Northern Plains Calendar, mid-June.
It should have been the height of summer, yet the scent of a decade-long blizzard already hung thick in the air. The sky was frequently overcast, cold winds swept across the land, and the frost grew heavier by the day.
Across the entirety of the Northern Plains, the War of the Royal Court raged like wildfire.
On the Mirror Lake front, the Ma family's grand army clashed with the Song family's allied forces. The Ma family held an overwhelming advantage, breaking through two of the Song family's defensive lines in succession.
During the fighting, the Song alliance leader Song Qingyin led from the front and launched a counterattack. The Ma family walked into an ambush and was forced to cede one defensive line.
But shortly after, the Ma family's enslavement-path Grandmaster Ma Zun took action, deploying his ace — a herd of heavenly horses — and surrounded Song Qingyin in the air, killing him. Leaderless, and further undermined by the Ma family's covert schemes of division, the Song army finally collapsed.
The Ma family absorbed the majority of the clans, leaving only scattered remnants fleeing in all directions.
Through this battle, Song Qingyin — one of the rarest flight-path masters in the Northern Plains, a Fifth Transformation Initial Stage cultivator — fell, cementing the fame of enslavement-path Grandmaster Ma Zun.
The strength Ma Zun displayed was astonishing. Already, people were quietly shouting the title "Northern Plains' Number One Enslavement-Path Grandmaster" in his honor.
On the Mengqiu front, Nuer Tu battled Jiang Baoya.
Nuer Tu had not originally been an enslavement-path Gu Master, but had taken up the path midway. He led a pack of leopards and somehow overpowered the veteran enslavement-path Grandmaster Jiang Baoya, ultimately defeating him.
Based on this feat alone, Nuer Tu rose into the ranks of the Northern Plains' enslavement-path Grandmasters, joining Jiang Baoya, Yang Poying, Ma Zun, and Chang Shanyin as the Five Beast Kings.
However, Nuer Tu's成名 battle, though achieved, came at a steep cost.
Jiang Baoya's counterattack devastated Nuer Tu's army with heavy casualties. Although Nuer Tu absorbed the enemy's remnants after the battle and received war reparations, his military might was significantly stunted.
As the Rat King, Jiang Baoya managed to escape with his life and gathered what remained. Of his original rat army of over six hundred thousand, fewer than thirty thousand survived.
But even so, as a defeated general, he still attracted the attention of major powers. More than a dozen factions had already sent him invitations.
On the Unicorn front, Yelu Sang, empowered by Immortal Gu and wielding the formidable personal strength of a Fifth Transformation Peak Stage fire-path cultivator, crushed all opposition and swept away the final obstacles, successfully seizing dominion over the Unicorn region.
However, just as the Yelu army blazed outward like a prairie fire, it was met with a coordinated assault from seven armies striking simultaneously.
Each of these seven armies numbered at least a hundred thousand strong. Though none belonged to super-clans, each boasted renowned Gu Master combatants.
The seven armies joined together with overwhelming momentum. The Yelu army, which had just opened up its局面 and was preparing for a major campaign, was plunged into crisis.
At the same time, the Hei family's grand army also faced a dire enemy and could barely look after itself.
The Liu family — Liu Wenwu personally led his army, pressing ever closer to the Hei family!
It turned out that Gu Guolong had sent a plea for help to Liu Wenwu. Upon receiving the letter, Liu Wenwu was delighted, recognizing it as a rare opportunity. As long as Gu Guolong's side could hold, then the Liu family army could strike the Hei family from behind, surely gaining the upper hand and putting the Hei family on the defensive from the very start.
But events unfolded far too quickly. Before the Liu family army had even reached the halfway point, battlefield reports arrived stating that the Gu family had been defeated and was forced to submit to the Hei family. The key figure behind this was none other than Tai Bai Yunsheng.
Liu Wenwu was stunned upon reading the report.
Tai Bai Yunsheng, such a legendary figure, had actually appeared of his own volition to help Hei Loulan. With a man like this on his side, Hei Loulan had gained the equivalent of an army of thousands!
Liu Wenwu quickly understood — this was the work of Hei family Gu Immortals pulling strings behind the scenes.
According to the rules set by Ancestor Juyang, during the War of the Royal Court, Gu Immortals could, to a certain extent, provide assistance to mortals. Of course, this help had its limits — at minimum, Gu Immortals absolutely could not take action personally.
Whether it was the Immortal Gu on Yelu Sang's person or Tai Bai Yunsheng answering the letter to support Hei Loulan, both were the handiwork of Gu Immortals.
Liu Wenwu naturally possessed the same right to seek help from the Gu Immortals backing him.
That Hei Loulan had gained Tai Bai Yunsheng's assistance was, in Liu Wenwu's view, even more terrifying than gaining Wolf King Chang Shanyin!
Tai Bai Yunsheng's reputation was immense. On both the Righteous Path and the Demonic Path, countless people had received his kindness. If even a small fraction of those people harbored a desire to repay that debt, the resulting force would be terrifying.
Moreover, once the Hei family grew stronger, the Demonic Path Gu Masters still lingering on the sidelines would see hope of entering the Royal Court and voluntarily pledge themselves to the cause.
Tai Bai Yunsheng's presence would make them lean even further toward choosing Hei Loulan.
If that happened, the Hei family would grow ever stronger. Given enough time, they would inevitably leave all other competitors behind.
"Hei Loulan already defeated Dongfang Yulian and obtained war reparations from a super-clan — he's made a massive profit. In contrast, while our side has indeed defeated several allied armies, they were assembled from large clans, and the war reparations we received are inherently weaker than what the Hei family gained. Now the Hei family has Tai Bai Yunsheng as a living banner. If we give him time to consolidate, I'm afraid he'll become impossible to deal with."
Liu Wenwu deliberated for a moment, then decisively issued his military order. The Liu family army would maintain its original plan, continuing to advance toward the Hei family.
Hei Loulan received this news and burst into hearty laughter, declaring, "Bring it on!" He immediately ordered defensive lines to be constructed at their current position.
Once the first defensive line was built, the army moved forward slowly toward the Liu family army. At every thousand-li interval, they would halt, camp for several days, and build a new defensive line.
Twelve days later, the Hei family army departed from the fourth defensive line it had constructed, marching five hundred li to face the Liu family army.
The two armies deployed into formation and began selecting champions.
The Hei family's great general Hao Jiliu stepped forward without hesitation, rushing to the front first.
Liu Wenwu saw this and dispatched Pei Yanfei to the field.
Hao Jiliu was at the Fourth Transformation High Stage, and Pei Yanfei was at the same level. The two clashed for twenty rounds with neither gaining an advantage.
Hao Jiliu's offensive was vast and overwhelming, enough to shake the soul. Pei Yanfei, meanwhile, was sharp and fierce, charging back and forth through the torrent, unstoppable wherever he went.