431: Chapter 431 Returning to the Human World

Luo Li sat under the corridor, holding the flowing sound zither, her fingers resting on the strings, yet she did not pluck a sound.

Tianxin took the Soul box from her sleeve and placed it on the stone table, carefully inspecting the Seal runes to ensure they were intact.

Gao Feng stood at the entrance of the Immortal Cave, gazing at the setting sun. In the Void Realm, there was no day or night, only endless gray-white mist. The sunset of the Human Realm was truly better. He turned and walked back into the Immortal Cave; General Zhao Wuji's remnant Soul was still waiting in the Soul box.

Tomorrow, they would take him home.

The next morning, Tianxin lifted the Soul box from the stone table and carefully inspected the Seal runes once more. The spiritual energy of the Soul-Fixing Talisman was still sufficient, and the remnant Soul within the Soul box showed no signs of restlessness. She tucked the box into her sleeve and nodded at Gao Feng.

"We can set off now."

Su Ning had already set up a teleportation array outside the Immortal Cave. Based on the coordinates of the former capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty recorded in the "Records of the Territories of Past Dynasties in the Nine Regions," she set the destination to a plain. Ancient texts stated that it used to be the capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty, but it had long since turned into wilderness.

The seven of them stepped into the teleportation array. As silver light flickered, the valley of the Meteor War God Realm shrank in their field of vision. When the light dissipated, they were standing on a barren plain.

There were no city walls, no streets, and no signs of humanity. As far as the eye could see, there was only knee-high wild grass and scattered rubble. A few broken stone foundations were half-buried in the soil, barely revealing the outlines of the buildings from years past. On a distant mound, thorns grew thick, and a line of wild geese flew across the sky, emitting mournful cries.

Chu Lan crouched down and pushed aside the grass, revealing a fragment of a stone staircase. The staircase was carved with blurred cloud patterns, a common style of Great Zhou Dynasty architecture. She looked up into the distance, her voice low: "Is this… really the former capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty? Nothing is left."

Gao Feng walked up to a higher mound and looked around. To the east, there was a dried-up riverbed, which must have been the moat of that time. To the west, there were several rising mounds, likely the remains left after the city walls collapsed. A thousand years of time were enough to erase everything; the once prosperous city was now nothing but a wilderness.

Tianxin took the Soul box from her sleeve and placed it on a flat stone base. She cast an inquiring look at Gao Feng. Gao Feng nodded.

Tianxin formed Seals with both hands, and the runes on the Soul box lit up one by one. The lid opened automatically, and a fist-sized golden ball of light slowly floated out from the box, hovering in mid-air. The ball of light slowly expanded, transforming into a human phantom.

General Zhao Wuji stood upon the ruins of the former capital.

He wore armor and carried a long sword at his waist, exactly the same as the standard attire of a general of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Golden light flowed around the phantom, appearing exceptionally striking in the morning light. He turned slowly, his gaze sweeping over the wild grass, rubble, and the dried-up riverbed, finally landing on the mound.

No one spoke. The wind blew across the plain, and the wild grass made a rustling sound.

General Zhao Wuji knelt down.

His armor made a silent collision in the Void Realm, and his long sword dragged on the ground, leaving a faint golden trail. He lowered his head, his shoulders trembling violently, and a hoarse voice squeezed out from the depths of his throat: "My Great Zhou… has fallen?"

"A thousand years have passed, and dynasties have changed," Gao Feng's voice was not loud, but every word was clear. "But the General's name of loyalty and martyrdom is still recorded in the local county annals."

General Zhao Wuji did not look up. His phantom swayed slightly in the wind, like a lamp about to go out. The golden light behind him dimmed a little.

Chu Lan searched the ruins for a long time and finally discovered a broken stele under a pile of rubble. The stele was broken into two, the upper half missing, and the lower half was half-buried in the ground. She crouched down, used her hands to brush away the mud, revealing the blurred characters on the stele face.

"Zhenbei General Zhao Gong…" The characters were incomplete, but the character "Zhao" was still clear. She turned her head and shouted: "General, here is your stele!"

General Zhao Wuji looked up abruptly. He stood up and drifted to the broken stele, reaching out to touch the characters, but his fingers passed through the surface, touching nothing. His hand hung in mid-air for a long time before slowly withdrawing.

"Back then, I guarded the frontier and protected the people's safety, yet I could not protect my own family." General Zhao Wuji's voice was so calm that it did not sound like he was talking about his own affairs, but that calmness was more heartbreaking than crying, "Treacherous officials slandered me for colluding with the enemy, the foolish emperor could not distinguish loyalty from treachery, and my entire family was executed… My Zhao family was filled with loyalty, and I cannot rest in peace."

Chu Lan lowered her head, not daring to look into his eyes. Yaoguang's eyes reddened; she held Chu Lan's hand and gripped it tightly. Tianxin stood to the side, expressionless, her fingers unconsciously rubbing the talisman paper in her sleeve. Lin Yue leaned against a broken wall, arms crossed, his lips pressed into a line.

Gao Feng was silent for a long time before slowly speaking: "General, would you like to go and see the frontier you guarded back then?"

General Zhao Wuji raised his head, a glimmer of light flashing in his eyes. He nodded.

The northern frontier was thousands of miles away from the former capital of Great Zhou. Su Ning used the space teleportation array twice to bring everyone to their destination.

Here, there was no desolation of the wilderness, nor the decay of ruins. A small temple was built on the hillside, with green bricks and gray tiles, and upturned eaves. The stone steps in front of the temple were worn smooth and shiny, and two stone lions stood on both sides of the steps; although mottled, their former majesty could still be seen.

A plaque hung above the temple gate, engraved with five large characters—Zhenbei General Temple.

The temple gate was open, and several villagers were offering incense inside. Blue smoke curled in the incense burner, and fruits and pastries were placed on the offering table.

General Zhao Wuji stood outside the temple gate, gazing at the plaque, remaining motionless for a long time. His phantom trembled slightly in the morning light, the golden light around him flickering. He stepped and drifted into the temple.

The temple hall was not large, and a statue was enshrined in the center. It was a young general clad in armor, holding a long spear, his gaze like a torch, majestic and awe-inspiring. The statue's face was seventy percent similar to General Zhao Wuji's phantom, only more dignified and a bit older.

The offering table was piled with incense, candles, and offerings. Pilgrims came in an endless stream. There were gray-haired elders, women holding children, and scholars carrying book baskets. They knelt before the statue, whispering prayers.

"General, please bless us with favorable weather this year…"

"I beg the General to bless my son for a safe return…"

"Zhenbei General, this Disciple offers you incense…"

General Zhao Wuji stood before his own statue, looking at the kneeling people, looking at the curling blue smoke in the incense burner, and looking at the fruits piled on the offering table. His phantom vibrated violently, the golden light around him brightening suddenly, then slowly dimming.

"Heaven has eyes…" His voice was hoarse, carrying a thousand years of choking, "Heaven has eyes!"

The resentment in him began to dissipate at this moment.

It was not dispersed by external force, but he had let go of it himself. The hatred that had entangled him for a thousand years, the obsession that made him unable to dissipate, finally crumbled in this temple with endless incense, in front of those kneeling people.

His phantom became transparent, starting from his feet, turning into specks of golden light that drifted away in the air.

General Zhao Wuji turned to face Gao Feng and bowed deeply. The phantom could no longer kneel, so he could only bend his waist, his forehead almost touching his knees.

"Benefactor, I, General Zhao Wuji, have no way to repay you."

Gao Feng did not help him up—he could not.

"I once swallowed a 'Void Spirit Fruit' in the depths of the Void Realm, which allowed me to maintain my consciousness. Where that spirit fruit grows, there is a Spirit Gathering Array set up by ancient Cultivators, which might be useful to you." General Zhao Wuji's voice grew lighter and lighter, his phantom fading, "In the… north… there is a piece of floating… rubble… the Spirit Gathering Array is there…"

His voice dissipated, and the phantom dissipated as well. The last wisp of golden light drifted up from his body, circled the temple a few times, landed on the offering table, and transformed into a fingernail-sized golden crystal.

Obsession Crystal.

Tianxin stepped forward and carefully collected the crystal into a jade box. "It can be used to refine high-level Magical Artifacts and has extremely strong defensive effects against Soul-type attacks."

Chu Lan stood outside the temple gate, gazing in the direction where General Zhao Wuji had dissipated, remaining still for a long time.

Luo Li held the flowing sound zither, her fingers plucking the strings lightly. The last note of the "Requiem" slowly dissipated in the morning breeze.

Yaoguang held Chu Lan's hand, and the two walked out of the temple gate side by side. Lin Yue walked at the very back, turning to glance at the statue; the statue's expression remained dignified, and its gaze remained like a torch.

General Zhao Wuji had finally returned home.

A thousand years ago, he died unjustly, his resentment undispelled, and he wandered in the Void Realm for a thousand years. A thousand years later, a descendant, who knows how many generations removed, passed by this land and offered him incense. He might not care about these things, but he had found what he was looking for. His homeland, the frontier he guarded, and the people who remembered him, respected him, and worshipped him like a god.

Gao Feng stood on the hillside, looking into the distance. Tianxin's voice came from behind: "The place where he said the Void Spirit Fruit grows might be useful to us. If the Spirit Gathering Array is still there, perhaps we can find a way to extend the Seal from it."

"Let's go back first." Gao Feng withdrew his gaze. "The harvest from this exploration is not small. Let's organize the information first, then decide on the next step."

Su Ning set up a teleportation array outside the temple gate, the silver-white light blinding in the sunlight.

The seven of them stepped into the teleportation array, and the light swallowed their figures. The valley of the Meteor War God Realm was waiting for them on the other side; the lights of the Spirit Plant Garden were still on, and the silver light of the Time Holy Vine was particularly striking in the twilight. General Zhao Wuji had dissipated, but the Obsession Crystal he left behind, along with the information about the Void Spirit Fruit and the Spirit Gathering Array, would become new clues for Gao Feng.

Chu Lan took the Void Sensing Grass from her bosom; the leaves of the Spirit Plant had already unfolded, no longer curled. It could sense high concentrations of resentment, and after General Zhao Wuji dissipated, the resentment in this area had dropped to a normal level.

The Human Realm's sunset dyed the horizon a golden red. There was no such scenery in the Void Realm, only gray-white mist and eternal Chaos.

After returning to the Meteor War God Realm, Gao Feng combed through the words General Zhao Wuji left behind before dissipating. "North," "a piece of floating rubble," "the Spirit Gathering Array is there"—the information was not much, but it was enough to locate it.

Su Ning went into seclusion for three days, combining General Zhao Wuji's vague description with the drift patterns of the Void Realm regions recorded in the "Void Anecdotes," and re-derived a set of coordinates.