It was the twelfth month of year 2932 of the Dark War calendar, and as the winter wind blew through the fields and the dry forests, it brought with it snowflakes that danced like fine powder. It was as if the wind wished to cover over all of the scars left behind by that ancient foe who had so recently visited the lands. When the wind reached the county capital, it swirled about, falling onto the streets, the rooftops, and the bustling people. It became a white mist that filled the world.

The county capital had changed a lot during the last half a month.

Just as the snowy wind sought to cover the scars in the lands, the cultivators from the three palaces joined forces with the Swordsage Courts of the various prefectures, along with all of the countless sects there, to rebuild Sea-Sealing County. Swordsage veterans traveled to the prefectures to join the rescue operations and help suppress any chaos being unleashed by nonhumans.

Gradually, the effects of the Lieutenant Governor’s Coup began to fade. The recovery was truly underway.

Marquis Yao and Master Seventh were both tied together because of Xu Qing. Though they didn’t know each other at first, after starting to work together, they both earned each other’s respect and admiration. Apparently, they had similar personalities in some ways, and thus, they got along well.

The wind brought with it a new era to Sea-Sealing County.

The deputy palace lords of the three palaces were now the official palace lords. In the case of the Swordsage Palace, that was Li Yunshan. Honor Guard Sun was the highest-ranking of the honor guards, so he became the new deputy palace lord.

Honor Guard Sima had another mission to handle.

Xu Qing’s life was vastly different than before. The rewards mentioned in the imperial edict hadn’t yet been officially distributed, but thanks to his Master and Marquis Yao, he knew full well how significant they would be.

The golden identity medallion brought with it the right of reprieve from the death penalty. As long as the bearer didn’t commit treason, they could nullify the death penalty one time. The yellow robe was a gift directly from the imperial clan, and provided a huge boost in status. The right to attend the Imperial University was also very significant. Ever since ancient times, the legacies of humankind were kept in the Imperial University, which meant that the place could be a lot of help when breaking out of Spirit Trove and into Void Returning. Beyond that, whichever student ranked highest in the university’s standardized testing would have a chance to be recruited by one of the holy lands. If they passed the recruitment assessment, then they would be able to travel to the holy lands. The holy lands existed outside of the Revered Ancient mainland, and were on a much higher level of existence.

In the nearly 3,000 years of the Dark War calendar, not one single student had ever passed the recruitment assessment.

As for the grade-one battle credit, that was a massive honor, and there were less than a hundred living people who had it.

That said, all of those rewards were things Xu Qing could live without. His daily life hadn’t changed very much, except for the fact that he no longer lived in his sword pavilion. He now resided in the old Secretariat Division in the Swordsage Palace.

At the urging of Marquis Yao and Master Seventh, Xu Qing had once again reestablished the Secretariat Division. It was now a special department in Sea-Sealing County, and it oversaw, not just one specific palace, but the entire county. In other words, it surpassed the palaces.

As for Xu Qing, he continued to serve as the secretary-general.

He worked for the Governor Marquis Yao, as well as Master Seventh, to consolidate all reports from throughout the county. And thus, he assisted them in county administration.

There were a lot more members of the Secretariat Division than before. Now, the Secretariat Division didn’t have offices just in the Swordsage Palace, but also in the other two palaces. At Kong Xianglong’s suggestion, Secretariat Division offices were set up in all the prefectures as well, and they would cooperate with the Swordsage Courts there to keep the prefectures safe.

Kong Xianglong took responsibility for all that. He was now a member of the Secretariat Division as well, as was Sir Mountain-River, who had recovered from his injuries.

The Captain was a bit jealous of all the authority Kong Xianglong had, so he pestered Xu Qing into starting a Black Ops Division. When it came to recommendations for who to lead the Black Ops Division, the Captain naturally put himself forward. Once he took over, he became obsessed with his duties. And before long, he organized a mission outside of the county capital.

Before leaving, he clasped Xu Qing’s shoulder and flashed a haughty grin. “Little Junior Brother, the old man is the lieutenant governor now. In order to keep the family fortune safe, your Eldest Brother can’t just sit around idly. I’m going to make sure the Black Ops Division does its part!”

Xu Qing noted how the Captain was trying not to look excited, and then thought back to a transfer order submitted by Li Shitao from the Administration Palace. He looked around.

“What are you looking at?” the Captain asked, stunned. Before, he had been looking very lofty and heroic, but seeing Xu Qing looking around caused him to feel a bit guilty.

“I’m looking for Li Shitao,” Xu Qing answered sincerely.

“Your sister-in-law? She demanded to come with me, and though I’m not exactly thrilled by that, I couldn’t refuse her.” Clearing his throat, the Captain abandoned that conversation topic and threw his arm around Xu Qing’s neck. “Let me tell you, little Ah Qing, I’m not taking this trip for the purposes of romance. I have two main goals. One relates to the Black Ops Division. But the other… is that I’m starting to plan a really big job!

“After that job, you and I are going to be even more awesome than we are now. To prep for this job, I need to go out and start collecting intelligence reports about the Moonrite Region. Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” 1

“Moonrite Region?” Xu Qing said, his eyes narrowing. Nowadays, he was very sensitive to the word ‘moon.’

The Captain blinked a few times, waved his hand in a ‘hushing’ gesture, then lowered his voice.

“Just wait until I’m back. I’ll explain everything then. Suffice it to say, little Junior Brother, you need to be ready to travel. This time around, your Eldest Brother is going to take you to accomplish something consummately amazing!”

The Captain licked his lips, his eyes flashing with that crazy light that Xu Qing was very familiar with. Humming a little tune, he led his people out of the county capital.

Xu Qing was currently standing on a limestone platform next to the entrance of the Swordsage Palace, watching the Captain leave.

“Come on out,” he said coolly.

Ning Yan poked his head out of the doorway of a nearby building, then chuckled self-deprecatingly as he hurried over to Xu Qing. Ning Yan feared the Captain, and had also been very worried about the Captain dragging him along. Knowing that hiding wouldn’t do any good, he had repeatedly begged Xu Qing for help in that regard.

“Exalted Secretary-General, as it turns out, I really can serve as your secretary!”

“Did you track down Qing Qiu?” Xu Qing said, looking at him.

“Yes! That shrew—”

Xu Qing’s gaze turned cold.

Ning Yan gulped and quickly reworded things. “The exalted Qing Qiu, who was previously affiliated with the Church of Departure in the Emperor-Receiving Prefecture, has left for the continent of South Phoenix….”

Xu Qing nodded and didn’t say anything further.

Ning Yan then hurried off. After he was some distance away, he breathed a sigh of relief. He had to admit that Xu Qing had really become a lot more impressive in the past half month. As Ning Yan knew, that was the pressure he exuded as the destiny aura of Sea-Sealing County gathered on him. Even though Xu Qing technically had experienced only a single tribulation, the destiny aura of the county made it so that no one could casually defy him.

Meanwhile, Xu Qing ignored Ning Yan and made his way toward the Swordsage Palace’s Records Repository.

During the past half month, they had been going there a lot. At his request, the Administration Palace and Justice Palace, as well as the Governor’s Mansion, had been sending their ancient records there for him to study. There were a lot of records to go through.

On the way to the Records Repository, a little white snake peeked out from his sleeve. Looking at him with big, innocent eyes, she curiously asked, “Big Bro Xu Qing, who’s Qing Qiu?”

Xu Qing looked down and stroked the little snake’s head. “A childhood friend of mine,” he said gently, “that I encountered again later in life. I’ll introduce you later.”

The little white snake seemed very pleased with the way he was petting her. Closing her eyes, she laughed, and it sounded like tiny bells tinkling.

“Coo. Coooo.”

Xu Qing also laughed softly. Back in the Spirit Abyss, Ling’er had been the one to save him right before he lost consciousness.

She had not yet fully absorbed the Ancient Spirit destiny aura. It was a long and slow process. Therefore, she was currently in the form of a little white snake that stayed wrapped around his right wrist.

When Xu Qing arrived at the Records Repository, he continued browsing through the records and information there. Hours passed. Days.

Three days later, Xu Qing sighed. He had found some useful information, but not very much. He was looking for information about life lamps, especially the way to thoroughly integrate them into oneself. He remembered the Captain once mentioning that many people had tried unsuccessfully to do that through the years.

After poring through so many ancient records recently, Xu Qing had come to find that what the Captain said was entirely true. There were historical examples of people succeeding. However, all of them were before the broken face of the god arrived.

Long before Emperor Ancient Spirit conquered Revered Ancient, there was an Imperial Sovereign of antiquity who walked a path of defiance. Normally speaking, once a cultivator reached the Imperial Sovereign level, they could transform their blood and thus generate a life lamp. Later on, that Imperial Sovereign’s descendants could be blessed by the good fortune of using that life lamp in Foundation Establishment. But the Imperial Sovereign in question defied that custom.

Similar to Xu Qing, while he was in the Foundation Establishment level, he slaughtered descendants of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns, took their life lamps, and made them his own. He nearly died in the process. But in the end, he managed to fully integrate those life lamps into his own blood, making them part of himself. Then, after many more near-death experiences, he rose to the highest heights and became an Imperial Sovereign. 𝘪𝘳.𝒸𝑜𝑚

In the lieutenant governor’s ancient records, that Imperial Sovereign was mentioned, but only in passing. After all, those events were in the ancient past. What was more, the only reason there was any mention of him at all was that he walked such a heaven-defying path. As for how true the story was, it was hard to tell.

“Light from beyond the heavens?” Xu Qing murmured. The story of that Imperial Sovereign mentioned those words. Apparently, the reason he could integrate the life lamps into his own body was because of some mysterious thing referred to as ‘light from beyond the heavens.’

That light from beyond the heavens was only mentioned in this one story about this specific Imperial Sovereign. Xu Qing hadn’t been able to find any other clues about it in any of the other ancient records.

A few days ago he’d asked his Master about it. Not even Master Seventh had heard of such a light. Xu Qing also consulted Marquis Yao, who didn’t know anything, but offered to ask a friend of his in the imperial capital about it. Feeling a bit disappointed, Xu Qing went back to the Secretariat Division. There, he worked on processing various documents being sent in from the prefectures. The next day, he got a voice message from Marquis Yao.

“Xu Qing, I got a response to my inquiry. I also have something I want to give you. Do you mind stopping by Yao Mansion?”

Eyes glittering, Xu Qing left the Swordsage Palace and hurried toward Yao Mansion.

Along the way, he noted how busy everyone on the street seemed to be, and how all of them seemed a lot happier than before. None of them were suffering any poisonous effects from the pallid boluses they had consumed. That matter had been confirmed after Marquis Yao and Master Seventh summoned alchemy grandmasters from all over Sea-Sealing County. After careful inspection, they had declared the pallid boluses to be harmless.

However, many commoners still harbored doubts. Therefore, Marquis Yao suggested to distribute a harmless elixir and label it as an antidote to the pallid bolus. Before long, that antidote was being distributed free of charge to everyone in the county capital. They called it a ‘pallid-diffusing pill.’

The reality was that the pill mostly just strengthened the physical body. But the result was much rejoicing on the part of the people. What was more, Xu Qing learned a valuable lesson from that about human nature. Whether in terms of the process or the result, everything worked out in the end.

Clearing his mind, Xu Qing hurried to Yao Mansion.

Once he arrived, he was received with all due solemnity. The Yao Clan cultivators who had been released from the Corrections Division had all learned that a few words from Xu Qing had spared them from a deadly catastrophe. Therefore, a large crowd of people from the Yao Clan were waiting respectfully for him at the front gate. Their eyes shone with gratitude as they clasped hands and bowed deeply to him.

“We offer respectful greetings, Secretary-General Xu.”

The crowd was made up mostly of elderly ones, women and children. Yao Yunhui and Yao Feihe were both there. 2

Yao Yunhui had a complicated facial expression. Before, she had been alluring and curvaceous. Now she seemed haggard and had clearly lost a lot of weight. That said, she was still very attractive. In fact, to some people, she might seem weaker than before, and thus more deserving of tenderness.

Yao Feihe, meanwhile, wore the same formal court attire she usually wore. However, the disaster which had befallen her clan, and especially being imprisoned, had left her much thinner, even a bit sallow. When Xu Qing first met her, she had seemed very graceful and poised. Now she seemed a lot more down-to-earth.

When she met Xu Qing’s eyes, she gave a curtseying bow, as did Yao Yunhui.

Xu Qing hurried forward and physically lifted them up from their bowing. He glanced at Yao Yunhui and those around her, then focused on Yao Feihe.

“Marquis Yao is my Senior,” he said. “Please, ladies, there’s no need for this formality.”

“Young Sir Xu,” Yao Feihe said softly, “your kindness is something our Yao Clan will never forget.” As the surrounding members of the crowd gave way, she and Yao Yunhui led Xu Qing into Yao Mansion. Yao Feihe walked next to Xu Qing. Yao Yunhui trailed behind them. The fragrant aroma of perfume filled the air, which was something Xu Qing wasn’t used to. The little white snake on his wrist peeked curiously out of his sleeve.

Eventually, they reached the Yao Clan’s primary reception hall.

Marquis Yao was there waiting, a smile on his face.

“Greetings, Governor,” Xu Qing said, bowing respectfully.

Marquis Yao smiled and indicated for Xu Qing to take a seat. Instead of taking the seat of honor, Marquis Yao sat to the side. Seeing that, Xu Qing felt even more respect than before, and also chose a seat to the side. 3 𝑖𝘦.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Yao Feihe and Yao Yunhui poured tea for them.

The one serving Xu Qing’s tea was Yao Yunhui. As she poured the steaming tea from the pot, she looked at Xu Qing out of the corner of her eye, and she suddenly looked a bit distracted. The events of the past flashed through her mind. She almost couldn’t believe that the new swordsage from less than two years ago had somehow risen to such incredible heights. In her distraction, she overfilled the cup, and as the tea spilled onto the table, Xu Qing turned to look at her. Only then did Yao Yunhui react. She quickly took a few steps back.

Yao Feihe seemed similarly distracted. However her reasons for distraction were different from those of Yao Yunhui, but were no less profound. She was thinking about the first time she’d met Xu Qing, back when her close friend Plumdark introduced him. Back then, she didn’t pay much attention to him, as he was nothing more than a puny little swordsage. Maybe he did have a 30,000-meter pillar of light from the Grand Emperor, but he was far from being grown up.

Meanwhile she was the younger sister of Marquis Yao, who even had a small role to play in the imperial capital. Back then, the civil way she conversed with Xu Qing was for the sake of Plumdark. The reality was that Yao Feihe didn’t want Plumdark to place limitations on her own future. Yao Feihe felt like a mighty tree standing next to Plumdark, there to make sure no one did anything to besmirch her honor.

But after that, things changed rapidly, and everything was turned upside down. The next thing she knew, Xu Qing was acknowledged by the people of Sea-Sealing County as their next official governor. Because of him, her brother’s name was cleared, and she and her entire clan were spared a deadly calamity. Thinking back now to that time when she first met Xu Qing, she realized that he was actually the mighty tree. She just hadn’t realized it at the time.

As a result, she couldn’t help but be a bit distracted. Because of her distraction and mixed emotions, she suddenly found herself feeling a bit envious of Plumdark.

Marquis Yao noted the odd expressions on the faces of his sister and daughter. He was a bit surprised. He looked at Xu Qing, then his daughter, and then his sister. Finally, he cleared his throat.

Yao Yunhui and Yao Feihe quickly bowed their heads and left the reception hall.

Soon, Marquis Yao and Xu Qing were alone.

Marquis Yao looked at Xu Qing. Xu Qing looked back at him, his expression the same as always.

The marquis spoke first. “Xu Qing, do you have a daoist partner yet?”

Xu Qing’s jaw nearly dropped. Before he could say anything, the white snake poked her head out of his sleeve and glared at Marquis Yao.

“Coo. Coooo!”

Marquis Yao glanced at the snake, smiled, and then dropped the subject. Waving his hand, he took out a blood-colored lamp shaped like a wing. He put it down in front of Xu Qing.

“This lamp is for you.”

1. In Chinese, the character I’m translating as ‘rite’ more specifically means ‘to offer sacrifice (to).’ Think of it as a rite of sacrifice. For pithiness sake, I’m just going to use ‘rite.’ There is some significance to that, which will be revealed later. In any event, going forward, just keep in mind that the name of the region inherently contains the idea of sacrificial offerings. ?

2. By quick way of reminder, Yao Yunhui is Zhang Siyun’s mother, who played a role in the story starting in chapter 393 (though she appeared briefly before then). She is Marquis Yao’s daughter. Yao Feihe is her aunt, is the sister of Marquis Yao, and is the friend of Plumdark. Yao Feihe was introduced in chapter 428 and appeared a few times after that in various contexts. ?

3. Given the context of the scene, it seems likely that Marquis Yao and Xu Qing are sitting at a circular table. The seat of honor would be the seat facing away from the front door. The “side seats” would be any of the other seats, although there are also protocols for who sits in those seats depending on the situation. That’s beside the point. What’s relevant here is that neither Marquis Yao or Xu Qing sit in the seat of honor, and thus both of them are refraining from putting themselves in the position of superiority. The Marquis has the right to do so, since he is the acting governor. And no one would blame Xu Qing for doing so, since he is essentially the future governor who has an even more proper “right” to claim superiority. The fact that both of them choose the more humble route is telling. ?

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