Chapter 365 362- Conflict At The Southern Border (1)

“My daughter, it looks like your efforts have bore no fruit. That child is missing, and even if he survived the Heavenly Calamity, I believe whatever fortune he had is now gone. Haa, I told you not to interfere with Heaven's work, we mere cultivators have no right to.”

“Hahaha!”

Lu Xue Wen and Dongmei were inside Dongmei’s world. Upon hearing her father’s words, Dongmei could not help but laugh.

She then said soon after.

“Old man, what are you trying to pull? Do you really intend to use these methods to get me to say something about Disciple Li Shen’s disappearance? Have you not given up already?”

“My daughter, that’s not the case. I would never-”

“Bah!”

Dongmei suddenly cut Lu Xue Wen off.

“You used me before, so you can use me again. Instead of worrying about Disciple Shen’s whereabouts, you should be focusing on the academy. The war you incited has caused major losses. You even caused the death of that child from the Bai Clan.”

Dongmei turned her back to Lu Xue Wen, who remained silent for a moment before saying.

“I do not have much time. Not only does that child have the natural talent to manipulate laws and help Soul Transformation Realm cultivator in their cultivation, but his birth is also connected to the Hidden Fragmented Realm. It allowed Li Shu to form a Heavenly Soul and Heavenly Palace quicker than anyone before.”

“So you intend to use him somehow to further your cultivation and increase your life span? Would you accept the price you would have to pay? You renounced your Ancient Bloodline of the Golden Lotus and spent several millenniums harboring animosity towards the Li Clan. Now in desperation, you chose to turn to them?”

“I am not seeking help from my father's clan, I am seeking help from that child.”

“What’s the difference?”

Dongmei turned to look at her father with a serious expression.

Lu Xue Wen's partially formed Heavenly Soul’s face was indistinguishable, but it was noticeable that he was frowning.

Soon after, Lu Xue Wen released a sigh before fading away.

He chose to leave since his daughter would not help him. However, Lu Xue Wen could not blame her, it was partially his fault that she was forced to remain hidden in her own world. Due to her powers, if she were to ever leave, the Heavenly Laws in the outside world destroy her in body and soul.

After watching her father leave, Dongmei’s serious expression fell and a bit of sadness appeared in her eyes.

She subconsciously raised her head to look at the stars in the sky.

Ever since Li Shen faced that Heavenly Calamity, Dongmei found herself looking at the stars more frequently.

“Why does it have to be like this? I tried every means to avoid this timeline but to no avail. Disciple Shen, are you truly still alive?”

Dongmei’s ability could allow her to foretell someone’s future and see into their past, but it has one precondition to be used and three limitations.

The one precondition was that she would have to give up her lifespan in exchange to use her ability. As for the three limitations, one is that she was unable to foretell her own future. While the second was that she can never reveal or try to change the events of what she sees in her visions. And the third limitation was that she was unable to see the past or future of someone stronger than her.

The first limitation was set in stone for her.

She went against the second limitation numerous times causing a backlash each time.

As for the third limitation, it does not apply to Li Shen. Dongmei knew Li Shen could cultivate as she had sensed fluctuations from him the moment he entered her world, but he obviously hadn’t surpassed her in cultivation.

Not only did she receive a backlash upon trying to use her ability on Li Shen, but using it on the people around him would only have her visions come up as a blur at times.

But during this time, her vision was even more limited for some reason, as if something was obscuring her sight. So at the moment, even she was not sure if Li Shen was alive or not.

Dongmei could only hope at this point.

….

…

..

“Granduncle, I have prepared everything to leave for the Southern Border.”

In a hall in the Ming Clan, a young man with a lean body that seemed to contain a terrifying aura could be heard saying with cupped fists.

In front of him sat Ghuanyu.

Smiling at the young man, Ghuanyu said.

“Ming’er, the clan has spent a lot of resources on you to develop the Saber God’s bloodline within you for the past four years. I don’t believe it is impossible for you to now battle any genius in your generation.”

“Rest assured grand uncle, I will gain the first place position in the tournament and reclaim our clan’s once-lost prestige.”

“Good!”

The young man who turned out to be Ming Shiming cupped his fists before turning to leave the hall.

After his exit, an emaciated old man appeared in the hall next to Ghuanyu.

“Senior brother Ghuanyu, are you sure you want him to carry out our plans? It’ll be difficult for him with his current cultivation, especially when facing those disciples from the Fire Empire and Water Empire. Compared to our continent’s resources, I have to admit we are far inferior to them.”

Ghuanyu remained silent for a moment, then said.

“We’ve already emphasized his importance to us so we’ve completed our goal. Whether he fails inside the Hidden Fragmented Realm or not is no problem. But if he manages to succeed we’ll have another trump card against the Fire Empire and Water Empire.”

Ghuanyu’s face was relaxed, but something had been on his mind since the meeting with Monarch Gu.

‘I don’t believe the Fire Empire’s desire for the God Qi is simply to produce another Quasi or a full Heavenly Palace Realm existence. They had their methods to do so previously, so why become so desperate to find another way now? Unless they’re unable to produce Heavenly Palace Realm existences using their previous methods. That could explain their strong desire for the God Qi, which made even the mighty Fire Empire decide to request help from us local powers. But why do I feel something is still not right with that Monarch Gu’s story? Why be so apprehensive about the Water Empire’s interference? It’s justifiable since the Water Empire is the only force that has the power to interfere, but is that truly a reason for them to be this secretive?’

Ghuanyu’s frown got deeper. He was a cautious person and tended to overanalyze situations. Perhaps this is one of those times.

However, Ghuanyu felt that it was better to overanalyze and be cynical of your adversary's actions than to overlook them.

“What about the Li and Lu Clan?”

Ghuanyu was snapped out of his thoughts by the emaciated old man’s question. His face turned up into a condescending sneer as he said.

“That traitorous clan and equally worthless Lu Clan are not worth my time, I can always deal with them after taking care of the Fire and Water Empire.”

“…What about the Li Clan elder that possesses Time Laws?”

The emaciated old man said after a slight pause.

Ghuanyu's eyebrows came together with that.

“Are you certain that figure had used Time Laws to destroy your Nascent Clone?”

“Senior brother Ghuanyu, how can I be mistaken about something like this?”

Ghuanyu went silent for a moment.

“The Li Clan having an elder that has been comprehending Time Laws is out of my expectations, but this isn’t a big enough variable to interfere with my plans. What about their other elders in hiding?”

“It's as senior brother predicted, they seemed to be preparing to leave before the current Emperor passes on the throne. We have even discovered traces of a few that had already broken open the void and left the continent.”

Ghuanyu nodded at that.

He had spent an uncountable number of years preparing for the rise of his clan, absolutely nothing was going to stand in his way.

‘Even though I had planned on waiting until the Hidden Fragmented Realm opened in the next thousand years when my cultivation method has fully integrated into the cultivation world. The series of events in this generation has forced me to act early.

‘At first, I didn't mind that brat Li Shu becoming a Quasi Heavenly Palace Realm existence, but with the Hidden Fragmented Realm’s delayed opening and now the Fire Empire showing interest in it because of the God Qi inside I had no knowledge about, I was forced to move my plans forward. But this is good too, if Ming'er could accomplish his task in the Hidden Fragmented Realm our Ming Clan is just one step closer to becoming a force to be feared in this sub-region.’

Everyone had thought Ming Ghuanyu’s ambition was limited to the Maple Continent, but that couldn’t be more wrong. His ambitions were far beyond just overthrowing the Li Clan.

Even the mighty Fire Empire and Water Empire which were equal in power to them were on his plate to be devoured whole.

“How is my son doing?”

Ghuanyu suddenly asked.

“He has already reached the Southern Border, he’ll be leaving with the Mercenary Association’s first carrier. However, we won’t be able to monitor him as closely as before when he leaves the Maple Continent.”

“Hm, that's not an issue, as long as he is alright.”

Ghuanyu said those last words with a certain amount of warmth he had never shown anyone before, not even Shiming.

Meanwhile, at that very moment at the Southern Border. Jun and the rest of the group had received the hunched-back old lady’s warnings to stay out of trouble, after which they were allowed to roam the city. But they were to meet outside of the second wall before sundown to board the first carrier.

As the group started strolling through the meandering streets of Southern Border City, Jun who was at the back of the group was in an unusual state.

He seemed dazed and wasn’t focused on where he was going.

Bump

He suddenly bumped into someone quite hard and this snapped him out of his dazed state a little.

Jun immediately turned around and bowed as he apologized.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”

Jun then went to turn around, still seeming to be in a dazed state somewhat. However, Jun was unaware that the person he bumped into sported a frown before he unhesitatingly drew his sword.

This time, Jun was fully out of his dazed state as he felt a terrifying sword aura aiming at his back. His reaction was late however because he wasn’t expecting an attack so suddenly.

But luckily, a large figure appeared between him and the sword.

DANG!!

The sound that reverberated out was the sound of metal striking metal, and it drew everyone's attention in the surroundings including Lihua and the others.

Jun had already turned around to see who had blocked the sudden attack for him.

“Mu Fan.”

Jun looked at the burly Mu Fan before he looked across from him to see a young man around his age with an empty sheath by his waist.

The sword that was supposed to be in it was currently being clutched in Mu Fan’s firm grip.

The young man seeing that someone had grabbed his sword to stop his attack had his expression change slightly. However, as Mu Fan squeezed his sword, cracks appeared on its body resulting in the young man's face gaining a stupefied expression.

BANG!!

An explosion occurred as the sword, which was actually a Spirit Artifact, was crushed by Mu Fan’s grip.

The young man quickly leaped back as the sword exploded. When the dust cleared, he saw that Mu Fan was in the same position, releasing the shards of his broken sword from his palm.

‘Where the fuck did these monsters come from?’

The young man was extremely shocked.

And not only him, the people in the area that happened to witness the exchange between him and Mu Fan had eyes like saucers.

This young man’s identity wasn’t simple.

Lihua who was at the back swept her gaze across this young man with an annoyed expression on her face.

She was thinking to herself that they hadn’t even properly entered the city before one of these idiots started a fight with someone in the top five ranking of the Southern Border Rankings.

“Bastard, what the hell do you think you're doing?”

Mu Fan’s voice was filled with anger as he glared at the young man.

A saber aura that caused the young man to sport a deep frown wafted from Mu Fan and washed over him.

Seeing that Mu Fan took a step towards him, the young man's eyes narrowed and an equally terrifying sword aura burst from him.

The young man didn’t know who this person was or who the people behind him were, but if he wanted to fight, he, Wu Kai, wasn’t afraid of anyone.