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Chapter Thirty Five: Her Wishes
writer:无罪      update:2022-07-21 15:26
  Many grandmasters were stopped in the air, silently watching the twister of spiraling night demon apes below. Their senses were focused on the Donghu monk.

  This monk from Donghu was the only person in the world who could face Emperor Yuanwu head on. While he was in meditation with his eyes closed, if they came down and attacked, he had the ability to kill them the moment he opened his eyes.

  One would need many years of hard work to become a grandmaster. Even though such people were not lacking in the great battles of history, the grandmasters greatly cared for their own lives. Without a reason to seek death, no one would easily risk themselves.

  As time passed, they looked at the old monk below with more and more puzzlement.

  The night demon apes were much stronger than ordinary beasts. Their attacks were as fast as lightning, and their flying unpredictable. They were even able to quickly dodge and change their paths in a small space.

  They saw Zhangsun Qianxue coldly use her sword and kill these beasts with ease, but they, also realm seven cultivators, knew that the ease was just the appearance. They were even able to sense, like they were right there, each muscle in her sword wielding arm start to feel sore, in pain, and stiff.

  Zhangsun Qianxue’s face was very pale. She broke a pill bottle with her left hand, and swallowed a white pill. A lively presence quickly spread from her abdomen through her body.

  This presence accelerated the heart rate of many of the grandmasters waiting in the high.

  This was the “Energy Return Pill.”


  This was a pill medicine made from dozens of precious spirit medicines. A dozen of the medicines came from overseas, and many were extinct. Such a pill had astounding healing and energy restoring ability for a cultivator. Even a decade ago in Changling, there had just been a few, belonging to the imperial house and the strongest of the old nobility.

  She was the legendary Eldest Miss Gongsun. It was not shocking that she possessed such a divine pill medicine. Having taken out such a pill meant the other was pressed to her limits.

  Flee or attack. At this time, the Donghu monk was still meditating and resting. What kind of time is he waiting for? These grandmasters could not understand.

  Fu Su’s face was paler than Zhangsun Qianxue’s. One, it was because of his wounds. Two, it was because such simple and repeated bloody slaughter made him feel an urge to vomit, and he could not breathe easily.

  The flesh and limbs of the night demon apes started to pile up, the sticky blood rising to the level of the shoes. Soon, he was unconsciously standing on top of the sliced night demon ape limbs. These relatively undamaged limbs piled up below him, Ding Ning and the others.

  The Donghu monk was still like a statue, unconscious of the outside world. The limbs even piled up to his waist, and was slowly going to drown him.

  “You probably never have gone to Jiaodong Commandery before.”


  What confused these grandmasters was that in such a situation, when more people or armies about to kill him could arrive at any moment, Ding Ning still maintained his calm. Right now, Ding Ning looked at Fu Su who was paler than Zhangsun Qianxue and asked quietly, “How much do you know about Jiaodong Commandery?”


  Fu Su suppressed the urge to vomit and said, “What do you mean?”


  “There are too many night demon apes. At the start, I thought it would be hard if there was a third of this number,” Ding Ning said simply. “The night demon apes can only survive on some special ocean islands. Jiaodong Commandery relies on addictive medicines to tame them, but usually, these apes live on the islands. More importantly, these night demon apes do not feed on the food from the ocean. Since ancient times, their preferred food has been the people on the islands and the people who fish on the oceans.”


  After a pause, Ding Ning looked at Fu Su who seemed to have thought of something, and then said, “After the multiple cleansings of the Qin Dynasty, or rather, Jiaodong Commandery, there are not many people to start with. Especially, when many of the island countries have become vassals of Jiaodong Commandery, they cannot be feeding grounds for the night demon apes.”


  “Do not say it tactfully, one of the reasons Zheng Xiu is called cruel and cold is because Jiaodong Commandery frequently sends prisoners to feed the beasts,” as Zhangsun Qianxue swung her sword, she said coldly with scorn. “But so many night demon apes, how can the prisoners of Jiaodong Commandery’s death row be enough to feed them?”


  Fu Su took a deep breath and gritted out, “Why should I believe your words?”


  Ding Ning smiled faintly and did not say anything. A lifebond sword energy naturally flowed out of his hand.

  The Great Punishment Sword appeared in his hand with a presence that terrified even the night demon apes. Then he put the edge of the blade on Fu Su’s neck in an even more natural manner. The rippling sword energies from the blade cut faint blood lines on his skin.

  Fu Su suddenly stopped breathing and looked at Ding Ning. “What are you doing?”


  The grandmasters in the sky felt cold rise and were disturbed.

  “Since your mother sent these night demon apes, then I want to see her intentions. Between killing her enemy and the life and death of her son, which will be more important.” Ding Ning looked up and said expressionlessly in a cold voice, “Have these night demon apes leave, or I will kill him.”


  “You……” Fu Su trembled over in fury, and could not even say the words shameless.

  “Do not suspect my resolve,” Ding Ning kept on looking up and said slowly.

  “How could she know that something like this will occur?” Fu Su shouted. “The things happening here will not reach Changling no matter how fast. Even if you do this, how can you see her intentions!”


  “If something is more important than even the war, the information will be transmitted faster than you can imagine,” Ding Ning said calmly. “Even more importantly, from the reactions of her subordinates, it is possible to see her intentions most of the time. Their speculation of her intentions can represent many things.”


  The fires of anger started to flash in the eyes of the many grandmasters in the sky.

  “You are really that person?” One grandmaster could not help but say coldly, “I do not believe that if you are that person, you will use such lowly tactics.”


  Hearing this voice, Ding Ning smiled with scorn. “You really believe that a person can be reborn after dying?”


  Many grandmasters stilled.

  After a while, that grandmaster continued speaking. “But since the Holy One said so today, I fear that most cultivators in the world will think that you are that person reborn. Your words and actions represent that person, and the Ba Mountain Sword Field. If your conduct is shameless and despicable, will many people still follow you like before, and follow the Ba Mountain Sword Field?”


  “Each person likes a different flower,” Ding Ning said calmly. “You say shameless and despicable. Maybe others will feel that this is smart. You know, back then when that person fought to the death in Changling, many people felt that he was very stupid and foolish.”


  The grandmasters were silent. They were unable to argue back.

  Ding Ning stopped looking in their direction and just at his blade.

  Beads of blood appeared on the edge of his blade. Many furious howls rang through the air. The night demon apes suddenly scattered in terror, like pillars of black smoke rising up.

  “I just do not understand, since you are going to use such shameless tactics, why did you not use them earlier, and waited until now to use them,” Fu Su looked into Ding Ning’s eyes and shouted in fury, feeling the threads of pain from his neck.

  Volume 3 35 - Discussing the Emperor

  The sky dimmed slightly.

  On half the mountain, the primal energies of the universe and even the light was obscured and twisted by an invisible power.

  Pan Ruoye’s cold expression grew stronger.

  Threads of powerful primal energy and vital energy cut out of her body. While she could not move large amounts of primal energies from outside this mountain, her own body was like a mountain that contained endless primal energies.

  The falling leaves danced.

  The fight between the primal energies only gave off quiet sounds, but the tearing of real power caused all the green leaves in Ding Ning and Fu Su’s sight to fall off their branches and spin through the air.

  The spinning green leaves wove into countless curtains that obscured the world.

  “Why bother?”


  A cool voice came from a place on the mountain peak, passing through these numerous green curtains to reach the ears of Ding Ning and the others.

  “The Daoist Scroll has flowing clouds. The strongest of the Dao Scroll Sect is the essence of flowing wind. Today, I want to see it.”


  Pan Ruoye, as a true grandmaster and one of the top people in the world, was able to suppress the other even through her aura while speaking. As Pan Ruoye looked up and spoke, a clear energy shot out of her body and stabbed into the sky right above her. Then she stretched her hand towards the mountain peak.

  Snap!

  There was a sudden explosion high above her head.

  A ray of bright light fell from the blue sky and shone on her body.

  Her entire body turned light gold.

  As the sunlight descended, there was an inundation of primal energy.

  The primal energy surged out of this sole opening, forming an enormous blue wave visible to the naked eye.

  At the same time, a small pure white sword flew out of her hand. The enormous blue wave surged into the small white sword.

  The sword immediately disappeared, leaving behind a straight path in the multiple green curtains.

  At this time on the mountain peak, underneath an ancient pine, sat a man in indigo robes.

  This man’s features showed him to be in his thirties, but his calm serene eyes seemed to contain an ocean accumulated over long times.

  When the path of light appeared through the multiple curtains of green, he pointed with his index and middle finger as he raised his eyebrows.

  As he pointed, the air in front of him seemed to become viscous. An item suddenly appeared, spinning furiously, unstoppable in its presence. This was Pan Ruoye’s small white sword.

  This indigo-robed grandmaster’s fingers turned transparent, even his blood vessels and bones disappearing. His fingers shone with glowing light.

  His fingertips were like the tips of the sword, accurately tapping the tip of the spinning white sword.

  The sword tip spun at his fingertips without leaving behind a mark. However, the piece of stone he was sitting under, reduced to fine powder.

  Cracks formed like a spiderweb on the ground underneath him, stretching further away.

  He looked up at the sky.

  The invisible curtain that had covered the entire mountain and blocked off the world had completely disappeared at this time.

  Some of the white cloud energies in the sky, in this instant, changed into enormous white seal scripts.

  Pan Ruoye took a deep breath. the small white sword that had been spinning at the fingertips of the indigo-robed grandmaster suddenly retreated along its original path.

  Being able to pull the sword back at such speeds showed that she was not using her full power, or she did not want to use her full power to deal with the counterattack the indigo-robed grandmaster would muster next.

  The indigo-robed grandmaster seemed to have understood something.

  He also took a deep breath, and frowned deeply.

  The white cloud energies in the sky remained condensed, giving off terrifying power but were just waiting.

  Then he stood up and slowly started to descend the mountain.

  The green leaves had all fallen down, and his figure quickly appeared in the line of sight of Ding Ning and the others.

  “Those skilled in offense lose to those good at defense. Those skilled at defense lose to those at hiding. I know who is able to hide from me. So Principal Mo of Changling has come in person.” The indigo-robed grandmaster sighed softly as he saw Ding Ning and the others from a long ways off. He saw Mo Shoucheng next to Pan Ruoye and bowed. “Previously, I laughed it off, why should one bother, and felt that wasting energy to ascend the mountain was useless. But I have lost to Mister a move ago.”


  “Mister, do not be so polite.”


  Mo Shoucheng nodded and returned the greeting. “I have climbed many mountains in this lifetime, but never worked so hard like this one.”


  Only when he said this did Fu Su notice he was covered in sweat.

  Fu Su finally realized. Previously, when climbing the mountain, Mo Shoucheng had not used vital energy at all and only relied on his body. While Mo Shoucheng was one of the people closest to realm eight, he was truly an old man, and naturally would be tired when climbing the mountain.

  The indigo-robed grandmaster thought for a moment and said, “Since this is the case, then I will bid farewell.”


  Having spoken, he turned and left without dawdling.

  “This is the presence of a true grandmaster?

  Fu Su was filled with admiration, and felt that this person had an unspeakable presence in his actions. All these mountains did not seem as tall as the back of this grandmaster right now.

  “Not so simple,” Ding Ning looked at him, shook his head and said softly.

  Mo Shoucheng looked at Ding Ning in praise and said, “It is not so simple.”


  Fu Su looked with slight embarrassment at Mo Shoucheng and Ding Ning. Ding Ning did not waste time, and pointed at the enormous white cloud seals that still remained condensed.

  “When I read in the White Goat Cave library cave, those records said that cultivators above realm seven are storage vessels for primal energy. Yet, once the energy is used up, it is slow in being replenished. Especially when using some extremely powerful methods, it is not as simple as just using vital energy.”


  Ding Ning said camly, “If this grandmaster had retreated before using this kind of seal, it would have been normal. Yet, he has formed these seals at great cost to his energy. Even if he just wanted to see Principal Mo’s tactics, he might have gleaned some understanding. But he left as such …… this means that he does not want to even take a single risk before the Deer Mountain Conference.”


  Fu Su immediately understood something.

  “This kind of danger is within a controlled range. People like him usually will not give up a chance to fight.” Pan Ruoye looked at the indigo-robed grandmaster disappearing into the distance and turned to look expressionlessly at Mo Shoucheng next to her. “I just don’t understand. The Dao Scroll Sect has always kept themselves separate from the dynasties of the world. They do not participate in any of the conflicts between dynasties and sects. Why has this successor from the Dao Scroll Sect broken precedent?”


  The Dao Scroll Sect was an extremely mysterious sect. While powerful, it did not involve itself in worldly affairs. Only cultivators such as her and Mo Shoucheng, who were extremely knowledgeable, would know of them. Even so, she and Mo Shoucheng did not know the name of the indigo-robed grandmaster.

  It was too difficult to predict the intentions of someone who was a complete stranger and left after one round of fighting. So her questions could not be answered.

  But Mo Shoucheng was no ordinary person.

  “His goal is Deer Mountain.”


  Mo Shoucheng looked at her calmly and said, “This time, he has expended greatly but when he left, he tilted towards Deer Mountain. This goes to show that he thinks Deer Mountain is safer and he has connections to people on Deer Mountain.”


  Pan Ruoye did not speak but a hint of coldness flashed through her eyes.

  With that, everything was clear.

  Only the Chu Dynasty was on Deer Mountain right now. Then this grandmaster from Dao Scroll Sect had a connection to someone from the Chu Dynasty on Deer Mountain.

  Mo Shoucheng closed his eyes slightly in tiredness and emitted a wave of energy.

  A small gust of wind blew by.

  They had spent a lot of time climbing up to the middle of the mountain. But with the passage of this gust of wind, in the span of a few breaths, Ding Ning and Fu Su came to the peak of the mountain with a complete change in scenery.

  An enormous procession slowly appeared on the plains on the side of Deer Mountain.

  This procession had over five thousand people, but from the peak, it was possible to see that only half of this procession was the army, and the other half were various officials and ceremonies.

  Numerous bright yellow banners and the golden dragons atop the canopies seemed tiny at such a great distance, but still evinced an astounding aura, as though they were about to fly.

  The head of this procession glittered with gold and was as bright as the sun.

  In the world, such pomp and circumstance would only occur when a son of Heaven was touring.

  After the king of Chu had ascended Deer Mountain, a second monarch had arrived.

  “You are right. The second to ascend Deer Mountain is the Yan Dynasty.” Pan Ruoye was in a mystical state, as though she was turning to nothingness and absorbing the primal energies of the universe from afar. At the sight of the glittering procession, she glanced at Mo Shoucheng and sneered.

  “How were you able to guess the Yan will be the second to ascend?” This time, it was Ding Ning who asked proactively.

  “The Yan Dynasty is not weaker than the Chu Dynasty, but the king of Yan is the most cautious and indecisive. He will never want to be ahead of others. So while he has been ruling for many years, he is extremely conservative,” Mo Shoucheng said patiently.

  Ding Ning asked, “Then what about the emperor of the Qi Dynasty?”


  Mo Shoucheng smiled faintly and said, “The emperor of the Qi Dynasty is the most shameless, no one can compare to him. But this is also his strength.”


  Fu Su became curious. He couldn’t help but think of what other dynasties thought of his father-king. But when he thought of how this kind of question would be disrespectful towards his father, he smiled in self-disdain and abandoned his idea.

  His minute actions could not escape Mo Shouchengs’s eyes. Mo Shoucheng looked at the silent Ding Ning, and thought, a genius that grew up on the streets has seen more and matured earlier.

  Why did he need to ask such a question? If not for feeling that Emperor Yuanwu and the empress were truly ruthless and had intentions of consuming the world, why would the other three dynasties treat the Qin Dynasty as their main enemy?

  Translator Ramblings: I’m not sure that “bright yellow” was the imperial color back in the Warring State. At the very least, when Qin unified, the imperial color was black, not bright yellow.

  Volume 6 36 - Fanatic

  These swords were very small compared to the wider world, but they were like the stars in the sky, feeling very majestic and mysterious.

  Feeling like a star to others meant that they were powerful.

  Zhangsun Qianxue looked up at the sword lights. The Nine Hell King Sword in her hand hummed.

  “How come there are so many swords? Why is it like this?” She had not completely recovered from the shock of the Donghu monk, and now, she was immersed in great shock again.

  “Because of familiarity.”


  Ding Ning looked at her beautiful side profile, and then at the Nine Hell King Sword which was reacting in her hand. He took a deep breath and then said, “Because these swords are old acquaintances of the Nine Hell King Sword, perhaps comrades, perhaps enemies. Or maybe from a certain point of view, the Nine Hell King Sword was once one of them.”


  “It is Ye Xiao.” Zhangsun Qianxue realized, and an uncomfortable feeling grew inside her. “These are all the famous swords from the previous dynasties and Changling.”


  Ding Ning nodded.

  Each era, each dynasty, there would be many accomplished craftsmen and top cultivators who would create many famed swords. There had been many famed swords from the former Han, Zhao and Wei. After the three dynasties were wiped out, the famed swords all belonged to the Qin Dynasty, and finally appeared in the sword valley of the Min Mountain Sword Trials.

  The Ba Mountain Sword Field had many famed swords. After the Ba Mountain Sword Field was eliminated, the swords belonged to Yuanwu and Zheng Xiu.

  There were also many famed swords which should not have been ignored but had been forgotten by people, the famed swords of the old nobility. The old nobility had ruled the Qin Dynasty in reality for many years. During this long time, these old nobility had the most powerful cultivators, and also created many famed swords.

  Things that powerful cultivators picked to use as their swords were not ordinary, especially when most of them were treated as lifebond items. Even after the master of the swords were dead, these swords seemed to be imprinted with a soul, or had been refined to be more powerful. The energies of the masters of these swords merged with the sword, and became a part of the sword.

  In the era of the old nobility of Changling, the Gongsun Family had been their leader, and the Nine Hell King Sword the strongest and the most vicious sword of the time. In the near hundred years, the cultivators of the Gongsun Family had used this sword to kill many cultivators, and fought together with many swords.

  While no one had been able to turn the Nine Hell King Sword into their lifebond sword, but fighting and being in close contact with these swords caused a thread of the energies of these swords to remain in the Nine Hell King Sword. So the resonance of these energies was the familiarity that Ding Ning spoke of.

  Undoubtedly, no matter if it was by Zheng Xiu’s help or Ye Xiao’s own actions, most of the famed swords left behind in the sword hoards of the old nobility had fallen into Ye Xiao’s hands. These swords had been nurtured by these sword servants with their life. When Ye Xiao activated them, they displayed great and mysterious power, forming a sword formation that even Zhangsun Qianxue could not understand.

  The Donghu monk also frowned deeply. Three deep marks, looking like they were carved with a blade, appeared on his bark like skin.

  These swords were nigh in order in the sky, forming a mountain shape, but in his perception, they seemed to layer up into a thousand mountains. Each of these swords was pulling hard at the primal energies of the universe to form these mountains. He could sense that this sword formation was not a killing formation, but a restraining formation.

  Cultivators of any level had special senses for danger. Right now, the Donghu monk had reached realm eight. His communication with energy reached even the stars. He could sense the surroundings in great detail. From lingering traces of energy, he could see the tracks of life and death. In his sensory world, some things flowed faster than normal, other things were slower than normal. Regardless of the speed, they were different from usual, and this was like the limits of time were changed.

  Ding Ning at the Donghu monk’s breakthrough said “see all beings”. This was not just seeing and sensing many things that he usually could not. His soul had left his body and roamed many places he had never been before, but the truest of the meaning was sensing the cycle of life and death of many beings.

  As to “seeing gods,” it was referring to after realm eight, it was like reaching a divine state, a new world, and looking at the world in a different light. With his power, he could kill many realm seven grandmasters, flee while thousands of soldiers could not stop him, and roam the world without any restrictions.

  But even so, he still felt great danger.

  Bang!

  He swung his staff with two hands, the staff turning bright and transparent. His lips did not move, but when his staff hit the air, it created a strange but clear boom, like the voice of a buddha.

  Different cultivation methods would create different Heaven Opening scenes. When Emperor Yuanwu used his full power, there were enormous and dazzling pillars of light coming down. When the monk used his full power, there was no dazzling light, but subtle and small lights, like celestials scattering flowers down.

  But the real sense of power came from his own body. An invisible but real power expanded out of his body, like his body was expanding outwards.

  Crack, crack, crack ……

  The swords falling down encountered obstruction, not brushing against the air, but colliding directly like they were hitting metal, and gave off sharp hard sounds. A true metal wall that was transparent appeared in the sky.

  This was a method the Donghu monk used for defense, but now, in the hands of the Donghu monk, it was no longer defense.

  Under his determined gaze, this invisible but real metal wall pressed outwards at a terrifying speed. The swords shook. Because of the unique mental connection, the sword servants who had collapsed to the ground already bled, and were on the edge of death.

  Blood beaded from every pore on Ye Xiao’s skin. He sensed the terrifying power of realm eight. Everything in his body was warning him he may die at any time.

  But a faint strange scornful smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. His body could not endure, but his great resolve allowed him to lift his hand and grasp the empty air.

  Many of the blood vessels on his forehead floated out of his skin, shining, and then burning with real flames, like gold and red seal scripts. The power he had embedded in the swords also started to burn.

  The seal scripts of the famed swords struggling in the air lit up, burning with red and gold flames.

  Pang, pang, pang, pang ……

  All of the famed swords shattered in the air like paper, but all of the energies still held in the form of swords, and fell down with even more power.

  In Ding Ning and Zhangsun Qianxue’s perception, it felt like the Donghu monk, enormous in the world to the point he almost filled it, was pierced through countless times by these swords.

  The metal wall was penetrated, and many of the intangible swords that had lost their nucleus fell down. When each sword fell, it smashed on the ground with the weight of a true mountain, creating pillars of dust hundreds of meters tall.

  The Donghu monk stuck his staff into the ground in front of him. The wind storm surrounded them, but could not enter.

  The weak Fu Su, who had not spoken for a long time, felt like his consciousness was being torn apart by two powers. He vomited up another mouthful of blood and fainted.

  The pillars of dust stayed in the air supported by the energy, and did not dissipate.

  Ding Ning looked over. It was like there were a thousand mountains around them. The light of some energies flashed on the mountain peaks, turning the peaks yellow and then snowy while, like a thousand snow-capped mountains. This was what he was most worried about.

  People who only lived for revenge were always the most terrifying.

  Volume 2 36 - The Key of Fate

  This chapter has been brought to you by me, and larkspur.

  The folded seal paper disappeared from his hand.

  When the paper disappeared from his hand, a transparent and glowing line suddenly appeared in the sky above his head.

  This transparent and glowing line appeared silently, but after its appearance, the sky above his head gave off an enormous roar, followed by more loud booms.

  These sounds came from the spaces between scales of the Dragonscale Sword.

  Each of boulder-like scales originally had a certain space around it. The spaces were filled with seal scripts, and acted as passages for energy to flow.

  At this moment, the scales were being squeezed together by an unimaginably great force. This was akin to giant metal ships parked in a silent port that had black boulders. At this moment, the black boulders and the metal ships were squeezed together by an enormous force, rubbing and colliding violently.

  The two yellow flames at the tip of the Dragonscale Sword flashed with even more coldness and violence. However, most of the Dragonscale Sword’s power came from the flowing power in the seal scripts. At this moment, the cold and violent emotions lost its power support and looked like a pair of dead eyes.

  The numerous cultivators present witnessed this scene. Their faces paled, eyes filled with even more awe.

  That transparent crystal line was not a seal line or a crack, but an even more incomprehensible crease.

  All of the primal energies of the universe in the space above his head were bent and folded, making it feel as though two parts of space had been folded together.

  There was no violent collision or sharp murderousness. Just the friction and pressure of energy erased all of the seal scripts on the Dragonscale Sword and erased more than half of its power.

  Fang Xiang took a deep breath.

  The boulder-like black dragon scales stopped resisting the outside force, compressing and rubbing together. Under the powerful friction, the dragonscales grew red at the edges, creating molden flame.

  The flames connected together, creating larger and redder seal scripts.

  A dragon roar sounded through the air.

  The two bright yellow flames seemed to burn, and a stunning sword energy emanated from the blade.

  Many of the cultivators looking up stopped breathing. This sword energy was stronger than before.

  Li Caitian’s eyes were still calm and clear.

  He reached out with two fingers, as though he was holding a piece of invisible paper and slowly tore it apart.

  Accompanying his move, many lines in the sky tore apart. In the empty space where air had been forced out by the sword energy, the sound of powerful energy flows suddenly erupted.

  A crack appeared in the sky.

  The crack, which sprayed flows of energy to the two sides, met the falling Dragonscale Sword like an enormous sword.

  His previous attack had just been a fold, but his attack now was his powerful sky cutting essence.

  Two powers, that few in the world could stop, collided together.

  A shockwave of energy fell to the ground. The pebbles by Li Caitian’s feet immediately turned to dust. The ground sank several feet, dust surged upwards, and then a few more feet disappeared.

  Li Caitian’s body shook, and he struggled to swallow. His robes had become completely red. Beads of blood had been forced out of his skin. But his expression still remained calm.

  Fang Xiang’s brow furrowed deeply as though cracks were appearing between his eyebrows.

  The Dragonscale Sword floating in the air flicked upwards and paused momentarily. In the next moment, the boulder-like dragon scales fell off the blade and flew outwards. The red sparks and the golden light dissipated through the air like true dragon blood was splashing down.

  As the dragonscales flew away, cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of Fang Xiang’s body, and blood surged out.

  He was completely covered in injuries.

  Many were shocked speechless and did not know who had won.

  "You have lost."

  Li Caitian looked calmly at Fang Xiang.

  The Dragonscale Sword in the sky had completely lost its dragon presence and was falling backwards, like a piece of rusted metal.

  "I will win." Fang Xiang shook his head, and lifted his foot to walk towards Li Caitian.

  A wild wind rose in front of him and then spread towards the sides.

  Li Caitian’s expression froze. He understood Fang Xiang’s meaning.

  Fang Xiang’s Dragonscale Sword had been destroyed. But Fang Xiang himself was also a sword.

  Streams of blood flowed from Li Caitian’s fingertips and formed a blood seal in front of him.

  The fresh blood of cultivators, especially of cultivators on Li Caitian’s level, was the best medium for primal energies.

  As this blood seal took form, with a boom, countless streets seemed to appear in the air in front of Fang Xiang.

  These streets seemed to have many invisible blades that cut towards Fang Xiang’s body.

  The vital energy and primal energies flowing out of Fang Xiang’s body moved forwards, gathering closely on the surface of his body. His body became the sharpest of swords. These invisible blades could not create any wounds on his body. Unable to cut through, these blades seemed to become little hammers that fell on his body.

  Fine cracks sounded inside of his body. This was the sound of his meridians, bones and even marrow rivers cracking.

  Fang Xiang stopped.

  In the next moment, he fell backwards.

  All of the Yan cultivators, deep in their shock, felt wild joy rise.

  Their revered Teacher Xie had reached his limit. If he could not stop Fang Xiang’s attack, he would undoubtedly be defeated.

  But Fang Xiang’s meridians and bones were broken.

  A cultivator’s body was the best container for primal energies and the foundation to manipulate power. With his body broken down, victory was on their side.

  But Li Caitian’s eyes did not hold any joy.

  This was not because he respected Fang Xiang, but because he sensed a newborn sword essence.

  A wave of sword essence came towards him. While it was not a tangible icy presence, it was an ocean of ice in his perception that was falling into his entire world.

  He hung his head.

  When he bowed his head, a blood line appeared on his chest.

  The joy that had just risen in the eyes of the Yan cultivators turned to shock and sorrow.

  Countless blood lines followed the first one, faintly criss-crossing each other……

  The criss-crossing meant being cut off.

  "What is happening?!" a Yan cultivator exclaimed in extreme grief. He could not understand.

  "A thought cannot truly surpass death, but can break free of the terror of death."

  A voice sounded. Li Caitian had been the one to answer.

  Many lines of blood criss-crossed on Li Caitian’s body, he was about to split into several pieces. Yet, his attitude was as usual.

  The grieving Yan cultivators started to understand.

  From beginning to end, Fang Xiang’s strongest was the thought sword. Any person would want to kill the other when they were facing an enemy. But Fang Xiang’s last attack first, let Li Caitian "kill him" before he released the blow.

  This was a simple thing to say, but a peerlessly determined resolve was needed for such a move.

  Just in terms of cultivation, anyone could see that Li Caitian was slightly stronger. But a battle between cultivators was never determined by pure cultivation.

  Fang Xiang’s meridians and bones were broken into pieces. Even if he managed to survive, he would undoubtedly be a cripple. But Li Caitian was cut all over. He was fated to die quickly.

  "A draw."

  Emperor Yuanwu spoke to the emperor of Yan amidst countless grieving gazes.

  No one objected.

  This was a battle where both sides had suffered. The emperor of Yan could not object, because no one from the Yan wanted to see Li Caitian’s body fall to pieces.

  The emperor of Yan lowered his head silently and did not speak.

  He released a gentle presence towards Li Caitian’s body before surrounding him like layers of cloth.

  Li Caitian’s body started to turn cold as his thoughts blurred. Vitality dissipated from his body but he still had an indescribable smile at the corners of his lips.

  Emperor Yuanwu glanced at Fang Xiang.

  Fang Xiang’s body once again gave a soft sound. The powerful cultivators could sense many of the fatally blocked parts in Fang Xiang’s body were opened.

  Numerous physicians came out of the Qin Dynasty’s retinue and quickly sent Fang Xiang towards the tent in the back.

  Seeing this scene, the cultivators from the non-Qin dynasties felt slightly cold and remained silent.

  While this had been a draw, Li Caitian was likely the Yan Dynasty’s strongest cultivator. Fang Xiang was strong, but he was definitely not the strongest Qin Dynasty cultivator. He was also not the strongest cultivator in the Qin Dynasty next to Emperor Yuanwu.

  So in reality, the Qin Dynasty had won this match.

  "General Fang is crippled, Li Caitian is dead," Pan Ruoye said coldly in a whisper.

  Ding Ning gazed at the peak of Deer Mountain and tried to breathe calmly. He had clearly sensed the state of battle between Li Caitian and Fang Xiang through the rising and falling changes in energy.

  After just a dozen years, the moves of these peak grandmasters had changed greatly compared to the cultivators from before Emperor Yuanwu’s ascension.

  Changes meant more uncertainty and danger.

  Translator Ramblings: Even though Li Caitian lost, him folding the paper feels like such a powerful move for how simple it is. Like most cultivators swing swords or point with their fingers. He just folds a piece of paper.

  Volume 4 36 - Simple

  “These corpses must be disposed of immediately.” Standing on the gates of the city and seeing the black and red wall, Ding Ning spoke slowly.

  “How!” Nangong Caishu could not help but shout in fury.

  Her body trembled violently. She did not want Ding Ning to vent his emotions, but she could not understand how he could maintain such calm despite witnessing such a scene.

  “Your fury and hate surpass your sorrow right now.”


  Ding Ning turned to look at Nangong Caishu and his expression grew cold. “Right now, when someone else massacred a Qin city, at least they left behind the women and the children. But our Qin army has also massacred other people’s cities. This is war. Hatred and anger towards enemies that you have already missed will only make you act impulsively and cause greater mistakes. There is no meaning.”


  “No meaning?” Nangong Caishu’s expression grew unusually white. She bit her lips and gritted through her teeth. “You want me to not hate the people who massacred the city?”


  Ding Ning said after a moment of silence, “You have to understand, it is not these generals in charge of leading armies and fighting who started this war, but the few people at the top of the world. If we pursue to the bottom, then who really caused these things?”


  Nangong Caishu’s breathing stopped. She felt that she could not completely agree with Ding Ning’s words but she did not know how to counter either.

  “Hatred cannot solve problems. Just now, you heard those women talk. The other used such a method to force Min Mountain Sword Sect from entering the war against Wuzhi. This is understandable. Our Qin army is invading another country’s land. What does this mean?”


  A faintly bitter smile appeared on the corners of Ding Ning’s mouth. “I only know, if we do not dispose of these corpses now, I fear this will cause serious illness, and many of these women and children will die.”


  “Being apathetic is what a successful commander needs?” Nangong Caishu laughed miserably.

  “No.” Ding Ning shook his head. “Always thinking for those alive is what a general always needs to think about.”


  Black smoke rose. The Imperial Guard Army started hot fires to burn the corpses in the city.

  “This war is not easy to fight.”


  Ding Ning first looked away from the burning fires and corpses, then coldly at Yin Mountain which was now close and slowly said, “I do not mean us.”


  Nangong Caishu turned in shock to him.

  Ding Ning slowly said, “Both the city guards and the army who came in from outside to reinforce them died near the city walls. There are not many Wuzhi cultivators who are able to massacre a city on their own. Only Yelu Canglang, called the steppe wolf of the plains, is able to kill all the armies along the way so quickly.”


  “He is the Generalissimo of Wuzhi.” Ding Ning unconsciously clenched his fists after a pause and said, “The generalissimo can put himself into danger and come here. This means that they will not fight according to our predictions. So they may not be like we had imagined, and try to delay until snowfall.”


  Nangong Caishu started to understand what he meant. Her face, which had been recovering her flush, paled again. “You mean that they may mount a surprise ambush or attack head-on?”


  Ding Ning nodded.

  Nangong Caishu felt a wave of cold rise. She struggled to speak. “Then how can we pass the message to Yin Mountain as fast as possible?”


  “It’s useless.” Ding Ning shook his head. “Even Yelu Canglang is here already. Even if the message we send will reach the border armies, it is too late. Also, those border generals have such status. Will they easily listen to our suggestions?”


  “Yelu Canglang and the others may think …… they want to use a great victory to give Donghu and the Chu Dynasty confidence, no matter the price they pay. As long as the price is enough for them to stop the Qin Dynasty at Yin Mountain in the end so they do not become like the Yuezhi.”


  No one was god and could not be omnipotent. Ding Ning had been mistaken on his judgement of Wuzhi, but at least, his prediction now was accurate.

  The autumn of Qin Dynasty Yuanwu Year Twelve.

  Not long after the division of Imperial Guard Army that Ding Ning was in reached the border, Wuzhi gathered more than three hundred thousand at terrifying speed. They split into three groups and crossed the border to mount a fierce attack on the Qin armies.

  The Wuzhi were nomadic since antiquity, and for the people of Qin inside the forts, the Wuzhi people were grassland barbarians.

  These barbarians were skilled in hunting and taming horses, and very good at horsemanship. They came like the wind, and their speed and archery their greatest advantage. What troubled the Qin army the most was that there was an enormous grassland behind them.

  The grassland, to the Qin armies, was wilderness, but to them, was a city. The advantage of the Qin army were their seal chariots and battle formations. They had many cultivators and they were unrivalled in their ability to push their formations forward to fight armies. Yet to everyone’s surprise, the Wuzhi did not use guerilla tactics, and actually formed armies to fight the Qin border armies head-on!

  The Wuzhi armies, primarily cavalry, could not fight the Qin army in battle formations, yet because they were unpredictable, the Qin army encountered such a war before they had sufficient numbers on the border.

  The Qin armies suffered great losses under the strong attacks of the Wuzhi army many times their size. Wuzhi paid the price of seventy thousand soldiers to kill over sixty thousand of Qin soldiers. They also stole almost all the grains and luggage of the Qin troops and continued to pursue the lingering divisions of the Qin border armies.

  This kind of victory was astonishing. Even when the Qin had fought the Han, Zhao and Wei, they had not paid such a serious price.

  Back then, the death ratio between the Qin and enemy dynasties were always maintained above one to three. In other words, to kill one Qin soldier, it would take the lives of at least three soldiers from other dynasties.

  The advantage of the Wuzhi army was their speed. When their pursuit started, this meant more fatalities from the Qin army. This was likely to be the greatest loss in the history of the Qin.

  What changed the fate of this war was the first group of reinforcements, the large group of Changling cultivators who had reached Yin Mountain. Faster than horses were the swords of cultivators. The cultivators who joined in great numbers caused the Wuzhi cavalry to suffer astounding losses. But as more cultivators were killed by mass numbers or Wuzhi cultivators, the entire state of war was unusually disadvantageous to the Qin Dynasty.

  Even though it was only officially the start of autumn, the northern lands outside the forts were cold and frosty. When grains were tight, the situation was terrible for some troops, especially those who had been scattered.

  In a low-lying meadow, some leaves had fallen off the trees. Many wounded Qin soldiers laid on long grasses that had been cut down and laid into blankets. A round-faced young woman carrying a sword was solemnly discussing affairs with numerous commanders.

  War was the easiest.

  Suddenly, shrill warning whistles sounded above the meadow, but after a breath, the whistle became a whining flute. This meant the incoming were not enemies but one of their own.

  A youth appeared in the round-faced young woman’s sight.

  His appearance was about the same as ordinary Wuzhi soldiers. He seemed to be unusually afraid of the cold, and wore unusually thick and crude fur robes. But his face did not look like the Wuzhi. Even more importantly, his left hand was slightly stretched forward, and a pale white jade token hung from his fingertip. Engraved on it was an unusually simple Li character.

  This “Li” character caused this round-faced young woman and the commanders to immediately think that he was the exile of the Li Marquessate Establishment who had recently returned to the forts, Li Xixing.

  “Do not think about attacking that Xiaoweng city ten miles away.” Looking at the round-faced young woman and the commanders around her, Li Xixing said directly, “That is a trap. At least two Qin armies like you have been annihilated there.”


  The Qin commanders exchanged looks, their gazes filled with anger. Remnant troops like them could only choose to hide or detour when chased by the Wuzhi army. If they returned to the border city around Yin Mountain, it would take them a lot of time.

  Yet the food and grass they had taken along would only last them a few days. In their view, that Wuzhi city’s food was the key to whether they could leave here alive.

  “How many people do you have in total?” Li Xixing asked, and ignored the expressions of the commanders. He also rarely cared about other people in Changling.

  “Including the wounded, three hundred and fifty seven in total, three hundred and twenty one can fight.” The round-faced young woman was the calmest and answered without hesitation after Li Xixing asked.

  “Too few.” Li Xixing said after a long silence, “The Wuzhi has a three thousand cavalry who will flank it when night comes. Unless it is an army of all cultivators, when the ratio is greater than one to four, the Qin troops cannot win against the Wuzhi cavalry, especially when you are only remnants. When you do not have powerful military weapons, ordinary swordsmen will be shot to death by the archers on the horses before you even get close.”


  “Now, there is only one choice.” Li Xixing ignored the commanders’ expressions and continued. “Have all the wounded stay here. Everyone else, leave as soon as possible.”


  A commander in his forties among the numerous commanders looked at Li Xixing with a cold gaze. He said slowly, “This may be the best choice and the wisest, but not our finest.”


  Li Xixing did not argue. He just bowed deeply to this commander. This commander’s choice was worthy of his respect. He turned after bowing.

  Since this commander chose to fight to the death here, then there was nothing worthwhile about staying here with these people and fighting to the death.

  “Wait!” Yet when he turned around, the round-faced young woman said, “There must be other choices and methods.”


  Li Xixing did not look back. He stared coldly at the grasses which were taller than people and thought about how after dark, cavalry would charge from there at any time.

  “What choice and method?” he asked.

  “Since you know that the cavalry will come, then maybe we can lure away the cavalry?” the round-faced young woman said after hearing his cold voice.

  “We?” Li Xixing sneered ruthlessly. “You?”


  “I am a cultivator of Treasure Light Temple.” The round-faced young woman was not angry and described the facts seriously. “I am the only disciple of Treasure Light Temple who received all the true teachings.”


  Volume 5 36 - Hand Over The Mountain

  “Sect Master!”


  Almost all the Celestial Seal Sect cultivators bowed deeply when they saw the face of the old man heading down the mountain. Everyone seemed to be shorter at this moment, only Zhang Yi was stunned where he stood, and appeared a crane among chickens.

  The sunlight fell on the old man. Seeing the old man’s familiar figure and face, countless scenes flashed through Zhang Yi’s mind. This old man appeared very familiar yet unfamiliar.

  He stood dazedly, until finally starting to understand why he was able to become a disciple of the Celestial Seal Sect despite his terrible results in the exam

  But there was not a lot of time for him to mull. He could not understand why the old man had spent so much effort to come with him from Qin to Yan.

  Under the sunlight, the old man looked at the stunned Zhang Yi with a gaze warmer than sunlight. He walked through the reverent crowd in front of Zhang Yi and Le Yi.

  Le Yi saw this gentle old man and could not connect him to the strongest cultivators of Yan. Mysterious …… cunning …… powerful …… all these adjectives seemed to have nothing to do with this old man.

  “We have both not lost?” He finally recovered from his amazement after this old man had been standing in front of him and Zhang Yi for a while. He asked, “What do you mean?”


  Murong Xiaoyi suddenly grew worried. Inexplicably, she did not worry over the ownership of Celestial Seal Sect’s mountain but Le Yi and Zhang Yi themselves.

  The old man looked benevolently at Le Yi and said emotionally, “Open the bag and you will understand.”


  Le Yi stilled again.

  “You will know if you open it.” The old man looked at him and said seriously, “You will understand the true connection between Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect and Celestial Seal Sect. You will understand the connection between your ancestral master and my master.”


  Le Yi’s breathing suddenly sped up.

  Almost all Celestial Seal Sect cultivators breathed faster. They could not understand the old man’s words but felt that the words contained a great secret. The answer was in the bag that the ancestral master of Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect had left.

  Le Yi looked up at the old man. Then, taking a deep breath, he decisively opened the bag.

  There was a yellowed roll of sheepskin in the bag.

  He immediately saw the writing on the sheepskin came from his ancestral master. When he unrolled the sheepskin and started to read, he started to understand why that ancestral master had left behind so much writing.

  “It’s like this?” His hands quickly started to tremble as he spoke dazedly. His gaze was confused, like a child who was lost.

  “Strictly speaking, this is a scam.” The old man looked apologetically at him and said slowly, “But this is a well-meaning scam, one that can avoid Celestial Seal Sect reaching a peak in prosperity and declining. So do not blame your ancestral master.”


  All Celestial Seal Sect disciples looked dazedly at the old man and Le Yi. They wanted to know the answer. The air now was too quiet and suffocating. Fortunately, the old man did not make them wait too long.

  He spoke, clearly so each Celestial Seal Sect disciple could hear clearly. “Back then, Le Ping created the Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect, not because of pride, but a deliberate arrangement. It was because Celestial Seal Sect had been the strongest sect of Yan back then …… in the view of the sect master then, when something reached a peak in prosperity, they could go into decline more easily, just like how a dynasty with no enemies will rot and die even more easily.”


  “One will only improve with outside pressure.” Pausing, the old man scanned the faces of all Celestial Seal Sect disciples. He said slowly, “Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect is Celestial Seal Sect, Celestial Seal Sect is still Celestial Seal Sect. So regardless of the generation, no matter if it is Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect winning against Celestial Seal Sect or vice versa, Celestial Seal Sect wins.”


  “So this was purposefully making an enemy sect?” Someone finally reacted and could not help but speak.

  “Not sticking to one pattern is the true meaning of the seal path.” The old man raised his head to look towards the sky. “The ocean can hold hundreds of rivers. No matter your background, if you are a true Celestial Seal Sect student, your accomplishments will bring up Celestial Seal Sect.”


  Hearing the old man’s words, many Celestial Seal Sect teachers seemed ashamed, especially when they saw Zhang Yi out of the corners of their eyes. Only now did they understand why Celestial Seal Sect could accept a Qin person like Zhang Yi.

  “There are many ways to gain the path. If one is limited to those inanimate seals, you will be a still pond, forever following your predecessors. How much accomplishment will you have?” The old man turned to look at Zhang Yi.

  Zhang Yi was moved. Looking at this old man, he understood the course of events. He knew the old man’s trouble on the trip had only been a test of him. He opened his mouth but could not speak.

  “Since you are here, then settle here. You understand your ancestral master and my master’s meaning. You should understand this is for Celestial Seal Sect. Stay here, and cultivate at Celestial Seal Sect.”


  The old man looked at the silent Le Yi and smiled. “I give Celestial Seal Sect’s mountain to you.”


  “I give Celestial Seal Sect’s mountain to you.”


  The voice was flat but echoed in the mountain and was filled with admirable spirit.

  Le Yi seemed to be struck by lightning and trembled violently. Then he instinctively bowed and said, “Sect Master.”


  “You two come with me.” The old man smiled faintly, turning to walk up the mountain as he told Zhang Yi and Le Yi to follow.

  “It is not just words when I say I gave the mountain to you.” When they were halfway up the mountain, the old man did not turn but said softly and slowly, “I am reassured giving this mountain to you, who was able to diligently cultivate because of a person’s last words and come alone to challenge an enormous sect.”


  “If I give to any of you, when I close my eyes in the future, I can put down the burden of Celestial Seal Sect with confidence. Now, there are two of you. You mutually respect each other and will help each other.”


  “Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect is a seal to cultivate the body but also the eye of this mountain.”


  The old man stopped in front of a grass hut. He glanced at the threshold and the ordinary stone lit up, giving off yellow light, the same color as the seal Le Yi had used.

  Le Yi’s body shook agan. From the presence of the threshold, he understood the old man had given the eye of the mountain formation to him, and had truly given the mountain to him.

  “Someone will guard, and so someone will attack.” The old man turned to Zhang Yi and gave a small smile. “Your vital energy cultivation has not yet been achieved, but your sword essence is complete. Your sword will be greatly relied on for future matters.”


  Zhang Yi opened his mouth. “I ……”


  The old man shook his head and interrupted his words. “Do not be so humble.”


  Zhang Yi and Le Yi exchanged looks.

  “Be prepared before it rains.” The old man smiled contentedly and looked at the distance where there was a rain cloud. He said, “It is my good fortune to have two students like you so quickly.”


  Zhang Yi inexplicably thought of Yellow Heaven Daoist Sect and Celestial Seal Sect. He thought of Su Qin.

  He could not help but look at the old man’s profile and ask, “Then my junior sect brother ……”


  “Someone will help, so someone will force.” The old man smiled and said, “Su Qin is not weak. He will perfectly fulfill his role. As to victory or defeat, there are two of you and one of him so I am at ease.”


  Zhang Yi and Le Yi were speechless again.

  They looked at this old man gazing at Shangdu and felt the old man’s shadow was peerlessly great.