Chapter 238: The Patriarch of Luoshen Peak

“How old is that Eighth Imperial Prince?” Sikong Xuan asked casually.

The messenger, a Battalion Commander, thought for a moment, then hesitated:

“Around… twenty.”

At these words, Sikong Xuan, his head full of white hair, furrowed his brow.

At that moment, a golden flame rose again from the direction of Bailian City, illuminating the distant horizon.

Sikong Xuan looked up, and in his cloudy eyes appeared a flicker of shock and suspicion. He said:

“According to Fu Qiwén’s report, that Eighth Imperial Prince defeated Battalion Commander Zheng Yunfeng with a single strike. Only a short while has passed—now who on Luoshen Peak has he taken down?”

Yet how could the Battalion Commander before him answer such a question? He merely stared blankly at the dazzling golden light in the sky.

To be honest, though the fake prince scandal had spread across all provinces, the Eighth Imperial Prince’s identity had only recently been officially recognized; many, especially those in remote areas, didn’t even know such a thing existed.

He himself had only heard of it through idle chatter among colleagues, yet this was a prince with no presence, no foundation whatsoever.

And yet he had gone alone to Bailian City—and crushed with a single strike the very peak commander who had given even the Guard Commander headaches.

At this moment, he felt none of it was real, as if he were dreaming.

“Could it be that I’m hallucinating from the pressure of annihilating Luoshen Peak—imagining in my dreams a master coming to save the Tianjin Guard?”

The young Battalion Commander thought this, then pinched his own arm hard.

At that moment, the former Guard Commander Sikong Xuan glanced at him, then shook his head and sighed:

“It’s faded—indeed, the bond has grown thin. With such a trump card hidden, he kept it from me. Fu Qiwén, that boy, still sees me as nothing more than his adoptive father—our relationship remains distant.”

Hearing this, the Battalion Commander, who had just winced in pain and now wore a look of surprise, snapped back to awareness. He hurried to bow, ready to speak well of the Guard Commander to ease any rift between the two.

But before he could speak, Sikong Xuan suddenly cut him off, his voice low and firm:

“Carry out my order: advance on Yulan City ahead of schedule. This opportunity is rare—strike swiftly and seize Yulan Peak.”

The Battalion Commander paused slightly, his gaze falling on the old man’s stern, weathered face. Instantly, his expression hardened. He said nothing more and hurried off to deliver the order.

At that moment, Sikong Xuan’s eyes darkened with uncertainty. He lifted his gaze toward the main peak of Luoshen Peak, fell silent for a moment, then murmured:

“Qiwén has given me a surprise. I once thought I’d die without ever seeing your sect destroyed—but perhaps, this time, there’s a real chance.”

…

Elsewhere, the other two prongs of the Tianjin Guard’s assault on Luoshen Peak also received Fu Qiwén’s message.

The two commanders leading them were hidden elites of the Great Li court. One had once been known in the Jianghu as the “Xuan Shuang Dao Ba,” and thirty years ago had ranked among the top three masters of the Great Li Tianjin Guard before vanishing into seclusion in the imperial capital.

The other had once been equally famed in the Jianghu: Longshan Marquis, known as the “Iron Arm Azure Dragon.”

Longshan Marquis had joined the Tianjin Guard to earn merit and preserve his ancestral title, and owed Fu Qiwén a great debt—this campaign against Luoshen Peak was his way of repaying it.

Even within the fourth assault force targeting Luoshen Peak’s fourth peak, there were allies recruited by Fu Qiwén from other sects.

These sects all bore irreconcilable, mortal grudges against Luoshen Peak. They had long hidden in remote mountains and deep forests, and were among the very few who had responded when they heard Great Li intended to strike Luoshen Peak.

Though they had secretly built up some strength, they were clearly no match for a giant like Luoshen Peak.

They knew full well that relying on their own power to defeat Luoshen Peak was impossible.

Though they had little faith in Great Li’s annihilation plan, this was the only chance they’d seen in decades to seek revenge—and even if they failed, they wanted to try.

Otherwise, they might never again face such a perfect opportunity.

“Good, good, good! If Great Li has such a master, perhaps we truly can take Luoshen Peak—even if we can’t destroy them, we’ll surely cripple them and inflict heavy losses!”

In a forest clearing, Gu Shengfeng, patriarch of Lingjiao Sect, stroked his beard and laughed heartily.

Behind him, dozens of his sect’s elite disciples glowed with fierce determination, their morale soaring, their killing intent thick in the air!

After receiving Fu Qiwén’s message and witnessing the golden signal flare above Bailian City, their hearts blazed with renewed hope.

Decades ago, Lingjiao Sect had angered a powerful figure on Luoshen Peak by underpaying one-tenth of its tribute—and was wiped out on that pretext.

Gu Shengfeng and the younger generation of disciples had barely survived, thanks to the desperate sacrifices of their elders and senior masters.

For these decades, they had trained day and night, consumed by nothing but vengeance against Luoshen Peak.

But as their martial cultivation grew and time passed, they saw no hope of revenge—only an ever-deepening awareness of Luoshen Peak’s terrifying, unshakable power.

With their current strength, even a few elders from any single peak of Luoshen could annihilate Lingjiao Sect entirely.

They had long believed they’d never avenge their masters—until the Tianjin Guard offered a glimmer of hope. Now, this Eighth Imperial Prince of Great Li had given them even more.

How could they not be thrilled?

“Though I’ve only just learned that the newly recognized Eighth Imperial Prince possesses such terrifying martial prowess, I trust Fu Senior won’t lie about this.”

Longshan Marquis murmured. Though he still found it hard to believe that Li Muxian, this young prince, had defeated Battalion Commander Zheng Yunfeng with a single strike,

he surveyed the Jianghu masters—including those from Lingjiao Sect—and the Tianjin Guard troops, then made his decision: he ordered the assault to begin early, seizing this moment to strike their designated targets.

…

The main peak of Luoshen Peak.

A sheer cliff of a thousand ren rose like a colossal sword cleaving the heavens, its rock forged from meteoric iron and earthfire into black iron bones. Around its midsection coiled twelve bronze chains, each as thick as a giant serpent.

At the peak’s summit stood the main hall, “Luoshen Hall,” supported by nineteen golden pillars, its red walls and golden tiles towering majestically, glowing brilliantly beneath the glow of surrounding torches.

In the night, clouds and mist swirled above the peak—but now, a plain-clothed old man sat cross-legged in midair, hovering above Luoshen Hall.

Around him curled streams of azure cloud-qi, his own aura blending seamlessly with heaven and earth.

Then, in the next instant, the old man opened his eyes.

Instantly, violet lightning flashed through his gaze—and thunder cracked across the entire Luoshen Peak, lightning serpents writhing through the clouds as if forming a vast thunder-pool.

“Has my eldest disciple met with trouble?”

The old man, seated among the clouds, gazed down toward Bailian City, clearly seeing a brilliant golden flame bursting from the darkness with dazzling brilliance.

Then, a blurred figure appeared as if from nowhere, slowly materializing before him.

It was a young woman with jet-black hair, around twenty years of age, dressed in a green long robe, her beauty exquisite, her skin like congealed jade, her eyes carrying a chill, icy aura.

She glanced at the old man; her eyes were utterly cold, her pupils not pure black but like fractured glacial fissures—gazing at others as if through a veil of frozen mist.

At this moment, the woman spoke with utter indifference, as if devoid of any emotion:

“Three juniors have just returned to the peak to report: Zheng Yunfeng of Bailian Peak was slain with a single strike. As for your disciple, he has gone to investigate.”

She paused, then gazed toward the distant darkness of Bailian City.

The golden light there had now faded, and the sky had returned to darkness.

Seeing this, the green-robed woman narrowed her eyes slightly and said coldly:

“But judging from the current situation, your disciple has likely met his end.”

Hearing this, the old man hovering in midair frowned slightly and said:

“Have you sent anyone to aid him? If rescue comes in time, with my eldest disciple’s divine talent, there may still be a sliver of hope.”

“Of course someone has been sent.”

The green-robed woman nodded.

“Chi Huo has already gone. Whether he can save your disciple, however, remains uncertain.”

The old man’s azure cloud-qi rippled slightly. He looked at the woman and murmured:

“If Chi Huo isn’t enough, send Hei Shan as well. With both of you ‘Luoshen Venerables’ acting, even if that man possesses supreme martial prowess, he stands no chance.”

The green-robed woman stood in midair and slowly shook her head, her voice icy:

“You misunderstand me. I mean that by the time Chi Huo arrives, your disciple may already be dead.”

The old man lifted his gaze slightly, studying the woman before him.

“If my disciple dies, it would be a great waste. Those with the talent for divine-martial cultivation are rare—and all the divine blood he consumed would be utterly wasted.”

“It won’t be wasted.”

The green-robed woman’s beautiful face remained expressionless, her voice utterly flat.

“The divine blood within your disciple’s corpse will be absorbed by Chi Huo. And if you send Hei Shan as well, the two of them will divide the corpse between them.”

Hearing this, the old man stared at the woman’s emotionless yet utterly serious face, and sighed helplessly.

After a brief pause, he dropped the subject and sent a silent thread of voice into a hidden corner of the main peak.

Soon, a stout black-robed old man stepped out from a courtyard below, floating into the night sky.

His forehead bore deep vertical grooves like knife cuts, horizontal lines as fine as a fisherman’s net. He sported a grizzled gray-and-white beard and wore straw sandals.

He looked up toward the peak’s summit and saw the old man nodding slightly. Without a word, he dispersed his true qi—and plummeted straight down.

In the blink of an eye, he crashed into the peak’s base—yet not a single stone was damaged.

At the instant he fell, rock peaks sprouted from the ground like bamboo shoots, gently lifting his body without a trace of martial qi used to absorb the impact.

Then, the black-robed old man took three-zhang strides, leaving behind fading rock paths along the mountain trail as he vanished toward Bailian City.

Watching the distant, fading figure below, the Luoshen Peak Patriarch, hovering atop the peak, frowned in thought and murmured:

“Who among Great Li’s ancient elders could have crushed Yunfeng with a single strike?”

The Great Li Empire had ruled for a hundred years, governing nineteen provinces. Even Luoshen Peak, as one of the four great Jianghu sects, dared not underestimate it.

Yet the Luoshen Peak Patriarch had never imagined that Emperor Yuanwu would truly risk the watchful eyes of four rival nations and the other three great sects circling like vultures—so coldly strike Luoshen Peak.

“If the Great Li court truly commits fully to destroying Luoshen Peak, we’ll have no choice but to flee. But they’ll suffer heavy losses too—no better off.”

“Emperor Yuanwu wouldn’t be so foolish as to make such a self-damaging decision. And from what I see, only the Tianjin Guard has moved against Luoshen Peak.”

The Luoshen Peak Patriarch spoke slowly, his azure cloud-qi beginning to ripple with faint violet lightning, a barely perceptible killing intent rising.

He turned to the green-robed woman, who had never left his side, and said firmly:

“That means the man in Bailian City is the Tianjin Guard’s only trump card. Eliminate him, and the rest are merely rabble—no threat.”

Hearing this, the green-robed woman cast the old man a cold glance and said:

“Your logic isn’t without merit—but I hope you don’t end up like your eldest disciple. Overconfidence is never wise.”

The Luoshen Peak Patriarch frowned slightly but said nothing more. He glanced toward Bailian City, and uttered only one sentence:

“Inform me once there’s a result.”

Then, the seated figure vanished into the clouds.

For a moment, whirlpools stirred faintly within the sea of clouds, serpentine arcs of lightning flickered along their edges, and deep within the layers, thunder boomed like hammering iron.

Seeing this, the green-clad woman merely withdrew her gaze coldly, and her slender form vanished instantly from where she stood.

……

Not long after, Li Muxian, seated atop the Baixiang Pavilion, suddenly sensed something, pulled his thoughts from refining the Azure Dragon Cangming Scripture, and gazed toward the night sky beyond Bailian City.

The cloth-clad elder and Lin Xuner hiding in the nearby tavern both stirred inwardly and immediately followed Li Muxian’s line of sight.

All they saw was a speck of light, no larger than a green bean, racing swiftly from afar toward the edge of the pitch-black mountains beyond the city.

Gradually, the once tiny flame grew larger in their vision, becoming brighter and more blazing, staining the night sky crimson as if molten lava were approaching, radiating an unbearable heat.

(End of Chapter)