Teng Qingshan sat cross-legged upon the back of the Undying Phoenix, 'Xiao Qing.' Gazing down at Qinghu Island, which was transforming into an ocean of fire, a chilling light flickered in his eyes: "Qinghu Island, weren't you once so mighty and arrogant? Today, this fire marks the beginning of your end! Tie Xiazi, you think you can hide, but I will find you."

"Xiao Qing!"

Teng Qingshan guided the Undying Phoenix, and with a powerful beat of its wings, Xiao Qing soared toward the distance.

Though Qinghu Island burned, Teng Qingshan knew well... the Blind Sword Saint must have relocated the elite disciples, key figures, and countless treasures of Qinghu Island long before this. What remained on the island was merely an empty shell. Burning it would have little effect on Qinghu Island’s actual strength.

But the impact on morale would be immense.

Their ancestral stronghold of over a thousand years, gone in smoke. Every disciple of Qinghu Island would naturally conclude: "Even the Island Master and the Grand Elders have abandoned the island and fled, allowing the enemy to torch it. The Island Master must believe himself no match." With such a thought planted, many disciples with wavering resolve would likely surrender during the coming war.

"Ah!"

"No, no, this can't be real!"

In the depths of Qinghu Lake, many people thrashed at the water, struggling to stay afloat, their eyes fixed on Qinghu Island, now a raging inferno. Some old men, their hair white, who had lived their entire lives on that island, possessed a loyalty so deeply rooted it was part of their very soul.

Today, the destruction of Qinghu Island felt like the sky falling in on them.

On the shore of Qinghu Lake, hidden among the tall weeds, two young men stared from afar at the island engulfed in flames, their expressions grim.

"Qinghu Island is burned," stated one young man, who appeared sturdy and honest, his voice low.

"This Guiyuan Sect is truly ruthless," spat the other, grinding his teeth.

"This is war; it's kill or be killed. It’s not about who is ruthless," the honest young man murmured. "Junior Brother, this is only the burning of the island. What’s left are the remnants, the aged and the weak... The war between Guiyuan Sect and our Qinghu Island has only just begun. Who will win is far from certain!"

"Yes, quickly take this news to the Island Master."

The two scout youths slipped away silently.

...

Approximately a thousand li from Qinghu Island, in a common little city named 'Lu Cheng,' within an unassuming manor.

In a dimly lit study, with doors and windows tightly shut.

A fair-haired man cloaked in grey robes sat cross-legged. This was Tie Pan, the Island Master of Qinghu Island, one of the Seven Great Sects of the Nine Provinces. He remained still in the study for a long time—

"Island Master," a voice called from outside.

"Enter," Tie Pan responded in a low tone.

Creak! The study door opened, allowing a sliver of sunlight to pierce the darkness, making Tie Pan squint slightly. The bald man who entered immediately closed the door again, then respectfully handed over a dispatch: "Island Master, this is the latest intelligence report from Qinghu Island." Tie Pan took a deep breath before accepting the document.

As he unfolded it—

Tie Pan’s face instantly flushed crimson.

"Teng Qingshan!!! You have gone too far!!!" Tie Pan couldn't help but roar. Although he had prepared for calamity, the rage made his body tremble uncontrollably.

"You may leave," Tie Pan snapped.

"Yes, Island Master." The bald man retreated hastily, closing the door behind him.

Tie Pan reread the dispatch meticulously, over and over. The report contained only a brief description: "One person rode a divine flame bird, descended upon Qinghu Island, unleashed endless fire, and Qinghu Island became a sea of flames." Seemingly simple, yet that island was the very foundation of their Qinghu Island!

With his foundation destroyed, Tie Pan clenched his fists in fury.

From afternoon until nightfall.

Outside Lu Cheng, about a hundred li deep beneath the earth, a massive cavity had appeared within a large slab of rock. A lean, black-robed blind man sat cross-legged there! A hundred li underground, even if Teng Qingshan scoured all of Yangzhou, he would never find the Blind Sword Saint.

"Hmm?" A sharp gleam flashed in Tie Xiazi’s grey-white eyes.

Swish!

Like a deadly projectile, he shot straight upward. He smashed through layers of rock and soil, even plowing through streams of magma. Moments later, Tie Xiazi burst through the floor of Tie Pan’s study.

Thud! Rubble scattered to the side as Tie Xiazi landed inside the room.

"Grand-master," Tie Pan immediately stood upon seeing the newcomer.

"Any disturbance today?" the black-clad blind man asked coldly. Since foreseeing the danger, the Blind Sword Saint had remained deep underground daily, exercising extreme caution. In truth, for a blind man, the surface or the depths made little difference, as he could see neither.

"Grand-master," Tie Pan stated gravely, "That Teng Qingshan, riding that Undying Phoenix, burned the entire island down."

The black-robed man’s body shuddered slightly, then steadied.

"Guiyuan Sect has finally declared war on us," the Blind Sword Saint murmured.

This fire was the commencement of the war!

"Alas, if we had known Teng Qingshan would become this formidable back then, we should have sacrificed everything to kill him," Tie Pan lamented regretfully. If the Void Realm expert, 'Tie Xiazi,' had personally dealt with Teng Qingshan before he reached the Void Realm, Teng Qingshan would certainly not have escaped.

But, firstly, Qinghu Island had already dispatched Zhao Danchen to Yuzhou to hunt down Teng Qingshan, believing they had a sure thing.

Secondly, it was almost unthinkable for a peak Void Realm expert to pursue a mere Xiantian master.

No one is a prophet, capable of foreseeing the future. Regret was useless now.

"Regret is fruitless," the Blind Sword Saint said coldly. "We still hold a significant advantage. That is the sheer number of our ordinary and elite troops; we have an absolute superiority over this Guiyuan Sect. Guiyuan Sect is, after all, only established in a single prefecture. How many troops can they mobilize? Ten thousand would be considered impressive."

"But in a vast territory like Yangzhou, what is ten thousand troops? A single prefecture within Yangzhou’s thirteen commands requires twenty thousand troops just for garrison duty, let alone launching an offensive. Twelve prefectures would need over a hundred thousand soldiers just to hold them down. Guiyuan Sect doesn't even have enough troops for defense."

"Yet Qinghu Island commands over two million soldiers. We can simply grind them down through attrition."

"Don't tell me Guiyuan Sect intends to rely on Void Realm experts constantly? That's laughable. Even if the other twelve prefectures of Yangzhou temporarily surrender, once the Void Realm masters depart, those surrendered forces will riot... Can their meager army possibly suppress two million troops?" The Blind Sword Saint was supremely confident in governing a province.

Ruling a territory isn't merely about having strong Void Realm masters; it requires a robust grassroots structure.

After all, no matter how powerful a Void Realm master is, he is still just one person and cannot manage every locale simultaneously. This is why the Heavenly God Palace endured for so long, accumulating a sufficiently powerful base army before rising.

The deep night.

Thousands of zhang high in the sky. The Undying Phoenix soared with wings spread, and Teng Qingshan remained on its back, constantly using his Domain to sense the energies below.

"This Tie Xiazi hides exceptionally well. I’ve searched for so long and haven't found a single trace of him," Teng Qingshan shook his head. He had searched from afternoon until dark without finding any sign of Tie Xiazi. The aura of a Void Realm expert, compared to ordinary people, was like the difference between the sun and a grain of sand.

The overwhelming might of a Void Realm aura would be instantly detected the moment Teng Qingshan’s Domain swept over an area.

As for finding Tie Pan or Gu Yong, the difficulty was significantly higher, as neither was a Void Realm expert and lacked the 'Divine Fusion with Heaven and Earth' ability. Their auras were vastly different from a Void Realm master, only slightly stronger than ordinary people. It was easy to locate an aura as intense as the sun amidst countless souls, but searching for the aura of a Xiantian master, which was only a shade stronger than an average person and easily overlooked, was much harder.

It was the same principle: finding a head-sized iron ball in a pile of sand is instantly done. Finding a soybean, only slightly larger than a grain of sand, in the same pile would consume significant time.

To find a Xiantian expert within a crowd, one would have to linger for several breaths at every location!

When searching for Void Realm experts, Teng Qingshan could command the Undying Phoenix to flash past an area, knowing instantly if a Void Realm presence was there.

But to find Xiantians, the Phoenix would likely need to fly slowly, spending several breaths assessing each segment within the Domain’s range. Given the immense breadth of Yangzhou, who knew how long that search would take?

...

"Xiao Qing," Teng Qingshan directed toward the ground below.

In the darkness, the Undying Phoenix dove towards the Teng Family Village. That very night, Teng Qingshan gathered with Zhuge Yuanhong.

Hiss, hiss~~

The candlelight cast a dim glow as master and disciple sat opposite each other, sharing wine and conversation.

"Haha, I anticipated this," Zhuge Yuanhong laughed. "It is entirely normal for that Blind Sword Saint to hide. If he truly intends to conceal himself, finding him will be exceedingly difficult. However, Qingshan, your trip to Qinghu Island, burning it down—our objective has been achieved. In five days, our main army can mobilize."

"In five days?" Teng Qingshan paused in surprise.

"Yes, five days," Zhuge Yuanhong affirmed. "The burning of Qinghu Island will have a massive impact on the morale of Qinghu Island's forces, especially those prefectures that never held much loyalty to them. It is highly likely that the moment our army arrives, they will open their gates in surrender. Therefore... we strike only after the news of Qinghu Island’s immolation has spread across Yangzhou. Five days... that is enough time for it to circulate."

"Open the gates to surrender?" Teng Qingshan was slightly taken aback.

"Of Yangzhou's thirteen prefectures, Xuyang Commandery and Tiannan Commandery, which have been chaotic for years, and Chu Commandery from the former Tieyi Sect—these three hold little genuine loyalty to Qinghu Island," Zhuge Yuanhong said with a faint smile. "With the strength we have displayed, we can easily seize those commanderies. Of course, our first engagement must terrify Qinghu Island, shock the world, and make the entirety of Yangzhou understand that our Guiyuan Sect possesses not only formidable Void Realm masters but also an overwhelmingly powerful army."

Teng Qingshan nodded.

"Oh, Master. We only have so much Fire-Flowing Iron, and the Longgang Army alone numbers twelve thousand men... The Fire-Flowing Iron Armor won't be enough," Teng Qingshan suddenly recalled.

Based on calculations, that amount of Fire-Flowing Iron could only forge just over three thousand sets of Fire-Flowing Iron Armor.

"It is not enough," Zhuge Yuanhong agreed. "We took the majority of that Fire-Flowing Iron and forged two thousand complete sets of armor made entirely of the material—the 'Fire-Flowing Armor.' Simultaneously, the remaining Fire-Flowing Iron ore, mixed with Cold Iron and other minerals, was used to forge fifteen thousand sets of 'Fire-Feather Armor.'"

"Five days from now, it will be the time for the 'Fire-Flowing Armor,' the 'Fire-Feather Armor,' and the Longgang Army to display the might of our Guiyuan Sect to the world!" Zhuge Yuanhong's eyes shone brightly.

Guiyuan Sect, too, was about to... ascend to the ranks of the Super Sects of the Nine Provinces!