In the camp, several Wan Qizhang, leading a group of Qian Qizhang, appeared with solemn expressions. They knelt on one knee behind Li Chunyang, saying in unison, "Great Marshal! Vice Marshal Yu has diligently served our Linlu Legion for many years, dedicating himself to our efforts. Though he has made minor mistakes, we implore the Great Marshal to grant him another chance to redeem himself!"
Li Chunyang's gaze was deep, and he remained silent.
Lin Zhao's expression was indifferent, and he also remained silent, placing all the pressure on Li Chunyang.
Outside the camp gate, Mu Zha rode a fiery steed, with ten thousand Xueyu cavalry behind him. Seeing the officers of the Linlu Legion beginning to exert pressure, he drew his sword without a word. Instantly, all ten thousand Xueyu cavalry also drew their swords, adopting a posture of imminent conflict. If the Linlu Legion did not hand over Yu Rang today, they would not cease their demands.
"Brother Lin Zhao."
Chen Ben, clad in a green robe and possessing a robust physique, stepped forward and cupped his fist in a respectful bow. "Perhaps I can handle this. Let me challenge Li Chunyang to a spar. If I lose, our Xueyu Tianchi army will retreat. If I win, they must hand over Yu Rang. Matters of the jianghu are best resolved by the rules of the jianghu, which is only logical and reasonable."
Lin Zhao nodded in tacit agreement.
"Li Chunyang!"
Chen Ben turned, his voice like a thunderclap. Instantly, his boxing intent surged, manifesting behind him as the "Nine Fist Overturning Seas" boxing intent of a farmer. An endless surging tide seemed poised to engulf everything. The moment he assumed his stance, countless Linlu Legion soldiers were blown about by the wind of his fists. He took a step forward, his boxing becoming even more formidable, almost suffocating Li Chunyang. As a Tianyuan martial artist himself, Li Chunyang found it increasingly difficult to raise his head under Chen Ben's aura.
"..."
What kind of monstrous Eleventh Realm martial artist was this? Li Chunyang couldn't comprehend why Lin Zhao could cultivate such a prodigy. His boxing attainments, on the surface, were not that remarkable either.
"Marshal Lin!"
Li Chunyang cupped his fist again and said in a low voice, "Li Chunyang reiterates, I am willing to hand over Yu Rang."
"Good."
Lin Zhao nodded. "I trust the Great Marshal."
"Guards!"
Li Chunyang's brows furrowed, and he said in a deep voice, "Bring Yu Rang here immediately!"
"Yes, Great Marshal!"
A group of golden-armored guards turned and departed. Shortly after, an old general emerged from the command tent, surrounded by others. It was Yu Rang. Although Yu Rang was not shackled and had not even removed his sword, his head was drooping, and his expression was extremely grim. At this moment, despite the Linlu Legion numbering a hundred thousand, they stood no chance against the formidable pressure exerted by the many Upper Five Realm experts from the Mountain Peak Villa.
"Tang Guangjun."
Lin Zhao glanced over and said, "Take Yu Rang and retreat five li."
"Yes, Mountain Master!"
Tang Guangjun swept forward, his palm open, his entire body swirling with sword intent. With a wisp of sword intent, he seized Yu Rang's body and dragged him back to Lin Zhao's side. Yu Rang's hands were bound by sword intent, rendering him immobile. His face was extremely grim. In the wind, he shouted towards Li Chunyang, "Great Marshal, Yu Rang is leaving! Yu Rang has only ever sought to repay grievances swiftly. I have wronged many, but I am guiltless before you, Great Marshal!"
Li Chunyang's expression flickered, his fists clenched.
"Retreat!"
Lin Zhao waved his hand, and the ten thousand Xueyu cavalry escorting everyone retreated several li to the north. They then heavily surrounded Yu Rang in the center. In the darkness of night, the torchlight illuminated the heart of the forest as if it were daytime.
...
Yu Rang's expression was tragic. He was held immobile in the forest by a wisp of Tang Guangjun's sword intent.
"Tong Yu."
Lin Zhao's gaze lifted, and the beautiful young girl descended from the sky. Tong Yu held her sword, her beautiful eyes filled with hatred. She had longed for this moment, for this old villain had annihilated the Eastern Wu Kingdom and slaughtered Tong Yu's entire family. Her father, mother, and young brother had all died under his sword. If this deep-seated hatred were not avenged, Tong Yu would be tormented by it her entire life.
"Lin Zhao!"
Yu Rang narrowed his eyes, anger flashing within them. He threw caution to the wind and sneered, "I knew it. You were hiding Lu Su's daughter from the Eastern Wu Kingdom, that damned little slut. I treated you well back then, yet you acted so deceitfully. Don't you feel despicable?"
"Enough."
Lin Zhao's gaze was indifferent. "To still spout such nonsense at this point. If Yu Rang does not know his transgressions, perhaps I can enumerate them for you."
"Very well, do so!"
Yu Rang roared, "I'd like to see what transgressions you can list!"
"Firstly,"
Lin Zhao said calmly, "The Eastern Wu Kingdom had already been conquered. Whether to slaughter the city of Ye or not was entirely within your discretion, Yu Rang. But for the sake of rewarding your troops and draining the Eastern Wu Kingdom's resources, you ordered the city to be slaughtered and innocent people murdered. This is not untrue, is it?"
"Enemy spies, what's wrong with killing them?"
Yu Rang's eyes were bloodshot. "As a general of the Great Shang Dynasty, is it wrong for me to kill enemies?"
"Battles on the field are one thing; killing enemies is not wrong. But sparing neither the old, the weak, women, nor children goes beyond a simple matter of right or wrong. It means you, Yu Rang, deserve to die. If you killed the Lu Su family in the name of fighting the enemy, what about the royal palace in Ye City? The queens, concubines, and daughters of officials were trafficked like livestock and became playthings for the nobles and ministers of the Great Shang Dynasty. Were these also for the Great Shang Dynasty?"
"Otherwise?"
Yu Rang sneered, "If the nobles and generals of the Great Shang Dynasty didn't pay a substantial sum, where would I get the money to pay my soldiers and reward my troops?"
"That's where the problem lies."
Lin Zhao said faintly, "Since when do the soldiers of the Human Race need to be motivated by inhumane slaughter and plunder? When millions of Human soldiers repelled the combined forces of the four northern tribes, did they also slaughter cities and traffic women and children of the demon and beast races? You, Yu Rang, as the Vice Marshal of the Linlu Legion, have failed in your command. You don't know how to inspire morale, only how to slaughter cities, leading to the depopulation of the Eastern Wu Kingdom and turning it into ownerless land, invisibly depleting the foundation of the Human Realm. And you think you're in the right?"
"Lin Zhao, you are truly hypocritical!"
Yu Rang spat fiercely. "I have fought on horseback and with spears for nearly a hundred years, experiencing over a hundred battles, big and small. Is it your place, you young brat, to lecture me here?"
"Then let me state a concrete principle."
Lin Zhao gave a cold smile. "You, Yu Rang, believe in absolute power. You believe that because your strength is greater than the Eastern Wu Kingdom, you can dominate it as you wish. So, what about now? My Mountain Peak Villa is stronger than your Linlu Legion. I can force Li Chunyang to hand you over without shedding a drop of blood. At this very moment, I have absolute power over your life and death. Do you also find this logical? You don't want to reason, fine. I have no desire to reason with a beast like you. Tong Yu, he's yours!"
With that, Lin Zhao stepped forward and kicked Yu Rang hard in the leg, causing him to stumble and fall to his knees.
"..."
Tong Yu, holding her sword, her beautiful eyes filled with tears, looked up at Lin Zhao.
Lin Zhao gently nodded.
The next moment, Tong Yu darted forward. Her sword unsheathed like lightning, and with a "swish," she unhesitatingly plunged it into Yu Rang's heart. Then, she shifted her body, drew her sword, and swung it down from behind Yu Rang's head. His head rolled off, and hot blood sprayed from his neck.
"Father... Mother..."
After killing Yu Rang, Tong Yu, holding her bloodstained sword, turned. She pointed the blade at the ground towards the direction of the Eastern Wu Kingdom, knelt on one knee, tears streaming down her face, and said, "Daughter has avenged you. May your spirits rest in peace. Tong'er will practice her sword diligently and grow to be accomplished. You need not worry about your daughter anymore..."
Lin Zhao stepped forward, gently ruffling Tong Yu's small head, and smiled. "There, there, don't be too sad."
"Mm!"
Tong Yu nodded.
Lin Zhao then carried Yu Rang's head, and after conjuring a flying sword to wrap around Yu Rang's corpse, he returned to the Linlu Legion's encampment with Tang Guangjun, Can Zhi, and others. He then raised his hand and threw Yu Rang's remains at the base of the camp gate. Looking at the human generals illuminated by the torchlight, he said with a calm expression, "Yu Rang was cruel and tyrannical, often slaughtering cities during battles, shaking the morale of the army. He has now been executed by me. Anyone who is unconvinced is welcome to seek me, Lin Zhao, for an accounting. I will be waiting at the Mountain Peak Villa."
As he spoke, he looked at Li Chunyang and said in his mind, "Great Marshal, do not blame me."
"I..."
Li Chunyang's voice was somewhat hoarse. "How would I dare blame Marshal Lin..."
"It wouldn't matter even if you did."
Lin Zhao said faintly, "Yu Rang was your subordinate. You know best whether the mistakes he committed warranted death. In fact, I think Yu Rang deserved to die ten thousand times over when he was in the Eastern Wu Kingdom."
With that, Lin Zhao and his group took to the wind and returned to Xueyu Tianchi.
"..."
Li Chunyang looked up at the receding figures of Lin Zhao and his group. He truly did not blame Lin Zhao for killing Yu Rang, but... Lin Zhao's actions had completely undermined his authority. How was he, the commander of the three armies, supposed to command them from now on?
...
Mountain Peak Villa.
The night was silent.
In Tong Yu's residence, she lit incense before the spirit tablets of her parents and younger brother. Having avenged her deep-seated hatred at this moment, Tong Yu's heart had finally opened. She was no longer weighed down by such heavy animosity. From now on, Tong Yu would devote herself wholeheartedly to seeking the Great Dao and practicing swordplay under her master, achieving a state of complete single-mindedness.
In the distance, on the mountaintop, Lin Zhao practiced his fists under the moonlight. He glanced at Tong Yu from afar, and a faint smile touched his lips. It was good that her inner knot had been untied.
Beside him, Liu Li Ying, clad in a red dress, sat on a rock holding a folding fan, watching Lin Zhao practice his fists. Her heart was filled with the tranquility of the present moment. She no longer wished to return to the stone cave and be that mural goddess for the rest of her life.
...
Upper Realm, Mount Wuwang.
The entire Mount Wuwang was permeated with demonic energy. It was the ancestral land of the demon race in the Upper Realm. From ancient times to the present, all demons who ascended to the Upper Realm have gathered on Mount Wuwang. Only in this way could the demon race maintain some of its lineage in the Upper Realm, lest they be annihilated by human cultivators of the Upper Realm.
At this moment, the moonlight was bright and clear.
On the summit of Mount Wuwang, a laurel tree swayed. Beneath the tree sat an elder with a weathered face, clad in a gray robe, facing a stone chessboard. His expression flickered, filled with uncertainty.
He was the Lord of Mount Wuwang, Kunpeng, the Demon Ancestor of the Upper Realm.
As for the Demon Ancestor on the ancestral mountain of the demon realm in the mortal world, he was his junior brother, Qing Kui.