“Has everything been settled?” Zhao Tailai asked.

Lin Xun nodded. He only brought two pieces of treasures with him—a bow and a broken blade. Besides that, he also had a travel bag stored with a large number of high-grade aeth crystals, rare medicine and elixirs.

He had nothing else apart from those.

He left all other treasures in Mind Cleansing Peak, including the Nameless Pagoda, the Chaotic Void Ring, and the refining gourd containing a drop of purple blood.

This was because, according to Zhao Tailai, the Blood Kill Battlefield was located in a special place that prohibited the use of storage-type treasures.

Most importantly, the world of Blood Kill Battlefield contained no aeth power!

“The Blood Kill Battlefield is the front line of the war between the empire and the Magi Brute Race. Similarly, it is also the barrier that helped the empire stand for so long. It has been protecting the empire for thousands of years...” Zhao Tailai briefly introduced the place to Lin Xun.

“For thousands of years, most of the elites in the Blood Kill Camp have been sent to guard the Blood Kill Battlefield.”

“Additionally, the most elite army of the empire and many cultivators are stationed there all year round.”

“It is a turbulent, bloody, and dark world full of death. Countless experts of the empire have been buried there in the past thousands of years.”

“The warriors of the empire exchanged their lives and blood for the prosperity and peace of the empire!”

“But…very few people know about this.”

Lin Xun quietly listened. He began to form a vague impression of Blood Kill Battlefield.

”Words can’t describe the ruthlessness of Blood Kill Battlefield. You will understand when you get there.”

“I just want you to remember that surviving is the same as victory! And to survive, you must not put your faith in luck!”

“This is an ongoing war between the empire and the Magi Brute Race. It has been going on for thousands of years. Only by killing can the endless years of hatred be resolved!”

“Many years ago, the founding emperor once said that one’s merciful nature on the Blood Kill Battlefield may cause the empire to lose a piece of territory!”

“Remember, survive!”

Zhao Tailai handed an animal skin manual to Lin Xun. “This contains some information about the Blood Kill Battlefield. Someone will arrange missions for you when you arrive at the campground.”

Lin Xun received the manual and, without flipping through it, he asked, “How long will I be going this time?”

“At least three months and at most half a year,” Zhao Tailai stated. “I know you urgently want to go to the Ancient Wasteland Domain. When you return, I will help you find a way to go there.”

“Do you still find it strange why you were chosen?” Zhao Tailai suddenly asked.

Lin Xun nodded honestly.

“It’s very simple. This is the emperor’s arrangement. If you earn outstanding military achievements there, then the empire can justifiably provide full protection for the Lin Clan.”

“You will leave for the Ancient Wasteland Domain one day. The Mind Cleansing Peak Lin Clan will need the protection of the empire if you want it to stand forever. Do you want anything bad to happen to the Lin Clan after you leave?”

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes. “That’s a good reason.”

The corners of Zhao Tailai’s lips curled upwards. “You still don’t understand. What I mean is that, if one day, Yun Qingbai comes to the empire, you won’t need to worry about him harming your Lin Clan!”

Lin Xun trembled inwardly, his gaze shifted to Zhao Tailai.

Zhao Tailai said aloud, “That is the emperor’s promise to you!”

“Okay!” Lin Xun took a deep breath, dispelling all doubts in his mind.

……

As he stepped off the carriage, an unfamiliar ancient hall came into his view.

The entrance to the hall was hung with a sign—The Great Blood Kill Hall!

In front of the great hall stood an ancient teleportation array.

Lin Xun stepped forward in amazement and studied the teleportation array closely. “Is this from ancient times?"

“Good eyesight!” Zhao Tailai praised, “As expected of the youngest rune founder in the empire.”

Lin Xun rolled his eyes. “Everyone knows that only Saints who can control space can set up such teleportation arrays, and there aren’t any Saints in the empire. Also, the array is shrouded in an ancient aura. Anyone can tell that it’s from ancient times.”

“Who said that there are no saints in the empire?” Zhao Tailai asked.

Lin Xun exclaimed, “There is?”

Zhao Tailai shook his head. “I don’t know, but you can’t deny that there might be.” He impatiently motioned his hand as he spoke, “Hurry, we need to reach the Blood Kill Battlefield before the sun sets. It will be troublesome once night falls!”

Lin Xun was silent for a moment before he said, “Elder, I don’t want something similar to happen again while I am away.”

He was talking about the crisis on Mind Cleansing Peak after he returned from the Spirit Burial Sea.

“Don’t worry, if anything happens to Mind Cleansing Peak, I will personally smash the doors of the Zuo and Qin clans,” Zhao Tailai reassured in the most domineering tone.

Lin Xun was taken aback at first, but then he couldn’t help laughing.

Buzz!

Without further hesitation, Lin Xun, wielding a bow and blade and carrying a bag, stepped into the teleportation array and vanished amidst cryptic rumbling.

“Kid, do well, otherwise it will be difficult to pay back for the meal in the Rotating Stars Hibernating Moon House…” Zhao Tailai murmured before he left in a hurry.

……

In the imperial palace.

A man in white was sat up straight in front of a desk, wielding his writing brush. He had an indescribably majestic and handsome appearance.

𝚏𝕣𝐞𝗲𝐰𝕖𝐛𝐧𝕠𝕧𝚎𝚕.𝐜𝚘𝗺

The white-clothed man asked without turning around, “Has he left?”

Zhao Tailai walked across the hall and nodded. “He just left. He should be able to reach the campground before sunset.”

The man in white nodded and lifted the sheet of paper. “What do you think of these words?”

Zhao Tailai looked over and saw a line of large calligraphy writing on the violet glory flower pattern paper.

Young phoenixes sing clearer and louder than old phoenixes!

The strokes were powerful but elegant, like dragons piercing through the back of the paper and they looked like they were about to take flight from the paper.

“What good writing!”

Zhao Tailai’s eyes lit up. Given his ability, he could tell that the calligraphy painting was imbued with the imperial dao of the man in white!

Thud!

The man in white took out a big purple-gold jade imperial seal and stamped it on the corner of the painting before he handed it to Zhao Tailai. “Send it to the Mind Cleansing Peak Lin Clan later.”

Zhao Tailai said emotionally, “The kid won’t need to worry anymore.”

The man in white smiled. “It seems that he couldn’t fully believe in the promise that the empire made to him before. It’s normal. After all, he didn’t grow up in the empire. Lu Boya must have never told him matters about the empire.”

When Zhao Tailai was about to leave, he couldn’t help asking, “Older Brother, I still don't understand why you insist on sending him to the Blood Kill Battlefield.”

The man in white leaned back in his chair and gazed out of the window at the azure sky, his eyes as unfathomable as the ocean. “For thousands of years, the Magi Brute Race has destroyed and ruined the territory of our empire. Countless heroes of the empire have died on the battlefield. They have sacrificed so much for today’s peace and prosperity.”

After a pause, he continued, “I want to change this! So I asked Lin Xun to go to the Blood Kill Battlefield!”

Zhao Tailai exclaimed in surprise, “Are you saying that Lin Xun has the ability to change the situation?”

The man in white shook his head. “There is a glimmer of hope, but some hope is better than no hope.”

When Zhao Tailai left the palace, his emotions were still churning like the choppy sea. He was still thinking over the same question.

Is he overestimating Lin Xun?

The situation hasn’t changed in thousands of years, can he...change it?

Zhao Tailai couldn’t find an answer.

……

The Mind Cleansing Peak.

“Young phoenixes sing clearer and louder than old phoenixes!”

When the calligraphy painting arrived from the imperial palace, Spirit Vulture smiled while Lin Zhong was so excited that he lost his composure.

He recognized the handwriting because he had also received a calligraphy painting in the past. It was written with only two words: White Casanova!

“From now on, there will be no more worries on Mind Cleansing Peak,” Spirit Vulture sighed softly.

Xiaoke, Third Old Zhu, Scarlet Eagle King, Lin Huaiyuan and others were overwhelmed with emotions. The Lin Clan was able to reach such a status all because of Lin Xun!

“Xiaoke, remember to take care of Xia Zhi,” Spirit Vulture urged.

Xiaoke nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry, Xia Zhi is Lin Xun’s most beloved. Lin Xun is a little upset that he couldn’t say goodbye to Xia Zhi in person before he left.”

Everyone fell silent.

The mysterious and amazing little girl Xia Zhi was still in deep slumber. No one knew when she would wake up.

Toady was still in closed-door cultivation in the Nameless Pagoda.

……

Bang!

As Lin Xun's feet touched the ground, a wave of smoke and dust suddenly whirled in the air, bringing a pungent waft of blood and rotting corpses.

With the Broken Blade strung across his back, the No-Nonsense Bow hanging from his belt, and a bag in his hand, Lin Xun came to an unfamiliar world.

He raised his eyes and surveyed the surroundings. The sky and the earth were dreary, the fields were vast but barren, and the undulating mountains were desolate with not a blade of grass to be found.

Decaying and crushed bones were buried in the dust and gravel, and the air reeked of blood and decaying corpses.

The world was dark, bleak, and full of depressing gray colors.

Hu—

Lin Xun exhaled a mouthful of turbid air. Immediately, he realized that no life force existed in the world. It was filled with nothing but the stench of blood and the aura of death.

Most importantly, there was no aeth power!

“Blood Kill Battlefield...Let’s see how cruel and bloody you are!”

With a flash, a Hornless Ice Dragon seemed to be swiftly diving down the cliffs, speeding in the opposite direction of the setting sun.

“In the opposite direction of the setting sun, where the sun rises, is the campground of our empire”

That was the first note in the animal skin manual that Zhao Tailai gave him.

The second note—

“The sky is prohibited. If you fly, you will be targeted by everyone!”

So, Lin Xun chose to travel on foot.