Chapter 505 – As Warm Snow Falls, the Six Kingdoms Rise; The Path of The Hero, A Bond Between Soul and Blade - Part 3

In a courtyard far away, the branches of the apricot tree were bare.

A woman in red stood beneath it, her vital energy swirling, deep in cultivation.

Snow covered her hair, but she didn’t seem to notice.

Only when she heard footsteps did she open her eyes. Her inner energy surged, and in an instant, the snow around her evaporated into drifting mist.

“You’re back!” Xie Yu smiled. Then she asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Not hungry.” Li Yuan replied.

“What’s wrong?” She frowned.

Li Yuan let out a long sigh.

Xie Yu sat down beside him and said, “Cultivating here has been really effective. I’m almost ready to break through to fifth rank.”

She glanced at him with a mischievous smile. “My sister knows about my situation, so she secretly sent me two of her most trusted palace maids. Both are peak sixth rank, and they’re cultivating a different lineage from our Xie Clan; it complements mine perfectly.”

Li Yuan nodded absently. Then, unexpectedly, he smiled and said, “Alright, I’m fine now. Just some cultivation-related frustrations. Had to think them through, that’s all.”

Xie Yu pouted, mumbling, “You’re really something. The cultivation environment here is so good, and you never want to stay. Always running off somewhere...who even knows what you’re doing.”

Li Yuan chuckled and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Alright, my lady, time to go inside.”

Xie Yu leaned close and whispered in his ear, “I went to pray at Yan Yu’s temple again today. Want to guess what I prayed for?”

“What did you ask for?”

“I asked her to bless us with a child...soon.” She giggled, then added, “Oh, and my sister sent over a secret medicine with those maids. You’ll drink it tonight. And then, we’ll give it another try...”

Her cheeks turned red as she purred, “Tonight, I can make babies.”

Li Yuan scooped her up, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.

With a soft

thud

, the door shut behind them. The falling snow crept slowly up the doorstep, blanketing the world in silence.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Several days later.

Li Yuan, now in the guise of a slightly chubby man, appeared in Bloomtown in Swallowcloud Province.

He found Peng Mi and asked about the whereabouts of Ying Zhuoyao, then searched around until he finally found a door, where the head of the Green Lotus Cult was already waiting.

The woman in green stepped into the cave from the door without surprise and greeted him with respectful composure.

Li Yuan didn’t waste time.

“I want the secret art for the warm snow,” he said, voice low and steady.

He’d come to a conclusion. Poverty was the root of tragedy.

He wanted to use the warm snow to turn barren land fertile again...to give people food, clothing, and dignity. If people could live with security, many of the tragedies he’d witnessed would never happen in the first place.

Ying Zhuoyao smiled. “You won’t believe the timing, Senior. I just got the method from Bai Lianjue. Come with me. It’s at my place in Bloomtown.”

Moments later, a parchment scroll was placed into Li Yuan’s hands.

He glanced through it. The contents were thorough and detailed. He put it away, intending to study it carefully once he returned. Then he asked, “Since our alliance began, I haven’t really done anything for your side.”

Ying Zhuoyao smiled again. “Your presence is more than enough. If the sky falls, then we’ll come find you. For the little things? Not worth bothering you.”

“If the sky falls, I might not be able to hold it up.” Li Yuan grunted.

“If it comes to that, we won’t expect you to. Having you on

our

side and not

theirs

, that’s more than enough.” She laughed. She then gave him a slight bow and added, “If you ever need anything, please come find me. I’m not strong, but I can still create fearless soldiers for you.”

Li Yuan nodded and saw her off.

Then he returned swiftly and began his research into the warm snow.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Half a month passed.

Li Yuan had made some headway.

The warm snow method, at first glance, was a secret art to revitalize soil and bring barren land back to life. But there was another side to it. It also drew in Yin energy.

Still, Li Yuan finally let out a breath of relief. His biggest concern when he started this was that the method drew on Yang energy, specifically from the meat fields.

If that were true, then...the Yang energy of those fields would be depleted. And when that happened, the fields would downgrade, producing fewer resources.

In other words, this was a method of carving flesh off the backs of martial artists...just to put food back in the mouths of ordinary people.

When that time came, there was no doubt conflict would erupt.

But now, it seemed the warm snow method didn’t pull Yang energy from martial artists or cultivators after all.

Instead, it drew Yang energy directly from the sky.

That changed everything.

The meat fields would remain intact, continuing to produce resources. At the same time, the land would become fertile while areas thick with Yin energy would also expand.

As for what consequences might arise from pulling energy out of the heavens themselves...Li Yuan couldn’t worry about that just yet.

Besides, the Lotus Cult had already given him a demonstration. The warm snow had been falling in the southern lands for years, and nothing catastrophic had happened.

So for now, Li Yuan would proceed. If problems arose later, he’d deal with them then.

His plan was simple. That was to return rich soil to the people and give them a foundation for a better life. Then, once their bellies were full and their feet were warm, he’d impose laws that rewarded virtue and punished evil.

It didn’t matter if these laws came from the Emperor himself or Yan Yu.

That was

Li Yuan’s

path of the hero.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Li Yuan’s first stop was to find Gu Xuejian.

A single exchange of their secret message was all it took for Gu Xuejian to recognize him. It had been 30 years, but she still remembered.

He was the mysterious figure who had saved her in the southern lands, and the man who had once passed her secret intel about the Lotus Cult’s schemes, saving countless lives in the Holy Tree Temple.

The past was the past, but the debt of gratitude remained.

Li Yuan got straight to the point. He handed over a handwritten copy of the warm snow secret art.

“If this really works...then it could help the people of Silkfloss Province in a real, lasting way....” Gu Xuejian said after reviewing it carefully. Then she looked up at Li Yuan and added, “You have my word. I’ll instruct my disciples to coordinate with the local sects. Any shadowy dealings or human trafficking will be banned outright.”

She had always had a strong sense of justice. Hearing the benefits of this method, she immediately grasped its significance. Still, she would need to test it first.

Li Yuan nodded and turned to leave. But just as he stepped away, her voice called out behind him.

“Sir!”

“Hmm?” Li Yuan stopped.

“About 30 years ago, you sent a brother and sister to seek shelter under my care. I arranged for them to live in one of the towns under the Holy Tree Temple’s protection,” Gu Xuejian explained. “But later, I heard troubling news... The sister, Xu Lan, suddenly attacked her brother, Xu Sheng, then vanished. She’s been missing ever since. This was something you entrusted to me. I failed to watch over them. I wanted to offer you my apologies.”

“When did this happen?” Li Yuan asked.

“About 12 years ago,” she replied.

“And Xu Sheng?” Li Yuan asked. “How did he respond?”

“He left as well. Said he was going to find her,” Gu Xuejian said. “But he made it clear. He wasn’t just searching for his missing sister. He said the girl who stabbed him wasn’t

Xu Lan

. Not really. He believed his sister hadn’t simply been influenced; he said she’d been

replaced

. He said he was going to find the one responsible...and bring back the

real

Xu Lan.”

“Thank you, Temple Master.” Li Yuan nodded.

Gu Xuejian lowered her head slightly. “I’m truly sorry I couldn’t protect them. As for the warm snow, I’ll conduct a test. If it proves viable, I’ll implement it immediately.”

“I leave it in your care,” Li Yuan said.

He had once asked Ying Zhuoyao about the creation of fearless soldiers. She’d explained that fearless soldiers were merely corrupted with baleful energy, affecting memory and personality but nothing more.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Some time later.

Li Yuan made his way to the Jade Capital. At this point in time, it was still under the nominal rule of the Emperor... But behind the curtains, it was the Empress Dowager who held true power.

In the five years since she’d seized the reins, she had already wrested control of two provincial governorships, Hidden Dragon and Wildsouth Province.

The former was where the Jade Capital sat, and the latter directly bordered it.

Hidden Dragon, Wildsouth, and Ocean Province were all linked together in a vast swath of imperial power.

However, the cost was that the remaining six provinces had risen in open rebellion.

Each one broke away and declared its own king.

In Swallowcloud Province, the provincial governor crowned himself the King of Yan.

In Harmony Province, the governor became the King of Zhao.

In Stellar Sea Province, the King of Qi,

In Silkfloss Province, the King of Han.

In Hidden River Province, the King of Chu.

In Cloudpeak Province, the King of Wei.

The Six Kings allied themselves and turned against the Jade Capital.

Xie Wei found herself in a whirlwind of crisis. Even as she consolidated her grip on power, she was also busy forging new armies, training new generals.

On paper, she had the advantage. There was the fearsome armored cavalry of Ocean Province, Flying Bear Army, and even the frightening loyal souls at her disposal.

It should’ve been enough to crush the Six Kingdoms. But the moment the real battle began, she discovered the truth. There were hidden experts among them. Powerful ones. So powerful that even she couldn’t break through their lines.

Still, she didn’t call on Li Yuan for help. Instead, she accepted the warm snow method he’d brought her, saying she would pass it on to Ji Hu, giving him a chance to prove himself.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

That very night.

The secret scroll containing the method of creating warm snow appeared in the hands of the young Emperor.

By candlelight, he sat in silence, studying its contents. At his side lay a pile of ancient history books, texts he had recently dug out of the palace archives, long forgotten in the dust of time.

After a long while, the Emperor summoned his mentor, Imperial Tutor Gao.

When the old man arrived, the boy Emperor spoke without preamble, “Mother gave me this method. She wants me to be the one to act.”

“What kind of method?” the imperial tutor asked.

“A way to use the sky to nourish the earth. If it works, the land will thrive, and the people will eat,” Ji Hu replied.

“Her Majesty is wise indeed. With this, the common people might finally see hope.” The imperial tutor clapped his hands and smiled.

“But...” Ji Hu hesitated. He furrowed his brow, gripping the parchment tightly.

Something inside him, some instinct, made him uneasy.

“Your Majesty could try it on a small scale first. If it proves effective, then expand its use,” the imperial tutor suggested.

“Okay...” Ji Hu nodded.

Just then, the imperial tutor’s gaze drifted toward the ancient books on the table. One had been left open to a yellowed, crumbling page.

A strange flicker passed through the old man’s eyes.

He quietly reached out and closed the book.

“It’s late,” he said softly. “Your Majesty should rest. Diligence is a virtue, but too much weariness will harm the body.”

Ji Hu yawned. “Understood. You’re dismissed.”

Imperial Tutor Gao bowed and left.

Outside, the night wind slipped through the cracks in the doors, fluttering the silk curtains and the corners of the old books.

The pages rustled, flipping on their own.

And with each turn, the ancient history of this land revealed itself, one forgotten era after another.

Before the Zhou Empire, there was the Shang Empire.

Before the Shang, there was the Xia.

The Zhou Empire honored gods and mountains, mourning the dead.

But the Xia...theXia was something else entirely.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Another four years passed in a blink.

It was October, the middle of autumn. The year had been full of contradictions. Heavy snow fell, and yet the snow was warm. It was an unnatural phenomenon, but to the people it was a blessing.

Beneath the warm snow, the earth had been reborn. Golden wheat, heavy and ripe, bent the stalks low in the fields.

“We’ve got a harvest!”

“A harvest!!”

The people cheered, laughing through tears.

At the edge of one field stood a man in white, wearing a bamboo hat and a blade on his back.

It was Li Yuan. He stood still, staring at the golden sea of grain until suddenly, his body jolted. He felt something shift inside him.

The chaotic web of ancestral talisman seeds that had plagued him for so long were changing,

aligning...

as if, at last, they were beginning to unify. It was as if they were finally becoming his own.