Something was wrong with this mountain

Inside the Divine Eagle Guard's Forbidden Army Camp.

The middle-aged scholar lay on his side on a couch, propping his head up with one hand and holding a scroll in the other as he read intently.

Before him, a young man knelt on both knees, his forehead pressed to the ground, not daring to lift it.

Blood seeped across the ground.

Only after a long while did the middle-aged scholar ask indifferently, "What did His Majesty say?"

The young man raised his head. He was none other than Qi Daojie, the young master of the Qi Family, but he looked nothing like he had before.

He now wore coarse cloth clothes, his hair disheveled and his face covered in dust.

"His Majesty ordered this disciple to enter the Western Frontier's Death Camp. I may leave only after earning a hundred thousand merits."

"Since the Imperial Decree has been issued, go, then. Why have you come to me?" The middle-aged scholar's tone was flat, as though he were discussing something that had nothing to do with him.

Qi Daojie's face was ashen. A hundred thousand merits were enough to earn the title of Third-Rank General and command a hundred thousand troops.

Killing one enemy earned one merit. Killing a profound martial low rank officer or soldier earned ten, and killing someone at the profound martial middle rank earned a hundred.

Though occasional clashes still broke out along the border, how many years would it take to accumulate a hundred thousand merits?

He had come here to plead for help. If his master spoke up, he believed even His Majesty would show him some consideration. But after hearing his master's words, he could not bring himself to voice the plea already on his lips.

His master, Qin Wuya, was a Sword Saint of his generation, his sword heart clear and luminous. The man was like his sword: once drawn, it knew no regret. Having spoken, he would never change his mind for Qi Daojie's sake.

Qi Daojie knocked his forehead against the ground again and said tearfully, "This disciple caused a terrible disaster, forcing Master to leave seclusion to make amends for my mistakes. Even ten thousand deaths could not absolve my guilt. Once I leave for the frontier, I do not know when I will return. I will no longer be able to attend you and repay your kindness, so I have come to bid my honored master farewell before departing. Please take care of yourself, and do not worry about your disciple."

"Go," Qin Wuya said calmly.

Qi Daojie kowtowed heavily three more times, then left the tent like a man who had lost his soul. Outside, he raised his head toward North Spring Mountain. He had never imagined that he, a Grandmaster's disciple with boundless prospects and even the hope of becoming a Grandmaster himself, would end up like this over that incident. All the hatred in his heart settled on Gu Yuanqing.

The bitter irony was that Gu Yuanqing lived comfortably on the mountain, protected by a Grandmaster.

Meanwhile, he had been stripped of everything and banished to the frontier, and his own master had to remain at the foot of the mountain on Gu Yuanqing's behalf, dealing with the consequences of what he had done.

"Young Master Qi, let's go."

A squad of soldiers approached, carrying a cangue, locks, and leg irons.

Qi Daojie drew a deep breath, brought his hands together, and held them out.

Only once Qi Daojie had gone into the distance did the middle-aged scholar step outside. With his hands clasped behind his back, he looked in the direction his disciple had gone, his expression calm and his thoughts unreadable.

Then, suddenly, he turned toward the east, a sharp gleam blazing in his eyes.

"Have you finally come?"

He reached toward the tent from afar. True astral force swept up the longsword inside and sent it flying into his hand. In an instant, his scholarly air fell away, and a surge of Sword Intent shot into the sky.

Every soldier nearby felt his heart skip a beat. The overwhelming aura pressed down on them until they could hardly breathe.

Qin Wuya leaped up, gliding through the air like a great bird for dozens of yards. Then he lightly tapped a treetop and soared onward again.

"Is this a Grandmaster?"

Zhang Zhuo murmured to himself. In that instant, he had felt all the true qi in his body and even his consciousness freeze. He had been unable to move at all.

At the same time, cultivators at the profound martial high rank and above around North Spring Mountain raised their heads, then looked toward Hongyan Mountain. Countless birds took fright there, followed by the birds nearby. The beasts in the mountains seemed to sense a natural predator as well, and all fled.

An old man in hemp clothes set down his wine flask and stood, smiling. "A Grandmaster. At last."

The other cultivators reacted a little more slowly, but an inexplicable dread set their hearts racing. When they saw the birds overhead and the fleeing beasts, they too knew something must have happened.

"A Grandmaster! A Grandmaster is about to make a move!"

Someone shouted, his voice brimming with excitement.

"Come on, let's go watch! A battle between Grandmasters is something you might not see for decades. We can't miss it!"

Countless martial wanderers headed toward Dangling Goose Mountain.

On North Spring Mountain, Gu Yuanqing was startled out of his cultivation as well. This aura far surpassed his own peak profound martial ninth layer cultivation. The newcomer's identity went without saying.

"Have you finally come?"

Gu Yuanqing raised a hand, and the Kunwu Sword flew out of the house into his grasp. He sprang up, cleared the courtyard wall, and reached the Scenery Pavilion in a few strides.

Of the two old servants, the elderly man also noticed something amiss. He made a series of gestures to Feng Tao.

The middle-aged woman watched blankly for a long while before finally understanding. She nodded repeatedly, indicating that she would not leave the house.

The two old men atop the Hongyan Mountain Waterfall had already leaped from the summit. The shorter one headed toward Qin Wuya, while the other made straight for North Spring Mountain.

Qin Wuya had already spotted them. His expression tightened slightly, and he changed direction to pursue the old man intending to ascend North Spring Mountain.

"Qin Wuya, your opponent is me!"

The short old man let out a sinister cackle. The heavy sword on his back was already in his hand, and with the momentum of his leap from the mountain, he slashed down at Qin Wuya through the air.

Through the heavenly-human contest, vital energy gathered. The sword strike extended sixty yards, its qi locking on and enveloping the thirty yards ahead of Qin Wuya.

The flowers, grasses, and trees within that area bent low. In that instant, even the ground seemed to sink a little.

Qin Wuya stopped abruptly.

"The Heavenly Fiend Sect's Sword Demon, Chu Wusheng!"

"Hahaha! To think you still remember this old man!" The short old man withdrew his sword strike and drifted lightly to the ground, as though that incomparably mighty slash had been nothing but an illusion.

Such was a Grandmaster, with cultivation and technique both brought to perfection!

"Instead of spending your remaining years quietly in the Heavenly Fiend Sect, you trespass on Great Qian's forbidden ground. It seems you truly have had enough of living," Qin Wuya said indifferently.

Chu Wusheng was smiling and about to answer when he suddenly turned toward North Spring Mountain and bellowed, "Jiang the Hunchback, what are you doing? I'm holding Qin Wuya off for you! Why aren't you going up the mountain?"

The hunchbacked old man had stopped at the edge of North Spring Mountain. He looked up at the mountain, his expression shifting uncertainly.

Grandmasters could sense heaven and humanity, receiving sudden premonitions. Just as he was about to dash onto North Spring Mountain, his heart had given a violent jolt, as though stepping inside would bring a calamity that would swallow him whole!

He turned toward Chu Wusheng and said hoarsely, "Something is wrong with this mountain. If I go up, I might die!"

Chu Wusheng flew into a rage. "You old bastard! If you're afraid of dying, why did you send word to me?"

Qin Wuya recognized the other man as well: Old Man Tianzhu Jiang Hongguang of Star Sea Valley. That old fellow was still alive too?

Both were Grandmasters of the previous generation. Their names had not been heard for decades, and by rights they should have passed the two-hundred-year limit on their lifespans. Yet here they were today.

Jiang Hongguang shook his head gravely. "This is different. Even the last time I faced Mu Shengxue, I never felt anything like this."

"What?" Chu Wusheng's expression changed too.

Mu Shengxue, the Great Qian Dynasty's Number One Person fifty years ago and the sect master of the Blood Shadow Sect, had stood only half a step from the realm above Grandmaster.

Back then, the Imperial Court and the sects had gathered nine Grandmasters to join forces and lay siege to Blood Shadow Island, all to kill Mu Shengxue alone.

The last time before that when the two sides had cooperated so completely was two hundred years ago, to wipe out the Crimson Dragon Cult!