Chapter 70 – The Yue Family’s Calamity

He Yuntian had not relied purely on Luck to snatch the Transformative Netherwater from under so many eyes — he had a few tricks up his sleeve. One thing that few people knew was that he cultivated both martial arts and sorcery.

He had been born with poor aptitude and could not cultivate true qi, and this had been a knot in his heart. Even after he eventually managed to cultivate sorcery, he could never fully overcome that inner barrier. Fortunately, a rare encounter had come along and transformed his constitution.

So while he did know sorcery, he kept it as a hidden ace and preferred to fight with martial force in his day-to-day battles.

He Yuntian knew that this arena match forbade the use of external objects, but did the process really matter?

He Yuntian relied on his agile footwork to maneuver around Iron Shield, his moves brilliant and dazzling, repeatedly turning danger into opportunity, drawing cheers from the soldiers watching outside the ring.

Inwardly he was cautious — the imposing pressure of a Prenatal realm cultivator was no joke. A fierce fist wind swept past his cheek, leaving a stinging sensation.

Now is the time — Kuisheng, confuse him!

— I’m on it.

After Iron Shield’s fist swung through empty air, he immediately struck sideways, but in the eyes of the onlookers, it appeared as though he had simply missed and then pulled back, seemingly waiting for a better opening. Yet He Yuntian pressed forward aggressively, and with one move of “Autumn Wind Sweeps Fallen Leaves,” he toppled the body-cultivator whose lower stance had been as immovable as a boulder!

“Excellent!” Yue Kun burst out in a great shout.

The soldiers of the Dabi Army raised their spears together and cheered.

The training ground was located in the southern Outskirts of Huangzhou; fifty li further on was Qiukui Mountain, which also served as a hunting ground.

While the training ground was filled with wave after wave of cheers, Qiukui Mountain was shrouded in killing intent.

Yue Changming swallowed a mouthful of saliva. Blood slid down from his forehead and dripped onto the grass leaves at his feet. “Who are those people?”

“Shh.”

Several people held their breath, hiding in the undergrowth, their faces taut, their constantly trembling eyes betraying their terror.

It was only after a full hour had passed and the quiet forest rang with the sound of cicadas that someone finally collapsed limply to the ground, unable to hold on any longer.

“Hurry — we must report this to the General at once,” one of them said. Originally, they had been lying in ambush at various points throughout Qiukui Mountain according to plan, waiting to catch the Crimson Blood Army in one fell swoop. Yet before they could even bring out any of their many schemes, their own people had been silently picked off one by one. Had he not run into the others nearby and banded together to fight off the enemy, he would likely have already become a corpse.

Yue Changming leaned against a tree trunk to stand up — and then, with a sharp whistle, an arrow pierced straight through his chest.

A rain of arrows followed. Muffled groans rang out continuously from the people around him.

He looked upward in disbelief. Behind the dense canopy of leaves, arrowheads glinted with cold light.

In his last moment, the undergrowth parted, and a blurry Figure slowly walked forward.

Zhan Changfeng glanced at the sun’s position. Dealing with those few Prenatal realm cultivators had taken quite some time, but fortunately she had made it.

She flicked the blood from her sword. “Let’s go. Time to get to work.”

“As you command, Your Highness.” Figures flickered among the trees, and in an instant, all was silent once more.

In a roadside ditch on the way to Xiaohan Town, a half-naked old man with nothing but a pair of red undershorts crawled out. Passersby who saw him covered their mouths and laughed.

“What are you looking at!” Yue Lie’s face flushed red with embarrassment. Suddenly his mind jolted, and he frantically groped about his body searching for the letter. Which beast had ambushed him? When he got his hands on whoever it was, he would tear them to pieces!

Yue Lie was so furious he was practically smoking from all seven orifices. He dug through the ditch but could not find the letter, and instantly felt as though he had been plunged into an ice cellar — first burning hot, then freezing cold — until his face had turned a mottled shade of purple.

Anyone who reached the Prenatal realm on their own was no ordinary person. Yue Lie threw aside his dignity and seized a passerby’s horse, cracked the whip, and rode straight for Xiaohan Town.

The Eagle in the tree preened its feathers and dozed off. Half an hour later, the thunder of hoofbeats shook the ground.

Training Ground.

“Big Brother Yuntian is truly incredible — he won three matches in a row!”

“It’s not that I’m incredible; it’s just that they’re too weak.”

He Yuntian smiled and said little else, which made him seem all the more profound and unfathomable to Yue Lanshan.

Yue Kun glanced between the young man and young woman, then clapped He Yuntian on the shoulder and laughed heartily. “Young friend, you are truly a young hero. Come, join me for a meal at the first camp!”

“That doesn’t seem appropriate,” He Yuntian demurred. “I am only a junior — how could I drink alongside such distinguished officers?”

“Nonsense,” Yue Kun said with a mock frown. “You are the hero of my Dabi Army, an honored guest of this Yue Kun. What could possibly be inappropriate? Are you looking down on me?”

Yue Lanshan also urged him, “Big Brother Yuntian, just go with Father.”

After declining several more times, He Yuntian ultimately agreed. The moment he stepped into the first camp, several gazes fell upon him at once. At the head of the two sides sat Huangzhou’s governor Tang Xian and envoy Fang Heng respectively, with the officers of the various camps below them. He faced those questioning looks without the slightest flinch, smiling as he followed Yue Kun to the second seat, directly opposite the commanders of the Crimson Blood Army.

Tang Xian smoothed things over with a compliment: “This young man’s strength is extraordinary, and he carries himself with neither arrogance nor servility — he truly has the bearing of a master. General Yue, shouldn’t you introduce him to us?”

“Ha ha, his abilities are beyond what I could summarize in a few words. If anything, having him in my army is doing him a disservice,” Yue Kun said with a smile, then turned to He Yuntian. “Would you care to introduce yourself?”

He Yuntian said, “My surname is He, given name Yuntian. I am in your care.”

And that was that.

Everyone present knew he was comparable to a Prenatal realm cultivator, so naturally no one faulted his cool and aloof manner — on the contrary, they felt it was only fitting.

Tang Xian observed keenly: a man as proud as Yue Kun would not speak so warmly to a junior without good reason, so this person must have a remarkable background. Flattery poured naturally from his lips. The Dabi Army’s generals, seeing this, were also generous with their praise and compliments.

After much pleasant conversation that left mouths dry and spirits high, Tang Xian raised his cup toward Fang Heng and Zero-Two and said, “The bouts this morning were truly splendid. Both sides are tied at one win and one loss. It all comes down to the afternoon’s hunt to see who has the last laugh. I’ll offer my early wishes for a flawless conclusion to these joint exercises. We are all officials serving the same court — competition is fine, but let’s not let it sour the friendship between us. Come, allow me to toast you first!”

“Well said, governor Tang.” Fang Heng drained his cup, then refilled it. “The generals of the Dabi Army all bear the weight of the nation on their shoulders. This cup is for you. Regardless of how the hunt goes, we are all comrades fighting side by side!”

Zero-Two also raised her cup. “Come, bottoms up!”

Yue Kun and the Dabi Army generals also raised their cups. As for the hunt — they had their own plans — but for now they still had to play the part of brotherly camaraderie. “Bottoms up!”

He Yuntian also brought his cup to his lips and drained it in one bold swallow, just like the generals.

The tent was filled with the cheerful clink of cups and the babble of conversation. He Yuntian mulled things over for a moment, then feigned concern and reached out to stop Yue Kun from drinking again. “General Yue, isn’t there still the afternoon hunt? Best not to get drunk.”

Yue Kun tipped his head and emptied his cup, concealing the deep thought behind his eyes. He set the cup down with a smiling expression. “Young friend, do you know what the four great joys of life are?”

“I know those,” He Yuntian recited, “The wedding night with a new bride, the day your name appears on the imperial examination list, encountering sweet rain after a long drought, meeting an old friend in a distant land — the four great joys.”

“Not quite — those are the joys of ordinary men, not mine,” Yue Kun said in a voice only the two of them could hear. “To lie drunk with your head in a beauty’s lap, to wake and hold power over all under heaven, to meet with the wind and clouds at the right moment, and to transform into a dragon and ride the clouds away — those are my joys.”

He added with a self-mocking laugh, “What a pity — the last two I’ll never be able to realize in this lifetime.”

To lie drunk with your head in a beauty’s lap, to wake and hold power over all under heaven, to meet with the wind and clouds at the right moment, and to transform into a dragon and ride the clouds away. He Yuntian repeated the lines several times in his mind. His heart was stirred, yet he said, “The first two mean little to me — it’s the last two that make one’s heart soar.”

“Your chances are far greater than mine,” Yue Kun said, shaking his wine jug. “I’m just a worldly man. All I want is to drink strong wine and go down fighting.”

This crafty old fox. He Yuntian smiled and said, “Then we complement each other perfectly. General Yue, feel free to call on me for anything. Since I address your daughter as a sister, if you don’t mind, I would like to call you Uncle.”

“Wonderful, wonderful! Who wouldn’t admire a talented young hero — I’ve gotten quite the bargain.” Yue Kun had not thought much of his strength at first, but after the arena bouts, he saw him in a new light. A young man who could already stand shoulder to shoulder with the established Prenatal realm elders was not someone one could afford to overlook.

There had been no reply yet from Xiaohan Town, and what he urgently needed was precisely someone like He Yuntian — supremely capable, ruthlessly effective, and with a boundless Future ahead of him.

Yue Kun needed no further deliberation; he planned to find a quiet moment later to have a private word with He Yuntian. As it happened, He Yuntian had the same intention — a perfect meeting of minds.

Zero-Two glanced past Yue Kun’s smile and swept over Tang Xian’s slightly tipsy eyes, silently counting down in her heart.

Three!

Two!

One!

“Strike!”

The Crimson Blood Army generals drew their blades and rose, slashing at the men across from them. Spurts of blood exploded through the air.

Yue Kun instinctively rolled to the side, but the blade still caught his shoulder. He tried to summon his strength — and found it soft and useless. His heart seized with dread.

He Yuntian broke into a cold sweat as well. He bit the tip of his tongue to stay alert. “Kuisheng, come out and help me!”

A beam of light flew out from the pouch at his waist and transformed into a white tiger two zhang long. Its massive claws swiped at the attacker and sent him crashing out of the tent.

The tiger was ferociously powerful, and its appearance was so bizarre and sudden that it momentarily stunned the Crimson Blood Army soldiers into stillness.

Zero-Two had not expected such an unexpected wild card to appear at this moment. She commanded, “Don’t panic — first, restrain He Yuntian!”

Yue Kun was overjoyed at the turn of events. “Yuntian, kill them all!”

The white tiger planted itself in front of He Yuntian to protect him and dared not move recklessly, only baring its teeth and roaring in fury.

Damn it. He Yuntian had never imagined he would fall into such a trap. The Crimson Blood Army had to pay the price. “Kuisheng, I’m fine — kill them!”

The white tiger surged forward with tremendous force and charged at Zero-Two and the others.

The beast’s speed was truly terrifying, and its strength hit like an iron hammer. Zero-Two was struck by a lash of its tail, and three of her ribs snapped. “Fall back — archers!”