Chapter 1813: Unenlightened (I)

"Your majesty... We cannot attack the Wei capital.

"My lord... My lord, Granduncle Zhouda was killed by Wang Quwan... Mount Xiping fell to Ni Zan... Fifth Granduncle has now exhausted his life force and died of his wounds... and that Black Langur still means to harm us... My lord... what are we to do..."

Li Suining came to surrounded by darkness, drenched in cold sweat. The jade lamp before him flickered dimly, while the round disk sat neatly on the jade table and the jade knife lay beside it. Everything looked peaceful.

To his surprise, he felt relieved. Everything he had just lived through seemed like a dream. He had merely dozed off at the table. Nothing unusual had happened.

Still dazed, he looked away and noticed a man in black robes seated on the other side of the jade table. The man was imposing, with a bearing far beyond the ordinary. His golden eyes scanned the dark scroll in his hands, which he was reading closely. His expression was difficult to read.

The King of Wei!

His memories came rushing back. He had been unconscious since that sip of wine, and the Daoist Master must have reached a conclusion by now. Panicked, he sprang from the main seat and dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Greetings, your majesty... I..."

"Get up."

Li Zhouwei’s voice was remarkably calm, even gentle. Li Suining looked up into those golden eyes and felt a sudden, familiar ache.

In my previous life, before the King of Wei set out on his final campaign... he summoned us one by one to give us his instructions. When my turn came, he looked at me just like this. He said...

"Suining, if Zhouming falls, you will inherit the rightful succession... You may decide for yourself who succeeds you."

Something in Li Suining’s heart finally eased. He knocked his head on the floor twice.

Li Zhouwei said softly, "You have suffered."

Those few words brought tears streaming down Li Suining’s face. He raised his head. "Your majesty... I-!"

Before he could continue, a divine ability held him fast, leaving him unable to speak. Li Zhouwei looked at him gently and patted his shoulder.

"Do not trouble yourself with too many thoughts. I know you have received an opportunity. From now on, you may leave this mountain, but you must not leave Moongaze Lake. Once I have made preparations, I will arrange a path forward for you. Whenever a decision must be made, I will meet you in secret."

"As for your granduncle..." Li Zhouwei hesitated before continuing, "You need not tell him any of this. He is unlike me. He could not bear it..."

Li Suining understood him almost at once. It was nearly the same concern he himself had felt upon returning to life. In his previous life, the King of Wei had made preparations to protect Daoist Master Zhaojing long after his own death!

I am probably not the only one who knows. The surrounding great powers must understand as well... They hope the Li Family will grow strong so the King of Wei will not be left with no one to care for. If the Li Family could buy them even a moment’s hesitation... make him yield even half a step, it will serve them well.

Li Suining nodded through his sobs and looked up at him. Li Zhouwei’s golden eyes shone brightly. He parted his lips as though he wanted to ask something, but in the end, he let the question go. "I still need to make a trip north."

Li Suining hurriedly wiped away his tears and looked up. "Your majesty! If what I have seen is right, this journey will bring no great calamity. But the Tuoba Family possesses a terrifying Devil Dao art that can harm the soul. Please, both of you, take care!"

"The soul?"

Li Zhouwei seemed untroubled by the warning. He shook his head with an amused smile, stepped out on heavenly light, and passed into the great void’s boundless darkness. But in the darkness that swallowed all things, his smile vanished. Every trace of gentleness left his eyes, replaced by a beastlike ruthlessness. An icy sneer touched his lips.

Wang Quwan? So it was you, Wang Quwan.

————

A haze lay over the land, with mist and clouds swirling together.

The gray-white profound banner of the Baiye Capital Immortal Dao snapped in the wind. The character [Zhao], faintly suspended over its surface, had shrunk a size and looked indistinct. A smiling blue-robed youth sat on the steps beneath the banner with a jade flask in hand.

Helian Wumeng stood amid radiant profound light in heavy, gleaming silver armor. His face was obscured, and he looked like a massive crouching beast. His voice rang like iron striking stone. "Senior Bai, how did it go?"

The distant Wilderness lay in darkness. Once the [Hongxue Treasured Shore] of Hongxue Gate, it had suffered repeated plunder and battles since the gate’s destruction and was now covered in scars. Yehui’s gaze fell back down to the scroll in his hand.

It was a letter from Ch'i Lanyan, saying that an agreement had been reached on the Great Western Plains.

An unreadable smile appeared on Yehui’s face. "The lord of Pure Victory Dao has sent his demonic body into the field. His demonic body will head south through [Ranwu Passage] and attack Lacquer Marsh from the flank. Western Shu cannot move, and has no wish to."

A peculiar look flashed through Helian Wumeng’s eyes. "I have long heard of him. This is a chance to see what makes him so remarkable that Lord Wei considers him a kindred spirit, and how he brought Pure Victory Dao to sudden prominence... Everyone thinks Western Shu is putting on an act, but anyone who lets down their guard could pay dearly."

Yehui rolled up the letter and rose. Helian Wujiang strolled out of the great void, and Yehui smiled at him. "And you two, uncle and nephew... Sent to block reinforcements from the south, ordered into danger wherever it lies... it cannot be pleasant, can it?"

There were only three routes Northern Zhao’s forces could take across the river in order to head south. Moongaze Lake was the easiest; Profound Peak Gate had the greatest concentration of cultivators with divine abilities; and the Wilderness was the most dangerous.

Everyone suspected Yang Ruiyi was on the mountain, but the man appeared and disappeared at will. What if they were wrong? If he had laid a trap in the Wilderness, those at the front would be in grave danger.

That fear of Yang Ruiyi’s tactics was why, despite Mount Tangdao being tightly surrounded, Ch'i Lanyan still concentrated his forces on the route south through Profound Peak Gate. He feared that Yang Ruiyi might be creating a diversion, then stake everything on abandoning Mount Tangdao to seize Profound Peak Gate. The gate was a vital means of containing Great Song. Even if they lost all of Jiangbei, they absolutely could not lose it!

Helian Wujiang seemed to know Yehui well enough to take no offense. After a moment’s thought, he said, "Your concern is appreciated, fellow Daoist. We cultivate Baleful Essence, which gives us considerable resistance to both [True Essence] and [Banished Essence]. This is naturally the best place for us!"

Helian Wumeng did not say a word, only tightening his grip on his weapon. Yehui stood with his hands behind his back and said, "Our Capital Guard Dao excels at Spirit-Pointing and governing mountains. In ancient times, no cultivator established a Dao lineage without consulting Capital Guard.

“When I visited the Pavilion of Profound Order years ago, Lord Wei brought up Moongaze Lake. I told him that, situated between north and south, the lake was a [Living Site]. If a lord could hold it, it would greatly aid his rise. If he could not, a great threat from outside would bring turmoil within, and it would inevitably become another Golden Tang Gate.

"As for your family’s position in the Hetao region, I find it even worse than Moongaze Lake’s. The dharma realm lies before you, the Tuoba Family at your back, Great Desire at your flank, and Profound Chen at your elbow... In the terms of our Capital Guard Dao, it would be a [Death Site]. A person of virtue would neither occupy that mountain nor establish themselves there."

Helian Wujiang showed no anger. He even looked thoughtful as he steered the conversation elsewhere. "Oh? Then you must have given careful thought to establishing your Dao lineage at White Ye Stream."

Yehui understood the jab that his own Dao lineage was now exposed to the southern forces and might not survive. He let out a laugh. "Of course... I chose a place from which I could advance or retreat. Along the three rivers north and south, only two places offer that advantage. They are Chengyun Gate and my White Ye Stream."

Helian Wujiang studied him, then said evenly, "You are willing to stake the lives of everyone in your Dao lineage on your own attainment of the Dao. Of course you can place your pieces anywhere in the world... My clan lives in Mobei, with our ancestors’ legacy before us. I have no reason to cast it aside so easily."

Yehui raised a brow. "You cannot bear to part with that little legacy, so you would rather see your descendants used as someone else’s pieces for generations? Is that more to your liking? On this point, you and your nephew see things far less clearly than Li Zhouwei. Being able to stake a Dao lineage is a sacrifice, but it is also a privilege. Most people could only dream of having that choice!"

His reply sounded as much a warning as a taunt. Helian Wumeng did not know Yehui well, and the words grated on him. His grip on his weapon tightened, loosened, then tightened again.

At last, white light appeared to the south, and his eyes lit up. "The southerners cannot hold out any longer!"

He slammed his weapon into the ground and launched himself into the air, turning into a gale of baleful wind that surged across the sky!

Boom!

Countless peaks of Baleful Qi rose and shifted, spreading across Baiye’s vast land like an enormous ink painting. Black Baleful Qi billowed over them and swept forward.

A brilliant light that spanned the sky rose from the south. Its dazzling colors surged like a waterfall, raising a fierce wind that held the divine ability at bay!

Boom!

The colored light rose as an earth-yellow glow descended. An old man appeared at its center, dressed in a glazed ramie robe and holding a small jade mountain.

His gaze was calm, but his voice rang like thunder. "How dare you foreign barbarians run wild here?!"

It was Daoist Master Xianyao!

As his voice thundered out, a gleaming ray of colored light shot forth.

"[Bestowal of the Crown]!"

It was a [Majestic Earth] divine ability. The radiant light descended in a column of immortal brilliance. Helian Wumeng raised his head slightly, his expression shifting. Beneath his layers of armor, a mysterious gray-silver sheen appeared in his eyes.

Clang!

[Bestowal of the Crown] was no ordinary divine ability. It was most effective against immortal cultivators, but posed less of a threat to Buddhist and devil cultivators. Anyone it struck would be driven down to the ground, even if their cultivation was somewhat higher than the wielder’s!

Though Helian Wumeng trained in the Devil Dao, his practice was not pure. It did not descend from the Four Devil Ancestors; its roots still lay in the Purple-Gold Devil Dao. Thus, this ability could still restrain him. Fortunately, his cultivation followed a different system, so his [Baleful Essence] was affected much less. He also brought out a spirit treasure. He fell to the ground and could not move, but the profound light around him blazed all the brighter.

Showing no sign of retreat, he parted his lips and spat out a vicious taunt. "You decrepit old fool with no path forward... You beggar from the Eastern Sea... You dare bark at me here?!"

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