Chapter 723 – Saving Northern Liang

　　This was something Youshan Linggyu dared not even dream about.

　　It was also the past that Yan Tianhen yearned for in his dreams but could never obtain.

　　Lin Xuanzhi sighed when he saw Yan Tianhen’s extreme caution.

　　It’s been too hard.

　　It had truly been too hard for them to walk all the way from martial brothers to enemies and then to lovers. At first, when Lin Xuanzhi remembered events on the Phoenix Terrace, he did feel angry and shameful — this had nothing to do with whether he was top or bottom, nor did it have anything to do with who he was being intimate with. Instead, it concerned the dignity of a man — a proud and arrogant cultivator who had always lived a clean and honest life.

　　But when he closed the door, held that Killing Heart sword, and carefully reflected over the past, Lin Xuanzhi found that not all the chaotic and dark memories were miserable.

　　Was he completely innocent?

　　Could it be that he never indulged himself during that time, not even for a single second?

　　If he was being honest with himself, was he really at a disadvantage in that seemingly forceful and one-sided relationship? Didn’t a dark corner of his heart enjoy it with secret delight?

　　The answer was self-evident.

　　Lin Xuanzhi didn’t feel ashamed but felt regret instead.

　　If he could frankly admit his feelings at that time and still calmly cherish that person after experiencing that pain, then would he… not be so cruel as to hurt both Lingyu and himself, and pull out one of his ribs as the last farewell gift to an excited and expectant Youshan Lingyu?

　　The sword he stabbed into Lingyu’s heart only hurt his life, but the bone sword he gave Lingyu was killing his heart!

　　How regretful he was! How he loathed himself!

　　“I’ve always liked you.” Lin Xuanzhi held Yan Tianhen in his arms. THe back of his hand touched Yan Tianhen’s back, while his fist was clenched tightly. He said slowly and firmly, “I’ve liked you from the very beginning.”

　　Words were stuck in Yan Tianhen’s throat. He choked back his emotions with difficulty. “Don’t lie to me. Shixiong, don’t lie to me. I’ll believe that as the truth.”

　　I’ll believe everything you say.

　　I’m not smart, so don’t lie to me.

　　The lotus flowers in the pond were in full bloom, elegant and proud. They were just like the pond full of Snow Feather Weeping Lotuses on Spirit Sect’s back mountain, which was raised extremely well and always in full bloom.

　　Time and space seemed to overlap with scenes from ten thousand years ago.

　　That year and that night, the bold but enthusiastic young man nervously rushed to the bamboo forest where his Shixiong practiced the sword at night, his heart full of love and admiration.

　　Even his voice shrunk a little in nervousness as he said to the man in white who just finished a sword move. “Shixiong, Shixiong, actually, part of what I said at the Dao Conference today was true.”

　　“I, I truly like Shixiong and love Shixiong.”

　　“It’s not the kind of like between Master, Lian Hua, and Xi He.”

　　“It’s the kind where I want to become Dao companions with you, practice swords together in the morning, enjoy flowers and tea together, refine pills and treasures together, share the same bed and blanket, and hold hands for a lifetime.”

　　“Shixiong, can you… can you also like me?”

　　The young man who was a little overwhelmed by this sudden confession but still looked calm on the surface just used his pair of bottomless and deep eyes to stare unblinkingly at Lingyu, who was getting redder and redder.

　　Lingyu couldn’t get a response. He only heard the rustling breeze blowing on the leaves in the bamboo forest. He blushed bright red and whispered, “It doesn’t matter if Shixiong doesn’t like me now. If Shixiong doesn’t like me today, then I’ll tell Shixiong again tomorrow.”

　　One day, Shixiong will inevitably accept his feelings.

　　Just when the young man couldn’t stand the tense and oppressive atmosphere anymore and turned to run away, the Shixiong who never spoke before whispered softly behind him, “Okay.”

　　He answered Lingyu’s feelings, so he must accompany him through the four seasons, through the vicissitudes of life, and never allow anyone to bully him or wrong him again. He should never allow Lingyu to bear the burden and pain of the entire world all alone, in a place that Chang Sheng can’t see.

　　He owed Lingyu the sentence, “I like you too.”

　　So he’ll use an entire lifetime to repay it.

　　……

　　“It’ll take only four hours at most from here to Northern Liang City.” Yan Tianhen estimated the distance and time as he flew on the sword together with Lin Xuanzhi. They turned into a beam of light that flew towards Northern Liang City at the fastest speed possible.

　　Yan Tianhen originally planned to have Feng Jingyu, who was still in Northern Liang, fight Cangdi Fenglang. With Cangdi Fenglang’s current cultivation, although Feng Jingyu would have to expend some effort, he could still stop Cangdi Fenglang’s invasion.

　　Even if he failed, there were still You Ming and Yan Zhonghua as backup. But after thinking about it, Cangdi Fenglang’s whereabouts were mysterious. If he missed this opportunity to catch him alive, then he’s afraid it wouldn’t be easy to capture him in the future. After weighing the decision, Yan Tianhen decided to visit Northern Liang in person and meet Cangdi Fenglang again.

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen didn’t tell anyone else their whereabouts. They merely left a message for Hai Kuanglang and Zhan Fengting, then secretly went on their way.

　　When the two finally reached Northern Liang, they saw the dense evil Qi covering the entire sky above Northern Liang, as well as Heaven’s Wail. Inside the evil Qi, they could even make out a golden-red flame that constantly moved around, like a needle to threat. That was clearly Feng Jingyu’s flames after he turned into a phoenix.

　　Yan Tianhen frowned slightly. “Dage, let’s help them!”

　　Lin Xuanzhi cut through the evil Qi with his sword. His sword moved as fast as lightning, cutting apart all the evil creatures who lunged at him and completely purifying these evil Qi so that they would never condense into solid shapes again.

　　Yan Tianhen was half a step later than Lin Xuanzhi. Instead of using a sword, he made a hand seal and cut his fingertip. He drew a talisman in the air with his blood and started chanting. In an instant, most of the evil creatures that had been attacking the cultivators actually turned to tear at the other evil creatures. The scene suddenly fell into chaos as the situation turned.

　　Evil creatures were everywhere in Northern Liang. Perhaps because he’d been influenced by Yan Tianhen, the evil creatures Cangdi Fenglang created were no longer limited to humanoids, but included beast shapes too.

　　Different structures required different amounts of evil Qi, so the resulting creation’s speed and power would also be different. Yan Tianhen cursed inside his heart, but he didn’t stop running through the streets of Northern Liang, where the residents were fleeing in all directions. Everywhere Yan Tianhen went, he made these evil creatures massacre one another.

　　“To eliminate evil Qi by using evil Qi. This is the only way to truly kill evil creatures.” That was what Dao Zu told Lingyu back then.

　　Cries and screams mingled. The troops guarding the border had long been recalled, ever since they saw Heaven’s Wail appear over Northern Liang City. Combined with the soldiers already stationed in Northern Liang City, the fifty thousand army should’ve been enough. However, this attack was too sudden and too fierce, so much so that the soldiers were all caught off guard. The city’s residents were the most miserable. Although they lived in the cold and bitter Northern Liang for many years and even possessed Daoist techniques, their cultivations weren’t high. When they encountered such ferocious and cruel evil creatures, they could only be hunted down and killed.

　　Corpses littered the ground, and blood soaked into the long street.

　　At this moment, nobody cared about the hatred or grudges between them. Their common goals were merely to survive and protect Northern Liang.

　　“How– How can this be?” Yan Huaizhen stood on the palace’s high terrace as he gazed up at the torn sky and those endless monsters. He couldn’t help trembling all over.

　　He grew up in the royal family, where he’d been treated with worship and care. Even though he later left the Royal Heavenly Capital in order to accumulate strength and came to a miserable land like Northern Liang, his boundless fortune still allowed him to win the favor and admiration of the Master of Northern Liang’s Ling family, Ling Chigu. Thus, he had never truly suffered hardships.

　　When had he ever experienced a battlefield personally and seen such terrible scenes?

　　Yan Huaizhen’s entire body trembled, and he took half a step back. In front of him were hundreds of soldiers who were fighting the evil creatures that had broken into the palace. Behind him stood Tu Feng, who had an uncaring expression.

　　“Ling Chigu, where’s Ling Chigu?!” Yan Huaizhen roared, “Have him protect this King! Where has he gone?”

　　“Answering Your Highness, General Ling went to defend the city gates and is not currently in the palace,” a bodyguard said.

　　Yan Huaizhen said angrily, “Have him get back here! Doesn’t he know just who it is that he should truly protect? Have him return quickly!”

　　“I’m here.” Tu Feng took Yan Huaizhen’s hand and smiled lightly. “What does it matter whether Ling Chigu is here or not?”

　　Yan Huaizhen’s words suddenly got stuck in his throat.

　　That’s right, Tu Feng was still around. Tu Feng was not inferior to Ling Chigu in terms of both strategy and cultivation, and he was even devoted to Yan Huaizhen. At this time, he should clearly believe in Tu Feng without any doubt, but how come his heart always favored Ling Chigu?

　　Yan Huaizhen shook his head in an attempt to throw those doubts out of his mind. He took a deep breath, held Tu Feng’s hand back, and forced himself to smile at Tu Feng, “You’re right. It’s just that I’ve never seen such a battle before. I was frightened for a moment.”

　　Tu Feng narrowed his eyes slightly and looked up at the evil Qi continuously entering the Nine Lands in the sky. He said calmly, “It’s nothing more than a small skirmish. There’s no need to concern yourself. That phoenix, on the other hand…”

　　Tu Feng stopped talking right here.

　　That phoenix, on the other hand, is the natural enemy of evil creatures and needs to be destroyed as soon as possible so that in the future, he won’t spew fire and burn evil spirits to ash.

　　After tasting the sweetness, Feng Jingyu rushed directly into the horde of evil creatures and even made all kinds of high-difficulty maneuvers in midair. Even though he was situated inside the battlefield, he still looked like he was playing delightfully. After all, one-sided slaughter always made people happy.

　　Cangdi Fenglang, who fled and came to Northern Liang in order to make it his headquarters, suddenly changed his expression when he saw Feng Jingyu, turning blue with anger.

　　He kept making the evil creatures form various shapes as he stood high in the clouds and looked down at Northern Liang City’s chaotic battle.