Sun Chao'en drifted back to consciousness. Opening his eyes, he found himself back in the county yamen. He tried to sit up, but his body was completely devoid of strength. Halfway up, a searing pain tore through his chest and back, and he collapsed back onto the bed.
Ren Youwei, the assistant magistrate keeping watch by his bedside, said in a frantic rush, "Don't move, Your Honor! Any more movement and the wounds will burst open again!"
"Did we send word to General Li?"
"Rest assured, Your Honor. A messenger was dispatched first thing in the morning."
"Did Vice General Liao deploy his troops?"
Ren Youwei hesitated for a moment before answering, "He refused to deploy. But that was to be expected."
Sun Chao'en propped himself up, struggling to rise, and shrieked with what little breath he had left, "Liao Jingwu! This magistrate will have his head sooner or later! Help me up!"
"You must not, Your Honor! You are no match for him in your present state! Besides, executing an imperial official without authorization means the extermination of your entire clan!" Ren Youwei pleaded in sheer terror.
Seeing that the assistant magistrate would not help him up, Sun Chao'en gasped for breath. "Even if I wanted to go now, I couldn't make it. I recall there was a signal arrow in the ancestral hall. Did you bring it back?"
"It is kept in the hall below."
"Fire it! Go, right now!"
Ren Youwei hurried outside. A moment later, a signal arrow detonated in midair, its lingering light hanging in the sky for a long time. The message embedded within read: *Wei Yuan has ridden north; send relief at once.*
Perceiving the ripple of Dao power from the signal arrow, Sun Chao'en felt a weight lift from his heart, and he slipped back into unconsciousness. At this point, everything humanly possible had been done. All that remained was in the hands of Heaven.
***
Inside the military redoubt, Liao Jingwu was once again hosting a banquet with wine in the rear hall. The gathering, however, was subdued and somber, every officer present laden with worry. One commandant probed cautiously, "General, this is already the third time the county has sent someone urging us to deploy. If we still don't make a move, it won't just be hard to answer to the court—it will also be hard to account to the Palace of Grand Beginning. How about... we send a few men just to make a show of it?"
Liao Jingwu slammed his hand heavily upon the table. "That Sun fellow has no backing to speak of! Just because he dared to kill Wang Delu, does he think he can lay a hand on me? Slaying Wang Delu alone is enough to have his entire clan wiped out! If he dares step into my camp, I'll take his head on the spot—a meritorious deed, with zero fault to bear!"
Another officer remarked, "Yet the Liao barbarians' Snow Eagle Cavalry did pass right before our redoubt, after all, and we failed to sound any warning to the county..."
Liao Jingwu glared fiercely at him. The officer shivered and clamped his mouth shut immediately. Only then did Liao Jingwu curse and bluster, "The county seat never fell, so there's no blame on us! Look at you lot, sniveling like cowards—what is there to be afraid of? I said I'd make that Fang fellow die an unexplained death, and haven't I done just that? As for Sun Chao'en—pah! I'm a man of the Xu family! How could a penniless scholar like him ever touch me?!"
Thinking of Liao Jingwu's tigress-and-bear of a first wife, the crowd breathed a small sigh of relief.
Just then, the door was abruptly pushed open, and several figures strolled in, led by none other than Li Zhi. Casting a casual glance around the room, he chuckled and said, "General Liao is certainly in fine spirits!"
Li Zhi hailed from an immortal sect and possessed the most prominent and illustrious pedigree in the surrounding region. Although they had never met in person, Liao Jingwu had seen his portrait and recognized him at once. At this moment, the figures trailing behind Li Zhi each carried distinct, towering auras that marked them as anything but ordinary cultivators.
Suppressing the unease churning in his gut, Liao Jingwu rose and said, "So it is General Li! Why did no one announce your arrival?"
Li Zhi replied, "A trivial matter. I shall leave as soon as I've said my piece, so I thought it unnecessary to trouble anyone with an announcement and simply walked in myself."
"What instructions does General Li have?"
Li Zhi said, "Two small favors. First, I would like to request that General Liao deploy troops north to rendezvous with my brother, Wei Yuan."
Liao Jingwu shook his head at once. "I must beg your pardon, but I cannot obey! A heavy burden rests upon my shoulders: I must protect the common folk of the entire county and cannot act rashly. There is even less justification for mobilizing an army for the sake of a single man!"
Li Zhi produced a military tally and set it on the table. Then he took out a letter, slapping it down before Liao Jingwu as well, and said indifferently, "This is Commander Zhang's military tally, and this is a handwritten letter from your father-in-law. Although, I expect the words inside aren't very pleasant, so you can read it later. Would General Liao like to reconsider?"
Looking at those two items, cold sweat broke out across Liao Jingwu's brow. Commander Zhang was his direct superior, and his father-in-law was the very foundation of his confidence. Seeing Li Zhi produce both, how could he fail to understand what this meant?
Liao Jingwu dropped to his knees in an instant, prostrating himself. "This lowly general failed to recognize Mount Tai—I beg Lord Li to pardon my offense! If Lord Li does not disdain me, this lowly general is willing to follow your saddle and stirrup from this day forward, braving boiling waters and leaping through flames!"
A faint smile appeared on Li Zhi's lips. "General Liao is a clever man. As long as you perform your duties well under me from now on, that will suffice. Now, muster your troops and depart camp immediately."
Liao Jingwu roared at the top of his lungs, "Muster the troops! Everyone is to assemble within half an incense stick! Leave not a soul behind—no, leave fifty men to guard the camp! Anyone late shall be executed!"
The commandants at the table hurriedly rushed out to assemble the soldiers, none of them forgetting to salute Li Zhi respectfully on their way out.
A short while later, deep bugle calls echoed across the military redoubt as armored cavalry galloped out, followed by rank upon rank of elite border army infantry pouring forth. The great army marched north.
Within the marching ranks, Liao Jingwu rode alongside Li Zhi, looking somewhat anxious. "Lord Li, leaving only fifty men in camp... what if...?"
Li Zhi said indifferently, "There are no what-ifs."
Liao Jingwu's heart went cold. He understood at once where the lives of an entire county's populace stood in Li Zhi's mind compared to the Wei Yuan he had set out to rescue. Even more worried now, he asked with utmost care, "Lord Li, this lowly general has offended quite a few people in the past, and I have also offended Lord Wei. Do you think...?"
Li Zhi naturally understood what he was thinking and said mildly, "So long as you follow me with wholehearted sincerity from now on, I will naturally keep you safe. But those messy, disgraceful antics of the past must never happen again. Do you understand?"
Liao Jingwu nodded profusely, his waist bent almost to snapping. "This lowly general understands! I understand completely!"
***
One hundred and fifty li east of Quyang County, a flying boat rose steadily into the sky, towing along the craft that had previously been shot down, and glided slowly toward the south.
Inside the central pavilion of the dock fortress, Bao Yun sat in the seat of honor. Surrounding the banquet were young talents who had arrived as reinforcements from various illustrious clans, each possessing a storied pedigree and a dignified bearing. They chatted and laughed, offering occasional commentary on Western Jin's court politics and the current state of the war. Their remarks were eloquent and sharp, clearly demonstrating that their bellies were filled with real learning.
Bao Yun had no need to speak; she simply sat there with poised grace, yet the young talents vied with one another to speak. But *how* one spoke was an art in itself. One had to display insight into the prevailing situation, remain incisive and concise, avoid verbosity, and ideally make every word a pearl, such that not a single syllable would need editing if set down on paper. Consequently, every one of them racked their brains, finding this wine gathering more exhausting than their sects' major examinations.
Suddenly, an old servant walked into the room, stepped to Bao Yun's side, and whispered something into her ear in detail.
Bao Yun's expression shifted slightly. She immediately rose and said apologetically, "Brothers, I am truly sorry, but a friend of mine has run into trouble, and I must go meet him. Please take your time and enjoy yourselves; pray excuse my departure."
The crowd stood up in haste, chiming in one after another:
"We have all brought troops and horses with us! Since Miss Bao's friend is in distress, that makes it our concern as well! We shall go with you!"
Bao Yun appeared to hesitate. "Yet this time we must venture deep into the Liao domain, which is fraught with danger. It is enough for me to go alone; there is no need for all of you to throw yourselves into harm's way."
"What words are those, Miss Bao? Your business is my business!"
"Having come this far, which of us could possibly be cowards afraid of death?"
"Hahaha! If we do not make a foray deep into the Liao domain, would we not let our Dao Foundations gather dust?"
Bao Yun offered a curtsey and said softly, "If that is the case, then allow me to thank you all first. The military situation is urgent; please set out with my army."
A moment later, the gates of the dock fortress swung wide open. Thousands of heavy-armored crossbowmen marched out in grand formation, sweeping toward the Liao domain in vast, magnificent ranks, accompanied by a flying boat cruising above. Behind the Bao family army, miscellaneous retinues followed in squads and detachments, numbering more than three thousand men in total.
Aided by the Dao arts of grand formations, the army's march seemed slow yet was extraordinarily swift, reaching the border of the Liao domain in just half an hour. The flying boat entered the Liao domain alongside the army. Above the craft, an exquisite treasure tree manifested, its swaying boughs and leaves scattering specks of pristine light that drove back the swirling yellow qi all around.
After advancing only several dozen li into the Liao domain, an incomparable sword intent suddenly surged from the south. A flying sword streaked through the air from afar, moving with lightning speed! The yellow qi parted before the flying sword like surging waves, tumbling to either side.
Standing upon the flying sword was Zhang Sheng. This time, he was no longer empty-handed; he held a dark green longsword, and his biting killing intent was unveiled without the slightest reserve, permeating a thousand zhang!
Zhang Sheng flashed past Bao Yun's army in an instant, sparing merely a single glance in their direction before rocketing northward in the blink of an eye.
A desolately resonant bugle sounded from the flying boat—the military order commanding the army to advance at full speed. The ranks of heavy-armored crossbowmen broke into a jog. The exquisite treasure tree aboard the flying boat suddenly doubled in size, radiating dazzling brilliance and enveloping the entire force in its shimmering radiance. The running speed of the several thousand soldiers surged once more, doubling in an instant!
Before they had traveled far, they saw Zhang Sheng hovering motionless in midair, seemingly waiting for something. The military bugle on the flying boat sounded again, and the thousands of heavy-armored crossbowmen spread out horizontally, shifting into a battle formation as they steadily advanced.
On the distant horizon, a masterless black war horse appeared, thundering south like the wind.
In the span of a breath, the war horse drew near, revealing a figure slumped across its back, pierced by several arrows, his fate unknown. Just then, the earth shook. A line of yellow dust appeared on the horizon, billowing higher and higher as it rolled forward! Amidst the dust, countless shadows of Liao cavalry rode hard, every rider furiously whipping their mount in pursuit of the black steed ahead. In the blink of an eye, the dust cloud towered dozens of zhang into the sky!
Behind that wall of dust pursued a white snow eagle that seemed to connect heaven and earth, flapping wings that had lost more than half their feathers as it gave chase at high speed. Wisps of rain still twined around the tips of its wings, alongside a faint, shifting haze of black qi.
As the black horse ran, it suddenly let out a long neigh, spewing forth one last wisp of thin mist as the final embers on its hooves were extinguished. Its front legs buckled and it crashed to the ground, hurling the rider on its back far into the air.
Just as Wei Yuan was about to slam into the dirt, a mass of azure sword qi gently caught him, simultaneously shearing off all the arrow shafts. Then, Wei Yuan landed within an exceptionally warm, yet seemingly delicate embrace.
Zhang Sheng knelt on one knee, holding Wei Yuan with one arm while looking up toward the Snow Mountain giant eagle that had already descended overhead, taking note of the few strands of lingering rain that had yet to completely dissipate among the eagle's feathers.
The billowing sand and dust had arrived within a thousand zhang. Seeing Bao Yun's army drawn up in battle readiness, the leading Liao cavalry slowed their pace. As the vanguard checked their speed, the Liao riders behind crowded forward, numbering at least several thousand.
Just then, a bugle sounded from the west. A force of over a thousand men appeared, marching forward in strict formation. Though they were not a world-renowned corps like the heavy-armored crossbowmen, they were battle-hardened elites of the Western Jin border army. Flanking from east and west like horns of an ox, the two forces finally forced the thousands of pursuing Liao cavalry to halt.
Hovering high in the air, the giant eagle looked down upon the ant-like Zhang Sheng and spoke with chilling malice: "Hand over the man in your arms! Out of respect for your elders and master, your life may be spared!"
Zhang Sheng said, "What kind of thing do you think you are?"
Just as the giant eagle was about to erupt in fury, Zhang Sheng had already slashed with his sword!
A meandering, winding line of sword light appeared between heaven and earth—faint, slender, and serene, stretching from the lower left to the upper right, joining the earth to the sky. This streak of sword light possessed not a shred of sharp edge, yet gazing upon it evoked an indescribable sorrow, like a woman waiting under the moonlight for a lover who never returned, waiting year after year, lifetime after lifetime, from youthful black tresses to temples frosted with white.
Beneath that sword light, even the wind and sand subsided, as though heaven and earth wept together.
Immortal Sword: Parting Sorrow!
The giant eagle's outstretched claw recoiled as if it had struck lightning, its feathers molting in great swaths. With a mournful cry, it turned without looking back and flew north, vanishing over the horizon in an instant.
Zhang Sheng withdrew his sword and thrust it reverse-handed into the ground, its gleaming edge stopping less than half an inch from Wei Yuan.
"What happened?" Zhang Sheng demanded in a deep, commanding voice, his brow radiating stern authority.
Wei Yuan struggled to lift his hand, displaying the pack gripped tightly in his grasp. "A barbarian stole my brother's head. I went to take it back."
Wei Yuan had expected a harsh scolding, but Zhang Sheng merely said, "Next time something like this happens, call your master. I will go with you!"
Looking at Zhang Sheng's paper-pale face and bloodless lips, Wei Yuan hesitated. If it were only himself and the situation turned sour, Wei Yuan could flee without hesitation. But his teacher was different; no matter who the enemy was, he would likely cross blades first before considering anything else.
How could Zhang Sheng fail to know what Wei Yuan was thinking? He said indifferently, "With your master here, encountering a dharma idol is nothing. Look at how formidable this Northern Liao snow eagle was rumored to be; wasn't it still driven back by a single strike from your master?"
Wei Yuan nodded with difficulty. "He is rather useless. I took three hits from him along the way, and none of them managed to kill me."
Zhang Sheng remained expressionless. His left hand holding Wei Yuan shifted slightly, pinching an arrowhead between his fingertips, and yanked it out in a single motion, using sword qi to seal the wound right after. The removal was exceedingly rough, and the sensation of sword qi sealing flesh was agonizing beyond words; Wei Yuan let out an immediate gasp of pain!
Zhang Sheng said gently, "Disciple, if you do not wish to speak, you may keep your mouth shut."
Wei Yuan sucked in a breath of cold air from the pain, averting his gaze so he wouldn't meet Zhang Sheng's terrifyingly bright eyes. His sight fell upon Zhang Sheng's right hand, and suddenly, he could not look away.
Zhang Sheng's right hand gripped the sword hilt in a reverse hold without loosening in the slightest. Rather than striking a peerless posture, it was more that he was relying on the sword to support his body and keep from collapsing. Between his slender fingers, fresh blood welled continuously, streaming down the blade.
Zhang Sheng noticed Wei Yuan's gaze and said hurriedly, "This sword of your master's has quite a grand origin..."
Before the words had finished leaving his mouth, a sudden *crack* sounded from the blade. Countless fractures spread across the metal before it shattered into fragments, leaving only the hilt in Zhang Sheng's hand. With the support gone, both Zhang Sheng and Wei Yuan nearly tumbled over.
Looking at the bare hilt in his hand, Zhang Sheng found himself momentarily at a loss for words. In truth, had that strand of sword qi residing within Wei Yuan's sea of consciousness not acted on its own to protect its host, resulting in the destruction of a portion of Zhang Sheng's nascent soul, Zhang Sheng would never have been so severely wounded. It could be said that seven-tenths of his injuries came from that very sword qi. But such details could only be left for Wei Yuan to realize on his own; explaining this bald hilt at present was far more difficult.
Fortunately, the jolt sent Wei Yuan into a violent coughing fit. As he coughed, blood poured continuously from his mouth and nose, and his eyes gradually lost their luster.
Zhang Sheng took fright. Abandoning all pretense of dignity, he clumsily scrambled to inspect Wei Yuan's injuries. A cursory glance was bad enough, but a thorough examination made his heart sink entirely. Countless hidden injuries riddled Wei Yuan's body; how could three blows from a dharma idol be so easily endured? Zhang Sheng had no expertise in the healing arts and was left completely helpless for a moment.
Just then, a hand suddenly stretched out before Zhang Sheng. In the palm lay a yellow fruit, round and translucent, appearing both real and illusory. Zhang Sheng looked up and saw Bao Yun.
"This is the first fruit born of my tree. It can save a life," Bao Yun said.
Zhang Sheng pried open Wei Yuan's mouth at once, and Bao Yun slipped the fruit inside.
The fruit dissolved the moment it touched his tongue. Between Wei Yuan's brows, a tender shoot suddenly sprouted, growing in the blink of an eye into a small sapling before sinking into his sea of consciousness. Immediately, a surging vitality erupted within Wei Yuan's body, rapidly mending countless hidden injuries. His breathing grew steady, and color finally returned to his face.
Zhang Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. His emotions felt as though they had plummeted from the heavens to the earth and back again; without his realizing it, his forehead was drenched in cold sweat. He looked toward Bao Yun, wrestling with himself for a long moment before finally saying, "Thank you. I shall certainly repay this favor in the future. In addition, there is one more thing... that, um... back then, I was the one who pushed you out. I must apologize to you."
Bao Yun did not grasp his meaning at first, but in the next instant, sheer shock washed over her face. She stared at Zhang Sheng, her mouth falling open wide enough to swallow a pigeon's egg.
"Y-You..." For all the worldly treachery Bao Yun had witnessed, she was rendered speechless. Back then, she had suspected everyone, yet never Zhang Sheng. Zhang Sheng had even joined Ji Liuli in giving Xu Henshui a thrashing. Looking back now, the memory was truly something to savor.
Just then, Wei Yuan slowly opened his eyes, cutting through Bao Yun's astonishment. Having only just awakened, Wei Yuan's consciousness remained somewhat hazy. Surrounding him were familiar faces, but he could not match them to their names right away.
"Brother Wei! You are safe and sound—this is truly wonderful!"
Wei Yuan turned his head, taking a breath before recalling that this person was named Li Zhi. As his mind cleared, Wei Yuan finally remembered everyone gathered around. He felt a lingering sense of unreality; just a moment ago, he had been fleeing across thousands of li, ultimately collapsing into his master's embrace, and upon opening his eyes, so many people stood around him.
Vitality surged boundlessly within Wei Yuan's body, like a spirit spring gushing ceaseless life and spiritual power. His physical strength and spiritual energy recovered at a flying pace, and he struggled to his feet. By now, Wei Yuan understood that all these people had come to escort him back.
Wei Yuan was about to thank Li Zhi first when his eyes suddenly narrowed. Behind Li Zhi, he spotted a familiar figure—Liao Jingwu!
Wei Yuan had long since pieced together the entire sequence of events. Five hundred Liao heavy cavalry moving in force, especially with a hundred Snow Eagle Cavalry among them, could never have concealed their tracks. For a large force to attack Quyang, they inevitably had to pass by the military redoubt. Yet when the Liao cavalry launched their surprise assault on Quyang, the county was entirely unprepared, forcing Fang Hetong to sacrifice his life to hold them back. In other words, the redoubt had neither intercepted the cavalry nor dispatched reinforcements, nor had it even lit beacon fires to sound the alarm!
Wei Yuan sprang forward, striding toward Liao Jingwu without a word.
Liao Jingwu's expression twisted in terror. Stumbling backward, he shouted, "What are you trying to do?! I am an imperial court official, a seventh-rank vice general! Are you not afraid of having your nine clans exterminated?! General Li, Lord Li, you promised to keep me safe! Sav—"
Li Zhi had not expected such a turn of events either and took a step forward to block Wei Yuan. Before that step could fully land, Bao Yun appeared at his side, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with him. She said softly, "Why is Brother Li so impatient? You might as well watch for now."
From the moment Bao Yun appeared, an invisible barrier materialized before Li Zhi, preventing him from advancing even an inch.
In a few strides, Wei Yuan reached Liao Jingwu. Reaching out with an open hand, the long spear rose from where the war horse had fallen, soaring like a dragon ascending from the abyss, and appeared in Wei Yuan's grasp in an instant!
Paralyzed with horror, Liao Jingwu instinctively drew his sword to parry!
Unable to move, Li Zhi could only shout in desperation, "General Liao has already abandoned darkness to embrace the light! Give—"
The plea to *give me, Li Zhi, some face* never had the chance to leave his lips.
Wei Yuan swept his spear across. Liao Jingwu froze in place. A fine red line appeared across the blade, his arm, and his neck. Then, sword and arm severed in two, and his head flew into the sky. Blood erupted like a geyser, shooting more than a zhang into the air.
Seeing their commander slain, the several commandants stepped back instinctively; after all, anyone truly unafraid of death would never have lasted this long in such an army. Several powerful experts under Li Zhi's command gripped their sword hilts; knowing they were outmatched, they still showed intent to act, awaiting only an order from Li Zhi.
Wei Yuan stood motionless with his spear, blood dripping from the tip drop by drop, beading into round little pearls upon the earth. At this moment, countless thoughts surged and intertwined in Wei Yuan's mind, everything he had witnessed and experienced in his life welling up at once. He suddenly looked up at the sky, seeing mass upon mass of yellow qi above, within which countless pairs of eyes seemed to stare back, each burning with murderous intent.
Wei Yuan turned abruptly and asked Zhang Sheng, "Master, did you not say that heaven and earth harbor great love? Why is it that the heaven and earth here want nothing more than to put us to death?"
"Then change heaven and earth!" Zhang Sheng said with absolute resolve.
"As it should be..." Wei Yuan murmured, slowly closing his eyes.
At this very moment, three years of enlightenment, ten years of bitter cultivation, the myriad Dao Foundations transformed into a river of stars, the aging father and toiling farmers in the Wei family estate, refugees, blood, fire, Fang Hetong's severed head, the boundless rise and fall of the mortal world across hundreds of thousands of years recorded in history, the young Liao master who sought to tame him as a hound, the giant talon descending from the sky, the first spear strike of Counter-Slay against heaven and earth, Attaining Benevolence, the heads of Wang Delu and Liao Jingwu, the soldiers present who served only to be driven by others, Li Zhi's astonishment, the shock of the noble scions, the mortal pure domain, the yellow qi of the Liao frontier, the otherworldly fortune, the Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, Bao Yun's first fruit, and Zhang Sheng's kneeling silhouette within the Sky Azure Hall—everything, absolutely everything, merged gradually into one.
Heaven and earth fell abruptly silent. Then, the roiling yellow qi retreated in panicked haste like an ebbing tide. Within a radius of a hundred li, the sky turned clear and the earth bright. Strands of heaven-and-earth origin qi materialized from nowhere, converging one after another into Wei Yuan's body. Origin qi flowing from the void grew ever more abundant, swirling in the blink of an eye into a colossal origin qi tempest. Wei Yuan stood at the eye of the storm, absorbing the ceaseless origin qi like a bottomless abyss!
Within his sea of consciousness, the Jade Toad suddenly leapt up, swallowing the full moon in a single gulp, before crouching motionless upon the earth. Its form dissolved into giant stone, into the ground. And the ground stretched endlessly outward, seemingly without limit.
Above Li Zhi's head, a streak of golden light suddenly surfaced, within which an ancient, three-legged cauldron adorned with the Four Symbols drifted up and down. The cauldron suddenly shuddered, releasing several trembling hums. The Four Symbols Three-legged Cauldron was an ancient relic used by human sovereigns to offer sacrifices to Heaven, yet at this moment, it was cowed by the aura radiating from Wei Yuan, trembling as if in fear. The force threw Li Zhi back several paces, leaving his face as white as paper.
***
Palace of Grand Beginning, Hall of Myriad Manifestations.
The starry-blue hall suddenly shook, alarming the entire sect! In the blink of an eye, streaks of light tore through the void as the True Monarchs and Perfected Persons still within the sect arrived one after another, bewildered by what upheaval was taking place.
Under the watchful gaze of the crowd, the Hall of Myriad Manifestations suddenly doubled in height and expanded several times in breadth, towering with boundless grandeur!
Several True Monarchs acted simultaneously, tapping toward the grand hall. The Hall of Myriad Manifestations turned ethereal at once, revealing the scene within.
The river of stars composed of tens of thousands of Dao Foundations remained, but now a colossal continent had appeared beneath it, bearing the entire star river upon its back. The river of stars spanned the celestial vault, rising from one edge of the continent and descending to the other.
***
That night, Emperor Su of Tang suffered multiple frights and passed away at dawn. Emperor Xuan succeeded the throne at the age of eleven, changing the reign era to Tianqi.
In the first year of Tianqi, Wei Yuan forged the Dao Foundation: Ten Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains.
This Dao Foundation was peerless under heaven.
***
*End of Volume One: An Age of Great Strife*
Chapter 88