Outside Noon Yang City, Bao Bo Zhao fixed his gaze eastward and flew with desperate speed. Though wounded, he risked his very life to achieve such velocity.

However, Tai Yin, bolstered by the might of his army array, had not hesitated to expend his soldiers’ fighting spirit, unleashing a speed that defied comprehension. In a mere instant, Xu Ao had already closed the distance, his fist radiating a four-colored brilliance as he unleashed a blow of unyielding force!

The soldier array had gathered, starlight swirled around, soldier evil intertwined, reversing the primordial energy of the Four Symbols!

This single punch was leagues beyond what he had achieved at View River Platform, or even during his time in the Mountain Sea Realm.

In a flash, it shattered the limits of distance, striking directly at Bao Bo Zhao’s very life force!

Yet, Bao Bo Zhao was Bao Bo Zhao. In this moment of dire peril, he still reacted. Without turning his head, he channeled the power of moving mountains through his Catch Mountain Whip.

It was as if his weapon possessed eyes. With a whistle, it stirred wind and thunder, then spun around and swept outwards with furious might!

Tai Yin’s fist struck the whip, utterly shattering the power of moving mountains. Then, it continued through the whip’s grey-white body, striking Bao Bo Zhao square in the back!

*Kacha!*

The sound of bone cracking echoed. A great gush of fresh blood erupted, mixed with fragments of his internal organs!

Bao Bo Zhao’s battered form suddenly became a line of starlight, as if pulled by a distant star tower, borrowing its power to rapidly shoot into the distance.

This technique was the Immortal Rope!

Borrowing the power of the star tower for movement was a first-class secret mobility technique.

He gritted his teeth and continued his frantic escape!

Noon Yang City lay in the southern part of Hui Ming Prefecture. To the west lay Shao Kang Prefecture, and to the south, Jin An Prefecture. Both were paths he could not possibly take.

His first thought had actually been to head north, as Chong Xuan Sheng’s division under Jiang Wang was currently attacking cities and seizing territory there. The distance wasn’t great, and they possessed sufficient strength to aid him.

But the Bao family and the Chong Xuan family had been political rivals for generations. It was hard to say whether they would stand by and watch him perish. After all, a mere moment’s delay in the heat of battle could easily be excused. For him, however, it meant the difference between life and death! He could not gamble his family’s future on Chong Xuan Sheng’s character.

Heading east was the best option. To the east lay Feng Li Prefecture, whose banner had already changed hands. Several detachments of the Qi army were currently engaging Jin An Prefecture there, locked in fierce battle with the Xia country’s border army.

He could easily rally a force there. If he could reach the supporting army in time and return to Noon Yang, perhaps the thirty thousand strong army within the city might yet endure!

How could Tai Yin not see through Bao Bo Zhao’s intentions?

He expertly maneuvered his army array, pursuing relentlessly, forcing Bao Bo Zhao to constantly change direction.

He used the qi and blood of his soldiers to sustain the army array’s consumption, and used the array’s power to maintain his own speed, launching continuous attacks!

As the three thousand strong army array marched rapidly, one or two hundred soldiers with insufficient qi and blood were occasionally left behind.

Tai Yin himself, however, remained in peak condition.

Meanwhile, Bao Bo Zhao’s state was visibly deteriorating with each passing moment. As the legitimate eldest son of Shuofang Bo, participating in the punitive war against Xia, he naturally carried a number of life-saving artifacts.

But in this brutal pursuit, his consumption was far too rapid!

Had he not cultivated his path marks of Faith, Virtue, and Benevolence in the Outer Tower realm, and possessed the “Alarm Bell” secret technique, allowing him to constantly self-alert and clear his mind, perhaps he would have given up long ago.

His Immortal Rope had been repeatedly targeted and severed by Tai Yin, leaving him truly with the feeling of being at the end of his rope!

However…

He finally reached the edge of a mountain!

Bao Bo Zhao gritted his teeth, about to launch a desperate counterattack to seize a sliver of opportunity, when suddenly he heard the thunder of hooves.

His Heaven Eye saw a cavalry unit of several hundred men sweeping towards him from the distance, their steps like drums on the earth. The man leading them was young and possessed an extraordinary temperament,

Though his face was somewhat pockmarked.

Bao Zhong Qing!

“Elder brother!?” Bao Zhong Qing was also utterly astonished, clearly not having expected Bao Bo Zhao, who commanded heavy troops, to appear here in such a wretched state.

But the cloud of soldier evil relentlessly pursuing Bao Bo Zhao in the high sky immediately provided the answer.

The truth could not be clearer – Bao Bo Zhao had been defeated, escaping with only his life, and was now being pursued by the Xia army!

“Scatter and escape!”

Bao Bo Zhao had no time for explanations, only letting out a furious roar before turning north.

He was already heavily wounded, with only one strike left. Bao Zhong Qing was absolutely no match for Tai Yin, not to mention his unit numbered only a few hundred, less than a third of Tai Yin’s military strength. There was no possibility of confrontation whatsoever.

For the two brothers to converge would only result in their mutual destruction.

It was better to escape separately; whoever could survive, survived.

“You go first!”

Bao Zhong Qing was even more resolute than Bao Bo Zhao had imagined. He only responded with this single sentence, instantly gathering his soldier evil and soaring into the high sky, driving his cavalry unit of seven hundred and thirty-one men directly towards Tai Yin’s detachment!

Two clouds of soldier evil intersected in mid-air.

Soldiers whose qi and blood were exhausted, injured, or killed by the impact fell like dumplings.

With just one clash.

More than half of Bao Zhong Qing’s unit was dead or wounded, and he himself, along with other soldiers, was sent flying back.

“What profound brotherly affection!”

Tai Yin, of course, would not show mercy. In this war, the Xia country had seen who knows how many brothers scattered, how many fathers and sons separated forever. How could the Qi country’s sentiments be shallower?

He merely rolled his soldier evil, reorganizing his army array while looking towards Bao Zhong Qing, extending his hand to press down from a distance, about to end him!

*Rumble rumble rumble!*

Suddenly, a shadow appeared in the high sky.

Tai Yin, startled, looked up, only to see a stone mountain pressing down!

Not a description or analogy, not a simulated dao technique, but a real mountain!

Bao Bo Zhao had returned in time, drawing upon the last of his Catch Mountain Whip’s power and the divine ability to move mountains, shifting the mountain to block the enemy!

*Rumble rumble*, the stone mountain pressed down.

The grey-white whip shadow flickered for a moment before already coiling around Bao Zhong Qing, the two brothers rapidly shooting into the distance.

Tai Yin, on his side, mustered the power of his soldier evil, supporting the mountain with one hand and rapidly moving all the Xia army soldiers beneath the mountain’s shadow out of the way. Then, he simply let go, allowing this mountain to crush Bao Zhong Qing and the Qi army he had brought to death!

But in that brief delay, his vision could no longer capture the figures of Bao Bo Zhao and his brother.

“Return to formation!”

The soldier evil instantly scattered, and the Xia army withdrew in an orderly fashion.

Tai Yin did not linger further.

In this war, he still had many things to do. He couldn’t afford to waste any more time on Bao Bo Zhao.

Moreover, pursuing further might not yield any positive results.

Bao Zhong Qing’s appearance here likely meant that other Qi armies were not far off…

He had already sounded the first call of the counterattack. Annihilating the Bao family brothers’ army was only the initial step.

He had to seize the time!

*Rumble rumble*, the mountain shadow was already far behind them.

The wind knives cut at his lungs, a burning pain.

Throughout his entire body, few bones remained intact.

Bao Bo Zhao used his whip to coil around his full brother, barely managing to fly at speed.

He could no longer even distinguish directions. Was it east? Any direction was fine, as long as it was far away, far away…

Having suffered a heavy injury in Noon Yang City and then being pursued by Tai Yin for so long, he was already utterly exhausted. The mountain-moving strike just now had been his last reserve of power.

His current flight was solely supported by sheer willpower.

Speaking of the competition with Bao Zhong Qing…

For a very long time, their relationship had indeed been strained. They fought openly and secretly, using who knows how many schemes.

The title of Shuofang Bo represented not only honor and status but also a transcendental cultivator’s unparalleled power. This power could not be sought from the outside,

Who would be willing to share it?

But no matter how they fought, they were still blood brothers from the same mother, bone connected to tendon.

He could not possibly stand by and watch Bao Zhong Qing die. His first thought upon seeing Bao Zhong Qing was to have him escape, just as Bao Zhong Qing had just now unhesitatingly led his army to cover his retreat.

“How are you?”

He received the dimmed Catch Mountain Whip, holding the constantly coughing Bao Zhong Qing in his hand.

At this moment, they flew rapidly over a lush, green mountain.

Bao Bo Zhao barely recalled that in the records of Great Xia’s geography, this mountain was named “Little Sharp,” a very peculiar name. But crossing this mountain led to Feng Li Prefecture…

“I… cough! Cough! Cough!”

Bao Zhong Qing coughed violently in the air. Bao Bo Zhao forced himself to stay upright, transferring some dao yuan to his brother.

“Hold on. We’ll be in Feng Li soon.”

“Good… cough! Cough! Good… cough!”

Bao Bo Zhao gritted his teeth, saying nothing more, desperately squeezing the remaining power from his body.

A sudden, intense pain surged through his heart!

This sudden, intense pain jolted Bao Bo Zhao out of his hazy state. The vertical eye between his eyebrows suddenly sprang wide open, its divine light illuminating!

A dagger was stabbed into his vertical eye!

The divine light dimmed, and fresh blood flew.

The knife edge shattered the eyeball, striking against the skull.

A sound, a mix of pain and sorrow, rattled deep in Bao Bo Zhao’s throat.

*Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff! Puff!*

The dagger stabbed wildly and indiscriminately into Bao Bo Zhao’s body!

Face! Neck! Chest! Abdomen!

The figures of the two brothers in the high sky fell in a straight line, bringing with them a whistling, crying wind sound as they plummeted onto the lush, vibrant Little Sharp Mountain.

During this fall, Bao Zhong Qing couldn’t even tell exactly how many times he had stabbed.

His own blood brother, from the same mother, stabbed into a thousand-holed broken sack.

*Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle*, blood bubbled out.

The two brothers fell onto the mountaintop.

This short, intimate journey had finally reached its end.

Bao Zhong Qing let out a long, difficult-to-describe sigh from his throat, letting go and flipping over to lie beside Bao Bo Zhao’s corpse.

He lay on his back, looking at the sky.

Beside him lay the bloody, mangled corpse of his blood brother.

They lay shoulder to shoulder, intimate as they were in childhood. Looking at the clouds, the stars, this world, together.

The sky of Xia country wasn’t as clear as Qi country’s, but it was still very open.

The sunlight filtered through the clouds, falling down evenly.

It was very warm.

Bao Zhong Qing wanted to sleep like this for a while, but of course, he couldn’t sleep now.

He took down the miniaturized storage box hanging from his waist belt, took out some wound medicine from inside, and slowly swallowed it.

Because of his injuries, this series of actions was very difficult, but he performed them in an orderly fashion.

He had re-understood the power of his Heaven Eye’s insight. Thus, he knew his own body was indeed in a very bad state. But it didn’t matter; now he had enough time.

He had bought enough time and, like now, a future bathed in brilliant sunlight.

He lay there, circulating dao yuan, making an effort to dissolve the medicine’s power, seriously tending to his injuries.

He originally had nothing to say, and he had never been in the habit of talking to the dead.

But for some reason, he felt he should say something.

In any case, he was tending to his injuries anyway.

He let out a groan, slightly stretching his unbearably painful muscles and bones.

He could hear his limbs and body responding with difficulty.

This pain made him even more inclined to speak.

So, he said, “You’re two years older than me, you’ve eaten much more rice than me, and it’s normal that your cultivation is higher, right? If you have the ability, stand still and wait for me to cultivate for two years, okay? How dare you say you’re better than me, how can you, because of that, not let me inherit the title, eh?”

He took a breath, then continued, “You messed up your business. The Golden Feather Phoenix Immortal Flower business, in my hands, could have opened a channel to Chu country, earning who knows how many dao yuan stones. In your hands, I just needed to call a few people and say a few words to the fat Chong Xuan, and you just turned around and sold it. Were you too stupid to see the value of this business, or purely arrogant, eh? Hehe, truly a lineage of that father of ours, no wonder he likes you and not me.”

“I was obscure in the Inner Mansion realm. Weren’t you also stepped on by that Chong Xuan Feng Hua in the Outer Tower realm? How am I not as good as you?”

“Clearly, in military strategy, I’m stronger than you, ah… brother, do you know I’m stronger than you?”

“Don’t look at you latching onto the fat Chong Xuan’s strategy and stirring up a storm in this war. If I had a ten thousand strong army, I would have done better than you. I could have gotten more from the fat Chong Xuan, I understand him better than you, I also understand Xia country better than you, and I made more preparations. But I only had one thousand capital soldiers.”

“The fat Chong Xuan’s dad is the sinner of the Chong Xuan family, almost destroying the entire Chong Xuan family. Even so, Marquis Bo Wang still gave him a fair chance to compete. Chong Xuan Zun is invincible at the same realm, an absolute prodigy. On the Qi-Xia battlefield, he and the fat Chong Xuan each had three thousand soldiers, relying on their own abilities.”

“Our two brothers on the battlefield, you commanded ten thousand soldiers, I commanded one thousand… his grandma’s, what’s a thousand soldiers enough to do?”

Other hall cousins can compete openly, setting clear terms for competition. How is it that we are blood brothers, from the same father and same mother, and they didn’t even give me a fair chance to compete, eh?”

“Brother, do you know you’re very stupid?”

“Why do you think the fat Chong Xuan slowed down his offensive in Hui Luo Prefecture? Do you think he and Jiang Wang couldn’t take over you?”

“The dynamics of the Xia army north of Hui Luo are clearly abnormal, either there’s a big problem or a big action, but you were still immersed in your small victory, completely unable to see the crisis. What a waste of your Heaven Eye divine power!”

“Or perhaps, you rely too much on your Heaven Eye, not knowing that there are many things in this world that your Heaven Eye cannot see through!”

“I was always waiting for you, very seriously waiting for you. I told myself this would be the only time I waited. If there was no opportunity, then so be it. I wouldn’t lift a hand against you again. But you still sent the opportunity right in front of me.”

“I knew you could actually still escape, so I used myself to block you… I… forget it.”

Bao Zhong Qing let out a long sigh: “Actually, I also know that everything I’m saying is just excuses.”

“But people need excuses to let themselves off, right?”

“Brother, tell me, what exactly is the matter with this world? Is people’s original heart not really that malicious? I always thought I could calmly accept the outcome… Yet I can’t,”

“I can’t.”

He closed his mouth.

For a moment, he thought he might cry.

But he didn’t.

After another period of silence, he sat up and meticulously began to process his blood brother’s corpse.

Muscles, bones, blood, hair… everything.

Using secret medicine, he decomposed it inch by inch, mixing it into the soil, into the mountain stones, into this peaceful Little Sharp Mountain.

Of course, he couldn’t use dao techniques…

Using dao techniques to do these things would too easily leave permanent traces.

He calmly completed all of this, then flew up again, flying back and forth, beginning to handle all the traces he could perceive—although this was the Qi-Xia battlefield, and Bao Bo Zhao’s death wasn’t something unbelievable.

The disastrous defeat in Noon Yang City, the loss of the entire army under his command, it was relatively strange for the main general to survive, not to mention Tai Yin pursuing him with an army for so long…

Furthermore, by the time this war ended, who knew when that would be. By then, all traces would have already been wiped away by the natural laws of heaven and earth…

Although…

Although there were so many “althoughs.”

Bao Zhong Qing still did things very meticulously.

He went back and forth, cleaning up the traces a full thirteen times.

He told himself, never forget how Bao Bo Zhao died.

Never be careless.