Chapter 113: The Crisis of the Coming Year

The first to reach the breaking point, shattering utterly, was his Yuan Mansion. The headache that felt as if his skull were splitting in two defied description. Yet, Ye Xin never gave up on himself. Even at the last moment, he fought desperately to keep his primordial veins turning.

Within the Yuan Mansion, his spiritual sea had surged into a tempestuous storm. Countless pinpoints of starlight embedded in the darkness were thrown into chaotic disarray. Suddenly, one star flared with a bright radiance, gradually expanding in size. This phenomenon quickly spread in all directions. The more stars that lit up, the less pressure Ye Xin felt. In the blink of an eye, the storm within his spiritual sea began to subside.

To Xue Baiqi and the others, Ye Xin’s figure gradually returned to normal, though he still looked pitiful—his body stained with blood, resembling a walking corpse.

In the next moment, the spiritual sea fell into utter silence. Within each glowing star, a faint figure appeared.

The figures moved continuously; to be precise, each repeated the same set of movements.

Ye Xin slowly sat down, folding his knees as he channeled all his consciousness into the Yuan Mansion. He vaguely understood that after Zhong Kui’s divine energy absorbed the primordial soul from Shuangjia Mountain, it gained a unique inheritance. Previously, his primordial power was too weak to activate this inheritance. But after absorbing Zhuang Buxiu’s murderous intent, he finally reached the threshold to awaken it.

Ye Xin had never seen this set of movements before, but he knew the name of every technique, as if a deeply buried instinct hidden in his soul had suddenly been restored.

He even knew who the shadow was—his past life, the Star Emperor Tanlang. Yet the problem was, he had clearly emerged from a modern world in another dimension. Which of these was truly his past life? Ye Xin was perplexed, for both realities felt equally genuine.

Time passed unknown. Slowly, Ye Xin opened his eyes. Xue Baiqi, anxiously waiting, immediately asked, “Sir, what happened to you?”

“I’m fine. Just almost burst from within,” Ye Xin grinned bitterly. He then stood, taking the Killing God Blade from Xue Baiqi’s hand.

Although he had fully absorbed Zhuang Buxiu’s murderous intent, his physical strength was now extremely depleted. Yet he could no longer wait. The entire Tanlang Battle Art had been etched into his mind, though he still didn’t fully understand its power.

His gaze fell on a large boulder. In a flash, his figure transformed into a streak of lightning, rushing forward as he thrust the Killing God Blade ahead.

The boulder was pierced as if it were tofu. Even Ye Xin did not expect such power. His body surged through the shower of flying stones and leapt more than ten meters forward, where a large tree appeared.

Without hesitation, Ye Xin’s blade swept upward. The opening move of the Tanlang Battle Art was Thunder Strike, followed by the second move, Rolling Rivers and Mountains.

The blade’s light swept from bottom to top, slicing neatly through the entire trunk. In the next instant, the split trunk slowly toppled to either side, crashing heavily to the ground.

Ye Xin had intended to unleash the third move but found his primordial power utterly exhausted, sending a chill through his heart.

In truth, a life technique was a skill to release one’s primordial energy in the fastest, most powerful way possible. The more energy consumed, the greater the power.

Having drawn the Soul-Sealing Stab from the Poison Widow, he could now unleash it seven or eight times consecutively. The Scorpion Armor could be maintained for a considerable period. But the Tanlang Battle Art consumed far more primordial power than both the Soul-Sealing Stab and Scorpion Armor, even surpassing the Heavenly Wolf Force.

Perhaps the Tanlang Battle Art was the true path to cultivation. Every warrior among the Nine Great Duchies strove by any means to comprehend a life technique from Yuan Crystals, yet resource scarcity forced them to settle for inferior choices.

“Boss, I noticed your blade technique is much stronger than before,” Xie En remarked, sounding impressed.

Xie En’s discerning eye saw through it. Cleaving a large stone was nothing new; Ye Xin had done so with ease before. The key difference lay in how much reserve energy Ye Xin retained with each strike. This meant that even if the boulder were ten times larger and ten times tougher, Ye Xin’s blade light could still effortlessly shatter it.

“Not too bad,” Ye Xin replied slowly. “I need a few days of quiet reflection. Let’s rest here for now. We’ll wait until he finishes setting his traps. Returning to Tai Sui Plain now might mean a fight with the Tiger-Head Army.”

* * * *

Returning via the fish trail to Tai Sui Plain required time for preparation, so Ye Xin and his companions stayed put for three days before heading south.

Sure enough, the armies of the fish trail and the Tiger-Head Army had all retreated, with some checkpoints abandoned. The wolf riders passed unimpeded.

Taking a small path to Old Dragon Pass, they found city defense scouts already present. It was clear Han Sanmei was overly cautious. Though he knew Zhuang Buxiu had retreated, he dared not press the attack. Perhaps the crushing defeat of Wei Juan left him trembling, so he held to the mindset of seeking no glory but avoiding fault. This also proved, in another way, that he had truly grown old.

Upon seeing the wolf riders, the city defenders approached to inquire about the war situation. Ye Xin spoke briefly, learned the rough location of the Fenwu Camp, then continued south along the path, crossing the Wanqi Mountains into the plains.

As Ye Xin had predicted, the Great Zhao Kingdom’s invasion came from three routes, merely testing whether they could gain more advantage, not aiming to destroy the David Kingdom in one fell swoop. When the situation turned unfavorable, they immediately withdrew. In truth, they had won decisively because the alliance between David Kingdom and Dayu Kingdom was shattered, forcing David Kingdom into a precarious two-front conflict.

The most innocent was likely Dayu Kingdom. Pan Yuanshan had hoped a swift raid on Jiuding City would yield great spoils. Even if he couldn't seize the royal city, capturing all the primordial stones from the eight Ding Tripods would be a major victory. Yet he only obtained the stones from one Ding.

Even worse, the Grand Secretary Shen Wangji and the Grand Administrator Wang Fang, upon learning of the Blood Mountain Legion’s raid on Jiuding City, pursued them with relentless fury. Battles erupted almost constantly. Pan Yuanshan fought and fled simultaneously, and even after crossing the border, Shen Wangji continued his relentless assault, crossing boundaries to capture and reduce several Dayu cities to ruins.

In the chaos, Pan Yuanshan learned why Shen Wangji was so enraged: all eight Ding Tripods of Jiuding City were looted. Realizing he’d been ensnared by a traitor’s scheme, he sent emissaries repeatedly to negotiate with Shen Wangji, accusing hidden conspirators within Jiuding City of stealing most of the primordial stones.

But Shen Wangji refused to meet any emissary, killing them on sight. A few emissaries shouted the truth before their beheadings, but who would believe them?

The Blood Mountain Legion’s cavalry had indeed attacked the Ding Tripods in Jiuding City. Surviving soldiers testified to this. Though only one Ding was officially reported as looted, why were Blood Mountain Legion’s discarded battle garments and swords scattered on all eight?

Furthermore, Chief Constable Zhu of the Grand Administrator’s office had thoroughly investigated each Ding, finding signs of fierce battle everywhere. The reason Jiuding City only detected one battle was Blood Mountain’s meticulous tactics: they launched a frontal attack to draw defenders' attention, then struck from other directions with stealth. Many defenders were killed before alarms could sound. Yet battle scars and discarded weapons could not be concealed.

This news reached the New Army, driving Shen Wangji and Wang Fang to outright madness. With Dayu and David Kingdoms longtime allies, their border defenses were weak, and Shen Wangji and Wang Fang broke through with ease until Dayu recalled its armies from the front, forcing their retreat.

Once stabilized, Pan Yuanshan’s first act was to send a letter to Xiao Mozhi, condemning his treachery. Xiao Mozhi replied calmly, inquiring about the looting of Jiuding City. Then the Great Zhao monarch Jiang Neng personally wrote to Pan Yuanshan, candidly stating that regardless of who took the primordial stones, David Kingdom was so depleted it would lack combat power next year. They agreed to launch a joint attack to divide David’s territory, with Jiuding City to belong to Dayu.

Xiao Mozhi sent another letter to explain himself. Being split between two nations, he could not fully control David Kingdom’s hidden forces. The Iron Heart Saint had mobilized entirely, leaving only Grand Secretary Shen Wangji and Grand Administrator Wang Fang in Jiuding City. Unexpectedly, two unknown pillar-state-level strongmen appeared suddenly in Jiuding City, beyond his control.

Pan Yuanshan ceased further complaint. On one hand, he could do little about Xiao Mozhi; on the other, Jiang Neng’s promise to cede Jiuding City to Dayu, though somewhat hollow, was better than nothing. He understood Jiang’s words were truthful—David Kingdom was indeed incapable of further war. The coming year would be ripe for territorial expansion.

Although David Kingdom achieved its goal of expelling invaders, the nation was bleak. News of Jiuding City’s plundering had spread. This also explained Han Sanmei and Wei Juan’s cautious advance—they planned for the coming year, avoiding harsh confrontation with Great Zhao to preserve their remaining resources. The situation was dire. Great Zhao could afford attrition; they could not.

Within Fenwu Camp, reports of merit arrived from various units. Though these should bring joy, from the highest academicians to the lowest students, faces were grave. The gains could not compensate for their losses. No one knew if the Cold Martial Hall or Hundred Flowers Hall would open normally next year. Dragon Soaring Martial Academy’s primordial stone supply was cut off; they might have to become self-sufficient.

Qiu Xiang’s expression was as dark as the bottom of a pot. Since learning of Jiuding City’s plunder, he had not smiled once, unable to do so. His spirits were low. The iron man Hao, who reported before him, was no different. As royalty, any loss to the Tie family was his loss as well.

(To be continued.)