emperor Wu and instead actively infiltrated the military with their own forces. Over time, this evolved into a balance of shared military control between the Wen and Wu factions.

The disastrous defeat in the war crippled the Wu Family’s embedded military power. Left with no grounds to blame the Wen Family, they had to swallow their grievances quietly, as the war had been their initiative. Logically, it should have been the Wen Family’s Court holding them accountable for initiating the war.

Currently, the Dongsheng military’s reforms were starting to show results. The new army was a formal military force composed entirely of ordinary people, with only a small number of cultivators loyal to the Wen Family joining its ranks—a truly traditional army in every sense.

Although the Wu Family disapproved of the Wen Family Court’s moves, they reacted with little resistance. Instead, they awaited the Court’s failure with barely concealed amusement, convinced that this system would not endure.

They firmly believed it wouldn’t be long before the Wen Family Court realized that an army of ordinary people would be no match for a force of cultivators. If attacked, the army would quickly collapse.

From Baiyang Yu’s tone, it was evident that he shared this concern, believing that a military force composed of ordinary people was inferior to the previous structure.

The Wen Family’s Court had its reasoning behind such a bold reform.

To prove that "Wen" could surpass "Wu" and to alter the distorted social order of Kyushu, it was imperative to demonstrate the strength of ordinary people. While power undeniably existed, it was something only a select few could wield. History, however, is created by the collective will of the people.

It wasn’t just Baiyang Yu—Cheng Ziang himself also harbored doubts about the Wen Family Court’s actions, worrying that they might be moving too aggressively.

After all, the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons. Material forces should only be negated by other material forces. All things are inherently oppositional yet unified, and contradictions can transform into each other.

If the Wen Family’s Court were to acknowledge that cultivation is indeed beneficial to their governance and used intellectual strength to reform the cultivation system, it might prove to be a better approach than outright resistance to cultivation.

Of course, such extensive deliberation was largely irrelevant for Cheng Ziang. After all, they were mere outsiders. While the Wen Family Court might show great interest in the Advance Team, it didn’t mean the Advance Team could interfere in changing this world.

The Advance Team indeed possessed power and advanced weaponry far surpassing this world’s capabilities. However, that did not justify disrupting the current order of this old world.

No matter how flawed or unfair Kyushu’s social structure might be, the Advance Team could not destroy the existing system. Doing so would be an overreach, and they lacked the capacity to build a new societal framework.

Critiquing a flawed and unjust system is easy, but the true challenge lies in establishing a new order.

The Dongsheng Empire, after all, has its unique circumstances, and the Wen Family Court is already actively working toward reform. Thus, forcibly altering this world would be a responsibility the Advance Team could not bear.

In most cases, as outsiders, the Advance Team could only observe and refrain from intervention. Kyushu belongs to the people of Kyushu, not to outsiders like them. Earth is enough for them.

Lady Lanxiu wished for the Advance Team to stay a few more days, but Cheng Ziang politely declined. Their time was limited, and they needed to press on to Shengyuan Prefecture to achieve their mission. Lady Lanxiu understood but decided to host a grand banquet to honor the Advance Team.

The banquet was held in the main hall of the government office, with candlelight illuminating the grand room. Lady Lanxiu appeared in her finest attire, and Baiyang Yu wore his official robes as a gesture of respect for their guests.

Due to her status as a Saint, Luo’er was unable to attend such gatherings, so Cheng Ziang and the others attended in her stead.

Cheng Ziang observed Lady Lanxiu closely; her outfit and demeanor were perfectly harmonious, suggesting that she had fully assimilated into the community of the common folk, becoming one of their own.

As for her real name, Cheng Ziang had no time to investigate. After her husband’s death, she abandoned her family name and referred to herself solely as Lady Lanxiu.

It was a rare occurrence, to be sure—abandoning a family name signified rejection of noble lineage and complete integration into a life among the common people.

In this sense, Lady Lanxiu had made considerable sacrifices, transforming from the sheltered daughter of a noble family into the wife of a common leader.

Lady Lanxiu held her liquor well but eventually succumbed to the constant toasting. After a few rounds, she began to grow tipsy and, in her inebriated state, shared many details about the local situation with Cheng Ziang, despite this being their first meeting.

It turned out that the reason Lady Lanxiu avoided mentioning her husband was rooted in hatred.

Years ago, Lady Lanxiu’s family allied with the Qi State commoners to stage a coordinated uprising against the Anxiang family. However, her husband’s hesitation led to the entire Lanxiu family being slaughtered.

Although her husband later brought troops to the pass, the moment had passed, and the tide had turned. The Anxiang family regrouped its forces, defeated the Qi State commoners, and killed Lady Lanxiu’s husband in the process.

The Qi State commoners all knew that their leader’s indecision had led to the failure of the entire endeavor. Quietly, they rallied behind Lady Lanxiu, pushing her to assume leadership.

Lady Lanxiu did not disappoint them. Enduring the overwhelming grief of her family’s extermination and her husband’s death, she reorganized the commoners, retreated to Tianguan Town, and eventually repelled the Anxiang family’s pursuit, bringing the conflict to a temporary standstill.

What baffled Cheng Ziang was that this large-scale war had occurred around the time of the West Outer Heaven War, just a few years prior.

Who could imagine such a fierce military conflict taking place within the borders of the mighty Dongsheng Empire? To call it absurd would be an understatement.