Chapter 35: Ten Thousand People Forge a Road to Heaven—What Makes an Immortal?
Mingying sat opposite the medicine furnace, the flickering firelight reflecting on her face. Amidst the wafting aroma of herbs, she glanced sideways and asked, "Are you also a cultivator? But aren't all cultivators conscripted for the front lines today?"
Shen Huai'an controlled the heat with his spiritual power, then turned his head and smiled slightly: "I am a medical cultivator, and I am usually in the military camp at this time."
He paused, then asked hesitantly, "Are you a mortal?"
Mingying nodded and helped him pour out the refined pills: "Cultivators should be able to tell that I don't have spiritual roots, right?"
Shen Huai'an shook his head, his gaze gentle: "That's true, I was just a little surprised."
There was no disdain in his tone, only some surprise. The two exchanged a few words and found they shared some common ground.
Shen Huai'an smiled and said, "If you were also a cultivator, Elder Yao would surely have accepted you as his disciple."
Mingying smiled and said, "There's nothing wrong with being an ordinary person."
He nodded, his voice clear and bright: "You're right. In fact, there isn't much difference between cultivators and mortals."
Just then, he suddenly paused, his smile fading slightly. Mingying looked at him and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Shen Huai'an looked into the distance, put away the medicine furnace, raised his hand and cast a talisman, his expression becoming more serious: "This is a signal from Yuancheng, the city lord is in trouble."
Mingying immediately stood up: "Let me go with you."
——
The defensive array of Yicheng was on the verge of collapse, and several dark figures were mixed in with the streams of light. Exclamations rose from within the city, and someone shouted, "City Lord!"
"The protective formation can't hold out any longer, when will the reinforcements arrive!"
Shen Huai'an arrived quickly, placed Mingying below the city wall, and continued walking through the scattered crowds.
Mingying looked up and saw the city lord standing on the city wall, wearing armor. His temples were white, and he was on his last legs.
Shen Huai'an hurriedly leaped onto the city wall and reached out to support him. The city lord gripped his arm tightly, using his last bit of strength to squeeze out the words: "You're back... Protect the people of Yuan City."
Shen Huai'an channeled spiritual energy into him, comforting him, "Hold on a little longer, I'm a healer, I'll be able to..."
The city lord opened his eyes and gasped for breath a few times before collapsing into his arms, motionless.
Shen Huai'an's fingers trembled slightly as he covered the man's still-open eyes, but his voice was resolute: "I promise you."
He raised two fingers together and drew a talisman in the air, causing the protective array to shine brightly with golden light: "Defend Yuan City!"
Thunder rumbled and flames soared into the sky. Mingying climbed the city wall and finally saw the so-called "Northern Army." They could no longer be called human; their bodies were as large as mandrills, their skin was green, and their eyes were blood red, as if they were under a curse. The protective runes fluctuated, and the city guards collapsed one after another, coughing up blood. Suppressed cries came from afar.
She pursed her lips, looked around, pushed aside the corpse of a soldier in front of her, took a longbow from his arm, and tested it briefly. It was a bow and arrow that even an ordinary person could use.
Mingying looked up, ran to the front, gritted her teeth, and drew the bowstring taut, shooting an arrow at the Northern Army directly in front of her!
The arrow shot through the air, but fell limply midway. She ignored it, and in two breaths, she nocked another arrow and shot it—hit her right eye.
The Northern soldier casually pulled it out; green liquid streamed from his eye socket, but he continued walking forward without stopping. Mingying was undeterred and aimed at his heart again. The arrow pierced his chest, but he neither dodged nor avoided it, continuing to approach the city wall.
Mingying put down her bow and arrow, her thoughts in turmoil. Was it that she wasn't strong enough, or did they have some other weakness? The city guards who were setting up the defensive formation glanced at her a few more times, their voices weary: "You have to shoot them through their skulls to destroy their consciousness. But they have already been mutated, and their true heads are in different locations. Only by completely blowing them up can you stop them."
Mingying leaned against the city wall and looked down. A northern soldier lay collapsed outside the city gate, his figure blurred, brain matter spilling from his inner thigh. She tilted her head and gagged a few times, then asked in a hoarse voice, "What can I do?"
The city's defenders didn't answer. What could a mere mortal do?
Amidst the raging flames of war, only a handful of the defending troops remained, supporting the city's defenses. Mingying's arms ached as she gripped the arrows tightly, her gaze fixed on the distant horizon. A massive, dark mass of Northern troops attacked from the air, crashing into the defenses and falling to the ground, layer upon layer, attempting to breach the city's defenses. Yicheng was on the verge of collapse.
Facing history head-on always makes it difficult to remain detached. If the city were breached by the Northern army, the mortals within would have little chance of survival. Mingying rubbed her wrist and stepped forward again. Suddenly, sparks erupted in the center of the Northern army's camp. She turned back in surprise—rescue had arrived!
Xiao Qingyi arrived alone, her robes fluttering, and with a flick of her wrist, she cast a talisman. The city's protective array trembled and suddenly strengthened, the surge of spiritual energy forcing the Northern Army back several miles. The defending soldiers exclaimed with delight, "Grand Preceptor!"
"The Imperial Advisor has arrived! Yuancheng is saved!"
Xiao Qingyi nodded slightly and looked at Ming Ying beside her. It was the first time the two had truly met. Ming Ying was covered in dust and dirt, but she raised the corners of her mouth at her and said, "Grand Preceptor, you have been a great help."
After catching his breath, Shen Huai'an wiped the blood from his lips and turned his gaze toward the palace: "Grand Preceptor, the princess..."
Xiao Qingyi shifted her gaze from Mingying and said calmly, "Stubborn to the end."
Mingying's heart sank, and she asked, "Could there be another hidden story behind this battle?"
In the eyes of the people of Yuancheng, the princess was like a goddess. They offered incense and prayed fervently that she would attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven to protect the land of Dongzhou. As a result, the princess became a supreme immortal, subdued by all under heaven, and bringing peace to the nine continents.
But a crucial link is missing. Why did Shen Huai'an sacrifice himself to the fire? The war in the Nine Provinces was quelled because of him. What role did the princess play in this?
Legend has it that the sage, filled with compassion, sacrificed himself to save the world in order to fulfill the princess's grand aspirations, transforming himself into incense offerings and spiritual power, moving even the heavens. Another version tells of the two being entangled in a lifetime due to their different identities; the sage committed suicide, the princess was overcome with grief, and the sage, transcending worldly emotions, transcended tribulation and became a god.
Shen Huai'an's face turned pale, and he smiled bitterly: "Look at those Northern Border soldiers, their behavior is brutal and they are not human. But they were once our kind. Their parents and relatives may be in the city, and their old friends may be on the other side of the blade. All of this should not have happened in the first place."
Mingying looked carefully in the direction his gaze was directed. Faint white smoke rose from the corpse's chest, drifted in the air, and converged towards the distant palace.
"The princess forcibly cultivated the Heaven-defying path, devouring the lives of all living beings to possess herself, in order to achieve eternal existence in the world."
Shen Huai'an closed his eyes briefly: "I originally thought that this method could not lead to godhood."
Mingying remained silent. She knew she had succeeded. After this battle, the people from nine hundred years ago had turned to dust, the truth of history had been covered up, and Song Xijia had lived on for nine hundred years, becoming a revered immortal.
What is a deity? A deity is someone who holds the power over the Heavenly Way.
Xiao Qingyi said, "She usurped the realm of the gods by plundering, which is intolerable to the Heavenly Dao, and therefore she is an evil god."
Mingying had her suspicions, but she never expected the truth to be like this. Her heart was filled with complex emotions. The Immortal Venerable became a god through evil methods, while nine hundred years later, cultivators had their own pursuits, but they all firmly believed that to attain immortality, one must punish evil and promote good, and accumulate virtue.
She looked at the Imperial Advisor. As the only person who knew the truth nine hundred years later, was there a reason why he had never revealed it?
More and more white smoke drifted into the distance, but Song Xijia remained seated in the palace, never setting foot on this place himself.
The Northern army has attacked again. How can this game, started by the princess, be resolved?
Shen Huai'an looked at the sun obscured by dark clouds. He stood by the mottled city wall in a white robe. The bloody wind whipped up his wide sleeves and black hair, making him look like a snowflake stained with blood.
He thought about many things for a while.
On that day, the wind was gentle and the sun was warm. The princess pulled him out of the mud and stayed with him day and night, finding joy in it.
That day, after the rain, the sun blazed down. The princess pressed him down on the bed, and they gazed at each other like a mirror, as if in a dream.
He was the princess's calamity, and the princess was his calamity. Their fates were intertwined, as if they were destined to make a decision between the two.
He discovered the Northern Army's plot then, and was filled with shock, anger, and indignation. But she said, "Huai'an, why are you so angry? Haven't you always supported me?"
He was filled with remorse and self-reproach: "If you hate me, then kill me, but don't involve innocent people!"
The princess played with a strand of hair and smiled, "What did you say? I can't bear to kill you. When I attain enlightenment and ascend to heaven, why can't we become a divine couple?"
He felt a chill run down his spine and, for the first time, spoke harshly to her: "You're really crazy."
Song Xijia's expression changed drastically, her smile vanished, and she imprisoned him in a water dungeon, torturing him day and night. The two never saw each other again.
He was a healer who only saved people and did not kill them, but things had come to this point, and killing was the only solution.
The earth shook violently, as if the wrath of the heavens had been unleashed. Beneath the city lay a spiritual vein, and the land cracked at that moment, blood dripping into the fissures. Snowflakes fell, covering the filth, and the Mountain and River Bell let out its final lament.
"General Xiao, the Mountain and River Bell is shattered!"
Xiao Jingze pulled his longsword from the body of the Northern Army soldier, his gaze sweeping over the cracks on the Mountain and River Bell, then looking into the distance.
Shen Huai'an turned around and smiled: "Teacher, you didn't care about my background and took me as your student, but unfortunately, I am dull-witted and I'm afraid I will disappoint you... And Elder Yao, he may scold me again later."
Xiao Qingyi lowered her eyes and stood silently. Shen Huai'an turned to the young girl he had just met today, and was about to say goodbye to her when he looked at Mingying's tears with some surprise and said softly, "It seems that you, like General Xiao, know all this."
He picked up a longsword, cut off his left arm, pulled out the bone, wiped it clean, and handed it to Mingying: "This is my deal with General Xiao. Give it to him for me."
Mingying sniffed, carefully took the package and held it in her arms. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but then slowly closed it again. She knew what he was going to do, but she couldn't stop him.
Shen Huai'an took a few steps forward, then couldn't help but turn back and say, "Teacher, could you please pass on a few words to the princess for me?"
Seeing Xiao Qingyi nod in agreement, he smiled slightly: "I am fortunate to have the princess's favor in my life. I only wish that after my death, she will no longer be trapped by old hatred and will be as free as the wind."
Having said that, he leaped down from the city wall with a clean and decisive motion. Heavenly fire rose from the earth's veins, and man and fire met in the air, one white and one red intertwined. Without hesitation, he burned his own soul: "This body has been afflicted by calamity, I wish to end the war."
Flames swept across the land like a torrent, the earth burned fiercely, and the Northern army cried out in agony before turning to dust in an instant. This was the true power of heavenly fire.
In this devastating sea of flames, azure-blue specks of light appeared out of nowhere, like stars falling to earth, shimmering and eventually converging into a pillar of light that pierced through the heavens and the earth.
Song Xijia's figure appeared in the pillar of light. Snowflakes extinguished the flames. White smoke swirled around her, spiritual power flowed, and her overwhelming aura was like that of a god descending to earth.
A clear, cool spiritual energy flowed from her fingertips as she pulled Shen Huai'an out of the heavenly fire, leaving only a few grayish-white fragments of bone.
She clenched her fists, her face contorted with barely suppressed rage, her gaze piercing Xiao Qingyi like an icy blade: "Xiao Qingyi, didn't you say he would become the ruler of the world? What are you doing now?"
Mingying had already been pushed off the city wall. She looked up and Xiao Qingyi sighed, "If you don't fight, he can attain immortality and ascend to heaven."
Song Xijia laughed loudly, gathering spiritual power as he raised his hand, his expression extremely angry and filled with murderous intent.
Xiao Qingyi caught the blow head-on, spitting out a mouthful of blood. Her black hair instantly lost its color. Her breathing was unsteady, but she stared directly at her: "You will regret this."
"Regret? You've misjudged me! I will live on for eternity!"
The heavens and earth trembled, runes flowed, and grayish-white bones floated up from the city tower, piling up in the air along with the few remaining bones that had been saved, forming a pale blue palace.
The battlefield at the front was silent. Xiao Jingze wiped the bloodstains from his face and looked at the pillar of light in the sky. All around him was a vast expanse of white, leaving him alone standing in front of the shattered Mountain and River Bell.
The snowflakes stopped falling. Mingying held the only white bone in her hands. The world was clean and clear, and the snow had stopped and the sky was bright.
Xiao Qingyi descended from the city wall, looked at her tear-blurred face, and said emotionlessly, "You should go back."
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Author's Note: The principle behind the Immortal Venerable's ascension to godhood: Song Xijia's method of becoming a god is an evil technique. Since she has no divine status and cannot become a god, she absorbs the lives of others into herself. Assuming that the average lifespan of each person is fifty, killing one hundred people can allow her to live for five thousand years. Killing one hundred million people is no different from immortality.
In truth, she wasn't a true deity, but a "false god." However, anyone who could successfully defy the will of Heaven was a god. Unfortunately, the workings of Heaven and Earth had their own causal order, and she was thus imprisoned in the Xuanji Palace for nine hundred years. Becoming a god was more like a punishment.
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