Leaving the Commandery Governor's estate, Mi Chongshan—his face dark with anger—and Mi Lan, who had just been chewed out unmercifully, led their horses along the bustling main streets of the commandery city. Passersby cast amused glances their way; the legend of the "Swaggering Bro" had long since spread through every alley and lane, yet people still held a certain "admiration" for the young master of the Mi Family. After all, not just anyone would dare visit a brothel right under the nose of his future father-in-law, the Commandery Governor.
Ahead lay the central plaza of the commandery city, the most prosperous area in all of Dongshan Prefecture.
Occupying the plaza in a three-legged standoff were Jubao Pavilion of Wuxuan Sacred Land, Heavenly Sword Pavilion of Wanjian Sacred Land, and the Alarmoffices Association of the Xiao Family, an Imperial Clan.
Right in the exact center of the plaza soared a Heaven-Reaching Pillar, thick enough for three strong men to embrace and towering hundreds of meters into the sky!
Having just emerged from the Alarmoffices Association after purchasing some rare medicinal herb seeds unavailable to the Mi Family, Mi Lan and his two companions stared up at the pillar, a sense of awe gripping their hearts.
For this was not merely a giant pillar—it was the embodiment of the empire's will.
It was a Quasi-Emperor Artifact—or more precisely, one part of a scattered Quasi-Emperor Artifact. Across the four domains and thirty-two commanderies of the empire, each commandery housed one such pillar, which, combined with the Heavenly Mirror within the Sky-Scrutinizing Pavilion of the Sky Patrol Division, formed a complete Quasi-Emperor Artifact forged thirty thousand years ago by Emperor Tianwu.
Emperor Tianwu had been born into a humble peasant family and knew intimately the suffering of the common people. In his later years, he grew concerned that once he passed away, the empire's common folk would be oppressed by cultivators, sects, officials, aristocrats, and local gentry. While he lived, a mere flick of his fingers could discern everything in the world save for matters concerning the Great Emperor Realm. Yet once he transformed into the Dao, he feared that after many years, his descendants would remain oblivious while the foundations rotted away beneath them, all the while believing the realm to be in a state of eternal peace and prosperity. Thus, Emperor Tianwu harvested materials from the starry skies beyond the heavens to forge thirty-two Heaven-Reaching Pillars. He proclaimed to the entire realm that any imperial subject oppressed by officials or cultivators could pour their own blood upon a pillar to lodge a grievance. The moment blood stained a Heaven-Reaching Pillar, the Sky Patrol Division would instantly become aware of it, allowing powerful beings within the division to transmit themselves directly to the spot holding the Heavenly Mirror. Containing the laws of time and space left behind by Emperor Tianwu, the Heavenly Mirror allowed its wielder to travel instantly between the thirty-two Heaven-Reaching Pillars and use the law of time to project everything that had occurred in the past.
However, anyone who stained a pillar with their blood would have their lifespan halved. That was the price paid for seeking justice.
Naturally, mobilizing the Heavenly Mirror carried a colossal cost for the empire; no case would be investigated unless it involved bloodshed, and anyone guilty of false accusations would be put to death, with their entire clan of three generations exiled to labor in the mines. Yet if the accusations proved true, any official or cultivator who oppressed the common folk of the empire would be executed. Sixteen thousand years ago, the Tianwu Empire had housed a fifth sacred land named Taiyin, located in the Northern Domain. They forcibly seized gifted children from the Northern Domain to serve as human cauldrons, beating and killing anyone who dared defy them. Following an appeal lodged by commoners, the empire was shaken with fury. The Holy Monarch of that era brushed aside all dissenting opinions and dispatched countless "Heavenly Boats" to evacuate every single resident within a radius of three thousand miles. Eight Saint Venerable Realm grand masters exerted their full strength to stabilize the Northern Domain, and then, wielding the Imperial Artifact, the "Tianwu Dragon-Pattern Cauldron," they directly confronted the Taiyin Sacred Land. That single collision of Imperial Artifacts reduced thousands of miles of mountains, rivers, and terrain to absolute nothingness. Six of the eight Saint Venerable grand masters stabilizing the Northern Domain perished, a crack that remained unrepairable to this day was left upon the "Tianwu Dragon-Pattern Cauldron," and the Holy Monarch who wielded the Imperial Artifact was heavily wounded, passing away in the Holy Emperor Hall eight hundred years later. Meanwhile, the Taiyin Emperor Cauldron was blasted to pieces, leaving only a few fragments that flew off to unknown corners of the empire, and the sacred land that had passed down its heritage for hundreds of thousands of years vanished completely.
When a powerful figure of the empire asked the Holy Monarch whether it was truly worth paying such a massive price for a mere handful of commoners in the Northern Domain—pointing out that Saint Venerables had already surpassed the Three Realms of Holy Path and constituted the empire's ultimate military might, making the loss of six at once an exceedingly heavy toll—the Holy Monarch replied: "We lost the present, but we won the future. As long as the billions upon billions of common people across the realm continue to place their faith in our Tianwu, countless more Saint Venerables will be born in the future."
From that day onward, everyone finally understood that what Emperor Tianwu had sought and proven back then was the "Dao of Humanity." The empire sheltered the common people of the world, and in return, the common people repaid it with their faith, forming a cyclical bond. Backed by fifteen hundred centuries of the Dao of Humanity's destiny, no sacred land could ever hope to resist it unless a true Great Emperor took the field or several sacred lands and Imperial Clans joined forces.
Today, thirty years after that era, the empire was at the height of its prosperity and the common folk lived in peace. For Emperor Tianwu, who had long since vanished into the currents of time, Mi Lan felt a heartfelt reverence. In the hearts of imperial subjects like Mi Lan, he was the most towering and majestic existence among the more than seventy Great Emperors recorded throughout history, looking down across all eternity.
After the three of them had finished their midday meal in the commandery city, it was already afternoon when they set out.
Riding hard, Mi Lan and his companions retraced their steps back toward Yijia Town. They had originally planned to reach Wang family village by dusk to rest for the night, but the heavens refused to cooperate. The sky had been bright and clear when they left the commandery, but halfway through their journey, heavy storm clouds had already gathered.
Watching the sky grow increasingly dark, Mi Chongshan began to feel rather anxious. He himself would be fine, but Mi Lan's cultivation realm was still low; if he were caught in a downpour for over an hour, he might not be able to endure it.
As they hurried along anxiously, they spotted a dozen or so people standing on the road ahead, confronting one another. Drawing closer, Mi Lan saw that both opposing groups were acquaintances: one party consisted of the bandits they had encountered earlier, while the other comprised the moon-white-clad male-attired woman and her servant.
Hearing the approach of hoofbeats, both groups lifted their heads and saw Mi Lan. The bandit leader cupped his fists with a laugh, saying, "Ah, what a coincidence, three friends! We meet again."
Mi Lan smiled and returned the greeting: "Hello to you too, friend." Then, turning to the moon-white-clad woman, he added, "My lady, we meet again."
The woman smiled. "Indeed. What a marvelous fate that we meet once more."
"Good friends, do you all know each other? In that case, never mind. A friend of a good friend is also my good friend. You may pass," the bandit leader laughed.
The bandit leader had no way of knowing that had Mi Lan and his group not arrived, his entire band of men would have been left sleeping here permanently.
The woman nodded to the bandit leader as well, then walked over to Mi Lan's side and offered him a smiling nod of gratitude.
Glancing up at the increasingly darkened sky, Mi Chongshan asked, "Friend, do you happen to know where there is any shelter nearby? This rain looks like it's going to be a heavy one."
The bandit leader scratched his head, indicating he had no idea, and asked his subordinates if any of them knew. One dark and lean man stepped forward: "I know there's an abandoned temple nearby that should be good for sheltering from the rain. But because it's deep inside Guju Ridge, spiritual beasts often roam about there."
"I'd be obliged if you'd point the way. Many thanks," Mi Chongshan said.
"We're all friends, what's with the thanks? Besides, we're heading there to take shelter from the rain ourselves. A-San, lead the way!" Seeing that Mi Chongshan and his companions were clearly people of great capability from a major family, yet showed no arrogance and were entirely approachable, the bandit leader was genuinely inclined to make friends with them.
The male-attired woman and her servant followed along as well. A party of over twenty people thus entered Guju Ridge, which was filled with towering ancient trees. Treading upon rotting fallen leaves and carefully avoiding various droppings left by spiritual beasts, they walked for about the span of half an incense stick before finally reaching a temple.
In truth, the temple wasn't truly dilapidated; it merely bore a weathered, rotting air, clearly having been unvisited by anyone for many years. A decayed plaque lay fallen at the entrance, the characters upon it long since unrecognizable. Mi Lan tapped the bright yellow courtyard wall; though mottled, it was remarkably sturdy. Stepping through the main gates, he saw that the temple layout was simple: a grand hall in the center enshrining several Buddha statues, living quarters to the left, and a kitchen to the right.
As Mi Lan and the others walked into the grand hall, they were given a start. Right beside the largest Buddha statue in the very center sat a black, shriveled corpse in a meditative posture.
Though startled, the group felt no real fear, and shortly thereafter settled down in a spot within the grand hall far away from the corpse.
*Boom...* Accompanied by thunder and lightning, the torrential rain finally arrived. Looking out at the sheets of pouring rain outside, Mi Lan sighed to himself that he truly lived up to being a "Child of Destiny"—his luck was simply too good.