Chapter 1020: Delivering a Letter Unto Death

Xiao Dongxu had been poring over the records for several months.

Yet he had made no progress. The recorded documents were simply too sparse, and he had not been able to deduce anything useful.

He could not help but sigh. "If only Mister Chen were here."

Mister Chen possessed an innate intuition and insight regarding ancient characters. If he were here, they might not even need to search through these texts; a single glance would be enough for him to guess most of their meaning.

"Alas..."

Xiao Dongxu suddenly felt that the burden is heavy and the road is long.

But helpless as he felt, the challenge also piqued his interest. After all, there were truly very few things that could stump him.

...

What happened next was entirely unexpected.

Across various parts of the Cultivation World, cultivators had discovered the presence of Altars.

Although the ancient characters carved into them varied, they were seventy percent similar overall.

By comparing the ancient characters on these Altars, Xiao Dongxu picked out the overlapping passages to formulate his interpretations.

The deeper he delved, the more uneasy he felt.

He vaguely began to grasp the overarching picture.

"Could this group of demonic cultivators be trying to reverse heaven and earth's yin and yang to draw the Demon-Summoning Divine Lord down to this world?!"

Xiao Dongxu inexplicably felt this was highly likely.

Yet he also found it absurd!

So many years had passed. The Demon-Summoning Divine Lord was likely so thoroughly dead that not even ashes remained. For these demonic cultivators to attempt such a thing, there had to be a prerequisite—that the Demon-Summoning Divine Lord was not completely eradicated. At the very least, a shred of his consciousness or spiritual sense had to remain in the world, much like the golden bodies of Dharma Manifestation in the Buddhist Schools, which could summon the descent of the Buddha.

"That shouldn't be the case..."

The more Xiao Dongxu thought about it, the more alarmed he grew. He immediately sought out Mister Zhong and voiced his speculations.

Zhong Zhengyuan did not know much about this matter either. Although there were many accounts concerning the Demon-Summoning Divine Lord, most were merely fragmented phrases recorded in notes and histories.

But what Xiao Dongxu brought up today corroborated the great tribulation he had previously found in the records. This forced Zhong Zhengyuan to ponder deeply, his mood growing increasingly heavy.

"Mister Zhong?"

Xiao Dongxu's call snapped Zhong Zhengyuan out of his daze.

Zhong Zhengyuan paused for a moment before saying, "It's nothing. I will first look through the ancient texts to see if there are any records."

Xiao Dongxu nodded. "Thank you for the trouble, Mister Zhong."

After Xiao Dongxu departed.

Zhong Zhengyuan let out a long sigh and murmured, "Is it truly a Tribulation?"

He felt disoriented.

Such a thing was difficult to explain.

Since ancient times, the concept of a 'tribulation' had always been profoundly mysterious. People faced tribulations, vegetation faced tribulations, and the myriad existences in the world all faced tribulations—even heaven and earth themselves.

Yet no one had ever pierced through the true meaning behind this Tribulation.

"Could this Tribulation have been predestined long ago?"

Zhong Zhengyuan muttered to himself, his gaze gradually turning profound.

...

The following year, the Mortal World entered winter.

It grew incredibly cold this year, with heavy snow falling suddenly across various regions. This weather brought a reprieve to the long-lasting war.

It was worth noting that Prince Jin, despite facing blockades from both the north and the south, still maintained a dominant position. Not only had he whittled away more than half of the Yan Army, but under such immense pressure, he had even breached one of the Imperial Court's cities.

This was partially thanks to the people of the jianghu who had later flocked to join him.

Highly skilled martial artists took to the battlefield like fish to water. A single person could break through several armored soldiers, greatly boosting the army's morale and allowing them to seize such opportunities.

The Yan Army cut a rather sorry figure.

Initially, they had indeed marched north with a gambling mindset, but they unexpectedly fell into a trap. Not only did they suffer a massive loss, but some of their troops at the Border Pass also fell into the hands of Prince Yu.

Realizing the situation was grim, they hastily withdrew their troops. Prince Jin, however, had no intention of letting them off. He pursued them for nearly a hundred li, slaughtering them until their ranks were thrown into absolute chaos. He only ceased the chase after they had lost more than half of their forces.

"Alas..."

Only a few long sighs echoed within the tent. The tacticians who had once served under Zhao Wuji were now nursing massive headaches.

Truthfully, if it had not been for the matter with Prince Yu, they would have still had a route of retreat, or at least avoided such catastrophic losses. Unfortunately, it was exactly this Prince Yu whose timing of appearance had been far too coincidental.

Defeated on both fronts, the Yan Army was now caught in a dilemma, unable to advance or retreat.

Looking at Prince Yu's camp, he was the one who had been the most triumphant over these past two years.

By blocking the outsiders beyond the pass, Prince Yu had drawn trouble upon himself, yet he had also won over a massive amount of public support. Many people of noble aspirations flocked to Prince Yu, coming to his camp in the name of defending the nation. In a very short time, he had gathered a large group of talented individuals.

It could be said that this move cost one but yielded ten.

In just a few short years, Prince Yu's forces grew from their initial ten-odd thousand troops to fifty thousand. Such a sudden expansion was something no one had anticipated.

By the time everyone realized it, Prince Yu had already built unstoppable momentum.

The Imperial Court was incompetent, the Yan Army was routed, and Prince Jin had no way to target him. Only Prince Yu had gained both the people's hearts and military strength.

"Prince Yu is truly a man of great talent."

Inside Nanbeilou.

Dressed in a thick padded coat, Tang Zheng exhaled a cloud of white breath. Outside was a vast expanse of white snow, while right under his hands rested a warm stove.

Tang Zheng put away the letter, looked up at the person across from him, and said, "My Lord, Prince Yu has truly gained momentum now."

Ping'an stretched out his hands to warm them by the fire. "Prince Yu's rise was inevitable. Not only has he won the hearts of the people, but openly, he has the assistance of the Southern Yan Sect, the second largest power in the jianghu. Secretly, he has the covert backing of your trading firm. If he still failed to rise to power, it would mean that Prince Yu and the tacticians in his camp were all fools."

Hearing this, Tang Zheng replied, "You are mistaken, my Lord. It is not my trading firm, but my younger brother's."

Ping'an smiled upon hearing this and did not explain further.

The snow outside was falling heavily.

Suddenly, the sound of galloping hooves rang out from outside.

Clatter, clatter...

Tang Zheng paused, lifting his gaze. "I'll go take a look."

He stood up, went downstairs, and stepped onto the main road.

There, he saw a person on horseback, completely covered in blood, with an arrow sticking out of his arm.

Tang Zheng was startled and quickly hurried forward.

The horse seemed to sense it had reached its destination and gradually slowed down.

But with a low whinny, the horse's legs suddenly buckled.

Thud.

The exhausted horse collapsed to the ground.

It brought the rider down with it. The man rolled twice across the ground before coming to a stop.

Shocked, Tang Zheng rushed forward and rolled the man over, finally getting a clear look at his face.

He suddenly froze. "Shopkeeper Xuan?!"

The man before him had completely lost all color in his face. As if using the last ounce of his strength, he pulled a letter from his robes.

"Young Master..."

Shopkeeper Xuan did not say anything more. With just that single phrase, all the life drained out of him, and he collapsed.

Alarmed, Tang Zheng shouted a few times.

"Shopkeeper Xuan! Shopkeeper!"

But no matter how he shouted, he was already powerless to reverse heaven.

Tang Zheng snapped back to reality, his gaze falling upon the letter in the shopkeeper's hand.

He paused for a moment before carefully picking it up and tearing it open to read.

In merely an instant, Tang Zheng froze in place, utterly stunned.

"Father..."