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

The twilight, like blood, spilled across the withered trees lining both sides of the official road. The wheels creaked dully as they rolled over the gravel, and the carriage swayed slightly.

Dongfang Weiwo leaned against the carriage wall, his left hand holding a stack of secret reports that had just been handed in, his fingertips slightly white, and he gripped the papers with three times more force than usual.

There were four secret reports.

The first letter was written by Bai Yujing himself. Bai Yujing said that he had made direct contact with Wanfo Temple in Jiangnan. The cultivation level of Zen Master Liaochen far exceeded the estimate of any previous intelligence. He was at least at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm. Moreover, his Buddhist teachings and martial arts were perfectly integrated. With every gesture, the golden Buddhist light of the three thousand monks condensed into one, sealing off the spiritual energy of heaven and earth for three hundred miles south of Jinling.

Bai Yujing used the sword intent of Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue to set up the Yin-Yang Sword Formation in Jiangbei, locking down the spiritual energy node of Wanfo Temple. The two sides faced each other across the river, and the sword energy and Buddhist light in the sky above the river entangled for three whole days. Birds within a hundred miles detoured around it, not daring to enter that area of ​​the sky.

However, Bai Yujing wrote at the end of the letter: "The situation is still stable, but it won't last more than twenty days. If there are no changes within twenty days, Liao Chen will definitely break through the formation and advance eastward."

The second letter was sent by Pang Ban using his qi to convey a message: the black fog in the Penglai Passage of the East Sea has increased threefold in three days. The thick, inky fog surges out of the passage and spreads across the sea three hundred miles around Wanshe Island. Countless distorted human figures appear in the fog, layer upon layer, like a living wall.

General Blackstone himself appeared at the entrance of the passage and exchanged a palm strike with Pang Ban across three hundred miles of sea.

Pang Ban said that after that palm strike, a thin crack appeared on the web between the thumb and index finger of his right palm, and it did not heal for three days.

Judging from the fact that this person's cultivation level is above the mid-stage of the initial stage of the Celestial Realm, and that the cold and gloomy demonic energy contains a very unfamiliar rudimentary form of law - it is not the style of any known cultivation method on the Tianxuan Continent, but seems to be something brought from another complete world.

Pang Ban has ordered Tie Zhongtang and Song Que to move to the left and right flanking islands, ready to fight the demon vanguard at any time.

The third letter was a secret letter from Shi Zhixuan.

He said that the patriarch of the Four Extremes Sword Sect led the Ten Thousand Swords River to approach the capital. The protective barrier of the Suspended Mirror Platform was broken by a single sword strike—not pierced or destroyed, but "broken." The barrier was like a complete mirror that had been struck by a hammer, with cracks spreading from the center outwards in a whole circle, before the entire surface shattered.

The royal courtier Wei Zhongxian appeared and fought with the Four Extremes Ancestor in the sky. The old eunuch's cultivation was no less than that of the initial stage of the Celestial Realm. The two exchanged nine moves in the sky, and more than three thousand floor tiles in the entire imperial city were shattered. The people poured out of their homes overnight, thinking that the earth dragon had turned over.

However, the Four Extremes Ancestor's target did not seem to be the Suspended Mirror Platform prison—after breaking through the restrictions, Jianhe turned towards the imperial mausoleum and flew away, without lingering in the air above the prison for even a moment.

At the end of his letter, Shi Zhixuan wrote: "What the Four Extremes Ancestor is looking for is far more important than the life or death of the Four Extremes Sword Sect's leader. I have already deployed three lines of informants around the imperial mausoleum, waiting for him to emerge."

The fourth letter was Li Chenzhou's military report. Guan Qi clashed with the barbarian vanguard in the northern border, killing eight hundred heavily armored cavalrymen of the Golden Clan. Chieftain Chile retreated thirty miles, leaving behind eight hundred heavily armored corpses and a blood-soaked ditch flowing northward on the grassland.

But Guan Qi added a line at the end of the military report with a vermilion pen: "A black-robed figure appeared in the Khan's tent, his aura strange, seven-tenths similar to the demons from the East Sea. If the Golden Clan has been corrupted by demons, the Northern Frontier will be more troublesome than the Wanfo Temple."

He closed his eyes for a moment. Four maps unfolded in his mind simultaneously: the line to Jiangnan was gold, the line to the East China Sea was black, the line to the capital was gray, and the line to the northern border was white. The four lines intersected, like a net being pulled tight from four directions at the same time, every rope trembling, none of them able to be loosened.

He had only accumulated 468,000 energy points so far. A Platinum Summoning required a million, which was far too little to meet his immediate needs. When he opened his eyes, his gaze was deep, as if he had taken in four maps at once before making a decision.

"Pass on the order."

"First, the Azure Dragon Society headquarters sent a message to Bai Yujing: Jiangnan will not engage in direct combat for the time being, but it will not withdraw either."

With the sword formation locking down the spiritual veins of Wanfo Temple, the day Liao Chen steps out of Jiangnan will mark the official start of the war.

If Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuixue have the opportunity, they can break through the formation individually without waiting for my orders. Let them fight freely; if they lose, it's on me. But if there's an opportunity—don't worry about the overall strategy, just focus on breaking through the formation.

He paused for a moment: "Second, the communication channel with Pang Ban in the East China Sea must not be lost."

If General Blackstone forcibly breaks the boundary, immediately activate the 'Ten Thousand Demons Paying Homage to the Ancestor Formation' beneath Ten Thousand Snake Island.

Tie Zhongtang and Song Que did not engage the enemy head-on, but instead cut off the demons' supply lines on the left and right flanks, using guerrilla tactics to slow down the enemy's advance.

Tell Tie Zhongtang that if he feels he can't hold the position, he can retreat, but for every step he takes, he must burn three days' worth of food for me. The demons can't cross the sea, so they can't cross the Tianxuan Continent.

The guard outside the carriage responded with a low "Yes," his pen scratching softly on the letter.

"Third, send a message to Shi Zhixuan in the capital: if the patriarch of the Four Extremes Sword Sect really enters the imperial mausoleum, do not stop him, but remember what he takes away."

Additionally, he secretly contacted Wei Zhongxian under the guise of "King of the Wheel" to investigate the origins of this royal retainer.

Since he's a senior palace attendant, he must know which forbidden areas the emperor has sealed off. The dynasty's hidden power isn't limited to just one old eunuch; the emperor must have left behind a contingency plan before going into seclusion—you need to find out the location of this plan, but don't touch it.

Fourth, send a message to Guan Qi from the Northern Territory: If the man in black robes is indeed a demon, have him use the secret techniques of the Bewitching Alliance to disrupt the sea route between the East Sea and the Northern Territory.

If the demons want to launch a pincer attack from the east and west, the sea route is their only connection. With his cultivation at the mid-stage of the Seventh Heaven, Guan could easily overturn an entire sea area.

The four messenger talismans, carrying a spiritual light, disappeared into the night.

The carriage started moving again. Fu Hongxue sat on the outside of the carriage shaft, his black knife resting across his lap.

Dongfang Weiwo leaned against the carriage wall, not looking at the lights outside the window. His fingers slowly traced the edge of the stack of secret reports he had already read on his lap, then picked up the last unopened letter.

A parchment envelope, in my father's handwriting, sealed with the secret seal of the Marquis's mansion, bearing the inscription "Weeping Blood."

He unfolded the letter. The varying shades of ink conveyed a calm, almost composed demeanor.

"Son: The world is about to descend into chaos, all sides are in turmoil, but I must remain calm. If you encounter danger, do not fight head-on. As long as you are alive, everything can be salvaged. The Dongfang family has stood strong in the Northern Territory for a century; the foundation left by your grandfather is far more than what you see. Furthermore, the royal family is far more complex than you imagine—before Qin Muzhi went into seclusion, at least two forbidden areas within the imperial city were reopened. I have already sent people to secretly protect your mother, so you don't need to be distracted. You only need to remember one thing: the people of the Dongfang family are not so easy to kill. As for the rest of the game, play your part as you see fit. Father."

Dongfang Weiwo stared at the letter for a long time.

The royal family's power extends far beyond what is visible on the surface.

The father's words carried immense weight. Qin Muzhi was severely wounded by the Underworld Emperor's assassination attempt and went into seclusion for three months, yet a forbidden area within the imperial city was unsealed ahead of schedule, indicating that the emperor had already made arrangements before his injury.

This emperor, who was over a hundred years old and at the initial stage of the Celestial Realm, was far from being driven to the brink of despair. The three great families, who claimed that "the world could change hands," probably underestimated the true strength of the dynasty—that strength might be hidden in a side hall that had been sealed for a hundred years, or in the hands of an old eunuch who never appeared in court, or in a never-used array left by the Demon God Lu deep underground.

As he was thinking about these things, a very faint sound suddenly came from outside the carriage.

Fu Hongxue's voice came from outside the car, deep and resonant like the back of a knife scraping against a stone, neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for Dongfang Weiwo inside the car to hear every word clearly:

"Young master. There's a battle taking place three miles ahead. One side consists of twelve men, clad in the standard black armor of the Zhenfu Division. The other side comprises three masked men in black, moving with incredible speed and exuding a chilling aura—they seem to be remnants of the Underworld Palace."

The Underworld Palace.

Dongfang Weiwo's gaze sharpened. After the Underworld Emperor's failed assassination attempt on Qin Muzhi, he fled. A hundred years ago, seventy-two of his Underworld Palaces were destroyed by the Demon God Lü, but the Underworld Emperor had been secretly rebuilding them over the past century.

The shadow of the Underworld Emperor is behind the assimilation of the East Sea King by demonic energy, and the shadow of the Underworld Emperor is also behind the rise of the White Lotus Sect.

Now that Qin Muzhi is in seclusion and the world is in chaos, remnants of the Underworld Palace have appeared in the west.

"Let's go take a look."

"Yes."

Dongfang Weiwo lifted a corner of the carriage curtain.

Below was a long-abandoned post station, where twelve Xuanjia Guards of the Zhenfu Division were surrounding three men in black. The sound of clashing weapons came up from below, crisp and rapid.

Five people were already lying on the ground—all of them were Xuanjia Guards.

The three men in black moved with eerie, ghostly movements, their feet barely touching the ground.

As they moved, their figures blurred into a flowing mass of shadows, each dodge slipping precisely through the gaps in the weapons, like water seeping through the fingers.

The leader held a short blade in his hand, its blade gleaming with a dark bluish-black light; it was he who had just slit the throat of the last Xuanjia Guard.

When the short blade, shrouded in black mist, was withdrawn from the opponent's throat, not even a drop of blood was left on it.

Another Xuanjia Guard collapsed, clutching his throat, his armor clanging against the stone.

The three men in black were clearly not interested in fighting. The leader feinted, forcing back the three men in front of him, then retreated three zhang (approximately 10 meters) before turning and rushing towards the mountain path to the east. He tapped the tips of the dry grass three times with his toes, and like a kite lifted by the wind, he leaped more than ten zhang (approximately 33 meters) away in a few bounds.

The other two followed behind him in a triangular formation, each landing behind the same patch of rocks—where there was a dense thicket of bushes, and behind the bushes, a path was faintly visible, as if it had been repeatedly trodden out by someone.

The remaining seven Xuanjia Guards of the Zhenfu Division gave chase. The iron plates of their armor clanged as they ran, but their speed was significantly slower, and they were left further and further behind.

Just then, a ghostly green light suddenly shone from behind the ruins of the post station.

"Did you get the goods?"

The leader of the men in black had stopped beside the rocks, knelt on one knee, and bowed deeply.

He took out a yellowed animal hide scroll from his pocket and presented it with both hands to a withered hand that emerged from the eerie green light. The hand was so thin that it was just skin and bones, with long, black nails that looked like something crawling out of the ground.

"Got it," the man in black replied in a low voice, his tone tinged with barely suppressed urgency. "The original dossier from the Zhenfu Division's secret archives, concerning the incident at the Weeping Blood Marquis's residence thirty-six years ago. The original."

"Thirty-six years ago at the Marquis of Weeping Blood's Mansion... Alright. With this scroll in hand, we can report back to the Underworld Emperor. Let's go."

The eerie green light vanished abruptly. The three men in black disappeared into the shadows of the mountain path to the east, along with the light, as swiftly as the tail of a dream torn off by the night wind.

When only seven Xuanjia Guards reached the rocks, they found nothing. One of them stepped into the bushes and got his leg covered in thorns. He cursed, and his voice carried far in the empty night.

Dongfang Weiwo's pupils suddenly contracted.

Thirty-six years ago.

The original files of the Marquis of Weeping Blood from thirty-six years ago were obtained by the Underworld Emperor's men.

The statement in my father's letter that "the Dongfang family has stood strong in the North for a century, and the legacy left by your grandfather is more than what you see" is two sides of the same coin as this file from thirty-six years ago.