Mo Tianyu stood frozen, his mind reeling.

  He stared at the figure who had just appeared before him—Lu—then down at the three copper treasures in his hand, their aura now surging with newfound power. For a moment… he was utterly speechless.

  How long had it been?

  How long since anyone had dared him to divine boldly?

  The Master had forbidden him from divining. Kong Nanfei had done the same…

  Yet now, the one urging him to keep pushing the boundaries of his divination was the very youth who once planted him in the soil like a scallion.

  A storm of emotions churned within Mo Tianyu. His lips trembled.

  “All paths of cultivation lead to eternity…”

  “Walk your own road. What do others’ words matter?”

  Lu smiled.

  Mo Tianyu’s divination path truly astonished Lu, revealing an unimaginable potential in the man.

  “But divination defies the heavens. Altering fate demands a price. Remember that.”

  Lu continued.

  He yearned for a hundred schools of thought to flourish among cultivators, and Mo Tianyu’s divination path was a delightful surprise.

  At those words, Mo Tianyu recalled the blood trickling from his nose, the strands of hair falling away. His eyes hardened.

  So his wretched state stemmed from that one divination?

  He had read Kong Nanfei’s fate as great peril.

  Could it… truly have been great peril?

  “How is Nanfei?” Mo Tianyu asked.

  Leaning back in his wheelchair, Lu plucked a bamboo leaf. Hearing the question, he chuckled. “Not dead yet.”

  Mo Tianyu exhaled in relief.

  Not dead—that meant great fortune. So… his divination had been wrong after all?

  His thoughts grew tangled. Reflecting on recent days, not a single reading had proven accurate.

  If he couldn’t divine correctly, what right did he have to continue?

  Why had Lu restored his three copper treasures?

  “My divinations are inaccurate,” Mo Tianyu shook his head, his spirit dimming.

  Lu merely smiled, twirling the purple bamboo leaf between his fingers, glancing at him.

  “Don’t you know in your heart whether they’re accurate or not?”

  Without another word, Lu turned. His wheelchair crunched through the snow as he glided across the island.

  Mo Tianyu watched Lu’s retreating back, stunned, his emotions a tangled mess.

  Had Lu come solely to tell him to keep divining boldly?

  …

  Western Prefecture.

  Liangzhou City.

  In an ancient manor.

  Rustling sounds mingled with children’s cries.

  Moments later, a figure in a woven hat emerged. Ding Jiudeng’s clothes were stained with blood, yet his demeanor remained eerily calm—a calmness that pleased the hatted man.

  From a pawnshop clerk to a cultivator with genuine power, yet still unshaken. What formidable resolve.

  This one was steady.

  “As a cultivator, do what cultivators should. Don’t abuse your power for vile deeds.”

  The hatted man fixed his gaze on Ding Jiudeng.

  “If I learn otherwise, I will kill you.”

  Silence hung in the air for several seconds.

  Ding Jiudeng’s expression remained impassive. He nodded. “Understood.”

  Slowly, the hatted man removed his hat.

  A weathered face emerged, framed by unkempt stubble that spoke of a life rich with stories.

  “I am Mo Liuqi…”

  No longer concealing his identity, Mo Liuqi regarded Ding Jiudeng.

  The man’s composure felt odd, yet… worthy of revealing his name.

  Ding Jiudeng was silent for a long while, savoring the name.

  “This humble monk is Ding Jiudeng.”

  He pressed his palms together and bowed slightly.

  “These children are now in your care…”

  Mo Liuqi replaced his hat and nodded to Ding Jiudeng.

  With a wave, his figure vanished into the snowy night.

  Ding Jiudeng stood before the dilapidated manor. The night’s events had cleansed his soul.

  “A true侠客,” he murmured long after Mo Liuqi had gone.

  He patted his bald head. The chanting and bell tolls in his mind faded.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Yet suddenly, his mind brimmed with new knowledge.

  Returning inside, he found the rescued children huddled in the snow, shivering, their eyes wide with innocent wonder—like brilliant stars in a clear night sky, pure and untouched.

  Ding Jiudeng smiled, rubbing his smooth scalp.

  Looking at them, he knew there was no going back.

  The shopkeeper was dead.

  And the shopkeeper’s filthy deeds would soon come to light.

  Yongcheng Pawnshop had no place for Ding Jiudeng anymore.

  Pressing his palms together, an idea formed. He beckoned, leading the children into the swirling snow.

  Back at the pawnshop, he found the shopkeeper’s hidden stash.

  He took only one silver ingot—wages long withheld over the years.

  With that, Ding Jiudeng led dozens of children away from Yongcheng Pawnshop.

  Following memories now etched in his mind, he found a cheap dwelling in Liangzhou City and bought it.

  A home for the children.

  He carved a plaque as the memories guided him.

  Hanging it above the worn door, it read: Yongcheng Temple.

  He could never return to Yongcheng Pawnshop, but it had once sheltered him. Naming the temple thus honored his past.

  The children stared up at him with wide eyes.

  Ding Jiudeng pressed his palms together.

  A few mimicked him.

  He froze, then burst into laughter.

  Soon after…

  Black locks fell to the ground, mingling with dust.

  Behind the temple’s great bald head sprouted several smaller ones.

  …

  Imperial Capital.

  Zijin Palace.

  The Overlord rode his black-maned horse, returning from Beiluo City to Zijin Palace.

  Xu Chu, clad in armor, had been waiting at the palace gates since learning of the Overlord’s arrival.

  His face was grave.

  The Overlord dismounted, glancing at Xu Chu. “Summon all Xiliang generals to Zijin Palace…”

  Xu Chu faltered, his expression shifting. He bowed swiftly. “Yes, my lord.”

  Then he strode away.

  The Overlord had gone to Beiluo City—Xu Chu knew that much. But what transpired there? He had no idea.

  Judging by the immediate summons upon return, something extraordinary must have happened in Beiluo.

  Entering Zijin Palace, the Overlord removed his black armor and slung the Ganqi shield across his back.

  He beckoned a servant.

  “How has Mingsang been these past days?”

  His tone was heavy.

  The servant bowed low. “She visited the Masterunuch’s library and has stayed there since… in low spirits.”

  “My lord, will you not see her?”

  This servant was bold, overstepping his station to speak so.

  He quickly lowered his head, falling silent.

  “The library?”

  The Overlord stood before Zijin Palace and shook his head.

  He had ignored Luo Mingsang for days, never seeking her out.

  He simply hoped she would confess certain matters on her own.

  Within Zijin Palace.

  Soon, Xiliang’s generals converged through the snow.

  They entered and stood silently below, their keen instincts sensing an unusual tension.

  Clad in armor, iron-willed and brimming with vigor, they were a pack of tigers and wolves.

  The Overlord stood above, sweeping his gaze over them.

  Suddenly, his eyes blazed.

  “Prepare the troops. We march on Yuanchi.”

  His voice rang like struck iron.

  Below, the generals froze, bewildered. Why, upon returning, did the Overlord order an immediate assault on Yuanchi City?

  It was too sudden!

  Even Xu Chu was stunned. The Overlord had shown no intent to attack Great Xuan before. What changed?

  The Overlord offered no concealment.

  Hands clasped behind his back, he recounted the wager made in Beiluo City to Xiliang’s generals.

  Xiliang’s warriors were battle-hardened, forged in military camps.

  They followed the Overlord’s vision without question.

  Even Xu Chu sneered. “Build an academy for cultivators? The North Xuan King is naive. Without blood and battle, what are cultivators? Still weaklings…”

  “Only iron-forged cultivators from the army are truly strong. Any practitioner from my Xiang family army could crush an academy graduate.”

  Xu Chu laughed.

  The hall echoed with similar confidence—not arrogance, but earned certainty.

  The Overlord said little more.

  “Let the North Xuan King build his academy… if Great Xuan survives Xiliang’s onslaught.”

  His words fell, and the hall erupted.

  “War!”

  Orders flew. Xiliang generals mobilized. Elite forces clanked into motion, their armor ringing as if to shatter the falling snow.

  The moment Xiliang’s imperial army stirred, every faction sensed it. Great families and powers adopted a wait-and-see stance.

  …

  Yuanchi City.

  Atop the city walls under a hazy night sky.

  Mo Beike, wrapped in a thick cloak, stood watch. Spotting the Xuanwu Guards and Tantai Xuan’s carriage racing back on the horizon, he ordered the gates opened at once.

  Tantai Xuan entered, leapt from the carriage, and Great Xuan’s generals gathered. He immediately found Mo Beike and relayed the wager with the Overlord in Beiluo.

  Listening silently, Mo Beike’s heavy eye bags twitched.

  “A one-year wager?”

  “Great Xuan’s academy against Xiliang’s army…”

  Mo Beike drew a deep breath.

  With his sharp instincts, he grasped the wager’s gravity.

  “Young Master Lu backs the King’s academy…”

  Mo Beike said.

  “I can see it. The Overlord may too. If he realizes Young Master Lu favors the King’s academy, what then?”

  “If you and the Overlord swapped places, what would you do?”

  He turned to Tantai Xuan.

  “I’d be furious. The Overlord has been proud his whole life…”

  Tantai Xuan replied.

  But Mo Beike shook his head.

  “The Overlord isn’t that simple. He’d mobilize immediately, storm Yuanchi, crush Great Xuan’s main force, and aim to annihilate the kingdom.”

  “He’s suffered too many setbacks from Young Master Lu.”

  Mo Beike knew the Overlord’s mind intimately.

  Tantai Xuan’s face paled.

  Xiliang’s army under the Overlord was beyond Great Xuan’s current strength.

  “What should we do?”

  Tantai Xuan frowned.

  Mo Beike gazed into the swirling snow beyond the walls and inhaled deeply.

  “Abandon Yuanchi. Withdraw to the North Prefecture tonight…”

  Tantai Xuan’s eyes narrowed. Though reluctant, he knew Mo Beike was right. Hesitate now, and escape might become impossible.

  He issued orders without wavering.

  The entire city sprang into action.

  Troops donned armor, and under cover of night and snow, the gates opened. A long column snaked northward.

  Swift and decisive, no one faltered.

  Great Xuan’s soldiers sensed the iron scent of impending battle in the air.

  As the army evacuated, citizens lit candles, puzzled by the suddenly empty city.

  Yuanchi became a ghost town.

  Hooves thundered.

  From the imperial capital, a dark tide of troops crushed the snow.

  Xiliang scouts swept through Yuanchi, circled once, and reported back.

  “Report!”

  “Great Xuan’s forces have fully withdrawn from Yuanchi—not a single soldier remains!”

  The scout dismounted, kneeling in the snow before the Overlord.

  The Overlord reined in, eyes narrowing.

  His generals buzzed behind him.

  “Feel it?”

  The Overlord laughed, lifting his gaze to the distant horizon.

  “Pursue!”

  He raised a hand and pointed, roaring.

  The command rippled through the ranks.

  Scouts remounted, galloping ahead, speed building.

  Then Xiliang’s iron cavalry thundered, the ground quaking as they surged past Yuanchi, following Great Xuan’s retreat trail.

  As dawn’s light tore through the night’s clouds…

  The earth seemed to awaken, snow gleaming warmly under the sun.

  Boom, boom, boom…

  Snow trembled; accumulated drifts crashed from trees.

  Great Xuan’s army heard distant battle cries.

  Inside the carriage, Tantai Xuan’s face tightened.

  He flung back the curtain, stood, and peered afar—where a black sea of troops emerged under dawn’s glow, charging with roars.

  “Enemy attack!”

  Great Xuan generals bellowed.

  Xuanwu Guards surged with spirit qi, erupting outward.

  Tantai Xuan stood atop the carriage in full armor, madness in his eyes.

  “The Giant truly predicted it…”

  “The Overlord has guts!”

  Teeth gritted, fists clenched, he faced the oncoming Xiliang horde—their bloodlust like a lion rampant on the plains.

  “Fight!”

  Great Xuan’s army wasn’t dough to be kneaded!

  If retreat was impossible, then war it would be!

  Great Xuan and Xiliang… a clash was inevitable!

  War drums thundered.

  Horns blared!

  Great Xuan soldiers’ eyes burned with grief and fury, transmuted into battle will.

  Driven from Yuanchi only to be hunted—fine, then fight!

  The Overlord spurred his horse, black armor gleaming, eyeing the suddenly cohesive Great Xuan forces with a narrowed gaze.

  Great Xuan’s troops were indeed elite.

  He stared toward their lines.

  As if locking eyes with Tantai Xuan atop his war chariot in full regalia.

  The Overlord’s lips curled.

  To kill you, Tantai Xuan, he would do it honorably—shatter Great Xuan’s army first, then take your head!

  That was the Overlord’s way!

  He raised his hand.

  Behind him, Great Xuan generals and Xiang family troops itched for battle.

  “Kill!”

  No hesitation, no mercy. His black armor shone in the dawn as he pointed.

  Roar!

  Xu Chu bellowed, charging forth, spiked maces whirling.

  Xiang family troops and Xiliang cavalry surged.

  The snowfield quaked as if struck by an earthquake.