Late at night.

Su Hongli quickly learned of the Zhou Emperor's attitude toward this situation.

Although the emperor said that he planned to leave this matter to the Su Family, just like last time, Su Hongli’s brow furrowed slightly.

The Daoist elder seemed to sense that something was amiss too. “His Majesty’s decision to remain uninvolved might seem like a show of respect, but his attitude seems a bit overly cold.”

Su Hongli fell silent for a while, then said, “This is a conflict between cultivators and mundane authority. In my eyes, mundane authority is as fleeting as a puff of smoke, and I’ve long since ceased to desire it. However, in His Majesty’s eyes, I’m still his minister.

“Over the past decade, I’ve lived deep in seclusion. I rarely venture outside, do not obey orders, pay no heed to mundane affairs, and have rejected His Majesty’s attempts to offer me an official post on numerous occasions. It’s only natural that he’d be disappointed; this is the crux of the issue.”

As he said this, his eyes shone with a strange light. “Of course, I’m also well aware that His Majesty has always wondered just what grand stroke of fortune I obtained at Sifting Darkness Yao Mountain all those years ago.

“Of late, His Majesty is just one step away from entering the Origin Dao, yet that final step has thwarted him for a full three years. He still has yet to realize his wish.”

When the Daoist elder heard this, his expression shifted. “Don’t tell me his Majesty wants the fortune you obtained at Sifting Darkness Yao Mountain for himself?”

Su Hongli said calmly, “His Majesty’s thoughts aren’t so easy to fathom. If you think it’s just a matter of coveting my good fortune, I’m afraid you’re oversimplifying the matter.”

The elder nodded. “I’m actually not at all worried. The Azure Continent might be a mundane realm, but at the end of the day, it’s cultivators and the power they wield that reigns over this world, not mundane imperial authority.”

Su Hongli only laughed. “Daoist Brother, what if you held both mundane imperial authority and cultivation sufficient to intimidate the masses? What then?”

The elderly Daoist fell silent.

……

That night.

The famously mysterious Ten Directions Pavilion publicly released a report about the battle at the Imperatorial Province’s governor’s estate. This news startled who-knows-how-many factions as if awakening them from a dream, and it stirred up massive waves. 

That night, the name “Su Yi” resounded throughout the Great Zhou.

He was like a comet streaking through the night skies, his blazing light attracting countless gazes.

The Ten Directions Pavilion also uncovered and published information about his background, stirring up countless ripples, like a stone falling into placid waters.

Some people were flabbergasted. “He’s Su Hongli’s son, yet he opposes the Su Family? What’s going on here?” 

Others felt shaken, and they found it hard to believe. “A seventeen-year-old Grandmaster is already an extremely dazzling genius. Who would have thought that a young Grandmaster like him would have the power to slay Xiantian Martial Ancestors? He’s simply monstrous!”

“The White-Eyebrowed King, the Firedome King, the Huaiyang Marquis, the Jade Mountain Marquis, the Heavenbrave Marquis…. Every one of them had the power to shake the nation, yet all of them were killed by Su Yi?”

“My heavens! Does this mean that the massacre at the Western Mountain’s Tea Party was Su Yi’s work as well?”

“Just a few months ago, Su Yi was just a waste without a cultivation, the live-in son-in-law of Guangling City’s Wen Family. Now, he’s become an incomparably terrifying figure almost overnight. This is simply unbelievable!”

“How could such a person exist in this world?”

…All sorts of shaken, flabbergasted, bewildered, and disbelieving voices rang out. Throughout the Great Zhou, similar conversations rang out non-stop, reverberating throughout the inky darkness of the night.

Who knew how many martial artists shook upon hearing of this? Who knew how many factions spent the whole night analyzing records of Su Yi’s life and past accomplishments?

And it was easy to predict that, as time went by, word of the Western Mountain Massacre and the battle at the provincial governor’s estate, as well as the details of Su Yi’s past, would inevitably spread. Soon, it would be common knowledge.

Mount Heavencloud. 

The Greencliff Cottage. The night was dark and visibility was poor.

“So, it’s that kid who ran off with three of my Pure Yang Fire Peaches….” Ge Changling held a feather fan and sat before a pill furnace, a somewhat strange look in his eyes.

This was the Heaven-Swallowing King, an expert whose name shook the Great Zhou thirty years prior. He was a gaunt elder with a mystical air. His hair and beard were graying, but his eyes were as clear and bright as an infant’s. 

It had been a long time since he’d paid mundane affairs any heed. He’d avoided official duties for years, instead immersing himself in the Dao of Pill Refining.

But tonight, the Ten Direction’s Pavilion’s report startled even him.

When he learned of Su Yi’s accomplishments, Ge Changling couldn’t help but recall what his disciple, Ge Qian, told him upon returning from Mother Ghost Ridge just a little while ago.

A young man called Su Yi had left his mark on the stele beside the Fire Peach Tree: “On the fourth day of the second month of the Great Zhou’s calendar, Su Yi took three Fire Peaches and left.”

“As expected. More and more unusual situations are cropping up…..” Ge Changling muttered to himself. 

It was thirty years ago that he first stepped into the ranks of the Ten Great Xiantian Martial Ancestors. Now, practically no one knew just what level Ge Changling’s cultivation had reached. 

“Don’t tell me it’s just as that stele I saw at Green Ivy Yao Mountain all those years ago said? Is this world truly destined to undergo an as-of-yet unknown and shocking change?” Ge Changling sank into deep thought.

Many years ago, he had a fortuitous encounter while exploring one of the Eight Great Yao Mountains, Green Ivy Yao Mountain. He’d happened upon a damaged stone stele.

There was an ancient message carved in cuneiform on its surface:

“The sealed power will one day break free of the earth.

“Everything that is shackled will one day escape its bonds.

“The grand events and bloodshed of days long gone will return even grander than before.

“Before the mists part, consider all unusual occurrences omens!”

No one knew who’d left those words atop the stele. The years had worn away at the text, and the symbols were indistinct, yet they still emanated a shocking power.

In the years that followed, Ge Changling often subconsciously thought back to that stele. It was like a lingering nightmare; he just couldn’t get it out of his head.

Now, after years of experiencing the ups and downs of worldly affairs, and after uncovering numerous deeply-hidden secrets, Ge Changling vaguely understood: the Azure Continent was nowhere near as simple as it appeared on the surface. 

The Great Zhou’s Eight Great Yao Mountains alone hid numerous terrifying mysteries!

The more he learned, the more deeply he realized that the words carved atop that stele were no mere vague prophecy. 

They were a deduction built on a foundation of fact!

“Before the mists part, consider all unusual occurrences omens….” Ge Changling’s expression gradually turned serious. “This Su Yi… he’s unquestionably an unusual character… Could he be one such omen?”

After a while, Ge Changling shook his head. These matters transcended the limits of his comprehension. He had his suspicions and conjectures, but he dared not confirm anything. 

Even so, after learning about Su Yi’s accomplishments, he was increasingly aware that the words written on that stone stele might one day become a reality!

Meanwhile, beneath the same night sky.

The Great Zhou’s southwestern frontier, a city near Silverflame Yao Mountain.

A young woman sat silently atop the unmanned city walls. She wore snow-white clothes, and she had an ancient sword strapped to her back. The skies above her were deep and black, and the stars were radiant.

“Don’t tell me this Su Yi kid was possessed by a cultivator from another world? Or that he obtained some mysterious sealed power?” The young woman held a gourd of wine. She took a small sip, and a hint of contemplation appeared on her soft, gentle features.

After a while, she put the gourd away and rose to her feet.

She cut a graceful, aloof figure, and beneath the starlight, she emanated a faint, ethereal, rosy light, like the goddess of the moon. 

The sword on her back gave her an additional layer of cold ferocity. 

“When I get back from Silverflame Yao Mountain, I’ll pay him a visit.” When the young woman in white made up her mind, her figure flashed like a streak of ethereal light, and she disappeared into the vast darkness. 

The young woman’s name was Yue Shichan, but she had an even more resounding title: the Great Zhou’s Featherflow King.