Chapter 182: Dragons and Snakes Rise From The Land

Chapter 182: Dragons and Snakes Rise from the Land

Zhao Changhe looked at the wine Tang Buqi was carrying and asked, "So you've come to say goodbye?"

Tang Buqi replied as a matter of course, "Indeed. To keep you from thinking I'm chasing you away, inviting you for a drink makes it feel more like a proper farewell, doesn't it?"

Zhao Changhe was caught between tears and laughter.

Tang Buqi plopped down at the table. "Stop brooding over your training; you can't finish it all anyway. Rest a while. I heard my aunt told you to slow down too, didn't she?"

Zhao Changhe sat down as well, smiling. "I am going very slowly right now. I'm tempering my inner malice, not rushing to break through."

"As if you could just break through whenever you wanted."

Zhao Changhe smiled but said nothing.

Tang Buqi lifted the wine pot and poured him a cup, his expression somewhat somber. "I said I was going to travel the world, but it's all gone to naught."

Zhao Changhe raised his cup and clinked it against his. "Your kind of training isn't much different; it doesn't necessarily have to be out in the martial world. Actually, I don't know why your aunt thinks this environment isn't suited for me. I feel that killing to nurture my malice fits quite well in the military..."

Tang Buqi took a slow sip of wine. "I, however, do know."

"Oh?"

"Do you think that because your martial arts surpass ordinary soldiers, you can charge into enemy formations on horseback and harvest heads like rain, just like those fierce generals in history famous for their personal valor?"

"...Is that not the case?"

"Reading history makes it seem like such fierce generals were quite numerous, but in truth, across all those years and both epochs combined, there were only those few. Regrettably, they certainly did not belong to the Hidden Dragon Rank. With the strength you and I possess, the impact a single person can make in a battle formation might not even equal a row of well-trained soldiers thrusting their spears in unison."

"..."

"With your bravery, it would be quite suitable for you to lead an elite troop as the vanguard spearhead, and you could probably be called a ferocious general. But this requires the cooperation of a band of elite soldiers who move like your own arms and fingers. The prerequisite is long-term training and blending with the troops, not just leaping onto a horse, leading a squad, and charging out." Tang Buqi's smile carried a hint of banter. "You... how many days can you endure blending in within a military camp? After how many days do you plan to leave?"

Zhao Changhe let out a sharp breath. "Hey, it's only been a few days. How did you become a completely different person?"

"A few days?" Tang Buqi widened his eyes. "This is the kind of thing I've had to learn since childhood. Though I haven't truly joined a military camp, I still have to read military texts. If I fail the examinations, I get flogged—and I must tell you, you are very familiar with the person who flogs me."

Zhao Changhe recalled the scene of Tang Wanzhuang flipping Tang Buqi over and smacking his backside with the Dragon-Sparrow saber. That was indeed all too familiar...

Tang Buqi said lazily, "Right now, the various clans of Gusu are furious over the Maitreya Sect's past deception, so they share a bitter hatred for the enemy and work together from top to bottom. Plus, neither Jinling nor Yangzhou has been lost, and both banks of the Great River are in our hands. This means we have both geographical advantage and human harmony; we won't be easily overcome. This war could very well drag on for years, with many turns of offense and defense. This is my home, and I can guard it for a lifetime. Can you? Brother Zhao, unless you truly change your mindset and your role, it really isn't suited for you."

Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment, then drained the wine in his cup. "I accept your counsel."

Tang Buqi squinted at him for a long while, then suddenly said, "Why aren't you grinning cheekily and calling me your big nephew anymore?"

"Uh..." Zhao Changhe actually didn't know how to answer this. It seemed he really was a bit afraid to call him that now.

Perhaps because before, he had absolutely no such thoughts, so casual banter didn't matter; now that he truly had a few thoughts, he felt guilty and didn't dare to shout blindly?

Tang Buqi, however, had no intention of mocking him. He truly wasn't in much of a mood, drinking somewhat gloomily on his own as he whispered, "Actually, Maitreya does possess a sort of matchless might against ten thousand men, but he can't act as a commander either. He relies on the figures he recruited under his banner, some of whom are said to be formidable. For instance, the Ten-Dwelling Bodhisattva Fasheng I mentioned just now. According to reports, Hangzhou didn't lack resistance, yet it was broken by Fasheng in a single hour. He is only at the sixth level of the Mysterious Gateway, yet he is the vanguard general Maitreya values most."

He drained his wine once more. "I truly don't have much confidence... I heard this Fasheng is extremely cruel, leaving not a blade of grass where he passes... If he manages to break through..."

Zhao Changhe said, "You are already much more capable than I am... You also said you have the geographical advantage and human harmony; how could he strike so easily? Even if you can't outmaneuver this Fasheng at first, you will grow wiser after a few rounds of familiarity. We are still young, and we will grow, right?"

Tang Buqi shook his head. "Ah, let's not speak of it. Truth be told, you and I are ultimately people of the martial world. Compared to studying military strategy, I still hope to elevate my martial dao. To one day ascend the Book of the Chaotic World, gazed upon by the whole realm—how glorious a manifestation that would be... If one could truly train to the level of my aunt and the others, then what would it matter if one barged into a military formation alone? One could charge and kill for as many rounds as one pleased, and no one could do a thing about us. How exhilarating such a moment would be! This is what it means for a single sword to withstand a million-man army. You must think much the same, don't you?"

Zhao Changhe admitted, "Yes. Not just you and I, most martial artists in this world think this way."

Tang Buqi said, "Speaking of which, ever since you hacked Wan Dongliu last time, the Book of the Chaotic World hasn't moved at all. It's truly strange. For the past half year, it's basically been you flashing on and off the rank, while others rarely do..."

Before his words could finish falling, a golden light flashed across the sky.

Tang Buqi's wine cup froze in his hand as he lifted his head in astonishment.

"The sixth day of the sixth month, the Great Heat."

"Chili's twenty-third birthday. He advances to the ninth level of the Mysterious Gateway. On this day, amidst a crowd of ten thousand, he slays Li Changkong, the Spear King of the Great Xia's Northern Border, taking his place on the Mortal Rank."

"A shift in the Mortal Rank."

"Mortal Rank sixty-six, the Demon Fox Chili!"

Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky, quietly sipping his wine without a word.

Tang Buqi stared blankly for a long while, unable to even drink his wine. "Truly twenty-three years old, on the very day of his birthday... It seems like an open declaration of war against His Majesty..."

He left the rest of the thought unspoken. Whenever the younger generation witnessed such a contemporary figure, how could they not feel a sense of dejection and dread?

When such a person was an enemy of one's race, it could even plunge one into despair.

Zhao Changhe watched silently, still offering no reply.

It was as if he were waiting for something.

Tang Buqi wondered, "Brother Zhao, you..."

Before the words could fully leave his mouth, golden light rose once more into the heavens.

"Yue Hongling, at the tender age of twenty, reaches the ninth level of the Mysterious Gateway. On this day, riding a lone horse, she tramples the Black Wolf Khan's Tent, slays the Black Wolf King Bohu in battle, and vanishes into the dust."

"A shift in the Mortal Rank."

"Mortal Rank sixty-eight, the Setting Sun Divine Sword Yue Hongling!"

This was a direct granting of a moniker... Zhao Changhe finally knew how a truly good moniker ought to come about. To hell with relying on the River Gang to boast... The boasting of the Book of the Chaotic World was the only true boast!

And only Zhao Changhe's mind could drift to monkers at a time like this... In the eyes of others, these two successive rising stars ascending straight to the Mortal Rank one after the other was a monumental event that would truly shake the entire world. Who on earth would have the mind to think about that?

The Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Ranks were different from the Hidden Dragon Rank; they would not shift just because of any casual achievement. The grandmasters on those ranks were exceedingly cautious when facing one another, and how long had it been since any change occurred?

Yet this single movement brought two at once, and neither had won through painstaking hardship. Both were achieved "amidst a crowd of ten thousand" and through "slaying in battle alone." Their true rankings might well be even higher!

Furthermore, both were extremely young rising stars, "juniors" whose potential people were still weighing, yet in the north of the Divine Land, they burst forth with the most brilliant starlight of the current age.

Zhao Changhe suddenly let out a laugh, remembering Yue Hongling's confident, slightly proud look from before... This is exactly what you wanted, isn't it?

Chili had just put on a grand display, purposely choosing his own birthday to execute such a move precisely to manifest his glory before men, and intentionally to boost morale while striking at the hearts of the Central Plains as the Northern Hu prepared to sweep south.

As a result, Yue Hongling, without a word or a sound, chopped Chili's grand display in half.

Though her rank was still two places lower, Yue Hongling was only twenty and a half years old. This made her perhaps the most anomalous person to ever make the rank since ancient times, right?

Moreover, since Chili killed a renowned figure of the Central Plains, she killed a renowned figure of the steppes, directly countering the impact on morale and people's hearts as if she had done it on purpose.

Yet she could not possibly have known what Chili was doing. This was not intentional; it could only be described as the mandate of heaven.

Zhao Changhe suddenly wondered: she had been stuck at the barrier of the ninth level for quite a while. Was this breakthrough related to her travels on the steppes, or was it connected to that single session of dual cultivation in Yangzhou?

It was highly likely the latter...

Inexplicably, because of such reasons, she departed from thirty-eight and was now thirty-six. This number was good, the number of the Heavenly Dipper.

Over there, a look of joy surfaced on Tang Buqi's face. Before he could even speak, as if the Book of the Chaotic World were rapidly updating, another light flared up.

"The Hidden Dragon leaves the abyss to ascend the Mortal Rank. The positions on the Hidden Dragon Rank shift accordingly. Hidden Dragon Number One, Cui Yuanyong."

Far away in Qinghe, Cui Yuanyong looked at the sky, caught between tears and laughter.

This number one spot felt somewhat bittersweet to hold...

But this was not the end.

"Xia Chichi, at the tender age of seventeen, reaches the seventh level of the Mysterious Gateway. She assassinates the Northern Field Buddha of the Maitreya Sect at the Jiangbei Buddhist Altar, absorbing all his followers."

"A shift in the Hidden Dragon Rank."

"Hidden Dragon Number Six, Xia Chichi."

"Cui Yuanyang secluded herself for half a year, fully grasping the mysteries of Purple Qi and Clear River, leaping straight to the fifth level of the Mystic Gate. On the day she emerged, she shattered the Cui family's Nine-Bend Yellow River Trial Formation, earning the right to inherit the family's ultimate sword art, the Clear River Divine Sword. At merely fifteen, the entire prefecture was stunned."

"The Hidden Dragon List shifts."

"Hidden Dragon ninety-nine, Cui Yuanyang."

"In that hour, dragons and serpents rose from the earth."

The whole realm's necks were nearly sore from looking up, having moved from shock to numbness.

Truly chaotic times now...

This final line of the Chaos Chronicle was not a comment on Cui Yuanyang, but on that dazzling constellation of stars blazing across the sky.

Tang Buqi, who had repeatedly wanted to speak but held back, now no longer wished to speak... This feeling of surging winds and rising clouds, of radiant starlight—how could one also on the Hidden Dragon List not feel a surge of hot-blooded excitement?

"What a stirring of winds and clouds..." He gripped his wine cup, murmuring to himself: "I'm about to fall off the list, beyond the top hundred. That is not where Tang Buqi belongs."

"Crack!" The wine cup unconsciously cracked under his grip.

Zhao Changhe finally rose to his feet, leisurely taking the Longque sword and strapping it to his back: "Brother Tang, the Chaos Chronicle saw us with wine but no dishes, so it sent this appetizer—quite intoxicating. Put down the cup; all feasts must end. I too must take my leave."

"Hey, wait." Tang Buqi asked: "Night is falling. Where do you plan to go?"

Zhao Changhe looked up at the sky, where those golden characters still shimmered: "Wherever I go, in this storm of events, how could there be no place for me, Zhao Changhe?"