Chapter 864: Half-Moon Residence

The Southern Region.

In the Sacred Dwelling of the Black Heart Fruit Clan, a white-haired elder suddenly sprang to his feet from a meditative posture, his ancient face filled with horror.

“How is this possible?”“How is this possible!”

The Half-Saint Zang Ren's instantaneous shift in emotion caused a dramatic change in the surrounding dozens of miles: winds shifted, clouds changed color, and lightning flashed. A biting cold wind, accompanying the summer heat, swept away the sudden snow flurries that fell from the sky, carrying with it the withered essence of late autumn, instantly eradicating the life traces of green plants.

“Holy Wrath!”“Heavens, when a Saint is startled, the world changes!”“Chaos! The Black Heart Fruit Clan will face great turmoil. What could possibly have disturbed our clan's Half-Saint?”

Within the Half-Saint's secret realm, all the clan members of the Black Heart Fruit Clan panicked. The Grand Elder, Clan Leader, and others immediately flew out from their cultivation dwellings to the sky above the clan's residential area, witnessing this scene of chaotic rules. Everyone was speechless.

Apart from enlightening juniors, Half-Saint Zang Ren of the Black Heart Fruit Clan had not made such a great stir for centuries. Why had he unleashed his holy wrath today? Some wanted to consult the Half-Saint, but the Clan Leader and Grand Elder immediately stopped them. If the Half-Saint had a need, his decree would naturally be issued. Since there was no immediate trouble within the clan, how could they disturb his peaceful cultivation without cause?

Within the Sacred Dwelling, after an instant of emotional outburst, Half-Saint Zang Ren immediately regained control, and the outside world returned to calm. But the outward calm did not mean Zang Ren's inner world was equally peaceful. Just moments ago! After sensing that his inheritor had met with an accident, he had intended to erase the will of that young man. However, before he could even extinguish it with a single thought, he inadvertently disturbed many intentions of the same level.

And it was “many”! Zang Ren had been confined here for over a hundred years, and the number of Half-Saints he had interacted with was far less than those he had disturbed this time. One could imagine his shock.

“That young man...” Zang Ren murmured, completely unable to believe how his inheritor could have provoked such practitioners. Had he poked a hornet's nest? How many Half-Saint arrangements were truly laid out on that young man? How critically important must his life be, that when he faced the destruction of a Half-Saint's will, so many terrifying intentions were simultaneously forced out!

Phew. Zang Ren had not been so shaken in a long time. He understood that those Half-Saints hadn't even met before laying out their plans. Otherwise, they wouldn't have all exposed themselves at once. If he had wanted to act against that young man, and even one Half-Saint's will had emerged, Zang Ren would surely have shown respect and retreated. But... they all came out! Just a young kid—who would have thought so many Half-Saints had simultaneously left hidden lines and contingencies on him!

Zang Ren had not felt fear in a long time. Since he had entered the Half-Saint realm, only the Sacred Shrine required his deference in this vast world. Aside from that, as long as he didn't touch the Inner Isle of the Void Island, renowned as the foremost of the Seven Forbidden Zones, Zang Ren was invincible under heaven. But this time... he had touched "great horror"! Any single one of those "horrors," if revealed, could shake the world.

“'Thorough Divine Sense'... No, it should be the aura of 'Sword Intent'.”“And the aura of Half-Saint Jinzhao... But shouldn't Half-Saint Jinzhao be from the Sacred Palace? Hasn't he already retired? When did he leave such a contingency in the outside world?”“There's also an intention that resembles the Jinzhao lineage, but it's definitely beyond a Half-Saint's... A Saint Emperor's will?”

Zang Ren's withered hand trembled violently, as if remembering something, his face turning ashen. “Could it be Grand Ancestor Jinzhao, one of the three ancestors of the White Vein on the Inner Isle of Void Island, who was born from a seed of the Divine Firmament Tree, cultivated into a Saint Emperor using the primordial spirit of Jinzhao Hellfire, and is known as the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ancestors?”

Reaching this conclusion, Half-Saint Zang Ren involuntarily took a deep breath. Half-Saints and Saint Emperors. The gap between them is known only to Saints at that level. "Saint" is merely a general term, encompassing both Half-Saints and Saint Emperors. But a Half-Saint is, after all, only "half" a Saint. The true "Saint" always refers to the Saint Emperor realm.

After a long pause, a figure finally materialized in Zang Ren's mind, one that had taken human form and directly confronted him. “And this person...” He couldn't continue thinking. The last person to emerge had given information that was too precise and too extensive.

The Eighth Sword Immortal!

“How could Ba Zun'an also have left a contingency on that young man?”“Could it be that the person Xiao Duo provoked is Ba Zun'an's inheritor?”“The Revered One of the Black and White Veins, who, at the level of a Fallen Sword Immortal, entered the Inner Isle of Void Island and could even piss on the heads of Saint Emperors...”

Zang Ren was terrified. He had never entered the Void Island, and he didn't even know how Ba Zun'an, who hadn't even reached the Half-Saint realm at the time, managed to do such an incredible thing. But this did not diminish his profound awe for the legendary Eighth Sword Immortal. Because, besides such absurd achievements, the main title by which older generation Half-Saints knew Ba Zun'an was not "The Eighth Sword Immortal," but "Head of the Seven Sword Immortals, Yu Tu's Inheritor"!

Yu Tu was someone who, at the Sword Immortal realm, could ascend the Osmanthus Mountain and behead the previous generation's Sacred Shrine Master with seven swords. Ordinary Half-Saints wouldn't dare provoke such a figure. Few people dared to act against Yu Tu's inheritor in the first place, and now that Ba Zun'an had gained the title "Revered One of the Black and White Veins," even fewer wanted to be involved with him.

But now, Duo'er had merely provoked a young man. Not only did the will of Sacred Palace's Half-Saint Jinzhao arrive, but Grand Ancestor Jinzhao, the Ancestor of Ten Thousand Ancestors from Void Island, also appeared, and Ba Zun'an, hailed as the ultimate catastrophe of this era, nearly came to his door with his sword, ready to curse him.

“Son of a bitch...” Zang Ren had not been so unreserved in his speech for a very long time. Uttering such vulgarities after becoming a Half-Saint was practically an insult to his own status. But at this moment, Zang Ren felt as if he had returned to his youth, to the path of becoming a Saint, to the fear of being dominated by powerful figures along the way. In the past, when he encountered injustice, he would curse and choose to intervene. After becoming a Half-Saint, his last intervention was measured in centuries. As for cursing, it had been so long that he himself could barely remember.

“Inheritors?”“What damn inheritors? I shouldn't have let those little rascals go out and stir up trouble!”

At this moment, Zang Ren utterly hated his past actions. If he had just stayed peacefully within his Sacred Dwelling, how would he have invited so much trouble? But for the sake of reputation, to bring the Black Heart Fruit Clan's name out of the Southern Region, he had cultivated many inheritors. The consequence was that not only had the inheritors failed to mature, but he also had to clear all the debts they had accrued.

“Useless, useless!” The more Zang Ren thought, the angrier he became, pacing back and forth in his cultivation dwelling. It was fortunate that no outsiders witnessed him mumbling to himself like this, otherwise, their image of a Half-Saint would be completely shattered.

It took a long time for Zang Ren to regain his usual composure and begin considering his next move. “Pretend not to see?”“Impossible!”“Being entangled in the schemes of Half-Saints and Saint Emperors has already incurred karma. I absolutely cannot remain aloof.”“The only option now is to voluntarily step into the game...”

*Click*. Thinking of this, Zang Ren clenched his fist again. He was already a Half-Saint! He had already found a hidden corner off the main lines of this cosmic chess game, choosing to reside in obscurity. Yet now, for this trivial matter, he had to re-enter the fray.

Mortal karma, a chaotic entanglement of rights and wrongs. The myriad Great Daos, intricate and complex. “Entering the world is easy, leaving it is hard; having succeeded, one should not re-enter. Seeking sainthood for millennia is not as good as being a common person in the mortal world.” Those who hadn't experienced it wouldn't heed these words and would always end up experiencing it for themselves. As for those who had experienced it and managed to transcend, they would, under no circumstances, wish to walk that path again!

“Half-Saint?” A mere Half-Saint, in the eyes of outsiders, is a supreme being of heaven and earth. In Zang Ren's view, a Half-Saint was merely a chess piece with a bit more deterrent power. He couldn't agree with the actions of any faction in the world, not even the Sacred Shrine, but their adversary, the "Saint Slaves," had a saying that was very apt. “Unless you become a Saint, you will forever be a slave!” This "Saint" certainly doesn't just refer to a Half-Saint, but rather a Saint Emperor at minimum.

Zang Ren, being a Half-Saint after all, wouldn't complain or be overly extreme like ordinary people, even to the point of wanting to summon his inheritors and execute them one by one. He let go of the past and began to contemplate the future.

“Two paths...”“The Sacred Shrine, and the Saint Slaves.”“How am I to choose?”

The cultivation dwelling had only one window. Zang Ren silently gazed out of it, at this moment resembling a helpless, lonely old man. The world outside the window was peaceful: blue skies, rivers, land, birds, beasts, pedestrians... Zang Ren gripped the windowsill with both hands, silently staring at the world outside, as if searching for something. The vibrant world, full of life, offered no trace of "truth" in his eyes. He stood for three days and three nights, observing the sunrise and sunset thrice over, before bitterly unearthing from the depths of his sealed memories the answer he had deliberately hidden after becoming a Saint.

“The answer...” Zang Ren tapped his fingers on the windowsill, then suddenly stopped, turned his palm to look at it, and let out a long, helpless sigh. This wasn't a windowsill. This was the mortal shackle that had confined the Half-Saint for centuries. It was called "the cage."

The Southern Region.

As the most chaotic and difficult-to-govern of the continent's five regions, the Southern Region was infamously known as the "Land of Sin." Here, too many top-tier fugitives, wanted by the "Three Incense Sticks" organization—hailed as the assassins' sanctuary—were hidden. Death Cultists, Evildoers, Decaying Corpses... these three classes of wanted criminals were practically every spirit refiner's nightmare. Once placed on the "Three Incense Sticks" bounty list, these three types of individuals had only two fates: one, death in the City of Slaughter, at the Crossroads; two, flee to the Southern Region, where life and death, success and failure, were left to fate.

In the Southern Region, the most renowned were the various Ethereal and Half-Saint powers that established aristocratic families and sects, excelling in "unorthodox" techniques. The Grey Moon Palace, the Black Heart Fruit Clan, and others were all like this. Spirit refiners in the Southern Region were all unconventional. Trying to play by the rules here would only get you killed by others. In this land of sin, you could even find wild Divine Mechanism Masters who, relying on their own understanding, forcefully transformed Divine Mechanism techniques into unorthodox but miraculously powerful abilities that could break all methods.

But these were just miscellaneous notes. Besides the aforementioned unorthodox forces, the Southern Region also had a slightly more conventional intelligence organization, which was very famous. In this chaotic place, surviving by collecting and selling information was truly fraught with immense difficulties and myriad hardships. Yet this force, unprecedentedly, had established a firm foothold in the Southern Region decades ago. To date, it had become the only organization among the many villains of the Southern Region willing to entrust their meager trust.

The Half-Moon Residence!

The Half-Moon Residence was located in the Half-Moon Bay secret realm. Half-Moon Bay was an unusual place, originally an extra-dimensional space that later merged with the continent, becoming a small additional space on the Sacred God Continent. Here, it had its own natural rules. Half-Saints were forbidden from intervening, otherwise, the Half-Moon Bay region would completely collapse. Consequently, many wanted criminals of the Dao Severing and Ethereal realms could freely roam here, enjoying the wonderful power and status that their high-level strength brought, as long as they could provide the Half-Moon Residence with the desired information.

“The mortal world is fraught with troubles, unlike Half-Moon Bay. If one person dies outside, Half-Moon Bay will be completely destroyed.” This saying was widely circulated among death cultists. The implied meaning was that outside, if a Half-Saint wanted to capture you, you would certainly die; but in Half-Moon Bay, if a Half-Saint took action, Half-Moon Bay would shatter, and everyone would be buried with you. But Half-Moon Bay also had ordinary people. A Half-Saint couldn't possibly end the lives of all mortals just to capture one death cultist fugitive. But as long as a Half-Saint didn't intervene, the Half-Moon Residence could protect you for a lifetime of peace.

“'Half-Moon Bay, truly wonderful,' was the exclamation death cultists would invariably utter after meals, embracing their charming consorts.”

At this moment, in the Flower & Herb Pavilion, a three-storied structure in Half-Moon Bay, the only place of order in the Southern Region, the two leaders who had single-handedly founded the "Half-Moon Residence" intelligence organization lay drunkenly amidst the joyous company on the third floor. Hei Yezi and Bai Yezi—two names that could strike fear into anyone who heard them. Outsiders believed the two leaders of the Half-Moon Residence were both heinous, thick-waisted, ugly men. In reality, it was not so. They were two incredibly graceful women. Their features were exquisite, like the world's most perfect jade carvings, and their figures were alluringly seductive. Barely covered by thin veils, every frown, every smile, every gesture held a captivating charm that could ensnare hearts.

The two looked exactly alike: identical faces, identical heights, and devilish figures that were likewise indistinguishable. The only way to distinguish their identities was by their clothing and hair color. As their names suggested, Hei Yezi, with black hair, usually wore a black veil. Bai Yezi, with white hair, was perpetually draped in white. Both were peerless beauties.

The "Flower & Herb Pavilion" where they resided, however, explicitly stipulated that entrants were judged not by cultivation, but solely by appearance and figure, and must be female. There was only one standard for entering the "Flower & Herb Pavilion": one must be selected for the Half-Moon Residence's "Continental Beauties List." The Beauties List only listed the top hundred most beautiful women on the continent. The information for this list was gathered from unknown sources. Some of the women on the list were so elusive that their traces were almost impossible to find globally; it was unknown if they had been found and kept as hidden treasures. But its credibility was absolute!

For example:Continental Beauties List, number 24, Rao Yaoyao (shoulders like carved jade, waist slender as a silken sash, back like precious jade, the First Swordswoman).Continental Beauties List, number 7, Yu Zhiwen (a young girl just coming into her own, flowers bloom and the wind knows, her name will one day stir the world, her starlike eyes charm all).

Every person on the list had an accompanying appraisal. Some appraisals were very structured, briefly summarizing the person's appearance and figure. But for others, the appraisal was just a few brief introductory remarks. For example:Continental Beauties List, number 3, Aunt Xiang (a peerless beauty who must be saved even if it means fighting through the mortal world and ghost gates).Continental Beauties List, number 1, Yue Gongnu (The Eighth Sword Immortal's woman).

This list's credibility was bolstered immensely by its top three entries. Villains from all five regions acknowledged it. Everyone yearned to find one of the women on the Beauties List and take her as their wife. To die beneath the peony, even as a ghost, is to be romantic. Nothing more or less.

At this moment, within the third floor of the "Flower & Herb Pavilion," thirteen peerless women were either brewing wine, arranging flowers, composing poetry, or singing and dancing. Amidst the delightful company of beauties, Hei Yezi and Bai Yezi lay drunkenly, indulging their eyes and enjoying the pleasant scene.

Suddenly, the jade bangle on Bai Yezi's wrist stirred. She casually glanced at it, then suddenly sat up, her eyes sharply turning to Hei Yezi, who had a slightly cooler demeanor. She exclaimed in surprise:

“The Storyteller has sent a message!”