“Where is the person you captured?” This problem was the key.

Zhu Meng hesitated for a moment. He then glanced back at his many old subordinates, each of them a familiar face to him. The heavily armored man sighed, saying, “He’s been moved away by Steward Rui’s aide. Where to exactly, I don’t know. All I know is that they went toward Tidehark, but Totemic Castle is also in that direction.”

Qianye realized that he couldn’t get anything more out of these men. In addition, Zhu Meng divulging Song Zining’s fate was akin to surrender; it was just that he didn’t know much about the details. It would seem the relations.h.i.+p between him and Rui Xiang was indeed quite bad. Otherwise, the old man wouldn’t have left them to die here.

“Very well, you may leave. Bring word to City Lord Luo that if he doesn’t release my brother, no citizen of Tidehark will be safe outside of the city. If my brother dies, I will slaughter everyone related, no matter the price or time involved.”

Qianye’s words were calm, but Zhu Meng could feel a deep chill from within.

In the end, Qianye pointed at Zhu Meng and said with a serious expression, “Now you know who you’re dealing with. Even a divine champion won’t get away unscathed.”

Qianye then left.

Zhu Meng’s vigor receded like the tides. He looked like he had aged a decade, apparently overcome with exhaustion.

An officer moved close and whispered, “General, is that the person who killed so many of our brothers? He… doesn’t look like the part.”

Zhu Meng remained gazing in Qianye’s direction. “Just stay clear whenever you see that person in the future. Come, let’s go home.”

Qianye was atop a nearby hill at this moment, his thoughts in complete disarray. He had never imagined this old man was so close to Zhang Buzhou. He was more or less the heavenly monarch’s mouthpiece at the moment—the key was that no one knew whether or not the old man’s words were fake decrees or if they represented Zhang Buzhou’s will.

From a certain perspective, it could be said that he was even more troublesome than the Wolf King. The latter was powerful but also irritable and arrogant. That was why he had suffered twice in Qianye’s hands. Especially the last time, the enraged Wolf King had charged into enemy lines despite knowing there was a trap. In the end, he was surrounded by the four friends and heavily injured by Qianye’s earth-shattering attack.

The old man’s character happened to be the complete opposite. He was malicious, patient, and wouldn’t hesitate to throw away his dignity and status at critical junctures—someone who would do just about anything. Such an enemy was more difficult to handle.

But why would Rui Xiang suddenly attack Song Zining? Qianye had only offended the old man that one time when he threatened him from afar. They had never come into contact before or after that. Going to war for a trivial matter of face wasn’t something a true expert would do.

Song Zining’s accident came completely without warning. It also coincided with his recent injury in which he lost the ability to see through the heavenly mysteries. Now that he thought about it, these things might not be coincidences after all.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Divination was definitely not his forte, and the current situation was extremely complicated with numerous characters taking the stage one after the other. The appearance of people from powerful backgrounds—Ji Tianqing and Li Kuanglan for instance—meant that more and more parties were paying attention to the neutral lands.

What exactly was in the neutral lands that these major powers would s.h.i.+ft their attention from the stalemate on the void continent?

In truth, Qianye had already noticed numerous abnormalities during his time in the neutral lands. For instance, the mysterious ent.i.ty in the Eastern Sea, the Black Grove, the Pointer Monarch’s traps, the Martyr’s Palace, and the Northern Continent. And that was just on the Eastern Sea continent. There might be even more shocking secrets hidden on the other continents.

Only such secrets would be sufficient to explain things. As for himself, he knew his own worth quite well—no matter how badly he had offended the military, he was like an ant that had bitten the elephant. He would, at most, cause the giant creature to stomp once; stomping a second time wasn’t even worth it.

Song Zining’s capture was perhaps the beginning of a major tempest.

Qianye suddenly pointed forward and shot out a wisp of scarlet origin power. With it, he carved the words Zhang Buzhou on a large rock. He then took a deep breath and punched from afar, shattering the large rock into countless fragments.

Even if it were Zhang Buzhou standing in front of him, Qianye would still step over him to save Song Zining.

Having decided all that, all that was left was to figure out where to start.

He could neither go to Totemic Castle nor Tidehark at the moment since the other party had likely set up ample traps in advance. Since he couldn’t go inside, he would only be able to roam the outskirts while preserving a certain level of origin power and blood energy. He would need to leave one Spatial Flash worth of energy at all times.

Qianye was very clear that his capture would spell the end for Song Zining as well.

Additionally, he wasn’t sure how Ji Tianqing was faring right now. With her endless stream of secret arts and treasures, it could be a.s.sumed that she would be fine once she had escaped.

Having decided thus, Qianye calmed down and focused his thoughts, meditating cross-legged until sunset. Only after his stamina had reached its peak did he start running toward Tidehark.

A strange rumor had been spreading through Tidehark in recent days. A rather accurate fortune teller living in the city had suddenly gone mad, spouting something about having provoked a calamity and that the entire city would soon be destroyed.

This fortune teller was actually quite famous among the poorer people. In the end, the commotion caught the attention of the city guard. Seeing that more and more people were gathering nearby, the guard officer immediately ordered the old man to be taken away. Quite unexpectedly, he had just issued the order when the old man suddenly banged his head on the wall in a spurt of blood.

On the verge of death, the old man’s eyes were full of terror as he muttered, “Bloodstain, this is a Bloodstain! I see it, that darkness… we will all… die…”

The city guard officer was fairly knowledgeable. He was shocked upon hearing the name Bloodstain and couldn’t help but tremble.

This so-called Bloodstain was actually a deviant form of divination. The prophet had to undergo all sorts of self-mutilating methods to bring himself close to death, utilizing the body’s survival instincts to see things that couldn’t be seen otherwise.

In truth, only someone insane or extremely desperate would use Bloodstain. This old madman had actually used this method to confirm his prediction. What exactly did he see before his death?

The officer ordered his men to take the corpse away and cremate it, even going so far as to burn down his residence.

The madman had neither family nor children, so there was no one to stop the soldiers. All traces of his existence were soon reduced to ash amidst the raging flames.

That didn’t stop rumors from spreading, however. On the contrary, the blaze served to consolidate the gossip even more.

There was a small courtyard atop that holy mountain where Zhang Buzhou had once cultivated. It was simple but graceful, plain yet not crude. The white wall, the thin bamboos, and a bit of greenery in the courtyard painted a scene of fresh elegance. There was a certain charm to it. At a glance, it looked like the residence of some important character in the empire.

A sharp, formless sword energy surged into the skies all of a sudden, tearing hundreds of meters into the skies before dissipating. This energy was noticed by most experts in Tidehark, all of whom looked up at the mountain with astonished expressions.

Dust, gravel, and roof-tile fragments—what remained of the erupted main building roof—were raining down in the courtyard. Apparently, that thin beam of sword energy was shockingly powerful.

At this moment, a clear wind swept through the place and cleared away all the dust and rocks. That gentle lady walked out from one of the side buildings, asking, “Bingfeng, what made you so irritable?

Luo Bingfeng emerged from the main building with a frown and a serious expression. “I was overcome by a certain emotion, a feeling that something major is about to happen. That’s why I lost control of myself.”

“Something major?” The woman was concerned because anything that could disturb Luo Bingfeng was no trifling matter.

The city lord frowned deeply. He looked as though he was recounting things, but also seemed like he was muttering to himself. “I saw darkness, a large swathe of darkness… I don’t know how to explain it, but I know it’s the coming of destruction and the abyss.”

The woman was startled. “How did this happen? Were you cultivating a divination art?”

Luo Bingfeng shook his head. “Of course not, I promised you I wouldn’t touch that kind of art.”

The woman heaved a sigh of relief. “That’s fine then. It might be an omen of some sort that you saw, but it might not be related to us.”

Luo Bingfeng gazed down at Tidehark. “You’re right, but it’s better to be cautious. Let’s call Luo Yun over, I want to know what has happened recently.”

“That’s a good idea.” The lady nodded.

Moments later, a serious-looking man in his thirties walked into the courtyard with brisk steps. That man made a summarized report of the things that had happened in the last couple of days.

The most important thing to happen recently was the Wolf King bringing his entire army to a.s.sault Souther Blue. In the end, he suffered repeated defeats, and even his main army was routed. The Wolf King himself retreated with heavy injuries and had no choice but to hide in Totemic Castle to recover.

Another matter was that Rui Xiang had mobilized the best elites of Tidehark on a blitz a.s.sault, ambus.h.i.+ng the Southern Blue army from behind. At that point, the forces of Southern Blue had sustained heavy losses after barely defeating the Wolf King’s army. How could they hold out against the best of Tidehark? It was naturally a one-sided battle.

Luo Yun only knew that much—he only had a general idea regarding the specifics of that battle and thus couldn’t provide clear information.

Luo Bingfeng was rather surprised. “The Wolf King lost, and to a group of youngsters no less! Not Mask or the Spider Emperor? That’s interesting.”

It was at this time that Luo Bingfeng’s gaze s.h.i.+fted to the side and noticed a group arriving outside the city. His sharp and far-reaching gaze allowed him to see that group with great clarity. “Isn’t that Zhu Meng? Why is his group missing so many people?”