Preface:
“Establish the heart of Heaven and Earth,
Establish the destiny of the people,
Continue the lost teachings of ancient sages,
Create eternal peace for all generations.”
— From The Sayings of Master Zhang
Chapter 1: Birth Mother
The clear spring breeze whistled into the tea room, where two men sat upright facing each other, a square tea table between them.
“Hmm…” Wei Yuan gently blew away the steam rising from his cup and took a sip of the clear tea, his face filled with delight. “Fragrant with a sweet aftertaste, the aroma lingering between the teeth. I never thought I’d taste tea grown by the Flower Deity again in this life. Worth it.”
*Your standards for what’s worth it are too low…* Xu Qi An grumbled internally, but smiled and said, “Knowing Lord Wei loves tea, I specially brought some to pay my respects.”
In truth, it was old tea left behind by Mu Nanchi.
Wei Yuan nodded with satisfaction and sighed: “The queen of flowers, of heavenly beauty—Mu Nanchi is a peerless beauty in this world. Following you without status or position, it’s rather unfair to her. And now that Luo Yuhen has become a Terrestrial Immortal, does she agree to you marrying Princess Lin’an?”
Xu Qi An hadn’t expected that the first thing Wei Yuan would care about at their meeting would be his marriage prospects.
He sighed: “None of them are easy to deal with. Just mentioning this gives me a headache. Does Lord Wei have any advice?”
Wei Yuan put down his teacup and stared at him expressionlessly.
Ah, this… Xu Qi An immediately realized his words were inappropriate. Just as he was about to laugh it off and change the subject, Wei Yuan spoke quietly: “Balance exists between all things.”
Xu Qi An pondered this thoughtfully.
Wei Yuan placed both hands on the table, smiling: “His Majesty has told me in detail about what happened after my death. You did very well.”
Just as Xu Qi An was about to make some modest remarks, Wei Yuan said with a smile: “I never expected that when you were at the Fourth Rank, you could single-handedly hold off two hundred thousand troops of the Shamanic Divine Sect with just one blade. It’s clear your rise to First Rank Martial Artist wasn’t luck, but truly heaven-granted talent.”
*You’re getting back at me for my earlier slip of the tongue, aren’t you? You’re already completely restored now…* Xu Qi An muttered internally, saying awkwardly: “Those are just wild rumors.”
He fell silent and raised his teacup for a drink, hinting for Wei Yuan to move past the topic.
“The court officials are debating how to handle Yun Province. What’s your view?” Wei Yuan asked.
“I’m not particularly interested in political matters,” Xu Qi An prefaced, then continued: “All armed soldiers should be exiled as convict laborers, and all Yun Province officials and gentry who supported the rebellion should have their properties confiscated.”
This wasn’t his own opinion, but rather his prediction based on his understanding of Huaiqing.
Exile as convict laborers was standard procedure, and as for the officials and gentry families, it was a good opportunity to seize their wealth and lands under the pretense of striking down local tyrants, using those resources to appease the common people and ease the court’s shortage of money and grain.
After some casual chat, Wei Yuan grew serious: “Do you know where my soul went after my death?”
Xu Qi An shook his head.
“When we set out that day, Zhao Shou paid a considerable price to win me a slim chance of survival. Originally, the knife and scholar’s cap were supposed to bring back my soul, but they only retrieved a fragment,” Wei Yuan said helplessly. “The Shaman God captured my celestial and earthly souls, sealing them within a stone statue. We still underestimated a Supreme Being, even though He could only leak out a trace of power.”
Xu Qi An’s heart sank.
Wei Yuan glanced at him and nodded: “That’s right. After my soul returned, the Confucian Saint’s power loosened again, and the Shaman God began attacking the seal once more.
“I reinforced the seal, combining my power with the Confucian Saints, so the Shaman God captured my soul intending to use me to break open a gap.”
Seeing Xu Qi An’s furrowed brow, he explained: “Besides that, His Majesty personally summoning my soul caused the Confucian Saint’s power to loosen. In all the land, other than you, only she could affect the Confucian Saint’s seal.”
*The shamanic priests can divine the future—did the Shaman God calculate that I would resurrect Lord Wei?* Xu Qi An hadn’t expected that summoning Wei Yuan’s soul would have such serious consequences.
The Shaman God was one of the world’s three Supreme Beings, with cultivation reaching heaven and earth. If He broke free from the seal, it would be no laughing matter.
Wait! A thought struck him, and he pondered: “If summoning Lord Wei’s soul would loosen the Shaman God’s seal, why would the Director agree to it?”
“Don’t ask me everything—use your mind,” Wei Yuan glanced at him. “You’re now Great Liang’s true guardian, surpassing both myself and the Director in both combat power and prestige.”
“But I’m just an uncouth martial artist,” Xu Qi An reflected that when Wei Yuan was around, he always got lazy about thinking and just asked questions.
Wei Yuan said: “Remember the ‘letter’ I left you? I once told you…”
*That you had your eye on the Empress Dowager since your youth?* Xu Qi An maintained a composed expression and asked: “That the Nine States are far crueler than I imagine?”
Wei Yuan set down his teacup, his expression serious:
“Last summer’s end, the Shamanic Divine Sect attempted to infiltrate the Northern Border territories, planning to use it as a foundation to march south and swallow Great Liang.
“Zhao Shou found me then, saying that before the Confucian Saint passed away, he left a written message stating he was born by destiny to eliminate a calamity for mankind.
“Only then did I learn that twelve hundred years ago, the Confucian Saint had successively sealed away the Venom God, the Shaman God, and the Buddha.
“I finally understood why the Shamanic Divine Sect wanted to infiltrate the demon barbarian territories—they wanted to expand their domain and concentrate destiny to help the Shaman God break the Confucian Saint’s seal. Once the Shaman God breaks free, the Central Plains would be in their grasp.”
Xu Qi An nodded slowly:
“Yes, the Venom God is still sealed in the Southern Borderlands, and the Buddha’s situation is most complex but equally trapped. At that time, if the Shamanic Divine Sect had successfully taken the Northern Border, the Shaman God would have been most likely to break free first.”
As he encountered more and more ancient secrets, he now understood why Wei Yuan would sacrifice his life to seal the Shaman God.
Without the Battle of Jing Mountain that autumn, perhaps the Shaman God would be about to break free now, or might have already done so.
“Does Lord Wei know why the Confucian Saint sealed the Supreme Beings?” Xu Qi An asked.
Wei Yuan nodded:
“His Majesty has told me about the cause of the gods and demons’ end, and the White Emperor’s conversation with the Venom God in the Southern Borderlands. As expected, the calamity the Confucian Saint spoke of should be related to the fall of the gods and demons back then.”
Xu Qi An stroked his chin:
“The gods and demons died through mutual slaughter. Except for Supreme Beings like the Venom God who survived, most gods and demons perished in ancient times.”
Even the Venom God only survived by luck.
Because at that time, there were other beings comparable to the Venom God, and the difference in fate between them and the Venom God might have just been that the Venom God was lucky.
No, it wasn’t that the Venom God was lucky, but that He could glimpse corners of the future… Xu Qi An grasped the key to how the Venom God had managed to survive.
Wei Yuan said: “So, you should understand now why the Director not only didn’t stop you from resurrecting me but participated in it.”
“Balance exists between all things,” Xu Qi An quoted Wei Yuan’s words back to him.
The Director’s thinking was to use the Shaman God to check and balance the Buddha and Venom God. Supporting this theory was the fact that the gods and demons had perished through mutual slaughter.
Wei Yuan sighed: “So I guessed very early on that the Shamanic Divine Sect’s actions would provoke the Buddhist sect, forcing them to ally with Yun Province, while the Shamanic Divine Sect would likely sit back and watch the tigers fight, hoping all three sides would battle to exhaustion.”
In the secret instructions he left for San Gong Qian Rou, he wrote about the Yun Province army and Western Region Buddhist soldiers.
“Does Lord Wei have any theories about the truth behind the ancient gods and demons’ mutual destruction?”
This question had troubled Xu Qi An for a long time.
“The Confucian Saint’s written message didn’t mention it. This matter likely concerns heavenly secrets and thus cannot be revealed. Today, those who know its mysteries can be counted on one’s fingers.” Wei Yuan shook his head.
“What about the Gatekeepers?”
Xu Qi An asked in a discussing tone.
Wei Yuan glanced at his empty teacup. Xu Qi An tactfully refilled it, and only then did Wei Yuan nod in satisfaction and say:
“Since they’re called Gatekeepers, regardless of what the ‘gate’ refers to, it must be about preventing something from entering or leaving. Considering the secret of the ancient gods and demons’ mutual destruction, which possibility do you think is more likely?”
Preventing from leaving… Xu Qi An pondered thoughtfully.
“The Yun Province rebellion is over and the people can recover, but this peace is temporary—the true calamity is approaching,” Wei Yuan sighed:
“Destiny is what the Supreme Beings fight over. The Western Regions have the Buddha, the Northeast has the Shaman God, the Venom God is in the Southern Borderlands, and only the Northern Border and Central Plains lack Supreme Beings. If they all break free from their seals, they’ll first compete for and target the Central Plains.
“Even children know to pick the softest persimmon. After dividing up the Central Plains, the Supreme Beings will truly begin competing with each other.
“You’re now a First Rank Martial Artist, but still far from Supreme Being level. Have you thought about how to handle this?”
Xu Qi An had already considered this:
“First, I’ll meddle… um, first consider how to advance to Half-Step Martial God, like Shen Shu. There have never been Martial Gods, so I can’t pin my hopes on becoming one. Therefore, I need to ally with Shen Shu.
“Two Half-Step Martial Gods should be barely able to contend with a Supreme Being, right? That way we’d at least have the power to protect ourselves. It’s a pity I couldn’t save the Director.”
Though Time Masters weren’t particularly strong in combat, the Director’s greatest strength was his ability to plan and manipulate. If the Director were still around, Xu Qi An would gladly serve as his fighter.
Wei Yuan nodded and said: “That’s all for today. Oh right, Qian Rou brought a woman back from Yun Province. You should go see her.”
Xu Qi An’s expression instantly became strange. After a moment of silence, he said: “Alright!”
…
He left Righteous Spirit Tower and went to the residential area in the rear courtyard.
The Night Watchers’ Office was divided into two parts: the front yard for business and the back yard for rest. Singles like Yang Yan and San Gong Qian Rou lived in the office year-round.
Passing through the garden and courtyard, following the address Wei Yuan gave him, he came to a small courtyard at the easternmost edge of the compound.
Looking at the courtyard gate, when the moment came, Xu Qi An hesitated, unsure what mood or attitude he should adopt to meet the woman inside.