Chen Wentian’s mind cleared up afterward and he quickly swept away the marks of his misdeeds with spiritual energy. He didn’t mean to do it but the intimate moment simply overcame his common sense.

He muttered a silent apology and wrapped the woman back up in furs. He put her away in a side room and stealthily left the mountain. He had spent too long dueling the snow monkey that the other one, the steel-furred gorilla, was already on its way back.

He flew up and headed straight north towards a nearby mountain range. The shadow anchors he left during his trip southward told him exactly where the immortal gorilla was. There were still a few hours left until it arrived and he wanted to properly prepare a greeting, one that he couldn’t do surrounded on all sides by the earth.

---

Several provinces away, in Beast God City, He Xingping emerged from Red Swan Tower after the real Chen Wentian left for half an hour. It was important to maintain the façade of doing private matters and such things couldn’t be too quick.

He Xingping tipped the attendant at the door and walked into the street. The streets were bustling and the citizens of the city had no idea of the calamity that would soon befall them. However, these were simply mortal souls caught in a battle between immortals. Their meaningless lives were not under their control from the moment they were born. In this world, only an immortal had the power to control their life and change their own destiny!

He rode quickly through the city and returned to his manor. The schedule was tight and soon he would be summoned by the lion lord.

“Master, welcome back!” The head servant bowed and said.

“Mmm, how are the madam and the young miss?”                                       

“They are both having lunch, sir.”

He Xingping nodded in understanding. Feeding time was fast becoming his favorite pastime, in no small part due to Chen Wentian’s proclivities. He walked quickly through the hallways and entered the nursery.

“Master!” The female maids all bowed.

“Husband!”

He Xingping waved the maids away and walked up to his wife.

Qiu Jingyi was reclining in her favorite cushioned lounge chair, holding their daughter to her chest. The baby’s head was buried in her ample breast and sucking greedily. The table next to them was arrayed with many plates of delicious food but Qiu Jingyi could not partake due to the baby’s needs.

He Xingping grabbed a chair and sat down next to them. He grabbed some chopsticks and started feeding Qiu Jingyi, morsel by little morsel while not disturbing He Zhuoyan at all. After maintaining the moment of tenderness for as long as he could, he finally put away the food and his face became serious.

“Husband, what’s wrong?” Qiu Jingyi asked after noticing his expression.

“Xiao Yi, a terrible battle is coming soon to this city.” He said, deadly serious, “A lot of people are going to die soon.”

“Wha…”

“Shhh… I just want you to know, the things I’ve done are to protect you and the baby.”

“What do you mean?”

He Xingping dug into his robes and withdrew the spatial bag. He placed it in her hands which soon started to tremble. She looked at him with surprise and fear. A spatial bag was not something a mortal could simply acquire…

“Where… did you get this?”

His expression lightened and rubbed her head. “Nothing nefarious. You see, I have a friend. I met him several months ago during a mission and we managed to help each other. We became good friends but unfortunately, even though that man is honorable and talented, he isn’t quite well-liked by the lion lord due to unlucky events. Thus, I have to keep our friendship secret and I need you to do the same.”

“So, this person, this friend… gave you the bag. And I am guessing he also gave you the warning about the terrible battle?”

“That’s right. Check the contents.”

She injected her spiritual energy and withdrew several items, large and small. There was a heavy bag filled with gold and red spiritual crystals. Just the contents inside were already enough to rival the entire wealth of a noble family!

She next held up several pieces of paper covered in inscriptions. Some she recognized but there was one that she did not.

“Most of these are common alert talismans and temporary protective talismans. The last one is a long-distance message talisman. You can activate it anywhere and help will arrive.”

“…”

She was speechless. She understood the implications. Such a talisman, only an immortal could make them and answer them. However, fraternizing with an immortal outside of the Beast God Sanctum broke one of the cardinal laws of the sect!

He Xingping moved on to a small hand-sized piece of metal. It was circular, bronze-colored, and covered with intricate carvings. There was a handle at the rear which he grabbed.

“This is a protective treasure called the Cloudy Bronze Parasol. Simply inject your spiritual energy into the handle like so…”

Woosh!

The shield expanded to one meter in diameter and the patterns became clearer. It looked like something that a lizard or turtle might have.

He leaned forward and held the shield above Qiu Jingyi and the baby like an umbrella. A reddish-brown spiritual aura appeared and expanded from the edge of the shield. It extended to the ground and wrapped around all three of them in a protective bubble.

The shield aura disappeared the next second and he placed the shrunken item back on her lap.

“This item is extremely powerful. It doesn’t require much spiritual energy and actually protects against attacks from a Spirit Lord. That’s basically all of it. Everything here is to protect you both. That is all I want. My loyalty is to no lord, only you and Zhuoyan.”

Qiu Jingyi nodded and did not ask any more questions. She put away all the items back into the spatial bag and stored the bag away securely inside her robes. She was a smart woman and she knew enough not to pry too much into her husband’s business. He was thinking about her and the child and that was all she cared about. It was enough for her.

He Xingping grinned and leaned over to give her a kiss.

They continued sharing an intimate lunch as a family of three. He joined her on the lounge chair and chatted quietly while watching their daughter sleep.

The hour passed like the wind and the inevitable calamity arrived…

A huge wave of spiritual energy spread through the entire city and through the manor. It was the warning system and it signified a significant threat.

“Citizens of Beast God City! Members of Beast God Sanctum! Hear the orders of our lords!” A voice boomed across the entire city, “We will soon fall under attack from beasts. All cultivators, report to your posts. All non-combatants shall remain in their homes. Do not panic and do not flee. Disobeying orders will result in immediate execution. Beast God Sanctum unite! To battle!”

He Xingping stood up, “I have to go.”

Qiu Jingyi looked at him and her eyes welled up with tears, “Be careful.”

He simply nodded and left her without another word.

Everything that they wanted to say was already spoken. It was unfortunate that things came to this. There was nothing he could at the moment. He could not run, as an executive elder, he had to fight.

It was up to luck if he could survive the upcoming battle unscathed. If the physical body got destroyed, the soul would live on within Chen Wentian still have opportunities to improve. However, He Xingping would no longer be a part of the physical world.

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