We Agreed On Experiencing Life, So Why Did You Immortals Become Real?-Chapter 399: Won’t Live Past Five Years

After Empress Shi passed away, the Qin ruler followed his wife’s last wishes, and the funeral was kept simple in every respect.

In Qin’s customs, a parent’s funeral is generally presided over by their children.

So at Empress Shi’s funeral, Qin Siyao, as the Qin ruler’s only legitimate daughter, forced back her tears and presided over her mother’s rites, watching as her mother was laid to rest.

After the funeral ended, Qin Siyao wore mourning clothes and knelt in the ancestral temple, praying blessings for her mother.

Xiao Mo came to the ancestral temple.

The woman sat with her back straight and lifted her head, gazing at the spirit tablets of her mother, her eldest brother, and her second brother.

Beneath her long eyelashes, those glass-like eyes blinked lightly, a little unfocused.

Perhaps she was recalling childhood, those days that would never return.

Xiao Mo stepped forward, lit three sticks of incense, bowed once, then sat down beside Qin Siyao.

Xiao Mo gently drew the woman into his arms and said warmly, “You don’t have to force yourself anymore. If crying will make you feel better, then cry a little...”

Pressed against Xiao Mo’s chest, Qin Siyao gripped his collar tightly.

Very soon, Xiao Mo felt Siyao trembling.

Her tears soaked Xiao Mo’s clothes.

At first, Qin Siyao only cried softly.

But the further it went.

The more her tears refused to stop.

The harder she clenched Xiao Mo’s clothing.

The more her sobbing made a person’s heart ache.

The one who left her was the strictest with her, yet also the one who loved her the most.

He did not know how long she cried before Qin Siyao gradually grew quiet in Xiao Mo’s arms.

When Xiao Mo lowered his head, Qin Siyao was still clutching the cloth at his chest, only her strength was spent from weeping, and now she lay quietly asleep in his embrace...

Xiao Mo lifted Qin Siyao up and carried her back to her sleeping quarters.

When Huasheng saw Her Highness the Princess in the Frost King’s arms, her heart could not help tightening in pain.

Huasheng hurriedly brought a basin of water and wiped the tear stains from Qin Siyao’s face.

“Young master, please go attend to your matters first. Her Highness the Princess can be left to this servant.”

Huasheng said this to Xiao Mo.

When Xiao Mo was little, Huasheng called him young master.

After Xiao Mo grew up and was granted rank and title, Huasheng still called him young master.

As if for Huasheng, no matter how old Xiao Mo became, no matter what status he held, in her eyes he had never changed.

“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Huasheng.” Xiao Mo nodded and looked deeply at Qin Siyao.

“Young master, please rest assured. Although Her Highness the Princess looks incomparably fragile, in truth, Her Highness the Princess is also very strong.” Huasheng comforted Xiao Mo. “Stronger than we imagine.”

“I know.”

Xiao Mo looked at the sleeping woman.

“I know...”

...

A few days later, after Qin Siyao finished sorting her mother’s belongings, she went once more to the Imperial Study to help her father handle government affairs.

By evening, Qin Siyao would leave the Imperial Study and return to the Frost King’s residence to cook dinner for Xiao Mo.

At night, the two would look at the starry sky together and chat idly as usual.

Only, unlike before, Qin Siyao would cultivate of her own accord.

In the past, Qin Siyao’s cultivation had always been passive. Only after Xiao Mo’s realm rose and he gained a longer lifespan would Qin Siyao cultivate at an unhurried pace.

But now, Qin Siyao’s drive to cultivate was far higher than before.

“Xiao Mo, from this day forward, I also want to stand at your side!”

Watching Qin Siyao cultivate with such seriousness, Xiao Mo recalled the words she had once said.

For a moment, Xiao Mo did not know whether he should feel happy, or whether he should sigh.

If it were possible, Xiao Mo hoped the girl before him would never have to grow up.

But this world seemed to be pushing at her back, driving her forward without pause...

Aside from cultivating, Qin Siyao would also ask Xiao Mo about certain court and state affairs.

As for these court matters, Xiao Mo would answer everything he knew, without holding anything back, speaking his views plainly.

Qin Siyao was also often astonished by Xiao Mo’s breadth of vision.

In truth, Qin Siyao also knew that Xiao Mo had a certain understanding of the court, but she had not expected it to be this deep.

She always felt that Xiao Mo was not merely a general who only knew how to lead troops into battle. It was more as if he had been steeped in the officialdom of the court for a long time.

Unknowingly, another year passed.

Xiao Mo received intelligence from the Wasteland Tower and learned that Qi had sent envoys to the Ten-Thousand Islands State, hoping to obtain the Ten-Thousand Islands State’s aid.

This so-called Ten-Thousand Islands State was a country composed of more than ten thousand large and small islands located in the Sky-Cloud Sea.

The Ten-Thousand Islands State’s ruler was a cultivator of the Ascension Realm and ruled over the entire sea region.

The Ten-Thousand Islands State was said to be a country, but in truth, it was merely a sect disguised as a country.

The reason Qi had been the hegemon among the Warring States for a thousand years was partly because Qi bordered the sea and frequently did business with the Ten-Thousand Islands State, truly amassing a great deal of wealth.

And it was precisely because Qi often dealt with the Ten-Thousand Islands State that the relationship between Qi and the Ten-Thousand Islands State was in fact not shallow.

Now Qin had almost unified the entire Myriad Dharma World, lacking only Qi and half of Zhao. Qi was naturally panicking.

So Qi intended to seek aid from the Ten-Thousand Islands State. What it offered the other side was naturally land in the Myriad Dharma World, as well as various blessed lands and grotto-heavens.

Beyond that, Zhao’s collusion with the demon-race world was also no longer something that had only been happening for a day or two.

The human race and the demon race had once signed an agreement. Neither side would interfere in the other’s wars.

But now Creek-Valley State and Flowing-Flame State were directly sending troops into human realms, and within the demon-race world there was not a single voice of opposition.

From this, it could be seen that the demon-race world had long since tacitly approved this.

Xiao Mo could not say he failed to understand the demon-race world’s thinking.

At present, the various races of the demon-race world were entangled in feuds, each fighting its own battles, frequently consuming themselves with internal strife.

If the human race were also fighting chaotic wars and consuming itself with internal strife alongside them, they could accept it.

But now, the human race of the Myriad Dharma World was about to welcome unification. How could that be allowed?

How could the demon-race world sleep soundly then?

Although with outside forces joining in, the war would become more troublesome than before, Xiao Mo had never once thought of retreating.

This was the best opportunity to unify the Myriad Dharma World. If it was missed, no one knew how many more thousands of years, tens of thousands of years, they would have to wait.

And besides, Xiao Mo’s side was not without preparations.

Aside from training elite troops and recruiting new soldiers, Xiao Mo had the generals under him “pay visits” to those mountain sects.

Since those sects were within Qin territory, they had to obey Qin’s command!

Xiao Mo demanded that these cultivation sects must send forty percent to as much as fifty percent of their cultivators to join the Qin army, with realms at least at Foundation Establishment.

If they refused, then the Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry would trample these places flat!

In any case, blessed lands and grotto-heavens were ironclad, while sects were flowing water.

If one sect was destroyed, then support a new one.

At the beginning, there truly were a few thorny sects that did not want to heed Qin’s call, thinking, what did the dynasty’s war have to do with their sect?

But once Xiao Mo truly destroyed several sects, the sects after that instantly became obedient and began cooperating one after another.

Even some sects with ancestors at the Ascension Realm and the Immortal Realm did not want to collide head-on with Qin.

First, those cultivators of the upper three realms cherished their lives, and with Xiao Mo’s reputation spread far and wide, they truly believed that if Xiao Mo became enraged, he would command the Snow-Treading Dragon Cavalry to charge straight at their sect.

Second, the benefits Qin offered were indeed not bad.

Cultivators did not want military merit and noble rank, so Qin gave them more heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

And Xiao Mo’s offers were extremely generous, far higher than the sect rewards they would get from going out on missions.

Therefore, rather than oppose Qin, these sects might as well send disciples into the army. Not only could the disciples gain experience, the sects could also extract a portion of “commission” from it.

In the end, Xiao Mo went to Heavenly Mechanism City.

Heavenly Mechanism City was located in Chu lands.

Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord was a cultivator of the Immortal Realm, and the art he cultivated, the Heavenly Derivation Art, could derive the secrets of heaven.

Heavenly Mechanism City had always remained neutral. Heavenly Mechanism City disciples also often performed divinations for disciples of sects across the land, and even for wandering cultivators.

So Heavenly Mechanism City had accumulated a great deal of connections, and successive Kings of Chu all treated Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord with courtesy.

But Xiao Mo did not care about any of that.

Most Heavenly Mechanism City disciples were Daoist cultivators or cultivators of the Yin-Yang School, proficient in formation arrays. In the war to come, Xiao Mo needed them very much.

And when Xiao Mo personally led the army and arrived beneath Heavenly Mechanism City’s walls.

Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord had already led the disciples and was waiting at the city gate.

“This old one, Little Star Master, pays respects to the Frost King.”

Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord cupped his hands and bowed to Xiao Mo with respect.

Seeing the other party meet him with courtesy, Xiao Mo naturally reined in his sharpness as well.

Xiao Mo swung down from his horse, walked forward quickly, and returned a bow. “Qin’s Xiao Mo pays respects to the old city lord. Today we have come abruptly. Please forgive us, sir.”

“How could the Frost King say such a thing?” Little Star Master said with a smile, holding his posture very low, and it could be considered giving Xiao Mo ample face. “I have long heard of the Frost King’s great name. Seeing you today, the Frost King is indeed impressive in bearing, not only with a presence as imposing as a lion, but also with a certain scholar’s elegance.”

“Senior, you overpraise me. This junior has heard that you are wondrously astute and unfathomably accurate, and I have admired you for a long time. It is only that this junior has been burdened by affairs and could not spare the time to visit in person. I hope you can forgive this, senior.”

Xiao Mo also praised the other party in turn, calling himself this junior.

In any case, pleasant words did not cost money. If the other party wanted to hear them, he would say as many as he wanted.

“Ha ha ha... To be remembered by the Frost King is this old {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} one’s honor. Frost King, please come inside. This old one has already set out a banquet of wine. Frost King, don’t mind it.”

“Senior, how could I? Please, sir, lead the way.”

Xiao Mo brought three accompanying deputy generals and entered Heavenly Mechanism City together with Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord.

Within the city lord’s manor, Little Star Master treated Xiao Mo and the others well.

The two sides chatted about some unimportant matters, and Xiao Mo did not bring up business.

After several rounds of wine, Heavenly Mechanism City’s lord was still very tactful and took the initiative to speak. “Qin is at a crucial period now. The Ten-Thousand Islands State and the demon-race world actually dare to meddle in the Myriad Dharma World’s affairs. This old one truly can’t stand it either.

“If the Frost King does not mind it, my Heavenly Mechanism City is willing to send half of our disciples to follow the general to war, and do our meager part.”

“Many thanks, senior!” Xiao Mo rose and bowed solemnly. “With Heavenly Mechanism City’s help, this junior believes we will certainly be able to drive back the Ten-Thousand Islands State and the demon race and unify the world! In addition, this junior can guarantee to you on His Majesty’s behalf that in the future Heavenly Mechanism City will still remain independent, and if anything happens, if we can help, Qin will help.”

“Ha ha ha, the Frost King is truly too courteous. This is what our Heavenly Mechanism City ought to do. But since the Frost King has said so, then this old one will thank the Frost King.”

Little Star Master smiled and raised a cup of wine to Xiao Mo.

The two sides spoke with increasing pleasure.

At the start, Little Star Master was only flattering as hard as he could because the other party was Qin’s Frost King, worried that the other party would truly do something to Heavenly Mechanism City, so he made a show of being very happy to chat.

But later, Little Star Master discovered that this man’s discourse and learning truly exceeded his expectations, giving the feeling of a gentle spring breeze. The more they talked, the more there was even a sense of becoming friends across generations.

“These days, this old one has not yet performed divination for anyone. If the Frost King agrees, this old one can divine a hexagram for the Frost King.”

Relying on the tipsiness of spirit wine, Little Star Master’s face flushed as he stroked his beard and spoke to Xiao Mo.

“This old one is not boasting. This old one’s Heavenly Derivation Art does have a bit of ability.”

“Naturally you may. This junior also wishes to see this art that is called an ancient divine technique,” Xiao Mo said with a smile.

“Ha ha ha, easy, easy... Frost King, please come with this old one.”

Led by Little Star Master, Xiao Mo came to a pavilion tower.

Walking into the pavilion tower, what Xiao Mo saw was pitch-black darkness where one could not see one’s hand in front of one’s face.

It was clearly daytime, but this pavilion tower cut off all light from the outside world.

Yet Xiao Mo was not worried that Little Star Master would harm him.

Very simple. He did not dare.

“Please wait a moment, Frost King.”

Little Star Master spoke, then stepped forward and stood upon the core of the formation array in the tower.

In an instant, the light of the formation array illuminated the entire pavilion tower.

Xiao Mo looked around.

The floor of the pavilion tower bore the pattern of a yin-yang fish.

When he lifted his head, there was a sky full of stars.

All around, Daoist and Yin-Yang School talismanic runes drifted without pause.

“Frost King, please come here.” Little Star Master said to Xiao Mo.

Xiao Mo nodded and walked to Little Star Master’s front.

Little Star Master handed Xiao Mo a blank yellow talisman paper. “If the Frost King trusts this old one, then please write down your Eight Characters.”

Xiao Mo took the talisman paper, glanced at Little Star Master, and wrote down his Eight Characters.

“I wonder what the Frost King wishes to ask?” Little Star Master asked with a smile.

Xiao Mo thought for a moment. “Lifespan.”

One by one, the people around him had passed away, making Xiao Mo profoundly realize that the heavens had unforeseen storms, especially when one stood in court and on the battlefield.

So Xiao Mo wanted to calculate how much time he had, whether he could finish what he needed to do.

“Good.”

Little Star Master nodded. After taking the talisman paper, he used a spell to ignite it.

The ash of the talisman paper fell into the formation array.

The formation beneath Xiao Mo’s feet changed, and the stars overhead continuously revolved.

Little Star Master sat cross-legged on the ground, thick Dao fortune coiling around him.

Xiao Mo did not know how long it would take, but he was not anxious and simply waited in silence.

About the time it takes an incense stick to burn later, Little Star Master suddenly opened his eyes, his cheeks deathly pale, and he violently spat out a mouthful of blood. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Senior!”

Xiao Mo was startled and hurried forward.

“It’s nothing...” After steadying his mind, Little Star Master wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and waved his hand. “It’s simply that this karma is too great. But fortunately, this old one has still glimpsed a corner of heaven’s secret.”

“This karma is?” Xiao Mo asked.

Little Star Master grabbed Xiao Mo’s arm. The old man’s palm trembled visibly.

“This karma, please forgive this old one, Frost King. This old one truly cannot speak of it.

“But!

“As for the lifespan the Frost King asked about, this old one can tell you!

“If the Frost King trusts this old man, the Frost King can resign and leave the court. With the Frost King’s talent, in the future you will certainly ascend into the upper three realms. Under heaven, where could you not go?”

“And if I don’t leave?” Xiao Mo frowned and asked.

“If the Frost King does not leave.”

Little Star Master’s throat bobbed.

“Then your lifespan... I fear it will not exceed five years...”