Chapter 1013 Entering the Third Rank!

The Prince spread out his hand.

During this time, Zheng Lin's relationship with his father had eased somewhat. In the end, he couldn't bear to refuse his old man's request and handed over his hand.

The father and son walked down the city steps together.

Below, the slaughter of prisoners was beginning, with screams and cries rising and falling.

But neither father nor son showed any discomfort on their faces.

The father walked steadily, and even the young son, the Prince, looked leisurely.

Not only that, the father and son were talking to each other, not at all disturbed by the bloody scene on the side.

"Why isn't Father wearing his python robe?"

Zheng Lin knew that his father loved the python robe embroidered by his mother most of all. In comparison, the royal clothes bestowed by the imperial court seemed a little... lacking.

But Zheng Lin had always worn the court's uniform on official occasions.

That is, the clothes that the palace in Yanjing would send in advance every year before the change of seasons.

His mother was always enthusiastic about making all kinds of clothes for his father, but directly ignored her own son, who always wore the official style.

If his father hadn't mentioned it to his mother, she probably wouldn't have bothered to make clothes for him at all.

Yes, it was too lazy to, not forgot.

This was probably a case of one thing overcoming another. When the son looked down on his own father, the mother also treated the son like a straw sandal, which, to some extent, neutralized the twisted family relationship.

"Do you even need to ask? It's chaotic out there. The python robe looks good, but saving your life is the most important thing, isn't it?

To put it another way, you have to think about your godfather."

A Ming, who was following behind, showed a polite smile on his face.

Zheng Lin curled his lips and said, "Whether you're armored or not, Godfather will help you block, Father."

"True, but at least it can keep your godfather from being so anxious."

"I heard that last time in Shanggu Prefecture, you charged in a python robe, Father."

"The armor was inside."

"Why not this time? Oh, you didn't have time to prepare." Zheng Lin suddenly realized.

"It's not that. Wearing armor under the python robe is like putting ice on your body and then covering it with a thick quilt. It's very uncomfortable. Once is enough, no need to do it again and again."

The father and son walked down the city steps, their boots began to step into the blood, making "squishing" sounds from time to time.

Around them, broken fingers and limbs were everywhere, and there were still some that hadn't died completely and were still wriggling.

This scene, which was like a Shura hell in the eyes of ordinary people,

Seemed somewhat warm to this pair of father and son.

After all, Zheng Fan cherished every opportunity to take a walk and talk with his son.

Pixiu saw its master and young master coming over, shook its body, and shook off the armor that shone brightly under the torchlight.

Then, it very obediently lay prostrate on the ground.

Zheng Fan walked behind his son, reached out and wanted to pick him up.

As his hand reached out and he exerted force, he suddenly realized that his son was secretly resisting, and he couldn't pick him up for a moment.

"Hehehe, almost didn't make it in time."

Before the person arrived, the laughter was heard first.

The only woman who could laugh as usual in this kind of scene was the Princess, and the specific one in the Prince's mansion.

The next moment,

The originally "heavy" son suddenly became light.

Zheng Fan picked up his son and placed him on Pixiu, then turned to look at Si Niang, who was walking over in a purple dress.

This dress, on Si Niang, didn't seem coquettish, but gave a sense of dignity and elegance.

Zheng Fan reached out and wanted to take Si Niang's hand and come over together.

Si Niang took a small step back and said, "No need, Master."

"It's okay, it's been a long time since the three of us took a stroll together."

"No need, no need, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future anyway."

Saying that, Si Niang insisted on jumping onto a nearby chestnut horse.

Zheng Lin, sitting on Pixiu's back, silently breathed a sigh of relief.

The Prince didn't insist in the end, he mounted Pixiu, and his son sat in front of him.

Pixiu stood up straight,

Raised its head,

And let out a low roar.

Behind them, a group of knights had already prepared.

These days, they had worked very hard guarding the city, but at this juncture, their bodies were still full of strength, and they could still follow their Prince out of the city to ride and fight several times.

Zheng Fan gently waved his arm forward,

And the team left the city.

The moon was very round and bright tonight, and the starlight was often dim on moonlit nights.

But the ground, lit up with flames, made up for the regrets in the sky.

A few days ago, looking at the endless Qian army camps below from the city tower put great pressure on the defenders, but now, however big the Qian people's camp was, the scene of chaos and noise was equally large.

It seemed that conflicts were erupting everywhere, and fighting was taking place everywhere. No one knew whether the soaring flames were burning tents or military supplies.

The Sword Saint, riding parallel in the back, opened his mouth and said, "Never seen a scene like this before, have you?"

The Sword Caster was stunned for a moment.

Then, the Sword Saint said again, "I'm getting used to it."

The Sword Caster immediately prepared to retort.

How could he not have seen a scene of great victory?

During the first Wang Jiang battle, he was sitting on a pleasure boat, drinking wine and watching the floating corpses all over the river.

He had also set foot in the place where the Marquis of the Tiger's Might of Liang died in that great battle in Liang.

But as soon as he opened his mouth,

The Sword Caster was shocked,

And then furious:

Yu Huaping, you big-browed and big-eyed bastard, you're digging a hole for me!

How could those words that should be said be said behind that Prince's back?

However, the Sword Caster misunderstood the Sword Saint.

The Sword Saint wouldn't deliberately mock or ridicule anyone at this moment. Instead, at this time, looking at Zheng Fan leading his son riding Pixiu in front, coupled with the moonlight and the scene, he couldn't help but feel some emotion, which could also be called sighing.

From Shengle to Fengxin.

From the Snow Plains to Jinghai.

Time was actually very long, more than ten years had passed like this, but it seemed very short.

Suddenly, he realized that what Tian Wujing left behind was a facade, not rotten, but not glamorous either.

But in his hands,

After tonight,

The Black Dragon Flag,

Would have no rivals throughout all of Xia.

The Sword Saint had witnessed all of this almost entirely, and because it was so full of flesh and blood, it was even more touching in this situation.

Suddenly,

The Sword Saint turned to look at the Sword Caster.

He was a little puzzled.

Why was the Sword Caster's eyes full of anger?

…

"You must be very proud." Zheng Lin, riding with his father, said.

The army had left the city, but was still moving forward at a uniform speed, not rushing forward suddenly.

In this chaotic situation, reinforcements from another command system suddenly entering could easily do more harm than good. It was better to be stable and slowly enter the chaotic battlefield.

"Should I be proud?" Zheng Fan asked.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Zheng Lin said, "What you often shout to the soldiers outside, unifying all of Xia."

"Son, what a person truly wants in their heart is often unspeakable."

"Tch." Zheng Lin was obviously very dissatisfied with this answer.

But gradually,

Zheng Lin noticed something was wrong,

Because the surrounding environment was undergoing some kind of strange change.

The Sword Saint immediately noticed it and rode forward to ride alongside the Prince.

The Sword Caster also understood at this time and began to protect him on the other side.

He was about to enter a state of... enlightenment.

Compared with others' enlightenment, Zheng Fan not only had a guardian lineup that the whole world envied, but also an advantage similar to a secret manual.

That was the Magic Pill. With their minds connected, the Magic Pill could help the "Master's" enlightenment expand and substantiate.

Just like listening to a lecture, some people could only sit there and listen, while others could take notes. The difference seemed small, but sometimes, the realm that countless cultivators wanted to pursue throughout their lives was actually just a little bit short.

Zheng Lin, because he was being held by his father, and also because of the Magic Pill, was able to "enter" his old man's enlightenment.

Si Niang was in the back, and A Ming was in the front.

A Ming's eyes flickered with excitement. There were really not many things that could make this vampire, whose heart was almost frozen, happy, and this was the biggest one.

Si Niang's face, on the other hand, was full of concern.

She had been sleeping in the same bed for so many years, had been formally married, and had children. It was impossible to continue to maintain the same position as the other Demon Lords.

More than that, she was worried about the danger of her husband trying to break through in this environment.

In the battlefield, a Qian army might suddenly emerge and attack, or they might directly enter the heart of a Qian army unit. All of this was possible.

Once the fighting on the battlefield spread here, even if there were many experts protecting him, it would be difficult to be completely safe.

In addition,

The Master had failed to break through last time and almost had his Qi and blood reversed and his meridians damaged. Si Niang didn't want a similar scene to happen again.

At this moment,

Even Zheng Lin finally became truly "obedient."

It wasn't because his mother was following behind, but because he knew how important this opportunity for enlightenment was to a cultivator.

If he made trouble at this time,

He would probably lose his father.

He had thought about this before, and he had talked about it, but when the opportunity really presented itself to him, he completely ignored it, without any reason or internal struggle.

"Actually, what I cherish more is the scenery I've seen along the way."

Zheng Fan spoke.

Zheng Lin "mm"ed, and at the same time, curiously looked up. He wasn't sure whether his father was awake or in a confused and empty state.

However, the answer came soon.

He saw his father smiling at him.

"Son, I've always known in my heart that you look down on me. In your heart, you probably think I'm a good-for-nothing."

Zheng Lin didn't respond.

"But is a person's bloodline really that important?"

"Scenery is very important?" Zheng Lin couldn't help but ask.

"Yes."

Zheng Fan gave a definite answer.

"Why?"

"Because that's what I think."

"Ah?"

"When what I say can make most people in the world believe and follow, there's no need to give any more reasons."

"Father, you're being unreasonable."

"If I'm not strong, where would you have a place to reason?"

As soon as he finished speaking,

Three figures appeared from the diagonal front.

Zheng Lin glanced over and recognized all three of them.

The one walking in the front was Liang Die (Father Liang);

The one walking in the middle was his father;

The one walking at the back, carrying a large bamboo basket, was the shortest San Die (Father Three).

Liang Die and San Die, in fact, didn't look much different from now, except for their clothes.

Their gazes were still calm.

On the other hand, the one walking in the middle seemed to have a lot of emotions in his eyes, with apprehension, curiosity, and timidity.

Even Zheng Lin, who had always "looked down" on his own father, didn't expect that his father had such a "awkward" moment in the past.

Compared to now, they were completely different people.

"I heard San Die say that this was when you were conscripted into the civilian labor camp after being selected from the census register when you were running an inn in Tiger Head City, right?"

"No."

"No?"

"This is what I looked like when I was just 'born'."

Zheng Lin found it absurd and couldn't help but say, "Father, what are you talking about?"

"Confused, curious, fortunate, and worried about this world, like a chick that has just broken out of its shell."

"There's no such big chick."

"Before breaking out of its shell, the chick is actually fully grown inside the egg."

"I haven't paid attention to it." Zheng Lin said.

Then,

Another scene appeared;

In the scene,

Under a setting sun, a young general in black armor was galloping on horseback, followed by a group of knights;

The knights were mostly from the barbarian race, but Zheng Lin still recognized his mother and a group of godfathers among them.

"Is this actively provoking border disputes and attacking Mianzhou City?" Zheng Lin asked.

Obviously, Blind Man's education emphasized the details, especially in the "history of getting rich" and was very good at teaching.

For Blind Man, this was very important. After all, only by familiarizing themselves with and understanding the previous generation's history of getting rich could the descendants purposefully compile "myth stories" for their previous generation, in the hope of finally packaging it into a "heavenly mandate" version.

"No, this is when I just learned to crawl. When you can rely on your own strength to crawl, you have the ability to actively explore and become familiar with this world.

This is my exploration. I'm starting to actively recognize this place."

Soon,

Another scene appeared;

The span of the scene jumped very, very far;

Because Zheng Lin found that the father in this scene had matured a lot, with a clear contrast to the obvious young man in the earliest scene.

In this scene,

Zheng Lin saw his father walking in the mountains, and in front of his father, there was also a tall figure, which could not be seen clearly, but was truly there.

"Have you finally learned to walk? It took you a long time."

The son said to his father with some teasing.

"Yes, I've learned to walk."

But the father directly admitted it, which made Zheng Lin somewhat uncomfortable.

Because he found that in this kind of thinking, his understanding was like a fool.

And the only way to get himself out of the fool's category was to try to enter this way of thinking, that is... to become familiar with and recognize his father.

Zheng Lin's eyes began to glance to the left and right;

He saw the Sword Saint and the Sword Caster on high alert; he also saw Father Ming in front and his mother in the back, one excited and one concerned.

Alright,

Confirming that only he could really enter his old man's "enlightenment" screen, Zheng Lin didn't feel anything shameful anymore. Anyway, no outsiders could see it, so it was better to appreciate it.

"The figure walking in front, is that Tian Ge's (Brother Tian's) father?"

Zheng Lin knew that Tian Ge's father was a very powerful existence, the previous Great Yan's military god before his father.

His father admired him very much and even considered himself his "younger brother";

Sword Saint Master had been defeated by him;

When the godfathers talked about him, they didn't have that innate arrogance, but instead, they could feel something called "recognition."

To describe it in a more lyrical way,

It was probably that Tian Ge's father had conquered a group of people, and this group of people had almost conquered this era.

"Son, do you know that in my two lifetimes, I never thought that I would be qualified and capable of walking the same path as someone like him."

Zheng Lin gritted his teeth. He tried his best to understand, but he felt that his father's words were more obscure and difficult to understand than Sword Saint Master's swordplay.

"Just learning to walk, is it worth it?" Zheng Lin asked.

"Among the common people, those who are qualified to crawl are few; those who are qualified to kneel are few among the few; as for... those who are qualified to stand and walk are truly rare;

And most of them are actually paralyzed;

Facing the sky, opening their mouths, dull and sluggish.

What I originally thought about was the most comfortable lying position, but lying like this, I always felt itchy.

Crawling is easy to get tired;

Kneeling feels sour;

Reluctantly, I can only try to stand up and walk."

After saying this,

A new scene appeared,

Originally, Zheng Lin thought that the new scene should be one of golden horses and iron horses swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger.

But it wasn't.

He saw his father sitting with a baby in his arms.

"Is that Older Sister?"

"No, it's your Brother Tian."

Zheng Lin curiously poked his head over, wanting to take a closer look, and then laughed:

"I didn't expect that Brother Tian looked so cute when he was a child, like a doll in a New Year's painting."

"Yes, much better looking than you were when you were a kid."

"..." Zheng Lin.

In the scene, the man began to pick up a baby in swaddling clothes, then, one in each arm, one boy and one girl; at the same time, a young man stood beside the man.

"Before, I was unwilling to lie down, tired of crawling, and felt it was not decent to kneel. Actually, even when walking, it was just walking for the sake of walking, walking around and looking around, but in my heart, I always thought that if it really didn't work, I could just drill into the forest next to me and still maintain a comfortable freedom.

After having you,

It's different.

I can't run away,

This house has to be repaired, and it has to be repaired well. Not only do I want to live comfortably, but I also have to consider whether it can continue to shelter from the wind and rain when you live here in the future.

Without you, I would be more free;

But because of you, I understand what true freedom is."

Zheng Lin sensed that his father was gradually hugging him tighter, but soon, he slowly let go again.

The scene in front of him,

Was gradually dissipating;

This meant two possibilities,

Either the enlightenment was over,

Or,

The reality in front of him was actually the last scene.

At this moment, Qian army stragglers were constantly appearing around them. They had managed to gather together, but they were quickly broken up again by the knights around Zheng Fan.

In the heart of the battlefield, the Qian people's hasty escape had become a certainty.

The long-term siege had led to exhaustion from top to bottom;

Wu's family had betrayed again, allowing the main force of the Yan army in Jiangdong to quickly cross the river silently and suddenly launch a large-scale raid.

This was a standard and textbook example of a siege and relief operation.

The Yan army won as a matter of course,

And the Qian people were defeated as a matter of course.

Zheng Fan slightly raised his head and looked around.

For a moment, the Sword Saint and the Sword Caster both looked puzzled. Was it over?

Was this enlightenment just an enlightenment, without involving a change in realm?

A Ming was a little surprised, while Si Niang was slightly relieved.

Zheng Fan, holding his son in one hand, pointed forward with the other,

And said:

"Born into this world,

Live in this world,

Stand in this world!

When I woke up, I only had seven people and a small tavern by my side.

I once envied the imposing momentum of other people's iron cavalry charging in an orderly manner. Now, I can mobilize my own family... no, I can mobilize the entire military and people of Great Yan, numbering more than a million!

I once looked up to those emperors who were high above. Now, when they see me, they all have to be polite.

I once had no feelings for this land, but now, it will soon be unified in name because of me!

After this battle,

In addition to the remnants of the three borders, the Qian Kingdom's elite new army, which had been built up for ten years, will be completely lost. After the fall of Jiangnan, the Qian people will no longer have the strength to resist the Yan army's horses heading south.

Unless your emperor uncle suddenly gets it into his head and forces me to fight another civil war under the Black Dragon Flag.

Otherwise,

This battle in front of us,

I'm afraid it's the last major battle I'll personally command.

The Snow Plains have fallen, the Chu Kingdom has fallen, the Qian Kingdom has also fallen, and the desert barbarians were wiped out of their royal court long ago.

The remaining odds and ends,

The capital city hasn't been breached yet, and the new official in the Qian Kingdom hasn't put on white clothes and led a sheep out to surrender to me yet;

That brother-in-law of mine in the Chu Kingdom dared to stab me in the back this time, and I'll have to settle the score later;

Those small countries that stand with the wind have to be forced to abolish their countries one by one;

The Snow Plains in Jinbei, the aborigines in the southwest of Qian, the Shan Yue people in the south of Chu, and the barbarians in the desert will naturally have to continue to be knocked into shape.

But,

There's no need for me to personally go out anymore.

This world,

Is like a red tent.

The heavens,

Are like an old madam."

The Prince raised his head,

Looked at the sky,

And laughed loudly:

"This world,

I've played with it,

And I've had my fill of playing.

But I have to leave some scraps for you young people, so that you have a chance to get a taste of it, so you don't say I'm not being fair."

Wu Ya flew out from his waist and landed in the Prince's palm.

The Prince sat steadily on Pixiu's back,

Holding his son in his left arm,

And pointing at the sky with his sword in his right hand,

And shouted:

"If you're even a little bit sensible,

And treat me a little better,

I wouldn't have to hold my breath and flip your chessboard!"

In the dark,

From above the sky, it seemed that a ray of moonlight fell,

Entered Wu Ya,

And seemed to want to enter the Prince's body.

This scene was very similar to when the Sword Saint entered the Second Rank, the difference being that the aura of this falling light was extremely gentle, not violent.

As if responding to it, the Qi and blood in the Prince's body began to boil and rise.

The Sword Caster said in amazement:

"It's clearly a martial artist advancing, how has it become a Qi refiner's path again?"

Comprehending the great Dao of heaven and earth is itself using the power of heaven and earth for one's own use, so there is a saying that the stronger the Qi refiner becomes, the more like the... Heavenly Dao, because there is you in me and me in you between them.

The Sword Saint's eyes narrowed slightly, was this... a gift from heaven?

He cursed the heavens, but instead, it sent down "sweet rain?"

But in any case, it was a good thing after all, at least the opportunity to break through had come,

But who knew,

The next scene that shocked everyone appeared.

The Prince flicked his wrist, and Wu Ya flipped over. The light that should have entered his body along the sword was directly flipped away, turning into starlight and dissipating into the air.

"Take away your dirty hands,

How high is the threshold of the Third Rank,

What does it matter?

I'll use this entire world as a stepping stone, how could there be a hurdle I can't cross?"

The Qi and blood that had just quieted down instantly boiled again with a momentum even stronger than before!

Then,

The Prince,

Sheathed his sword,

Returned it to its scabbard,

Broke through,

And entered the Third Rank.