After a one-sided massacre, the result soon emerged.
The demons around this canyon were wiped out by Yu Xiyi overnight. It was expected that the people of the Rainwater Commandery would enjoy a period of peace. At least for some time, fewer of them would die, even though their numbers had already dwindled significantly.
Smelling the foul stench that permeated the air, Chen Chao finally released his grip on the saber hilt and felt some vicissitudes of emotion. If this was back when he was in Tianqing County, he would not let a single one of those precious demon beads slip away from his hands. But now, he was no longer lacking skygold currency. As a key target being groomed by the Great Liang Dynasty, there would naturally be someone who would provide him with everything that he needed. Even if the Warden Office wanted to renege on their promise, whether was it the Second Prince or the First Prince, they would probably give Chen Chao everything he needed without the slightest hesitation.
After a night of carnage yielded results, the sky began to brighten. The two of them descended along the mountain path and soon entered the Rainwater Chen Chao. This capital city was not particularly large. At the city gate, there were only two listless guards. Seeing Chen Chao and Yu Xiyi, two unfamiliar faces, they never thought to question them. The two of them walked into the capital city just like that. The sights that greeted them were numerous empty houses. On this long street, it seemed that half of the residences were uninhabited. The entire capital city exuded an air of desolation and emptiness.
Some houses had tightly closed doors, while others had doors partially open, revealing the overgrown weeds in the courtyards. It was evident that many years had passed since anyone lived there.
Casually wandering around, the two found that the number of people who had left the Rainwater Clueless in recent years already reached as many as two-thirds of the population. It was quite alarming to see this. Although they were already prepared before entering the city, when they saw this result, both of them also felt quite surprised.
After wandering through much of the capital city, they discovered a tavern not far away with a few figures inside. The two entered the tavern and chose a table by the window, ordering two jugs of wine and some simple food.
"Demons span all corners of the Great Liang Dynasty and countless common folks live in dire straits," Yu Xiyi poured himself a cup of wine and muttered to himself, "I understand your difficulties as well. The situation in the North is so dire that most of the country's strength is focused there. It's also understandable that you're powerless to deal with the demons within the national borders."
Chen Chao raised his wine cup and said, "The imperial court is trying its best, but there's only so much it can do."
Yu Xiyi looked at Chen Chao's hesitant expression and continued, "You're trying to say that foreign cultivators like us can't empathize with the hardships. If we could do more, the situation for humanity would be better."
Chen Chao nodded to himself and said, "But at the same time, I also understand very well that it's simply impossible to expect you all to do more. At least, that's the case for most of you. Cultivating on the mountains, why would you care about the suffering of the human realm?"
Yu Xiyi agreed, "Indeed so. In their eyes, all living beings are of little concern. Cultivating Great Dao lies before them, why bother with other things? Even if it's demons, it would be fine with you guys holding the front lines. If one day, you all can't hold out anymore, just give the demon race another 30 thousand miles of territory. When these 30 thousand miles can't satisfy the demons, divide the Great Liang Dynasty's territory in half and give it away?" "When even this can't satisfy the demons, only then, will the foreign cultivators take action in the end. Actually, the most cold-blooded ones in the world are us. After we start cultivating, we won't care about anything else anymore, including our original family?"
Yu Xiyi felt vicissitudes of emotion. In these years of traveling the world, the scenes that he saw were pretty much like that. Cultivators viewed human lives as insignificant. Even when they occasionally killed demons, it was only for personal needs; nothing to do with the world at all.
Chen Chao had long known that this young sword cultivator was a chatterbox, but he had not expected Yu Xiyi, this chatterbox, to be so honest and upright. This was very uncommon among foreign cultivators.
Chen Chao said, "With your mindset, you should become a sword immortal."
Yu Xiyi sneered and said, "Stop sucking up to me."
Chen Chao felt a little helpless. He had only spoken the truth, yet the other party took it this way. There was little he could do about it.
"In this generation of young people, those two from the Dao society are really remarkable; genuine geniuses. Deercry Monastery also has an extraordinary monk. I originally thought that your Great Liang Dynasty had no young talents to speak of. But who would have thought that within just a few years, you two emerged. However, you two are still a little young in the end, you need more time," said Yu Xiyi with a smile.
Yu Xiyi continued, "That Song Changxi, who lost to you, he's said to be the top talent outside the Twin Pillars of Daoism. But do you know how far he is from reaching the level of that Twin Pillars of Daoism?"
Chen Chao felt a bit bewildered, he did not understand why Yu Xiyi would suddenly talk about these things.
Seeing Chen Chao's thoughts, Yu Xiyi said, "If we really want to talk about it, I'm also a member of the young generation. You're only a few years younger than me. If we meet and feel a connection, we can be friends. But if you want to be my friend, you can't be too mediocre. Otherwise, that would be pointless."
Chen Chao mused to himself, "Looks like you're very narcissistic plus a chatterbox. You also have ordinary looks, I think very few women would like you."
This remark made Yu Xiyi's brows furrow tightly, but he quickly retaliated, "Your words are indeed more lethal than your saber."
Chen Chao coldly snorted, "How about suppressing your cultivation realm to Divine Trove Realm and having a fight with me? Let's see what you, this so-called sword cultivator with boundless killing power, are really capable of."
Yu Xiyi smiled and said, "I don't like doing such things. Even if I win you, what does it matter? Am I going to tell the world that I, Yu Xiyi, defeated a Divine Trove martial artist? It's not worth publicizing."
Chen Chao fell silent for a moment, wanting to retort. But he could not shake the feeling that what the other party said made some sense.
Although he already became champion of the martial exam, it ultimately could not prove anything. At least, it was unable to prove that he was more amazing than Yu Xiyi. So regardless of whether Yu Xiyi won or lost, it would not be disgraceful to Chen Chao.
Instead, if Yu Xiyi lose, he would lose face.
A way for men to bond and improve friendship, and an especially effective way, was through mutual mocking. Clearly, both of them understood this.
After an hour of casual chatting, their bond had grown stronger.
"You still haven't told me if this place is your final destination."
Yu Xiyi narrowed his eyes and replied, "You left the Divine Capital and came all the way to the far South. Is there something I don't know about?"
Chen Chao said as a matter of fact, "Since it's something you don't know, why should I take the initiative to tell you?"
"If you have nothing to do, you can leave."
Chen Chao waved his hand and started sending him off.
"Is this a tavern opened by your family? Or is this capital city controlled by you? I have to leave if you ask me to?"
Yu Xiyi raised an eyebrow, his expression rather unfriendly. Why would this young sword cultivator care about these things? He leaned against the window and started looking around.
This tavern was probably one of the few remaining establishments in the entire Rainwater Commandery, yet the second floor only had two or three tables with customers. Normally, it should not be so deserted, but having witnessed the state of the city on their way here, the current scene was within reason.
Yu Xiyi let out a bored yawn.
He seemed a little tired. A night of killing demons looked easy, but the expenditure of his sword qi was actually... not much either.
He yawned simply because he was sleepy.
Chen Chao sipped that cup of wine, lost in thought about something.
After an unknown amount of time, Yu Xiyi fell asleep.
He made light snoring sounds.
Chen Chao glanced at him. It was unknown what he was thinking, but he frowned slightly.
……
……
Xie Nandu left the Xie Family's residence and stood at the door, staring at the plaque for a long time. It was unknown what she was thinking about.
Wei Xu walked out of the door slowly. This scholar who came from the Divine Capital was the same as usual, no one knew what he had experienced in the Xie Family. But looking at his current state, there should be no major issues.
The two exchanged glances and did not say anything, simply boarding the small wooden boat.
Wei Xu stood on the boat before opening his mouth and asking rather emotionally, "Has Junior Sister accomplished what you wanted to do?"
The wooden boat moved slowly. This time, it went against the current, which was an unusual occurrence. But since Wei Xu was present, it was naturally not a big problem
When the boat drifted away and the Xie Family's plaque could no longer be seen, Xie Nandu said softly, "I managed to accomplish one thing. But, Senior Brother also knows about some things. At this moment, I have the heart but lack the strength."
Wei Xu nodded slightly. Similarly from a prominent family, how could he not understand Xie Nandu's thoughts and predicament?
"Junior Sister is a woman, that complicates matters to begin with. Fortunately, you have such a temperament. If you were more yielding, it would be even worse. Marriage matters is a problem that the world has never considered, and it's also the most unreasonable matter."
Wei Xu looked at the water's surface, suddenly reminded of the Dean's fishing.
"That question is quite simple—it's a matter of whether one is willing or not."
Wei Xu smiled and said, "Before I became Teacher's disciple, my family had already chosen a woman for me to marry as well. That woman wasn't bad at all, she was gentle, virtuous, knowledgeable, and reasonable. She was truly a woman who was hard to come across in the world. She was great in all aspects, but the only problem was that I just didn't like her."
Xie Nandu asked curiously, "If she was good in every aspect, why didn't Senior Brother like her? Is it just because you didn't want to accept your family's arrangement?"
Wei Xu shook his head and said, "Similarly flowers: if I like a pear blossom, but she's a peach blossom, what's there to compare?"
Xie Nandu nodded, naturally understanding the difference between them.
Wei Xu continued, "But if I hadn't become Teacher's disciple, or even if I just remained an ordinary disciple without making further advancements, it would have been merely changing from one flower to another. The flower might be excellent and worthy of being cherished for life, but if it doesn't bring happiness, that's all there is to it."
"Senior Brother speaks rather zen-like. Have you cultivated at the Deercry Monastery before?"
Xie Nandu made a rare quip, her voice gentle.
Wei Xu glanced at his junior sister, but did not answer the question. He just looked at the surface of the river and said very calmly, "I just received a letter from Teacher, he's currently in the South too."
Xie Nandu furrowed her brows. "I heard that Teacher seldom leaves the academy to travel around."
Wei Xu nodded and said, "Of course, so something major must have happened. Otherwise, Teacher wouldn't have asked me to return to the academy right away either."
The academy was by the lakeside, but that lake was in the Divine Capital. Logically, there should not be any problems, because the Divine Capital still had the Emperor around.
Xie Nandu frowned, feeling a bit puzzled.
Wei Xu looked at her and said, "I heard that His Majesty is planning to lead a personal expedition."
Upon hearing this, Xie Nandu felt somewhat dazed.
……
……
Recently, the Divine Capital has been restless, but it was hard to pinpoint exactly what was causing the unease. It was probably because the Great Liang Emperor expressed his desire during a court session to lead a personal expedition to the North. Then, the court officials erupted.
Prior to this, as the situation in the North had deteriorated, the imperial court dispatched many cultivators to the North. Initially, they thought that would be sufficient, but who could have imagined that the major construction bureaus in the Divine Capital started prioritizing the production of military equipment. Artisans from numerous regions were summoned to the Divine Capital, working day and night to forge the supplies that the North needed.
The Great Liang Dynasty had established its country for over two centuries, and there had been more than one war in the North with the demons. But in recent decades, the situation with the demons had stabilized greatly. There were occasional minor skirmishes, but nothing major happened. However, only those truly prominent figures could see that the northern demons were merely recuperating. When they deemed the time right, a large-scale war would inevitably break out.
Initially, people thought that the war would take place more than a decade ago when the Great Liang Emperor rose in rebellion and seized the throne, but it did not happen. Instead, it gave the Great Liang Emperor more than ten years of respite, all the way until now when this war was on the horizon.
With the impending war, there was widespread tension throughout the entire Great Liang Dynasty. However, as long as that Great Wall was still standing and the demons had not crossed it, everything was not considered too dire. After all, with that Great Liang Emperor in the Divine Capital, who could stir up any waves?
But now, the problem they were facing was that this Great Liang Emperor was planning to personally lead the expedition to the North.
This was what worried the court officials.
After the Great Liang Emperor departed for the north, who would assume command of the Divine Capital? If the Divine Capital fell into chaos, the entire Great Liang dynasty would follow suit. At that time, regardless of the situation in the North, the interior of the Great Liang Dynasty would naturally become chaotic.
Hence, nobody wanted the Great Liang Emperor to leave the Divine Capital and personally lead an expedition. It was because other than him, no one could suppress the Divine Capital.
But the current problem was that the academy dean was not around.
After the Nation Teacher left this world many years ago, the two people that the Great Liang Emperor trusted the most were the Empress and the academy dean.
But now that Her Majesty had passed away and the Dean left the Divine Capital, who else in the Divine Capital could persuade the Great Liang Emperor?
Many people cast their gazes towards the residences of the few princes and someone also turned their eyes towards the Warden Office.
But the people were still very worried.
These matters were the most discussed topics in the restaurants of the Divine Capital.
"I heard that the First Prince has been coughing severely these days. He has been weak since his early years, and he has never gotten better. I wonder if it's true that he'll kick the bucket soon?"
"If that prince can't live much longer, then the throne will belong to the Second Prince? But with the Second Prince's current ability, can he control this Divine Capital?"
"If His Majesty really heads north, then who will act as regent becomes a big problem!"
"But it seems like it won't make much difference whoever acts as regent, because they can't suppress the Divine Capital all the same."
"At present, I'm more curious about why His Majesty insists on heading North. Could it be because of Her Majesty, the Empress' passing, it made His Majesty have suicidal thoughts?"
"Speaking of which, if the Empress were still alive, how could these things even happen? His Majesty always listened to Her Majesty's words..."
Noisy voices echoed everywhere, not just in one place, but in many places.
Presently, the entire Divine Capital had one question: why was His Majesty insisting on personally leading an expedition?
