Nightfall

In the sixteenth year of the Tianqi era, an autumnal rain fell on the Tile mountain, bringing a mudslide with it and a landslide afterwards. The largest Buddha statue in the world collapsed. Half of the Lanke Temple was buried. The ancient temples of the millennium were turned into ruins in the blink of an eye. The monks in the temple were either dead or injured. Those who participated in the Yue Laan Hungry Ghost Festival survived thanks to being absent from the temple at the time.

On the same day, Master Qishan, deeply admired in all the world, experienced his Parinirvana. After much misfortune, the abbot of the Lanke Temple was so disheartened that he retreated to the Tile mountain. Monk Guan Hai, Master Qishan’s last disciple, succeeded the abbot, and was responsible for the mountain temporarily.

That was the official statement. If human beings could continue to exist, maybe the historical records would describe it this way as well. Maybe the truth only could be found in the West-Hill’s Scripture and the secret writings of the Buddhism Sect. Only a handful of people knew that this disaster, which had almost caused the destruction of the Lanke Temple, had nothing to do with nature, but was only a scheme of the Buddhism Sect as an attempt to suppress the Daughter of Yama. Unfortunately, the Academy did not want to help them.

In this battle, Master Qishan experienced his Parinirvana, the president of the Commandment Yard of the Xuankong Temple died, Qi Nian of the Buddhism Sect was heavily injured, the Sword Garret–Cheng Ziqing’s Natal Sword was destroyed; monks in the Lanke Temple and representatives of all cultivation sects suffered a lot. Besides, those who had survived also received a severe admonishment, forbidding them to say anything about this accident; perhaps they didn’t want to cause panic in the human world. Both the Haotian Taoism and the Buddhism Sect had blocked the news heralding the arrival of the Daughter of Yama, so even people in the West-Hill Divine Palace did not know that the Lady of Light had become their biggest enemy.

Since Ke Haoran, the back of the Academy’s mountain, which hadn’t show up in the cultivation world for years, had finally appeared in this battle. Mr. First and Mr. Second of the Academy had shown powerful strength and unimaginable states, which astonished all sects of the cultivation world. They had recalled certain incidents that happened years ago, and further confirmed that the Academy was indeed unparalleled.

The Academy had also suffered a lot in this battle. Ning Que, whose state had improved rapidly and had gradually been regarded as the Academy’s disciple who would Enter the human realm, had disappeared without a trace with the Daughter of Yama and the black horse carriage.

Since the strange disappearance of the Buddha’s chessboard, no one had ever seen the black carriage in the human world. No one knew if Ning Que and Sangsang had died or if they were still alive somewhere.

Because of the exhortation made by Master Huang Yang–Emperor Li Zhongyi’s younger brother–the Emperor of the Tang Dynasty did not plan to destroy the Buddha. The previous Chang’an entry ban issued to Dao Shi was extended to the whole world. All Buddhist monks were forbidden to step into Tang’s territory, except for the Guan Hai bloodline of the Lanke Temple.

Another year had come in the blink of an eye. The autumn leaves had turned yellow and the Wilderness had frosted over.

Ning Que and Sangsang had been missing for a year, without any news about them. But as the old saying went, even if the emperor died, those who had to marry would still be obliged. So the world still went forward slowly, following the repeating rules of thousands of years. Though, people’s footsteps seemed a lot heavier during this year.

At the very beginning of the year, the situation in the Central Plains was actually very tense, especially in the eyes of those bigwigs who knew the truth about the turn of events at the Lanke Temple.

The unexpected happenings at the Lanke Temple could be seen as the Academy’s protection of the Daughter of Yama from any perspective. Then, the Academy should be the enemy of the entire world. But anyone who wanted to destroy the Academy had to destroy the Tang Empire first. The West-Hill Divine Palace could take this as an excuse to wage a war on the Tang Empire at any time, calling upon hundreds of millions of Haotian believers.

That was also why the original agreements reached by all the Central Plains countries in the Lanke Temple had become a waste of paper. When the West-Hill Divine Palace ordered the coalition to go northward, the northeast cavalries of the Tang Empire, which were supposed to be the main vanguard force, had been excluded by the coalition and even became the enemies they were most vigilant against.

When the coalition forces of the West-Hill Divine Palace and The Desolate were fighting each other and summer was about to pass by, the situation on the Wilderness changed drastically all of a sudden. The Left King’s Palace had led a miserable life in the past two years and had taken a rest in the Min Mountain for half a year. They suddenly entered the Wilderness again and launched an attack on both The Desolate and the coalition forces.

The behavior of the Left King’s Palace was seen as killing itself. However, no one thought that those daredevil yet unorganized grassland cavalries, who could madly wave swords around at most in the past, would turn into a highly organized and equiped army. The grassland cavalry was excellent at riding and shooting, coupled with organization and discipline; its strength was greatly improved.

What was even more frightening was that the grassland cavalry of the Left King’s Palace seemed to attack both sides at the same time. In fact, its insidious motive was to disturb the already stable situation, leaving The Desolate and the Central Plains to fight each other constantly.

The Allied Forces of the Central Plains were shocked by the changes of the cavalries in the Left King’s Palace. Through unremitting efforts, they finally found out that there was a military counselor, whose advice was always followed by Chanyu of the palace. Thus, the training of the cavalry and the sinister strategies were all put forward by him.

The military counselor wore a silver mask.

The battle on the Wilderness became more and more chaotic, and all parties were paying a greater price. Cavalries in the Left King’s Palace were trying to drag the coalition forces of The Desolate and Central Plains unwaveringly, even if they had lots of deaths and injuries. Finally, the countries in the Central Plains couldn’t bear it anymore, so they sent a strong man, intending to assassinate the military counselor.

However, though they could approach the Left King’s Palace, the swordsmen in the South Jin Kingdom, the cultivators of the Yan Kindom and the Kingdom of Song all failed to assassinate the military counselor. It was not until all the assassins had died when the Central Plains countries had suddenly discovered that there were actually dozens of strong men in the Seethrough Realm by the military counselor’s side.

Faced with such a situation, if the West-Hill Divine Palace did not take any action, no one could kill that person, and the situation on the Wilderness would become more and more complicated. At this time, the Northeast Border Military of the Tang Empire had finally entered the Wilderness, and managed to stabilize the situation there after two tragic wars.

The grass in the depths of the Wilderness had already turned white, and there came the sound of horses. Dozens of riders rode up a meadow on the banks of the Yanglin River. From the horses ridden, one could tell that these knights were from the Left King’s Palace. However, the strange thing was that these people did not dress like the grassland barbarians, but wore black robes instead.

In front of the dozens of riders was the military counselor who wore a silver mask.

The military counselor walked the horse up to the tomb and took off his silver mask, revealing his face which was severely burnt by flames. However, one could still see his original cheek, looking at the south quietly.

This person was Prince Long Qing who had fled to the Wilderness.

Prince Long Qing’s relatives in the Yan Kingdom had kept in close contact with the Left King’s Palace. Therefore, the Left King’s Palace was willing to send someone to the frontier fortress at the North of Yan Kingdom to pick him up in the Wilderness.

After entering the Left King’s Palace, Long Qing assassinated the high priest of the palace and captured the rest of the priests within an extremely short period of time, showing the extent of his power to the savage grassland barbarians.

During this year, he had absorbed the powerful strength of the palace’s High Priest, two strong men in the Central Plains who were in the upper Seethrough State, and a senior statesman’s cultivation using the Gray Eye. Hence, he had certainly broken through the Knowing Destiny State, and was even about to reach its peak. However, the essence and blood of the priests and senior statesman were not compatible with his Haotian Taoism. Therefore, his aura was a little bit messy and his state was still not stable enough.

Standing on the meadow and watching the distant mountains in the south, Long Qing kept silent for a long time. He remembered many things over the past few years. He couldn’t help becoming emotional, and said to himself, “The rivers and mountains are so good, and all are left for me to take. It is a pity that you are dead, or I will kill you again. How wonderful would this be!”

The grass in the Wilderness had been frosted, while the West-Hill was still looking green everywhere.

Ye Hongyu appeared in the depths of the mountains, in front of the simple and ordinary Taoist temple.

She wore a red-colored ruling gown and a divine crown. She looked calm and entered the temple without slamming the door, as if she was returning to her own home. She said, “Uncle, I haven’t seen you in a long time.”

The middle-aged Taoist priest, dressed in a light green robe, was washing brushes by the lake and after listening to the voice, he looked up at her. He shook his head and said, “You are very late.”

According to the rules of the Haotian Taoism, the three Great Divine Priests of the West-Hill Divine Palace, the abbey dean of the Southern Gate Temple of the Tang Empire, and people such as the Master Yan Se who had earned the title of Great Divine Priest with his own strength must come to the Zhishou Abbey after being granted the title. The title would only come into effect with the consent of the Zhishou Abbey.

Ye Hongyu had killed the former Great Divine Priest of Judgment last spring, and had ascended the black jade throne. She should have come to the Zhishou Abbey earlier, but she didn’t. What was strange was that both the Hierarch and the Great Divine Priest of Revelation all accepted her practice, and no one in the entire West-Hill Divine Palace dared to say anything about it.

“It was just a formality. I can come at any time.”

Ye Hongyu went to the lake and looked at the Taoist temple which seemed lonely and even a little bit lifeless. She said, “The temple has become less and less humane.”

The middle-aged Taoist dried the wet brush and took her to the room. He said, “The abbey dean has been in the South China Sea. My younger brother went to the Kingdom of Song to get married and was not willing to come back. Now it’s only me in the temple, so it seems lonely here.”

Ye Hongyu said, “When I was a child, there weren’t many people here as well, but it was quite lively.”

The middle-aged Taoist thought about the days when children ran and played in the Taoist temple over ten years ago. He smiled and said, “After Pippi left, you were sent to the Revelation Institute. From then on, the temple wasn’t lively anymore.”

Ye Hongyu said nothing.

The middle-aged Taoist looked at her and said, “If someone else does not come to see me after becoming the Great Divine Priest of Judgment, I will definitely issue a punishment. Certainly, you are not afraid that I will punish you, so you must have been too lazy to come to see me. But why did you come today?”

Ye Hongyu said, “I would like to ask you about two things, and then read a volume of the scriptures.”

It was a rule of Haotian Taoism that the Great Divine Priest of West-Hill should go to the temple. In fact, it was also a great advantage. Because in accordance with the rule, the Great Divine Priest could choose a volume from the seven Tomes of the Arcane to study.

“Which volume do you want to read?”

“The ‘Ri’ Handscroll.”

The middle-aged Taoist asked in doubt, “You have lived in the temple for a while when you were little. Although you didn’t have access to read the seven volumes, you must have guessed something. The “Ri” Handscroll wouldn’t be of any help to your cultivation.”

Ye Hongyu said, “I want to see if that person’s name is on the ‘Ri’ Handscroll.”

The middle-aged Taoist asked after a moment of silence, “Whose name?”

Ye Hongyu said, “Ning Que.”

…