Chapter 786: Then Fight
The two worlds faced off from a great distance.
The reason this magnificent landscape painting of mountains and rivers could appear was because the Ritual Sage had personally opened the largest Mirror Flower Water Moon in ten thousand years.
Now, the Haoran World and the Barbarian World relied on the two gates remaining from the ruins of Inverted Mountain back then, along with the four oceanic abysses, to connect to each other.
Of course, more than a hundred Barbarian World demon clan cultivators couldn't possibly travel to the Confucian Temple in the Central Plains Divine Continent. All the monsters were simply gathered at Tuo Yue Mountain, where another summit meeting was taking place.
With the painting unfurled, the two sides discussed affairs from a distance. "Sit down and talk properly; if you can't reach an agreement, then we'll talk about other things." This was the proposal of the Ritual Sage and Tuo Yue Mountain.
Only the Ritual Sage could bring this about.
This was not merely due to the Ritual Sage's high realm. Among all the Fourteenth Realm grand cultivators under heaven, besides this scholar who held the second-highest position in the Confucian Temple, no one else could accomplish this.
For instance, if the Azure Underworld wanted to hold a meeting, Dao Second Yu Dou would sit in the White Jade Capital and invite the summit cultivators of that world. The Sword Immortal lineage of Grand Profound Metropolis Sun Huaizhong, along with a group of top Daoist sects including Wu Shuangjiang's Year-End Palace, would definitely not pay any attention. It wasn't that they truly ignored the White Jade Capital, but they felt that the "Invincible One" didn't have the qualifications to command the world. As for Yu Dou's junior brother Lu Chen, of course he couldn't do it either. Besides, this Third Leader of the White Jade Capital was naturally most troubled by these "mundane affairs." He was a famously lazy person, "able to sit but not stand, able to lie but not sit."
Fei Ran wore a smile, his gaze quickly sweeping over the Haoran World crowd. Confucian sages, heroes of the world, the Hundred Schools of Thought. All those at the forefront were like a Milky Way descending to earth—a dazzling array of stars, magnificent and awe-inspiring.
Chen Ping'an did the same, his gaze swiftly passing over more than a hundred Barbarian World monster cultivators.
Moreover, there was a subtle convergence in these two inconspicuous actions. For example, when Chen Ping'an's gaze swept over the crowd of monsters, he paid special attention to the eyes of those monster cultivators.
Fei Ran did likewise. Both men of the same kind were using eyes as mirrors, observing things through mirrors.
Thus, besides carefully surveying the other side's world, what Fei Ran saw also included the demeanors of his own Barbarian World cultivators. What Chen Ping'an truly paid attention to was the various reactions of the Haoran World cultivators participating in the discussion.
As for the customs and conditions of the Barbarian World, Chen Ping'an could not have been more familiar. Because he had sat in the Summer Retreat Palace for many years and perused all the secret records and archives, it could be said that no one understood the Barbarian World better than Chen Ping'an.
During this time, Chen Ping'an and Fei Ran merely exchanged a glance, with no further eye contact.
The City Lord of White Emperor City and the Sword Immortal Shou Chen each noticed the intentions of Fei Ran and the young Hidden Official.
The master of Flying Immortal Palace, Huai Yin, once again hid his hands in his sleeves, continuously forming hand seals, his abacus never stopping.
That painter sage could not set up his painting desk at this moment, but he had already committed this unprecedented confrontation scene—a scene unseen in ten thousand years—to memory. Because of the Ritual Sage's rules of heaven and earth, no one could freely display divine powers and techniques. Satisfied with seeing the positions of his own side at the front line, he only waited for the moment the discussion ended to quickly turn around and retreat a few steps, memorizing the positions of everyone in the Confucian Temple assembly. Then, he would return to his residence at Yuanyang Islet, first drink a jar of Qingshen Mountain wine, then a jar of Hundred Flowers Brew, and only when tipsy would he pick up his brush to paint.
The former Fourteen Thrones of the Barbarian World.
Grand Ancestor of Tuo Yue Mountain, Wen Hai Zhou Mi, Big Beard Wanderer Liu Cha. Bai Ying, Yang Zhi, Fei Fei. Yuan Shou, Yao Jia, Huang Luan, Lotus Hermitage Master. Niu Dao, Qie Yun, Dragon Lord, Five Peaks.
They had already suffered heavy losses: some died in battle, some vanished, some were imprisoned by the Confucian Temple. Now there were mostly new faces.
Only three of the old Throne great monsters remained.
Yuan Shou, a patriarch of the Moving Mountains lineage, stood on a flying sword, a long staff on his shoulder, his gaze dark and fixed on that Song Changjing, who had stepped into the Eleventh Realm of martial arts relying on the martial fortune of an entire continent. If you could still flaunt your power in Bottle Gourd Continent, then try coming to the Barbarian World again?
Fei Fei, the overlord of the Yeluo River, was somewhat surprised. That little girl who had competed in water-element divine abilities at Old Dragon City hadn't participated in the discussion? Was she unqualified? That couldn't be. As the only true dragon in the world, if she were in the Barbarian World, she would certainly deserve a seat on the Throne, perfectly filling the vacancy left by that woman Yang Zhi. Earlier, when she and Yuan Shou had chatted privately, they both felt that little girl might very well enter through an abyss to the Barbarian World, where there were fewer restrictions. So both of them had made preparations to intercept and kill her together. But they waited in vain; only when it was time for the Tuo Yue Mountain discussion did she leave an abyss region.
The great monster Five Peaks, an alias, had three heads and six arms, sitting on a golden cushion. He was both a peak Flying Ascension realm cultivator and a pure martial artist at the Perfection Divine Arrival stage.
The remaining Thrones.
On the Sword Qi Great Wall battlefield, the Lotus Hermitage Master was slain by Dong Sangu inside a bright moon of his own dojo. Lotus Hermitage Master also became the first Throne great monster to die and vanish.
Huang Luan, with Ah Liang's help in teaming up with Yao Chongdao, lost most of his life force, dropping directly to the Nascent Soul realm, equivalent to dying once. Later, even after Huang Luan changed his shell and painstakingly hid, he was still found by Wen Hai Zhou Mi, who secretly refined him into part of his own Great Way.
Yao Jia, on the Sword Qi Great Wall, killed the Daoist sage guarding the heavens, the City Lord of Divine Thunder City in the White Jade Capital. At the Fuyao Continent landscape cave battlefield, he killed Zhou Shenzhi, ranked ninth among the Ten of the Central Plains.
But he was killed by three sword strikes from Bai Ye, who had returned from the Five Colors World. In the end, he too was secretly "devoured" by Wen Hai Zhou Mi.
Bai Ying and Qie Yun, in the Fuyao Continent campaign, were both slain by Bai Ye, who wielded four immortal swords, within the River of Time.
However, one skeletal Throne great monster was actually Zhou Mi's Yang Spirit external incarnation. And the great monster Qie Yun, Fei Ran's senior brother, had already been synthesized into the Dao by Zhou Mi in Parasol Leaf Continent.
The Dragon Lord, on half of the Sword Qi Great Wall, tried to intercept the tip of the Immortal Sword Taibai, crossed the city wall, and was killed by Chen Qingdu with a single sword strike.
Liu Cha, who had fallen from the Fourteenth Realm, was imprisoned in the Merit Forest.
Yang Zhi was first blocked by Liu Qi, then imprisoned by the Confucian Temple at a volcanic group site. Legend said that in ancient times, they were alchemy furnaces personally refined by the Dao Ancestor.
The great monster Niu Dao was missing. The golden armor cage on his body had actually been broken, and he had refined it into a city-breaking halberd. But he neither returned to the Barbarian World nor was imprisoned by the Confucian Temple.
The Grand Ancestor of Tuo Yue Mountain, at Jiao-long Trench, faced off against the Ultimate Sage who sat atop Sui Mountain reading a book. They each wore down the other's Great Way. In the end, the gray-robed old man could only seek death, disrupting the celestial timing, almost helping the gods outside the heavens join forces to break the Ritual Sage's protective barrier.
Zhou Mi ascended to heaven.
Among the new Thrones, there were actually few who could truly command the respect of the Barbarian World. The Fourteenth Realm sword cultivator Xiao Xun, Fei Ran, and Shou Chen were relatively acceptable. The rest, even those with sufficient seniority, battle achievements, and barely acceptable realms—Guan Xiang, Chong Guang—were not really convincing. As for a few others, the summit monster cultivators found them even more unimpressive. Were they just filling spots to make up numbers? When did our Barbarian World Thrones become so worthless? Rather than filling positions with nonsense, it would be better to leave them vacant and wait for peak experts to carve a bloody path and ascend to sit.
Pity that little girl with the horned braids was still missing. Even Zuo You had already returned to the Confucian Temple, but she still hadn't returned to the Barbarian World.
Otherwise, given Xiao Xun's temper, she certainly wouldn't agree to let those wastes be Thrones alongside her. She would definitely beat the bottom-dwellers off the Throne; if they were unlucky, she might even beat them to death.
Xiao Xun, having returned to the Barbarian World, was different from the Xiao Xun who had exchanged sword strikes with Zuo You in the Haoran World.
Even though Xiao Xun hadn't broken into the Fourteenth Realm, on the Sword Qi Great Wall, she was still the sword cultivator who had killed the most monsters in history.
The master of Tuo Yue Mountain, Fei Ran.
The two great monsters to Fei Ran's left were both direct disciples of the Grand Ancestor of Tuo Yue Mountain, but they had never participated in the battles at the Sword Qi Great Wall or the Haoran World.
One of them, a beautiful woman that Ah Liang called "Sister New Makeup," together with her senior brother, was responsible for guarding Tuo Yue Mountain. She first glanced at that bastard, then looked at the Madam of Qingshen Mountain. Pretty, yes, but not as breathtaking as imagined; not living up to her reputation. As for that woman with the embroidered flowers on her dress, likely the Flower Master of the Hundred Flowers Blessed Land, she found her even more cloying. Pity Qie Yun died early and the war wasn't won; otherwise, those two women wouldn't have had a good ending.
Sword Immortal Shou Chen, one-eyed, carried a sword case containing six swords. He wore an emerald green dharma robe, "Bundle Plantain Refinement." This monster sword cultivator, famous even on the Sword Qi Great Wall, stood beside his junior brother Zhou Qinggao.
As the founding senior disciple of Wen Hai Zhou Mi's lineage, Shou Chen had just broken through the bottleneck of the Immortal realm, so he was now at the Flying Ascension realm.
In fact, Zhou Mi had long made many backup plans.
For example, Shou Chen's opportunity for breaking through realms, Fei Ran's ascension and breakthroughs, and generally what needed to be done in the Barbarian World over the next hundred years.
Shou Chen had participated in the early "Thirteen Disputes." Later, with the young Hidden Official's emergence, a saying began to circulate on the Sword Qi Great Wall and in the Barbarian World: "South Shou Chen, North Hidden Official."
Beside him was his junior sister, a Jade Pupil realm sword cultivator named Liu Bai. As for their other disciples, Cai Ying, Tong Xuan, Tong Yin, Yu Zao—these sword cultivators had all followed their master Zhou Mi and ascended to heaven together.
For some reason, the female sword cultivator Liu Bai had not been taken away by Master Zhou Mi. She glanced twice at the blue-clad figure opposite. There was a slight pause between the first and second glance.
The great monster Guan Xiang of the Sixty-Year Tents.
The great monster Chong Guang in a bright red dharma robe was an old opponent of the Sword Qi Great Wall sword cultivators. Later, on the Parasol Leaf Continent battlefield, he was also responsible for besieging the Jade Gui Sect. He clashed several times with Jiang Shangzhen, but never interacted with Wei Ying of the True Realm Sect, the lower sect at that time. However, he did recognize Wei Ying. So now, he said to that Jade Gui Sect sword immortal with a smile: "Is Jiang Shangzhen dead? If not, given his temper, he would have crawled to the Confucian Temple. Could it be that there was infighting in your sect and you killed him? If so, I admire you as a man, and from now on, you'll be my guest of honor. If not, then you're just a watchdog raised by Jiang Shangzhen? That would be boring. Couldn't you learn from someone better? Why must you imitate our Hidden Official?"
Wei Ying laughed it off.
This debt was noted.
These mountain cultivators of the Barbarian World clearly had fewer rules and fewer taboos than the crowd discussing at the Confucian Temple. Many were whispering, mixing various dialects, creating a rather chaotic scene.
Fei Ran, in blue robes with a sword on his back, raised an arm.
The originally noisy line gradually fell into silence.
Although Fei Ran's gesture was far from immediately effective, the fact that the fierce monsters on both sides, who dominated their regions, were willing to follow the rules was already extremely rare.
This made the summit cultivators of the Haoran World feel that today's discussion would be very difficult to conduct, or perhaps would become meaningless.
Fei Ran lowered his arm, adjusted his lapels, and made a bow to the Ritual Sage.
This could probably be considered the first formal action of the heroes of the Barbarian World.
It was also the beginning of this discussion.
This blue-clad swordsman, now the nominal master of Tuo Yue Mountain, seemed not at all concerned whether this action would incur the grudges of those unruly great monsters of the Barbarian World.
And Fei Ran himself didn't care one bit whether future records would mention this, that when people flipped through old almanacs, they would always see that Fei Ran had bowed in such a submissive manner.
Back then on the ferry at Peach Leaf Ferry in Parasol Leaf Continent, even in front of Wen Hai Zhou Mi, Fei Ran had not concealed his respect for the Ritual Sage.
Fei Ran, throughout the war that started with the Sword Qi Great Wall and ended with the opening of abysses, had truly made few moves.
But precisely this sword cultivator, after returning to his homeland, inexplicably became the second master of Tuo Yue Mountain, uniquely favored, refining a massive amount of fortune and several secret treasures from the Tuo Yue Mountain armory. Fei Ran, who had previously pretended to be Jade Pupil but was actually Immortal, took a further step on his hundred-foot pole, leaping to become a brand-new Flying Ascension realm sword cultivator—eye-catching and astonishing the world.
In the Barbarian World, strength had always been revered, taking this principle to its extreme.
Several secret internal conflicts in the Haoran World occurred because some peak experts from Haoran sincerely acknowledged this principle. But those sudden disturbances were forcibly suppressed by the Confucian Temple.
Pei Bei had once teamed up with two vice-leaders of the Confucian Temple to secretly dispose of a Flying Ascension ghost from the Central Plains. After the great battle, a mountain peak was directly leveled, and the area within a thousand miles was scorched earth. Another conflict involved the Great God of Sui Mountain, together with Old Master Dong and two other summit cultivators, suppressing an old cultivator who had lost hope of breaking through the Flying Ascension bottleneck. That old cultivator had been in seclusion for a thousand years, in a similar situation to the Flying Ascension cultivator Wanyuan Laojing from Gold Armor Continent. Furthermore, his sect was located in a coastal area, so he likely thought his retreat route was secure. He alone swept through half a dynasty! In less than three days, seventy-two prefectures and more than twenty mountain sects were ravaged by his overwhelming techniques.
Such cruel and violent acts, in the Barbarian World, were as common as daily meals, happening every year and everywhere.
The strong reason, and the weak kneel and listen. Survive, then become strong, then reason the same.
This was the Barbarian World.
Additionally, at the Heavenly Master Mansion of Dragon Tiger Mountain, a similar incident to the Taiping Mountain upheaval occurred. A hidden piece placed by Zhou Mi on Dragon Tiger Mountain, deeply concealed, was the Dao companion of a Purple-Gold noble. She almost tore away the Heavenly Master talisman seals of that lineage. If it hadn't been that Grand Heavenly Master Zhao Tianlai, when he left the mountain to go to Parasol Leaf Continent, hadn't brought the Immortal Sword All Laws with him, the consequences would have been unthinkable.
Seeing Fei Ran bow, many attentive people on the Haoran World side felt their hearts grow heavy.
How had the war between the two worlds started? Why had Haoran World suffered so much? Three continents—Fuyao, Parasol Leaf, and Gold Armor—had their landscapes sunk? Eastern Bottle Gourd Continent and Southern Patience Continent each lost half their territory, becoming fragmented? Simple: Haoran's Jia Sheng became the Barbarian World's Wen Hai Zhou Mi. If not for the Da Li iron cavalry in Bottle Gourd Continent dying to hold the central secondary capital battlefield, if not for Southern Patience Continent never being completely taken by the Barbarian World, perhaps Northern Julu Continent and Flowing Xia Continent would have had their celestial timing and geography altered by the Barbarian World in due course. Since the Grand Ancestor of Tuo Yue Mountain could open the abyss, allowing the Barbarian World monsters to withdraw home, then likewise, the various monster military camps stationed in the Haoran World could replenish troops more quickly. Even if it drained the Barbarian World's foundations, so what? If they won this war, they could slowly return home. Once they formed an encirclement of the Central Plains Divine Continent, the final situation of the two worlds would have been reversed.
All of this was caused by that scholar Wen Hai Zhou Mi. With his profound learning, he single-handedly brought about the violent collision of the two worlds, causing innumerable deaths on both mountains and below.
Only after the wound heals can you forget the pain. How many years had it been? The Confucian Temple had only just begun to clean up the mess. The remnants of monsters in the several continents still lurked in secret.
So, having one or two more Flying Ascension sword cultivators meant nothing to the Haoran World. What they feared was the Barbarian World producing another Wen Hai.
The former leader of the Jia-Shen Tents, the young man with wooden clogs, later Zhou Mi's closed-door disciple, Zhou Qinggao. He now stood beside Fei Ran.
Zhou Qinggao smiled and cupped his hands in salute to the young Hidden Official.
Pity that the Hidden Official didn't acknowledge him.
In fact, the last meeting had been similar: on the cliffside of the two sections of the Sword Qi Great Wall, Zhou Qinggao sincerely invited Chen Ping'an to review a game of Go, but was met with a closed door.
Zhou Qinggao didn't mind. The road to seeking the Dao and eternal life was long; the years were leisurely. There would always be a chance to meet again.
On the Confucian Temple side, the positions of the people had changed somewhat from earlier.
The Confucian sages were in the center, flanked by others.
Eminent figures of Buddhism and Daoism, along with the patriarch of the Military School and the young man Xu Bai, stood on the left end. The ancient masters of the Hundred Schools stood together on the far right.
The five sword cultivators from the Sword Qi Great Wall, though standing beside a Confucian academy head, were not in the most central positions.
So, a monster sword immortal sneered at Qi Tingji: "Old Sword Immortal Qi, after rewards according to merit, it seems your status isn't high. You've fallen even below the Sword Qi Great Wall. How can you let yourself slide back like this? Why not come to our side? You'd be a guaranteed Throne. Why be a subjugated dog?"
Another Immortal realm great monster laughed loudly: "Yo, isn't this our Hidden Official? Finally changed your clothes? Almost unrecognizable. How come after returning home, you can't even be a watchdog? Standing in such a remote spot, you made me almost twist my neck off. Almost let you claim another merit."
Another instigating Immortal realm monster added: "Chen Ping'an, couldn't you earn a minor sacrificial sage position in the Confucian Temple? Anyway, the Second Sage lineage is useless—a bunch of trash. All of them together are inferior to you. If you came to our side, who else would sit on the Throne? The Hidden Official's sword art is unique, and his scolding skills are unparalleled. The Hundred Sword Immortals of Tuo Yue Mountain who served on the wall all experienced it—which one doesn't admire? When the Hidden Official ascends the Throne, I'd willingly lie on the ground as a stepping stool!"
A hunched, ancient Flying Ascension great monster with white hair and white brows—the great monster Guan Xiang of the Sixty-Year Tents—looked at the long-famous young man and said with a smile, "Hidden Official, any interest in visiting my home? I have a favorite junior in the family. She's not bad-looking and admires you greatly. You've probably met before. She once drove a carriage to the Sword Qi Great Wall especially to see you. She said you hit it off at first sight and the Hidden Official even gave her a love token. She said she'd be willing to be a concubine and wouldn't dispute the main wife position with Ning Yao."
Chen Ping'an remained indifferent, hands tucked in sleeves, closing his eyes to rest.
Ah Liang looked eager, itching to act. If not at the Confucian Temple, he'd probably be shouting, "Bring it on to me!"
Immediately, a monster burst out laughing: "Bastard Ah Liang, call me grandpa quickly! How does it feel to be a turtle carrying a stele for a few years?"
Ah Liang smiled faintly and, imitating that little bastard Li Huai, raised his hand to his neck and shook it lightly, signaling with his eyes that the next time he traveled the Barbarian World, he'd come to reminisce.
Unexpectedly, that monster immediately shouted: "Grandpa Ah Liang, you are my grandpa. My home is at Tuo Yue Mountain!"
Ah Liang tugged at the collar of his Confucian robe, a bit depressed.
In fact, most of the Haoran participants couldn't understand the Grand Common Language or the main dialects of the Barbarian World. So the Confucian Temple had specially assigned an academy head proficient in Barbarian languages to explain the monster cultivators' words via voice transmission.
Listening to the chaotic chatter, Yu Xuan asked in confusion: "Old Brother Fire Dragon, from the tone, Chen Ping'an is very good at scolding? Doesn't look like it."
That kid looked very scholarly. Handsome, quiet, fitting what Daoist scriptures called "a mountain guest with light Dao qi." Moreover, Chen Ping'an's disciple Zheng Qian, on the Gold Armor Continent battlefield, was clearly a polite and rule-abiding little girl. Only her punches were fierce... like a jealous woman, as if everyone she killed were shameless vixens. But when she withdrew her fists, she was very ladylike.
Fire Dragon True Man thought for a moment, also puzzled. His impression of Chen Ping'an was indeed not of someone who scolded. But the old true man put on a show of knowing Chen Ping'an better than the Old Scholar, stroking his beard and laughing: "You don't understand, kid. In private, he's very sharp-tongued. It's only around elders he sincerely respects, like me, that Chen Ping'an is gentle and refined. Think about it—Chen Ping'an grew up in an alley in a small town. Even if he hasn't eaten pork, he's seen a pig run. Even if he hasn't eaten an egg, he's seen a hen lay one."
Yu Xuan nodded, changing the subject. Talking about money was fine, but they couldn't keep bringing up old hens. He said, "With this young man in charge, he's quite scheming. Helping the Barbarian World take charge makes things trickier."
Fire Dragon True Man was silent for a moment. "I'm afraid someone will mistakenly think they can take an inch and get a mile, easily gaining all advantages. If forced by circumstances, fighting again might not be unthinkable. But how to fight is extremely important. If you think the Barbarian World is a paper basket, close your eyes, lower your head, and charge in grunting, then I'll go into seclusion and sleep. Let others do as they please."
Yu Xuan said, "The Wealth God of Baibai Continent, Liu Jubao, would certainly want this war."
Fire Dragon True Man smiled. "Liu Jubao's good point is his vision. He's very skilled at making money. From the earlier discussion, he already understood the situation. He won't and doesn't dare to stir up trouble blindly."
Though it was two Mirror Flower Water Moons, the cultivators of the two worlds were still several hundred zhang apart.
Pity the nine Haoran dynasty emperors; they truly couldn't see the scene on the "opposite shore." Fortunately, the Confucian Temple would recount the words, so they weren't completely blind or deaf.
Fei Ran flicked his sleeve.
In the blank space between the two sides, a miniature landscape map of the Barbarian World appeared. Every rise was a majestic mountain range; every sinuous curve was a ten-thousand-li river.
Anyway, the Confucian Temple certainly already had this map, and in more detail, with annotations of all local powers in the Barbarian World, numbers of monsters, cultivator conditions, products...
Zhou Qinggao suddenly spoke in pure Central Plains Divine Continent Grand Common language: "Splendid rivers and mountains—take as you wish."
Shou Chen also didn't use dialect, smiling: "As long as the Haoran World's ability is sufficient, everywhere is the territory south of Qidu in Bottle Gourd Continent."
The great monster Guan Xiang, who had just spoken amiably to the Hidden Official, nodded to himself: "The Barbarian World sits and awaits Haoran's return gift!"
The implication of these three seemed to be that they were convinced the Haoran World would launch a full-scale attack on the Barbarian World. And the Barbarian World only welcomed war.
Chen Ping'an, who had been resting with his eyes closed, suddenly opened them, glancing sideways at Fei Ran, Zhou Qinggao, and Shou Chen on the opposite side.
Zhou Qinggao seemed to notice the young Hidden Official's gaze, and a smile immediately appeared on his face.
As if, after waiting for many years, he had finally received some attention from the young Hidden Official. Zhou Mi's closed-door disciple was quite happy.
But the young Hidden Official soon returned to his hands-in-sleeves, sleeping-like attitude, as if unconcerned with the direction of the two worlds.
The young emperor of the Xuanmi Dynasty tugged at the sleeve of the Grand Supreme Elder beside him, Yu Panshui, and said softly: "Grandpa Yu, these beasts are a bit bold. They sound like they're the ones who won a great victory."
Yu Panshui's eyes were full of praise—a hero born young! He lowered his head and smiled: "Your Majesty's courage isn't slight either. Your words are like thunder, startling the world with one cry."
The young emperor sighed inwardly. So much for that. He'd said the wrong thing. If this old fat Yu beat his chest and wailed in distress, it meant he'd said the right thing. But if he was smiling and amiable, he was in trouble.
Yu Panshui waved cheerfully at the opposite side: "Children's words have no offense! Only fools would argue, only the gutless would care!"
Ah Liang transmitted his voice, cursing: "Fat Beauty, have some shame."
Yu Panshui immediately replied, "Right, right, right. Good, good, good."
Even Yu Panshui couldn't handle the nickname "Fat Beauty." Luckily, for now it was only used privately among brothers. It absolutely couldn't spread. When the landscape gazette started up later, he must not end up like that Grand Leg-breaker Yan.
The Dayuan Emperor coughed lightly.
The Xuanxiu Office Immortal Yang Qingkong immediately cast a spell to isolate a small heaven and earth. Only then did the Dayuan Emperor lower his voice and ask: "National Teacher?"
Yang Qingkong still replied via voice transmission: "We may lose the fight, but not the posture. If they didn't put on this front, how could they demand from us? It's unlikely to really come to blows."
Some words weren't suitable to say here. The hearts of the Haoran people were no longer unified. Especially the ruins of Fuyao and Parasol Leaf continents—they had already fed enough people. Plus the ferocity of the Barbarian World army. Baibai Continent, Flowing Xia Continent, and the regions below the mountains in the Central Plains Divine Continent heartland might have no impression, but for the other continents, the impression was deep. For the next two or three generations of commoners, every time they mentioned it, they'd be terrified. As for the mountain cultivators who had personally experienced the wars, even more so. In their future cultivation paths, if they occasionally recalled it, they'd be disturbed. The key point: the Barbarian World could drive their troops like pigs and dogs, forcibly conscripting, driving them to the Sword Qi Great Wall battlefield at any cost. How many died on the way? Besides monster cultivators, were there several million dead? Was it a million? Anyway, bones piled up, corpses everywhere! According to intelligence from the ferry, the number of ghost cultivators among the monsters had skyrocketed in the last twenty years.
On the Haoran World side, could the Confucian Temple do that? Once they couldn't muster enough troops, what was the point of fighting in the Barbarian World? Suicide? If they advanced smoothly, winning battle after battle, pushing south constantly, even if they conquered tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of li of territory, how would they defend it? Who would defend it? Even if they held it, what was the point? Would the gain outweigh the loss? Did everyone firmly believe they could kill all the way across the entire Barbarian World? Then the Confucian Temple would reward according to merit, and everyone could get a piece?
Among the mountain cultivators of the Haoran World who survived the great war, there were certainly many who harbored hatred and were willing to fight. But more would just want to live well. They were not like the monster cultivators of the barren lands of the Barbarian World, who yearned for a foreign land, drooled over it, their eyes lighting up at the mention of the rich Haoran World, rubbing their hands in eagerness. This subtle atmosphere in the Barbarian World was itself one of the results of Wen Hai Zhou Mi's thousand-year layout.
The Flower Master of the Hundred Flowers Blessed Land whispered: "Sister Qingshen, they seem a bit unruly."
The Madam of Qingshen Mountain smiled and nodded.
If Wen Hai Zhou Mi's disappearance in Bottle Gourd Continent, the Tuo Yue Mountain Grand Ancestor's battle with the Ultimate Sage for years—resulting in his death and complete disruption of Haoran's celestial timing while opening the abyss entrance for the Barbarian World monsters to return home—and the young Hidden Official's disappearance from the Sword Qi Great Wall, were taken as the true end of the war.
Then within these few short years, the Barbarian World interior had not been idle. Heroes rose, carved out territories, and had intense civil strife. Compared to the Haoran World's rest and recovery, it was a completely different scene of chaos. Then, a few years ago, a turning point appeared. The two guarding great monsters of the Tuo Yue Mountain lineage, direct disciples of the Barbarian Grand Ancestor, suddenly announced to the world that they had chosen Fei Ran as the new master of Tuo Yue Mountain. Then they joined forces with Sword Immortal Shou Chen of Wen Hai Zhou Mi's lineage and Zhou Qinggao, integrated the forces of several dead Throne great monsters—Bai Ying, Huang Luan, etc.—and finally cooperated with a few old Thrones, including Fei Fei of the Yeluo River. The three sides together suppressed the heroes, used thunderous methods to sweep the world, and based on the previous twenty territories of the Barbarian World, divided them further into forty regions. They formally erected boundary markers on the borders, for the first time drawing clear boundaries in the Barbarian World. Within each territory, for fifty years, any killing was allowed—conquer as you wish. After fifty years, only one force would control each region.
Tuo Yue Mountain finally proclaimed three iron laws.
First: Within a hundred years, all Flying Ascension great monsters, unless permitted by Tuo Yue Mountain or through battle merits, may not leave their respective jurisdictions. After a hundred years, freedom is restored.
Second: All Immortal realm monster cultivators and Jade Pupil realm sword cultivators must voluntarily hand over their true names and personally go to Tuo Yue Mountain, where their true names will be recorded in the register. Additionally, all Jade Pupil realm cultivators who are not sword cultivators may establish their own sects. The merit accounts of the sixty military camps are kept intact. Fei Ran promises that within a hundred years, Tuo Yue Mountain will redeem them one by one.
Third: Do whatever Tuo Yue Mountain says. Those who disobey die.
These inside stories were heard by the summit of the Haoran World.
After all, it was now very simple for the Haoran World to infiltrate the Barbarian World.
Not to mention the four abysses. To the south of the Sword Qi Great Wall, three huge ferries had been established. Besides the Mohist leader, who worked like a diligent farmer, building a city alone every day, the other two ferries, plus the abyss entrances in the Barbarian World—Zhao Tianlai carrying an immortal sword instead of a peachwood sword, the Female Martial God Pei Bei, Huai Yin, and others—had all stayed there for a time. And of course, they weren't just standing there in a daze. Going that far, they had their means and secret arts to travel into the Barbarian hinterlands in various ways. Moreover, rumors said that the White Emperor City Lord in Fuyao Continent had long secretly infiltrated the Barbarian World. So whether this Zheng Juzhong was the real body or not, perhaps only the Ritual Sage knew.
But compared to this closed-door discussion at the Confucian Temple, the Tuo Yue Mountain discussion that lasted several months was much more heated. There were those who didn't accept Fei Ran as master of Tuo Yue Mountain, those who cursed Wen Hai Zhou Mi as a ten-thousand-year sinner, and those who were arrogantly sure they must become one of the new Thrones. Back and forth, several had been "invited" to Tuo Yue Mountain for detention. Some even died. Yuan Shou killed one with a single strike of his staff, and Fei Ran personally killed two.
Before Fei Ran acted, several Throne great monsters and others outside Tuo Yue Mountain had regarded him as at most an Immortal realm sword cultivator.
Finally, the Ritual Sage spoke, smiling: "Whether to fight or make peace, there's no rush to declare. Let's talk first and see."
Fei Ran nodded and smiled: "Then let the Confucian Temple give their proposal, and we'll listen."
Vice-leader of the Confucian Temple, that old master Han who was closest to the Second Sage lineage, spoke slowly: "First, the four abysses—we can work together to close them. The Sword Qi Great Wall—we take it back and rebuild. The three ferries—the Haoran World must retain them."
The great monster Chong Guang scoffed: "First what? Not a shred of sincerity. Jointly close the abysses? If we don't close them, the celestial timing of the two worlds mixes together. For the Confucian Temple to re-establish measurement standards and time scales—even if the Ritual Sage does it personally, it won't be easy, right? If we don't close them, it's equivalent to pooling our fortunes with the Barbarian World, mixing them together. The longer it drags on, the more the Confucian Temple's efforts yield half the results. Do you think we're stupid, or does the Confucian Temple have no sincerity?"
Having said this, the great monster looked at the central sage and raised his hands high in apology: "No offense intended to the Ritual Sage."
The Ritual Sage nodded with a smile.
Old Master Han said: "Closing the abysses can be done without troubling the Barbarian World. The Sword Qi Great Wall was originally the border territory of the Haoran World, and now it's firmly in our hands. It's not even a matter of 'taking back'—if we don't take it, can you take it away?"
Old Master Han shook his head and answered his own question: "You can't. So whether we rebuild the Sword Qi Great Wall and combine the two sections is actually redundant?"
The vice-leader continued: "As for the three ferries, we will build them into three academies. You need to promise the Confucian Temple that you won't stop those from the Barbarian World who are willing to study from coming to the academies. Then, the academy students—whether they return home or travel together through the Barbarian World during their time—you still cannot deliberately target them, nor secretly assassinate them or cause trouble afterward. If Tuo Yue Mountain agrees to this, the Haoran World will not have any Fourteenth Realm or Flying Ascension cultivator sneak into the Barbarian World without authorization."
Fei Ran smiled and said nothing.
Shou Chen smiled: "Without authorization? Does reporting a name at the ferry or sending a flying sword message to Tuo Yue Mountain make it 'authorized'?"
Old Master Han shook his head: "Of course not."
Zhou Qinggao asked: "Those three academies—total number of Confucian students?"
Old Master Han replied: "Total three thousand Confucian students, intake every sixty years, half from Haoran, half from Barbarian."
Zhou Qinggao said: "Then in six hundred years, our Barbarian World will have fifteen thousand academy disciples."
Shou Chen said: "Agreed. But with two conditions: these academy students from the Barbarian native lands, upon returning home, may not open schools, may not teach the Way, may not take any disciples. The Haoran Confucian students from the three academies may not step beyond a thousand li around the academies—not a single step."
Old Master Han smiled: "That won't do. Unless you exchange these two conditions for the Confucian Temple quadrupling the student quota. If you agree, we can proceed to the next topic."
Yuan Shou, standing on his flying sword, sneered: "What if we don't agree? As if your not agreeing would turn the Barbarian World into the Haoran World? How many Bai Yes do you have? How many immortal swords?"
Old Master Dong suddenly spoke with a smile: "Zhu Yan, you should be content that you made it back to the Barbarian World alive."
Among the Throne great monsters, this old beast deserved death the most.
Yuan Shou, addressed by his "true name," grimaced: "Old man Dong, find a place and fight me alone!"
Dragon Tiger Mountain Grand Heavenly Master Zhao Tianlai smiled faintly: "I happen to have one. Zhu Yan, what do you say? Pick a time and place? Will you come to Dragon Tiger Mountain, or shall I go to Tuo Yue Mountain? Either is fine."
Yuan Shou spat but didn't continue with threats.
Both Yuan Shou and the great monster Chong Guang had experienced this Grand Heavenly Master's Five Thunder True Method at Parasol Leaf Continent's Jade Gui Sect.
He did have some skill...
And with Zhao Tianlai's style of not speaking harshly but only doing harsh deeds, he might well go to Tuo Yue Mountain for a solo fight.
If they could kill him by ganging up, they might as well kill him conveniently. The problem was Zhao Tianlai's escape skills were equally miraculous.
On the Confucian Temple side, most were fine—they were used to family ancestral halls, mountain patriarch halls, or court discussions. But for many Barbarian World great monsters, when they had their own closed-door discussions, they also had them, but never with this much circling and inefficiency. And there were plenty of amusements. Looking at the Confucian Temple's posture, if they wanted to go through item by item, they'd have to stand foolishly for days and nights. Anyway, the ones who could truly speak were only a handful: Tuo Yue Mountain, Wen Hai Zhou Mi's lineage, plus those Thrones. What could the fillers do? Look at the women? There were a few opposite—really pretty, but they could only covet and not touch. Useless.
In fact, among today's Confucian Temple participants, few truly understood Fei Ran.
At most, they knew Fei Ran was a sword cultivator, head of the Hundred Sword Immortals of Tuo Yue Mountain, and one of the Ten Youths of several worlds. Those who knew a bit more had only heard that Fei Ran had led a military tent, was the junior brother of great monster Qie Yun, and even indirectly saved the lives of all the cultivators on Reed Flower Island. But in that war, he had no remarkable achievements. It seemed this astonishingly talented sword cultivator, when he came to Parasol Leaf Continent in the Haoran World, was just on a sightseeing trip.
Among the Barbarian World great monsters, almost all were seeing the Ritual Sage for the first time. Many were immediately somewhat impressed by his bearing.
A few female monster cultivators even widened their eyes, shimmering with fascination.
Might as well look. This was the legendary Ritual Sage, said to be a close friend of Lord Bai Ze.
Even in the Barbarian World, everyone held some respect for the Ritual Sage, more or less.
If not for the Ritual Sage initially insisting on his dissenting opinion in the Confucian Temple, the native monsters of the Haoran World would have been completely wiped out.
Ah Liang struck his fist into his palm: "Oh no, all the spotlight will be stolen by our Lord Ritual Sage."
The female sword cultivator Liu Bai, her lips tightly pressed together, first looked at the mountain gods and lake lords beside the five sword cultivators, then quickly swept her gaze over Qi Tingji and the others.
If that certain someone would speak, would he restore some of his former glory of single-handedly guarding the wall top, and say, "We have sincerity, but do we look like fools?" Or slightly more subtle: "Anyway, we have plenty of sincerity. As for being fools, you can go be that yourself." Maybe not. Maybe he'd be even more disgusting, making it take a long time for the insulted to realize it? She let her thoughts wander, then immersed her mind in her small world, talking to herself.
Shou Chen glanced at this junior sister. The dharma robe she wore was personally bestowed by their master, its rank not inferior to the ink-colored dragon robe on the great monster Yang Zhi. It seemed that the robe, named "Fish Tail Cave Heaven," had contributed greatly to her perilous breakthrough into the upper five realms.
Then Ah Liang nudged Zuo You with his elbow, lifted his chin, and pointed at the opposite side: "Take a look at that little girl. She's interesting."
Zuo You looked at the opposite side. "Who?"
Ah Liang, worried: "The one beside Shou Chen. Long legs, tiny waist, oval face. As for the chest, I won't discuss that. Sister Lu is here; it's not appropriate for us to talk about that. Just now, the little girl's autumn waves were flowing, full of affection. Is she coveting my beauty? I'm scared. What should I do?"
Zuo You glanced at the woman. "Shou Chen knows her; she doesn't know him. The dharma robe is decent; doesn't look like Golden Emerald City's workmanship."
Ah Liang clicked his tongue.
Zuo You frowned. "What?"
Ah Liang chuckled. The fool Zuo You had finally wised up.
Lu Zhi said: "When Ah Liang first arrived at the Sword Qi Great Wall, he boasted at the drinking table that he had a unique secret art. As long as he drank to his heart's content, there was no such thing as dharma robes or dresses. And he was a painting master. With that, he earned plenty of immortal money. But when he sent out that big stack of paintings, dozens of sword cultivators chased him all the way."
Zuo You asked: "Were the paintings terrible?"
Lu Zhi nodded. "Horrible. And he painted that Yin Chen, keeping his promise—they were indeed naked."
Zuo You nodded. "The Old Master Sword Immortal could tolerate Ah Liang for a hundred years. That's quite an achievement."
Ah Liang sighed for no reason, took out a jug of wine, and took a big gulp.
The cultivators of the Haoran World might never understand why a Nascent Soul realm sword cultivator felt life was meaningless, yet didn't want to die, but wanted to live one day at a time. In fact, besides an occasional outsider who came to chat, even his hometown folks didn't want to deal with that eccentric old man. And not just disliking him; many sword cultivators genuinely hated him, and with good reason.
So for many years on the battlefield, the old sword cultivator was either alone, guarding his cultivation spot in the city wall, or going to battle alone. Many times, he came back alone. The last time, he went to die alone.
Ah Liang suddenly asked: "Chen Ping'an, do you know Yin Chen's past?"
Chen Ping'an nodded.
Ah Liang smiled. "That's good. Then besides me, there are at least two."
In those days, Ah Liang wanted the sword cultivators of the Sword Qi Great Wall—especially the young ones and children—to remember that there was a sword cultivator named Yin Chen. Terrible temper, awful personality, utilitarian sword strikes. But at least remember there was a person called Yin Chen.
Young Yin Chen had once, because of his and some fellow sword cultivators' procrastination, caused the death of a female sword immortal who shouldn't have died and shouldn't have died.
Young Yin Chen didn't like her. He just felt that such a beautiful woman, a sword immortal, dying to save a few worthless trash—she died too worthless, too ugly, cleaved in half by a great monster's sword, her guts and blood spilling everywhere.
The key was that dying woman, when her gaze swept over those bastards, had no hatred, no regret. Just that one look made Yin Chen remember it for a lifetime, unable to find peace.
So later, from a boy into an eccentric old man, that Nascent Soul realm sword cultivator, before his last time going out of the city to die, secretly took out a seal manual, opened a page, and carefully copied one of the seals.
The seal inscription had only four characters.
"Colorful Clouds Suddenly Arrive."
Drinking alone to see himself off, the old man didn't realize he was crying.
He just felt the wine was particularly bad. But from the first day he started drinking as a boy, it had never tasted good.
The old man had originally wanted to tell Ah Liang in person, say some cheesy things, thank him. And wanted to tell the young Hidden Official that not saving those swordsmen back then was the right call. The kid wasn't bad.
But he was too busy drinking that awful wine, so he didn't do any of it.
He died on the battlefield, silent and indifferent. It wasn't just him; many sword cultivators were like that.
On the Confucian Temple side, most listened carefully to the discussion, but also spent time examining the upper-five-realm cultivators of the Barbarian World.
Liu Cha's first disciple, sword cultivator Bamboo Box.
The City Lord of Golden Emerald City. Her dharma robe was clearly an immortal artifact. The water path divided Yin and Yang, with the aura of sun-moon alternation and star rotation.
A golden-armored god general on horseback, holding a spear, with a face mask. At his waist were two extremely miniature meteor hammers, like children's toys. But they were made from two meteors that had fallen into the Barbarian World, carefully refined.
In a page of secret archives in the Summer Retreat Palace, at the end, a sword cultivator of the Hidden Official lineage had written the two characters "Must Kill." Only three such recipients existed among Jade Pupil and Immortal realm monster cultivators. The other two were Sword Immortal Shou Chen and an Immortal realm female monster cultivator who went by the alias Rou Ti, with the Dao name Shuo Ren. Legend said she was the Dao partner of Throne great monster Huang Luan. Others said she was a strange remnant of Huang Luan's severed three corpses. She possessed many treasures, each of high rank. On both the Sword Qi Great Wall and Old Dragon City battlefields, she had made notable contributions.
Today, Rou Ti wore a female Daoist costume, a White Jade Capital fish-tail crown, but a Heavenly Master Mansion Purple-Gold-style Daoist robe, holding a jade ruyi. Lightly made-up, with a plump figure that made the Daoist robe somewhat tight.
She looked at the young and handsome Old Sword Immortal Qi Tingji, but he ignored her.
The three great monsters among the Four Evils of the Yeluo River stood side by side. Yang Zhi had been left in the Haoran World. They had now submitted to Fei Fei. As for the eel among the Four Evils, it had long been imprisoned and had undoubtedly suffered at the young Hidden Official's hands.
The traitorous great sword immortal of the Sword Qi Great Wall, the gatekeeper Zhang Lu, was also present.
Throughout the previous war, Zhang Lu never made a single sword strike. He neither killed Barbarian World monsters on the wall top nor followed Xiao Xun to the Haoran World to strike. He just drank by the gate.
Now, Zhang Lu was the same as always, sitting cross-legged, drinking alone. In previous years, Xiao Xun had given him quite a bit of wine. According to their agreement, every time she shattered a Haoran mountain peak, she gave him a jug of fine wine.
In fact, the former gatekeeper Zhang Lu had good relations with Lu Zhi, Ah Liang, and even the boy who later became the Hidden Official. He was also a good friend of Ning Yao's parents. He was also close with Yao Chongdao; on the battlefield, they had saved each other's lives.
Even at this moment, Lu Zhi felt no animosity toward Zhang Lu.
Before Ah Liang came to the Sword Qi Great Wall, especially before the Thirteen Disputes, Zhang Lu had a similar personality to Ah Liang, except his gambling and drinking manners were better.
Qi Tingji glanced at Zhang Lu. Zhang Lu sensed the gaze but didn't make things difficult for Old Sword Immortal Qi; he just paused briefly in his drinking, then suddenly took a big gulp.
Because of Zhang Lu, Qi Tingji recalled a very secret old story.
Whether Ning Yao could break into the Flying Ascension realm within a hundred years was an extremely important consideration.
After leaving the Sword Qi Great Wall, Qi Tingji was actually betting that his gambling luck was indeed "poor," betting that Ning Yao would definitely break into the Flying Ascension realm within a hundred years.
Because that Daoist sage had once cast a divination for Qi Tingji, saying: "Cultivating yourself and regulating the family will be quite smooth. As for governing the state and pacifying the world..."
The old god from Divine Thunder City only shook his head with a smile and said nothing.
But back then, Qi Tingji didn't take it too seriously. Pacify the world? The Barbarian World? The Haoran World? Things not worth thinking about.
Who would have thought that a fifth world would actually appear?
Old Master Jiang transmitted his voice to the two beside him with a smile: "In the eyes of the Barbarian World monsters, this great war was lost in a muddled way. Even many tent great monsters were baffled, because they didn't understand the plans of the Tuo Yue Mountain Grand Ancestor and Zhou Mi. They couldn't guess the three strategies—upper, middle, lower—that Zheng Juzhong had revealed. They didn't realize that after the Bottle Gourd Continent campaign, the Barbarian World was actually about to be unable to hold the 'middle strategy.' So most monsters, even now, are still unconvinced. In their eyes, the only truly capable opponents were two places: the Sword Qi Great Wall and Bottle Gourd Continent. The rest were a mess."
Patriarch Wei nodded. "So now the Sword Qi Great Wall has ascended to the Five Colors World, and in Bottle Gourd Continent, the Da Li iron cavalry—Embroidered Tiger is dead, half the continent is still in ruins—thus half their combat power is lost. Perhaps these beasts of the Barbarian World are more eager than we are to fight again. Once the battlefield is in the Barbarian World, they don't need to stretch their supply lines—it's exactly what they want. If they were fighting in a foreign land, they might be reluctant. But back home, fighting on their own turf is far too familiar for the Barbarian World."
Xu Bai said with concern: "Earlier, during our defensive battles in Parasol Leaf and Fuyao continents, we didn't make good use of the terrain advantage. The various dynasties and mountain immortals had little cooperation, so those two continental campaigns were almost like scattered sand, collapsing at the first touch. Of course, this was also due to our lack of experience in such large-scale warfare. Now we have experience, but so do they. So if the battlefield changes worlds, they might learn from our lessons in those two continents and prepare highly targeted measures in advance."
Old Master Jiang smiled. "After the Confucian Temple discussion ends, regardless of the outcome, let's conduct a war simulation."
Xu Bai hesitated, then tentatively asked: "Could we ask the Hidden Official for help? Otherwise, our simulation might be unrealistic, a castle in the air."
He had to admit that the person who knew the Barbarian World best was that young Hidden Official. Even more so than the higher-sword-arts Qi Tingji, or Ah Liang, Zuo You, and Lu Zhi.
Because Chen Ping'an sat in the Summer Retreat Palace on the Sword Qi Great Wall, participating in, witnessing, and directing every local battle of that war. The young Hidden Official knew almost every detail of each battle, the keys to victory and defeat, gains and losses, exact casualty figures. And Chen Ping'an was thoroughly familiar with the backgrounds of all the upper-five-realm monster cultivators who participated in the war, as well as the actual combat strength, combat styles, strengths, and weaknesses of the various great tribes of the Barbarian World.
In short, if it came to a war out of necessity, the Hidden Official Chen Ping'an—this young man—would be the person the Haoran World could least afford to lose.
Yuan Pang, Xu Bai, Lin Junbi—these young talents who had once served as military secretaries in the Confucian Temple—would quickly become Chen Ping'an's subordinates. They would surely be joined by the young out-of-town sword cultivators of the former Hidden Official lineage: Xuan Shen, Cao Gun, Song Gaoyuan, not a single one missing.
Perhaps the Confucian Temple would even make an exception and recruit several sword cultivators from the Five Colors World—Deng Liang, Gu Jianlong, Wang Xinshui, Dong Bude, Guo Zhujiu—to once again help Chen Ping'an devise strategies.
Of course, it wasn't that without these young people, the Haoran World wouldn't be able to fight.
The Military School and the Mohist School, joined by the School of Diplomacy and the School of Yin-Yang, would already have considerable confidence.
In the early years, the Confucian Temple had once held a small-scale discussion, selecting only nine of the Hundred Schools to participate. Plus the founders of four schools including the Merchant School and the Medicine School. But in that discussion, the Confucian Temple was represented only by the Second Sage and the three leaders—the chief and vice.
But both patriarchs of the Military School deliberately didn't mention something to the young man Xu Bai.
There was a very strong possibility that the Barbarian World, wanting to take advantage of the terrain, would fight a real war with the Haoran World, which no longer had the Sword Qi Great Wall or its sword cultivators.
A Tuo Yue Mountain, plus all the peak experts of the Barbarian World—they didn't care at all about the lives of ants below the mountains. The more killed, the more accumulated, the celestial timing and fortune would gradually gather onto a small group of Immortal and Flying Ascension great monsters. Even if the Barbarian World lost another battle, lost thoroughly and painfully, the worst case was to adopt a scorched-earth policy, continuously retreat south. Could the cultivators of the Haoran World stay in those barren lands for decades or centuries of peaceful cultivation? If the cultivators couldn't stay, the cavalry of the mortal dynasties would be useless no matter how many troops they had.
But for the Haoran World, unless the Ultimate Sage personally announced a large-scale invasion of the Barbarian World, they would be in a rather awkward position. The Confucian Temple actually had only two choices: fight at all costs, completely destroy half the Barbarian World including Tuo Yue Mountain, or quickly rebuild the Sword Qi Great Wall and then, over the next century or millennium, steadily push south. Otherwise, the three ferries, even with the Mohist leader guarding one, couldn't withstand the Barbarian World's counterattack. Perhaps the two sections of the Sword Qi Great Wall would be destroyed before they could even be rebuilt. But how difficult would it be to restore the Sword Qi Great Wall? Would the three teaching patriarchs join forces again? Would the Dao Ancestor and the Buddha be willing to step in?
And the most troublesome thing remained two simple words: people's hearts.
With the overwhelming momentum, the hearts of the Haoran people had just begun to coalesce, but now the momentum had already settled.
To put it bluntly: in the shattered landscapes of several continents, those truly willing to die—whether on mountains or below—had almost all died. The Haoran World had already lost far too many.
No matter how much they hated the Barbarian World, it was hard to truly take revenge.
Ah Liang quietly asked: "Righty, where's the horned-braid girl?"
Zuo You said: "Not sure how the White Jade Capital is handling it. She was injured; without ten years, it's hard for her to recover her peak."
It wasn't that Xiao Xun's sword strikes weren't powerful enough, but in Zuo You's view, her sword arts were still insufficient. In a direct exchange, she had no advantage.
After all, the only one who dared to say Zuo You's sword arts weren't good enough was the Old Master Sword Immortal Chen Qingdu, who had cultivated on the city wall for ten thousand years.
Even with Ah Liang, if only sword arts were considered, Zuo You was still a notch above.
In fact, it was Ah Liang who helped spread the claim that Zuo You's sword arts were unparalleled in the Haoran World. He and the old patriarchs of several sects responsible for landscape gazettes were close friends who drank for free.
Zuo You neither acknowledged nor denied being called unparalleled in sword arts.
Why? Because Zuo You had always had the confidence that once he found the sword artist Pei Min, Pei Min would lose the word "sword" in his title.
Previously, he went overseas to seek immortals, wanting to challenge Pei Min as a sparring match.
But now, if he found Pei Min, he would just kill him.
An old senior who had practiced sword for many years actually had the face to challenge a junior who had only been in the Jade Pupil realm for a few years?
"Somewhat tricky. Even though the Invincible One sits in the White Jade Capital for this century, given the temperament of my old brother Yu, he might fight the horned-braid girl to the point of heaven and earth shattering, then move to the outer heavens to fight a chaotic mess. He won't stop until the little girl cries. And she won't admit defeat. So she might be stuck there for the rest of her life."
Ah Liang sighed, rubbing his chin with his palm. "But that sticky candy Lu is someone who fears no chaos. And Third Lu especially envies my title of Handsome Romantic. Last time I visited the White Jade Capital, he watched me like a thief, as if he wanted to shroud all the female immortals of the five cities and twelve towers in burlap sacks, afraid of comparisons. He lost badly in the previous contest of looks and bearing, so he'll definitely stir up some trouble to disgust me."
Zuo You's eyes were cold. After a moment of silence, he said: "If she returns to the Barbarian World, I'll go and challenge her with my sword."
Ah Liang whispered: "Challenging with a sword is fine. I'll go with you. I'm familiar with that place, like a local snake, like walking around my own turf. But let's agree: just determine victory or defeat, don't fight to the death. Not interesting. In my opinion, Xiao Xun in the Barbarian World—it's hard to say who she's really harming. Today she doesn't like someone, she punches them half to death. Tomorrow she sees someone she dislikes, she chops them dead with a sword. Tuo Yue Mountain can't control her."
Zuo You's answer was just one word: "Determine."
Ah Liang slapped his forehead—he hated Zuo You the most when he was like this.
No matter. He'd first discuss with that kid Chen Ping'an, then team up to whisper in the Old Scholar's ear. Chen Ping'an was a master of flattery, and with Ah Liang adding the finishing touch, brothers united, their strength would break metal! Their swords combined, invincible under heaven! How could they be afraid of a Zuo You not obeying?
Zuo You said: "I advise you not to involve Chen Ping'an in talking nonsense to our teacher."
Ah Liang said aggrievedly: "Am I that kind of person? You wronged me."
Zuo You said nothing. Chen Ping'an seemed to be in a bad mood; Qi Tingji was in a trance; Lu Zhi didn't dare look at him again.
Ah Liang had to crouch down and continue drinking in small sips.
The Old Scholar transmitted his voice with a smile: "Old Master Fu, what do you think?"
Fu Sheng smiled and asked back: "What do you mean? Kindly enlighten me, Literary Sage."
The Old Scholar complained: "Since when are we so formal? You know perfectly well, right?"
Hurry up and praise my closed-door disciple.
I, the dignified Literary Sage, didn't even call you Brother Fu, but changed to Old Master Fu. You're hoarding all that knowledge—bring it out to bask in the sun.
Fu Sheng sighed helplessly, thought for a moment, and slowly recited: "Elegance lies not in sharp debate; hands in sleeves, wordless, the flavor lingers long."
The Old Scholar sighed in admiration: "Brilliant."
Fu Sheng smiled. Finally let him off.
The Ritual Sage's gaze rose slightly.
What he saw wasn't the opposite painting, but Tuo Yue Mountain in the Barbarian World.
In an instant, within the opposite painting, a small figure suddenly crashed down. The commotion was huge—dust flew, blotting out the sky, causing a large area of people to tumble over.
It was Xiao Xun, breaking through the sky, crashing from the Azure Underworld into the Barbarian World, and falling directly onto Tuo Yue Mountain.
The Confucian Temple crowd saw that "little girl" with two horned braids, knees bent, bottom on the ground, slowly rising. She patted the dust off herself, raised her fists, shook them lightly, sending several upper-five-realm monster cultivators flying. She stood on tiptoe, hovering in the air, looked around, kicked her legs twice, "ascended" a bit higher until she was taller than everyone, then crossed her arms.
Xiao Xun looked down at the line of people opposite—specifically at Zuo You—with a cold gaze. She raised a slender white arm like a lotus root, then struck the other arm horizontally, roughly indicating that she was going to beat Zuo You to death.
Zuo You was expressionless.
The Old Scholar's expression turned serious as he looked at Fei Ran, who seemed to have anticipated this.
The missing Throne great monster Niu Dao had probably been tossed by Tuo Yue Mountain into the Azure Underworld.
Perhaps Fei Ran had even sent some Barbarian World seeds to the White Jade Capital to help Dao Second fill out the five hundred spirit officers.
Xiao Xun noticed Zhang Lu standing in a relatively remote spot. She frowned slightly but didn't say much, only tossing a jug of immortal wine in the distance.
Zhang Lu caught it, removed the seal, and started drinking.
Fei Ran looked at the White Emperor City Lord and asked with a smile: "Mr. Zheng? Seen enough?"
Zheng Juzhong nodded: "More or less."
As his words fell, a monster cultivator on Tuo Yue Mountain burst apart, his golden core, Nascent Soul, skin, and soul all shattered.
Zheng Juzhong smiled: "Buy one, get one free."
Another monster cultivator, a national teacher of some Barbarian dynasty, met the same fate.
Some nearby monster cultivators, caught up in the chaos, cursed the grand demon from the Haoran World.
But more felt a sense of dread.
It wasn't just those at Tuo Yue Mountain; even on the Confucian Temple side, many felt their scalps tingle.
Those who had reached the summit were rarely stupid. Each had their own specialties, their hidden techniques, their trump cards that could catch opponents off guard.
But facing a White Emperor City Lord like this, anyone with a sect, family, or disciples would live in fear.
Zheng Juzhong once said an extremely arrogant and detestable remark: "In this life, I only look down on those who have a head but don't use their brain."
After Xiao Xun appeared, an unknown thin old man, leaning on a staff, walked slowly, as if he had just arrived at Tuo Yue Mountain. He casually chose a remote spot to stand, then glanced at Yu Xuan, then at the Dragon Tiger Mountain Grand Heavenly Master. Smiling, he cradled his staff and made a Daoist bow to the two Daoists. Then, facing the Buddhist eminent monk at the Confucian Temple discussion, he put his palm together, bowed his head slightly. Finally, he made a deep bow to the Ritual Sage.
The Ritual Sage nodded in acknowledgment.
He was a visitor from beyond the heavens.
Hadn't been seen for many years.
Lu Zhi asked in confusion: "Who?"
Qi Tingji sighed: "Fei Ran and Qie Yun's grandmaster, the creator of the Rat Hole."
Ah Liang pinched his nose: "I heard that when the Dao Ancestor rode his ox past the pass back then, he had some ideas."
Chen Ping'an instantly hunched his back, then slowly straightened.
The old man, an unexpected guest, said with a smile: "Earlier discussion: if you reach an agreement, forge a landscape covenant. If not, you can agree anyway—nothing is too excessive. You're just thinking of using those three small academy shells to civilize the Barbarian World bit by bit. Go ahead and play. You scholars love these thankless tasks. We have only one request: the native monsters of the Haoran World, as long as they want to come to the Barbarian World, the Confucian Temple should not stop them. As for those who lost the war, stay there—kill them, capture them as you wish. Tuo Yue Mountain won't interfere. How about that?"
The Ritual Sage smiled and shook his head.
The Second Sage said solemnly: "This matter is not up for discussion."
The old man rested both hands on his staff, said "Oh," nodded with a smile: "Then act as if I said nothing. You two continue your discussion."
Fu Sheng frowned.
The Old Scholar stroked his beard, squinting.
Fei Ran smiled at Old Master Dong and asked: "Then shall we continue?"
Old Master Dong was silent, apparently communicating with the Ritual Sage via voice transmission.
Then Old Master Dong looked somewhat surprised.
Not because of what the Ritual Sage said, but because he said nothing.
The Ritual Sage seemed not to have heard his question at all—whether to continue talking with Tuo Yue Mountain, how to talk, whether to advance or retreat.
The Old Scholar felt some melancholy.
Someone had once said a line. How did it go again?
It was like: in some positions, there are no young people, only old people.
Just then, a blue-clothed swordsman carrying a sword stepped forward without warning and said: "Then fight."
Zuo You stepped forward.
After this battle, if he lost, he wouldn't be surnamed Zuo—he'd be surnamed You.
Ah Liang stretched lazily, ran his hands through his hair, strode forward, and said calmly: "Refreshing."
Qi Tingji stepped forward.
Lu Zhi stepped forward.
Yu Xuan laughed heartily, his wide sleeves billowing.
Fire Dragon True Man followed suit; he wanted to experience the surging floods of the Yeluo River.
Dragon Tiger Mountain Grand Heavenly Master Zhao Tianlai also stepped forward. Since he had promised the Confucian Temple to travel and wander for sixty years, then the Barbarian World was also "below the mountain" outside Dragon Tiger Mountain.
Cao Ci stepped forward. The Sword Qi Great Wall had been his boxing ground; he had built a small thatched hut there. Now that his realm was higher, he naturally had to go out of the city to deliver his fists.
Yuan Pang stepped forward.
Liu Jubao smiled brightly. Time to make money. This time, he'd earn immortal money that heaven couldn't control, earth couldn't control, and the Confucian Temple couldn't control. A grand plan—wealth rolling in!
Song Changjing stepped forward with a cold smile. Da Li, Bottle Gourd Continent—none of that mattered much to him anymore. In that case, go challenge Tuo Yue Mountain with fists.
Liu Qi smiled faintly. He hadn't been to the Barbarian World yet; might as well go see.
Su Zi smiled and stepped forward.
Zhang Tiaoxia stepped forward. He heard the Yeluo River was deep with big fish; it would be a shame not to go.
Madam Dandan of Lucao Lake: if the Barbarian World were pacified and became part of Haoran, then her authority as the lord of land water fortune would double, wouldn't it? As for fighting, who wasn't she fighting?
Madam Qingshen Mountain: she wanted to go see the Sword Qi Great Wall. The sword cultivators there had drunk Qingshen Mountain wine. But that wine was fake. She needed to bring the real stuff, to offer wine as sacrifice to all heroes and sword cultivators who chopped down thieves but remained nameless. Since she was going to the Sword Qi Great Wall, she might as well take a look to the south. She would go.
Xu Bai stepped forward.
Patriarch Jiang and Patriarch Wei of the Military School exchanged a smile and stepped forward together.
Master Fan of the Merchant School smiled knowingly—time to scatter money.
The patriarch of the School of Diplomacy stepped forward almost simultaneously with Master Fan. They exchanged glances and laughed heartily.
Liu Tui, a vulture-like youth with fierce eyes and a gloomy expression. Damn it, in his hometown Fuyao Continent, his sect had suffered heavy losses. He himself, a proper Flying Ascension, had not only dropped realms but had lost nine-tenths of his direct disciples, and his mountain top was completely destroyed. That nearly turned me into a bachelor. Rare opportunity—kill these beasts of the Barbarian World!
Yu Panshui grabbed that foolish young emperor by the neck and dragged him forward.
Chao Pu, the national teacher of Shaoyuan Dynasty, stepped forward with his emperor.
The Old Scholar smiled and asked: "Second Sage, what do you say?"
The Second Sage smiled: "Shall we take a walk?"
The Old Scholar nodded vigorously: "Very good!"
As the two sages, the three leaders of the Confucian Temple, Old Master Fu, and the other sacrificial sages all stepped forward.
The great mountain gods like Sui Mountain, the lake lords, followed.
When the Ritual Sage finally stepped forward.
Everyone else followed.
A young swordsman in a blue robe, cloth shoes, and long clothing—in an instant, he bent slightly, no longer suppressing his physique, and suddenly became a bright red dharma robe-clad figure. His entire form seemed no longer composed of flesh, blood, bones, or meridians, but purely of thousands upon thousands of threads.
This neither-human-nor-ghost swordsman slowly straightened his waist, raised his head, and said in a deep voice: "Then fight!"