After several autumn winds passed, the autumn chill already exceptionally strong, the yellow leaves outside the windows fluttered between the courtyards’ black tiles and white walls in a picturesque manner.
Lin Xi reached out his hand to lightly stroke his own chest. After forcefully coughing a few times, coughing out some black-red colored bloody foam and breathing heavily several times, he then slowly sat back onto his bed, sending soul force through his body.
From East Scenery City to Meteor City, every single order involved the lives and deaths of endless people. His orders even made many Yunqin soldiers die before his eyes. Moreover, behind this great battle were the civilians of several provinces… When he saw Hua Jiyue afterwards, the amount of pressure he experienced was even more direct than what Zhantai Qiantang faced, a hundred times more serious.
During this period, he suffered all types of the truest and most painful mental blows , and even extreme fatigue, all of this made his soul force cultivation advance considerably. Moreover, right now, he was already no longer ‘Lin Second’, but rather ‘Lin Third’. This made it so that the time it took for him to reach Sacred Expert level could be shortened by a few years. However, in the end, when he saved Hua Jiyue, it was basically using his own body to block many of the blades meant for Hua Jiyue[1]. That was why his current injuries were extremely serious. When he began to rest, there was even a bit of a making progress only through great difficulty feeling.
Even though Gu Yunjing already brought him the military’s best medications, he understood his own body’s condition extremely well. Right now, he only had sixty to seventy percent of his usual strength, and he might need at least a month or so of rest before he could fight like normal again.
There were soft footsteps that sounded.
Lin Xi took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled. He looked towards the entrance.
“Lin Xi?”
A gentle voice sounded. It was Qin Xiyue’s voice.
“Please enter. I’ve become a sick patient again, so I am going to let my skin be thick, not get up to open the door for you.” Lin Xi said with a smile.
After a groan, Qin Xiyue dressed in ordinary green cloth clothes pushed open the door and entered. With a smile, she said, “Is there a need to be so polite?”
Lin Xi stared blankly.
Qin Xiyue looked at Lin Xi strangely, and then looked at her own body. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” Lin Xi woke up, laughing in an embarrassed manner. “Previously, I always saw you dressed in armor. Now that I see you in ordinary clothes, I was a bit caught off guard.”
“Then should I go back and change into a set of armor before I come talk to you?” Qin Xiyue shot Lin Xi a look, as if she didn’t care, but there was a bit of a blush that filled her face.
Lin Xi chuckled and said, “It’s not like I’m fighting against you, what would you change into armor for? Moreover, it was because you were pretty that I was a bit stunned. This look suits you.”
“Lin Xi, you really dare speak like this.” Qin Xiyue shook her head. She sat down on a chair in front of Lin Xi to his left. “Fortunately we all know what kind of person you are. If it was anyone else, we would have definitely thought you were some half-hearted lecher, someone who just shoots his mouth off.”
Lin Xi gave this extremely exquisite looking woman who could only be described with the world beautiful a look, laughing. “Could it be that I cannot even speak the truth?”
“Oil mouthed smooth talker.” Qin Xiyue looked at Lin Xi. For some reason, when most people in this city looked at Lin Xi, they looked at him with eyes carrying the reverence of looking at an eminent and unapproachable mountain, but when she looked at him, she became inwardly soft, feeling indescribable pity. It was because the others were always used to seeing Lin Xi’s strength, seeing that he would always give out the most precise orders during moments of crisis, that he would always be able to deal with the most powerful enemies. However, only she knew Lin Xi’s weakness and the sorry state he was in when he was in Green Luan Academy, she alone saw his helplessness and sorrow in Jadefall City. In her eyes, Lin Xi was an ordinary person, someone who was extremely real.
In this autumn tossed about by wind and rain, she looked at Lin Xi, thinking about the things that happened. The Lin Xi in her head was just like an ant with finite strength, but still shouldered things several times his own strength.
“Just tell me already, what did you seek me out for?” Qi Xiyue moved a strand of hair behind her ears, saying this quietly.
Lin Xi was a bit stunned again.
Qin Xiyue’s movements were naturally extremely beautiful, but right now, he couldn’t help but think of An Keyi. It was because An Keyi always made these types of movements.
“What is it now?” Qin Xiyue felt a bit embarrassed, the edges of her ears becoming a bit heated, not knowing why Lin XI was this strange today.
“Teacher An would always make the movements you made just now.” Lin Xi looked at her, saying quietly, “I don’t know if this can be considered the residual effects of the battle. In East Scenery City, I have previously thought that I wouldn’t be able to defend that city, that I would die there. Now that I have survived, I always feel like I should treasure each and every day I am together with all of you.”
Qin Xiyue’s brows jumped slightly, her embarrassment completely fading, her mind instead becoming a bit heavier.
“Actually, after returning to Green Luan Academy after Jadefall City, every single one of us have always felt like we were too weak, that we couldn’t offer much help.” She hung her head slightly, mysteriously thinking about Meng Bai who jumped off the cliff.
“Let’s not talk about these things.” Lin Xi laughed. He looked at Qin Xiyue and said, “Actually, I sought you out this time only because I wanted to ask about Zhang Ping… The previous battle situation was tense, we didn’t have much idle time at all. Now, there is news about everything else, only information about him is missing… I am wondering if he was just like Hua Jiyue, heading out to Great Mang to become a spy. I asked Hua Jiyue, but she doesn’t know, only saying that the day before Zhang Ping left Green Luan Academy, he seems to have sought you out, so I wanted to ask you if you know anything about him.”
“He only talked to me twice in Green Luan Academy, both times outside the training valley.” Qin Xiyue looked at Lin Xi in an unconvinced manner. “Did he really seek me out before he left? I didn’t meet with him?”
Lin Xi stared blankly. Then, he looked at Qin Xiyue, revealing a forced smile.
Qin Xiyue’s brows also furrowed, realizing that there was only that one opportunity. Zhang Ping went to look for her, but in the end still didn’t meet with her.
Lin Xi sighed and said, “Forget it, if there is a chance, I’ll just ask Vice Principal Xia.”
After saying this, he began to cough fiercely.
Qin Xiyue looked at Lin Xi’s fiercely coughing appearance, unknowingly extending her hands, about to pat his back. However, when she reached out her hand, it instead hung lightly.
Lin Xi’s coughing sounds gradually quieted, his breathing becoming smooth again.
“How are your injuries really like?” Qin Xiyue looked at him, asking this.
Lin Xi laughed and said, “If I just keep coughing, I’ll get used to it. Either way, even if I keep coughing, I won’t cough out a chunk of liver or lung.”
“You really don’t have a shred of decency.” Qin Xiyue was a bit annoyed, but soon afterwards, she became quiet. “Wen Xuanshu and the emperor’s struggle, who do you feel will win?”
Lin Xi became serious, saying quietly, “This is hard to say… On the surface, just the Central Continent Army alone is enough to suffocate the emperor. However, just like how Purgatory Mountain has always treated Wenren Cangyue as a sword, the emperor might also treat Wen Xuanshu as a sword, use him to deal with those senators. Even though he has gone a bit crazy, he might be a bit smarter than us. That is why he definitely has some strength he hasn’t revealed yet. That is why this time, it will still depend on which side’s revealed strength is a bit stronger.”
“It will depend on who has more secret weapons.” Qin Xiyue nodded. “However, regardless of who wins or loses, for Central Continent City and even for all of Yunqin, it doesn’t bring much benefits.”
“That is why right now, I am a bit too lazy to even try to think about what will happen in Central Continent City, about what will happen.” Lin Xi also nodded. He looked at the autumn winds shrouded Meteor City outside his windows. “What I am thinking about is just this side’s matters… If, during the following winter, this side cannot obtain enough provisions and military supplies, the situation will also become extremely terrible again.”
Qin Xiyue’s brows also furrowed deeply. She followed Lin Xi’s eyes, seeing the weeds growing on many eaves, unable to help but think… Since Lin Xi is thinking about these things, even if he wanted to deal with this issue, this type of difficult matter, would he be able to do anything about it?
What she didn’t think about was that what Lin Xi was really worried about was even more serious.
What Lin Xi was thinking about at this moment was that regardless of whether the emperor or Wen Xuanshu won, Gu Yunjing was an existence who played the most critical role in Yunqin… it was to the extent where he could say that Gu Yunjing even had the strength to contend against the emperor and Wen Xuanshu.
If Wen Xuanshu won, then he would naturally have to fight against Gu Yunjing. Gu Yunjing would thus face enemies from the front and back.
If the emperor won… the emperor couldn’t even tolerate those nine senators. Once the border pass stabilized, how could he tolerate Gu Yunjing whose strength at that time would be even greater than those nine senators?
This was what he was truly worried about during this Yunqin Empire autumn.
…
All of the silver-armored Central Continent Army, in all of Yunqin, compared to Jadefall or Dragon Snake army, might not necessarily be the army that was best at fighting or the most powerful, but they were definitely the army that was most well equipped.
Countless arrows screamed as they descended upon Yunqin Imperial Palace’s golden tiles.
Powerful crossbow arrows and blade pieces fiercely smashed against the Imperial Palace’s walls.
The silver tide-like Central Continent Army didn’t immediately smash forward, only using the power of the military equipment to send cold metal down on Yunqin Empire’s most dignified location.
Countless holes appeared on the golden roof tiles, the edges’ exquisitely sculpted bronze beasts smashed apart. Countless holes appeared on the walls as well, some of the palaces even having half of their structure collapsing.
The worlds’ most splendorous and majestic Imperial Palace groaned under the destruction.
For many people who had remained in the palace for a long time, this type of scenery was just like the most exquisite ancient flower vases being smashed one after another. It made them feel extremely pained.
However, within the Imperial Defense Study deep within the Imperial Palace, while looking at the waterfall-like metal stream outside the entrance, watching as the palace built through the efforts of several generations of Yunqin outstanding craftsmen was smashed to such a deformed state, Yunqin Emperor instead didn’t feel any distress. He only calmly looked at the palace filled with smoke and flames, feeling a bit of joy, quietly saying to himself, “Smash it… smash it all, only then can the new be created…”
Under his own freak like voice no one could hear, he made a gesture towards the high ranking officers outside his Imperial Defense Study, giving out an order, releasing his first secret weapon.
1. B14C6
