The Shaoyan Clan Awakens

Within the inner city of Ten Thousand Swords City, inside a quiet, secluded hall.

“What? A clan even more powerful than the Beishan clan of Anchan?” Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, and Granny Shadow were all utterly dumbfounded.

“This is Immortal Duohe, and this is Immortal Wusui. Both are Loose Immortals of considerable power,” Ji Ning said, having finished describing the crisis, and now introduced the two figures at his side.

“Loose Immortals?”

Ji Jiuhuo and the others felt their minds go blank. The legendary, lofty Loose Immortals, high above the world, were actually here before them, two of them at once?

“They will lead an army of thirty thousand transformed Dao-soldier Yaksha in guarding our Ten Thousand Swords City,” Ji Ning said. “They are all equipped with Dao-soldier armor. With two Loose Immortals commanding thirty thousand Dao-soldiers… even if several dozen Loose Immortals were to attack, they could hold the line. They will protect our city for a thousand years. Unless a Celestial Immortal, or an existence with power comparable to one, attacks, Ten Thousand Swords City will be absolutely secure.”

Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, and Granny Shadow were all cultivators themselves. Though still stunned, they quickly managed to absorb the shock.

“The arrangements for the clan are for you to decide,” Ji Ning said. “You all understand these matters far better than I do.”

“Rest assured,” Ji Liuzhen nodded. “With such a massive army of transformed Dao-soldiers stationed here, and with this being a city of the Grand Xia, as well as territory protected by the Yinglong Guard, anyone who dares attack will be hunted by the entire Grand Xia Dynasty! As for this Shaoyan clan, no matter how powerful they are, they wouldn’t dare to have a legendary Celestial Immortal come after us openly.”

A Celestial Immortal was a legend.

Even the Beishan clan of Anchan might not have a Celestial Immortal. The Black-White College had produced countless Loose Immortals over its endless years, but only a single Celestial Immortal.

“Xiaoqing, Uncle White, please stay here for now. This is a talisman,” Ji Ning said, handing a talisman to the transformed Whitewater Hound. “If you sense this talisman shatter, then use spatial teleportation to come to Winged Serpent Lake to join me. If it doesn’t shatter, do not come under any circumstances.”

“Understood.” Xiaoqing and Uncle White both nodded. At this critical juncture, they would not hold him back.

“Be careful, Ning’er,” Uncle White admonished.

Ji Ning nodded with a smile.

“I’m leaving now. This departure… I likely won’t be back for a very long time,” Ji Ning said, looking at Ji Jiuhuo, Ji Liuzhen, and Granny Shadow. “The disaster I’ve brought upon the clan… I will make amends for it in the future.”

“Don’t say that!” Ji Jiuhuo said in a low, firm voice. “Remember this. You must protect yourself. As long as you are alive, our Ji clan has hope for a grand revival.”

For a tribe to produce a genius like this… it was a matter of pure luck.

“I’m off.” Ji Ning directly activated a Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman. With a whoosh, he vanished from the hall.

…

Above Brightheart Island on Winged Serpent Lake, ripples appeared in the air, and Ji Ning emerged.

“Qiuye.”

As soon as he landed, Ji Ning transmitted his voice. Soon, Qiuye appeared, dressed in a simple gray Daoist robe. Her eyes lit up with surprise when she saw him. “Young master.”

“Brightheart Island is no longer safe. You must immediately arrange for everyone here to be relocated and move to Ten Thousand Swords City in batches. You yourself must leave right now,” Ji Ning instructed.

Qiuye was startled. “What’s wrong? What happened?”

Brightheart Island had been her home for so long; she had poured her heart into this place.

“Don’t ask. I don’t have time to explain in detail. Make your arrangements quickly, then leave immediately. This is a Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman. It can take you anywhere within ten thousand li. Use it to go directly to Ten Thousand Swords City.” Ji Ning directly handed her a Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman.

Qiuye immediately realized the gravity of the situation.

Even if the Celestial Immortal of the Shaoyan clan personally took action, he would first have to enter the Wujiang Immortal Estate, find the main hall where Shaoyan Nong had been killed, and then use ‘Time Rewind’… and even after using Time Rewind and discovering that the killer was Ji Ning, it would still take time to investigate Ji Ning’s background.

Everything took time. In fact, it would be a long time before that Celestial Immortal even arrived at the Yan Mountains.

Even if he came, the Celestial Immortal wouldn’t know Qiuye, nor would he know of her relationship with Ji Ning. So there was no real need to have Qiuye use the Lesser Teleportation Dao Talisman. But Ji Ning was worried; he didn’t want any unexpected变故, so he insisted she use it.

“Swoosh.”

After giving instructions to a few stewards, Qiuye, under Ji Ning’s insistence, could only use the talisman.

“Whew.” Ji Ning let out a breath of relief.

“Alright.”

Ji Ning pushed open the door and entered his usual quiet meditation room. After closing the door, he willed it, and a massive, phantom bear-head appeared in the room. The phantom bear-head opened its jaws wide, swallowing Ji Ning whole. He vanished from Winged Serpent Lake, entering the aquatic palace in another dimension.

The Grand Xia Imperial Capital was the ruling heart of this major world.

A vast number of Loose Immortals and Primal Daoists were gathered here. Every major tribe, sect, and school had an outpost here! Even extraordinarily powerful forces from other worlds would place spies and agents here to gather intelligence. This was a place where dragons and snakes intermingled, where Immortals were as numerous as clouds, and its depths were utterly unfathomable!

The Shaoyan clan’s estate, covering a thousand li of land, was incomparably luxurious. Inside a quiet study, a man wearing a tall crown and golden robes sat at his desk, reviewing reports and intelligence. He was the Patriarch of the Shaoyan clan, the current Marquis Yushen!

“This Zhuanshui clan grows more insolent by the day!” The golden-robed man frowned, muttering to himself.

“Patriarch! Patriarch!” Suddenly, a flustered voice rang out.

The golden-robed man’s expression immediately darkened. He detested it when his subordinates acted in a panicked and undignified manner. However, this particular subordinate was his personal attendant and should have known his rules. The study door was open, and a middle-aged man in blue clothes rushed in, immediately falling to his knees. With tears streaming down his face, he said, “Patriarch, young master Shaoyan Nong… he, he…”

“Shaoyan Nong? What’s happened to him?” The golden-robed man frowned.

“He’s dead!” The blue-clad middle-aged servant said in a panicked, anxious voice.

“What!” The golden-robed man shot to his feet, his face a mask of shock. “How did he die? How do you know he died? You cannot speak carelessly about such a matter without confirmation.”

“His life tablet in the ancestral hall has shattered!” the blue-clad middle-aged servant cried out.

The golden-robed man stood in his study, silent for a moment. Then, in a low voice, he said, “Investigate. Issue the order. Within the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, I want a full report on Shaoyan Nong’s recent movements.”

“Yes!” The blue-clad servant quickly acknowledged.

“Shaoyan Nong is dead? He should have been at the Wujiang Immortal Estate. How could he die? Even if he failed to refine the Wujiang Immortal Estate, he had a Greater Teleportation Dao Talisman on him… he could have teleported back to the Grand Xia Imperial Capital from inside the estate. And on top of that, he had the Fiendgod Xiangliu Fang with him.” The golden-robed man pondered.

Shaoyan Nong was a younger member of his clan, not particularly close to the Patriarch. In fact, he didn’t even particularly like the young man.

But behind Shaoyan Nong was the support of a Celestial Immortal!

For a clan, although the publicly recognized Patriarch held great power, he was far inferior to the clan’s Celestial Immortal patriarchs. These Celestial Immortal patriarchs, who had lived for countless billions of years, were the true foundation of the clan. The birth of every Celestial Immortal was a cause for universal celebration. The death of a Celestial Immortal patriarch, however, was kept as secret as possible.

As a result, it was impossible to know exactly how many Celestial Immortals a clan had.

Did the Beishan clan of Anchan have a living Celestial Immortal patriarch? It was a mystery.

How many Celestial Immortal patriarchs did the Shaoyan clan have? That, too, was a mystery.

Even Marquis Yushen himself knew of only three Celestial Immortal patriarchs who were in seclusion within the clan. Shaoyan Nong, for example, had known of only one Celestial Immortal! As for the exact number of Celestial Immortal patriarchs in the clan, even Marquis Yushen dared not be certain.

“Patriarch.” The blue-clad servant had already returned, speaking respectfully. “Three days ago, young master Shaoyan Nong took a teleportation array to Anchan Commandery. Afterwards, he headed for the Wujiang Immortal Estate. The exact location of the Wujiang Immortal Estate is beyond this servant’s ability to investigate.”

“Mm.” The golden-robed man nodded. “I am going out. For the time being, do not spread news of Shaoyan Nong’s death.”

“Understood.”

Soon, an immortal carriage pulled by nine golden flood dragons flew out of the Shaoyan clan’s estate, howling through the air as it left the Grand Xia Imperial Capital, entering the blue void of the heavens.

…

At the peak of a volcano that towered into the clouds, the immortal carriage drawn by nine golden flood dragons emerged from the void, then flew directly into the crater. The last time this volcano had erupted was hundreds of thousands of years ago.

Flying down along the crater.

Deep below, they could see gurgling lava. In the center of the lava lake lay a colossal, red-haired giant. This red-haired giant lay in the lava as if it were his personal bathtub, his head resting on one wall of the rocky chamber and his feet touching the opposite side. His eyes were larger than the entire immortal carriage.

“Senior Ba Huo.” The golden-robed man called out from atop the carriage.

“Oh?” The red-haired giant, who had had his eyes closed, opened them and looked at the golden-robed man. After a moment’s thought, he said slowly, “You are Shaoyan Fujun. The current Patriarch of the Shaoyan clan?”

“It is I.” The golden-robed man was quite humble.

He knew the identity of this Fiendgod before him. This Fiendgod, surnamed ‘Ba Huo,’ had been an incomparably powerful warrior from a very powerful Fiendgod tribe during the ancient Primordial Fiendgod Era. He was a Void-level Fiendgod! Although he was a Void-level Fiendgod, his true combat power was absolutely on the level of a Celestial Immortal. In the past, it had been a dazzlingly talented patriarch of the Shaoyan clan who had managed to subdue this Fiendgod, but unfortunately, that patriarch had fallen in the distant, endless years of the past.

“What is it?” The red-haired giant spoke.

“Are the three patriarchs still in this major world?” the golden-robed man asked.

The red-haired giant said slowly, “Patriarch Chixin left this major world over ten thousand years ago. Where he went, and when he will return, are unknown. Patriarch Jingyu went to the Heavenly Realm to visit friends several decades ago; such visits usually last a hundred years. Only Patriarch Xuanji is still in seclusion.”

“Shaoyan Nong has just died. This matter is of great importance. I respectfully request Senior Ba Huo to notify Patriarch Xuanji,” the golden-robed man said hurriedly.

“Shaoyan Nong? The next Patriarch of your clan?” The red-haired giant laughed. “For your next Patriarch to have died… how laughable. I’ll inform him for you right now.”

The red-haired giant closed his eyes, then opened them again. “Patriarch Xuanji will be here shortly.”

Where Patriarch Xuanji was in seclusion was also a secret, known only to a few trusted confidants of the patriarch, not even to the Marquis Yushen.

“Rustle~~”

Above the lava pool, specks of starlight began to appear. The brilliant starlight connected with each other, forming a mysterious grand formation. A tall, gaunt old man with narrow, slit-like eyes emerged from the center of the endless starlight, strolling forward. At this moment, even heaven and earth seemed to submit; this old man was the sole master of this entire domain.

“Patriarch Xuanji.” The golden-robed man hurriedly bowed in respect.