The Scent of Freedom
"Gao Ye —is dead?!"
In the dark prison of the capital, a surprised whisper rang out.
Outside, the sky is clear and the sun shines brightly.
The imperial prison was deep and wide, with no windows in any part; one was completely plunged into darkness not far from the entrance.
Those who can be imprisoned here are all experts, able to see the night as day and survive in this poorly ventilated environment, but their resentment grows stronger day by day.
When someone came in to deliver food, they glanced at the room and felt that those locked inside were no longer human.
Instead, they were silent, gaunt demons and giant ghosts, locked tightly inside hell.
The only person here who speaks with a clear, melodious voice is Gu Qiuxing, the Commander of the Brocade Guard.
He walked out of the darkness step by step and stood at the gate of the imperial prison, where light and shadow met.
Judging from his appearance, one would almost think that this person, who has been famous for decades, is only just over twenty years old.
He wore a square veil on his head, dressed in black, and held a precious sword in his hand.
Her hair was tied tightly, her eyebrows were extremely thin and long, slanted and connected to her temples, her eyes were narrow and captivating, her eyelids were slightly red, her face was as white as Baiyu, and her lips were as red as cinnabar.
As soon as Gu Qiuxing stepped out, the sunlight outside seemed to dim by a third, and the Brocade Guard and yamen runners on duty around him didn't dare to breathe loudly.
In fact, Gu Qiuxing has always been quite considerate of his own people, but he is far too cruel to those who hinder him from building his reputation.
Even his most loyal henchmen, having seen it all before, couldn't help but feel a sense of shared fate and always treated him with utmost respect and fear.
"Gao Ye is dead."
Gu Qiuxing walked to the door so that he could look up and re-examine the Heavenly Ranking.
He practiced his swordsmanship by absorbing the resentment and venomous energy in the imperial prison, which inevitably created a somewhat chaotic atmosphere and had some impact on his ability to observe the Heavenly Ranking.
Upon closer inspection, the changes to the Heavenly Ranking were indeed confirmed.
"Who could steal the title of the Great Immortal Zongheng and break into the Heavenly Ranking? Combining these two things, it must be that he killed Gao Ye, right?"
"This person is lawless and unruly; the imperial court must take appropriate action, otherwise it will lose all its prestige and dignity."
Gu Qiuxing's dark eyes darted around for a moment, then he instructed the person beside him, "Enter the palace immediately and ask the Dowager Consort to restrain your men."
"Gao Ye is dead, and nothing in the Duke's mansion can be changed. No one is allowed to leave or enter. Settling old scores is not something to do now, and the dignity of the court cannot be disregarded."
The commander accepted the order and left.
The imperial concubines also had their names listed on the Heavenly Ranking.
The Sword Drawing the Cloud Chart, Xie Luoxian.
She was originally third on the Heavenly Ranking, but now she's fourth.
Xie Luoxian is a renowned successor of the Divine Sword Mountain Manor in the martial arts world, but he has always struggled to reach the pinnacle of his family's swordsmanship despite practicing it since childhood.
Until she encountered the number one on the Heavenly Ranking, "Ancestor Qianyang," and with his guidance, she combined the Transcendence Sword Art with her family's Dharma Aspect, thus forging her own path in the world of swordsmanship.
Later, she sneaked into the capital to observe the Transcendent Sword, but by chance she met the late emperor, married into the palace, and was made a Noble Consort.
After the death of the late emperor, the young emperor was weak and died before he turned sixteen. A relative of the emperor was then selected from the Imperial Clan Court to be the new emperor.
Because the new emperor was absurd, the commander of the Brocade Guard and other ministers jointly petitioned the emperor, and the Empress Dowager agreed to his abdication. A young son was then selected to enter the palace and be raised by the Empress Dowager Xie Luoxian.
This young child is still not fully grown.
The government was controlled by three factions: Xie Luoxian, Gu Qiuxing, and Gao Ye.
There are naturally countless old grudges between the three factions.
Moreover, when tigers and wolves fight over meat, they are not only fighting for the meat of their prey, but also for the meat of both tigers and wolves.
With Gao Ye dead, there will inevitably be those who lack a sense of the bigger picture and want to take advantage of this opportunity to settle scores.
Gu Qiuxing, however, was unwilling to see the court's prestige crumble, so he was determined to stabilize the situation.
"The Great Immortal Zongheng, the Great Immortal Zongheng-- "
Gu Qiuxing muttered to himself, "This person not only killed Gao Ye, but also stole the title of Great Immortal. His combat power is astonishing, and his methods are bizarre. Such a madman must have grand ambitions. We must be on guard as soon as possible."
He raised his left hand, holding a long, black-sheathed sword horizontally in front of his chest, his face showing displeasure.
In order to unleash more of the power of the Heavenly Ranking, he created a unique sword technique, but this longsword could not bear it.
"Let's go to Fire God Gully."
Gu Qiuxing ordered his trusted aides, "The knife I ordered there was already a blank made last year, and it should be completely finished this year."
"Whether the knife is in its best condition or not, just bring it to me."
"I need to stay in the capital to oversee the situation and prevent any malicious individuals from spying on us. Otherwise, I should go there myself. You must be careful on your journey and return quickly."
The trusted confidant knelt on one knee and solemnly accepted the order.
"No!"
Gu Qiuxing suddenly changed his mind, "It's not safe for you to go. Let's use a blood pigeon to send a message and have Hou Renyu deliver the knife himself."
"He is the leader of Fire God Gully and also ranked sixth on the Heavenly Ranking. Sending him out secretly, alone, is the quickest way."
"Tell him that as long as he brings the knife, I will kill his senior brother completely, eliminating any threat to his leadership of the sect."
The trusted confidant accepted the order once again.
Gu Qiuxing felt relieved.
He had just considered the worst-case scenario.
Gao Ye was invited by the Dream-Eating Marquis to travel to the Jingxiang region.
As a result, Gao Ye and Dian Tou were both dead, but Lord Xuantan did not die.
If both Lord Xuantan and Dream-Eating Marquis have become accomplices of the person who stole the title of Zongheng.
The enemy now has three experts ranked in the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking.
Only by summoning Hou Renyu can the capital be more secure.
"Once a force emerges capable of challenging the imperial court, many undercurrents will inevitably become more active, but those outside the top ten of the Heavenly Ranking should not dare to intervene rashly."
Gu Qiuxing pondered to himself.
"The only things we need to care about now are the first and second place on the Heavenly Ranking."
First on the Heavenly Ranking, Mount Kongtong Pearl-Holding Peak, the Heaven-Bearing Dipper Pole Terrace, the Ancestor Qianyang.
Mount Kongtong is located in Gansu, but this person's footprints have covered all over the country, traveling to the North and South Poles, leaving behind many stories.
Although Xie Luoxian practiced the Xie Family swordsmanship and the Transcendence Sword Art, there was no one in the Xie Family who could be her master, Transcendent Preceptor and Chancellor had already passed away.
Ancestor Qianyang can be considered her true master.
Even if this person were to come to the capital, it might not necessarily be a bad thing for the court, but for himself—
Gu Qiuxing recalled a conversation he had with this ancestor, and a murderous intent welled up in his heart, but he suppressed it.
The second-ranked person on the Heavenly Ranking is named Wan Longsheng of Beihai.
This person's nationality and ethnicity are unknown, but because he occupies the Beihai, his name is listed on the Great Xuan Heavenly Ranking.
His influence spread from the Beihai to the surrounding countries. His followers acted tyrannically, extorting money and acquiring property.
A foreign army once attacked him, but instead of using the decapitation techniques commonly employed by martial artists, he chose to face the army alone.
He carried his seven-stringed zither and first faced the onslaught of the most elite warriors in the army.
The music stirred the hearts and throats of the masters, causing them to howl like monkeys, echoing the melody.
The voices of these masters influenced even more soldiers, until he had played a piece of music for half an hour.
The carefully selected army of tens of thousands, each with a certain level of martial arts skill, were all moved by his music, turning against their homeland and breaking into the city.
Wan Longsheng walked on foot, starting from Beihai, with all his soldiers following him. He would stop playing the zither whenever the army was so exhausted that they were about to faint, and everyone would fall asleep at the same time.
Just as they were about to wake up, they heard the sound of a zither.
After seven days and seven nights, they breached the city on the fifteenth day and stormed the capital.
To destroy the enemy's capital city with the army of an enemy state.
It is said that after that battle, some soldiers collapsed and committed suicide on the spot, while many others became Wan Longsheng's most loyal followers. During the war, they were even conscious, but they could not resist the sound that came out of their throats.
The sound in the throat could not escape the pull of the piano music.
Their skills and movements were controlled by sound.
After this was confirmed, some people thought that Wan Longsheng was going to take the top spot.
After all, apart from him, no one else has ever been known to be able to control tens of thousands of people single-handedly.
Killing thousands is easy, but controlling them is difficult.
At the time, the Dream-Eating Marquis also publicly commented that he found such a thing inconceivable.
But as it turned out, the Dream-Eating Marquis's judgment was inaccurate, and Wan Longsheng was still ranked second.
"Wan Longsheng eccentric and willful, both righteous and wicked, it's really hard to say. If he hears that the name of the Great Immortal Zongheng has entered the Present Ranking, will he come to the Central Plains? And if he does, what will he do?"
Gu Qiuxing was unsure of what was going to happen next and felt troubled.
"Throughout history, order has always been followed by chaos, and chaos by order. Ultimately, it all comes down to too many people. When there are fewer people, many conflicts disappear."
"Originally, the world would operate in this orderly manner. Once I took control of the Divine Machine Battalion and seized the power of conscription, I would launch a national war and let people kill each other indiscriminately."
"Our Great Xuan's population accounts for nearly a quarter of the world's total."
"This will only terrify the other nations and cause more deaths among my subjects and officials. Then, a great reign of peace will be a piece of cake for me."
The decline in the world's population may be detrimental to the overall potential ceiling of the Mist and Rosy Clouds Realm Layer.
But to be honest, no one on the Heavenly Ranking has yet reached the limit of this potential.
In this situation, increasing their own market share becomes the primary consideration for some people, regardless of the means required.
"At that time, my reputation will be so high. People like Wan Longsheng and Qianyang Laogui, even if they have the power to influence the world, are ultimately just people from the martial arts world. They don't know how to pay attention to the political situation in the long run. How can they compare to my grand plan?"
Gu Qiuxing sighed in resentment.
"But how did this scoundrel who stole the title of 'Master of the Palace' have to appear out of Zongheng?!"
"This has entangled the martial world and the imperial court even more deeply, making my grand plan unpredictable!"
If his only intention was to recruit soldiers to attack other countries, people like Ancestor Qianyang probably wouldn't see his longer-term intentions and would most likely not get involved.
But given the current situation, things could get very bad.
I'm afraid he'll never even have the chance to escalate to the point of conscripting soldiers, declaring war, launching a large-scale campaign, and simultaneously reorganizing the domestic and international populations.
Besides the capital, countless people across the Sun Heaven have also noticed the changes in the Heavenly Ranking.
Including two young people.
A man with a yellow face and black eyes, dressed in coarse cloth and looking travel-worn.
The other person was disheveled, with many tears in his clothes, and looked like a barbarian, with bright blue eyes.
The two supported each other, circulated their internal energy, and inadvertently glimpsed the changes in the Heavenly Ranking.
"Oh! Oh! Oh!"
The blue-eyed young man screamed and woke his companion.
"Brother Fang, look at the Heavenly Ranking. What does that mean? Does it mean that the Great Immortal Zongheng has been resurrected?"
The young man surnamed Fang opened his eyes and peered at the Heavenly Ranking, remaining stunned for a moment.
"Not only has the Great Immortal Zongheng been resurrected, but two of the top ten on the Heavenly Ranking are also missing. Wow, the Central Plains is getting more and more terrifying. Two of the top ten on the Heavenly Ranking can die at once."
The young man surnamed Fang sighed deeply, slapped his face hard to cheer himself up.
The blue-eyed man, however, was overjoyed.
"Even the top ten figures on the Heavenly Ranking can die so easily; this is truly a nation most adept at overriding authority."
He took a deep breath. "Ah, I think I can smell freedom. Even the wind here smells sweeter than in my hometown."
"Brother Fang, let's go find the Great Immortal Zongheng."
The young man surnamed Fang was a bit stunned. "A suddenly resurrected immortal, don't you think it smells like a conspiracy? Why are you looking for him?"
The blue-eyed man said, "That's an immortal, it's normal for them to be able to resurrect. Besides, who else can we turn to?"
Since we can't think of anyone among the existing people to turn to, why not try to find this "newly" appearing master?
The young man surnamed Fang looked thoughtful.
"Alright, but the pursuers are too close. Let's stick to the original plan and ask my 'dear' elders in the sect to help us clear out the pursuers."
"It's not easy to successfully create a misunderstanding between them. Fortunately, the tunnels I built before haven't been discovered yet."
The young man smiled brightly.
"Hehehe, Uncle-Master, wow, a surprise is coming!"