–
“A fine? They actually thought of that?” Jiang Yiguang laughed bitterly upon hearing the news. They claimed eight years ago was the past, that the Dragon Vein was now repaired, and no truly terrible consequences had occurred. With a great enemy ahead, internal strife was unwise. What a joke. Letting them off with such a trivial price—wasn’t this deliberately tempting the most vulnerable desires in people’s hearts? Was a Court like this worthy of being the female lead’s right hand? How could they possibly overcome the Mountains and Seas in the end? Or did everything rely on fate’s manipulation? When the light, airy descriptions in the story moved from fiction toward reality, and the existence of that colossal iceberg hidden beneath the surface was revealed, wouldn’t the entire thing collapse spectacularly?
“If it’s really just a fine, my Azure Hill should consider finding a different ally,” Tushan Yi chimed in lazily, fiddling with the remote. But Jiang Yiguang caught a hint of seriousness in her demeanor. Tushan Yi might be close to them now, but she was still the Saintess of Azure Hill. Her stance wouldn’t necessarily align perfectly with the Divine Land’s. The people of the Divine Land, unwilling to become slaves, could only fight to the death. But Azure Hill was different. King Yu was long dead, yet it still endured within the Mountains and Seas. “You know the tale of King Yu pacifying the Mountains and Seas. But do you know what it truly represents?” Tushan Yi suddenly turned and asked Jiang Yiguang.
Jiang Yiguang hesitated, then ventured, “Freedom from Demonic Beast attacks?”
Tushan Yi neither confirmed nor denied. She simply said, “In the era of the High Antiquity Three Sovereigns and even the early Five Emperors, the Human King was also the God King. Humans, gods, Demons, and Devils lived together. Under the Human King’s protection, extinction wasn’t a threat. But in an age where Deities frequently clashed in decisive battles, even if the gods had no intention of harming humanity, the aftershocks of their struggles still caused widespread devastation and suffering. After all, when they fought, who could be bothered about a single insignificant ant?”
“That ancient era seems glorious and grand in legend, but it wasn’t truly harmonious. After the Xuanyuan Yellow Emperor took the Divine Emperor’s throne from the Yan Emperor, gods of the Yan Emperor’s faction, like Xingtian and Chiyou, refused to submit. It wasn’t until Xingtian was beheaded and Chiyou defeated that this phase ended. After the Yellow Emperor, Emperor Zhuanxu succeeded the throne. But Gonggong fought him for it. Defeated, he struck Buzhou Mountain in fury, causing the heavens to collapse and the earth to split. Humanity was nearly wiped out. Bearing the Yellow Emperor’s will, Zhuanxu took the crucial step—the Separation of Heaven and Earth—dividing humans and gods… These are recorded in your history books, yes? But there is one thing you likely don’t know.”
Jiang Yiguang asked, “Hm?”
Tushan Yi sighed wistfully. “After Zhuanxu, his nephew Di Ku inherited the Heavenly Emperor’s throne. He did something incredibly bold. He split his own Divinity and humanity. His divinity remained in Heaven, ruling the gods of the Great Wilderness as the Deity Dijun; his humanity was on Earth, existing as the Human King of the Gaoxin Clan. All Human Kings after him were truly just Human Kings.
“That initial Yan-Huang Conflict, in later ages, became the God-Human Conflict. And the Mountains and Seas and the Human Realm of today are merely the aftershocks of that millennia-spanning conflict. So your enemy is of a mythological level—a great disaster on par with the Ten Suns Hanging in the Sky. I’ve brought this news to the Human Realm, but it doesn’t seem to have prepared.”
A chill ran through Jiang Yiguang at these words.
For the entire Human Realm, the hellish trials she’d thought she faced now seemed like mere appetizers. The vast Mountains and Seas had only revealed the tip of the iceberg.
“And so, we intensify the training!” Tushan Yi’s tone suddenly lightened. She cheerfully drew her conclusion, switched off the TV with a snap, and turned to Jiang Yiguang with eager anticipation. “A sword without a sword is merely potential unleashed in a desperate moment. You must make that potential permanent. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should abandon the sword. A divine weapon is like equipping a divine artifact. The goal is that even without equipment, a sword still exists within you.”
Jiang Yiguang: “…”
Tushan Yi raised an eyebrow. “I’ve noticed your sword momentum has improved drastically lately. Did you suddenly have an epiphany?”
Jiang Yiguang nodded randomly. Epiphany? No. It was because she’d been training inside the Eternal Space, where spiritual energy density was so high that even a pig could attain enlightenment. Combined with Tushan Yi’s experience, the results were doubled.
Tushan Yi’s topics jumped erratically. One moment she was concerned about Jiang Yiguang’s cultivation; the next, she’d leaped to personal matters. She looked at Jiang Yiguang teasingly, curiosity swirling in her eyes. “Oh right, before you woke up, I saw Fu Juan go out. Aren’t you worried?”
The relationship between Jiang Yiguang and Fu Juan was delicate, full of contradictions. They oscillated between caring and not caring, but the mere existence of such thoughts often meant emotions were already entangled. What remained was rationality and restraint. But what exactly stood between them? Why was the push and pull more bizarre than ordinary people’s?
Fu Juan went out? Jiang Yiguang was surprised. She hadn’t noticed. After learning the truth, Fu Juan had barely appeared outside of mealtimes. She’d assumed Fu Juan was staying in her room, using more time to digest the past, to smooth over the fresh, bloody wounds that had been torn open again, and set foot on a path of utter solitude.
“Did she go for revenge?” Tushan Yi smiled. “If I’d learned my enemies were only lightly fined, I wouldn’t be able to swallow it either.”
Jiang Yiguang shook her head without hesitation. “She’s not that reckless.”
Tushan Yi asked, “How do you know?”
“I’m guessing.” Settling scores and exacting revenge were major events. How could such a plotline lack the involvement of “cannon fodder”? Yet the System hadn’t issued her any new quests. It was probably an insignificant matter.
Tushan Yi looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled at Jiang Yiguang and made a cheerful decision: “Since your mind has no other distractions, focus solely on your swordsmanship.”
–
Thus began Jiang Yiguang’s brutal experience of being “whipped” by the Nine-Section Whip. Meanwhile, in front of the Zhang family’s ancestral residence, an equally tense, sword-drawn atmosphere prevailed.
On one side sat Fu Juan in her wheelchair; on the other, the younger generation of the Zhang family.
Fu Juan wore a simple white T-shirt, her long hair tied in a ponytail. Sunlight fell on her jade-white profile, adding a serene, tranquil beauty. She looked at the people blocking her path and stated calmly, “I’ve come to retrieve some things.” When she was young, she’d accompanied her mother to the Zhang residence a few times. But there had been no joyous family reunions, only endless arguments. They always said if her mother hadn’t been so rebellious, she would have become the head of the Zhang family. But what was so great about being a family head? How could it compare to the freedom her mother had sought?
“Fu Juan—” The man who spat out her name did so through gritted teeth. He was the one who’d tried to harass her outside the library, only to be humiliated. The incident eventually reached the clan, and his cousins had mocked him for days, making him lose face. He’d been craving revenge but never found the chance. Now that Fu Juan had come knocking, he certainly wouldn’t let it pass.
The Zhang family had arrays to prevent disturbances from alarming ordinary citizens. Without hesitation, the man launched an attack, using the Five Qi-generated forces of nature to strike at Fu Juan. Fu Juan’s eyelashes flickered. She raised a hand and unleashed a Five Thunder Divine Ability. Arts like Scatter Beans to Form Soldiers were easily broken by disciples of the Mystical Families, but Thunder Arts or powers like Flying Sand and Rolling Boulders depended on sheer force. Of course, mere Flying Sand wouldn’t breach the Zhang gate. Fu Juan’s aura suddenly surged. From behind her came the faint sounds of a dragon’s roar and a tiger’s bellow—the Heavenly Constellation Divine Power, Subduing Dragon, Taming Tiger!
“Dao Bone!” The Zhang disciple repelled by that fierce, forceful power spat the words venomously.
Fu Juan lifted an eyelid.
People’s natures varied. The words “innate Dao Bone” meant Fu Juan could draw upon the world’s spiritual energy more easily than others, mastering arts with greater ease. Yet this “fate” was not insurmountable. If she slacked off, others could catch up. But she hadn’t. Even after losing the use of her legs, she had borne the suffering and shouldered the “misfortune” heaven had bestowed. Her cultivation was no longer purely a “gift from heaven.”
Using spells and arts, she forced open the Zhang family’s gate and stepped into the place her mother had given up everything to leave.
“I’ve come to retrieve Kunwu Jade, Guixu Ruomu, Dishan Flowing Sand…”
“I’ve come to request the Soldier Tally.”
The first were the names of materials. Though bearing the names of the Mountains and Seas, they weren’t treasures from that realm but rare substances forged by humans, meant to rival them—materials for forging a sword. The latter… represented a clan’s hidden “foundation,” the talisman tokens that nurtured Yin Soldiers. As Zhang Xuanji’s daughter, Fu Juan had known from a young age that although the Noble Clans held these talisman tokens, they could no longer command the Yin Soldiers. Those who had become Yin Soldiers were, after all, heroes of a generation who had carried their swords into battle and given their lives for the nation. What right did the current worthless descendants, who harmed the Dragon Vein for selfish gain, have to command them after breaking their own backbone? If not for that, how could her mother have even considered leaving the Clans?
“Are you dreaming?! Even the Dao Court didn’t dare say anything, and you, a cripple, think you can?!” The lead Zhang disciple sneered upon hearing this. He’d suffered a setback at the start, letting Fu Juan enter. But that was good. Inside, the clan disciples could use the existing Ritual Altar to boost their arts! But soon, they realized taking her inside was a mistake. Because the altar’s power was being siphoned away. The lead disciple slowly turned his stiff neck and met Fu Juan’s dark, fathomless gaze. Every hair on his body stood on end.
They needed talismans to summon and command spirits and gods, using them as a bridge—a detour. But Fu Juan used her own body as the foundation, directly accessing the laws of heaven and earth. Their cultivation wasn’t enough for one person to control the entire altar. This meant Fu Juan could seize control of their Divine Soldiers and Ghost Generals. Right now, the spirits were turning against them! And worst of all, it was draining their Spell Talismans and magical power.
Fu Juan’s fingers rested on the armrest of her wheelchair. She tilted her head slightly, a faint smile on her lips. But her eyes… they were a depth of darkness that filled everyone with icy dread.
