I am a living immortal.

Although they hadn't arrived, that didn't mean they weren't concerned about the battle. They had heard about its brutality from others. There weren't many powerful figures at the top of this cave world, only a few masters.

But there are many people like Lin Yuan and Yun Yue who are neither high nor low. Of course, people of their age with such strength are rare, not rare, but not numerous. However, a considerable number of them are people planted by Emperor Jun.

For example, the direct disciple of the Great Wilderness Sword Sect's leader, Li Shu, and so on. These people are either fabricated characters or bewitched. It's unknown how many are hidden among this crowd, and it will take Mirage Dragon to identify them one by one. This is also a huge project.

But most of them have cultivated step by step over time. They are not too young, but not too old either; they are the backbone. Lin Yuan and Yun Yue are in this position, but they have more skills and are young.

Precisely because they knew this, they didn't join in the fun. It was said that countless people like them perished in that battle. This also made the two of them deeply understand the cruelty of war. Those who died so casually might have been respected elders in the sect, or respected senior brothers and sisters. They were considered the chosen ones of heaven, with promising futures.

Half a lifetime of cultivation, from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside, countless hard work and immense pressure endured, to stand out from the thousands of sails competing for passage. If Su Mu and the others and those high-ranking sect leaders saw these as mere cannon fodder, the casualties were merely a string of numbers, hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands, without any feeling, just cold and indifferent.

That's because they can't empathize. Ultimately, they're standing too high up, so looking down from that high point gives them a broader perspective. But this time, Lin Yuan and Yun Yue are different. Their perspective, looking up from a low point, presents a completely different view.

They saw the people who had left their homes. No one would leave their hometown unless it was absolutely necessary. But because of a single temptation, tens of millions of people were displaced. Among them, those who were lucky, wealthy, and well-connected might have a good life, packing up their belongings and riding in a carriage to another farm. Maybe not as good as now, but still free and easy. But what about those people who had relied on the land for generations? Their livelihood depended on the weather. When the harvest was good, they lived a comfortable life. When the harvest was bad, they just had to grit their teeth and get by. Losing their land would be like losing their lives.

The death toll along the way was far greater than one could have imagined. Even if the immortal cultivation sects gave alms, they couldn't feed so many people.

In reality, Lin Yuan and Yun Yue had already arrived in the Northern Wasteland Province. But the situation in the Northern Wasteland at this moment was even more brutal than war, even worse. Corpses littered the land, as a great disaster inevitably brings a great epidemic. All one could see were people in rags, selling their children for food. They even risked their lives fighting for bits of bark or roots.

Yun Yue had lived in the Taoist temple since childhood, and while Lin Yuan's life was initially a bit more difficult, it wasn't that extreme. Later, when they met Shen Qiu, they traveled extensively and encountered many things. Although they encountered them, they only glanced at them casually. Now, both of them have a deeper understanding of the saying "life is like grass."

Millions and tens of millions of people poured into other cities, causing chaos wherever they went. Eventually, even counties were unwilling to accept any more refugees, yet they continued to pour in from all directions. Compassion, in such an environment, was not appreciated, but instead brought disaster.

A county magistrate, unable to bear the pressure, opened the gates and let some people in. This immediately led to word spreading far and wide, and more and more people arrived, until the city was completely blocked. Everyone wanted to survive, both those outside and those inside. As for the outcome, the two sides went from arguing to fighting, resulting in heavy casualties.

The bodies, left uncollected, rotted and stank, and then the plague broke out. Lin Yuan and Yun Yue had just arrived. As expected, though dusty and exhausted, they were neatly dressed. They were threatened and robbed. They only stopped after injuring a few people, but the wolf-like gaze on their flesh remained with them.

Is this the civilians' fault? Of course not. The men who robbed Lin Yuan were so skinny, they must have been desperate to survive, so why would they have done such a thing? If it wasn't the civilians' fault, then whose fault was it? The immortal cultivators? The war they participated in had caused even more casualties. They were above the enemy, so why did they lose their lives in vain? While they might not have volunteered, countless casualties were still there.

Was it the Masters' fault? Not really. Most of Shangjing Sect was destroyed, and they had no choice but to do this to expel the demon. If they had let it go, the damage would have been even worse. From a broader perspective, minimizing the damage wasn't wrong.

Was it Mirage Dragon's fault? He was also a victim. Ever since he descended from the sky, he had been the one being provoked. Could he accept humiliation without fighting back? That was simply impossible. Besides, he had let them off the hook time and time again. Was he wrong? Probably not.

From everyone's perspective, no one was at fault, yet this consequence still occurred. The world isn't black and white; things have already happened, and there's no need to determine right or wrong. Through this incident, Lin Yuan and Yun Yue saw another world, another perspective, to see and observe.

So they stayed in the city for a while. The soft-hearted magistrate finally took a hard line: no one was allowed to enter the city, and anyone who resisted would be killed without mercy. After killing a few troublemakers, the crowd finally quieted down. But under such a siege, coupled with the plague, the magistrate paid a heavy price for his momentary softness.

But the plague couldn't be controlled. Ultimately, the local wealthy contributed money and grain, the county government assisted, and doctors from across the city were hired to gradually separate the infected from the healthy. Among these doctors, Lin Yuan and Yun Yue were prominent. Both had some knowledge of Qi Huang's art, and any help they could offer was appreciated.

With money and people, things would be much easier. Though soft-hearted, the county magistrate wasn't stupid. He'd learned his lesson from opening the door, and he knew that gratitude can be followed by resentment. So, instead of distributing porridge for free, he offered work-for-relief: cultivating wasteland, assisting doctors, running errands, digging pits, and building houses. He couldn't leave people idle, or else chaos would ensue.

Fortunately, the local wealthy families in this county were more approachable. This wasn't a large county, so the complications weren't as numerous as one might imagine, and it was finally brought under control. But the plague still raged, even after Yun Yue dissolved the elixir into water and distributed it to everyone.