Xu Qing found an appropriate statue that he could sit cross-legged atop.

That was when Ling’er poked her head out of his sleeve, looked around, and quietly said, “Big Bro Xu Qing, this place looks like it might be connected to my own species, the Ancient Spirits.”

Xu Qing’s heart flip-flopped. He looked down at Ling’er. She was still studying the place.

“Big Bro Xu Qing, these statues are all Ancient Spirit divine likenesses. My people look like snakes when we’re young, but we can take human form when we grow up. If we have a strong bloodline, then when we break the shackles of our cultivation base, we’ll gain heavenly dragons as lifelong companions. From that point on, we’ll be forever guarded by dragons and snakes.

“Given this place’s layout, I’d say it must be the tomb of an important member of my species. Usually, my people will make tombs with multiple levels. Big Bro Xu Qing, my guess is that the main tomb chamber is probably below us. This is just the first level. I can sense the warding spells down below. Big Bro Xu Qing, I could probably open an entrance to the level below.” .

Ling’er was feeling really excited at the prospect of finally being able to really help her Big Bro Xu Qing.

After hearing Ling’er’s explanation, he studied the area again. Then he stroked Ling’er’s head and said, “Don’t open it. The person in charge of this place now asked us not to disturb anything. Let’s wait until the Heavenfire Skycrossing is over, and then we’ll leave.”

Xu Qing was generally a polite person, and since he had entered into agreement, he wouldn’t break the terms of the deal unless it was absolutely necessary.

Ling’er thought about it and came to the conclusion that her Big Bro Xu Qing did things very differently than her papa. Going forward, she would remember that, and try to do things more like Big Bro Xu Qing.

Half a month flew by in the briefest of moments.

The Heavenfire Skycrossing grew more terrifying. Heaven and earth were scorched, countless living beings were destroyed, and those who survived trembled in fear. From a distance, it almost looked like the fury of a god. It was completely appalling. Rumbling like thunder echoed out. The sea level of the Heavenfire Sea grew lower and lower as the lava inside was sucked up into the canopy of heaven by the severed arms. .𝒎

Deep in the mine, in the Ancient Spirit tomb, Xu Qing kept his promise. He didn’t take a single step outside of the cave temple. Instead he stayed in place and worked on cultivation. Duanmu Zang didn’t come back. Everything was peaceful and quiet.

Ling’er was on her best behavior. She didn’t try to sneak down into the deeper parts of the tomb. As far as she was concerned, she was more than happy to just be able to keep her Big Bro Xu Qing company. The only downside was that she occasionally felt useless.

I really need to hurry up and absorb all the power of that ancestral emperor destiny aura. Then I can improve the level of my bloodline.

With that thought in mind, Ling’er got to work.

On Xu Qing’s seventeenth day of cultivation, he was interrupted by a visitor.

Some distance away, the ground of the cave temple started glowing as a teleportation activated. A figure solemnly stepped out of the light. It wasn’t Duanmu Zang. Instead, it was a young human man wearing a green jerkin.

Xu Qing opened his eyes.

This was the very same person he had saved half a month before. He still looked weak, but had clearly recovered from his injuries. Apparently that armor had really proved useful. Duanmu Zang must have intervened to save his life. However, the effects of the fire still lingered. He had many burn patches and even parts of his skin that had melted away and not grown back. As a result, he looked quite ferocious.

As Xu Qing looked over, the young man looked back nervously. Then he hurried over and knelt in front of Xu Qing.

“Senior, I am Shi Pangui. Many thanks to you, Senior, for the kindness of saving my life!” 1

Xu Qing looked the young man up and down. He had a rather strange name, but Xu Qing didn’t inquire about it. “It was nothing. If I hadn’t done something, Senior Duanmu would have saved you.”

Nevertheless, Shi Pangui kowtowed three times, then looked up and nervously said, “Either way, Senior, you’re the one who saved me. I’ll never forget that kindness.”

With that, he took a meal box out and placed it off to the side. 2

“I know you have a very high cultivation base, Senior, and I have nothing of value to offer you. This is some food my missus made. Many thanks, Senior!”

With that, Shi Pangui stood, bowed to Xu Qing, then respectfully backed up to the teleportation portal. A moment later, he disappeared.

Xu Qing looked at the meal box. It was filled with aromatic pastries that someone had clearly taken much effort to prepare.

Given Xu Qing’s skill in the dao of poison, all it took was a single whiff for him to check for poison in food. He didn’t detect any such poison, so he picked one up. Seeing Ling’er salivating off to the side, he took a bite to make sure they were safe. Then he gave a piece to Ling’er.

When she took a bite, her eyes narrowed with pleasure.

“Coo. Coooo.” The flavor was so wonderful that Ling’er couldn’t help but speak in the way she had as a child.

Seeing how happy Ling’er was caused Xu Qing to smile. He ended up giving her all the pastries. Later, he closed his eyes and went back to meditation.

More days passed. Shi Pangui came back to visit a few times, and each time he brought delicious food with him. He always seemed to have something on his mind, but was always hesitating to give voice to it. Eventually, he couldn’t hold it in any longer. Eyes brimming with hope, he said, “Senior, the chancellor said that you’re from another region? So… how are we humans doing out there?”

Shi Pangui was obviously nervous, but his hopefulness seemed to surpass that nervousness. He had lived his entire life in Moonrite Region, unable to leave, and doomed to a fate he couldn’t escape. That said, even in childhood, he had heard people talking about the glory of humankind, and about how powerful humans were. But all he saw was how weak and feeble humans were, to the point where they were little more than food to the nonhumans. He had seen misery and grief that left him shaken and dazed.

And the reality was that it didn’t matter what Xu Qing told him. It wouldn’t change his situation. But he still wanted to get an answer to his question. He wanted to know if what the older humans said was true, that human society outside the Moonrite Region was glorious and beautiful. That alone would give him pride and strength.

Xu Qing looked at Shi Pangui for a few breaths of time.

As the moments ticked by, the light in Shi Pangui’s eyes faded.

Xu Qing smiled and softly said, “Humans on the outside live in peace and work happily. They have good lives. There’s little fighting, and everyone gets along. Our reigning emperor has outstanding ability and grand vision. We recently fought a war with the Nightshades, and came out victorious. Nonhumans bow their heads in our presence. Either they choose to join us, or we destroy them. What’s more, our emperor firmly believes that one day he will be able to change things here in the Moonrite Region.”

His words, and his smile, caused Shi Pangui’s eyes to light up, and his heart to race. “I knew it! Me and Zhou Wangbei got into a big argument last night. She said that humans on the outside are the lowest of the low. I told her that’s impossible! We humans have noble blood. Maybe we’re weak and powerless in Moonrite Region, but in the past, we conquered Revered Ancient, and that means we’re definitely glorious on the outside! Many thanks, Senior!”

Shi Pangui excitedly bowed to Xu Qing, then hurried away to tell his wife, friends, and family what he’d found out.

Xu Qing watched him leave. He sighed. Now he understood the meaning behind Shi Pangui’s name. ‘Pangui’ referred to a return to glory for all humankind. 3

The other name, Wangbei, came from the fact that humankind’s Imperial Region lay to the north. 4

Over the past few days, Xu Qing had begun to speculate what was happening in the lower levels of this tomb. It seemed likely there was a colony of humans who lived there, and the ‘chancellor’ Shi Pangui had mentioned was none other than Duanmu Zang. Humans took shelter here to avoid the bitter life they would otherwise live outside. And that was why Duanmu Zang had told him not to leave the cave temple.

Feeling a sudden swell of respect in his heart, Xu Qing stood, clasped hands, and bowed at the waist.

As he did that, Duanmu Zang materialized on one of the other statues. Looking at the spot where Shi Pangui had disappeared, he turned to Xu Qing. When he spoke, his voice was a bit hoarse.

“Thank you. Did humans on the outside actually win a big victory?”

Xu Qing nodded solemnly. “The Holytide Region belongs to humankind now. And we have a domain treasure.”

Duanmu Zang hopped off the statue and strode over to Xu Qing. This was the closest they had ever been to each other. In the past, they had always interacted at a distance. Duanmu Zang sat down, took out a jug of alcohol, and tossed it to Xu Qing.

“Explain everything,” he said.

Xu Qing took a long drink, frowned, and then took out a jug of alcohol from his bag of holding, which he handed to Duanmu Zang. Duanmu Zang’s eyes lit up, and he took it.

And thus, the two of them drank together as Xu Qing gave Duanmu Zang a general overview of recent events. Of course, he didn’t reveal his true identity. He told everything from the perspective of an observer.

Duanmu Zang didn’t say anything the entire time. He just listened intently.

Xu Qing finished the story right about the time they finished the alcohol.

Eyes narrowing, Duanmu Zang said, “What you saw was this Seventh Prince’s actions. And you heard the emperor’s orders. But you overlooked something. Seventh Prince’s mother and her people!”

Xu Qing’s gaze hardened.

“As an imperial prince,” Duanmu Zang continued, “it makes sense that he’s daring and reckless. But given the bigger picture, it’s clear he has deeper reasons for being so confident. The way he handles complicated matters with such ease leads me to believe that his mother might not be human. And even if she is, well, she’s definitely not from ordinary stock!

“As for the emperor, I find his actions very thought-provoking. Everything he does seems to be handled perfectly…. But the reason for that is that you’re looking at the outcome, and it seems like the outcome of everything is completely under his control. But it seems to me that there’s some other bigger force behind the scenes, carefully manipulating everything.”

Duanmu Zang looked up at Xu Qing. “Everything you’ve described so far… it’s just the beginning. If I was the emperor, I would have long since put someone in Sea-Sealing County that I trusted. To be my eyes there, and keep watch over everything. Whoever this person is, they wouldn’t have a very high cultivation base, otherwise they would draw too much attention.”

Xu Qing didn’t react visibly, but inside, he was shaken.

Duanmu Zang didn’t say anything beyond that. Floating up into the air, he looked off into the distance for a long moment, then turned back to Xu Qing. “Would you like to see my home?”

1. Shi Pangui. Shi is listed #61 on the list of 100 common surnames. It means “stone.” Pan means “hope for, long for, expect.” Gui means “return, go back to.” Madam Deathblade says that because the name has a fairly literal meaning (longing for something to return), it’s a very sad and melancholy name, which is somewhat unusual. Generally speaking, it’s not very common in Chinese culture to give children sad, melancholic names. ?

2. Most dictionaries will translate ‘meal box’ as ‘lunch box.’ However, considering what the word ‘lunch box’ conjures in the minds of most readers, and how many people don’t read the footnotes, I went with something slightly different. Boxes like this were common in ancient times and nowadays as well. Here is a small gallery of some of the more ancient-looking varieties. ?

3. If you look at the footnote explaining Shi Pangui’s name, you can see the meaning of the individual characters. In this paragraph, it adds an additional character to each of those characters, creating a total of two words with four characters each, to explain the full meaning. Packing deep meaning into names is fairly common in Chinese. The individual characters can be references to other words or idioms that aren’t immediately apparent. Without further information or context, you might never unlock the true meaning of the name. ?

4. Wangbei: Wang means “hope, expect, gaze (into the distance), look towards.” Bei means “north.” In the passage in which Shi Pangui talks about Zhou Wangbei, he does not use any pronouns at all, so it’s impossible to tell if he’s talking about a wife or a friend. Given the context, it seems to me it’s supposed to be his wife, thus my interpretation of the passage. (added later:) In retrospect, I realize that this name has some vague foreshadowing in it…. ?

𝑖.𝘤ℴ𝘮