Black Mountain.
The iron cavalry thundered past, trailing billowing clouds of dust.
Zhong Shenxiu reined in his horse and gazed toward the Great Rift in Black Mountain.
He had felt nothing before, but after obtaining part of Earl Hestings's memories, he compared them one by one and confirmed that this desolate land was the place where the Hestings County had once held its rituals.
Those remnants of the Felix Family intend to use the power of their bloodline to rouse that existence once more?
He stared at the massive fissure in silence.
The Great Rift in Black Mountain was a legendary place of doom and peril, but Su Daozhi had once gone there to investigate.
Zhong Shenxiu therefore knew that, in reality... there was no danger there.
The true danger lay in using a mysterious ritual at the right time and in the right place to cross the barriers of space and even time, and make contact with some mysterious existence!
Now that I think about it... the right time, the right place... The final key is the Felix Family's bloodline?
Zhong Shenxiu inexplicably felt a little guilty.
Perhaps... what those remnants are plotting isn't some evil god at all, but merely the thing inside my body?
As he pondered, several riders approached from afar and came over to join him.
These Black Armored Iron Cavalrymen had all been sent out by Feng Xi'er to patrol the area.
Her Black Armored Iron Cavalry consisted of only one company, fifty men, and Zhong Shenxiu had once again been reduced to an ordinary foot soldier.
Still, cavalrymen were more valuable than infantry. An ordinary cavalryman held a position no lower than that of an ordinary Squad Leader, not to mention the other benefits.
The few men assigned to the same squad as Zhong Shenxiu looked down on this "fortunate climber."
At that moment, the several riders came swaggering over. Even after reaching the site, they showed no intention of slowing down. They charged straight at Zhong Shenxiu, clearly intending to humiliate him.
Zhong Shenxiu wore a smiling expression, while inwardly cursing, MMP.
It was not as though he had eagerly clung to Feng Xi'er. Given that she already knew him, no matter how he had performed in the martial selection, he would have ended up being transferred to her command.
He wanted to stay as far away from the troublesome Feng Xi'er as possible, but that was clearly impossible.
And these fools were actually targeting him for that reason?
Zhong Shenxiu let out a cold laugh. He palmed several pebbles and secretly sent them flying.
His hidden-weapon skills had already reached the pinnacle. Moreover, his attacks made no sound. In his previous life, he had relied on this very technique to defeat the leading hidden-weapon expert of the martial world, famed for Rain of Petals Scattering Coins.
This time, he had taken precautions. He did not target the riders on horseback, but only the horses' legs.
Smack!
Zhong Shenxiu flicked his fingers and struck true. The horse charging at the front suddenly stumbled and crashed to the ground, throwing its rider off as well.
Fortunately, that rider's Martial Arts were formidable. He merely rolled across the ground, braced one palm against it, and forcibly rose to his feet.
The two cavalrymen behind him hurriedly reined in their horses, narrowly avoiding trampling their companion to death.
Even they had failed to notice Zhong Shenxiu's handiwork.
"Brother Wang Lun, are you hurt?"
Zhong Shenxiu dismounted and walked over at an unhurried pace, his face filled with concern.
Wang Lun shouted, "My Wind-Treading Steed has always been steady. How could this happen? You must have tampered with it!"
Without saying anything else, he reached straight for Zhong Shenxiu.
His attack was precise and methodical. It was actually Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand.
Cloud Dragon Extends Claw?
Zhong Shenxiu smiled inwardly. He's reached the second layer of mastery. What a pity...
He gently brushed aside Wang Lun's hand with both palms, then seized him in passing and used White Dragon Holds Corpse!
The claw wind was razor-sharp, secretly reinforced by Xiantian True Qi!
This was also one of the killing moves of Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand. It easily caught Wang Lun by the throat and lifted his entire body into the air.
"Su Daozhi, what are you doing?"
The two riders behind him hurriedly shouted.
"Hmph. You should first ask Wang Lun why he attacked me. Private fights are forbidden in the army to begin with, and we're currently on a mission. Do you want to face military discipline?"
Zhong Shenxiu caught sight of Wang Lun's purplish face, let out a mocking laugh, and tossed him to the ground. He could not be bothered to say anything more.
As for the horse and everything else? He would absolutely deny having anything to do with it. As long as it was established that Wang Lun had struck first, there was nothing to fear.
"We're all brothers from the same squad. Why take things this far?"
The other rider, Ma Jing, openly tried to mediate, but inwardly he was somewhat alarmed. I thought this Su Daozhi had merely been lucky enough to catch the Colonel's eye. Now it seems he has not only entered the Xiantian realm, but has also mastered Azure Dragon Probes the Clouds Hand. He isn't some pushover...
With that thought, his expression softened considerably, and he hurriedly said, "It was all a misunderstanding. Don't let this get out. None of us will come out looking good, will we?"
"That's just as it should be." Zhong Shenxiu answered with a smile. In any case, he was not the one who had suffered.
Only Wang Lun was so ashamed he wanted to die. He kept his head lowered and said nothing.
What he did not know was that Zhong Shenxiu had merely refrained from killing him because the circumstances were inconvenient.
There would be plenty of opportunities in the future. Zhong Shenxiu had never made a habit of leaving enemies alive.
The several cavalrymen discussed the matter and found no abnormalities nearby. Only then did they return to Black Mountain Fortress to report.
Black Mountain Fortress, somewhere.
An officer dressed as a Company Commander entered his quarters.
Even an ordinary soldier in Black Mountain Fortress had a private room, so the Company Commander's quarters were naturally much larger. Several people were sitting inside.
The Company Commander immediately dropped to one knee and saluted. "The most dazzling pearl of the Felix Family, Miss Dilia, you have finally arrived."
A man who looked ordinary, dressed like a common soldier, wiped his face.
Countless fleshy buds spread across his features, then receded layer by layer. In their place appeared another face, beautiful and delicate as milk, with eyes as blue as the sea.
This was a blood descendant of the Felix Family—Dilia Felix.
"Uncle Fisher, thanks to you, we were able to hide in the military camp... No matter how the Yan Han people search, they'll never imagine that we've been hiding right here."
Dilia smiled sweetly.
"Everything is for the restoration of our ancestors' glory!" Fisher pressed a fist to his chest and spoke solemnly.
"Our ancestors' glory..."
Dilia's expression grew slightly dazed. "How many people still remember that the former Fufeng Protectorate was originally our country?"
"As long as you restore the ritual, Miss, you will certainly obtain the power to overturn everything. All of this is recorded in the family's secret scrolls..."
Fisher said firmly, "Ever since the Second Yanhan Empire rose to power, the family has been making preparations in secret. It was precisely because of those preparations that your branch escaped the pursuit and survived in peace until the opportunity arrived... Now that the struggles among the princes of the Second Yanhan Empire have grown even more intense, and a major treason case erupted a few years ago, they no longer have the attention to spare for remote places like ours."
Before you continue