Divine Brilliance

In the middle of the courtyard stood a simple, crude-looking spell altar.

All Magical Artifacts that could be used were present – some cinnabar, a few drops of beast blood, a chinese gavel, and a pinewood sword. On top of the altar table lay six knife coins.

Standing at the center of the altar with his hands at his sides, Kong Rui chanted incantations. The Ten Yang God Protector Beasts that belonged to him stood outside of the altar, also muttering incantations under their breath.

The six Wen King Divination Coins on the altar gave out a subtle glow.

Strings of essence blood dripped on both sides on the altar. As the blood flowed, it drew a spiritual formation near the coins.

It was extremely weird and mysterious, drawing from the spiritual energy from all directions, shaking and surging about, giving rise to empty explosion noises.

And then, a violent, untamed energy exploded from the spell altar.

Balls of bloody mist exploded out of Kong Rui’s body. His muscles tore and tendons snapped without warning, leaving behind shockingly empty holes.

A yin wind blew outside of the altar as numerous evil spirits and yin beings surged over, striking haphazardly at the spiritual formation outside of the spell altar.

Luckily, a few days ago Zong Shou had gathered the Yin Flood Dragons and swept clear the evil spirits around Gantian Mountain. Even Evil Spirit Moat had been cleared out.

For now, the attacking spirits remained weak. Those ten Spirit Master Protector Beasts all cast spells. As their own intense flames swept out, the spirits were forced back in panic.

Kong Rui’s body continued spasming as he bent over, hacking and attempting to cough out his own lungs.

Something was stuck in his stomach, he knew, something that he couldn’t spit out.

When his coughing had finally stopped and things had been coughed out, Kong Rui looked down. There they were–pieces of his organs, his heart…

It would have been a horrifying sight, if he hadn’t expected it.

There were two big taboos in divination. Fate couldn’t be changed, and you could never go against destiny.

Today, though, he had tried to go against the Heavens and change his fate. The Heaven Path’s retaliation against him had been inevitable.

Besides, these surface injuries really didn’t matter. What really mattered was the loss of 200 years of his lifespan.

“Little Yao’er, Dad can only do this much for you. Whether or not you can break that Killing Tribulation depends on you. If you do, then your future will run smooth. You’ll live in glory for the rest of your life…”

Kong Rui had learned this Going against the Heavens Technique not for himself, but for his daughter. In the past, he’d waited in despair as Kong Yao’s destiny was slowly locked into place, all while trying to learn how to rewrite her fate.

Even when he’d learned the skill, he hadn’t had the chance to use it. Luckily the Heavens had taken pity on him, left him this chance to break his daughter from her fate…

He would have to make it count now. The Going Against the Heavens Technique could only change destiny for a single minute.

That wouldn’t have mattered if he was thinking of altering the fates of normal soldiers or commoners. His daughter, though, was the Alkaid Descending. She would lead huge armies and win all wars!

As for Zong Shou, he was the only ruler in the past 17,000 years who could be compared with the three Saint Emperors…a Saint King descended!

Even the smallest change in their destinies would affect the Heavens and Earth alike. For Kong Rui to want to change their destinies was like an ant seeking to move an elephant. The altar and the spell today were the best he could do.

Kong Rui wanted to keep those six Wen King Divination Coins after the deed was done. However he felt shock and worry rise in him, unable to be suppressed.

“What’s this?”

Looking up into the sky, Kong Rui saw the seven stars linked together in the northern sky.

At the end of the Dipper–Alkaid Army Breaking!

Suddenly, a light shone, brightening the night sky, masking all surrounding stars with its glare.

“It’s going to happen so quickly…”

Kong Rui muttered, his lips curling. After a moment of silence, he began to laugh–loud, uncontrollably, as though he would never stop.

The residence that Zhang Huai had chosen for him was beneath the waist of Gantian Mountain, where numerous nobles and rich merchants stayed. Most of them knew about his identity and also about Kong Yao.

Still, most of them there didn’t fear him. As soon as they heard his laughter, he heard them scold him.

“Is that old hick Kong crazy?!”

“What are you laughing for? The sky isn’t even light yet and you’re out here waking us.”

“All that cackling, and for what?! How noisy! I’m going to submit a proposal to the Meeting Hall – from now on, no one can laugh out loud in the morning and disturb other people’s sleep!”

Kong Rui only continued to laugh, too full of happiness to stop. How could these people understand what he was feeling? His daughter, his Kong’er was going to shake the world…

Blood and joy surged in his chest, unable to be calmed down.

Even in the middle of such great happiness, though, he felt a small tinge of sadness. His body was so badly injured. It would all be worth it, though, if this would help Kong’er.

He gasped for a moment before finally stopping his maniacal laugh. Afterwards, he walked back to his room, thinking that he only needed to wait quietly for the news from Huizhou to spread.

Only when he was a good distance away from his spell-casting area did he come back to his senses.

…He’d really lost his bearings! How had he forgotten about such an important matter?!

Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he immediately made his way back to the wooden altar, taking out a transparent jade stone that resembled the Pigeon Blood Ruby.

This stone had come from a far away area in the Central Continent. Not only did it look good, its name was also really beautiful. It was called the Lover’s Rock.

It was said that whenever someone married in that part of the world, they would give the stone as a dowry, believing that it would make the marriage last for a long time.

Naturally this legend was just superstition. In Kong Rui’s hands though, the hands of a divinator, the stone had true worth. Carrying the hopes and thoughts of many, the stone, for him, was full of power!

He carved the eight words of Kong Yao’s birth on the stone and then carved a line on the other side, adding more numbers.

If Hu Zhongyuan, Fa Lingkong and the others had been here, they would have been shocked.

Kong Rui had written Zong Shou’s birth numbers on the other side.

He placed the Lover’s Rock in the altar before giving out a self mocking laugh.

He thought back to the last time he’d seen Zong Shou. Although his beloved daughter had married him, he had not made her happy. Some even said that Zong Shou gave her the cold shoulder…

When he’d first began studying this Divination Path, he’d hoped to stand out from the others and become famous. After he’d had a family, he studied to use his skills to protect his wife and daughter.

In all his years, though, Kong Rui had never expected that he would use this Path to win adoration for his daughter.

Thinking back to when he’d last seen Zong Shou, Kong Rui frowned. Slicing his wrist open, he wasted no time.

Yao’er had been so lonely when he’d buried himself in books and scrolls. He’d never had enough time for her, even when she was a little girl. It wasn’t fair to let her suffer the same loneliness for the rest of her life.

Kong Rui the Monster King prided himself on his kindness and morals. He knew the people thought of him as a wise ruler, cold on the outside, but warm on the inside.

His daughter’s fate was the only thing he could be unhappy about. And so, he had to change it.He didn’t even care that this Fate Technique came close to being a Devil Path Technique.

※※※※

As the Alkaid Army Breaking light started to bloom, someone else walked out of a Nine Layer Pagoda in the Imperial Capital to look at the sky.

“Alkaid? The Army Breaking star is shining, a general star is about to be born…”

This was a different region, and so this person had a different view of the night sky.

Kong Rui, who was on Gantian Mountain saw the eye-catching star cover the night sky.

In Zhongxuan’s eyes, however, gazing from the Imperial Capital, the Army Breaking Star merely gave out a bit more light than other stars around it.

He couldn’t grasp the exact location where the star’s sign referred to.He only knew, somehow, that the person who would be affected was someone he knew…

And he did know someone who had a connection with this star. It was the female general from the Kong Family.

It was surprising that her fate resonated with Alkaid. Her life was filled with sadness and carried the mark of death. He’d thought that His Majesty putting her to good use could have changed her fate. Who would have thought that in the end it would drag down Great Shang’s luck?

She’d never shown much outstanding talent on the battlefield.Marrying her off to Gantian Mountain had really been the only suitable decision.

Looking closely at the burning star, Zhongxuan felt as though a sharp sword was cutting through him, trying to break him into pieces. This – this was the intent of the sign and the star.

… What strong vengeful energy! What thick killing intent!

Zhongxuan, shocked, shook his head in doubt.

Recently Great Shang had been peaceful. There shouldn’t be any reason for an unnamed general to rise up.

If he recognised this person, it could only refer to the few generals within Great Shang.

However, looking at the star, the rise of this general would be bad for Great Shang’s luck. An enemy, then?

Was it someone from one of those aristocratic families within the country?

Zhongxuan squinted slightly at the star. As the Imperial Tutor, his luck was connected to Great Shang. He could sense what this boded for Great Shang’s fate.

If all he saw was true, though, this was against the Grand Path, a bad sign if he’d ever seen one…

He had too many questions and not enough answers, and so Zhongxuan decided not to bother about the matter of the star for now.

Stopping his cultivation, he left the pagoda and boarded a Cloud Crossing Carriage that had been prepared a while ago. Soon enough, the princely carriage had entered the deep palace without any obstructions.

When Zhongxuan stepped into the familiar hall, he saw the Great Shang Emperor Yuancheng Emperor Yinyu raising his head, looking over at him with a dark gaze. Seeing Zhongxuan walk in, the Emperor spoke.

“Weihai submitted a letter and said that a general outside refuses to follow orders from the Ruler! He has a seventy percent chance at Lianyun Island and won’t retreat so easily.”

After he said that, the Emperor began to laugh coldly.

“How bold! Using the deaths of ten million people to create a blood sacrifice for the Great Death Restriction Formation! Tell me, Imperial Tutor–does this have any chance of succeeding?”