Chapter 362

"Where has it reached?"

"It has crossed the southern plains and arrived at the Yuheng Mountain Range."

The seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, deep winter.

There were constant discussions among the Six Prefectures of Qingyun, and the topics in the tea houses and wine shops were all about the transmission of news about the war in You and Yun.

From the strong attack to the present, the entire southern campaign had lasted for a full ten days.

The barbarian and demon army swept south all the way, relying on their powerful innate combat power, sweeping across the southern plains of You and Yun, and now they had entered the area of the Yuheng Mountain Range.

And everyone knew that the long and narrow Yuheng Mountain Range, like a jade belt, was the last line of defense between You and Yun and Qingzhou.

But in just two days, the Yuheng Mountain Range was crossed.

From autumn to winter, the barbarian and demon coalition army came aggressively, pushing forward with powerful strength, and by this time, the You and Yun Prefectures were completely occupied.

The news spread back to the other six prefectures, instantly setting off an uproar.

"The Yuheng Mountain Range is easy to defend and difficult to attack. Why did it only hold for two days?"

"It is said that a great fire suddenly broke out on the mountain, and the original defensive formation was all in chaos. The barbarian and demon armies took advantage of the night to launch a surprise attack, moving along the valley on the east side, catching the rear troops off guard."

"Fire attack?"

"It's not clear yet whether it was intentional, but a hurricane suddenly rose that night, pushing the raging mountain fire for a hundred miles."

In Shengjing City, because the Winter Solstice had arrived, major restaurants were full of guests, and banquets were held constantly.

This should have been a joyous festival, but countless people were restless because of the war in the north, especially the fact that the barbarian and demon tribes had captured the Yuheng Mountain Range so quickly, which made them feel uneasy, so various details of the war were widely circulated.

Some people were judging the specific strength of the barbarian and demon tribes based on these details, and some simply felt that the Northern Garrison, which had lost the reliance of the northern city walls, could no longer be counted on.

But what was most panic-inducing was not the war itself, but the time, place, and people that the barbarian and demon tribes had mastered in this war.

On a gloomy afternoon, scattered snow kept falling.

In the main hall of the Management Pavilion of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, Lang Hetong returned from the outside and saw Qin Rong with his arms across the desk, looking through one of the volumes of the Qingyun History.

"Why are you suddenly looking at this?"

Qin Rong looked up, found it was Lang Hetong, and spoke lightly: "Hall Master Master Zuoqiu has been looking at this volume of Qing History for the past few days. Out of curiosity, I also looked for a copy."

Hearing this, Lang Hetong raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Because since Abbot You went into seclusion, all the affairs of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan, big and small, had been managed by Hall Master Master Zuoqiu. He was also quite tired on weekdays, so he would definitely not look at some irrelevant things at such a time.

And the facts were indeed as he expected.

Qin Rong opened one of the pages and handed it to Lang Hetong.

It is said that a thousand years ago, the relic tribe perished, the human race revived, and then less than a hundred years later, the human race, which had recovered, broke out into internal strife of warring states.

The tax levy system was established at that time, and the seven reclusive Xian Sects that guarded the Holy Artifacts also appeared in the world at that moment, and since then, they had been controlling this world.

This was an internal epic, speaking only of things between the human race, but in fact, at this stage, it was not that there was no movement outside the Nine Continents.

According to the records in the Qingyun History, when the human race started the warring states, the barbarian tribe that had fled into the Ten Thousand Mountains back then could not endure the poverty of the Barbarian Continent and had already launched a battle to return to the Nine Continents.

At that time, the northern city walls had not yet been built, and the human race was not united. Theoretically speaking, it should have been very easy for them to return to the Nine Continents.

But in fact, the barbarian tribe's several attacks were interrupted by sudden heavy snow or plagues within the barbarian tribe.

From this epic, one can see that the human race back then was truly blessed with luck and received countless favors from the Heavenly Dao.

Even after the establishment of the Great Xia, the weather was favorable for a hundred years, so that their vitality recovered rapidly, the seas were calm and the rivers were clear, and the world was at peace.

Looking at it now?

The Yuheng Mountain suddenly suffered a great fire, and the north wind rose suddenly at the right time, assisting the barbarian and demon coalition army. The gap here could not be described as anything but huge.

After reading this part of the Qing History, Lang Hetong couldn't help but look at Qin Rong, understanding why he was curious, and also understanding why Hall Master Master Zuoqiu had to re-read old history in his busy schedule.

Because the favor of the Heavenly Dao was obvious, but since the joint disaster of the thousand-year aristocratic families, the human race seemed to have truly lost its favor.

In other words, the Heavenly Dao might be choosing a new race.

If this is true, then what the human race is about to welcome is a predetermined fact that they will be defeated no matter how hard they try. This is definitely not alarmist talk.

Because during the crusade against the relic tribe back then, the demon race was several times stronger than the human race, but because they were not chosen by the Heavenly Dao, they finally had to fall into the Snow Region.

"Your Highness, the Northern Garrison has withdrawn into the territory of Qingzhou!"

"Arrange for sentries to monitor closely."

"Yes!"

Bai Hua City, Yunzhou, the former site of the Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce.

Demon Prince Ye Han ordered monitoring and then leaned over the desk, looking at one document after another.

After a large area of Yunzhou territory was occupied by them, this Demon Prince chose this place as his palace, and had been living here ever since, commanding the southern campaign of the demon army.

The Spirit Stone Chamber of Commerce had abundant wealth, and the surrounding construction was also very prosperous, so this place would also be the new site of the Demon Emperor City in the future.

Under the flickering candlelight, Ye Han finished reading the documents one by one, then packed them into a box and handed them to his guard, A Qiu.

"Return to the Snow Region and take this to Father King."

"Yes!"

A Qiu took the box and then hurriedly ran out of the door.

Seeing this scene, the Demon Prince stood up lightly, walked into the courtyard, then suddenly stomped his feet, flew into the air, landed on the top of the three-story high hall opposite, and looked at the deep night sky.

He had promised his Father King that he would take Yunzhou before winter, and now he had finally realized this promise.

But his Father King had always felt that the luck of the Heavenly Dao was the most important, and because of the abnormal ascension of the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan Abbot, he felt puzzled and wary, always feeling that there seemed to be something hidden behind this.

Thus, after entering Yunzhou, he had been inquiring about news, including the ruins, evil seeds, and the disaster caused by the thousand-year aristocratic families.

The documents he gave to A Qiu recorded this matter.

He hoped that this information could help his Father King break through the maze of this world.

Of course, Ye Han had also been learning how to be a monarch, so after reading the information on those documents, he was also pondering, but after repeating it many times, he still couldn't see any clue.

Under the cold wind and falling snow, Ye Han pondered for a long time, then turned his head to look toward the northeast.

That was Fengzhou. From his angle, he could already see the newly built city walls standing on the desolate plains.

He couldn't see clearly about the ruins or the disaster caused by the aristocratic families, but he had a deep impression of the human cultivator named Ji You, who had been described in the documents.

He first met this person in Shengjing back then. At that time, he came to discuss trade, and Ji You had fought with his guards.

The second time was on Dan Mountain, where he was refused when seeking medicine.

The third time was in his hometown, the Snow Region Demon City. He came as a guard of the envoy group and was injured by a barbarian soldier king in the wilderness.

At that time, Ji You was undoubtedly very eye-catching, and even among their demon race, he could be counted as a genius, but in Ye Han's eyes, he still belonged to the weak category.

But he didn't expect that after three years of not seeing him, he had become so strong that it was hard to understand.

Some time ago, he and the barbarian royal family had been in contact, discussing this last battle of winter, during which he also heard about the grain selling in Fengzhou, knowing that Ji You's stance was quite opposite to that of the human cultivators, and also knowing the general twists and turns.

That was a guy who was looked down upon by his own race, but was so strong that everyone in the world was helpless.

"Report!!!"

At this moment, a demon soldier wearing armor rode a demon beast and came, landing in the courtyard.

Ye Han saw this and stepped forward, drifting down from the pavilion: "What is it?"

"Frontline message: The Chen Clan dispatched disciples to the border, and they have currently met up with the Northern Garrison that retreated into Qingzhou."

"It's fine. These human races are each fighting for their own interests. This move is just to fear that my army will kill into Qingzhou, and they will not cross the border. Just strengthen the sentries."

"Yes, Your Highness."

Under the night sky where the cold wind blew and snowflakes flew.

The Elders and disciples wearing the Chen Clan immortal robes had already hurriedly arrived at the border, looking at the barbarian and demon army lined up around the Yuheng Mountain, all waiting in full battle array.

For several consecutive days, the barbarian and demon coalition army had no movements, and even the soldiers lined up at the border were decreasing day by day.

This scene also made them breathe a sigh of relief in their hearts.

They felt that the barbarian and demon tribes' strong attack was indeed just to take the You and Yun Prefectures at the arrival of winter, but there was no plan to go straight into Qingzhou in one go.

And subsequent observations also confirmed this point.

The barbarian and demon soldiers stationed at the border began to turn from offense to defense, using the Yuheng Mountain Range to start building defensive works. In addition, they seemed to be engaged in large-scale construction in the city, transforming everything in the city.

Seeing this scene, whether it was the soldiers at the border, the cultivators of the Chen Clan, or the original aristocratic families of the You and Yun Prefectures, their expressions were incomparably complex.

Even if the You and Yun Prefectures were lost, many people comforted themselves by saying that the lost cities and land could be recaptured.

But as those houses were torn down and buildings were transformed, they had a feeling that this place truly belonged to another race.

The so-called "how can one allow others to snore beside one's bed"—this feeling of the Nine Continents being shared by the demon and barbarian tribes was indeed not very pleasant.

After the Winter Solstice, as the New Year approached, there was a deep chill everywhere in the Nine Continents.

However, it was fortunate that there was no heavy snow like last year.

During this time, the Heavenly Tian Shuyuan released news that Shi Junhao had broken through to the Realm of Responding to Heaven and might be accepted as a personal disciple by Lu Fengchuan.

In addition, Yan Shujing of Spirit Sword Mountain and Chen Xi of the Chen Clan also broke through to the Realm of Responding to Heaven one after another.

And news of breaking through to Profound Understanding and breaking through to Merging with the Dao also often spread.