At this very moment, within his heart, a peculiar Buddhist power was surging forth, vaguely bringing an indescribable sensation.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of his heartbeats, strong and forceful, continued to echo.
New strength coursed through his body.
Wu Tao could clearly feel that his own strength seemed to have increased once again.
Moreover, with a single thought, he could enter a unique state, unleashing all the Buddhist power and vital energy within him, reaching a peak, invincible state.
It was akin to using the secret techniques of the Wu clan in the past, but without the severe backlash.
"Buddha's Golden Body?"
A faint smile appeared on Wu Tao's face.
For three months, Wu Tao remained within the Sutra Depository. During this time, Buddhist light emanated from it, and the phenomena were far more than just light; faint Buddhist chants could be heard from outside.
It seemed as though the Sutra Depository had become a Buddhist realm, momentarily creating an illusion.
It was as if a Buddha was lecturing within, each word and sentence transforming into supreme Buddhist pronouncements.
One word, one world; one sentence, one Buddhist path!
Watching the changes around Wu Tao from the shadows, the old monk Wan Shi showed a hint of surprise.
"He has actually comprehended something in these three months. Could this person truly be fated with Buddhism?"
Quietly observing Wu Tao and sensing the profound Buddhist aura radiating from him, the old monk Wan Shi’s face held a trace of astonishment.
As Wu Tao had imagined, this trial primarily tested comprehension, luck, and destiny.
However, beyond these two, there was an even more crucial metric.
That was the affinity with the Buddhist path.
The potential to bear the "Formless Realm Sorrowful Palm" left by the ancestors of Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple.
In this trial, the most important aspect was to connect with the stone tablet and tap into the residual true meaning of Buddhism.
And in this regard, Wu Tao, for some unknown reason, possessed an unparalleled advantage.
A vast Buddhist aura was blooming.
On the stone tablet, a phantom gradually materialized. The image of a majestic Buddha instantly descended, its divine eyes gazing at Wu Tao.
"One flower, one world; one wood, one fleeting life; one grass, one paradise; one leaf, one Thus Come One."
With this gaze, Wu Tao, in a daze, entered a virtual world and began a long trial.
...
This was an era without immortal cultivators, only the mortal realm.
The historical backdrop was the Great Song Dynasty, which ruled over the entire Nine Provinces. The Jin Kingdom, primarily composed of Jurchen tribes, had decisively defeated the Song on the battlefield, capturing the emperor and occupying the capital, turning the northern borders into a hellscape.
The Nine Provinces suffered a catastrophe. The barbarian army advanced south, conquering most of the land in the north of the Song territory. Under the subjugation of the foreign tribes, the people of the northern six prefectures lived a life worse than that of beasts.
In the eyes of the Jurchen barbarians, the people of the Nine Provinces were like pigs, sheep, and cattle – both merchandise and livestock.
When they were starving during their marches, they could also be consumed as food.
The southern three prefectures of the Great Song Dynasty, protected by the great river, had not yet been trampled by the barbarian cavalry.
...
Jingzhou.
The Nanchuan Military Camp, located at the entrance to the Sichuan Basin.
It was an important military town in the south, with the saying that to enter Jingzhou, one must first pass through Nanchuan.
The Nanchuan Military Camp was situated along continuous mountain ranges, with the basin entrance in front and the plains stretching behind, making its geographical position critically important. It served as the military hub for controlling Jingzhou!
Given its critical location, the Nanchuan Military Camp was naturally fortified with deep moats and high ramparts, exceptionally sturdy!
The camp's city walls stood over thirty feet high, all constructed from massive stones, with a base nearly ten feet wide and a top over a hundred meters wide.
The city walls were surrounded by dozens of high arrow towers, and all four city gates were made of thick, iron-bound wooden gates.
Outside, a moat hundreds of feet deep encircled the city, its waters filled with sharp stone stakes and iron thorns. This formidable defense, combined with the inherent natural terrain, was enough to deter any army, unless they were willing to sacrifice hundreds of thousands of lives to breach it.
In fact, since the Nanchuan Military Camp was built, Jingzhou had never experienced the ravages of war.
...
Confused, he rubbed his sleepy eyes with his hand, frowning slightly and feeling a strange tremor.
Wu Tao, whose name in this life was Liu Hao, pursed his lips.
He rapidly processed all the information in his mind and then awoke from his slumber.
At that moment, the sound of shouting and commotion shattered the quiet morning near the commander's tent.
"Commander Liu, stop sleeping! Hurry out, there's an imperial decree!"
Hearing the familiar sharp, high-pitched voice outside, the image of a eunuch in middle age appeared in Liu Hao's mind.
"Presumptuous! You dare to block me. The matter of the imperial decree is urgent. Can you bear the consequences if it's delayed?"
The eunuch shouting outside was named Song Daxing, an imperial supervisor eunuch sent from the palace. While his position was not well-liked, his authority was immense.
Song Daxing usually enjoyed meddling and interfering, often demanding bribes and favors, which was utterly exasperating.
Only after the capital was captured and the palace fell, and the emperor met with misfortune, did his attitude abruptly change. He became very submissive, as if he no longer existed.
Indeed, without the emperor's support, what was a mere eunuch worth? If he hadn't kept a low profile, he would have been beheaded long ago.
"What are you shouting about? Disturbing the peace so early in the morning!"
Liu Hao, accustomed to sleeping late, groggily got up and angrily pulled aside the thick curtain of the commander's tent.
The scene before him made him frown.
Over a hundred people were divided into two groups, facing off against each other.
One group consisted of soldiers fully armed with armor, spears, and swords. The other group comprised dozens of people in ornate clothing, led by a eunuch.
The eunuch, Song Daxing, saw Liu Hao in his disheveled state and his face darkened. He shouted, "Commander Liu, an imperial decree has arrived. Why don't you kneel and receive it quickly?"
Liu Hao rubbed his slightly stuffy head and curiously asked, "Wasn't the emperor captured by the Jurchens long ago? How can there still be an imperial decree?"
"Presumptuous! Commander Liu, how dare you utter such treasonous words? Are you not afraid of your nine generations being exterminated?"
Eunuch Song Daxing roared angrily.
Upon hearing this, Liu Hao laughed heartily and strode towards Song Daxing.
With a "slap," a large palm forcefully struck Song Daxing's right cheek.
The immense force sent Song Daxing reeling, his two front teeth flying out.
"Oh, heavens, Commander Liu has rebelled! Quickly, go seize him!"
Song Daxing, covering his swollen face and recovering from the intense pain, roared at the dozens of attendants behind him.
The dozens of attendants, who were powerless, saw their master in such a pathetic state and immediately wilted, not daring to step forward to apprehend Liu Hao.
They then looked at the personal guards, fully armored, holding spears and swords, and tall and strong. Instead of rushing to seize Liu Hao, they retreated behind Song Daxing.
Seeing this, Song Daxing's face turned bitter. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his sleeve.
Then, with the support of two attendants, he managed to stand up.
This time, Song Daxing did not play any tricks. He took out the imperial decree from his sleeve and respectfully read it aloud to Liu Hao and his personal guards.
The gist of the imperial decree was that Prince Kang, Zhao Gou, had ascended the throne as emperor in Yangzhou. Liu Hao was ordered to take thirty thousand elite soldiers from the Nanchuan Military Camp and hasten to Yangzhou to protect the emperor.
Previously, due to the fall of the capital and the occupation of most of the northern territories, the civil and military officials in the south, who had not yet experienced war, had little recognition for the hastily enthroned new emperor Zhao Gou.
The decline of the Great Song Dynasty was inevitable. Many senior military officers who held military power acted in bad faith, observing the situation.
Song Daxing, the supervising eunuch, had not yet recognized the reality.
He naively believed that as long as there was an emperor, he would still be the powerful supervising eunuch.
As expected, after being severely reprimanded, Song Daxing became completely submissive, though a hint of hatred flickered in the depths of his eyes.
After standing to listen to Song Daxing finish reading the imperial decree, Liu Hao did not hesitate. He snatched a sharp long sword from the waist of a nearby personal guard.
The sword glinted coldly. Liu Hao held the sword and slashed at Song Daxing.
The next second, blood splattered. A bloody head flew off.
The headless corpse lay in a pool of blood.
Seeing this, dozens of servants screamed in terror and scattered.
"Bah!"
Liu Hao spat towards Song Daxing's corpse, still unappeased, and cursed,
"A bunch of royal families who only knew how to feast and play, exploit the common people, and ultimately lost territory and shame the nation, what is there to be loyal to?"
Looking at the personal guards behind him who were loyal only to him, Liu Hao directly entered his commander's tent.
With the onset of chaos, ambitious individuals would not remain idle, and Liu Hao was no exception.
During the past few months, several of Liu Hao's trusted generals had led thousands of soldiers away from the Nanchuan Military Camp.
They split into two routes. One went west to the city of Chengdu, governed by the Governor of Jingzhou. The other headed southeast, taking control of Datong Pass, another gateway to Jingzhou.
After completing these arrangements, Liu Hao hosted a banquet in the Nanchuan camp, inviting all the leading generals within Jingzhou, from top-ranking officers like commanders and deputy commanders to mid and lower-ranking officers like centurions and lieutenants.
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