The Sun Knight Procession

The moonlight was crystalline, spilling through the mountain forest like vast flocks of white feathers drifting to the ground. Beneath that watery radiance, the broad road that wound through the forest looked like a loess-yellow dragon coiling across the land.

Five hundred knights rode in solemn formation, each one like a war-god reborn. Their iron armor and precious mail gleamed with the cold, sharp light unique to metal. Every suit bore the scars of blade and sword—the marks of time, recording past glories.

This was the famed Sun Knight Order of the Western tribes. In ancient times, they had slain gods and vanquished demons. Though most of those original knights were long gone, their armor had been passed down through generations—a badge of honor, a symbol of prestige.

To become a Sun Knight was the dream of many men in the Western lands.

A murderous aura rose from the five hundred knights, converging into a single pillar that pierced the clouds—a spirit-stunning, soul-chilling presence. Some carried golden war lances on their backs; others bore greatswords in both hands. A faint haze of blood-energy coiled around each of them. They were powerful cultivators who had endured countless blood-bathed battles, and their golden hair rippled in that thin bloody mist like dazzling sunlight.

Their mounts were no ordinary beasts. Some were dragon-kin covered in gleaming scales—land dragons; others were strange, savage-looking creatures like winged leopards.

Awe. The impression the five hundred knights left was nothing but awe—overwhelming, crushing awe.

Xiao Chen, Dugu Jianmo, Niu Ren, and Jin Sanyi had already retreated far into the distance, watching silently from the void. All of them felt that the combat power of these five hundred knights was unthinkable—as if they could sweep away any obstacle, never blunting their edge even when charging through a million-strong army.

The five hundred knights surrounded Zhao Lin’er. The little Celestial Horse, white as snow, seemed carved from the finest jade, radiating a soft glow beneath the moonlight. It looked more extraordinary than ever. Four years had passed since Dragon Island, and the little Celestial Horse had grown to the size of an ordinary horse, even more majestic and spirited.

Zhao Lin’er sat upright upon its back, ethereal and untouchable beneath the hazy moonlight, beautiful beyond words. Her status in the column was obviously very high; the five hundred knights guarded her like stars clustering around the moon.

Xiao Chen fell silent for a long moment. His history of grudges and debts with Zhao Lin’er could no longer be clearly sorted out. After the mediation of the transcendent immortal Lan Nuo, they could hardly fight to the death anymore. Seeing her again, he never expected she would have achieved such a position. This former royal princess truly had extraordinary methods.

“Isn’t that little Zhao girl? I could tell on Dragon Island she wasn’t ordinary,” Niu Ren said thoughtfully, shaking his huge ox horns.

Dugu Jianmo barely glanced at Zhao Lin’er before shifting his attention entirely to the five hundred knights.

“Y-y-y-you all say… th-that little Celestial Horse… m-matches my little donkey? A-a-and… th-that little girl riding the Celestial Horse… m-matches me?” The lecherous man’s peach-blossom eyes darted with lascivious light; they almost went crossed.

Niu Ren curled his lip and mercilessly crushed him: “Stop dreaming. You’re a toad lusting after a swan.”

“Th-this isn’t dreaming. Th-this is called h-having ideals! Having ambition!” Jin Sanyi squinted his lecherous eyes. “H-haven’t you heard what the g-great man said? A t-toad that doesn’t d-desire to eat a swan isn’t a g-good toad.”

The five hundred knights, escorting Zhao Lin’er, passed over the battlefield they had just left and immediately halted.

Although the earlier battle had been fought in the air, residual energy currents had not yet completely dissipated, rippling down to the ground. The experts among them had sensed the anomaly in this region long before the battle drew to a close. They simply had not wanted to interfere and had refrained from spying.

The five hundred knights all gripped their lances and swords, warily on alert. Only after three elderly knights went forward to scout did they resume their march. But every single one of them had readied their weapons; their killing intent pierced the heavens.

“Their vigilance is sharp,” Xiao Chen said, watching their retreating backs. “It seems a major event is about to occur.”

“That is the Sun Knight Order,” Dugu Jianmo said, breaking his usual silence with just those few words.

Now everyone understood. It had to be people from Rome, one of the five hegemonic kingdoms. The Roman Empire was a theocratic state, but it did not worship a single god. Several major religions took turns controlling the nation’s fate, and the monarch was appointed by the popes.

The Solar Religion was a symbol of light and holiness, one of the rotating theocratic parties. The Sun Supreme God was sometimes called the Radiant Holy God.

The Sun Knight Order was the Solar Religion’s guardian knighthood, which had shone brilliantly in the ancient wars.

“A-a-a hegemonic kingdom… about to g-go to war?” Jin Sanyi keenly sensed something.

Far in the distance, they saw the gates of Yin Capital swing open. A troop of guards came out to welcome them, escorting the five hundred knights into the capital of Great Shang.

“B-brothers, l-let’s go sell some tiger skins. I’ll t-take you to a good place. Th-that’s the legendary… d-divine village. Maybe we’ll p-pick up a celestial maiden for a wife!” The lecherous man’s face was full of lustful delight.

Even the ice-cold Dugu Jianmo was interested in the so-called legendary divine village. None of them objected, and they followed Jin Sanyi as he rushed toward a spot a hundred li away.

But… when they arrived, the so-called divine village had nothing divine about it. It was a mass grave—a chaos of burial mounds, with ghostly flames flickering everywhere. The eerie green glow of the fires in the deep night was especially sinister. Strange sounds wailed from afar. Coupled with the occasional crunch of stepping on exposed white bones, this place had no hint of the divine—it looked more like a ghost realm.

“H-here… we a-are. Th-that divine village moves around. I’ve heard it’s s-supposed to drift into this area’s sky soon.”

The Crimson Dragon King, the Black Dragon King, and the little donkey carried their masters into the air. Xiao Chen followed closely behind them.

The sky was serene, with light clouds and a bright moon. There was nothing unusual at all. They did not see any divine village.

“Stammerer, you tricked us again. You deserve a beating!”

“I d-didn’t! I h-heard it from an old… s-senior uncle. There’s no way it’s wrong.”

But no matter how the stammerer explained, none of them could find where the divine village was supposed to be. In the end, they could only leave.

Yet just as they had flown a dozen li, they suddenly felt ripples spreading through the sky. A vast black cloud drifted over, instantly blotting out the stars and moon, plunging the mass grave ahead into absolute pitch-blackness, not a single glimmer of light visible.

“Th-this… is the divine village you spoke of?”

Xiao Chen, Dugu Jianmo, and the others keenly sensed that the boundless black clouds in the sky were no ordinary phenomenon. The pressure was suffocating. They did not rashly charge upward but chose to observe from a distance.

Crack! Boom—!

Gigantic lightning bolts writhed outside the black clouds, each silver serpent as thick as a small hill, countless times more terrifying than ordinary lightning. It was easy to imagine that if anyone rashly rushed in, they would be blasted into ashes.

The lecherous man shrank his neck and stammered, “L-looks like there are restrictions. W-we can’t get up there.”

“No matter how you look at it, it’s a demon village, not a divine one.”

Curious as they were, none of them wanted to risk their lives. Much as they wanted to go up and investigate, in the face of that terrifying lightning they ultimately chose to withdraw.

“B-brothers, s-see you later. Once I’ve s-sold that Heaven-Bestowed Divine Pattern white tiger skin, I’ll find you to s-split the profits!”

The lecherous man Jin Sanyi rode his little donkey and slipped away.

Dugu Jianmo said nothing. He sent the Crimson Dragon King into the deep mountains, then shot toward Yin Capital like a streak of flowing light. He would not leave the Great Shang capital anytime soon; the three sword intentions left by True Man Zhang Sanfeng had captivated him.

Niu Ren patted the Black Dragon King. “Don’t fight with the Crimson Dragon King. Go to another mountain range.”

He was not afraid of the Black Dragon King being at a disadvantage—after all, they were not enemies with Dugu Jianmo. If the Black Dragon King used the Dragon Clan Sacred Sword and actually killed the Crimson Dragon King, it might force them into a life-and-death struggle with Dugu Jianmo in the future.

“Not all dragon kings have to fight to the death. A few are meant to survive. This isn’t the time for your final duel yet.” Niu Ren sympathized with the tragic fate of the dragon race and spoke soothingly to the Black Dragon King.

In the end, a streak of black light flew toward the distant mountain range.

Niu Ren looked at Xiao Chen. “You’d better leave Yin Capital quickly. We killed the Strong Tiger. Under these circumstances, everyone is bound to suspect you.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can change my face. Yin Capital is going to get very lively. I can’t bear to leave.”

Xiao Chen told Niu Ren to go on ahead, then deployed his Eight Aspect Worlds divine ability and merged into the night sky from another direction.

At dawn, a splendid blaze of morning light burst from the east, spilling into Yin Capital. A new day had begun.

Today was destined to be turbulent.

Outside the west gate of Yin Capital, on a patch of wasteland, half of a mutilated corpse was found. People recognized it as the Strong Tiger—the demigod-level powerhouse of the Central Plains Tiger Clan.

A demigod had died just like that… When the news reached Yin Capital, it gave rise to all kinds of speculation.

The Tiger Clan was absolutely a top-tier noble family of the Central Plains, with a long, ancient lineage and unfathomable strength. For someone to pull teeth from a tiger’s mouth took immense courage.

As long as the Tiger Clan’s founding ancestor, the White Tiger Saint Emperor, lived, they would always be one of the most terrifying great clans under heaven. The White Tiger Saint Emperor could stand against a true “king” among dragons, and had once clashed with the Buddha himself. Though he had not won, he had escaped unscathed—a battle prowess so terrifying it was almost absurd.

Connecting recent events, Xiao Shishui naturally became everyone’s prime suspect. Many secretly speculated that perhaps Xiao Shishui’s divine abilities really could match a demigod—fearsome divine arts could allow one to fight across realms. A great many people felt it was very possible that Xiao Shishui had killed the Strong Tiger.

Of course, some doubted. No matter how powerful Xiao Shishui was, he was only a young expert at the Spirit-Treasury realm. He could not possibly kill a demigod. This had to be a scheme: an old-generation master had killed the Strong Tiger and deliberately muddied the waters to take revenge on the Tiger Clan.

Others even suspected that Xiao Chen had reappeared. Although the rumor said he had died that night three years ago, no one had ever seen his corpse. Quite a few people guessed that Xiao Chen had returned with experts to exact vengeance.

For a time, rumors proliferated, and everyone buzzed with discussion.

Meanwhile, another major event was circulating among the aristocratic families of Yin Capital: the sacred maiden of the Roman Empire’s Solar Religion had arrived at the Great Shang capital, escorted by five hundred knights. The two nations were about to form an alliance to jointly confront another hegemonic state—the Van Kingdom.

Though it was only spreading within a small circle, anyone familiar with the continent’s situation understood that war between Van and Rome was inevitable. Conflicts had been erupting frequently lately. And the Van Kingdom had clashed many times with the Great Shang Empire over the past few centuries. Rome sending an envoy to negotiate an alliance was hardly surprising.

Anyone with any foresight realized that war was approaching. Yin Capital was suddenly seething with activity.

Over the next few days, the Roman representatives held intensive secret talks with Great Shang.

On the fifth day, within a royal garden, the breathtakingly beautiful Zhao Lin’er stood in a lakeside pavilion. Her expression was icy as she smashed the jade cup in her hand to the ground, startling a school of koi beneath the lotus blossoms in the lake into scattering.

The little Celestial Horse was eating jade ginseng on the nearby grassy bank. It looked over with a questioning glance.

Several Sun Knights hurried into the pavilion. They were young men—not only the strongest among the five hundred knights but also the sacred maiden’s most loyal followers. All of them were burning with indignation.

“Great Shang has gone too far. That Second Prince actually wanted the sacred maiden to be his consort! He deserves to die!”

“Sacred Maiden, please allow me to duel him. I will cut off his head for you!”

“We are willing to fight for the sacred maiden!”

Zhao Lin’er gradually calmed down. Her voice, like music from heaven, rippled through the pavilion: “Do not act rashly. Their terms were rude, but we simply refuse them. There is no need to start a war. This is Yin Capital, not Rome. Do not stir up trouble.”

“But… they have gone too far. They know full well the doctrine of our faith—that the sacred maiden is not to be defiled—yet they still act so rudely.”

“It is no matter. I have an idea. Please allow us to challenge the experts of Yin Capital. We will not cause bloodshed—just a contest of points. Since they have insulted us, we must retaliate. We will make them lose all face, crush all their so-called young elite experts into utter defeat.”

“Noble Sacred Maiden, please trust us. We will handle it with proper discretion.”

Her skin like congealed fat, her eyes like autumn waters, Zhao Lin’er looked like a celestial maiden from the Jasper Pool. She stood by the lake as a gentle breeze stirred her white garments, as if she might ride the wind away at any moment.

She sighed softly. “I am worried something might happen to you. This is the capital of the Great Shang Empire. Even if you defeat all its young experts, what then? You are in their country. If they care about their pride, they can summon the strongest young masters of Shang at any time. In the end, you will be the ones to suffer.”

“The strongest young experts of Shang…”

The Sun Knights’ expressions tightened. Several figures immediately rose in their minds—they recalled the legendary young men and women of Shang. They paid close attention to the young experts of the world and naturally had some understanding. However, in the end, they smiled again.

“We will keep it to points, not a full-scale conflict. Besides, even if their strongest experts show up, so what? Soon, several great experts of our Solar Religion will arrive, and outstanding figures from other major religions will also be on their way. By then, we will be more than capable of suppressing those controversially powerful young masters of Great Shang.”

The Strong Tiger had been killed, but Xiao Shishui had not fled—on the contrary, he showed up openly and boldly. This made everyone suspicious. If Xiao Shishui had really done it, would he still dare to stay in Yin Capital?

After all, that Strong Tiger was no ordinary beast. According to rumor, he might have been a seedling the White Tiger Saint Emperor had intended to cultivate with special care. Many speculated that it might truly have nothing to do with Xiao Shishui; otherwise, he would never have lingered in Yin Capital for even a second.

Over the next few days, Yin Capital was tremendously lively. The experts of the Solar Religion challenged all comers everywhere in the city. All the retainers of the Second Prince were soundly defeated, making him lose all face.

Divine-gifted spellmasters and warriors wielding Western combat techniques swept through Yin Capital like a storm, overwhelming the younger generation.

The defeat of the Second Prince was just the beginning. The challenges escalated step by step, eventually involving even the royal clans of Yin Capital. Though Bo Shi and Chen Hangjin won several consecutive matches, most other aristocratic youths suffered crushing defeats.

Xiao Chen took a completely detached attitude, going to watch every challenge with great leisure. For several days, he had been avoiding the Third Princess, because he guessed that sooner or later she would ask him and Dugu Jianmo to enter the fray—and Xiao Chen had no desire to get drawn into this vortex.

Yin Capital was seething. The other two of the Four Talents of Yin Capital were rushing back at top speed. Meanwhile, the Third Princess of Great Shang was using her personal letters to invite several legendary young experts to the imperial capital.

At the same time, several great experts of the Solar Religion were about to arrive, and outstanding young experts from other major religions would soon reach Yin Capital as well.

To all this, both the old-generation figures of Great Shang and the bishops of the Solar Religion merely smiled. An alliance was inevitable, but some “collisions” were bound to happen. Though they had not personally arranged these events, they were watching closely, wanting to see whether the next generation could gain an edge over the other side.