After arriving at the mountain, Lin Zhao did not immediately return to the ruins of the small town. Instead, he went to the back mountain and found his parents' graves amidst a patch of overgrown burial mounds. The tombstones were still there, but they were covered in moss from the wind and rain. He immediately began clearing away clumps of weeds and small trees from the graves. Then, kneeling before his father's and mother's tombs, he offered a bittersweet smile and said, "Father, Mother, Lin Zhao is back. This time... I will not disappoint you again!"
In reality, the memories from the game were just implanted memories. However, they lingered in Lin Zhao's mind. He could not completely separate the memories of young Lin Zhao from himself. Instead, he felt he had two identities: the Lin Zhao of reality and Lin Baiyi of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool. The two had long since merged.
...
One-thirty in the afternoon.
Returning to the small town, the Baiyuxi stream still flowed rapidly. However, several stone bridges had been flattened by the demon race, and the town was completely gone. Not even a tile could be found, only barren snow. Lin Zhao went to the location of his ancestral home, smiled bitterly, and then walked to the front street. Standing in front of the flattened site of the bookstore, he cupped his hands in a salute and said, "Sir, I have returned."
The heavens and earth were silent.
Although Sir was a Confucian Saint, he had died a hundred years ago. That wisp of soul must have long since dissipated into the heavens and earth.
Lin Zhao continued forward, stepping into the Snow Region Heavenly Pool.
He mused in his heart, what would be the first step in rebuilding the Snow Region Heavenly Pool? Hmm, he still needed a house first. After all, there were plenty of plots of land everywhere, so building a small house should not be difficult.
Thus, he carried his Thunderclap Sword up the mountain, shattered many stones, and packed them into his bag. Then, he returned to the Snow Region Heavenly Pool and built a stone house. It wasn't large, more like a one-room dwelling. He then chopped down a small tree and planted it in front of the house. As the Alliance Leader, he refreshed a banner of the Scarlet Moon Knights from the guild treasury and placed it on the small tree, planting it by the door.
Hmph, it was finally established!
...
"Squeak squeak~~~"
As Lin Zhao was resting and recovering his stamina in the stone house, a squeaking sound came from the north. He quietly peeked out and saw a demon army marching up the mountain. There were only about 30+ demon soldiers, the strongest among them being a third-realm rat demon. In the game's assessment, it was an level 80 flowing gold tier quasi-boss. The rest were basically level 75-80 flowing gold tier normal monsters.
According to the rules in "Tian Xia," quasi-bosses had significantly inferior attributes and drop rates compared to regular bosses, but they were much stronger than normal monsters. Therefore... this small squad still had some good loot.
"All of you, pay attention!"
The rat demon, holding a long spear, said, "Hmph... I heard that some people who are tired of living dare to come to the Snow Region Heavenly Pool to pay respects to those so-called heroes of a hundred years ago. Bah! They lost, yet they still dare to come. The Snow Region Heavenly Pool is now our demon race's territory, is it for humans to come here and shed crocodile tears?"
A small demon nodded repeatedly, "Big brother is right, big brother is excellent!"
This third-realm rat demon had already taken shape, with most of its body resembling a human youth. It sneered and said, "All of you, brace yourselves. Think about how mighty our ancestors were. It is said that a hundred years ago, he led the charge with a long spear and pierced through Jia Zhong, a tenth-realm sword cultivator, and his fat pig wife with a single thrust. This greatly suppressed the morale of the human army. Hmph, we should all learn from our ancestor's brave style!"
"Yes, big brother is absolutely right!"
A group of rat demons nodded. Some had not yet taken shape, still appearing as large red rats, holding large cleavers in their hands, but they could already speak human language.
Lin Zhao squinted his eyes. It was a demon patrol team. Just perfect, he would start with them!
"Swish!"
A wisp of sword energy enveloped the forehead of the third-realm rat demon.
"Huh?"
The rat demon was slightly startled and said, "What's going on? Who's the bastard messing with me?"
"Big brother, this is bad!"
A first-realm rat demon shouted, "This is the work of a human sword cultivator! Big brother, be careful of your head!"
The next second, Lin Zhao collided with the body of this level 80 flowing gold tier quasi-boss. The two-stage damage from the sword energy instantly dealt over 5000 damage. As expected, the attributes of a quasi-boss were completely incomparable to those of a regular boss. He then began to swing his sword wildly, and with just the splash damage, he quickly dealt with the surrounding 30+ small monsters. In less than three minutes, he had brought the third-realm rat demon quasi-boss to critically low health, but he wasn't in a hurry to kill it.
"Ching!"
The Thunderclap Sword, carrying a wisp of lightning, pierced through one of the opponent's arms, pinning it to a stone pillar beside the stone house. Lin Zhao sat down on a rock in front of him and calmly watched it, a smile on his face.
"Young hero! Young hero, spare my life!"
This rat demon seemed to have little backbone. Tears welled up in its eyes as it said, "Young hero... Sword cultivator sir, Sword cultivator lord... spare my life! I cannot die! I have an ancestor who is eight hundred years old and a nest of crying babies below! If I die, this whole family will not survive! Please, Sword cultivator lord, spare my life! I know I was wrong. I swear, I will never set foot in the Snow Region Heavenly Pool again for the rest of my life! Please, lord, spare my life..."
Why was he so spineless?
Lin Zhao was somewhat speechless, and the corners of his mouth turned up as he said with a smile, "I will ask you some questions. If you answer truthfully, I might be in a good mood and let you go."
"Okay, okay!"
The rat demon cried tears of joy, "Young hero, please ask. I will definitely tell you everything."
"Mmm."
Lin Zhao nodded with a smile and said, "Which battalion and regiment of the demon race do you belong to?"
"The Ninth Army Tent, under the 20th Regiment, the 91st Battalion. Most of our brothers are here, and they were all killed by the young hero just now. Please, young hero, spare my life..."
Lin Zhao frowned. He wasn't very familiar with the organizational structure of the demon race's army tents. However, he knew that a normal army tent had a capacity of 200,000 troops. According to this rat demon's statement, one army tent had 20 regiments of 10,000 men each, and each regiment was divided into 100 battalions, with each battalion having 100 demon soldiers. That should be the breakdown.
"Who is the Ninth Commander?" Lin Zhao asked.
"Lord Bai Ye."
"Bai Ye?"
Lin Zhao slightly tensed up. "What's his background?"
"He is..."
The rat demon trembled all over from the pain and said, "Lord Bai Ye's true form is a white fox. He is an eleventh-realm sword cultivator. It is said that he is a distant cousin of the Three Armies Commander, Lord Yu Zhi. He is deeply cultivated, and his personality is sinister and cruel. He is currently responsible for overseeing the demon territory north of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool."
"Oh?"
Lin Zhao smiled and asked, "So, only one army tent is guarding the Snow Region Heavenly Pool?"
"That's right..."
The rat demon's tears flowed uncontrollably from the pain, "Most of the Ninth Army Tent's forces are stationed in the north. Those truly within the Snow Region Heavenly Pool are only a minority. However, they send patrol teams up the mountain every day to scout for any signs of human armies and cultivators. Once a trace is found, it won't be long before the main army attacks the mountain."
"Got it."
Lin Zhao nodded, drew his Thunderclap Sword, and smiled, "Now, you can rest in peace."
"Ah?"
The rat demon was so terrified that its soul almost left its body. "Sword cultivator lord... didn't you say you would let me go if you were in a good mood?"
"But I'm in a bad mood!"
"Ah, you dog sword cultivator, I hate you!"
Before the words even fell, the rat demon's head rolled onto the ground. Lin Zhao obtained a large amount of experience points, along with the loot of 30+ gold coins and two golden-tier equipment. Not bad, the loot from a quasi-boss was indeed abundant. Moreover, the monsters around the Snow Region Heavenly Pool were actually quite suitable for leveling. Level 75-80, and all flowing gold tier. For Lin Zhao, who was level 72, it was simply a leveling paradise!
Never mind, let's head down the north mountain and see!
...
The road down the mountain was familiar. Lin Zhao had traveled it many times in the past.
As he reached the mountainside, Lin Zhao suddenly looked up with alertness. There was a rather powerful aura ahead. He spurred his horse forward a few steps and saw a figure sitting forlornly on a blue rock on the mountainside. He was clad in rusted armor, his build was sturdy, but his face was weathered. He was using his sword to trim his beard, which looked like weeds, as if he were mowing grass. This person... looked like he hadn't bathed in at least ten years.
Beside him lay three demon heads. These heads were grimly deceased, their expressions ferocious. Two of them still had spinal columns attached, likely having had their heads ripped off with brute force.
In Lin Zhao's field of vision, the details of this person floated out –
[Xiang Ji] (Wuyun Realm Martial Warrior)
Level: 100
Biography: Xiang Ji, a general of the Great Shang Dynasty.
...
"Who is there?!"
Xiang Ji suddenly stood up, his sword pointed directly at Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao, riding his warhorse, felt no fear towards this ninth-realm martial warrior. He simply said indifferently, "I thought all the people of the Great Shang Dynasty were dead. Clearly, you won the Battle of the Snow Region Heavenly Pool a hundred years ago, yet you handed the Snow Region Heavenly Pool over to the demon race in the end. How shameful! It is truly a disgrace to the human race..."
Xiang Ji's body trembled. "You... Who are you?"
"Just a wandering sword cultivator."
Lin Zhao glanced at him faintly. "And who are you?"
Xiang Ji's body trembled. The look in his eyes was complex, filled with anger and unwillingness, but more so with helplessness. He gritted his teeth and said, "I am the disgrace you speak of..."
"How so?"
Lin Zhao frowned and asked.
Xiang Ji stuck his long sword into the ground and clasped his fists. "I am the sinful general of the human race, Xiang Ji. After the great victory at the Snow Region Heavenly Pool, Marquis Wen ordered me to lead fifty thousand Purple Thunder Legion to guard the Snow Region Heavenly Pool. However, I failed Marquis Wen's expectations. In less than three years, the great demon Yu Zhi commanded the forces of an army tent to counterattack the Snow Region Heavenly Pool. I led my brothers down the mountain to intercept them, which resulted in the annihilation of the entire army. All my brothers died, and only I, Xiang Ji, was left. I have no face to return to court and am willing to die here!"
A ninth-realm human martial warrior fighting against a demon army tent here. It seemed the demon race didn't take him seriously either, otherwise, they would have sent a fifth-realm cultivator up the mountain long ago.
"So, you have been guarding here for over ninety years?"
"Yes."
Xiang Ji said, "I have no face to return to court, so I'd rather die here!"
Lin Zhao recalled the past and smiled. "Since you still have the strength to kill demons, then kill them well. Don't talk about life or death. If you can live, then live. The lives of us humans are more precious than the lives of demons."