Martial Cultivator

Chen Chao was suddenly being called out. The others also stopped talking and looked at him.

Chen Chao lifted his wine bowl, took a sip, and said somewhat uncertainly, “Maybe he’ll come?”

Hearing this ambiguous answer, the group immediately found it uninteresting. Wu Yi picked up the conversation and said with a smile, “Even if he does come, at best we’d just be lucky enough to catch a distant glimpse. Could we really sit down and drink with him? A figure like that is already renowned across the world. For small fry like us, would he even spare us a proper glance?”

Although her words were not very pleasant, they were indeed the truth, so the others all nodded in agreement.

Li Qingshan said softly, “That Lord Warden Commander stands too high. Naturally, the things he sees are far-reaching. It’s only natural that he wouldn’t lower his head to look at us.”

Hai Qing said in a low voice, “No matter what, I still admire that Lord Warden Commander. Even if I never get the chance to meet him in this lifetime, it won’t change.”

Chen Chao thought for a moment, then said, “Not necessarily. The Lord Warden Commander may hold great power and status, but he’s still a person. He’s not so detached from worldly matters. If you really met him and asked him to drink a bowl of wine, he might just drink it without hesitation.”

After speaking, Chen Chao drained his bowl in one gulp.

Han Chan said, “If I could really share a drink with that Lord Warden Commander, I’d go to the Northern Frontier to kill demons. Even if I died there, it’d be fine. But is there even such a chance?”

At this, the others chimed in one after another, all saying that if that were truly the case, even dying on the battlefield would not matter.

Chen Chao joked, “Listening to you all, it sounds a bit like dying for one who understands you. But none of you fellow daoists are officials, are you?”

Li Qingshan revealed the underlying truth in one sentence. “Actually, all of us here, myself included, intend to go to the Northern Frontier. It’s just that we’re worried we won’t be valued there. After all, the relationship between Great Liang and the foreign lands isn’t very good right now...”

Chen Chao glanced at Li Qingshan and asked curiously, “So all of you have the will to serve the country?”

Hai Qing said in a deep voice, “I once heard that the Lord Warden Commander killed many great demons in the desolate north. When I heard that, my blood boiled, and I immediately wanted to go to the Northern Frontier to join the army and emulate his feats. But my elders kept stopping me, so I couldn’t go.”

Zuo Mu smiled and said, “I heard that even the young temple master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple once went to the Northern Frontier. A great daoist sage like that, who should have been focusing on cultivation, still went to kill demons there. There must be a reason.”

Huang Ying said softly with a smile, “I recently learned another piece of news. A group of sword cultivators from Sword Sect has already headed to the Northern Frontier. Even the Sword Sect, which has long stayed hidden from the world, has done this, so it certainly isn’t without reason.”

Li Qingshan nodded and said, “I heard that back then, when the Sword Sect’s Sect Master and His Majesty fought in the Divine Capital, he once asked how one could reach the pinnacle of the sword dao. His Majesty replied that one must understand why the sword is drawn. In this world, sword cultivators practice the sword to reach greater heights in the sword dao, but very few know why they practice the sword at all. Now, in my view, it should be to draw the sword for the countless living beings of this world.”

Li Qingshan’s words made Chen Chao recall the time he met Yu Xiyi. Back then, he had said something that left a deep impression on him.

He said that the cultivators of the world owed too much to the mortal realm.

Cultivators cultivate, but at the very foundation, they rely on the support of ordinary people. Countless laborers mine ores and search for cultivation resources for them. Not just in the Great Liang Dynasty, even long before that, successive dynasties had continuously conscripted laborers to supply cultivation resources to the major sects.

If cultivators are the fruit, then the common people are the soil, constantly nourishing them.

Chen Chao rubbed his cheek, but still said something that somewhat dampened the mood, “Actually, Fellow Daoist Li, why the sword is drawn is something one determines in one’s own heart. It’s not about following what others say. I don’t understand the sword dao, but holding to one’s original intent should be the right path.”

Li Qingshan thought about these words, then suddenly cupped his hands toward Chen Chao and said seriously, “I’ve learned something.”

Chen Chao smiled slightly.

Many things in this world are like this, like spring rain that nourishes things silently.

The change in understanding of these young cultivators would not happen in a year or two, but once it began, things would gradually improve. On this point, both the Great Liang Emperor and Chen Chao shared the same understanding.

It takes ten years to grow trees, but a hundred years to cultivate people.

After that, several rounds of dishes were served, and the wine had gone through many toasts. Everyone had drunk quite a lot. Xu Yin had kept trying to get Huang Ying to drink more, but ended up pouring drink after drink for himself instead. By now, he was already drunk, slumped over the table asleep, while Huang Ying still sat upright at the table.

Chen Chao felt somewhat helpless. It was not that he had not tried to help, Huang Ying had already seen through Xu Yin’s intentions and had been on guard the whole time.

Chen Chao cast Huang Ying an apologetic look.

Huang Ying nodded. She did not feel anything toward Xu Yin, but instead had a somewhat favorable impression of Chen Chao.

Hai Qing, now happily drunk, squeezed over to Chen Chao’s side, slung an arm over his shoulder, let out a burp, and then looked at him curiously. “Fellow Daoist Chen, have you been further north?”

Chen Chao nodded his head.

Hai Qing asked curiously, “What is the Northern Frontier Great Wall like?”

Chen Chao thought for a moment, did not answer directly, and instead said, “In the early years of the Tianjian era, after His Majesty ascended the throne, he did something. It has been over ten years now...”

Chen Chao spoke of the matter of the black-and-red wooden plaques hanging before people’s doors.

“Further north, many households hang wooden plaques written in charcoal in front of their doors. Some households hang more than one. If Fellow Daoist Hai has the chance, there’s no need to go to the Northern Frontier Great Wall, just go and take a look at those places.”

Chen Chao spoke slowly, drinking a sip of alcohol.

“What do you mean?”

Hai Qing was somewhat shaken.

Chen Chao said, “We should at least see who in this world is bearing the burden for us. Without that Great Wall, it would be inevitable for the demon race to move south. Without the soldiers on that Great Wall, even having the wall would be useless.”

Chen Chao’s words left everyone silent.

Although they had never seen it themselves, they could roughly imagine it.

Wu Yi asked, “What exactly are they fighting for? Aren’t they afraid of death?”

Chen Chao said, “No one isn’t afraid of death. It’s just that many people think - if I die, but my parents, brothers, wife, and children can live, then it’s fine.”

“No one wants to fight a war. The imperial court doesn’t want it either. But it has no choice.”

Zuo Mu frowned and opened his mouth, wanting to ask something, but ultimately did not.

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