Chapter 304: Beat the Drums! Boost Our Army’s Morale!

Yu Xuan hesitated for a moment, then walked forward and sat down beside Chen Changsheng.

“Even now, I don’t understand what it is about you that drew her in, making her willing to abandon the Great Dao of immortality. Her intentions went far too deep for either of us to grasp.”

Chen Changsheng did not answer, only sat quietly.

Yu Xuan sat silently beside him, saying no more.

It seemed as if everything outside grew utterly still.

Only when the bloody light surged skyward from the southern lands did Yu Xuan slowly snap back to reality.

She asked, “This calamity… will you not intervene?”

Chen Changsheng stirred slightly.

His gaze shifted, and he asked, “If I win this time, if I prevail against you?”

Yu Xuan paused, then said, “Then it will mean you betrayed her.”

Chen Changsheng shook his head. “I have my own thoughts on everything in this Mortal World. External forces cannot decide for me. As for all she did… someday, I will repay every piece of it.”

Yu Xuan looked at him. “Your victory now won’t matter. Another great calamity will rise later. The Sutra of Rebirth is destined to be completed. I won’t defy her final wishes—unless you kill me and claim the title of Celestial Sovereign yourself.”

Chen Changsheng glanced at her. “Was she truly that important to you?”

“Vitally important…” Yu Xuan replied. “The world often says the Heavenly Dao knows no mercy. But she taught me what compassion truly means. It wasn’t appropriate for one like me, embodying Heaven and Earth. Yet it became the greatest gift of my one hundred forty-nine thousand years.”

Chen Changsheng remained silent. He had expected such an answer.

He sighed softly, lost in unspoken thoughts.

…

The vast, white Snow Plains were now entirely stained red with blood.

Stretching endlessly were countless bodies, strewn haphazardly across the ground.

Mu Cang gripped his Spear, its shaft slick with gore. The demons he had slain with it had long since passed counting. His mind was numb, his hand swung wildly.

Only two words echoed in his mind: Kill the demons!

“Kill!” “Kill!” “Kill!”

The relentless chant screamed that this was humanity’s sole chance.

Every death here had to mean something.

For Chieftain Song, Mazi, Gou’er—for every Cultivator who died far from home, he owed them this reckoning.

Deep within him blazed a sense of righteousness, making him the one who shone brightest among the few who truly understood. Even in his youth.

The battle against the Demon Race dragged into a brutal slog. Some warriors faltered; others only fought harder. This was expected.

A mountain grew from corpses, a sea flowed from blood.

New generations pushed forward atop the bones of the dead. The struggle that had choked the world for millennia would finally end here.

Someone must die. Either them… or us.

Chen Yunhai pulled his sword free from the third-realm demon it had impaled.

He gasped for air, the scene before him blurring and swimming.

Exhaustion washed over him. The gap between a Mortal and a demon remained vast indeed.

After cutting down two second-realm demons and one of the third realm, his steps became unsteady.

A Swordsman came from behind to aid him.

“Senior! Can you still stand?”

Chen Zhenghai looked back, recognizing the young man. Relief loosened his tongue, though his voice was weak. “Y… yeah. Still good.”

“‘Good’ my foot!”

The young Swordsman ignored his protests, slinging him over a shoulder and hauling him back towards the city walls. Once set down inside, the young man dashed right back out the gates.

“Punk demons! Your granddad’s back!”

Shouting his challenge into the fray, he vanished, energy seemingly boundless.

Chen Zhenghai watched him go and gave a raspy chuckle. Truly, I am old now.

He took a deep breath, only to break into painful coughs.

His gaze drifted and landed on a woman nearby, holding a jar of wine.

That day, she wore a stunningly beautiful red dress. She’d drunk deeply, swaying slightly, yet not a single slurred word left her lips.

She sat in silence, eyes fixed on the battle raging across the Desolate Plain. Chen Zhenghai asked, “Why are you here?”

As the owner of the Blacksmith Shop, he naturally knew this extraordinary woman.

“Just have a look,” Du A’niang replied simply.

Chen Zhenghai let out a shaky breath. “Keep to just looking. You have no martial skills. Don’t go out there.”

Du A’niang gave a faint smile. “I did rush out once before. Nearly died. Got saved later. Truthfully… I regret surviving that time.”

Chen Zhenghai stared at her, stunned. “They say you came to the Divine Domain… very long ago?”

“Long ago?” She tilted her head. “Not that long. But I was here before you, that’s true.”

“You want to go out there?” Chen Zhenghai pushed himself up, looking intently at her.

Du A’niang shook her head. “Not anymore…”

She took a long, slow breath. “He wouldn’t want me to die. For his sake… I need to live.”

Thud.

The wine jar tumbled to the ground.

Du A’niang walked purposefully to the side.

“What are you doing?” Chen Zhenghai called after her.

Du A’niang’s voice rang out, firm and clear: “Beat the war drums! Boost our army’s morale!”

She seized the drumsticks and strode towards the massive war drum standing atop the city wall.

Boom! Boom! BOOM!

The drumbeats thundered from the ramparts out across the Desolate Plain.

The fierce rhythm jolted the heart of every warrior battling on that barren field.

Amidst the swirling wind and snow,

The figure in blazing red flashed like a beacon. Her flowing dress matched the snow’s dance. The pounding drums ignited the blood that was slowly turning cold.

“KILL!!!”

Drums pounding in their ears, the Cultivators and warriors on the plain fought with renewed fury.

Lao Bazi lopped off the head of a fourth-realm demon and turned his eyes towards the source of the drums.

He grinned. “Heh. That widow Du? She knows her business.”

He murmured, then roared into the wind and snow: “Brothers! Charge with me!”

Witnessing humanity’s resurgence, the Demon Race forces began to crumble.

In response, several Sixth Realm demons surged onto the front lines, shattering the human formations and desperately clawing back some ground.

The two sides locked again in a painful, grinding stalemate, drained but unwavering.

Yet the battle for the Desolate Plain wouldn’t be decided in a day.

It might take dozens of days. Or perhaps… months.

But eventually, a final day would dawn.

…

Qing Tianyou circled high above, watching the carnage below unfold. A profound sigh echoed in his heart.

Surely, this must be the last time…

The sooner this senseless war ends, the fewer lives lost – human or demon. His deepest hope was simply for a time of peace.

A world where men and demons lived in harmony, where all things flourished. Not this choking life steeped in hatred.

As the sun dipped, painting the sky in fiery hues,

Snow began to gently alight on the red-clad woman’s shoulders, dusting her dark hair.

Du A’niang’s hands were already a raw, painful red, edging towards purple as the cold bit deep. Yet she never paused, gripping the drumsticks tight.

Because this, finally, was something she could do.

She had always longed to act. Here, in the steady rhythm she created, she found her sliver of purpose.