Su Chen calmed down, thinking to himself, *This kid truly is my most trusted man. He's even seen right through me, down to my long-held desire to rebel.*

"Alright, you can go and rest now," Su Chen said calmly.

Su Yi's face lit up with joy. The general wasn't angry. Didn't that mean he approved?

The moment Su Yi turned, he heard a sharp clang behind him. In the next instant, he lost consciousness.

Su Chen stared blankly at the headless corpse of his confidant. *I must be getting old,* he thought, *to worry about whether I could instantly take down someone at the Spirit Pattern 6th Level.*

Su Chen hadn't wanted to make a scene, so he'd opted for a sneak attack.

Su Yi had been right. He had wanted to rebel for a long time.

But he couldn't.

He had a wife and children in the Tianfeng Kingdom, as well as parents, teachers, and friends. If he were to rebel, everyone close to him would be put to death. There were too many people. Even if he defected to the Canglan Kingdom, he could never transport them all to safety.

*I'll just have to endure this life. I'll settle the score in the next!*

Su Chen buried Su Yi. The man had simply known him too well.

"I told you, kid," Su Chen murmured, "some things are better left unsaid."

Su Yi vanished. When anyone asked, Su Chen simply said he had sent Su Yi home.

After all, there was no future staying at a common border post. Hearing Su Chen's explanation, no one questioned it further.

Three more months passed, and then came the bad news: the Xuanyuan Army had been completely wiped out.

This was a legion every bit as renowned as the Xuanjia Army. Now, the Canglan Kingdom's forces were advancing unopposed, closing in on Su Chen's border pass.

"Damn it, are you fucking kidding me?"

An army of a million, gone in three months? Su Chen felt his head spin.

What a ridiculously stupid blunder.

Useless teammates.

The worst part was the order from above. They were supposedly "mobilizing reinforcements" and hoped Su Chen could hold the pass for a month.

Hold out? Fuck that!

They had just one old, frail Spirit Sea Realm master. Other than him, the strongest person was Su Chen, at the Spirit Pattern 9th Heaven.

That very night, Su Chen entered seclusion, preparing to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm.

His Tongling Technique had a secret art that could force a breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm, but it came at the cost of one's lifespan. If he'd had another twenty years, he could have broken through steadily, with no need for such an extreme method.

But now, it didn't matter. He was dead either way. He might as well break through to the Spirit Sea Realm and take down a few more enemies with him.

Not long after Su Chen entered seclusion, a detachment from the Canglan Kingdom's army arrived to attack the pass.

They held out for ten days, but the old Spirit Sea Realm City Lord was eventually beaten to death.

A wave of sorrow washed over the defenders, even though the old bastard had always lined his own pockets and skimmed from their cultivation resources. He was a true exploiter, an old Zhou Papi.

Everyone had wished him dead.

But not like this, not now!

"How much longer until General Su Chen breaks through to the Spirit Sea Realm?" the defending commander wondered, his heart turning to ice. Without its anchor, the city's defensive formation wouldn't last much longer.

However, just as the city was about to fall, the dim defensive formation roared back to life, instantly annihilating several thousand of the Canglan Kingdom's soldiers.

A powerful figure strode through the air, holding aloft the formation's dying core in one hand.

Su Chen had broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm and emerged from his seclusion at the most critical moment.

*I never thought I'd have a day as the world's savior,* he mused. He had never felt anything so wonderful.

It was as if a door to another world had opened. A mere wave of his hand could now shatter mountains and part rivers.

The first wave of the Canglan Kingdom's assault was finally repelled.

The survivors, with smiles of relief on their faces, excitedly recounted the harrowing details of the battle to Su Chen.

When the men told him how Zhou Papi had fought to the death, killing one enemy Spirit Sea general and grievously wounding another, Su Chen couldn't help but feel a surge of solemn respect.

The old exploiter had truly died a hero. It was a shame not even a shred of him was left behind. Su Chen and the others could only gather his old possessions and erect a simple cenotaph in his honor.

Su Chen's impression of Zhou Papi had always been poor; the two had never seen eye to eye. But when Zhou Papi learned that Su Chen was attempting a life-risking breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm, he had given Su Chen all of his cultivation resources. He had even instructed the soldiers that, upon his death, Su Chen would be the city's sole commander.

A man full of flaws, yet his final act was perfect.

Su Chen poured a flask of strong liquor before Zhou Papi's cenotaph and murmured, "If I had only broken through a little sooner... would you still have had to die?"

It wasn't that Su Chen had been won over by Zhou Papi's final act. On any other day, he would have been glad to see the man dead.

But now, with Zhou Papi gone, he was the only Spirit Sea Realm master left in the city.

It didn't take a genius to know that the next army the Canglan Kingdom sent would be even stronger.

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And the reinforcements were still twenty days away.

Su Chen thought of his wife and children, of his parents.

He thought of the grandchildren he had yet to meet.

"I *must* hold out for twenty days!"

Ten days later, the Canglan Kingdom sent another massive army to attack the city.

This time, a black tide of soldiers stretched to the horizon, at least fifty or sixty thousand strong, led by three Spirit Sea Realm generals.

Su Chen cursed inwardly but had no choice but to rally the city's people.

*Think of your wives and children! Think of your parents!*

The entire city took up arms.

For the past ten days, Su Chen had been spreading word of the Canglan Kingdom's brutality, claiming that if the city fell, they would slaughter everyone—man, woman, and child.

And if anyone thought of sneaking out? Su Chen had already told them the city was completely surrounded by the Canglan army. To leave was certain death.

Those who tried to flee seemed to prove his words true. Not a single one ever returned.

They were indeed dead, killed by Su Chen himself.

The truth was, the Canglan army wasn't as brutal as Su Chen claimed. There was a chance of survival... if he opened the gates and surrendered, everyone in the city could live.

But Su Chen would not surrender.

His heart was ice. As he watched the Canglan army draw near, he thought, *Don't hate me. In these chaotic times, are any of us more than pawns on a board?*

The three Spirit Sea Realm experts engaged Su Chen, while the rest of the Canglan army clashed with the city's defenders and armed citizens.

That day, the sky itself seemed to darken as bodies piled up. The entire city was painted crimson, and the ceaseless rain washed the gore into a stinking river of blood.

The battle ended only after Su Chen, in a desperate burst of power, killed one of the Spirit Sea experts and grievously wounded the other two.

"We... we held on!"

Watching the Canglan army retreat with less than half its numbers, Su Chen forced a pained smile onto his lips... and then collapsed.

He remained unconscious for five days. When he finally awoke, only five days remained until the reinforcements were due to arrive.

Though fewer than one in ten of the defenders remained, their spirits were high. The Canglan army hadn't pressed the attack. With only five days left, they could surely hold on until the reinforcements came.

Late that night, the survivors gathered, fantasizing about life after the war.

Su Chen stared at his scarred face in a mirror. The man in his memory had been gentle and humble, cultured and handsome.

Su Chen traced the scars on his face, wondering if Bailu would even recognize him like this. Would she be repulsed?

Regardless, he wanted to make it home alive to see.