Battle of the Ji River

Yan Nu felt the true qi in his body, which had surged once again because he ate a steamed bun, and grinned.

He called his initial true qi 'Hammer True Qi', and after eating a few steamed buns, it was instantly engendered from the acupuncture points all over his body.

Not only that, but it was also ten percent stronger than before it had been exhausted.

The only thing that puzzled him was that the true qi of the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture taught to him by the monster older sister had not recovered. He didn't know if it was because he hadn't eaten enough?

"Forget it, I'll just practice it once more."

Yan Nu happily began to practice his cultivation, once again transforming the recovered Hammer True Qi to form two major vortices.

Those two major vortices were practiced anew after the dispersal of their gong, lost and regained, rising, perishing, and revolving, and they were actually a bit more refined and majestic than when they were first condensed.

And as the Hammer True Qi continuously consumed and transformed, the vortices continuously grew.

During this process, his injuries were also slowly recovering. Once the Hammer True Qi was exhausted, his injuries healed by another ten percent.

He didn't know how much time had passed when Shen Leling's voice came over once again: "Yan Nu'er, you cultivate very quickly, which doesn't waste the fact that I passed the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture on to you."

"This gong is of the orthodox Xuanmen sect, refining essence to transform into qi. You need to eat more tonic medicine in order to cultivate quickly... It's a pity that Sister doesn't have any."

"This Tea Mountain Fort is poor to death, and the secret chamber has nothing but battered copper and iron or some useless scripture scrolls. Sister only found some healing medicine, which is useful for your injuries but of no benefit to your cultivation."

Shen Leling knew full well the difficulties of an orthodox Xuanmen gong like the Great Emperor White Jade Scripture. It was not a demonic gong, and it would extract essence according to the condition of the human body.

Therefore, the less human essence there was, the slower the cultivation would be. It was necessary to have heavenly materials, earth treasures, and greatly nourishing pills to consolidate the foundation and cultivate the origin.

Even if impoverished common people practiced for several decades, it would still be difficult for them to achieve Primordial Body Tempering.

Yan Nu's vital energy and blood were currently depleted, which made it even worse. Refining essence to transform into qi like this would definitely result in the inner breath produced by every acupuncture point being as thin as a gossamer thread, making it utterly impossible for the vortices to grow!

"Come, come, eat all of these medicines."

While speaking, Shen Leling herself had already appeared.

Yan Nu raised his eyelids slightly and saw 'Instructor Ma' standing in front of him, opening a bottle of medicinal ointment and smearing it on his body.

As soon as that medicinal ointment was smeared on, Yan Nu felt a bone-chilling coolness and his wounds began to itch.

"Come, eat these two bottles of medicine, and you'll recover even faster." Immediately following that, Shen Leling flicked out two streams of water drops, adjusted them amongst two bottles of powdered medicine, and then poured them all into his mouth.

Those two bottles of medicine were digested and gone the moment they entered his stomach. In an instant, the acupuncture points all over Yan Nu's body were once again filled with Hammer True Qi, and his energy was exuberant.

"What kind of medicine is this?" Yan Nu asked with astonishment.

Shen Leling calmly said: "Bone-Growing Powder and Blood-Melting Powder, that's all. They just accelerate the recovery of your injuries."

Yan Nu blinked. He hadn't expected that he would be able to instantly digest these two kinds of medicine as well and recover his true qi.

"Instructor Ma!"

Suddenly, a voice came over. It turned out that because Shen Leling hadn't avoided people, the patoling martial artists nearby had all hurried over.

"What kind of trouble did this pariah get into, making him look so miserable?" Shen Leling put away the medicine bottles and walked to meet them with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Hey, this fool offended Steward Liao and is going to be made an example of for three days. Huh? He hasn't breathed his last yet?" The patoling martial artist spoke, and upon discovering that Yan Nu wasn't dead yet, he was somewhat surprised.

Shen Leling wore a pensive expression: "That's right, I just felt something was wrong. With injuries like this, he should have died long ago... Could it be..."

"Could what?" The expressions of the patoling martial artists tightened. They had all heard that a team of people had been killed by a monster last night.

You must know that the people who died were martial artists just like them, and they were also registered in the military, yet they still died. This indicated that the monsters were not afraid of their mortal world fire!

Monsters that were not afraid of mortal world fire—this indisputable fact filled the martial artists within the fort with panic.

"Could it be that the monster saved this pariah and spared his life?" Shen Leling swept her gaze suspiciously around the surroundings.

The gathered martial artists also cast their gazes towards the vicinity. The surroundings were quiet and deep into the night, with a few wisps of faint, dim lamp light adorning the distance, accompanied by the cries of a few night ravens.

In this setting, the moment they thought of the possibility that a monster might be lurking in the dark spying on them and searching for prey, they couldn't help but tremble.

Shen Leling said with a slightly trembling voice: "Something's wrong. I have an ominous premonition..."

"Clang!"

Shen Leling's long saber was unsheathed with a fierce posture, but her slightly shaking hand caused the blade to emit a slight rattling sound, seemingly exposing the fear in her heart.

"The execution ground is... Gulp... extremely heavy with Yin killing intent." Shen Leling said slowly. Midway through her sentence, she swallowed her saliva, and everyone saw that she was already covered in sweat.

Seeing that 'Instructor Ma', who was a first-rate expert, was so nervous, a horrifying atmosphere instantly spread among the patoling martial artists.

"This... Is there something particular about this Yin killing intent?"

Shen Leling said with difficulty: "Yin killing intent can nourish malevolent entities, which is why ghosts and malevolent entities love to hide in such fiercely ominous places..."

"I surmised that the monster from last night might be right here, so I came to check. I never expected that you guys would still have someone on the verge of death hanging here, adding even more bloodshed and making the Yin deathly intent even thicker..."

"Ah..." The patoling martial artists' hearts skipped a beat.

"Mon... Monster, where would it hide?"

Everyone treated 'Instructor Ma' as their backbone, yet they saw that his gaze was drifting, seeming to avoid someone's gaze.

His eyes darted everywhere, but they simply did not look at Yan Nu, who was locked and hanging by iron chains in the center of the arena.

"Could it be..." A martial artist hurriedly glanced toward the execution rack.

Yan Nu, looking like a bloody man, was locked with his arms slanted upwards, his body hanging down naturally.

His slightly lowered face was stuck with messy hair, making his expression unclear, and the crisscrossing scars on his body were fierce and terrifying under the moonlight.

A cold wind blew inopportunely, causing his body to sway slightly.

That martial artist pointed his sword at Yan Nu and blurted out: "The malevolent entity is hiding inside his body!"

"Seeking death! Don't blurt it out!" Shen Leling cried out in horror.

That martial artist's face turned pale in an instant. So it turned out that 'Instructor Ma' had been drifting his gaze and speaking vaguely because he didn't dare to point out the monster's hiding spot?

If even 'Instructor Ma' was afraid, wouldn't he be seeking death by pointing it out?

At that very moment, a gust of Yin wind blew, and thick water vapor suddenly filled the area around the execution ground, enveloping all directions.

This left them, who had originally intended to flee, not knowing whether they should run or not for a moment.

"Whoosh!" They saw 'Instructor Ma' leap forward and drill into the water mist.

Just as the crowd was about to follow, they heard a shrill scream: "Let go of me!"

In a split second, 'Instructor Ma' flew back upside down, and a bloody hand clamped onto his neck, slamming him to the ground.

The martial artists were terrified, and then they saw 'Instructor Ma' kneeling on the ground and crying out: "Spare my life! I will surely make animal sacrifices to you day and night, and the incense and faith will never cease."

The bloody hand immediately pointed its spearhead at a nearby martial artist, flying towards him.

The legs of the other martial artists went soft, and they also knelt down one after another to beg for mercy: "I'll offer living sacrifices to you too! I'll give you incense and faith! Don't kill me!"

Upon begging for mercy, they discovered that the bloody hand had vanished, and their faces lit up with great joy. They hadn't expected that it would actually work!

"I'm going right back to burn incense!" The martial artists hurried to leave.

Yet they heard the voice of 'Instructor Ma' change completely: "Sigh, gods do not accept sacrifices from different kinds, and people do not offer sacrifices to non-kinsmen. If myriads of people's incense and faith were truly useful to me... wouldn't it be wonderful if I entrenched myself in one place and enjoyed incense and faith to cultivate? Why bother rushing about east and west?"

Shen Leling sighed softly and took off her eyepatch. That left eye of hers poured forth a stream of water like a gushing spring.

The martial artists were terrified to their core. They wanted to flee, but they had already been entangled by a strand of Yin qi, and immediately afterwards, they were engulfed by the flow of water.

Shen Leling had used Yan Nu once again to deal with a wave of martial artists.

She buried all the corpses, cleared away all traces, and said to Yan Nu: "I'll let you go, and in the future, I'll train you to become a world-shocking martial artist. How about that?"

"Alright." Yan Nu replied.

"A mere trifle. But... from now on, you must listen to me!" Shen Leling chuckled.

Yan Nu was a servant by nature and simply asked in return: "Are you a noble too?"

Shen Leling paused for a moment and said: "I have no father and no mother, born of heaven and earth. Naturally, I am noble!"

"Are you even more formidable than the Fort Master?" Yan Nu asked again.

Hearing this, Shen Leling became annoyed: "Hehehehehe... You compare me to a mortal? The Tea Mountain Fort Master is merely second-rate; in a few days, I'm going to go eat him!"

Remembering Uncle Hong's words, Yan Nu corrected her: "I heard the Fort Master is a first-rate expert."

"Haha, the martial artists in this impoverished backwater love to boast! Could it be that they are still living in a dream?" Shen Leling sneered derisively.

She then explained: "Whether it is Fort Master Zhang Xu or the three instructors Han Hu Ma, they might truly have been first-rate in the past, but today the world is in great upheaval—even more chaotic than at any time in the past! Everyone is in danger... and there are extremely many people who practice martial arts!"

"Not to mention the strong among the Hu barbarians, let's just talk about the noble families and powerful clans building stockades to defend themselves, vigorously recruiting local braves, and even taking out the classic texts of their clans to cultivate martial artists... That alone has reduced what used to be first-rate to what can only be considered second-rate nowadays."

"Just like over five hundred years ago, even Three Essences Body Tempering was considered the number one in the world, until a Hegemon King emerged..."

Yan Nu suddenly understood: "Times have changed, and the strong of the past may not necessarily still be strong today. The nobles of yesteryear may not necessarily still be noble today."

"There is no unchanging principle in this world, is there?"

Shen Leling was amused: "Correct. The Dao of Heaven is bright, and those who change are forever fluid!"

"Great disasters produce monsters, great upheavals breed demons, and heroes emerge under great tribulations! Compared to the past, I don't know how many times stronger this world is now!"

"This is what Mencius said: 'At this time, it is different from that time. Every five hundred years, a true king must arise, and in between there must be famous people of the age!'"

Yan Nu's eyes shone brightly. Grandpa had always taught him to wait—wait for the imperial troops, wait for the imperial court, wait for the noble families, wait for immortals... yet he had waited until the world was in turmoil.

Was peace truly something that could be waited for? He didn't know, but he yearned incomparably for the outside world...

"Yan Nu'er, I'll help you kill that so-called steward and the fort master. From now on, you'll follow me, and I'll take you to wander the South of the Yangtze River. I definitely won't treat you poorly." Shen Leling's tone was seductive.

Yet upon hearing these words, Yan Nu instead felt a sense of loss. Hesitating for a moment, he said: "You want to take me so far away? I'm sorry, I can't agree."

"What!" Shen Leling was astonished. She had seen that Yan Nu yearned for the outside world, so she hadn't expected to be refused.

"Grandpa is coming back soon, and I want to wait for him," Yan Nu said firmly.

"Who on earth is your grandpa? Where is he?"

"The Ji River battlefield. Uncle Hong said Grandpa is doing odd jobs in the army, and once they win the battle, he'll come back."

Shen Leling was slightly startled: "The Ji River battlefield? Could it be in the army of Governor of Qingzhou Gou Xi?"

"Yes, yes, yes, it's this Gou Xi!" Yan Nu was very happy. "Do you know him too?"

Shen Leling curled her lips: "Of course I know him, I fled all the way from the north... You don't need to wait anymore, Yan Nu'er. Your grandpa is dead."

Yan Nu remained completely unshaken: "No, he isn't. Uncle Hong said my grandpa is still fine."

Shen Leling shook her head and said: "Then he was definitely lying to you!"

"Gou Xi's great army suffered defeat after defeat, losing all cities north of the Ji River. Thus, they crossed the river and ordered the burning of all boats, which only managed to drag things out for more than half a year."

"And just a month ago, the Tu Fa Clan finally prepared all the river-crossing boats. Twenty thousand Jin troops were stationed south of the Ji River, locked in a standoff with them."

Yan Nu nodded: "I know."

Shen Leling said in a heavy tone: "But you certainly don't know what happened next."

"The Ji River was already the last gateway of Qingzhou. Gou Xi decided to defend the southern bank to the death, with a myriad soldiers stationed at every ferry crossing, alongside countless backup strong bows and heavy crossbows."

"It would have been one thing if the Tu Fa Clan didn't cross the river, but if they forced a crossing, they were bound to be ambushed midway across."

"Yet to Gou Xi's disbelief, the Tu Fa Clan crossed the river, and only a single person came!"

Shen Leling's voice was somewhat trembling, as if she herself couldn't quite believe that scene.

"A youth! He went with just one person, one sword, and one flat-bottomed boat, landing against the discharge of ten thousand arrows. He fought back and forth more than thirty times amidst myriads of soldiers, killing the Jin army until they discarded their armor and helmets and abandoned the ferry crossing!"

"Not only that, but he single-handedly guarded the ferry crossing, growing stronger with every battle, and repelled wave after wave of the Jin army's reinforcements for a full six hours."

"When the Jin army gathered in its greatest numbers, there were as many as one hundred and fifty thousand men arrayed in battle formation, yet they were routed and driven back two hundred miles by him alone."

"In the end, the Tu Fa Clan completed their river-crossing without the loss of a single soldier, while the Jin army collapsed and fled south. And that youth beheaded one hundred thousand men in battle, causing a sensation across the world."

Yan Nu murmured: "He killed one hundred thousand people all by himself?"

Shen Leling said in a deep voice: "Perhaps some of them were deserters. Anyway, when Gou Xi finally gathered his defeated troops, he found that he only had one hundred thousand soldiers left."

"Regardless of whether the beheading of one hundred thousand men was true or not, I believe a tally of ten thousand slaughters is definitely real. To the extent that corpses littered the battlefield and the killing intent was skyrocketing, attracting countless malevolent entities and fiends, I was the one injured by that group of creatures who came over to snatch food, and that's how I fled all the way south to this place."

"That youth is called 'Tu Fa Yak', and he is the sixth son of the Tu Fa Clan chieftain, 'Tu Fa Shujineng'. He is the strongest mortal I have ever seen!"

"I reckon that even cultivators in the Calamity Tribulation Stage, disregarding the mortal world fire, wouldn't dare to fight him! That bloody sword qi was too terrifying!"

"And what's more, it was truly effortless. He only used one hand. I suspect he didn't use his full strength..."

Yan Nu murmured: "Did Grandpa go to the battlefield and risk his life against someone like that?"

"That's why I said he's already dead," Shen Leling said.

Yet Yan Nu squeezed out a smile: "Weren't there still many people who survived?"

Shen Leling shook her head and said: "The ones who survived were all martial artists who ran quickly the moment they saw the situation turning bad. With a great army numbering over ten thousand like a vast sea of people, many in the rear didn't even see the enemy; they only saw the bloody light soaring into the sky and the vanguard collapsing, whereupon they all panicked and fled in all directions."

"That's right! Grandpa was doing odd jobs in the army, so he must have been in the far rear and escaped safely!" Yan Nu said excitedly.

He matched Shen Leling's words with Uncle Hong's words, and in his heart, he seemed to already envision what Grandpa would look like coming home, even if he were a deserter.

"You... Why are you so stubborn! What if your grandpa does come back? Aren't you still a pariah?" Shen Leling was extremely irritated.

Yan Nu said in a resolute tone: "Grandpa wants me to be well and wait for him here... I can't let Grandpa come back and not be able to find me."

"You'd rather stay behind and be a servant? You'd rather be tortured to death right here? You won't leave with me?" Shen Leling felt this was incredible.

Yan Nu pondered and said: "Mm, if I'm hung up for three days, I won't die."

Shen Leling was furious: "Mm your head! That fellow surnamed Liao will definitely kill you!"

Yan Nu's brow furrowed: "Definitely? No, his words don't count. If it truly is as you say, I'll break free from the chains, run away, and hide on Tea Mountain to wait for Grandpa..."

"How could you possibly escape!" The body of Instructor Ma, possessed by Shen Leling, couldn't help but swell and distort slightly.

Yan Nu said firmly: "I can!"

Having said this, he said to Shen Leling: "I still have to thank you for your divine skill. Once I escape, remember to go to the mulberry grove in the southwest of Tea Mountain. I'll dig a spring for you."

"A spring?" Shen Leling was startled.

"Weren't the spring eyes on the mountain drunk dry by you?"

"So what!"

"You saved me once, but I don't know how to repay you. Ten years ago, there was also a clear spring in that mulberry grove, but it was buried by the Fort Master. You like drinking spring water; no matter how deep it is, I'll dig it out for you!"

Upon hearing these words, Shen Leling was somewhat stunned.

Finally, she let out a light huff, swung her sleeves, and hurried away: "Humph! No need, just hang here then! I'm not going to bother with you anymore!"

p.s: Sorry. Tomorrow, I bid a final farewell to this cage.