Xu Huai stood amid the mountains and rivers.
The wind sounded in everyone's hearts.
Yet his Daoist robe was utterly untouched by the mountain breeze.
His gaze rested solely on Zeng Shilin before him.
Once his attention focused on Zeng Shilin,
his eyes, weathered by the years, narrowed slightly, and he blurted out instinctively,
"You're still Second Rank?"
Huh???
The tens of thousands of soldiers at the bottom of the gorge, along with the Princess and Wu Qianfeng, were all stunned.
Then, their expressions visibly turned bewildered.
After that came fear.
And despair.
The Princess pressed her lips tightly together.
Her phoenix eyes, sharp as swords, fixed upon Zeng Shilin in the sky.
Yet Zeng Shilin's face showed not the slightest panic at having his cultivation seen through.
Instead, his smile grew ever broader.
"You old bastard, your eyes are sharp enough."
This utterly unreasonable scene made the Princess's brows draw tight.
With pursed lips, she looked toward Xu Huai.
Xu Huai's once high-spirited face had now turned as dark as water.
He stared at Zeng Shilin with an ugly expression.
As if he had recalled something—or realized that he had fallen into a trap.
What... is going on?
Confusion surfaced in the Princess's mind.
Unlike the soldiers whose hearts had sunk into despair, she was bewildered by how matters were unfolding.
"If you run now, there's still time."
A smile curved Zeng Shilin's lips as he lifted his chin slightly, mockery written across his face.
To Xu Huai,
that mockery was especially glaring.
"Back then, the Confucian Sage excelled at altering the Heaven and Earth Rules, severing destiny, and allowing the national fortune to flourish."
As if recalling something, Xu Huai's dark expression gradually faded. He then stared at Zeng Shilin blankly.
"But when he broke through