“......”
“......”
“My King.”
“Your Majesty!”
When the Barbarian Heterodox King appeared in the human encampment, it had already been completely overrun by barbarians. Towering, burly barbarian warriors set down their spoils one after another, dropping to their knees to offer barbarian salutes.
Striding forward, the Barbarian Heterodox King ultimately halted before the central tent of the encampment.
Gathered here were the three hundred captives who had surrendered out of the five thousand Feather Forest elites. All knelt on the ground with their clavicles pierced, while a dignified, martial middle-aged man stripped of his armor sat cross-legged in their center.
Surrounding them in the flickering firelight stood fully armed barbarian elites, standing like iron towers with weapons in hand.
As if sensing something, the middle-aged man in the center slowly opened his eyes and looked toward the barbarian striding through the snow.
Supported by the personal guard beside him, the middle-aged man stepped out from the crowd, his gaze calmly fixed on the approaching Barbarian Heterodox King.
Amid the crackling of the bonfires,
the Barbarian Heterodox King stopped two paces in front of the middle-aged man.
The middle-aged man was burly, yet beneath the tower-like stature of the Barbarian Heterodox King, he still appeared somewhat diminutive.
The middle-aged man held his back ramrod straight.
“Are you the Barbarian King?”
“Yes. This King remembers you.”
The Barbarian Heterodox King stared down at him, raspy vocal cords slowly churning out rather halting Great Yan speech: “A subordinate general beside Wuyuan on Mount Dali.”
At this, the middle-aged man grinned.
“I am truly flattered that the Lord Barbarian King remembers me. Though back on Mount Dali, I never saw you, Your Majesty—after all, you were always hiding behind your main camp, refusing to show your face.”
The Barbarian Heterodox King took no offense, remarking placidly, “This King thinks you did not surrender simply to seek death.”
The middle-aged man nodded and spoke:
“The Barbarian King is wise. I surrendered for two things.”
The Barbarian Heterodox King regarded the middle-aged man and nodded.
“Once you have spoken, this King can grant you an honorable end.”
The middle-aged man cupped his fist.
“Then I thank the Lord Barbarian King in advance. The first matter is to deliver a message to you on behalf of my princess.”
Hearing this, the Barbarian Heterodox King's callous-covered lips curved into what seemed like a meaningful smile.
“Two months have passed since Mount Dali. This King thought he would meet Wuyuan here at Mount Yunshun, but the noble lady had pressing matters and took her leave first. What does she wish to say to this King?”
Staring directly at the Barbarian Heterodox King, neither subservient nor arrogant, the middle-aged man said in a deep voice:
“The princess asked me to tell the Lord Barbarian King:
“‘The heavens do not favor us today. I temporarily return this horn implement to the Heterodox King, and shall claim it back alongside your severed head in the days to come.’”
With that,
the middle-aged man reached into his coarse cloth robes, withdrew half of a horn weapon, and offered it to the towering Barbarian King.
The Barbarian Heterodox King accepted it with an unperturbed expression. It was indeed the bone spur severed by Wuyuan at Mount Dali.
“Good. This King can wait for her.
“And the next matter?”
“......”
The middle-aged man did not reply immediately. Under the watchful eyes of the barbarian throng, he knelt and bowed deeply toward the south.
Then, rising to his feet, he glanced back at the three hundred surrendered soldiers kneeling on the ground and smiled.
“We of the Thousand Thorns Battalion wish to present the Lord Barbarian King with a grand gift on our princess's behalf.”
With those words, the winds abruptly shifted. A flash of killing intent gleamed in the middle-aged man's eyes, and without warning, he flattened his hand into a blade and drove it straight into his own chest.
“......”
The Barbarian Heterodox King saw this, his expression remaining placid, with no intention of stopping him.
For half of the three hundred surrendered soldiers behind the middle-aged man had made the exact same move.
Source Crystals.
These humans had directly swallowed down Source Crystals from the storerooms, crystals packed with violent Source Qi.
Immediately after, a booming laugh resonated throughout the encampment:
“Princess, my life is at its end! In the next life, I, Kong Yanghao, still wish to serve in your ranks!”
In the very next instant,
a howling gale erupted and flames soared skyward as a gigantic mushroom cloud whipped up shockwaves, rising high into the snowy night.
***
In the forty-fifth year of Jiajing,
blizzards blanketed the Northern Border. Wuyuan fell back in defeat at Mount Yunshun, and all five thousand soldiers of the Thousand Thorns Battalion perished in battle.
Seven days later, Marquis Wucheng suddenly appeared in Beifeng City and led four garrisons of the Beifeng Army into the Northern Desolation Snowfield.
Meanwhile, a rumor gradually spread throughout the bustling Di'an City.
Third Young Master Xu of the Chancellor's Manor had returned to the capital.
Compared to the turbulent shifts in the Northern Border's war, Xu Yuan's life in the Imperial Capital was exceedingly peaceful.
His father had no immediate intention of making him take over clan affairs; the heir apparent on the surface was still his posturing elder brother.
Consequently, his life was quite leisurely.
Two days later, Xu Yinhe summoned him to the study, handed him a letter, and asked whether the person described within was Zhou Chen or himself.
The signature was Li Junqing, the younger brother Xu Yuan had acknowledged not long ago.
Upon reading the letter's contents, Xu Yuan burst into laughter.
It was very restrained, devoid of extravagant flattery, yet with a single glance, one could see the subtle intent to praise him to his doom.
Xu Yuan had thought his father would question him on some matters, but Xu Yinhe merely offered a veiled reminder: if he went out for amusement and ran into the Third Prince in the pleasure quarters, he had better not blow his cover.
At this stage, however, Xu Yuan had no intention of visiting such establishments whatsoever, as he needed to seize every moment to cultivate.
The Nine Yuan Calming Technique allowed him to cultivate unceasingly around the clock, but its passive speed still could not match actively cultivating on his own.
In this extraordinary world of high martial prowess, cultivation was not omnipotent, but sitting in his father's position without cultivation was out of the question.
Hence, his life in the Imperial Capital was much like his time in Jingjiang Prefecture, with the sole difference being that cultivation resources like elixir pills and Source Crystals were available in unlimited supply.
As the heart of Great Yan, Di'an City drew in vast wealth and supplies from all corners of the empire, and the storerooms of the Chancellor's Manor were no exception.
During this period, Xu Yuan truly experienced what it meant to be rich and willful.
Precious pills worth a hundred taels apiece were popped like jellybeans, blowing through over a thousand taels of silver in a single day.
Occasionally, he would even pop a supreme pill worth ten thousand taels.
Compared to his cultivation expenses, his past expenditures frequenting the pleasure houses were utterly negligible.
Popping pills, cultivating, eating, popping pills, cultivating, soaking in medicinal baths, sleeping.
The life of the rich was just so dry and dull.
Occasionally, however, his elder brother Xu Changge would take time out of his busy schedule to pay him a visit, bringing a bit of physical pain to his dry and dull routine.
Under the pretext of helping him hone his practical combat skills, of course.
Sparring in sword techniques.
A gentlemen's agreement: Xu Changge would use only sword techniques without any Source Qi, while Xu Yuan was permitted to use Saint soul power.
Having internalized over a decade of combat instincts within the illusion into his flesh and bone, Xu Yuan had not been particularly afraid of his elder brother at first.
Yet after getting hung up and thrashed a few times, Xu Yuan learned his lesson.
Well—he simply played dead, gave up trying, and refused to spar altogether.
Beyond this, what struck Xu Yuan most about the Chancellor's Manor in the Imperial Capital was that high-rank cultivators were as common as cabbages.
Occasionally, taking a stroll along the wetland lake after a meal, he would see five or six third-rank Grandmasters arriving to report on their duties. Most courtyard guards were of the fifth rank or higher, and even the lowest handmaids and attendants generally possessed cultivation around the eighth rank.
After about half a month of such a routine, news of Xu Yuan's return to the capital was deliberately leaked.
Consequently,
his dry and dull life gained one more activity: listening to tunes in the pleasure quarters.
Chapter 204