Lin Zhao still drew his sword.
Drawing the immortal sword in his soul form was not difficult at all. The sword light swept across, directly dispersing Bai Lan's soul. This was equivalent to killing Bai Lan once more, but Lin Zhao felt no joy. He looked back and saw the sky filled with fist intent and sword energy surging in the snow forest in the distance. Chen Wanli, joined by Lu Xinghe, was fighting seven demon races of the thirteenth realm!
If this battle was won, the balance of victory would tilt towards the human race. If they lost, there would still be a lot of fighting to do.
...
A wisp of the young man's soul drifted towards the Snow Region Heavenly Pool.
Right in front of the encampment, he saw a figure he longed for, Chen Yu.
When the soldiers of the Great Chen Dynasty were annihilated, Chen Yu was unwilling to live on alone. She actually begged a sharp sword from the Great Shang and came to the mountain encampment, joining as an infantry soldier. Her sword and fist techniques were fierce, but the demon race's offensive was too brutal. Chen Yu was already wounded in multiple places.
In an instant, a ninth-realm demon race sword cultivator unleashed a sword strike from the air. Chen Yu was immediately sent flying back with a spray of blood. Her body convulsed continuously; the wound from this sword was extremely deep and fatal.
"Sister Chen Yu!"
Lin Zhao flew forward, but he could not get close to Chen Yu. There was a restriction between soul and living beings, like heaven and earth, wind, rain, thunder, and lightning.
A figure flew from the south of the mountain, clad in white. It was that Su Shanjun.
"Ugh..."
As he held Chen Yu in his arms, Chen Yu seemed to experience a final burst of energy. Her eyes were filled with the man before her. She reached out her hand, wanting to touch his face.
"You remember me?"
Su Shanjun said softly.
"Mm."
Chen Yu's tears streamed down. "You are my Lin Su..."
In her brow, a Natal Character appeared:
悦 (Yue - Joy)!
...
It was this Natal Character that allowed her, across lifetimes, to awaken all her past memories at the moment of death. And the most important of these memories was still this man, Su Shanjun. Even Chu Huaixi, whom she admired and loved dearly in this life, was far from comparable to the man before her. She wept tears of joy, yet coughed up blood incessantly.
"It's good that you remembered, it's good that you remembered..."
Su Fu cried uncontrollably.
Su Shanjun, the Mountain God Su Fu, Mountain has Fusheng (a pun on Fusang, a mythical tree, and a person's name).
Princess Yu, Great Chen Chen Yu, Xi You He Hua (a line from the Book of Songs, meaning "there are lotuses in the marsh").
...
Chen Yu coughed violently, her body covered in blood. Her entire chest was almost split open by that sword, but she was truly happy now. A smile graced her pained face as she gently caressed his face with her palm, softly saying, "Finally, I see you again. I miss you so much..."
"I miss you too..."
Su Shanjun's tears streamed down.
Chen Yu smiled softly, her mind recalling the scene of her departure in the previous life. In that life, she was a woman from a scholarly family, unmarried her entire life. It was only before her death that she realized why she remained unmarried, precisely because of that person. Thus, the old woman with white hair and a scholarly air, before her death, ground ink by the window, spread out Xuan paper, and wrote the poem: "Your bones will crumble in the soil beneath the spring, while I, in this human world, will have snow fill my hair."
In this life and every life, she had only longed for this moment, to be reunited with him.
"Alright, let's go home."
Su Shanjun picked up his beloved woman and glanced back in Lin Zhao's direction, as if he could see Lin Zhao's soul. He smiled slightly and said, "Thank you for letting her live seven more days."
Lin Zhao stood in place, gently bowing with a cupped fist.
...
Not long after, Su Shanjun carried Chen Yu back to the Shanjun Temple. Holding her like this, they leaned together on the threshold of the Shanjun Temple, watching the pear blossoms bloom outside. For Lin Su, he had waited a lifetime, and what was it for, if not these brief moments.
"I have to go now."
Chen Yu gently held his face and smiled, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry... for making you wait so long, I have to go again..."
"It's alright."
Su Shanjun said softly, "I will wait for you for another lifetime."
"Mm."
Chen Yu departed with a smile.
The moment Chen Yu's life force was extinguished, Su Shanjun placed her inside the Shanjun Temple and stepped out himself. The instant he stepped out, his state of mind was completely opened, and he became a thirteenth-realm mountain and water deity. Within the Snow Region Heavenly Pool, he was comparable to a fourteenth-realm expert. He even spat out a curse: "Damn you demon race, blood debt must be paid!"
He swept past, the Shanjun Divine Sword cutting through the battlefield. In mere moments, over ten thousand demon soldiers and cultivators turned into bloody rain. In the face of an enraged fourteenth-realm expert, they were nothing.
"Su Shanjun."
A voice reached Su Shanjun's ears. It was Qin Suihan's voice. "The Heavenly Dao is about to collapse. I implore Su Shanjun to save some strength and leave some to help this world, alright?"
"Alright."
Su Shanjun said, "But I can only expend the price of realms eleven to fourteen to help you. I must reserve one realm of 'Guizhen' (returning to authenticity) to protect that Natal Character for her, so she can enter reincarnation and awaken her past memories again."
"Agreed, this is only natural."
Thus, Su Shanjun only swung his sword twenty-odd times before stopping. He had killed three twelfth-realm demons, nine eleventh-realm demons, and nearly a hundred thousand demon soldiers. It wasn't too much.
...
Late at night.
Northern skies of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool rumbled with thunder. Lu Xinghe, Chen Wanli, and several thirteenth-realm demon experts were still locked in battle. By this point, all sixty-odd encampments that Lin Zhao had set up in the northern Snow Region Heavenly Pool had been captured. The armies of the four northern tribes officially began their assault on the mountain, reaching the borders of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool!
On a dim mountain path, Lin Zhao's wisp of soul slowly ascended the mountain. As usual, he carried an immortal sword on his back, his legs steady and powerful, not leaping, but simply climbing step by step. He wanted to make the journey home as slow as possible, not too rushed.
On the north side of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool, a green mountain rose from the ground. On that mountain, someone was drinking wine. The person wore white scholarly robes, appearing very weary. He looked down with a condescending gaze at a gray, hazy figure who had just arrived from below. He then raised his wine cup and said, "Marshal Lin, would you care to come up for a drink with Wen Shuoyang?"
Lin Zhao glanced at him, instantly straightening his posture and rising from the ground. He floated down in front of Wen Shuoyang, offered no bow, but simply smiled slightly and said, "Lin Zhao pays his respects to Marquis Wen."
Instead, Wen Shuoyang bowed deeply in the Confucian manner and said, "Wen Shuoyang, for the sake of the world, thanks Marshal Lin."
"Mm."
Lin Zhao sat down, picked up a cup of wine, and drank it down in one gulp.
Beside him, the purple-robed strategist watched intently, his soul trembling. He had never expected Lin Zhao's soul to appear here. If he were not a cultivator of the Upper Five Realms, he truly would not have been able to detect it.
"The demon race has entered the fray."
Wen Shuoyang mused, "Marshal Lin is a heavenly bestowed general in this world. Without your arrangements, even if our human race won this war, it would be a pyrrhic victory. Marshal Lin has made a great contribution to this world, a feat of unparalleled glory!"
"Marquis Wen, there's no need to praise me."
Lin Zhao looked directly at Marquis Wen and said, "I only want to ask one question: Chu Huaixi's death was at your instruction, was it not?"
"Yes."
Wen Shuoyang did not conceal it at all. "The human race has been too fragmented for too long. Defeating the four northern tribes this time is a heaven-sent opportunity for world unity. And Chu Huaixi was the soul of the Great Chen Dynasty. Not to mention the Snow Region Heavenly Pool, there are still many aristocratic families and clans in Yan Province who are loyal to the Great Chen Dynasty, loyal to him, Chu Huaixi. If Chu Huaixi did not die, it would be difficult for the world to truly unify."
Lin Zhao frowned and said nothing.
Wen Shuoyang said, "You don't blame me?"
"What good would blaming do?"
Lin Zhao said lightly, "I only have a wisp of soul left now. Heaven knows when it will dissipate. What can I do to you, Marquis Wen?"
"Marshal Lin..."
Wen Shuoyang sighed, "Is there anything you want to say to me, Wen Shuoyang? Whether it's reprimand, inquiry, or even a torrent of abuse, I will accept it all. This is what I, Wen Shuoyang, owe you, owe the Great Chen Dynasty."
"Alright."
Lin Zhao turned and asked, "I want to ask Marquis Wen, how does the Great Shang Dynasty govern Yan Province?"
"Wen, dispatches a provincial governor to manage the military and civil affairs of a province. Wu, dispatches several military governors to control the troops of a province."
"What about specific policies?"
Lin Zhao frowned. "Were the women of the Great Chen Dynasty required to marry men of the Great Shang?"
"There was a requirement."
Wen Shuoyang did not deny it. "But it wasn't my idea. This was just to divide the bloodlines of the Great Chen Dynasty and weaken its existence. Yan Province is Yan Province, it should be the Yan Province of Great Shang, not the Yan Province of Great Chen?"
"Do you feel no shame saying this?"
Lin Zhao looked directly at Marquis Wen.
"Alas..."
Wen Shuoyang said, "Marshal Lin, what are your thoughts? You can speak them freely. If Wen Shuoyang can do it, I will do it."
"Good."
Lin Zhao stood up, his gaze fixed on the direction of the Great Chen Dynasty's former territory, Yan Province, and said, "From now on, the women of the Great Chen Dynasty will only marry those they love. I want the people of the Great Chen Dynasty to be able to live with their heads held high, not to be constantly subservient. I want the disciples of the Great Chen Dynasty sent to the academies, colleges, mountains, and sects of Great Shang to be taken care of and to have a peaceful journey."
He turned to Wen Shuoyang and said lightly, "If the Great Shang Dynasty betrays the Great Chen Dynasty, I will not let you go even in death!"
Marquis Wen stood up and cupped his hands in salutation to the young man. "Please rest assured, Marshal Lin. As long as I, Wen Shuoyang, am alive, I will certainly uphold these words of Marshal Lin, and will strive to promote the leniency towards the people of Yan Province, and will also do my best to care for the descendants of the Great Chen Dynasty who have branched out in Great Shang. If I break this oath, I shall be destroyed by gods and men alike!"
"Thank you."
Lin Zhao stood up and descended the mountain.
"Marshal Lin is leaving now?" Marquis Wen asked.
"Mm."
Lin Zhao smiled. "I'm going home to take a look. After that, I'll probably fade away."
Watching the young man's receding back, Marquis Wen's eyes reddened slightly.
...
Late at night, faint thunder rumbled in the sky.
Not long after, the cultivators of the Upper Five Realms above the Snow Region Heavenly Pool all felt it. Everyone looked up at the sky. In the sky, countless azure blue seas hung in the air, and within these seas, clusters of spirit-filled green mountains rose. There were palaces on the mountains, immortals riding cranes, and sword immortals wielding swords. The sea was vast, the green mountains stood tall, and the peaks of these mountains all pointed towards the human realm.
"Qin Suihan, it's time to repay the debt!"
A deity roared in the sky.
As everyone looked up, the night was illuminated as if it were day. It was as if the gods in the upper realm were about to hold the world accountable.
Qin Yushan looked up at the sky and frowned. "The Sea of the Heavens, inverted upon the mortal realm?"