parentshiftbook Chapter 166 The Cold Wind Comes from the North
Chapter 166 The Cold Wind Comes from the North
Xu Rulin bent down and picked up the jade.
When you get close, you can faintly smell a strange, foul odor from the jade, mixed with the smell of sweat.
"What is this?"
Xu Rulin felt the call in his mind growing stronger, as if the jade in front of him was choosing him. His fingers caressed the smooth surface of the jade, and a cool sensation came from his fingertips.
A faint, almost inaudible voice seemed to whisper in my ear, repeatedly saying, "Take me away...take me away..."
It sounded like an auditory hallucination. He shook his head violently, and the sound disappeared instantly. He wasn't sure if he had really misheard.
Zhang Ping, who was examining the fluorite, turned around and saw Xu Rulin almost pressing the jade against his face. He asked with a strange expression, "What are you doing? Don't you think this junk smells awful?"
Zhang Ping remembered this piece of jade very clearly; Li Zhan had picked it out from between his buttocks.
He received it but found it useless and felt a bit disgusted, so he threw it in a corner and forgot about it.
"It smells bad? It does, but this jade looks very special. Can I have it?" Xu Rulin looked at Zhang Ping with a pleading look in his eyes.
His intuition told him that this piece of jade was very important to him.
"Take it if you want, it's just a useless piece of broken jade." Zhang Ping waved his hand casually.
When Li Zhan gave him the jade, it seemed to carry a special meaning, but it was of little use or significance to Zhang Ping.
He didn't quite believe that the native bear from Lizhan could have anything useful to him.
Xu Rulin was overjoyed to receive Zhang Ping's permission. After thanking him sincerely, he prepared to leave with the jade and several medicinal herbs that would help him recover his left arm.
However, before leaving, Xu Rulin solemnly said something to Zhang Ping:
"Zhang Ping, I don't know how strong you really are, but I implore you. I don't want you to risk your own safety to stay and fight the demons, but I just hope that you can help the people of the world within your power."
I'm begging you!
Xu Rulin said these words while kneeling. Caught off guard, Zhang Ping suddenly knelt down on the ground with a thud.
A true martial artist neither kneels to heaven nor to earth, but only wishes to cultivate himself!
But Xu Rulin abandoned his pride at this moment, only for the sake of the common people.
Zhang Ping neither agreed nor refused, but simply told him to leave.
The drizzling raindrops grew larger, and soon a heavy downpour began. The already dark sky, without the moon's light, became even more gloomy.
The dim light from under the eaves illuminated only half of Zhang Ping's face, revealing the faint lines between his brows.
"Demon Lord... I've wasted years cultivating to my current level. If I weren't forced to, I really wouldn't want to run away like a stray dog..."
"Then let's see whose edge shines brighter..."
In the latter half of the night, the heavy rain showed no signs of stopping, and the raindrops, which were as big as beans, gradually grew larger.
What was originally an ordinary winter downpour suddenly turned strange. Not only the Prince of Nan's mansion, but the rain spread all the way north, and even the bustling capital city was shrouded in this sudden downpour.
The sound of raindrops pattering in my ears.
In the dimly lit, spacious cultivation room, Dao Yuanzi's aged figure sat cross-legged on a futon. After a long while, a muffled groan sounded, and a trickle of blood slid from the corner of his mouth.
"Failed again..." Dao Yuanzi looked dejected, his cloudy eyes filled with profound confusion.
"Why...why can't I continue compressing my qi and blood? My spiritual power has reached its peak, and going any higher would hit the limit of the seal, but I can clearly feel that there is still room for compression of my qi and blood, so why does it fail when it's close to solidification?"
He couldn't understand it, so he got up and staggered to a low table. The herbal medicine he had prepared yesterday was still bubbling and steaming.
The medicine was ingested, and the injuries sustained during the cultivation were mostly healed.
After resting for a short while, Dao Yuanzi returned to the futon, preparing to try compressing his qi and blood again.
If he succeeds, he might be able to find another path under the seal, using his immense blood and energy to support the power of his techniques, thereby gaining extraordinary combat strength and long-term endurance, which would make it possible for him to fight against the Demon Lord.
dong dong——
There was a knock on the door of the secret room.
Dao Yuanzi opened his eyes, raised his hand and released a stream of qi and blood to push open the door to the secret chamber.
A woman walked in, her demeanor cold and aloof. In her hand she held a strange longsword with black and white stripes, the tip of which was stained with a crimson hue resembling blood.
"Uncle-Master!" Chu Hanwei stopped slightly, holding his sword with both hands and bowing.
"Hmm." Dao Yuanzi responded, his gaze immediately drawn to the longsword in Chu Hanwei's hand, a hint of surprise appearing in his eyes.
"You've successfully forged the divine sword?"
To refine a divine sword means to have complete control over it, rather than merely gaining its recognition.
Now, the sword in Chu Hanwei's hand is no longer the Yangming Divine Sword, and she has the right to rename the divine sword.
"Yes, from now on, this sword will be called the Frost Sword!" Chu Han nodded slightly, a rare gentleness appearing in her cold eyes as she looked at the long sword in her hand. From the moment it was successfully forged, this sword had been her lifelong companion.
She changed the subject, saying, "Today, another military commander from our department sent back his resignation; he has already gone to Fallen Valley."
That was her real purpose in coming to see Dao Yuanzi.
Since the Demon Lord completed the map, a rift has appeared within the Demon Extermination Bureau, which has split into a faction that stays behind and a faction that evacuates.
Once the fact that the seal's cracks were confirmed, this division erupted completely.
Nowadays, half of the martial artists in the Demon Extermination Division who have reached the Marrow Transformation Realm no longer obey Dao Yuanzi's orders. Many of them have even submitted their resignations and taken their disciples and relatives to Fallen Valley, waiting for a final confirmation of their way out before leaving.
Furthermore, with the leak of the truth about the old Wei-Zhao territory and the existence of a way out by certain individuals, many mid-level members of the Demon Extermination Bureau began to stir.
The once mighty Demon Extermination Division of the Great Wei Dynasty is now in a state of semi-paralysis. During this time, Dao Yuanzi has been focusing on seclusion, ignoring external affairs, and all matters have been handled by Mo Tianhe.
"This is already the ninth place... Sigh!" Dao Yuanzi didn't blame him, but his already dim eyes grew even more so. After a long while, he continued:
"Go ahead and spread this news."
"Announce?" Chu Hanwei was taken aback at first, but after realizing what Dao Yuanzi meant, her expression changed slightly.
"Uncle-Master! If these matters are made public, the world will surely descend into chaos!"
Currently, only the middle-level management of the Demon Extermination Bureau headquarters and some major forces know about the seal and the way out.
Once the news is fully revealed, all the warriors of the Great Wei will be thrown into panic, and everyone will be shrouded in despair.
By then, the last remaining resistance will likely collapse completely, and the demons will have no more restraints, advancing unimpeded from the south to the north, causing widespread suffering and death among the people along the way.
Dao Yuanzi observed this, but shook his head and expressed his thoughts:
"There is indeed a way out of Fallen Valley, but it would be extremely dangerous to get there without the protection of a martial artist at the Essence Blood Realm or above. Even with an Essence Blood Realm martial artist escorting you, it would be difficult to protect too many people."
Moreover, the crevice only appears on a sunny day, which means that most people in the former territory of Wei and Zhao will never have a chance to leave, including those who are eager to make a move.
After Dao Yuanzi finished speaking, Chu Hanwei fell into deep thought and gradually understood his uncle's intention.
The reason why Great Wei is now in a state of hidden panic is not only because of the truth of the seal and the escape of a large number of high-ranking officials of the Demon Extermination Bureau, but also because those people are unaware of the specifics of this path to survival.
If all the truth were revealed, those who had no hope of leaving would have no choice but to take up arms and fight back in desperation; while those martial artists who remained at the Essence Blood Realm and Marrow Realm would not be willing to easily give up their homes.
If we can unite everyone and take advantage of the fact that not many people have escaped through the gaps, we might be able to fight the demons!
Having grasped the key point, Chu Hanwei gripped the Frost Sword tightly and immediately said, "Uncle-Master, I'll make the arrangements right away!"
The north wind is picking up; winter is coming.
As the cold winds arrived, a bombshell piece of news began to circulate in the capital, quickly causing a sensation throughout the entire Great Wei!
"How is this possible? We're living in prison?"
"What prison! They say this place is called the Demon-Sealing Land! We're not prisoners, we're descendants of great heroes who guarded the demons!" someone immediately retorted.
"Is it true that we have no chance to escape?"
"It's probably true. They've even announced the route, so they're obviously not afraid of us trying it! Those ungrateful bastards! They've grown so strong while living off the resources of the Great Wei, and now they're abandoning their homeland and running away!"
The news spread like wildfire, and with covert manipulation, even the Skin Tempering Realm martial artists setting up stalls on the street knew the whole story. Everywhere, there were shouts of insults and spitting sounds.
On this day, there were more swear words containing the word "horse" than in the previous ten years combined, and this situation continues to worsen as the news spreads.
The cold wind blew from north to south, seemingly vying with the previous downpour.
Inside the Demon Extermination Division of the Southern Prince's Mansion, the news caused an uproar among the warriors guarding the location.
Unlike outsiders, they have their own lineages within the Demon Extermination Bureau. Each warlord or elder has his own disciples, and these disciples in turn take on apprentices. Most of them know who their lineage's ancestor was.
This news was quite shocking, listing all the military leaders and elders who had submitted their resignations and were preparing to flee. Now, those who were his disciples and followers were so ashamed that they couldn't face anyone, and some even threatened to sever ties on the spot!
After all, their master didn't take them with him when he ran away. Are they going to be foolish enough to protect their master?