The Path of the Sage

Fang Yun stood on the city wall, looking out at the vast grassland where occasionally a hare would leap and a grey wolf would hunt.

"Since there's no time limit, it means this place should be safe. But what if the old man isn't here? Could it be protected by the Great Scholar's true text? But I didn't feel anything when I activated the King's Seal just now."

Fang Yun once again held the King's Seal in his hand. Everything in the mountain stronghold was within his perception. How many soldiers were training hard, how many were coping, how many were sick, how many children were weak, how many people in the courtyard had talent, and so on, were all under his control.

"This power is obviously good, but why do I feel more pressure?"

One was a stronghold of a thousand people, the other was a tribe of ten thousand savages. The deeper he understood, the stronger the sense of powerlessness.

"Sigh..."

Fang Yun sighed lightly, then took a deep breath to cheer up. His experience in the Dream Pavilion made him understand a lot. A person can be depressed, angry, pessimistic, escape, and even despair, but as long as he survives, there is a chance! There could be victory!

With this in mind, Fang Yun held the King's Seal and issued orders to all the Presented Scholars and above in the stronghold, asking them to go to the Military Academy.

Fang Yun descended from the city wall and arrived at the main hall of the Military Academy. In the middle of the hall was a large table, around which eight people were seated. Judging by their attire, they were a Hanlin Scholar, two Imperial Scholars, and five Presented Scholars.

"Greetings, King Yun!" The eight of them stood up and greeted in unison.

The status of a king was equivalent to that of a Grand Academician, just like a Great Scholar.

Fang Yun carefully observed these people. Their literary ranks were all higher than his, but they showed no arrogance. They were solemn and respectful, with strict military discipline.

"Please, sit." Fang Yun was not polite and took the main seat.

After Fang Yun sat down, the others followed suit.

On the table was a very rough map. In the middle was the Wolf Savage tribe, with no small tribes or monster gathering places around.

This stronghold was directly south of the Wolf Savage tribe. It neither controlled a strategic pass nor was it located in a dangerous place. Only a section of the city wall blocked the valley entrance. Without the suppression of the Great Scholar's true text, it would not stand.

"Tell me about the situation here." Fang Yun said.

So the generals took turns to give a rough account of the situation here.

After listening, Fang Yun learned that the savages would occasionally harass this stronghold. Most of the time, they acted as if it didn't exist. As for what happened beyond the grassland, the people in the stronghold didn't know. They only knew that the Ten Nations and the Holy Academy would deliver supplies.

Although there were some strange things, Fang Yun didn't plan to delve into it. As the old man had said, they couldn't get any information from them. So he stopped being distracted by other things and focused on how to annihilate the savage tribe.

Fang Yun stared at the map for a long time but couldn't figure anything out. With the strength of this stronghold, it was impossible to conquer the ten-thousand-strong Wolf Savage tribe.

"Mencius said, 'The time of heaven is not as good as the advantage of the earth, and the advantage of the earth is not as good as the harmony of people.' The people in this stronghold are united, but their strength is too weak to match the ten-thousand-strong Wolf Savage tribe."

"As for the advantage of the earth. Although the Wolf Savages have driven the human race out of the grassland, after thousands of years, they are also born and raised on the grassland, living by herding. This is their home, and we have no advantage."

"As for the time of heaven, there's no need to mention it. At least a Great Scholar is needed to influence the time of heaven locally. The Savage King is only at the level of a Grand Academician, and neither side can influence it. But they live on the grassland all the time and know much more about the time of heaven than we do."

"We are completely suppressed in terms of the time of heaven, the advantage of the earth, and the harmony of people. How can we fight this battle? How can we annihilate this savage tribe?"

Fang Yun thought hard but still didn't know how to win. So he asked, "We can't possibly annihilate that savage tribe. You all know this very well. Do you have any ideas?"

"If we lure them to attack the stronghold, you can kill them all. But you said you wouldn't do that. So, we have no way."

Fang Yun said, "Even without the old man, I think this stronghold is easy to defend and hard to attack. With the strength of a thousand people and the support of a page of the Great Scholar's true text, we can definitely hold on. After all, the Savage King is only equivalent to a Grand Academician. With the Great Scholar's true text, if he rushes in, he is seeking his own death."

"The Great Scholar's true text is easy to obtain, but those savages are not fools. They won't desperately attack the city. Their goal is very clear, to starve us to death in the stronghold. But with you here, we have the Holy Academy's supplies, so we won't starve to death, but we also can't grow stronger."

Fang Yun nodded. He also knew the savages' tactics for attacking cities. They would first break the power of the Holy Temple in the city, then start the attack. However, everything was based on the savages having an absolute advantage. If the savages didn't have a big advantage, they would besiege the city, cut off water and food supplies, and wait for the people inside to flee, then they could take the city.

Even without the old man's protection, as long as there was a page of the Great Scholar's true text to suppress it, the ten-thousand-strong savage tribe would have to lose five or six thousand to take it down, because the power of the Great Scholar's true text was too strong.

"No matter what, as long as we can lure them to attack, it's the only way to defeat them, right?" Fang Yun said.

"It's true what you say, but unless the Wolf Savage tribe feels they can't survive, they won't wage a full-scale war. The Wolf Savage tribe, like us, has been guarding this place for generations. What they guard is the ancestral temple."

"So, none of you or the barbarians can leave?"

"Yes, we've never left."

Fang Yun continued the discussion with everyone, clarifying several points.

Going to war proactively would undoubtedly lead to death. Any so-called military tactics would not work, as the barbarian tribes had an overwhelming advantage.

To win, they had to force the barbarians to attack the city, but also weaken them.

In the end, Fang Yun asked helplessly, "So our only option is to drive the barbarians to a dead end and make them attack the city?"

"There's no other possibility unless you suddenly possess the ability of a Grand Academician and lead us to fight."

Fang Yun said, "I hear the sound of reading from the academy. In a few years, those students should be ready, right?"

A general grimaced, "The people in the camp can't leave, nor can they participate in the imperial examination. In the future, they can at most become Child Scholars in front of the Saint, they can't go any further. So don't count on them."

Fang Yun felt even heavier. This meant that even the most honorable path of cultivating talents was blocked.

"I understand. You may all leave."

After everyone left, Fang Yun sat alone at the head of the military academy's main hall, staring at the map, constantly thinking, and gradually understanding many things.

"If this is a test of my ability to lead an army, there's no need to make the gap between the two sides so large. Even the most powerful generals in history couldn't possibly use war to annihilate the ten thousand barbarians. So, to pass this test, war is not the main means."

"Since I can't win by cultivating talents, then leading the human race to develop purely won't work either. Or rather, the Holy Academy has countless ways to cultivate talents, they don't need me."

"In that case, there's only one way, which is to weaken the barbarians. Let's start from this aspect."

Fang Yun entered the academy. He spent a whole day in the library looking for all the information about the local barbarians. Then he gathered the oldest people in the camp to tell him everything about the grassland.

These old people were very shrewd, and they immediately saw that Fang Yun wanted to exterminate the barbarians, so they started to give advice.

The old people talked a lot, often arguing over contradictions.

However, they all agreed on one thing: the Wolf Lake and the grass of the grassland were the foundation of the barbarians. As long as the Wolf Lake and the grass were destroyed, the Wolf Savage tribe would inevitably lose their support.

The old people suggested many ways to deal with the Wolf Lake and the grassland, but none of them were reliable.

After talking with the old people, Fang Yun went up to the city wall, held the official seal, activated the power of the official seal, and his divine consciousness flew high into the sky, where he could "see" the extremely distant grassland.

In the center of the grassland, there was a large lake, and next to the lake was a Wolf Savage tribe.

Inside the tribe, the Wolf Savages were multiplying, and outside the tribe, there were herds of cattle and sheep, with a few Wolf Savages herding them. This was the biggest difference between the Wolf Savages and the Wolf Demons.

The human race could use talent to accomplish all kinds of incredible things, but the Demon Barbarians were different. Most of them had strong bodies and vital energy. A Demon Saint or Barbarian Saint could level a mountain with a single punch. But they couldn't even do the simplest rainmaking, while even an Accomplished Scholar in the human race had a chance to write a rain-praying poem.

Apart from their strong bodies, the Demon Barbarians also had some innate demon techniques, but those techniques had many limitations and were far less versatile than the human race.

However, the Demon Barbarians had always suppressed the human race with their strong bodies and talents.

Fang Yun looked at this world, his mind full of thoughts. At this moment, everything in this world was in perfect harmony, as if everything could survive on this grassland.

A rabbit was eating grass quickly with its three-petal mouth, a fox was lurking in the dark, suddenly jumped out, scaring the rabbit to run away frantically. In the end, the rabbit escaped from the fox's pursuit, just squatted down to rest, a hawk swooped down, its powerful claws firmly grasped the rabbit.

A mantis nearby was scared and flew away quickly, startling a dragonfly not far away to flee with a small bug in its mouth.

Fang Yun's eyes lit up.

"Food chain! Ecological balance! As long as the ecological balance here is broken and the barbarians lose their habitat, even without moving a single soldier, their strength can be reduced to the lowest!"

"The foundation of the grassland food chain is this grass. Whether it's poisoning or burning, it's impossible to achieve the real effect. However, ecological imbalance can gradually change like boiling a frog in warm water. By the time the barbarians realize it, it's too late to turn back. And we, the human race, can either take advantage of their weakest moment to strike, or wait for them to fight to the death!"

"So, let's take it step by step!"

With that in mind, Fang Yun immediately summoned the military officers with literary positions to the main hall of the military academy.

Before long, Fang Yun sat at the head of the table, the officers sat below, and the rest stood on both sides. The main hall was filled with a solemn atmosphere.

"I have a plan to weaken the barbarians, but the process is complicated and may take several years to complete. I hope you all will cooperate."

"Yes.""I've heard that there has always been clandestine trade between the human race and the barbarians, and it's basically controlled by the prominent families. Is this true?"

"Yes. However, those who engage in such activities are usually the side branches of the large families, or those who can't advance any further in their official positions. As long as it's not too excessive, the higher-ups turn a blind eye."

Search tinyurl.com/2p9emv8w for the original.

"Good. Report this to the Holy Academy, let those merchants spread the word. Starting from this year, they will no longer purchase sheep products from the barbarians, only goats. Moreover, the price of goats will be twice that of sheep, enticing the barbarians to increase their goat farming." (To be continued.)