The three Heavenly Kings of the Divine Cult exhausted their efforts to break through the Sky Thunder Forbidden Zone, only to see Qin Mu's figure flickering and growing smaller, moving further and further away from them.
All three sighed.
"If I had known this task would be so arduous, I would never have taken it..."
Heavenly King Lu wiped the soot from his face and muttered, "This generation's Holy Cult Master is far too unexpected."
The other two elders felt the same way. Heavenly King Shi said, "At least it's over now. The Holy Cult Master is still young, but he has already shown his promise—a blessing for our Holy Cult. Now that matters here are settled, we should investigate the situation with the Heavenly King of Qian."
Heavenly King Lu and Heavenly King Yu exchanged solemn glances and said, "Indeed, we must investigate who has been targeting our Holy Cult!"
Heavenly King Shi's expression grew grave. He said in a deep voice, "What worries me most isn't that, but whether our Transmission Banner might have been leaked. These are turbulent times... Look below—that seems to be the territory of Gua Prefecture!"
"Gua Prefecture? Has the Holy Cult's Sacred Descent Mountain flown over Gua Prefecture?"
Heavenly King Yu's heart trembled slightly. He exhaled a breath of turbid air and said, "Gua Prefecture has rebelled—royal relatives and nobles have revolted, and the momentum is considerable. If the Holy Cult Master has landed in Gua Prefecture, I fear..."
Sacred Descent Mountain was hidden within the Sky Thunder Forbidden Zone, suspended high beyond the heavens. This sacred site was not stationary—it was in constant motion. On Sacred Descent Mountain, there was a place called the Abyss Watchpoint. Standing there and looking down into the abyss, one could see the scenery directly beneath the mountain, even down to individual ants on the ground.
However, in their haste this time, none of them had the chance to check the Abyss Watchpoint. As a result, when the sacred site flew over Gua Prefecture, Qin Mu had left.
"I hope the Holy Cult Master hasn't fallen into the battlefield," Heavenly King Lu muttered.
Qin Mu plummeted from the sky. Hu Ling'er summoned demon wind, and Qin Mu rode the wind. Before long, he finally touched solid ground. His qi had been mostly depleted, but he was safe.
"It's been quite some time since I last visited the Imperial Academy. As the first Imperial Academy Scholar, and with the emperor having granted me an official title, I've only attended one lecture."
He looked around and had Hu Ling'er take out the Yankang geographical map from the bundle. Qin Mu examined the terrain and found a similar landscape on the map.
"It's Gua Prefecture. But it's still quite far from the city."
Just then, he saw a ship drifting leisurely through the sky. Qin Mu's heart stirred. He immediately activated the Heaven-Stealing Leg technique and chased after the towered boat along the mountain ridge.
The towered boat bore the banner of a merchant caravan—it was a ship serving both commercial and passenger purposes. Even in times of war and chaos, merchant ships and passenger vessels were still common, and even in rebel territories, ships continued to come and go.
Qin Mu ran faster and faster. Suddenly, he stepped on air and rose into the sky, sprinting across the heavens as if walking on flat ground. Within a few breaths, he caught up with the towered boat and, with a flash, landed on deck.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The sound of swords being drawn erupted. The moment he landed, dozens of flying swords were aimed at his neck—from every direction, in front and behind.
"Everyone, please don't be alarmed. I just want a ride," Qin Mu quickly raised both hands and said carefully.
On the deck of this towered boat were several dozen people. Most appeared to be merchants, along with spirit masters hired by the merchants, and a few officials. The ones pointing flying swords at his neck were those officials and spirit masters.
"Young man, where are you heading?" The ship's captain, shirtless and covered in tattoos, walked over. He looked Qin Mu up and down with surprise and asked.
Qin Mu asked, "Is this ship going to the capital?"
The captain nodded. "To the capital. The fare is one hundred Dafeng coins."
Qin Mu was startled. "That expensive? From Jiangling to the capital, it's only ten Dafeng coins. How has it increased tenfold in the blink of an eye?"
"Times are bad. There's fighting every day, and the routes aren't safe. Naturally, the fare has to go up. Heh, ten times is actually a modest increase. This is a job where you're putting your life on the line. You've got to pay extra for risking your life."
Qin Mu agreed.
If he walked to the capital himself, with war and chaos along the way, it would probably take him more than ten days to arrive. Using the Heaven-Stealing Leg technique required extremely deep cultivation, and he couldn't run for long before his cultivation would be exhausted. Taking a ship was much more convenient.
"The world is in turmoil. I hear that Qiu Dieyi of Lin Prefecture has also rebelled."
Qin Mu paid the fare and overheard several merchants chatting. An old gentleman said, "Qiu Dieyi is no ordinary person. Before joining the imperial court, she was the Grand Palace Master of the Liqing Palace, with cultivation that shook heaven and earth. The Liqing Palace's influence is vast, and its disciples are numerous—many serve as generals in the border armies. Now that the Grand Palace Master of the Liqing Palace has rebelled, heh, the world will be even more chaotic."
"I hear the Liqing Palace was founded by a woman and is the largest sect, with strength extraordinary—not much inferior to the three great sacred sites. Many of the female generals in the court come from the Liqing Palace."
"Three Wonders Fort has also rebelled. Three Wonders Fort once enjoyed immense imperial favor—Concubine Che was born there, the granddaughter of Che Zhengli, one of the Three Wonders! Now that Three Wonders Fort has rebelled, Concubine Che has been directly banished to the Cold Palace."
"Why are so many sects rebelling?"
"Don't you know? Three months ago, the Dao Sect's Dao Son blocked the gates of the Imperial Academy, and the State Preceptor of Yankang went to the Imperial Academy to lecture on swordsmanship. Then people noticed the State Preceptor was gravely injured. I hear his wounds have already started to fester—he's deliberately using fragrance to mask it, but the stench of the wounds can't be hidden."
"When that news first spread, some sects didn't believe it. Then another incident occurred—the Dragon Taming Gate's master raided the State Preceptor's residence at night and exchanged blows with the State Preceptor, yet actually managed to leave alive! The Dragon Taming Gate master's skills aren't top-notch; he raised a serpent-dragon hybrid that barely qualifies as a sect-level expert. But the State Preceptor couldn't even subdue him—that shows how severe his injuries are."
"Shh, stop talking. Those officials are looking over here."
...
Qin Mu's heart stirred. He recalled the scene of the State Preceptor lecturing on swordsmanship in front of the Imperial Academy Hall that day. The State Preceptor of Yankang had indeed appeared somewhat unwell. However, Qin Mu himself was well-versed in medicine and often accompanied Grandma Si to buy cosmetics, so he could confirm that the State Preceptor's flushed face wasn't a symptom of illness—it was rouge.
As for the merchants' talk about using fragrance to mask the stench of festering wounds, Qin Mu had indeed detected both scents at the time, but hadn't paid them much mind.
Having learned to identify herbs and medicines from the Herbalist since childhood, he recognized both scents as those of common medicinal ingredients and fragrances.
Qin Mu frowned. "The State Preceptor's injuries have already healed, yet he's using the occasion of lecturing at the Imperial Academy to make the outside world believe he's still gravely injured, devising ways to provoke those who dared not rebel into doing so. This level of scheming is truly terrifying."
The State Preceptor's lecture at the Imperial Academy had been three months ago. In those three months, the situation had grown increasingly chaotic, with sects rebelling everywhere and officials revolting. Qin Mu felt he understood this State Preceptor of Yankang less and less.
The State Preceptor had stirred up such chaos that it was nearly impossible to contain. Even if he could suppress the rebellion, it would severely weaken the State of Yankang.
Moreover, Yankang still faced external threats—the Barbarian Di Kingdom on the western frontier, the Wolf_dwelling Kingdom on the northern frontier. Internal turmoil and external threats alike.
"Could the State Preceptor of Yankang be plotting to usurp the throne?" He looked puzzled.
If the court and the rebels fought each other to a standstill, both suffering heavy losses, the State Preceptor of Yankang could seize the opportunity to usurp the throne and declare himself emperor.
However, though Qin Mu didn't know the State Preceptor of Yankang well, he didn't believe someone with such vision and ambition would use such methods to seize the throne.
Suddenly, the towered boat lurched violently. Qin Mu's heart leaped. He quickly rushed to the railing and looked out—only to see the towered boat sailing into a battlefield.
This battlefield was in the sky. Besides the towered boats and warships, there were also flying carriages, flying clouds, flying cavalry, and other strange aerial artifacts or mounts.
Fortunately, their towered boat was at the edge of the battlefield. Seeing the danger, the captain immediately turned hard to port. The towered boat tilted nearly sideways, narrowly avoiding a warship and sliding past the edge of the battle.
Qin Mu steadied himself to avoid falling. Suddenly, a cavalry unit riding golden-winged eagles charged toward them. From a distance, Qin Mu saw that behind the cavalry, flying swords shot skyward from their sword caskets, arcing through the air toward the people on the ship.
The captain quickly shouted, "We're passing merchants, not soldiers!"
The cavalry unit ignored the words entirely. Sharp flying swords soared onto the deck, attacking everyone on board. Several swords also slashed at the sails, severing the rigging. The towered boat's speed dropped dramatically.
The people on board felt their scalps go numb. This was a battle between regular armies. Clearly, one side was Yankang's suppression forces, and the other was local rebel troops—not a simple sectarian uprising.
Apart from massive sects like the three great sacred sites, most sects couldn't muster the strength to rival a nation's regular army.
The State Preceptor of Yankang's reforms had not only overhauled the elementary schools, universities, and Imperial Academy, but had also reformed military equipment. The soldiers in the army wielded standardized spirit weapons. Individually, they might not match sect disciples, but when their numbers grew—and with all of them channeling qi to control swords—the combined assault of numerous soldiers launching ten thousand swords simultaneously was terrifyingly powerful!
Beyond coordinated attacks, the army employed ground-air combinations, linked spell formations, and various other tactics. Ten soldiers at the Five Planets realm could easily slay a spirit master at the Six Harmonies realm when fighting together.
Even the most renowned sects in the jianghu stood no chance against the court's military tactics when facing imperial suppression. In the history of the State of Yankang's conquest of other nations, countless sects had been destroyed in this manner!
On the towered boat, Qin Mu steadied himself and was about to activate his sword casket—only to remember that all the flying swords in his casket had been destroyed in Loulan's Golden Palace, so he had discarded the casket.
"I'll use the Shao Bao Sword!"
Qin Mu dodged the flying swords thrusting toward him. His qi surged into the glutton bag, and with a sharp ring, the Shao Bao Sword unsheathed and flew out. With a gentle sweep of the Cloud Sword stance, all the flying swords attacking him were sliced through, their blades clattering onto the deck, leaving only the hilts.
His sword technique was profound, and combined with the Shao Bao Sword's sharpness, nothing could stand in his way.
Qin Mu breathed a sigh of relief. Then he saw, on the backs of those golden-winged eagles, the soldiers opening the cloth sacks at their waists. A buzzing sound immediately filled the air as countless insects flew out from the sacks, gleaming gold.
"It's the insect army!"
The other passengers on the towered boat turned pale and cried out, "Three Wonders Fort's insect army!"
The soldiers pointed, and the countless flying insects formed ranks and surged toward the ship like venomous dragons. They burrowed into anyone they encountered, biting without mercy. A short distance from Qin Mu, a portly merchant—though not weak in cultivation—had the insects burrow into his body through his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. In the next instant, the fat merchant suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon, leaving only a human skin draped on the deck.
Beneath the skin, countless insects wriggled, crawling out of his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Then they fluttered their wings and buzzed into the air.