Martial Cultivator

At dawn, Chen Chao had already risen and was about to leave this remote little county town. During this time, he only bade farewell to the old man, while the scholar known as Cao Chong, who knew his name, was still sleeping soundly.

The old man smiled as he saw Chen Chao out. Standing at the doorway, he glanced at the empty long street and said softly, ”This old man remembers the year when thirty thousand miles of the desolate north were ceded away. It was still this place back then. Many common folk went out into the streets, wanting the court at the time to take back the decision to cede the land. The people would rather tighten their belts and eat less, and the men even volunteered to enlist and go north, to reclaim the lost territory. But can you guess what happened in the end?”

Chen Chao looked at the old man and shook his head. The historical records would record many things, but there would also be many things they would not record. Just like this remote county town. Apart from the local county gazetteer, there would likely be little mention of it in the official histories.

Within the vast and boundless historical records, it was not easy at all for such a small county town to leave even a single trace.

”In the end, the government office sent constables to disperse the people and conducted day-and-night patrols. In short, they did not allow them to come out and cause trouble.”

The old man sighed, somewhat helplessly, and said, ”But was that really causing trouble?”

Chen Chao thought for a moment and only said, ”That will not happen now.”

The old man looked at the young martial artist before him and said, ”The world today looks much better than before, but precisely because of that, the better it is, the more this old man worries that one day it will cease to exist and turn back into what it once was. So I ask you all to watch over it carefully.”

Chen Chao smiled and said, ”Senior, you are not an outsider either.”

The old man nodded and said, ”That is only natural. When the timing is right, this old man can also go and die once.”

”Then forget it. Senior has lived this long, which was not easy. You should keep living well. These matters of life and death should be left to the young.”

After saying this, Chen Chao cupped his fists, then turned and left.

The old man did not stop him. He only watched the young man’s departing figure and said with a smile, ”This little fellow looks down on an old man.”

After saying this, the old man turned around and returned to the teahouse. Inside, Cao Chong had already woken up and was sitting at a wooden table.

As usual, the old man did not give him a pleasant look and only mocked him, saying, ”Who would have thought that some scholar with such extraordinary bearing would snore loud enough to shake the heavens when he sleeps. I thought only people like us would do that.”

Cao Chong said calmly, ”I do not snore.”

The corners of the old man’s mouth twitched. He did have some self-awareness. If it came to arguing, probably no one in the world today could out-argue him, so he could not be bothered to argue anymore. He sat down on his old bamboo chair and said irritably, ”You have drunk your tea. Get lost on your own.”

His attitude toward the Cao Chong before him and toward Chen Chao was worlds apart.

Cao Chong thought for a moment and asked, ”Do you think he has guessed my identity?”

”Whether he guessed it or not, so what?”

The old man sneered and said, ”If he knew your identity, would you then fight him to the death? I will warn you in advance. If you dare give rise to such thoughts, even if this old man has to stake his life, I will still take you, you dog-”

Halfway through, the old man sighed repeatedly. After letting out such harsh words, even he himself felt somewhat embarrassed, since the scholar before him was indeed someone very capable in a fight.

”I do not kill people. All these years, I have never personally killed anyone. A scholar should properly do what a scholar ought to do.”

Cao Chong glanced at the old man and said softly, ”Last night he tested me quite a bit, and I also revealed some flaws to him. I just do not know whether he will be able to see through them.”

The old man gave an oh and did not respond.

”Judging from his cultivation aptitude, he is indeed a rare genius, but some matters are not settled just because one has high talent. I can say that I saw a bit of hope in him, but I am not certain and still want to observe him some more.”

Cao Chong spoke lightly. He reached out and dipped a finger into the cold tea bowl on the table, using the tea water to write a single character: wait.

The old man cursed.

Cao Chong glanced at the old man and said, ”I laid out a scheme for him in Changban Commandery. I do not know why, but when he dealt with it, he was not as decisive and ruthless as before.”

Cao Chong continued to himself, ”So I still need to watch him a bit longer.”

The old man did not speak and only raised his middle finger.

Cao Chong smiled, then suddenly turned to look at the old man and asked, ”What kind of person do you think Master Dong is?”

He had only just started speaking when the old man suddenly perked up, stood up, and cursed, ”An old bastard!”

......

......

Desolate north.

A cavalry force had just gone through a fierce battle with the demon race cavalry and in the end achieved considerable gains. The cavalrymen lifted their fallen comrades’ bodies onto the horses and began to head south.

At the front, a female general sat high on her horse, gazing into the distance with deep eyes, as if pondering something.

Not far away, a sword immortal in green robes slowly urged his horse over. During the earlier battle, he had only watched from afar and had not taken action.

In truth, if not for the fact that this woman had already been placed on the demon race’s must-kill list, he would not even have appeared here. It was not some major battle to begin with, but the General’s Office truly could not rest easy. After all, this woman had already revealed her military talent, and the demon race was certainly intent on eliminating her as quickly as possible. If not for her stubborn insistence, they would not have allowed her to leave the Great Wall again.

The green-robed sword immortal came to the woman’s side and asked with a smile, ”Junior Sister, the battle losses have reached a ratio of three to seven. Earlier, I watched from over there as you deployed your troops and arranged your formations. It was truly impressive. Many of the intricacies involved, even watching from the side, I could not actually understand.”

Xie Nandu smiled and said, ”Senior Brother is destined to be the kind of sword immortal who carries a sword at your waist and can go anywhere under heaven. It is only natural that you do not understand these things.”

Liu Banbi shook his head and said, ”I still have some self-awareness. Some things are not that I do not want to learn them. It is that even if I want to learn them, I cannot.”

Xie Nandu did not dwell on that topic and instead said, ”It is said that the Sword Sect has already dispatched sword cultivators. The first group numbers twenty in total. The one leading them is a sword immortal named Huang Yi. It seems he already arrived at the city walls yesterday.”

Liu Banbi clicked his tongue and said, ”That stinking brat is really capable, to even mobilize the Sword Sect. You should know that those sword cultivators are famously arrogant. I know Huang Yi. In earlier years, he had some reputation in the world, but his talent was nothing special. If he were to meet me now, it would be settled in two or three sword strikes.”

Xie Nandu said, ”In any case, it is a good thing. It can relieve some of the pressure. Their coming now is also to familiarize themselves with the battlefield first.”

Liu Banbi rubbed his slightly prickly beard and asked, ”Junior Sister, are we and the demon race going to have a life-and-death battle soon?”

Xie Nandu said, ”Hard to say. But if there truly is such a battle, then naturally the later it happens, the better. But clearly, they also know what we are doing. From their perspective, the earlier this happens, the better.”

Liu Banbi sighed and did not speak.

During this period of time, Chen Chao had been consolidating forces from the foreign lands, and he had already seen considerable results. The demon race naturally knew this as well. What lay before them was actually very simple: only two choices.

The first was to endure patiently and not launch a war, waiting for cracks to appear within the human race. This was something that could be done in the past and posed no real problem, because back then there was no Great Liang Emperor, and there was no Chen Chao.

But now that there was Chen Chao, this matter might not succeed.

In the world today, Chen Chao was an extremely important figure. He seemed to have bound the entire world to himself. As long as he lived, it was as if that knot could never be untied.

Since they could not wait for the human race to split apart on its own, then they had to launch a great war as soon as possible. Before the human race truly twisted itself into a single rope, they had to strike in one breath, like crushing dry weeds and snapping rotten wood, and shatter the human race.

In short, no matter what, the situation in the Northern Frontier was extremely delicate. Time waited for no one.

Xie Nandu took a deep breath. ”But since there is a fight to be had, it will not be completely one-sided. If we have to fight, then we fight. What is there to be afraid of?”

Liu Banbi said with a smile, ”Junior Sister’s bearing really already has a bit of the flavor of a great general.”

Xie Nandu had not yet spoken when, in the distance, a single rider suddenly galloped over. The cavalrymen nearby immediately went on alert, but they soon received word that it was one of their own, and only then did they relax.

That rider arrived nearby. Xie Nandu glanced over and asked with some curiosity, ”Commander Song, why would you come here instead of staying in the Divine Capital?”

That rider was none other than Song Lian, the commander who should have been presiding over the overall situation in the divine capital.

Song Lian was holding a bundle. He tossed it toward Xie Nandu and said helplessly, ”I did not want to come, but the one above me spoke. Even if I did not want to come, I still had to make this trip.”

Xie Nandu caught the bundle and opened it. Inside was a suit of golden armor.

Song Lian transmitted with heart-speech, ”This armor is called Skyglow Armor. That kid told me to tell you to wear it on your body and not take it off no matter what. At a critical moment, it can save your life.”

After saying this, Song Lian directly turned around, spurred his horse, and left.

They had come in haste, and they also left in haste

Xie Nandu lowered her head to look at the Skyglow Armor and smiled faintly.