Chapter 002 Not speaking doesn't mean forgetting

  The night is pitch black, a bright moon hangs high, and the stars surround the moon.

  The bustling Tiger and Leopard Brigade, which was extraordinary during the day, now only has three thousand brothers left. However, this bustle is even more intense than during the day.

  Today, Yuan Wanli was overjoyed. As soon as the martial arts competition ended, he ordered a grand celebration throughout the night in the military camp, with no one allowed to return until they were drunk. He also instructed people to fetch fine wine and meat from nearby to reward the three armies. All of this was understood by the soldiers of the Tiger and Leopard Army. Because the Tiger and Leopard Army would soon have another powerful warrior at the Tianjie level. And this Tianjie-level warrior had just helped the Tiger and Leopard Army gain prestige, defeating the notorious swordswoman Duōluó who had once dominated the vast desert. Although Duōluó had not appeared in the desert for ten years, her past glory was still remembered by everyone. Yet today, she was defeated by our Tianjian in front of thousands of people.

  This will make him return to the vast desert one day, and the prestige of tigers and leopards will be even more powerful and heavier than before!

  Yuan Wanli's face was flushed, his ears were red, and he kept belching with a series of "hics". His belly had already started to feel some discomfort from drinking. However, the soldiers under him continued to hold up their large wrists and toast him repeatedly. If they could get Yuan Wanli drunk, that would be fine, but as a strong practitioner in the Heavenly Realm, his true energy was like water, and he wouldn't get drunk no matter what. His belly felt bloated, but he didn't care at all because he was feeling happy at this moment.

  "Haha…… I, Yuan, am truly delighted today. Originally, I thought that with Lord Nian gone, our Tiger and Leopard Army's prestige would not be as great as before. I, Yuan Wanli, am a rough man, I don't deceive my brothers, and I never thought I could do better than Lord Nian. Originally, I was worried that I couldn't control you little rascals, and let you turn the Tiger and Leopard camp upside down. But now, I'm not afraid! Even if the Emperor himself orders us to set out for the northern desert, to attack Wang's court, I, old Yuan, would dare to slap my chest and agree!"

  "Today in this battle, did all of you brothers see it? Such a fierce warrior, such a ruthless man, joining my Tiger Leopard Army is simply like adding wings to a tiger!"

  Yuan Wanli said, not caring about his own swollen belly, picked up the wine jug and started pouring it into himself. After a few mouthfuls, he felt that something was not quite right. Suddenly, he slapped his own head hard, then turned to his personal guard and ordered: "Go, bring me the golden helmet bestowed upon me by His Majesty!"

  The officers who were drinking with him heard this and were all stunned, then remembered the scene where General Yue patted Yuan Wanli's shoulder and gave him a golden helmet to drink. At that time, their own general was excited like crazy. Is it possible that today, the general still wants to relive this feeling?

  They were holding back their laughter, but Yuan Wanli poured wine into the golden helmet and didn't drink.

  He suddenly knelt down facing north.

  He wore armor, he knelt down, and the sound of metal colliding, suddenly a loud rumble.

  There is wine in the golden helmet, and the wine is a good wine, fragrant and pungent.

  Seeing Yuan Wanli kneeling on the ground, the originally lively scene suddenly froze there. Everyone realized something. Even some old soldiers' eyes had already become moist with tears.

  They stayed there, still smiling on their faces.

  But in that smile, there was still a hint of regret, and his eyes were dazed.

  They recalled those majestic years...

  Horseshoes kick, on the road of triumphant return, how many loyal souls are buried in a foreign land?

  Countless...

  Suddenly, Yuan Wanli fiercely raised the golden helmet, and the tiger leopard soldiers also knelt down on the ground, holding up their large bowls to the north.

  "Wanli shouted loudly: 'Cheers for Great Yan! Cheers for the great general! Cheers for the tiger and leopard!'"

  "Long live Great Yan! Long live the great general! Long live the Tigers and Leopards!"

  The wine in the golden helmet was all spilled on the ground by him.

  His loud shout, his neck also because of excitement and thick red, veins bulging: "Give the brothers under the ground a toast! On the Yellow Spring Road, rest for a few steps, take a sip and go!"

  Endless wine spilled on the ground, fragrance filled the air, even the soil was full of rich aroma.

  In the midst of clinking wine glasses, someone suddenly shouted: "Liu Zi, we've returned triumphantly, your son will also call out 'Dad'... but why did you leave?" He yelled, already sobbing uncontrollably. As he shouted, even more people remembered their good friend Bao Ze, who had died on the desert border, sacrificing his life for the country.

  The crowd fell silent. But in this silence, a sharp voice shouted: "Ask the leader to take us back to the desert! I want revenge!" As soon as the voice came out, it immediately triggered a large echo. In less than a moment, it became a deafening roar.

  "I want revenge!"

  Yuan Wanli listened to the shouts of the soldiers and looked at their burning eyes, but he gritted his teeth and did not dare to respond. Because he already knew that next, their target was the Dongnan Jun Tian Sect.

  He didn't speak; he was too ashamed to face these tiger-like soldiers.

  He had no choice but to pretend to be drunk and was escorted away by his personal guards.

  He left, and the camp fell silent all at once. No one shouted "Kill" or "Return to the desert" anymore. They drank even more fiercely.

  The drink is wine, and there are tears in the wine. Can't tell whether it's mellow or bitter.

  The guards escorted Yuan Wanli into the big camp and stood guard at the gate. But Yuan Wanli was not drunk, nor would he ever get drunk.

  After a while, the guards didn't know if it was an illusion or not, but they suddenly heard a faint sobbing sound coming from inside the tent. They quietly lifted the curtain and took a peek. To their surprise, Yuan Wanli's entire head was buried in his pillow, which was already soaked halfway through.

  The general didn't say anything, but that doesn't mean he has forgotten.

  They shivered in their hearts, silently, they pulled the curtain up again, standing outside the tent, but their bodies were even straighter!

  …………

  The sky is very dark, the moon hangs high in the sky, lonely but bright.

  Tang An stood just outside the main gate of Yanjing City, about a hundred meters away. He looked up at this magnificent city, the most majestic on the nine continents. Yanjing City was extremely large, towering above the plains, with great mountains and treacherous terrain to the north, and the Grand Canal to the south, its grandeur awe-inspiring.

  Tang An stood silently here, waiting for dawn when the city gate would open wide. He had won the duel, but the system hadn't given him a reward yet, and he wasn't in a hurry. He knew that once the news was announced at dawn, letting the entire Jianghu know, his reward would definitely appear. Besides, he had already entered the Heavenly Realm, comprehended the Killing Sword, and this Tianyuan Dan was just an added bonus.

  In the world, there are many masters of the Five Realms of Heaven and Man, but those who have reached the Heavenly Realm are extremely rare, with only one appearing among tens of millions of people. How difficult it is for a mortal to enter the Heavenly Realm! And yet, to enter the Heavenly Realm from the Mortal Realm, there are only two requirements.

  First and foremost, one must reach the pinnacle of human potential, with internal energy fully cultivated and refined to its peak. Although this is a difficult feat to achieve, as long as you are willing to invest time and effort into cultivating your internal energy over several years, combined with a reliable method for cultivating internal energy, it is inevitable that you will eventually meet this requirement. However, the second point, "spiritual awareness", is extremely challenging.

  This "inspiration" is more mysterious than difficult.

  Human cultivation is nothing more than transforming tendons and bones, absorbing the primordial energy of heaven and earth, converting it into one's own use, cultivating internal energy. It is a process of refining essence to transform energy. As for this spiritual intention, it is a practice of transforming energy to refine spirit, using internal energy to nourish the body, making the human spirit full and satisfied, and also conforming to a certain principle of heaven and earth, thereby gaining insight into spiritual intention. These two are fundamentally different in nature.

  Martial artists cultivate internal energy, and internal energy can also "nourish the spirit", so generally high-level internal energy practitioners are spiritually abundant! For example, Tang An, after cultivating internal energy, rarely sleeps because he doesn't need to. And between top-tier martial artists and ordinary high-level practitioners, the biggest difference lies in their "mental state"!

  Tang An stood under the city wall, his internal energy had almost dried up, he knew that his internal energy had undergone a qualitative change. The green dragon's vigor had swallowed up all of his internal energy, not leaving even a single thread behind. At this moment, the three major acupoints on his body were still rotating, but the tiny bit of green dragon's vigor was no longer golden-colored internal energy, it had condensed into droplets and became true yuan!

  He has entered the heavenly realm!

  No doubt about it!

  Tang An discovered the true yuan liquid droplets, and suddenly his heart moved, the sword light in his hand trembled, and instantly, a cyan glow flew out from his sword. And he also felt a heart-shaking power from that cyan flow of light.

  This gleaming and ordinary sword tip seems to be greatly different. Not only is its power more condensed, but this sword tip also appears to have a connection with Tang An's heart.

  Tang An stared at the cyan light that shot out, his mind suddenly twitched, and in an instant, the cyan light actually deviated slightly, shooting to one side.

  And then, Tang An's face suddenly turned extremely pale. A wave of dizziness and blurred vision came over him.

  He adjusted himself slightly and recovered.

  "This is indeed the power of divine thought! So strong! The divine thought that Daluo used at the last moment was much stronger than mine. However, his divine thought wasn't his own, and he didn't have complete control over it, which gave me a chance to break through. If he had truly reached the heavenly realm and condensed his divine thought, I wouldn't have had any opportunity."

  The strong in Tianjie are strong in their divine thoughts.

  Tang An had been fighting all day, especially the last match which almost exhausted him. Now he was extremely tired. Even though he had already grasped the divine thought, this divine thought was still very weak and needed to be nourished by his true yuan. But just as he felt this way, Tang An suddenly sensed that someone was coming from afar!

  He turned his head to take a look, but couldn't see the person's appearance clearly. However, the person's aura was like the scorching sun at noon, making it impossible for people to gaze directly at him. In an instant, Tang An felt a chill in his heart. "What a sharp aura, who is this person?"

  That person also discovered Tang An in the distance, but when he saw that Tang An was dressed in tattered clothes and looked dispirited, he thought he was just an ordinary person who had lost his way and didn't pay much attention to him.

  He stopped at a distance, and in less than a moment, two more people rushed over. Those two were also agile and nimble, moving as flexibly as monkeys, and when they arrived in front of the man, they respectfully said: "Master, we're late, Tang An has already won the competition. Moreover, he seems to have comprehended the divine intention and entered the heavenly realm!"

  That man heard this, suddenly bursting out a fierce and violent aura, coldly saying: "Even if he enters the Heavenly Boundary, what of it? He dares to kill my Feng Er, I will definitely crush his bones and scatter his ashes!" After speaking, with a wave of his sleeve, he brought two disciples, suddenly floating in mid-air, stepping onto the city wall of Yanjing.

  Tang An heard their conversation, of course he knew who that person was! He couldn't help but clench his fists tightly, even the Frost Sword in his hand was making a "tingling" sound. He was trying his best to suppress the killing intent that was about to erupt from his heart at any moment.

  "Wang Ruitu, have you finally arrived? Nine years ago, if it wasn't for your relentless pursuit, why would I have left Shushan? My silence doesn't mean I've forgotten! On the sixth of June, I'll make sure you and the Shushan Sword Sect behind you are utterly disgraced and shunned by all!"

  Tang An gazed coldly at the back of Wang Ruitu, but just then, Wang Ruitu flew in mid-air, and for some reason, his heart skipped a beat. He suddenly turned his head, and a cold, stern gaze fell on Tang An. However, at this moment, Tang An's internal energy was completely gone, and his spiritual sense was weak, not even comparable to that of an ordinary person. Naturally, Wang Ruitu didn't notice anything unusual.

  He simply furrowed his brow, shook his head in puzzlement, and then swiftly entered the city of Yanjing.

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