Chapter 289 – The Battle Unfinished, an Old Friend Visits Cloudpeak Province - Part 2

“Burned his lifespan to forge?” Zhu Ban exploded. “That fool! Idiot! Your lifespan can’t forge anything worth a damn! With so little left, what kind of weapon do you expect?!”

He roared toward the northern sky. “What did I teach you? Did I ever tell you to spend your years at the forge? Moron! Blind old me, how did I ever take an apprentice like you?”

When his fury finally ebbed, Peng Mi asked, “Burning lifespan sounds impressive. Why won’t it work?”

Red‑faced, Zhu Ban drained a cup of black lotus medicated wine before he could breathe. “Burning one’s lifespan to forge is heresy...pure, unadulterated heresy.”

“Oh? Heresy?” Peng Mi brightened. “Perfect fit for us, then. I always said Master Li belonged in our cult. You insisted on leaving him in the Holy Tree Temple. Look at the mess now.”

Zhu Ban jabbed a finger at Peng Mi, trembling with rage, about to let fly.

Peng Mi raised both hands. “Easy, easy, I’m just talking. If it’s heresy, it must be powerful, right?”

Zhu Ban snorted. “I’ve read that Life Devour manual. What survives is a crippled fragment. Even if you could finish that secret art, it’s worthless. The skill is only half of a pair.”

“I see.” Peng Mi nodded, half understanding.

“My Heavensense needs to find a place of extreme Yang to work. Similarly, Life Devour must be paired with a skill that steals life from others, and that second secret art vanished long ago. No one in their right mind would keep such a taboo.”

Peng Mi cut in with a grin. “I’d keep it. No breaking, no rebirth; only destruction breeds the new. The world is weak. Let mountains of corpses lift us to the heavens and open a new age. Life Devour sounds perfect.”

“Save the cult sermons; I don’t serve you out of faith.” Zhu Ban sighed. “Even if someone mastered what’s left of Life Devour, the weapon they forged would never rank with the very best, at most a shade above mediocrity.”

He exhaled through his nose. “I thought Li Yuan was clever, a prodigy. Looks like I was wrong. Compared with Gong Lang, he died for next to nothing. Wasted his gifts. I must have been blind.”

Peng Mi pressed his palms together in mock prayer. “Amitabha. Rest easy, Master Zhu. I’ll bring you Li Yuan’s lifespan‑forged weapon too, let you judge it yourself.”

“Who’s holding it?”

“He made two. One went to Jing Banfeng, the clan head of the Jing Clan. The other’s hidden tight. Our spies can’t trace it.”

“Two? And one for Jing Banfeng? Does he not know I hate the Jing Clan?” Zhu Ban barked a laugh, smashed the earth with his hammer until the forge floor shook, then calmed. “Very well, I’ll leave you to your task, Vice Cult Leader.”

Peng Mi’s eyes crinkled with delight. “No problem. One from Gong Lang, one from Li Yuan, I’ll hand them both to you. A full display.”

“Amitabha,” Zhu Ban murmured.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Late autumn gave way to deep winter.

Li Yuan was nowhere near his carriage. With a flick of his finger, he tugged the thousand‑mile thread tied to the leader of the Black Cloaks, Wang Heran, and arrived straight at his destination. The carriage he’d been

riding

he dismantled and abandoned, letting the horse go.

Another thread still connected him to Yu Chaojin back in Gemhill County, insurance for harvesting the

seeds

he planted.

News from the Holy Tree Temple continued to trickle through back‑alley informants.

Now, Li Yuan stood near Wang Heran. He was in Cloudpeak Province; a barren, desolate strip of land so poor even trouble seldom passed through it.

Snow fell in blinding sheets; he could barely see his hand before his face. Within a couple of kilometers, his senses met nothing but rock and trees...trees, rocks, and more trees. Like stepping from a megacity into the backwoods.

Fortunately, nestled among those rocks stood a stone hut with smoke curling from the roof—Wang Heran’s temporary shelter. And where Wang Heran was, Tang Nian must be as well, because Li Yuan had ordered Wang to stay at Tang Nian’s side.

It had been four years since Li Yuan had seen his goddaughter; his farewell words felt like yesterday. Had the girl found someone she liked?

Li Yuan strode toward the hut. Before he reached the door, figures and constructs burst from every direction. He saw ornate puppets alongside coarser models, and pale shapes almost invisible against the snow—humans, but with dull, vacant eyes, reminding him of the fearless troops once patrolling the Blood Blade Sect’s inner district.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The Red Ant Guild was the Blood Blade Sect’s supplier for fearless troops. However, the Red Ant Guild didn’t operate in Cloudpeak Province. So, how did these pale figures appear here?

Li Yuan instantly pieced the puzzle. They had been bought from the Jade Rabbit Guild through the Windfall Group.

After all, even though the Windfall Group had been split in two, it appeared his side still maintained a supply line with the Jade Rabbit Guild.

By using the Windfall Group as a middle-man, the Jade Rabbit Guild would have no idea who the downstream buyer was. This created an additional buffer that shielded Tang Nian’s underground network from the powerful factions of the Central Plains.

“Who goes there?!” A wary, icy girl’s voice answered from inside the hut—but it wasn’t Tang Nian’s.

Li Yuan had no interest in

testing

his goddaughter’s security net; that would just burn his own resources. So he spoke plainly, “I’m looking for Tang Nian. I’m an ally, not an enemy.”

No answer came.

A moment later, a girl’s face pressed against the oiled‑paper window. The stuff was odd—transparent from inside, opaque from out—so Li Yuan couldn’t see her, but she saw him.

A scornful laugh drifted through the wall, followed by a stream of ridicule, “Ha! Looking for my master? Which clan’s pampered princeling are you? Think you’re worthy? I queued ages before Miss Tang finally accepted me! And she only teaches women, no men, so you’d better—”

CRASH!

A cup hit the floor, followed by the sound of someone scrambling to their feet before rushing over to cover the loud girl’s mouth.

“Hey! Mister Wang, what’re you pulling me for? Afraid? We’re in the Tang Sect’s own base! Who could scare us? We’re the best in the province, hmph!”

Li Yuan grinned. So Wang Heran was indeed here; he had recognized Li Yuan’s voice, but because Li Yuan’s identity was top secret, he clamped the girl’s mouth first and thought later.

As for this haughty girl...thanks to Tang Nian’s network, her family, and a few business purchases, she was used to throwing her weight around out here.

A shadow of pride warmed Li Yuan. Tang Nian had built a hidden power, and used

taking on disciples

the way great clans used marriage alliances. Risky, yes, but devotion could plug the leaks, and that chatterbox plainly adored her master. For now, the risk was small.

Not bad, Nian Nian,

Li Yuan thought.

Inside, Wang Heran’s voice finally carried out, “The visitor isn’t an enemy, nor a would‑be disciple, nor a suitor. This is your master’s...old friend.”