In Xianyang City, outside the Changping Residence, Daoist disciples had appeared in droves—shedding all pretense of secrecy. Mu Yuan Zi of the Human Sect and Wu Ying Zi of the Heavenly Sect oversaw the scene in person, while the Human Sect leader, Xiao Yao Zi, had journeyed to Xianyang Palace to seek an audience with the King of Qin.
"I only hope you can spare a single bloodline for the Changping household," Ying Zheng sighed, gazing at Xiao Yao Zi.
Xiao Yao Zi had already explained in detail why the Heavenly Mandate had been invoked, leaving King Ying Zheng no choice but to acquiesce. Planting spies for intelligence was one thing—but stealing the Daoists' core scriptures crossed an unforgivable line.
If you need such talents, the Daoists could provide them—as a gift, not something seized without consent. If everyone acted this way, the Daoist school would cease to exist.
"I hope the King of Qin will dismiss his attendants," Xiao Yao Zi said, scanning the surroundings.
Ying Zheng was taken aback, yet his mastery of the arts lent him courage. With a wave, he cleared the chamber, leaving only Gai Nie at his side.
"Please, Master Gai Nie, step out for a moment as well. With me here, no one can harm the King in the slightest. And if even I cannot hold them off, your presence or absence changes nothing," Xiao Yao Zi addressed Gai Nie. In his heart, he mused: A heaven-born sword heart—Guigu's legacy is no trifling matter. Generation after generation, they produce prodigies. Fortunately, our Daoist school has Xiao Meng and Wu Chen Zi in this era.
Gai Nie glanced at the King; Ying Zheng nodded, and only then did he withdraw to stand guard outside the hall.
"What more does Grandmaster Xiao Yao Zi wish to say?" Ying Zheng inquired.
"It's not that I chose to come—my junior brother sent me to deliver a single message to the King," Xiao Yao Zi replied.
"What message?" Ying Zheng brimmed with curiosity for this Wu Chen Zi he'd never met face-to-face, the one whose influence rippled through the world's divisions. He didn't seem like a true Daoist—no air of otherworldly detachment that marked the sect's disciples.
"Heaven's grand momentum: what is divided long must unite, and what unites long must divide. The time for unification has come," Xiao Yao Zi intoned. In truth, when Li Haimo had first uttered those words, the entire Daoist school had fallen into stunned silence. A mere sentence, yet it pierced the flux of heaven and earth. This was the Dao—the Dao of the world, of humanity, of empires.
Ying Zheng froze as well. Before ascending as King of Qin, he'd harbored such ambitions himself. But he was still too young—too young for his voice to carry weight in this Qin realm. Empress Dowager Xuan was his current obstacle, followed by Empress Dowager Zhao and Lü Buwei. His path stretched endlessly ahead. Even now, Lord Chang'an Chengjiao schemed to supplant him as king, driving him to Taiyi Mountain in hopes of Daoist backing. And here, the Daoists—who shunned worldly affairs—had become the first among the Hundred Schools to extend an olive branch.
"The Changping household must be eradicated root and branch—this is the first gift for the King of Qin. They are the obstacles you will sweep away in unifying the realm," Xiao Yao Zi said, leaving behind a sealed letter.
Xiao Yao Zi departed, abandoning the stunned King Ying Zheng to the letter alone.
Ying Zheng unsealed it, his eyes scanning Lord Changping's machinations: the Three Hundred Sword Arts of the Classic of Poetry trained as elite fighters, a vast conspiracy linking the Hundred Schools against Qin, spanning the Six Eastern States. This was what the Daoists had uncovered since invoking the Heavenly Mandate.
The Six States would unite once more to assail Qin, led by Zhao and Chu. Lord Chunshen Huang Xie of Chu would command, with the Military School's Grand Master descending in person and Pang Yuan as chief general. Under Chunshen's banner, the allied forces would surge from Wei to hammer Hangu Pass, while Pang Yuan led ten thousand elite shock troops in a flanking maneuver through Wuguan, straight for Xianyang.
This campaign should have unfolded years ago, but for some reason, it had stalled. Later revelations pinned the delay on the Daoists' ambiguous stance, deterring the Military School's involvement. With the King of Qin's ascension and Qin's internal strife, the plan resurfaced—though it had merely notified Lord Changping, not centered on him. Otherwise, with his Classic of Poetry sword elites accompanying Pang Yuan's host to the gates of Xianyang—devoid of the Golden Eagle Guards— the capital might not have held.
"What say you, Master Gai Nie?" Ying Zheng passed the letter to him.
"Young Master, count yourself fortunate the Daoists stand with Qin—else this Six-State assault would spell peril. With the Military School's Grand Master in the fray, who in the world could claim victory? And Pang Yuan as general: ten thousand shock troops breaching five passes—this is a brilliant stroke, yet also a stratagem in plain sight," Gai Nie replied.
"I wish to visit Taiyi Mountain and meet this Grandmaster Wu Chen Zi. Arrange it," King Ying Zheng declared abruptly.
"Young Master, a personal journey to Taiyi is far too perilous," Gai Nie cautioned.
"The path is already paved for us—the road to Taiyi Mountain will be lined with Daoist elders as escorts. Do you doubt it?" Ying Zheng said with confidence. So long as they stayed within Qin's borders, he trusted the Daoists' prowess.
Meanwhile, on the third day after the Heavenly Mandate's issuance, Lord Changping set out for Taiyi Mountain. The peak itself buzzed with tension, cranes fleeing in alarm. Cai Wei had taken her own life—though the Daoists imposed no private punishments, she had ended it nonetheless. Li Haimo offered no grand reaction, merely ensuring her burial at the mountain's foot.
At Guan Miao Terrace—site of the Daoists' heavenly pacts—now crowded with luminaries from the Hundred Schools.
The Mohist Grand Master Six-Fingered Black Xia and Master Ban, Master Xu, along with a contingent of mechanism leaders.
Confucian Second-in-Command Yan Lu and several second-generation disciples.
The Military School's Grand Master and Pang Yuan.
Yin-Yang Clan's Chu Nangong, Moon Goddess, Eastern Sovereign, and Star Soul.
School of Names' Gongsun Sheng. The Farmers' Chivalrous Leader Tian Meng and the Shennong Hall's Zhu family.
Medical School's Master Nian Duan and Duanmu Rong.
Guigu disciple Wei Zhuang, and others.
Then came the envoys from the Seven States.
At the center sat the Heavenly Sect leader Chi Song Zi, the Human Sect leader Wu Chen Zi, and the elders of both sects. Disciples of the Heavenly and Human Sects flanked the assembly, arrayed in the Grand Formation of the Twenty-Eight Lunar Mansions and the Grand Formation of Heaven, Earth, and Man.
Lord Changping, accompanied by his retainers and guards, took a seat in the terrace's midst, afforded a special table.
"Since our Daoist school founded on Taiyi Mountain, we have invoked the Heavenly Mandate thrice—and just recently, a fourth time," Li Haimo rose, employing Qian Li Chuan Yin to carry his voice across the entire mountain for all to hear.
"In the presence of the esteemed Hundred Schools and with the Seven States' envoys conveniently gathered, I, Wu Chen Zi, leader of the Human Sect, shall specially elucidate the reason for this Mandate's unleashing," Li Haimo continued. The Hundred Schools and state envoys perked up, ears attuned.
"Lord Changping, Qin's Chief Minister, used the mortal ties of our Human Sect elder Jing Yun Zi to coerce her: first severing her brother's arm to extract secrets from our Heavenly and Human Sects; then slaying her mother as further threat to pilfer our Human Sect's mountain-gate swordsmanship; and finally killing her father to force the handover of our school's supreme scriptures—the Xue Hou Chu Qing, as well as the Meng Die Zhi Dun and Qian Li Chuan Yin arts," Li Haimo declared.
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. The江湖 folk prized swift vengeance and vendettas that spared kin—yet here was coercion through family, aimed at plundering a rival school's sacred texts. Small wonder the Heavenly and Human Sects had unleashed the Mandate in unison. Now, none among the Hundred Schools or the feudal lords dared advocate for Changping.
"These are but our Daoist school's one-sided claims. Thus, we invite Lord Changping here today to clarify—and likewise, our Human Sect elder Jing Yun Zi has already achieved soldier's dissolution by her own hand." With that, Li Haimo produced the Cai Wei Sword and hurled it forth, embedding it deep into the terrace's central earth.
"Lord Changping, you may now explain!" Li Haimo withdrew to his seat.
The Hundred Schools and envoys fixed their gazes on him. Should his words fail to sway the Daoists from recalling the Mandate, the Changping household would drown in blood—not a chicken or dog spared—and no soul under heaven would shelter them.
"A mere sword and an elder's word to seal the fate of Qin's Chief Minister and his entire house? The Daoists overreach in their tyranny," Lord Changping began slowly. Before departing, he'd secretly relocated and executed all who'd practiced the Daoist mountain-gate sword arts; as for the core methods, Jing Yun Zi had withheld them. Thus, he felt no fear.
"We grant you this chance to explain. Else, with the Mandate decreed, your household runs red already," Li Haimo countered.
"I have nothing to explain. If you possess evidence, produce it—I shall submit my hands for the Daoists' judgment," Lord Changping retorted.
"Lord Changping may not know: the Yin-Yang Clan harbors a forbidden art called the Yin-Yang Heart Control Technique, which compels one to bare the soul's secrets. Do you suppose our Daoist school lacks such a method?" Li Haimo replied unhurriedly. Changping's heart hid too many shadows, none fit for scrutiny.
"I am Qin's Chief Minister, guardian of the realm's profound confidences. Dare you wield such a secret art on me? Fear not Qin's million-strong legions razing your Taiyi to dust?" Changping blustered, secure in the knowledge that Empress Dowager Xuan ruled Qin—she'd never abide the Daoists probing him thus.
"The first Daoist secret you gleaned—was it not about me?" Li Haimo parried.
"Secret? What secret?" Changping feigned ignorance.
"I cultivate the Daoist school's foundational heart method—the Daoist Scripture!" Li Haimo's words detonated the assembly.
"The Daoist Scripture—foremost among the classics, also known as the Book of Changes!" Chu Nangong spoke measuredly, his voice soft yet resounding for all. Eyes turned to this youth at his waist the Ling Xu Sword, clad in azure-white Daoist robes. At last, they grasped why Xiao Yao Zi had yielded the Human Sect leadership to him.
"And what of it?" Changping shot back.
"So you still don't comprehend," Li Haimo sighed.
"The Daoist Scripture harbors a secret art called Shuo Wang, which, through certain artifacts, rewinds the past—replaying history anew," Chu Nangong elaborated.
"Lord Changping, think you I could achieve this?" Li Haimo eyed him, then added, "Rest easy—I cannot."
Changping exhaled in relief, yet the Daoists' public challenge bespoke unshakeable confidence.
"I wield a sword named Ling Xu, ranked tenth in the sword manual. Its quirk: only one infused with the Blue Blood Cinnabar Heart can awaken its edge. Thus, the bearer of Ling Xu resists the Yin-Yang Heart Control, guarding the soul's truths. We shall ask only yes or no, have or have not." Li Haimo passed Ling Xu to Chu Nangong for inspection.
"Indeed, the tenth-ranked Ling Xu from the sword manual. Its Blue Blood Cinnabar Heart truly counters our Yin-Yang Clan's control arts—a fact the Mohists and Confucians can attest," Chu Nangong affirmed.
"The Mohists so attest," declared the Mohist Grand Master Six-Fingered Black Xia.
"The Confucians so attest," echoed Confucian Second-in-Command Yan Lu.
"Then, Lord Changping, can you trust this now?" Li Haimo pressed.
Changping's mouth worked soundlessly; with three great schools vouching, rebuttal was futile.
"Kindly have a Yin-Yang protector assist with the Heart Control," Li Haimo said. A Daoist hand would lack impartiality.
"Star Soul, you handle it," Chu Nangong directed, then addressed the assembly: "Star Soul commands the pinnacle of our clan's Heart Control arts. He ensures no harm to the subject."
This Star Soul was no mere child of later tales, but the Yin-Yang Clan's second-highest in seniority after Eastern Sovereign and Chu Nangong—outstripping even Moon Goddess and Eastern Sovereign in rank.
"Lord Changping, empty your mind. Do not resist," Star Soul said, receiving Ling Xu from Chu Nangong and offering it to him.
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