Chapter 32: The Three Eras and Nine Transitions: Zhang Fan

11 p.m.

At the He family estate, lights blazed brightly; normally at this hour, the He household would still be thronged with visitors, all wealthy or noble, seeking favors.

But tonight, the He family had closed its doors, the entire household solemn and silent.

In the main hall of the grand residence, in the center, He Huan lay naked on cold blue stone slabs, her breath faint, her body rigid.

“She was like this when we found her.”

He Fei stared at He Huan, now little more than a walking corpse, his icy eyes barely concealing fury.

“Where was she found?”

At that moment, a middle-aged man with a stern expression and streaks of gray at his temples spoke from above the hall.

He was He Huan and He Fei’s father, the current head of the He family, He Tairan.

“In her own room,” He Fei replied, glancing coldly at his father, his voice low.

“Her Nascent Soul is shattered… she will never wake again,” He Tairan said, barely glancing at her.

“What?” He Fei’s face changed instantly; he looked at He Huan, pain flashing across his features.

“Who… who did this?”

He Fei’s sorrow vanished in an instant, replaced by raging fury.

“Clever move—no trace left, not even the method discernible.”

He Tairan stepped forward, his fingertip lightly tracing He Huan’s flesh, his brow furrowing slightly.

“Either the attacker was a master, or the cleaner was,” He Tairan said calmly.

“Investigate… the culprit must be someone who entered or left the He household today,” He Fei gritted his teeth.

“Investigate? How? Who?”

He Tairan’s expression darkened sharply, his gaze piercing like a sword as he fixed He Fei.

Those who crossed the He family’s threshold were mostly prominent figures from Yujing City—wealthy, noble. It was precisely these connections that allowed the He family to take root in Yujing, flourish, and dominate the Out-Marching circles.

To investigate them… wouldn’t that be self-sabotage? “Are we just going to let this go?” He Fei protested.

“This is an extraordinary time. Everything must be quiet. No open investigation—only covert inquiries,” He Tairan set the tone.

“Extraordinary time? What extraordinary time?” He Fei asked, confused.

“You may leave now,” He Tairan waved his hand.

“But—”

“Leave.”

The single word carried unyielding authority. He Fei cast one last reluctant glance at He Huan’s body, then turned and walked out of the hall.

He Tairan watched He Fei’s retreating figure, his fingertip still tracing He Huan’s body, then turned and bowed gently toward the sheer curtains behind him.

Incense smoke curled, night wind stirred; within the sheer curtains, a shadow faintly emerged—ears upright, long tail stretched out, resembling a gaunt fox, skin stretched over bone, seated cross-legged like a human, hands clasped in prayer.

Burning incense, wild fox in meditation.

“The He family has begun to die… just as that man foretold: the twenty-year great fortune is ending.”

At that moment, an eerie fox cry came from behind the sheer curtains, yet to He Tairan’s ears, it sounded like human whispers.

“A single word outweighs kings and marquises… because of that man, our He family gained twenty years of great fortune… can this fortune not last?” He Tairan frowned.

“Heaven has heavenly fortune, earth has earthly fortune, humans have human fortune… heaven and earth are ever-changing, moment by moment… since ancient times, there has been the doctrine of the Three Eras and Nine Transitions…”

The eerie fox cry sounded again, filled with profound mystery.

The Three Eras and Nine Transitions was an ancient doctrine.

The ancients divided 180 years into one [Correct Era], each Correct Era split into three Eras: Upper, Middle, Lower.

Each Era spanned sixty years, divided into three Transitions, each lasting twenty years.

For example, the past twenty years were the [Eight White Gen Earth Transition], during which industries like real estate, mining, and agriculture flourished rapidly, brimming with opportunity and producing countless powerful figures.

As the Eight White Gen Earth Transition neared its end, these industries declined steadily.

Starting this year, it is the [Nine Purple Li Fire Transition]; industries related to technology, artificial intelligence, energy, and culture will surge rapidly, altering many people’s fates.

Each era has its own fortune.

If heaven and earth are like this, how much more so a family, a person… “When fortune ends, calamity arrives… that man once said: once the twenty-year fortune is spent, the He family must choose anew… choose wrong, and it will be utter ruin.”

The eerie fox cry sounded again, echoing faintly through the cold hall.

“Utter ruin? What kind of utter ruin?” He Tairan frowned, his voice heavy.

“Extinction.”

Two simple words plunged He Tairan, the He family’s patriarch, into deep silence.

…

“Damn it… damn it…”

Inside the room, He Fei’s voice rose in a hysterical scream; like an enraged bull, he smashed everything within sight onto the floor.

“The old men of the He family have fallen behind the times…”

At that moment, a slightly resonant voice came from the corner, laced with mockery.

The voice calmed He Fei slightly.

“You can save her, can’t you?”

He Fei turned toward the shadow in the corner, as if grasping his last lifeline.

“Gluttony is heaven’s most precious gift to humanity, and the path to immortality.”

The mysterious voice evaded the question, then shifted: “The Fangxian Chronicles say: food is heaven, transforming all things into pills, ingesting pills to become immortal…”

“All things in the world are heaven’s ingredients… eat correctly, eat well… resurrection and ascension to the clouds need not be difficult.”

The mysterious voice carried deep seduction.

Like an infant: first suckling milk, then rice porridge, then grains, fish, and meat—strength grows, body forms, like a fly’s metamorphosis, marvelously wondrous.

“Gluttony?!”

“Cultivators must pay even greater attention to eating… the world holds too many delicacies… try everything except thoughts.”

The mysterious voice revealed a hint of rapture.

“Can’t thoughts be eaten?” He Fei sneered.

“Divine and demonic embryonic forms feed on thoughts—supremely deadly, a path no human can cultivate,” the mysterious voice sighed wistfully—his longing, yet beyond ordinary reach.

“Besides, Nascent Souls can be eaten too… but the Daoist sects have destroyed nine mountains and shattered nine temples; such beings no longer exist on earth…”

Harvesting Nascent Souls was a grave Daoist taboo. This lineage had no fixed method, no transmission; since ancient times, it remained mysterious, even its origins unknown. The nine purges had already exterminated them all.

“Heaven created all things to nourish humanity; humanity consumes all things to become heaven… He Fei, follow me, and you will see a brand-new world.”

The mysterious voice sounded again, radiating irresistible seduction.

…

Night deepened.

Zhang Fan returned home, alone as always. He sat in meditation, practiced [Southern and Northern Sect Origins] for a while, then went to sleep.

Soft moonlight streamed through the window, spilling over his body.

At that moment, the mark of the [True Martial Jade Tablet] on Zhang Fan’s chest glowed faintly; a gentle figure emerged—He Huan’s likeness.

“My Nascent Soul…”

He Huan stared at herself, then at her surroundings, disbelief rising—her Nascent Soul fragment had somehow survived.

Just as she rejoiced, she looked up sharply and saw a far grander figure seated beneath the ceiling, gazing down at her with cold indifference.

“Zhang Fan?!”

He Huan’s face paled; she stared in horror at Zhang Fan’s Nascent Soul. Unlike hers, his was filled with ethereal stillness—he seemed fused with the environment, neither good nor evil, neither self nor other, devoid of even primal awareness.

“What are you going to do?” He Huan’s Nascent Soul trembled.

Hum…

At that moment, Zhang Fan’s Nascent Soul opened its mouth wide and sucked in violently, swallowing He Huan’s Nascent Soul whole.

In the dim moonlit night, within the cold room, a strange chewing sound echoed—great sound is silent, leaving no trace.

(End of Chapter)