Snow was falling harder and harder on Zhenwu Mountain.
Although Daoist Longshan was already a Heaven-Man Realm expert, he had no reason to idly tamper with the weather.
As the year-end approached, one Zhenwu disciple after another returned to the mountain. Outer and inner sect disciples were all gearing up, ready to showcase their skills in the upcoming Year-End Tournament. With Daoist Longshan stepping into the Heaven-Man Realm, the Zhenwu Sect began expanding in an orderly fashion.
The rewards for the tournament had become increasingly generous, and many martial techniques left the disciples drooling.
But what they didn't know was—
Most of those were created by Ning Qi.
Over the years, Ning Qi had read through everything in the Scripture Pavilion. Even if done casually, every single martial technique he created was extraordinary. With his current cultivation, it was as easy for him to craft Body Tempering and Inner Origin Realm techniques as it was to eat or drink.
Now, his focus was mostly on Heaven-Man level secret arts.
One by one, the True Disciples also returned to the mountain.
They had all made visible progress, but none brought back the information about the Martial Saint that Ning Qi wanted. Each of them felt guilty and instead gathered more miscellaneous classics to enrich the Scripture Pavilion's library.
Ning Qi wasn't surprised. He just smiled and reassured his senior brothers that it was fine and asked them to keep an eye out in the future.
After all, it was just a shot in the dark. His senior brothers and sisters were all at the Inner Origin or Qi Origin Realm. To even hear rumors about Martial Saint-level knowledge required serious luck.
But Jiang Baishan seemed to be in luck.
He was the last to return to the mountain.
This time, Jiang Baishan didn't come back in the sorry state he usually did. Instead, he had a faint smile on his lips.
Everyone teased him about almost getting his arm chopped off the last time and asked if he'd run into that woman and taken back the stage this time. Jiang Baishan just scratched his head awkwardly and shook it. Though everyone joked around, he didn't seem to mind—he simply didn't want to go into details.
Everyone clicked their tongues in amazement.
Then their attention was quickly drawn to another piece of news Jiang Baishan brought back:
"Little Junior Brother, while I didn't find anything about the Martial Saint, I did learn some things about beings on the same level."
Ning Qi perked up, quickly catching on.
"You mean… exotic beasts?"
Jiang Baishan grinned.
"Exactly. We all know it's said that exotic beasts are descendants of Heavenly Beasts. Those who rival Heaven-Man Realm experts are called Beast Kings, while those who match Martial Saints are called Beast Emperors. I heard that deep in the Ten Thousand Mountains of the Southern Border, there are Beast Emperors!" 𝘳ἈΝỔВƐṣ
"But for some reason, after appearing briefly, they tend to vanish again, rarely surfacing."
"One theory is that Beast Emperors have tapped into their Heavenly Beast bloodline to an extreme level. And since Heavenly Beasts were said to be rejected by the world, the Beast Emperors might have suffered the same fate."
Ning Qi's eyes lit up, his interest piqued even more.
"Where did you hear this?"
Jiang Baishan scratched his head.
"Just overheard it somewhere, not sure if it's true. Don't take it too seriously, Little Junior Brother."
Ning Qi gave a slight nod.
His instincts told him there was a connection between Beast Emperors and Martial Saints—they were definitely not unrelated.
Maybe… if White Ape could one day evolve his bloodline deep enough to become a Beast Emperor, the truth could be uncovered. Ning Qi quietly held onto that thought. It might be a long road, but it was a road nonetheless.
Jiang Baishan continued,
"I'll go look again next year. See if I can find more detailed info."
Ning Qi nodded with a smile.
He had a feeling Jiang Baishan's intel might be tied to that mysterious woman, but he didn't press. Everyone had their own secrets. Even between close senior and junior brothers, there had to be boundaries. Just knowing this much already satisfied him.
…
At the year-end gathering, everyone shared their experiences and stories from the world below.
Ning Qi, having spent most of his time on Zhenwu Mountain, listened with great interest. In the past nine years, apart from the journey where Daoist Longshan first brought him to the mountain, the farthest he had gone was Zhenwu City at the base of the mountain.
Still, Ning Qi never found it dull.
Only those who could endure solitude could pursue the Great Dao.
But he figured—
Next year, there was a high chance he'd be leaving the mountain.
The reason lay with the Blood Rain Pavilion.
A few days ago—
Someone had sent a pigeon message to Daoist Longshan, saying the Blood Rain Pavilion had suddenly gone underground, likely realizing someone was investigating them.
"Little Nine, this Blood Rain Pavilion isn't simple. There might be a Heaven-Man Realm expert behind it. The ones who slaughtered Xue Mei Manor back then might've just been a small branch," Daoist Longshan discussed with Ning Qi.
In the end, Ning Qi made up his mind.
After the year-end, he would personally pursue the Blood Rain Pavilion's trail.
As long as they left a trace, with the many secret arts Ning Qi had mastered, he was bound to find them. Originally, he wanted others to do the tracking, and he'd only step in at the end to kill the enemy.
But now it seemed—better to end it early before anything unexpected happened.
Ning Qi didn't dwell too much on it.
With his current strength, he only needed to locate them. Back then, even "Lord Feng" had to tread carefully around Daoist Longshan, who was only at the Core Formation Realm. There was no way he had reached the Heaven-Man Realm in just nine years. Even peerless geniuses couldn't advance that fast.
Besides, even if he had reached the Heaven-Man Realm, Ning Qi could still suppress him with ease.
The Zhenwu Sect's year-end tournament proceeded as planned, and the sect was thriving.
The foundation of the Zhenwu Sect had grown much deeper. With enough time to settle, it would inevitably explode with a strength that would draw everyone's attention.
…
Heavy snow kept falling.
The Divine Sword Sect was also holding its year-end tournament. During the last incident at the Deadfire Abyss branch, the Divine Sword Elder had taken part in the battle too. Luckily, he only suffered minor injuries and had long since recovered.
At this moment—
The Divine Sword Elder watched the disciples sparring, but his thoughts were elsewhere. He was thinking about a report his disciple had brought him a few days ago. Something about it didn't sit right with him.
"Master, are you still thinking about what Brother Zhang reported?" asked Dong He, the First Disciple standing beside him. "Wasn't that blood pool already destroyed? No need to worry."
The Divine Sword Elder nodded slowly.
"I just feel that blood pool wasn't that simple. It wasn't just some rich man trying to prolong his life. I suspect something bigger is behind it."
Dong He paused, then said,
"If that's true, then our Divine Sword Sect should be even more careful. If something big is behind it, our disciples might get dragged into the storm. Wouldn't it be better to pretend it never happened?"
The Divine Sword Elder's brows furrowed. He snapped angrily,
"Dong He! What have I always taught you? When faced with injustice, uphold righteousness. If we ignore evil just to save ourselves, we're accomplices! If we don't get to the bottom of the blood pool incident, who knows how many more innocent lives might be lost?"
His eyes held deep disappointment toward Dong He.
Everyone around looked on nervously. No one knew why the Divine Sword Elder was so furious, or why he and the First Disciple were suddenly arguing.
The Divine Sword Elder clenched his fists and suppressed his anger, saying in a low voice,
"After the year-end, I will personally investigate this matter. I want to see who exactly is behind all this chaos!"
Dong He lowered his head and said in a strange tone,
"Master, why do you always care so much about appearances and suffer for it?"
The Divine Sword Elder froze. He looked at Dong He in disbelief, unable to accept that such words came from his own First Disciple.
"You!"
Dong He slowly looked up, a bloody glint in his eyes. Without warning, he struck. A blast of Qi surged toward the Divine Sword Elder, who was just inches away.
No one had realized he'd broken through to the White Mist Realm. Not even the Divine Sword Elder had noticed.
"You what? Old b*stard, die already!"
He roared, face twisted with rage. Everyone else stood frozen in horror, unable to understand what was happening.
The Divine Sword Elder's body trembled. His Core Formation flared, and his Qi surged, but then he realized something was off.
"You poisoned me, you treacherous b*stard?!"
He was furious, his eyes filled with sorrow.
Dong He had followed him since the days on Divine Sword Mountain. He never imagined he'd be betrayed like this. It was hard to believe.
"Why?"
Dong He drew his sword. Sword Qi slashed out wildly, as if venting every dark emotion he had.
"Why? You want to know why? Because you're a stubborn old fool who clings to pride and honor, but offers nothing in return. After we lost Divine Sword Mountain, you thought your promises meant something. In truth, you were the biggest f*cking idiot. Do you have any idea how much cultivation time I lost because of you?!"
"Why? You have the nerve to ask me that? I wanted the Condensed Qi Pill too! I wanted to break into the Qi Origin Realm!"
He couldn't describe how envious he was watching Luo Wentian use a Condensed Qi Pill to advance.
Too bad—
He wasn't that lucky.
The Divine Sword Elder was heartbroken. All those years of teaching had gone to waste. His eyes turned steely.
"Ungrateful scum! Did you think poisoning me was enough to take me down? Naive!"
He surged his Qi to suppress the poison.
Dong He's smile twisted even more. His blood-red eyes gleamed with vicious delight.
"Alone, maybe I can't. But…"
"What about with our help?"
Low, grim laughter echoed. Outside the Divine Sword Sect's gate, black-clad figures descended like hunting hawks, bringing a storm of killing intent. Even within the sect, some disciples' eyes turned blood-red.
The Divine Sword Elder's heart sank.
He realized—
Today was a disaster.
He didn't know where those black-clad killers came from, but the ones leading them were all at the Core Formation Realm. Even at his peak, they'd be hard to handle—let alone now, poisoned.
"Divine Sword Sect disciples—TO ARMS!!" he roared skyward.
Battle erupted in an instant.
Snow fell, stained with blood.
Shouts and screams filled the Divine Sword Sect.
Zhuang Chen stood frozen, terrified by the sudden betrayal. He couldn't believe that his usually gentle First Senior Brother had turned into a demon. Clenching his teeth, he raised his sword. With his Inner Origin Realm cultivation and the Innate Sword Body secret art Ning Qi had taught him, he unleashed considerable power.
One of the black-clad men locked eyes on him.
"Get that chubby one! Alive!"
His eyes glinted with greed—he'd learned from Dong He that Zhuang Chen possessed an Innate Sword Bone.
The Divine Sword Elder flared his Qi and pulled Zhuang Chen behind him. When he looked back, his eyes were full of sorrow.
So many familiar disciples now lay in pools of blood.
The Divine Sword Sect—was doomed today.
Tears streamed down his face. He felt guilty. But when he looked at Zhuang Chen, a touch of love flickered in his gaze.
"Chen'er, I'll protect you one last time!"
The Divine Sword Elder roared furiously to the sky.
His Core Formation cracked with a loud crack, surging with overwhelming Qi.
It burst forth like a divine blade, his hair and beard flying like a celestial demon.
It was the final dance recorded in the incomplete Sword Saint legacy he had obtained back in the day.
The Sword Core Shattering Technique.