The Divine Martial Stars

That empire had disappeared for a thousand years. Back then, the Holy Clans jointly cracked down upon it because they reckoned that it had been colluding with the Extra-terrestrial Devils and would court doom for the Divine Land. Although the Great Moon Empire had once reigned over the entire central area, it was overturned at last and forgotten in the dust of history. The vast territory that once belonged to it was later taken up by the Western Qin, Northern Song, and Southern Chu.

Over the years, the three empires had tried to hunt down the remaining forces of the Great Moon Empire with combined effort. Not a day did they slack off in that operation.

In the latest century, it could be safe to say that no traces of the Great Moon Empire had been spotted.

Yet, no one knew that a thousand years later, a descendant of the royal family of the Great Moon Empire could once again rise to power in its old territory. Moreover, right at the time when the Western Qin Empire was troubled by its domestic strife and foreign aggression while the protective Holy Clan of Northern Song was on the verge of collapse, the Great Moon Empire took the golden opportunity and occupied almost the entire border area of the Western Qin Empire.

The remaining forces of the Great Moon Empire had indeed demonstrated their extraordinary strength and scheming ability.

All kinds of rumors were flying around.

It turned out that the reason for the abrupt turn at the end of the counterinsurgency and the complete failure of the mission to suppress executed by the allies consisting of the forces led by Li Gang, the Chang’an magistrates, and the magistrates of other major provinces was the sabotage of the Great Moon Empire. The forces of the Great Moon Empire had pulled some strings and goaded Lord Zhenxi into cooperating with it and the Extra-terrestrial Devils. On that night, the three parties formed a league and attacked the Western Qin’s allied forces, causing the troops led by Li Gang, the Secular Sword Whiz, and the other commanders to be routed and retreat a thousand miles.

Furthermore, the mysterious force that teamed up with the Northern Song to sneak attack the border area of the Western Qin was also the Great Moon Empire.

During the struggle that lasted a thousand years, the remaining forces of the Great Moon Empire gradually moved from the open place to the underground. It branched out beneath the earth like wild roots but never broke through the soil. That was why no one ever noticed how thick and strong the roots had become. The Western Qin Empire then began to be infiltrated secretly. Three cities and three counties at the border area gradually fell into the hands of the Great Moon Empire. The entire Qianyang Province and even its highest official, the magistrate named Yu Fengxian, started to work for the Great Moon Empire. That was how the Heaven Inspire Army led by Qin Fen, the Heavenly Official, came across a suicidal attack halfway through their expedition...

The most horrible thing was that in the Heaven Inspire Army, which the legendary Li Yuanba had selected and cultivated and was supposed to be solid as a rock, nearly a hundred elites from three battalions were controlled by the Great Moon Empire. The three battalions hit Li Yuanba, the Domineeringly Demonic Halberd, a lethal blow at the most critical moment. Having been caught off guard, Li Yuanba was forced to retreat from the border area and completely lost control over the 10 cities and nine counties.

With that succession of schemes, the Great Moon Empire gained its foothold on the Divine Land.

Then, the Great Moon Empire’s crown prince, Yu Hualong, went into the open and showed the rest where to fire. Though that seemed to be an ill-considered move, in fact, that gesture did show that he had his own flag set up on that land.

Only when that flag had been put up would an uninterrupted flow of lost descendants of the Great Moon Empire come to him.

For ordinary folks, a thousand years was long enough to let the seas change into mulberry fields. But for martial arts practitioners, that merely allowed a couple of generations to develop. Hatred and loyalty would not be lost in that period, for they were easily carried on by the next generation. Hence, those sects, reclusive families, and rogue cultivators that used to be loyal to the Great Moon Empire and still had offspring on the land sprang up overnight. The vow of allegiance that once rang across the entire land was finally rampant again.

Bloody events were not ended there.

On the third day after the summer solstice, another shocking incident occurred.

The Deputy Head of the Guanshan Pasture, who was also a Semi-Sage, traveled to the border area and attempted to assassinate the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire. But as he attempted to behead the target, the crown prince named Yu Hualong ripped his head off instead at the west gate of the Peerless White Jade City. When that news was spread out, the world shuddered again.

Afterward, Yu Hualong, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire, became famous around the globe.

That fight also made it clear to all that the crown prince had probably entered the Sage Realm.

That also implied that the new Great Moon Empire was able to confront Sages.

When that incident was disclosed, the parties that intended to nip the Great Moon Empire in the bud were too scared to carry out their plans.

After losing the Guanshan Master and Dao Chongyang, the Western Qin and Northern Song found that they had no proper way to deal with this old empire that had just revived from the ashes.

More and more people started to set their eyes on the crown prince named Yu Hualong.

Only half a year ago, Lord Taibai Li Mu soared to the sky with one start. Half a year later, Yu Hualong staged the same amazing play again. But unlike Li Mu, who only caused a little fuss, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire took actions that shocked the world. He had something to do with nearly all the surprising changes in the Western Qin Empire. Given that he was a shining star possessing both individual strength and wisdom for scheming, he was likely to be the man that dominated the world.

And more surprisingly, according to the messages that the Great Moon Empire had released, their crown prince was also quite young, definitely less than 30 years old.

No matter in what aspect, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire was certainly a splendid genius that the world had rarely seen.

Heroes were likely to be born in troubled times.

On the land engulfed by the flames of war, there were always stars sparkling over it.

Doubtlessly, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire was one of the stars that started sparkling.

He was indeed a bright one.

Among the 10 cities and nine counties at the border area, only the small Longcheng Pass was still the Western Qin’s territory. But it was besieged from all four sides and became a completely isolated county.

Even so, the Great Moon Empire just kept stationing around it but never attacked.

Their crown prince had issued an order himself that forbade his troops to invade Longcheng Pass.

That order was rather bewildering.

Some people speculated that it might have something to do with Li Mu, Lord Taibai of the Western Qin.

After all, Li Mu had deterred thousands of invaders with one strike over the city wall of Longcheng Pass and left the warning that “Anyone other than Western Qin people who comes through the city gate will be killed”.

During the past half a year, Lord Taibai was nowhere to be seen. He might have been hiding in Longcheng Pass the whole time. That seemed to be the only explanation for the Great Moon Empire’s curious hesitation on attacking Longcheng Pass. Presumably, the crown prince of the Great Moon Empire dared not think light of such a young Sage-to-be and so he would not pick the fight when did not have a 100 percent assurance.

Time lapsed.

The Divine Land soon sank into unprecedented turmoil.

A host of rebel forces appeared in the Western Qin Empire. Aside from Lord Zhenxi, magistrates of the other major provinces also launched a riot. The empire was in chaos. Those magistrates recruited followers and proclaimed themselves as king in their territories. Meanwhile, Emperor Song Ren of the Northern Song suddenly passed away without any warning. As the crown prince was too young to take over, eight lords in the Northern Song started a revolt on their own. Now that Mount Qingcheng was no longer a deterrent, the eight royal lords summoned their forces and began to vie for the crown, leaving the empire in havoc, as well...

As for the Southern Chu, despite the pressure imposed by Wei Wubing, the Mad Scholar and Head of Wendao Academy, the empire was never short of fights between its many lords. As the political discord on the land had aggravated, the worldwide disorder simply catalyzed the conflicts in the Southern Chu. The open strife and veiled struggle between those lords grew steadily more brutal.

Beacon fires had swept across the land. The flames of war were burning everywhere.

That world had never been so chaotic before.

...

In the Everlasting Heaven...

Li Mu, who had been in closed-door training, slowly opened his eyes at last.

Instantly, his transparent body became solid again. He was very much alive. His muscles were strong and perfectly curved. A flourishing vigor of life spread out in the entire stone chamber. The energetic thumping of his heart in his chest sounded like the heartbeat of an ancient dragon or the beat of a drum made with dragon skin. That beat made the air in the stone chamber vibrate like sea waves.

Li Mu slowly got to his feet.

“I’ve finally mastered the Mental Scripture of Fire Emperor in the Five Emperors’ Immortality Scriptures. I finally entered the Celestial Being Realm. Now, I’m already a first-step Celestial Being.”

A bright smile spread across Li Mu’s face.

He was very satisfied with the result of that closed-door training.

Entering the Celestial Being Realm was a great stride forward. Adding in that he had also attained an organ-refining Taoist magic art like the Five Emperors’ Immortality Scriptures, it was foreseeable that Li Mu would soon become a unique and intimidating Celestial Being. As his heart thumped, the qi of the Southern Fire Emperor was driven into his veins to nurture his body before returning to the heart again, making his body as strong as Fire Taoist Figures.

The secrets in the Five Emperors’ Immortality Scriptures were truly the most brilliant and abstruse.

Li Mu snapped his fingers.

A clap sounded.

Then, a ball of fiery flames that seemed to be nothing special was lit at Li Mu’s fingertips.

It was giving off feeble energy fluctuations, which appeared to be just normal fire.

But Li Mu knew better. It was Taoist True Fire.

Though the fire he conjured was not as powerful as the legendary Samadhi True Fire, it was quite potent, able to burn down anything in that world. Perhaps even Sages on that planet could hardly bear the scorching flames of the Taoist True Fire. This was an unexpected bonus that Li Mu had gained by practicing the Mental Scripture of Fire Emperor.

His natural qi had all been converted to the qi of the Southern Fire Emperor. Whenever he set it in motion, it could turn into the Taoist True Fire and melt any object.

“With this fire, even though people only perceive the energy fluctuations I emanate at the first step of the Celestial Being Realm, as a matter of fact, I already have the strength to confront other Sages-to-be.”

Li Mu breathed a long sigh of relief.

From now on, he was no longer a fake Sage-to-be that might get caught at any time.

Li Mu felt that he was never that powerful before.

His current state could surely be on par with the mighty state he experienced on the day he triumphed over Huang Shengyi, the Fire Devil, with the help of the Dragon-assembling Pattern on Taibai Mountain.

That closed-door training he just had was perfect.

When the extreme joy faded a little, Li Mu peered through the corridor outside.

He had lost track of time. The Everlasting Heaven was still open, giving off no sign of sending him out.

A series of cackles carried over to him, which were the whooping sounds that the ape made. Li Mu was surprised to see the thrilled face of the large golden ape. It was jumping up and down, beckoning Li Mu to come to it enthusiastically, as though it had found its father that it had not met for years.

“Huh?

“What’s that about?”

Li Mu was nonplussed at that scene.

He remembered distinctly that it was that ape with convincing acting skills who had tricked him into entering the stone chamber. Had he not been robust enough, perhaps at that time, he would have already been reduced to a heap of ashes by the lightning in the corridor. Given that, he and the ape could not stay in harmony. “But why is it so excited to see me? Could it be... another trick?”

Li Mu scratched his chin and started pondering.