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    Edict of Peace 55

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    Chapter 55: The Great White Tiger!

    Li Guanyi had vanished.

    After Xue Daoyong and Yue Qianfeng repelled the world’s tenth-ranked assassin—or perhaps the assassin retreated on his own accord; he wasn’t a suicide attacker. Realizing that even with the advantage of prepared defenses, divine weapons, and precious armor, he couldn’t defeat these two old masters, and might even be beaten to death, he abandoned his target without hesitation.

    He turned and ran.

    Still, Yue Qianfeng landed a punch on him. Yue Qianfeng grabbed him, tearing away part of his black dragon armor before the old man shot him through with an arrow, causing him to cough up blood and flee in a desperate retreat.

    There’s no point pursuing a defeated foe, especially since Li Guanyi was already being hunted. After the incident, Yue Qianfeng and Xue Daoyong abandoned their intention of fighting each other. When they arrived, they found only devastation. Yue Qianfeng crouched down, his hand sweeping over the assassins’ bodies. He said:

    “…They died by the Broken Army Eight Blades.”

    “Five or six assassins ambushed him. He fought his way through, escaping. Here, his weapons were bound by chains, and someone killed his horse. He couldn’t escape. Five men surrounded him; his spear and bow were broken. The traces here show he was hit by three crossbow bolts…”

    Yue Qianfeng’s voice was calm.

    Then colder.

    He stood up, saying, “Alive or dead, I want to find him.”

    “Old man, I won’t fight you now. It’s a rogue faction of the Mohist school. I’ll go look for their lair. You’re the local expert; you search here.”

    His spiritual sense couldn’t detect Li Guanyi’s presence.

    A red dragon’s roar soared into the sky. Yue Qianfeng’s eyes were full of killing intent as he continued the search.

    Xue Daoyong took a deep breath, bent down, and placed his hand on the warhorse’s eyes.

    He closed them.

    Seeing the blood-splattered surroundings, he knew the battle had been fierce. Gripping the broken Su Ni bow, he quickly returned to the city to gather men and horses. But halfway there, he encountered Xue family retainers. Relieved, they hurriedly saluted, saying, “Old Patriarch!”

    Xue Daoyong asked, “Why are you here?”

    Earlier, after Li Guanyi’s departure, Xue Shuangtao had rushed to the Xue family on horseback.

    The girl, in her elaborate dress, rode her horse straight into the Xue family estate. Then, regardless of consequences, she dismounted, tumbling to the ground. The elder’s control was strict. To protect the Xue family, without the patriarch’s order, no one could mobilize all the Xue family retainers.

    Xue Shuangtao held a dagger to her own throat, blood already flowing, forcing the retainers to ignore the patriarch’s order and rush out.

    Xue Shuangtao, along with Changsun Wuchou and several renowned scholars, went to the Guan Yi City General’s Mansion, requesting that the Guan Yi City commander dispatch troops. In the short time the elder had been fighting, the city’s people had all come out, clearing out the wanted criminals and clashing several times with the scattered and fleeing assassins.

    The arriving retainers, all bloodstained, breathed a sigh of relief:

    “It’s good that you’re safe.”

    He paused, then asked, “Where is Master Li?”

    The elder didn’t answer, only clutching the broken Su Ni bow. Sadness filled his eyes as he pointed outside, saying, “Find him.”

    The retainer didn’t understand: “What?”

    Xue Daoyong’s face twitched, saying:

    “Even if it costs all of the Xue family’s fortune, I’ll scour the area outside Guan Yi City!

    “Tell everyone in Guan Yi City, whoever finds him, I’ll give them a street of shops, ten thousand taels of gold, a lifetime of unimaginable luxury!

    “Alive or dead, I want him found!

    “Find him!!!”

    ……………………

    Yao Guang carried Li Guanyi back. Using the secret techniques of the Donglu Stargazing School, she connected with the abilities of the White Tiger Grand Master from five hundred years ago and the previous Yao Guang, concealing the aura of this stream like a common stone. Not only would ordinary martial artists be unable to sense it, but even another branch of the Stargazing School would find it hard to detect this place.

    The assassin stared, seeming to realize something.

    Starlight, white hair?

    Yao Guang rummaged in a bag she carried, finding a black sack.

    She covered the assassin’s head with it.

    Then, carrying Li Guanyi, she looked at the stream and walked away, jumping into the water. Her energy flowed differently from a martial artist’s, pushing the water aside. The water parted, swirling around her, touched by starlight.

    She swam with the young man, starlight twinkling around them.

    Yao Guang’s silver hair swayed gently in the water. Her gaze was calm and serene, like a water spirit. Li Guanyi, however, was asleep and didn’t see this. Yao Guang brought him to a cave behind the waterfall, first getting onto the shore; her clothes remained dry. Turning, she grasped Li Guanyi’s hand and leaned back, pulling him onto the bank.

    Expressionless, she knelt, gasping for breath.

    Looking up, she saw the starlight shining brightly. Her stamina was low. Here, she had to stand behind Li Guanyi, slowly moving him towards the center where General Xue sat cross-legged, seeming to smile.

    The rock above the center of the cave was cracked. Though it was daytime, starlight seemed visible.

    Yao Guang adjusted her simple clothes, removed her hood, knelt quietly under the starlight, clasped her hands, and bowed her head, chanting the proverbs of the Donglu Stargazing School. Starlight gathered beside the calmly seated General Xue, forming another woman.

    Her hair was black and her appearance plain and quiet.

    She bore the same golden mark on her forehead as Yao Guang.

    The starlight fell here. Phantoms of the past appeared – young people seated in the positions of the Four Symbols. This was a true secret realm, a final resort prepared by General Xue for the future of the world. Only when a true White Tiger Grand Master appeared, accompanied by Yao Guang, could it truly be opened.

    According to the Donglu Stargazing School’s records, starlight flowing across the sky transcends time. The starlight that left the White Tiger Seven Mansions five hundred years ago, after a long journey through time, arrived here, connecting the past and present lineages.

    The black-haired woman lowered her head, clasped her hands, and softly chanted in the ancient language of stargazers.

    Misty starlight gathered.

    Li Guanyi’s energy finally dispersed, connecting heaven and earth with his body.

    Though it was daytime, the starlight in the sky brightened.

    Streams of light fell upon Li Guanyi, who slept peacefully. The light gathering in the cave formed complex characters and patterns beneath him. Li Guanyi’s breakthrough was complete. His aura surged forth, connecting with heaven and earth.

    His heart was pure, his body battle-hardened.

    The foundation was of the highest caliber.

    Stars gathered; the starlight of the White Tiger Seven Mansions fell.

    Beside the young man, a White Tiger Law Physique appeared under the starlight.

    It was a young creature, bathing in starlight, roaring. Then, nurtured by the stellar power, it began to change, growing from the size of a large cat to a normal white tiger over seven feet long. Just as it was about to roar and complete its transformation…

    The bronze tripod hummed gently.

    The Red Dragon and Black Tortoise, without hesitation, frantically absorbed the white tiger’s aura.

    They forcibly slowed the white tiger’s transformation.

    But the starlight was endless, readily available.

    It was a scale unmatched by any White Tiger Grand Master in the past three thousand years.

    Li Guanyi absorbed four times the normal amount of stellar energy.

    Only when the Red Dragon’s scales were fully formed, the patterns on the Black Tortoise’s back were clear, and an extra aura remained, did they stop absorbing. The white tiger finally roared mightily. The tiger’s roar shook the heavens, and because of the fourfold increase in starlight drawn from the White Tiger Seven Mansions, they appeared extraordinarily bright in the sky.

    To those below, it looked as if the White Tiger Seven Mansions had suddenly brightened.

    …………

    On the desert outside the oasis, a young man rode a camel, carrying a large package. He wore a jade flute at his waist. The old man riding beside him sighed regretfully:

    “Not him either?”

    The young man smiled, saying, “No. The Turkic prince is heroic and valiant, and he desires to conquer the steppe, but he isn’t a hero. His words are grand, but only because of his high position.”

    “Like looking from a height, he can see farther; when one is wealthy, they can cultivate their bearing. But the hero I seek will still roar even when hidden in the earth.”

    “His Andar friend, however, has more of a hero’s bearing.” (Andar: A term of brotherhood among the nomadic peoples of Central Asia)

    “It is said that when he was born, he clutched a blood-red stone in his right hand. People sing of him as a malevolent star fallen to earth, destined to bring blood and slaughter. His name, translated into Middle-Kingdom characters, means ‘The most refined essence within steel.’”

    “But he is not the one I seek either.”

    The old man questioned, “This one isn’t, that one isn’t! What exactly are you looking for?”

    The young man picked up his morin khuur (a two-stringed bowed instrument from Mongolia), played a casual tune, and replied, “I search for one destined by fate. I answer an ancient agreement, finding him to assist him in igniting the war that will consume this era. It sounds esoteric, but others are searching for him too.”

    “They’re like-minded individuals.”

    “That faction’s idea is too naive—hoping for a peaceful resolution to the chaos. But the smoke of war has already risen. It won’t end until those so-called heroes and saints are dead.”

    “So, we must find the strongest hero, assisting him in ending the chaos as quickly as possible. The one I seek is the hegemon of this troubled age—with a sky-reaching destiny. He may be messy in his youth, but fiercely unstoppable. Among the Five Elements and Four Symbols, he dominates Metal and Tiger.”

    “The White Tiger God-King.”

    “Oh, the White Tiger God-King. The stars rising in the west, you mean?”

    The old man, understanding, pointed to the western sky, laughing, “In our stories, he’s a weapon in the hands of the gods; its edge is sharp, meant to sweep away the inequalities of the world.”

    “In that regard, it’s quite similar to Middle-Kingdom culture.”

    The young man began to reply, but paused. On the vast steppe, under the gloomy sky, seven stars shone unusually brightly. The young man, who called himself Po Jun, widened his eyes:

    “…The White Tiger Seven Mansions?!”

    Behind him, the large package suddenly let out a sharp cry. At that moment, a bloody smell filled the air. The camel, which had faced desert storms and dust without flinching, collapsed, its legs buckling, blood spraying from its mouth—it was dead, terrified.

    The old man’s scalp tingled, his heart almost stopping. He cried, “What…what is that?”

    This young man was from the Middle Kingdom.

    Handsome and eloquent, he seemed to be a strategist from Ying Country. The heroes of the Western Regions welcomed him; every night, different women, with amorous eyes, left his tent. But before that, this fellow had run from the Tangut sacred mountain in the middle of the night, carrying this large package.

    He fled, dragging the old man along, nearly vomiting from exhaustion.

    Pursued by the Tanguts for three hundred miles.

    He only caught his breath once he reached the Turkic lands, then detoured back to the Middle Kingdom across the desert.

    The old man suddenly heard a roar like muffled thunder.

    He jolted, looked up, and saw the sky turning gray.

    A huge storm was approaching. The old man’s face was drained of color. This was a sandstorm, the most dangerous thing in this vast land—the roar of the gods. The old man’s scalp tingled; he was superstitious, shouting, “What did you bring from the Tangut sacred mountain?!”

    With a camel, hidden behind it, one could survive a sandstorm.

    But the camel was dead!

    Was it truly the wrath of a war god?

    The old man knelt, kowtowing for forgiveness, but the storm approached so quickly. He confessed everything, even the incident from his childhood, when he was seven and secretly watched his neighbor’s sister bathe.

    A humming sound exploded. The old man looked up and saw the sandstorm splitting, seemingly retreating from something. Only the slight sting of sand on his face remained. He turned and froze.

    The enormous package was roaring.

    As the sandstorm swept past, the blood-red cloth wrapping it tore apart, revealing a completely black weapon with faint golden patterns. It fell to the earth between the sky and ground.

    A ferocious and majestic tiger’s head engulfed the mouth of the halberd. Its sharpness, even after five hundred years, remained chilling.

    It pointed to the heavens.

    The desert wind blew across the weapon, and the halberd roared like a white tiger. Even the desert sandstorm yielded before it, swirling in the air like a thousand northern giants beating bronze war drums, causing the earth to tremble and filling the old man with terror.

    He couldn’t stand, falling to his knees, his heart trembling.

    But the young man’s eyes burned with brilliant light. The old man turned and saw him kneeling before the giant halberd. Starlight fell from the sky, the sand parting. It was like the epic tales of the steppe—the first people receiving divine guidance. Po Jun’s eyes were fervent and solemn:

    “Lord of the Western Heavens, Master of Arms.”

    “Eternal in the vast sky, the origin of the hegemon.”

    Beside him, the weapon, passed down through generations, but stored in the sacred mountain five hundred years ago by the Xue family general, roared.

    In the Xue family’s quiet chamber, the Cloud-Breaking Heaven-Shaking Bow hummed, its strings vibrating uncontrollably.

    Beside Li Guanyi, the silver-haired girl held his hand, helping to stabilize his breath. Yao Guang’s gaze lowered; her voice was calm and peaceful as she chanted an ancient invocation:

    “God of the Western Heavens, Lord of庚金 (Gengjin – Metal).”

    “Four Celestial Spirits, to uphold the four directions.”

    Two divine weapons in Jiangnan and the desert celebrated the aura appearing between heaven and earth. In the sky, the White Tiger Seven Mansions flowed, with a brilliance exceeding four times their usual brightness, visible even in the daytime, highlighting the same event.

    In the three thousand years since divine weapons appeared,

    The strongest White Tiger Grand Master has appeared.

    …………

    And in Li Guanyi’s breakthrough ‘dream,’ he saw different things.

    (End of Chapter)

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