The next day, a large amount of supplies from the Rock Army were brought up the mountain. Carts of grain, fodder, equipment, armor, and weapons made the cavalry of the Snow Domain Legion's eyes turn red with envy. Their Rock Army was part of the Great Shang Dynasty's regular forces, and their treatment was naturally much better than that of Snow Domain Heavenly Lake. In the morning, Lin Ruo, riding the wind, arrived at the peak villa and handed Lin Zhao a list.
The list specified five hundred heavy cannons, ten thousand sets of exquisite armor, ten thousand heavy shields, and ten thousand refusals long spears forged from fine steel. These items made Lin Zhao's eyes gleam. They were all what the Snow Domain Legion needed, yet these things couldn't be bought. After all, they were army supplies, and merchants of the Great Shang Dynasty couldn't access them.
"Lin Ruo, what is this?" Lin Zhao asked in surprise.
"A gift to Snow Domain Heavenly Lake."
Lin Ruo said in a deep voice, "As brothers, this is all I can help you with. Any more, and those officials from the Ministry of War would cause trouble for me."
"Thanks!"
Lin Zhao didn't refuse and said, "This is truly a timely gift!"
"It's good that it's useful," Lin Ruo replied.
Saying that, he turned to leave.
"Wait, Lin Ruo."
Lin Zhao called out to him, "We should also reciprocate. Please return to your camp and select the 200 strongest soldiers from the Rock Army. Bring them to the back mountain of our Snow Domain Heavenly Lake. I've planted a sword mountain in the back mountain. Let these people choose a suitable sword from the sword mountain to take with them. Consider it a small token of our Snow Domain Heavenly Lake's appreciation."
"The legendary sword mountain?"
Lin Ruo's expression changed drastically. "That… that's a treasure of the mortal world!"
"Indeed. Miss Lin from Fusuan Great Wall gave it to us."
Lin Zhao smiled slightly.
Lin Ruo was confused. "Which Miss Lin? Lin Wanhua?"
"Mmm."
For a moment, Lin Ruo's heart was filled with mixed emotions. Who was Lin Wanhua? All cultivators on the human mountain treated her with respect, calling her City Lord and Sword Immortal Lin. Even a first-rank official of the Great Shang Dynasty had to bow and respectfully call her Sword Immortal Lin. Yet, to Lin Zhao, Lin Wanhua was just "Miss Lin."
"Alright!"
Lin Ruo nodded. "I'll go back to camp and select the men now. Then… I'll trouble you, Lin Zhao."
"We're brothers, no need to be polite."
"Mmm!"
Not long after, Lin Ruo led 200 elite armored soldiers up the mountain. They selected two hundred spiritual-energy-rich swords from the sword mountain in the back and took them away. As for Lin Zhao, he didn't care. This sword mountain was too vast. Sword blades could grow on the mountain body by themselves, and the spiritual energy at the peak villa was abundant enough to nourish the sword mountain. In terms of sword-type weapons, Snow Domain Heavenly Lake was not lacking. Moreover, the swords nurtured by the sword mountain were all treasure swords that could cut iron like mud, something the craftsmen of the Great Shang Dynasty couldn't forge.
Therefore, there was a saying in Snow Domain Heavenly Lake: the sword mountain swords and dynasty swords were fundamentally different concepts. The long swords equipped by the Great Shang Dynasty army would either break or their edges would be dulled when encountering sword mountain swords; they were no match. However, Snow Domain Heavenly Lake still lacked military supplies, especially refusal long spears, heavy shields, and armor, which could elevate the combat power of the Snow Domain Legion to a higher level.
…
In the evening, it started to snow. Thick snowflakes fell all over the world. Coincidentally, Leng Yan and Shen Xingchen came up the mountain. Not in a hurry to level up, they sat by the snow-covered cliff to admire the snow. Listening to the rustling sound of the falling snow, both of them were extremely enjoyment. After all, Su City was located in Jiangnan, and it hadn't snowed heavily for many years.
Lin Zhao sat beside them, holding his immortal sword, Li Quan, accompanying Leng Yan and Shen Xingchen.
"How has it been recently?"
Shen Xingchen looked towards the north and said, "Are the demons planning something new? It feels too quiet; something must be about to happen."
"Mmm."
Lin Zhao nodded. "They're brewing a big move… but it's okay. If the demons are planning, so are the humans."
"Ah?"
Leng Yan pursed her red lips. "Lin Zhao, are you involved?"
"No…" Lin Zhao smiled.
"Hmph!"
Leng Yan looked displeased and felt he was being wronged. "Why? Are you not qualified?"
"It's not like that."
Lin Zhao smiled. "The human race's plans are being executed by the higher echelons of Confucianism, Mohism, and Militarism. They should all be plans at the sage level, and it has little to do with me. After all, I'm just a small leader of Snow Domain Heavenly Lake now, and my strength isn't that high. Besides, they don't need me now. As a part of the human players, sometimes I just need to quietly sit and observe the changes."
Shen Xingchen smiled, her pearly dimples showing. "It's good not to worry about everything, otherwise, it would be too tiring!"
"Yeah."
Lin Zhao looked down at Leng Yan. Despite the cold weather, her slender jade legs were still kicking playfully in the snow. He smiled and said, "A Yan, aren't you cold?"
"Not cold."
Leng Yan smiled. "My name is Leng Yan. My Great Dao is close to cold. Frost, wind, rain, and snow are all commonplace to me; they're nothing."
Shen Xingchen tilted her head and looked at her pretty face, smiling. "I don't think so. You are Leng Yan, but your Great Dao is close to fire. For some people, you are truly as passionate as fire…"
Leng Yan smiled and looked at Shen Xingchen, her hand already on her sword hilt.
"Alright, alright…"
Shen Xingchen put her arm around her shoulder and smiled. "Shall we go down the mountain to level up? We can go to the peak villa later for a midnight snack to replenish our energy?"
"Mmm, okay!"
Leng Yan got up and asked with a smile, "Lin Zhao, are you leveling up with us?"
"No, no."
Lin Zhao grinned and said, "I'm afraid the powerful demons of the fifth realm might come to kill me and implicate you two."
"Alright, we're going then."
Watching the two girls descend the mountain, Lin Zhao stood up, arms crossed, and looked towards Panyun Mountain. This feeling was the same as a hundred years ago. Leng Yan and Shen Xingchen were still good sisters, mingling in Snow Domain Heavenly Lake, while he still guarded Heavenly Lake Mountain. In the distance, the demons were also restlessly waiting for an opportunity to move south.
…
It snowed for three consecutive days, and it still hadn't stopped. The accumulated snow on the ground was already past ankle-deep.
Over at the Rock Army, Lin Ruo was quite anxious.
The heavy snow had sealed the mountain, and the Great Shang Dynasty's grain and fodder convoy heading north could no longer proceed. The thick snow had turned the entire official road into mud, and carriages couldn't pass at all. If it continued like this, the Rock Army would run out of food in less than half a month. Using the teleportation array to transport grain and supplies would consume too much, and soon all the spirit stones in the national treasury would be depleted.
South of the mountain, at the Mountain Lord's Shrine.
A streak of fiery red light arrived. It was Lin Zhao, riding the red leaf, descending upon the Mountain Lord's Shrine. He directly stepped into the shrine and wiped the mud from his shoes on the threshold. He frowned and asked, "Mountain Lord Su?"
"What is it?"
From the main statue in the Mountain Lord's Shrine, a figure emerged. It was the elegantly dressed Su Shanjun.
"Is this snow a bit suspicious?"
Lin Zhao frowned and said, "Logically, it's already late spring, and summer solstice is fast approaching. At this time of year, it's snowing heavily for three consecutive days. I'm afraid it's not divine will, but man-made?"
"Mmm."
Su Shanjun said, "This is something we need to ask the God of Snow for. The rain and snow in the vast Snowy Domain are under the jurisdiction of the Rain Master Yue Ling. This widespread heavy snow… without the command of Rain Master Yue Ling, it probably wouldn't fall. Three consecutive days of heavy snow is indeed abnormal. If I'm not mistaken, it's likely the demons' doing."
"This is troublesome."
Lin Zhao frowned. "In a short while, the Rock Army and the Snow Domain Legion will run out of food. This three-day heavy snow might even cause our cultivated fields in the south to yield nothing. If the demons are indeed trying to destroy us through Rain Master Yue Ling, what can we do?"
"Kill Yue Ling."
Su Shanjun said, "However, after Yue Ling acquired a Dragon King Temple, his golden body has become increasingly robust, subtly showing the posture of a twelfth-realm deity. At this time… setting aside the fact that there aren't many people capable of killing Yue Ling, even if he were killed, one would be stained with profound karma, and their Great Dao would be truly ruined in this lifetime."
He smiled faintly. "Moreover, since Shi Jungang has played the card of Yue Ling, he must have prepared sufficient contingencies. If someone rashly goes to kill Yue Ling, it's very likely they will fall into Shi Jungang's carefully designed trap."
"I understand."
Lin Zhao's brows were tightly furrowed, his mind heavy with worry. Su Shanjun also had no solution. As a mountain god who governed the earth spirits, he truly couldn't manage celestial affairs. Yue Ling was an eleventh-realm wind and rain deity. He didn't even give face to Lin Xingchu, let alone a mountain lord like himself in the middle fifth realm?
At a certain moment, Su Shanjun suddenly looked up at the sky and smiled. "Someone has made a move."
Lin Zhao also sensed it. A powerful martial artist's aura surged from the Rock Army camp. It was Lin Ruo!
…
"Swish!"
Lin Ruo's figure, enveloped in a ball of golden fist intent, shot straight up into the sky. After piercing through layers of clouds, he landed in the clouds. He stood suspended in the air, his body covered in dense golden fist intent. A Heavenly Origin realm martial artist wasn't necessarily astonishing, but if he was a Heavenly Origin realm Divine General, that would be another matter entirely.
"Command!"
Lin Ruo raised his iron fist and fiercely punched down onto the clouds. Immediately, a streak of golden fist aura exploded in the clouds, stirring up the clouds for hundreds of miles. He frowned and said in a deep voice, "Rain Master, get out here!"
Deep within the clouds, a figure in dark green python robes appeared. It was Yue Ling. He smiled slightly and cupped his fists towards Lin Ruo. "I am Yue Ling, greetings, Commander Lin. May I ask why Commander Lin has summoned me?"
"Immediately cease this heavy snow."
Lin Ruo said indifferently, "I'll only say this once."
"Why?"
Yue Ling smiled slightly and tilted his head, looking at Lin Ruo. "Does Commander Lin dare to punch and kill me, an eleventh-realm upper-fifth realm deity?"
However, before Yue Ling could finish speaking, a fist intent exploded in front of him. Immediately, his body was sent flying into the air with a punch. When he opened his eyes, Lin Ruo's figure was high above like a god. A punch landed on Yue Ling's chest, causing the golden body of this eleventh-realm Rain Master to crack. One moment he was close to the twelfth realm, and now he was about to fall out of the eleventh realm!
…
"Snap!"
Lin Ruo raised his hand and grabbed Yue Ling by the collar, lifting him into the air. His eyes were calm, and his voice was cold. "You trash, what were you just saying?"