Chapter 1610

【Congratulations, Host, mission completed, reward points 10000, total 108821!】

【Side quest one progress 100, reward points 2000, total 110821!】

【Side quest progress two completed, reward points 1000, total 111821!】

【Currently transmitting to the next world…… transmission successful!】

——

Sixty years ago, the hidden Heaven's Mandate Sect received the Heaven's Bestowal, began secretly cultivating disciples, enduring Sect Master Jin Chunshan's thirty years of waiting day after day for the birth of the Heaven's Bestowal person, and together with his wife Xu Pingwu, junior brother Jin Fengzi, and others spent a lifetime of absolute teachings to cultivate the Seven Children of Heaven's Mandate.

Sixty years later, omens suddenly arose across the world, strange and eerie events never ceased; before, the Imperial City's river flow broke and flowed west, with a perilous ghost coffin in the river; after, various towns appeared with different strange tales, each and every one informing the people: omens arise, monsters and ghosts appear in the world to kill.

But before this, the world had never believed in ghosts, let alone such sudden appearance of ghost killings, monster killings, and people killing people.

Jianghu and the imperial court alike had no recourse; even the finest army could not contend with ghosts and monsters. That same year, the State Preceptor and the present Son of Heaven had the same dream.

In the dream prophecy: spiritual qi revives, myriad ghosts and myriad monsters appear in the world, the Heaven's Mandate Sect leaving the mountains can quell the turmoil.

But what is the Heaven's Mandate Sect? It is a remnant of the previous dynasty's rebel faction, a cult that pretends to be divine and tricks ghosts; asking the Heaven's Mandate Sect to leave the mountains is tantamount to the world acknowledging the existence of monsters and ghosts.

The Son of Heaven does not wish to see the people suffer; he personally invites the Heaven's Mandate Sect to emerge, and changes the records to enshrine it as a divine religion.

The villain Rong Zixu, leader of the Seven Children of Heaven's Mandate, is also the senior brother who appears gentle to the other six but is actually stricter than anyone.

After the Seven Children of Heaven's Mandate entered the world, they went to places where omens gathered to slay ghosts and monsters; but at this time, Rong Zixu's fourth junior brother, namely the protagonist Chang Wuming, was attracted by the Heir Apparent Bai Shiyun sent by the court, secretly taking another path without anyone's knowledge to settle for life.

The Heaven's Mandate Sect has a rule: absolutely no intermarriage with court personnel, let alone Bai Shiyun being an Imperial Heir Apparent; Rong Zixu also discovered more than once that Bai Shiyun had ulterior motives.

But Rong Zixu discovered this too late; Bai Shiyun had already driven a wedge between Chang Wuming and the other fellow disciples, turning them against each other; Rong Zixu's attempts to dissuade were futile and instead earned resentment, merely because Rong Zixu exposed Bai Shiyun's true nature, tearing apart the imperial family's dignity and Chang Wuming's self‑righteous love.

Internal strife among the Seven Children of Heaven's Mandate gave ghosts and monsters an opportunity; they died one after another on the path to quelling the omens.

In the end of the story, only Rong Zixu and Chang Wuming remained of the Seven Children of Heaven's Mandate; Rong Zixu found the Myriad Ghost Heart mentioned in the Heaven's Bestowal prophecy, but he did not have time to use it to completely restore peace to the world.

Because the court wanted to control the Ten Thousand Ghosts Heart so that the people would not lose faith in the court due to the revival of spiritual energy across the world, Bai Shiyun seized the Ten Thousand Ghosts Heart while taking advantage of Rong Zixu's severe injury; Chang Wuming finally realized, but it was too late, feeling anguished at his own obstinacy and even more anguished at the court's cruelty.

Chang Wuming used the heaven-bestowed soul to sacrifice to the Ten Thousand Ghosts; ultimately, all seven of the Mandate's children died, securing over a hundred years of peace for the world and laying the foundation for universal cultivation for future generations.

——

【Beyond that mountain, beyond that sea, there stands a Tianming Mountain; on that mountain are seven children who fear neither wind nor rain……】

【Received.】 That's utter nonsense.

【Oh dear, Host, you're awake!】

Ling Gun Gun happily bounced, 【This time you've rested for so long; are you feeling unwell somewhere?】

Jin Chen sat up, observed the surroundings for a moment, like a mountain orchard.

【No, I dreamed of something.】

He casually replied, plucked a bunch of grapes from the rack and ate them, 【What about the original body's memories?】

【Oh, I'll pass it to you——】

The original body was the youngest of the Seven Children of the Mandate; when Jin Chunshan rescued him, he was still in swaddling clothes, having grown up entirely on Tianming Mountain, native-born, developing a fearless nature that feared neither heaven nor earth—except for the eldest senior brother, he didn't even fear the master.

After Jin Chen finished receiving the memories, he hurriedly crawled out of the grass, feeling a bit guilty as he brushed off the grass clippings all over his body.

「Junior brother! Come over, come over! 」 Jin Chen waved at the passing Jing Xingcan, acting utterly nonchalant, and shoved the remaining grapes into his hand, saying, 「Here, eat it; it's sweet. 」

「Really? Then I'll give it a try. 」

Jing Xingcan took it and ate a few grapes, completely unaware of Jin Chen's silhouette slipping away to the side.

「You're not kidding, it's really sweet. 」 Jing Xingcan stuffed the remaining grapes into his mouth, eating to his heart's content.

「It's sweet, want to pick some more to eat? 」

Jing Xingcan felt a chill down his spine.

He slowly turned around and saw Xu Qie holding a basket, her delicate face bearing a faint smile.

「Fifth… senior sister. 」

Xu Qie grabbed his ear and twisted it, her tone still gentle, saying, 「I didn't say my grapes are to be used as ghost lures; nobody can eat them, right? 」

「No… it… was Xiao Chen who gave it!! 」 Jing Xingcan yelled in pain as Xu Qie twisted his ear, turning his body in the direction of the twist, his face scrunched up, 「Ow ow ow! 」

Xu Qie looked toward the black-clad handsome youth standing as if punished in the corner, 「Xiao Chen? 」

「Not me. 」 Jin Chen, chewing on a blade of dogtail grass and swaying, hummed while saying, 「I'm still angry; I can't eat anything. 」

Xu Qie handed the basket to Jing Xingcan, ordering him to go pick grapes, then lifted the hem of her long robe and walked toward Jin Chen, saying, 「You're still angry with the eldest senior brother, huh? Normally you're not this temperamental; what's going on today. 」

Jin Chen turned to look at her, remained silent for a few seconds, then said, 「I won't tell you. 」

Xu Qie: 「……」

She also truly didn't know what had happened; even knowing that Xiao Chen had suddenly quarreled with the eldest senior brother was hearsay from the ever-gossipy second senior brother.

「It's about to get dark; do you want to go find the eldest senior brother to talk? Maybe there's a misunderstanding between you two. 」

Jin Chen's eyebrows twitched, he nodded, and said, 「Great idea! 」

He stepped back, plucked another bunch of grapes from the rack, turned, and flew away.

「Look, Fifth Senior Sister! I told you it wasn't me! 」 Jing Xingcan pointed at the empty space where Jin Chen had left and shouted.

The current plot: the emperor of the court requests orders from the Gate of the Mandate; the master agrees to go down the mountain to quell the anomaly; the Seven Children of the Mandate will descend the mountain the day after tomorrow, and at this point Chang Wuming has already been lured by Bai Shiyun in disguise.

So Jin Chen now has two important tasks: go find Rong Zixu to reconcile, and then have Chang Wuming cut his losses in time.

As for priorities, nothing is more important than going to find his wife.

Jin Chen flew into Rong Zixu's courtyard; at this moment the sky was dim, a few glimmers of candlelight seeping from the windows and casting onto a small patch of ground outside.

He didn't rush in, holding the bunch of grapes, sitting on the eaves looking down; within a few seconds he saw the door open, and a man clad in cloud-patterned robes stepped out, hands clasped behind his back, standing still in the courtyard, like a snow-covered pine about to melt, refined and transcendent.

【Detected villain of this world; Blackening Value triggered, currently at 30.】

【Mission requirement: Clear the Blackening Value and alter the villain's tragic fate!】