Chapter 131: Death Is Close At Hand

Before the Desheng Pass, Gu Feng used the fortress as bait to draw out the Seventh Princess.

In truth, no further baiting was needed. As Gu Feng’s gaze fell upon He Jiang and the blood-stained city tower, there stood a young woman, forever exuding an air of nobility. It was undeniably the Seventh Princess of the Great Xu—an unexpected and delightful prize.

He Jiang glanced around, his mind quickly grasping the gravity of the situation. A brief exchange of looks with Chen Mingguang and Wu Gang solidified their decision: the Seventh Princess must leave. Whether she was willing or not, she had to go. If it were up to her own will, she certainly would not retreat, for the sake of the Xu Kingdom. But she could not stop Chen Mingguang and Wu Gang, who moved without hesitation to remove her from the tower.

Chen Mingguang summoned his eagle. With a single beat of its wings, the beast snatched the Princess in its talons and, following Chen’s command, retreated toward the interior of the pass. After a piercing cry, only the fading trail of spiritual energy remained in the sky.

Chen Mingguang and Wu Gang stayed behind. While the Princess had every reason to leave, they did not. Conversely, they had every reason to stay.

Naturally, Gu Feng would not watch the Seventh Princess of Great Xu escape before his eyes. He turned his head to his companions and said, "I must trouble our friends from the Two Peaks. That is Yin Tianyu, the Seventh Princess of Great Xu, the most beloved daughter of the Xu Emperor."

The hatred the Two Peaks held for the Xu Emperor was profound; with Gu Feng’s words, there was no room for refusal. It was not that Gu Feng was unwilling to go himself, but he knew He Jiang would keep him pinned down. A battle between the two of them was inevitable.

One of the two figures from the Two Peaks streaked across the sky like a bolt of purple lightning.

"He seems faster than the doctor," Chen Mingguang felt a sense of panic he had never known before. "General He?!"

"Go! Follow them! Save the Princess, even if it costs us our lives!"

At this point, there was no need for further words. A battle between He Jiang and Gu Feng was destined to happen right here before the Desheng Pass.

"The Xu army has occupied my Guqing River for ten years, and this Desheng Pass is touted as an impregnable fortress," General Gu said, his spirit soaring, at the very peak of his life. "Today, my Li army shall use the blood of Desheng Pass as a sacrifice for our war to annihilate the Xu!"

He did not even need to utter words like "kill" or "charge." The Li Kingdom’s cultivators, who had been roaming the periphery, began their assault. There were few divine-guard cultivators left to defend the pass; only a handful, including Li Li and Xu Yang, were still capable of fighting. For them, it was a fight to the death, and nothing else.

As the war raged on, evening approached. Blood stained the setting sun, and the glare of fires eclipsed the daylight, turning this once-scenic location into a living hell.

He Jiang was more composed than anyone expected. It was not that he could not see or hear the slaughter unfolding around him, but his primary goal was to settle things with Gu Feng. And the sooner, the better. After fighting for so many years, the moment had finally arrived.

"Today, only one of us leaves this alive!"

If their previous skirmishes were mere testing, then the all-out clash they engaged in now was a struggle for their very lives.

High above, one practitioner of the Return to Simplicity realm remained—the one sent by the Two Peaks. She was a woman with only one arm, her body shimmering with a purple light. She watched the hellscape below in silence.

Li soldiers had already breached the city walls. Though some were hindered or even killed by defensive formations, their overwhelming numbers eventually tore many gaps into the defenses of Desheng Pass. It seemed she did not even need to intervene; as time wore on, the Xu army would be slowly slaughtered to the last man.

Those remaining in the city had not expected the battlefield to reach every street and alley. Cai Ye could no longer focus on saving lives; she and her detachment of women soldiers had drawn their blades and entered the fray, a place where blood and sweat blurred until one could no longer tell if they were their own or another's. They had no support left; those from the Luyang Academy had gone to protect the Princess, and those from the Donghu Academy had long since perished.

Or perhaps... there was one more.

Shu Le.

Young Xiao Sha, severely wounded, dragged his injured leg as he ran for his life. He did not know where to hide. He thought about playing dead, but his mind wasn't sharp enough for such tricks; instead, he was still wondering if he could manage to ambush an enemy. Exhausted and drifting into unconsciousness from blood loss, he clutched his blade, hiding behind a bamboo-ware shop like a startled bird, trying to cover himself while keeping an eye on the situation outside.

Suddenly, someone pulled him from behind.

"Who?!"

The soldier whispered in a panic, "It's me! It's me! Xiao Sha, stay calm! I'm Er Niu! Quick, hide down here!"

As it turned out, there was a pit here, covered by bamboo baskets. It was tight, but one wouldn't suffocate. Xiao Sha couldn't quite see who it was, but he figured as long as it wasn't an enemy, it was fine.

Er Niu was too preoccupied to worry about his wounds. Huddled in the cramped space, he whispered, "Many Li cultivators have entered the city. So many of our people are dead... we're finished."

Xiao Sha didn't answer. Like a rabid dog, he kept gasping for air, staring out.

There were chaotic footsteps, the glint of cold blades... Seeing a figure who looked like a cultivator, Er Niu quickly covered his mouth, suppressed his breathing, and pressed Xiao Sha’s head back into the pit. This seemed to be one of the few ways they could survive, and the same was true for everyone else in the city.

Time dragged on, agonizingly slow. Eventually, Er Niu asked another question, knowing Xiao Sha was the stronger one: "Xiao Sha, what do we do now? Will anyone come to save us?"

It was a question not just he was asking Xiao Sha; thousands of survivors were asking themselves, and asking the fortress itself.

Once Xiao Sha calmed down, he wasn't as panicked as Er Niu. He maintained his fighting spirit. "Someone will! General Ji will return, and Lady Shu will return! Until then, we must survive."

General Ji and Shu Le were their only hope.

But the number of Li Kingdom cultivators hovering over the pass grew. There were nearly twenty of them, far outnumbering the Xu forces, and many lower-level Li cultivators stood on the rooftops. As for the alleys, the wounded and dying who fought as they retreated were the last hope of Desheng Pass. At least, that was the hope in the hearts of the others.

"Hold on! General Ji and Shu Le will return!" The severely wounded encouraged one another, though it did little to help their plight.

Until... a dull *thud*.

Whether they were from Li or Xu, everyone was stunned by the object that fell and rolled across the ground. It was a human head.

"It's Lady Shu!"

Hearing the shout, Xiao Sha finally dared to crawl out of the pit. "Counterattack! Counterattack! I've been suffocating!"

"Lady Shu is back!"

Indeed, Shu Le had returned. She carried the head of the one-armed swordsman from the Li Kingdom. She was wounded; her left arm was soaked in blood, and her hair was disheveled, but she held her sword with an unwavering intensity.

Shu Le brushed a lock of hair from her forehead. She saw the boy named Xiao Sha, who was always following Wu Gang, and saw that he was injured. She did not know that the boy’s survival until now was purely due to his own resilience.

"What happened?"

When she left, Ji Lan had been winning decisively, leading the forces to hunt down the fleeing Li cultivators. But upon her return, not only had many enemies infiltrated the pass, but the resistance was dwindling.

"I don't know, two helpers from the Li Kingdom arrived." Xiao Sha couldn't distinguish the Two Peaks, but he knew there was still someone in the sky—an enemy.

Following his gaze, Shu Le looked up. "Return to Simplicity..."

Was there a trap? Were there other practitioners of the Return to Simplicity realm?

"Charge! She's just one wounded person! Together, kill her!"

Shu Le ignored the fodder, her eyes locked on the figure in the sky. As they drew near, she erupted with a fierce aura. Her spiritual energy turned into blades, reaping lives instantly!

*Bang!!*

Dozens of attackers were killed in an instant!

"Even if I am exhausted and wounded, I am not someone you can challenge." Shu Le leveled her blade at the remaining divine-guard cultivators.

Seeing the figure in the sky, she grew quiet. She had been planning to conserve her energy, but that was no longer necessary. The enemy was fresh and waiting; it would be difficult regardless. She might as well kill a few more divine-guards to lighten the burden for those behind her.

She had been in the heat of battle against the one-armed swordsman; now, she moved again, becoming a reaper of souls in a rain of blood!

"Let us help Lady Shu!"

This counterattack seemed to have taken form. Shu Le never considered fleeing; this was the moment to uphold the ideals of the Luyang Academy.

But the one-armed woman from the Two Peaks finally moved. She could not allow Shu Le to continue this slaughter; it would be a pointless loss. As she moved, Shu Le was forced to stop. On the battlefield, the enemy would not wait for you to be ready. A moment of distraction could be fatal.

*Whoosh!*

Shu Le shot into the sky, meeting the woman at eye level.

"Killing the one-armed swordsman—you are indeed extraordinary. But you are no match for me."

The woman had only one hand, but her fingers were slender and graceful, channeling vast, atmospheric amounts of spiritual energy that reminded Shu Le of Gu Feng.

*So, is that where he comes from? The Two Peaks?*

There was no time to ponder. Shu Le engaged with her sword, but the one-armed woman, who could command the power of heaven and earth, wielded massive amounts of spiritual energy that were difficult to fend off. Shu Le gritted her teeth, breaking through the waves of energy to strike at the purple-clad figure, but in close combat, she was not at her best; her speed and strength were compromised.

*Bang!*

A solid kick landed on her ribs. Shu Le’s body was launched like a cannonball, smashing into the ground and shattering wine jars everywhere!

*Hum!*

The practitioner from the Two Peaks, seemingly disliking complications, gathered energy in her palm for a final, lethal strike. Xiao Sha rushed out from a corner, dragging Shu Le’s body to safety, rolling across the ground in a pathetic heap.

"Cough... cough..." After killing the one-armed swordsman, she had little energy left. Fighting now was unwise.

"You should have recovered before coming out. With your strength in the Return to Simplicity realm, you are currently using less than twenty percent. What a pity. To die without even seeing me clearly—it is truly a waste."

"The Luyang Academy... has never placed life and death above duty. There is no 'waste.' I have killed dozens of divine-guards and one of the Return to Simplicity realm... how could that be a waste?" Shu Le struggled to rise, her hands trembling, blood spilling from both corners of her mouth.

"Admirable courage, but a laughable choice. Let me see you off."

The woman gathered her energy once more, forming a sphere that moved rapidly with her fingers!

Shu Le knitted her brows. She slammed her sword into the ground, channeled the last of her spiritual energy into a hand seal, and unleashed a palm strike of pure energy!

*Bang!*

The clash of energies vanished in an instant, and Shu Le was sent flying.

*Swish!*

The woman from the Two Peaks vanished and reappeared above the falling Shu Le, her palm forming another sphere.

"Lady Shu!"

Xiao Sha had never imagined that the fairy-like Lady Shu of the Luyang Academy would one day face such a fate. She was going to die... she was falling, her eyes closed, seemingly devoid of the strength to resist.

The thought flooded his mind, terrifying him. It was so terrifying that even the attack from the one-armed woman seemed insignificant.

"Lady Shu!" Xiao Sha screamed again.

But it could not stop the strike. The palm landed heavily on Shu Le’s body! She accelerated, crashing through wooden buildings and collapsing an entire block.

Perhaps He Jiang heard Xiao Sha’s scream. The realization that Shu Le was in danger caused him to break away from his battle and return to the pass with near-teleporting speed, catching her before she hit the ground.

"Ugh... *cough*..." Shu Le’s body, once supple, was now completely limp.

He Jiang was horrified, filled with unbearable grief. "Lady Shu, how are you?"

"She should be dead. There is no way she survived." The one-armed woman landed and walked toward them step by step.

"Put... put me down."

Though the woman was certain, Shu Le spoke. With He Jiang’s support, she struggled with all her might to stand. She was covered in dust and blood.

"Someone! Is anyone there?!" He Jiang roared.

"It's useless," the one-armed woman said calmly. "Even if you take her away, she cannot live."

Shu Le stood there, gasping for air, raising her sword to point at the woman from the Two Peaks.

He Jiang could no longer bear it. "Enough, Lady Shu, enough... leave it to me..."

As he spoke, he suddenly paused, his eyes widening. Shu Le maintained her posture, her eyes open, but her breathing had stopped. He Jiang, being in the Return to Simplicity realm, could sense the faintest of breaths, but there was nothing left in Shu Le.

The woman from the Two Peaks looked at the person who had died standing up, and she frowned. The Luyang Academy... seemed difficult to deal with.

Of course, that did not include the present.

Shu Le’s eyes remained open, but her body went slack. Her sword fell from her hand, and she collapsed backward.

*Clang.*

As if the world had fallen silent.