Both sides on the battlefield sent men to intercept them, having clearly recognized the Li family's emblem on the spirit ark.
It had to be said that this battlefield was a truly strange one. The Li family's Li Tianyue fought for Grand Marshal of the Eastern Expedition Dongfang Lianwu's side, while the Li family's Three Thieves served Prince Yu.
This was a fact that could no longer be hidden, yet no one dared to speak of it.
Now, upon seeing Li Tianyue in her blood-red armor, the representatives from both armies frowned and bowed.
The general from the Azure Dynasty spoke first. "General Li Tianyue, you have been gone for half a year. Old General Dongfang has been waiting anxiously. We were wondering…"
The other man, from Prince Yu's side, said, "Ahead lies the territory of my Duskwild Prefecture. It would be best for General Li Tianyue to turn back. Let battlefield matters stay on the battlefield. If you have come on a spirit ark bearing the Li family emblem, please state your purpose. Otherwise, you put this subordinate in a very difficult position."
These days, whether it was Prince Yu or the various powerful figures of the Azure Dynasty, none were willing to provoke the Li family.
The family had yet to choose a side. If Prince Yu were to truly anger them, the million soldiers of Eternal Sun Prefecture would march east, and all their cultivators would enter the fray. Then he would truly be in for a great deal of trouble.
"I go where I please. Don't ask what you shouldn't, and don't meddle in what isn't your concern."
Li Tianyue let out a cold snort. Years on the battlefield had made her direct and forthright, and her status as a member of the Li family made her fearless.
"Tell Old General Dongfang that my family's affairs are not yet finished. I will naturally return to the battlefield on the day they are concluded. As for you…"
Li Tianyue looked at Prince Yu's man. "I want to see Prince Yu. Now!"
Inside the spirit ark, the God of War's eyes shone brightly.
...
Two hours later, Li Wei also finally laid eyes on Prince Yu.
When he had first heard of the prince who dared to defy the Azure Dynasty, Li Wei had imagined some fierce and extraordinary hero, a figure on par with warriors like those from the stories.
But upon seeing him, all he saw was an old man fishing on a riverbank. The man wore simple straw clothes and a bamboo hat, sitting cross-legged by the river, holding a fishing rod with a look of utter leisure and contentment.
No one would have ever guessed that such an old man, with his kind and benevolent face, was actually the Fourth Prince.
Even seeing Li Tianyue and the God of War approach, he only slowly set down his fishing rod, as if nothing in the world could disturb his tranquility.
"Your Highness, Prince Yu!"
The God of War's eyes were already brimming with hot tears. After a moment of being lost in a daze, he suddenly dropped to his knees and kowtowed repeatedly to Prince Yu.
"Qiu Mang'er pays his respects to Your Highness! Pays his respects to Your Highness! Pays… his respects… to Your Highness!"
At this moment, no words were needed.
The long-departed warrior had returned to the place where he belonged. Even on the brink of death, he had managed to see the one to whom he owed his true allegiance.
Prince Yu walked slowly until he was before the God of War. A complex emotion flashed in his cloudy eyes as he slowly bent down to help him up.
As he was helped to his feet, the God of War's eyes were wet with unshed tears.
Li Tianyue was speechless for a long time. She had heard that when the heavily scarred God of War was brought back, he hadn't made a single sound.
Even her Great-Aunt Yaoqing had said that the pain from her healing arts should have been unbearable, yet the God of War had merely furrowed his brow. But now, he seemed so vulnerable.
"Your Highness, Qiu Mang'er has returned! I have returned! I have returned to serve you!"
The God of War continued to speak through his tears.
Prince Yu let out a long sigh and gently brushed the filth from the God of War's body.
"In this life, you have always valued your promises above all else," he said. "It was I who brought you harm. If you had not been tricked into going to the Imperial Capital that day, you would never have been thrown into prison, and you certainly would not have faced this calamity. The fault is mine, yet it is you, my Qiu Mang'er, who has suffered for it."
The master and servant had endless things to say to one another.
Li Tianyue silently withdrew to the spirit ark, not wishing to intrude.
A long time later, Prince Yu led the God of War to the spirit ark, and the two of them stepped aboard together. Only then did Li Tianyue salute him. "Greetings, Prince Yu."
This Prince Yu was an interesting character indeed. Everyone knew the title of the Blood-Red Armor War Goddess, yet he simply nodded to Li Tianyue and, with a wave of his hand, had the spirit ark advance towards the battlefield.
Upon arriving over the fighting between the two armies, the God of War emerged from the spirit ark's cabin, now clad in armor and once again wielding a Dharma Treasure staff.
After nodding to Li Tianyue, his imposing figure knelt on one knee before Prince Yu.
"Your subordinate, Qiu Mang'er, requests permission from Your Highness to enter the battle!"
"Granted!"
As Prince Yu nodded, the God of War leaped from the spirit ark. Amidst the bitter struggle between the two sides, he charged alone deep into the heart of the Azure Dynasty's army!
He tore through the sky.
Even when Li Tianyue had fought alongside the God of War in Eternal Sun Prefecture, she had never seen his aura so immense, nor had she seen him fight with such utter disregard for his own life.
The God of War of this moment was like a completely different person.
The fearless general plunged into the enemy army and was engulfed by their ranks.
"This time, I must thank the Li family for helping me bring my brother-in-arms back after so many years," Prince Yu's voice finally sounded.
Li Tianyue nodded slightly, but her senses were still focused on the battlefield.
The God of War… was still engaged in a bloody slaughter.
"Your Highness is too polite. His Excellency the God of War aided my Li family for a time; I was merely offering him a small convenience in return."
Prince Yu's expression was complex. "In that case, consider it a personal favor that I owe your Li family."
A moment later, Li Tianyue and Prince Yu appeared over the battlefield.
On the Azure Dynasty's side, several Divinity Transformation cultivators had surrounded the God of War and shattered his armor.
He now lay in the center of the battlefield, gazing up at the sky.
A haze formed from spent spiritual energy filled the air, but the God of War, his face covered in blood, wore a smile of contentment.
Those cultivators had intended to finish him off and eliminate any future threat, but then they heard a command.
"Stand down!"
A spirit ark had arrived in the sky, and Li Tianyue's voice echoed across the battlefield.
They had originally thought it was some Nascent Soul cultivator who didn't know the difference between life and death, daring to berate them.
But when they saw Li Tianyue at the prow of the spirit ark, and the two blood-red swords plunged into the battlefield on either side, their expressions changed, and they dared not make another move.
Back when Li Tianyue first appeared on the battlefield, there had been Divinity Transformation experts who dared to oppose her.
After all, she was just some wild girl from a rustic clan in Eternal Sun Prefecture.
What was this title, 'The Blood-Red Armor War Goddess'? Who did she think she was fooling?
But then, someone tried to kill her. The spirit tablet hanging from the girl's neck began to glow, a black mist appeared, and a single spear thrust killed the attacker instantly.
On top of that, a new power formed by the people of Azure Cloud suddenly appeared in that Divinity Transformation cultivator's home territory.
In less than ten years, they had completely eradicated his entire clan. After that, no one ever dared to cross Li Tianyue again.
"General Li Tianyue!"
A Divinity Transformation cultivator said through gritted teeth, "This man killed many of our soldiers. For you to interfere now is a bit too disrespectful."
"You have a problem with that?"
Li Tianyue leaped down from the spirit ark, with Prince Yu following closely behind. She stared calmly at the cultivator as she flew towards the dying God of War.
"Let me be blunt," she said. "I was the one who let him on this battlefield. If you have a problem with it, you are welcome to treat me as a traitor. And if you're worried about the battle honors for taking down a Divinity Transformation expert, you can relax. I couldn't care less about such things."
Hearing that Li Tianyue wasn't trying to steal their glory, the Divinity Transformation cultivators finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Afterward, Li Tianyue found the God of War's broken Dharma Treasure, his golden staff, on the battlefield and placed it back in his hands.
"Your Highness," Qiu Mang'er cried out, his voice thick with emotion, "Qiu Mang'er… has died on the battlefield, for you!"
The God of War gripped his golden staff tightly, incomparably at peace.
There was not a shred of regret in his bloodshot eyes; they were surprisingly bright.
"Qiu Mang'er, in the end… is still a warrior… Your Highness's warrior!"
With one last great cry, his breath was gone.
Li Tianyue's expression was complex.
She sent a report via her Divine Soul to General Dongfang Lianwu, who was frowning in the distant army camp.
The Old General was seen staring intently at Prince Yu. Seeing Li Tianyue bow, he pondered for a moment before finally nodding, ordering his men not to pursue her or Prince Yu.
"General Li Tianyue, you have been away from camp for some time now. I expect you to return soon."
"Please rest assured, Old General."
The sky was dim. Li Tianyue glanced at the God of War's face and said in a solemn voice,
"My family ordered me to aid the Imperial Dynasty in this war. The day my family's affairs are concluded is the day I will return to the barracks. I came here this time because of a karmic debt to Prince Yu's subordinate. At the very least, you should know my family's elders are loyal to His Majesty."
"That is good to hear."
Only then did Dongfang Lianwu breathe a sigh of relief. He must have sent a voice transmission, as the cultivators surrounding them immediately withdrew.
Prince Yu humbled himself to kneel on the ground and slowly lifted the God of War's corpse.
He sighed, a sound that lingered for a long time amidst the battlefield's dust and smoke. His voice was filled with a distant sorrow.
"Qiu Mang'er came from the mountains, born with divine strength. The people of Duskwild Prefecture believe in all sorts of gods and ghosts; with his innate power, he naturally became a magnet for disaster."
"As it happened, this Prince was inspecting Duskwild Prefecture in disguise and ended up rescuing Qiu Mang'er. At first, he worked as a servant in my household. Later, after seeing the soldiers in the mansion, he told me that he owed me his life, and that a lifetime of a servant's chores could never repay that debt. He wanted to become a soldier."
"That young brat… eventually became the 'God of War' everyone speaks of. He repaid his debt to me long, long ago. But he… he never stopped repaying it."
Li Tianyue lowered her gaze.
Prince Yu continued, "He protected me back then in the Imperial Capital as well. I've heard what happened in Eternal Sun Prefecture. In all these centuries, he hasn't changed that nature of his at all. He started repaying a life-debt to Prince Qian, and then to your Li family."
"They say that fortune favors the simple, and he was indeed fortunate. He met me, and he also met you, the people of the Li family. This allowed him to repay his life-debts three times over, and in doing so, he has finally returned to the place where he was always meant to be."
The wind and sand of the battlefield kicked up, blowing the old man's bamboo hat from his head.
His expression turned fierce and ruthless. "This Prince will be shameless and ask to owe the Li family one more favor!"
"I want Prince Qian's head—"
"To be placed before Qiu Mang'er's tombstone!"
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