Mid-flight, Wang Changxiang’s scalp prickled with an intense unease.

His refined martial cultivation allowed him to instantly form a Daoist mudra, poised for immediate action. Retreat was unthinkable. Instead, he lowered his shoulder and crashed through the bedroom door.

The room was empty, devoid of the villain he’d imagined holding his brother captive. Only his elder brother was present, curled into a ball on the bed, his hands clutched to the back of his head. Fresh blood stained his hands, and within it, several orange-yellow tufts of fur – Little Orange’s fur.

Dropping the mudra, Wang Changxiang rushed to the bedside, grasping his brother’s arm. “Brother, Brother! What happened to you?”

Wang Changji’s face was a mask of pain and distortion, contorted into a pained grimace. He pressed back against the wall, his hands flailing wildly in front of him, trying to ward off his younger brother. “Don’t come near! Don’t come…” He was on the verge of tears, his voice a desperate plea. Then, a roar of fury erupted. “Get away from me! Get far away!”

“Brother! What is it? Don’t scare me!” Wang Changxiang seized his flailing hands, heedless of the blood, tears streaming down his face. “What happened? We’ll face it together, you and I!”

“Ah.”

Wang Changxiang heard a sound like a sigh, as if something was being released. Then, he felt his brother’s grip tighten on his hands. Wang Changji’s hands were unnervingly cold.

He watched as Wang Changji, who had been curled in avoidance, lifted his head, his gaze fixed upon him. The struggle and distortion vanished from his face, replaced by a chilling calm. His voice was devoid of emotion, utterly cold.

“The time has come.”

As he spoke, an icy, surging power erupted from their point of contact, instantly shattering Wang Changxiang’s instinctive Dao Yuan defense! His blood seemed to freeze, his Dao Yuan congealed, and even his thoughts began to crystallize. He parted his lips, attempting to utter a final syllable. “Brother…” But the sound was trapped, frozen with his breath.

Wang Changji released his hands, and Wang Changxiang crumpled to the ground before him. He lay sprawled, face upward, his final gaze serene. None could know what thoughts occupied his mind in that last moment.

Rising, Wang Changji pulled the bedsheet over and slowly wiped the blood from his hands. His eyes held no trace of sorrow. Perhaps, from this moment on, he had shed all emotion. He began to walk towards the door, Wang Changxiang’s corpse lying directly in his path. He lifted a foot to step over it, but paused, withdrawing his foot.

He noticed the exquisite small bottle hanging from Wang Changxiang’s waistbelt. The aura emanating from it was so potent that even an existence like him felt its preciousness. Bending slightly, he plucked the bottle from the belt. Its name was etched upon its surface—Broad Pulse Spirit Liquid.

Straightening, Wang Changji stepped over the corpse and continued on his path. His face remained expressionless, yet, inexplicably, tears welled in his eyes.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! The fierce beasts have gone mad! Even the demon beasts!”

“Quick! Transmit word to New An City!”

“The transmission array has failed! No messages can get out!”

A hush fell over Flying Come Peak, the frantic cries suddenly silenced. Everyone understood the grim implications. When Sun Heng had cleared Erect Pen Peak, Zhuang Ting had been caught off guard, or perhaps their stance had been contradictory. The cultivators guarding Erect Pen Peak, without explicit orders, dared not openly defy the One Domain City Lord. They had initially believed the surging beast tide would force the Three Mountain City forces to retreat. Yet, unexpectedly, Sun Heng had pressed forward, fighting to the point of exhaustion, single-handedly breaking the beast tide.

Jade Balance Peak had faced imminent collapse for the first time, requiring Hall Hall State Minister Du Ru Hui himself to appear to hold back Dou Yue Mei. But who could have predicted that another would seize the opportunity of the County Academy Great Competition, with Du Ru Hui stationed in New An, to destroy Jade Balance Peak?

Now, within the Three Mountain City domain, only Flying Come Peak remained. It was true that numerous fierce beast lairs, used to nurture demon beasts, were hidden throughout the Zhuang Country border. However, lairs of Flying Come Peak’s caliber were strategic resources. Losing even one represented a colossal loss. Thus, formidable figures like Du Ru Hui would personally intervene multiple times. Zhuang Country simply could not afford such losses.

“Someone! Someone is rushing up!”

“Is it the White Bone Dao? Or people from Yong Country?”

With fierce beasts rioting and demon beasts gone mad within, and enemies rapidly breaching defenses from without, the isolated guards found themselves with nowhere to turn for aid. They couldn’t even accurately identify their attackers, for the assault had been too sudden, without any prior warning or clue. Someone had deliberately concealed everything.

Amidst the clamor and helpless panic, a cultivator from the Arrest Criminal Division, without a word, drew his sword and severed his own head! Fresh blood spurted from his throat, splattering the face of the person opposite him. The life souls of every cultivator guarding Flying Come Peak were bound by a secret art. Upon death, a reaction would immediately occur in New An City. With no other recourse, he used his death to transmit the message.

The cultivator whose face had been splattered with blood wiped his cheek, drew his sword, and charged down the mountain. “Kill! Kill them!” he roared. “Do not let them advance another step until the State Minister arrives!”

Except for the few cultivators desperately trying to repair the great array, almost all the guards on the peak roared in defiance, charging down the mountain collectively. These cultivators belonged to the Arrest Criminal Division, yet their names would never be remembered. They wore the same uniforms, but their names were not on any roster. For they undertook such secret tasks, performing deeds even they were unwilling to do. They carried shame and guilt, yet their gazes held pride. They had harmed innocent commoners, yet they guarded the future of Zhuang Country. What kind of people were they? How would history judge them? Perhaps it mattered greatly, perhaps not at all.

The time had come, the situation had reached this point. There was only one path: fight to the death.

I stand on high, watching, yet I shall not lose my grip!

The attack on Flying Come Peak had begun. The White Bone Dao’s decades-long scheme was in full swing, entering its final phase. Yet, as the White Bone Dao Holy Maiden, Miao Yu was lost in a fog of disappointment. She still hesitated, unsure whether to activate the meticulously planned third option – leveraging Jiang Wang’s promise of a third matter to help the Dao Child complete his awakening. She knew that if she failed to act at this final step, all her prior efforts would be in vain. At that point, the Venerable God Himself would descend, and the Dao Child’s awakening would hold no merit for her.

In the arduous times of the past, she had been told countless times that she was the White Bone Dao Holy Maiden. She would assist the White Bone Dao Child after his awakening, and together they would cleanse this impure world. The Dao Child would be her Dao companion. This had always been her spiritual anchor, the reason she had persevered to this point. Thus, she had been infatuated, even obsessed, with the Dao Child who had not yet appeared but surely would. So, upon confirming that Jiang Wang was the vessel for the Dao Child’s descent, she had been willing to risk her life for him without hesitation.

As the White Bone Dao Holy Maiden, she also understood clearly that the awakened Dao Child was the true Dao Child. Before this life, it was all embryonic confusion, mundane delusion. That was why she had prepared three choices for Jiang Wang, pushing him towards rapid awakening. Yet, she could not explain why she had hesitated for so long, to the point where time was slipping away, drop by drop.

She had never believed, not for a moment, that she, who had grown up killing fierce beasts from childhood, who had believed in the White Bone Venerable God since conscious thought dawned, would ever experience hesitation. But the exquisite irony was this – while she still hesitated, the Dao Child… had already awakened.

Perhaps the White Bone Venerable God did not trust His believers, or perhaps some unforeseen accident had occurred. The awakening did not align with the divine oracle’s timing, but it had indeed happened. As the contemporary White Bone Holy Maiden, her destiny-like intuition did not deceive her. At this very moment, in a certain place, the White Bone Dao Child had awakened.

And the only thing she could confirm was that the vessel for the White Bone Dao Child’s descent was not Jiang Wang.

Not Jiang Wang!

Miao Yu couldn’t articulate whether she felt relief or regret.

PS: The first three hundred thousand characters are all groundwork. Every chapter from now on will be a climax, leading to the end of the volume. I will give my absolute best, writing to the best of my ability.

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