#407 - Return to the capital

"Finally out!"

Jun Wuxie looked at the clear blue sky, breathing in the fresh air, feeling refreshed.

The depression from the ancient burial ground's secret realm months ago was completely swept away.

He carefully surveyed his surroundings, noting that he was currently located on the edge of the Dragon Ridge Mountains.

It wasn't far from where he had originally seized the Solar True Lotus.

The fiery red patch adorning the azure sky was enough to confirm his current location.

He soared into the high sky, overlooking the mountains and earth.

A fiery red sea of magma came into view, its position corresponding perfectly with the fiery red patch in the sky above.

Without the Fire蛟 and the Solar True Lotus, the sea of magma had ceased to expand, and its temperature was no longer as terrifying as before.

Now, it was only slightly hotter than an ordinary sea of magma, but even so, the magma at its edges showed no signs of cooling or solidifying.

It seemed that this sea of magma would exist for a very, very long time.

"Our current location is not far from the periphery of that sea of magma."

Jun Wuxie descended, looking at Mu Xue'lan and Lilya.

They were both silent.

Mu Xue'lan quietly gazed into the distance, the mountain breeze tousling her hair and lifting her ice-blue silk dress.

Lilya stared at Jun Wuxie, her ethereal beautiful eyes filled with a trace of mist.

"What's wrong?"

Jun Wuxie stepped forward, cupping Lilya's delicate, elfin face.

"Young Master Jun, will you remember Lilya?"

Her brows were furrowed with faint sorrow, and a strong sense of reluctance.

"If you hadn't appeared in time, I fear I wouldn't have escaped the sea of magma and would have been surrounded. Forty-nine days in the Secret Realm of Passion, entangled day after day, even if I were cold iron, I couldn't cut off my emotions and desires. How could I forget you?"

"Having your words is enough." Lilya smiled, her smile as pure and flawless as a mountain sprite, but tears welled up in her ethereal eyes. She suddenly hugged Jun Wuxie, holding him tightly, slightly choked up, and said, "Young Master Jun, take care! May we meet again someday!"

After she finished speaking, without waiting for Jun Wuxie to respond, she released him, abruptly turned around, and disappeared like a shooting star into the horizon.

Jun Wuxie opened his mouth, but in the end, he said nothing.

Even if he had spoken, Lilya wouldn't have heard him.

"She's gone, are you going to leave too?"

Mu Xue'lan's slightly cold voice sounded somewhat ethereal.

"Yes, it's time to go back and take a look. I've been away from the sect for more than four months."

Jun Wuxie looked at Mu Xue'lan, who was standing quietly with her back to him, and sensed that her mood was very unsettled at the moment.

"I want to stay here for a few days."

"Ah?" Jun Wuxie was stunned, and said, "Why?"

"My soul has not completely recovered, perhaps it will take some time. I want to wait until it is fully restored before returning to the sect." Mu Xue'lan suddenly turned to look at him, and said, "This place may not be safe, are you willing to stay and protect me?"

"This… How about you come back to the Sect Master Mountain with me? You can also repair your soul there."

Jun Wuxie really wanted to say, this place is not safe, but you are a Half-Step Saint Realm expert.

Even if your soul has not completely recovered, this place is not subject to any restrictions, and ordinary fierce beasts can't do anything to you. If you encounter a Beast King, it's useless for me to stay, right?

You can repair your soul anywhere, why do you have to stay in this Dragon Ridge Mountain Range?

Mu Xue'lan didn't speak, but just looked at him quietly with her clear, beautiful eyes that seemed to condense ice and snow.

After a long time, she sighed slightly, and said, "Forget it, just pretend I never said it. Today, you and I will drift with the wind, each going our separate ways, and when we meet again in the future, we will be different."

"Mu Xue'lan, do you have to say such absolute words?"

Jun Wuxie was helpless, this woman was just too strong on the surface, but soft-hearted.

He cut off hundreds of pounds of Supreme Spiritual Crystal Stones from the Eternal Life Divine Palace and handed them to her, saying, "This should be of great use to you. I hope that when we meet again in the future, you will already be a Saint Realm expert."

Mu Xue'lan didn't refuse, and put the Supreme Spiritual Crystal Stones into her storage ring. Then, she took out a brocade handkerchief from her bosom, the background color was snow-white, and a lotus flower was embroidered in the middle, saying, "I know you don't lack resources, and I don't have anything valuable on me. You saved me several times, I'll give you this handkerchief as repayment for your kindness."

Jun Wuxie was stunned, holding the handkerchief, which still retained Mu Xue'lan's faint warmth and her unique fragrance.

In addition to the ice lotus, the handkerchief also had two delicate characters embroidered on it - Xue'lan.

"Jun Wuxie, take care. After today's farewell, the mountains, rivers, years, and past events are all over, and we will forget each other in the rest of our lives…"

Mu Xue'lan's voice was ethereal, with a hint of trembling, a hint of melancholy, and a hint of determination.

After she finished speaking, she drifted away, like an immortal riding the wind, leaving only a faint fragrance.

"Is this love a futile dream, a fleeting illusion that is ultimately not real? Can you really forget the past without a trace?"

Jun Wuxie muttered to himself, feeling somewhat complicated.

Looking back at the bits and pieces of these days with Mu Xue'lan, and now she left with decisive words, resolutely leaving, he felt a sense of loss in his heart.

"Saying the most heartless words, enduring the most difficult parting, that's you, Mu Xue'lan…"

Jun Wuxie shook his head, looking at the handkerchief in his hand, feeling both amused and helpless.

That stubborn woman, saying heartless words, but giving him her personal belongings, what a contradictory mentality…

"You have finally been moved by mortal emotions."

He looked in the direction where Mu Xue'lan disappeared, and with a single leap, he traveled ten thousand meters away, quickly disappearing into the horizon.

…

The capital of the Great Zhou Dynasty was still the same as before.

Jun Wuxie saw the city from afar, bustling with people, traffic flowing like water, prosperous and lively.

He did not return directly to Sect Master Mountain, but went to the imperial palace in the capital.

After not seeing him for several months, Ji Liufeng had become much more haggard. At the prime of his life, his temples had even been streaked with some white hair.

He was sitting in the imperial study, supporting his temple with one hand. There were more than a dozen piles of memorials stacked several feet high on the table, and his brows were furrowed with an unresolved worry.

"Who's there?"

Sensing someone's arrival, he suddenly raised his head, his tired and dim eyes instantly lighting up like lamps.

"Wu… Wuxie!"

Ji Liufeng was so excited that he lost the majesty of an emperor, and suddenly stood up from his chair, stumbling forward.

"Your Majesty, what's wrong with you? You don't need to be so excited to see me, do you?"

Jun Wuxie quickly stepped forward to help him.

"Wuxie!" Ji Liufeng's lips trembled, and he trembled all over, saying excitedly, "Beilan, Beilan, he…"

"What happened to Beilan?"

Jun Wuxie's heart sank.

"Beilan was captured by Xiao Tianming of the Xiao Clan!"

After saying these words, Ji Liufeng seemed to have been drained of his strength in an instant, and sat down on the ground with a thud.

"Who? Xiao Tianming?"

Jun Wuxie was both shocked and angry!

Why did Xiao Tianming capture Ji Beilan, what was his purpose in doing so?

This news shocked him, and he never expected that such a thing would happen.

"When did this happen?"

"A few days ago…"

Ji Liufeng explained the information he knew in detail.

The more Jun Wuxie listened, the colder his eyes became.

"Wuxie, you may think that I am very selfish, but currently, apart from you, no one can save Beilan. Beilan is my most beloved son, the future ruler of the Great Zhou…"

"Your Majesty, don't be agitated, I don't blame you either. This matter was originally caused by me, and that's why Beilan was dragged into the grudges between me and Xiao Tianming. Don't worry, I will go to Eastern Wasteland Ancient City and bring Beilan back to the capital safe and sound!"

"Thank you, Wuxie! However, that Xiao Tianming is very strong, you must plan carefully for this trip, and don't fall into the trap he has set…"

"Your Majesty, don't worry, Xiao Tianming's move is just to prove himself, wanting to use me as a stepping stone. Since he asked me to go to Eastern Wasteland Ancient City, he must want to fight me to the death. At that time, countless people will watch the battle, and the Xiao family's higher-ups will not dare to act rashly."

"By the way, how is the war with Western Forest going these past few months?"

Ji Liufeng sighed heavily and said, "During the time you were away, Western Forest has already conquered three defense lines of my Great Zhou. Those three defense lines spanned tens of thousands of miles horizontally, with hundreds of important cities and thousands of military strongholds, all destroyed, and more than 30 million soldiers of my Great Zhou were killed or injured…"

"How could it be so fast?"

Jun Wuxie frowned, the momentum of the Western Forest army exceeded his expectations.

"Western Forest is fighting on multiple fronts, sweeping across all countries. They have changed their previous policy of slaughtering everyone, and have incorporated prisoners of war from various countries into the Western Forest army, causing their army to increase tenfold! They have launched a full-scale attack on my Great Zhou, investing more than 50 million troops!"

"Where has the Western Forest army reached now?"

"Less than 20,000 miles away from the capital…"

Ji Liufeng was exhausted, and he told Jun Wuxie that the Great Zhou had now lost nearly two-thirds of its territory, and the population that had died in the war had reached more than 700 million.

Wherever the Western Forest army conquered, all the cities and towns were turned into death ruins, with no survivors!

"At their current rate, I am afraid that they will soon reach the capital. Once the capital falls, the remaining territory will no longer have any solid cities, no more dangers to defend, and the entire Great Zhou will be completely occupied in a very short time…"

"What is the current situation of the Black Armored Army?"

Ji Liufeng's lips trembled and he said in a deep voice: "I strongly supported the expansion of the Black Armored Army. At its peak, the number of Black Armored Corps reached three million, consisting of one hundred general schools camps with a staff of 30,000. To this day, many of the Black Armored Army's general schools camps have been defeated several times and rebuilt several times! Due to the loss of a large amount of territory and a sharp decline in population, soldiers are now also in short supply, and the number of young people has decreased dramatically…"

"Western Forest!"

Jun Wuxie clenched his fists, he could almost imagine the tragic situation of the occupied areas!

The Western Forest army was too insane, leaving no one alive wherever they went!

Even the unarmed old, weak, sick, disabled, and newborn babies could not escape their massacre!

Those beasts!

"Your Majesty, wait for me to solve Xiao Tianming in Eastern Wasteland and bring back Beilan! Don't worry, as long as I, Jun Wuxie, am not dead, the Western Forest army will never want to attack the capital!"

"Wuxie, my Great Zhou may have run out of luck, but I am not willing to give up. Knowing the final outcome, I still want to fight to the end! Now, the resources of my Great Zhou are blocked, and the war is consuming a lot of resources. Although there are war resources prepared by you, they will eventually be exhausted. At that time, relying only on domestic resource production will be a drop in the bucket, and the people may not even have enough to eat…"

"I will find a way, Your Majesty, don't worry, everything is up to me, Great Zhou will never be destroyed!"

Jun Wuxie left these words and left.

His mood was very heavy.

He did not expect that after leaving for several months, the situation had become so critical.

At the moment, the Great Zhou Jiangshan is in danger, and Xiao Tianming has taken Ji Beilan away.

"Those who offend me, those who offend my relatives and friends, those who offend my Great Zhou, must be killed!"

Leaving the palace, Jun Wuxie's heart was boiling with killing intent.

Xiao Tianming, your life should also come to an end!