“I once believed that Teacher succeeded in killing his master through an alliance with the Buddhist sect and careful maneuvering, gathering momentum step by step,” Xu Pingfeng said. With each sentence, blood seeped from the corner of his mouth. Though gravely injured, his expression remained defiant and unrestrained.

Some words had been buried in his heart for over twenty years, some schemes carefully hidden for just as long. Today, he would finally speak freely.

“But upon careful analysis and review of the Martial Sect’s rebellion, certain unusual aspects become apparent. For example…” Xu Pingfeng’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

“Why was the First Generation caught off guard at the start of the Martial Sect’s rebellion? Even if killing one’s master is the destiny of the Artificer system, isn’t killing one’s disciple also destiny? The First Generation had no reason to allow the Martial Sect’s rebellion, to allow you, Teacher, to advance to Tianming Shi and take his place.

“How laughable that a Tier One Artificer failed to perceive his disciple’s actions. The reason, as the White Emperor just clarified, is that you were the Gatekeeper and used certain means to blind the First Generation’s ability to see the future.

“Am I correct, disciple?”

The Supervisor held his shepherd’s whip, breathing slowly, regarding him with an indifferent expression.

“Being the Gatekeeper isn’t the key point.” Xu Pingfeng shook his head. “The key is your method of interfering with the First Generation’s ability to see the future. It was precisely this method that allowed you to successfully deceive the First Generation, preventing him from seeing his fate. That’s why you caught him completely unprepared.”

Black Lotus gave a cold laugh, playing along: “Oh? Then how do you, who isn’t a Gatekeeper, plan to deal with the Tianming Shi Supervisor?”

Xu Pingfeng shook his head: “I’m not a Gatekeeper, so I cannot face a Tianming Shi at Tier Two. Only a Tianming Shi can deal with another Tianming Shi.”

As he spoke, the circular formation beneath Xu Pingfeng’s feet suddenly expanded, forming a massive array several miles in diameter, encompassing all the supernatural beings present.

As the formation expanded, the pouch at Xu Pingfeng’s waist opened, releasing streams of light that danced above everyone’s heads—various bronze artifacts, all sharing the same aura and foundation, like components of some giant magical device.

A circular disc engraved with the Taiji fish stabilized first, hovering motionless in the air. Then, using it as the core, other components were drawn in, arranging and combining themselves with mechanical clicks.

Meanwhile, Garuda Tree Bodhisattva harmoniously formed hand seals, using the Immovable Wisdom King’s dharmic appearance to seal off the space, preventing the Supervisor’s teleportation and buying time for the components to assemble.

The Supervisor’s consistently indifferent expression finally showed a change—surprise.

During this process, Xu Pingfeng sighed and said: “It wasn’t that I sought out the lineage from five hundred years ago—they found me. They had hidden themselves so well that the court couldn’t find them for five hundred years. How could I have found them and allied in such a short time?

“The one who approached me was the heir of the First Generation Supervisor’s Second Disciple’s lineage. Teacher, do you remember when I once asked you how to advance to Tier One? You told me the truth.

“Actually, by then, I had already learned the truth from the Artificers of the Hidden Dragon City lineage. But I still didn’t want to break with you, so I chose to enter the court as an official, attempting to reach the highest position and gather fortune as Prime Minister.

“I believed that by expanding Great Sui’s territory, annexing the northern barbarian lands and parts of the Shamanic Divine Cult’s territory, Central Plains would have enough fortune to support two Tianming Shi.

“But my attempt failed before it could begin. Yuan Jing’s suppression, and the attacks from various factions, led to the collapse of the Xu faction… Why didn’t you help me? If you had helped me then, Great Sui wouldn’t have reached today’s situation. Teacher Supervisor, it was you who pushed me toward the lineage from five hundred years ago.”

Speaking of past events, Xu Pingfeng sighed. By now, the bitterness of those days had faded, but these words had been buried in his heart for years—if he didn’t speak them now, he would never have another chance.

“So I chose to ally with the lineage from five hundred years ago, and their bargaining chip was this…” Xu Pingfeng pointed at the magical device above, which had just completed its assembly.

This was a massive circular disc, with the Taiji fish at its core. The outer rim was decorated with patterns of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, birds and beasts, fish and insects, mountains and rivers, sun and moon, as well as scenes of ancient peoples performing sacrificial rites to Heaven and Earth.

It seemed to have the entire history of humanity carved into it.

Hum! As the magical device completed its assembly, it rapidly expanded into a colossal object several miles in diameter, perfectly matching the circular formation beneath Xu Pingfeng’s feet.

The bronze device rotated clockwise while the formation beneath Xu Pingfeng rotated counterclockwise.

In an instant, everyone sensed a mysterious force enveloping the area. Then they lost all perception of the outside world, as if they had entered another realm, cut off from the Nine Provinces.

The Supervisor’s aura rapidly declined as his connection to the outside world was severed, losing the support of the power of the masses.

“Indeed, only a Tianming Shi can deal with another Tianming Shi.”

Seeing the Supervisor lose the support of the masses’ power, Xu Pingfeng’s lips curled into a smirk as he clicked his tongue repeatedly.

This magical device was left behind by the First Generation Supervisor. It possessed two abilities, both specifically designed to counter the authorities of a Tianming Shi.

A Tianming Shi could mobilize the power of the masses within their domain, achieving invincibility among those of the same tier. To defeat one would normally require multiple Tier One cultivators working together.

The first ability of this device was to screen out the power of the masses. A Tianming Shi within its influence would be cut off from the outside world.

Of course, there was a time limit.

The second ability was passive—it could not be divined or perceived.

To describe it figuratively—the Supervisor could not see its existence when peering into the future.

This was an inherent authority of a Tianming Shi.

If there were two Tianming Shi in the world, they would be unable to perceive each other in the future, as they possessed the same ability.

“I suspect the Gatekeeper’s ability includes some portion of a Tianming Shi’s authority. Did you use similar means back then to evade the First Generation’s future sight?” Xu Pingfeng said with a smile. “You can see the future. If you knew you would certainly die in this battle, you would naturally make targeted arrangements to foil our plans. So to kill you, we must first prevent you from seeing the future.

“This was exactly how you dealt with the First Generation, and it’s my trump card. Without it, how would I dare to rebel?”

Black Lotus sneered and said viciously: “Hah! If he didn’t have sufficient bargaining chips, how could I have allied with him?”

He flaunted his malice and smugness without restraint, not attempting to conceal the ugliness in human nature.

Xu Pingfeng coughed again, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, and said: “Back then, you supported the Martial Sect’s rebellion and allied with the Buddhist sect. The First Generation knew the situation was lost and knew that you, the Teacher Supervisor, would eventually advance to Tier One Artificer. Since only a Tianming Shi can deal with another Tianming Shi, it would be too difficult for later disciples to replace you.

“So he began planning how to kill you then, laying the groundwork for the resurgence of the lineage from five hundred years ago.

“He left behind two things. One was this magical device forged with the authority of a Tianming Shi. The First Generation hid it in one of the First Emperor’s false tombs and had his descendants guard that great tomb, waiting for the right moment.”

The First Generation Supervisor was as old as the nation, so naturally wouldn’t have a tomb. The great tomb that the Chai family guarded was one of the First Emperor’s false tombs.

Since ancient times, emperors never had just one tomb. Besides the real tomb, there would be several false ones to mislead people—this was standard practice.

And the one responsible for overseeing the construction of imperial tombs was none other than the Bureau of Astronomy.

“The First Generation was meticulous and didn’t tell the Second Disciple’s lineage about this magical device, nor did he tell the royal clan from five hundred years ago. He only said that when a Tier Two Artificer appeared who wished to replace the Supervisor, they should take him to find the Chai family.

“However, human nature is most unpredictable. The Chai family’s descendants couldn’t endure poverty and solitude, and against their ancestral instructions, abandoned their role as tombkeepers to return to the mortal world.

“At that time, I happened to be establishing the Palace of Heavenly Secrets, placing hidden agents throughout Central Plains to search for people with the surname Chai. After nearly ten years, I finally found the Chai family in Xiangzhou.”

Xu Pingfeng paused, studying the Supervisor’s expression, trying to see shock or panic, but he was disappointed—the Supervisor’s expression remained perfectly calm from beginning to end.

“For someone like you who peers into Heaven’s secrets, you must have long since seen through life and death. I was getting carried away.” Xu Pingfeng sighed lightly and continued: “The second thing was the national fortune.

“Use a war to leverage Great Sui’s national fortune, then steal it through secret methods, store the fortune in a vessel with royal bloodline, and slowly refine it to strengthen the fortune of the Hidden Dragon City lineage.

“In this plan, first there needed to be a war that would sweep across the Nine Provinces continent. The scale had to be grand enough to concern the nation’s survival, otherwise, it would be difficult to leverage Great Sui’s fortune. This led to the Shanhai Pass Battle twenty-one years ago.

“Next, Xu Qi’an, a vessel possessing royal bloodline, was born.”

The lineage from five hundred years ago was also of royal blood, capable of usurping the current Great Sui’s fortune.

If it were a common force, they would have to wait until Great Sui rotted to the core and the dynasty’s fortune ended before they could overthrow Great Sui and establish a new dynasty.

“Of course, this step of the plan failed—to this day I haven’t been able to reclaim the national fortune within Xu Qi’an. Fortunately, from the beginning, I had made two preparations, the other being to scatter the dragon qi and accelerate Great Sui’s decline.

“The effect is the same either way, as one weakens while the other strengthens.”

Xu Pingfeng smiled: “This is what it means to be a Tianming Shi—even five hundred years after death, still moving pieces on the board.”

The killing game that had been concealed for five hundred years finally revealed its fangs at this moment.

“This fellow, still giving me trouble five hundred years after death!”

The Supervisor’s wrist flicked, and cracked! The god-striking whip lashed toward Xu Pingfeng, ignoring distance.

Layer upon layer of defensive matrices immediately lit up before him, while simultaneously using the teleportation book to “summon” Garuda Tree Bodhisattva.

Bang bang bang… The formations shattered in succession, and the god-striking whip struck Garuda Tree Bodhisattva’s chest, leaving shallow whip marks.

The god-striking whip was a huge threat to Xu Pingfeng and Black Lotus, but against Garuda Tree, it seemed insufficiently powerful.

It wasn’t that the god-striking whip’s rank was too low—among all the treasures and supreme divine weapons in the Nine Provinces, none could pose a fatal threat to Garuda Tree Bodhisattva, not even the Nation-Steadying Sword.

In these Nine Provinces where all Supreme-tier beings were sealed, perhaps only a true Tier One warrior could suppress him.

The Supervisor seemed to have anticipated this. While striking with the whip, he flung the Heaven’s Secrets Disc toward the sky.

The Heaven’s Secrets Disc spun “whoosh whoosh,” attempting to “imprint” onto the Taiji fish at the core of the bronze magical device.

As a Tianming Shi, he naturally wouldn’t be helpless against a magical device. As long as the Heaven’s Secrets Disc could merge with the bronze device, the Supervisor was confident he could make this device collapse in a short time.

This would allow him to leave this “world.”

A pool of black viscous liquid appeared between the Taiji fish and the Heaven’s Secrets Disc.

It spread out like a curtain, letting the Heaven’s Secrets Disc crash into it.

“Ah…”

Black Lotus let out a heart-rending scream.

He immediately returned to human form, screaming and rolling on the ground as his pitch-black viscous body emitted hissing smoke.

Meanwhile, the Heaven’s Secrets Disc’s surface was stained deep black, and it lost its spiritual nature as it fell powerlessly.

Xu Pingfeng immediately said: “Garuda Tree, time is limited, don’t mind me.”

In this long-planned killing game, everyone had their role. Black Lotus’s task was to erode the Supervisor’s treasures, including but not limited to the god-striking whip and Heaven’s Secrets Disc.

Magical devices were one of an Artificer’s strongest means, but Black Lotus’s power of corruption could counter all spiritual nature.

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva’s task was to face the Supervisor’s attacks head-on, holding back this Tier One Artificer.

They had endured through the Confucian Saint’s heroic soul and entered the most crucial, decisive moment.

If they couldn’t eliminate the Supervisor in this battle, all would be lost.

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva charged forward wildly, leaving trails of afterimages in the clouds. During the process, the Immovable Wisdom King’s dharmic appearance formed seals, locking down the surrounding space, and giving the Supervisor no chance to use teleportation techniques.

The Supervisor caught the Heaven’s Secrets Disc, pure light rising from his palm to refine the corrupting force.

At the same time, he extended his right hand holding the god-striking whip, raising a barrier of hexagonal shields before him.

Bang! The headless walking corpse of Garuda Tree’s straight punch struck the barrier, making the Supervisor’s body tremble.

Both sides had deteriorated severely—if Garuda Tree had been at full strength, that punch would have sent the Supervisor flying.

Bang bang bang… A storm of fist shadows exploded against the hexagonal barrier, making countless rays of light fall from it.

As the barrier shattered and the Supervisor slid backward, he once again lashed out with Saren Agu’s shepherd’s whip.

But the target wasn’t Garuda Tree—it was Xu Pingfeng.

The latter immediately retreated violently to the edge of this “world,” but cut off from the outside, he couldn’t leave the domain covered by the bronze device.

And the god-striking whip could ignore distance.

Crack!

Xu Pingfeng’s physical body was torn open, his primordial spirit shaken from his body, letting out an agonized howl.

The Supervisor had two ways to break the situation: First, kill Xu Pingfeng, making the circular formation lose its sustenance and shortening the bronze device’s duration.

Second, refine away the corrupting force on the Heaven’s Secrets Disc, using it to counter the bronze device, similarly accelerating the collapse of the device left by the First Generation.

“Puh!”

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva’s fist seized the opportunity to punch through the Supervisor’s chest, emerging from his back.

At this moment, another Supervisor floated up from above, holding the shepherd’s whip, swinging it toward Xu Pingfeng.

He had abandoned his physical body, his primordial spirit emerging to pursue his senior disciple to the death.

Garuda Tree indeed withdrew his fist to rescue Xu Pingfeng, the Immovable Wisdom King forming seals with both hands to block between them, taking this lash for Xu Pingfeng.

The Supervisor’s primordial spirit immediately sank back into his body, letting out a laugh.

The corrupting force contaminating the Heaven’s Secrets Disc had been completely refined away.

Of course, he could have used the shepherd’s whip earlier to break Garuda Tree’s spatial containment, but with Garuda Tree at close range, even if he “revived” the surrounding space, he would be severely wounded by Garuda Tree in the next moment.

And in a situation where he couldn’t leave this “world,” such a severe injury would mean certain defeat.

Therefore that lash was aimed at Xu Pingfeng, exchanging the price of being severely wounded by Garuda Tree, and then having his primordial spirit emerge for another lash.

The Supervisor was certain Garuda Tree would rescue Xu Pingfeng, because the Buddhist sect wasn’t skilled at dealing with primordial spirits—among all the major systems, only the Daoist and Witch systems were adept at handling primordial spirits.

Since he couldn’t destroy the primordial spirit quickly, Garuda Tree’s choice would certainly be to protect Xu Pingfeng, preventing the bronze device from rapidly collapsing.

But all this was the Supervisor’s intentional misdirection—his method of breaking the situation wasn’t killing Xu Pingfeng.

The Supervisor’s true method was the Heaven’s Secrets Disc. He had misled Garuda Tree, making him think the disc still needed time to recover.

As for his physical body, since his wicked disciple Song Qing had mastered the method of physical body reconstruction, he could “be reborn” after borrowing a lotus seed from Xu Qi’an. Of course, if he escaped in time, reviving this body wouldn’t be difficult with an Artificer’s power to restore life and mend flesh and bone.

With the enemy not beside him, the Supervisor again threw the Heaven’s Secrets Disc toward the sky.

The Heaven’s Secrets Disc spun howling, transforming into pure light to “imprint” onto the Taiji fish at the core of the bronze device.

“Click click click…”

The bronze device stopped operating, its tightly joined components beginning to separate, showing signs of imminent collapse.

At this moment, everyone felt the force confining them here begin to thin, the world of the Nine Provinces growing “closer” to them.

In the next moment, a curved spear broke through space, ignoring distance, piercing the Supervisor from behind.

This spear seemed both golden and jade-like, both bone and stone, its material indiscernible.

The Supervisor slowly lowered his head, looking at the spear protruding from his chest, his pupils slightly contracting.

“Heh!”

A low laugh came from behind as a distorted figure materialized, from blur to clarity. It wasn’t the White Emperor but a completely black monster. Its body was somewhat illusory, not quite real—a primordial spirit rather than a physical body.

It had the body of a sheep covered in scales, with a face resembling a human’s, two rows of eyes on its cheeks, and six curved sharp horns on its head.

The curved spear that had pierced the Supervisor turned pure black, greedily absorbing everything around it, including light, and the Supervisor.

The Supervisor’s body dissolved inch by inch, transforming into fragments of light absorbed into the spear.

“I’ll help myself to the Gatekeeper’s spiritual essence.”

That sheep-bodied, human-faced monster stuck out its long tongue and licked its lips.

This “spear” was one of the six horns on its head, condensing the innate divine ability of the Great Wilderness, able to devour all things. In ancient times, even the strongest divine demons had suffered greatly before it.

It had returned to the Nine Provinces continent in the form of the “White Emperor,” originally intending to test the Dao Sovereign with a false body, concealing its true identity.

Even after hearing from various sources that the Dao Sovereign might have perished, it still hadn’t relaxed its vigilance, continuing to scheme for the Gatekeeper in the form of the White Emperor.

After all, if its true body returned to the Nine Provinces continent, it might bring additional variables, such as the Dao Sovereign’s backup plans, or perhaps the Western one might not have intervened at all.

“Heh!” Xu Pingfeng also began to laugh.

“Hehehe…” Black Lotus, seeing this, suppressed the burning pain and laughed triumphantly and wildly:

“With your elimination today, Great Sui will surely fall! Blame Xu Qi’an if you must—if he hadn’t meddled in others’ affairs, I wouldn’t have intervened in this battle.”

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva exhaled, pressing his palms together:

“Amitabha. Five hundred years ago, the Buddhist sect helped you advance to Tianming Shi; five hundred years later, the Buddhist sect supported your disciple to become Tianming Shi. This is the cycle of cause and effect.”

He felt no joy, only some emotion.

The Supervisor slowly lowered his head, looking at the mortal world, seeing Songshan County become a sea of fire, seeing Great Cloud banners raised on Wanjun City’s walls, seeing Sun Xuanji piloting the artillery platform, whistling like the wind, struggling to hold on under the pursuit of powerful enemies.

He withdrew his gaze, sweeping it over the three people and one beast present, and then closed his eyes.

Finally, his body completely disintegrated, entirely absorbed by the curved spear.

With the Supervisor’s disappearance, suddenly all of Qingzhou experienced rising winds and gathering clouds, dark clouds covering the sky, and lightning weaving through the cloud layers. One moment it was daylight, the next, heaven and earth fell into darkness.

Heaven showed signs, and darkness descended.

The “White Emperor” opened its mouth full of interlocking fangs and swallowed the curved spear into its belly.

It immediately made a sound of surprise: “Unable to refine it…”

Xu Pingfeng laughed: “While Great Sui doesn’t fall, the Supervisor cannot die.”

Garuda Tree Bodhisattva added:

“Back then, we paid a heavy price to seal the First Generation Supervisor. Then the Martial Emperor ascended the throne, the realm changed hands, and he refined the fortune to advance to Tianming Shi. Only then could he refine the First Generation to death, destroying his soul completely.”

Xu Pingfeng’s smile deepened as he said:

“Just keep Teacher Supervisor sealed in the spear for now. Once we overthrow Great Sui, we can refine him. However, we’ll still need Your Excellency’s continued assistance.”

Once you’re on the boat, don’t think about getting off.

The “White Emperor” pondered:

“Very well, but I must first send this object back overseas.”

It wasn’t comfortable keeping the Gatekeeper in the Nine Provinces, fearing unexpected developments. Only by sending it back to its true body’s side would it be completely safe.

…

At the Provincial Administration Commission, Yang Gong strode out of the main hall, looking up at the sky from the courtyard to see dense black clouds and flashing lightning covering the dome above.

As a fourth-grade Confucian, what he saw was streams of fortune dispersing and flowing away.

As a provincial governor, what he felt now was bone-deep terror.

Yang Gong’s pupils contracted as a guess fermented in his heart, bringing trembling to both body and soul.

“The heavens are changing…”

He muttered.

…

Songshan County.

Gunsmoke rose from various parts of the city as defenders and Cloud Province troops fought in streets and alleys.

The corpses of mind-parasite flying beasts lay scattered—some on the city walls, some on rooftops, some sprawled across streets.

Not long ago, Songshan County had encountered the main force of the Vermilion Bird Army, led by a fourth-grade great demon—the Vermilion Bird.

The mind-parasite tribe’s flying beast army couldn’t resist an expert of this level. In an instant, over half of the three hundred flying beast soldiers were slaughtered, their massive black-scaled beast bodies falling into the city.

Having lost air superiority, Songshan County’s defenders couldn’t withstand attacks from above. The city gates fell, and the defense turned to street fighting.

The battle between the two armies affected the city’s civilians as smoke rose from various locations.

Just then, the sky darkened at an unusual speed, black clouds seeming to press down overhead, bringing suffocating pressure.

The soldiers on both sides unconsciously slowed their fighting, watching each other warily while looking up at the sky.

Miao Youfang killed an enemy before him with one slash, protecting Xu Xinnian as they retreated, while looking up at the sky:

“Is it going to rain?”

For some reason, his heart palpitated.

Xu Xinnian looked up at the sky, speechless.

Outside the city, the Song River surged forward, crashing against its banks, splashing sky-high waves before turning back southeast with a rumbling, as if crying in grief or roaring in anger.

…

Teacher Supervisor… On the artillery platform, Sun Xuanji looked up at the sky. His body was frozen, unable to breathe, he stared blankly at the dark sky, suddenly feeling an uncontrollable, sharp, bone-chilling fear and panic.

…

In the capital, in the imperial palace.

On his golden couch, Emperor Yongxing, who had been taking his afternoon rest, suddenly awakened with a start, clutching his chest and screaming in agony.

His right hand gripped his chest tightly, his face pale, features contorted:

“The pain is killing me…”

Zhao Xuanzhen, attending in the bedchamber, rushed over in panic:

“Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Quick, quick, summon the imperial physician.”

“Get out!”

Emperor Yongxing forcefully pushed him away, roaring: “Go, go find the Supervisor, find the Supervisor.”

He didn’t know why he wanted to find the Supervisor, but some instinct in the depths of his being made him want to see the Supervisor immediately.

National crisis, fortune warning!

At this moment, all the royal clan members and grandmasters in the capital simultaneously felt their hearts palpitate, the intensity varying according to their sensitivity to fortune.

…

Inside the Pagoda, Xu Qi’an, flying toward Qingzhou, suddenly turned pale. He clutched his chest, slowly crumpling, curling up.

Heart-rending pain spread throughout his body, piercing his soul, and making it almost impossible to breathe.

Cold sweat burst forth like floodgates opening, instantly soaking his clothes.

“Xu, Xu Ningyan… what’s wrong?”

Mu Nanzhi beside him was startled, momentarily at a loss.

After a while, the pain slightly improved, but Xu Qi’an’s face remained extremely awful as he said word by word:

“The Supervisor, the Supervisor is gone…”

With half the national fortune in his body, he instinctively knew the Supervisor’s situation.

…

In the Bureau of Astronomy, underground.

Song Qing opened the gate, and the iron door slowly rose.

Holding a book in his hand, he went down the steps, passed through the dark corridor, and came to the room where Zhong Li was in seclusion.

“Junior Sister Zhong, I found the book you wanted.”

Song Qing placed the book in front of Zhong Li.

Zhong Li extended her delicate white hand from beneath her hemp robe, picking up the brown-covered book while complaining:

“Why did it take so many days?”

Song Qing was somewhat ashamed:

“Well, I’ve been too busy lately, you know how I forget food and sleep when doing alchemy experiments. Being able to remember your request was already quite an achievement.”

Zhong Li made an “oh” sound and turned her attention to the brown-covered book. The cover had no title.

This was the Supervisor’s manuscript, recording his process of refining magical devices, experiences, and insights, as well as the effects of the corresponding devices.

The disciples didn’t like reading this broken book, just as elementary school students wouldn’t study calculus. Only Song Qing would occasionally flip through it.

Zhong Li turned the pages, finding the detailed content about the “Fate-Breaking Hammer.”

“…When fortune adheres, strike with it, and enlightenment can be achieved!”

Zhong Li stared at these final words, lost in thought.

Suddenly, both Zhong Li and Song Qing felt a pain in their chests.