Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 460 - 409: True Form Wings, Pioneers for the King

Chapter 460: Chapter 409: True Form Wings, Pioneers for the King

Feeling the lingering warmth in her palm.

Lin Huaiyu gazed steadily into the distance of the mountain woods, her eyebrows slightly arched, a faint smile appearing on her lips.

The frenzied cries of slaughter at her ears seemed, at this moment, so distant, somewhat indistinct...

She raised her left hand, shaking it open with the wind, only to see an orange silk surface upon which was leisurely drawn an odd creature resembling both a fish and a bird.

To say it was a fish, yet it had a pair of wings enormously unparalleled on its ribs, its wings spread, ready to soar, a surge of ascension projecting straight to the heart.

To say it was a bird, yet its body was magnificently round and covered with fish scales...

[True Kunpeng Form Diagram]

After just one glance, Lin Huaiyu felt darkness before her eyes, as if she had arrived above the vast heavens, a pitch-black expanse overhead, and looking down, the ground far below was also shrouded in darkness, without stars or moon...

As if everything had been obscured by boundless dark clouds.

’No, this isn’t any dark cloud...’

A sliver of daylight flashed before her eyes.

Lin Huaiyu looked up into the sky, catching sight of a long sword appearing at the far horizon, beyond where the eyes could reach, streaking through the void, etching out a faint trail of light and shadow.

Immediately after, she saw countless indistinct sword shadows crossing the void, stretching across, unknown thousands of li in length...

Merely looking at these ethereal shadows, Lin Huaiyu felt her spirit violently shake.

She suddenly understood.

What she saw wasn’t any imaginary long sword.

It was wings, immeasurably long, but the feathers poking out from the wingtips.

Under the violent shock to her spirit, a flash of Spiritual Light burst forth in Lin Huaiyu’s mind, countless insights cascading one after another. She abruptly opened her eyes, gathered her spirit, knowing this was not the moment for insight and hurried to return to the residence for quiet cultivation. She then unfolded her form and joined the fray...

Sword Light set off waves of blood.

Lin Huaiyu’s thoughts, however, were not on the battle before her, but had moved onto another matter.

’My senior brother hurried back to Qingyang, originally to deliver the True Form Diagram to me, and transmitted such a wondrous Spirit Refinement Secret Technique. I wonder where he learned it from, and whether Green Lady also had the chance to learn it, most likely not.’

Thinking of this, she felt sweet satisfaction mixed with some worry.

’The intelligence mentioned, Southern Marsh Thousand Pool Longmu Fort’s thirty thousand warriors took the downriver route to the east, accompanied by countless Water Demons, and that most unpredictable Southern Bridle Demon Chief, extremely difficult to deal with, my senior brother heading there...’

’Unfortunately, my strength is insufficient, far behind my senior brother. Otherwise, I could have fought side by side with him, not merely waiting aside in case anything happened.’

But only after an hour.

The three thousand totemic Demonic Barbarians, along with eight hundred Demon Beasts, who ran all over the mountains, were completely annihilated. The forests were filled with the stench of blood, attracting the distant roars of beasts from all around.

Those were the Ferocious Beasts that had lived within the Black Mountain, each guarding their own territory, also beginning to stir.

Lin Huaiyu ordered her troops to cease fighting and sheathe their swords, issuing a cold command, "Clean up the battlefield, immediately withdraw from Black Mountain. Leave a regiment of elite troops to guard the passages at all times, defense against Ferocious Beasts descending the mountain and harming people."

"Yes."

The over two thousand battle-hardened soldiers of the Ping’an Army had a more severe look in their eyes, most with wounds on their bodies, dozens having perished in battle. It was now time to tend to the wounded, collect the bodies of the deceased for a proper burial, and arrangements would later be made for compensations to take care of their families. Such funds were to come from the army’s coffers, a rightful duty.

In war, it is naturally impossible for no one to die.

What matters is the degree of casualties.

Lin Huaiyu watched as bodies were carried out from the woods, some being familiar faces she had once seen, felt a twinge in her heart, but soon regained her calm.

’This might be the real reason why my senior brother acted alone to intercept the enemy in advance. Had he not weakened the enemy’s strength beforehand, and had the full force struck at the Three Counties of Liyou, it wouldn’t have been just dozens of deaths.

It might have been thousands, tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands...’

’These people, how good would it have been to have them farm the land, the grain they grow could then nourish many more. That’s right, senior brother mentioned earlier, in the warehouse below the city wall, there were also some grains and weapons stored, those need to be quickly transported away.’

...

With Third Miss behind handling various affairs, Zhou Ping’an felt very reassured.

He had long realized that not only was Lin Huaiyu’s comprehension extraordinary, her talent for Cultivating Martial Arts was enviable to the extreme. Moreover, she also possessed a talent for internal government.

Perhaps in tactics she did not stand out, but in the overall direction, she made virtually no mistakes.

Whether it was when she first arrived at Qingyang City and established Precious Pharmacy, competing on equal footing with Baicao Hall, even showing the potential to surpass.

Or later, when administering the city’s population, managing every aspect of clothing, food, housing, and transportation, she arranged everything extremely well.

He didn’t need to worry too much.

Of course, having Lin Huaiyu handle Qingyang’s internal affairs was truly a case of using great talent for trivial matters, but who would have guessed that there was such a severe lack of personnel? There was no choice but to do so.

’After all, it is still necessary to eliminate the threat from Guangyun County as soon as possible, to get rid of this bandit label, otherwise, it will not only lead to deliberate targeting by the Imperial Court but will also attract the attention of some clueless Jianghu experts.’

"Ten thousand taels of silver," Zhou Ping’an thought, "That kind of bounty would tempt any enduring old thief or notorious bandit. Even those self-proclaimed paragons of justice and loyalty to the Imperial Court might secretly sneak in, hoping to take my head and claim the reward."

Since he had slain "Heavenly Sword King Chengtian" Yue Chengtian, his fame had spread far and wide, as expected, and Zhou Ping’an’s renown had naturally increased significantly. But the news that followed wasn’t all good, of course. There was also bad news.

The information he had gotten from the Green Lady had caused Zhou Ping’an a slight bother.

He really hadn’t wanted to become some sort of "foremost rebel"...

He didn’t even want to attract too much attention, let alone trumpet himself as a rebel king.

He just wanted to farm peacefully, organize his own territory, and stockpile more food.

Within his means, he wanted to help the villagers survive, and moreover, to ensure that they were well-fed and warm.

Because, once he became a target,

he would inevitably become the enemy of everyone.

And he happened to lack sufficient territory and troops, as well as enough talents and experts. When others targeted him from all sides, and he was constantly called to battle in the east and west, his power wouldn’t have a chance to grow.

Therefore, Cui Guangling’s move, though merely a few words that resulted in a wanted poster, was utterly malicious - a transparent but exceedingly difficult to counter plot.

To change this situation, the only way, the most desperate way, was to follow one path alone.

"If you say I’m a Bandit Rebel King, then it’s best that I truly become a Bandit Rebel King, raise my banner high, sweep through the counties with the speed of thunder, grow my power, and make others wary of me—that’s the way to protect myself."

Of course, all such ideas would first have to survive the imminent invasion by the Demonic Barbarians.

Zhou Ping’an could already foresee that if he were to fight the Demonic Barbarians to a standstill, exhausting his combat power, not only would no reinforcements arrive, but there would also be people maliciously kicking him when he was down.

Therefore, in this battle, he absolutely couldn’t show any signs of weakness. He must strike first and defend against the enemy outside of the Three Counties of Liyou.

"When push comes to shove, you have to be brave."

Some risks aren’t worth taking.

But at some critical moments, some battles, you simply have no choice but to fight.

Zhou Ping’an followed the route taken by the Demonic Barbarians’ detachment, marching through the Black Mountain Range for over a hundred and thirty li before emerging from the woods and following a tributary of Yuan Stream straight towards the Li River.

Reaching this place, he had roughly ascertained the location of the Demonic Barbarians’ fleet.

What he saw was a dense mass of villagers, uprooting their families, migrating towards East Mountain and Pinghu.

"Hurry up, any slower and those cursed creatures will catch up to us."

"They really eat people, the poor child of mine..."

"Where’s Official Li? Wasn’t he leading troops stationed at Hu Ridge Pass? Why isn’t he lifting a finger to block them?"

"That one’s a beast too. When the Water Demon entered our village, we sent out signals, and it was with great difficulty that some of us escaped to the pass, only to be shot back down with a flurry of arrows..."

Zhou Ping’an stopped in his tracks and roughly understood a portion of the circumstances.

These people, dragging their families, faces smeared with dust, seemed to be villagers from both sides of the Li River.

"Old man, you’re taking the wrong route. This direction leads to the Great Eastern Mountain, where wolves, insects, tigers, and leopards abound, and the mountain paths are treacherous. If you’re heading to Dongshan City, the terrain about seventy li ahead is somewhat level and the road is easier to navigate."

Zhou Ping’an saw a relatively clean-looking old man directing people to change direction and, after a moment’s thought, approached him.

He had just made his way out of the Great Eastern Mountain and knew well the dangers of the mountains.

Among these people, totaling four to five hundred, there were many elderly, weak, women, and children. He couldn’t tell which village they were all moving from as a group, even the iron pots and cracked bowls were carried with them; some people even bore door planks.

A glance around revealed that such groups of villagers were everywhere, walking in scattered lines as far as the eye could see.

This sort of composition, were they to forcefully traverse mountains and valleys, he couldn’t fathom how many would perish on the way.

The beasts of the mountains were increasingly cunning and ferocious, clearly having benefited greatly from the last Spirit Tide.

Even the most skilled hunters entering the mountains had to be extremely cautious.

Let alone when a large group of people entered, startling the animal herds, it would be like sending sheep into the tiger’s maw.

"This... young master. The old man here doesn’t know what to do. A few dozen li down the road, there’s an easier path. But that army of Demonic Barbarians, they could come ashore to capture people at any moment, and Water Demons are even more dreadfully fierce.

If we genuinely follow the river, I fear we won’t even make it to the dock before being eaten down to just a few survivors—there’s no choice but to risk crossing the mountains."

The old man’s face showed a bitter expression, yet there was not much despair in his eyes.

Perhaps, in his view, even if half died crossing the mountains, it was better than being devoured by the Demonic Barbarians, with no chance of survival...

"I heard that East Mountain and Pinghu are now occupied by General Ping’an, and the people there are living good lives. How I regret not leaving behind the jars and jars at home to follow the outsiders to Qingyang City.

My niece sent a message through someone, saying that she now works in Qingyang City, eating three meals a day, either with rice or white flour, and even my little grandchild isn’t going hungry. General Ping’an has even especially sent teachers to educate those children..."

"Yes, yes, my cousin also sent a message. After he lost a leg, he made a living weaving baskets, having rice everyday and occasionally even getting meat."

Beside them, a girl about thirteen or fourteen overheard the conversation and sucked in the drool at the corner of her mouth with a whoosh, "Once we reach Qingyang City, I’ll seek out my cousin. I can work, and I don’t need three meals—just one meal of white rice would be great."