Volcanic Age

"Agh!" Li Yicai grabbed his buttocks and jumped up and down. However, the shock to his eyes was greater than the pain in his arse.

The Head Merchant blinked in disbelief. Then, he knelt down and slammed his head on the floor.

Bang!

"I, your humble merchant, have been waiting for you!"

"You mean waiting for my death?"

"Ehehehe, what do you mean? I was just joking. I knew that the Great Hero would eventually come here."

Li Yicai's eyes widened like a crescent moon, and he rubbed his hands together as if he were a fly.

"Whew." Zhou Xuchuan shook his head. "First of all, my presence here is a secret, so be careful not to utter my name. The same goes for you, Shengji."

"Of course! Of course. I've especially made sure that this office is soundproof, so you don't have to worry."[1]

"Yes! Please take a seat here at the head of the table. Should I bring you some tea?"

"Yes, let's. Then, should we talk about splitting my shares of the company?"

"Hahahaha! That's hilarious! What a funny joke!" Li Yicai slapped his knee and laughed, but sweat was dripping down his forehead like a waterfall.

"Let's stop joking around and talk about the real matter at hand," Zhou Xuchuan said, and he checked if there was anyone else around them except for the Phantoms whom he had assigned to Li Yicai as escorts and errand servants.

"How much do you know?"

"I know that the Great Hero was mortally wounded by the combined attack of the Western Domination Guardian and the Wind Demon Squadron Leader before falling off a cliff."

"Well, that's not wrong, but that's not right, either. It's true that I fell off a cliff."

"Huh?" Zhuge Shengji's eyes widened in confusion. "Did something actually happen to you?"

"It seems like you don't know anything at all." Zhou Xuchuan let out a hollow laugh.

"Will you explain all of the rumors going around the murim for Shengji's sake, Head Merchant?"

"Of course."

Li Yicai readily agreed and started talking.

"Ah!" Zhuge Shengji couldn't close his mouth after hearing the rumors. "I can't believe something like that happened while I was locked up in the workshop…"

The workshop was a space built within the basement of one of the buildings of the Gold Will Merchant's Shanxi branch. It was made for the sake of research and production.

Once Zhuge Shengji was engrossed in his work, he had a tendency to forget his surroundings. He would never answer when someone was calling for him, and he would end up isolated from the outside world.

Since he didn't like being interrupted, he would always tell them not to interrupt him unless there was an emergency. Thus, he hadn't heard about the recent events in the murim.

"I understand that you're busy with work, but you should still be careful because something really big might happen."

"Ahem. I'll keep that in mind," Zhuge Shengji said, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"So, what's the true story?"

Zhuge Shengji and Li Yicai looked at Zhou Xuchuan.

"What I'm going to tell you from now on is confidential, so you two must not reveal it."

Zhou Xuchuan warned the two several times before explaining what really happened.

When they heard that the Divine Monk was killed by his disciple, their faces turned pale with shock, and they froze upon learning the Avaricious Wolf's true identity.

After the long but short story ended, the two were still frozen in shock. Their jaws were open, and drool was dripping down their chins. Zhou Xuchuan only managed to escape thanks to Little Ghost, and he decided to hide and observe the situation in the meantime.

Zhou Xuchuan had decided to hide with the Gold Will Merchants in Shandong.

"That shit-eating, poisonous snake! How dare he do something like that?!" Li Yicai cursed viciously.

"This really is a mess." Zhuge Shengji expressed feelings of bewilderment instead of anger.

"Exactly," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.

Hong Gao had committed a crime, and Tang Mingren, the Shadow of the Martial Alliance, had stabbed them in the back. To make matters worse, he was an executive of the Dark Heavens Association.

Moreover, these incidents happened right before the next Great War.

"Head Merchant. Can you tell me more about the current situation of the murim?"

Zhou Xuchuan was forced to rush straight to Shandong without being able to look around.

"First of all, that shit-eater Hong Gao has been promoted. He has become the Abbot of the Shaolin Temple," Li Yicai said, staring at Zhou Xuchuan.

"That's what I expected. What about Tang Mingren?"

"That poisonous snake is in Hefei, reporting as a witness to the incident."

Hong Gao had no choice but to return to Shaolin Temple. So Tang Mingren decided to stand as the main witness. The rumor in question had begun with Tang Mingren's eyewitness account.

"As for your sect, Mount Hua… it's been upended."

"What do you mean by that?"

"With rage."

The Mount Hua Sect had lost both its former Sect Master and its famed hero at the hands of the cultists, so there was no way they would sit still.

Their hatred for the Demonic Path became even deeper than the Kunlun Sect and the Kongtong Sect.

"The Mount Hua Sect's forces are headed to Qinghai."

"Wheeew." Zhou Xuchuan sighed. The expected but feared event was happening. This was bad. This was really, really bad.

Once one had lost one's reason to anger, one's judgement would grow clouded, which would undoubtedly lead to mistakes. One could end up suffering a lot of damage as a result.

"A few days ago, the Shaolin Temple finished the transition of the abbot position and had led its forces to Qinghai."

"Blessed Existence must be celebrating with the Dark Heavens Association Lord right now," Zhou Xuchuan remarked.

Qinghai was too far, and both forces were supposed to leave a few troops behind, but both Mount Hua and the Shaolin Temple went all-out, leaving behind only the minimum number of troops. Their defensive lines were weak. If something were to happen in the central region, they wouldn't be able to defend properly.

"The central region is going to be empty. Isn't that a big deal? Shouldn't we let them know that you're alive, Hyungnim? I mean, to calm them down," Zhuge Shengji said.

Zhou Xuchuan shook his head. "No, that's not necessary."

"Why?"

"This is a blessing in disguise." The Daoist smiled and added, "Right now, we're not in the Dark Heavens Association's net. We're in a blind spot. We'll take advantage of this opportunity to find the Seven Stars who are still in the dark."

Destructive Soldier, Warped Valor, Pure Faith, and the Dark Heavens Association Lord.

The whereabouts of these four were still unknown.

While they were still hiding, there would certainly be an opportunity to find them due to the distraction provided by the Great War of Good and Demonic. It would be a good idea to take advantage of that.

"We'll involve the Evil Valley."

"The Evil Valley?"

"Yes."

Once the Great War of Good and Demonic had ended, someone would surely make a move.

The Righteous Faction and Demon Cult would surely be weakened by then, so the Evil Valley would make a move to show its strength, but there was a force that most likely would move even faster than them.

"The Dark Heavens Association will make a move."

According to the original timeline, the Dark Heavens Association revealed themselves after the Great War of Good and Evil as well as the Demonic Path War.

In other words, it would be immediately after all four major forces had lost their power or were weakened.[2]

"The strength of the Righteous Faction is not enough. We need the cooperation of the Evil Faction."

In his previous lifetime, the Righteous and Evil Factions had grown tired of fighting each other and had joined hands to defeat the common enemy. In other words, Zhou Xuchuan's remark was possible. However, they would have to move the heart of the Evil Valley Master if they wanted to do that.

"First, find the remaining Seven Stars to prepare for their betrayal and ambushes. Then, we'll make the Evil Valley help us."

Zhou Xuchuan looked up at Zhuge Shengji and Li Yicai before saying, "Finally… we'll prepare for war with the Dark Heavens Association."

Zhuge Shengji and Li Yicai looked at each other.

"Huh?!!"

***

Zhou Xuchuan was getting ready to leave secretly. Of course, he asked the two trustworthy people for many favors before deciding to leave.

"You seem quite busy."

Just then, Zhou Xuchuan saw a familiar and welcome face.

"It's been a while… huh?"

Zhou Xuchuan tilted his head upon seeing the Sword Demon, Wu Qu.

"Hm?!" Zhou Xuchuan sensed that something had changed in Wu Qu.

Zhou Xuchuan's face changed into that of a hopeful one as he stared at Wu Qu.

"You've reached the Manifestation of One's Path? That's amazing," Wu Qu remarked.

"Ah!" Zhou Xuchuan was surprised. "You were at the Coruscant Realm back then?"

Zhou Xuchuan couldn't see through Wu Qu's realm. Thus, he assumed that Wu Qu was somewhere between the Harmony Realm and the Coruscant Realm.

Upon reaching the Coruscant Realm, however, Zhou Xuchuan could tell that he was wrong. Wu Qu wasn't on the verge of the Coruscant Realm; he had already manifested his path.

"It hasn't been that long. I only reached this realm recently."

Wu Qu smiled as if it were nothing special.

"Why haven't you shown off your power?" Zhou Xuchuan asked.

Wu Qu nonchalantly answered, "What can I even show off by swinging a sword? My swordsmanship couldn't even save my daughter, so it's nothing to brag about."

As expected of the Sword of the Dark Heavens. He was truly worthy of becoming Warped Valor and symbolizing strength. He thought nothing of a realm that others could only dream of reaching in their lifetime, even with heaven's luck on their side.

"Elder, I heard that thanks to your protection, there hadn't been any major problems with the company or the Sword Sect. Thank you, Elder."

"I only did what was expected because it was your request. Moreover, please speak comfortably and don't refer to me as 'Elder.'"

"Calling you 'Elder' is more comfortable for me."

Wu Qu was known as the Gold Will Merchant's troubleshooter, and it was unknown whether he knew it or not. Whenever there was something unresolvable, Wu Qu would step forward and deal with it with his powerful cultivation.

Moreover, the Gold Will Sword Sect was getting stronger day by day, and it was also thanks to Wu Qu occasionally showing off his martial prowess.

"I'll need your help in the future, Elder. So I will be indebted to you."

"Of course. Please don't feel burdened and use me as you wish."

"Oh, by the way, how is Young Lady Wu Zhenhua?"

When his daughter came up as a topic of the conversation, Wu Qu's expression changed. "She's doing great. She recovered a long time ago, and she's been asking me to teach her the sword."

Judging from the slight smirk tugging on Wu Qu's lips, he was a typical doting parent.

"Oho. The sword?"

"Yes. When I asked her why she wanted to learn the sword, she blushed and said that she wanted to help someone."

R-really? Zhou Xuchuan's eyes widened.

"I think she wants to learn the sword to defend herself so that her father will feel a bit more at ease. She must have lied when she said that because she didn't want me to worry about her. That child really has such a kind heart…"

"I-I see. That's just like Young Lady Wu."

A drop of sweat ran down his back.

The face of the "someone" she wanted to help came to mind.

"Recently, I've been having fun teaching my daughter what she needs to defend herself."

Zhou Xuchuan remembered how Wu Qu had become a demon for his daughter, and he was scared about what would happen if the doting father somehow discovered the truth.

He felt a deep pang of sympathy for his sworn brother, Zhuge Shengji.

"That's not all, either. Zhenhua, that little child, is so smart that she even goes to the workshop to help with the diagrams for the organization. She even got acknowledged by that mean-spirited little brat from the Zhuge Family. She's my daughter, and she's really amazing! Hehehe!"

Zhou Xuchuan could never have imagined that the blunt and fierce Wu Qu would laugh like this. This was more than awkward—it felt almost greasy.

Yeah. I should just keep my mouth shut.

It was best for both parties that Wu Qu wouldn't notice anything amiss. It'd be great if he stayed blissfully happy until the very end. Still, Zhou Xuchuan prayed for Zhuge Shengji's soul to rest in peace.

"Then, I'll be taking my leave now. Oh, and…"

"Oops. It seems I only spoke about myself."

"Thank you."

It was probably because he had lived a fairly nondescript life, but Wu Qu was quick to notice most things. However, he had no clue about his own daughter's love life.

Still, this one is a bit more "human" and good.

In the original history, the Sword Demon, Wu Qu, was a real demon.

When they first met, he wasn't much different, but not anymore. Now, he was a father who enjoyed teaching others, and he would always laugh when talking about his daughter.

It was nice to see him find happiness in ordinary things.

For some reason, Zhou Xuchuan felt emotional.

1. Everyone heard him squealing because he was just that loud. ☜

2. The four major forces are the Martial Alliance, the Evil Valley, the Demonic Path's Two Lineages, and the Xia Wu Sect. ☜

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