Since breaking out of Linchuan City and escaping, Luo Guang's forces have dwindled, even the main army has dispersed.

Sometimes, just a few dozen riders from the Huai Army dared to chase the thousands from the Celestial Master Army, which shocked Luo Guang. He wanted to rally his forces to resist, but these routed soldiers kept fleeing, as if they couldn't hear Luo Guang's words.

Those who continuously followed him were only his followers, namely his Personal Guard Battalion and over a hundred of Tang Xiude's personal soldiers.

Luo Guang fled all the way to Hu Yang City, with few troops and depleted provisions, the Huai Army surrounded him heavily.

Late at night, Luo Guang heard the Huai Army singing Northern Land songs outside the city, which greatly surprised him. He said, "The Huai Bandits are all southerners, how do so many of them know Northern Land songs!"

At this moment, Tang Xiude reported that the soldiers below, upon hearing the song, were brought to tears and longed for home, some were even emotionally stirred and began singing Northern Land songs along with the outside Huai Army.

Luo Guang knew these were Huai Army's tactics, aiming to completely shatter the morale of the Celestial Master Army.

He knew he was thoroughly defeated, and his heart was overwhelmed with sorrow, so he began to sing a dirge, composing and singing his own poems.

Luo Guang sang several times consecutively, and his followers below echoed and sang together.

Tears streamed down Luo Guang's face, and his followers also shed tears, none could bear to lift their heads to look at him.

Tang Xiude furrowed his brows and advised, "Celestial Master, though you've been defeated, our navy is still intact, there's still a chance. As long as you command the navy to break through the Huai Army Navy's blockade and return to the Northern Land, the Northern Land people, in their hundreds of thousands, will be enough for you to rise again."

"Is it possible to rise again?" Luo Guang smiled, showing pessimism on his face.

"As long as the people are still being exploited and persecuted by the court, the Celestial Master still has a chance," Tang Xiude said.

Luo Guang shook his head again, "I led hundreds of thousands of Northern Land people south, and now I'm returning with so few. Even if there are still hundreds of thousands of Northern Land people, who would want to follow me again, and what face do I have to see them again?"

Tang Xiude, hearing this, said, "Even if not the Northern Land, there's still the people of Youzhou; though small, Youzhou spans vast lands reaching a thousand li, with a population in the millions. Most importantly, Youzhou has not yet been influenced by the Celestial Master's teachings, they could serve the Celestial Master's purpose."

Upon hearing this, Luo Guang's eyes lit up. No one wants to die; even though Luo Guang spoke pessimistically, deep down he didn't want to die. Although Tang Xiude's words offered a slim chance, it was nonetheless a way out.

He immediately gathered all the troops and horses in the city and said to them, "I have raised an army for four years now, fought over forty battles, all whom we confronted were defeated, and those we struck submitted; never once have I lost, and the court and government fear us, hence we once had a mighty force of a million.

But now I'm finally trapped here. This is heaven's will to destroy me, definitely not due to my combat errors. Today I want to fight a grand battle with you all, I will surely lead you to break through the siege, slay the Huai generals, cut down their military flags, to let you know indeed it's heaven that seeks my end, not a fault in battle."

He shifted all the blame to heaven, to evade his own responsibility and to restore some morale to his troops.

That night, Luo Guang rode alone on horseback, nearly a thousand men followed closely behind, and indeed as he said, they broke through the siege that night, slayed a Huai general, cut down their military flag, and charged southward.

Afterwards, Luo Guang asked his followers, "How is it?"

These people were his followers to begin with, and at this moment, they admired and respected him, saying, "Just like the Celestial Master said."

Nevertheless, when Luo Guang led the remaining troops to the north shore, they saw not a shadow of a warship or a navy soldier.

"Could it really be heaven's will to destroy me?"

The howling cold wind swept past his ears, as Luo Guang gazed at the turbulent river, his heart sank to the bottom.

Tang Xiude advised again, "Celestial Master, it may not be the end of the road yet."

"Even the navy is gone from me, what else is an end?"

"Celestial Master is an Upper Third-Grade Martial Artist, with Duke Lei assisting, and having Divine Power to protect you. Even without warships, you can cross this river underwater, if the Celestial Master dives into the riverbed, even the Huai Army Navy couldn't catch you up."

However, as soon as Tang Xiude finished speaking, a sound like an overwhelming wave of battle cries came from behind.

The Huai Army cavalry had caught up, Prince Huai, Chu Ce, and a group of war generals were present.

"Prince, on the day the Celestial Master Thieves broke through Hu Yang City, it's certain that the thief leader Luo Guang had exhausted his inner Spiritual Qi, now only left with brute force, nothing to worry about." Diwu Fusheng rode a warhorse, standing beside Prince Huai.

The reason Luo Guang was able to lead nearly a thousand men to break through the siege from Hu Yang City that day was that Diwu Fusheng suggested to Prince Huai to divert the floodwaters, in order to deplete Luo Guang's innate Spiritual Qi.

Luo Guang, being an Upper Third-Grade Martial Artist, possessed the extremely domineering Thunder Qi among his innate Spiritual Qi. If forced to fight with his back to the water fiercely, many soldiers and horses would die or be injured.

But now, there is no need to worry.

Prince Huai glanced at Chu Ce, the latter drew the sword from his waist: "Kill!"

"Kill!"

"Kill them!"

The deep drumbeats echoed like thunder, and the Huai Army cavalry charged towards Luo Guang and the rest of the Celestial Master Army.

Those still following Luo Guang were the elite of the Celestial Master Army, but no matter how elite, they were still flesh and blood, not made of iron. The navy's departure added a heavy blow to their spirits.

The remaining Celestial Master Army collapsed like grass and wood bowing with the wind.

The cold wind wailed, and the clouds in the sky were slowly thickening.

Luo Guang held a long-handled saber, eyes glaring like an eagle, surveying the surroundings. Countless Huai Army armored warriors advanced heavily from behind, the cold glint of weapons pierced Luo Guang's vision along with the cold wind, surrounded by the sounds of slaughter and the wails of his followers.

In front of Luo Guang were dozens of Huai Army archers holding hand crossbows, and even more Huai Army martial artists clad in heavy armor and wielding heavy shields, stepping forward.

Luo Guang had completely stepped into a desperate situation.

There were still multiple arrow wounds and knife wounds on his body.

With his Innate Spiritual Qi exhausted, he didn't have any extra Innate Spiritual Qi to protect his body.

And without Innate Spiritual Qi for protection, he was left with only the brute force brought by his physical body; even ordinary arrows, if armor-piercing, could hurt him.

"Swoosh..."

"Swoosh..."

Countless arrows whistled through the air, and Luo Guang, relying on the physical qualities of an Upper-Grade Martial Artist, grabbed a Huai Army soldier wearing armor with lightning speed to use as a shield in front of him.

"Puff puff..." This Huai Army soldier instantly became Luo Guang's human shield, shot into a porcupine by his own people.

But the rain of arrows was too dense, plus the arrows were shot by some Middle-Grade Martial Artists, the feathered arrows directly penetrated the human shield, shooting into Luo Guang's left shoulder.

The immense pain caused Luo Guang's left arm to become paralyzed in an instant.

Luo Guang was surrounded by the Huai Army.

The piercing cries of misery echoed in Luo Guang's ears, the fervent shouts of kill and death persisted, Luo Guang closed his eyes, knowing that he was defeated, completely defeated.

"Hahaha."

Luo Guang laughed aloud, as if the Huai Army pressing in around him didn't exist at all, he threw away the human shield in front of him, pulled the arrowheads out of his body, causing several blood arrows to splash, then looked up at the sky covered in dark clouds.

He knew he couldn't survive, he wasn't an ordinary Celestial Master Army general, even if he surrendered, Prince Huai wouldn't let him live.

His expression became ruthless, glancing at the closing-in Huai Army, a glint of cold light burst out from his eyes, he shouted loudly: "Kill!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!"

Countless crossbow arrows shot forward, penetrating Luo Guang's body; with blood in his mouth, he stubbornly held on with one last breath, wielding the long-handled saber, he slashed down all the crossbowmen in front of him.

In the final moments of his life, in a daze, Luo Guang heard the howling wind, the passing cold wind bringing his thoughts back to that nameless village.

The Fourth Year of Xuanhe, there was a great drought in the north, the land was scorched for thousands of miles, not a single grain was harvested, yet the government still did not reduce taxes even a fraction, causing countless poor people to be displaced, corpses lay everywhere, plagues broke out.

But none of this stopped the officials from collecting taxes.

In that nameless village, Luo Guang led his disciples into a compound, the courtyard full of corpses, the air faintly carrying a smell of decay.

A skinny woman half-leaned against the earthen wall, her eyes wide open looking at Luo Guang and the others who pushed the door open, she tried hard to raise her hand, her chapped lips moving slightly, as if wanting to say something, but she could no longer make a sound; before Luo Guang could get closer, the woman's hand had already fallen weakly.

That was Luo Guang's younger sister.

Luo Guang's family was still relatively well-off, his father was a small landlord in the local village, but he was nearly sixty without children, so he went to the Daoist temple to pray, saying that as long as he could have a child, he would be willing to spend all his wealth.

The next year, his father's concubine indeed gave birth to a son for him.

Because he had a son in his old age, his father really spent all his wealth, first renovating the Daoist temple where he prayed, then distributing the rest among the villagers, keeping only the daily necessities.

The following year, his mother gave birth to a daughter for his father.

Thus, Luo Guang became connected to the Dao.

His father treated Luo Guang extremely well, but when Luo Guang was ten years old, his father passed away.

His father's passing was a great blow to Luo Guang, making him extremely sensitive to birth, old age, illness, and death.

After reaching adulthood, Luo Guang entered the Daoist temple, became a Daoist child, pursuing the "immortality" spoken of in the Daoist scriptures.

To focus on cultivation, he stayed away from worldly affairs.

He didn't return even when his mother passed away and his sister got married.

It wasn't until the old Observatory Master's passing, after Luo Guang became the new Observatory Master, coupled with the stagnation in his cultivation, that he planned to descend the mountain for training and visit his family.

But when he saw his sister again, she had already lost all signs of life.

At that moment, the sunlight hanging high in the sky made Luo Guang almost unable to open his eyes.

He wanted to distance himself from worldly affairs, but the world had not distanced itself from him.

The howling wind came again, dragging Luo Guang's thoughts back.

A shout composed of many voices entered Luo Guang's ears, then several long spears pierced into his body, causing such intense pain that his entire body shook, momentarily clearing his mind, letting him feel the life force in his body dissipating little by little, he straightened his body, slowly opened his mouth and said: "In this world, is there truly immortality..."

With the last word falling, Luo Guang slowly closed his eyes, and the long-handled saber in his hand fell to the ground.

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