I Am Your Natural Enemy

Thinking back to what I heard on the phone just now, there’s a place that would be perfect.

...

Inside the Celestial Master Mansion, the Old Celestial Master looked at the disciples, his expression stern.

”I’ve said all that needs to be said. Everyone here understands the reasons. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t even be standing here.

You all know exactly what you should do.

If, one day, even the Celestial Master Mansion falls into madness and treads the Evil Path—

Then I will personally abolish the Celestial Master Mansion’s qualification to impart teachings.”

The disciples under his command were silent as cicadas in winter. In fact, even before the Old Celestial Master arrived and spoke, they’d already been warned once by others.

Now that the Old Celestial Master personally took on this affair, he would surely impose stricter requirements on everyone at Dragon Tiger Mountain.

If anyone made a grave mistake and ran headfirst into trouble, the Mountain Sect would show not a shred of mercy.

Everyone responded in unison, each with a serious look on their face.

They all deeply cherished this chance to stand here at this moment.

No matter how strict Dragon Tiger Mountain’s demands on its disciples, the truth was—as long as you got in, it was basically a shortcut.

So long as you had no major flaws and stood out, it really was a shortcut.

Dragon Tiger Mountain holds the independent right to impart teachings, and can bestow the sect’s unique talismans.

Most importantly, though all the Celestial Masters of the mansion bear the surname Zhang—

Very rarely has the Celestial Master’s position passed from father to son through the generations.

Unless that son is truly outstanding and flawless in every way.

The Zhang Celestial Master is simply an old tradition of inheritance that has lasted many generations.

When the First Generation Celestial Master Zhang was in charge, he didn’t pass the title to his own son, but instead picked the most outstanding disciple in all respects.

This set the most fundamental tone for the Celestial Master Mansion’s legacy.

The Second Generation, grateful for this foundation set by the Founder, changed his surname to Zhang.

And from then on, taking the surname Zhang after ascending to Celestial Master became a tradition of the Celestial Master Mansion.

But at times, there might not even be a Celestial Master in a generation.

The most excellent person in a generation might not necessarily become the current Celestial Master.

There are times the seat goes unfilled.

But as long as someone does become Celestial Master, then without doubt, they are the strongest of their era.

In theory, any disciple at Dragon Tiger Mountain has a chance to become the next Celestial Master.

No matter one’s background or origins, as long as you’re in the Celestial Master Mansion, you have that chance.

This system is why the Mansion’s legacy remains so strong today.

...

Inside the Scorching Sun Department, in the conference room, many people still had their minds buzzing.

The worst consequences they’d prepared for, even their harshest decisions, were nothing compared to what had actually happened.

They were still waiting for the General Director to start the meeting and arrange the next steps.

What comes next will be an even bigger challenge.

Meanwhile, in his office, the General Director listened to his secretary’s report—Fuyu Mountain had just called, saying Cai Qidong’s body had been brought there.

The General Director’s thoughts flickered, and he shook his head quietly.

He flipped through the stack of documents on his desk, pulling out one particular page.

It was about a discussion point: with Cai Qidong fallen in battle, the question of choosing a new Minister for Nanwu County, a critical commandery.

The General Director glanced over the list of candidates, shook his head, pulled the relevant pages from the stack, crushed them into a ball, tossed them into the trash, and then picked up the folder containing the rest of the documents.

”Let’s go. Almost time.”

The secretary only needed a glance to understand what was meant.

He immediately arranged to have all the newly printed documents—intended for distribution—that referred to Nanwu County’s ministerial candidates gathered up and fed into the shredder.

Once the arrangements were done, he hurried to catch up with the General Director.

”The fire on Mount Zhongnan—is it under control?”

”We had pre-arranged firefighting teams on standby. Plus, the wondrous item with the new use discovered in Nanwu County was sent over. For now, everything is still under control.”

”Good. Don’t let the fire spread any further.”

Around Mount Zhongnan, firefighting units that had already been mobilized the night before for a forest-fire drill were now methodically containing the blaze.

Firebreaks had long since been set up; now, it was time to head for even more dangerous places.

A member of the Scorching Sun Department, one hand carrying a stainless steel thermos, the other dangling a bag of disposable paper cups, was briskly weaving between groups of firefighters.

Anyone he spotted would get a paper cup, half-filled with a bitter, herbal tea.

”Drink up, don’t waste it. This is the real deal, premium stuff.”

The folks from Guanzhong County couldn’t help but gag at the scent—the strong aroma of thick Chinese medicine broth had nothing to do with anything tasty.

”Quit dawdling, that’s an order—drink up, not a single drop wasted, you fools! I had to beg everyone and their mother to get my hands on this stuff!”

The squad leader glared and cursed, following behind.

The firefighters, faces twisted in anguish, pinched their noses and downed the herbal tea in one gulp.

”Remember: for the rest of the day, no sugar—not even in your cooking. That’s an order too!”

Hearing that it was an order, the team had no choice but to carry it out without complaint or question.

”Captain, hurry it up—let’s make sure we haven’t missed anybody.”

A Scorching Sun Department member, speaking in unpolished Nanwu County Mandarin, grinned broadly. He loved watching people from other counties scrunch their faces up when choking down the herbal tea.

As time went on, the firefighting efforts quickly advanced toward the Taiyi Observatory.

Amid the charred remains, something that looked like a lump of burned wood quietly cracked open its eyes. A gust of wind blew, collapsed a scorched tree, and the flames, fanned by the wind, erupted into a blaze among the ashes.

In an instant, two firefighters were swallowed up.

The blazing fire enveloped them, their thick protective suits torn open by falling, jagged branches, exposing bare skin to the flames.

Within seconds, the two firefighters rushed out of the inferno, blazing from head to toe. The one whose suit had been ripped found that apart from a bit of black soot on his skin, there wasn’t any other damage.

The firefighter looked at his arm, a little shocked—it had just been scorched by a red-hot branch, but there wasn’t even a burn.