Chapter 139 Jade Flute "Am I still of use to you?"
He married someone else?
Wen Yizhan was slightly taken aback. He knew some of what had happened in the past, but this was the first time he had heard this. His gaze unconsciously drifted to Jiang Yuhuo, and seeing that her expression remained unchanged, he couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
"At that time, the political situation in the Zhou Dynasty was already unstable. The man she married was the heir of a vassal state, and the Zhou royal family needed their help."
Zhang Zhenyang continued, "So I decided to leave."
"Before she left, she... gave me a wisp of ancient divine energy unique to the Great Zhou royal family. I gave her a promise, agreeing to do something for her."
Ancient divine breath...
Jiang Yuhuo sensed something was amiss.
She had once seen it in the ancient scrolls of Tianque: after the severing of the connection between heaven and earth, the gods resided in the nine heavens, but some of their descendants remained in the human world, such as the Merfolk, the Feathered Clan, and the Ji family of the Great Zhou royal family, who were said to be descendants of the Qilin God.
The Ji family's ability to rule the Central Continent for a thousand years owes much to the legends of the ancient god's descendants. Legend has it that the Ji family possesses a horn of the Qilin god, and only members of the Ji family can ignite it, releasing divine energy. If a cultivator obtains it, their spiritual meridians can be opened, their impure body purified, and their cultivation progress rapidly.
But Master's current state... really doesn't seem like someone who has received divine inspiration.
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the little figure beside her covering its mouth in shock.
Zhang Zhenyang closed his eyes, as if his memories had entered some deep, unfathomable abyss.
Ancient divine breath is incredibly precious; cultivators who serve the imperial court never have the chance to obtain even a single strand in their entire lives, yet that person quietly gave it to him.
That day, the high and mighty princess lowered her head for the first time, gently yet domineeringly prying open the sword cultivator's lips and teeth, and without saying a word, transferring that wisp of divine energy into his body.
Then, like dry wood meeting a raging fire, they shared a passionate night.
Extreme pleasure can give rise to unrealistic desires, such as the belief that one can possess the other person forever.
The young sword cultivator was overjoyed and wanted the princess to go with him, to leave the Great Zhou Dynasty and not return to Kunlun. They could go to Haizhou, Yunzhou... to a place where no one would recognize them, to roam the world freely and spend their lives together.
Upon hearing this, the princess slowly sat up straight from the boy's embrace.
"I've treated you with such sincerity, and your way of repaying me is to make me lose everything I have?"
"Go away. I don't want to see you again."
The boy, lost in love, froze, staring blankly at his lover who had just been so passionately entwined with him.
Looking at the princess's cold, ambitious face, the boy understood that such a person would not go with him.
He still didn't leave, unable to explain what he was waiting for. It wasn't until the princess's wedding day that the young man understood: he was waiting for him to give up.
On the eve of the wedding procession's departure, he left her his most valuable spiritual sword and jade flute as a way of repaying the divine breath.
The princess, dressed in her wedding gown, threw everything back and said, "I've already gotten what I wanted. If you still want to repay me, you'd better give me a promise."
As for what it is, the princess said she would tell him once she had thought it through.
Driven by selfish motives, the boy only retrieved his own spirit sword, deliberately leaving the jade flute behind with the princess.
He thought that no matter who was by the princess's side, as long as she saw the jade flute, she would surely remember him.
As long as Yu Di stayed, he wouldn't be considered just a passerby.
The young sword cultivator, who had received divine inspiration, already possessed exceptional talent. His cultivation progressed rapidly afterward. In the cultivation world, where strength was revered, he gradually became a significant figure within the immortal sects. Young cultivators frequently sought his guidance, and many others came seeking to become his disciples. Before long, he became the youngest peak master among the twenty-four peaks of Kunlun Mountain.
But the princess on earth was losing ground day by day.
"Not long after their marriage, her husband rebelled. That vassal king had long harbored ulterior motives and proposed a marriage alliance with her, but only to eliminate the power of the Zhou dynasty. The war lasted for several years, causing widespread suffering and the rise of demons."
The princess finally escaped from the vassal states and returned to Zhaoming City, only to find that the Great Zhou Dynasty was suffering repeated defeats. It was then that she realized that this empire was like a seemingly large but old and rotten machine. When it came time to actually operate, many parts were already decayed and could collapse at the slightest mistake.
"The number of demons in the human world gradually increased to the point that the immortal sects had to unite to resist them. At that time, I had a group of good friends who often went down the mountain together to exterminate demons. As the team grew stronger, we came up with a plan to lure the demons to one place so that we could annihilate them all."
Demons are adept at hiding and prone to scattering, making individual capture and killing extremely labor-intensive. Moreover, given the demon-infested situation at the time, this method was far too inefficient. However, by gathering cultivators together, they could cooperate in hand seals and formations to eliminate numerous demons in one fell swoop. The combined power of cultivators far surpasses that of an individual fighting alone. It must be said, this was indeed a superior method.
"The plan was going smoothly until one day, I received a message from her. She said that the capital was about to be breached and her country was about to perish. She asked me if my promise still stood." Zhang Zhenyang smiled helplessly as he aged. "You should have guessed it. The day the army was about to breach Zhaoming City was the same day that Kunlun and the other immortal sects joined forces to slay the demon on the Moyu River."
Zhang Zhenyang fell silent for a long time after saying this.
The rest is history.
Xiao Jing recalled the historical records about this passage, and how every teacher who taught her would talk about it with great interest, so she memorized it.
At that time, the rebel army surrounded the Ming capital, their armored soldiers covering the fields. Then, an immortal descended from Kunlun, responding to the will of Heaven to protect the Zhou dynasty. His sword was named Juque, his sword technique called Pitian; when wielded, wind and thunder arose, and the sun and moon lost their color. When the sword was sheathed, a million corpses lay piled up, blood flowing like rivers. The rebel army fled in panic, retreating hundreds of miles. From then on, the Zhou dynasty declined but did not perish…
"That person was actually Master?" Jiang Yuhuo asked in slight surprise.
Zhang Zhenyang closed his eyes. "Yes."
Even though he had already vaguely sensed something from the previous accounts, Jiang Yuhuo was still shocked when he actually heard the answer from his master.
Cultivators cannot interfere too much with human karma. While serving as a guest advisor to handle trivial matters is acceptable, directly participating in battle, using spiritual power to fight against armies, and even influencing dynastic changes, will inevitably incur the backlash of Heaven. At best, it will destroy their path to immortality; at worst, it will result in death and the dissipation of their soul. This is why she hadn't sought revenge against Qin Yuqi until she had lost all her spiritual power and returned to a mortal state before making her move against him.
The backlash from Heaven descended almost instantly, leaving no respite and making no exceptions. As the Dayong army was repelled and the people of Dazhou rejoiced, he lay dead beneath the city walls, his fate unknown. In his final moments, he thought of finally fulfilling his promise to her, but sadly, he had broken his promise to another group of people.
When he chose to go to the human battlefield, he was already destined never to return to Moyujiang.
No one dares to say that if Zhang Zhenyang had been present during that great battle, the immortal cultivators would not have perished together with the demons. However, since it was he who proposed driving the demons to the Moyu River and then annihilating them together, his departure at the last minute became a thorn in everyone's side.
However, the sword cultivators who survived were not much better off than those who died in battle. Not only were their cultivation completely destroyed, but their five elements were also severed. At a young age, they would enter the five signs of decay, their cultivation would not progress, and their bodies would gradually age.
The day the boy opened his eyes, he saw the princess guarding his bedside, and his first question was, "Am I still of use to you?"
The princess wept bitterly and made many promises to him, promising to treat him well, to spend the rest of her life with him, and to be an ordinary couple.
At first, he believed her to some extent. It's just that her lies always contained a touch of truth, making it impossible for him to truly be ruthless.
But later, defending against enemies, relocating the capital... all of these were more important than that sword-cultivating youth who had become a cripple.
He suddenly realized that the divine breath was also part of her plan. Without the divine breath, his cultivation could not have progressed so quickly, but without the divine breath, he might have died long ago.
It was love, but also exploitation.
The intelligent and decisive princess used his love, and also used her own.
Finally, the sword-wielding youth severed the jade flute that had been deliberately left behind right before his eyes.
The broken flute fell silently to the ground, and the affairs of the world were no longer of concern.
"Well, Little Fishing Fire, did you understand? Your master really is a treacherous person, isn't he?"
Jiang Yuhuo was stunned. After hearing so much, she had long forgotten to distinguish right from wrong. She recalled her argument with Bai Hui in the Demon Sealing Seal. People are biased. Bai Hui could only see her husband and not Zhang Zhenyang's situation back then. She had never met Bai Hui's husband before, so she naturally favored her master.
Jiang Yuhu shook her head. "Master, at least you kept your promise to one side. If you hadn't gone to save that person, you would probably have regretted it for the rest of your life. Besides, Master also paid the price for what happened back then."
Zhang Zhenyang understood the comforting meaning in her words and shook his head, "Master really did wrong them. I only knew they died here before, but I didn't know their souls had been imprisoned in the seal for so many years, being corrupted by demons..."
He changed the subject and smiled at Jiang Yuhuo, "However, my disciple has helped his master absolve some of his sins."
Zhang Zhenyang looked at the river, and Jiang Yuhuo knew he was referring to the souls of cultivators going to the underworld.
"Little Fishing Light, could you do one more thing for your master?"
"What is it?"
Zhang Zhenyang beckoned to Xiao Jing, who was unusually quiet at the moment, "Come here."
Xiao Jing shrank behind Jiang Yuhuo. Not long ago, she had been cursing him as a stinky old man, but suddenly he had become that legendary immortal, and it was clearly their family who had wronged him.
Zhang Zhenyang laughed and said, "What are you afraid of, little girl? I'm not going to eat you. Come here."
Xiao Jing didn't dare to go alone. She held Jiang Yuhuo's hand before she dared to walk timidly in front of Zhang Zhenyang. Where was her previous reckless spirit?
Jiang Yuhuo was surprised, and even Wen Yizhan couldn't help but tease, "Hey, why are you so scared? If Master scolds your junior sister again, how will you protect her?"
This problem truly stumped her at this moment. On one side were the people her family had wronged, and on the other side was her aunt. It wouldn't be good to hurt either of them.
Just as she was thinking this, her neck suddenly felt light, and the thing that had been hanging around her neck suddenly popped out of her collar.
Jiang Yuhuo saw the short jade flute. On the day she had a nightmare on Jiangxin Island, it was Xiao Jing who played the flute and pulled her out of the nightmare. She knew at a glance that this was no ordinary object, but she hadn't had a chance to ask Xiao Jing about its origin. Now, seeing Zhang Zhenyang use his spiritual power to take it out, she wondered what it meant.
The flute was rounded at both ends, with only one end having a slightly sharper cut. The jade was smooth and lustrous, indicating that it had always been carried by someone.
He had assumed she would throw them away, just as she had thrown the jade flute and spirit sword at him that day.
Zhang Zhenyang smiled and said, "Little Fishing Fire, go and take your little niece home for me."
Home?
"Does Master know where Xiao Jing's home is?"
Zhang Zhenyang nodded, "I know, it's in Xidu City." He smiled at Xiao Jing, "Am I right, the little princess of the Ji family?"
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