On Sanyue’s West Peak, an incense seal used to promote concentration flickered constantly in the faint breeze. In the bowl of writing brush water on the desk in front of High Elder Xiang Ning floated a lotus without a stamen. 

On the snow-white petals, the Territory Map rubbing of the Jinping and Ning’an area appeared intermittently, fused with the veins inside the petals, constantly urging him to choose. 

Eight years ago, Sect Leader Xiang Rong, the closest person in the world to a full moon position, had “disappeared.” The Sanyue Mountains’ backbone had collapsed without warning, and Southern Wan had seized the opportunity to rise. The new version of Moon Plated Gold had come into the world, Jinping’s political reforms had shown their first results, the Kaiming and Luwu had become firmly entrenched… A whole succession of acts that had shaken the world. Jinping seemed to have become a Resurrection Vortex on dry land, rampantly sucking in the vigor of the whole continent. 

Large sums of money flowed steadily to converge upon the coast of the East Sea. The prices of spiritual stones were twenty to thirty percent lower than in the surrounding countries. With the support of plentiful spiritual stone supplies, the Kaiming and Luwu became all the more powerful. The Kaiming Department took part in manufacturing, the Luwu scurried through every nation’s black market, turning around and instead making money for Southern Wan. 

And despite this, for Chu, which had previously mocked the institutions of the Kaiming and the Luwu, it was already too late to follow that example: after the Kaiming Department had been established, large numbers of “common cultivators” had fled to Chu. The status of these people was too complicated. No one knew how many of them were spies or had been bought off, making the already muddy waters of Western Chu even more confused. Trying to incorporate these people’s strength wouldn’t have worked even when Sanyue had been flourishing, never mind now. 

Anyway, after their spiritual stones had drained away, they couldn’t afford to support those people anymore. 

With Moon Plated Gold behind it, Southern Wan’s technology had gone a step ahead of the other nations’. Wan’s merchants had nearly monopolized transportation and mining. Leaving aside Northern Li, which had halfway locked its gates and clung obstinately to its old ways, industry in Chu and Shu had been firmly suppressed; with this cruel oppression, domestic conflicts immediately became magnified. In Sanyue, the wolves had their eyes on the Xiang family, and in Southern Shu, there was now the unrest between the Xiuyi and the Miah—

“Elder Xiang,” said that voice with a slightly foreign lilt once again, “half of the Lingyun Mountains’ spiritual energy has scattered, but spiritual energy can’t disappear into nowhere. Where do you think it has gone? If your Sanyue Mountains’ spiritual energy keeps being depleted like this, how many more centuries do you have left?” 

“Evil cultivator,” Xiang Ning interrupted him, “stop trying to be clever. Don’t think I don’t know what you people are planning.” 

“You have misunderstood us. Once the four great spiritual mountains join forces, it will only be a matter of time before there is no more place for us to shelter—both the so-called ‘common cultivators’ and my Miah clan,” Wangge Luobao said candidly. “This is plain to see, I don’t believe Elder Xiang wouldn’t have observed this much. What I want is for rifts to form among the four nations, and I hope that you will be on my side.” 

Sneering, Xiang Ning said, “You really are daring.” 

Wangge Luobao answered calmly, “Of course, you can use the so-called ‘Great Way’ as your bottom line, stand firm by an immortal’s position of ‘defeating evil and upholding orthodoxy’; it would only mean giving up the Xiang clan and the Sanyue Mountains. When the time comes, we will serve as an example for Sanyue to learn from. The only difference is that we will be knocked down at once, while Sanyue will be slowly drained dry by Xuanyin. Elder Xiang, the biggest mistake Sanyue has made over the years is relying excessively on Sect Leader Xiang Rong.” 

Xiang Ning’s expression became grave. Wangge Luobao had poked him in his sore spot. 

Since the sect leader had left, Xiang Ning hadn’t even dared to take the Silver Moon down from the mountains to track down the rebel Xuanwu…because he had no idea whether he would be able to control the Silver Moon when he left the immortal mountains. If, when the time came, instead of vanquishing evil he ended up offering himself up as a feast, he really would become a laughingstock.

“The Xuanyin Mountains currently have two shed skins and two near-shed skins. Zhuoming belongs to those people who have had their ‘mouths sealed by heaven,’ you ought to trust his guesses—as soon as that Sword of the South becomes a sage, none of you will have another chance to shake Southern Wan. When that happens, Western Chu, as a near neighbor… Haha, elder, this is Sanyue’s final chance. Since you do not dare, then you can sit there peacefully, like a crab letting the hot water rise over it. During the Wan-He War, all of you stuck in your oars to muddy the waters. Times have moved on and you no longer remember, but Southern Wan remembers it all. That is all I have to say—”

“Wait,” said Xiang Ning. 

He was a direct descendant of the Xiang family to begin with. Below the sect leader, he was the hidden clan leader of the Xiang clan. But with the sect leader in seclusion, all the cultivators in the mountains…even the Xiangs, while deferential to him on the surface, had all taken orders from that bastard Xuanwu. 

Now that the power of the Xiang clan was waning, there were even some in the clan who had begun to make faint noises—even Wenqing had furtively sounded him out—about whether there was any leeway for Xuanwu to return to the immortal mountains. It was clear to see how illusory the Great Way was. It was never the first bottom line in the human heart; it was only a much-mended tattered flag.

On the island in the South Sea, it was raining. There was no trace of the Miah cultivators or their large quantity of possessions. Wangge Luobao alone remained beside Zhuoming. 

Wangge Luobao ducked a beam of undiminished sword energy that flew from Zhuoming. He smiled slowly. 

Through the Territory Map rubbing, Zhuoming had stuck a part of himself into Jinping City and was elbowing his way around; naturally he had also exposed himself to the qin music. 

They both had accompanying plants and both knew that the other was a tough customer, so Xi Ping showed Zhuoming no mercy. When he ran into him, he struck to kill. With new grievances added to old resentments going to his head all at once, like a miracle, he used that second sword move he hadn’t managed to learn in eight years, stabbing right through Zhuoming, whose true body was far away in the South Sea. 

Zhaoting resonated with Jinping’s Dragon Vein, multiplying the sword energy over a hundred times, striking back directly at the Territory Map rubbing and hitting the South Sea. The Southern Shu Luwu immediately followed that lead to find the location of the island and report it once they found it. 

Bai Ling simultaneously passed the information on to Xi Ping. 

“In other words, the large quantity of possessions we didn’t find while searching the Zhao family hidden realm likely fell into Wangge Luobao’s hands, and that slops-eating pig of a Heartless Lotus put together a portion of a Territory Map rubbing?” 

“Viscount,” said Bai Ling gravely, “this person is capable of causing no end of trouble.” 

The Horn Tower was in Dangui Lane. Xi Ping could see the Marquis Manor out of the corner of his eye. 

Xi Yue was protecting the whole area of Dangui Lane. When he felt the gaze fall from the sky, Xi Yue turned his head to meet his eyes. This child, who now wore the blue robe, was standing on top of a wall, in precisely the spot where Xi Ping had stood witnessing a beautiful soul from the Blissful Village demand Young Master Dong’s life and make him break out in song in the middle of the night.

Xi Yue squeezed the reincarnation wood he had just taken up, sending his voice through it: “Ge, when this is over, I’m going to go with you. I want to establish a foundation!” 

Xi Ping ignored him, thinking, The world’s full of collapsing establishments, you’re not establishing shit. 

That lunatic Heartless Lotus had been beaten until it hurt; his mind had finally cleared a little. He seemed ready to shrink back and turn around. Xi Ping suddenly sent his consciousness underground and grabbed hold of a lotus stalk that hadn’t had time to flee. “Don’t go, Brother Lovesickness, I haven’t yet repaid the favor of your ardent call in Southern Shu last time. Haven’t you been friends in spirit with my cousin His Highness Prince Zhuang for a long time? Too bad he isn’t here, he’s gone to establish a foundation and cultivate in the inner sect…” 

As Xi Ping said this, he accidentally cut his tongue with the tips of his teeth. His mouth instantly filled with the taste of blood. He softly sucked in a breath. There was cruel laughter in the words he hissed out: “It’s just that he’s chosen the way of clarity, which is unmoved by sentiment. He’s very quiet and comfortable now. I’m afraid he won’t be able to find much common ground with you in the future. But I can fulfill the duties of a host, take you to pay your respects at his manor, see if you can pick up some good fortune.” 

Zhuoming’s reason, brought back by the stab of the sword, was once again sent flying by these words. Hearing the words “way of clarity,” he gave a howl and turned into a mad dog. 

Bearing the pain of being hacked to pieces, the Heartless Lotus’s lotus stalks seeped out from the gutters, the sewers…every hidden and filthy place in Jinping City. The great masses of stinking white flowers were covered in mouths, roaring in unison: “Misty—Willow!” 

Pang Jian fired a whole clip of fireproofing talismans in one shot, suppressing several places throughout the city where sparks had broken out due to the fighting, to keep a fire from starting among the residences. Overhearing the incomprehensible confrontation between those two individuals, he suspected that he was too parochial—why were pseudonyms so popular among all the evil cultivators these days? And they all chose such fanciful names! 

The heartless lotuses struggled to the death, growing wildly. On the tower, the Tai Sui Qin played three soul-shaking notes, each note louder than the one before, as if the Bell of Tribulation had descended. An ascended spirit consciousness covered the whole area of Jinping and Ning’an. Xi Ping brushed the air with one hand, picking up a plain book. 

This was the Discard the False and Keep the True book that he hadn’t returned to the blame-bearing Yu Chang! 

The pages of the book moved on their own. Countless lotuses identical to Zhuoming’s lotus seal flew out. 

It was as if a blizzard had started in Jinping, and each snowflake was in the form of a lotus flower. 

Out of nowhere, the cultivators in the city felt bone-deep dread. Pang Jian’s pupils contracted sharply. He waved a hand and raised a big umbrella. The half-immortals without established foundations had no time to respond; they stiffened in place. 

But those snowflake-like lotus seals seemed to be intelligent. Not a single one so much as landed on an unrelated plant. They all stuck to the heartless lotuses that were seeping in everywhere. 

When the Discard the False and Keep the True book copied the attack of a cultivator of the same grade, it certainly couldn’t match up to the original. But with the resonance between the seven Azure Dragon Towers and the Dragon Vein, as well as Zhuoming for some reason being a little deranged, he actually fell for his own trick! 

In his long life, the Heartless Lotus had captured innumerable consciousnesses, strong ones, weak ones, interesting ones, boring ones… This was his first time getting a taste of the lotus seal for himself. He was like a flower about to be torn from the stem, each vein in its petals rupturing. 

“You really think…!” 

All of Jinping reverberated with Zhuoming’s scalp-numbing scream. The snakes and rats in the gutters fled helter-skelter. 

Xi Ping’s control over every lotus seal was precise down to the finest grain. The veins on the hand holding the Discard the False and Keep the True book stood out; though he was an ascended spirit, his essence was still nearly drained dry. 

He abruptly drew in the lotus seals. “Let’s see how you like it.” 

In the instant Zhuoming was nearly “pulled up by the roots,” Wangge Luobao shouted, “Catch!” 

Xiang Ning, far away on Sanyue’s West Peak, split off a portion of his consciousness to sink into the Territory Map rubbing on the lotus in front of him, instantly shattering all the lotus seals stuck to the heartless lotuses. 

Wange Luobao grabbed Zhuoming and jumped into the sea. The next life spiritual fish took them both into its mouth. The fish’s form disappeared in a flash. 

Xuanwu, who had been attracted by the sword energy, and the Lingyun cultivators, lured over by the Luwu, reached that barren island practically at the same time. The two sides looked at each other in dismay. The Lingyun cultivators sent to catch the Miah traitors were three ascended spirits leading seven or eight skilled established foundations. They had thought that this force would be more than adequate to capture Wangge Luobao and Zhuoming, but unexpectedly they had run into this personage. They were at a loss. They immediately moved to send a report to the inner sect. 

Xuanwu’s reaction was swift. With a two-handed seal, he wove a spiritual energy cage, trapping all of them inside. 

Blood dyed the seawater around the barren island. The invisible next life spiritual fish sank through the water, silently following the current into the distance, letting hatred float upward. 

With the passing of ascended spirit masters, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled over the South Sea. A hurricane welled up. The storm even reached the South Sea Hidden Realm far underwater. The bustling Turmoilers raised their heads, hearing the grief-stricken weeping of waking dragons pass through the valley. 

At the other end, Xiang Ning, with the strength of a shed skin, having stuck his oar in, passed through the Territory Map rubbing like a flash of lightning, pouring into Jinping City through the crack held open by the Heartless Lotus. 

The better part of Xi Ping’s essence had just been drained by the Discard the False and Keep the True book. The unexpected backlash broke his ribs. His punctured lungs choked him with a mouthful of blood. The music of the Tai Sui Qin instantly went astray. 

Everyone was stupefied. 

Since the spiritual mountains had formed, apart from the ancient demonic god who had fled into a dead end thousands of years ago and Sanyue’s Xuanwu, who had recently revolted, a shed skin openly appearing in another country’s territory was an earth-shattering, unprecedented event. Even when Southern He had invaded the north, the mad Lancang Sect Leader still hadn’t personally come down to the mortal world! 

It wasn’t that Lancang was particular about the “ethics of war.” It was that once a cultivator reached the shed skin boundary, they became a part of the spiritual mountains. If one spiritual mountain went and crashed into another spiritual mountain, no one knew what frightening thing would happen. 

Xiang Ning was one of the small number of shed skins who had been born after the Great War of Gods and Demons. He had experienced nothing; he was ignorant and undaunted. And now, unexpectedly, there were no more tigers in the Sanyue Mountains, only him, and he’d let his brain get fished up and cooked into soup—there was no one left to mind him! 

The moment Xiang Ning struck, he did in fact already feel faint unease, but once the arrow was on the string, there was no turning back. 

Once he had seeped into the Territory Map rubbing, he had no more room for regrets. In these circumstances, fear will cause people to work even harder to deceive themselves and others. 

Xiang Ning could never forget how, many years ago, the Sect Leader had inadvertently passed judgment on him. He had said, “A-Ning, in conduct and in cultivation, you can always handle everything, but you err slightly in being indecisive. Faced with a major event, you find it hard to come to a resolution. You ought to be more like your Xuanwu-shixiong.” These words had placed him beneath Xuanwu, not letting him see the light of day for centuries. 

Xiang Ning decisively suppressed all his misgivings: The Sect Leader was wrong. Shixiong was out of touch with reality. He never really knew people. What does that ingrate Xuanwu amount to? I’m Sanyue Mountain’s real hope for the future—

A loud crack came from the earth of Jinping. Before Xi Ping’s handful of blood could leak out from between his fingers, he was frozen in place. He had the impression that his spine had broken. Indescribable panic instantly swallowed him. In his spirit, Zhaoting trembled fiercely. 

Pang Jian, ashen pale, raised his head. The Dragon Vein that the Dignitary of Fate High Elder had repaired had been snapped by the strength of another shed skin! 

Then Xi Ping was standing on emptiness. The Azure Dragon Horn Tower fell to pieces. Xi Yue shouted something and flew towards him. 

Then it was Neck, Room, Heart… The seven Azure Dragon Towers collapsed one after another. 

But the strange thing was that the rupture of Jinping’s Dragon Vein was completely different from what had happened in Quancheng at the feet of the Lingyun Mountains. 

Perhaps because the terrain was level, Jinping didn’t experience anything like the impact of the ground splitting and the mountains cracking in Lingyun’s Quancheng. Aside from the Azure Dragon Towers, not even the ramshackle buildings on the east bank of the Lingyang River collapsed. There was near total silence. 

A silence that chilled you to the bone. 

Xi Ping landed gracelessly on the ground. He had no time to say anything to Xi Yue. A thought flashed through his mind like lightning, touching his spiritual sense: something was about to be released. 

It was now light in Jinping, the sky quite clear. There was no wind and no clouds. But out of nowhere, an enormous shadow emerged on the ground, “crawling” out from the place where the Dragon Vein had broken, moving slowly, intent on permeating the whole capital. 

Xi Ping’s consciousness, enveloping Jinping, glanced at that shadow, and his scalp went numb: it was the shadow of a dragon. 

This shadow couldn’t be more familiar to him. It had swallowed Jiangli in the Blissful Village and hurled him into the cultivation world with its tail; in the Latent Cultivation Temple it had attached itself to his shadow, and after coveting his body unsuccessfully, it had left him with half a set of hidden bones that had damned him forever. 

It had appeared at the feet of a person who called himself “Tai Sui”—Liang Chen. 

What did this mean? 

Xi Ping didn’t know where to start.  

But he shuddered. Just like Zhi Xiu facing the ancient demon host in the Resurrection Vortex and the Impassable Sea, he caught a glimpse of the threads of fate.