Expanding territories, suppressing evil, and removing filth. He succeeded, indeed became stronger, breaking through the high ranks of Martial Meridian... The king of the tribe now took his distant relative seriously, entrusting him with significant responsibilities.
But Han Hao also acutely felt that the tribe’s spirit had weakened.
Even though the Conquering General had been withdrawn, they still did not dare to move south, to try and graze in warmer places, even though those regions originally belonged to them. The Iron Li tribes still dared not take even half a step beyond the boundaries.
They would rather become merchants, sending Northern Border’s produce, furs, Spiritual Objects, in bulk to Da Chen, then exchanging them for goods from Da Chen that were not of high value, mere daily necessities.
This was exploitation and harvest. He knew.
This was an inevitable trend and direction. He knew.
The Iron Li tribes had their spines broken; for at least a few centuries, they absolutely wouldn’t dare provoke Da Chen again, lest they are slaughtered by the devastating Martial Army, driven away from the new homes they had rebuilt with great difficulty.
But this also meant there was no hope, no future.
Because he had earnestly studied history at the Taiming Sect, Han Hao was clearer about this than anyone else, but no one would change.
The Sects didn’t want the Bai Bu to become too powerful; they suppressed all bloodline forces and tribes. The kings under their command mostly lasted only one generation; as soon as that generation’s Divine Repository True Person died, the kingdom would disappear, replaced by others.
If a family could produce Divine Repository True Persons for several generations, and neither he nor his family joined the Sects, it could only mean that the Sect leader of that region was negligent or that he was an enemy of the Sects.
The fearful demeanor of the Iron Li tribes was also favorable for the Sects; it made an excellent pawn, the best tool to manipulate.
Han Hao had already resigned himself—perhaps this was the only outcome for the weak Iron Li in the face of the irresistible Da Chen, like rabbits living beside a tiger, either used as bait to lure out the tiger by those behind or retreating a great deal.
Until Da Chen itself showed a sign of weakness, it offered the opportunity itself!
With the southward spread of the Frost Calamity, accompanied by the desolate and grand sound of horns, the Iron Li’s Iron Cavalry went south too!
Victory, victory, victory... Since the breach of Green Jade Pass, and the turmoil of the Northern Border, the Dust Li Iron Cavalry achieved many victories, the tribes once timid and cowardly found their courage again, they galloped across the plains, fearless in the cold winds of the Frost Calamity, their speech and laughter thundering once more across the icy plains.
Returning to their homeland, the people of Iron Li seemed to have found their courage and faith again, daring to compete with Da Chen.
But Han Hao knew it was all false.
This was not war. It was just pillaging.
The Dust Li people now were like a thief entering a house, taking advantage while the owner was not at home to thoroughly plunder. The enemies they faced now, compared to those they met before, were like kittens and puppies compared to tyrannosauruses and lions.
As long as the day came when the Conquering General re-emerged, the now seemingly rampant Iron Li people would not hesitate to turn back and head north beyond Green Jade Pass, with a mindset of ’making a huge profit’ and without the slightest resistance.
They said it was resistance.
But they had long forgotten what true resistance was—it was the struggle of the weak against the strong, the determination to move forward even in defeat or death.
"No need for victory, true victory, to break through a city with Divine Weapons, to crush a regular Martial Army."
"Just to triumph over Da Chen, just to defeat the Martial Army, would enable our tribes to regain the courage to resist powerfully—"
He had already succeeded, he could have done it.
But Heavenly Demon... Sects...
—Why did I get involved in such intrigue?
—Perhaps from the beginning... the weakness of Da Chen... was a conspiracy...
—Frost Calamity, Frost Calamity, my homeland... could it be...
His thoughts fragmented, Han Hao, who had guessed some of the truth towards the end, only felt himself falling.
His Whole Body was covered with pieces scattered after the shattering of the Divine Demon Battle Body, Weapon Fiend’s miasma churned like tides, expanding and spreading across the land like a dark, grey cloud that swallowed everything.
He fell to the ground, his muscles torn and bones broken, unable to rise again.
All he could see were the grey snow clouds, the gloomy sky, the endless ice and snow, a ’homeland’ that was utterly different from the green grass and blue skies of his dreams.
—Yes, it has been different from the start, I clearly understood everything, so what blinded me?
And not far from him, another figure stood up.
The moving shadow enveloped him. This fellow Iron Li soldier, who had his own stand, his own adversity, the same life in this World, saw a pair of eyes.
The owner of those eyes looked at him, with neither contempt nor exclusion, neither the indifference of people from a great nation towards small tribes nor the disgust at an enemy.
There was no differentiation between any life forms, no hierarchies among them; it was an earnest sincerity from within.
"Why show such a look of despair? General of Iron Li, have you not achieved victory?"
The figure was young and tall, exuding a Sharpness and heat wave, pushing aside the cold winds of Frost Calamity, shielding the gloomy sky; even the bone-chilling wind seemed tame in his presence: "I should thank you, for you accomplished what I could not."
He turned his head, as if to look towards another side of the disrupted Iron Li Iron Cavalry Battle Formation, where the similarly heavily damaged Martial Army was gradually regrouping under the command of Hang Mofeng.