Invasion Myth: Starting with the Schoolteacher

Chapter 946, is it filtered now?
Invading another's soul and spying on their memories and thoughts is an extremely taboo thing among righteous cultivators.

It's like tearing down all the bottom lines; few would dare to do it.

Aside from certain moral constraints, the main danger lies in its extreme peril.

A person's mind is unsettled, especially when it is filled with resentment and obsession, which is like a murky swamp.

The soul of an intruder is easily corrupted by its negative emotions. At best, it will cloud one's Dao heart; at worst, it will cause the spiritual platform to be lost, or even be assimilated and distorted, losing the purity of one's own soul and destroying one's Dao foundation.

Of course, such taboos and risks are as commonplace as eating and drinking for the "White Lotus Demon King".

Who told him that most of the people he dealt with on a daily basis were demons and monsters who couldn't be communicated with using common sense and whose minds were filled with nothing but killing and obsession?

Xu Xuan's spiritual intent was as refined as a diamond drill bit, and his technique was extremely skillful. He deftly and swiftly parted the layers upon layers of surging malevolent energy and hatred surrounding Yu Meiren's spiritual essence.

The White Lotus Dharma Image has endless wonders and has been explored in countless ways.

Then I saw the "grand scene" inside, and finally glimpsed the "real person" shrouded in heavy obsession.

The scene at the level of consciousness suddenly became clear, no longer a distorted resentment, but an incredibly clear memory recollection:

In the twelfth month of the fifth year of the Han dynasty, the harsh winter had arrived.

On the Huaihe Plain, withered grass was covered with frost, and the tributaries of the Si River were frozen as black as ink. A remnant army was swiftly marching south, breaking through the thin ice. The cold wind was biting, and the atmosphere was oppressively suffocating.

The 100,000 Chu soldiers, like a wounded black dragon, left a trail of blood across the vast land. Arrowheads from the breakout from Chengfu the day before were still embedded in the gaps in their armor. Exhaustion and despair were written on almost every face.

Xu Xuan's divine sense followed the deepest memory and instantly locked onto the target, quietly "appearing" beside a carriage that was bobbing along with the army.

He "looked" into the car and instantly made up his mind.

The core of the crazed, twisted, and hate-filled red shadow outside is the woman inside the carriage who, though her face shows worry, still maintains her stunning beauty.

What a beautiful Yu Ji!
Xu Xuan couldn't help but secretly praise him.

But I see her as I remember her:
She didn't wear a purple-gold crown, but instead had her hair tied up in a black bun, adorned with a jade hairpin that swayed like a branch of cassia tree plucked from the moon palace; she didn't wear chainmail, but instead wore a pomegranate-red silk skirt, flowing like a garment made of rosy clouds. Her feet were clad in small suede boots, yet she could still outpace the dust of her black horse; a double-embroidered belt with mandarin ducks cinched her waist, and she always concealed a lotus-shaped sword.

Her appearance is a wonderful blend of charm and heroism.

Her brows and eyes possess both the gentle charm of a woman and a fierce determination that rivals that of a man.

With such looks and such temperament, one can tell at a glance that she is no ordinary young lady, but a true extraordinary woman in troubled times.

Xu Xuan clearly sensed that although Yu Ji in the memory replay had the gentle and fierce appearance of the historical figure, her inner core had long been replaced by the mad essence of the poppy flower demon that had absorbed hundreds of years of resentment.

If one could "cut open" its soul at this moment, one would be certain that it is a bizarre aggregate of chaotic and entangled negative emotions, which can be described as "colorful black".

Perhaps only in the deepest part of her heart does a stubborn trace of Yu Ji's own pure, crimson love and despair remain.

So, what is the purpose of this demonic soul driving this memory scene forward like a wheel?
To wallow in pain? To draw nourishment from hatred? Or... is there another obsession?
I don't understand.

Xu Xuan intuitively felt that this seemingly meaningless rewinding might be the key to the madness and distortion of the monsters outside.

"Fine, let's just treat it as watching an immersive holographic movie."

He thought to himself, his mind and spirit maintaining the mindset of an observer, sitting firmly in the "audience".

At the same time, my gaze was involuntarily drawn to the protagonist in my memory.

This guy with the feather... looks like he's extremely, extremely, extremely skilled in combat!

The man was over eight feet tall, riding majestically on the back of the magnificent black horse, towering over the surrounding ordinary cavalrymen by a full half-body length.

His powerful tiger-like body was covered by heavy black iron armor. The armor plates were as dark as ink and had no reflection. The Taotie pattern on his chest had been cleaved in several deep gashes by countless swordsmen. The ferocious beast head on his shoulder had even broken off half of its corner, still exuding the bloody smell of the battlefield that had not been wiped clean.

Those who witnessed the ceremony in Pengcheng in the past all said that he was "strong enough to lift a tripod." Even now, in defeat, he held the reins with one arm, and his muscular arm, full of explosive power, still made the iron armor sleeves stand out sharply.

It seemed that with just a little force, the metal binding it could be easily shattered.

But what is most captivating is that pair of legendary double pupils.

Bathed in the blood-stained afterglow of the setting sun, they shone like two stars in the desolate twilight, their every glance radiating power and majesty.

It possesses both the domineering air of a ruler who looks down upon the world and a hint of the anxiety and desolation of a cornered beast at its wit's end.

"Yu's valor is unparalleled throughout history..."

Xu Xuan pondered this historical comment and suddenly felt that it might not be entirely an exaggerated description.

Of course, he strongly suspected that the magnificent scene he was witnessing was partly due to the embellishment of Yu Ji's memory. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, especially when it comes to the tragic filter of a hero's downfall.

Just then, in the memory, Yu Ji inside the carriage seemed to suddenly realize that Xu Xuan, this "outsider," was spying on her.

Suddenly turning her head, those eyes, which should have been filled with affection, now stared intently at Xu Xuan's divine thoughts through the heavy veil of history!
There was no trace of the sorrow that history should have in those eyes, only extreme ferocity and madness after being disturbed.

A crazy, beautiful woman's aura that screams "If you dare to break this memory, I'll kill you right now" is overwhelming!

This undisguised threat initially startled Old Xu, but instead of getting angry, he found it even more amusing.

"Heh, this is interesting. You won't let me touch it? Well, let's take a look then."

Anyway, according to historical records, this memory won't last long, because from Yu Ji's perspective, its beginning... was already at the desperate situation of Gaixia.

When the remaining Chu army staggered into this battlefield, which was destined to be recorded in history as tragic and its end, the distant horizons on all sides seemed to be set ablaze, and countless beacon fires suddenly rose up!
The account in the "Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Emperor Gaozu" here becomes a cruel reality: "In the fifth year, Emperor Gaozu and the armies of the feudal lords jointly attacked the Chu army and fought a decisive battle with Xiang Yu at Gaixia. The Marquis of Huaiyin led 300,000 troops to confront them, with General Kong on the left, General Fei on the right, the Emperor behind, and the Marquis of Jiang and General Chai behind the Emperor."

Liu Bang's crimson banner, like a blood-stained flag, completely dominated the land as far as the eye could see.

From all directions, countless dark-clad armored soldiers surged forth like a tide, their swords and halberds like a forest, reflecting the bleak, cold light of winter.

What's even more breathtaking is that the figures of those Han generals who left their illustrious names in history also appear faintly beneath their respective battle flags, like a pack of wolves hunting a giant dragon.

As night fell, the scene became even more terrifying.

Countless torches suddenly lit up almost at the same moment, densely packed and layered, like a burning galaxy falling to earth, stretching all the way to the edge of the field of vision, connecting with and vying for brilliance with the pale stars that had just appeared in the sky!
The firelight not only illuminated the Han army's imposing formation, but also made the Chu camp's lonely, weak campfire appear like a flickering candle in the wind.

The war drums sounded deep and rumbling like muffled thunder, while the bugles blared mournfully, tearing through the sky.

The sound of countless hooves pounding the frozen earth merged into a continuous, deathly roar, pressing in from all directions and surrounding the small Chu camp like an iron barrel, leaving no room for escape. The chilling atmosphere almost froze the air itself.

In the memory, Xiang Yu stood with his reins in his hand, his double pupils sweeping over the despairing encirclement, the halberd humming with resentment in his palm from the extreme force he exerted.

He murmured to himself, seemingly in disbelief, yet also resigned to his fate:

"This...is..."

"It's 'House of Flying Daggers,' bro." Xu Xuan, who was "listening in" from the side in his divine soul form, couldn't help but interject, adding with a spoiler-like sentiment that transcended time and space.

Although he knew perfectly well that the phrase "ambush from ten sides" first appeared in the Yuan Dynasty play "The Makeup Box," and that Cheng Yu had also offered the "ambush from ten sides" strategy to deal with Lü Bu in the 31st chapter of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," Xiang Yu was definitely unaware of it at this time.

But this scene, this spectacle, is truly the most apt description using the terms used in later generations.

The torrent of history converged here, creating a decisive situation that pushed the last Hegemon of Western Chu, along with his empire and his love, to their destined end.

The Chu-Han Contention was not only a duel between two powerful rulers, but also a clash of two military philosophies.

Xiang Yu was the pinnacle of the "Military Situation" school among the four schools of military strategists.

Its core idea is "to move with lightning speed, arrive first even when it is behind, to separate and reunite in opposite directions, to change unpredictably, and to subdue the enemy with lightness and speed."

It places extreme emphasis on the ultimate flexibility of tactics and the keen perception of the ever-changing battlefield situation, advocating the destruction of the enemy through unexpected maneuvers and thunderous rapid strikes, and pursuing an absolute control and crushing of "momentum".

With his innate battlefield instincts and domineering courage, he indeed won countless glorious victories.

In the Battle of Julu, he "burned his boats and broke the cauldrons," using his resolute will in the face of adversity to inspire the morale of the Chu army. He won nine battles in a row, defeating the main force of the Qin army led by the famous generals Zhang Han and Wang Li, and turning the tide of the world.

The Battle of Pengcheng was a prime example of his "military strategy." He personally led 30,000 elite cavalry, abandoning their baggage, on a long march of hundreds of miles. Like divine soldiers descending from the heavens, they broke through the loose defenses of Liu Bang's 560,000-strong allied army. With a stunning surprise attack, Liu Bang's army was almost completely annihilated and fled in panic, creating a myth of defeating a larger force with a smaller one in the era of cold weapons.

However, this era no longer favors mere tactical geniuses.

The general trend of the world can no longer be reversed by the bravery of one person.

From the perspective of military strategy alone, his opponent Han Xin, who was revered by later generations as the "God of War," was indeed more "divine."

Han Xin was a master of military strategy, deeply understanding the essence of "defending the country with righteousness, using unorthodox tactics in warfare, and planning before fighting," and combining grand strategic planning with exquisite tactical execution to the extreme.

But his excellence goes far beyond that.

What's terrifying is its extraordinary ability to integrate knowledge and apply it, which is not limited to the military strategy and tactics school.

The Battle of Jingxing cleverly utilized the terrain and the soldiers' psychology, deploying them with their backs to the river and inspiring a fighting spirit of "being trapped in a desperate situation to survive." This incorporated the military strategy of "changing circumstances and using speed and agility to defeat the enemy," creating the "momentum" for a counterattack from a desperate situation.

When attacking Feiqiu and confronting Zhang Han, he used military technology such as engineering and mechanics, demonstrating the application of military skills: "practice your hands and feet, master weapons, accumulate mechanisms, and establish victory in offense and defense."

(End of this chapter)