Chapter 1 The Descent of Magic

Grand Preceptor Xue Yi of the Great Yan knelt on the steps at the foot of Tianhu Mountain. He felt no humiliation, for in some ways, he had already achieved the detachment of a true recluse.

He felt he had lived a full life, so it was easier for him to face everything with equanimity.

Rows of soldiers pointed their weapons at him, but Xue Yi didn't mind. He even looked with interest at the fire oil being transported and piled up behind them.

Xue Yi wanted to tell these Jingnan Army soldiers that there was no need to go to so much trouble, because the Taoist temple on the mountain had already prepared these things. Transporting the fire oil up the mountain was just an extra hassle.

But while such a reminder could be considered "kind," it also seemed to assume that he was still the "master" here.

Alas,

Such a beautiful Tianhu Mountain,

Is now drawn into this vortex because of me.

A century of Taoist tradition,

Will probably be gone in a few hours.

Xue Yi couldn't help but admire the Jingnan Marquis's wife's vision. To die in this picturesque place was, from another perspective, a kind of good fortune.

And ordinary families always had to hire a couple of Taoists to perform rituals at funerals. Wealthy families even held elaborate water and land rituals, inviting dozens of them, or they would be seen as having died without dignity.

As for the truly powerful and wealthy, they would invite no less than a hundred, otherwise, they would be dishonoring their lineage.

But this Jingnan Marquis's wife would probably take an entire mountain of Taoists with her, heh, the prestige, the spectacle, it was quite a profit.

The hooves of the Pixiu landed on the ground, creating vibrations that grew closer and closer.

The Jingnan Army soldiers around him subconsciously puffed out their chests,

Xue Yi also straightened his back slightly and raised his eyelids.

The person in charge, and also the aggrieved party, had arrived.

The Jingnan Marquis wasn't wearing armor. He got off the Pixiu and started walking towards him.

Xue Yi sighed, slowly stood up, and said,

"Since you're here, I won't kneel. I don't want to use my knees to suppress you."

Tian Wujing stood in front of Xue Yi and raised his hand.

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

Each of the generals quickly gave the order, and the entire Jingnan Army retreated five hundred paces.

When the armored soldiers retreated, the surrounding air seemed to flow more freely, and the oppressive atmosphere that had been suffocating finally dissipated somewhat.

Xue Yi looked at Tian Wujing. He remembered when His Majesty and the Zhenbei Marquis had brought Tian Wujing to the palace. Tian Wujing had been young then, but he had been meticulous and respectful in his conduct.

In contrast, his two older brothers, His Majesty and the Zhenbei Marquis, hadn't been serious at all.

Now, the younger one had grown up, and the older ones had aged.

Xue Yi, as a palace elder, was the most trusted person of the Ji family. In fact, he was also one of the palace physicians, but he only took His Majesty's pulse and prescribed tonics for Li Liangting to replenish his qi and blood.

He could clearly sense that His Majesty and the Zhenbei Marquis were aging day by day. No matter how heroic you were, you had to bow before the years.

On the other hand, the Jingnan Marquis was in his prime and could be expected to remain at the height of his powers for a long time to come.

When the three pillars stood together, the Great Yan could expand its territory, and one country could still win against two.

But in times of crisis, there had to be a pillar to rely on, otherwise, the building would be too tall and would easily collapse.

"Marquis, I'm here to give you an explanation."

Tian Wujing didn't speak, he only looked at Xue Yi.

This elder had given him freshly steamed rice cakes when he had entered the palace as a child.

"I was originally a disciple of the Tianhu Taoist sect. This place is my master's sect. His Majesty sent me to bless your unborn child, so I came. I haven't left the palace in many years. This time, I came out and arrived here, so I thought I'd return to the mountain gate for a visit. So I settled down on Tianhu Mountain.

I have to thank you, Marquis, for defeating the Jin Kingdom. It allowed me, a mediocre member of my former sect, to be treated like a guest of honor when I returned with the title of Yan Kingdom's Grand Preceptor, heh."

Tian Wujing still stood there, quietly listening to the Grand Preceptor.

"You were leading troops outside. When I arrived, the child hadn't been born yet, so I didn't want to interfere. I thought I'd wait for the child to be born before going to see them.

Then, your wife came up the mountain.

She said she wanted to rest in a pavilion on the mountainside. After dismissing her attendants, she disappeared.

The people on the mountain and the Jingnan Army soldiers searched for a day and a night before finding her, but she was already gone."

Hearing this, Tian Wujing remained expressionless.

"Wujing, His Majesty's health isn't what it used to be. He's suffering from accumulated overwork. He can't rest, and he doesn't dare to rest.

So, if your child is a boy, to be honest, it would pose a great threat to the Ji family.

When His Majesty is around, everything will be calm. But once His Majesty passes away and the crown prince ascends the throne, you know your nephew, can he suppress you?"

Tian Wujing still didn't speak, he only silently listened to Xue Yi's story.

"But you and Liangting have always known His Majesty's character. Ordinary rulers often undergo a drastic change in temperament as they approach their old age, but our His Majesty won't.

This Great Yan's golden age was built on the three of you. He can take it up, and he can let it go.

What His Majesty is thinking about now is launching another attack on Qian in a year. This is His Majesty's lifelong ambition. Only by defeating the Qian Kingdom can the Eastern power fall into the hands of us Yan people.

You are a marquis who commands troops, you can't not know His Majesty's thoughts.

To say something taboo, His Majesty wouldn't mind whether you, Tian Wujing, had a son or a daughter. In fact, what His Majesty may want isn't the Ji family's eternal foundation, but the Yan people's hegemony. Even if you or Liangting were to take that position, as long as it could achieve the Great Yan's ambition, His Majesty probably wouldn't care. That's our His Majesty, the His Majesty I watched grow up, the His Majesty you, Tian Wujing, and Li Liangting are willing to follow at all costs!

You, Tian Wujing, haven't misjudged His Majesty, not in the past, not now, and not in the future!"

Xue Yi took a breath and took out two letters from his chest, placing them on the ground in front of him.

He said:

"Inside, one is from His Majesty, and one is from Liangting.

There's also a letter, but I was told about it by a death warrior when I left the capital.

He said that the Jingnan Marquis's wife was the deepest chess piece buried in our Great Yan by the Qian Kingdom. A chess piece that had been buried for twenty years, never contacted, and never activated."

Hearing this,

Tian Wujing slightly raised his head.

"After I received this letter, I didn't publicize it. To be honest, the Secret Intelligence Division is nominally under my command, but I never do mundane things. I leave them all to Wei Zhonghe and the others.

And regardless of whether she's a Silver Armor Guard or not, even if she is, since she's carrying your child, everything can wait until she gives birth. That's your Tian Wujing's child, the bloodline of your Tian family.

That's another reason why I've been staying on Tianhu Mountain and haven't gone down to the city.

But I never expected that I wouldn't go down the mountain, but she would come up the mountain.

She chose to die at this time, and you should know why. I can only say that she chose a good time, and I don't want to say anything else."

After speaking,

Xue Yi turned around,

Looking at the steps leading up the mountain,

His eyes were full of the image of himself climbing the mountain when he was young.

Tian Wujing still didn't speak.

After a long time,

A smile appeared on Xue Yi's face as he faced away from Tian Wujing, and he said:

"Do you not believe what I say, or do you not believe…"

Xue Yi opened his arms, and a faint layer of blue mist rose from his body,

"Wujing, I know you're in pain, and I know you're angry. You want an explanation, and I'll give you one. This Tianhu Mountain, and myself, are all the explanation I can give you.

The only regret I have about this whole thing is that when she came up the mountain, I guessed what she was going to do. I was afraid that the mud would be slung too deep, so I didn't go down the mountain to meet her.

If I had gone down the mountain then, she would have passed away more peacefully…

Everyone has their own destiny. What cultivators seek in life is nothing more than changing their fate against the heavens. But even if you're talented and beautiful, in the end, you're just a flower in a mirror, a moon in the water.

Li Liangting had extraordinary talent in his youth, but he was injured and could never enter the path of martial arts;

His Majesty has great talent and strategy, but now he is old;

One Emperor and Two Marquises, any one of them, left alone in this world, would be a figure of power and dominance.

You, Tian Wujing, aren't you destined to be alone?

But His Majesty doesn't believe in fate, Li Liangting doesn't believe in fate, and you don't believe in fate either. But whether you believe it or not, fate is here!

One Emperor and Two Marquises, is the fortune of my Great Yan, but it is also the misfortune of the three of you!"

Blue flames began to burn on Xue Yi's body. He was forcibly dissolving his cultivation.

"I, Xue Yi, have no great virtue or talent, but I have been favored by two generations of rulers. I have used the Yan Cauldron to help me cultivate, and I have used the nation's destiny to accompany my cultivation.

Last winter,

Cang Fuzi cut off the dragon vein of my Great Yan outside Yan Jing City,

His Majesty doesn't believe in the theory of luck, because His Majesty is the Son of Heaven, the Emperor of my Great Yan, and he must have this kind of dominance!

Xue Yi is incompetent,

Today, I will return the Yan Cauldron's qi that I have intercepted in my body, along with the century-old Taoist tradition of Tianhu Mountain, to the Yan Cauldron!

May my Great Yan, create a foundation for all time!

May my His Majesty, may my Great Yan's two Marquises, have boundless blessings!"

The flames rose suddenly, and in the fire, Xue Yi's figure began to become more and more illusory.

At this time, the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain also ignited with fire oil, and many Tianhu Taoist disciples threw themselves into the fire, choosing to end their lives.

Xue Yi turned around,

Looking at Tian Wujing for the last time,

"Tian Wujing, who can't die, who can't die, who is more relaxed, who is not as miserable as anyone else!"

In the firelight,

Tian Wujing passed through Xue Yi's almost transparent body,

He began to climb the steps,

Walking step by step,

He walked to the foot of the mountain,

He walked to the mountainside,

He walked into that pavilion.

Inside the pavilion, a gentle breeze blew.

In a trance,

Tian Wujing seemed to see the figure of a woman,

She was also standing in this pavilion, holding a sword,

She thrust the sword into her own body.

In the breeze, her soft whisper seemed to come from that day:

"Marquis, I didn't want to deceive you…"

Tian Wujing's hand caressed the pillar in the pavilion, as if there was still the residual warmth of her back leaning against it.

"Fool,

So what if you're from Qian,

I'm a demon who destroyed my own family,

Why would I despise you?"