Although it is very slight, it is a real and tangible change.
"Time accelerates, time stands still, time reverses, time loops..."
Countless mysterious spells surged into Lin Yi's mind.
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Chapter Twenty-Six: Life is like a game of chess, and all living beings are the pieces.
He shook his head slightly, putting those thoughts behind him.
No matter what you do, being overly ambitious is never a good habit.
When Lin Yi walked out of the quiet room, it was already the next morning.
The dawn awakens the sleeping earth, bringing light and warmth to the world.
A new day has begun.
The best time to plan for the day is in the morning, and the best time to plan for the year is in the spring.
In Chang Le Prefecture, Taoist priests have already begun climbing mountains, both to exercise their bodies and to find a good place to practice breathing exercises. Young Taoist disciples recite Taoist scriptures, their voices ringing out, while servants clean and tidy the area.
Everything was in good order and proceeded smoothly.
Lin Yi took in all of this, nodded slightly, and then turned his gaze to the vast land.
The world is like a game of chess, and all living beings are the pieces on it.
Many people can only see one or two moves into the future, but a skilled chess player can see much more and further ahead.
Lin Yi looked at the vibrant, spring-filled earth. Spring had arrived, so how far away could autumn be?
What are the players who are qualified to make their moves in this grand scheme of things doing?
In the underworld, Zhu Hongwu subdued the ghosts and gods of the netherworld, and locked up seventy-two earthly shamanic caves that connected to the mortal world, striving to eliminate the evil consequences of the conflict between yin and yang, so that the climate of that year would no longer be so abnormal.
The people who have suffered from droughts and floods in recent years have finally been given a chance to catch their breath.
The Jurchen people of Northeast China, under Nurhaci's seemingly divine assistance, ruthlessly suppressed dissent within their own borders and fiercely attacked Goryeo and the Mongols. He was truly blessed with a destiny that could shake the world.
The various Dharma Kings of Tibetan Tantric Buddhism frequently manifested their divine power, holding one bloody sacrifice after another, exchanging the lives of countless serfs for an increase in their own strength.
A flood of intelligence gathered in Chang Le Prefecture, but Lin Yi, busy with his cultivation, left all these matters to Wang Changyue to handle.
After several periods of seclusion, summer has arrived.
After a few more periods of seclusion, autumn will arrive.
Emperor Zhaode's northern expedition, which he had been preparing for for more than a year, finally began.
"Victory! Victory! Victory!"
On the high platform of the eastern training ground, amidst deafening shouts, Lin Yi received the Emperor's Sword, a symbol of authority, from Emperor Zhaode. From this moment on, he was the supervising officer for this northern expedition.
"I entrust this northern expedition to you, Master," Emperor Zhaode said.
"Please rest assured, Your Majesty," Lin Yi said.
The civil and military officials on both sides glared angrily at Lin Yi, this "heretical Taoist," but unfortunately, no one dared to jump out and shout for his execution.
The army marched north, its banners blotting out the sky; wherever its might pointed, ghosts and gods wailed.
To the delight of the generals in command, this Qingxuan Zhenren was not like those civil officials who, despite knowing nothing, spent all day pointing fingers and giving orders haphazardly.
But to their utter surprise, Lin Yi had already left without a trace after the army left Shanhaiguan.
What remained in the army was merely a decoy to mislead others.
………………
With the Dragon Abyss Sword hanging at his waist and the Emperor's Sword on his back, Lin Yi stepped into Changbai Mountain.
This endless mountain range was called "Buxian Mountain" during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, "Taibai" during the Northern Wei Dynasty, "Baishan" and "Taibai Mountain" during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and finally "Changbai Mountain" in Chinese during the Liao and Jin Dynasties, which has been used ever since.
Historically, after the Jurchens established the Jin Dynasty in Northeast China, they regarded Changbai Mountain as a "land of prosperity" and a "town of the old state." They first bestowed upon it the title of king, and later honored it as an emperor, and built temples to worship it.
Lin Yi took a step and entered another space.
Here lies the land and rivers, the sun, moon and stars, and countless people dressed in Jurchen attire live among it.
"What a magnificent divine kingdom!" Lin Yi exclaimed.
Before he finished speaking, he had already drawn the Emperor's Sword from his back. A dragon's roar resounded, and the vast Emperor's Dragon Qi transformed into a five-clawed divine dragon. Then, with a single dragon tail swing, he shattered space, and countless Yin soldiers and divine generals surged forth like a tide.
This was a war between the Ming Dynasty's imperial court and the ancestral homeland of the Jurchen people.
Every moment, heavenly soldiers and ghosts die in battle, only to be reborn and thrown back into the battlefield.
The shattered fragments of the divine soul drifted everywhere, like bubbles under the sun, brilliant only to burst.
At this moment, justice and evil seem so pale; survival or destruction is the eternal theme.
The winner takes all, the loser is condemned.
Compared to the accumulated strength of the Ming Dynasty over the past few centuries, the power of the Jurchen ancestral lands seemed somewhat weak and gradually became unsustainable.
Outside, Nurhaci was gathering his followers to discuss how to fight the Ming army, unaware that his ancestral homeland was already facing the crisis of falling.
"Blood sacrifice! The ancestral god needs a blood sacrifice to restore its power!" The tribe's high priest waved his bone staff and shouted incessantly.