Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 476: Matters of War in Sea-Sealing

The iron-willed and unyielding palace lord didn’t need to say a lot. His short speech was more than enough. The swordsages looked up at him, their eyes shining with determination, respect, and faith.

“All of you remember the oath you took when you became swordsages. Defend humanity. Sever the doom of dawn. Cause the light of heaven and earth to blossom.

“It’s not just a slogan or a catchphrase. You spoke those words. I spoke them. And now... we will live them. Going forward, we must love each other like family, have each other’s backs, never waver, and never give in to defeat!

“We will either live or die with Sea-Sealing County. We will fight to the end! Regardless of what chaos comes to grip our county... we will lead the armies of humankind into battle for the sake of our emperor. And when the time comes, we will take the flame of the Holytide’s legacy... and extinguish it!”

The palace lord looked out at the 100,000 swordsages and continued, “And now, prepare to receive your orders! Xu Qing, keep a record of this.”

Xu Qing took three steps forward, produced a jade slip, and somberly prepared to record information.

“Notify all human sects from outside Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and Injustice Prefecture that they are hereby conscripted to quell the unrest in Forbidden by the Zombie and Forbidden by the Garment!

“Notify all sects that we require complete loyalty. The Holytides have invaded us with the goal of exterminating the human species. Any sect who does not follow orders, or refuses to die fighting the Holytides, will be considered traitors against humanity.

“Notify the Swordsage Courts in all prefectures to rally all other human cultivators. Form new armies, head to the west, and meet the invading foes on the field of battle.

“Notify the Administration Palace that they shall lead a new army of allied nonhuman species. The Yao Clan is hereby ordered to participate in this effort. They will be stationed on the northern front.

“Notify the Justice Palace that they shall lead the three great sects from the county capital to be the link between the northern and western armies. They will be responsible for logistics and transportation!

“Notify the lieutenant governor that he shall be responsible for defending the county capital, and maintaining law and order throughout the Sea-Sealing County.

“Furthermore... notify all remaining nonhumans and other organizations in the Sea-Sealing County who have not been assigned to the war effort, even if they are evil cultivators or grues, that in order to prevent unrest during this period of war, they’re to send all of their Spirit Trove and Void Returning cultivators to war. Any who refuse to cooperate will be exterminated!

“Notify all human organizations to hand over control of their taboo treasures to the county capital. The only exceptions are the sects in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and Injustice Prefecture.

“Honor guards!”

Daoist Sima, the highest ranking of the four honor guards in the Swordsage Palace, stepped forward and saluted.

“The four of you are responsible for seeing these orders carried out. Any who refuse to cooperate should be executed on the spot!”

“Yes, sir!” the four honor guards said, their expression grave.

Xu Qing kept a careful record of each order. His responsibility would be to process and send out the orders after they were uttered, and also keep track of their progress.

“Brother Yunshan, Brother Shentu!” the palace lord said, turning to look at the two deputy palace lords of the Swordsage Palace. They stepped forward with respectful looks on their faces.

“The situation with the prisoners who escaped from the Corrections Division needs to be resolved as soon as possible. One third of all swordsages will remain in the county capital to take care of things here. The remaining seventy percent will be divided into 700 companies. Each company will have 100 swordsages in it. Split them up into squads as necessary. We want at least 7,000 squads. Each squad will be assigned to a different area, and will cooperate with the jailers to track down the escaped prisoners! If you can arrest them, arrest them. If it’s not convenient to arrest them, kill them. Don’t let any escape. You two deputy palace lords will take the lead in this matter. I want the entire thing handled in ten days or less. Ten days from now, regroup here to advance to the battlefield!”

The two deputy palace lords nodded, and the 100,000 swordsages all bristled with killing intent. The jailers among them all had cold expressions, and unusually strong killing intent. After all, they were the ones responsible for the prisoners, and knew them well. With other swordsages helping them, they would be able to work very efficiently. The truth was that even if the palace lord hadn’t issued orders like this, the jailers would have decided on their own... to track down the prisoners that they were responsible for.

With the orders given, the swordsages spread out into the night to start working. Most of them followed the leadership of the two deputy palace lords and headed out of the county capital.

Xu Qing did not leave the capital. But that didn’t mean he had nothing to do. Quite the opposite. He had no time for rest as he helped the palace lord handle all sorts of random tasks. He was also responsible for filtering all the reports coming in.

After the assembly was over, the palace lord convened a smaller counsel with the Administration Palace and the Justice Palace. Xu Qing stood by his side, keeping the minutes of the meeting, and also forwarding any new information from the palace lord to those on the outside.

Before long, Xu Qing’s voice could be heard throughout the various prefectures as he transmitted the palace lord’s orders. Virtually overnight, people from all groups became familiar with the palace lord’s secretary-general.

Given how closely Xu Qing was working with the palace lord, as the days passed, he personally witnessed how exhausted the palace lord was, thanks to working nonstop. Every few days, the palace lord would exchange communications with the lieutenant governor and the other two palace lords.

More and more dharmic decrees were issued. All of Sea-Sealing County was astir.

As Xu Qing became responsible for dealing with more and more reports, it reached the point where he needed help. Therefore, he summoned some swordsages and formed a new division.

It was called the Secretariat Division.

Qing Qiu was among those he recruited. She had returned two days prior. The moment she’d received Xu Qing’s notification, and came to understand the situation, she’d hurried back. When she came into his presence, she had a very strange expression on her face. However, Xu Qing didn’t have time for a discussion. He just assigned her a number of important tasks.

I really wish the Captain was here.... Despite how busy he was, Xu Qing kept thinking about the Captain. Unfortunately, the Captain wasn’t responding to any messages.

Occasionally, nonhumans would send representatives for audiences. More often than not, Xu Qing was there to receive them.

At the moment, Xu Qing was in one of the Swordsage Palace’s reception halls, rubbing the bridge of his nose. In front of him was a very angry nonhuman cultivator.

He was an emissary from the Spirit Ear species. They looked very similar to humans, except they had a second set of ears and twin pupils. They also had gray skin, and no hair whatsoever.

“Exalted Xu, our species really cannot join the war effort. Our patriarch and the other high-level cultivators are unable to leave our homeland. If they do, our enemies, the Persewater species, will definitely cause big problems.”

Xu Qing looked at the jade slip he held in his hand. Virtually all the nonhumans who had come for audiences had some sort of problem with the palace lord’s demand that the Spirit Trove and Void Returning cultivators fight in the war. Many groups didn’t want to comply, but also knew that they were being forced to comply. Therefore, their only option was to complain and protest.

“Your species has nine late Nascent Soul stage cultivators,” Xu Qing said. “Thirty-seven in the mid stage. And forty-five in the early stage. You have over three hundred Gold Core cultivators. The Persewater species has similar numbers.... So how exactly are they going to cause ‘big problems’ for you?”

Xu Qing looked coldly at the nonhuman.

The Spirit Ear emissary was clearly taken aback. The exact numbers of cultivators in their species wasn’t public knowledge. Normally speaking, they kept thirty percent of their forces top secret. Yet Xu Qing obviously had very accurate numbers.

The nonhuman was just preparing a response when Xu Qing received a summons from the palace lord. He stood. historical

“Look,” he said coolly, “either you comply, or your species gets wiped out. Qing Qiu, you handle the final details. If they refuse to cooperate, notify Honor Guard Sima.”

“Yes, sir,” Qing Qiu said, approaching the Spirit Ear cultivator. Xu Qing didn’t pay any further attention as he headed toward the Grand Hall of Swordsages.

He’d already dealt with too many situations like the one with the Spirit Ears. In reality, the stance of people like this wasn’t very complicated. In short, they didn’t want to send their high-level experts fighting in the war.

But there were likely other, less obvious reasons. For instance, if Sea-Sealing County lost the war, then any top experts left behind in the surviving species and organizations would have a much easier time profiting from the fallout. And as long as they were careful, they wouldn’t need to worry about any repercussions. In reality, that was exactly what the palace lord was worried about, and the reason why he had issued such a harsh dharmic decree. The four honor guards had already exterminated a handful of defiant species.

“Internal trouble and outside aggression,” Xu Qing murmured.

In all of Sea-Sealing County, there was no government agency more in tune with the general state of affairs than the Secretariat Division. All war reports came through the Secretariat Division, and after they were filtered and sorted, they were delivered to the palace lord. That was how the palace lord wanted things handled. And though it made the war effort more streamlined, it put a lot of weight on Xu Qing’s shoulders. Not only did he need to organize all the reports, but he also needed to verify their accuracy.

As he was thinking about those things, he arrived at the Grand Hall of Swordsages.

As the palace lord’s only secretary-general, he was able to enter the palace lord’s presence without being announced. The swordsages outside nodded deferentially to him when he arrived, and he entered.

The palace lord wasn’t the only person inside. The lieutenant governor was there, as were the palace lords from the other two palaces. Also present was a middle-aged cultivator dressed like a scholar. Xu Qing had encountered him multiple times in the past few days. He was Marquis Yao. These five individuals were clearly having some sort of disagreement.

“Brother Liangxiu,” said Marquis Yao, “how can you be treating the nonhumans in the prefecture so harshly at a time like this? If we don’t get things under control quickly, open rebellion could break out. And if that happens, then all other military affairs will have to be delayed until the taboo treasure fallout passes!”

“Tianyan is right,” the lieutenant governor said. He sighed. “Liangxiu, don’t you think you’re being a bit extreme? I’m sure we can think of other ways to make use of the top experts from the nonhuman species.”

The palace lords from the Administration Palace and the Justice Palace, a man and a woman, were just sitting looking on with cold expressions.

Xu Qing kept his head bowed as he approached his spot behind the palace lord. The palace lord’s expression was cold and grim. Not responding to Marquis Yao or the lieutenant governor, he just stood there looking completely unruffled.

A long moment passed, and then the palace lord said, “Xu Qing, read today’s report.”

Xu Qing nodded, took a step forward, and then began.

“Between the two forbidden grounds, the most catastrophic situation is in Forbidden by the Zombie. The circumstances in Forbidden by the Garment are less severe. Thanks to the hard work of the forces in Emperor-Receiving Prefecture and Injustice Prefecture, both forbidden grounds have been brought under a certain level of control. According to the reports from the respective Swordsage Courts, the stalemate will continue for about a month.

“In Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, the Seven Blood Eyes sect from the Eight Sect Coalition requested help from 93 nonhuman sects from the Forbidden Sea, as well as forces from the continent of South Phoenix.

“The Swordsage Courts from the other eight prefectures have finished their conscription campaigns. They’ve gathered 37 large sects, 975 mid-sized sects, and 7,831 small sects that are currently marshaling on the western front.

“A total of 39 human sects of varying sizes refused to follow orders, and in line with the orders from the Swordsage Palace, were exterminated by various Swordsage Courts as a warning to the others.

“Thirty percent of the nonhumans overseen by the Administration Palace and the Yao Clan have gathered on the northern front. The remaining seventy percent have demanded compensation to participate, and are refusing to do anything until they get it.

“The three great sects overseen by the Justice Palace are all fully equipped. With their combined strength, they have successfully transported the first six batches of war supplies to the battlefield.

“In addition, of the various species and organizations that were not required to join the war effort, a total of 421 have refused to send their top experts as required by your command. Only 215 have honored the dharmic decree. The four honor guards have already exterminated 13 species, and are reporting that the resulting intimidation factor is effective. They have submitted an official request to continue with that work.

“As of one hour ago, all human taboo treasures have been successfully commandeered.

“Today, the swordsages sent out into Sea-Sealing County have killed 9,513 escaped prisoners, which is a ten percent increase over yesterday. Unfortunately, 971 swordsages lost their lives in the process.

“The situation is dire on the western front. The Holytides have fielded three Void Returning experts. What’s more, the Earthsoil Dynasty has joined the fighting. The county capital’s taboo treasure net has been forced to fall back by 35,000 kilometers.

“The Heavengale Dynasty arrived on the northern front today, and their emperor is personally taking command of the troops there.”

Having finished with the report, Xu Qing took a step back.

1. The swordsage oath was first mentioned in , and was repeated in .