Martial Cultivator

With the war in the north already underway and beacon fires visible across the horizon, fortunately this was not the first time. The Northern Frontier Army did not lose its composure simply because they had already guessed this would be an unprecedented war. For more than two hundred years, countless lives had been sacrificed defending the frontier. They could no longer afford to make mistakes over trivial matters.

Everything in the north proceeded in an orderly fashion. The only thing left to consider was the south.

Before the war in the north had even begun, the entire Great Liang Dynasty had already swung into motion. This vast empire possessed a response speed far beyond that of previous dynasties. Whether the officials at every level were of one mind or not, they all had to move for the sake of this single matter.

Along the courier roads, the sound of galloping hooves never ceased. Relay couriers from every prefecture and province poured into the Divine Capital from all directions, then immediately spurred their horses and rode back out of the majestic city.

Many of the relay couriers did not even have time to stop by one of the Divine Capital's rouge shops to buy a box of rouge for the wives who had never once left their hometowns.

The official roads were likewise filled with government convoys traveling without pause. The armored soldiers escorting them wore solemn expressions, remaining vigilant at every moment.

For more than two hundred years, the so-called bandits within Great Liang's borders had long since been wiped out during the reign of Emperor Taizong. As for the so-called roving bandits that occasionally appeared afterward, most of them were in fact pawns secretly manipulated by the cultivation world, all for the purpose of preventing Great Liang from enjoying peace. But after Daoist Wuyang fell in battle and the master of the Infatuation Daoist Temple was succeeded by that young temple master, those bandits had all but disappeared.

The demons within the empire's borders had remained the greatest enemy of Great Liang's people throughout these two hundred years. But over the past few years, wardens across the empire had been mobilized everywhere. Together with the assistance of local cultivation sects, they had already exterminated sixty to seventy percent of the demons within the realm.

In a few individual provinces and commanderies, the number had even reached ninety percent.

At the current pace, so long as the demons of the north did not march south, the imperial court would need at most another five or six years to completely eliminate the demons within the empire's borders and return true peace to the people.

But would the demons of the north give Great Liang that opportunity?

......

......

A merchant convoy of more than fifty horse-drawn wagons, having endured over a month of wind and dust on the road, finally arrived outside the gates of the Divine Capital. They did not hurry into the city, however, instead steering their wagons off the official road to wait in an open area nearby.

A middle-aged man stepped out from the lead carriage. After glancing at the long queue outside the city gates, he turned toward the carriage behind him and said, "Qingling, at this rate, we probably won't get into the city until nightfall."

A young woman stepped out of that carriage at just that moment. She was none other than Lu Qingling of the Lu Family, who had fought alongside Chen Chao some time ago in Dragon Horn Commandery of Yellow Dragon Province.

As for this middle-aged man, he too had some connection with that young Lord Warden Commander.

His name was Lu Yuan. Back on a ferry, because he had refused to utter a single word criticizing the imperial court, he had been forced to hand over one hundred thousand skygold coins to the Green Algae Sect.

However, not long after this Second Master Lu paid those one hundred thousand skygold coins, the Green Algae Sect was wiped from the face of the world.

Lu Qingling smiled. "Second Uncle, we're already outside the Divine Capital anyway. Waiting a little longer doesn't matter. Let's not cause any trouble for the imperial court."

Lu Yuan nodded in complete agreement. Given the Lu Family's influence in the Divine Capital, it would not have been impossible for them to claim they had urgent business and enter the city first. But since there was nothing urgent about their affairs, Lu Yuan had no desire to create unnecessary trouble. After all, most of the merchant caravans waiting ahead of them to enter the city were transporting supplies needed by the Ministry of War. After entering the Divine Capital, those supplies would remain there for no more than three days before being shipped to the Northern Frontier.

This concerned the fate of the nation. If they could avoid delaying things, then they should. Perhaps precisely because they did not delay them, a few fewer people would die in the Northern Frontier, and Great Liang would gain one more chance of victory.

Since they were in no hurry to enter the city and had nothing else to do, Lu Yuan thought for a moment before curiously asking about what had happened that day in Dragon Horn Commandery, "Qingling, tell your Second Uncle something. Were those common people really not afraid at all? Were they truly willing to live and die alongside Lord Warden Commander?"

Although news of what happened that day spread quickly afterward, most people only knew the general outline. The more detailed versions that circulated were of uncertain truth, so rather than listening to outsiders, it was better to ask the niece before him who had actually experienced it.

Lu Qingling glanced at her second uncle. Ever since returning from Dragon Horn Commandery, she had never deliberately brought up those events, but there had been many people with her at the time, and once they started drinking, they could never keep their mouths shut. Before long, practically everyone in the Lu Family knew what had happened.

If it had been someone else asking, Lu Qingling would probably have brushed it off with some excuse. But since it was her own second uncle, after a moment of silence, she honestly recounted the scene from that day. Even now, recalling it still felt dreamlike. The people of that entire commandery, almost all powerless commoners, had still dared to step forward and stand in front of that young Lord Warden Commander.

Had anything like that ever happened in the more than two hundred years of the Great Liang Dynasty? Even if one searched through every history book, could one find even a few lines recording such a thing?

She also understood that even now, in the imperial court, there were still countless officials who regarded that young Lord Warden Commander as an unprecedentedly powerful official. But what about in the hearts of the common people?

She feared that ninety percent of the people of the Great Liang Dynasty already revered that Lord Warden Commander as though he were a god.

If he had not truly done so much for the common people, how could things have reached this point?

"No matter what others think, your uncle here truly received his kindness. And after traveling all over the world for so many years, I've met more people than I can count. There's one thing I've only ever seen in him."

Lu Yuan sighed as he recalled the first time he had met Chen Chao and those eyes of his.

Chen Chao's appearance could not compare to someone like Yun Jianyue, who truly possessed the bearing of an immortal descended to the mortal world, but those eyes of his were like the stars, incomparably beautiful.

But what Lu Yuan remembered now was not because they were beautiful. It was because he had never before seen someone in such a high position who still possessed such pure eyes.

Like a pool of clear water.

He gave people a very special feeling. As long as you weren't standing against him, you could trust him without reservation, and he would never let you down.

Hearing Lu Yuan's words, Lu Qingling also recalled the days she had spent with Chen Chao. Back then, she had not known that the sickly-looking young man was the Lord Warden Commander, but even then, she had already been certain that he was absolutely not a bad person.

Otherwise, she would never have taken him in after meeting him on the official road.

Seeing Lu Qingling lost in thought, Lu Yuan smiled and said, "Qingling, there are some men a woman will remember for the rest of her life after seeing them just once, but don't fall in love with him. There will be far too many women who love him, and the woman he loves was already destined long ago. Everyone else can only remain spectators on the shore."

Lu Yuan smiled. "Do you know there's a saying in the Divine Capital now? 'One glimpse of Young Master Chen, and a lifetime goes astray.'"

Quite a few unmarried young ladies in the divine capital spent their days staring at a portrait of him, unable to eat or sleep.

______