When a broom star appears, calamity arises.
Throughout all dynasties, a broom star has never been a good omen.
"That's right."
Xu Wencai hurriedly rose and bowed, then continued, "This broom star is plunging straight into the Five Emperors Seat—it is aimed directly at the foundation of the Great Sheng Dynasty!"
"Then can you calculate the exact date?"
Chen Sanshi asked.
Xu Wencai answered without hesitation, "Approximately from the 6th to the 9th day of the 3rd month."
"That precise?"
Chen Sanshi found it profound. "May I take a look at your Book of Celestial Officials?"
The Book of Celestial Officials.
It was the star-observation technique that circulated throughout the Divine Continent.
"My lord, you must not!"
Xu Wencai said urgently. "Peering into heavenly secrets damages the Heavenly Dao. For mortals it might be tolerable, but my lord now cultivates immortal methods. If you pry into heavenly secrets, it may affect your future Dao path!"
"Forget it."
Chen Sanshi understood this as well.
Without special means, cultivators truly dared not pry into heavenly secrets.
On the contrary, mortals—if willing to pay a price—could glimpse a thing or two, though it would only ever be a thing or two.
"Chirp—"
As they spoke.
The blue bird flew back and landed on his shoulder.
Chen Sanshi removed the letter, opened it, and after reading, his expression darkened slightly. He gave an order: "You lead the army to station at Kunyang. I need to go handle something first. Once the war begins, I'll head straight to Kunyang to find you."
With that, he stepped onto a flying artifact and soared away.
Liangzhou.
Compared to the chaos of the Central Plains, the northern border provinces were unusually calm. Only the beggars gathered near the city walls and the sallow, emaciated commoners indirectly proved that the world was far from peaceful.
Outside the city gates, people queued endlessly to enter.
There were merchants from nearby regions, villagers from outside the city coming in to buy grain, and people seeking refuge with relatives after suffering from war…
A wandering swordsman carrying a broad sword on his back, chewing on a foxtail grass, sat on a crowded wooden cart together with many refugees seeking relatives. After inspection, they entered the city.
"Take this."
"Oh! Thank you, great hero!"
A beggar who had been half-asleep jolted awake when silver was tossed before him. He grabbed it and repeatedly bowed in thanks toward the man in front of him.
"I ask you."
The wandering swordsman stepped on the stone stair, raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Where is the Grand Commander's Residence?"
"The Grand Commander's Residence?"
The beggar pointed east. "The biggest one over there. If you go now, you might still catch the porridge distribution—"
Before he could finish speaking, the wandering swordsman had already vanished.
The Grand Commander's Residence.
At the corner, several large sheds were set up. Inside each shed stood a massive iron cauldron, boiling fragrant grain. Ragged commoners lined up to receive porridge.
Years of constant warfare had left the people in misery.
Liangzhou was slightly better off, but not by much.
The Grand Commander's Residence had always been distributing wealth, even repeatedly cutting back its own expenses. Even so, the effect was minimal.
Especially under current conditions—even with money, it was hard to buy grain.
Silver was still silver; it did not necessarily turn into food.
"You want some too?!"
Siqin looked at the tall, sturdy wandering swordsman before her. She knocked away the broken bowl he extended with her wooden ladle and scolded, "You look so strong—probably a martial artist. You don't look hungry at all! How can you have the nerve to compete with the villagers for food?!"
"It's precisely martial artists who get hungry easily."
The swordsman grinned unconcernedly. "If the young lady won't give me any, then I'll have no choice but to take it by force."
"You—!"
Siqin was about to argue.
But Mohua beside her stopped her, picked up the wooden ladle, and filled a bowl for him.
"Thanks."
The wandering swordsman didn't mind the heat. He gulped it down noisily in one go. After reaching the side of the Grand Commander's Residence, he casually tossed the porcelain bowl away, leapt up, landed atop the wall, and swiftly slipped inside.
He stepped across roof tiles without making a sound, quickly reaching Fufeng Pavilion in the rear courtyard, where the Chen family members lived.
In the spacious courtyard, under the pavilion, women embroidered, a young girl read, and children played.
Silently, the wandering swordsman had already gripped his long sword.
Behind him, several cultivators from the Shengyun Sect arrived as well, each summoning their own artifacts.
"Wait."
Ling Kui raised his hand. "Not True Persons."
Hearing this.
One of the cultivators pressed two fingers together and drew them across his eyes, casting a spell to see through illusions. Sure enough, all of these were merely avatar talismans.
"First-tier Avatar Talismans."
Different talisman grades produced different effects.
First-tier corresponded only to Qi Refining cultivators.
"It seems the Chen surnamed fellow transferred his family away in advance. The residence should only have some unimportant maids and servants left."
"Then search. If they're not in the city, search the mountains. Don't tell me you can't find a few mortals who don't even understand concealment techniques."
Ling Kui slowly sheathed his sword and said calmly, "He has 2 wives, 1 son, and 1 daughter—4 people in total, 4 heads. Not a single one can be missing."
At the Battle of Chibi.
All of Ling Kui's juniors were wiped out.
Blood debts must be repaid in blood.
The Luotian Mountain Range.
Fifth Mountain.
Amid these desolate mountains and wild ridges, a narrow path wound onward. The bluestone steps were covered in moss, birds chirped incessantly, and streams murmured as they flowed. In the depths, bamboo houses stood scattered in orderly rows within the mountain forest.
Near the bamboo houses, ferocious beasts would pass by from time to time—saber-toothed tigers, Zouwu, golden-eyed giant pythons, and the like. Every single one of them was a fierce and rare exotic beast.
Yet at this very moment.
They lived in remarkable harmony with the humans who had secluded themselves here.
Wherever Chen Yunxi went, fierce beasts followed.
"This child…"
Ningxiang leaned against the wooden railing and said softly, "Who would have thought that while her younger brother has no spiritual root and can only practice martial arts, she has decent spiritual roots herself? And with this special constitution—if she were placed in a beast-taming sect of the cultivation world, she'd probably be raised as a Saintess."
Before this.
Chen Yunxi had already gotten along extremely well with her younger brother's ill-tempered roaring golden beast.
Even the last time the roaring golden beast injured someone, it was she who stopped it.
At the time, everyone thought it was simply because she was familiar with that spirit beast.
But after the war began and they hid away in the mountain forest, they gradually discovered how profound the situation truly was.
No matter the size or type of exotic beast, Chen Yunxi could communicate with them—and even command them in battle.
In simpler terms, she did not need a contract to control spirit beasts.
On the path of beast-taming.
Only by signing a contract could one ensure a spirit beast's loyalty, prevent backlash, and establish effective communication—controlling it as easily as one's own arm.
At every realm, a cultivator had a limit to the number of contracts they could form.
But Chen Yunxi…
She had no such limitation.
As long as she wished, she could command countless spirit beasts.
Of course.
Spirit beasts varied in strength. Without sufficient bloodline potential, sheer numbers alone were useless.
"I wonder how long this war will drag on."
Zhao Zhao lay listlessly across the railing, tossing stones into the pond as she muttered, "Hiding in the mountains like savages every day—I'm bored to death."
"What's wrong, child?"
Ningxiang looked at Chen Yunxi's tense expression.
"T-there are people."
Chen Yunxi pursed her lips and pointed downhill. Her soft voice trembled slightly. "Little Skylark told me—someone has come up the mountain."
Ningxiang's expression tightened.
Within the forest.
A cultivator from the Shengyun Sect held a white mink in his hand as he steadily closed in on the bamboo houses. When he reached the mountainside, he stopped, frowned, and muttered to himself, "The aura's gone?"
"Rustle, rustle…"
As he hesitated, movement sounded from the grass ahead.
Looking closely.
It was a small child lying on the ground, fiddling with something.
"Little one."
Xie Fujun moved closer and probed, "You're so young—why are you alone in the forest? Aren't you afraid of being eaten by wolves?"
The child glanced at him, ignored him, and continued focusing on what he was doing.
"Hey!"
Being ignored made the cultivator angry. He stepped forward and grabbed the child, lifting him up. "I'm talking to you!"
"Impudent!"
Chen Duhe floated in midair and shouted at him, "How dare you disrespect this prince!"
"A prince? What kind of prince are you, you little brat?!"
Xie Fujun impatiently raised his flying sword and threatened, "Your surname's Chen, right? Take me to where you're hiding. Otherwise, I'll slaughter you!"
One could see—
The 3-year-old child who had been speaking so loftily, upon seeing the gleaming blade, first showed fear, then burst into tears in terror.
"You little brat!"
Xie Fujun sneered and barked again, "Stop crying and lead me there!"
"Waaah—waaah—"
The child cried loudly while pointing toward the southeast.
Xie Fujun's expression lit up. He roughly tucked the child under his arm and rushed off in the indicated direction.
After walking about 70 to 80 steps.
Mana fluctuations suddenly came from ahead.
He immediately summoned his flying sword, colliding with an incoming silver ring artifact.
"A magic treasure?!"
The cultivator tensed at first, but after seeing his opponent clearly, his expression turned disdainful.
Because the one controlling the silver ring—
Was merely a female cultivator at the middle stage of Qi Refining, completely unable to unleash a magic treasure's true power.
"Boom!"
After a brief clash.
The silver ring was knocked flying back.
Ningxiang struggled to regain control of it, her body pushed far backward by the surging spells before she finally stabilized herself.
"I've found you!"
Xie Fujun was overjoyed. Just as he was about to crush the child in his arms, an icy stab pierced his chest. Half his body instantly went numb. He reflexively flung the child away—only then did he see that at some unknown moment, a reddish-brown venomous snake had appeared against his chest!
Within that snake coexisted the essence of the sun and moon and foul qi. Its venom had clearly reached first-tier!
"Damn it!"
Xie Fujun suddenly remembered—
The Luotian Mountain Range contained foul veins. There was a strong chance that mutated beasts existed here!
In barely 2 breaths.
He felt foul qi invade his body. His meridians throbbed in agony, mana became impossible to circulate, his mind grew dizzy, and his footing turned unsteady. Looking again at the child—there was not the slightest trace of the earlier fear and sobbing. After being thrown to the ground, the child now stared at him with a vicious gaze.
Vicious?!
Damn it.
How could such an expression appear on the face of a 3-year-old child?!
This little beast—had he been acting earlier?
He had never been afraid at all.
Pretending to agree and point the way—just to make him let down his guard so the snake could bite him?!
3 or 4 years old?
Some slightly dull children that age could barely even speak properly!
Who would ever be on guard against a 3-year-old child?!
Xie Fujun had indeed heard that in the cultivation world, some children were born different from ordinary people, but he never would have imagined he would run into one himself in the mortal world.
"You little beast, I'll kill you!"
He lifted his flying sword, about to strike, but the female cultivator holding the magic treasure attacked again.
Xie Fujun had no choice but to twist his body and change direction, blocking the silver ring once more. At the same time, he moved quickly to seal his acupoints and stuffed several detoxification pills into his mouth at random to prevent the injury from worsening.
He was a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator at the 9th level.
Even with the snake venom restricting him, gritting his teeth and killing a Qi Refining cultivator at the 4th or 5th level was still not a problem.
But at this very moment.
Xie Fujun saw the deep eyes of that woman in purple flare with pink spiritual light, and his heart instantly sank—yet it was already too late. He only felt his mind sway, almost losing consciousness.
With her cultivation below his, her charm technique could actually have such a huge effect!
He silently recited a mind-calming mantra, forcibly preserving a thread of clarity at the cost of burning his own essence blood.
And then…
He saw a young girl in a yellow dress form hand seals and drive a flying sword to stab at him.
She was only at the early stage of Qi Refining.
Yet the flying sword she thrust out was so fast it was impossible to track.
Xie Fujun's chest was pierced on the spot, a bloody hole punched straight through, and his body stiffened as he toppled backward.
Immediately after, one spirit beast after another—and exotic beasts—appeared from the forest, charging at him in an organized assault. Behind those ferocious beasts, a young girl with a timid little face hid.
Sharp fangs and pointed jaws began tearing at his limbs.
With snake venom, charm technique, sword wounds, and more piled on top of one another, Xie Fujun had long since lost the strength to fight back. Through his blurry vision, he saw a 3-year-old child pick up his flying sword and stagger toward him, swaying with each step.
Monsters!
What the hell were all these monsters?!
Not a single normal person!
In his heart, only endless terror remained.
The 3-year-old dragged the flying sword up to the dying cultivator. Gritting his teeth, he used every last bit of strength he had just to lift the flying sword up—then he could no longer hold it, letting it fall freely.
The sword edge smashed down onto Xie Fujun's neck, ending his life.
A 3-year-old child, killing an immortal master!
That scene.
Made Ningxiang and the others' hearts tremble.
How old was this child? H-he killed someone?
And the one he killed was even a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator?!
"He'er!"
Gu Xinlan and Sun Li arrived last.
Lan jie'er picked up the toddler, flustered as she checked him for injuries. "He'er, does it hurt?"
After confirming the child was fine, only then did she react to what her son had just done.
"Mother!"
Chen Duhe pointed at the corpse on the ground, already mangled beyond recognition by the exotic beasts, and complained, "He disrespected me!"
Right above them.
Chen Sanshi, who had been holding a drawn bowstring, witnessed the entire process.
He could have simply shot through the cultivator's head—and instead he watched his 3-year-old son kill a man with his own hands.
Even someone who had walked out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Chen Sanshi found it hard to believe.
But there was no time to dwell on it.
He stepped on his artifact and descended from the sky.
"Shi ge'er?"
"Daddy?"
"General."
Ningxiang asked, "When did you arrive?"
"When they set out, I already knew."
Chen Sanshi did not waste words. "I've already cleaned up everyone else nearby. We can't stay here long. Hurry and come with me—starting today, you'll all be accompanying the army."
Once cultivators had appeared, the rear was no longer safe.
They might be few and unable to seize cities or conquer territory, but assassination was still no problem for them.