Chapter 783 (1): Who Is Fiddling With the Strings?

The battles on both the eastern and western fronts did not collapse instantly, but neither did they drag into a prolonged deadlock. Instead, after a brief stalemate of roughly half an hour, both fronts suddenly began to crumble.

The eastern front, being the smaller engagement, fell apart first. Huangfu Qing abandoned her pursuit of Bo’e and turned back to assist Zhao Changhe and his allies, who were on the verge of being overwhelmed in their siege against Tngri.

Tngri found himself unable to divide his attention between the deteriorating main battlefield on the western front and the intensifying pressure from this new threat. The arrival of Huangfu Qing as reinforcements played a decisive role. This was not merely because her cultivation surpassed that of Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling, but because the three of them could use a battle formation. It was the very same formation they had previously used to slay the Dao Lord, uniting the forces of sun, moon, and stars into the Heaven-Earth-Man Formation. This synergy elevated Zhao Changhe and Yue Hongling’s combat power significantly.

Huangfu Qing’s movements were never arbitrary. Every single one of her decisions was meticulously planned and calculated. She certainly was not here just to kick a wretched tortoise out of the fight. Definitely not.

Interestingly, even their supporting lineup remained the same, with Li Shentong and Yuxu’s Taiji Diagram. In fact, this iteration of the formation was even stronger than before. Back when they fought the Dao Lord, Yuxu had been completely countered by their opponent. He had been little more than a burden, contributing only by using his blood to forcefully materialize the Dao Lord’s form. His combat ability had been nullified, forcing Li Shentong to spend considerable effort protecting him. But now, the Taiji Diagram was an ancient divine treasure, once the very vessel of the Dao Lord, containing the essence of Yin and Yang, the mysteries of heaven and earth. It was far more effective in this battle than Yuxu had ever been in the fight against the Dao Lord.

If the Dao Lord had been powerless against this formation, then Tngri was not faring any better. He did have the advantage of being in his own domain, where he could gather power from the region’s qi veins and the faith of his followers. But the wounds inflicted by Xia Longyuan had never fully healed, effectively neutralizing his supposed superiority. In the end, he was merely a slightly stronger version of the Dao Lord.

What made his situation even more dire was that while his opponents wielded divine artifacts, he had none. Not only was he without such tools, but his ultimate technique could be absorbed and countered by his own divine axe, preventing him from unleashing his full destructive power.

As the battle continued, his disadvantage grew increasingly apparent. Worse yet, he could feel himself weakening.

With the army in retreat, the qi veins wavered. With his inability to “watch over” his people, their faith began to crumble. In the hearts of the Grasslands’ people, their god was losing his divine authority. His home-field advantage was rapidly eroding. If the western front collapsed and Huangfu Yongxian stormed the royal court, with Mobei overrun by Han forces and the tribal factions each looking out for themselves, would this land still be his domain?

It would not.

He once prophesied Xia Longyuan’s fate, but now, fate had turned against him. The words he had once spoken had come full circle, now applying to his own downfall. Once his connection to the region’s qi veins was severed, he would be nothing more than a wounded warrior, perhaps one even weaker than the Dao Lord had been.

The one advantage he had over the Dao Lord was that he was not trapped by the blind woman’s spatial restraints. If he wished to leave, he could.

Tngri was at his strongest within his own Divine Temple. The accumulated qi veins of an entire era coursed through its foundations, reinforcing him with an almost impenetrable shield. Combined with the intricate defenses he had meticulously crafted over the years, the Divine Temple’s secret realm was his ultimate sanctuary. Even at his peak, Xia Longyuan had never dared to charge into its depths. And among his current opponents, none of them had broken into the second layer of the Profound Control Realm. They probably would not even be able to breach the secret realm’s entrance.

Of course, he had never wanted to retreat into his temple before. He had planned to crush his enemies out in the open. But now, with the battlefield in utter shambles, what was the point of pride?

Boom!

With a mighty swing of his axe, a surge of violent energy blasted Li Shentong backward. Tngri followed up with a ferocious kick, dispersing the Taiji image, freeing himself from the suffocating grind of Yin and Yang. In the next instant, his form turned into a streak of divine light and vanished from sight.

All that remained in the air was his venomous curse, “Zhao Changhe! If you have the guts, come to my temple... Otherwise, the day I recover will be the day the Central Plains is annihilated!”

Would Zhao Changhe dare to attack the Divine Temple?

Tngri was almost certain that he would not dare.

After all, he had time on his side. He could recover, and Zhao Changhe could grow stronger, so why would Zhao Changhe insist on forcing a deadly confrontation now? His northern campaign had already achieved its primary objectives. It made far more sense for someone like Zhao Changhe, who advanced in cultivation at a monstrous speed, to wait a year or two and bet on outpacing Tngri’s recovery. That was the logical choice.

Tngri’s figure disappeared in the blink of an eye. Zhao Changhe did not give chase. Instead, he suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Yue Hongling rushed forward to support him, her voice filled with urgency, “How are you?”

Zhao Changhe popped a pill into his mouth and took a moment to regulate his breath before saying, “I’ll live.”

The divine axe still had not fully accepted him as its master. Using it purely based on his limited affinity with lightning to block an attack from a second-layer Profound Control Realm powerhouse, he was bound to suffer a severe backlash. His injuries were far worse than they appeared. In truth, had Tngri not chosen to retreat and instead pressed on, Zhao Changhe might have been the first to break.

The most fragile thread of this entire battle had been right here in their clash. If they had failed to hold Tngri back, everything else would have unraveled.

For now, at least, they had bought themselves a moment to breathe.

Huangfu Qing asked, “What’s the plan now?”

“We go straight for the temple, break inside, and end this in one decisive strike. What else?” Zhao Changhe slowly straightened, his voice quiet yet unwavering. “We can’t afford to gamble on whether our cultivation will surpass his recovery speed. He’s unshackled now. He can strike at any moment, and we can’t be on guard against him forever. As long as he remains, the entire Grasslands could unite under a new khanate or khaganate at any time, dragging this war on for another century. We’ve already fought this far. We can’t leave such a massive threat for future generations. No matter what, we must finish this now.”

He paused before turning to Li Shentong. “Sect Master Li, how’s your condition?”

Li Shentong, clearly injured as well, had been taking time to recover. After a moment of silent adjustment, he shook his head. “Nothing too serious... You were the one who bore the brunt of his divine lightning, not me.”

Zhao Changhe said, “But the coming battle will be far more dangerous than this one. This time, we were only stalling him, not fighting to the death.”

Li Shentong chuckled. “You don’t even ask your own women, but you’re concerned about me?”

“...” Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment before replying, “They and I are of one heart and mind. There’s no need for me to ask them anything.”

Li Shentong smirked. “You don’t need to ask me about this either. But if you want my opinion, there’s one thing I’d like to say.”

Zhao Changhe paused. “Please speak, Sect Master Li.”

Li Shentong spoke plainly, “The matter of land reform and education in Bashu is completely beyond me. If you care about it, do it yourself.”

Bashu hasn’t even submitted yet. Do it myself? How?

Zhao Changhe pondered the underlying meaning behind those words. He did not press further but simply clasped his hands and said, “I understand.”

No more words were exchanged. In the next instant, their figures flickered, crossing hundreds of li in a breath, and they arrived atop the Sacred Mountain.

Below them stood the grand and imposing Divine Temple. From this vantage point, they could see the turmoil inside and outside its walls. It was clear that word of Bo’e’s crushing defeat had already reached them.

And yet, Bo’e’s shattered army was still being pursued on the road, not even close to returning...

“This so-called god is rather selfish,” Yue Hongling muttered under her breath.

Indeed, on his way back, Tngri could have at least attempted to rally his routed forces or, at the very least, saved the heavily wounded Bo’e. Yue Hongling and Huangfu Qing had been keeping their divine senses locked onto the battlefield, prepared to intervene if the pursuing Han troops encountered any difficulties.

But in the end, there was no need.

Tngri, too afraid to waste even a moment, had abandoned them entirely, letting the retreating army collapse just so he could return to his temple faster.

Zhao Changhe said, “From everything I’ve seen over the years, they’re all a bit selfish... The Sea Emperor’s so-called protection of the ocean dwellers is nothing more than a means to harvest faith. The Dao Lord driving Yuxu to spread the Dao was for the same purpose. The tngri’s supposed guardianship of the Grasslands is no different. In their eyes, mortals are nothing more than ants, tools to provide them with nourishment. The mere act of sparing a thought for them is already considered an act of divine grace.”

Huangfu Qing lifted her gaze toward the sky. Twilight had begun to settle, casting streaks of crimson across the heavens, but no stars had yet emerged.

Softly, she asked, “And the Night Emperor? Is she the same?”

Zhao Changhe was momentarily stunned before letting out a laugh. “If there is any deity who is different from the rest, aside from the elusive one who embodies the spirit of the land itself... I’d say the Night Emperor is at least somewhat better.”

Huangfu Qing looked at him in shock. “You... How do you know that?”

“If I’m not mistaken, when the last era collapsed, the heavenly realm shattered... yet the mortal realm remained intact. That was because of the Night Emperor and Piaomiao. They paid a heavy price for it.” Zhao Changhe exhaled slowly, pausing for a moment before adding, “For that alone, whatever else the Night Emperor has done... I can forgive.”

The people present exchanged glances, a bit bewildered.

What did the Night Emperor do to require forgiveness? And why

your

forgiveness in particular? Besides, you’ve taken the Night Emperor’s place, yet there was no reaction. She’s most likely long dead.

* * *

Far away, high above Hangu Pass, the Ye sisters had been silently facing each other for days without a single word.

At this moment, Ye Jiuyou suddenly chuckled and said, “Oh my, he forgives you.”

The blind woman’s face remained expressionless.

“It’s a bit like a child pointing at an adult and declaring, ‘I forgive you.’ But isn’t that rather cute?” Ye Jiuyou teased with a blink. “No wonder our esteemed Night Emperor doesn’t seem the least bit offended.”

The blind woman finally spoke, “Why would I be upset over such childish words?”

Ye Jiuyou laughed. “He usurped your position as Night Emperor, stole your faith, seized your followers... oh, and he’s even been taking some of them into bed. And yet, you’re still not angry?”

The blind woman replied calmly, “The path of the Night Emperor is merely something I walked and then abandoned. I have long since moved beyond it. Why would I look back?”

“So why are you making him look back?”

The blind woman did not answer but instead posed a question of her own. “In our wager, it seems you’re about to lose. Are you putting on this little act to cover your nerves?”

Ye Jiuyou lowered her gaze. Below them, Hangu Pass was engulfed in battle cries and the clash of steel, the siege dragging on.

This was the front that would be locked in a prolonged struggle. If any great shift were to happen, it would depend on when Desolate Calamity would recover. For now, there was nothing particularly interesting to see here.

Her gaze turned southward, and her eyes narrowed slightly.