Star Martial Soaring Cloud

As the eastern sky began to lighten with the first light of dawn, golden rays bathed Zhongyun City, making the entire city shimmer with light.

The Star-Picking Tower, with its nine-tiered eaves piercing through the clouds, is the tallest building in Zhongyun City.

A poem says, "A perilous tower rises a hundred feet high, one could pluck the stars with their hand." Hence the name "Plucking the Stars."

"Heavens above! Earth below! How can you tolerate this injustice? Defend me!"

A piercing cry suddenly erupted from the top of the Star-Picking Tower, rolling across the sky like a resounding bell, instantly drowning out the clamor of the entire city.

The sound echoed between the buildings, and pedestrians on the street stopped and looked up. The windows of teahouses and restaurants were opened one by one, and countless eyes were focused on the figure on the top of the Star-Picking Tower.

Wang Xiao was dressed in coarse hemp mourning clothes, with a white hemp belt around her waist, her hair loose and her feet bare, followed by Kung Pao Chicken with its neck tucked in.

The morning breeze whipped his clothes, making them flutter, and the young man's solitary figure swayed precariously in the rosy light, adding a touch of tragic grandeur.

"Isn't this the kid who tore up the blood curse's red text? Why is he dressed in mourning?"

"Could it be that he was driven mad by the blood curse and came to this rooftop to cry and complain?"

"It's pitiful that someone so young has to suffer the backlash of a blood curse..."

Amidst the murmurs, Wang Xiao secretly nudged the Kung Pao Chicken next to her: "Where's the tear-inducing fruit? Give it to me quickly."

He took the pure white fruit, which emitted a faint fragrance, and wiped it from the corner of his eye. In an instant, tears welled up like a burst dam and rolled down his cheeks.

"Song Qing! Get out here right now!"

"Sixteen years! What kind of mountain king have you been hiding outside Zhongyun City, acting like? Do you even remember Xia Yuhe by Daming Lake?"

With the tear-inducing fruit, Wang Xiao unleashed her full acting prowess, crying with heartbreaking intensity, "My mother waited for you for sixteen years! From youth to old age, from spring warmth to winter cold! Before she died, she held my hand, her knuckles white, her breath faint, still calling your name! She said, 'Xiao'er, find your father, ask him... ask him why he promised to grow old together, yet left me alone in my empty room, why he bore my child, yet refused to turn back even once!'"

The whole city was in an uproar. Exclamations swept through Zhongyun City like a tidal wave. Some people stood on tiptoe to look, while others whispered among themselves.

"What? Song Qing has an illegitimate child?"

On the top floor, Wang Xiao touched the dark red mark between his brows, his fingertips trembling slightly. He suddenly raised his voice, "Do you know why this blood curse recognizes me alone? Why did it choose me, a cultivator who has just entered the Fish Leap realm, out of ten thousand? Because your blood flows in my veins! I am your own son!"

"So that's how it is, connected by blood!"

"No wonder that out of the countless people whose heads were swept away by the red articles over the past decade, it just so happened to land on him!"

"Song Qingtai is a scoundrel! He doesn't even care about his own son, and he even makes him bear the blood curse!"

The entire city of Zhongyun was in complete uproar.

"Kid, are you out of your mind?!" Kung Pao Chicken glared at Wang Xiao with his hawk-like eyes and secretly tugged at Wang Xiao's sleeve, but Wang Xiao grabbed him with his hand.

"Chicken Ding, I should thank you. You asked me to become your apprentice, and I'll just acknowledge you as my father, how about that?"

"Aren't you afraid Song Qing will just walk out and slap you to death?"

"Song Qing is famous throughout the land, and there are countless rumors about him. Just because I said I was his illegitimate child, he came to kill me? He doesn't care about all those rumors, but he cares about this? Isn't this just proving my innocence? What am I afraid of?" Wang Xiao cried out hoarsely while softly replying to Kung Pao Chicken, "Quick, pig's blood plasma!"

"You promised her a lifetime together, you promised her a grand wedding procession!" Wang Xiao's voice was filled with grief and indignation, each word dripping with sorrow. "But what was the result? You abandoned her completely. She was pregnant with me, enduring the scorn of the world, weeping day and night, longing for your return!"

A dense crowd had gathered below the Star-Picking Tower. Some shook their heads and sighed, some cursed angrily, and a woman wiped away her tears: "What a tragedy... Abandoning one's wife and children, what kind of hero is that!"

Kung Pao Chicken perched on the eaves beside him, its wings covering its face, and muttered in a voice only Wang Xiao could hear: "Kid, where did you learn to make up stories? I almost believed it."

"Shut up, get into character." Immediately afterwards, he took out a jade pendant from his pocket—it was something he had bought from a street stall this morning for twenty copper coins, but under the influence of his true energy, it also emitted a warm and lustrous sheen.

"This jade pendant! It was the token of love you left for my mother! You said, 'Seeing the jade is like seeing me!' Now I stand here holding it, Song Qing! If you're still a man, lay down your cultivation at the Divine Sense Void Realm and fight me on equal footing! This battle is for no other reason than to seek justice for my deceased mother!"

Perfect props, perfect emotional build-up.

"I won. I will make you guard my mother's grave for the rest of your life, repaying the debt of love you owe me! I lost, so I accept this fate, joining my deceased mother in the afterlife, and from now on, we will have nothing to do with each other!"

These words, spoken with heartbreaking intensity and unwavering resolve, moved everyone present to tears.

"Well said! If Song Qingruo doesn't dare to accept the challenge, he'll be a coward!"

"Bound by blood, with the blood curse as proof, he must accept this battle!"

"We must stand up for Young Master Wang! Get Song Qing out here and give us an explanation!"

The crowd's cheers rose and fell, their emotions growing increasingly fervent. The Commander of the Criminal Investigation Department arrived upon hearing the news, his eyes wide with shock as he looked at the young man sitting on the terrace. "This actually works?"

Standing on the edge of the terrace, facing countless gazes, Wang Xiao roared with all his might, "Dare, or don't dare—!"

The question resounded like a thunderclap, echoing through the heavens. The entire city fell into a deathly silence, all eyes turning to Liangshan in the east, holding their breath in anticipation of a response.

At that moment, a sudden change occurred!

In the direction of Liangshan, the peach blossoms covering the mountains suddenly moved on their own without any wind, and millions of pink petals broke free from the branches and surged towards Zhongyun City like a tide.

Petals covered the sky, dyeing half the sky red, carrying a faint fragrance, and swept over the city, eventually gathering around the Star-Picking Tower.

Only the rustling of petals remained in the world. A powerful spiritual pressure emanated from the petals, enveloping the entire city. Even cultivators with low cultivation levels couldn't help but kneel down, while it had no effect on mortals.

The next moment, countless peach blossoms spun and coalesced in the air, transforming into a line of large golden characters, each about ten feet square, which floated directly above the Star-Picking Tower:

Three days later, at the summit of Liangshan, a battle between equals.

The characters are gleaming gold, with vigorous and powerful strokes, exuding an undeniable majesty. Each character seems to contain the great principles of heaven and earth, shining brightly in the sunlight.

The words remained in the air for the time it takes for an incense stick to burn before the spiritual pressure slowly dissipated, and peach petals fell like snowflakes, scattering across every corner of Zhongyun City.

The whole city was in an uproar!

Song Qing agreed! He really agreed!

"A battle between equals! This is a battle between a Void Realm expert who has sealed his cultivation and is fighting against a Leaping Fish Realm cultivator!"

"This spectacular show at the summit of Liangshan in three days is not to be missed!"

Cheers and discussions erupted again, even more intensely than before.

Wang Xiao stood on the rooftop, watching the peach blossom characters gradually dissipate in the air. He wiped the cold sweat from his face. The overwhelming pressure from the sky had rendered him completely immobile, and his breathing had almost stopped. This was the power of a Divine Sense Void Realm expert—truly terrifying. However, he couldn't help but reveal a hint of pride on his lips—the first step was complete.