Chapter 448 – The Imagined Future, Fire Sparks Flood, Rabble Rallies to the Emperor - Part 3

Deep within the Deathless Tomb.

Sheng'er was yawning lazily, chin propped on one hand, listening to some long-winded god muttering on and on from within one of the countless coffins.

This had been going on for more than a year now.

And while the muttering had started out as vague nonsense, it had slowly become more...specific.

“Little girl,” the ancient voice rumbled, “you have an excellent natural aptitude for cultivating the Heaven Soul. If you begin training, you’ll break free of mortal limits and live for ten thousand years.”

“Oh, come

on

. I haven’t even started cultivating anything. Ten thousand years? Yeah, right. Yaaawn...” Sheng'er scoffed.

However, the elderly god droned on, unfazed. “That’s because you were

born

already standing at the threshold of the third rank. Ordinary people would have to sacrifice everything just to get where you are now.”

“You’re lying again, aren’t you?” Sheng'er frowned. “If I’m really that amazing, how come you didn’t have the Wolfmother do this training already? You gods can just make more jade husk beauties like her, right? Why would you even need

me

?”

“The Wolfmothers are made.

You

are unique,” the god replied. “Why do you think your father allowed you to guard the Deathless Tomb in the first place? If you weren’t some freak who happened to fit this environment perfectly, we’d have kicked you out ages ago. We certainly wouldn’t be wasting time trying to talk to you.”

“Ah-ha! There it is. The tail of the fox shows at last!” Sheng'er raised an eyebrow. “You just want to trick me into leaving, don’t you? Hmph! Not falling for it!”

The god went quiet for a second, clearly at a loss for words. Then it sighed.

“The Heaven Soul Realm is divided into five sub-realms—

Yin Reborn Within Yang, Flesh Remade Anew.

Myriad Forms, Flesh and Blood Gate.

Then, Earth Immortal, Water Immortal, and Wind Immortal."

“Girl, your path is simple. In the far west, across the Western Extremes, there are nine flames. All you need to do is approach one, and your cultivation can begin. I won’t waste more words. Do you want to hear the cultivation technique?”

“Sure...” Sheng'er said, sounding serious for once.

The god seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

But before it could begin, she grinned and added cheerfully, “Just kidding!”

“...” The god fell speechless. There was a long, helpless pause. Then, in a voice thick with exasperation, it said, “Girl...just listen. There’s no harm in listening.”

“And there’s no harm in

not

listening, either.” Sheng'er replied sweetly.

The god tried again, desperate now, “There

is

harm! You’ve only got a hundred years to live,

maybe

! And this cultivation technique could let you live for ten thousand! Others would kill for it...and you’re just tossing it aside like it’s nothing!”

Sheng'er yawned and said, “Well, that depends on my mood.”

The god’s voice echoed from within the coffin, puzzled, “What do you mean?”

Sheng'er replied matter-of-factly, “If I’m in a good mood, I’ll listen to a few words from you. If I’m in a bad mood...I won’t.”

The god refused to give up. “Then...are you in a good mood now?”

“Nope,” Sheng'er said.

The god finally lost its composure. “Then what would make you feel better?”

She tapped her chin in thought, then said, “I’m hungry. How about you make me something tasty?”

“...” The god fell silent again. Trying to stay calm, the ancient voice explained, “Girl, this place doesn’t allow for food to be made. Even if it did, I couldn’t make it for you.”

“Well then,” Sheng'er sighed dramatically, “guess this great one’s mood isn’t getting any better.”

“...!”

“What was that?” she teased.

“...” The god fell silent.

A long time passed.

Eventually, the raspy voice spoke again from the coffin, “Girl...are you in a better mood now?”

“No,” Sheng'er replied. “I’m hungry.”

The god sighed in exasperation. “I’ve noticed...your crows can eat in your place. Just let it go outside and eat something.”

Sheng'er’s eyes lit up. “Ha! You’re pretty clever!”

The god felt a flicker of hope.

But after that, no matter what it said, Sheng'er didn’t answer again.

“...” The god just as soon felt that hope ebb away.

It was truly a miracle this ancient being hadn’t gone mad after lying in a coffin for who knows how many centuries.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

Three months slipped by like a dream.

By the end of August, though the season still clung to summer’s heat, the Great Zhou’s nine provinces were soaked in torrential rain

In the west, the rivers feeding into the frozen tundra of the Western Extremes, including the once placid Eternal Rest River, began to rise with alarming speed.

The floods came suddenly, drowning villages without warning.

Rumors about the flood dragons returning to the sea spread quickly.

One secluded little village was caught directly in the deluge.

In a single night, homes were torn from their foundations and swept away by muddy, roaring waters. Logs, straw raincoats, tufts of green grass, blossoms of red, froth of white—all churned together in the gray-brown torrent. And among them, struggling bodies flailed, calling out for help, voices rising and falling like the waves themselves.

On the high ground, people wept and shouted, stretching their arms helplessly toward the current, crying the names of loved ones who had vanished into the flood.

And then, a figure leapt into the water.

He swam with all his strength, fought the current, reached for an old man nearby, and dragged him slowly, painfully back to shore.

He barely had time to breathe before plunging in again to save the next person.

But no matter how hard he fought, he was only one man. His strength had limits.

In the end, he only managed to rescue two...maybe three.

When he turned to dive in again, a woman in a flower-print blouse grabbed him by the arm.

“Don’t go!” she cried. “You’re shivering. Your body can’t take it!”

The man she held back had silver hair and a face that looked like a demon’s mask, gaunt, fierce, and marred by painful looking scars..

But he turned slightly and gave her a gentle smile. “I’m fine.”

She refused to let go. “What if something happens to you? What will I do then? I

won’t

let you go back in!”

The silver-haired man’s voice was calm. “But if I can save just one more person...then that’s one more family spared from grief.”

And with that, he slipped free of her grip and plunged back into the flood.

He swam toward the cries of a drowning child, reached him, fought the current, and somehow brought the boy back. His own hands were trembling as he placed the child into the arms of a sobbing mother waiting on the shore.

The woman clutched her child tightly and cried, “Thank you, young man! Thank you!”

The silver-haired man said gently, “Auntie, you should get out of here. This place will be underwater soon.”

She nodded frantically, murmuring blessings under her breath. But just as she turned, she caught sight of the silver-haired man walking toward the river again. This time, however, he suddenly collapsed forward, grabbing his leg, face twisted in pain.

She and the floral-blouse village woman rushed over. One glance, and they understood. His legs had cramped.

They immediately knelt down and began massaging his legs, trying to ease the pain.

It took a long while before the man recovered. He took a deep breath, eyes burning with determination, and braced himself against a tree, ready to leap into the water again.

But after just a few steps, pain shot through his legs once more, halting him in place. He could only stand there, powerless, watching as more people were swept away by the raging flood, carried downstream into the unknown. Alive or dead, no one could say.

He lowered his head in defeat, voice hoarse with guilt. “It’s all my fault...”

The surrounding villagers gathered around him. Everyone was speaking at once, some with comfort, some with admiration.

“Young man, you’ve already saved so many. You’ve done more than enough!”

“Ah, he’s just too kindhearted...that’s why he suffers.”

His name was Zhou Na. But he once had another name—Peng Mingyi.

He had mastered countless deadly, ruthless secret skills. Dozens of ways to kill. And yet...he didn’t know a single way to save.

Now, as he stared at the torrent of muddy water, he slowly looked upstream, toward the source of it all, then lowered his head again and muttered, “It’s my fault. It’s all my fault...”

The villagers continued to discuss among themselves. In the end, after much debate, they decided to head south. Perhaps there, they could rebuild their village anew.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

White Deer Tribe encampment, Western Extremes.

Li Yuan had returned using the Nine Provinces Provisional Patrol Token. He stood in front of a pile of smoldering ash, now reduced to pale, brittle husks. The bonfire was completely dead, but the land around it remained strangely hot.

The temperature was so high that tents had to be pitched at a distance, or they’d risk catching fire.

And yet, it hadn’t always been like this.

He could sense it. The ice and snow in the area were melting. Meltwater streamed away from the hilltop in rivulets, only to freeze again, and melt again...over and over, creating a surreal and unsettling spectacle.

It reminded him of something the Gravekeeper had once told him.

“That’s because more land has sunk into the Evernight. The Yang of those lands gets sealed here, so the bonfires...naturally grow hotter. It is not a good sign.”

Li Yuan’s gaze sharpened. “Where’s the Wolfmother?” he asked.

Behind him stood a striking woman with long legs and sharp features, Yao Jue.

𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

“She’s not right in the head,” Yaojue replied. “Mostly out of it. Rarely lucid.”

Li Yuan frowned. “And Naran?”

“He hasn’t returned in four months,” she said. “Last I heard, he went to survey the deep tundra, even farther west.”

“I see...” Li Yuan's eyes darkened with thought. Then he said, “Go inform Nian Nian. Tell her to keep a very close watch on everything around us.

“She’s still Great Matron Tang, even if she’s left the Tang Sect. And since it’s the Tang Sect that handles most of the personnel movement between Cloudpeak Province and the Nine Flames Tribe...I need her to focus. Just for a little longer. Have her figure out what exactly is changing in this land.”

“Yes, Master,” Yao Jue replied. Then after a pause, she asked, “What about the Central Plains? How are things over there?”

Li Yuan said grimly, “The royalist army has begun to assemble. They’re powerful, yes, but fractured. Each with their own schemes. A mob in armor is still just a mob.”