The Supervisor gazed calmly and nodded slightly:

“I shall fulfill your wish.”

His figure flickered out of existence, then flickered back, already seated beside the chessboard opposite Xu Pingfeng.

White robes facing white robes.

Xu Pingfeng picked up a black piece, saying:

“You once said that heaven and earth are a chessboard, and people are pieces. In this world, everyone is a chess piece, even those beyond grades are no exception. At that time, I asked if you were a chess piece, Master. Your answer was—No!”

Clack! The piece fell, and Xu Pingfeng gazed at the Supervisor across from him, saying softly:

“I didn’t understand then, but looking back after many years, I finally grasped the deeper meaning of your words.

“Master Supervisor, you… you’re a Gatekeeper, aren’t you?”

Nearby, the Garuda Tree Bodhisattva turned its gaze toward the Supervisor.

The latter picked up a white piece, his voice aged but calm:

“Among my six disciples, you had the best talent. But clever people tend to overthink. They fall short of the simple-minded who focus solely on their path.

“With your current standing, the level of Gatekeeper is still far beyond your reach. Focus first on becoming a First Grade Artificer.”

Clack! The white piece fell, and the black piece on the board exploded into powder.

Xu Pingfeng tried to speak more about the Gatekeeper but found himself unable to utter the words. Unperturbed, he picked up another black piece and said:

“Master is a Fate Reader, able to see the future. Even though you saw back then that Great Feng’s national fortune would drain away, you couldn’t prevent it. The conflict between the Southern Demons and Buddhism; the tensions between Great Feng and the northern barbarians and the Shamanic Church; the Gu Tribe’s desire to repair the Confucian Saint’s statue…

“These were all beyond your power to change. This was the great tide of events.

“Moreover, those who know heaven’s mechanisms are bound by them.”

Clack! The black piece fell, turning the white piece to powder.

There could only be one First Grade Artificer, just as there could only be one piece on the board.

The Supervisor picked up a white piece, smiling:

“I was prepared back then, but unfortunately, the power to move stars and change constellations only briefly deceived heaven’s mechanisms, allowing you and the Gu Elder to succeed.

“However, did you ever wonder how that woman managed to escape from Yunzhou to the capital so smoothly?”

Clack! The white piece fell, turning the black piece to powder.

Xu Pingfeng’s expression briefly froze. He held a piece, pondering:

“If you knew I was hiding in Yunzhou, why didn’t you act in these twenty years?”

The Supervisor glanced at him with an ambiguous smile:

“You’d believe me if I said so? If I had known, could you have succeeded?”

Xu Pingfeng sighed:

“Fate Readers are always so cryptic. Never mind, these things are in the past. When I decided to leave the capital and support that lineage from five hundred years ago to become a Fate Reader.

“I began laying out my pieces. Master, do you know which piece I placed first?”

The Supervisor shook his head slightly.

“Consort Chen!” Xu Pingfeng placed his piece, turning the white piece to powder, though his expression showed little joy as he reflected:

“You could say Wei Yuan and I share similar misfortunes. Consort Chen’s father was the Minister of Revenue, who had once helped advance my career. In our youth, we were secretly betrothed. But fate is unpredictable, and when Emperor Yuanjing sought court ladies, she entered the palace.

“Back then, I used her to inform on Wei Yuan and Emperor Yuanjing, causing discord between ruler and minister, forcing him to abandon his cultivation.

“Over these years, all the palace news, big and small, came through her.

“But after the uprising began, this piece became useless.”

Consort Chen was one of the few in the capital who remembered him. However, she knew nothing of Xu Pingfeng’s rebellion plans.

Now they stood on opposite sides.

“Oh right, it was also through her that I followed the trail of clues to learn about Emperor Yuanjing’s condition and Zhende’s existence. This led to manipulating Yuanjing to pursue the Dao, destroying Great Feng’s national fortune.”

The Supervisor picked up a white piece and placed it, saying as the black piece exploded:

“I should thank you both, father and son, for helping me remove the cancer that was Zhende. Otherwise, I truly would have had no way to deal with Zhende.”

Xu Pingfeng didn’t pick up a black piece, instead looking down at the white piece on the board:

“Master Supervisor, over these years of repeatedly analyzing the events of Martial Emperor’s uprising, there are two things I still can’t understand. The Martial Emperor’s uprising was quite hasty then, far less prepared than Yunzhou is now.

“Yet Great Grandfather responded very hastily as if he hadn’t foreseen your rebellion.

“I don’t know if he deliberately ignored it, but if not, this is interesting—how did you, as a Fate Reader, manage to deceive Great Grandfather? Whether using artificer techniques to block heaven’s mechanisms or moving stars and changing constellations, these can only block temporarily, block one thing.

“But a Fate Reader can see through the future. Even if you can block temporarily, you can’t block forever. Master Supervisor, how did you manage it?”

At this point, an eerie light flashed in Xu Pingfeng’s eyes:

“Because you’re a Gatekeeper, that’s the real reason you could kill your master, isn’t it?”

The Supervisor gazed at him deeply.

“But if you’re a Gatekeeper, what was the First Generation?”

A deep voice sounded from behind the Supervisor. At some point, a giant beast with white scales, deer antlers, crocodile lips, and a lion’s mane appeared there.

…

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In Songshan County, drum beats thundered like lightning.

Militia ran along the city walls, carrying barrels of oil, wooden logs, boxes containing cannons, and crossbow bolts.

The cannon crews swiftly adjusted their firing angles, while archers placed bags of arrows at their feet. All defenders mobilized, methodically carrying out their preparations.

Under Xu Er Lang’s training, these actions had been ingrained into the soldiers’ instincts. Even the militia were well-drilled.

After all, over the past month, they had practiced these movements daily, repeatedly moving the defensive equipment up and down the walls.

Miao Youfang stood at the battlements, gazing into the distance where he could see the dark mass of the army slowly advancing across the wasteland.

At the army’s forefront were strange vehicles, two zhang tall, covered in iron plates like giant shields. There were six in total, each requiring over a dozen militia to push.

Miao Youfang had never seen such things, but the battle instincts he’d developed over this period told him these were enemy constructions designed to defend against the high-ground cannon fire from the city walls.

“Crossbows!”

When the enemy slowly advanced within crossbow range, Miao Youfang’s shout rolled like thunder.

“Twang! Twang! Twang!”

Spear-like crossbow bolts shot forth, easily embedding themselves in the great shields with sharp thuds.

But even the penetrating power of the crossbow bolts couldn’t effectively destroy these great shields.

Miao Youfang didn’t lose heart. When the enemy entered cannon range, he waved his hand:

“Fire!”

Boom! The cannons recoiled sharply, flame-spitting from their muzzles as cannonballs shot out like meteors, striking the great shields and creating expanding fireballs.

The shields burst apart under the cannon fire, sending splinters and hot metal shards flying in all directions.

But they had succeeded in blocking part of the defenders’ firepower, reducing rebel casualties.

After sacrificing all six great shields and losing three cannons, the rebels finally pushed their battle line within range of their artillery.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

Both sides’ cannons thundered at each other, fireballs expanding on the city walls and wasteland, rolling clouds of smoke rising.

The rebels began their charge at the sound of horns, black masses like ants, their momentum overwhelming.

Xu Er Lang stood on the city wall, calmly waving signal flags to give orders.

The Shadow Tribe members moved like ghosts, killing enemy soldiers who tried to scale the walls, while the Corpse Gu controllers transformed the enemy corpses into “friendly forces.”

The Li Gu warriors, with their terrifying strength, were responsible for throwing down logs and rocks.

Under Xu Er Lang’s command, they coordinated perfectly.

“Look out!”

Miao Youfang, not far from Xu Er Lang, suddenly tackled him down.

As the world spun, Xu Er Lang heard a tremendous “boom” as the battlements exploded, a spear-like crossbow bolt piercing through and detonating where he had been standing.

Normal crossbow bolts couldn’t carry qi—this was thrown by a master… The thought flashed through Miao Youfang’s mind as he rushed to the wall’s edge and looked down, spotting a familiar yet strange figure in the chaotic crowd.

Zhuo Haoran!

He held the head of a Shadow Tribe warrior in one hand and a spear in the other, grinning viciously up at the wall.

“Stop him!”

Xu Xinnian calmly waved his command flags.

From within the city, three hundred Beast Riders took flight, their mounts’ claws carrying oil barrels, the riders carrying bows and arrows wrapped with flammable cotton.

This made the three hundred Beast Riders appear like bombers.

The Beast Riders were an elite force, almost invincible on the battlefield. Even Fourth Grade warriors, unless they specialized in “The Way of the Arrow,” couldn’t hope to threaten the Beast Riders with archery.

And in terms of aerial pursuit, a Fourth Grade warrior’s flight speed couldn’t compare to the flying beasts.

Just then, a clear cry rang across the heavens.

From the horizon, a flock of crimson giant birds came swooping in, their numbers vast—at least five hundred.

Leading them was a giant bird with a wingspan of three zhang, its body enormous. It carried no rider.

Xu Er Lang’s pupils contracted sharply.

…

Guo County!

Standing on the half-collapsed city wall, Ji Xuan looked at Sun Xuanji proudly floating in the sky, saying with a relaxed tone:

“City walls are no different from paper in my eyes.

“Sun Xuanji, our forces have now entered the city and are everywhere. Do you dare unleash your firepower on Guo County?”

Sun Xuanji stared at him coldly.

Ji Xuan sneered, turning his gaze to the city where civilians had shut their doors while soldiers from both sides engaged in street fighting.

“Womanly mercy!”

He shook his head as he made this assessment.

Sun Xuanji remained silent.

Ji Xuan drew his sword, clicked his tongue, and said with a smile:

“It was precisely your womanly mercy that lost Dongling. If I were you, even if killing a thousand enemies cost eight hundred of our own, even if every civilian in the city died from cannon fire, I would still destroy the enemy’s elite forces.

“Ah, I forgot to tell you, those Dongling civilians you couldn’t bear to kill—I’ve already refined them into blood pills. It took half a month, and thankfully you never discovered it, or all my efforts would have been wasted.”

As he spoke, he took out a wooden box and snapped it open with a “crack,” intense vitality flickering with red light.

Ji Xuan picked up the blood pill and swallowed it. His aura surged instantly, forcefully rising by an entire level.

Third Grade cultivators could strengthen their qi and blood by consuming blood pills, but at most, they could only advance to mid-third Grade. Beyond that, blood pills had little effect.

“Since you don’t dare to destroy everything together, I won’t bother killing you. Go back to the Astronomical Bureau. Within three days, Qingzhou will fall.”

Ji Xuan spoke these words as casually as a passing breeze.

…

Above the vast ocean, Bai Ji gracefully crouched, clear light streaming from her left eye.

Xu Qi’an sat cross-legged at the boat’s stern and smiled:

“What brings Your Majesty to seek me out at leisure?”

The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox spoke in her enchanting voice:

“A Spirit Wisdom Master came to the Southern Borderlands looking for you. Unable to find you, he came to inquire with me.”

Spirit Wisdom Master? Yi’er Bu or Wuda Pagoda? Hah, looking for me? More like looking for death! Xu Qi’an found it both puzzling and amusing.

“He said he came to deliver the Bell Stone,” the Nine-Tailed Fox added.

“Huh?” Xu Qi’an made a confused sound, his face bewildered.

He suspected he had misheard because Bell Stone was one of the materials needed to forge the Soul-Summoning Banner. Why would the Shamanic Church give him Bell Stone?

It would be like Xu Pingfeng suddenly appearing before him saying:

“My son, everything your father did was for you!”

The Nine-Tailed Fox said impatiently: “If you agree, I’ll tell him your location. This seat is busy with worldly affairs and has no time to chat with you.”

“Agreed!”

Xu Qi’an nodded.

When a lamb walks into the trap willingly, why would he refuse?

“Your Majesty, please don’t leave yet. I have one thing to ask you,” Xu Qi’an called out before the Nine-Tailed Fox could leave.

The Nine-Tailed Fox made an “mm” sound, “What is it?”

“You must have seen the Netherworld Silkworm before.”

“Of course, how else could I have told you where to find the Netherworld Silk?”

“Then you’ve known the reason for the gods and demons’ downfall for a long time?” Xu Qi’an asked irritably.

The Nine-Tailed Fox nodded slightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“You never asked,” the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox said with a smile:

“I know many secrets, like how I’m still a pure maiden—I didn’t tell you that either, did I?”

What pure maiden? More like a cucumber maiden… Xu Qi’an scoffed internally but didn’t dwell on it, instead asking seriously:

“What I want to know is, have you heard of god-demons called ‘Great Wilderness’?”

The Nine-Tailed Fox pondered for a moment before shaking her head:

“Never heard of them.”

Xu Qi’an told her about the characteristics of the ‘Great Wilderness’ tribe, then continued:

“The Netherworld Silkworm told me that the White Emperor, that is, the Qilin clan, was completely devoured by a ‘Great Wilderness’ after the age of gods and demons ended. What do you think about this?”

The clear light from Bai Ji’s left eye trembled violently. After a long moment, the Nine-Tailed Fox said softly:

“I searched the seas for three whole months looking for my kind, but not only did I fail to find any of my clan, I didn’t find a single descendant of the gods and demons. Only on my return journey to the Nine Provinces continent did I see it.”

The air suddenly went still.

Holy shit… Xu Qi’an cursed internally. He thought of a possibility—that most descendants of gods and demons had been devoured by the White Emperor, no, by that Great Wilderness.

The Nine-Tailed Fox fell silent again, clearly having reached the same terrifying conclusion.

“Then why didn’t it eat me?”

The silver-haired demon beauty asked in confusion.

Xu Qi’an took a deep breath to calm himself before analyzing:

“There might be side effects, or perhaps it has some major undertaking recently and doesn’t want complications.”

He immediately thought of the connection between Xu Pingfeng and the White Emperor and of the battlefield in Qingzhou.

The Nine-Tailed Fox said gravely:

“Be extremely careful if you encounter it.”

As for herself, she wasn’t afraid. She was already powerful, and with the Divine Distinction’s remnant limb by her side, if that Great Wilderness dared come, who would kill who remained to be seen?

After bidding farewell to the Nine-Tailed Fox, Xu Qi’an increased the small boat’s speed.

Soon, the coastline came into view.

As he spotted the coast, Xu Qi’an also saw a dark figure riding the wind toward him, wearing a wizard’s robe with a hood.

The Spirit Wisdom Master stopped at a distance—it wasn’t his true form, just an empty robe in human shape.

“Xu Qi’an!”

A low voice came from within the cloak.

“Ah, it’s you, Yi’er Bu!”

Having dealt with him during the Northern King’s assassination, Xu Qi’an immediately recognized the voice.

Something flew out from the cloak and landed on the boat’s bow with a clang.

It was a dark-colored ore covered in honeycomb-like holes, giving off a faint moan in the sea breeze.

“What’s the meaning of this from your Shamanic Church?”

Xu Qi’an glanced down, confirming it was genuine Bell Stone.

“Heh, you can ask the Great Shaman yourself.”

Yi’er Bu’s tone was contemptuous, showing no fear since his true body wasn’t present.

“Because the Shamanic Church doesn’t want to see Buddhism dominate the Central Plains, as that would benefit Buddha and overshadow the Shamanic God,” Xu Qi’an guessed.

Yi’er Bu snorted coldly, tacitly agreeing.

“If that’s the case, why doesn’t the Shamanic Church send troops? Why not simply ally with Great Feng, and we can fight Buddhism together?” Xu Qi’an suggested earnestly.

“Heh, dogs biting dogs, all end up with fur in their mouths.”

Yi’er Bu’s cold laugh made their position clear.

“Then I won’t need to thank you either.”

Xu Qi’an finally picked up the Bell Stone, and fearing Yi’er Bu might disappear immediately, he asked while bending down:

“By the way, how long have you been enlightened?”

Yi’er Bu said flatly:

“This Spirit Wisdom Master achieved enlightenment during the Great Zhou period.”

Several hundred years and still haven’t reached Second Grade, useless! Xu Qi’an smiled and said:

“Then you must know the First Generation Supervisor.”

Yi’er Bu’s tone turned cold:

“Why do you ask about him? He was merely a traitor. Those not of our kind must have different hearts. That traitor was from the Central Plains, who joined the Shamanic Church while traveling in the northeast, before being accepted as the Great Shaman’s disciple.”

This surprised Xu Qi’an: “The First Generation Supervisor was from the Central Plains?”

Yi’er Bu made an “mm” sound:

“His Central Plains name was something like… Chai Xinjue!”