Chapter 727: The Protagonists

Chapter 727 The Protagonists

Wind and wind are naturally not the same; there is the gentle breeze of fine rain, and there is the raging storm.

Yet Feng Yin and Ye Wuzong were actually very close, both walking the path of blending into the night with the wind. Zhao Changhe had once suspected that Ye Wuzong had received Feng Yin's legacy, but it was clear from Ye Wuzong's words that he had not. On the contrary, there was a sense of "you only proved your path first because you occupied a prior era; if placed on the same platform, I could defeat you"—a deep defiance.

This was a challenge from a man of the present to the previous epoch, only Ye Wuzong was now too old and had lost his certainty, as well as the spirit to risk everything, placing more of his hopes upon his disciples.

Unsurprisingly, Zhao Changhe was also the fastest among everyone to learn the mastery of wind, faster even than Sisi, who was hailed as the personal disciple of the Thief Saint.

The gold standard of dual cultivation with the contemporary Azure Dragon left even Ye Wuzong dumbfounded as he watched.

Looking at the afterimage of Zhao Changhe vanishing in a flash, which even Ye Wuzong's eyes barely managed to capture, the old man's already aged and weary expression grew three parts more silent. Until the teaching ended, he did not utter another word.

"Senior may rest assured. If I meet Feng Yin again, I will use what Senior has taught to let him know the challenge of the era." Zhao Changhe's words made Ye Wuzong laugh. This kind of thing was truly something only men understood between themselves; his own precious disciple was still looking forward to curing him...

He smiled faintly and said, "If possible, let Sisi do this. My true legacy is, after all, not you."

"Alright." As Zhao Changhe spoke, he fed him a pill and used the Spring Return Technique to soothe his injuries. The old man neither refused nor cooperated much, merely waiting quietly for Zhao Changhe to finish before saying, "Go on. The matter of lifespan is beyond remedy. Though this skill of yours is strong, it cannot mend what is spent."

Zhao Changhe said no more, bowing in farewell: "Senior, please rest well."

He and Yue Hongling withdrew first, while Sisi stayed behind to accompany her master for a while. Ye Wuzong stood at the doorway, watching the retreating backs of the couple, and only after a long while did he say, "When he went to Kunlun back then, I thought he was a very affectionate and clever young lad, nothing more. His fighting style was like a barbarian's and quite disliked by me... Looking at it now, the greatest storm of this era rests upon him. In truth, I am already no match for him today. Your vision is truly excellent..."

Sisi was too embarrassed to say that ever since she met that guy, she had been teased from beginning to end, with various instances of the Dragon-Sparrow sword slapping her face. She could only nod perfunctorily, saying, "Of course my vision is good; the master I found is still the most formidable one."

Implicit in her words was actually an attempt to stir her master's fighting spirit. The old man had eaten more salt than she had eaten rice; how could he not know her little scheme? He burst into a helpless laugh: "Sisi, do you know what the greatest flaw of our sect is?"

Sisi shook her head: "I think it's very formidable. Is it a lack of momentum?"

"It is a lack of courage," Ye Wuzong said faintly. "Whether it is the courage to face enemies directly, or the courage to challenge oneself. If you can break through this point, your achievements will be much higher than mine. As for Zhao Changhe, I do not worry about him in this regard at all; he was born to challenge."

Sisi understood, and she also knew that her master did not intend to strive any further. This was decided by a person's nature, and also decided by the foundation of martial arts. She sighed softly and murmured, "I understand."

Ye Wuzong waved his hand: "Go on. Your Spirit Race has a heap of matters to attend to; do not waste time on an old man."

Sisi indeed had a mountain of things to do, and soon arrived at the Sacred Temple, which was also the royal palace. Glancing over, Zhao Changhe had not come this way. Sisi felt a slight disappointment, but she also knew it was not the time.

Escorted by a crowd of fully armored warriors, she slowly ascended the high dais of the throne, turned, and sat down.

Below her, a dense mass of chieftains from various tribes knelt, not even daring to breathe loudly.

In truth, Sisi had not even worn their conventional formal attire today, appearing in a leisurely manner with her long hair loosely draped. In the past, she would mostly have been nagged by the old conservatives for half a day, but today not a single one dared to look up at her.

The mutation of yesterday, the terror of the "ancestors" crawling out from underground, and the manifestation of the Holy Envoy swinging his axe to suppress heaven and earth carried too strong an oppressive pressure. It was so strong that even her die-hard loyalists were trembling with fear, let alone the other neutral tribes who were not so "loyal." To this day, no one dared to speak.

"The matters of yesterday, you all know of them?" Sisi coldly left the crowd in suspense for a long time before slowly speaking.

A chieftain gathered his courage and said, "Yes... there were enemies who dared to disturb the ancestors' peaceful sleep, and then we actually had traitors who dared to cooperate with such a thing?"

Sisi's thoughts turned like lightning. In truth, many of the rebels themselves did not know of Yin Kui's existence, but defining the nature of it this way would be smoother and harsher: "Correct. Apart from our own race, there were also Han military generals who once followed us involved in this matter, and they have now been captured. No trial is needed; all shall be burned to death today."

Seeing those beautiful red lips spit out such icy words, everyone broke into cold sweats, not daring to say more.

This enchanting Saintess had been on stage for barely over half a year, accompanied by three bouts of foul wind and bloody rain. The first was when she ascended, which needed no mention. The second was some time ago when someone thought she could be bullied because she occasionally swooned from pain, only to suffer a brutal suppression. The third was this time.

Among them, the second time had a very clear flavor of malicious fishing, essentially her centralized means of purging old factions. This third time was originally meant to continue fishing, but it happened to coincide with something as grave as outsiders disturbing the ancestors' slumber. Now others did not know that she hadn't known about these things beforehand, but instead thought everything was within her grasp.

In short, the total number of people killed across the three events already numbered in the tens of thousands. Basically, all old factions had been thoroughly cleared out, including the old Han forces, which had been plowed through once; now, not even half a person with a discordant mind could be found. Coupled with the terrifyingly formidable male and female Holy Envoys backing her, Sisi's desire for autocracy now was as easy as child's play.

"Through these few mutations, I have learned..." Sisi leaned slightly sideways, her elbow resting on the armrest of the chair to support her head, and said faintly, "Once, I wished to reference the Central Plains model to establish a state. Because everyone's customs differed too greatly, it ended up as a half-baked attempt. Effective today, a comprehensive restructuring will take place. There will be no more Spirit Race Saintess, nor chieftains of various tribes, but only the King of Dali, a vassal of the Great Han. All systems will follow the Han way, establishing three offices and six ministries, and organizing various armies without distinguishing between Spirit and Han."

Someone was stunned: "Da... Dali?"

Sisi smiled beautifully, yet there was no warmth of a smile in her eyes: "The city of Dali in Miaojiang is already in our hands, do you not know?"

Everyone was horrified; the vast majority of them truly did not know this. With internal rebellion reaching such a state, they had actually routed the Miao and driven out the Yao outside, grandly occupying Dali. How on earth was this accomplished?

Sisi said faintly, "Effective today, the Spirit Race will fully enter Miaojiang, letting this tens of thousands of miles of the southwest turn into Our realm!"

This was the first time Sisi referred to herself in the sovereign plural. She felt a bit awkward saying it herself, but none of the listeners dared to feel it was awkward.

In such a chaotic world, one must concentrate the most powerful fist to occupy a place in this era. The adaptability of state centralization in this kind of situation far surpassed the original tribal governance; it was an inevitability of the times. Otherwise, what had the Saintess bathed the place in blood several times for? Was it not precisely for this day?

No one knew that what Sisi thought in her heart was merely that only in this way could these people be gradually removed from the secret realm, lest they be caught unprepared if the true Ancestral God resurrected in the future.

And only in this way could she help the currently overwhelmed Zhao Changhe, becoming his most solid blade.

Sisi opened a list and began to arrange official posts. As she read on, her mind began to drift, wondering what Zhao Changhe was doing at this moment. Did learning her master's mastery of wind benefit his breaking of the imperial realm?

"Xue Xiao's afterimage method is not wind; it is a visual deception after his speed has reached the absolute limit." Zhao Changhe was currently back by the grave mountain again, where the insights of cultivation were the richest: "I can't steal the core of his afterimage method either. Techniques like his, where several clones can all strike out, are beyond my grasp. But if integrated with riding the wind, we can have another branch of development..."

Yue Hongling watched with her own eyes as Zhao Changhe vanished without a trace, just like the traceless Thief Saint himself using it.

That was not invisibility; in reality, it was speed so fast that his movements could no longer be captured.

"Clang!" A long sword left its scabbard, pointing diagonally backward.

Zhao Changhe's actual true body had already arrived behind Yue Hongling, stealthily reaching out to tug at her belt.

Pointed at by the long sword, Zhao Changhe immediately did a toad-leap backward, evading the strike: "You actually discovered my movement?"

Yue Hongling was expressionless: "We learned it together. Just because you learn fast doesn't mean I haven't learned it."

Following her words, Yue Hongling swiftly turned into a stream of afterimages, filling the ground with residual forms. Since she wore red garments, at a glance it looked like a sky full of red clouds.

If one looked closely, every single one of Yue Hongling's afterimages could still make a different funny face, looking highly insulting.

Yet if one took the front of the stream of afterimages as her actual body, they would be fooled again. The greatest deception of this stream of residual forms was to make people focus their gaze here. Zhao Changhe suddenly reached out and yanked toward the rear, accurately catching Yue Hongling's hand which was quietly trying to undo his belt, pulling her into his embrace.

Both tried to undo the other's belt, both declared failure, and both declared that the movement practice had turned into flirting swordsmanship.

Yue Hongling curled her lips, then suddenly smiled.

Everyone learned the same kind of kung fu, yet ultimately walked toward different branches, fitting their personal insights. This was what Ye Wuzong called "attaining its essence."

Yue Hongling smiled and said, "My original movement technique was too straightforward, rigid and easily broken. Now this is indeed an extremely beneficial supplement, which can be named the Remnant Cloud Movement Technique. What about you? What is this of yours, the People-Stealing Movement Technique?"

Zhao Changhe said, "I have no interest in names. Like my fist technique, it still doesn't have a good name to this day. Sometimes I think Old Xia's approach of casually naming it 'My Fist' is quite good, though a bit chuunibyou."

Yue Hongling smiled: "Because neither you nor he have the desire to pass it down. If you want to pass it down, you will naturally think of a title. Since you aim for the river of stars, why not name it in that direction?"

Zhao Changhe said, "Then I shall call this Star Flash."

Following his words, he vanished on the spot and reappeared on the spot, truly like a star flashing. Yue Hongling found it amusing and smiled, "But you learned to ride the wind, was it not for flying?"

Zhao Changhe took her hand: "Come, let's try?"

The two looked at each other and smiled, leaping up at the same time.

As for flying, Zhao Changhe had tried it before, crookedly flying while pulling Wuzhui along, lacking speed and looking extremely miserable. But this time, the two held hands, as if riding the clouds and driving the mist, harnessing the wind, looking like immortals ascending.

At this time, the Spirit Race's false sun was in the middle of the sky.

The two walked upon the clouds, arriving near the canopy. Zhao Changhe reached out his other hand to touch the canopy, falling into contemplation for a moment.

Yue Hongling did not disturb him either, quietly holding his hand as they walked slowly in the air.

The two followed the trajectory of the false sun, slowly walking toward the place of the setting sun in the west until their internal qi was spent, gently landing on the ground. The sun had also reached the extreme west.

"No wonder back then you secluded yourself here for a period of time, and broke through the Secret Realm as soon as you went out."

On the grassland at the western end, Zhao Changhe sat there biting a piece of thatch, watching the large basin of a sun sink below the mountain. Yue Hongling leaned against his lap to rest, recovering the true qi expended from half a day of practicing flight, speaking casually: "This small world is indeed the best stepping stone to heaven. If one cultivates here through the entire Secret Realm period, I fear it would be faster than anywhere else."

Zhao

Yue Hongling lay on his lap, smiling with abandon: "Those with insight can all feel the world's 'falseness.' One day, I will personally pierce this sun down."

Zhao Changhe lowered his head and kissed her: "Ambitious."

"Aren't you the same?" Yue Hongling said. "You never truly took the matter of being the new 'Night Emperor' to heart. You think the Night Emperor's goal of controlling a false world is not worth pursuing."

Zhao Changhe was startled: "How do you know this? The Four Symbols Sect recognizing me as the new Night Emperor—I never told you about that..."

Yue Hongling rolled her eyes: "During our dual cultivation, we learned too much of each other's foundations. Though I don't know the full story, combining your interactions with those from the Four Symbols Sect and the current attitude of the Great Han court, I've basically guessed nine out of ten."

She paused, then said leisurely: "I don't know why... whether before the gods and demons appeared or now when they are everywhere, I'm not very interested in their stories. I only want to do my own thing."

"Because you are Yue Hongling. Every step you take is your own path of gods and demons. Others chase after you, not you chasing after anyone." Zhao Changhe smiled. "If this era has a protagonist, it should be you."

"Not you?" Yue Hongling asked.

"Me..." Zhao Changhe looked at the horizon. The setting sun had completely sunk below the mountains, and stars and moon rose in the sky. "I am merely a meteor that happened to fall into this place. Because I saw you, I never left."

The Blind shuddered all over with goosebumps, but the two over there had already kissed passionately.

No help for it. In fact, the two were still not healed from their injuries. From a healing perspective, this night was tacitly Yue Hongling's turn. Sisi had already taken a whole night, so she couldn't come to disturb again.

But the Blind chewed on it carefully and felt that Zhao Changhe's words had a certain timeless quality.

This guy didn't read much, but he was increasingly getting the hang of it.

As for the protagonist... The Blind closed his eyes, "looking" in Yue Hongling's direction, knowing in his heart that this was also fine.

That fool Zhao Changhe held the Book of Causality and the Book of Qi Veins, but refused to study them properly, avoiding them with extreme caution. If he delved deeper, he would naturally see many things others could not.

As early as more than ten years ago, the Blind felt that Tang Wanzhuang and Zhuque Xuanwu were bound together for life, unable to be separated. Facts proved it was so.

But as the "protagonist" was held in his arms, kissed freely, and her red robe peeled off to become a white lamb, who was the protagonist now went without saying. The concentration of qi veins gathering was simply outrageous.

The Blind wanted this, but didn't want it too concentrated. Many times, the Blind actually wanted Zhao Changhe to suffer some setbacks. Sometimes Zhao Changhe himself could feel the Blind's malice, but each time Zhao Changhe managed to overcome the hurdle, and in the end the concentration became so high that the Blind began to frown.

Especially this time, even though the Blind estimated Zhao Changhe could win, he couldn't have predicted that he would actually kill Yin Kui. Who the hell could have predicted that Ye Wuzong would play dead until that moment...

This was a demon god at the peak of the first level of the Imperial Realm. The difference between alive and dead for what followed was huge... The subsequent reaction of Jiuyou would also be completely different. Now Zhao Changhe had inexplicably become a mortal enemy of Jiuyou first—the Blind had never thought of that beforehand.

When things reach an extreme, they reverse. When your qi veins reach a certain level of concentration, you will attract a dimensionality reduction attack you cannot withstand. The gap between Zhao Changhe and Jiuyou now was ridiculously huge, yet no one realized this.

People today knew nothing of Jiuyou's power. Looking at the records, they saw only defeats, as if she was nothing special. But do you know who her opponents were?

Actually, the best would be for Jiuyou to give Zhao Changhe an unforgettable lesson, weakening his qi veins a bit. But the Blind absolutely did not want Zhao Changhe to be killed by a dimensionality reduction attack so early. At this point in time, it was too late to switch to another person...

The Blind hesitated again and again, and finally entered the dream once more.

A lucid dream.

Zhao Changhe was still blissfully dual cultivating with Yue Hongling. His soul was in a hazy state of fusion, feeling as if his soul had left his body and soared to heaven, when he suddenly saw the Blind in the clouds ahead.

"?" Zhao Changhe was almost scared limp: "What are you doing?"

He quickly looked down and saw that in his sea of consciousness, he had inexplicably put on clothes.

The Blind's face was expressionless: "Your control is so weak you can barely tear through Lie. Don't struggle in front of me. If I say you have clothes, you have clothes."

Zhao Changhe: "...You came for a refill? Then wait a moment, get in line."

The Blind ignored his crude joke and said flatly: "Today you spent the whole day mastering Wind Control, which greatly compensates for your long-term pain point of not being able to catch up to people. That was necessary, so I won't mention it. But after sunset, why are you in such a hurry to dual cultivate? Nothing else to do?"

Zhao Changhe was extremely puzzled: "Since when do you care about this?"

"Why can't I care? Last time, who solemnly promised me not to smear that stuff, but then did it again. Zhao Changhe, are you still a man? Do your words mean anything?" As the Blind spoke, he actually got angry, his cheeks flushed with rage.

"Uh..." Zhao Changhe was in the wrong. He had indeed promised that, but he had forgotten in a moment of anger... He sighed helplessly: "Alright, did you enter the dream this time because you saw I was about to 'produce' again, and came specifically to remind me?"

"Who's reminding you of that!" the Blind roared. "I don't care what little schemes you're plotting. You must use the Heavenly Books when you should! You killed Yin Kui—have you thought about studying the power of Yin Sha and the power of death? You hold the Divine Axe—have you thought about studying the power of thunder and the way of opening the heavens? Yin Kui and Jiuyou, the Divine Axe and the grasslands, all kinds of causality, all directions of qi veins, every aspect... You have the Heavenly Books. Do you really think they are just toilet paper!"

Zhao Changhe was silent for a long time, his expression extremely strange: "Actually, in the past few days I've already used them to study the abilities of Snow Owl and the others. I haven't been avoiding them much. If you hadn't entered this dream, I would have started researching after this dual cultivation... Since you did enter, I've thought of a question..."

The Blind did believe he would study Yin Kui's techniques and the Divine Axe's thunder, but didn't believe he would be willing to touch upon causality and qi veins. That was the main reason for her anxiety this time.

Since Zhao Changhe said so, at least he wasn't as stubborn as before. She calmed down a bit and asked: "What question?"

Zhao Changhe ventured: "If you are the spirit of the book, when I learn from the phantom scenes displayed in the book, it can basically be considered that you analyze and show them to me, right? Then why go through an extra step? Why not... teach me personally?"

The Blind opened his mouth slightly, and for a long time didn't know how to answer.

Wait, do you realize you're still in the middle of dual cultivation right now?