Chapter 103: He is the Disciple of the White Emperor!

Chapter 103: He Is the Disciple of the White Emperor!

Qi Yuan listened to Yuan Qi's impassioned speech, and after a long pause, said, "I guard the City of No Return, and it has nothing to do with Great Xia.

Simply because I am the Guardian of the City of No Return."

He had no desire to owe anyone a favor for nothing.

Hearing this, Yuan Qi was momentarily puzzled.

But soon he understood.

This Guardian must be one of those who care for the common people.

Though not a native of Great Xia, he could not bear to see the southern lands fall into northern hands, so he came alone to the Central Plains to hold the City of No Return.

Unbound by petty clans or nations, he acted for all under heaven.

This was a true great cultivator!

Yuan Qi's respect deepened.

Yet, thinking of his brother, he finally asked in a low voice, "Sir, when you arrived at the City of No Return, did you happen to see any soldiers from Great Xia, the Song Character Camp?"

"Not long after I came, two ordinary soldiers from the Song Character Camp arrived here.

They said they were ambushed on the road, their entire unit wiped out, and only the two of them escaped gravely wounded. In the end... they didn't last a few days and died in the City of No Return." Qi Yuan recalled those two men.

One was called Zhang Sheng, the other Chen Jiao.

If they had changed their names, perhaps their fate would have been different, Qi Yuan mused.

"They are buried deep within the City of No Return."

Yuan Qi's heart grew heavy upon hearing this.

He had already guessed as much before coming.

But facing the truth, his heart ached even more.

His grandfather, his father, his elder brother—three generations of his clan—had all died in the City of No Return.

"That bundle on your back—is it Daughter's Fragrance?" Qi Yuan caught a faint scent of wine.

"Yes," Yuan Qi replied somberly.

He had traveled a thousand miles to the City of No Return so that the soldiers here could once again taste the wine of their homeland, to let them know that Great Xia had not forgotten them.

"When Zhang Sheng and Chen Jiao arrived, the wine they drank was spoiled.

Since you've brought good wine, you can go and pay your respects to them." Qi Yuan still remembered the Daughter's Fragrance Chen Jiao raised before his death—it tasted truly awful.

Only Chen Jiao and Zhang Sheng, it seemed, could still savor it with relish.

"Allow me to offer you a cup first, sir," Yuan Qi said, reaching for the wine on his back.

"I don't drink." With that, Qi Yuan flew up onto the city wall. He gazed out at the vast desert in the distance and declared, "From now on, you people of Great Xia had better not come to the City of No Return anymore.

This place is under my guard, as solid as iron—no one can steal my home.

If you must come, just bring some military banners."

Qi Yuan did not know how many years he would guard this place.

More banners would always be welcome.

Otherwise, if they failed to lure the demonic horde, that would be unfortunate.

Yuan Qi's heart was a mix of emotions.

He looked at the slender figure on the wall and bowed solemnly.

From the moment he set foot on the road to the City of No Return, he had never expected to go back.

He did not know which day the city would fall and its people perish, but he was not afraid.

...

In the City of Galan, Guardian Dong Long had a full beard and hair that was mostly white.

He stood atop the towering city wall, the banner of Great Sui fluttering in the wind.

The Guardian glanced at Liu Wentai, a hint of surprise in his eyes: "He is unwilling to come?"

The Guardian of Galan City was genuinely taken aback.

Great Xia was a small state, its strength not even a tenth of Great Sui's.

In a dozen years, if Great Xia lost the City of No Return, it would be absorbed into Great Sui.

Now that the City of No Return had a new Guardian, and a Nation-Stabilizer at that, Dong Long naturally wished to win him over.

"A pity." Since the man refused to come, Dong Long could not force it.

One man guarding a city alone, with no reinforcements, no supplies—sooner or later, he would be overwhelmed by the ever-stronger demonic horde.

He mourned the passing of a hero.

"Leave." Since he would not come, Dong Long put the matter aside.

Now, he was organizing a great counteroffensive against Misan, and it had reached a critical moment.

He was determined to slaughter the demon tamers of Misan and the like.

Once this was done, he could return to Great Sui. When he left the capital, his granddaughter had just been born; this time, he feared his great-grandson, whom he had never met, would already be getting married.

...

Kill!

Kill!

Kill!

Beneath the City of No Return, Qi Yuan held his sword, facing a horde of over a thousand demonic creatures.

His eyes burned crimson as he cut them down without pause.

The mighty demons, in Qi Yuan's hands, were like laughable weeds, reaped endlessly by his broken blade.

The experience bar surged wildly.

The demonic source also accumulated steadily.

Qi Yuan sensed that, perhaps because of the demonic source, the more he killed, the more exhilarated he became, as if thirsting for blood.

He was like a cold, merciless war machine, weaving in and out of the demonic army. In less than half an hour,

the entire horde of over a thousand demons was slaughtered by him.

"Done for the day!" Qi Yuan blew the blood off his broken blade as usual, then returned to the city wall.

The wall stood tall and majestic; ever since Qi Yuan took guard, no demon had ever climbed it again.

On the wall, Yuan Qi watched Qi Yuan, who was as valiant as a descending god, with eyes full of reverence.

"Congratulations, sir, on repelling the enemy once more and slaying over a thousand demons!"

"Just a trifle, merely passing the time." Qi Yuan glanced at Yuan Qi beside him.

Yuan Qi had been in Wugui City for three years; his face was now more cracked and sallow than when first seen.

The handsome young man of yore had become a weather-beaten uncle.

"Senior, there is also a piece of good news. Just yesterday, Dong Long, the garrison commander of Garan City, besieged Misang, routed the demonic army, and Misang fled gravely wounded. This place will have peace for a few years," Yuan Qi said, very excited.

In his heart, he also held immense admiration for Dong Long, the garrison commander of Garan City.

After all, every time the Great Xia defended Wugui City, it ended in total annihilation.

Yet Garan City had launched a successful counterattack!

How could that not be inspiring!

Now, with Misang gravely wounded, the pressure on Wugui City would also be much lighter.

Qi Yuan heard this, his expression unchanged: "I hope the fleeing demonic army comes more to Wugui City."

Such stirring news stirred no emotion in him.

Seeing this, Yuan Qi's smile faded.

Night fell, and the world was pitch black.

A familiar voice sounded again in Qi Yuan's ear.

"You are becoming more and more like a demon."

In the underground palace, Ning Tao's pale face bore deep exhaustion.

She looked at Qi Yuan, whom she had trapped, her expression especially complex. "Am I very like a demon?" Qi Yuan's consciousness shifted from Wugui City to that mass of flesh and blood.

"Not like, but are." Hearing Qi Yuan's voice, Ning Tao's small face broke into a smile. "I increasingly suspect that you are the legendary Blood Demon who brings calamity to the world."

Ning Tao was smiling, as if proud to have discovered Qi Yuan's identity.

"Since I am the Blood Demon, keeping me locked up here—doesn't that mean it's dangerous for you?" Qi Yuan said. "Let's make a deal: let me out."

"Let you out? Wouldn't that be exactly what you want, to go and wreak havoc on the world?" Ning Tao smiled sweetly. "I have a small heart; I don't want you to harm the world, only to harm me alone."

"You don't believe in my character? Though I can't match moral paragons, I often help others.

That Blood Demon nonsense, that wreaking havoc on the world—all baseless.

Harm you? I am as chaste as Liu Xiahui!" Qi Yuan said.

"The Sovereign is the foremost in the North, one of the two supreme beings in this world. How could her words be false?" Ning Tao looked at Qi Yuan. "Be good, now. If you're not obedient, I'll hand you over to the Sovereign.

Then you'll never see your charming little wife again."

"Good, I won't see her then," Qi Yuan said immediately.

Whether it was the influence of the Sin Source, every time Ning Tao appeared before him in a black dress and black stockings, his mind would conjure the scene of tearing open his junior sister Jiang Lingsu's clothes that day.

Moreover, that image had mutated.

Not only did he tear Jiang Lingsu's clothes, but he also pressed Ning Tao against the wall, pulled off her stockings, and wrapped them around Jiang Lingsu's jade-like legs.

Besides lust, the other six sins of the Sin Source were also affecting Qi Yuan.

Especially when his consciousness entered this parasitic mass of flesh, these seven deadly sins were amplified.

If he didn't see Ning Tao, perhaps those strange images wouldn't appear in his mind—just as well.

Of course, today Ning Tao wasn't wearing stockings; her pale feet were wrapped in gauze-thin silk socks, her delicate jade feet small enough to hold in one palm.

"Are you really willing to leave me alone here, lonely and restless, for a hundred years, a thousand years, even ten thousand years?" Ning Tao stared at Qi Yuan, her eyes filled with intense possessiveness.

"If I really am the Blood Demon, keeping me here would be a great calamity for you," Qi Yuan retorted. "All the sovereigns of the North would probably not let you off."

Since cultivating the "Qi Yuan Sutra," Qi Yuan had felt that everyone else was drunk while he alone was sober; the more he looked at anyone, the more he thought their heads were messed up.

Hearing this, a frosty glint flashed in Ning Tao's slender, slightly cold brows and eyes. "You were summoned by me; only I can decide your fate. If others want to kill you, they must first ask me."

"It's such a waste that you don't play a domineering female CEO," Qi Yuan said weakly.

……

Five years later.

In the demon-control camp of the North.

A burly man in iron armor appeared, the ground shaking.

He looked at Misang not far away, his eyes full of mockery: "What a waste. There are nine cities in Yuzhou, and after so many years you still can't take them. Instead, you get severely wounded and flee in disgrace. You truly disgrace the North."

The iron-armored burly man laughed, and his subordinates also burst into laughter.

Misang's face darkened: "The strength in Yuzhou is formidable; it's not so easy to take."

"Hmph, don't make excuses for your incompetence," the iron-armored burly man said. "Not to mention Garan City, even the weakest Wugui City, guarded by only one Nation Guardian, you couldn't take it. Truly laughable."

Hearing Wugui City, Misang's eyes showed a hint of wariness: "Wugui City is not that simple. That guardian is no ordinary Nation Guardian.

Wu Tong, aside from you, none of your men are a match for that guardian.

Give you ten years, and you still won't take Wugui City."

"Misang, you'd better stay here and recover. Yuzhou—you can't take it, but I, Wu Tong, will!" Wu Tong finished, then strode away with his men.

In the room, Misang's gloomy expression took a long time to fade.

Beside him, a plain-looking woman said angrily, "Wu Tong goes too far!"

Hearing this, Misang was not angry; instead, his face relaxed. "Don't curse him. I should thank him for going to Yuzhou in my place. Otherwise..."

The plain-looking woman looked puzzled, not understanding her master's meaning.

Misang looked at the woman and said slowly, "Do you think I really couldn't defeat that Dong Long of Garan City?"

"Master is wise and mighty; taking Dong Long would be a trivial matter. It was Dong Long who sent someone to ambush you..."

Misang was somewhat disappointed.

Indeed, there were too few clever people in this world, and too few who understood him.

"My defeat by Dong Long was intentional, to leave Yuzhou," Misang said arrogantly. "Yuzhou is a death trap. Wu Tong going there—heh heh—will surely die."

The plain-looking woman was baffled.

Wu Tong was a peak Nation Guardian, one step away from becoming a terrestrial myth.

Misang continued, "Do you remember that guardian of Wugui City?"

The plain-looking woman's face twisted with hatred: "The Seven-Colored Sisters all died at his hands!"

The Seven-Colored Sisters were Misang's right hand.

At first, the weakest, Caixia, was sent to attack Wugui City, but never returned, dying there.

Later, Caixia's sister Caiyi led stronger demons, but also fell outside Wugui City.

Then, two more of Caixia's sisters went, and they too perished.

Finally, Caixia's eldest, second, and third sisters went together—two Nation Guardians among them, plus many powerful demons—yet none returned.

Truly, after the small came the big, after the big came the old.

When Misang emerged from seclusion and learned of the Seven-Colored Sisters' annihilation, he was somewhat incredulous.

At first, he too wanted to raise an army to destroy the City of No Return.

But then, he calmed down.

He investigated the entire affair from beginning to end.

And arrived at a terrifying truth.

“That guardian of the City of No Return, when he first arrived, was merely a Sovereign-level cultivator.

Yet in just a few short years, he grew stronger through battle, becoming a Nation Guardian—and not just any ordinary Nation Guardian!

Such a man carries immense fortune; he must be slain in one blow, or else, like the Seven-Colored Sisters, sending one after another to die will only become his stepping stone!” Misan was cautious.

“He’s that formidable?” The plain-faced woman thought of something and quickly asked, “Master, why not gather the demon horde and slay him while he was weak?”

Misan shot her a glare.

When he was weak, how was I supposed to know who he was?

Now, that guardian of the City of No Return has already grown into his power.

If he sends the demon horde now, who can say he won’t become the next Seven-Colored Sisters?

He gazed at the sky and suddenly said, “Do you know the foremost of the Southern Lands, the White Emperor?”

“I do. He is an existence as mighty as the Lord.”

“Decades ago, a group of the White Emperor’s disciples left the White Emperor Palace.

Under the White Emperor’s command, these imperial disciples came to the Hundred and Eight Thousand Cities to train.

The guardian of the City of No Return bears immense fortune and grows stronger through battle. I suspect he is a disciple of the White Emperor.” Misan voiced his conjecture.

It was for this reason that he attacked Garan City, deliberately rushing to his death without pause, and ultimately fled the battlefield gravely wounded.

He left that land of strife in Yuzhou.

“A disciple of the White Emperor?” The plain-faced woman’s eyes lit up with excitement. “If we capture him, wouldn’t that be a huge gain?”

She was thrilled.

That was the disciple of the foremost of the Southern Lands—capturing him might even earn her an audience with the Sovereign.

Hearing this, Misan was somewhat speechless: “I shouldn’t have told you this; with your mind, it’s probably hard to grasp.

What use is capturing the White Emperor’s disciple? Besides, is the relationship between the White Emperor and the Lord really as simple as mere enmity?

We should meddle less in the affairs of great figures.”

The plain-faced woman, upon hearing this, looked aggrieved, not knowing where she had gone wrong.

PS: There’s a funeral in the family; I’m on my way back to my hometown. Updates may be unstable for the next few days. Sorry.

(End of chapter)