Free Web NovelChapter 1895: Chapter 1880: Procuring Provisions
In this battle, the Yizhi Temple achieved a great victory, although not a flawless one.
Two temple protectors from the Yizhi Temple were seriously injured, and if it weren’t for Guii Gu, the Sand Sea Divine Priest, coming to their timely rescue, those two protectors might have been taken down with the dying Grand Divine Sacrifice of the Heavenly Temple.
Seven were lightly injured, including Weng Lide, the Sand Sea Divine Priest.
In desperation, a Grand Divine Master burned their Primordial Spirit, causing Weng Lide to get injured.
Originally, according to Ye Zhen’s suggestion, Xuan Sheng had planned to annihilate the Heavenly Temple army stationed at the edge of the Yizhi Sand Sea with over three thousand troops.
However, Grand Priest Nahar removed this part from Ye Zhen’s plan and explained the reason to Ye Zhen.
If the ambush only aimed at Xuan Sheng, the Yizhi Temple would have justified its actions, as Xuan Sheng used the Heavenly Domain Ten Thousand Sky Divine Mirror Avatar to blockade the void of Yizhi Sand Sea.
But if they recklessly destroyed the Blazing Flame Corps stationed at the Sand Sea border in one fell swoop, it would be declaring war.
If the Blazing Flame Corps were annihilated, for the sake of face or other reasons, the Heavenly Temple would surely retaliate and possibly reignite war.
"Our Yizhi Temple is not afraid of the Heavenly Temple nor of war, but amidst this catastrophe, a war would undoubtedly worsen the plight of the Sha Clan people."
This was Grand Priest Nahar’s exact words, which instantly explained to Ye Zhen.
To be honest, Ye Zhen was satisfied with the outcome of this battle.
Not only did it conveniently break Xuan Sheng’s spatial blockade on Ye Zhen, but it also destroyed the avatar of the Innate Spiritual Treasure Heavenly Domain All-Sky Divine Mirror, which had been chasing Ye Zhen relentlessly.
An avatar of an Innate Spiritual Treasure is certainly not something cheap.
Ye Zhen was confident that for a short or even long period, there should be no avatar of the Heavenly Domain Ten Thousand Sky Divine Mirror monitoring him.
Being watched by that thing felt truly awful.
The Little Demon devoured all the powers within a Heavenly Temple Great Divine Master, ultimately only advancing its cultivation to the Seventh Stage Mid-stage of Realm King Realm.
Although the goal was not fully achieved, Ye Zhen was quite satisfied.
The Little Demon’s extraordinary talent combined with the immersion of Creation Spiritual Power, wielding a cultivation at the Late Stage of Realm King Realm, would definitely exhibit astonishing combat power.
...
Inside the Yizhi Temple, although factions existed, the staff was streamlined, making the execution of Yizhi Temple’s orders remarkably swift and thorough.
Half an hour after the battle ended, all involved Sand Sea Divine Priests and temple protectors handed over all the storage rings they seized during the fight to Grand Priest Nahar.
The spoils from this battle would all be used to fund the purchase of grain.
However, with cultivations at the Realm King Realm, and especially those who have broken through to the Dao Realm, most experts have condensed a Mustard Seed Space or a Mustard Seed World within them.
These are the safest places to store valuable items, such that even if a martial artist were killed, the enemy couldn’t obtain the slain individual’s wealth.
Of course, frequently opening the Mustard Seed Space or World internally during a battle can be quite distracting.
Hence, martial artists with Mustard Seed Worlds usually keep valuable items within their Mustard Seed World and wear a storage ring to store commonly used items and battle essentials.
Items like healing pills, Spiritual Power recovery Medicine Spirit Stones, Jade Scroll Talismans, and other common sundries.
Therefore, although the captured storage rings only held ordinary sundries, the everyday belongings of a Dao Realm expert still held considerable value.
"Divine Envoy Ye, we have completed your plan; when can we acquire the first batch of grain?" asked Wuy Youu, the Sand Sea Divine Priest most severely hit by the disaster, anxiously.
His territory suffered the worst disaster, and the grain supply there was already tight.
The gazes of the other Sand Sea Divine Priests also turned towards Ye Zhen at this moment.
Though Ye Zhen presented his plan impressively earlier, they would only fully trust him when they saw actual grain.
"Please wait a moment, let me make a contact first."
Ye Zhen first reached out to Gu Tieqi, who was currently guarding North Sea County.
As soon as Ye Zhen sent his Jade Scroll, Gu Tieqi replied immediately.
Although Ye Zhen was outside, every two months, Gu Tieqi would routinely report to Ye Zhen on the situation in North Sea County and the affairs of the Second Route Wind Patrol Envoy for his perusal.
This routine contact, however, had been unable to reach Ye Zhen, causing Gu Tieqi significant worry.
"Is everything okay with North Sea County and the Wind Patrol Envoy Office?"
"Rest assured, sir, with Master Xuanzhi presiding, all is well, and things have been peaceful on the West Patrol side too," reported Gu Tieqi.
"That’s reassuring. By the way, how much grain is currently stored in North Sea County?" Ye Zhen asked.
"Including military rations?"
"Including!"
"As a border county, North Sea County has over three months of grain reserves, and after the military expansion, military rations have increased to over six months. Currently, there are four million stones in reserve.
In the past few years, North Sea has been free from flooding, enjoying favorable weather, and the county’s public fund on record has a total reserve of over eight million stones, enough to supply North Sea County’s population for three months."
Gu Tieqi, in charge of the Second Route Wind Patrol Envoy Office in North Sea County, had a clear grasp of these things.
A stone is approximately one hundred catties.
Based on half a catty per day, a stone of grain could support two people for more than three months.
However, here in Yizhi Sand Sea, a subsistence ration just enough to survive would suffice.
An adult, with two liang of grain per day, could absolutely survive.
And a stone of grain, when applied to Yizhi Sand Sea, could support six adults for three months, whereas the period of grain shortage here in Yizhi Sand Sea lasts about five to six months.
In other words, one stone of grain is only enough for three Sha Clan people to eat for half a year.
Currently, thirty billion Sha Clan people are short of grain.
This means that Yizhi Sand Sea currently lacks at least one billion stones of grain, and this is only an estimate; the actual number should be even higher.
With the military and civilian grain reserves in North Sea County, Ye Zhen could at most allocate half, which is six million stones.
Having calculated this, Ye Zhen silently sighed, causing the hearts of a group of Sand Sea Divine Priests to tighten up.
After all, if those twenty to thirty billion Sha Clan people could survive, that would be ideal.
If not, the situation could devolve into cannibalism, and consuming the dead would be the least of concerns. Should there be too many starved fatalities, epidemics and revolts would inevitably arise.
At that point, the number of deaths within Yizhi Sand Sea might be even greater.
"First divert half of the military and civilian grain reserves, and have them delivered to me using storage rings right now. Then, purchase in batches to replenish the diverted grains."
This grain shortage is shockingly severe when calculated.
No wonder Grand Priest Nahar and others had given up on resolving it.
With such a large gap, even with Ye Zhen using the identity of the Second Route Wind Patrol Envoy as a cover, acquiring that much grain is unfeasible.
Purchasing and storing ten million stones of grain could be justified as disaster preparedness, twenty million as excessive prudence. But thirty million stones of grain, in a North Sea County with a population just over twenty million, may seem suspicious to wary individuals.
Should investigations follow the trail back, leading to Ye Zhen supplying grain to Yizhi Sand Sea, it would be troublesome.
After all, nominally, Yizhi Sand Sea and the Great Zhou Dynasty are in hostile relations.
Two hours later, one thousand storage rings continuously ran back and forth through a small teleportation formation several times, resulting in mountains of grain piled before several Sand Sea Divine Priests.
Yet, the faces of these Sand Sea Divine Priests were filled with worry.
"Divine Envoy Ye, you indeed brought grain; on that, I am sure. But compared to the grain gap in Yizhi Sand Sea, these six million stones of grain are just a drop in the bucket," said Guii Gu heavily.
"This is only the first batch; subsequent supplies will take time to gather. But a substantial amount of funding will also be necessary." During this time, Ye Zhen had already devised another good channel for gathering grain.
