Chapter 1422: Only Wish for the Prosperity of the Good

The Butcher was also on the battlefield at this moment, gazing from afar at the dazzling blade light. The moment all the spirit weapons floated into the air, the Grand Dao of the Blade roared, a Grand Dao he was very familiar with.

The Dao of the Blade cries out against injustice, cuts through thorns, and defends its domain.

Now, Qin Mu had achieved the third step.

As that spirit of guardianship soared to the heavens, the collective will transformed into a Great Wall, empowering the ordinary iron in Qin Mu's hand and granting him the power to break through anything.

Cheers erupted on the battlefield. The morale of the Yankang soldiers suddenly soared, hot blood surging through their veins. The wild, fiery blade light and the Dao of the Blade inspired them, making them fight valiantly, fearless of death, as they charged towards the enemy lines.

The demigods from the Southern Heaven hesitated, some in a panic. On the battlefield, morale was like a scale; if one side weighed even slightly more, it would overpower the other. It was rare for there to be perfect balance.

Faced with such a fierce and wolf-like army, they grew fearful and cowardly. They began to retreat, and even the supervising general behind them, who drew his sword and cut down dozens of men, could not stop this rout.

Seeing them flee, the Yankang army's morale soared even higher. They pursued relentlessly, and the battlefield became bloody and brutal.

The sun set in the west. The vast mountains stretched like a sea, and the setting sun was like blood.

This battle was just a corner of the vast Southern Border battlefield. It was not the most thrilling, brutal, or spectacular battle in the Southern Border campaign; there were battles there that were even more thrilling, brutal, and tragic yet heroic.

By the time the fighting subsided, it was already nightfall. The commanders of the various armies began to count their numbers. General Bashan asked, "Where is the person who cut open the Southern Emperor's divine weapon?"

The soldiers found the squad where Qin Mu had been. A Yankang squad consisted of ten men, but only three remained. Qin Mu was not among them.

A young scholar shook his head, explaining that they had lost sight of Qin Mu during the pursuit.

The soldiers fell silent. They reported back to Bashan, who also fell silent.

Generals dying in battle was a common occurrence on the battlefield.

Late at night, ghost fires flickered across the battlefield. Divine ability practitioners also lit torches, searching for the bodies of their comrades. Those three young Yankang scholars searched everywhere, hoping to see a familiar face.

Only now did they understand why the scarred veteran had told them to remember their comrades' faces: so that, after the battle, they could be sent home, so their bones wouldn't freeze in the cold wind, so they wouldn't be buried in foreign lands, but would return to their hometowns with the honor due to warriors, to be buried in their ancestral graves.

Blood, like frost, congealed on the surface of the corpses.

Ghost fires drifted across the battlefield. They were emissaries from Youdu guiding the wandering souls. Old men, their faces indistinct, appeared in every corner of the battlefield on paper boats. Regardless of friend or foe, they allowed the souls of the fallen to board the paper boats, taking them to Youdu.

The lanterns of these underworld envoys shone on the faces of the wandering souls. No matter how great a general or how humble a soldier they had been in life, they all had to board the boat.

At this moment, on a paper boat, Qin Mu and You Tianzun sat on the boat, while the Butcher sat under a lantern.

All around was silent. Only from afar came the voice of a soldier from the northwest, speaking with a thick regional accent, long calling out a comrade's name in the darkness, urging his soul to return, not to mistakenly enter Youdu, for Youdu had Tu Bo, with his tiger-like face and ox-like body, who would drive him away with a Styx whip.

Qin Mu listened to the long, lingering call, somewhat lost in thought.

"Youdu has its rules," You Tianzun said.

You Tianzun continued, "If you want to resurrect so many people, you will be violating Youdu's rules. Tu Bo will not agree to it."

"Of course I know Youdu's rules," Qin Mu said. "Resurrecting so many people in one go goes against the Grand Dao of Youdu."

Qin Mu continued, "However, Tu Bo is strictly bound by rules, which leaves us very passive. You Tianzun, Yankang is a mere speck of land to the Ten Celestial Venerables. Celestial Venerable Huo has already begun military action against Yankang. If he truly sweeps through in the future, Yankang will crumble, and even more people will die. If we let rules restrict us to death, the only path awaiting us is defeat and destruction. Tu Bo also wishes to break free from the shackles of the Grand Dao of Youdu. Why not turn a blind eye?"

You Tianzun shook his head, saying, "Tu Bo is still Tu Bo, and the Grand Dao of Youdu is still the Grand Dao of Youdu. Things must be handled impartially."

"Stubborn fool!"

Qin Mu laughed in exasperation. "You Tianzun, go back and tell Tu Bo that my consulting you was merely out of courtesy! I can directly resurrect these people without needing Tu Bo's permission at all! Whether Tu Bo agrees or not, I am determined to do this!"

You Tianzun's gaze fell upon him. "Your wings have grown strong."

"Very hard, clank, clank!"

Qin Mu's voice was equally firm. "The ancient gods value me because I am the Grandmaster of Myriad Tribulations Undying. They expect me to use my magic to resurrect them, even if their souls are scattered, I can pull them back. But when I resurrect humans, you talk about rules? I have the ability, so why can't I use it?"

You Tianzun remained expressionless, saying, "Countless people die on the battlefield. If you resurrect them, not only will you be going against Youdu, but you will also consume your own magic power. How many people can you save? These people's bodies have been destroyed. Even if you master the Dao of Creation and can restore their physical bodies, how many can you actually restore?"

Qin Mu's eye twitched.

You Tianzun continued, "This is just one of countless battlefields. On other battlefields, countless more people die. Can you save all of them? Every day, even every moment, countless people die across the myriad heavens and myriad realms. Can you save them all? Celestial Venerable Mu, even if you are a Celestial Venerable, your power has its limits. You cannot save everyone. Moreover, if you massively resurrect the dead, the Grand Dao of Youdu will constrain Tu Bo, making him deal with you. Tu Bo was born from the Grand Dao and cannot act on his own will."

He stood up. "Anyone who disrupts the order of Youdu will be punished! The worlds I have destroyed are countless. Don't let Yankang become one of them. Because if Tu Bo is bound by the Grand Dao of Youdu and forced to act, even more worlds will be destroyed! The reason Tu Bo has not acted against you all these years is because he has been resisting the rules of the Grand Dao of Youdu, defying the Dao's commands. The Dao of Youdu has long wanted to erase you!"

"The more people you resurrect, the heavier the punishment! When punishment descends, not only will the people you resurrected die, but countless others will also be implicated by you!"

Qin Mu stood up. "The Grand Dao of Youdu is inhumane."

You Tianzun said, "The Grand Dao of Heaven and Earth was never humane to begin with."

"I am too idealistic, and you are too realistic."

Qin Mu suddenly activated his Soul-Drawing divine ability, and the Heaven and Earth Mysterious Gate appeared behind him. He laughed loudly, "Because I am too idealistic, I often get battered and bruised by reality! And because you are too realistic, you have become reclusive!"

You Tianzun raised an eyebrow. "Tu Bo will not lend you his power. Nor will Heaven Duke lend you his power to resurrect these human soldiers."

"I don't need it!"

Qin Mu laughed aloud. His Divine Treasury opened, and the Ancestral Court appeared, with Xuandu above and Youdu below.

The immense power from his Divine Treasury surged forth!

"Grand Dao Rises from Ancestral Court," "Creation Dispels Ignorance."

These were his two Dao-entering divine abilities, the fourteenth and fifteenth Heavens.

"Grand Dao Rises from Ancestral Court" evolved the Grand Daos of Youdu and Xuandu. "Creation Dispels Ignorance" used the Dao of Creation to repair the physical bodies of the fallen warriors, activate their blood, and revitalize the dead blood in their veins!

You Tianzun watched him silently, offering no obstruction, letting him do as he wished.

The Yankang soldiers who were collecting bodies on the battlefield stared blankly as comrades stood up one by one. There were still bloodstains on their bodies, but their bodies began to recover. Their wounds healed, their hearts resumed beating, and their dead organs regained vitality.

Some cheered, tightly embracing their newly resurrected comrades, laughing and then bursting into tears.

The battlefield was too vast, and too many warriors had fallen. Even Qin Mu felt increasingly strained, as resurrecting these warriors consumed too much of his magic power and spirit.

His aura weakened. At the same time, he felt a disturbance from the Grand Dao of Youdu. By defying the Grand Dao and reversing life and death, he had caused the Grand Dao of Youdu to issue a command to eradicate him.

He felt Tu Bo in Youdu forcibly suppressing the Grand Dao of Youdu, and also felt You Tianzun resisting the Dao's command.

Finally, the fallen Yankang warriors on this battlefield were resurrected one by one. All power within Qin Mu seemed to be exhausted. He collapsed heavily, extremely weak and unable to stand.

You Tianzun, resisting the command of the Grand Dao of Youdu, passed by him and boarded the paper boat again. "Don't go to Youdu now. If you go to Youdu after this, Tu Bo won't protect you; he will kill you. The power of Youdu is too strong there."

"Thank you," Qin Mu said weakly.

You Tianzun's body was a little stiff. Without turning back, he said indifferently, "Don't thank me. You have reversed life and death. I will truthfully report this to Tu Bo. Tu Bo is just and selfless; he will record your wicked deeds and settle them all in the future."

Qin Mu smiled, forcing himself to speak loudly, "In two and a half years, at most two and a half years, will be the Battle of Xuandu, concerning Heaven Duke's life and death! Will you go or not?" He spoke too quickly and began to cough violently.

"What's that to me?" You Tianzun said coldly, steering the paper boat into Youdu.

Qin Mu, however, smiled, looking up at the sky. He saw the east turn white; the sun was about to rise. He murmured, "He will go, he definitely will... Although You Tianzun has become reclusive due to his rationality, feeling he has seen through everything and grown indifferent, he will definitely go. His heart is still warm, burning hot..."

The Butcher walked over to him. He saw the colorful clouds in the east growing brighter, and a red sun slowly rising from the glow. He said, "Back then, I didn't have your divine ability to reverse life and death. If I had, I would also defy Tu Bo, and would also save my comrades."

He looked directly at the rising sun, remaining silent for a long time. Suddenly, he murmured softly, "Frost falls on Southern Mountain, autumn fruits ripen. Wind sweeps through Northern Neighbor, night fires burn. Worldly affairs are ever bustling. How can Heaven's will be questioned? Only may good people prosper. The Dao of the Blade, it is the Dao of Man... Mu'er, have you rested long enough? Let's go, we continue forward!"

Qin Mu staggered to his feet, striving to keep up with him, walking towards the light of the rising sun.

"Any acquired Dao is the Dao of Man!" he said with a firm tone.

The Butcher looked back at him and smiled.