Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

The implication is that unless something major happens, there's no need to bother us.

After the sound faded and the other party responded, Xi Heng snapped his fingers.

With a crisp snapping sound, a burst of spiritual fire suddenly appeared around Chen Fenghuo.

With a flash of light, the blonde woman's figure suddenly vanished.

When he reappeared, he was already a kilometer away on a hillside path, and the change in scenery made him pause for a moment.

Looking back at the direction of the mountain courtyard, he felt that his meeting with the mysterious girl just now was like a dream, rather than a real experience.

As I turned to walk down the mountain path, I murmured to myself, "Come to think of it, I haven't even asked her name yet..."

However, there's no chance to ask again for now.

With steady steps, we slowly descended the mountain.

After seeing Chen Fenghuo off, Xi Heng hummed a leisurely tune to himself, casually casting weak spells to water the flower field in the courtyard, and then sat cross-legged in the pavilion.

Let the golden light shine upon you, close your eyes and calm your mind, and circulate your inner energy for a long time.

……

Time flies, and the three factions of the mortal world—Da Zhao, Tian Liang, and Jing Huo Sect—have been locked in a standoff around Jinshi City for two years.

There were some skirmishes and a few casualties during this period, but no major war broke out.

The top leaders of all three parties are focused on cultivation, so the strongest individual combat power in the world is no longer that of martial artists who have reached the Transformation Realm, but rather that of cultivators who practice the Immortal Path.

Whether preparing to attack or defend a city, the original siege weapons and city wall defenses are no longer the top priority; only cultivation is of utmost importance.

In the Pure Fire Sect, anyone with talent has already begun practicing Qi cultivation.

The same applies to Tianliang and the Great Zhao military. They are also constantly searching for cultivation resources, exploring ancient books and fragments of Taoist texts, and trying to refine elixirs, make talismans, and so on in the various places they currently control.

Fang Tiande, who was once a court alchemist, was far ahead in external martial arts. In the previous siege battles, he could only use curse talismans to invigorate the soldiers' physical bodies and minds. Now, he can forcibly consume the lifespan of ordinary people and invigorate them into combat power comparable to Ming Jin martial artists, and who are not afraid of death.

The original Bagua formation was also amplified, with each leading cultivator serving as a formation point, amplifying the power of each elemental spell in each direction, and the combat power increased day by day.

Zhao Qianyuan reluctantly took out his many cultivation manuals for practicing immortality and refining qi. He selected the simplest and most basic ones and placed them in the military headquarters. Based on his experience of two years on the path of immortality cultivation, he slightly improved the soldiers' body-refining methods. After several trials, the efficiency of body-refining in the military headquarters improved somewhat.

The Pure Fire Cult's actions were the simplest: disregarding military strength, they simply continued to spread their teachings in all directions, gathering faith and giving all believers a manual of cultivation methods. The cult expanded rapidly, and its members increased daily.

To this day, it has been two years and seven months since the divine tree descended.

Tianliang suddenly mobilized its troops to leave the city and advance northward, carrying a large number of siege weapons, and formed a large formation to attack Jinshi City Gate.

The city's garrison received advance warning and mobilized its forces to defend the city walls. The battle lasted for three days and continued through the night.

Those Tianliang soldiers with talismans pasted between their eyebrows were almost indistinguishable from the legendary demons and monsters. Although they still maintained a human appearance, their minds were more frenzied than those of enraged beasts. Every strike was aimed at killing, even at the cost of their own lives.

These extremely frenzied enemies are the most difficult to deal with; when they charge together, it's like sharp knives forcibly tearing large gaps in the defensive line.

Then came the surging tide of the Tianliang army, fireballs smashing through the city gates and walls as they squeezed inside, shouting battle cries.

Blood splattered everywhere, flames raged, and crimson fires quickly spread throughout the city. The sounds of drums and gongs rang out, and before long, the battle to defend the city turned into a street fight within the city.

The warriors, soldiers, and cultivators of the Great Zhao were forced to retreat repeatedly, giving up piecemeal areas of the city.

In the end, the entire defending force retreated to the north gate and withdrew from the city.

Fang Tiande wanted to pursue, but the duration of the curse talisman was nearing its limit, and a large number of elite soldiers were weak and dying. This great battle had consumed a lot of resources and men, and there was no longer enough time to launch another attack. He had no choice but to occupy Jinshi City to recuperate.

The fall of Jinshi City, where the Emperor of Zhao resided, shocked the entire world.

Upon hearing this, other surrounding forces more or less felt that the Great Zhao Dynasty had weakened and that this was an opportunity to take advantage of it, so they slowly began to stir up more unrest.

Meanwhile, with 30% of the Northern Frontier Army transferred away, Yan Mengguo is eyeing the region covetously and may invade southward at any time.

While the country was besieged on all sides, the emperor of the Great Zhao was still indulging in his dream of becoming an immortal. He built a new palace in Xiuzhou, north of Jinshi City, and conscripted a large number of people into labor, causing great hardship and suffering to the people.

Upon hearing news of the war, the Eastern Pure Fire Sect remained steadfast in its own territory, refusing to move an inch.

Just a few days later, Tianliang sent a document stating that he was willing to rule the world together with the Jinghuo Sect, and that after overthrowing the Great Zhao, the Jinghuo Sect could be established as the state religion. He listed several conditions and benefits.

After reading the document, Chen Fenghuo ignored it and sent her loyal subordinates to form a team to head north to the capital to find the people that Xi Heng had mentioned to her.

The person she values ​​most now is Zhao Chuxiao, one of the current princesses of the Great Zhao Dynasty.

This princess is valued by the immortal master, so she must have something special about her. Moreover, because of her noble status, he should be able to help her achieve great things.

It wouldn't be a bad thing to secretly establish contact with them.

Afterwards, she led her troops to garrison Junming City, east of Jinshi, ready to deal with any unannounced attack by Tianliang, such as the attack on Jinshi City, and to train and train the troops and guards.

However, two months later, Tianliang simply stayed behind the solidified metal and stone, and did not start any more battles.

Rumor has it that after the capture of Jinshi, many soldiers in the Tianliang leadership began to indulge in pleasure and neglect military duties. Fang Tiande singled out a few of them and punished them according to military law, which brought some order to the front lines, but the situation continued in secret.

The soldiers below followed suit, spending less time training and cultivating themselves. After capturing the city, they quickly lost their previous formidable military strength.

Seeing this, Fang Tiande knew that he could no longer send troops north, so he had no choice but to stop and reorganize slowly.

However, although the Zhao state temporarily ceased hostilities in the south, the north was once again threatened.

After the struggle for the throne ended, the one-armed giant Yan Qingshi personally led his troops south, directly breaking through the Yumen Pass defended by the Northern Frontier Army. He led a large number of cavalrymen down like a flood, capturing two fortified cities in just seven days.

Da Zhao could no longer care about the rebels in Tianliang. He was about to send his elite troops to support them from under the golden tree, but then he remembered that he would lose his spiritual power if he left the divine tree, so he hesitated.

The fighting in the northern frontier intensified, and three months later, the Battle of Heilongtan resulted in the burning of several fortresses, forcing the northern frontier army to retreat further south.

In just six months after Yan Meng declared war, the Great Zhao lost more territory than Xi Heng had when he was preparing to go to the northern frontier to fight.

During a break from his cultivation one day, Xi Heng heard this news in the city through his spiritual sense, and couldn't help but wonder:

"Why is it that even though the central part of the Great Zhao was given a considerable amount of spiritual energy, and even without cultivation, the physical fitness of mortals could be greatly improved, yet they are weaker in battle than in the previous life?"

Even with Tianliang restraining them, they shouldn't have lost so much territory in just six months.

"It's said they're going to attack Yan'an, no, judging by the speed of the news, they might have already taken Yan'an and are now heading towards the capital..."

After a moment of thought, Xi Heng drew a talisman in front of him.

He took out a talisman from his storage ring and combined it with the talismanic technique to create a spiritual talisman.

Repeat five times to obtain five Spirit-Locking Talismans.

With a casual snap of his fingers, several talismans disappeared amidst the flickering flames.

The next instant, it appeared on the table in front of Chen Fenghuo, the Crimson Goddess, who was handling internal affairs of the sect.

She frowned and immediately looked around.

Then Xi Heng's voice was heard, explaining the function of the Spirit-Locking Talisman, such as its ability to preserve spiritual light outside the area covered by the divine tree for several days, etc.

Next, she was asked to go to the capital to save some of them before the war.

Chen Fenghuo responded and then stopped speaking.

She gently picked up five talismans, each of which had a lasting effect for a month.

Let alone going once to save a few people, even making her travel to and from the capital six or seven times would be enough.

To protect those few, all she needed to do was use a spirit-locking talisman, and the extra reward would probably be the money she received for this trip—she thought.

In fact, Xi Heng didn't think much about it. After assigning the task, he returned to his cultivation state, relaxed his mind, and continued to live in seclusion, detached from worldly affairs.

The changes in the outside world and the news and intelligence that came to her were just minor episodes to distract and relax her mind during her rest time.

She only uses this world for cultivation, and occasionally protects her few relatives and friends; whatever else happens is none of her concern.

With an attitude of taking everything lightly, he returned to the pavilion and went into seclusion.

After three years of cultivation, he has reached the fifth level of the "Sun and Moon Selfless Ten Thousand Zhang Technique," and his cultivation continues to grow, approaching the peak of the Nascent Soul stage.

However, she had a premonition that even if she reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, she would still be far from the limit of truly being able to attempt to advance to the Divine Transformation stage.

The time spent in seclusion here for cultivation would probably be measured in centuries.

"Perhaps I will spend more time in this world than I have ever lived in the past..." Xi Heng mused.

……

Volume 1: Chapter 328, The World in Turmoil

Springtime in the fourth year since the divine tree descended to earth.

Yan Meng invaded southward and occupied Yan'an, a major city in the north.

Like a sieve, the army swept through the land, causing bloodshed wherever they went. They plundered vast amounts of gold and silver like tigers among sheep, and enslaved the original inhabitants who had not been able to flee the famine beforehand.

The Northern Frontier Army of the Great Zhao has now withdrawn to the capital region to garrison, and has also gathered local miscellaneous troops and the capital army that has been trained for several months and is barely capable of fighting. With the addition of logistics, the total number is close to 80,000, and they are guarding the area around the capital with a tight defense.

After Zhao Qianyuan went to the south, he moved most of the court away.

The original capital city became the front line, guarding the homes and property of those who were enjoying themselves in the south or cultivating themselves.

This situation naturally aroused dissatisfaction among the Northern Army, the Beijing Army, and the officials remaining in the capital. One minister published a memorial, accusing Zhao Qianyuan of being delusional about immortality and thus making mistakes that harmed the country. He said that the officials in the country were corrupt, the generals were weak, and the people were suffering because of the current emperor's mistaken mind. He also put forward various reform suggestions, speaking with righteous indignation.

Zhao Qianyuan of Xiuzhou in the south was furious upon receiving this memorial. He immediately ordered the military officers in the capital to arrest him and send him to the southern city, intending to personally convict him in the imperial court.

However, the officials who remained in the capital were no different from abandoned pawns. The current situation was also critical, with the enemy army stationed only three hundred miles away. They had no intention or willingness to carry out this order. They claimed to have captured the Ming ministers, but due to the unstable situation, they had to wait until the enemy retreated before handing them over to the emperor.

In reality, due to long-standing resentment and the fact that the emperor was far away, the officials in the capital only imprisoned that Ming official for two days before releasing him...

Now, as the situation becomes increasingly critical, several generals from the northern frontier have joined forces with the officials stationed in the capital to request the Crown Prince to come to the palace to take overall command.

However, the crown prince was weak and hesitant, as if he were afraid that someone would eat him up at any time.

Let alone having a panoramic view of the capital, she would be afraid of heights and panic even if she just stood on the city wall.

Even though Zhao Qianyuan gave him considerable power when he left, he has hardly ever been able to use it.

Caught between a rock and a hard place, and without a wise ruler, both the Beijing Army and the Ever Victorious Army of Beijing felt their future was bleak.

For more than a decade, no one in officialdom was unaware of Zhao Qianyuan's stubbornness, and most good ministers only hoped that things would be more lenient after the crown prince ascended the throne.

But the Crown Prince's weak nature makes people uneasy—how can he lead a country if he can't even calm his own mind?

Few of the subjects bet on the Crown Prince, but instead chose the Third Prince, the Seventh Prince, and Princess Chu Xiao, who had shown more potential, and their connections became increasingly close.

Before the enemy even arrived, some factional conflicts were already brewing within the capital.

During this time, several virtuous ministers were casually discussing the current situation when someone mentioned:

"If the princess who was most favored in the palace hadn't mysteriously disappeared more than ten years ago, perhaps things would be very different today..."

People recall the former prosperity of the capital city, and looking at the current world of war and turmoil, they all sigh with regret.

At this time, Zhao Chuxiao, who was still in the imperial palace in the capital, received a message from the Crimson Goddess of the Pure Fire Sect and was discussing it with the Imperial Preceptor who was on her side.

The Fire Purification Cult extended obvious goodwill to her, even stating that if she needed assistance in any important matter, the cult would do its utmost to help.

But she didn't know why. She clearly rarely left the palace, and her reputation in the outside world was no different from that of other princesses. So why did the Eastern Pure Fire Sect, which was thousands of miles away, take a liking to her and was willing to support her?

"Could it be that this sect sent these kinds of letters and messages to all the royal children?" she wondered.

The Imperial Preceptor had never heard of anyone else receiving such treatment, and shook his head in denial: "Perhaps there really is a wonderful method of prediction in the cultivation grounds of the South, which was taught by the Pure Fire Master."

"So, if there's a fight for the throne, I'm the one who has the best chance of winning..."

Zhao Chuxiao quietly looked at the document in her hand, scanning the text on it for a long time.

He then returned to his desk, smoothly wrote a reply, and sealed it with his seal.

"Let's get in touch as soon as possible."

Whether civil officials, generals, or ordinary citizens, everyone in the capital knew that a great enemy was imminent. Those who needed to flee the city fled, and those who needed to find connections did so. The city and the surrounding areas were bustling with activity.

Officers and soldiers from all units intensified their drills, ready to repel enemy attacks at any time.

And so, a month passed.

For some reason, despite being only a few hundred miles away, Yan Meng's troops stationed in Yan'an did not continue their march to capture the capital.

Later, the scouts received intelligence that many nobles in Yanmeng Kingdom believed that they had plundered enough on this expedition and hoped to lead their troops back.

But Dahan Yanqingshi was unwilling to do so, and instead forced them to stay and continue to attack the southern capital.

However, in the Yanmeng Kingdom, the Khan did not have enough power to coerce his nobles. The tribes and clans on the vast grasslands were unrestrained, and the Khan could only be considered the largest noble among them, not an emperor who had all-encompassing authority like the Great Zhao Kingdom.

The noble class had a dispute with the Great Khan and did not advance for a month because internal strife had begun.

Upon hearing of this, the authorities in the capital immediately dispatched messengers to communicate with the nobles who held opposing views to the Great Khan—the ministers of the Great Zhao were not good at much else, but they were quite adept at internal factional struggles.

In a short period of time, a bunch of strategies can be proposed to guide or exacerbate Yan Meng's conflicts.

However, before the messenger could deliver the message, the Great Khan Yan Qingshi used forceful methods to initiate a duel according to tradition, tearing the leaders of several tribes to shreds in the duel. He then used his iron fist to forcibly unite the entire Yan Meng army into one force, and after quelling the situation, he marched south again.