The land of Liaodong, in Jianzhou's Yingcheng, welcomed a stranger of immense power. This individual appeared remarkably young, perhaps in his early twenties, with a buzz cut, clad in blood-red robes, a brass long saber at his waist, and two banners unfurled behind him, resembling an ancient general on a stage.
The blood-robed man proceeded directly to the place where Nurhaci resided, encountering the womenfolk Nurhaci had left behind.
Fucha Gundai, Yehenara Menggu Zhezhe, Hada Amin, and Jiamuhu Jue Luo Shi.
The four women stared in terror at the intruder, their young sons by their side.
The city gates lay in ruins, the walls had collapsed with a roar, and the air was thick with dust and flying sand.
As the man entered, his gaze swept over the women and children, and he inquired, "Are the four of you Nurhaci's consorts? How many sons does he have?"
The women exchanged glances. They had not been strangers to assassins in the past, especially Fucha, who had witnessed numerous attempts by her own clan to assassinate her or her children. However, they had never encountered anyone as brazen as the present intruder, who had stormed in so directly.
Realizing the danger, they understood that compliance was their best course of action. Fucha respectfully replied, "Yes, Shule Beile has eleven sons..."
The blood-robed man blinked in surprise, then muttered with a hint of annoyance, "Cao Taixu is truly a man of few words. He told me to take Nurhaci's son, but he didn't mention Nurhaci had so many!"
Many of the children present were infants or toddlers, but one child caught his attention.
Yehenara shielded her son, addressing him as "Hong."
The child called "Hong" met the "assassin's" gaze directly, showing no fear. He even bared his teeth and positioned himself protectively behind his mother. Among the children and youths, he resembled a small, fierce beast.
This child was Hong Taiji.
The blood-robed man nodded at the young boy's ferocity, pointing at him and saying, "You, child, are remarkable. Cao Taixu must have meant you!"
He observed the other children, noting the fear in their eyes. Even those who reacted and moved showed unmistakable terror in their bodies and hearts.
At this moment, commotion erupted from outside. A large contingent of Jianzhou Jurchen soldiers arrived, led by Nurhaci's eldest son, Chu Ying.
Seeing the devastation of the city and the widespread suffering along the way, Chu Ying was greatly surprised. He judged the intruder to be no ordinary individual and ordered his men to surround him. Addressing the blood-robed man, he said, "Pray tell your name, and show mercy, do not trouble these women and children."
"If our Jianzhou Guard has offended you in any way, please state it. If compensation can be made, we will do our utmost."
The blood-robed man smiled. "No, no, you have not offended me. But I was entrusted by someone to take Nurhaci's son. Oh, it seems you are also his son."
"As for names, it matters not if you hear them, but you would not understand them, so it is better not to. By the way, you should come with me!"
Upon hearing this, Chu Ying's expression remained unchanged. He immediately retreated, and behind him appeared two figures like celestial beings, beardless and fair-faced, one in white, the other carrying a bow.
The heavens and earth suddenly converged with spiritual energy, and dark mists swirled, not with malevolence, but with an awe-inspiring celestial might.
"The Earth Immortal of the Northern Profound Robes? The Black Fox of Tieshan?"
Within the dark mist, only celestial might was present, with no response. The two celestial figures addressed the blood-robed man, "This is the territory of Shamanism, empowered by the heavens and held by Earth Immortals. Who are you to dare cause trouble here?"
As they spoke, their appearances began to transform, shifting from fair-faced men to radiant women.
"Manjun Eyun Goddess, ruler of the winds and snow of Changbai Mountain."
"Duolong Gege, the legendary valiant arrow goddess."
The blood-robed man expressed great surprise. "The Jurchen people's faith is tied to the Great Ming. Without the investiture of the Ming, you should not have divine positions here."
"Faith is merely illusory thoughts below the Great Dao. Even the White Lotus Sect, the Yellow Heaven Sect, the Incense-Worshipping Sect, these pilferers of incense under the Zhu dynasty of the Great Ming, cannot condense powerful divine positions. After all, what is obtained through theft is ultimately false."
"It is not the Longevity Heaven Palace that condensed these for you... I see, there are others helping you here. They dare to conceal this from the Longevity Heaven Palace and secretly condense false divine positions... Without the investiture of the Great Ming, you are then evil gods. It would be better to kill you, lest conflicts arise in our future cooperation."
"The reclusive cultivators of Changbai Mountain, no matter which faction you belong to, few in the surface world are my match. If I see you, I will kill without mercy!"
The blood-robed man smiled and looked at the two native virtual deities of Changbai Mountain. He shook his brass long saber and chanted,
"Wu Wu Ri Dao, Yi Shu Xuan Xuan!"
The brass saber then bore the sacred title of Laozi Li Er. The Yin-Yang Taiji diagram formed and inverted. Suddenly, the tranquil and harmonious aura was replaced by vast waves of killing intent.
"Weapons are instruments of ill omen, and the Sages use them only when necessary!"
...
In the Jianzhou territory, Mount Wulong in Dandong was bathed in golden light. A sixteen-year-old maiden, with beast-like hands, clad in silver armor and a crimson robe, wielded the Azure Dragon and White Tiger twin swords, with Yin-Yang Qiankun golden spheres hidden in her sleeves.
A phantom image of a colossal red python seemed to envelop her.
"Fellow Daoist, wait!"
This maiden descended, and before her stood the blood-robed man.
At this moment, the blood-robed man held several young children in his arms, while the Bewildering Soul had captured several youths behind him. Chu Ying, covered in blood, was being dragged along the ground, leaving a long bloody trail.
"Oh, an Earth Immortal of Changbai Mountain, the Golden Flower Sect Master..."
"Did Emperor Kaitian Hongsheng send you all out because he is displeased with our unauthorized intrusion?"
"So what? You still have to endure it. Do you still intend to kill me?"
"However, I did not go on a killing spree, only chopped down two Earth Immortals and seized two false divine positions... What, are you going to tell me who is behind you?"
The Golden Flower Sect Master, resembling a maiden, had a grim expression. "Fellow Daoist, this Changbai Mountain territory is not a place you can enter and leave as you please...! You are abducting people in my territory, and you must provide an explanation."
"Nurhaci has pledged allegiance to us. Is that not enough explanation? Now that he is dead, I have been sent from above to take his children, otherwise his lineage will be destroyed, and our arrangements will fail."
The blood-robed man chuckled. "I know you also wish to contend for these children, after all... with the sudden appearance of divine positions and Earth Immortals, do you native immortals and sages of Changbai Mountain not know?"
The Golden Flower Sect Master gazed at the blood-robed man. "Who exactly are you?"
She could not discern the aura of the person before her, sensing that this individual seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as if not of the mortal world. She could not fathom his realm, only knowing that he was powerful, exceedingly powerful.
She mused that, as a congenital great master of the thirteenth realm, on the verge of reaching the peak of her cultivation, she still had no confidence in dealing with the person before her.
Furthermore, the flickering aura emanating from him gave her an extremely eerie and ominous feeling.
"Who exactly are you?"
"I am Zhou Sheng, the Blood Rain Lord from Zhongnan Mountain!"
Upon hearing this, the Golden Flower Sect Master was greatly shocked:
"You are the black miasma that escaped from an unknown Dharma Realm in the seventh year of Zhengde and came to the mortal world, taking human form!"
In the seventh year of Zhengde, it rained blood for ten days. From an unknown Dharma Realm, a black miasma emerged, taking human form and calling himself Zhou Sheng. He feigned being a Daoist disciple, encountered a fox spirit transformed into a demon, fought and killed it, then set villages ablaze, slaughtering hundreds.
In the eighth year of Zhengde, Zhou Sheng obtained magical arts at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain, was pursued by the people of Zhongnan Mountain, and went into hiding, disappearing without a trace.
In the thirteenth year of Zhengde, when two dragons, black and white, battled, Zhou Sheng emerged amidst the calamity, bathed in dragon blood, and massacred several villages to replenish his vitality, then disappeared again.
Her expression grew serious. The black miasma was a notorious harbinger of disaster. It was no wonder she could not discern the person's realm, nor the ominous aura emanating from him. It turned out he was not a living person, but a monster in human form!
"You find me ominous? That's right. You spirits, before reaching pure Yang, your cultivation paths inherently lean towards the Yin. This is determined by your roots and origins. That is why you feel trepidation when you encounter me."
The blood-robed man, Zhou Sheng, smiled. At this moment, several more beams of light, or clouds and mist, appeared around them. These were the spirits and immortals of Jianzhou territory. Among them, a dark cloud rolled in, belonging to the Black Old Woman of Tieshan, and another gust of chilling ghostly aura emerged with the clear wind.
Amidst the clouds and mist, the many Earth Immortals spoke:
"Zhou Sheng, we know you are not human, so we will not bother with pleasantries! Speaking of which, although you are a creature of black miasma and calamity here, Emperor Kaitian Hongsheng is also in the mountains. He can arrive in an instant. We do not believe you are not afraid of pure Yang power!"
"Release a few of Nurhaci's children, and it will save us some face. Otherwise, these brats today will not survive. Even if we kill them, we will never let you take them out of Jianzhou territory!"
Another person said, "The saber in your hand is the Supreme Limitless Saber of the Louguan School. You stole it from Zhongnan Mountain and now dare to use it so openly. Do you truly think there are no Louguan descendants in the surface world who can deal with you?"
Zhou Sheng immediately laughed. "Then come and kill them! Kill all these children! Anyway, the people behind you want to support a new dynasty, don't they? Kill them all, and we can all laugh together!"
At this, the clouds and mist fell silent. After a long while, someone asked,
"You say Nurhaci is dead. Is that true?"
Zhou Sheng pointed south. "Of course, it's true. His soul has been sent to the Fengdu Dharma Realm, and his wishes have returned to our Longevity Heaven Palace. As for his physical body, it's likely been crushed into dust."
"It's not easy to escape after offending an Ascended expert."
Shocked voices erupted from the clouds and mist:
"What did you say? An Ascended expert! Where are there Ascended experts in the surface world!"
Zhou Sheng laughed heartily, unconcerned. "There weren't any before, but now there are! The national destiny of the Great Ming has returned, and two experts of the Ascended realm have emerged. I advise your Emperor Kaitian Hongsheng to quickly relinquish the imperial title he bestowed upon the Jin Kingdom and not to publicize it everywhere."
"After all, Nurhaci has now been killed by the Great Ming. Perhaps the Great Ming will have a surge of hot-bloodedness and lose control of their weapons, leading to another 'Wanli Court-Sweeping'."
"If an Ascended expert attacks one day... then you Changbai Mountain should prepare yourselves! The Pure Yang realm, hmph! Is it that impressive?"
"However, speaking of which, these Ascended experts are obstacles before the establishment of a new dynasty. Since there are only two of them now, you might as well focus your efforts on dealing with them instead of me, especially since Nurhaci was not killed by me..."
The numerous spirits and immortals within the clouds and mist were instantly enraged:
"Nurhaci's death in Shuntian must be related to you! Don't try to absolve yourselves! Longevity Heaven Palace, we have noted this name!"
"Zhou Sheng! Tell your fellow disciples of the Longevity Heaven Palace in the surface world! Do not set foot in Jianzhou again, or we will show them no mercy!"
Seeing that he could not instigate their hatred towards the Great Ming, Zhou Sheng snorted inwardly, thinking these fellows were all bullies who preyed on the weak. They had the nerve to vent their dissatisfaction at the Ascended experts, but not at him?
Thus, he casually tossed a few children into the snow. The clouds and mist on the other side swept up these children and took them away.
As for Hong Taiji, Zhou Sheng kept him, believing this child was precisely the person Cao Taixu wanted.
From within the clouds and mist, a displeased voice was heard:
"Great changes are occurring in Jianzhou. Nurhaci is dead, and Shurhaci must also be dead, right?"
"Old Woman Bai, please perform a divination!"
...
Watching the Earth Immortals depart, Zhou Sheng also left the area, but his mind was occupied with contemplation:
(Without inciting the hatred of the Jianzhou immortals, they will not attack the Great Ming now; they will seek self-preservation.)
(The era of Pure Yang realm's deterrence of the world has passed... These two new Ascended experts are indeed a great deterrent to surrounding nations. One is Celestial Master Zhang, and the other's origin is a mystery, said to be from the late Han dynasty, who knows.)
(However, if we want to make the surrounding people attack the Great Ming and create chaos to gain benefits, then the first target to attack... must be to eliminate these two Ascended experts, at least one of them...)
"I wonder who will join forces to attack the Ascended realm experts?"
"But, to make an Ascended expert fail, one needs to..."
"Gather the wishes of over ten thousand people to have a certain degree of influence on an Ascended expert... In that case, the White Lotus Sect and its various branches are excellent choices."
"The Ming court will not realize that by defining all the different sects as the White Lotus Sect, although the doctrines within the White Lotus Sect have become thoroughly chaotic and confused, the wishes and shallow believers possessed by the White Lotus Sect have only grown stronger."
"Right, right, Cao Taixu said to change your name..."
Zhou Sheng suddenly remembered something. He looked at the young child Hong Taiji and, after some thought, decreed:
"Your destiny will not change because your name changes, but by changing your name, no one in the surface world will be able to divine you. I will conceal your true name and create a new one for you."
"From now on, you shall be called—Shen Kui."