Chapter 527: The Martial Dao Legend, The Resolve of Revenge

After Chen Dingye led his army to withdraw behind Zhenbei City and set up camp at a small city a hundred li away, when Li Guanyi learned of this matter, he was neither surprised nor hesitant, nor did he rush over in haste.

He was no longer the kind of person who would be easily swayed by outside events.

He still gave orders to handle the many follow-up matters on the Turkic grasslands.

He ensured that the vast grasslands would not give rise to any new problems after his departure, and then, with sufficiently grand rites, buried Chen Tianqi beside the Enemy-Defeating Stele, erecting a new stele in its place.

On the stele, in the script of the Central Plains.

Was written: In the eighteenth year of Tianqi, the Qin Wang broke formation and chastised the Turks here.

Li Guanyi, clad in armor, stretched out his palm and pressed it against the stele, his hand brushing over the rough bluestone as he looked at the characters upon it; this place would know no more war, and the material and craftsmanship of this stele far surpassed those of the past.

Perhaps, a thousand or hundreds of years hence, when descendants came galloping here on horseback, they could still see this stele, see the traces they had carved a thousand years before, and thereby know of the deeds and bold spirit of that bygone age.

To feel the past and stir the heart, the sentiment is one and the same.

Li Guanyi planted Chen Tianqi's war spear here, letting the long wind of the grasslands sweep past, parting to either side along the spear's shaft.

Li Guanyi gazed at the grasslands and the distant sky, turned, and said with an air of carefree ease:

"Let's go!"

Yue Qianfeng and Chen Wenmian fell silent, drew back their gazes, turned, and saw the Qin Wang riding his divine steed away at ease; they each tightened their reins, called out a "Gee," and urged their mounts to follow the Qin Wang, with a thousand troops and ten thousand horses trailing behind.

The hoofbeats sounded like thunder, but now, listening, there was a certain bold and sweeping grandeur to them.

The Turks, the age-old enemies of the Central Plains who made their saddles their fields and their blades and swords their plowing, with this event as the symbol, completely withdrew from the stage of history; yet the first generation of Turks who had entered the Central Plains still harbored hearts of defiance.

But what they faced were the founding ministers and famed generals forged through clashing and fighting in an age of chaos; after a single generation had passed, they too had all been wholly absorbed into the Central Plains. Li Guanyi and Chen Wenmian returned to the rear.

Along the way, Chen Wenmian's expression remained taut.

Chen Dingye had departed with only ten thousand men; this act, rather than being said to be a final struggle, was more like simply seeking death. When they reached the rear, they met with Generals Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping.

They had long since learned, through letters, of what had happened at the rear.

Zhou Xianping and Ye Chongdao wore complicated expressions as they saluted before the Qin Wang. The Qin Wang sat composed above, looked at the two letters placed on the desk, and said: "Two generals, since you have already drunk that cup of poisoned wine, consider yourselves as having already given your loyalty unto death for the State of Chen."

"The great trend of the world: long united must divide, long divided must unite."

"Three hundred years of chaos should now return to unity once more. The State of Chen is already the past; the two generals, please rest and recuperate here in Zhenbei City."

The two generals wore complicated expressions; after saluting, they retreated and departed.

Mr. Pojun watched their retreating backs, glanced at the letters on the table, and clicked his tongue: "My lord, these two letters—rather than being written by Chen Dingye to Generals Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping, are more aptly said to have been written for you, my lord, to read."

Li Guanyi said: "Mr. Pojun's eye is as keen as ever."

The corner of Pojun's mouth curved up slightly.

After a thought, he said: "However, my lord, why did you not burn these two letters in front of the two generals? After all, such secret letters are, in a way, a stain upon them; once burned, it could at least soothe their hearts."

Li Guanyi, however, said: "Burning these two letters cannot soothe their hearts."

"These two generals both fought their way out of an age of chaos; their minds are steadfast as iron. So-called letter-burning would be nothing more than a mere show, a means to win people's hearts. Although it would have the effect of winning hearts, the reputations of these two generals after their deaths would be utterly unknown to anyone."

"When all is said and done, it is merely harming others to benefit oneself, nothing more than building one's own fame."

"Later generations would not know that they fought to the death for the Central Plains, nor that they were unwilling to stir up trouble within the Fire Qilin's army, nor that they refused to betray their old homeland, preferring instead to drink poisoned wine and die. The steadfastness of true men in an age of chaos—here it ends entirely."

The Qin Wang said softly: "For the sake of my own so-called lordly reputation, I would have to destroy the thousand-year fame of these two famed generals. That bargain truly does not pay; if I were to act thus, how could I be said to be considering their interests?"

Pojun was stunned; the corner of his mouth curved up. He looked at the sovereign who was now already taller than himself.

Yet he still felt that he was still that youth who, beneath the night sky, would rush out to the Ghost Market to save strangers he had never met.

He suddenly thought of that great battle, eight hundred years ago, which had decided the future course of the world.

The founding Pojun must surely have envied him.

The Qin Wang before him was almost exactly the sovereign the founding Pojun had dreamed of.

Benevolent, yet not weak; mighty, yet not given to indiscriminate killing.

The corner of Pojun's mouth curved up.

Hmph, hu hahahaha.

How about it, how about it, you Pojuns of every generation, you old fogies—have you ever had a lord like this?!

Have you ever had such a lord!

No, have you?! Of course you haven't.

This is my lord.

Pojun suddenly felt a touch of regret.

He regretted that General Xue Shen's method of leaving behind his shadow through means like the Yaoguang Mystical Realm was far too rare, and truly far too difficult; otherwise, he truly wished the Pojuns of every generation could have been left behind as well.

When that time came, he could show them his lord.

And then watch the envious, twisted expressions on their faces!

The corner of Pojun's mouth curved up and could not be pressed back down.

The Qin Wang did not burn those two letters; these two letters could be considered the things that preserved the posthumous reputations of Generals Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping. Later generations, through these two letters, would at last know what Ye Chongdao and Zhou Xianping had held fast to at the end, amid the chaos.

The historians say: Lu had Xiansu Chong, Ye Chongdao was taciturn, Zhou Xianping was bold and brave, Wang Yunqi was the Grand General of the Golden Guard; fighting to the very end alongside the last ruler of the State of Chen, the four were of differing temperaments yet all were fine generals of home and country.

Thus these four were selected and compiled into a single chapter.

Titled—"The History of Chen: Biographies of Lu, Ye, Zhou, and Wang."

………………

With the foreign enemy vanquished, the Ying Kingdom's Army God Jiang Su sheathed his blade and refrained from further conflict.

The world, faintly and unmistakably, already showed the shape of a realm divided in two.

Among them, the Qin Wang's momentum was vast and overwhelming, but after all he had only recently risen, and his foundation was still insufficient.

The Ying Kingdom's foundation was deep and powerful, but in terms of area and territory, it could not yet be mentioned in the same breath as the Fire Qilin. Men of insight throughout the realm could all sense that the great war between the Fire Qilin and the Ying Kingdom would not be too far off.

If conflict erupted immediately, the Fire Qilin army would be at a disadvantage.

But as time passed, this vast territory, its abundant population, and the Tiance Prefecture where new policies were being implemented would see its foundation rise at a terrifying speed.

The longer time drags on, the more unfavorable the situation in Ying becomes.

Therefore, this battle that decides the future of the world cannot be much longer.

The old era cannot wait, and will not wait.

The Azure Dragon is already old.

The Fire Qilin is still young.

The Fire Qilin is fierce and bold—how can we let it grow to its peak?

Yet although the entire world is surging toward the inevitable great battle, as long as that battle has not yet been decided, the whole world remains shrouded in a silent, oppressive atmosphere.

But for ordinary soldiers and the common folk living across the land,

such peaceful days are still peaceful.

After all, peace is peace.

Only after Qin Wang personally led the Fire Qilin Army back from the depths of the frontier did he order the several major armies that had previously campaigned against the steppe Turks to select their elite troops, leaving the wounded behind to recuperate.

Then they turned their blades elsewhere.

They had surrounded the small city held by Chen Dingye from all directions.

The leading general was Fan Qing.

Though he lacked talent in Wu Gong, his gifts in battlefield tactics and military strategy were truly rare—a brilliant commander who, alongside Mr. Yuan Zhi, had laid down a brand-new Eight Gates Golden Lock Array outside the city held by Chen Dingye.

Though they had encircled it, they did not launch a direct assault, merely waiting for Qin Wang himself to arrive.

Before Li Guanyi set out, he first went to find Chen Wenmian.

Sensing Chen Wenmian's aura faintly, he walked leisurely toward him, yet at the edge of a cold lake outside Beicheng, he perceived Chen Wenmian's aura—just a hundred and eighty paces beyond the lake, Xiao Wu liang sat quietly with closed eyes.

This divine general had witnessed Chen's entire history, from its near-golden age to its present ruin; he knew Chen would soon fall, and no matter what, a desolate feeling lingered in his heart.

Your Majesty, did you foresee this?

Or even you, did not see this possibility?

"General Xiao Wu liang?"

A voice suddenly reached his ear. Xiao Wu liang startled, snapped open his eyes, and saw before him a young man in plain robes—he froze, then rose swiftly and bowed solemnly: "Qin Wang, Your Majesty."

"You've come."

Li Guanyi said: "Mm, I came to see Wenmian."

Xiao Wu liang suppressed the tremor in his heart, his expression unchanged: "The general is strolling within. If Your Majesty wishes to find him, simply walk straight inside."

Li Guanyi gazed ahead at the desolate cold lake. He no longer needed the Nine Tripods' aid—relying solely on his own One's Own Realm and spiritual essence, his eyes swept across and saw a silent azure wolf lurking where the chill surged skyward—Chen Wenmian's aura.

He nodded: "Mm… I'll go speak with Wenmian. Thank you, General, for holding this position."

Xiao Wu liang said: "It is my duty."

He had just bowed when something was tossed toward him. Xiao Wu liang instinctively raised his hand and caught it—a large apple, its fragrance bursting forth. He frowned, then saw Qin Wang walking away, waving his hand over his shoulder: "The Fire Qilin insisted on fruit."

"I bought many back, but he only picked the best few, leaving the rest."

"I thought the rest looked ripe enough—wasting them seemed a shame. General, try one. The taste is still quite good; it's just that boy who's too picky."

"One day he eats a charred baked bun—he'll settle down, ha!"

Li Guanyi chuckled softly, shook his head, and stepped forward into the interior. Xiao Wu liang held the fruit, looked up at Li Guanyi's back, and in his eyes stirred emotion—

He could not sense Your Majesty's aura.

As a general who rose to fame young and climbed to his present stature, his talent and brilliance were by no means low.

When his eyes were closed, the world before him seemed only nature—nothing unusual—until the moment Your Majesty spoke, and his aura merged with heaven and earth; only then did Xiao Wu liang sense Qin Wang's presence and snap his eyes open.

Before him, no heaven or earth remained—only Qin Wang!

That vast, mighty bloodline and overwhelming spiritual essence, utterly unshielded, had already surpassed Shen Wu Wang Chen Fubi's power during their fatal clash four years ago, stirring deep change within Xiao Wu liang's heart.

He turned his head to watch Qin Wang's back, whispering inwardly:

"Your Majesty is only twenty-two this year…"

"So immensely strong."

"With eyes closed, he sees heaven and earth—not Qin Wang."

"With eyes open, he sees Qin Wang—not heaven and earth."

"Is this… Your Majesty's 【Wu Dao Legend】?"

He still faintly remembered, nearly ten years ago, that boy in Chen, fleeing desperately with the Fire Qilin before Chen's grand sacrifice—yet after ten years of chaos, had he truly grown this powerful?

When Xiao Wu liang was young, he was spoken of in the same breath as Yue Pengwu.

But later, Yue Pengwu marched across the land, while Xiao Wu liang, because of Chen Wenmian, was forced to remain stationed in Jiangzhou—their paths and lives diverged.

Now, Yue Pengwu had become one of the top ten generals in the world, even among the top five.

Xiao Wu liang, once ranked fifteenth in the world, now barely clung to a top-ten title—and even fell short of Yue Qianfeng, who had reached the Eighth Heaven.

That brute Yue Qianfeng, through these ten years of chaos, had suffered defeat after defeat, been blasted back bleeding and reeling—each loss looked like it would end in grave injury or death, yet he always struggled back to his feet.

He kept growing stronger.

After countless battles, he now ranked among the top ten generals in the world.

He was growing at breakneck speed.

Xiao Wu liang sighed bitterly: "In this chaotic age, to stand still…"

"Even if your growth rate lags behind others…"

"It's the same as falling behind."

He looked at the fruit. The general sat there, cradling his spear, brought the apple to his lips, and bit down hard—the fruit was sweet, and his breath steamed white, as if blending with the winter's white frost as he swallowed.

Xiao Wu liang let out a soft laugh.

"Ha, the fruit really is delicious."

"That Fire Qilin really does know how to pick them."

The famous general Xiao Wuliang chewed on this fruit, and the tension on his face eased somewhat; even a general who had campaigned across the realm, even a general who bore the fate of his nation on his shoulders, at this moment set down that crushing weight of destiny.

He simply sat here, watching the vastness of heaven and earth.

Li Guanyi paced forward, his steps unhurried, natural and at ease, without any need for effort, as if he had merged with this stretch of heaven and earth.

He was a Grandmaster of the Martial Dao; strictly speaking, he was still at the Ninth Heaven.

But if he truly fought—

A Ninth Heaven Grandmaster like the Supreme Elder of the Yin-Yang Reincarnation Sect, who had simply endured his way up through sheer time, could not last a single move against him.

He would be poked once by the Jiuli divine weapon in his hand and pinned to the cliff wall.

Who says that a Ninth Heaven Grandmaster who holds a Bingzhu-tier divine weapon, commands a million-strong army, and stands but half a step from the Martial Dao legend—

Does not count as Ninth Heaven?

Back then he was the leader of a wandering mercenary band at the Second Heaven; today he can be the Qin Wang of the Ninth Heaven.

As a matter of course.

Li Guanyi, in the fifteenth year of Tianqi, when confronting the Great Khan on the grasslands, had already taken a great stride forward in his own Martial Dao legend realm; and now, having campaigned against the Great Khan, occupied half the grasslands, and completely recovered the Chen Kingdom—

His bearing was fierce and grand, every gesture carrying the majestic composure of a founding sovereign; the five Dharma Aspects had already begun to converge, and he still stood but half a step from the Martial Dao legend above the Ninth Heaven Grandmaster.

His accumulation, compared to three years ago, was already a world apart.

But this thin barrier—

Yet it gave him the same feeling as that thin barrier he had sensed three years ago—no different at all—still a thin line, as if it could be crossed in a single effortless step, yet also seeming separated by mountains and seas, utterly beyond his reach.

Li Guanyi attempted a breakthrough, did not succeed, and simply stopped caring.

At this moment, he instead calmed his heart and took it easy.

Let it be.

Whatever happens, happens.

Break through or don't, it doesn't matter.

Walking along this small path, Li Guanyi could still calmly and peacefully observe the scenery on either side; at last he arrived before the Cold Lake and saw Chen Wenmian. Chen Wenmian sat cross-legged there, the divine weapon Canglang Blade planted beside him, holding a green bamboo stalk in his hand, fishing.

A hole had been torn in the ice by the fierce qi of Chen Kingdom's ultimate technique; the silk line hung down into the water, swaying gently with the wind, ripples spreading across the surface.

Li Guanyi glanced at the fish basket, asked knowingly with a smile:

"Caught anything?"

Chen Wenmian lowered his eyes and said: "Not yet."

"Big brother, you've come."

Li Guanyi gave an "mm," and casually tossed over the fine fruit the Fire Qilin had picked out; the fragrance hit them, Chen Wenmian was stunned, and Li Guanyi winked, grinning slyly: "Eat it well, this is the king of fine fruits, chosen by the Fire Qilin from among many fine fruits."

"I know your mood hasn't been good, so I borrowed it from Him, specially for you."

Chen Wenmian laughed helplessly, turned the fruit over in his hand, and said:

"This… the Fire Qilin is too pitiful."

Li Guanyi pouted: "That fellow is way too picky with food now; He still has a pile of fine fruits like this. Back then He stole fruits from Old Lei Meng, so today I take from Him—as a matter of course."

Chen Wenmian said with a smile: "When He gets back and sees the fruits are gone, He'll probably be upset for quite a while."

"Better take it back to Him."

Li Guanyi said helplessly: "Alright, alright, this one He specially picked out for you, just too embarrassed to bring it Himself, so He had me carry it out. It's rare for this fellow to give up a fine fruit already in His mouth, so no need to refuse."

Chen Wenmian was stunned: "For me?"

Li Guanyi looked at the lake and said: "Don't underestimate the Fire Qilin. After all, He is an auspicious beast, different from Senior Chi Long. Auspicous beasts are born bearing the innate light and ethereal qi, and can all sense the emotional fluctuations in living beings' hearts."

"He treats you as a friend, and feels that your mood isn't very good."

"When He's in a bad mood, He likes to eat something tasty, some fine fruit."

"So He found the best fruit He could find, and had me bring it to you. As for why He didn't come in person…"

Li Guanyi smiled: "After all, He also knew Chen Baxian, and deep down He always feels He is an elder of your Chen-surnamed lineage. He wants to care for you, yet feels that as an elder, using fine fruits to care for a junior is a bit beneath His dignity."

"Still such a childish, awkward temperament."

Chen Wenmian laughed: "Ah, that really is His style."

"In that case, 'a gift from an elder cannot be refused'—I won't stand on ceremony."

He took a bite of the fruit and said with a smile: "The fragrance bursts forth, sweet on the tongue, truly a wonderful fruit—worthy of Him, as expected."

Li Guanyi said with a smile: "The Fire Qilin is just gluttonous. When we were in the Western Regions, the farmer Xu Tiange tried grafting and cultivating fruit trees from the Central Plains with varieties unique to the Western Regions, taking more care than raising a child."

"Watering and fertilizing every day had to be recorded; after great difficulty seven fruits grew, and he gave each one a name, chatting with these fruits every day, treating them with great importance."

"And the result was precisely because he valued these fruits too much—"

"That fellow Fire Qilin snuck over, bit one fruit, and ran. Ha… you weren't there at the time, you didn't see Mr. Xu Tiange's furious expression. Hahaha, he's normally such a gentle soul who only likes to farm."

"That day he grabbed his hoe, his eyes red, and chased the Fire Qilin for dozens of li."

"He wanted nothing more than to plant the Fire Qilin into the ground, and it became one of the legends of the Anxi Protectorate."

A faint smile appeared on Chen Wenmian's face: "Mr. Xu Tiange is gentle and sincere; I hear he's a rare close friend of Mr. Wen Qingyu. I'm quite curious what he looks like when he's angry."

Li Guanyi picked up a stone and casually tossed it into the Cold Lake. Although the temperature here was cold, spring had already arrived, so the ice wasn't that thick; layers of cracks spread across it, and the two were silent for a long while as the wind blew past.

The killing aura of the troubled times receded; both of them knew what the other was thinking inside, yet neither spoke—only the sound of the wind sweeping past.

After a long time had passed—

Li Guanyi looked into the distance and said: "Fan Qing and the others have already surrounded Chen Dingye's city. Even though they hold the advantage, they won't attack rashly. By now, after such a long time, the logistical supplies and grain inside the city should be insufficient."

"Ten thousand men facing a hundred thousand outside, logistics lacking, morale beginning to crumble—at this point, it's time to assault the city."

"I plan to go personally."

Chen Wenmian nodded.

Li Guanyi said, "The debt owed to one's parents should indeed be repaid with a blade. Chen Dingye made his own choice, and I have mine. I respect the boldness and the means he showed at the very end, but one thing is one thing, and another is another."

"When it comes to a moment like this, to say he died for his country and let it end cleanly—I won't agree to that."

"It's just—Wenmian."

Li Guanyi looked at Chen Wenmian beside him, looked at this gentle and upright gentleman in these chaotic times. The latter was puzzled. Li Guanyi was silent for a long while, then rose, and finally asked that one question, saying:

"Do you want to kill Chen Dingye yourself?"

?? Begging for monthly tickets, friends~