The road to Jianghu started from the martial arts hall

When Fang Xun's vision returned, he found himself in a city. The first thing he saw was a huge bell tower that was fifteen meters high.

The clock tower is located in a conspicuous place in the city center, where two streets meet and run through the four gates of the city.

"Bianhuangji?"

When Fang Xun saw the eye-catching clock tower, he knew where he was. He then turned around and looked around, sizing up the deserted city.

The collapsed city walls and filled-up moats all show the cruelty of war.

However, the wooden and stone buildings lining both sides of the street and the signs of various brothels, restaurants, and inns reflect a different kind of contradictory prosperity.

Bianhuangji is located between the Huai River and the Si River. It was originally a city devastated by war and turned into ruins.

Since the Yellow Turban Rebellion in the late Han Dynasty marked the beginning of the chaotic times.

Heroes from all over the country emerged and composed a series of magnificent epic pictures.

But behind this epic poem full of brilliant generals and sung through the ages, is a cruel reality drenched in blood.

During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Wu and Cao Wei were in confrontation, and every war often broke out between Huaihe and Sihe, leaving the people here homeless and the land abandoned.

After the Sima family unified the world, the people on both sides of the Huai and Si rivers should have enjoyed a stable life.

Unfortunately, first came the "Rebellion of the Eight Kings" and the "Yongjia Disaster", and then what followed was the darkest moment in the history of Fang Xun's hometown - the Five Barbarians Invasion of China, namely the Xiongnu, Xianbei, Qiang, Di, and He.

Later, the Jin Dynasty was forced to move south, resulting in a north-south confrontation. The Huai-Si region remained the worst-hit war zone.

The Huai River and the Si River became the unwritten boundaries between the northern and southern regimes, and the border was the "unpopulated area" within the borders of the two sides.

The delicate situation in the borderland arose under such circumstances.

For the Hu people, it is customary to leave a buffer zone at the border between the two tribes. When there is no incident, neither side is allowed to enter and pedestrians must stop, otherwise it will be regarded as provoking trouble.

For the Sima regime, this land, which had been hit hard by four wars, was no longer suitable for management and could only be used for "fortifying the city and clearing the fields."

It was under such strange and special circumstances that the borderland was formed with the tacit understanding of the north and the south.

However, Bianhuangji, located between Huaihe and Sihe, at the core of the borderland, happened to be the most prosperous place in the Central Plains.

This city is the only transit center and trade bridge connecting the north and the south. It is also the center for smuggling brokers and illegal gangs to do their business. It also reflects the epitome of the struggles among various parties in the world.

A large number of small people survive in the gray area in the cracks. When they come here, as long as they can leave with their lives, no matter if they are merchants, prostitutes or craftsmen, anyone can earn dozens of times more money than other places.

This border town located in the core of the Sishui and Huaishui regions has become a place full of magical attraction, a perfect place for people with survival skills and luck.

Fang Xun looked around for a moment and found that most of the buildings in Bianhuang Village were wooden and stone buildings that pursued practicality and simplicity.

These buildings are full of different styles and characteristics, reflecting the different living habits and beliefs of different races.

This small place is a microcosm of the world situation at that time.

Fang Xun was strolling around the city casually and unknowingly came to the East Gate Street of Bianhuangji.

"After many years away, I come back here again, but I am the only one left."

At this moment, a melancholy sigh reached Fang Xun's ears, and he looked up.

I saw a rare all-wooden building on the street. Although it only has two floors, the plaque reads "First Floor".

On the street side of the second floor of the wooden building, a small platform surrounded by wooden railings extended out. A man was sitting at the table drinking by himself. When he felt Fang Xun's gaze, he smiled and raised his glass slightly.

"I am the host after all, why don't you come up and have a few drinks first?"

The man looked extremely young, and appeared to be only in his twenties, but his features were unique and distinctive, with a long and broad face, a high and broad forehead, and a raised chin, which gave him a majestic impression.

His eyes, ears, nose and mouth all had a rich flavor that seemed to be carved out of granite, and his slender eyes had a mocking smile, which made people feel his cynical nature and the arrogance that looked down on all living things in the world.

The protruding lines of his chest support his tight black suit. His face and body are handsome in contrast, which makes people feel that he has a unique and evil temperament.

It was the Evil Emperor Xiang Yutian who was the first in the Yellow Demon Sect to master the Dao Heart Planting Demon Method. Facing Xiang Yutian's invitation, Fang Xun smiled and nodded, and with a light tap of his toes, he floated into the small platform extending from the second floor of the wooden building, and sat down steadily opposite Xiang Yutian.

Xiang Yutian smiled and filled Fang Xun's glass while introducing the drink to him.

"This 'First Restaurant in Borderland' is the best restaurant recognized by all ethnic groups in the area. The owner Pang Yi is well versed in business and has superb cooking skills.

The exquisite wine he brewed himself, "Xuejianxiang", is the only one of its kind in the world. If you come to Bianhuang Market and don't have a pot of Xuejianxiang, your trip would be in vain."

Xiang Yutian's words and actions did not reveal that he was an evil emperor of the demon sect. Instead, he sounded like a veteran glutton who had eaten all over the world.

But a trace of vicissitudes of life occasionally appeared in his eyes.

Hundreds of years of playing around in the world have already created a heart that has seen through the vicissitudes of life.

Fang Xun picked up the wine glass, said "please" with a smile, and drank it all together with Xiang Yutian.

After drinking a glass of wine, Xiang Yutian's eyes suddenly became vicissitudes of life.

“The world has changed so much, but I never thought that I would be able to come back here one day.”

What is revealed in this vicissitude is endless loneliness.

Time is a butcher's knife. Friends and relatives around you leave one by one, and in the end you are the only one left in this world, playing around in the world. It would be a lie to say that you are not lonely.

Fang Xun also sighed upon hearing this and said, "With your ability, you could have been shattered together with Yan Fei. Did you realize that there would be some great terror after being shattered that made you willing to endure the loneliness and stay in the world alone?"

Xiang Yutian's face was stunned when he heard this, but he quickly returned to his usual cynicism.

"Even if the other side is paradise, it cannot be verified. To me, it is nothing but illusion. Since we don't know what will be there after the destruction, it is better to stay in the human world and slowly search for it."

"The unknown is the real terror"

Fang Xun also shook his head and sighed. He understood Xiang Yutian's idea very well.

Even if ordinary people move, they have to figure out the environment around the new home before taking any action.

The same is true for breaking the void. After going through hardships and practicing hard, it will finally be broken in the end.

If you find out that the real 'fairyland' is not as beautiful as you imagined, or even worse than the original world, wouldn't you be in trouble?
Fang Xun immediately thought of Ying Yuan, the son of the eagle.

It was said that Ying was a man of extraordinary talent. He entered Jingyan Palace to comprehend the Atlas of the God of War. Before he was thirty, he rode a white horse and broke through the void, shocking the world.

But after inheriting the Eagle Fate from his father's spiritual legacy, he later discovered something from the spirit left by his father, and was so frightened that he dared not take the last step. He even turned to practicing Buddhism and forgot all his martial arts.

It was obvious that he saw something horrible after he figured out the secret of destruction.

Maybe after being broken, it is not as beautiful as everyone imagines.

Everything is unknown, and the unknown is the greatest terror.

As for those heroes who would return without hesitation when faced with the opportunity of being broken, they formed a sharp contrast with Xiang Yutian.

If you hear the Tao in the morning, you may die in the evening.

What they pursue is the transcendence and sublimation of life, and they are willing to do so even if it is only for a moment.

There is nothing wrong with either idea, it all depends on your choice.

Of course, if Fang Xun were asked to choose, he would definitely make the same choice as Xiang Yutian.

Fang Xun and Xiang Yutian drank and chatted in the first building of Bianhuang, talking about everything from the Southern and Northern Dynasties to the Sui Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty.

Before we knew it, we were talking about what we had learned, including, of course, the original version of "The Great Method of Cultivating Demons in the Heart of Taoism".

All the essence of this supreme magic method was shown to Fang Xun by Xiang Yutian. (End of this chapter)