This world has a long history, and the Ancient Era has become a fog. Occasionally, powerful ancient artifacts can be found in those various ancient secret realms.

Among them, those with remarkable power are called divine artifacts.

The human race relies on these things to gain a chance for survival and reproduction, and not completely become mere fodder.

In the Qian Dynasty, the National Guardian True Man undoubtedly holds a high position and is respected, but above him, there are seven State Preceptors.

Tao cultivation is just one aspect; the greatest reliance to become a State Preceptor is to control the National Guardian Divine Artifact.

In other words, the Qian Dynasty has seven such divine artifacts.

Looking from here, that thin red light pillar, as slender as a needle, pierces straight into the sky. In this frost and snow-covered winter, a fiery glow actually appeared across the sky.

"Damn it..."

Zhang Kui stared at the sky and couldn't help but curse.

And at this moment, the massive dark shadow and twisted tentacles behind the dense lead clouds began to gradually fade and disappear...

Soon after, the red light that rose from the direction of the Capital City quickly fell back, and the sky returned to normal.

Zhang Kui breathed a sigh of relief.

Honestly, that thing in the sky was somewhat beyond his understanding.

"Immortal Wu... could it really be an immortal?"

While he was pondering, thick black smoke rolled in from a distance, and Fatty Tiger carried Helian Wei back to the dock.

"Taoist... why did you just use the National Guardian Divine Artifact?"

Helian Wei jumped down and asked anxiously; the anomaly had been seen by almost everyone.

"Don't worry, it's already settled..."

Zhang Kui briefly recounted the situation.

Helian Wei was in a daze for a long while, murmuring, "So it was that Li Jun causing trouble... indeed, Chongming Temple once tried to ordain him to resolve his heart demon, and only by pretending to be mad to avoid it..."

While the two were talking, a crunching sound continuously emerged from the river surface as ice blocks began to shatter massively, moving slowly downstream.

Even those boats that hadn't had time to stop were being carried along by the ice flow.

The two didn't pay it any mind at first, but soon, the canal began to rise at a speed visible to the naked eye, quickly overflowing the Bluestone dock.

Helian Wei was immediately shocked,

"Not good, the ice dam is blocked!"

Zhang Kui jumped onto Tiger's back,

"Don't panic, I'll clear it..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he had already swept up a fierce wind and headed downstream along the riverbank.

The ice dam is a natural disaster, formed when a large amount of ice accumulates into a dam as the river thaws, causing the upstream waters to rise and, when breaking the ice dam, resulting in a devastating catastrophe.

Fatty Tiger moved swiftly, and the river surface could already be seen piled up with a high ice dam, extending in a crescent shape across the banks for over a thousand meters, creating a drop of more than a dozen meters with the downstream.

If the accumulation reached a hundred meters and collapsed, countless deaths and injuries would be inevitable in the downstream villages and towns along the river banks.

Zhang Kui wasn't in a rush, drawing the Lu Li Sword with a flick and leaping into the air, the wind beneath his feet, skimming along the outer side of the ice dam, his wrist turning, and sword qi cutting through.

Landing on the opposite bank, with a clang, the sword returned to its sheath.

Boom!

Behind him, the ice dam collapsed with a thunderous roar, torrents of river water immediately carried icy flows downstream with overwhelming force.

Zhang Kui maintained a calm expression, not even glancing back, unscrewing his wine flask and taking a few deep swigs.

The horrifying existence left behind was a natural disaster; indeed, the life of the human race was as fragile as an ant.

Besides, someone else shows off, he does the cleanup, there's really no reason to be happy.

Right then, the mountain peak to the right suddenly erupted with a rumbling sound.

Zhang Kui looked up to see a high tower between the snowy mountain and forest, toppling obliquely.

Chongming Temple?

Zhang Kui squinted his eyes, instantly using the Invisibility Skill, and sneaked towards the mountain top.

Unfortunately, when he arrived, the temple had already become ruins, rows of collapsed houses seemed to have been submerged by water, mud and water plants everywhere.

Many monk corpses were gnawed to pieces, bones and flesh exposed, right in the middle of the ruins, the corpse of an old monk with a white beard showed fear, impaled through the mouth with his own zen staff, pinned to the bluish stone ground.

Snow fell thickly, the scene was dead silent.

......

Haojing, the Imperial Capital of the Qian Dynasty.

This ancient capital was still the capital of the Great Zhou thousands of years ago, situated in the fertile plains of Central State with a developed canal water system, and despite countless wars, it grew even more prosperous.

The "Qian Map" records: this land stretches over a thousand li, with 108 wards crisscrossed, nine canals traverse the city, and the population numbers in the millions all year round.

Zhang Kui's boat was swept away by the ice flow, fortunately, Helian Wei received orders to report to the Capital City, so they went together.

They encountered no trouble along the way, and when they arrived it was already in the deep of the night.

The hundreds of feet high city tower was majestic and imposing, beneath the massive lanterns of the city gate tower, one could vaguely see armored guards wielding halberds amidst the wind and snow.

Even though the snow was heavy and the night deep, obscuring the full view, the varied heights of pavilions and towers behind the city wall and the intricate flying eaves and brackets all exhibited a sense of antiquity, refinement, and mystery.

The city gate had long been closed, but a few hundred meters away, various merchant caravans had pitched tents, lighting campfires in the snow, preparing to enter the city in the morning.

Meanwhile, Zhang Kui, after docking, bade farewell to Helian Wei and rode Fatty Tiger into the snow-filled night.

In the time it takes to smoke a pipe, a manor appeared before him, the large lantern at the gate swaying slightly in the wind and snow, with the words "Iron Blood Manor" written boldly on the plaque.

Seemingly sensing Fatty Tiger's presence, the manor erupted in barking dogs, one by one, lamps lit up.

"Who's there!"

With a light shout, a young girl wielding a sword leapt over the wall, and before she landed, she screamed:

"Oh no, demon!"

Promptly falling flat on her face.

Zhang Kui laughed heartily, "Dong'Er, half a year not seen, your skills haven't improved?"

Li Dong'Er raised her head, eyes suddenly brightening, "Master Kui!"

With that, she quickly turned and pushed open the gates, rushing inside, shouting at the top of her lungs:

"Master, Master, Master Kui is here, and he's riding a big tiger!"

The manor soon burst into chaos…

......

On the other side, Helian Wei, with a warrant in hand, entered the city overnight.

Haojing usually had no curfew, but it was already deep night, the streets were vast and silent, with only the occasional city guard passing by with a lantern.

On either side of the street, large red lanterns lined up in a row, coloring the rooftops and snowy streets red.

After about a two-hour interval, fewer buildings appeared around, and suddenly a large lake emerged ahead.

In the middle of the lake was a small island, where faint outlines of buildings could be seen, with some windows on a seven-story tower still lit with candlelight.

Along both banks of the lake, tall pine forests and ancient locust trees were everywhere, with ruins intermittently appearing among them, as well as numerous scattered clusters of small courtyards.

Grand Profound Lake, the Astronomical Bureau's separate courtyard.

After verifying the warrant several times, Helian Wei straightened her attire and headed to the lake's center, soon following someone into a hall within a tower.

Inside the hall sat five people, and upon seeing them, Helian Wei's pupils shrank dramatically, immediately kneeling on one knee.

"I humbly salute the National Guardian True Men!"

Helian Boxiong, True Man Yuhua, Huo Yu…

Helian Wei's scalp tingled, she originally thought it was just a routine report, but she didn't expect such a grand occasion.

Helian Boxiong nodded, his face stern and cold, "Don't be alarmed, tell us everything from beginning to end."

Helian Wei quickly stood up and recounted everything about Changping City from Li Jun, with no detail left out.

After listening, the officials were silent.

"Alright, you may leave now."

After waving Helian Wei away, Helian Boxiong turned to the others.

"Gentlemen, what do you think?"

An elegant lady with dual pupils smiled slightly,

"Helian, you're overthinking. It seems they're just looking for something..."

"Wrong!"

Elder Huayan stroked his beard thoughtfully,

"You all know about the chaos in Qingzhou; the Stone Man Tomb and the General's Tomb have had several clashes over the years."

"News came from the southeast, the Ten Thousand Demons Cave Spiritual Sect's blue light has been shooting up to the skies for days, and now the Immortal Wu from Jingjiang Water Mansion who hasn't appeared for decades has reemerged..."

"Gentlemen, do you find this normal?"

"The Great Zhou fell after a thousand years, the Great Yu descended into chaos after a millennium, and now, again, it's a thousand years..."

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