[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-watching-the-immortals-fall":3,"chapter-watching-the-immortals-fall-watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-202":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Watching the Immortals Fall",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260075,4410,"Chapter 202: Fengzhou Border","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-202",202,"\u003Cp>After returning to Huishan, the young master of Lingjian Mountain closed himself off again, striving to break through to the Boundless Realm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But this news did not attract much attention or discussion, because to outsiders, she had already entered seclusion half a year ago and had never left since, let alone been embraced and passionately kissed by a stranger until her lips bore wounds.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before entering seclusion, Yan Shuyi had specifically written a letter to Ji You.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The letter’s gist was that many people had seen the bite marks on her lips, and she warned him to be careful not to get stabbed to death by a sword while walking down the road.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The tone was full of coquettish pride, yet sounded genuinely cheerful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, Yuan Caimei, daughter of Yu Danzong, had written Ji You a letter.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The content of the letter mostly shared her daily life with Yuan Chen at Yu Danzong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to the letter, Yuan Chen had begun attempting to wield the Sacred Artifact under the instruction of Patriarch Yuan Li, but had yet achieved any success.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yuan Li said this was because Yuan Chen’s Danxin lacked sufficient resolve, preventing the Great Furnace from recognizing him, so he had confiscated all the manuscripts Yuan Chen had brought from Shengjing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After visiting Tian Shu Academy, Yuan Caimei seemed much closer to him; the tone of her letters was no longer as formal, and she no longer consistently addressed him as “Young Master Ji,” often calling him directly by his name, Ji You.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>There was also a smudged mark, as if written in error, yet faintly discernible were the two characters: “Ji Lang…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s quite noticeable when two people suddenly vanish from the courtyard—it grows silent, and the warmth of daily life disappears.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You sat on a bumpy carriage, recalling those two letters, and muttered like an elderly man left alone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kuangcheng heard him and his gaze suddenly turned strange: “A fine body truly conquers the world.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Nothing. I was just thinking about when the next one will come.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Another one where?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I feel it’s coming soon.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After the New Yuan, Kuangcheng had also been busy handling the temporary transport of Snowland Demon Stones along Fengzhou’s old route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Repairing the imperial road would take time; the Demon Stones were now being moved via the western old path of Fengzhou, and the first batch had already reached Jiuzhou several days ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As demon race spirit stones re-entered Jiuzhou, the demon race also began shipping Jiuzhou’s products back to Snowland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Trade is naturally reciprocal, and this should have been ordinary—but one incident later drew special attention from the Si Xian Jian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several demon race merchants entering Jiuzhou had been collecting Fengzhou landscape scrolls, paying high prices—among the most valuable items sent back to Snowland.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fengzhou had always been a backup frontline for humans after the breach of Han Tie Pass; last autumn, the barbarians had even invited the demon race into an alliance. This behavior immediately raised suspicion.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Were they studying Fengzhou’s terrain to prepare for breaking through Huan Tie Pass?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This speculation was extremely dangerous and directly stirred the nerves of many.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One Fengzhou painter named Wei Hong, whose artwork was the most widely sold due to his skill, was specifically captured and interrogated by the Si Xian Jian.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after interrogation, they discovered most of the collected scrolls merely depicted landscapes: Fengzhou’s mountains, Fengzhou’s rivers, even sometimes a single tree.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such paintings, even the painter himself might struggle to identify the exact location if he tried to find them again—they held no strategic value.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the Si Xian Jian relaxed, yet remained deeply puzzled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Why did the demon race collect these scrolls?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Was it because they so yearned for Jiuzhou that they bought them to show their people?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But why only the scrolls of Fengzhou—the poorest region in Jiuzhou? That was utterly incomprehensible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside the interrogation room, only the Si Xian Jian’s Reception Chief, the Top Graduate of Taiwu Year Two, suddenly seemed to realize something—he opened his mouth in shock, his expression turning thoughtful.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>[A fine body conquers the world]\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You looked at him, thinking: Literati truly are strange.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the vast, boundless expanse of Fengzhou gradually filled their vision.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fengzhou’s roads needed repair, and joint cultivation was about to begin—they had come for precisely this reason.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, countless carts loaded with magical devices raced past them, heading toward Danshui County.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Danshui County was a crucial transit hub on the designated route, connecting all four directions of Fengzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how Fengzhou developed in the future, its economic circulation would depend on this road—that was why the saying went: “If you want to grow rich, first build the road.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You placed great importance on this road, equal to that of Daxia and the Si Xian Jian, so he had come personally to inspect the stone materials.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When the carriage arrived, the two stepped down and entered the stone storage yard, then drew their swords and “clanged” as they shattered one stone, then a second, then a third…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Who was responsible for transporting this stone?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The register lists a name: Chen Zhang.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Summon the Governor of Danshui County.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ji You stared at the foundation stone, uncracked but reduced to dust under his sword qi, and murmured.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some Daxia officials, after years under the tax-and-tribute system, had grown accustomed to greed; it was unusual if this didn’t happen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, the next day, Fengzhou’s iron prison gained a new batch of inmates.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then came the second station, the third—more and more were sent in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Although Daxia officials held lower status than immortals, having held their positions for years, they had cultivated influence, whether through scheming or servitude, across Qingyun.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So news spread that Ji You was inspecting stone materials in Fengzhou and arresting one group after another.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even now, many still believed Ji You’s earlier claim of upholding the Human Dao was merely a cover—but they hadn’t expected he would personally investigate the stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then, the joint cultivation in Fengzhou began.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Last autumn, Ji You had gathered a joint harvest team under the guise of tax-and-tribute, and only cultivators of Weizhao Realm or below had participated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But after news spread of Snowland Demon Stones entering Fengzhou and Ji You selling Yu Danzong’s elixirs, many Nianhua Realm cultivators joined the joint cultivation team.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The season when peach blossoms bloom beyond the bamboo, and ducks sense the warmth of spring rivers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every day, Fengzhou’s people saw countless cultivators standing in rows; at the cry of “Begin!”, their nine-foot immortal wheels, driven by spiritual energy, turned the earth into furrows.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhang Pingyang, one of the first to join the joint harvest team, had grown increasingly skilled with his nine-foot wheel and even taken on several apprentices.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He now increasingly suspected that his cultivation was meant solely for this work.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For he, who had always struggled step by step on the path of cultivation, had found a sense of genius in joint cultivation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since the joint harvest began, the people no longer feared them as before; they often brought tea. This time, it was a girl named Lanlan, daughter of a farmer from Xunyang Town, south of Fengzhou City, who often stood at the field’s edge watching him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sometimes, when he rested from training and glanced around, he’d accidentally meet her gaze—and Lanlan would quickly look away.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that moment, even a cultivator like Zhang Pingyang, abandoned by his family, would pause…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Fengzhou had no shortage of land; and with land, the people could live.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thus, after news of joint cultivation spread, more and more civilians from Yunzhou and Zhongzhou migrated toward Fengzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At this moment, the Yunzhou border teemed with migrants. Beneath a roadside teahouse sat a dozen or so, each at least forty or fifty years old, eyes sharp as hooks, yet dressed in tattered clothes. After eating, they turned to gaze at the border checkpoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Big Brother Tie Xiong, are we really going to do this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ermin, do you want to spend your whole life as a rogue cultivator, hiding day and night? The Immortal Lord said: if someone dies in Ji’s mansion, whoever it is, you’ll earn the status of a patron—no longer a rogue cultivator!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Big Brother Tie Xiong’s right—we’ve come this far, why hesitate? Let’s do it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group slammed their teacups on the table and marched toward the checkpoint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one, they were called into a small hut for inspection.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back in Shengjing, Ji You had once demanded Daxia abolish the decree forbidding private migration from Yunzhou and Zhongzhou—so Yunzhou’s checkpoint had been dismantled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This checkpoint, however, was set up by Fengzhou.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As civilians entered the small huts, most passed through the back door into Fengzhou; a few hesitated, then turned back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, the rogue cultivator Tie Xiong frowned slightly: “I don’t know what they’re asking, but it seems some might not pass—brothers, be cautious.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Zhao Ermin pondered: “They might ask about your origin and previous occupation. Just say you were a mountain dweller before.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Understood.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong fell silent as he watched his brother Ba Bo enter the checkpoint hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group watched closely; soon, Ba Bo emerged and entered Fengzhou—but his expression was strangely complex.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing this, Tie Xiong and Zhao Ermin exchanged glances: clearly, the inspection was strict.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since Ba Bo passed, there must be no real danger.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Besides, the checkpoint had no guarding cultivators—failure to pass wouldn’t bring risk.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>One by one, everyone crossed over—finally, even Zhao Ermin went through, then turned back to look at him, his gaze unreadable.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong smiled, signaling his brothers to relax, then stepped into the hut.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Inside, only three government office runners: two seated inside, one guarding the door.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Su Lao San—that’s what the village calls me. Parents died early, never gave me a real name.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Age?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thirty-four.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong thought: the opening questions were simple—strictness must come later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At that moment, the runner looked up: “I must inform you beforehand—think carefully.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong held his breath: “My lord, ask.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fengzhou lies close to Han Tie Pass—beyond it lie the demon race and barbarians. One day, war may break out, and Fengzhou will be the first to suffer. Many demon and barbarian soldiers will flood in. People will die. Do you still wish to come?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong froze.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The runner wasn’t surprised—many reacted this way: “The higher lords say they’ll try to prevent this, but they also say they can’t guarantee it. They say your life belongs to you.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Tie Xiong frowned: “Do you ask every single person this?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"I asked.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Then why do so many go over there?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The constable glanced at him: \"Better than living like an animal. The lords above say life is your own—you should have the right to choose.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The constable standing by the door looked at the faintly glowing artifact in his hand: \"Even if you cultivate in secret, going over to farm still lets you live.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If war comes to Fengzhou, then for its people, it is fate.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But for the people of other provinces, this is not their fate—and they have no idea Fengzhou is a backup front, no idea what the demon clans or barbarians are.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Tongxuan Realm has no power to protect all under heaven; the best solution is to tell them, let them choose: toward life to face death, toward death to find life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1912,"2026-06-19T15:28:41.422Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b42f7340b2b2521f14b347ca7c3caa255d387627f42c26de6b290ff3982946b5","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-203","watching-the-immortals-fall-chapter-201",430,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwatching-the-immortals-fall-cover.jpg"]