Chapter 49: The Airport

19:00 Army Airfield No. 116

This was the private airfield of the San Francisco Garrison. Because it had to accommodate heavy bombers, it was even larger than the San Francisco Airport on the other side of the city.

However, to accommodate the official travels of two special groups known as the "military households" and the "artisan households," Airfield No. 116 still maintained a waiting lounge. Every seat here was a sofa-equipped VIP chair, complete with complimentary snacks and tea. Crab-roe pastries, which were exorbitantly expensive elsewhere, could be eaten here to one's heart's content. The only non-complimentary items were radishes, simply because radishes were outrageously expensive.

"So radishes are just as expensive right at their place of origin..."

Lu Huaiyang sat back down in his seat, muttering under his breath. In his hand, he carried a carton-packaged radish. The exterior bore no flashy markings, only a stamp reading "San Francisco Military Colony" and a radish-shaped pattern.

"Chiliarch Lu," Shang Luo asked softly from the adjacent seat, "how much does this cost? I've stayed here for many years, but I've never bought one myself."

"This single bag contains four catties and two taels of radish. After rounding down, it costs fifty-five taels of silver."

"Radishes are this expensive? Are the wages of the Brocade Guard that high?"

"Hmph," Lu Huaiyang chuckled. "Our wages are mere pennies—a mere fraction of your family's pocket change. The salary of the Brocade Guard is utterly meager, just a token gesture to keep us from starving."

"But why? Clearly, there is wealth everywhere. Why are the Brocade Guard the only ones without money?"

"The Brocade Guard have no money because the inner treasury has no money. Our salaries are drawn from the imperial funds, but those funds are limited, and even the Son of Heaven is not flush with cash. The bulk of the budget is spent on purchasing consumables for cultivation, leaving us with wages that are barely symbolic."

"Since the Brocade Guard themselves purchase spiritual herbs, what are these radishes for?"

"I bought them for my daughter. I couldn't possibly eat them and bring them home, could I? My family's share has to be bought out of my own pocket. Her spiritual roots are somewhat subpar, but she practices with great diligence. None of us want to give up the path of immortality, because in every generation, there is always someone who succeeds in establishing foundation and ascends to become a Heavenly Being. Yet the older one gets, the harder it is to maintain a primordial physique through spiritual items. She is already sixteen this year, and these radishes will only cover a few months of her expenses. The family has already borrowed a considerable amount of debt."

With that, he looked over at Shang Luo:

"Therefore, when I heard that you were refining Foundation Establishment Pills, I reported it to the court immediately. Please do not blame me; all of us... all of us yearn so desperately to establish our foundation. How ethereal and distant the path of immortality is—almost only one person per entire generation succeeds in establishing their foundation. Without doing so, one remains a mere mortal in the end. Only after ascending to a Heavenly Being is there hope for longevity."

"Like General Bai?"

"General Bai? Which General Bai?"

"General Bai Feng?"

Lu Huaiyang shook his head. "Bai Feng is the general's title of nobility. Upon ascending as a Heavenly Being, the court bestows a title. The general's personal surname is Fu, and his given name is Yuanshan. He is the youngest Heavenly Being, being only forty-nine years old when he established his foundation."

"Then he must be from the generation before last? What about the previous generation?"

"The previous generation was Wen Yan, my senior brother. As you may have noticed, he is Wen Yuan's father. Yet when he established his foundation, he fell just short at the very last moment, perishing and dissolving his dao. The Dao Ancestor felt profound regret over this matter, and thus posthumously bestowed upon him the military title 'Yuntuan'."

"No wonder he cared so much when he saw me refining Foundation Establishment Pills..."

"At the time, he was likely afraid you would suffer a deviation in your cultivation and be unable to fulfill your duties. That kid has good talent and works hard; it's just that his luck is somewhat poor. Luck is his greatest vulnerability, for luck is also a part of one's affinity with the Dao. Even though he possesses the aptitude of a Heavenly Being, a great opportunity is still required to establish the foundation, because we have never lacked geniuses. Every single member of the Brocade Guard is a dragon among men; there is not a single one who is not a genius. Yet among so many, it still takes an entire generation for even one to succeed. If possible..."

"I understand," Shang Luo nodded heavily. "If I can help everyone, I will certainly not be stingy. Teaching everyone to establish their foundation will not cost me a fraction of a loss, for knowledge remains knowledge even when shared. If everyone can establish their foundation, the companions, financial resources, methods, and locations available to the entire cultivator community will multiply, and my own path in the future will become much smoother. If there continue to be only four or five Heavenly Beings of the Foundation Establishment stage, our path of the Dao will truly become bleak and boundless."

"Very good, very good. Your perspective has grown grander. I believe the Dao Ancestor will not fail you either. Assisting you in establishing your foundation goes without saying; even helping you form the elixir, or reaching the legendary Nascent Soul stage, is not impossible. The Dao Ancestor's strength is unfathomable, and he will surely help you walk much further."

While they were talking, Wen Yuan, who had gone to fetch food, returned. He was exceptionally hungry, making trip after trip for food, eating four zongzi alone, the bamboo leaves piling up on the adjacent table. This time he returned with another can of grape soda and five packs of crab-roe pastries.

"Why didn't you just sit over there and finish eating before coming back?" Shang Luo asked him.

"I'm wearing a military uniform. Sitting there stuffing my face looks completely improper."

"Aren't people here all Brocade Guards?"

"A gentleman is cautious when alone; one should behave the same whether watched or unobserved. Ahem... So I bring it back and eat a little at a time. If it's not enough, I'll get more."

With that, he opened the can of grape soda.

*Hiss—*

With a slight exertion of force, he crushed the can flat, and the grape juice inside shot straight into the air. With lightning-fast reflexes, he retreated to the side, dodging just before the grape juice hit the floor. The juice splashed onto the sofa.

Across from them, Lu Huaiyang revealed half an eye from behind his newspaper, glanced at him, and lowered his head again to read. "Your memory still hasn't recovered?" Lu Huaiyang muttered.

"Some of it has, but my spirit seems somewhat damaged. My muscle memory went haywire; this can apparently turned out to be much more fragile than I thought."

"Get some good rest when we get back, and have a calming decoction prescribed. The chariot race is coming up soon, and this is the most important competition before your graduation. If Lu Liang sees you looking all dazed and out of it, she'll probably kick you again."

"Can you blame me, though? This is an industrial injury! That soul-sucking technique has been making the back of my head ache to this day. If she kicks me again, won't it just make the injury worse?"

"I'll tell her to hold back a bit. But once she's at school and her temper flares up, I won't be able to keep an eye on her either—I'm not stationed at your school all day long. In any case, recover quickly. If you can't recover, you're going to be in deep trouble."

"Is his injury severe?" Shang Luo asked from the side.

"His physical injury isn't serious; I checked his dislocated shoulder, and it will heal in ten days or so. The real problem is that his muscle memory has been scattered, and that's the major issue. The mental cultivation method our sect practices is the *Leilang Heavenly Scripture*, and our external martial arts practice the *Thunder-Rushing Posture*. It emphasizes that intent must precede action, and the saber or sword must be faster than the mind. Only by achieving a state of thoughtless detachment can one become as fast as a rushing thunder, acting so fast that even one's own mind cannot react in time, leaving opponents utterly unable to respond. Train it to the highest realm, and you can attain absolute freedom, mastering a physical technique that reaches the pinnacle of perfection—if he forgets his 'intent,' more than half of the cultivation he spent the last ten years building will be ruined."