Before long, a carriage rolled out from Hundred Refinements Peak.
The disciples of the peak who saw it all knelt on the ground and silently watched the carriage depart.
None of them had ever seen the Peak Master so furious and so overflowing with killing intent. It was the first time.
Every person felt a fear that rose from the bottom of their heart. None of them knew who had angered the Peak Master. But what they all understood in that moment was that now the Peak Master had chosen to act personally, the other party's fate was already sealed.
When the carriage had completely disappeared from view, the Hundred Refinements Peak disciples kneeling throughout the peak slowly raised their heads.
Then all of them, almost at the same time, looked away in the distance.
They could see that from the darkness in the direction of Hundred Refinements City, a brilliant silver light had risen at some point.
At the same time, the coachman driving Zheng Yunfeng's carriage also looked up toward the direction of Hundred Refinements City.
Then, carefully, he called out, "Peak Master."
Then his icy voice drifted outward, alternating between heavy and light, as though pressing down on rage that could barely be contained, "So even Elder Wu has met with trouble. I shall see for myself exactly who you are."
...
Falling God Peak's Ninth Peak, Jade Wave Peak.
The entire mountain peak was shaped like a massive jade tablet as though carved by the hand of heaven itself, its summit covered in a layer of dark ice, and seated upon that dark ice was a palace of pale green jade.
Within the palace, Jade Wave Peak's Peak Master Yumian Jiao sat between nine ice mirrors, dressed in a long white robe, her features delicate and fine, with no sign of her true age.
The nine ice mirrors reflected Yumian Jiao's image, while also continuously drawing in the True Qi of heaven and earth from the surrounding space.
Threads of dark ice True Qi drifted through the entire palace, causing the nine reflections in the mirrors to appear neither fully real nor fully illusory, impossible to make out clearly.
At that moment, the image of Yumian Jiao in one of the dark ice mirrors suddenly wavered, then flew out of the mirror surface and moved toward the outside of the jade palace.
Very shortly, the faint and indistinct mirror image of Yumian Jiao came to a stop before an elderly woman at the entrance of the jade palace.
Hovering in the air, she asked in an ice-cold voice, "What is it?"
Hearing this, the elderly woman in her blue robes immediately bowed deeply with her head lowered, saying, "A moment ago, a Hundred Refinements Peak disciple came to deliver a message. He says that an extremely formidable martial artist has appeared in Hundred Refinements City, one so powerful that Hundred Refinements Peak faces destruction."
The mirror image of Yumian Jiao rippled and shifted in the night air, her expression becoming completely indifferent, saying, "This one has only just met with Martial Brother Zheng. What talk of disaster for Hundred Refinements Peak could there be? This person must be delivering a false report. Have him put to death."
As she said this, Yumian Jiao seemed to remember something, saying, "This one did hear that one of Martial Brother Zheng's sons was killed. But for Hundred Refinements Peak, that hardly amounts to a disaster."
Hearing this, the elderly woman in blue moved her eyes slightly, saying, "Peak Master, the Hundred Refinements Peak messenger also said that this powerful individual appears to have already killed two of Peak Master Zheng's sons, as well as the First Wife."
"And beyond that, this individual has even sent nine people to issue a challenge to every peak of Falling God Peak, claiming that Peak Master Zheng is dead and inviting all peaks to come and take revenge."
At those words, Yumian Jiao's mirror image let out a cold sharp cry, "Outrageous."
And right at that moment, her gaze suddenly shifted, and she abruptly looked up toward the direction of Hundred Refinements Peak in the darkness of the night.
There, she caught sight of a silver flame rising up into the night sky, quite conspicuous against the darkness.
At the sight of this, Yumian Jiao's mirror image immediately furrowed its brow, and her expression took on a clearly unusual quality.
After a moment, she turned to look at the elderly woman before her, saying, "You just said two of Martial Brother Zheng's sons and the First Wife have met with trouble. From the signal that has now been sent up, this matter is in all likelihood true."
The elderly woman immediately lifted her head and asked, "What should we do?"
Yumian Jiao's mirror image was quiet for a moment before saying slowly, "By rights, upon seeing this signal and receiving this message, we ought to offer our assistance. But Jade Wave Peak must contend with the Great Li Tianjin Guards's assault right now, and our attention cannot be divided."
With that, she waved a hand, saying, "Furthermore, this one is certain Martial Brother Zheng can resolve this matter with ease. Dispatch one of our sect's elders to go to Hundred Refinements Peak and explain the situation, so that Martial Brother Zheng does not mistake this one's inaction for indifference, and create unnecessary ill feeling between us."
Hearing this, the elderly woman in blue gave a slight nod and answered at once, saying, "The Peak Master's thinking is thorough and entirely sound. This old one will see to it at once."
With that, she did not linger, and took her leave, turning and departing.
Yumian Jiao's mirror image continued looking in the direction of Hundred Refinements Peak and said to herself, "Anyone who dares act against Falling God Peak most likely comes from the Great Li Tianjin Guards. Could this be Fu Qiwen's scheme?"
...
At the same time, Falling God Peak's Eighth Peak, Peak-Cleaving Summit.
In the darkness of the night, the mountain's rocks were jagged and craggy, the entire peak a deep blood-red, its shape like an enormous severed blade driven point-first into the earth.
The summit had no clouds or mist, yet an invisible, formless edge seemed to hover around it, and even looking at it from a distance gave a sense of penetrating cold and dread.
At that moment, a night owl soaring overhead extended its wings and flew above Peak-Cleaving Summit, yet barely halfway across it was suddenly torn into four pieces, dissolving into a mist of blood that scattered into the night air.
On the mountainside of Peak-Cleaving Summit, in an extremely lavishly appointed courtyard, a beautiful woman of no more than thirty years, dressed in a thin silver-thread brocade gown, lay reclining on a soft couch.
Beside her stood a strongly built and strikingly handsome man, bare from the waist up, gently pressing his fingers to her brow.
"My lady, the Peak Master truly is consumed by his obsession with martial cultivation. That he could leave someone as captivating as you sleeping alone, not gracing you with his presence for two years running, is a genuine waste of something precious."
The strongly built man narrowed his eyes and murmured, his gaze drifting continually over the beautiful woman's figure.
Hearing this, the woman's face flushed with a rich color, and she pursed her red lips and breathed a warm breath toward the man, saying with a laugh, "That old thing is well past his prime. His body gave out long ago. How could he compare to a young man like you?"
At those words, the strongly built man grinned with self-satisfaction and reached out a hand toward her.
But right at that moment, from outside the courtyard, came a clearly urgent voice, "Lady Ni, Hundred Refinements Peak has sent someone to deliver a message. They say the Hundred Refinements Peak Master is dead, and need our peak to lend its assistance."
At those words, both people in the room froze. Lady Ni quickly sat up, pulled her thin gown around her, and gestured for the strongly built man to hide and not make a sound.
She then opened the room door and walked out into the courtyard, saying to the person outside, "What kind of news is this? Even if I know nothing of such matters, I know full well that a Peak Master of Falling God Peak could not possibly die so easily."
The newcomer sneaked a glance at the beautiful woman before him and hurried to say, "Reporting to my lady, this information was brought by a Hundred Refinements Peak martial artist, who is still here on the peak."
Hearing this, Lady Ni furrowed her brow and put her hands on her hips, saying, "Earlier there was word that young Yuwen Feng was dead, and now they are saying the Hundred Refinements Peak Master is dead. Does that not mean that Hundred Refinements Peak is finished?"
The newcomer's eyes immediately brightened, and he said in flattery, "My lady's insight is truly remarkable. That is exactly what the Hundred Refinements Peak person said as well. They say Hundred Refinements Peak is done for, and are asking Peak-Cleaving Summit to send someone to take revenge."
As he spoke, the newcomer continued with a troubled expression, "But every senior martial artist on our peak, from the Peak Master on down, all the elders and above, are in seclusion on the mountain. There has not even been time to deal with the young master Yuwen's death yet, let alone send capable martial artists to Hundred Refinements City to help."
Hearing this, Lady Ni gave a light nod, seeming to find the man's words very agreeable. She then let out a yawn and waved a dismissive hand, saying, "Then go and tell the Hundred Refinements Peak person that Peak-Cleaving Summit has no ability to assist in this matter. Let them find another peak for help."
Then she glanced toward the room in the courtyard and said impatiently, "It is already this late, and this lady needs to rest. You go and send that person on his way, and handle whatever else comes up yourself. Do not come back here."
With that, Lady Ni paid no further attention to him, turned around, and sashayed back into the courtyard.
At that moment, from the direction of Hundred Refinements City, a silver flame had just risen into the night sky.
But she was clearly entirely unconcerned, and with a creak simply pulled the door firmly shut.
The newcomer said nothing further, turned and departed, and not much later, from the room within the courtyard came sounds of a rather different nature.
...
At the same time, the other six peaks of Falling God Peak had each in turn received the message carried by the Hundred Refinements Peak disciples.
The attitudes of the various peaks differed, but none had quite the peculiar response of Peak-Cleaving Summit.
Among them, the three peaks that were directly engaged in contending with the Great Li Tianjin Guards's assault sent only elders to support Hundred Refinements Peak and investigate the true situation. The remaining two peaks, upon receiving the news, both immediately dispatched several elder-level martial artists of their own accord to offer assistance.
The main peak, Falling God Peak itself, was the most cautious in its response. Not only did it interrogate the Hundred Refinements Peak martial artists who had come with the message to establish the full account of events, but upon seeing the signal from Hundred Refinements City it also directly dispatched the head disciple personally trained by the main peak's grandmaster to go to Hundred Refinements Peak.
At the same time, it sent word to the Fifth Peak Master Ouyang Mingqi, instructing him to personally go and question Zheng Yunfeng about the situation.
Strictly speaking, given that the martial artist who had come to carry Hundred Refinements Peak's message had been coerced by Li Musheng into doing so, Falling God Peak had no pressing need to mobilize on such a large scale.
After all, Zheng Yunfeng had not yet made his move, and matters could not yet be considered urgent.
The reason for acting with such caution was of course the fact that the Great Li Tianjin Guards was currently assaulting Falling God Peak.
Falling God Peak was concerned that the Grand Li Tianjin Guards might have a scheme or stratagem behind all of this, and so was responding with greater care than usual to avoid making any mistaken judgments.
...
In a stretch of mountain woodland roughly seventy-odd miles from Star Control City in the Falling God Peak region, Commander Fu Qiwen had led a group of Tianjin Guards martial artists through the night and arrived there quietly.
Fu Qiwen knew Falling God Peak's power and influence throughout Lan Province, and equally knew there were almost certainly Falling God Peak agents embedded within the Great Li Tianjin Guards.
This was something that could not really be prevented, just as Falling God Peak itself had Tianjin Guards informants operating within it.
In the contest between two behemoths like the Great Li Tianjin Guards and Falling God Peak, many things were known to both sides and genuine secrecy was nearly impossible to maintain.
In Fu Qiwen's view, however, even if the other side knew the Tianjin Guards's route of attack, it made little real difference.
The battlefield was always a mixture of truth and deception, and intelligence could never be fully trusted. He also did not believe Falling God Peak would genuinely dare to concentrate all its formidable martial artists in the defense of four peaks, leaving all its other peaks vulnerable.
In the forest, a large tent lit by an oil lamp held nearly all the Tianjin Guards's senior leadership, including Hu Rui'an among them.
"In one hour we resume the march. The city of Star Control must be taken before dawn, and after that we do not stop. We aim to take Star Control Peak in the shortest time possible."
Fu Qiwen spoke as he pointed at the map in the yellow lamplight, with close to forty Tianjin Guards martial artists around him.
Yet aside from Fu Qiwen and Hu Rui'an, the rest of them were all furrowing their brows, their faces clearly burdened with something heavy.
In their view, taking Star Control City would not be a great problem, but facing Star Control Peak was another matter, and they had very little confidence in that, even with Commander Fu Qiwen personally leading them.
After all, according to current intelligence, the number of Heaven-Human level martial artists among their own Tianjin Guards forces was barely half of what Star Control Peak possessed.
And in conflicts between martial world factions, the outcome of battles between Heaven-Human level martial artists was very often what determined the outcome of the entire engagement.
Fu Qiwen could see the thoughts in everyone's minds, but said nothing more about it.
He understood clearly that in the current situation, words were useless.
As the person leading this assault on Star Control Peak, he needed only to let the results answer all questions.
After that, having gone through the specific details of the assault on Star Control City, Fu Qiwen led the group out of the tent one by one.
Before long they would break camp and continue their advance.
"The Commander looks quite confident in taking Star Control Peak. But by all accounts, that Peak Master of Star Control Peak is said to be unmatched in defense within all of Falling God Peak."
Hu Rui'an walked alongside Fu Qiwen on the mountain path, his gaze taking in the older man's expression in the darkness as he asked.
Hearing this, Fu Qiwen waved a hand and said, "The choice I have made naturally has its reasons. Otherwise, why do you think I chose to personally lead the assault on Star Control Peak?"
Hu Rui'an's expression shifted slightly. He naturally understood this Commander's capabilities well enough.
But this was Falling God Peak, after all, and he could not shake a lingering unease.
Seeing the man's complete composure, however, his own heart settled somewhat.
With that thought, Hu Rui'an shook his head inwardly. When all was said and done, being at His Highness's side was the most reassuring feeling of all. With His Highness there, it somehow felt like nothing needed to be feared.
That feeling had only grown stronger after parting from Li Musheng.
Of course, he also thought it might partly be because the journey with Li Musheng had not involved much danger, and there had been none of the direct pressure of facing something like Falling God Peak. That could easily have produced the feeling in him.
At that point, a sound came from the trees ahead.
Fu Qiwen and Hu Rui'an both slowed and looked toward it, and saw Murong Xiaoya moving through the darkness, searching for something.
Seeing this, Hu Rui'an immediately called out, "Miss Murong, have you lost something?"
Hearing this, Murong Xiaoya turned to look back, then let out a sigh, saying, "The large black cat His Highness left in our care has gone missing. It was still there sleeping this afternoon, and no one has any idea when it disappeared."