Chapter 546: North and South Unite, the Breaking of the Formation Begins
Su Li had left, and life continued. That great matter of the human world was still advancing steadily and methodically.
In truth, it was precisely because Su Li had left that this great matter had any hope of success, that it could continue.
On the seventeenth day after Xu Yourong arrived in the capital with the Holy Maiden Peak faction, the head of the Qiu Shan family, representing the southern aristocratic houses, also entered the borders of the Zhou Empire. The Longevity Sect had sealed its mountain gates for three years, while the many mountain sects and schools nominally under its command sent capable representatives.
In the days that followed, more and more representatives of southern powers took their seats at the negotiating table.
The unification of north and south was no longer just a term found in ancient texts and imaginations; it was rapidly drawing closer to reality.
For the southerners, the greatest problem they now faced was that, with the departure of Su Li and the Holy Maiden, they had no cultivator in the Sacred Domain. Whether at the negotiating table or elsewhere—such as the banquet table—they inevitably felt somewhat lacking in confidence.
Unexpectedly, neither the Zhou imperial court nor the state religion took advantage of this shift in power to make any unreasonable demands. On the contrary, they displayed an extremely rare magnanimity and open-mindedness, making a series of guarantees to safeguard the future interests of the southerners.
Only those who were truly wise could see the struggle hidden behind—or rather, before—these negotiations.
It was the struggle between Su Li, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress, and the Pope.
With unimaginable wisdom and courage, Su Li had relinquished his right to retaliate against those who had hunted him on his journey south. He left with the Holy Maiden, stripping the south of all its leverage, ensuring that these negotiations would never again sink into the quagmire that had repeated itself countless times before.
Thus, the Holy Empress and the Pope had to give him a correspondingly generous return, offering the south exceptionally favorable terms.
Reflected in the details of the negotiations, these returns or favorable treatments were: after the unification of north and south, the south would retain as much autonomy as possible.
This degree of autonomy had already exceeded the best expectations the southern powers had held beforehand.
There was no need to change counties, no need to redraw prefectures or merge commanderies. Local officials could be elected independently, without needing approval from the Ministry of Personnel in the capital—they only needed to come to the capital once every three years for assessment. Tax policies were also extremely favorable, and in terms of treasury silver transfers, there was a significant bias toward the relatively poor and weak counties and prefectures in the south.
Beyond this, the south also gained many other benefits. Most notably, in the Grand Court Examination and the Imperial Examinations, from now on, the capital would no longer need to allocate quotas separately. Instead, like other prefectures and commanderies, quotas would be determined by household registration numbers. Given the south’s performance in recent years, this would give them a massive advantage in the Grand Court Examination.
Of course, the southerners could not gain benefits without making any contributions. The negotiations were far from over, but some matters had already been confirmed. The military and foreign affairs would henceforth be unified under the capital’s management. The biggest change occurred on the northern frontier—a vast, ten-thousand-mile snowfield. In the past, southern sects and aristocratic houses would send experts to join the northern military garrisons to fight against the demon army, but they served as guest retainers, heeding summons but not commands. Now, these experts would directly join the army. Combined with changes in logistical support and other areas, it was believed that the strength of the human army would greatly improve in a very short time. This was, in fact, the most important—even the sole—purpose of the north-south unification.
As the negotiations for north-south unification gradually moved toward success, the experts and armies of the human world also heightened their vigilance in the north. Grain, fodder, and military supplies from the south flowed endlessly to eleven key border passes, ready at all times to deliver a crushing blow to the southward-marching demon iron cavalry. It was clear that the demons could not idly watch the human world’s north-south unification succeed. They would certainly do something—especially that sinister strategist, the Black Robe, who was likely already weaving his schemes.
The situation in the north was tense, and the atmosphere on both sides of the negotiating table in the capital was also tense, but the nature of that tension differed. Xu Yourong played an extremely important role in the north-south unification. In fact, on a spiritual level, she was the most important representative figure, for she was both a Zhou citizen and the southern Holy Maiden. Naturally, her schedule became incredibly busy. She constantly summoned representatives of the southern powers while also communicating with the Zhou imperial court. Fortunately, she lived within the imperial palace, making it very convenient to meet with the Holy Empress.
Chen Changsheng had not seen her for over ten days. He missed her, but he knew she was engaged in extremely important matters, so he naturally had no complaints. As someone who treasured time above all else, he did not waste his days on longing and waiting. Taking advantage of the deep winter’s chill, he continuously honed his spirit, meditated on the five stone beads, silently recited the Two Severing Saber Technique, and occasionally taught new students at the National Academy. Most of the time, however, he was still endlessly studying—though he did not forget some other important matters.
On an ordinary winter day, with wind and snow raging, he purchased a large quantity of food and trinkets from the market. Holding a yellow paper umbrella, he evaded the countless eyes watching the National Academy, walked right under the noses of the imperial guards to the tree outside the palace wall, and then, taking advantage of a moment when the wind whipped up the snow and blinded all eyes, he jumped into the well at North New Bridge.
The most oil-absorbent rough-edged paper covered half the floor of a house. Countless steaming-hot foods were neatly arranged on it, emitting the same rising steam but different aromas. There were steamed deer tail, roast goose, roast duck, and over a dozen skewers of zongzi. But this time, there was no steamed bear paw… because of Xuan Yuan Po’s influence, no one at the National Academy ate that anymore.
Chen Changsheng used two fingers to pull a clean handkerchief from his sleeve, carefully wiped the grease from his hands, looked up at the Black Dragon, and said, “Tang Tang turned Cheng Hu Tower into the National Academy’s cafeteria… I forgot to tell you… but aside from the blue lobsters, I bought everything else outside. It tastes better that way.”
In the very center of the food spread was a small mountain of blue lobsters.
Chen Changsheng had been smiling the whole time he spoke. His smile was pure, filled with genuine joy.
Being able to get so many good things for the Black Dragon to eat truly made him feel satisfied.
The Black Dragon’s mountain-like body slowly descended. An indescribable chill instantly pressed down the steam rising from the food.
Chen Changsheng quickly drew his sword and slashed. A sword intent, faintly tinged with flames, shot through the air, instantly warming the food and preventing it from freezing into ice.
He was using the Liao Tian Sword.
A few nights ago, he had spent a long time meditating on the sword intent within that letter. Then he had witnessed the battle between Su Li’s Liao Tian Sword and the Holy Empress’s Black Phoenix Hairpin, gaining further insight.
Now, while his swordsmanship could not yet be called the pinnacle, within his current realm, it could be described as perfectly seamless.
Still… using the extremely difficult-to-master Liao Tian Sword to heat up food—no matter how you looked at it, it seemed somewhat inappropriate.
The Black Dragon did not think so. She found it very appropriate.
She was very satisfied with the food Chen Changsheng had painstakingly prepared and the small mountain of blue lobsters. She was even more satisfied with his use of the Liao Tian Sword to warm the food, because it showed that, in his eyes, letting her eat fresh, hot, good food was far more important than maintaining so-called sword dignity.
She decided to forgive him for not coming to see her for nearly a month.
A majestic and far-reaching, simple yet infinitely complex dragon roar echoed in the dark, cold underground.
Chen Changsheng was momentarily stunned, not understanding why the Black Dragon was not eager to eat but instead wanted him to start a Dragon Language lesson. Then he suddenly remembered that he had brought her food so many times, yet he had never actually seen her eat in front of him…
“Ah…”
“Er…”
“Yi…”
“Wu…”
“Xu…”
From time to time, the Black Dragon’s deep and majestic roars echoed underground, accompanied by Chen Changsheng’s clumsy but earnest attempts to mimic the sounds.
Chen Changsheng studied with complete concentration, until his voice grew hoarse, his sea of consciousness felt empty, and his body was utterly exhausted. Yet he never forgot, at regular intervals, to slash a Liao Tian Sword strike beside him, keeping the roast goose and roast duck at the perfect temperature, preserving their original aroma.
Occasionally, the Black Dragon’s whiskers would drift, scattering flakes of frost and snow onto the small mountain of blue lobsters, creating a beautiful scene.
No one knew how much time had passed. Today’s Dragon Language lesson finally ended. The Black Dragon gently exhaled a breath toward his face, and a layer of frost immediately formed on his skin. He reached up and rubbed the frost away, feeling a cool, refreshing sensation, and all his fatigue vanished without a trace.
“I’m going to take a look over there.”
Chen Changsheng did not forget the most important matter. He leaped backward and saw the two iron chains. The other ends of the chains were embedded in the stone wall, held in the hands of those two legendary divine generals. Compared to the Black Dragon’s mountain-like, colossal body, these two chains were like strands of hair—yet they could bind her here so tightly.
He believed that over the past few hundred years, the Black Dragon had tried countless methods to break these two chains, but none had succeeded.
In the more than half a year since returning to the capital from the Zhou Garden, Chen Changsheng had also thought of many methods, all of which had failed.
The formation Wang Zhice had laid on the stone wall was too complex and exquisite, like a sea of stars.
The traces of divine consciousness that the divine generals Yu Gong and Qin Zhong had attached to the stone wall were too powerful and violent, like thunder and lightning.
The era of blooming wildflowers was nearly a thousand years ago, but those legends were still legends. Even if they had turned into mere wisps of heroic spirits, they were not something he could contend with now—not even something he could touch. The name of that realm was the Sacred Domain.
Chen Changsheng sat at the base of the stone wall, under the gaze of these legends, quietly reading the book in his hands.
The scroll he was reading now was somewhat old. Its title was *A Study of the Formation Diagrams of the Sheyang True Man*.
No one knew Wang Zhice’s specific teacher. That ordinary instructor at the Heavenly Academy had, in his middle years, suddenly blazed like a star over the capital, shaking the continent. No one knew who his teacher was. Chen Changsheng had flipped through hundreds of scrolls in the National Academy’s library and, in Wang Zhice’s hometown, had found a common Daoist priest surnamed Wu.
Wang Zhice’s hometown was Sheyang.
That Daoist priest surnamed Wu was the Sheyang True Man.
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(Next chapter at 8 PM)