"What are your orders, Your Majesty?"
Shen Zhao turned around indifferently, a faint smile always playing on his lips.
Yu Xiyan looked at Shen Zhao's vacant eyes, unsure what to say for a moment. After a long pause, she asked coldly, "You knew you wouldn't be harmed, didn't you?"
Shen Zhao nodded silently, his face showing no emotion.
This made Yu Xiyan even more furious: "So, everything that happened before was a lie to me?"
Shen Zhao took a light breath: "Your Majesty, may I ask what I have deceived you about?"
Yu Xiyan paused.
Right, what had he lied about?
"Your Majesty's choices regarding who to save are entirely your own. This subject will not make things difficult for Your Majesty. After all, in Your Majesty's heart, the priorities are clear, and your judgment is your own.
Furthermore, from beginning to end, this subject never asked for Your Majesty's help. If Your Majesty chooses to save outsiders and abandons this subject, it is likely Your Majesty has your own reasons. How could this subject dare to interfere with Your Majesty's thoughts?"
After speaking, Shen Zhao maintained his ambiguous smile and turned to walk forward.
At the same time, Lin Feng also arrived.
Upon seeing Shen Zhao unharmed, a flicker of disappointment flashed across his eyes, quickly vanishing.
Immediately, he feigned concern and asked, "General, Your Majesty was just worried about you. Did you know that when Your Majesty learned you might..."
"Get out."
Before Lin Feng could finish speaking, Shen Zhao didn't even glance at him, his casual word choking off everything Lin Feng was about to say.
"You, I was just…"
"Get out. Don't make me repeat it a third time. Idiots aren't worthy of speaking."
For a moment, Lin Feng was so intimidated by Shen Zhao's imposing gaze that his scalp went numb, and he didn't dare to provoke him further.
"Shen Zhao! Lin Feng was just concerned about you, why are you being so cold and distant?"
Seeing Lin Feng get scolded, Yu Xiyan immediately yelled at Shen Zhao.
"Are you resenting that I saved Lin Feng first and not you? Lin Feng is only at the peak of Mystic Void, he simply couldn't withstand the cold of the Ice Plains Snow Domain, that's why I…"
Shen Zhao interrupted her: "Since Your Majesty knows his cultivation is low, why bring this burden? May I ask, Your Majesty, what contributions did this waste make during this trip to the Ice Plains Snow Domain?
Instead, he repeatedly put himself in danger, needing constant care like a giant baby. Would we have been besieged by the Ice Plains beasts or caught in an avalanche without him dragging us down? Just this subject alone wouldn't have let such a situation occur."
Lin Feng was left speechless by his words.
Yu Xiyan was even more annoyed: "Shen Zhao, Lin Feng came along because he was worried about our safety. He's not a burden. Why can't you two get along peacefully? Why does it always have to be like fire and water…"
"If he's not a burden, why can't he even save himself? As for getting along peacefully, I'm sorry, this subject really can't chat and laugh with an idiot."
"At least, no matter how bad I am, I can still survive in this snow. I don't need Your Majesty's help.
Because before any action, I will consider all possible unfavorable factors and arrange at least two plans for emergencies.
Instead of getting carried away and rushing in recklessly, making a mess of the situation, just like today's avalanche, I considered it all."
"Otherwise, Your Majesty might not even find this subject's body."
Yu Xiyan was stunned, and Lin Feng, standing beside her, looked at Shen Zhao with a face full of resentment.
When it came to sweet talk to please women, Shen Zhao might not be as good as Lin Feng.
But in terms of actual operations and well-thought-out strategies, Lin Feng and Shen Zhao were not on the same level.
"No need to say more, Your Majesty. I understand what you mean, but Your Majesty, cultivation isn't child's play. Those without strength should stand aside and not cause trouble. May I ask, Your Majesty,
If you didn't have this level of cultivation today, would you dare to venture into this Ice Plains Snow Domain? The ten-thousand-year-old Mystic Yin Snow Lotus, how many strong individuals are eyeing it? How many did he deal with?
Did he help at all throughout the process? What exactly is he doing here? Besides repeatedly creating enemies for us, what else is he good for?
It's not that I want to be harsh, but bringing a dog along would be more reliable than his useless behavior of constantly trying to make himself known."
"Shen Zhao! Don't you go too far!"
Seeing Lin Feng's face stiffen, almost unable to recover, Yu Xiyan finally couldn't help but shout in a low voice.
"Lin Feng is someone I brought. If you have any dissatisfaction or resentment, you can direct it at me. It has nothing to do with Lin Feng!"
"Your subject does not dare. Since Your Majesty is so protective of him, and thinks he is useful, then let Your Majesty make the decision. Why bother saying so much to your subject? Your subject is unwell, so I will return to Po Jun Manor first. Farewell."
"You…"
Before Yu Xiyan could reply, Shen Zhao only left her with a lonely figure.
Passing in front of Lin Feng, he added contemptuously, "Your actions as a clown in the Ice Plains Snow Domain are truly a feast for the eyes, filling the entire snow domain with your pathetic aura."
Lin Feng was trembling with anger. When he wanted to retort, Shen Zhao turned his head and walked away without looking back.
Recalling that scene from the past, Yu Xiyan suddenly felt a strong sense of suffocation, so oppressive that she could barely breathe.
Much later, she learned that Shen Zhao had relied on his powerful willpower, burning his core and destroying his foundation, to barely crawl out of that snow vortex, which was several thousand degrees below zero.
At that time, Shen Zhao was already riddled with injuries, the cold qi having invaded his body. It wasn't until he returned to the Po Jun Manor and secluded himself for two whole months that he managed to eliminate the bone-chilling cold within him.
And during that time, she hadn't gone to see Shen Zhao even once.
She swore that she had truly been worried about losing Shen Zhao. At the moment the second avalanche occurred, her heart had truly felt like it was breaking.
She regretted abandoning Shen Zhao to save Lin Feng.
But the pride of an emperor wouldn't allow her to bow her head to Shen Zhao, and over time she became accustomed to it, ultimately brewing an irreversible tragedy.
"Shen Zhao, if you knew how I treated you in the past, would you hate me to death, now that you've been given a second chance at life?"
...
The Imperial Sky Ship, a "technological" product of the Immortal Martial Continent, was a flying spiritual artifact jointly developed tens of thousands of years ago by the proud sons of the Lu Clan and the Mo Clan.
Compared to flying spirit beasts, the Imperial Sky Ship's advantage was its ability to transport five hundred people at once to various locations on the Immortal Martial Continent.
But the disadvantages were also obvious. Its flight speed was far inferior to flying spirit beasts, and it required spirit stones as fuel.
However, the Imperial Sky Ship also had an advantage: it was cheap.
A single spirit stone was enough for a seat in the lower-class cabin, while the upper-class cabins started at ten spirit stones, with the price depending on the flight distance.
Looking at the huge airship before him, Ding Bubi sighed, "To be honest, I'd rather take this airship than ride on a bird's back and get blown by the wind. Besides, it's cheap. The cost of a single trip is only a fraction of what a flying beast would cost, it's a bargain."
Su Yunying also said, "Yeah, to be honest, this is the first time I've ever ridden an airship in all these years."
Shen Zhao remained silent. In his previous life, he had personally built an airship fleet for the Great Yin Dynasty, consisting of over three thousand ships, each capable of carrying thousands of people. Their flight efficiency was at least ten times that of the ship they were on now.
The Yin Emperor Dynasty had relied on this airship fleet to easily transport vast numbers of troops to any designated location, often catching their opponents off guard.
As the three of them didn't have many spirit stones, they had all chosen lower-class cabins.
Of course, the airship wasn't an airplane, and the corresponding services were only available in the upper-class cabins.
People in the lower-class cabins didn't even have seats; they could only squeeze together, hundreds of people packed in, enduring the sour stench in the air. It truly had the style of an African Odie Biao.
"Squeeze in."
"Move over."
The three of them finally found a spot near a window and sat down. Just as they were about to sigh, Shen Zhao saw a familiar face.
Fa Hai.
"Benefactor, this humble monk, Fa Hai, wishes to ask for your alms, so that I may rebuild the temple and save all sentient beings."
He was still weaving through the crowded streets, striving to play the role of a high monk who cared for Buddhism.
But clearly, the targets of his begging didn't buy it, and they turned their faces away in disgust, some even loudly scolding him to leave.
Fa Hai wasn't annoyed, and he still tirelessly narrated his determination to rebuild the temple.
Shen Zhao shook his head. These days, he already knew that the purpose of Fa Hai's money-grubbing, besides filling his own stomach, was mostly to give to the disaster-stricken people.
This person seemed cunning and slick on the surface, but in reality, he was a high monk who worried about the suffering of the people and was compassionate.
Moreover, Fa Hai had a special buff: anyone he swindled money from was either a villain or a "PUA" expert.
For example, the person he was currently begging from was named Song Zhirang.
Speaking of Song Zhirang, Shen Zhao was quite moved. He never expected to encounter such a talent in this place.
As everyone knew, being abstract was a form of performance art. When abstraction reached its peak, it was a rare treasure, like a sleeping dragon or a phoenix chick.
In terms of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Song Zhirang had a bit less hardship than Liu Bei, a bit less innocence than Cao Cao, and a bit less comedic talent than Sun Quan.
Song Zhirang came from an ordinary, small family in Lu Province, Great Yin. His martial arts aptitude couldn't be called exceptionally talented, but it also wasn't completely hopeless. Coupled with his somewhat…human-like appearance, he hadn't married or established a career even after reaching his forties. Moreover, no sect was willing to accept this trash.
Unable to succeed in cultivation, Song Zhirang decided to enter the officialdom to showcase his talent. Therefore, he began to ingratiate himself with the Pang family, hoping to gain an opportunity to become an official.
Unexpectedly, the Pang family, who were always open to accepting bribes, decided to act with integrity for once after seeing his calligraphy, which even ants could show off after practicing for three days. They immediately ordered him to be kicked out.
Logically speaking, with both the literary and martial paths blocked, he should have just settled down to do business or be a landlord with his family's few hundred acres of land and live a peaceful life.
But Song Zhirang was arrogant. With a long face, he once declared that if he were to marry, he would marry the most beautiful female cultivator in the world to be his Dao companion, and if he were to be anything, he would be the most powerful and wealthiest man in the world.
Unfortunately, ideals are full, but reality is harsh.
Seeing his friends and relatives, one by one, with families and careers, and even the children of his nephews, who he had watched grow up, were able to help out, he couldn't help but start to reflect on why he, a natural protagonist, was so down and out.
After several years of research, Song Zhirang attributed all of this to the Great Yin Dynasty's fault. He publicly expressed rebellious remarks in public, successfully attracting the attention of the local government. He was then successfully arrested and imprisoned for six months to contemplate the Dao, passionately staging "Prison on Fire 1."
After being released from prison, he decisively decided to "run" to the Purple Abyss Empire to showcase his talents.
After making up his mind to run, Song Zhirang immediately rejected the marriage arranged for him by his parents from the neighboring village. Finally, he embarked on his life, which was full of ups and downs, but ultimately unsuccessful.
His ideal goal was naturally to run to the Purple Abyss Empire, believing that with his talents, not to mention being granted a title like a Marquis in a foreign land, he should at least start with a Baron.
Unfortunately, as soon as he arrived at the border of the Purple Abyss Empire, Song Zhirang was immediately given a harsh lesson by the society.
The bandits patrolling the border of the Purple Abyss Empire enthusiastically brought him to their mountain stronghold for a short-term enlightenment training session. Acting out of humanitarian duty, they meticulously "cultivated" his wealth three or four times, until they were certain there was nothing left to gain. After five days, they released him.
However, Song Zhirang wasn't discouraged, cheerfully attributing it all to the tests of fate.
Soon, the tests of fate came again.
As soon as he entered the territory of the Purple Abyss Empire, the border guards immediately apprehended him as a vagrant and sent him to undergo enlightenment training three times. He enthusiastically starred in the large-scale abstract drama, "Prison Break 2."
After five months, having confirmed that Song Zhirang was utterly destitute, he was finally released again and successfully arrived at the first town in the Purple Abyss Empire—Xuanzhou City.
Just as Song Zhirang was deciding to make a name for himself in this foreign land, the tests of fate came again.
In a dark inn, he encountered bandits who robbed him once more. They took his last few dozen taels of silver, and he successfully became a member of the proletariat.
Following that, he met a local bully who stripped him of his only remaining coat and boots.
However, Song Zhirang still maintained an upwardly-mobile attitude. Every day, he would express his loyalty to the Purple Abyss Empire by making some rebellious remarks. He knew that given his current situation, becoming a Marquis would take a long time. So, he decided to start by working to solve his basic needs.
Thus, Song Zhirang entered a small restaurant and began his career washing dishes in the kitchen.
He washed dishes for ten months. Because his dishwashing skills were so outstanding, he broke quite a few pots and pans. The restaurant owner, unable to bear it any longer, unceremoniously fired him and, as a kindness, deducted a month's worth of wages.
At this point, Song Zhirang finally realized that the Purple Abyss Empire wasn't the place for him to achieve great things. So, he decisively ran off to the Great Zhou Dynasty to enjoy a life of privilege.
Along the way, he experienced eighty-one trials. For an average of three hundred days a year, he was either contemplating the Dao in the wilderness or encountering bandits and rogue cultivators who wanted to rob and… well, after five years, he relied on opening blind boxes in the trash, and with amazing perseverance, he finally walked to the Great Zhou Empire.
However, when he got to the Great Zhou Empire, he was still just washing dishes in the kitchen. But, having learned from his previous experience, he improved this time, washing dishes for three years.
During this time, he saw countless beautiful and alluring female cultivators flitting before him, and he heard people in the tavern talking about the wonderful tales of "one-night stands," which made him itch with desire.
Although such trifling matters between female and male cultivators were already commonplace on this continent, the primary condition for two people to be attracted to each other was appearance. Unfortunately, Song Zhirang directly failed on this most basic requirement.
He had once tried to get close to those inexperienced female cultivators, hoping to have a fleeting affair, even if it was just a night of pleasure that he could brag about later.
But, sorry, just because they were inexperienced didn't mean they were stupid.
The moment he showed up in public with that donkey face of his, his fantasies were doomed to remain just that... fantasies.
Later, the lovelorn Song Zhirang couldn't bear the lonely nights of self-pleasure, so he proudly produced the savings he'd accumulated from washing dishes for three years and went into a brothel, intending to become a real man.
The result? He spent his money and got beaten up and kicked out.
Even the courtesans couldn't accept a cross-species intimate encounter with a humanoid creature.
Later still, the mad and obsessed Song Zhirang, lonely and solitary, proposed that he wanted to find a companion to spend the rest of his life with.
Even a man would do.
Facing such an abstract and outrageous act, he was once again released by the restaurant owner, who could no longer bear it, and successfully became an unemployed vagrant in a certain city of the Great Zhou.
However, he finally got his wish. Because he was caught attempting to violate a woman's will on the street and thrown into a dungeon. While communicating with his fellow inmates, the two got together, staging a version of "Prison on Fire 3" and completing the physical and mental transformation from boy to man.
In the end, the ambitious but unsuccessful Song Zhirang was murdered by a demonic cultivator on his way to the Great Xia Kingdom at the age of 63.
He died only a year earlier than Shen Zhao.
In short, Song Zhirang's life was very abstract, so abstract that it left one speechless.
-----------------------
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