After witnessing Nie Shangheng kill five Profound cultivators in five breaths, the situation across the river changed like fallen leaves swept away by the wind. Those on the Heavenly Mountain side had long known how reliable their eldest Senior Brother was, but the men of the Wei River Water Fort were truly terrified at the mere sound of his name.
Standing aboard their pitching little boats, they watched him carve a hollow dozens of yards across through the river and the wind and rain, plucking off the heads of the once-unapproachable fort master and his four hall masters like melons. Who would still dare become one of the "obstructers" he had spoken of? Countless men threw down their weapons and raised their hands in panic, or leaped from their boats and fled.
Heavenly Mountain really had been absent from the Jianghu for far too long.
They dwelled high upon the western peaks that touched the heavens, too close to the stars within reach of an upraised hand, and too far from the mortal world. Heavenly Mountain's image in people's minds was like those stars, too. Everyone knew it existed, but they had grown accustomed to it hanging high in the sky, never appearing in the actual Jianghu.
Much of the time, it cared nothing for the Jianghu's disputes. It often sent disciples out into the world, but aside from earning a few exclamations of wonder and reverence when they announced their affiliation, they scarcely stirred a ripple in the Jianghu.
In recent years, however, its presence had indeed grown increasingly strong. Whether in the Crane and Teal Register or in the perceptions of the Longdi Jianghu, this sect that stood aloof from worldly affairs atop its lofty mountain had begun attempting to intervene in something.
And so people learned that