Chapter 36: Zheng Juzhong's Suggestion
Zheng Juzhong concealed his tracks, like an outsider who had merely come to witness firsthand how a certain page of history would be written.
The woman in the green skirt sighed softly. Was this the world after a thousand or ten thousand years that her old friends had once yearned for?
There was a murmur across the battlefield, with both sides speculating on why Cao Ci had arrived.
Regardless of the reason, Cao Ci's presence felt like a calming pill for the Haoran camp.
Haoran and the Barren Wastes naturally had different impressions of the white-clad Cao and the green-clad Chen.
When the Hidden Officer charged into the formation, the real show had just begun. Once Cao Ci entered the fray, it was almost time to wrap things up.
After all, anyone with a rough understanding of Chen Ping'an's martial realm would believe that Cao Ci was at least as high, if not higher.
As for Chen Ping'an's cultivation realm, it had always been a mystery—unstable, rising and falling repeatedly, making it difficult for outsiders to accurately assess.
But when it came to martial achievements and the level of his "hand-to-hand skills," Chen Ping'an was indeed a very solid golden signboard.
Pei Qian took a deep breath, silently rolled up her sleeves, raised the back of her hand, and tapped her forehead lightly.
Zhu Su's situation was awkward at the moment. She dared not conceal Chen Ping'an's movements, since he was not only the Hidden Officer of the Sword Qi Great Wall but also the new National Preceptor of Great Li. Zhu Su immediately reported the situation to Song Yunjian, who was indecisive and quickly had Rong Yu inform the emperor. Thus, Pei Qian, Guo Zhujiu, and the Earthly Branches lineage all learned of it, and the Fallen Mountain side naturally received the news at the first opportunity.
Having reached the Immortal realm, Zhu Su looked at the "Barren Wastes" with a subtle change in her vision and state of mind.
For example, Zhu Su felt that she suddenly understood a bit the feelings of those "backs" standing atop the city walls back in the day.
And why the Jade Pith Realm sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall were never called "Sword Immortals," and why they refused to call themselves "Sword Immortals."
Guo Zhujiu stood on the railing, shading her eyes as if peering into the distance, and conveyed her thoughts silently: "Senior Sister, if Master gets angry later, just put all the blame on me."
Pei Qian laughed freely. "How could I be such an unrighteous senior sister?"
Guo Zhujiu chuckled. "Too bad I'm no longer a little girl. I can't be shameless enough to beat drums and gongs to cheer for Master."
Pei Qian sent a secret message: "Later, I will break the formation alone. Don't follow. You wouldn't be able to keep up anyway."
Guo Zhujiu replied, "Senior Sister, rest assured. I don't have the right to show off either. I'll only do what I can, like treating this place as a temporary summer retreat palace."
Pei Qian smiled knowingly.
The girl in the sable hat arrived here but immediately crouched down, cat-like by the railing. She pressed her two fingers together, held them upright in front of her, closed her eyes, shook her head, and muttered to herself.
As for Guo Zhujiu's remarks, Xie Gou admired them from the bottom of her heart. Only their Alliance Leader could utter such bold words.
Guo Zhujiu did a kestrel flip, landing gracefully. She opened her eyes wide and pricked up her ears, asking in confusion, "Doggy, are you performing some sorcery here?"
Xie Gou gestured with her eyes for Alliance Leader Guo not to disturb her. She pulled a flask of wine from her sleeve and hastily took a few gulps.
Of course, she wasn't afraid of those "old acquaintances." She had long made an agreement with Bai Ze: when roaming the jianghu, one must keep their word.
Still, if it really came to a fight, and a fierce one at that, she would unleash the secret art of Fallen Mountain—pretend to sleepwalk through the Barren Wastes and, while drunk, deliver a sword strike.
Alas, a pity that her sword skills were still lacking—she had yet to reach fourteen.
One strand pulls the whole net.
What a lively scene.
Ripples appeared again on the mountaintop, indicating the arrival of two more distant travelers.
Both were indisputably handsome men.
One was the old Sword Immortal with a youthful face, Qi Tingji.
The other was Mi Yu, who wore a sword at his waist and also carried a sword-nurturing gourd named "Haoliang."
Better to seize the day than to wait; they had already agreed to make a trip together to the Barren Wastes. Upon learning that the Hidden Officer was already deep in Barren Wastes territory, they came here without a second word.
Mi Yu closed his eyes, a smile on his face, his palm gently caressing the sword-nurturing gourd.
There were no ifs, no hypotheses, no what-ifs. What we once were has ultimately become what we are today.
So let tomorrow's us not regret what we did today—or what we failed to do.
Mi Yu, who had been drinking ever since breaking through to the Jade Pith Realm, seemed at this moment, in this place, like a drunkard finally sobering up.
Finally, finally, he had the chance to confront head-on the "regret" he had dared not face and had only been able to avoid.
Qi Tingji stood with his hands behind his back, leaning on the railing, without a trace of killing intent.
Having keenly sensed the shift in Mi Yu's state of mind, and after glancing at the young emperor not far away and nodding in greeting to Cao Ci, Qi Tingji finally turned his gaze back to the sky.
Meeting the old Sword Immortal's gaze, Guan Xiang laughed heartily and raised a hand in greeting, as if acknowledging an "old friend."
The clan head of the Qi family, who had guarded the Sword Qi Great Wall year after year, and the Qi Tingji who had chosen to actively place himself on the Barren Wastes battlefield—
These were surely two different mindsets, two completely different Qi Tingjis.
A person fears not having "something they must accomplish in this lifetime."
Qi Tingji wanted to prove one thing.
Chen Qingdu, you underestimated Qi Tingji.
Qi Tingji had never liked idle chatter, much less making harsh threats to anyone. Moreover, no one could teach him how to act or how to deliver a sword strike.
With a single step of earth-shrinking, he descended the mountain and entered the battlefield. With another step, he reached the boundary between the two "tidal crests."
Fei Fei and the other great demons warned via thought transmission: "Qi Tingji's attention is always on us. Do not be careless."
Zhou Haijing's figure rose gracefully, her colored armor and sashes flowing. She carried a long spear and had two narrow swords borrowed from the young National Preceptor at her waist.
She looked at the ground battlefield, then at the dense floating boats and ferries on the horizon. Her eyes blazed with fervor, and she grinned. "This trip was worth it. I've broadened my horizons."
The other eleven members of Great Li's Earthly Branches lineage had come to the Barren Wastes for the first time, feeling a sense of novelty.
They had heard the Hidden Officer mention the Barren Wastes' Heavenly Stems before. Would they have a chance to face them today?
Zhu Yan, whose aura blazed to the heavens, caught sight of that "girl in the sable hat" from afar, and his dao heart trembled.
This was probably what was meant by "evil needs to be countered by evil."
Even though it was well known that the sword cultivator Bai Jing had delivered a sword strike in that battle to ascend the heavens and had undoubtedly dropped in realm,
Zhu Yan still dared not exchange a single word of "reminiscing" with that madwoman.
If it were any other Barren Wastes demon clan, Zhu Yan would have long taken his staff and knocked on their door, dug three feet into the ground to drag them out, and killed them on the spot.
The great demon Guan Xiang gave a fake smile. "It seems that fellow Daoist Da Xun was also set up by the Hidden Officer."
"Also."
The female Daoist Rou Ti felt helpless. Wang Zhi had indeed been utterly schemed against by that fellow.
Yu Long strained her eyes to look at that speck of colorful light continuously ascending to the high sky. So that was Great Li's Earthly Branches? Was the one sitting at the hub of the great formation also a woman?
Pity that she had not been selected for the Barren Wastes' Heavenly Stems back in the day.
She also wondered where those ten Barren Wastes prodigies were now?
Yu Long hesitated, then couldn't help but ask via thought transmission, "Grandfather, this ambush battle won't turn into a..."
A war that decides the ownership of the world.
Guan Xiang tugged at his beard and smiled. "Hard to say."
If it could truly be settled today, with victory and defeat decided in a single stroke, that would save a lot of trouble.
Fei Fei glanced at Guan Xiang. A calculating old fox was nothing more than this.
At Guan Xiang's feet were two small pottery jars, filled with "soybeans" engraved with inscriptions. All he had to do was scatter them, and wherever they landed, they would become Celestial Immortal-rank dao soldiers. These two jars of soybeans were Guan Xiang's most treasured possessions. They were extremely difficult to refine, and consuming heavenly materials and earthly treasures was the least of it. The key was that this process was the most time-consuming, could not be rushed, and required secretly selecting suitable "base materials." He could only refine one or two soybeans per year, and the further along he went, the harder it was to find suitable candidates.
Thus, Guan Xiang had to settle for the next best and simultaneously worked on a second jar of "soybean" dao soldiers.
Rumors on the Barren Wastes mountaintops claimed that Guan Xiang was doing this to plan for his dao integration, using external forces to forcibly cross that threshold.
In truth, all of this was meant to be part of his granddaughter Yu Long's dowry.
Among the old and new thrones, although Guan Xiang's killing power was not outstanding, he was calculating and extremely skilled at self-preservation. No matter how the banners of the Barren Wastes changed, he always had a place.
Wang Zhi loved fighting to continuously raise the rank of his "great banner" and increase the gold content of his dao title "Great Sacrifice."
Guan Xiang had been painstakingly scheming and secretly planning for many years. Not long ago, he had finally finished refining the last nine soybeans in one go.
Thus completing a full jar of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Spirits and Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends.
The second pottery jar was for backups. Although it was still missing over thirty soybeans, Guan Xiang was already content.
Guan Xiang and Wang Zhi did business, mutually taking what they needed. He had been engaged in similar shady deals for many years, a very long time.
Many young cultivation prodigies believed that among the thrones, the great demon Guan Xiang of the Yu Ming Cave was the most fond of promoting juniors, most willing to cultivate the next generation, and selflessly protected young cultivators... but in truth, almost none of those seemingly smooth-riding prodigies on the path to ascension ever managed to reach the Immortal realm.
Rou Ti sent via thought transmission: "Pity that Senior Yunshen refuses to come out of seclusion to help."
The influence of a talisman master on the battlefield's course was immeasurable.
Guan Xiang shook his head. "He is a truly pure Daoist. He will certainly not get involved in these mundane affairs."
As the founding patriarch of Jade Talisman Palace, with the dao name Yunshen, Master Yan was famous in the Barren Wastes for his high dao age, seniority, extensive connections, and good reputation.
For instance, Master Yan had once done a great favor for a younger Guan Xiang, and it was only many years later that Guan Xiang learned the truth through various channels.
In the Barren Wastes, unlike Haoran, for a cultivation practitioner to live a life free from worldly strife, they needed the ability to avoid being swept up by the current.
Master Yan happened to have such ability.
The old Daoist had not involved himself in worldly affairs for many years. The affairs of Jade Talisman Palace had long been handed over to his disciples to manage fully, and he was certainly not the type to pretend to delegate power while actually pulling strings behind the scenes like an emperor emeritus. Even when the theft of the token caused a huge uproar, with arguments raging all the way to the secluded Master Yan himself, the old Daoist simply had his alchemy boy pass on four words: "It's the workings of fate."
Earlier, Guan Xiang had secretly made a special trip to Jade Talisman Palace to meet Master Yan and humbly seek advice on dao techniques.
Master Yan spoke bluntly: "Fellow Daoist, are you truly not afraid that you have long incurred Heaven's wrath? The moment you gather all the Heavenly Spirits and Earthly Fiends, that is when Heaven's punishment will descend upon you."
At the time, Guan Xiang was indeed a bit uneasy, but he pretended to be relaxed and said with a smile, "Heaven is already gone. What is there to fear?"
For some reason, the withered old Daoist seemed to have made a decision. He taught Guan Xiang a method to resolve the situation, a technique to avoid the calamity.
Guan Xiang did not doubt him and followed the instructions exactly. It worked.
It seemed that Master Yan had taken that karmic consequence upon himself.
Guan Xiang did not dare to probe deeply and simply assumed that seniors had their ways.
At their parting, the old Daoist only murmured two words repeatedly: "Seeking release."
Leaving aside the Hidden Officer, just figuring out who would deal with Qi Tingji next was a monumental problem.
Zhu Yan? Fei Fei, who had already reached fourteen?
Moreover, the Barren Wastes great demons were almost certain that Cao Ci had also broken through to the eleventh martial realm. Who would be sent to face him?
The Cloud Pattern Dynasty had dispatched their entire force this time. Apart from Emperor Ye Pu and National Preceptor Bai Ren, almost all of the dynasty's elites had gathered.
Bai Ren saw that Cao Ci, a martial artist like herself, and immediately felt eager to try. She still wanted to regain the face she had lost with Chen Ping'an last time.
Standing beside them was a burly man with a bare chest and protruding belly, muscles knotted, wearing an animal skin skirt, with a pennant stuck in his belt.
In the early years, on the Golden Armor Continent battlefield, he had concealed his cultivation and encountered Cao Ci and his group.
It was also there that Cao Ci had broken through to the tenth realm. The burly man had sized him up but did not attack, fearing that hitting the small one would bring the big one.
When he returned to the Barren Wastes, he failed to ascend to the new throne and harbored a grudge.
Fei Ran had privately promised him that if he achieved something on the battlefield—for example, killing a Haoran Sword Immortal—he would be recommended for a throne.
The burly man considered it a trivial task.
Seeing Cao Ci again, he was quite excited but still asked his ally Xin Zhuang via secret message: "Fellow Daoist, why is that eyebrowless woman nowhere to be seen?"
Chen Ping'an was already on the battlefield, and Cao Ci had appeared too. Both were martial artists. As the foremost martial artist of the Barren Wastes, how could she not join the fun?
Xin Zhuang shook her head without offering an explanation.
The burly man continued: "If Cao Ci comes down and gets deep into the enemy ranks, when he has to replace his pure true qi... Fellow Daoist Xin Zhuang, can you lend me a hand?!"
Xin Zhuang seemed distracted and merely replied perfunctorily, "Act according to circumstances."
Xin Zhuang's ascension to the throne was not as controversial as Wang Zhi's or Shuo Ren's.
Besides having reached the Flying Ascension Realm, she was also one of the few formation masters in the Barren Wastes, and she was a Martial Realm cessation martial artist.
She had made great contributions in building the ferry ports for the Barren Wastes.
Like Yuan Xiong and Li Zhen, she was a direct disciple of the Great Patriarch of Tuo Yue Mountain. However, like her senior brother Yuan Xiong, she was responsible for guarding the home front and stationed at Tuo Yue Mountain.
Thus, she had never participated in the battles at the Sword Qi Great Wall or the Haoran world.
But in the last ambush against two Haoran sword cultivators with Fei Ran and Chu Sheng, she had made significant contributions as a formation master.
In the same vein as the female Daoist Rou Ti, Xin Zhuang had also successfully broken through from the Immortal realm bottleneck to the Flying Ascension Realm, and then sought a "predetermined" path of dao integration. This was also part of Zhou Mi's master plan.
Back then, Zhou Mi had told her to patiently wait for a certain senior to revisit a certain place in the future, and taught her how to rebuild the Green Hill method, reserving a position long in advance.
Her master had died and his dao vanished; her senior brother Yuan Xiong had been beheaded by the Hidden Officer; her junior brother Li Zhen had followed Zhou Mi to ascend and fill a divine position... As a result, the residual dao fortune contained in Tuo Yue Mountain had all converged on Xin Zhuang, rightfully and naturally.
Her path of dao integration became simple: to visualize a complete Tuo Yue Mountain.
Xin Zhuang was somewhat like someone making a great vow—that one day, her dao would manifest and transform into something tangible, allowing Tuo Yue Mountain to reappear in the world.
Ultimately, she would integrate her dao with a Tuo Yue Mountain using the method of integrating with a favorable location.
Whether one called it self-imprisonment or taking a shortcut, the difference between the fourteenth realm and the Flying Ascension Realm was as vast as heaven and earth.
It was no exaggeration to say that Xin Zhuang hated the Hidden Officer to the bone.
Before today, Xin Zhuang had longed to meet Chen Ping'an on the battlefield, to face him directly, and invite him to sever Tuo Yue Mountain once more!
From beginning to end, Xin Zhuang had eyes only for that "Hidden Officer."
She was just curious about one thing: why Chen Ping'an had not made a move yet.
It seemed that Wang Zhi was also puzzled—why his opponent had not finished him off.
Xie Gou crouched on the ground, peering through the gaps in the railing at the ferry port. She bit her finger, smeared the blood on her earlobes, and rubbed gently. Her eyes soon shone with a golden light. Through this "opening the Dharma eye" technique, an unorthodox method, she saw something.
So it had such a wonderful use?
This thing was available in the National Preceptor's mansion's many-treasured pavilion.
The fundamental material the Barren Wastes used to build the ferry port was similar to that sacrificial vessel of the ancient great shaman.
That fellow who had changed his name to Chen Yi was now like a scholar going to the capital for the imperial examinations, lodging somewhere and studying diligently.
Mi Yu sent a thought transmission: "Pei Qian, let's break the formation together. Consider it my way of protecting your dao path for a stretch. Afterwards, we each do our own thing."
Pei Qian nodded.
Protecting her dao path first was because he was an "elder" of Fallen Mountain.
After that, he would be a pure sword cultivator of the Sword Qi Great Wall.
On Huang Mang's side, besides the woman who was the incarnation of his nation's martial fortune acting as his bodyguard, there was now a peculiar old man with a curly beard. He wore a cool hat with gold trim, a blue cloth robe, and a long multi-colored palace tassel at his waist.
The old man was clearly an embodiment of the nation's literary fortune gathered here.
The old man asked softly, "Your Majesty, do you truly want to risk everything on a single throw?"
Huang Mang said calmly, "Our Chenguan Dynasty did not become the number one in Haoran by being frugal either."
The old man laughed and asked, "Are you not afraid that some wandering eccentric's prophecy might come true and bring your Huang family to ruin in three generations?"
Huang Mang replied, "Stop spouting all that prophecy nonsense. Just tell me straight: should we fight this battle or not?"
The old man nodded. "We must fight."
Huang Mang rubbed his palms together, turning them slowly, and smiled. "There, you have your answer."
Turning this desperate battle on the battlefield into a decisive war between the two worlds.
Given the current situation, aside from Chenguan's border army, who could shoulder this responsibility? Who dared claim to accomplish this?
As for whether the Great Li cavalry on other fronts was truly as formidable as the rumors said—"peerless under heaven"—he couldn't be bothered to verify.
The old man smiled. "No wonder you are the new ruler chosen by Mr. Zheng. Your boldness is extraordinary."
Huang Mang shook his head. "Wrong. I chose myself."
This young emperor's path to the throne, if put into writing, would surely be a splendid legend.
"The Barren Wastes needs a nominal great victory. Doesn't Haoran need one too?"
The young emperor answered his own question: "I believe that Haoran Heaven needs this kind of nominal great victory even more than they do."
Even if the Great Li Dynasty had tenaciously held on to half of Bottle Gourd Continent's territory—
From the Old Dragon City battle to the Southern Mountain battle to the Capital River battle,
any discerning person reviewing this great war would find that the battles on the five continents of Haoran could hardly be called "great victories."
The old man sighed inwardly. Not long ago, he had gone to inspect the Great Li border army. They were indeed elite, with flourishing martial fortune, roughly on par with Chenguan.
If they could fight side by side on the battlefield, it would be like... a youth meeting a youth. They were full of bloodlust, almost recklessly disregarding consequences—brutes!
Chen Ping'an took a step forward, sword in hand.
As a result, a figure was forced to appear before him.
Bai Ze.
An existence seemingly bearing the survival of the entire Barren Wastes on his shoulders.
Zheng Juzhong also ceased to conceal himself. He and Bai Ze appeared in view, facing Chen Ping'an, and asked with a smile, "Why not be more straightforward?"
First, kill the generals and capture the flags on this battlefield; then stage a "rebellion," proclaim himself the new master of the Barren Wastes, and contend with Fei Ran for power.
This suggestion seemed utterly absurd, unreasonable, and impossible.
Chen Ping'an was momentarily dazed, then let out a laugh, and finally smiled. "That's actually a good suggestion."
The great demons of the Barren Wastes looked at each other in consternation.
Some, like Guan Xiang, actually began to ponder the feasibility of such a move.
Bai Ze ignored Zheng Juzhong's "suggestion." His expression complex, he looked at Chen Ping'an, remained silent for a long time, then smiled. "We meet again."
Bai Ze was not referring to the distant confrontation between the Confucian Temple and Tuo Yue Mountain, but to their first encounter, long ago, on that snowy night.
Chen Ping'an nodded. "We meet again."
Zheng Juzhong smiled. "Chen Ping'an, Bai Ze, I have a suggestion. You might both want to hear it."
Bai Ze said, "Let's hear it."
Zheng Juzhong said, "Haoran and the Barren Wastes, each send out a cultivator or martial artist to fight in an arena."
Bai Ze frowned. "Selections? Number of rounds?"
Zheng Juzhong said slowly, "As long as one side refuses to admit defeat, the rounds can be unlimited. You can keep fighting, from the mountaintop to the mid-slope to the foot, until no one from the fifth realm and above—including the fourteenth realm and Flying Ascension Realm—remains, until there is not a single eleventh realm or cessation martial artist left in either world."
Bai Ze was stunned.
Zheng Juzhong smiled and added, "Three additional points. One: Those who enter the arena may concede and withdraw, but they must promise to permanently leave the battlefield. Two: The victor of a given round does not have to withdraw; they can keep fighting until they die in battle. Three: Zheng Juzhong will oversee the battles."
Bai Ze pondered seriously for a moment, then a look of relief appeared on his face.
It was obvious that Bai Ze was willing to take the lead for the Barren Wastes, even to his death.
This would be an exceedingly simple test of conscience for all the "powerful" of the two worlds.