The difficult journey continued.

This difficulty didn’t only originate from their bodies weakening by the day, it was also because they had no idea when this type of journey would end, if this type of journey’s end would even bring them what they hoped to see.

When it was near the end of the night’s darkness, Qin Xiyue gave the meditating Lin Xi and deeply asleep Nangong Weiyang a deep look, as if she wanted to etch the faces of these two deeply into her very soul. Then, she carefully added a speck of fuel to the fire pan. With the newly produced warmth, she walked out of the tent.

“Goodbye.”

She gave the small tent behind her a smile while saying this quietly inside. Then, she tightened the clothes around herself, suppressing her coughing sounds as she left as quietly as she could.

…

Lin Xi woke up during the first glimmers of dawn.

When he woke up, he first noticed Nangong Weiyang’s eyes, and then saw that there were only the two of them here. He remained stunned for a moment, and only then did he realize what happened. Then, his body quickly became cold and rigid.

“I already looked into it. She brought around ten days worth of warming fuel and food with her, as well as some signaling items.” Nangong Weiyang also remained quiet for a long time before saying this with a slightly hoarse voice.

Lin Xi’s heart gradually became cold like the fire pan.

“She must have felt that she wouldn’t last longer than ten days anyway, so she only brought enough to last her through this period. She brought some signaling things with her too, just in case… in case she does discover something in these ten days, she can let us know.” He breathed with difficulty. He spoke as if he was saying this for himself. “If she doesn’t discover anything, then we will never be able to see her signal.”

Nangong Weiyang didn’t say anything. She remained silent.

It was because Qin Xiyue’s thoughts were too obvious. Moreover, she already thought all of these things through before Lin Xi woke up.

“She left a little while ago, so she shouldn’t have gotten far.” Lin Xi’s voice was hoarse. “I still have the same intentions as before. Even if we fail to find anything here, even if we die, we will die together.”

Nangong Weiyang nodded. “Have Lucky look for her… we might attract those White Sword Fiends to us. In a situation where we cannot lock onto her exact location, there is no chance of her surviving a swarm of White Sword Fiends on her own.”

Lin Xi swallowed his saliva with difficulty. He called Lucky back, and then quickly put away their tent. There was no way he would have any extravagant hopes in this type of situation, he just wanted to do what he could.

…

Searching through an unknown land was just like sailing in an endless sea. They had no idea when it would end. Those involved weren't even aware of the changing seasons outside.

The outside world already changed from winter to spring. Yet the war continued.

After Yunqin Emperor’s death and Zhang Ping’s betrayal of Green Luan Academy, countless battles already erupted in this entire world. There were battles between cultivators, as well as battles between armies. However, none of those previous battles, regardless of whether it was in terms of the number of cultivators or army size, could be compared to this great battle that erupted this spring.

Hundreds of thousands of men appeared in a single place together with countless horses and military equipment. Even though the war had already gone on for a long time, the soft shoots that had just sprouted in the forest tramped down, hot blood and broken equipment littering the fields, the ground covered in deep gorges, flames raging, dust fluttering, there were still more soldiers rushing over from all directions. The battle still continued… this type of scene really was hard to imagine.

This type of long and drawn-out epic level battle didn’t happen in Yunqin, but rather in Great Mang.

During the past winter and early spring, after burning down Green Luan Academy’s palaces, Zhang Ping didn’t return to Central Continent City. He instead personally led his devout believers through Yunqin Empire’s entire north. Then, he passed through several provinces that opposed him and Xu Zhenyan’s cabinet.

The battles he participated in were entirely different from the battles that had happened throughout countless years.

That was because in all of those battles, even the strongest Sacred Experts couldn’t defeat an army alone. He couldn’t reap lives without tiring. However, he never fell on the battlefield. Wherever he went, there would only be the smashed corpses of his enemies.

There were no armies that could stop him, no one could kill him… That was why this battle was completely meaningless. Even if those who opposed him and Central Continent City’s cabinet could take down provinces one after another, they would then be crushed by him afterwards. That was why no matter how many devout believers at his side died, these battles would always end with his victory.

Only, most of the Yunqin and Great Mang people who opposed him still refused to yield.

No matter how strong Zhang Ping was, he was still one man. The more people he slaughtered in the north, the more certain his whereabouts became, the more impossible it was for him to suddenly appear in a different place.

Many Yunqin people decided that they had to take down Purgatory Mountain while he wasn’t in Great Mang.

In the new Great Mang Dynasty after Thousand Leaf Pass, the former puppet placed on the throne by Purgatory Mountain Patriarch had surprisingly reached an agreement with Zhantai Qiantang. When Zhantai Qiantang truly began to rule Great Mang, when all of Great Mang was about to welcome a peaceful age obtained after great difficulty, Purgatory Mountain instead suddenly experienced changes again. The red robed Divine Adjudicators began to replace the powers of the royal court, they began to go after Zhantai Qiantang and those who supported him.

In the end, the puppet Great Mang Emperor was still the Emperor. Zhantai Qiantang also commanded all of the late emperor’s power. Meanwhile, most of Great Mang’s soldiers and common people couldn’t accept this at all… They finally won peace with so much difficulty, so why did they feel like they were going to suddenly lose it again?

No one could instantly control the wills of all of these who opposed Purgatory Mountain. No one could coordinate and rule everyone. However, when most of Great Mang’s soldiers headed towards Purgatory Mountain, this history’s greatest battle naturally formed.

…

This great battle, in the analysis of many future generations, could be summed up in Yunqin’s influence and Great Mang being suppressed for too long.

Under the dual side impact of Yunqin Empire and the late emperor, many Great Mang people already couldn’t stand being treated as Purgatory Mountain’s slaves. However, Purgatory Mountain was too powerful, so they could only forcibly suppress these emotions in their hearts. When these emotions finally erupted and there was no way out, all of those pent-up emotions would burst like a volcano.

However, there were also countless Great Mang people who already long forgot how to rebel under Purgatory Mountain’s years of deterrence, to the extent where they already became devout Purgatory Mountain believers. That was why there were also many Great Mang people and many armies who were controlled by this type of will, that rushed over from all different parts of Great Mang, making this battle continue on endlessly.

That was why this was a battle that involved an entire country.

A battle of faith.

There was no untiring Zhang Ping here, no devil king that was still more powerful than most soul weapons in this world even if he ran out of soul force. That was why in a battle of this scale, all cultivators could only contribute so much. This was especially true with a battle of faith, a battle without any paths of retreat. No cultivators could serve decisive uses.

From time to time, sacred level arrows or flying swords flew about. Both sides of the battlefield already knew that Green Luan Academy also sent out many experts to join in on this incomparable battle.

Many red robed Divine Adjudicators died under this type of thunderous attack. However, there were still many zombie-like red robed Divine Adjudicators who turned several people into a tide of flames, inflicting horrifying casualties to the enemy army, even killing some cultivators mixed in with these troops.

The center of the battlefield slowly crept towards Purgatory Mountain. From time to time, armies were weary to the point where they could no longer continue fighting. They withdrew from the battlefield covered in crushed flesh, and then returned after recovering a bit of stamina.

Suddenly, a great cheer erupted within this vicious battlefield.

This cheer didn’t come from the attacking allied armies, but rather from Purgatory Mountain’s troops that had already withdrawn into some of Purgatory Mountain’s dormant volcanoes.

The slightly inclined black volcanic floor suddenly began to shake at a set frequency.

Blood and small rocks jumped, scattering outwards.

Massive bodies walked out from within Purgatory Mountain one after another, bringing a great blow and endless pressure to the minds of the already extremely weary attackers.

A cultivator from Yunqin supported his body with a spear. His breathing completely stopped.

Divine Elephant Army!

The Divine Elephant Army that was chased out from Thousand Leaf Pass appeared here.

Moreover, even though most cultivators were certain that these small mountain-like figures were definitely the Divine Elephant, the Divine Elephant Army that appeared now was instead already entirely different.

This Divine Elephant Army was clad in a completely sealed black and red metal armor.

Apart from the previous Divine Elephant Army soldiers, there were now also Purgatory Mountain red robed Divine Adjudicators seated on them.

The runes carved into these giant divine elephants’ armor all released heat, flowing with red flames.

The burning divine elephants advanced towards the incoming enemy main army.

Every single divine elephant crushed down like mountainous flaming meteors. Even some heavy military equipment was easily toppled by these elephants.

….

When the allied armies’ central army was starting to collapse under the Divine Elephant Army, some battles were taking place in Purgatory Mountain as well.

Regardless of whether it was cultivators from Yunqin or Great Mang, there was no way they would all obediently fight on the battlefield. There were naturally those who had different types of other objectives. They already broke into Purgatory Mountain in front of the clashing armies.