Chapter 270: Calamity (2)

Tian Yuan and Feng Jiuxuan descended almost simultaneously.

They landed at the very bottom of the abyss. The surroundings were pitch-black, but the darkness did nothing to obstruct their sight.

Feng Jiuxuan stood with one hand on his sword hilt, surveying the area. “What happened here?”

Tian Yuan did not hide the answer. She walked toward the golden skeleton. “These people were all controlled by the Beguiling Divine Sakura. It used them as nourishment to sustain itself.”

Feng Jiuxuan followed, frowning as he spoke in a low voice. “A monster nourished by this many cultivators… Was it trapped here and slowly worn away by the passage of time?”

Tian Yuan stopped before the golden skeleton. “The Beguiling Divine Sakura was not trapped here. You should know that no formation, however meticulously constructed, could continue operating for 20,000 years without anyone maintaining it.”

Feng Jiuxuan frowned. “What do you mean?”

Tian Yuan gave him an emotionless glance, then removed a spatial ring from one of the golden skeleton’s finger bones. “A sword fanatic like you would never understand. Go ask your nephew. He and my disciple relived the Beguiling Divine Sakura’s experiences within the illusion.”

Feng Jiuxuan ignored her remark. His eyes remained fixed on Tian Yuan’s movements as his thumb pressed against the sword guard, drawing an inch of cold steel from its sheath. “What did you take?”

“A relic left behind by the previous Pavilion Master of the Heavenwatch Pavilion.” Tian Yuan turned around, her brilliant golden eyes standing out sharply in the darkness. “Xu Yinhe presumably sent you here to retrieve these Sumeru Rings and reinforce the northern frontier. There is no point in the two of us fighting here. Take what you came for, and let us leave.”

The two stared at each other for a moment before Feng Jiuxuan withdrew his thumb.

Seeing this, Tian Yuan rose directly into the air. Without another word, she vanished into the black abyss.

??

After listening carefully to the entire account, Xu Yinhe sat behind the desk and cast an expressionless glance at Xu Yuan.

Xu Yuan fell silent.

“It appears our dear Changtian has hidden quite a few things from his father.”

“Ahem… Father, let me explain.” Xu Yuan coughed lightly. “My memories of the Splendorbloom Secret Realm are extremely hazy. Even if I wanted to tell you, I wouldn’t know what to say.”

Luo Daofan let out a low chuckle of unclear meaning. “Hazy… Tsk, tsk.”

Xu Yuan coughed again. He gave the old man a flat look.

Luo Daofan chuckled and cupped his hands toward Xu Yinhe. “Chancellor Xu, you truly cannot blame the boy for this. Without the Heaven Deriving Divine Soul, there are many things he simply cannot remember.”

“Forget it.” Xu Yinhe had only meant to give him a mild warning anyway. He shifted the subject. “What happened 20,000 years ago is already in the past. What matters is the present. Now that the Heavenwatch Pavilion has emerged—”

“Father, wait a moment.” Xu Yuan suddenly raised a hand.

The other three immediately turned to look at him.

Xu Yinhe showed no irritation at being interrupted. This child had always been like that. “Changtian, what do you wish to say?”

Xu Yuan carefully considered his wording, then found himself a chair and sat down. “Father, the reason everyone hates the Heavenwatch Pavilion is because they can divine the future. If they were allowed to continue developing unchecked, sooner or later the entire realm might find itself with another supreme ruler looming over everyone’s head.

“Now that the Heavenwatch Pavilion has emerged, it is certainly possible that a great calamity is approaching. After all, they cannot see the future whenever a calamity draws near. Their most detestable ability would be gone, and until the crisis was resolved, no one beneath heaven would have any reason to exterminate them.”

“But is there another possibility? I am only saying it is possible… What if the Heavenwatch Pavilion emerged because they could no longer remain hidden?”

In Azure Point, the realm eventually returned to peace by the end of the story, yet the Heavenwatch Pavilion never appeared, nor did any so-called great calamity descend. It had merely been the various sects beneath Heaven fighting among themselves.

The Heavenwatch Pavilion’s premature emergence was most likely another consequence of the butterfly effect he had caused.

After Xu Yuan finished speaking, the room fell silent for a long while.

Xu Yinhe seemed to be weighing his conjecture. Then he suddenly raised a hand and sealed Luo Daofan’s five senses.

The scholarly phantom standing in the middle of the study vanished instantly.

For a time, only the three members of the family remained in the study.

Xu Yinhe looked at Xu Yuan and asked in a low voice, “Changtian, are you saying Luo Daofan cannot be trusted?”

Xu Yuan shook his head. “No, Father. Luo Daofan can be trusted. He is a traitor to the Heavenwatch Pavilion, and traitors like him generally strike their former comrades even harder than they do their enemies. What I mean is that you should not let this talk of an approaching calamity affect your judgment of the larger situation.”

“Heh…” Xu Yinhe chuckled and slowly rose from his chair, shaking his head. “Changtian… your father has never believed in fate. After your last warning, Lou Ji’s investigation did uncover a few leads. Combined with what happened to your uncle this time, the Heavenwatch Pavilion’s existence could not have remained hidden much longer. It is entirely possible they chose to emerge because they had no other choice.

“If the Heavenwatch Pavilion truly seeks to preserve humanity, then the Great Flame Empire can simply appoint a new Imperial Preceptor. If they act only for themselves, then all that has happened is that an enemy hiding in the shadows has finally surfaced. Either outcome is good for us.”

“It is merely that the situation beneath heaven has become more complicated. Take the person who manipulated you into targeting that girl Mu Zhiyun. Even now, we still do not know whether they belonged to a sect, the Heavenwatch Pavilion, or some other faction entirely…”

Xu Yuan lowered his eyes and fell silent.

At this point, now that the Heavenwatch Pavilion on Tian Yan’s side had revealed itself, everything he knew about the original plot had become completely useless.

Once the Heavenwatch Pavilion fully emerged, it would most likely replace the Celeste Sword Sect as the dominant power. With such a force in play, there was no longer any guarantee that the sects originally destined to side with the Chancellor’s Manor would not switch sides at the critical moment.

The future had become completely unpredictable.

“Changtian, focus on your cultivation. You do not have much time left. Whatever you need, contact Hua Hong directly.” Xu Yinhe walked over to Xu Yuan and patted him on the shoulder.

Then he turned toward Feng Jiuxuan, who was leaning against the wall nearby. “Elder Brother, I will have to trouble you to pay closer attention to Changtian’s cultivation.”

Feng Jiuxuan gave him no face whatsoever and snorted coldly. “Changtian is Qian’er’s child. I do not need you to tell me.”

At the mention of his late wife, the authority in Xu Yinhe’s eyes gave way to something complicated. After returning the soul ring to Xu Yuan, he silently walked out of the study.

??

In the days that followed, Xu Yuan’s life consisted of cultivation. And when he finished cultivating, it was even more cultivation. Dull, monotonous cultivation.

Feng Jiuxuan did not immediately begin teaching him the sword. He told Xu Yuan to break through to the fifth rank Soul Condensation Realm first.

Even with his Innate Dao Physique and the cheat code known as money, reaching the fifth rank still required time.

The days passed one after another.

And at long last, Xu Yuan advanced from a sixth rank piece of trash into a fifth rank noob.

??

Far from the Imperial Capital, on the Great Flame Empire’s southern frontier where its lands met the vast Great Wasteland, an enormous tower suddenly rose from the earth, piercing the heavens.

The Heavenwatch Pavilion had emerged.