The Great Calamity of Huaixu

Xuanming Valley is straight and deep, traversing thousands of mountains and peaks. The water veins of all the surrounding mountains converge here, transforming into a rushing, ceaseless river.

On both sides of the river, the gaps between the raised stone banks are filled with overflowing water, and dark green aquatic plants spread across the rocks, waiting for the arrival of the rainy season.

An Jing followed the guidance of the Sword Spirit and stepped into the depths of Xuanming Valley.

The mist grew thicker.

Ink-colored water vapor swirled within the valley, forming a faint, hazy veil over the surface of the sandy rock walls. The river surged out from the profound darkness, muffling the sound of footsteps.

Legend has it that this place is where a Sword Immortal once slew a demon during the ancient Great Calamity. The long passage of time has worn away the sword qi and devilish qi that once spanned the heavens and earth, hiding them within the veins of the mountains and the earth.

"It is just ahead."

The Sword Spirit's voice echoed in his mind. The protagonist of a legendary side now resided within An Jing. A force enveloped An Jing's body, easily pushing aside all the ink-colored devilish qi, leaving him feeling, at most, a faint, lingering chill.

"Fuxie, where are my junior brothers and sisters now? Are they alright?"

"They are right around the altar, in one of the Hundred Sword-Sacrifice Caves from those years. They are doing just fine," the Sword Spirit replied, and An Jing felt slightly relieved.

Bai Qinghan had left with a quarter of all the survivors and almost all those who had awakened their Fate Grid. This event had shaken him quite a bit, but it was not incomprehensible.

The inaction of Da Chen in the Northern Frontier was indeed very... very inhumane.

But he was also very clear that no matter how terrifying or vile a decaying dynasty might be, it was ultimately slightly more reasonable than a Demonic Cult that directly devoured people.

...Perhaps? Sigh, damn it, why are they both so rotten! How can two piles of filth and dog shit compare to see which is dirtier!

An Jing truly did not want to choose either side, but since things had reached this point, he could only watch and act as he went.

At the very least, before the Frost Calamity, the people of the Northern Frontier did not live in hardship; one could even say their lives were orderly, and occasionally one could hear news of the sage working diligently to govern... He didn't know what exactly had happened, but the Da Chen that was once in its prime and flourishing had suddenly become as rotten as it was now.

An Jing did not want to blame those junior brothers and sisters who chose the Demonic Cult—within the Demonic Cult, the fate of an ordinary Child of Calamity would likely not be good, but Bai Qinghan and the other Fate Grid awakeners would not suffer such a fate; they would certainly become mid-to-high-level managers.

Such a status was far better than drifting and wandering in Da Chen; choosing the Demonic Cult was human nature.

He only hoped that Bai Qinghan had not done anything to Gu Yeqi, Cang Linzu, and the others when she left.

Fortunately, she had not.

"Brother Jing!"

When An Jing followed the Sword Spirit's guidance to the depths of the valley, to a cave entrance hidden beneath a giant rock, he saw a clear and ethereal figure pacing outside, looking nervously toward the entrance of Xuanming Valley.

Upon seeing An Jing's figure, Gu Yeqi's eyes lit up. She immediately hurried forward, let out a sigh of relief, and said, "You finally returned... Eh, did Qinghan and the others not come back with you, Big Brother?"

She had no idea when Bai Qinghan and the others had left, assuming they had stayed on the outskirts to meet up with An Jing.

"...They chose the other side."

An Jing opened his mouth. He watched the young girl, who was still looking behind him, waiting for the figure of her 'best friend'. He paused, then told the truth: "I killed Manor Master Yao, but Qinghan still chose the Demonic Cult... She and the others left with the remaining instructors."

"What?" Hearing this, Gu Yeqi widened her eyes and exclaimed in disbelief, "You killed the Manor Master?"

Following her voice, Cang Linzu and the other Children of Calamity, who had heard An Jing's footsteps and emerged from the cave, were equally stunned: "Senior Brother, you killed the Manor Master?!"

"Your strength... is actually this high?!"

"That's not the point, is it?" An Jing was momentarily choked with frustration. He had not expected that these guys wouldn't care at all about Bai Qinghan and the others leaving, but instead be so amazed by his strength.

But thinking about it carefully, it made sense. The worldviews of the Children of Calamity had basically been reshaped. If Bai Qinghan left, she left; who hadn't experienced a close friend being eliminated during training? Or even, according to the current truth, dying halfway through?

They had long since grown accustomed to loss, so they revered power all the more.

"It's a good thing, perhaps. At least Qinghan awakened her Fate Grid..."

Except for Gu Yeqi, who looked toward the valley entrance with some disappointment, feeling sad for losing another close friend, the others were quite indifferent.

This is the 'demon'. The 'indifference' of the heart. The 'silence' of the soul.

Although they had left the Demonic Cult, the thinking of these junior brothers and sisters had not yet turned around... Or rather, An Jing realized that the reason they were willing to rebel against the Demonic Cult, aside from the cult's own cold-bloodedness and the brutal killing of friends, was essentially because they trusted themselves more.

They did not truly understand An Jing's anger; they were only following his lead because An Jing was resisting, so they resisted as well.

"Don't be too sad. Before she left, she asked me to apologize to you on her behalf... To each their own."

Steadying himself, An Jing comforted Gu Yeqi, then instructed everyone: "You still need to wait here for a while."

"The manor's guards are still fighting the Red Armor Guards. The troops of Da Chen cannot distinguish whether we are innocent or members of the Demonic Cult. Do not act rashly until the situation stabilizes."

"If Da Chen isn't any better, I will find an opportunity to escape. There are no fierce beasts around Xuanming Valley, and there are some villages. I am confident I can lead you all to survive."

This was no empty boast. An Jing was now a martial artist, and he had firearms and bullets. The Children of Calamity were also strong and healthy, well-versed in martial arts and cooperation. As long as they could avoid detection, and with his help from the Sword Spirit and his role as a guide, they could safely live around the mountains for a period of time.

"Big Brother..." But Cang Linzu frowned upon hearing this: "Are you going to do something alone again? Can you take me with you? I can still do something!"

"It's too dangerous. Your strength is indeed good, but you haven't reached Internal Breath yet, so you don't have the qualifications to act with me."

Cang Linzu could be considered a genius; his strength was already close to the Internal Breath realm—and if not for his own influence, which had weakened the calamity of the devilish qi, he, like Gu Yeqi, would have had a seventy or eighty percent chance of awakening a Fate Grid.

Therefore, An Jing patiently explained: "There is a dungeon deep in the manor on the East Mountain. There are still many junior brothers and sisters there who were eliminated but haven't been 'disposed of' by the Demonic Cult yet—I have to go see how they are doing. The manor is on fire, and with no one to save them, they will likely be burned alive."

"Once I confirm you are all doing okay, I will take action to save the others."

An Jing gave a few more instructions and, after soothing all the Children of Calamity, turned and left.

Gu Yeqi and Cang Linzu both knew that An Jing was a man of his word, so they naturally did not try to hold him back. Instead, they acted as his deputies, treating the wounds of their injured companions and cleaning their cuts.

The Sword Spirit was right; the altar was right next to the cave where the Children of Calamity were staying, in another 'fissure' hidden by river rocks and aquatic plants.

This fissure was perfectly natural; at first glance, it looked like a common crack in the rock face, but that was merely an illusion. It began extremely narrow, but gradually widened to form a natural passageway.

On both sides of the passageway were some ancient murals. The content of the vast majority of these murals had been washed away by the river water that surged up from time to time, but An Jing could still roughly discern that this was a story of an immortal slaying demons to protect the common people.

In the ancient era, Huaixu suffered a great catastrophe. From above the nine heavens, infinite Heavenly Demon descended upon the world. They brought strife, disaster, and destruction, causing nations to topple, the weather to fall into chaos, thousands of tribes to go extinct, and countless people to hate and fight one another in endless warfare.

In order to resist the Heavenly Demon, the immortals and gods who had ascended to the Immortal Heaven in the past returned to the world, leading the living beings of the mortal realm to fight against the Heavenly Demon.

Among them was one immortal god who held a green-edged long blade, dedicated to the task of subduing demons and Fuxie.