As Stars Shift with the Merchant, Part 1

“The Qianmen Realm… it’s been a while.”

The tribulation thunder dissipated, leaving a pristine azure sky.
Bathed in blood, Mu Hanyuan stood beneath the heavens, overlooking the rivers and mountains of the mortal world. His low voice carried a deep nostalgia, yet his gaze upon those below was cold and indifferent.
To him, their lives or deaths were as insignificant as grass, unworthy of a glance.

“Mu… Hanyuan!”

Across a hundred miles of sky, Bixiao warily scrutinized him, as if gauging the strength of this newly ascended Tribulation-stage cultivator.
But before his divine sense could approach within a hundred yards, it was swallowed by an endless black hole, crushed and erased in an instant without a trace.
“—!”
Bixiao’s face paled.

How could this be?

This Mu Hanyuan—
How could he exude a terror even greater than Yun Yao’s!?

The urge to seize him vanished entirely.

In those pitch-black eyes, Bixiao felt his soul tremble, as if facing a bottomless abyss that could annihilate him at any moment.
Suppressing the urge to retreat, he forced out, “You… you’ve entered Tribulation. If we fight, it’ll only end in mutual destruction—this is Qianmen! If we unleash our power for miles around, it’s your Qianmen disciples who’ll die!”

“…”

Across the vast distance, Bixiao couldn’t discern the emotions in those dark eyes.
Yet, inexplicably, he felt a mocking pity in that gaze, as if a deity toyed with an ant.

The humiliation flushed Bixiao’s face. His voice turned sharp, pointing at Qianmen’s gate and the scattered disciples of both Qianmen and Fuyu Palace. “Hand over one item, and I’ll leave immediately, never looking back—otherwise, Qianmen will lose half its sect today!”

Mu Hanyuan let out a cold, dismissive chuckle. “Threaten me with Qianmen? You’ve got the wrong person. The one you could threaten is now…”
He raised a hand, pointing lightly at his heart.
“Here.”

Bixiao followed his gesture. Under the sunlight, the blood-stained robe looked like red plum blossoms on snow, but it was clear—

Nothing lay before Mu Hanyuan’s chest.
His pointed gesture was unmistakably at his own heart.

Bixiao’s face darkened. “What’s that supposed to mean? Mocking me?”

“…Can’t even see it. What a useless fool, daring to bark before me.” Mu Hanyuan sneered, demonic flames flickering in his eyes.

He was about to act but, recalling something, lazily lowered his sleeve.

—Only he could see the faint outline of a glowing dagger at his heart, brushed by his fingers, reforming.
Like a handful of starlight gathered in the night, it coalesced into a tangible yet ethereal blade.

Compared to that day at Hidden Dragon Mountain, when Yun Yao pierced his heart, this dagger was now fully embedded in his chest, leaving only its hilt visible.

And at the point where it pierced, it suppressed the true Mu Hanyuan’s soul within this body.

Seizing a body wasn’t easy, nor instantaneous—it required this soul dagger’s suppression first.
Years ago, to return to this realm, he shattered his soul, stripped his demonic bones, and left this fragment imbued with heavenly punishment’s power, only slightly stronger than Mu Hanyuan’s soul.

Without this dagger, he could never have seized Mu Hanyuan’s body so quickly.

Suppression wasn’t true possession, leaving endless risks. Even now, he had to restrain his whims.

But with this body in his grasp, returning to the demonic realm to restore his soul and complete the possession was merely a matter of time.

“The road ahead is long.”

Mu Hanyuan tapped the void. The zither at his waist, Minsheng, trembled unwillingly but yielded to his command. With a mournful cry, the Dragon’s Cry Sword was forcibly drawn.
The jade zither materialized, transforming into Minsheng, hovering before him.
He raised a hand, lazily brushing the strings.

*Zheng—*

The strings plucked, Mu Hanyuan’s long eyes drooped, sunlight tracing his sharp profile, as if faint blood marks trailed from his eyes.
“Go,” his voice was languid, “kill them all.”

“—!”

As the zither’s note fell, the Dragon’s Cry Sword appeared within Qianmen’s gate.
Like a fleeting shadow, it wove through the crowd in an instant, a ribbon of light threading countless paths. Then, every Fuyu Palace disciple’s eyes widened, a thin line of blood slowly forming at their necks.

*Thud.*
*Thud, thud, thud, thud…*

Countless bodies hit the ground.

In moments, the stench of blood filled the air.

Beneath the towering peaks and dense forests, Qianmen and Fuyu Palace disciples froze, staring as blood pooled into streams, staining the earth and flowing from high to low.
Where it passed, the ground was dyed red.

The Dragon’s Cry Sword let out a clear hum.

Mu Hanyuan lowered his gaze, sneering at the defiant weapon. “Stubborn fool.”

Uninterested in arguing with an object, he glanced at the Qianmen disciples staring up at him, his eyes cold. “Fine, the rest can be killed later.”

Even Bixiao couldn’t believe it, staring at the mountain littered with corpses. Stiffly, he looked up, his throat rasping. “You… you dare…”

“Killing is all it takes. Why bother with your theatrics, wasting time and effort?”

Mu Hanyuan raised his eyes from the zither, a strand of dark hair falling over his eye, hiding a small mole. His lips curved, his gaze icy and demonic—

“Now, it’s your turn.”

—

East Sea, Phoenix Immortal Mountain, Forbidden Grounds.

After the thunderclap shook the void, the entire sea-bound mountain trembled briefly.

Yun Yao, channeling spiritual energy into the ancient array’s core, snapped her eyes open, her face paling as a surge of unease gripped her.
“…No.”

By the array’s stone base, the Phoenix Clan’s elder patriarch awoke, glancing westward. “This… another is ascending to Tribulation?”

Yun Yao’s expression shifted.
Trapped in the Phoenix Clan’s forbidden grounds, cut off from communication, she couldn’t leave the array sustaining Mu Jiutian’s life.
A moment’s lapse would ruin everything, ensuring his death.

…Qianmen was in dire peril, or Mu Hanyuan wouldn’t have forced a breakthrough. She couldn’t delay.

Worse, something even she couldn’t predict—something terrifying—was about to unfold.

Yun Yao clenched her teeth, recklessly drawing spiritual energy from her spirit palace, pouring it into the array.
The overwhelming force ravaged her organs, its momentum like a crashing sea, startling other Phoenix Clan members in the array.
Outside, the elder patriarch’s face changed. “Little Yun Yao, why—?”

“Qianmen is my birthplace, my Master’s millennium-long legacy! You ask why?”
Yun Yao’s voice was bitter, blood seeping from her lips.
She glared at the elder. “Today’s events are the price the Phoenix Clan extracts for saving my senior brother. After this, Qianmen and the Phoenix Clan are severed—never to cross paths again, in life or death!”

“…”

The elder patriarch’s face turned ashen. “I’ve failed you and my old friend Taiyi…”

“No surprise from Qianmen’s Little Martial Uncle, still spouting threats while risking her life.”
A cold, mocking voice cut through.

In the Phoenix Clan’s forbidden depths, inside and outside the array, all faces shifted slightly.

Yun Yao turned toward the voice.
A figure emerged from the darkness.

Golden feathers, vibrant plumes, a phoenix crown. And that dazzling, ostentatious feathered robe she’d once criticized.

—The Phoenix Clan’s current patriarch, Feng Qinglian.

Seeing that breathtakingly beautiful face, Yun Yao’s tension eased slightly.

“Qinglian?” The elder patriarch, spotting the figure, reacted more strongly, trembling as he rose. “Weren’t you in the ninth seclusion? Why… why emerge now?”

“With such ferocious thunder, even the dead in their coffins would be jolted awake. How could I not?”
Feng Qinglian lazily raised his eyes, scanning the array—
“If I didn’t emerge, you old fools would’ve turned Phoenix Immortal Mountain upside down.”

In the ancient array, aside from Yun Yao’s position, the other seven Phoenix Clan elders lowered their heads or turned away, avoiding Feng Qinglian’s gaze, as if too afraid to speak.
The forbidden grounds fell silent.

“…Hmph.”

Feng Qinglian snorted coldly, his gaze icy. “You dared gamble the Phoenix Clan’s future, defying morality for this catastrophe, yet lack the courage to meet my eyes? Have your millennia of life been lived as dogs?”

“—!”

His words cursed every Phoenix Clan member except Yun Yao and Mu Jiutian, causing the array’s seven positions to waver for a few breaths.

Yun Yao, used to his venomous tongue, was unfazed. But the array’s spiritual fluctuations nearly backlashed, darkening her expression. “If you’re not here to help, don’t interfere.”

“Help you? On what grounds?”
Feng Qinglian stepped forward coldly. “Your fairy-like beauty as Qianmen’s Little Martial Uncle, or a face big enough to cover the Qianmen Realm?”

Yun Yao: “…”

His stunning face and three-thousand-year solitude weren’t without reason.

Despite his words, Feng Qinglian moved forward. Under his golden plume shadow, he appeared behind Yun Yao in a breath.
His feathered robe lifted, fingers hovering inches from her back, channeling the Phoenix Clan’s innate spiritual energy into her.
The array’s turbulent energy calmed, now far stronger, flowing toward its core.

“Qinglian…” The elder patriarch hesitated. “This is the true dragon’s command. Ten thousand years ago, our clan swore allegiance to its sea demon territory. If you…”

“A dragon dead for ten thousand years can go to the underworld if you old fools want to obey!”
Feng Qinglian cut him off coldly.
“Elder Patriarch, I respect your age and dwindling years, so I won’t pursue today’s matter. But don’t push me—do you want me to tally your clan’s recent ‘achievements’ colluding with the East Sea humans?!”

“…”

Under Yun Yao’s position, Feng Qinglian’s energy gradually overtook hers, fully replacing her.

Yun Yao finally broke free.
Her Naihe Sword materialized, carrying her crimson-robed figure shooting out of the forbidden grounds, the shockwave stirring the surrounding stones and trees.

In an instant, she vanished into the horizon.

Her voice echoed in the forbidden grounds—

“My senior brother is in your hands. For the sake of nearly being your brother-in-law, protect his life.”

“…Get lost.”
Feng Qinglian turned back to the array’s core, irritated.

—

Northwest of Qianmen’s gate, thousands of miles away, the sky was stained with blood.

Fuyu Palace cultivators fled with Bixiao, while Mu Hanyuan slaughtered another wave.
Corpses paved the path beneath his feet.
Where he passed, blood painted the azure sky in vivid streaks.

Bixiao had never fled so wretchedly, with only a few Unity-stage cultivators like Wen Buyan remaining.
Those below Unity had perished under the sword of the demonic reaper chasing them.

Terrified, none dared curse, fearing the next strike would pierce their spirit palaces, shattering their souls—like the wailing elders and disciples left behind.

They fled desperately to the northwest—

The territory of the Suspended Sword Sect, one of the four great immortal sects.

The outline of a massive city appeared on the horizon, a rising sun of hope for their survival.

*Woo—!*

A shrill alarm horn blared within the city.
Bixiao, leading the Tribulation-stage escape, tumbled from his sword, bloodied and ragged, startling the citizens into retreating.

Following him, the remaining Unity-stage cultivators, exhausted, staggered to the ground.

“Who dares trespass the Suspended Sword Sect’s territory with swords!”
Several sect disciples flashed forward, surrounding them.

“A… a demon attacks!” Bixiao rose, trembling, blood-soaked beard pointing southeast. “Quick! Activate the array! That demon’s mad! He killed all Fuyu Palace’s elders and disciples! Hurry!”

No proof was needed. The Suspended Sword Sect disciples, looking southeast, paled—

A crimson cloud of blood aura, carried by an unmatched killing intent, sped toward the city.

“Seal the city! Activate the array! Sound the alarm!”
The lead disciple issued commands.

Four spiritual pillars shot skyward from the city’s corners, converging above, forming a light curtain that enveloped the city.

Three breaths later, a figure arrived, halting above the city like a sovereign of the heavens.
His once spotless white robe was now layered in blood, blooming like decadent underworld flowers, too terrifying for the city’s cultivators and citizens to meet his gaze.
But the ancient zither at his side, its sound known to all, betrayed his identity—

“Lord Hanyuan?!”

Gasps of shock rose from the Suspended Sword Sect disciples.

“He’s no Lord Hanyuan! He’s fallen to the demon, as foretold!” Bixiao’s venomous voice roared, waving his sleeve at the murmuring crowd. “He’s the vile demon seed from the apocalyptic prophecy—killing thousands of Fuyu Palace members! Their corpses line the path from Qianmen to here!”

“Exactly…”

Behind Bixiao, Wen Buyan’s face twisted, his gaze venomous as he tore off his bloodied left sleeve—
A mangled arm of white bone and flesh, held by spiritual energy.
“This is the proof he left when he killed my disciple!”

Wen Buyan spoke with hatred, as if forgetting how he’d pulled his disciple to shield himself from Mu Hanyuan’s lethal strike.
Unable to erase his disciple’s shocked, hateful dying gaze, he channeled his fear into loathing, his rasping voice loud enough for the city to hear—
“Once this array breaks, he’ll kill us all! If we don’t destroy this demon today, no one escapes!!”

“The Sky-Illuminating Mirror was right—Mu Hanyuan is the demon seed of the apocalyptic omen!”

“…”

Panic spread through the city, countless terrified eyes turning to the blood-soaked figure in the sky, gazing down with cold disdain.

“Look, what pitiful ants, swayed by mere words. Living in this world, what purpose do they serve beyond being pawns?”
Mu Hanyuan murmured, glancing at the glowing dagger’s shadow at his heart.
“For such creatures called ‘mortals,’ you risked everything. How foolish.”

“…”

The Dragon’s Cry Sword, hovering beside him, buzzed in protest.
Mu Hanyuan glared coldly. “Break the array.”

*Buzz—!* The sword’s tip spun sharply in the air.

“I know they’ll all die—so what?” Mu Hanyuan’s voice was chilling. “They willingly shield evildoers, choosing death. If they seek it, why shouldn’t I grant it?!”

He raised his hand, pressing down heavily.
The Dragon’s Cry Sword, unstoppable, crashed toward the city’s array with mountain-shattering force—
A moment before its might would shatter the light shield.

*Roar…*

A pained dragon’s cry echoed from the sword.
Simultaneously, it halted inches from the array.

The blade trembled, mixed with joyous, pained hums.

“Mu… Han… Yuan… You dare defy me, even at the cost of soul annihilation!?”

In the sky, the blood-robed Mu Hanyuan clutched his heart, his face contorted as the invisible glowing dagger shook uncontrollably, nearly tearing his soul apart.
The dagger’s tip was pushed out bit by bit, only to pierce back into his soul.

Excruciating pain tore through both souls.

*Swish—!*

Finally, as Mu Hanyuan forced the dagger back, the Dragon’s Cry Sword broke free, returning to its sheath like a streak of light, joined by the Minsheng Zither, shooting southeast.

—In that brief moment, the suppressed Mu Hanyuan’s soul severed the spiritual bonds with the zither and sword.

“Good, good…”
Mu Hanyuan straightened, his hoarse laugh laced with manic demonic tones.
“Your choice.”

He raised his hand, untying the golden lotus hairpin.

Dark hair billowed like ink behind him.

Holding it before his eyes, the lotus gleamed, reflecting deep into his gaze—enough for the suppressed soul in the darkness to see.

In endless darkness, Mu Hanyuan’s soul stirred with unease.
He heard the demon’s low murmur from beyond.

“Do you know what this is?”

Under the azure sky, Mu Hanyuan plucked the golden lotus, tossing the hairpin into the abyss below, shattering it to dust.

The lotus’s glow flickered in the air, brushing his palm with faint, uneasy intimacy.

“It’s called the Final Ember, from the immortal realm.”
Mu Hanyuan’s voice was hoarse. “…Three hundred years ago, it wasn’t a demonic visage tormenting you—it was this.”
“The Final Ember was born to unleash a world-burning fire.”

He paused, trembling under the dagger’s suppression, speaking with difficulty. “Guess where it’s been sealed these three hundred years, if not vanished? Who do you think suffered day and night for you? That master-disciple bond—only you’d believe such nonsense!!”

The dagger shook violently.

Mu Hanyuan knew the shock and despair of the soul sealed in darkness, just as he felt when he first learned this truth in the immortal realm years ago.

He knew better—
This was “his” most vulnerable moment.

The golden lotus bloomed in his palm.

In his spirit palace, the blood-red threads, suppressed by half his cultivation, stirred vividly as if touching their source.

In the next breath, blood-red threads rose from his palm, entwining the golden petals, piercing the flower’s core.
A blood-red ember was wrenched from the lotus.

*Boom—*

It sank into his brow.

Like countless birds returning to their nest, the world fell silent.
Sunlight was swallowed by darkness.

When the sky brightened again—

The lotus petals peeled away in Mu Hanyuan’s hand, wilting, their trembling cries echoing in the wind.

*‘Father…’*
*‘Mother…’*

In the endless darkness, Mu Hanyuan struggled in an abyssal sea, his hoarse rage shaking the waves—
[*Why—!!??*]

“Don’t be naive.”

Mu Hanyuan lowered his hand, watching the petals dissolve into light, merging with the mortal world.
His dark hair swayed, gazing down at the trembling beings below the array.

Blood-red threads spread through his meridians, the unleashed Final Ember absorbing the world’s spiritual energy, pouring into his brow.

His hair turned white, inch by inch, until the tips.

Blood burned across his robe, transforming it into an ink-black garment covered in demonic patterns, boundless demonic flames rippling behind him.

[*The Final Ember has always been part of you and me.*]

Mu Hanyuan opened his hand, his slender, pale fingers effortlessly gathering world-destroying power.
He gazed at the city below, sneering.

His left hand released, a colossal light blade crashing toward the city like a falling sky—

[*The Immortal Court’s Sky-Peering Stone foretold it.*]
[*Fate is inescapable.*]
[*You and I were born to bring the three thousand worlds to their end.*]