He sat on the bed in a daze. A memory flashed in his mind for a moment. He clearly recalled a figure, but when he tried to think about it again, there was only a blankness, as if his memories had been severely torn apart. For a time, he sat on the bed, gasping for cold air, his foundation as an eighth-realm martial artist almost unable to bear the turbulence of his state of mind.
Just then, a woman in white sat at the foot of the bed. It was Bai Long Shen Nü.
"Calling me?" she asked with a slight smile.
"No, Sister Bai,"
The young man shook his head. "I think I've remembered my past life's memories. I had an elder sister, and then I can't remember anything else. I don't know what's going on..."
"Oh?"
Sister Bai smiled faintly. "Could it be that our Lin Zhao is also a reincarnation of some Great Emperor? Otherwise, how could he possess such exceptional talent for command?"
Lin Zhao scratched his head awkwardly. "Sister Bai, please don't tease me."
"By the way,"
Bai Long Shen Nü chuckled. "Aren't they going to customize a marshal's armor and cloak for you over there? Tell them tomorrow that the armor, clothes, and cloak should all be white."
"Ah?!"
The young man was astonished. "Why?"
"Because..."
Bai Long Shen Nü's lips curved upwards, and she said with a smile, "If you want to be a sword immortal, then wear white. A sword immortal in white is the most iconic, wouldn't you agree?"
"A sword immortal in white is the most iconic..."
The young man pondered. If he were to stand on a flying sword, dressed in white... the image was vivid, yet he inexplicably felt a hint of shame and a tiny bit of anticipation.
...
At this moment, south of Snow Region Heavenly Lake.
A carriage belonging to the Zhang family sped along a newly built official road.
A servant acted as the driver, and a maid sat beside him. Inside the carriage sat two people: the young man Zhang Liu Cheng, and an elderly butler. The old butler, exhausted from the constant jolting day and night, was dozing with his eyes closed.
"Uncle Li?"
Zhang Liu Cheng called out softly.
The old butler continued to sleep soundly in the carriage, completely unaware.
The young man cautiously reached out and took a set of keys from the old butler's waist. Then, with even greater care, he took out a wooden sword from his belongings of dolls and wooden crafts. This wooden sword had been carved for him by Lin Zhao several years ago, and it even had a pleasant name: "Ling Xiao."
"Uncle Li?"
The young man tried again. Seeing that Uncle Li was completely unresponsive, he became bold and sly. He quietly opened a gap in the rear carriage door, then leaped out and quickly rolled into the grass by the roadside.
Under the starry sky, the young man looked north and frowned.
"Father and Mother are both at Snow Region Heavenly Lake."
"Lin Zhao is also at Snow Region Heavenly Lake."
"They might all die in battle."
"If they all die, what's the point of me living alone?"
He held up Ling Xiao and gritted his teeth. "Even if I have to die, I should die together, right? Otherwise, what's the point of Zhang Liu Cheng living on alone in this world?"
The young man headed north with his sword.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn.
The old butler, Li Qing, finally realized his young master was gone. He immediately shouted, "Stop the carriage! Stop the carriage! The young master is gone, he's escaped!"
The driver and the maid descended into chaos.
"This little ancestor, what sin has he committed... where could he possibly go?"
...
Several days later, at Snow Region Heavenly Lake.
As Lin Zhao had described, the army's craftsmen had indeed forged a new set of armor. It was entirely silver-white, crafted from rare materials refined by the Earth Master. Inlaid with runes, it possessed extremely strong defensive capabilities, making it a genuine magical artifact. The snow-white cloak behind it was also a magical robe, with runes inscribed on its lining, a treasure refined by an immortal.
The Great Shang Dynasty indeed placed great importance on the matter of Lin Zhao, the young marshal, and showed no negligence.
In the morning, the tent was set up for a meeting as usual.
Lin Zhao now occupied the marshal's seat, kneeling behind the marshal's desk, exuding an aura of youthful heroism. To his left sat Chen Wanli, Qin Yushan, Lu Fengxian, and others in succession. To his right sat Shao Shi Yu, Chu Huaixi, Bei Ming Hai, Li Cong Hai, and other generals. Piles of scrolls concerning military supplies, provisions, defenses, troop movements, and all other details were presented before the young marshal.
He didn't look at the scrolls; these were minor matters that others would handle for him.
"What is the situation with the defenses south of Snow Region Heavenly Lake?" Lin Zhao asked.
Chen Wanli clasped his fists. "Most of the camps, fortresses, trenches, rivers, and obstacles are ready. Only about twenty percent are still being rushed to completion, and the various army corps have already entered their positions according to the marshal's orders."
"Hmm."
Lin Zhao nodded and asked, "Old sir, can our deployment at Snow Region Heavenly Lake truly hide it from the eyes and ears of the Four Northern Tribes?"
"Yes!"
Chen Wanli said solemnly. "From the day the marshal began his deployment, the ten thousand Mohist cultivators we borrowed from the Mohist ancestral home laid down multiple layers of formations. These formations have the ability to steal the heavens and change the sun. Furthermore, we've set up over ten layers of battlefield restrictions. Any demon spies will come and never return, and even thirteen-realm demons would be incapable of seeing through our southern deployment."
"That's good then."
Lin Zhao nodded and said, "All army corps should hurry to enter their positions. After that, it will be about equipment and supplies. Caravans coming from the Great Shang Dynasty in the south will be taken over by our people within five hundred miles of Snow Region Heavenly Lake. Do not give them any opportunity to scout our formations. We must be watertight for the demons to possibly fall into our trap."
At this moment, Lu Fengxian pondered for a moment, clasped his fists, and said, "Marshal Lin, I have one point of confusion."
"Marshal Lu, please speak."
"According to Marshal Lin's deployment, is it inevitable that Heavenly Lake Town on Snow Region Heavenly Lake will fall?"
"Yes."
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "All our deployments in the north are only to delay and resist the offensives of the Four Northern Tribes, to draw them step by step into the battlefield we have prepared. The south is the true killing ground."
"In that case, won't the price be too high?"
Lu Fengxian's expression was grave. "Snow Region Heavenly Lake is the high ground. If we lose it, the demon cavalry can charge down from above, and the situation will likely be unimaginable."
"It's alright."
Lin Zhao smiled and shook his head. "The demon cavalry cannot charge for five hundred miles. Their strength will eventually be exhausted."
Chen Wanli chuckled.
...
After the morning meeting, only Lin Zhao, Chen Wanli, and Chu Huaixi remained in the great tent.
"Old Marshal."
Lin Zhao took out a booklet from his怀 and said, "This is a list of demon cultivators in the upper five realms that I had 杦栀, Luo Yang, and others collect from various channels. From the eleventh realm to the thirteenth realm, almost everyone is included. Take a look."
"Oh?"
Chen Wanli opened the booklet. The first page was a list of thirteen-realm great demons, with Bai Lan's name prominently ranked first. The second page onwards was the twelfth realm, spanning three consecutive pages. Then came the eleventh realm, with a vast number of names. Lin Zhao had also recorded them in great detail, including each great demon's innate divine abilities, unique skills, and weak points, without any omissions.
For a moment, old Marshal Chen Wanli's heart trembled. He had been at Snow Region Heavenly Lake for so long and had never done anything similar. Yet, Lin Zhao had thought of it and accomplished it so well in just two months!
Chu Huaixi frowned. "Lin Zhao, what are you planning?"
"The paper strength of the demon race is far superior to ours, so we must counter them strategically."
Lin Zhao said, "Many human cultivators from all over the world have already arrived at Snow Region Heavenly Lake, and quite a few from the Fusang Great Wall have also come. We cannot let them attack randomly. Such scattered, individualistic combat yields no benefit to us. Instead, we should command them uniformly. The demons are in the open, we are in the shadows. When the demon's upper five realms appear, we should dispatch corresponding individuals to hunt them down. Every time we kill a demon of the upper five realms, the balance of the battlefield will tilt slightly in our favor. Our human cultivators in the upper five realms are few, and even if one falls, they must die with value."
"So that's how it is..."
Chu Huaixi was horrified. He had never expected this young man's thinking to be so meticulous. In fact, when he collected the list of great demons, he had already treated the entire battlefield as a game of chess. Every human on the battlefield was a chess piece. We would concentrate our advantageous pieces to break through their isolated strong pieces. From the entire battlefield to localized areas, we would use our majority pieces to encircle and annihilate their minority pieces. Lin Zhao was playing an entire game for humanity's defense against the Four Northern Tribes, not just a simple battlefield formation.
On a certain level, Chu Huaixi understood that compared to this young man, he, Marshal Chu, was more like a city-guarding general than a commander.
The human army had always lacked someone who could strategize and plan. Looking at Lin Zhao, Chu Huaixi found it hard to believe he was only sixteen years old.
In reality, sixteen-year-old Lin Zhao possessed the resilient mindset of a twenty-five-year-old Lin Zhao, which was the decisive factor in his current performance.
...
The next day.
Chen Wanli began to personally visit the human cultivators in the upper five realms one by one. With the twelfth-realm martial artist and the Grand Marshal of the Twenty Thousand Cangnan Iron Cavalry appearing, any human cultivator in the upper five realms would show him some respect. Chen Wanli gave each of these cultivators a jade token. When someone from the army held the matching token and issued an order, they must comply. To ensure that these unruly cultivators would obey orders, the old marshal had to exert himself, sometimes even paying out of his own pocket for drinks and meals.
But in the end, Chen Wanli succeeded. All the cultivators in the upper five realms at Snow Region Heavenly Lake accepted the jade tokens issued by Lin Zhao's marshal's tent and were willing to accept unified command. Even some cultivators in the eighth, ninth, and tenth realms received bronze tiger talismans, and the marshal's tent could issue orders to them through the other half of the tiger talisman.
Everything proceeded in an orderly fashion, as Lin Zhao had predicted.
...
Late one night, a hungry young man holding a wooden sword opened his mansion gate. Without a word, he went straight to the kitchen, grumbling.
"I'm starving to death. I'll make myself a bowl of noodles first. After eating, I'll practice my peerless sword technique. If the demon scoundrels want to break through the town, they'll have to get past me first! As Brother Lin Zhao's number one subordinate, I'll never be a deserter, not even if I die!"