A cold sweat began to bead on Zhang Xun’s forehead, yet he could not spare a hand to wipe it away. He could feel, with unnerving clarity, the hairs on the back of his neck weighed down by an unbearable burden, offering no sanctuary from the chill wind seeping in from outside. The sounds of silk and bamboo, the peals of laughter from beyond the courtyard walls, all drifted away, becoming distant, as though echoes from a past life. The slick, greasy revulsion from where the dancer’s tongue had briefly touched his palm earlier now intensified, a viscous film clinging to his skin.

His deceased brother’s flesh lay grotesque and twisted, clinging to the exquisite curves of the beauty beside him. A thin quilt, a meager shroud, draped over their intertwined corpses, lending a semblance of dignity to this most undignified of moments. An inner and outer discord, a stark contradiction, was embodied in every detail, in every facet of the scene. Even his Spirit Domain, held close to his person, wavered, threatening to scatter like a flickering candle flame in the wind.

From the moment he had stepped into this room, his connection to the world had frayed, becoming distant. And all his feelings had tangled, becoming complex.

No Birth Teach Ancestor Zhang Linchuan sat there, still bristling with indignation. “I know your Dan Country is not faring well these days, and you need to devise some means. Desperate times call for desperate measures; seeking a doctor when gravely ill is no rarity. But you devise your means, you do your wicked deeds, find another excuse!”

“Don’t pile all your wicked deeds onto the head of the No Birth Teach! Damn it, is the No Birth Teach your personal chamber pot, you upright gentlemen?”

“My wickedness might be considerable, but I am particular about what I consume; I eat nothing unclean. To consume human flesh, that is the act of a beast! How dare you falsely accuse me! The reputation of the No Birth Teach, it has all been ruined by the likes of you Dan Country folk!”

*This is Dan Country. This is the ancestral home of the Zhang Clan.* Zhang Xun reminded himself, his thoughts a stark echo in the silence.

He knew this was far from over. Although he had been caught off guard in his own home, leading to this misstep, opportunities still remained. No matter the opponent, he would never abandon the struggle. There were certain arrangements within the ancestral home he could still leverage.

He had only recently communicated with Fei Xiang; they were meant to discuss matters further tomorrow. If a disturbance were to erupt before then, Fei Xiang would surely sense that something was amiss.

“My esteemed brother.” Zhang Linchuan spoke again. “This is your own home; why are you so distant, not uttering a single word?”

Zhang Xun’s gaze remained fixed on him, his voice inexplicably hoarse. “‘The magpie has a nest, the dove dwells in it.'”

“Without a little culture, I truly don’t understand what you’re scolding me with.” Zhang Linchuan said, a touch of amusement in his tone. “Owing a debt and repaying it is a heavenly principle. I am merely a debt collector who has come to your door; how have I become an evil guest?”

Zhang Xun simply said, “I have heard that three True Persons have already joined the pursuit against you. The South Border and West Border are likely being scoured. How long do you think you can hide here?”

Zhang Linchuan appeared completely unconcerned. “True Persons are of course worthy of respect, but presumably they will also show some deference to Dan Country and not inspect your territories inch by inch. You see, I’ve been living here for a few days, and isn’t it rather comfortable?”

“To stand against the world is a destined dead end.” Zhang Xun said. “If I were you, I would find a deep mountain forest to hide in, wait a hundred and eighty years for the storm to pass, then change my appearance and re-emerge.”

“You are right. Originally, I should not have fled. The present world has so many countries, so many forces, each pursuing their own politics, mutually attacking one another. This provides those like me with room to maneuver.” Zhang Linchuan was remarkably composed. “So you must understand, the relationships between people, these are merely obstacles between people.”

“Are you so confident that you can silently slay me?” Zhang Xun asked in a low voice.

Zhang Linchuan did not answer this question directly, merely saying, “Actually, the most important thing is that these people do not hate me enough. They do not consider me a great enemy of life and death, making it very difficult for them to become a significant threat to my vital parts. I have a good method, would you like to hear it?”

The autumn night, for reasons unknown, was thus cold. Zhang Xun lightly lifted the tip of his foot, but that one step remained unmade. Zhang Linchuan seemed to be entirely flawed, yet also entirely a trap.

“They do not hate you enough, but someone does.” Finally, he remained rooted to the spot, fixed on the threshold he had just stepped over, speaking thus. He was like a part of the door, his back blocking the bright moonlight, his face illuminated by the room’s lamp.

Zhang Linchuan, of course, knew who Zhang Xun was referring to, but merely smiled. “Are you saying it is you?”

“It could also be me.” Zhang Xun said.

Zhang Linchuan turned his head, looking at the dead bodies on the bed. “Do you have very deep feelings?”

“He is my blood brother.” Zhang Xun said, each word distinct.

Zhang Linchuan chuckled twice. “You don’t say. I almost forgot. This one, Zhang Jing, specifically asked me to leave a message for you before he died.”

“What did he say?” Zhang Xun asked.

“He said,” Zhang Linchuan cleared his throat and imitated, “‘Zhang Xun, you dog born of a mother, this old man has had eight generations of bad luck to come out of the same womb as you!'” He drew his gaze back, his expression showing great puzzlement. “Aren’t you blood brothers? How is it he seems to hate you more than he hates me?”

Zhang Xun could no longer maintain his composure. Ten thousand frosty white sword silks burst forth from his body!

Just when the Marquis of Wu An of Great Qi was mobilizing all his resources, scouring the world in pursuit of the No Birth Teach Ancestor Zhang Linchuan…

Just when Qiu Tie of Jing Country, the Eastern Master, host of the Dragon Tiger Altar in Wei Country, and the Zen Master Zhao Huai of Mount Sumeru, these three True Persons, had also brazenly joined this pursuit… Several messages shattered the sky like thunder, spreading across the world with a boom.

The ancestral home of the Zhang Clan, a first-rate renowned lineage in Dan Country, was engulfed in a great fire overnight, the entire family suffering misfortune. Zhang Jing, the infamous playboy young master of the Zhang family, ran naked through the bustling marketplace, screaming, “Fake, it’s all fake! The Yuan Shi Dan Meeting is fake! The Tian Yuan Great Dan is fake! The Six Knowledge Dan is fake! Everything is fake!” And then he died, bleeding from his seven orifices.

Again, someone saw Zhang Xun, a heaven’s favored son of Dan Country, flying across the River Valley Plain. In the sky above the now desolate River Valley Plain, he shouted, “To delusionally refine human elixirs, I ought to die!” He then self-destructed with an anti-palm strike, his body and soul ceasing to exist.

What was fake? What human elixir?

Zhang Jing was a waste; how he died was not important. Zhang Xun, though a heaven’s favored son, dying as one was not important either. What was important was that people with intentions wanted to convey information through them, and the people who were meant to know, knew. Some things could not withstand scrutiny! Without suspicion, it was fine, but once suspicion arose, it was a leak everywhere.

Almost overnight, messages concerning the Yuan Shi Dan Meeting, concerning human elixirs, and the more hidden secrets behind them, had already spread throughout the West Border and South Domain. Only now did people know,

That the Dan Country True Monarch Old Ancestor Yan Renxian, titled “Red Emperor,” had not been heard from for a full eighty-seven years. That the otherworldly scene of transmitting elixirs during the Yuan Shi Dan Meeting twenty years ago was fundamentally a fake phenomenon carefully constructed by the people of Dan Country. For that one act of deception and crossing the sea, Dan Country even had a True Person, whose life force was declining for a reason, sacrifice himself. Yan Renxian was fundamentally not in imperial city secluded cultivation, nor was he fundamentally traveling outside the heavens seeking the dao, but had already died and his dao vanished, his soul returning to the source pool!

Dan Country’s Yuan Shi Dan Meeting had long since become a mere facade. Dan Country fundamentally no longer refined the Tian Yuan Great Dan or the Six Knowledge Dan! Dan Country’s refusal of the elixir purchases from Jing Country, Qin Country, and Chu Country was also fundamentally not out of some principled stance of Dan Country’s integrity or considerations of external balance, but because they fundamentally no longer possessed the ability to refine top-level elixirs! This is why Zhang Jing, who had swallowed the Tian Yuan Great Dan, still possessed only ordinary strength. This is why Xiao Shu, who had stolen the Six Knowledge Dan, failed in his attempt to impact the God Lin realm in Bu Shui City.

For a full eighty-seven years, Dan Country had no True Monarch, nor had any new True Monarch been achieved. And Dan Country had deceived the world for eighty-seven years! What kind of country is Dan Country?

To the north, it connects with small countries like Cheng Country; to the south, it faces the already desolate River Valley Plain; to the east, it is near Yan Cloud Mountain, and across Yan Cloud Mountain stands Song Country in the distance. And not far to the west, is the powerful Qin, eyeing the world like a tiger! In terms of economy, nearly three-tenths of the elixir business in the entire West Border and South Border belonged to Dan Country.

Indeed, Dan Country needed to pay extremely high elixir taxes to Qin Country and Chu Country to exchange for transit rights through the West Border and South Border, yet this did not affect its status as a very prosperous country. Its geographical environment and degree of national prosperity all demanded that Dan Country be a country possessing strong power. Otherwise, a naughty child holding gold in a bustling market, how could they remain safe and sound?

A Derivation Dao True Monarch, three True Person high-level combat powers, a branch of heavily funded and powerful army, the stable ability to refine top-level elixirs, and the complex network of interests built upon elixirs. These were the pillars upon which Dan Country stood to the north of the River Valley Plain. However, that True Monarch had disappeared for eighty-seven years. The ability to refine top-level elixirs, Dan Country had also lost long ago. Power declined subtly, and this decline was even all-encompassing.

After the silence of the Ten Thousand Monster Gate, Dan Country was weak in international affairs. In recent years, there had been too many things that felt amiss. Looking back, it was simply a leaky boat on all sides. And Luo Zhongmin, the heaven-grade elixir master of Dan Country’s True Persons, in order to refine top-level elixirs, in a situation of insufficient materials and exhausted inspiration, actually adopted the taboo method of human elixirs!

This matter had once been exposed by a victim who miraculously escaped with his life, but was quickly suppressed by the Dan Country officials. Ultimately, a Dharma King of the No Birth Teach was caught and blamed, and in the process, the name of the heaven-favored son Zhang Xun was hyped up. The “human elixir” matter thus became one of the many evils of the No Birth Teach. Of course, the “informed individuals” who spread this matter at the time were also naturally harmed by the No Birth Teach. When this matter was now proclaimed, it immediately ignited the situation.

Qiu Tie of Jing Country, the Eastern Master, host of the Dragon Tiger Altar in Wei Country, and the Zen Master Zhao Huai of Mount Sumeru immediately changed direction and rushed to Dan Country. The Yi An Earl Wei Qiu of Qin Country and the head of the Zhong Li Clan family Zhong Li Jiang Jia of Chu Country moved almost simultaneously, meeting at the capital city of Dan Country.

Si Ming True Person Fu Zhao Fan of South Dou Hall, State Minister Tu Wei Jian of Song Country, and the renowned scholar Chen Sui of Dragon Gate Academy also followed closely behind. Eight contemporary True Persons gathered in Dan Country! And this, of course, was merely the prelude.

Those who arrived in Dan Country first were all there to occupy the moral high ground of acting on behalf of heaven and enforcing justice. The countries and forces behind them were their reliance as they held this position like tigers.

With no True Monarch, no strong allies, having violated universal justice and reversed the principles of heavenly dao and human ethics, Dan Country had already lost its foundation. This time, with the convergence of winds and clouds, with dragons and tigers competing, it was naturally to be divided and consumed!

Gong Sun Bu Hai, the controller of the Three Punishments Palace’s Zhong Xing Ren Yan and a Derivation Dao True Monarch, also rushed there overnight to apprehend the heaven-grade elixir master Luo Zhong Min for his crimes.

Each country and force not dispatching a True Monarch level existence for the first time was of course to give face to the Three Punishments Yan, allowing Gong Sun Bu Hai to handle the matter impartially. And after the Three Punishments Palace finished their disposition, they also needed to know their place and step aside, releasing this large tripod and allowing the already seated heroes to divide and consume it. This was the etiquette of the meal, and also the state of the world.

As for the No Birth Teach Ancestor Zhang Linchuan, he was temporarily forgotten. Such a large Dan Country, having lost virtue, justice, and power, was a fat and delectable deer, naturally pursued by the world in competition.

A mere Hair God level evil teach master, what gain was there in killing him? If encountered, he could be casually slain; if not encountered, killing him later was not too late!

How could anyone in the world have once thought that Dan Country, a regional great country, would collapse overnight? In a hazy blink of an eye, the sky turned, and the ground was covered. Yesterday, it was still a scene of peaceful song and dance, prosperous and flourishing; today, it was already adrift in wind and rain, facing a crisis of dismemberment.

Of course, it was said that the pillar of the sky broke overnight. But it was merely an eighty-seven-year-old abscess, gradually worsening in a rotten environment, already life-threatening and impossible to conceal any longer. The various actions of Dan Country, dodging and weaving, were merely delaying the time when this death abscess would explode.

But when it was detonated in such a vicious manner, not to mention Dan Country’s Zhang Clan, nor True Person Luo Zhong Min, or State Minister Fei Nan Hua. Even the country lord of Dan Country, in the time that followed, could only await the outcome and had no ability to influence the situation. They could not even decide how they themselves would die! Dan Country’s collapse came too suddenly.

Like a colossal fireworks display, it exploded at the western foot of Yan Cloud Mountain.

It attracted the world’s attention, gathered all the gazes of the present world, the aftershocks shaking more than just thousands of miles!

Even in Lin Zi, Qi Country in the far East Domain, someone proposed that the Marquis of Wu An temporarily set aside the matter of arresting the criminal and represent Qi Country on a trip to Dan Country, to secure a favorable position for Qi Country, which was originally not part of this meat pie. This was suppressed by Zhong Xuan Sheng. And putting aside the distant, let us speak of the South Domain.

Chen Si Wu also immediately turned back, to cooperate with the Song Court’s next step arrangement as a heaven’s favored son of the country at any time.

Zuo Guang Shu, under the name of Hui Country Duke Mansion, helped Jiang Wang summon two teams totaling nine God Lin realm experts. They also mostly asked for leave to rush to Dan Country.

Such a large country’s front dike, the biggest and fattest meat would definitely be divided by the strongest few sides. But the entire Dan Country, from the capital city to the various places, had too many positions that could be bitten into casually. Taking even a single bite was like consuming a feast of rich oil. It was better than the life-threatening danger of scouring the world in pursuit of a cruel and cunning evil teach master, who might not even be successfully apprehended!

The small minority within the team who chose not to leave were all bound by the face of the Hui Country Duke Mansion.

God Lin level cultivators, no matter where they were placed, were strong on one side. They were not sect leaders, but the core of a force. No one could force them.

As for Jiang Li, working without putting in effort, with a heart not here, it was better not to come. He simply disbanded the team on the spot and released them all. And he himself concealed his tracks and hurried to Yue Country. As the fireworks of Dan Country soared brilliantly, his heart grew firmer; all of this was related to Zhang Linchuan.

Although from the current situation, the dismemberment of Dan Country was already destined, it was originally not going to happen in such an unseemly manner. The forces from Jing, Qin, and Chu, among others, could also have proceeded without such urgency. Putting everything else aside, it was precisely the “human elixir incident” that gave the great powers a dignified excuse, instantly detonating the situation to this point. And the matter of human elixirs had always been one of the sins of the No Birth Teach before.

Although Jiang Li did not know how Zhang Linchuan managed to achieve all of this, the intense rupture of Dan Country’s front dike made him see Zhang Linchuan’s urgency even more clearly. He keenly realized that it was precisely during this crucial time when the world was dividing and consuming the tripod, when the wind and clouds were surging at the western foot of Yan Cloud Mountain, that Zhang Linchuan had a bigger action planned to stir things up. Looking around at the most probable choices for Zhang Linchuan, Yue Country was the farthest from Dan Country and also seemed the most likely place for him to execute a dangerous plan. Sword Pavilion was similarly very far, but its territory was not broad enough, and the degree of danger was very high. Dan Country now had one True Monarch and eight True Persons gathered; what kind of terrifying power was this?

Even if their gazes were temporarily focused on Dan Country, this fat deer, even a small scattered aftershock would be enough to crush Zhang Linchuan to death. Therefore, Zhang Linchuan’s next target would only be a place farther from Dan Country. But it would not be so far as to leave the South Domain, because he was very urgent.

He was originally very urgent to complete his plan, and now he had created an excellent opportunity for himself. Naturally, he would finish the last step within this excellent opportunity. Before the great powers completed their division of the meal, he would thoroughly resolve the dilemma he faced. With intelligence constantly gathered and knowledge constantly deepened, Jiang Li determined that his understanding of Zhang Linchuan was already infinitely close to the original.

Substituting himself into that cold person’s character to deduce, a strong premonition arose in his heart: it was precisely in Yue Country… Zhang Linchuan would certainly choose Yue Country. So, he brought this pursuit of ten thousand *li* of wind and frost… Wielding his sword, he went.

People asked: “Dan Country, the fat deer is lost, the great powers divide and consume it. Why does the Marquis of Wu An not go?”

Answer: “Hatred fills his belly; he has not known hunger for a long time!”