As Ouyang Yong materialized, Tai Yin understood that all his strategic objectives on Mount She had become futile. Defeating Xie Bao Shu was now an absolute impossibility.

He possessed the confidence to command his army, to withdraw and fight under Xie Bao Shu’s pursuit, and to successfully preserve their forces while retreating towards Wuyang City. In the realm of military formations, he could certainly teach Xie Bao Shu a lesson or two.

But with the addition of Ouyang Yong, a strong cultivator of the God Arrival Realm…

Not to mention withdrawing to Wuyang City, even if he were to abandon all arrangements in Huiling Prefecture and flee with his soldiers regardless of the consequences, it was unlikely he could save many lives.

Military formations, of course, possessed the power to overcome cultivation realms, but when the formation itself was at a disadvantage, a God Arrival expert, capable of moving with such freedom, could easily tear through the front lines.

The gravity of the situation was truly beyond compare!

Naturally, no matter how the battlefield evolved, unless a True Person of the present era appeared here, he, with the Qingming Transfer Disk on his person, could preserve his own life without issue.

But the true problem lay in…

His departure would be tantamount to abandoning the entire layout in Huiling Prefecture. This very army would undoubtedly rush to reinforce the Min West Corridor in time. The heavy stakes they had placed in Huiling Prefecture, the lives of Chong Xuan Sheng and Jiang Wang that they so desperately sought, might very well escape death because of this!

Tai Yin was intimately familiar with Jiang Wang’s stubbornness. He could never forget that scene on Fire Mountain Island in the Mountain Sea Realm, where Jiang Wang, despite the World-Shaking Halberd piercing his body, charged towards him with ferocious barbarity.

Such a person could carve out opportunity even where none existed. What more when he himself was releasing such a powerful assisting army? It was precisely because he understood Jiang Wang that he had exhausted all means to persuade the higher echelons, even with Yi Shengfeng already involved, to draw Zhou Xiong here.

Why else would he need an army for support?

A God Arrival expert like Ouyang Yong, rushing at full speed towards the Min West Corridor, would not require much time at all. The casualties he could inflict upon an unprepared enemy on that side were utterly imaginable! Changing the tide of battle was not merely a matter of talk.

Looking at the dissipating formation fluctuations, the surging figure of righteous might, the majestic military evil sweeping like a dragon and echoing through the mountains, the steel-backed formation filling the mountain path with the dead, Liu Yuen’s unit rapidly being engulfed, and the faces around him, panicked and uneasy!

Everything.

It all urged Tai Yin to leave!

But a voice within his heart told him—he could not leave.

His departure would mean all the painstaking efforts of the Xia Army in Huiling Prefecture would be for naught! His departure would instantly shatter the fragile advantage established in the battle of Wuyang. His departure would spell the complete and utter loss of Huilu Prefecture, and thus the three eastern prefectures!

Tai Yin understood this deeply.

The Great Xia of today was like a giant already grievously wounded, every counterattack further aggravating its injuries. If they could not secure corresponding battlefield gains, they would only hasten towards death.

He absolutely could not let go of this branch of the enemy army!

Amidst the cruel night, Mount She stood like a silent, malevolent beast. It had already consumed many lives and would undoubtedly consume more.

The Qi Army, with its raised interweaving banners and rainbow-like momentum, undoubtedly held all the advantages on this renowned mountain of Great Xia.

Ouyang Yong had emerged from the formation, and Xie Bao Shu, unable to independently control the formation of over thirty thousand soldiers, could only roughly guide its direction. The dragon of military evil was ascending purely on existing inertia—but this was already enough.

The Xia Army was fundamentally powerless to intercept. They couldn’t even escape!

A thousand thoughts, ten thousand thoughts, yet the decision was made in an instant.

Tai Yin gripped the Mountain and River Ten Thousand Li Banner, his long hair scattered in the wind. His originally soaring body suddenly fell, and with one hand, he thrust the Great Xia national banner into the mountain peak!

The north wind howled, and the great banner flapped.

He would not leave!

He stood on the peak of Mount She, glaring angrily at the advancing Qi Army, glaring angrily at the divine and radiant Ouyang Yong.

“I promise!”

His handsome face, at this moment, was completely covered by a fervent emotion. It was difficult to describe what it was, but his voice was so clear in the long night, every word infused with unwavering resolve.

He roared with emotion: “My brothers and sisters, my comrades in arms! I, Tai Yin, with the name of the Tai family, promise you! I promise that all your deaths will embody their deserved value! I promise that all your sacrifices will not be meaningless! I promise that this battle today will be engraved in the history of Great Xia!”

His blood surged, his Dao Yuan collided wildly. He roared thus:

“National enmity and familial hatred shall be repaid here! Lend me all your power… lend it to me!”

Amidst such roaring, a scarlet, blood-like eight-angled array disk, condensed from the ethereal into the tangible, suspended before his heart. A drop of heart’s blood flew out, falling upon this peculiarly shaped eight-angled array disk. In an instant, it bloomed with angry red light, like blood amber.

The array replicated by this disk was named the Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array!

The Great Chu Empire possessed an imperial forbidden technique named Boiling Blood, Burning Soul. Tai Yin drew inspiration from this technique to build the framework of this array. With the help of his uncle-grandpa, True Person Tai Hua, it was supplemented. Because it was too violent and dangerous, it had never been truly applied before.

This array burned blood energy, and it also burned military evil.

At this very moment, along the mountain path of Mount She, there was a gathered unit, shaped like a colossal hedgehog of military evil. That was the steel-backed array formed by Liu Yuen’s unit, already being swallowed by the Qi Army’s military evil. The remaining remnants, within the thick cloud of the Qi Army’s military evil, were making a final struggle—and very quickly, they too fell silent.

From beginning to end, Liu Yuen showed not a single trace of hesitation towards Tai Yin’s command. When told to fill the mountain path with the dead, he did so without hesitation, using his body to fill it. When told not to leave, he did not move a step.

How could everyone be fearless of death? But as the steel-backed array formed, they had already refused to separate from their comrades. All three thousand officers and soldiers of the Xia Army were tied together, sinking quietly together into the tide of the Qi Army.

And Song Xue Wu, who led the unit forming the string knife array, ignited a blood flame in an instant. The Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array had very low requirements for the soldiers, as they only needed to provide blood energy power and did not need to exert other efforts.

Blood energy was like firewood, burning fiercely. The military evil controlled by Song Xue Wu, his blood energy, his Dao Yuan, all his power, gathered towards Tai Yin on the mountain peak. The red light flew and blood was like strips of scarlet ribbon, instantly connecting to the mountain peak, surging into the blood-colored array disk before Tai Yin.

From afar, it looked as if the Mountain and River Ten Thousand Li Banner representing the Great Xia Empire had been dyed with fresh blood, with ten thousand threads of blood light floating and dancing on the majestic Mount She!

Because of the immense pain, Song Xue Wu’s face was already distorted, completely unrecognizable. But he roared loudly: “General! May my name, Song Xue Wu, remain in the annals of history?!”

The entire string knife array ignited. Within the military formation, one voice mixed with another in angry roars.

“I am Li A Niu!”

“I am Wei Guo Zhong!”

“I am Du Long!”

These voices, rising and falling from three thousand mouths, were a thousand voices, yet also like a single voice, clearly noisy, yet so neat. Along with the burning of the entire string knife array, they exploded together!

And then, together, extinguished.

Wu Yuming, who led his army through the mountain ravines, first received orders to lead his unit to bombard the mountain, and later received the command to withdraw—according to the flag orders, his unit was to wait for the second batch, and while withdrawing, they were to prepare to intercept the enemy army.

An ordinary person like him had already risked his life to meet Tai Yin’s requirements. And this time, Tai Yin had changed his command again, wanting to fight to the death on Mount She! He, instead, felt a sense of relief.

Finally, he didn’t need to worry… about not meeting General Tai Yin’s requirements! Where was the word “difficult” in going to death only?

“General, old Wu will go first. In the next life, I still want to fight a satisfying battle under you!” The battle of Wuyang City was truly exhilarating…

Amidst the roaring voices, Wu Yuming also ignited his military evil, boiling his blood energy. This military evil was like an oil pot, ignited by a single spark, and in an instant, the blood energy burned into a prairie fire.

The changes on the peak of Mount She could, of course, not escape the eyes of the Qi people. The movement triggered by the Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array was even more magnificent!

Boundless blood energy power roared out, intercepting the surging Ouyang Yong. He was somewhat surprised, but only that. Although these powers were vast, they were impure… they could only slightly delay his speed, fundamentally unable to change anything. Even if he were willing to expend a little more power, this delay would not even exist.

But he was, after all, the Prime Minister of Rong Country. He had come here after receiving a summons—after the destruction of Yang Country, Rong Country was even less free than before. The young heaven’s favored Lin Xian of the Star Moon Plain had been summoned, and for the campaign against Xia, not only the Prime Minister had to go to war, but an army also had to be dispatched.

Of course, the treatment given by Qi Country to the participating countries was always generous. Following Qi Country in campaigns was also an important channel for many small countries in the Eastern Domain to accumulate national resources.

However, at this moment, Ouyang Yong, while within the ranks of the Qi Army, was not a Qi person. When seeking merit, one must seek it, and his military merit had already been secured. Risking his life was not necessary. Consuming less meant more resources for Rong Country.

“Ignorantly stubborn! I shall personally exterminate these children!” He roared thus, his sleeves fluttering, as he stepped up the mountain and ascended the peak. His Qi was magnificent, his momentum unmatched, yet he was fighting and moving forward.

As the commander of this branch of the Qi Army, Xie Bao Shu finally showed his face at this moment. He flew above the military formation, his long hair in disarray, and with the Divine Ability of Wild Song, combined with the upright words of a Confucian heart, he warned:

“Tai Yin, do not kill good men with empty names! Stop now, and you can still preserve the lives of your soldiers. I can make the decision to spare your life! To preserve the wealth and nobility of your Tai family!”

The upright words of a Confucian heart were an orthodox Dao technique of the Confucian school, claiming to cultivate the heart and question the Dao, to awaken those who had gone astray, a method of using sound to kill the heart. Xie Bao Shu urged it with the Divine Ability of Wild Song, and its might could not be underestimated.

But under the Ten Thousand Li Mountain and River Banner, Tai Yin did not utter a single word. He did not even spare Xie Bao Shu a glance.

The Xia Army officers and soldiers he had brought to Mount She numbered ten thousand three hundred and seventy-two. These people had all tied their lives to this place, believed in his decision, and followed him into battle. These comrades, for whom he should be responsible, within the voices of the Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array, voice after voice… he heard them all.

Tears had not yet surged, but he had already forced them back. For at this moment, he needed clearer eyes!

He gazed upon this heaven and earth with a seriousness he had never before known. Everything and everyone became very slow… The powerful Qi Army, the magnificent Xia Army, the mountain wind and the bright moon, the long night and the earth and stones. He still faced the ascending Ouyang Yong with large strides, still felt the power of the opposing side, but his divine soul was no longer shaking!

The Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array transmitted a continuous stream of power. Every single power represented a fallen warrior. These powers supported him, allowing him to stand firm, giving him the qualification to face the enemy.

He saw everything clearly! All things in the world have traces. From the grand mountains and rivers to the small grass, wood, mosquitoes, and flies. Like wind passing through the border, like water flowing by. The veins of a leaf, the trajectory of a butterfly’s dance, and even the various emotions produced when you love a person, hate a person, expect a person, or are weary of a person.

People leave traces when they pass, events leave traces when they occur. In a very short time, Tai Yin was able to see all of this.

And he always had one feeling, which was considered absurd by others—that he could alter all of this.

The Tai family, a clan, inherited the ancient Dao of arrays. It was to follow heaven and act, to embody the heart of heaven with the human heart, to perform the Dao of heaven with the Dao of man. Every stroke was the reason of heaven and earth. Every symbol and record exhausted the traces of the sun and moon. One could say that what the countless array masters since ancient times had贯彻was respect for all that heaven gave birth to and earth nourished, the natural reason of the sun rising and the moon setting, spring flowers and autumn fruits.

This was, of course, the correct path. The countless powerful array masters of the past had all walked on this correct path. The person he most respected, his uncle-grandpa Tai Hua, had also achieved the Dao in this way. He was born in the Tai family, grew up in the Tai family, served in the Tai family, and achieved success in the Tai family. All glory, all fame, all came from the Tai family.

The Tai family gave him the best—including cultivation methods, including Dao techniques, including cultivation resources, and even, including the Dao he held. How to refine his body, what books to read, what open-pulse elixir to use, when to open pulses, how to set up the small circulations, how to set up the large circulations, what cultivation methods to practice, what Dao techniques to cultivate, what path to walk from small to large, every single step he took was on the path called “absolutely correct.”

He had indeed enjoyed all the brilliance on this path. But sometimes, waking up from a midnight dream, he looked back on this path and saw only a path of brilliance, unable to see the person himself. In the long passage of time, how exactly did that person walk over?

No, it wasn’t that person who walked over. It was a will called “the future of the Tai family” that had integrated itself.

Standing on the Star Tower, within the Four Symbols Star Domain. They said the Azure Dragon should embody the word “faith,” the Vermilion Bird should embody the word “virtue,” the Black Tortoise should embody the word “benevolence,” and the White Tiger should embody the word “kill.” This was the upright and luminous path, and it should also be his standard of behavior, the Dao he held. They said that a Star Tower built in this way could cultivate the strongest Reverse Four Symbols Mixed Origin Strength. They said…

Everything they said was so correct, so beautiful. But the further he walked, the more constrained he felt. The further he went, the further away he felt from himself. He did not know when it began, but his vision of the traces of the ten thousand things in this world had gradually blurred. He knew he was slowly losing himself, but he was powerless. The burden of the family, how could it be heavier than a mountain? Carried on both shoulders, his spine was bent tight. His Dao system, originally difficult to maintain, how could Tai Yin bear to personally shake its foundation?

But the defeat at the River Viewing Platform, the events in the Mountain Sea Realm, had scattered those brilliant lights time and time again. And now, in this era, with rivers and mountains fallen, the nation’s survival hanging by a thread, he had no other choice! No other choice, only the best choice.

These four words, “no other choice,” instantly opened up his mind and heart, giving him the reason to take that one step. What family burden, what crisis of survival, what uncle-grandpa’s expectations… He could forget everything for a moment!

He gazed at this world, gazed at the mountains and rivers of this great empire, gazed at Mount She. Within the boundless blood energy power, he observed the “truth” of this heaven and earth, those threads, those paths… his ears seemed to hear the heavy voice of the Family Head again: “As long as you don’t die, the Tai family will not perish, and the Dao of arrays will not perish.”

He wiped away the trace of that voice.

“Heaven acts with regularity, and the Dao of arrays has its own destiny. It does not exist for Tai Yin, nor does it perish for Tai Yin!” He proclaimed thus!

“The so-called Dao of arrays! The Dao of man performing the Dao of heaven, it is possible! The Dao of man altering the Dao of heaven, it is also possible!”

Rumble!

Heaven and earth were like a thorough thunderclap!

The thousand or so Tai family soldiers, who had rallied around him and dedicated all their blood energy and military evil power to him, their faces all revealed terror! This violated their deeply rooted understanding. This was a great defiance. Tai Yin was betraying the Dao of arrays, betraying the Tai family. He was… shaking the foundation of the Tai family’s existence! Some were angry, some struggled. But at this moment, Tai Yin was so calm.

“Ten thousand things have traces, let me observe! Ten thousand matters have traces, let me act afterwards!”

As these words fell, Tai Yin’s eyes suddenly filled with endless fine lines, intricate and complex like a spider web! In his vision, the world was already different. What he saw at this moment was all composed of various lines. Including the mountain beneath his feet, including the already approaching Ouyang Yong!

He had already grasped the truth of his life, he had already seen his Dao. This Dao was called Trace! It was the Dao of traces, it was the trace of the Dao. At this moment, Tai Yin’s face was covered in tears, because with the grasp of this Dao path, the Cave True Realm was already within reach. He saw a future different from the crowd.

He had once doubted himself, not just once. After the meeting at the Yellow River, after his actions in the Mountain Sea Realm. When he gritted his teeth, pretended not to know Xiang Bei’s predicament, and took away that pill that mended the divine soul. When his own path conflicted with the family’s path! He suspected that he was not a truly talented person, he suspected that he had only wasted resources for many years. He suspected that he fundamentally could not be counted as a heaven’s favored!

But now he knew. The child who had once spoken those so-called rebellious words and was punished by kneeling for three days, he was right! There was not only one kind of correctness in the world. The opposite side of correctness was sometimes another kind of correctness. In different people, there were different manifestations. On different scales, there were different measures.

Overcoming difficulties and dangers required courage, but overcoming love and responsibility sometimes required even more courage! He had once lost, now he had found it back.

Boom! Boom!

Within Tai Yin’s body, thunder-like angry sounds erupted. Gold radiance flowed over his body surface, his blood surging like a great river. At the first instant of grasping the Dao path, he began to advance to the God Arrival Realm regardless of everything!

“Seeking death!”

Facing this scene, Ouyang Yong could no longer delay. If, due to his negligence, Tai Yin were to escape, when merit was calculated after the war, he would undoubtedly be marked down significantly. Every single resource was precious to Rong Country!

He instantly opened himself, his spiritual consciousness spreading out, surging through this treacherous mountain. Gentle as he was, he once, without regard for consumption, used the divine and radiant power to shake heaven and earth. His hands were enveloped by endless floating and sinking characters, and with a single tear to both sides, he had already ripped open the boundless sea of blood energy into two!

He was already close, facing Tai Yin head-on! On the peak of Mount She, Ouyang Yong, a God Arrival expert, met Tai Yin, who was in the midst of impacting the God Arrival Realm.

Xie Bao Shu also stirred his military evil, accelerating his ascent as much as possible, wanting to extinguish Tai Yin before he reached the God Arrival Realm. All the power within this heaven and earth seemed to go wild in this instant. That was a kind of frenzied, reckless roar.

Yet, within this state, Tai Yin only spoke in a resounding voice: “God Martial Thirty-Third Year, First Month Third Day, Tai Yin ambushes the Qi Army on Mount She!” His voice shook the four wilds.

His body, which had not yet achieved the golden body and jade marrow, instantly began to disintegrate! The blood energy power of the Xia Army soldiers who had sacrificed themselves within the Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array suddenly found a destination. The vast yet impure power, in a mysterious way that Xie Bao Shu could not yet understand, rapidly completed its integration. It seemed as if a divine being was wielding a paintbrush, sketching arbitrarily between heaven and earth.

Above the heavens, within the boundless night sky, an ancient portal suddenly appeared! As this portal emerged, the stars and moon all fell silent, the layered clouds all became still, and the heavens were already locked! It was the Absolute Heaven Gate!

Boom boom boom boom boom boom!

Six consecutive sounds. One ancient portal after another seemed to be pushed out from the river of time. They crossed the boundaries of history, sealing the freedom of space. One portal in the heavens, one portal on the ground, and one in each of the southeast, northwest directions. Ancient breaths converged, as if transporting people to a dark and ancient era. In that desperate era, these six portals were the Gate of Absolute Heaven, the Gate of Absolute Earth, the Gate of Absolute Man, the Gate of Absolute Intent, the Gate of Absolute Momentum, and the Gate of Absolute Heart!

Including the Qi Army of over thirty thousand, including the entire Mount She, and of course, including Xie Bao Shu and Ouyang Yong. Everything was trapped by these six ancient portals. Boundless killing intent arose, and an indescribable terrifying power was surging out!

Mastering the Dao path meant having the opportunity to reach the Cave True Realm after God Arrival. But it did not mean that grasping the Dao path guaranteed reaching the God Arrival Realm. It still required accumulation, comprehension, and more resources. Ultimately crossing the lifespan limit and completing the leap of life essence, these were all adventures encountered by one in ten thousand. Tai Yin rashly impacted the barrier between heaven and man, and he himself was not certain he could succeed.

But he did not do this for the sake of success! What he wanted was the instant of impacting the God Arrival Realm, the interaction between the human body and heaven and earth, the reaction of the world’s rules towards transcendent cultivators! What he wanted were the traces of this heaven and earth!

And after disintegrating himself, with a body approaching the God Arrival Realm, with the Dao path he had comprehended, he stirred the traces of this heaven and earth, borrowing the power provided by the Ten Thousand Merge Boiling Blood Array, and formed a killing array! He had not reached the God Arrival Realm, but at the moment of interaction with heaven and earth, he could use the small to contend with the great, displaying power far exceeding the God Arrival level! Because this was the stirring of the traces of heaven and earth! How could a God Arrival expert achieve this?

Witnessing Tai Yin suddenly grasp the Dao path, suddenly impact the God Arrival Realm, and then suddenly disintegrate himself. Feeling this kind of madness and determination. Feeling the terrifying power of the array Dao that locked the six directions. Even within the vast army, Xie Bao Shu could not help but feel a chill down his spine. While rapidly retreating his army, he exclaimed in shock:

“Tai Yin! Are you crazy!? Grasping the Dao path, you have already seen a millennium of time. Are you going to give it all up tonight?! Is it worth it!?”

Tai Yin gave him a final contemptuous look, and only said: “I, Tai Yin, was born a marquis, died at Xiufeng, revolutionized the array Dao, exhausted national affairs, looked down and looked up without shame, felt peace in my heart, and did not live in vain in this human world!”

His entire being firmly shattered, transforming into extremely complex lines, spreading out between heaven and earth. Between heaven and earth, there was still one trace missing. He disintegrated himself, using his body to fill it!

At this moment, Ouyang Yong’s hair stood on end, and he felt fear! He could not die! Rong Country was small and its army weak, with few strong experts. If it lost a God Arrival expert, the nation would be difficult to manage! He could not die! Lin Mei was still far from growing up, and still needed guidance and protection. He could not die! Every person who stepped onto the battlefield had a reason why they could not die.

Ouyang Yong quickly turned his head, wanting to take control of the military formation and resist with its power. But it was fundamentally too late. The lines, those traces that Tai Yin had transformed into by disintegrating himself, instantly sketched an ancient portal on the peak of Mount She, like one made of peach wood.

The portal was tightly locked. Only with Dao script was the word “Dao” engraved upon it. It was the Absolute Dao Path Fundamental Gate!

The seven gates gathered, the killing array formed, and heaven and earth were covered! Everything was swept away!