Immortal Paladin

Among the original 112th Bronze Squadron, fifteen had gone ahead in pursuit of Da Wei’s trail… or rather, Jue Bu’s trail. They had become the backbone of the external spy network I established under the name Night Blades. Not the most poetic title, but effective enough to inspire fear and command respect. Their work was quiet, crucial, and often thankless, just the way good espionage should be.

Ding Shan jogged beside me, his complaints soft but pointed. “I wish we could’ve taken a floating platform. We’ve already covered quite a distance.”

I answered with a shake of my head. “No. That’s an open invitation to be identified. For the duration of this mission, everyone will suppress their cultivation to Martial Tempering. We need to be as covert as possible.”

It wasn’t the most comfortable condition to impose, but caution came before convenience. We needed to move as shadows, not champions. There were one hundred ninety-one of us in total, each wearing a nondescript black overcoat with thin leather armor underneath. Even I wore a plain wooden mask, carved with no markings… neither sigil nor symbol… to give anything away.

Aloud, I added, “Stay close. We’ll make a fast break. By dawn, we should already be at the lakeside inn. You know your orders.”

No one complained. The Guardians had been trained well… not just as soldiers, but as operatives capable of functioning under pressure. We leapt from tree to tree, like silent specters threading the forest’s bones, until the light began to rise behind the mountains. By the time the sun crested over the horizon, we had arrived.

The lakeside inn stood like a forgotten breath of civilization, nestled on the quiet border of the Sacred Groves. Its roof sagged slightly, and moss curled up the foundations. The silence that greeted us wasn’t comforting.

I issued orders without pause. “Ding Shan, head to the nearest settlement. Gather information. Take whoever you need.”

Ding Shan gave a loud grunt and called out, “The Three Constellations, with me!”

The Three Constellations were the strongest among the Guardians, elite even among elites. They represented refined paths: Hunter, Fighter, and Thinker. Each had their own specializations, honed through years of effort, talent, and admittedly a lot of my coaching.

Su Ai, a slim woman with a sharp jaw and keener instincts, narrowed her eyes. “Do all three of us really need to babysit an old man?”

“I am not old!” Ding Shan snapped.

Li Feng, the boisterous Fighter Constellation, laughed. “Don’t be too harsh on the elderly. They break easy.”

Ding Shan huffed. “Fu Wu, you stay. Get the wards and formation barriers up.”

Fu Wu nodded silently and immediately got to work, his fingers already shaping basic formation glyphs from the spirit dust we carried. It was rare to find anyone capable of comprehending formation theory in this era, where cultivation was still in its fledgling stages. Fu Wu was one of the few who had taken to it like a fish to water, though he preferred working alone.

While the others went about setting camp and securing the perimeter, I entered the inn. The interior was as empty as I expected. It was dusty, cold, and filled with the scent of rotting wood. Chairs lay overturned, and the remnants of old tea sets cluttered one corner. It had been years since anyone had stayed here.

This place wasn’t chosen for comfort. It had been designated as a rendezvous point… one of many scattered along the border. The Night Blade Guardian assigned to this region was due to report here. I could only hope they would arrive soon.

I sat down in the inn’s central chamber, fingers tracing the wooden mask resting on my lap.

“Jue Bu, I am gonna get you… I swear…”

I waited in the silence of the abandoned inn, but not for long. Her presence crept in first, barely a whisper on the wind, the sort of intrusion that would escape the notice of most men. But not me. I let my voice carry into the stillness, “So, what happened to the lead?”

No answer.

My gaze slid toward the darkest corner of the room. “I can see you,” I said, unimpressed.

There she was… Ye Yong was cloaked in shadow and standing still as death. Her black clothing clung to her frame with fishnet lining layered beneath the overcoat. Her braided hair coiled like a whip across her shoulder, dark eyes glaring from the void. I didn’t need my Divine Sense to detect her, nor the Destiny Seeking Eyes. Those would’ve been the obvious answers. The truth was simpler… and more complicated.

It was her faith.

Faith was strange. When someone believed in me as Da Wei, it created a resonance… It was represented as a thread in the soul that I could feel. It tugged at the edges of my awareness, a buzzing warmth that grew louder the stronger their faith became. I didn’t need to read their thoughts, but with zealots like Ye Yong, restraint was nearly impossible. Her internal voice screamed into the spiritual void, whether she meant it or not.

“This bitch.”

“He keeps chasing Lord Wei.”

“Who does she think she is?”

“Lord Wei doesn’t belong to anyone.”

“I swear, if I find any ill intentions in her heart, I will dispose of her.”

“Lady Yuhan my ass, she can rot for all I care.”

“Hogging all of the love of the people for herself, such a bitch…”

And to think… she didn’t even know I was Da Wei. Her resentment amused me in a strange way. Ye Yong’s loyalty wasn’t built on reason or politics. It was raw and dangerous, forged in fire and soaked in myth. People like her didn’t serve… they worshipped.

I had trained the Night Blades myself. Unlike the Guardians, who were hardened soldiers, the Blades were subtle predators molded through Divine Possession, inheriting memories and techniques from my own wellspring of experience. Their stealth rivaled any assassin in this world. But again, faith was the greater tell.

The original 112th Bronze Squadron had been a bizarre group from the start. No one remembered why a unit of almost entirely miserable people with suspicious backgrounds had been assigned to the battlefield, nor cared. They were conscripts, misfits, drunks, disgraced nobility, forgotten daughters. A lot of them should’ve died before anyone ever learned their names. But they hadn’t… not when I stood among them, when I gave them something to believe in. They watched me defeat the Heavenly Demon and lived to tell the tale. Their loyalty was earned in blood and carved into bone.

Ye Yong snapped to attention, her voice clipped and fervent, “Reporting! Lord Da Wei remains elusive, however, with your instruction, we strictly maintained distance and successfully kept track of him.”

So they’d found my body after all. That meant they had finally succeeded where they often failed.

I could imagine it now… Jue Bu had been evading pursuit not through stealth, but by reading their faith. The bastard was clever. If he could sense the worship they carried, he could feel the moment their attention shifted, where their intentions coalesced. That must have been how he eluded them for so long. But now, with me hauling nearly two hundred Guardians across the border, there would be no escaping.

Their faith would become a magnet of sorts, being attracted to the body and tightening with every step.

“Good,” I said. “Continue monitoring from a distance. He’ll know we’re coming, but I don’t want him to know when.”

Ye Yong saluted, but I could still hear her thoughts. It was unfiltered, devoted, and just a little insane.

“He spoke to me first.”

“Lady Yuhan should’ve never been born.”

“I will protect Lord Wei from everyone. Everyone!”

Protect Da Wei from me? That was… a bit traitorous.

I sighed.

Somewhere in the future, I would need to have an earnest conversation with her.

I stared at Ye Yong… Did she even realize the contradiction? No, of course she didn’t. I was Da Wei… or rather, I had been… until Jue Bu hijacked my body. The man she now worshipped in spirit was the very demonic thief occupying what was mine by right. And now here she was, swearing to protect Da Wei from me.

I considered telling her the truth. I really did. That I was Da Wei. That the real Da Wei had been pushed into Wen Yuhan’s skin. That the man she now followed blindly was not her god, but a demon in divine clothing.

I activated the Destiny Seeking Eyes, tracing the threads of fate ahead.

…And promptly deactivated them.

In that vision, Ye Yong erupted. Not metaphorically, but literally. She had conjured so much qi in one moment that her body burst apart in righteous fury. She tried to kill me before she even processed what I had said. My corpse was on the ground. Or rather, Wen Yuhan’s corpse. That wasn’t a great outcome.

It seemed fanaticism was rather dangerous.

I took a breath, keeping my tone casual. “Do you have any idea why Da Wei’s been avoiding you? Or the Guardians in general?”

She blinked. Her lips trembled, and the words came out meek, unsure. “N-no…”

I clasped my hands behind my back, pretending I didn’t feel the weariness seeping into my bones. “Our goal is simple: I need to meet with Da Wei. Just the two of us. Our operational structure can’t function with two heads leading the Guardians. He’s the only one who should be in charge. Something’s off… and I want to fix that.”

It was all half-truths and theater, but it was the kind of story that might slip past her fanatic filter. I hoped she’d buy it.

Ye Yong didn’t respond. I hesitated, but then let my mind open… just slightly. Her faith in me acted like a beacon, a thread I could pull. I listened in.

“Lord Wei needs us!”

“If the bitch thinks something is wrong, then it’s most likely true…”

“What can we do to help, Lord Wei?”

“Lord Wei is the only head we need.”

I exhaled through my nose. Internally, I sighed. So much of the Guardians’ strength was built on this… faith, devotion, and adoration. It gave me power through quintessence, but damn if it wasn’t exhausting. Micromanaging zealots while trying to pretend they weren’t zealots was an exercise in mental gymnastics.

Then Ye Yong stepped forward and said something that knocked the wind from me.

“I am willing to give up my position to you, Lady Yuhan,” she said, utterly sincere, “as the head of the Night Blades, so you can have a place in the Guardians.”

I froze.

Wait, what?

I was Da Wei. She just offered me a place in my own army.

That was kind of… sweet?

“Back in the time when the Empire reigned supreme,” She continued. “Most women who joined the army worked hard to hide their identity to avoid persecution. When discovered, they’re either sent to tents to comfort superiors… or to the 112th to be disposed of.”

Her voice didn’t shake. “I understand Lady Yuhan is powerful, capable of standing beside Lord Wei. I respect that. I just hope Lady Yuhan will look kindly on the women in the Night Blades and the Guardians. Lord Wei… has a tender heart. He might give special treatment to women. As a result, he might… stop relying on us.”

Was that… concern?

Was she worried I… Da Wei… would start treating women with kid gloves?

I opened my mouth to tell her she was overthinking it, but then she kept going.

“If Lord Wei does give special treatment,” she said, her cheeks pinking slightly, “the women of the Guardians would gladly throw themselves into his arms and warm his bed… Ah… ah… if that happens, I must be first. Of course, I’m fine being second… if you want to go first.”

I stared.

What the fuck?

She wasn’t done.

“I don’t know about your romantic entanglements with Lord Wei, but clearly, after investigating his adventures across the world and the women he has met, I’ve come to understand that he must be… sad. Deprived of love. So in order to cheer him up, we must offer our minds, bodies, and souls.”

I facepalmed. Hard.

My fingers dragged down my face as I whispered, “Fuck you, Jue Bu… for using my body and making a mess out of me… really… fuuuuuuuuuuuuck yooooouuuuuuuuuu…”

Apparently, I was now a lonely, sexually deprived god-figure being offered a literal harem of brainwashed death maidens.

This was my life now.

Thanks, me.