Chapter 1 The Mortal World

Within the Three Realms.

Night.

In a tavern by the lake, Ji Ning, clad in black robes, sat drinking fine wine, watching the flower boats drifting on the water beside him.

……

At the same moment, thousands of li away from Ji Ning, on a dark wilderness.

Clop! Clop! Clop!

The dense sound of horse hooves rang out as a black steel torrent sped along the main road. The tall armored steeds bore black-armored knights, each with icy eyes, as if emerging from a pile of corpses. Ahead of this steel torrent lay a majestic fortress.

The guards on the city wall of that castle were dozing off, for they had been at ease for far too long. With the strength and influence of their 'Tianxun Fort', who would dare to attack?

Hmm?

The vibrations of dense horse hooves reached them, causing a guard to peer into the distance. Under the flickering torches on the city wall, he could faintly see the glint of armor in the distance.

"Not good." The guard was startled. After a closer look, he roughly estimated at least several hundred armored riders. His face turned pale with fear, and he immediately grabbed a horn, puffed out his cheeks, and blew.

"Woo-woo-woo~~~"

The low sound of the horn instantly spread throughout the castle. The castle immediately stirred into chaos. Large numbers of armored soldiers rushed out, and many women and children awoke. Soon, a great many soldiers appeared on the battlements, all with solemn expressions, many carrying killing intent—clearly fierce men who had seen blood.

"Using the horn? Our Tianxun Fort hasn't used the horn for a very long time." A white-bearded old man in gray robes, surrounded by a crowd, also ascended the city wall.

Tianxun Fort's danger warnings were divided into three levels; blowing the horn was the highest level!

"Daring to provoke our Tianxun Fort, huh." A burly man with a scarred face sneered beside him. "Let's see who's so bold."

"Come, Fifth Brother, let's go see."

The group of men, surrounding the white-bearded old man, arrived at the city wall and looked into the distance. As they looked, their expressions changed. The distant riders had drawn much closer, and those at the very front had begun to halt, just about a hundred zhang from the wall. They could clearly see the appearance of those heavy cavalry.

"Xuanbing Cavalry?" The white-bearded old man squinted, muttering to himself, "Why would the Xuanbing Cavalry come here?"

"It's the Xuanbing Cavalry."

"The Xuanbing Cavalry totals thirty thousand. This time, about three thousand have come—at least a commander would have the authority to lead so many Xuanbing Cavalry out."

"Father, what do we do now?"

The surrounding men all looked at the white-bearded old man, who was the lord of Tianxun Fort.

The white-bearded old man frowned and said in a low voice, "Our Tianxun Fort might be able to defeat this group of Xuanbing Cavalry if we go all out, but the casualties would be devastating, and we would also enrage the one who created the Xuanbing Cavalry..."

"Father, then we..."

"We can only try to make them retreat voluntarily."

……

Rumble~~~ The three thousand riders quickly gathered before Tianxun Fort. Soon, all the riders came to a halt. At the lead was a commander in silver armor. The silver-armored knight wore a helmet with a visor, only his eyes visible as he looked at the white-bearded old man on the wall and said calmly, "Li Tianxun, your time of death has come."

"Time of death?" The faces of the Tianxun Fort people on the wall turned grim. From the opening words, it was clear this matter would not end easily.

"Commander, I wonder how I have offended you?" The white-bearded old man laughed heartily, his voice echoing between heaven and earth. After all, he was a master at the Xiantian perfection level. "My sworn brother's eldest disciple, 'Immortal Tongxiao', is staying at my fort. I think it would be best if you withdrew. Disturbing Immortal Tongxiao would be a grave offense."

"Immortal Tongxiao? You say he's here, so he is?" The silver-armored knight said coldly.

The white-bearded old man immediately called out loudly, "Immortal Tongxiao!"

"Uncle, you may call me Tongxiao; there's no need to address me as an immortal." A streak of light flew out from the castle—a man in green robes standing on a flying sword. The cold wind blew, stirring his robes... He stood on the sword, flying through the high sky, instantly exciting all the armored soldiers on Tianxun Fort's side.

"Ice Cavalry." The green-robed man looked down from above and said calmly, "My Heaven's Gate Palace has no great enmity with your Ice Cavalry. I think you should withdraw."

"So they really are here..." the silver-armored knight said in a low voice.

"I don't know how Heaven's Fall Fort has offended the Ice Cavalry. Afterwards, I will surely send someone with an apology gift." The white-bearded old man still smiled ingratiatingly, for neither the Ice Cavalry nor Heaven's Gate Palace was something he could afford to offend.

"The General's guess was right," the silver-armored knight continued in a low voice. "Two Elders, if you please."

"Leave this Tong Xiao to us."

Whoosh, whoosh.

Two streaks of light flew out from the Ice Cavalry, revealing two knights in armor whose auras burst forth, even surpassing that of the Immortal Tong Xiao.

"Elders of the Ice Cavalry?" The green-robed man, who had been standing calmly on his flying sword high in the sky, suddenly changed expression. The Ice Cavalry had ten Grand Commanders, each commanding three thousand cavalry... but in truth, these thirty thousand cavalry were strictly speaking all disciples of that 'General.' From among these cavalry, stronger ones were selected to serve as squad leaders, company leaders, and commanders. Commanders were generally at the Innate Perfection level.

If one advanced further to the Zifu stage, they no longer needed to command troops and directly became an Elder.

Every Elder was considered a 'former Grand Commander.' The most fearsome aspect of the Ice Cavalry was that General and the group of Elders!

"My Heaven's Gate Palace and your Ice Cavalry..." Tong Xiao's expression changed as he quickly spoke. Any Zifu cultivator of the Ice Cavalry had risen through endless slaughter and was extremely terrifying.

"Heaven's Gate Palace no longer exists," the two Elders in the sky said in unison.

"What!" Tong Xiao's face turned pale.

"You go accompany them in death."

As one Elder manipulated crescent blades of bloody moonlight toward Tong Xiao, battle erupted instantly.

...

"Kill." The silver-armored knight immediately gave the order.

The Heaven's Fall Fort side was already panicked; the sudden appearance of two 'Immortals' among the Ice Cavalry had drained their courage. With a thunderous crash, the city gate was smashed open. For the Ice Cavalry, breaking through the gate of this fortress was far too simple.

The slaughter began instantly.

The well-prepared Ice Cavalry were far beyond what the hastily defending Heaven's Fall Fort could withstand.

"Ah..." A fleeing woman was cleaved in two by a blade.

"Mother, Mother."

"I'll fight you to the death!" Even children were killed one by one.

Blood flowed like a river within Heaven's Fall Fort.

The white-bearded old man was completely maddened, but he could not resist. He roared in fury: "Even if your Ice Cavalry is at war with Heaven's Gate Palace, why attack my Heaven's Fall Fort? How have we offended you?"

"Why attack you? Old thief of Heaven's Fall, do you still remember me?" The silver-armored knight, who had been slaughtering most ferociously, lifted his visor, revealing an ugly face covered in scars.

"Who are you?" The white-bearded old man did not recognize him.

"It seems you've done so many things you can't recall. Do you remember that night thirty-nine years ago, when you carved wound after wound on a child's face..." The silver-armored knight's voice was filled with endless hatred.

"You... weren't you dead?" The white-bearded old man, after all, was an Innate Perfection expert and quickly recalled the incident, his face showing disbelief.

"Yes, it would have been better if I had died. But I didn't. Though I bled profusely, I didn't die. My fate was tough; I managed to survive. I survived among a pile of corpses... When I woke up that moment, looking at the countless bodies around me, of my tribe's thirty thousand people, I was the only one alive. Though I survived, I wished I were dead. From that moment, I swore to destroy your Heaven's Fall Fort. From then on, I changed my name to 'Blood Revenge,' and step by step I reached where I am today, becoming the General's personal disciple."

"You, you..." The white-bearded old man looked at the man covered in hideous scars, a chill running through his heart.

With the Ice Cavalry's power, they could have long restored this commander's face, but he had not done so, clearly holding onto this hatred.

"You actually latched onto Heaven's Gate Palace. How hateful! My master saw the hatred in my heart and finally asked me... I told him, and he said—then let's destroy Heaven's Gate Palace. It would be good for the world if that Palace Lord died." The silver-armored knight continued killing, steadily closing in on the white-bearded old man.

"It's over."

The white-bearded old man never imagined that because of him, the 'General' of the Ice Cavalry would move against Heaven's Gate Palace. All the cavalry of the Ice Cavalry were madmen, and the existence who created the Ice Cavalry, the 'General,' was the greatest madman under heaven. No one dared provoke him. Even Heaven's Gate Palace was destined to be destroyed.