Chapter 38: The Truth
The righteous army’s main tent.
The furnishings all around were crude and sparse.
Only a gigantic map hung in the center, depicting the geography of Ba Commandery.
Li Rulong wore his commander’s robe, holding a vermilion brush as he reviewed military documents.
Suddenly!
A burst of noisy clamor came from outside the tent, making him frown involuntarily.
Before he could speak, the tent flap was lifted, and several cultivators barged in.
“Big Brother…”
Guo Tianhong’s face was flushed red.
His voice even carried a hint of sobbing, making him appear extremely aggrieved. “That person from the Luo Family came again. I was useless… I couldn’t stop him!”
In the army, military orders came first.
Trespassing into the commander’s tent was a grave crime—one that, in principle, could warrant immediate beheading as a warning!
Yet the few cultivators who burst in showed not the slightest fear.
They looked around casually, smiles of mockery on their faces.
“Greetings, Commander-in-Chief!”
“Spare the formalities…”
Li Rulong set down the vermilion brush and sighed.
“So it is Fellow Daoist Luo Dacheng, and Fellow Daoist Luo, and Fellow Daoist He…”
These people were nothing special in cultivation, but the key point was their surnames!
The Luo Family of Tianshui, the Luo Clan of Kuian, and the He Family of Yunyan Sect—each was a renowned Dao Foundation power native to Ba Commandery!
Although restrained by agreements among the Purple Palace realms, these Dao Foundation cultivators did not personally take action.
But Li Rulong, a mere Qi Ingestion cultivator, could only have his army detour whenever encountering these families, needlessly taking many long and wasted routes.
Not only that—these families also dispatched cultivators, ostensibly to “assist the righteous army,” but in reality?
“Commander-in-Chief… the clan has issued orders. They hope you will attack ‘Three Wood City’ tomorrow, preferably slaughtering a hundred thousand people…”
Luo Dacheng of the Luo Family spoke first.
“The clan is refining a furnace of pills and urgently needs blood and qi.”
“A hundred thousand? Isn’t that too many? In the past, we relied on clashes between two armies. Casualties were heavy enough that things could still be concealed. With this many, it won’t be possible to hide it.”
Li Rulong had not yet spoken when Guo Tianhong grew anxious at his side.
“If it can’t be concealed, then so be it. What can the resentment of mere commoners do to us cultivators—can it even touch a single hair?”
Luo Dacheng was utterly unconcerned.
“People are like chives—cut them down and they grow again…”
Li Rulong muttered softly.
“Haha, exactly so.”
Luo Dacheng laughed loudly, then looked toward Guo Tianhong, his gaze openly lascivious.
“Commander-in-Chief… your little sister has truly grown into something exquisitely tender.”
Clang!
Within the tent, a streak of sword light flashed forth!
Amid the thunderous resonance of countless blades, the Army-Stabilizing Sword was already resting on Luo Dacheng’s neck before anyone knew it.
“The army will begin the siege tomorrow… Now, get out!”
Li Rulong’s voice sent a chill straight to the bone.
“Haha… just a joke, that’s all.”
Luo Dacheng gave two dry laughs and fled the commander’s tent in near panic.
After running far away, he spat viciously behind him.
“Bah… a lackey kissing up to the Pu Family’s stinking feet, yet he really thinks he’s some hidden dragon?”
The cultivator surnamed Luo and the cultivator of the He Family exchanged glances, both shaking their heads.
Although they had come together to apply pressure, they felt some shame at being associated with this man.
“That Li Rulong—has he already reached peak Qi Ingestion?”
After a long while, the Luo cultivator spoke.
“I’ve cultivated bitterly for thirty years, and I’m only at the sixth layer. Truly enviable.”
“Enviable? I’m not envious at all. Isn’t he cultivating the Minor Geng Metal Sword Art?”
The He Family cultivator of Yunyan Sect shook his head.
“I heard that in Yulin Commandery there is a Dao Foundation family that passes down the Neck Metal lineage. They seem to cultivate the ‘Geng Metal Sword Art’? Recently, a prodigy emerged there, also at the ninth layer of Qi Ingestion. Presumably, before long, there will be another Dao Foundation great cultivator…”
“How do you know this so clearly, Brother He?”
The Luo cultivator was startled.
“Since we’ve pledged ourselves to the Pu Family, we’ll be colleagues with the Yulin Commandery families in the future. It’s best to make preparations in advance, so we’re not caught off guard.”
The He cultivator replied frankly.
“Indeed… that Pu Family Ancestor has refined a heaven-and-earth spiritual flame. His battle strength is formidable even among Purple Palace cultivators. Just by observing the wins and losses on mortal battlefields, it’s clear the Black Miasma Sect is already at a disadvantage. Naturally, families like ours must stand on the winning side.”
The Luo cultivator said as if it were only natural.
……
‘Why does this atmosphere feel wrong?’
When Fang Qing was invited into the righteous army’s main tent, he felt the mood was somewhat subtle.
He looked again at Li Rulong and discovered that this man’s true power had reached a certain peak.
The Neck Metal qi was incomparably sharp—merely gazing at him produced a stabbing sensation—yet his posture had inexplicably become hunched, as though he had aged and withered considerably.
At the side, Guo Tianhong’s eyes were slightly red, as if she had just been crying.
‘Could it be…’
His thoughts ran wild, but his expression turned solemn.
“Fang Shui… pays respects to the Commander-in-Chief.”
“So it’s you…”
Li Rulong seemed to come back to himself, offering an apologetic smile.
“My apologies… I didn’t know Fellow Daoist was coming.
What brings you here? If it’s for a transaction, you can go see the logistics officer.”
“Commander-in-Chief… you look rather haggard.”
After a few casual exchanges, Fang Qing heard Li Rulong sigh deeply.
“Sigh… when I think carefully, the happiest time of my life was still back when I first ventured into the martial world, during the days when the Seven Swords of Shu Mountain swore brotherhood.”
‘What is this? A big shot showing off?’
After a few more questions, Fang Qing learned that Li Rulong’s two mortal sworn brothers had also died on the battlefield.
Only then did he roughly understand.
‘So it’s autumn sorrow and spring grief? Forget it—I’ll finish my act quickly and run!’
Having made up his mind, Fang Qing took out a letter.
“Commander-in-Chief, do you still remember that ragged old Daoist?”
“Back when we sought immortality, the old Daoist we saw outside the Floating Boat Market? I have some impression…”
Li Rulong thought for a moment and recalled.
“That Daoist has vast connections and gathered many fellow practitioners to host an exchange gathering… He admires the Commander-in-Chief’s bearing and sent this letter.”
Fang Qing handed the letter to Guo Tianhong, who then passed it on to Li Rulong.
Watching Li Rulong open the letter and skim it a few times—
“So that’s how it is…”
Li Rulong’s expression changed slightly.
Suddenly, he pressed his topknot.
From atop his hair, the flying sword that had been inserted there shot out at once, releasing a clear and piercing sword cry.
Fang Qing’s pupils shrank, almost thinking Li Rulong was about to make a move.
“What the letter says, I already understand fully. This time, many thanks to Fellow Daoist.”
Li Rulong stood up and gave a solemn bow of thanks.
Then he glanced at Guo Tianhong beside him.
“Fellow Daoist Fang… if something happens to me in the future and you encounter my sworn sister, please take care of her.”
‘This tone… why does it sound like entrusting an orphan? Could it be that the letter revealed the truth?’
Fang Qing naturally dared not peek at a letter left by someone suspected of being a Purple Palace cultivator.
He could only speculate.
“Easy enough, easy enough. Since the matter is settled, I’ll take my leave.”
Fang Qing only wanted to shake off trouble.
He didn’t even do business, directly taking his leave.
After he departed, Guo Tianhong looked at Li Rulong’s ashen face.
“Big Brother… what happened?”
“I originally thought… that by being their dog, at least I could protect you. We could all live, and perhaps someday still have the carefree ease of becoming immortals…”
Li Rulong’s eyes were vacant.
“But now…”
……
Whoosh, whoosh!
Fang Qing stepped on the Mysterious Ice Wheel, flying several hundred li in one breath.
Glancing at the scenery below, he lowered his escape light and sat cross-legged on a slab of green rock.
Splash, splash!
Beside the rock flowed a stream like a jade ribbon, babbling endlessly.
He stopped, appearing to meditate cross-legged to recover his expended true power, but in fact secretly circulated the Plum Blossom Divination, calculating the auspiciousness or danger of opening his traversal at this moment.
Auspicious!
With the blessing of the Dao-Birth Pearl, the plum blossoms in his sea of consciousness produced the hexagram.
“Huu…”
Fang Qing let out a long breath, knowing that after completing his ‘role,’ that deadly gaze had finally withdrawn from him.
Even so, he dared not activate traversal immediately.
Instead, he traveled through many places, seemingly purchasing spiritual materials, but in truth divining daily to ensure safety.
Several months later.
Somewhere on Jade Island.
“Damn… I finally made it back!”
After experiencing what it felt like to be ‘fish-bombed’ by a Purple Palace cultivator, Fang Qing returned to his loyal Jade Island.
Ever since that last experience, he had become somewhat jumpy.
Even now, having returned to Jade Island—already engulfed in flames of war—he somehow felt that even if cultivators on both sides fought fiercely, the one who had come to assassinate him last time was only Zhong Lingxiu, a peak Qi Refining cultivator! How precious was that?
By comparison, even if Jade Island saw deaths every day, it could still be called ‘simple and honest folk customs.’
“I really am more suited to cultivating immortality in a place with such simple and honest folk customs…”
Fang Qing nodded in satisfaction, then habitually began divining for safety again.
“If I return to the sect now, is it danger concealing fortune?”
“It seems that in this great battle, the final outcome won’t cripple the Azure Sea Sect too badly?”
Previously, even in an environment as clear of heavenly secrets as Jade Island, Fang Qing would certainly have been unable to divine the outcome of a battle involving several Core Formation Ancestors and dozens of Foundation Establishment great cultivators.
But now, with the Dao-Birth Pearl’s support, and using a divination art nonexistent in this world, it was simply dimensional suppression!
‘So-called Purple Palace cultivators scouring karma everywhere probably amount to no more than this, right?’
Fang Qing’s mind soared ever higher within the Plum Blossom Divination.
Beyond mere auspiciousness and danger, he saw more hexagrams.
He saw Hua Lianhua, saw the Sea Dragon King Festival he had once attended… and also a gigantic Horned Serpent demonic beast with a swollen lump on its head!
He also saw Zhong Lingxiu, and one Foundation Establishment cultivator after another, as well as three somewhat blurry figures…
“So that’s it…”
“So it’s a sect-raised, second-tier peak Horned Serpent, about to advance to the third tier?”
Fang Qing suddenly realized.
“This is the true cause of this war! Once the Horned Serpent advances to the third tier, it’s equivalent to gaining another Core Formation-level combatant… How could the Zhong Family and the Heavenly Heart Linked Islands tolerate that?”
This great war claimed the lives of countless cultivators, yet they died without knowing why!
But now, Fang Qing knew.
“And this information is certainly being tightly concealed by the Azure Sea Sect.
Even Foundation Establishment cultivators might not know it… yet it leaked!”
“Because of Hua Lianhua! Even the Flying Fish Island he belongs to is an internal traitor!”
“And even… Zha Zhu is somewhat off. Her constitution is special. Beyond a top-grade water spiritual root, she has also awakened a certain spirit body. Once that second-tier Horned Serpent breaks through and devours her, it can increase its chances of successfully crossing tribulation by a little…”