Chapter 302 - 279: Reminder
In the quiet room, a middle-aged Taoist with an immortal air sat motionlessly on the meditation cushion, devoid of any signs of life, leaving behind only a shell.
This Taoist was the current Heavenly Master, holding an unparalleled status in Great Jin.
"Master’s Yang spirit has detached!"
As soon as the three young Taoists from the Heavenly Mansion hurried over and saw the middle-aged Taoist’s condition, one of them exclaimed.
These three were the Heavenly Master’s direct disciples, and hearing that their master was in trouble, they were terrified and rushed over immediately.
Now, seeing that their master’s Yang spirit had only detached, while they sighed in relief, they silently criticized those in the palace for their ignorance, not even knowing about Yang spirit detachment.
Actually, this wasn’t the palace eunuch’s fault. The path of cultivation began to decline thousands of years ago, and now there are only a few Yang Spirit True Men in the world, who would know that the shell left after Yang spirit detachment looks like this?
Yang spirit detachment?
The accompanying eunuch’s expression slightly changed, "This is the emperor’s palace, where has the Heavenly Master’s Yang spirit gone to?"
"This—"
The straightforward young disciple hesitated.
Not to mention that he didn’t know, even if he knew, how could he possibly reveal it?
Detaching Yang spirit in the rear courtyard of the imperial palace really is taboo, this matter is no small joke.
Another slightly older disciple glared at the younger disciple and said solemnly, "This sir, Master must have encountered some sort of mishap. You must understand, Yang spirit is fundamental to cultivators and cannot endure even the slightest injury. If not absolutely necessary, Master would never let his Yang spirit leave the body easily."
The eunuch did not pursue this matter further but instead brought up a more important issue, "Little Heavenly Masters, the Heavenly Master’s Yang spirit has detached, but there’s a major disturbance within the Merit Tower..."
He explained that those participating in the trial inside the Merit Tower had perished but could not escape, "Currently, those dukes and marquises outside are demanding people from the emperor. You must think quickly."
The three Taoists exchanged glances and shook their heads, "Only Master can control the Merit Tower, we have no way, we can only wait for Master’s Yang spirit to return."
"This... alas..."
The eunuch was helpless and had to take one of the young Taoists to report back to the emperor.
As for the other two, they remained to protect the Master and cleared out the others from the quiet room.
Once there were only two people left in the quiet room, they began communicating through the sound transmission technique.
[Strange, why would Master detach his Yang spirit at this time?]
[Indeed, even disregarding the trial for the Mid-autumn Night Banquet.]
[It’s unfortunate that several uncles aren’t here, only we juniors are left. Unable to control the Merit Tower.]
[I feel an unsettling foreboding, fearing something major is about to happen.]
[Senior brother, could it be related to the recent opening of "Qingwei Heaven"?]
[Perhaps. Junior brother, you stay here and guard, I’ll go inside the Merit Tower to investigate. Those participating in the trials are of extremely noble status, if anything happens to them, our Heavenly Master Mansion cannot afford it.]
[Senior brother, be careful then.]
[Alright.]
After speaking, that Taoist immediately detached his Yin spirit and performed a secret technique to enter the Merit Tower.
...
"Competing with me for kills?"
Chen Ming saw that Ling Qingying’s killing speed was even faster than his, nearly chopping out a sword intent before managing to restrain himself.
Now is not the time to fight over this.
First, clear the level and talk later.
This Ling Qingying’s strength is indeed astonishing, her swordsmanship seems crafted for slaughter, with each swing killing a large number, highly efficient.
With the two of them joining forces, this battle turned into a one-sided massacre.
Two thousand in total, they took over an hour to kill everyone.
Chen Ming was greatly exhausted, with less than forty percent of his strength remaining.
He instinctively reached inside his clothing but found nothing.
Ling Qingying saw his movement and laughed mockingly, "Haven’t you noticed yet? Right now, you’re merely a projection of consciousness. Apart from weapons, you can’t bring anything in. Wanting to use elixirs to restore energy, keep dreaming."
"Forgot."
Chen Ming chuckled and asked a key question, "So where are our bodies now?"
"You want to know? You just need to silently recite a few times in your mind asking for return, and you’ll be able to go back."
"..."
Such an important rule, and no one told me!
At this point, Chen Ming was somewhat suspicious whether Gu Haochuan actually wanted him to achieve good results and win the Heavenly Mansion’s slot.
Ling Qingying immediately added, "Of course, you can choose to end it yourself."
Chen Ming found that although she seemed cold on the surface, she actually talks quite a lot. Particularly good at mocking people. Quite a contrast, depending on the setting.
He looked around and found no golden light and no entry to the next level, asking, "We’ve passed the level, haven’t we? Why no reaction?"
Ling Qingying replied, "Above the fourth level, all trial participants will appear in the same scene. So, we have to wait, after all, not everyone possesses strength like ours."
Using "we" signifies she had acknowledged Chen Ming as sufficiently comparable to her.
"So that’s how it is."
They could only wait.
Chen Ming found a clean spot to sit down and closed his eyes to rest.
Ling Qingying suddenly asked, "I’ve heard about your affairs. Do you think that certain person knows about that matter?"
Chen Ming knew she was referring to the issue between him and Xia Mudan and did not answer.
Such matters, can they be spoken of in this place?
Ever since entering this Merit Tower, he constantly felt he was being watched.
"I heard that you already have someone you like, she—"
"Miss Ling."
Chen Ming couldn’t take it anymore and interrupted her, "If you’re really that bored, we could have a match."
Rather than probing into his privacy here.
Ling Qingying finally fell silent.
After a long while, she quietly asked, "...Does Su Fairy’s emotional tribulation have anything to do with you?"
"..."
You really couldn’t tell, this cold girl is so gossipy in private. It’s truly annoying.
...
After more than an hour, Chen Ming was about to reach his limit when the golden light before him finally flickered again.
A massive council tent appeared ahead, with a sand table in the middle, filled with various flags.
Everyone present was clad in armor, including himself, wearing the style of a Second Grade Chariot General.
Standing next to him was Ling Qingying, also in Second Grade armor.
At this moment, she wore a cold face, exuding a cool demeanor. Unlike her earlier gossipy self.
Besides her, there were seven or eight others present.
This meant that only about ten people had reached the fourth level. The elimination rate was as high as ninety percent.
In other words, the five spots for the Heavenly Mansion were to be competed among these ten people.
Ten into five, everyone felt quite hopeful.
Wang Jinhu and Duan Si Jue were naturally there as well, and the other few were also of Second Grade cultivation, but their strength and reputation couldn’t compare to those three.
"Everyone."
At this moment, the man in the First Grade Grand General armor spoke.
Chen Ming saw that this person wasn’t even thirty, surprisingly young, and wondered in his heart, which historical famous general is this?
In the early days of the founding of the Great Jin, it was a time full of prominent generals, being a First Grade Grand General at such a young age, he must be a person of historical note.
All ten present grew serious.
The Grand General continued, "There’s been an accident in the trial during this Zhongyuan Night Banquet, and I’m here specifically to remind you all."
At these words, everyone there was dumbfounded.
Chen Ming almost lost his composure and exclaimed inwardly, has the GM descended personally?
Fortunately, Wang Jinhu reacted quickly and asked, "Who are you?"
"The seventh disciple under the Heavenly Master Mansion, Liang Guangyu. Greetings to all the Crown Princes," the overly young First Grade Grand General introduced himself.
"To keep it short, due to some variables, if you fall during this trial, you won’t be able to return to reality temporarily. Whether irreversible damage will occur afterward is unknown. I came specifically to remind you all, do you still want to continue?"
Wang Jinhu didn’t hesitate, speaking first, "Of course we continue! Whoever wants to quit, quit by themselves; this spot in the Heavenly Mansion is something I must achieve."
Duan Si Jue asked, "Brother Liang, if we quit now, can you guarantee we’ll return to reality?"
Liang Guangyu hesitated, finally shook his head, and honestly said, "That, I’m not sure either."
"Then isn’t that it?"
"I’ll continue too."
"Naturally continue."
"..."
The others followed up expressing their stance, not one was willing to give up.
For them, spots in the Heavenly Mansion were too important; having come this far, how could they not continue to fight?
Liang Guangyu saw this and naturally had nothing else to say, "If so, then continue, gentlemen."
He then changed his appearance to a man in his forties or fifties, revealing the true Grand General.
...
The fourth level involves a large-scale battle, where Chen Ming and others each have a force of a thousand under their command. Their task is to lead their troops to engage the Wei army.
This is a field battle, with the enemy’s numbers exceeding tens of thousands.
Ultimately, whoever survives the longest and kills the most enemies will naturally gain the most merits.
In this round, besides personal strength, the ability to command troops is also tested.
Most present were of noble lineage; military strategy and tactics are a must-learned tradition, and given a chance to lead troops, they were all eager to try.
Chen Ming hadn’t studied military strategy, but as a modern person, he’s at least seen a pig run even if he hasn’t eaten pork, right? It’s just a battle, how hard could it be?
After receiving his mission, he left the main tent with the other nine and went to his camp.
While Chen Ming was getting to know his subordinates, he suddenly sensed several astonishing auras rising up to the sky.
"Is that... a battle formation?"
With a slight perception, he knew that Wang Jinhu and others had already formed a battle formation and started the charge towards the enemy army.
This is bad.
The military strategy in this world is different from Earth’s.
In these strategies, there are methods for forming formations and commanding.
These techniques don’t exist on Earth.
Chen Ming found himself staring blank-eyed with his subordinates, thinking to himself, if he starts learning now, would it still be in time?