Immortal Paladin

217 The Rebellion's Dark Heart

I removed the vision… rewinding my words, her expressions, even my breath. Everything dissolved into the silver ether of the Destiny Seeking Eyes. The moment I called out Ye Yong's position, I had entered a simulated world. The conversation, the outbursts, even her delusions… they all happened in the vision’s domain. This wasn’t just a trick of foresight. This was my insurance policy every time I talked to one of the Guardians.

When dealing with the Guardians… especially with the Night Blades… I never left things to chance. Every critical conversation ran through simulations using my Immortal Art: Destiny Seeking Eyes. I checked for doubts, cracks in their faith, reactions I needed to correct. These people were fanatics… not because I demanded it, but because they had seen me stand against the impossible and survive. Their faith was the glue that kept the Sacred Grove together, and my job was to make sure that glue never cracked.

Ye Yong remained in the shadows, cloaked in silence. I didn’t call her out this time. Not yet. I waited until I heard footsteps crunch the loose gravel outside. Ding Shan arrived, face worn by years but eyes still sharp.

“Lady Yuhan,” he began, “the village is gone.”

I felt a slow twist in my gut. Red Leaf wasn’t a proper city-state, just a loose community of refugees and wayfarers. They’d set up an outpost here months ago. I remembered approving it personally. A funnel point to safer lands deeper in Sacred Grove territory. I knew its people. Not their names… but their faces, their trades, and their dreams. This was a failure. My failure.

“What did you find?” I asked him aloud, though I already knew the answer.

Through the Destiny Seeking Eyes, I had seen everything… the burning rooftops, the torn soil, the children’s silence. My vision had even told me what Ding Shan would say. Yet, I needed to hear it spoken aloud. Reality had weight only when spoken into the world.

“It was the rebels,” Ding Shan replied, his voice gruff but steady. “I can’t say which faction, but they had support. Malicious qi tainted their weapons… They were demonic in nature.”

He handed me a bronze ring… It was small and nondescript, but it carried the character 逆天.

It meant Ni Tian, or Against the Heavens.

That was the mark of the rebel sects festering like tumors across the Southern Divide. They had been growing bolder, more organized, and apparently, more desperate. I clenched the ring in my palm and activated Searing Smite. Fire bloomed from my hand, and the bronze turned to slag, dripping onto the floor in silence.

“I will take the Three Constellations,” I said, “and scour this region. I’ll deal with the rebels personally.”

Ye Yong shifted subtly in the corner. She had heard me, and I could feel her nervousness through her faith. I turned to her, keeping my voice clear but firm.

“Ye Yong. You will lead the Guardians to the last known location of Jue Bu.”

She stiffened slightly at the name. I pressed on, emphasizing each word.

“That’s what we’d call him from now on,” I said, so there would be no confusion. I reasoned with them, so there wouldn’t be any confusion. “Jue Bu had been the name ‘Da Wei’ had been using for the past five years, so we will address him as such.”

My words cut clean. There could be no ambiguity. I turned back to Ding Shan.

“You’ll take full operational command while I’m gone. Don’t let anyone engage Jue Bu. No fighting, no conversation. Don’t even try to trap him. Keep a safe distance and observe. If he behaves strangely, withdraw. If he speaks to you, retreat. Do not disobey this. Know that there is a reason 'Jue Bu' has been avoiding us.”

Ding Shan frowned. “Why?”

The truth was, I had no idea why 'Jue Bu' was avoiding us... I mean, he could have just stolen the identity of Da Wei and be done with it. After I've put so much effort into damage control post-Wen Yuhan's betrayal, I thought Jue Bu might return and even usurp me from my position by taking advantage of the Guardians and the newly perfumed image of Da Wei.

“He is dangerous,” I said, voice flat. “Just know that the situation is complicated, and I will tell you everything when you are ready…”

The Guardians have been accumulating doubts toward me for a time, so I have to be very careful.

Silence settled for a moment before I finished.

“If anyone disobeys these orders… I will unleash divine punishment upon the offender. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I will do as I was told.”

We left the borders before noon, moving fast and silently through the high grass and brittle woods. The Three Constellations trailed close behind: Su Ai the Hunter, Li Feng the Fighter, and Fu Wu the Thinker. Among the Guardians, they were elite personnel… Only Yuen Fu surpassed them in raw potential, and even then, not by much.

Su Ai was a quiet shadow. She carried her longbow like it was an extension of her will, and her every breath felt tuned to the pull of string and arrow. Her Pure Metal Spiritual Root allowed her to channel qi with astounding clarity, and she was the only Guardian capable of incorporating Smites into her arrows mid-flight. It wasn’t a technique I taught her… it was one she claimed by instinct and grace. She was already at Will Reinforcement, Two Stars, and her martial arts had reached the Master level. Her growth was frighteningly fast. If we ever made it to the Hollowed World, I imagined she would’ve found herself courted by noble clans and war sects within a week.

Li Feng, in contrast, was a brawler in spirit and form. He didn’t dazzle with spells or clever techniques. He understood one thing, and he understood it so well he reinvented it: War Smite. Where others learned ten skills, Li Feng mastered one until it bloomed into ten. He discovered how to twist the knockback of War Smite into propulsion. He built footwork into each swing, learned how to fight like a hammer made of lightning. Mixed Fire and Water Spiritual Roots might’ve held others back, but he was already at the Grandmaster level in martial arts and stood at the Ninth Star of Mind Enlightenment. He fought without elegance, but every hit promised pain.

Then there was Fu Wu. The oldest of the three, and easily mistaken for a traveling scholar or failed alchemist. His mustache drooped just slightly past his lips, and his eyes always looked on the verge of closing. At first glance, there was nothing remarkable about him. Muddled Spiritual Roots. Early Expert in martial arts. Eighth Star of Mind Enlightenment. Mediocre in everything if compared to Su Ai and Li Feng, until you saw him carve a formation. There, he moved like a man possessed. He could pull geometry out of mud and create symmetry from scattered stone. His formations didn’t just hold power… they sang with it.

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It almost reminded me of Nongmin and Ren Xun…

After a few hours of travel, we stopped atop a hill where the dragon’s vein pulsed strongest. One of the many mysteries of the False Earth: abundant dragon veins ran through its skin like a network of golden arteries, but the qi in the air was thinner than breath. At least, that was the case five years ago…

It made no sense. I’d researched cultivation theory, old divine texts, and obscure writings from the inherited memories… and still I couldn’t reconcile the contradiction.

“We’ll make camp here,” I said.

I pulled out a shovel from my Storage Ring and began to dig. Dirt gave way to pale clay. It was moist and easy to shape. “Li Feng, Su Ai. Hold perimeter. Fu Wu, with me.”

Fu Wu knelt beside me, already brushing his fingers across the earth like a blind man reading scripture. I handed him a pouch filled with low-grade artificial spirit stones, each of them polished but inert until placed into a proper node. We didn’t have access to refined natural spirit stones out here, only what I had been able to synthesize from my raw qi and various catalysts.

Together, we worked the earth into a flat circular platform. I dug while Fu Wu etched. Using copper thread soaked in alchemical stabilizers, he drew spiral circuits on the ground, marking out loci of power and flow disruption zones. The outer ring was carved with Eightfold Stabilizers… an ancient style from the White Clan that absorbed turbulence and refined it into rotational lift.

“This will be a four-person lift pad,” I said, smoothing the platform with a plank. “Runes carved for stabilization and directional push. We won’t be flying far, but it’ll let us cross the ridges quickly.”

Fu Wu nodded. “I’ll embed the anchor scripts here… and here.” He pressed stones into the etched sockets, channeling a whisper of internal qi to awaken them. Lines lit up in faint blue light. The formation pulsed.

The platform began to hum faintly. It hadn’t lifted yet, but the foundation was solid. The lift mechanism would require synchronized input from the four users. This wasn’t a flying treasure that operated on a single pilot… it was a collective effort. A formation platform like this wasn’t designed for convenience. It was designed for stealth and teamwork. Each rider had to contribute qi into a designated route, and together, their harmonized energy would lift the construct into the air.

Su Ai returned from her patrol first, bow still strung, gaze distant. “No movement within a five li radius.”

Five li? That would be about 2,500 meters…

Li Feng followed, cracking his knuckles. “Quiet as a grave out there.”

“Good,” I said, dusting off my hands. “The platform’s ready. Once Fu Wu aligns the levitation anchor with the dragon’s vein node, we’ll move at full speed.”

The hum of the formation grew stronger, becoming a low thrumming beat beneath our feet. I felt it respond to the vein below, qi drawn upward like water through roots. Fu Wu placed the last stone, and the platform vibrated, shifting half an inch from the ground.

“Ready,” he said, standing. “It’ll hold long enough for the descent path. After that, we’ll need a recharge.”

“Let’s go,” I said, stepping onto the platform. “Bless.”

I cast a Bless Spell for good luck and to strengthen the platform…

The floating formation gave a low hum as it lifted off the ground, stabilized by Fu Wu’s handiwork. The edges of the spell array shimmered beneath our feet like mirrored lines caught between sky and clay. It lifted faster than expected, a smooth glide up into the open air, where the clouds loomed like silent sentinels above the False Earth.

I turned to the Three Constellations. “Here’s the plan… Once we reach a target site, Fu Wu, I want you to remain behind on the platform. Raise it as high as you can and conceal it within the clouds. Don’t engage unless the formation is compromised or we signal for extraction.”

Fu Wu nodded with quiet confidence. “I understand.”

I faced the other two. “Su Ai. Li Feng. I want you two to work together. Your job is to eliminate as many fodder-level rebels as you can. If they surrender, spare them. Don’t waste strength on slaughter. I will handle their elites. Understood?”

Su Ai’s sharp eyes glinted dangerously as she answered. “Copy that, Lady Yuhan.”

Li Feng cracked his neck, already shifting his stance, eager. “Finally, a real fight. I’ve been itching for a brawl.”

As they prepared their weapons, I invoked the Destiny Seeking Eyes. My vision warped, stretching into streams of overlapping possibilities. I saw paths where we became lost, wasted time, or walked into traps. But again and again, the golden thread of success emerged… if we struck fast, moved clean, and trusted each other’s rhythm, we’d make it back to the main unit by sundown.

“There are eight rebel strongholds scattered within a thousand li,” I said, adjusting my tone for the weight of it. “Each den is host to bandits, deserters, and some even worse. We’ll burn them down by dusk. One of the bases has a Supreme Master with Mind Enlightenment-level cultivation. We save that one for last.”

I cast Bless on the platform once more, weaving divine symbols into the perimeter, ensuring our flight wouldn’t be disrupted mid-air. With that, we closed in on the second-strongest site on our list… a fortified den nestled deep inside the canopy, hidden from casual surveyors but not from my gaze.

Through the Destiny Seeking Eyes and Divine Sense, I saw it all: a concealed forest basin ringed by stone, a hollowed cave mouth shielded with illusion glyphs. Over forty rebels inside. Their strongest consisted of a Grandmaster, one Master, and two Peak Experts. But that wasn’t what chilled me. It was the practices they upheld… cages tucked behind the cavern, emaciated figures barely clinging to life. Cultivation furnaces. Abduction. Trafficking. There were signs of forbidden medicine. Blood hexes. It was desperation disguised as rebellion.

“They’re using prisoners for cultivation experiments,” I said coldly. “This isn’t just a rebel outpost. It’s a butcher’s den.”

Su Ai gritted her teeth. “Let me go first. I can take out the Master before the others react.”

Li Feng didn’t hesitate. “I’ll draw attention from the two Experts. Give them a show.”

I nodded. “Do as you see fit. I grant each of you a destiny: to prevail.”

With the Destiny Seeking Eyes, I imbued them with the destiny of victory… They knew what that meant. Not just a motivational phrase… but a literal imprint of fate. I had rewritten the threads. Victory awaited them, as long as they didn’t stray.

From above, we saw only dense foliage… but I could see the rebels lurking within. I marked each movement, each breath, each qi ripple in my mind. Their sentries were distracted, their aura management sloppy. They thought they were safe.

Su Ai pulled her arrow taut, embedding Thunderous Smite into the head. It crackled with pale blue lightning. She loosed.

A flash tore across the air like a comet, and below, a confused martial master had his chest annihilated. The shockwave knocked two more off their feet. Su Ai was already drawing another.

Li Feng jumped without waiting. His descent was a controlled plummet, and the moment he touched down, the dirt exploded. I followed just after, calling divine essence to my blade.

Steel met chaos. The rebels barely had time to organize. I surged through them like a tempest, my strikes focused and final. The Grandmaster tried to stall me with wide sweeping blows, his internal qi crude but heavy. I shifted forms mid-movement, guiding Zealot’s Stride into a feint that opened his gut to my Searing Smite. His ribcage combusted in light.

The forest howled with fire. Screams rose and died. The cave mouth crumbled from a chain reaction caused by a failed spiritual furnace rupturing inside. By the time the last rebel fell, the clearing was soaked with smoke and the iron-sweet taste of blood.

Among the ruins, we found survivors… women, mostly, trapped in cages behind the rebel camp. Some were barely alive, but they all wept at the sight of us.

One of them crawled to my feet, reaching out with bruised hands. “Thank you… Thank you…”

Another clung to Su Ai’s arm, sobbing. I saw their past in a flicker of golden light… Red Leaf villagers, abducted in the last raid. These were our people.

One girl looked up at me, tears streaking her soot-covered face. “We knew… you’d come…”

My grip tightened on my sword. I didn’t speak.

The fire behind us crackled louder. I turned to the two Constellations with me.

“We move. The next site won’t burn itself.”