Starting as the heir of a marquis's mansion, I gained access to a summoning system.

That night, the entire western thirteen prefectures were in an uproar over the news.

The news spread with an unusually fast pace—as if someone were deliberately fanning the flames. But no one cared about that at the moment, because the content itself was already horrifying enough.

Li Chenzhou kept his promise and overpowered Qingxuan Zhenren with his fist.

A powerful, fifth-level Grandmaster-level monster broke through his cultivation to try and stop them. Only then did the world realize that this living fossil was hidden in the back mountains of the Green Wood Sword Sect. But what was the result? Li Chenzhou forcefully killed Qingxuan in front of that fifth-level Grandmaster, then, wounded, walked down the mountain step by step.

When he left, each step on the bluestone steps in front of the Green Wood Sword Sect's mountain gate left a bloody footprint. But no one dared to chase after him.

Although the Qingmu Sword Sect was not wiped out after this battle, it was severely weakened.

The Elders' Hall was nearly empty overnight, and almost 30% of the true disciples were lost. Qing Yuanzi was forced to wake up early and take over the affairs of the Sword Sect, but he knew better than anyone else that his awakening was irreversible, and every extra day he lived was burning away the last bit of his lifespan.

Deeper into the back mountain, although those ancient beings had not fully awakened, Li Chenzhou had already sensed their presence.

Many people were worried for the Green Wood Sword Sect – their trump card had been exposed, how could they maintain their foothold in the future?

But those in the know understand: those ancient relics cannot be acted upon recklessly. They have slumbered for centuries, and each awakening comes at a great cost; to act would only damage their very foundation. Their existence has never been for conquest, but for deterrence—to prevent those who covet them from easily attacking their gates. Having one's trump cards exposed is indeed a disadvantage, but it may not be fatal.

Qing Yuanzi sat in the dilapidated main hall, gazing at the portrait of his ancestor, which had been shattered by the force of the fist, and remained silent for a long time.

He understood better than anyone else that Qingxuan's death was a physical injury, but what truly troubled him was that the Qingmu Sword Sect's millennia-long reputation for being "unprovoked" had been diminished.

When the news reached the Blood Demon Sect's headquarters, Blood Demon Prince was drinking tea.

He slowly set down the white jade porcelain cup, which came from the Misty Mountain in southern Xinjiang, the tea inside untouched. After hearing the secret report, he did not speak immediately, but closed his eyes and tapped his fingers three times on the armrest.

No one dared to utter a sound in the main hall.

"Li Chenzhou..." Xue Mingzi finally opened his eyes, his tone as calm as if he were talking about something unrelated to himself, "He suppressed Qingxuan with his fist and killed someone in front of a fifth-level ancestor. He does have some skill."

He picked up his teacup and took a small sip.

"However, that's a matter for the Green Wood Sword Sect. What does it have to do with our Blood Nether Sect?"

No one dared to speak.

Xue Mingzi put down his teacup, stood up, and walked to the entrance of the main hall with his hands behind his back. The night wind blew in through the doorway, causing his blood-red robe to flutter slightly.

"Pass down the order."

He said, "We should curb our activities in the four eastern prefectures and avoid initiating conflicts with the Azure Dragon Society in the near future. But we shouldn't be overly alarmed either—no matter how strong Li Chenzhou is, he's just one person. The Azure Dragon Society wants territory; we'll just concede a little."

Three blood-red tokens were issued from the main altar that night. All Blood Nether Sect disciples operating outside received orders: halt expansion, consolidate defenses, and avoid direct confrontation with the Azure Dragon Society.

The Blood Demon Cult's spies, who were active during the day, were completely wiped out overnight in the streets and alleys of the four eastern prefectures.

The Iron Blood Hall's response was equally swift.

When Tie Wushuang received the intelligence, he was reviewing documents from the southern front. In the past two weeks, seventeen members of the Iron Blood Hall had died and more than forty had been wounded, but they had finally seized three halls and two trade routes from another large gang.

He finished reading the intelligence report and closed the document.

After a moment of silence, he picked up another blank sheet of paper, wrote six words: "Suspend the offensive on the southern front."

The messenger obeyed and left.

The Iron Blood Hall's banners still flew over every branch on the southern front, but the offensive momentum had temporarily subsided. Some people whispered that the Iron Blood Hall had chickened out, but Tie Wushuang, upon hearing this, simply smiled.

"Whether you're a coward or not, we'll talk about it in a few months."

Chaotian Palace.

As Master Chaotian stepped out of the Star Gazing Platform, the night wind rushed into his Taoist robe, making it flutter loudly.

The sky was full of stars, and there was nothing unusual about it. The Big Dipper was as bright as ever, and the Purple Star remained firmly in the center of the sky without any shift.

But Daoist Chaotian's expression was even more solemn than when he saw the blood rain phenomenon.

He spoke, but only eight words were uttered.

"From this day forward, do not provoke the Azure Dragon Society."

His junior brother, Ling Xuzi, had already sent back detailed intelligence from the foot of Qingmu Peak—Li Chenzhou's true combat strength, Qing Yuanzi's lifespan, and the on-site reactions of various forces. Daoist Chaotian compared these clues with the celestial phenomena and came to a conclusion that even he himself found somewhat unsettling: the rise of the Azure Dragon Society was not accidental.

But he didn't think about it further. Chaotian Palace was a quiet place for Taoists; they would avoid getting involved in the affairs of the martial world if possible.

Qinglong Temple.

The lights stayed on all night in the meditation room on the back hill.

Qinglong Temple has never been a place of quiet contemplation. They worship Buddha, but Buddha does not bless their businesses.

Half of the profits from the underground banks, pawnshops, and security escort agencies in the thirteen prefectures of the west flow into the donation box of Qinglong Temple. They chanted hymns of compassion and never shed blood, but among the people who disappeared from the west each year, there were always a few who had gotten involved in the "business of Qinglong Temple" that they shouldn't have.

They are the true uncrowned kings of the thirteen western prefectures.

It wasn't because they were the strongest in terms of martial prowess—although Qinglong Temple's foundation was indeed unfathomably deep. Thousands of years of accumulation, the inheritance of more than a dozen generations of eminent monks, and the legendary old Zen masters who secluded themselves in the back mountains—any one of them could be considered a peak Grandmaster. But what truly made all forces avoid Qinglong Temple was that this temple never made a move.

If you don't act, you'll never understand its true nature. If you don't act, it will forever remain a sword hanging over the heads of all forces.

But today, the knife has been used.

The abbot of Qinglong Temple's junior brother—that old Zen master who had been out of touch with worldly affairs for twenty years, whose Dharma name was Liaochen, possessed unfathomable cultivation and was said to have reached the seventh level of the Grandmaster realm thirty years ago. After hearing the news, he was neither angry nor panicked, but simply slowly put down the prayer beads in his hand.

Because what Liao Chen was thinking was far more profound than a battle.

"Azure Dragon Society..." he murmured the three words, repeating them many times.

He recalled the dusty ancient books in the temple's scripture library. One tattered manuscript recorded the names of reclusive forces from countless years ago. These forces did not enter the martial world, nor did they contend for territory; they only appeared in the world during times of great upheaval. No one knew where they came from, nor where they ultimately went.

Could the Azure Dragon Society be one of them?

If so, then its purpose in this world is definitely not to fight for a city or a piece of land. And Li Chenzhou is definitely not just some "Four Dragon Heads"—that may just be a title for the outside world, and the true depths of the matter are far from being explored.

Once this thought arose, Liao Chen could no longer close his eyes.

He sent a messenger to Guangling Prefecture. The letter was extremely humble, and its gist was: he hoped to meet with the higher-ups of the Azure Dragon Society, and the time and place could be determined by them; he was ready to go at any time.

But beneath the surface, what Liao Chen truly wanted to explore was only one thing—what exactly was the Azure Dragon Society's origin?

As the young novice monk carrying the letter walked out of the mountain gate, he glanced back. The old Zen master was still standing under the eaves, his shadow stretched long and thin by the moonlight. He suddenly felt that his master seemed to have become much more burdened overnight.

But what he didn't know was that Liao Chen's heart wasn't filled with fear, but with doubt.

An uncrowned king who has reigned for eight hundred years suddenly encounters an existence that may be even older than himself. Anyone would have to think twice about this.

Endless mountain ranges.

West of the thirteen western prefectures lies an endless mountain range stretching for eight thousand miles. Deep within these mountains lies an ancient ruin.

No one knows exactly when those ruins were created. Some say they are the place where celestial beings fell from the heavens countless years ago, some say they are the ruins of an ancient sect, and others say they are a door—leading to a sealed world.

For thousands of years, Qinglong Temple has been a Buddhist sect, and the eminent monks of all generations have been doing one thing: guarding that ruin and stealing opportunities from it.

Every few decades, the restrictions surrounding the ruins loosen, releasing spiritual energy that can increase the cultivation speed of the entire western region by 30%. It is precisely by seizing opportunities by entering the ruins first each time the restrictions loosen that Qinglong Temple has accumulated its unfathomable strength to this day.

But recently, there have been too many unusual occurrences at the site.

Three months ago, a deep rumble echoed from the depths of the Endless Mountains, causing the earth within a radius of three hundred miles to tremble. The disciples sent by the Azure Dragon Temple to investigate reported that large cracks had appeared in the outer barrier of the ruins, from which black mist was seeping out. The spiritual energy mixed in the black mist was so dense that it was almost condensed into liquid.

Liao Chen went there in person.

As he stood on the ridge surrounding the ruins, his brow furrowed as he sensed the aura rising from the depths of the earth.

The strange occurrences at the ruins became more and more frequent, and it was precisely at this time that the Azure Dragon appeared.

Liao Chen didn't know if there was any connection between the two. But he knew that if the Azure Dragon Society was indeed the reclusive force recorded in those ancient books, then the timing of their emergence into the world was definitely not a coincidence.

That night, the lights in the thirteen western prefectures stayed on for a long time.

Li Chenzhou, the instigator of all this, was currently on his way back to the Azure Dragon Society. The wound on his left shoulder had stopped bleeding, and the large patch of dark blood on his black robe was barely visible in the night. He walked slowly, but each step was as steady as a rock.

What he didn't know—or rather, what he knew but didn't care about—was that the storm he had stirred up had only just begun.

The name Li Chenzhou had become like a needle, piercing the nerves of all the forces in the west.

Deeper in the darkness, beneath the endless mountains, the cracks were widening. Wisps of black mist seeped from the fissures, each wisp carrying an intensely dense spiritual energy.

Things that have been sealed away for ten thousand years are awakening.