Silence lingered in the pavilion for a long while.
Upon hearing Li Baiyi’s words, Qin Xuance froze for a full half quarter of an hour. After taking the jade slip from Xiao Yishan’s hand, he fled in a panic.
"Little brat!" Xiao Yishan scoffed coldly as he watched Qin Xuance’s wretched retreating back.
Lin Beichen smiled. He actually admired Qin Xuance quite a bit. Although the boy did not cultivate Martial Arts, his strategic planning on the battlefield possessed somewhat of the flair of the Soldier Immortal, Liu Shenzhi.
"Elder Xiao, did you take Xiaohuang as your disciple?" Lin Beichen turned his head and asked.
"Just for fun!" Xiao Yishan replied without a care.
Lin Beichen choked on Xiao Yishan’s response, but a cheerful smile soon appeared on his face. "This is truly a coincidence. A few months ago, I had the intention of having Xiaohuang take you as his master. To think... haha, what destiny."
"Grandpa, do you know my master?" Lin Huang asked.
Lin Beichen nodded. Back when the Great Qin Dynasty was besieged by the Great Chu Dynasty, Lin Beichen, acting out of their alliance’s moral obligation, led an army of a hundred thousand to their aid, only to be ambushed halfway by the Soldier Immortal, Liu Shenzhi.
That was one of Lin Beichen’s rare and devastating defeats. His hundred-thousand-strong army was torn to pieces, and even he himself was severely wounded. Just as total annihilation seemed imminent, they encountered Xiao Yishan riding an old black ox, passing by the battlefield.
On that day, the remaining seven thousand soldiers felt as though they were witnessing an Exiled Immortal descending to the mortal realm. They watched with their own eyes as Xiao Yishan waved his hand, tearing through the Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi. With just a single palm strike, he caused the mountains to collapse and the earth to shatter, sending rubble flying to blot out the sun.
With that palm strike, Xiao Yishan leveled a massive mountain.
He split the earth beneath his feet in two, forcefully cleaving open a cliff.
If that mountain had not been leveled and an abyss had not been carved across the battlefield, the surviving seven thousand soldiers—along with Lin Beichen—would have all perished in battle.
If that had happened, there would be no Divine General’s Mansion today.
Perhaps even the Great Xia Dynasty would have been overthrown.
Later, Lin Beichen went through many troubles to find Thousand Feet Cliff, thus getting acquainted with Xiao Yishan. However, the two were not close. For one, Lin Beichen was occupied with myriad affairs every day and had no free time; for another, Xiao Yishan had no interest in an old man.
Listening to Lin Beichen recount the past, Lin Huang smiled. He had previously wondered how to break this news to his grandfather. This worked out well; there was no need to explain anymore.
"Ah, number four, where does that busty, wide-hipped woman who entered the Divine General’s Mansion yesterday live? I’m going to go take a look!" Xiao Yishan said with a wicked gleam in his eyes, crossing his legs and picking his teeth after eating and drinking to his heart’s content.
Lin Huang sprayed out a mouthful of tea. "Master, you’d better go to sleep early. Elder Shen Diexin is my sister’s mentor. Your disciple would like to live a few more days."
Beside him, Lin Beichen’s face twitched uncontrollably.
"Look at that cowardice of yours, smaller than the eye of a needle," Xiao Yishan said disdainfully as he swaggered out of the pavilion. His voice drifted back from afar. "That woman can barely be considered an Array Master. If you want to enter this path, you can consult her more in the future."
Some time later, the Imperial City grew relatively quiet. Even Crown Prince Lingyun had entered secluded cultivation, preparing to break through to the Earth Element Realm.
The Divine General’s Mansion remained peaceful as well. After all, with the presence of Xiao Yishan, the Array Puppet, and Shen Diexin, even if the people from the Celestial Thunder Sect and Fengyu Tower wanted to stir up trouble, they didn’t have the guts.
Lin Huang was also in a state of semi-seclusion, absorbing Heaven and Earth Primordial Qi daily to elevate his realm while cultivating the Great Vajra Technique.
As for Array cultivation, he did not dabble in it lightly. After all, to enter the Array Path, he first had to alter his soul structure, which was a matter of life and death.
It wasn’t until less than a month remained before the life-and-death battle between Lin Huang and Crown Prince Lingyun that the Imperial City began to surge with unrest once again.
Because Pang Bai had been killed, the Great Chu Dynasty tore up its alliance treaty with Great Xia.
They mobilized an army of 1.8 million to attack the Great Xia Dynasty.
Using this as an excuse, the Royal Family ordered Zhao Changfeng to lead 400,000 troops to the border and issued a decree for the four great Princes to enter the Imperial City. An army of 200,000 was garrisoned in the outskirts of the Imperial City to prepare for future warfare.
In the royal court, memorials impeaching Lin Beichen piled up like a mountain.
They accused him of indulging Lin Huang in killing Pang Bai, sowing discord between the two dynasties, and putting the Imperial Dynasty in peril. They demanded he be stripped of his position as Grand Marshal of the Army.
The Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Personnel, and Ancestral Temple jointly petitioned to throw Lin Huang into the Celestial Prison. However, this was forcefully suppressed by Lin Beichen alone, since Pang Bai was not a citizen of the Great Xia Dynasty.
Outside the court, the uproar was deafening.
Scholars and literati held lofty discourses, their words as sharp as blades. They condemned Lin Huang for various grave sins: forcing out the Northern General Lu Hexi, causing thirteen members of the Divine General’s Mansion to strip off their armor in a single day, and ruining a pillar of the state.
They claimed he was an unbearable hedonist who had humiliated Prince Qin of the Ministry of Personnel.
Now that the two dynasties were at war, the flames of battle would spread everywhere, and countless commoners were about to suffer the miseries of chaos. The source of all this was solely due to Lin Huang killing Pang Bai.
He alone would cause the deaths of tens of thousands of citizens in the Great Xia Dynasty.
He was guilty of the most heinous crimes!
He deserved the Instant Decisive Cut!
Outside the Imperial Palace hall and the Divine General’s Mansion, countless commoners held demonstrations and petitioned, demanding that Lin Huang be handed over and publicly executed to resolve the enmity with the Great Chu Dynasty.
Even the reputation of the Divine General’s Mansion plummeted to rock bottom, accused of harboring a sinner and secretly holding treacherous intentions of rebellion.
"Xiaohuang, don’t mind the rumors in the Imperial City. Grandpa is here to handle everything, but it’s best you don’t go out these next few days!" Lin Beichen consoled him. He was currently very worried about Lin Huang. Whether in the royal court or the Jianghu, whether pedantic scholars or common folk, everyone pinned the blame entirely on Lin Huang. They wanted nothing more than to eat him alive.
"It’s just the condemnation of the masses. It can’t shake me. Trying to destroy my spirit as well as my life—they’re underestimating me too much!" Lin Huang laughed coldly, his expression quite composed.
Could his killing of Pang Bai really trigger a war between the two dynasties?
Zhao Changfeng leading 400,000 troops to the distant border—was that not an attempt to divide the forces of the Divine General’s Mansion?
The four great Princes entering the Imperial City—was that truly to protect the sovereign, and not to annihilate the Divine General’s Mansion at an opportune moment?
Now that the reputation of the Divine General’s Mansion had fallen to its lowest point, and there were even rumors of premeditated rebellion, wouldn’t its eventual destruction be considered deeply gratifying to the public?
Lin Huang clapped his hands and sneered. Gazing in the direction of the Royal Family and the Eastern Palace, his eyes narrowed with a sliver of murderous intent. "Could they finally no longer hold back from making a move?"
The situation was treacherous and obscure. Ordinary people couldn’t see through it, but how could Lin Huang not? He had already figured out the subsequent development of events:
In the life-and-death battle, Crown Prince Lingyun slaying Lin Huang would be carrying out justice on behalf of heaven!
Left without an heir, Lin Beichen would lead the Divine General’s Mansion into a rebellion out of sheer grief.
The armies of the four great Princes would enter the Imperial City to quell the rebellion, eradicating the Divine General’s Mansion.
The Great Xia Dynasty would once again return to peace and prosperity, displaying the posture of a flourishing golden age.
In the end, all these incidents were merely the Royal Family using the allied nation’s troops, the scholars’ pens, and the commoners’ mouths to smear the Divine General’s Mansion, pushing it to the depths of moral depravity.
Once the Divine General’s Mansion was destroyed, it would no longer be seen as the execution of meritorious ministers, but rather the extermination of treacherous rebels. They would have removed a massive threat while simultaneously gagging the gossiping mouths of the masses.
"Since you want to play with fire and burn yourselves, I’ll gladly play along!" Lin Huang sneered. The Royal Family’s scheme had already commenced. It appeared flawless, but was actually riddled with loopholes.
Would Lin Huang definitely lose in the life-and-death battle?
With Great Chu marching its army over, could their disorganized forces resist the Great Chu Dynasty’s 800,000 Great Halberd Warriors without the 600,000 Iron Cavalry of the Divine General’s Mansion?
Having laid down its arms for over twenty years, had the Divine General’s Mansion truly been reduced to fish on a chopping block, ready to be slaughtered by anyone?
"Xiaohuang, focus on your cultivation. Leave everything inside and outside the Divine General’s Mansion to me. Grandpa refuses to believe it. Even the Soldier Immortal, Liu Shenzhi, was defeated by my hands back then. Can a few small fish and shrimp really stir up giant waves?!" Lin Beichen snorted coldly. A murderous aura that hadn’t appeared in years seeped from his slightly wrinkled face. He was not a foolishly loyal man who would meekly submit to maltreatment.
Even if he were loyal, his loyalty belonged to the commoners of the world, not this Royal Family with the surname Ling.
Lin Huang nodded, not saying much more. What he needed most right now was to cultivate diligently. As long as he defeated Crown Prince Lingyun in the life-and-death battle, this scheme would collapse on its own.
"You’re also looking forward to the life-and-death battle, aren’t you, Crown Prince!" Lin Huang curled his lips into a cold smile.
Later, in the small courtyard.
Lin Huang planted his feet and threw punches. His fists glowed with a silvery-white hue as he relentlessly battered a cold iron pillar. Every strike appeared incredibly heavy, the THUD THUD THUD continuously resounding. The sheer force left dense dents all over the pillar.
"Slow down your punching speed, and keep increasing the force!" Xiao Yishan lounged in his Grandmaster’s Chair, leisurely sipping wine while shaking his head as he watched Lin Huang punch.
Lin Huang nodded and threw another punch in accordance with Xiao Yishan’s instructions.
"The root of all variations in the world’s Martial Arts lies in the Profound Sea. Even for a Martial Technique like the Great Vajra Technique, if you want to cultivate it to Great Success, you must integrate Profound Sea Qi into every move and stance. Only then can you temper your muscles and bones faster and amplify the power unleashed with each punch."
Xiao Yishan continuously offered guidance. He spoke of elementary Martial Arts theories that Lin Huang had never deeply explored before.
"When your entire body emanates a silvery-white hue, the Great Vajra Technique will have reached the Mahayana Realm. However, for a Martial Arts Body Refining Technique, the golden hue is merely the starting point. Even if your Great Vajra Technique attains Mahayana, you still haven’t taken the first step on the long path of Martial Arts Body Refining!
"In Musashi’s ’Three Thousand Dharma Bodies’, there are numerous theories regarding Body Refining. Take the time to study it closely and comprehend how to cultivate Primordial Qi while simultaneously refining your body, as well as how to use Primordial Qi to temper your flesh so that they complement each other!"
In the small courtyard, Xiao Yishan poured out his knowledge all at once, regardless of how much Lin Huang actually absorbed. This routine continued for a full half month.
It wasn’t until Lin Huang’s entire body turned silvery-white and a single punch from him snapped the cold iron pillar in half.
The Great Vajra Technique, Mahayana Realm.
Human Element Seventh Heaven.
From his Grandmaster’s Chair, Xiao Yishan smiled and nodded. Although it was three days later than he had anticipated, Lin Huang’s talent was just what it was.
"How does it feel?" Xiao Yishan asked.
"My strength has increased threefold," Lin Huang said after sensing the power within his body. A faint smile curled the corners of his lips; he could feel the astonishing explosive force behind his fists.
"For the final half month, stop cultivating the Great Vajra Technique. It boasts tremendous power, but its speed is an inherent flaw." Xiao Yishan stood up and walked over to Lin Huang. "If you want to defeat Crown Prince Lingyun, this bit of strength isn’t enough!"
"Do you have a way, Master?" Lin Huang asked.
"Reaching Mahayana in the Vajra Skill makes your physical body tough enough to resist attacks below the Earth Element Realm. Relatively speaking, however, its attacks aren’t fast enough. To defeat Crown Prince Lingyun, you need speed—extreme speed, so fast that your enemy has absolutely no time to react!"
With that, Xiao Yishan withdrew a long blade from his Storage Ring. "This is a Profound Tier Martial Technique known as Three Thousand Miles. Watch closely."
In the small courtyard, Lin Huang didn’t even see Xiao Yishan make a move, yet a strand of hair in front of his forehead suddenly snapped and fluttered to the ground. He hadn’t even sensed the slightest trace of Blade Qi.
"Did you see it clearly?" Xiao Yishan asked.
Lin Huang shook his head.
"I’ll slow my speed down by half." Xiao Yishan struck with the blade again, and another strand of Lin Huang’s hair was severed.
"Did you see it clearly this time?"
Lin Huang shook his head again. He hadn’t seen Xiao Yishan move at all.
Exasperated, Xiao Yishan slowed his speed down by tenfold and severed another lock of hair from Lin Huang’s forehead.
"How about this time?"
Lin Huang looked awkward. "Master, you’re too fast!"
Xiao Yishan’s eyes widened. He glared at Lin Huang with fiery eyes for a full quarter of an hour before finally grinding his teeth and spitting out, "Piss off!"