Chapter 338: Chapter 227: First Life: Turbulent Dynasty, Wife from Humble Beginnings, Guarding the Nation with Martial Arts

She knew the locations of some Grotto Heaven Blessed Lands and Celestial and Earthly Treasures, but she was far too weak to ever reach them.

She was a Mortal, no longer a Great Cultivator of the Nascent Soul Realm with boundless Mana.

"Why..."

Yun Qinghe was extremely frustrated.

She even felt like she was a burden and shouldn’t have been so headstrong about entering the Scroll World. Every day, she was mired in self-doubt.

Fortunately, Lu Mingyuan comforted her every day.

But she was simply too weak to stay in the military camp any longer.

In the time that followed, Lu Mingyuan would be off fighting campaigns and would have no time to accompany her.

His merits had accumulated to the rank of Captain, giving him command of a hundred-man team.

Becoming a Captain at such a young age had already earned him the admiration of many soldiers.

So, Lu Mingyuan came up with a plan: under the pretense of getting married, he settled her in Guangling City.

At first, Yun Qinghe refused outright, only reluctantly agreeing after much persuasion from Lu Mingyuan.

Only the families of soldiers were afforded such treatment.

The two had no proof of a sibling relationship, so they could only use the status of a legal wife.

With nothing much to do on a daily basis, Yun Qinghe could only manage the residence, eat and drink, and wander around the city. For the first time, she experienced the life of an ordinary person.

As for Lu Mingyuan, he was steadily rising through the ranks, his Cultivation growing ever higher.

「Three years passed.」

He cultivated to the rank of Grandmaster.

He was promoted to the position of General An Bei.

He had done it without relying on any external items, purely through the strength of his innate talent.

With his powerful Martial Arts Cultivation, the name Fang Yuan struck terror across the battlefields of two nations. He was capable of fighting a thousand men at once and was famous for killing without batting an eye.

The troops under his command were strictly disciplined and never harmed the common people, making him the youngest General in the Flame Country.

At the same time, Lu Mingyuan also earned a nickname.

The Qilin Child of the Flame Country.

Everyone, no matter who they were, hoped their own sons could be as successful as Fang Yuan.

However, on a certain day...

...the inevitable finally happened.

Lu Mingyuan’s adoptive father, Pei Ming, was ambushed by soldiers from Great Zhou. Only his corpse was sent back.

"Who was it?"

Lu Mingyuan’s voice was heavy, laced with fury, as he stared at the cold body.

Over the years, he had treated Pei Ming like his own family.

He knew this Scroll World was fake.

Yet, after years of life on the battlefield, the experiences were undeniably real.

He would not forget his mission.

This didn’t stop him from following his own Dao.

Having spent so long in this world, Lu Mingyuan had also changed.

The Grand Thousand Canglan Map was indeed very useful.

It allowed Lu Mingyuan to witness the myriad facets of life and experience different ways of living.

What is right, and what is wrong.

Who deserves to die, and who deserves to live.

Through a hundred lifetimes’ worth of experiences, some questions naturally found their answers.

And so it was.

Regardless of whether the world was real or fake, Pei Ming was someone worthy of his respect in this Scroll World.

"This time, a Prince of Great Zhou personally led the troops. The General was caught in an ambush and was slain by an enemy general."

The Personal Guard reported, cupping his fist.

Lu Mingyuan frowned. "Which Prince of Great Zhou?"

"The Eldest Prince of Great Zhou, Zhou Yunqing."

"Zhou Yunqing..."

Hearing this name, Lu Mingyuan’s eyes narrowed. After a long time, he was reminded of the person he had been searching for.

Lu Yunqing.

The Flame Country.

The country of Zhou.

’It seems the entire setup was no coincidence.’

In that moment, Lu Mingyuan seemed to understand the source of the trial.

"Pick a better coffin for my adoptive father. I’ll cover all the silver for the funeral," Lu Mingyuan said with a sigh.

"Yes, sir!"

After the Personal Guard withdrew, Lu Mingyuan murmured softly to himself:

"Oh, Yun Qing, Yun Qing... I’ve finally found you."

He didn’t know what constituted victory in this so-called trial, but finding his opponent meant a contest was about to begin.

But before that, he planned to raise his Cultivation.

「One night.」

Lu Mingyuan returned to Guangling City with a grand procession of his elite cavalry, riding in a sedan chair.

On the official road, the common people came out to welcome him, each one craning their necks in eager anticipation.

He arrived at a stately and lavish General’s Mansion. The gilded knockers on the gate gleamed, two stone lions stood imposingly, and the plaque above read "General An Bei’s Mansion."

Yun Qinghe was in the courtyard, dressed in an elegant gown and wearing a jeweled hairpin. She was cracking melon seeds and reading a storybook. The young girl of the past had blossomed into a graceful beauty.

Her current identity was that of the lady of the General’s Mansion.

Because her life was so comfortable, her skin was well-maintained; she was fair and beautiful.

Unable to walk the path of cultivation, she could only force herself to accept her fate and enjoy this leisurely time.

"You found a trace of Lu Yunqing?"

Yun Qinghe was very surprised to hear this news.

"I did. I never expected him to have become a Prince of Great Zhou."

Lu Mingyuan was rendered speechless by the absurdity of it.

’On what grounds did I have to start as a refugee, fighting my way up over piles of bodies just to painstakingly reach the position of General An Bei?’

’Meanwhile, Lu Yunqing gets to be a revered Prince from the very beginning.’

"What do you plan to do? Kill him?" Yun Qinghe asked tentatively.

Lu Mingyuan shook his head. "I don’t know. Before anything else, I plan to break through to the Middle Fifth Grade. I’ll be more confident in dealing with him then."

"Then your reason for returning this time is..."

"I want to know the locations of some Celestial and Earthly Treasures. That will make my cultivation path much smoother," Lu Mingyuan explained.

To break through to the realms of the Middle Fifth Grade, he needed the aid of Celestial and Earthly Treasures.

He didn’t have decades to waste.

"Here."

Yun Qinghe took out a sheepskin scroll, as if she had prepared it long ago.

"The red marks are all the locations I know. Many of them are extremely dangerous, so you might not be able to get what’s there. You can try for the ones that are closer."

"Not bad, not bad at all."