“Brother Huo?”
Lin Zhao was pleasantly surprised. He had overlooked something, but someone had considered it even more thoroughly. The arrival of this Saint of the military school's Ascended realm meant that the situation at Copper Mirror Lake was settled.
“Mm.”
Lord Piaoyao emerged from the peach blossom forest, carrying a long spear. His white robe and silver armor exuded heroic valor. He raised an eyebrow slightly and smiled, “A group of spirits, their actions are nothing more than petty scheming. Since you have forgotten that this is a human realm and that you must abide by human rules, then I, a human military scholar, shall teach you the rules.”
“You…”
True Lord Bei Xuan trembled. He had never been so afraid even when he encountered the twelfth-realm sword cultivator Tang Guangjun. The military scholar before him gave him a feeling of despair, an incomparably terrifying one. It was as if by looking at him, he knew he could not win against him, and even the chance of escape was quite slim.
If he were not a fourteenth-realm military scholar, he would be a legendary thirteenth-realm, a true Saint of the military school!
“Esteemed Immortal Master!”
True Lord Bei Xuan frowned. “The military school and my spirit clan have always minded our own business. Could you spare me this time?”
“Mm?”
Lord Piaoyao chuckled. “When the peach blossom spirit at the bottom of the lake begged you for mercy, did you show any?”
“I… did not…”
“So, why should I spare you?”
At that moment, a group of middle fifth-realm spirits felt a sense of impending doom. Each of them gritted their teeth. Some planned to fight to the death, while others intended to find an opportunity to escape. Each had their own plans.
The next second, Lord Piaoyao lightly tapped the ground with his spear shaft, summoning a military domain that directly crushed True Lord Bei Xuan’s small domain. It was like a massive golden hemisphere inverted over the earth, encompassing forests and mountains within a hundred-mile radius. He pointed his spear forward and asked with a smile, “Lin Zhao, may I slay them all?”
“You may.”
Lin Zhao nodded. “Killing them all would be no injustice.”
“Excellent.”
Lord Piaoyao took a step forward, his body soaring into the air. A dense golden ripple of military armor emanated from beneath his feet. He raised his spear and thrust it directly at True Lord Bei Xuan, the prime culprit, saying with a smile, “If you are reborn as a spirit in your next life, do not harm others so recklessly.”
“You!?”
True Lord Bei Xuan roared, instantly conjuring his natal magical artifact, a golden dragon-patterned jade ring. Flames erupted from the center of the ring, and he roared, “Even if you are thirteenth-realm, do you think you can kill me with one spear?”
Immediately after, his second natal magical artifact appeared: a silver suit of armor, which he donned directly onto his body, greatly reinforcing the defense of this twelfth-realm spirit. He had not even revealed these two natal items when fighting Tang Guangjun, mainly because there was no significant need. Spirits were typically rogue cultivators who roamed the world, and rogue cultivators were naturally cautious, never revealing their trump cards easily.
However, the spear thrusting down from the sky filled True Lord Bei Xuan with utter despair.
The killing intent condensed in this spear was too intense. True Lord Bei Xuan had experienced countless battles in his life, and all the killing intent he had ever felt combined did not compare to this spear. Was this the killing intent of a Saint of the military school?
“Boom!”
With a deafening roar, the golden dragon-patterned jade ring instantly shattered as the spear tip neared it. Following that, the silver armor also cracked and split. The next second, with a “whoosh,” the spear pierced through his heart. Under the impact of boundless killing intent, True Lord Bei Xuan's soul was blasted from his body and gradually annihilated within the killing intent.
He staggered back several steps on the lake’s surface. Though his body still possessed life, his soul was gone. Lord Piaoyao’s spear had scattered his soul. His body retreated a few steps, blood gushing from his chest. Within seconds, he crashed down, transforming into a slightly charred and scorched flame maple trunk, its body burned by the killing intent. At this moment, he was truly dead and his spirit vanished.
…
“Ah?!”
The other spirits stared in disbelief. No one had expected True Lord Bei Xuan to be unable to withstand even a single spear and be instantly killed. Although True Lord Bei Xuan had been injured earlier, his twelfth-realm foundation was still intact. To be unable to withstand even one spear meant that this military scholar was at least thirteenth-realm.
“Immortal Master!”
The eleventh-realm water birch tree spirit suddenly knelt on the surface of Copper Mirror Lake, tears streaming down his face. “I, dammit, was also tricked here by that turtle-son of a bitch Bei Xuan! I was supposed to be sleeping with my concubines in my cave dwelling, which was so pleasant. He dragged me here, saying he needed me to save face and boost his momentum. I never expected to be enemies with the military school! I beg the Immortal Master to spare my life. I have truly not harmed any innocents in my life!”
“Truly not?”
Lord Piaoyao pointed his spear, and the Taoist karmic threads associated with this eleventh-realm water birch tree spirit rose above its head. The black karmic threads of sin it was entangled with were extremely dense. The young Saint of the military school chuckled, “You have killed at least thousands of innocent lives. How dare you claim you have not harmed innocents?”
“I will never dare again, I will never dare again!”
This water birch tree spirit kowtowed repeatedly.
“Too late.”
Lord Piaoyao swept his spear downwards. A powerful force slashed across, cutting the eleventh-realm water birch tree spirit in half. Two pieces of water birch wood fell to the ground, and it was truly dead and its spirit vanished.
“Brothers!”
The remaining group of middle fifth-realm spirits were almost scared out of their wits. A seventh-realm snow willow spirit, holding a battle knife, roared, “This military scholar demon regards us as mere ants. How can we just wait to be slaughtered? Let’s go together and eliminate him! To put it plainly, he is only one person, and there are over a hundred of us. If we attack together, we can surely preserve most of us!”
“Kill!”
Over a hundred middle fifth-realm spirits descended from the sky.
Lord Piaoyao could not help but chuckle; it was exactly what he wanted. He pointed his bright silver spear forward, and his military intent surged. Behind him, golden military Dharma manifestations rose from all over the mountains and fields, including cavalry, chariots, and fire ox formations, filling the sky. As soon as those middle fifth-realm spirits encountered these military Dharma manifestations, they were almost all crushed without resistance and turned to dust. Among them, the Star River realm Osmanthus tree spirit was the most resilient but was annihilated in less than two seconds.
The battle was too one-sided. After a few seconds, Copper Mirror Lake was calm. All the spirits, including True Lord Bei Xuan, were annihilated, leaving no survivors.
Lin Zhao watched with emotion.
The human military school had Third Senior Brother and people like Brother Huo. The human scholars had people like Mr. Qin. Indeed, both civil and military were the backbone of the human race. In times of human crisis, it was these warriors and scholars who, with their shoulders, propped up the entire human realm. Scholars inherited the lost teachings of the past sages, and warriors opened eternal peace for all generations!
“Alright.”
Lord Piaoyao, carrying his bright silver spear, soared into the wind. He smiled at Lin Zhao and said, “I have done what I needed to do. I’m going back to sleep. You can handle the aftermath.”
“Brother Huo!”
Lin Zhao clasped his fists and smiled at him, “Thank you so much!”
“Leaving now.”
Lord Piaoyao, in his white robes, vanished with the wind.
…
Lin Zhao walked on the surface of Copper Mirror Lake. He collected the scorched flame maple trunk of True Lord Bei Xuan into his bag. The trunk of a twelfth-realm spirit could be used to make a table later. He also collected the wood of the eleventh-realm water birch tree spirit into his bag. After all, it was a high-level spirit, and it could be used to make a few chairs, ones that were cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
“Sir.”
Xiu Zhi waved her hand, drawing the storage bags of True Lord Bei Xuan and the water birch tree spirit from the water and handing them all to Lin Zhao.
At this moment, peach blossom petals swirled in the water. Soon after, Han Yurou and Luhua, who had been weeping profusely, emerged. Han Yurou directly knelt on the ground, crying, “I… I didn’t want Young Master to face such a calamity. It’s all Yu Rou’s fault, it’s all my fault…”
“Young Master!”
Luhua cried with a hoarse voice, “I sent the message to you, it has nothing to do with Miss, it was my own decision!”
“Alright.”
Lin Zhao stepped forward, helping the two of them up. He smiled gently, “Miss Han, and Luhua, do not dwell on these things. Although Lin Zhao’s realm is low and he can’t fight well, my friends and subordinates can fight. So, when facing difficulties, you should still think of me. You worried that I would fall victim to the treacherous hands of a high-level villain, but how could I not worry about losing friends like Han Yurou and Zhang Xicheng, and not worry about never being able to drink that peach blossom wine again in the future?”
Han Yurou burst into tears of joy. “Yu Rou has made a fool of herself in front of Young Master…”
“It’s alright.”
“By the way, Young Master, that person just now…”
“A Saint from the ancestral court of the military school.”
Lin Zhao’s eyes lit up, and he smiled, “That’s right, he particularly likes your peach blossom wine. How about… you give me ten more jars of wine, and I’ll give him five jars as thanks for saving my life, and keep five jars for myself, how about that?”
“Good!”
Han Yurou smiled softly. “It’s a small matter, I’ll get the wine now!”
…
Returning from Copper Mirror Lake to the mountain peak villa.
Chen Ben made a wasted trip and had no opportunity to unleash his fists for Brother Lin Zhao, so he sulkily went to sleep. Xiu Zhi accompanied Lin Zhao in the Natural Abode. Lin Zhao asked Dong Cang to prepare a few late-night snacks and took a large white fish from the fish enclosure to stew for soup. He would go have a drink with Lord Piaoyao later, while he began to sort through the storage bags obtained from Copper Mirror Lake.
Rogue cultivators were indeed wealthy. The two high-level spirits and a group of middle fifth-realm spirits had over 4200+ gold coins combined, which was a windfall for Lin Zhao. His bag now contained over 8800+ gold coins, making him absolutely super rich. As for the magical artifacts of these rogue cultivators, some were useless items and were directly discarded, while others still had some spiritual energy, but Lin Zhao, as a player, could not use them, nor could he sell them. Thus, he handed them over to Xiu Zhi to be distributed to the cultivators at the mountain peak villa.
…
He busied himself until late into the night, then, with Dong Cang, headed to the ancestral residence.
Lord Piaoyao was still awake, watching the starlight. A thirteenth-realm Saint had little need for sleep; he could sleep when he wanted and wouldn’t feel tired when he didn’t. As soon as Lin Zhao and Dong Cang entered, he smelled the fragrance of the white fish soup and the mellow aroma of the peach blossom wine. The Saint of the military school narrowed his eyes, thinking that this brat had some conscience!
Lin Zhao set down the stir-fried dishes and fish soup one by one, then took out five jars of wine. He smiled, “The peach blossom spirit of Copper Mirror Lake, Han Yurou, was grateful for Brother Huo’s life-saving grace and therefore gave us ten jars of wine. Lin Zhao kept five jars and brought five jars for Brother Huo. As for me… I took the opportunity to have Dong Cang cook some dishes and stew some fish soup, and came to have a drink with Brother Huo.”
“Alright~~~”
Lord Piaoyao was in a good mood.
Lin Zhao stood up, took out a jar from the five jars of wine, and broke the seal.
Lord Piaoyao narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself, “Stinky brat, so you’re going to drink my five jars of wine first? You’re quite shrewd, worthy of being my disciple Ding Muchen’s junior brother!”