In the faint light of dawn, Meng Jianqing reined in his horse on a hillside and raised his telescope to search the fields and forests in all directions.

The lens stopped on a maple grove at the entrance to continuous mountain valleys in the northeast.

The maple grove in the morning light had bright red leaves as if freshly washed, faintly tinged with frost white.

Meng Jianqing lowered his telescope and, instead of following his usual practice of first sending a guard to scout, directly led his subordinates on horseback toward the grove.

The faint sound of clashing weapons drifted from within the maple grove, but the white mist was unusually thick, making it impossible to see even half a human figure, and even the tree shadows were extremely blurred.

Meng Jianqing blew his copper whistle. The maple grove fell briefly silent, then a copper whistle responded from within. Moments later, an elderly Yun family servant emerged to greet them, but reported that the young miss would only allow the young master to enter alone.

Heavy mist shrouded the maple grove. Meng Jianqing ordered his twelve subordinates to wait outside the forest and followed the old servant into the maple grove.

The moment he stepped into the maple grove, the scene changed dramatically. The maple grove disappeared, and he saw only vast white mist. The old servant gestured for Meng Jianqing to follow closely behind him, turning left and right, advancing and retreating, seemingly walking for a long time before they saw Yun Yanjiao standing alone in the white mist. The old servant bowed and withdrew, disappearing into the mist.

Yun Yanjiao’s expression was solemn. When she saw him, she only smiled gently, then turned her head again to gaze at the white mist ahead, concentrating intently on the sounds of combat within the mist. But her tense shoulders still relaxed as if a burden had been lifted.

Meng Jianqing came to a stop behind her, feeling his heart suddenly settle as well.

A cold, smooth voice came through the white mist: “Ah Jiao, why did you drag an outsider into this?”

That voice was like a long snake sliding through grass, making Meng Jianqing’s cheeks and the backs of his hands, exposed to the mist, feel threads of cold.

Yun Yanjiao’s voice remained as always low, soft, and gentle: “Uncle Ming is joking—when has there been an outsider here?”

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly: “I also guarantee to only watch and not intervene, unless it’s for self-defense.”

That Uncle Ming made a “hmph” sound and said nothing more, probably knowing that words were useless and it would be better to save energy to break through the maze formation Yun Yanjiao had set up as quickly as possible.

Through the mist, one could vaguely see the autumn sun growing higher. People continued to enter the maple grove, but this time the Yun family’s old servant loudly announced each person he brought in: Giant Gate Star Lord Tianxuan, Lucun Star Lord Tianji, Literary Star Lord Tianquan, Integrity Star Lord Yuheng, and finally Greedy Wolf Star Lord Tianshu and Military Star Lord Kaiyang. Six of the Big Dipper’s Seven Stars were now present. Yun Yanjiao seemed to know the question in Meng Jianqing’s mind and said softly, “Army-Breaking Star Lord Yaoguang is Uncle Mingyuan. The Yun family is only responsible for the safety of the Seven Star Elders Council and executing the council’s orders.”

She didn’t explain much more, perhaps considering the people hidden in the shadows and finding it inconvenient to discuss the internal affairs of the immortal mountain on the sea.

But the name “Mingyuan” still startled Meng Jianqing. The current generation successor of the Maoshan Celestial Master tradition had the dharma name “Mingyuan.” However, this Taoist was always elusive like a dragon—one could see his head but not his tail. Even his disciples rarely got to see his true face. The Imperial Guard’s files contained very little information about him. Meng Jianqing still remembered this name because of Shen Guangli’s warning: Don’t provoke that demon Taoist from Maoshan.

There couldn’t be a second Mingyuan who could make Shen Guangli so wary.

Behind many events, one could vaguely see Mingyuan’s shadow. But even the Imperial Guard could not discover what exactly Mingyuan had done.

Perhaps it was precisely because those skilled in warfare achieve no glorious reputation that Shen Guangli had so solemnly warned them not to provoke Mingyuan?

The first to challenge Mingyuan was Tianxuan. That aged voice resonated through the maple grove like rolling thunder across the earth: “Junior Brother Ming, for such a major matter, you acted on your own before the Elders Council was convened to make a decision. Isn’t that going too far?”

Meng Jianqing was shaken when he heard this voice. This was Lei Gongfu, the Grand Alliance Master of the Seventy-Two Islands of the East Sea. When he had accompanied Shen Guangli to negotiate a case with Lei Gongfu, he had met this elderly man whose appearance was mighty, as if he were a heavenly god. Lei Gongfu had come from the distant East Sea and infiltrated this place without a sound, yet the Fish Intestine Army, charged with monitoring the Hebei battlefield, had not discovered him!

Mingyuan replied: “This war has been fought for three years, and the Elders Council has been arguing for three years. What decision could they possibly make? Besides, the Elders Council has never had all seven stars gathered before, so even if they had made decisions, they wouldn’t count.”

That serpentine voice made Meng Jianqing involuntarily frown again. How could the immortal mountain on the sea have such a cold and sinister disciple as Mingyuan?

Lei Gongfu chuckled: “Good, today we finally have a full count. Junior Brother Ming surely has no more excuses now.”

The maple grove fell silent for a moment. After a while, Yun Yanjiao raised her hand and shook a string of silver bells.

When the bell sounded quietly, the first to speak among the seven stars was surprisingly Li Keji as Tianshu! But considering Iron Flute Qiu’s reputation, it wasn’t strange.

Li Keji’s voice still carried some weariness: “I have no other thoughts, only hoping this war will end quickly, and also to minimize casualties as much as possible.”

He had stayed in Hebei for these two years, seeing much blood and death, but still could not get used to it.

Those who are too sensitive and intelligent must bear more pain and disappointment than ordinary people.

Lei Gongfu immediately followed: “The Zhu family uncle and nephew fighting to the death—what’s that to us? Let them fight as long as they want! As for casualties, Nephew Li, life and death in this world all have their reasons. Saving the dying is not necessarily benevolent, and killing is not necessarily not benevolent. Let me tell you a story. In the South Seas, there’s a species of giant turtle that lays eggs on an island every year. When the baby turtles hatch and crawl out of the sand, they attract attacks from large flocks of seabirds. The baby turtles must crawl across that beach and enter the sea before the seabirds arrive in large numbers. I once couldn’t bear to witness such a tragic scene and spent ten consecutive years driving away the seabirds and putting more baby turtles into the sea. In the following three years, being busy with other matters, I didn’t return to that island. But when I arrived there in the fourth year, I discovered that the number of baby turtles was much lower than before I had intervened! I was very puzzled and thought for a long time before understanding a principle: my intervention had allowed increasingly weak baby turtles to survive and had caused more and more baby turtles to lose their defensive abilities against seabirds. So once I stopped intervening, their situation became more tragic than before, and they became even more helpless when facing seabird attacks. Nephew Li, people must help themselves before heaven will help them. The operation of the Way of Heaven has its principle of endless life and growth. If we arrogantly intervene, I’m afraid it will backfire.”

After this long discourse, everyone present couldn’t help but have their ears ringing.

Li Keji remained silent. This reasoning was not unfamiliar to him; however, knowing was easy while acting was difficult. He could not close his eyes, much less manage to see without seeing and hear without hearing.

Tianji’s next statement rather smacked of fence-sitting: “What Nephew Li said makes a lot of sense. It would be good to end the war early. Business hasn’t been very good lately, and several trade routes have been cut off, causing heavy losses…” It seemed as if one could see that person shaking his head and sighing in the mist, but his next words took a different turn: “But Senior Brother Lei’s words are also correct. Heaven and earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs, yet the great virtue of heaven and earth is life. This benevolence and non-benevolence are indeed difficult to define. So regarding this matter… I’d better abstain.”

Meng Jianqing remembered this voice—it was Fan Fu, the Zhejiang merchant magnate. He had met this old man, reportedly wealthy enough to rival a nation, several times before, but had never imagined his true identity. He turned to look at Yun Yanjiao. Was such a fence-sitter also a disciple of the immortal mountain on the sea?

Yun Yanjiao smiled with pursed lips.

No merchant is without cunning. It would be strange if this old fox didn’t sit on the fence.

Meng Jianqing now understood why Lei Gongfu could appear in Guangping Prefecture without a sound, and why the boatmen hired by Fan Fu could eliminate the water bandit Liu Qi of Weishui Lake—encountering a naval hero like Lei Gongfu who had dominated the East Sea for thirty years, what chance did a water bandit like Liu Qi have to fight back?

Literary Star Lord Tianquan was Chu Bitian. Meng Jianqing wasn’t surprised by this. That inexperienced youth from years ago had returned to the Central Plains from the South Seas and stayed at the Imperial Academy for five years. These past few years, he had been traveling everywhere to seek teachers and study, tireless in learning, with his literary reputation growing daily—quite fitting for his title.

Chu Bitian’s voice rang clear as a morning bell through the mist: “Although Senior Uncle Lei’s words have merit, what makes humans human is that they have compassionate hearts and benevolent nature—they cannot forget emotion, cannot be without emotion. So I believe that if we don’t rescue those facing suffering before us, then the great virtue of heaven and earth becomes meaningless. I agree with Senior Brother Li’s opinion.”

Meng Jianqing smiled slightly. Just as he had expected, ever since witnessing Li Keji’s soul-stirring paintings, Chu Bitian had become one of Li Keji’s most enthusiastic admirers among his many followers. Now that Chu Bitian firmly supported Li Keji’s opinion of quick victory and minimizing casualties, it was not surprising at all.

Integrity Star Lord Yuheng was a middle-aged man who spoke in a measured manner. Meng Jianqing had no recollection of his voice. He also advocated intervention, reasoning that the greater one’s ability, the greater one’s responsibility, so the immortal mountain on the sea absolutely could not stand by and watch such major events.

Military Star Lord Kaiyang, who had entered the Maple Grove with Li Keji, was Shi Ganfeng. His attitude was predictable—he would unhesitatingly follow Li Keji.

Finally, there was Mingyuan. He had rushed to this place precisely to intervene in this matter. His reasoning was much the same as Yuheng’s, but he put it differently, calling it “Heaven gave me talent for a purpose”—they could not waste their abilities and talents, lest they waste heaven’s gifts and violate heaven’s will.

Meng Jianqing had to admire these people’s ability to interpret the words “heaven’s will” so comprehensively that anyone could find what they needed from it.

Five to two—the intervention of the immortal mountain on the sea was now a foregone conclusion.

For some reason, Meng Jianqing secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After becoming aware of this, he couldn’t help but be startled.

Could it be that he, too, hoped for the immortal mountain on the sea to intervene, so that this war would end quickly?