One stone fell into place. Victory between black and white remained undecided, yet it had already stirred a shocking upheaval at the board's center and set the fires of war blazing in all directions.
While the Directorate of Celestial Observation was alarmed by the blood baleful intent soaring into the sky and Lu Wuzhen hurried to the Eastern Region to suppress demons, at Phoenix Harbor on the South Sea-
A silver moon hung overhead. Thousands of sails gathered outside the harbor, and countless laborers and peddlers had stopped working because of the sweltering weather, taking in the sea breeze to escape the heat.
Inside the sprawling city, cultivators and merchants from the Grasslands, Northern Zhou, Dragonbone Shoal, Great Qian, and even the Western Regions were also disturbed by the sudden heat. They hurried through the streets, asking for news from every quarter. "This weather really is abnormal. Has something major happened out there?"
"No idea. Anyway, I heard Xie Jinhuan stormed Chi Dragon Cave yesterday and burned Ancestor Sikong's Patriarch Hall to the ground. In the cultivation Dao, that's as good as digging up someone's ancestral graves. I reckon it has something to do with these strange signs in heaven and earth-"
"Could Ancestor Sikong be planning to burn down the Southern Border rather than leave it to the Righteous Path?"
"Huh? Surely he wouldn't go that far-"
Crowds surged along the streets. Wearing a veil hat, Nangong Ye walked among them, gazing toward Phoenix Perching Mountain by the sea, a trace of worry between his brows.
Disguised as a Southern Border rat, Bu Yuehua strolled beside him, far more leisurely in bearing. Her gaze wandered over Nangong Ye's slender-
She looked him up and down, then leaned closer and whispered, "A Ye, you wouldn't want Xie Jinhuan finding out