A warning

Green branches swayed in the garden, and several emerald bamboo stalks rustled in the wind. Two men stood side by side on a path paved with porcelain-white pebbles.

The man on the left had a full beard, a leopard's head, and round, staring eyes. Though he wore vermilion official robes embroidered with cloud swallows and a ridged ceremonial crown, nothing could conceal his rough, ferocious air. He resembled a burly man-bear suddenly taking up ethics and morality, an oddity no matter how one looked at him.

He was the Tong Household's fifth son, Tong Xiangyan.

Though he was only at the Embryonic Breathing realm, he was one of the Tong Household's few cultivators. Tong Gaolu therefore relied heavily on him, repeatedly entrusting him with important tasks.

At that moment, Tong Xiangyan stared at Tong Gaolu in confusion, his ox-sized eyes filled with bewilderment. He had not understood what Tong Gaolu meant at all.

Beside him stood a young man whose skin shone with a lustrous, jade-like glow.

His high nose bridge rose toward his forehead, his brows swept upward, and his tall figure was imposing and heroic. One glance revealed that he stood far above the ordinary.

Without seeing him in person, no one would have imagined that Tong Gaolu, the Pillar of the State Great General already past forty, actually looked like a young man suffused with an immortal's grace. He looked even younger than his youngest brother, Tong Xiangyan, almost as though they belonged to different generations.

"Ever since I mastered the Dao Art in the Earth Palace Golden Chapter, my flesh has become immaculate and imperishable. Every drop of blood contains divine radiance. The slightest stirring is like shifting the heavenly gang and moving rivers."

Tong Gaolu spoke, his brows knitting tightly. "But just now, my heart suddenly clenched with pain, as though some disaster were coming..."

A faint trace of lustful depravity and savage cruelty lurked in his features, concealed by his body's transcendent air, which even made his face look a few shades more handsome.

When he frowned, even that otherworldly bearing could no longer hide it. His true nature showed through.

"Elder brother, what nonsense are you talking about!"

Tong Xiangyan thought little of Tong Gaolu's vigilance and merely gave a disdainful laugh.

"Ever since you hammered those three Imperial House Attendants to death during the last hunt, who in all Yuanjing doesn't respect our household? Who doesn't fear us?! That old bastard Rong Tuo used to love visiting brothels, but after those Attendants died, he's been too frightened to take a single step outside the Imperial Palace. He trembles so hard he's about to piss his pants, and he hasn't tasted any flesh in half a year! You're still afraid of that little prick?"

The words were exceedingly coarse, and even Tong Gaolu could not help smiling.

After pondering for a while, however, he still shook his head.

"What you say makes sense, but this body of mine rarely gives a warning. I cannot afford to ignore it..."

Tong Gaolu turned to leave. "I won't attend the grand court assembly today. It can wait until next time."

The moment he turned, Tong Xiangyan grew anxious and hurriedly seized his sleeve.

"Elder brother, elder brother! So many high officials are waiting outside the manor! If you refuse to attend the grand court assembly, won't it look as though you're afraid of that old bastard Rong Tuo?"

Tong Xiangyan said urgently:

"Our household is riding high right now. If you back down, what will everyone outside think? Besides, you're only at the Qi Refining realm. What mystical communion between heaven and man could there possibly be at that level? It's nonsense! I think you bedded too many women last night and depleted your kidney essence!"

The Tong Household now stood at the very eye of the court's storm.

Every move they made drew countless eyes and stirred countless hearts.

If Tong Gaolu backed down now, outsiders would see it as a timid show of weakness, and tongues would inevitably wag.

"You fool, what does depleted kidney essence have to do with heart pain?"

Tong Gaolu laughed and scolded him, then pondered a little longer, still unable to decide.

That wrenching pain had already vanished without a trace, as though it had merely been an illusion in a moment of distraction.

And Tong Xiangyan had a fair point. He was only at the Qi Refining realm. How could he possess the means to commune with heaven and man, or divine fortune and calamity through his heart?

Even if the Dao Art he used to cultivate his flesh was extraordinary.

It still ought to...

Be incapable of such a thing, shouldn't it?

"Enough, enough. Let's go!"

After a long deliberation, Tong Gaolu finally stopped hesitating, though he asked one more question before leaving.

"Where is Jizhen? Where has he been? I haven't seen him for several days."

"Fourth brother is playing with men at Spring Splendor House. He has no time for the grand court assembly." Tong Xiangyan understood his concern this time and hastily added:

"I even made a special trip to that filthy place the day before yesterday. I saw fourth brother holding a man with my own eyes. He thought I was spoiling his fun and sent me away after barely a few words."

"Good-for-nothing!"

Tong Gaolu gave a mild reprimand, but inwardly relaxed.

Tong Jizhen was still unharmed, so this probably was not some scheme by the Rong Clan... Who cut down weeds without pulling out the roots? Letting Tong Jizhen, a Qi Refining cultivator well versed in military strategy, escape would also spell serious trouble for the Rong Clan.

"Have Qian Qi accompany me as well. Doesn't he want to follow me? Then let him do something useful!"

After giving that final instruction, Tong Gaolu strode toward the manor gates. Tong Xiangyan hurriedly answered in assent and followed.

Outside the manor, carriages and horses already streamed through a bustling throng of people.

At the sight of Tong Gaolu, everyone who had been waiting bowed low, their calls of "Great General" ringing out incessantly.

Tong Gaolu merely smiled and cupped his hands toward them, then lifted a brocade curtain and entered a carriage. The driver promptly cracked his whip.

As his carriage moved, the countless carriages outside the manor gates began rolling forward as well. In an instant, dozens of men riding horses and driving carriages filled the road completely, an imposing procession.

Lantern displays blazed with color, gold and jade reflected one another, and brocades glittered in splendor.

Several breaths after the carriage passed through a great vermilion-lacquered gate, Tong Gaolu suddenly opened his eyes from his light doze and sharply lifted the curtain.

The carriages of the officials who had recently pledged themselves to him had quietly fallen some distance behind. With a clack, the palace gate closed, separating the two groups.

It was an exceedingly long passage. As the gate fell shut, countless archers and crossbowmen appeared atop the high walls on either side, bows drawn and arrows nocked, their killing intent chilling.

"Elder brother! Is the Rong Clan going to kill us?!"

Seeing the gate suddenly close, trapping only their own people inside, even Tong Xiangyan realized something was wrong, however dull-witted he might be.

"Mere ants, crushed with a turn of the palm. What is there to fear?"

Countless arrows came hurtling down in a black mass. Tong Gaolu sneered, not even bothering to block them or close his eyes.

He merely condensed his embryonic breath into a ribbon of light and swept it through the air, severing the heads of dozens of archers and crossbowmen along the left wall.

As the arrows from the left abruptly ceased, he sneered again and sent his embryonic breath toward the right. This time, however, a metallic clang rang out as someone forcibly blocked it.

"Withdraw. Staying here will only cost you your lives for nothing."

Chen Heng's figure flashed into view. He casually intercepted that attack of embryonic breath and spoke to the remaining archers and crossbowmen.

Tong Gaolu's display had already left these mortals dumbstruck. They fled in haste, without even time to thank him.

"Who might you be?"

Tong Gaolu coldly scrutinized Chen Heng, uncertainty churning in his heart.

"A nobody. I came expressly to invite you to your death, fellow Daoist." Chen Heng smiled faintly.

Just then, four more streaks of flight light rose into the air: three members of the Rong Clan and the Attendant Huang Zaichen.

The moment Rong Tuo saw Tong Gaolu, he could no longer suppress the murderous intent on his face. Still, he first drew a blue-gray iron chain from his sleeve and lashed it down at Tong Gaolu's followers.

The iron chain lengthened in the wind, growing dozens of yards long in an instant.

Those high officials and nobles possessed only mortal bodies. How could they withstand it? In a flash, they were smashed into pulped flesh along with their horses and carriages, dying on the spot.

Tong Gaolu ignored their cries for help. Only when the iron chain approached Tong Xiangyan did he bend a finger slightly and flick it aside.

"Elder brother, why didn't you save them?"

Tong Xiangyan ran over, sweat covering his head. A moment later, that iron-chain Talisman Artifact would have lashed him to death.

"Things have become troublesome today. I don't know how the Rong Clan managed to recruit this man."

Tong Gaolu did not look at him, keeping his eyes fixed on Chen Heng. "I may not be able to look after you in a moment. Run. Go to Spring Splendor House and find Jizhen."

"What?!"

Tong Xiangyan's face drained of color. He had never expected matters to reach this point. Gritting his teeth hard, he turned and ran.

"Qian Qi, you were once an Attendant of our Rong Clan. How could you throw in your lot with a traitor to the state!"

Seeing that he had slaughtered all of Tong Gaolu's followers, Rong Tuo felt an indescribable exhilaration well up inside him. Ignoring Tong Xiangyan, he could not help laughing aloud.

"Withdraw now, and I will let bygones be bygones. Otherwise, you can all die here!"

As those words rang out.

Not far from Tong Gaolu, the expression of a short, middle-aged man changed drastically!