On that day, an extraordinary number of messenger eagles and carrier pigeons took flight from the Kunyun commandery seat. Intelligence scouts stationed in the city by various factions had clearly been shaken to the core by Huang Tian's feat of forcefully slaying a Grandmaster, and they were frantically dispatching urgent messages outward.
Yet Huang Tian, the instigator of all this commotion, unhurriedly carried Pei Guan's severed head straight to the Martial Restraint Guard government office.
He went to have the head inspected and his merits recorded.
In truth, there was little need for a meticulous examination. With such tremendous upheaval taking place outside East City, which clerk or officer in the yamen could remain unaware?
After having the head verified and his merits recorded, Huang Tian sought out Bai Yuanfu to request a ten-day leave of absence.
Inside the heated chamber, Bai Yuanfu looked somewhat astonished. "Ten days of leave? Are you injured?"
Huang Tian shook his head. "Not in the slightest."
"Not injured... Wait, the dragon horse!"
Bai Yuanfu suddenly remembered that Yu Jingcheng had instructed him to prepare a dragon horse. Connecting that with Huang Tian's sudden request for ten days off, the realization struck him at once.
"You are going to the Feihong Sect?"
Huang Tian nodded. "Indeed."
"Are you confident?"
"Like slaughtering a chicken."
Bai Yuanfu was shaken beyond words. The Feihong Sect was one of the Five Great Sects of Kunyun Commandery, having stood for seven hundred years. Over those seven centuries, at their peak, the sect had boasted three Third Rank Grandmasters—their might so immense that they practically led the Five Great Sects!
Though they had undeniably declined today, they still had Supreme Elder Ke Rujing presiding over them. Ke Rujing had stepped into the Third Rank Grandmaster realm over fifty years ago, and his prowess ranked among the formidable even within the Third Rank. He would not be an easy opponent.
Yet seeing Huang Tian's calm confidence, and remembering that he had even slain a renowned Demonic Cult Grandmaster like Pei Guan, Bai Yuanfu felt much more reassured.
After a moment of thought, he said, "There is no need to limit yourself to ten days. Go with peace of mind. When you return is entirely up to you; there is no rush."
"Thank you, Pacification Commissioner."
"A trivial matter." Bai Yuanfu waved his hand nonchalantly. "When do you plan to set out?"
"I need to return to my residence first." Huang Tian glanced at the sky outside, where the setting sun was descending. "I might as well depart tonight before the city gates close."
Bai Yuanfu nodded. "Very well. The dragon horse is being fed right now. Come by and take it whenever you are ready."
"Alright."
After exchanging a few more words, Huang Tian left the Martial Restraint Guard government office. A short walk brought him back to Qinghui Garden.
Upon his arrival, the servants bowed respectfully. None of them showed any astonishment on their faces, meaning word of what had occurred outside East City had not yet reached them.
After stowing away all the belongings he had taken from Thousand Faces Old Ghost, including the Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill, Huang Tian summoned Aunt Qin.
"I am heading out tonight and will likely return in ten to fifteen days. While I am away, manage the affairs of the residence as you see fit," Huang Tian instructed.
"Young Master, you are going on a long journey?" Aunt Qin paused, asking with concern, "Will there be danger?"
Ever since the rumors of the Void Realm divine armament emerging, the turmoil across Kunyun Commandery was plain to see. She worried that Huang Tian, as an imperial official, was embarking on some perilous assignment.
"What danger could there be?"
Huang Tian chuckled softly. "Say no more. Just remember, after I leave, if any trouble arises in the residence that you cannot resolve, go ask Battalion Commander Xia or Pacification Commissioner Bai for help. They will not stand idly by."
Aunt Qin nodded.
"Good, that settles it."
Huang Tian waved his hand and was about to leave when a servant hurried over, presenting a scroll dossier.
"Master, someone outside delivered a gift, saying Miss Zhou Miaosu of the provincial capital's Zhou family sent him. This humble one intended to decline as per customary practice, but the man insisted it would be useful to you and asked me to present it for your eyes."
"Zhou Miaosu?"
Huang Tian had some recollection of her. Not long ago, she had arrived in the commandery city alongside Miss Xiao the Third, Xiao Qing. She was the niece of Zhou Tu, Divine Constable of the provincial capital's Six Doors.
"What kind of gift?"
He took the item from the servant's hands and opened it.
"This is... the Great Gan Grandmaster Roster!"
He flipped through it briefly. Recorded within were various details on the three hundred strongest Grandmasters in Great Gan.
It included over two hundred First Rank Grandmasters and dozens of Second Rank Grandmasters, with each person's signature techniques and past battle records compiled in its pages.
Huang Tian had seen copies of this roster in the Book Pavilions of various yamens, but unlike those official volumes, this copy contained numerous detailed annotations.
The handwriting possessed strokes as sharp as blades, revealing an exceptionally powerful martial will between the lines. It had clearly been written by someone of profound martial achievement.
"Zhou Tu..."
He immediately realized who had penned the notes. As a Divine Constable of Six Doors overseeing Qin Province, Zhou Tu possessed an intimate understanding of the realm's many Grandmasters, especially those in Qin Province. The annotations he had written held considerable value.
Aside from the Grandmaster Roster, there was another, thinner dossier. Unrolling it, Huang Tian found detailed intelligence on the Five Great Sects of Kunyun Commandery.
The bulk of the text was dedicated to the Grandmaster experts of those five sects.
Flipping to the page on the Feihong Sect:
"Ke Rujing: Supreme Elder of the Feihong Sect, aged one hundred and seventeen, Third Rank peak, excels in staff techniques. Known for a violent temperament, yet in truth meticulous despite his roughness, acting with notable prudence..."
"Qian Shan: Sect Master of the Feihong Sect, aged seventy-one, Fourth Rank peak..."
After reading through it, Huang Tian gained a deeper understanding of the Five Great Sects, including the Feihong Sect.
*It really is somewhat useful...*
Yet only somewhat. After all, no matter how detailed the records were, they could never match the clarity of what he could see with his own eyes through his special ability.
Holding the scroll, he pondered for a moment before instructing Aunt Qin, "This is of some use, so we will accept it. Tomorrow, send someone with a return gift and convey my thanks."
"Understood," Aunt Qin said.
By the time he finished reading through the dossiers, night had deepened. Huang Tian slung his quiver box onto his back, stepped out the door, and walked toward the Martial Restraint Guard government office. By the side gate, someone was already waiting, holding a conical bamboo hat to shield against wind and sand while leading a steed. Looking closely, the man was none other than Bai Yuanfu.
Drawing nearer, Huang Tian saw that the horse beside him was covered from head to hooves in short, needle-like black hair. A pair of fierce eyes gleamed blood-red, and its breath snorted out scorching white mist, faintly tinged with a baleful aura.
Handing the dragon horse over to Huang Tian, Bai Yuanfu lowered his voice. "The night is thick—an ideal time to slip out of the city."
Huang Tian understood.
Since his goal was to slaughter his enemies and eradicate a sect, he naturally could not leave too many traces. It was not out of fear of an ambush on the road, but out of concern that word would reach the Feihong Sect and scare them into flight. It wouldn't matter much if Fourth Rank elders fled, but if Ke Rujing ran, hunting him down would take far more effort.
Donning the bamboo hat, Huang Tian mounted the horse.
Bai Yuanfu said, "Take care on the road."
Huang Tian cupped his hands in response, then snapped the reins. The dragon horse surged forward, galloping swiftly toward the eastern city exit.
Few noticed him along the streets. It was dark, the horse was moving at incredible speed, and with the bamboo hat concealing his face, he dashed into the distance in the blink of an eye.
Once clear of the city, Huang Tian quickly got his bearings and spurred the dragon horse into a full sprint.
Its hooves flew like lightning, shattering the moonlight underfoot...
***
Feihong Sect.
When Sect Master Qian Shan unrolled the urgent message sent via messenger eagle by his subordinates in the commandery seat, his entire body shuddered violently.
"Th-this... how is this possible...?"
Dazed and at a loss, he sat paralyzed in sheer disbelief. "He can actually kill a Third Rank Grandmaster? How has his strength grown so fast?!"
From the moment the Feihong Sect had first taken notice of Huang Tian until now, it had been two or three months at most.
In just two or three months, Huang Tian's strength had skyrocketed from the lower three ranks all the way to possessing the might to slay a Third Rank expert!
This was utterly absurd!
So absurd that Qian Shan began questioning his own existence. Did he and Huang Tian even live in the same world?!
Why was it that he had been stuck at the Fourth Rank peak for decades, unable to break through even after consuming a Precious Elephant Sacred Fetus Pill, while Huang Tian was already capable of butchering Grandmasters?
The world was simply too unfair!
Could geniuses just do whatever they pleased?!
After sitting in a daze for a long time, he forced himself to his feet, walked out of the room, and headed toward an elegant courtyard.
"Martial Grandfather, Qian Shan requests an audience regarding an urgent matter!"
"Enter."
The courtyard gates swung open on their own.
Clutching the letter, his face pale, Qian Shan stepped inside and bowed to a tall, burly man with a curly beard. "Greetings, Martial Grandfather!"
This bearded giant was none other than the Supreme Elder of the Feihong Sect, Ke Rujing!
Though he was well over a century old, his features were rugged without the slightest trace of senescence. Nor did he possess any of the scholarly elegance suggested by his name; instead, he looked like a fierce general who had spent decades waging war on blood-soaked battlefields.
"What brings you here? Is there word of the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler?" Ke Rujing inquired.
Ever since news of the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler's emergence had spread, he had emerged from secluded cultivation and dispatched numerous disciples across Kunyun Commandery to scout for information.
Yet after all these days, not a single useful lead had been gathered.
"Martial Grandfather, it is not about the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler..."
Passing the letter over, Qian Shan spoke with a strained voice. "It concerns Huang Tian."
"Huang Tian?"
Ke Rujing remembered the name well. After ending his seclusion, Qian Shan had mentioned that an extraordinary prodigy had emerged in the commandery's Martial Restraint Guard, and two assassination attempts by their sect had ended in failure.
Especially the second time: even the renowned Thousand Faces Old Ghost had perished at Huang Tian's hands, which had deeply shocked Ke Rujing.
That was a top-tier assassin who had once escaped from the grasp of a Third Rank expert, yet he had met his end at the hands of a mere youth!
At the time, Ke Rujing had even entertained the thought of storming into the commandery seat to kill Huang Tian outright and eliminate future trouble.
Yet compared to Huang Tian, the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler was ultimately far more important, so he had temporarily shelved the notion. Another reason, of course, was that commandery officials were keeping a close watch on him; sneaking into the commandery seat to assassinate someone without making a sound was nearly impossible.
Even if he managed to slip in, given Huang Tian's prowess in slaying Thousand Faces Old Ghost, Ke Rujing might not be able to finish him off within a few breaths. And if he failed to kill him quickly, that old bastard Yu Jingcheng would rush over to reinforce him, causing massive trouble.
Pondering back and forth, he had ultimately refrained from acting in haste, choosing instead to confer with the other four sects to deliberate on their course of action.
However, most of the other four sects' attention was focused, like the Feihong Sect's, on tracking down the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler. While they also harbored concerns about Huang Tian, they could only push the matter aside for the time being.
Well, it was hardly even a postponement. If the Five Great Sects intended to take joint action, deliberating for a month or two was entirely normal. It was unthinkable for one sect to send a letter and expect the other sects' Grandmasters to charge blindly into the commandery seat alongside them to commit murder; that would be truly preposterous.
A Grandmaster was the cornerstone and bedrock pillar of any sect; undertaking any risky endeavor required exhaustive deliberation.
For precisely this reason, the Five Great Sects of Kunyun Commandery had long delayed reaching a decision on how to deal with Huang Tian.
*What happened with Huang Tian now? Don't tell me it's more bad news.*
Noticing Qian Shan's pale complexion, Ke Rujing took the letter with an uneasy feeling and opened it to read.
Boom!
A ferocious wave of true qi erupted uncontrollably from Ke Rujing's body, buffeting Qian Shan until the skin on his face quivered. Fallen leaves swirled wildly through the courtyard, and flowers and shrubs bent to the ground.
Clutching the letter, he sprang to his feet, his tiger eyes bulging wide. "He... killed a Third Rank Grandmaster?!"
"Is this news beyond doubt?!" Ke Rujing demanded, utterly incredulous.
Qian Shan rasped with a parched throat, "It appears to be true. And this is only the first letter. We have numerous scouts gathering intelligence in the commandery seat; with an event of this magnitude, many of them will send messages. In a short while, we will likely receive several more urgent reports."
Whether intelligence was authentic could not be determined from a single message, but if different individuals all sent urgent reports, they could corroborate one another to confirm the truth.
Ke Rujing steadied his breath. "Let us wait and see whether subsequent letters arrive."
"Yes," Qian Shan answered.
Time ticked by slowly. At last, three urgent dispatches arrived in quick succession.
The two of them unfolded the letters to look.
As expected, all of them reported that Huang Tian had seemingly broken through to the Fifth Rank and forcefully slain Demonic Cult Grandmaster Pei Guan!
Shock.
Silence.
Bewilderment.
Even though Ke Rujing had lived for over a century, considered himself widely experienced, and prided himself on having seen every manner of prodigy, he now had to admit his horizons were far too narrow.
Utterly helpless, Qian Shan asked, "Martial Grandfather, what should we do now?"
Ke Rujing forced himself to remain calm, but the surging waves in his heart were impossible to quell. After taking several deep breaths, he gritted his teeth and said, "Do not panic. Though his strength has reached the Grandmaster realm, he will not act against our sect for the time being. He belongs to the imperial court, so his actions must follow procedure..."
Though he said this, he had little confidence in his own words. Their sect had already attempted to assassinate the boy twice; now that the boy had grown strong, how could he possibly not seek revenge?
Still, he was fairly certain that even if retaliation came, it would not happen immediately.
First, he believed Huang Tian was also interested in the Juntian Ocean-Subduing Ruler and would not have his attention fixed on the Feihong Sect for now. Second, even if Huang Tian sought revenge, he ought to leverage the power of the Martial Restraint Guard to dig up incriminating evidence against the Feihong Sect, and then lead the imperial court's forces to crush them.
*Powerful as he is alone, he cannot possibly march up to our sect to take revenge single-handedly. During this period, we must instruct the sect's disciples to act with utmost caution, lest he catch any handle against them or pick them off in secret.*
Even if the youth could not destroy the entire sect, what was to stop him from venting his wrath on elders and disciples carrying out assignments outside?
Ke Rujing pondered for a moment before asking, "Where are the sect's elders?"
Qian Shan replied, "Two have led teams to Funing County, while four remain in the sect for now."
Within the Feihong Sect, there were seven Fourth Rank martial artists in total, including Qian Shan. As the Sect Master, Qian Shan had to remain at the sect. Of the remaining six, four could not be deployed lightly, so the two elders who could be freely mobilized had both been dispatched to Funing County to search for traces of the divine armament.
"Send word to them. Huang Tian's strength is formidable, and it is very likely he will head to Funing County to seek the divine armament. If he truly goes there, they are to stay far away from him. Self-preservation is paramount."
"Understood!"
"Furthermore, dispatch urgent letters to the Four Great Sects demanding they quickly agree upon a course of action to confront the threat Huang Tian poses. We pooled our efforts to hire Thousand Faces Old Ghost back then—none of them can shirk this now!"
"Understood!"
Chapter 105