“I’m scared, Mummy!” Shen Xiaoyue’s little daughter wrapped her arms around her mother’s neck and buried her head in her mother’s arms.
Her son gripped the hems of his father’s robes firmly. His other hand balled into a fist as he witnessed the destruction of his home and the impending doom of his family, his hate-filled gaze etching a memory that would never fade from his mind
“Let me die here, husband. Take our children and run,” Shen Xiaoyue said weakly to her husband.
They had known something like this would happen. The atmosphere in the peaceful little hamlet had begun to change not long ago but no one expected that these holier-than-thou warriors would have the gall to intrude into their home and demand their blood — including the children’s.
The tall, beefy, and stern Wan Sanqian — traits which were seldom seen in lean, cunning, and calculative merchants — flashed his wife a courageous grin. “Do you really think they’ll let me and the children go if I were to give you to them, my dear? Which is already a big if, you know.”
“You’re a sharp one,” remarked the Grand Master of the Dragonhawks with a smirk. “Anyone involved with the Creed of Divinity must die! You’re family of the so-called Punisher of Evil, so both of you and those diabolical spawns of yours must die!”
Wan Sanqian peered at the remaining of his guard. Only nine were still steadfastly holding their ground against the insurmountable odds. “Why have you all not run while you could like the rest?” he asked.
The captain of the guard smiled grimly. “Don’t you remember, sir? We were just slaves when you found us, sir. Abandoned and left to starve. We would have already been dead if you did not take us in. The past few years have been kind to us, so if by life or by death we could repay you by keeping you safe, so be it.”
“By life or by death!”
“Hahaha! We’re afraid of many things, but not death!”
“The Master and the lady have always been like family! No one forsakes their family!”
The rest of the guard chorused with overflowing passion and zeal.
“We really have to give it to these evil folks for their prowess in poisoning the minds of the uninitiated…” The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks hissed coldly. “Don’t worry… You’ll be united in death. None of you will be leaving this place alive after all. Leave no stone unturned! I want this place utterly sacked!”
He could never forget the shame of being routed by Li Zhiyuan with mere words and that incident had implanted the seed of hatred towards Li Zhiyuan, Shen Jia, and everyone aligned with the Creed of Divinity.
Wan Sanqian chuckled. “Very good. I, Wan Sanqian, am proud to have you all here to the death with me. All nine of you have proven yourselves to be as loyal as true brothers. But fear not,” he paused suddenly, only to break into laughter, “Hahahaha! Fear not! They’ll need more than mere rabble like these to kill me!”
As he spoke, the aura and presence that was nonexistent at first grew into prominence and began burgeoning rapidly.
The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks could barely react. The corners of his eyes twitched uncontrollably as he struggled to comprehend what was happening.
“What’s going on!?”
Thick and strong wave after wave of Mana surged from Wan Sanqian.
“Class VI…”
“Class VII…”
“Class VIII…”
“Class IX…”
“Class X!”
Just when he was about to reach Class XI, Wan Sanqian’s aura showed signs of plateauing.
The warriors who stormed the mansion were all left in stunned silence.
To their knowledge, Wan Sanqian was only supposed to be a simple and ordinary merchant! They had made sure about that! Yet here he was with his powers on full display! The air rippled with waves and waves of undulations that even the naked eyes could capture. Right before their very eyes, the prey has become the hunter and the hunter was now the prey.
“W-Who are you?!” The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks gasped, his face contorting with horror.
A premonition of dread assailed him.
“My mentor knew that worthless scum like you would try something like this,” Wan Sanqian muttered with frost. “Good thing we’ve made preparations at his instructions. None of you will be walking out of this estate alive. You’ll pay for storming in here, you bunch of ingratiating filth!”
He groped into the air and a pair of sabers hanging from a rack flew into his grasp.
Next, he lunged and landed in the midst of the enemies. No one could even react in time. First was the cold glimmer of steel, then several warriors crashed to the ground like stalks sliced by a farmer’s scythe. None of them even had time to scream.
“T-That style! That’s the improved version of the Sundering Clouds discipline! One of the prized martial disciplines of the Creed of Divinity! Is your mentor Li Zhiyuan?!” The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks reeled with disbelief.
“Hahaha! Too late!” Wan Sanqian’s flurry of strokes assumed another style. With blows more vicious and brutal than before, more than a dozen high-ranking Dragonhawk members were torn into shreds.
“That’s the Sky-Splitter of the Tower of Godly Blades!” The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks boomed as he brandished his weapons — a pair of maces shaped like an eagle’s claws. He threw himself at Wan Sanqian to prevent more losses on his side. The shock just now had delayed him and he sat on his own hands while his men were slaughtered.
“That’s not all yet. Look again,” called Wan Sanqian heartily.
A total of seventy-two blows rained down on the Grand Master of the Dragonhawks with each blow pounding into his arms with the force of a battering ram. He managed to hold on with the help of his maces, but that did not mean that the Class-X grand master had any chance of regaining the upper hand at all. Wan Sanqian switched his pace. If his earlier blows were his usual speed, what came next was an onslaught of blows lashing tempestuously at the Grand Master that the latter could barely breathe.
“Arrggh, blarg!”
A huge mouthful of blood poured out of his mouth from the sudden internal damage. Wan Sanqian’s relentless attacks had thrown the flow of his Mana off-balance that it caused him injuries on the inside. Astonished, he gasped, “T-That’s the Tempest’s Onslaught discipline! The signature set of techniques created by Dugu Baitian, the greatest wielder of the saber of the Southern Badlands! Who in Heaven’s name are you!?”
Again, shock pummeled him.
All three saber disciplines were the trademarks of the three greatest saber wielders of the age. It was rare enough that anyone, much less him, could learn any one of such carefully-guarded secrets, yet Wan Sanqian was skilled enough in all three, mastering them all to perfection! How was that even possible?!
“I am Wan Sanqian — novitiate of the great Aspect of Vengeance Li Zhiyuan — and I am henceforth officially into the fold.”
With reverence and staidness, Wan Sanqian declared himself, his strokes pausing for one split-second.
Especially the moment when he announced himself as a student of Li Zhiyuan. It was like he was paying tribute to his mentor.
“Li Zhiyuan?! So you really are another one of Li Zhiyuan’s disciples! So we’re right in coming after all! ATTACK! KILL HIM!” The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks screeched.
Unfazed, Wan Sanqian only just guffawed proudly as he felled his enemies one after another. He was just unstoppable.
The face of the Grand Master twisted into grotesque disgust. Without warning, he broke into a sprint, but not towards Wan Sanqian. Instead, he sped after Shen Xiaoyue and the children! He realized that by taking them hostage, Wan Sanqian would have to surrender, no matter how powerful and strong he was!
Just when the Grand Master thought that he was going to succeed, a figure extricated himself from the shadows in the unnoticed corner of the hall and fired an energy bolt from his sword. The death ray zapped to pieces the Grand Master’s twin maces and with them, what hopes to win and survive this encounter.
The illumination from the flickering flames licked at the face of the stranger.
“The Punisher of Evil Shen Jia!?” The Grand Master gasped hoarsely.
“My teacher knew that scum like you would try to pull off something like this,” Shen Jia smirked with derision, “What? You think we didn’t see this coming?”
…
Another ghastly and distressing news began sweeping the Jianghu.
The Grand Master of the Dragonhawks, along with sixty of his best men, in their attempt to hunt down members of the Creed of Divinity, was reportedly killed in Autumnbrook.
All of Molderad tottered with trepidation and panic.
The Dragonhawks were a guild of warriors based in the Eastern Orients with power and influence comparable to, if not better than, the Priory of the Four Seas of old. The Grand Master himself was one of the best and most famous warriors ever. What was supposed to be a simple excursion to seize and arrest the Wans had turned into a one-sided bloodbath instead with the Grand Master himself killed in the attempt.
Wild speculations began to brew.
Some began hypothesizing that it was Li Zhiyuan himself who had killed the Grand Master.
Others wondered if this was the handwork of the Cult of the Orient instead.
But beyond any doubt, the killings proved to be useful. Like the spark of a match that lighted a tinderbox, the incident became the catalyst that invoked a huge outcry across the whole continent.
“DESTROY THE CREED OF DIVINITY!”
“CRUCIFY LI ZHIYUAN!”
“FOR THE SAKE OF MOLDERAD!”
Warriors from all around the regions of the Southern Badlands, the Eastern Orients, the Western Wildernesses, and Central all mustered into the biggest coalition Molderad has ever seen. The huge lumbering behemoth that was the coalition’s entire force comprising of the best from all militant sects and orders of the continent rumbled in the direction of the Northern Steppes.
It was a crusade first called upon by the Great Five member orders from the Southern Badlands and the Eastern Orients.
The call to arms was later answered by their fellow member orders from the Western Wildernesses and Central who committed their forces to the coalition as well.
The last time a force of such size massed was during the crusade against the Cult of the Orient.
That left only Arcusstone, the Great Five-member order from the Northern Steppes. Countless eyes were on them to observe the reaction of the mighty religious order who has yet to provide any stance on the matter of the crusade.
“Is Arccustone trying to protect the Creed of Divinity instead?”
It was said that the Dragon of Arccustone Nie Renlong was a close friend of Li Zhiyuan.
The barbs of doubt and suspicion began to pierce the minds of everyone observing.
In the end, Nie Renlong balked as well. Indicating that he would climb the slopes up to the Creed of Divinity’s stronghold himself, he pledged to persuade the Aspect of Vengeance Li Zhiyuan into a parley and ultimately repentance of his brutal ways before surrendering himself to the Great Five.
…
Autumn came.
Foliages of scarlet and yellow rustled in the brisk chilly winds.
The sprawl of burgundy on the boughs of the trees that spread all around the slopes of the Mount of Divinity appeared like the entire mountain was on fire. The wavy motion of the leaves in the wind billowed like the undulations of a sea—but one with the morbid resemblance of blood.
“Grand Master! The Coalition has arrived! They have completely surrounded the mountain!” reported Fang Yuan as soon as he entered the main audience hall.
Men from all over the continent had flocked to foothills around the Mount of Divinity. With the sheer number of warriors congregating all around the mountain, one might wonder if the Mount of Divinity was knee-deep in troubled waters. Nothing — or no one — could get in or out.
In fact, the only reason that the warriors have not yet mounted any assault up into the Creed’s stronghold could only be due to the various magical force fields that Li Mu had erected all around the mountain.
Scores of warriors had tried to infiltrate the stronghold on their own, laboring under the delusions that being able to accomplish something might win them both fame and glory. But after leaving thousands of dead bodies all the way up the mountain, they retreated at last and perished any thoughts of grandeur, choosing to just camp around with the others while they waited for the contingents of the Great Five to arrive.
This would have been the greatest fest of warriorship ever, if not for the purpose of exacting the destruction of Li Zhiyuan and by extension, the Creed of Divinity.
Lu Chuan stood up from his chair and scanned the crowd of acolytes that gathered in the main audience hall. “Four thousand and three hundred. That’s the number of you who choose to stay and defend the Creed of Divinity. But that is not the purpose we fight. It’s not for the defense of this order, nor is it for the purpose of Brother Zhiyuan! It’s for justice! We of the Creed of Divinity will never succumb to injustice!”
Concise and prolix but nevertheless powerful enough to rouse every acolyte who heard those words.
Passion and fervor blazed on the cheeks of every acolyte who had made the grave decision to stay and fight.
“FOR JUSTICE!”
They shouted together as one.
That demonstrated Lu Chuan’s tireless efforts and his unmatched talents in administration and management that after so many years, the Creed of Divinity was reborn with a fresh force feared because of their combat prowess and solidarity.
Everything in the Creed ran with the impeccable perfection of a well-oiled engine with him at the helm.
The men all looked anxious but eager at the same time.
Later that day, the sun sank into the distant horizons.
“Zhiyuan, my friend. It is me, Nie Renlong, here for a talk.”
The voice rumbled through the mountains like a groaning thunder.
“So it begins,” thought all who had their eyes peeled on the developments of this episode.
