CHAPTER 470: CHAPTER 470 : SETTLING SCORES FROM THE PAST LIFE (1)

The sound of Three Realm Spear clattering against the training ground startled all those in vicinity.

Head Servant Zhou, ever alert, hurried toward Supreme General Zhang Fengxi, who was massaging his right arm with his left hand.

"Your Highness, is everything alright?" He asked, his voice etched with concern. "Did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

Zhang Fengxi looked up at the other man and smiled.

"No worries. I was clumsy and accidentally dropped my weapon."

"... Oh."

Head Servant Zhou’s gaze fell on the Three Realm Spear, still sprawled on the stony ground.

If it were any other ordinary weapon, Head Servant Zhou would have picked it up and handed it back to Zhang Fengxi. Alas, these spiritual weapons were as dangerous as they were awe-inspiring.

To this date, Head Servant Zhou still recalled his narrow brush with death when he touched Winter Frost. At that time, if not for Xie Jianyu’s timely intervention, he would have been frozen into an ice sculpture.

Zhang Fengxi bent to pick up his spear and swung it above his head several times. He performed several acrobatic movements in the air before landing on the ground on secure footing.

The small attraction earned him a round of applause from the servants across the training ground.

"Your Majesty, you have recovered!" Head Servant Zhou remarked as he brought Zhang Fengxi a towel to wipe his sweat with.

"Not quite, but it is a lot better now," Zhang Fengxi said in retort.

The lightning punishment returned him and his sons to their original bodies, but robbed him off his cultivation and internal energy.

He had to restore both bit by bit every day, by training his body and meditating rigorously.

Zhang Fengxi barely took a seat on the wooden floor at the verandah when his twin sons returned from their daily class at the Golden Dragon Palace and poured through the gate atop their mounts.

"Daddy!" Xie Junjie cried out to his father.

"Dadddyyyyyy...!!!" Mingrui slid down Xiao Xiao’s sleek coat and ran toward Zhang Fengxi, who scooped the giggling little boy up and held him high in the air before cuddling him close.

When Xie Junjie came close, he too was pulled into his father’s arms.

"Mwah, mwah, my beautiful sons. How was class today? Did you learn a lot?"

"Daddy, the Grand Tutor taught us about the origin of the three realms today. The rise of the Heavenly Realm is awe-inspiring," Xie Junjie gushed with a bright smile that matched his gleaming eyes.

"Daddy, Yu Weimin and I fell asleep during class today so the Grand Tutor told us to stand upside-down for one whole hour. Yu Weimin fell down and cried after only half an hour but I made it to the end!" Zhang Mingrui told his father excitedly.

"...."

Zhang Fengxi sighed in his heart.

Truly, blood could not lie.

He did not have the heart to scold Zhang Mingrui right now.

The Grand Tutor had blossomed into Zhang Fengxi’s most enthusiastic pen pal these past few weeks. The man’s letters were a whirlwind of contradictions, a celestial choir singing Xie Junjie’s praises one moment, and a demon lord bellowing about Zhang Mingrui’s lack of classroom participation the next. Surely, today Zhang Fengxi could expect another delightful epistle from the eccentric old man.

With a weary sigh, Zhang Fengxi weakly patted his sons’ tiny heads and said, "Good job, good job both of you... Let’s go have some lunch, shall we?"

After lunch concluded, Zhang Mingrui and Xie Junjie climbed up the steps for their daily nap at the mausoleum again.

Zhang Fengxi went to meditate at the Bell Tower to replenish his strength.

Late in the afternoon, Wu Shenxia arrived at Fuxi Palace to make a report to her superior.

"Supreme General, as per your bidding, we have been investigating the rise of a demonic cultivation sect in the Human Realm. Our search yielded zero result, but on the other hand, one of the ten great sects, a certain Wushan Temple Sect, has been taken over by a group of tree and snake demons from the Demonic Realm."

Jianbao!

Zhang Fengxi clenched his jaw and curled his fingers into fists.

"What happened to the sect? Did all disciples die? Did anyone manage to escape?"

"That..."

"What happened to the corpses of the disciples?"

"They were eaten by the demons..."

Wu Shenxia lowered her gaze and did not continue when she saw the look on Zhang Fengxi’s face.

"I am sorry. Let me go back and investigate more thoroughly."

"No."

"... Supreme General...?"

Wu Shenxia stared at Zhang Fengxi in bewilderment.

"No need," Zhang Fengxi confirmed.

More than two months had passed since Qiao Wei forcefully returned him to the Heavenly Realm and delivered him to Xie Jianshen’s merciless hands. Whatever happened in the Human Realm two months ago was beyond saving by now.

Zhang Fengxi already paid for his transgressions by accepting the lightning punishment. He was not allowed to step a foot into the Human Realm without the Heavenly Emperor’s express permission.

Zhang Fengxi was dying to help, but he needed to trust Qiao Wei.

Qiao Wei was a powerful cultivator with a sound mind and sharp instincts. He wouldn’t be that stupid to walk into a demon-infested site without adequate preparation, would he?

Zhang Fengxi had to stop thinking about him and the entanglements of the Human Realm.

His place was at the Heavenly Realm.

He was to wait patiently until his wife returned.

He was to raise his children and protect them well, just like Xie Jianyu wanted.

"What about Tian’an Shang Sect? Any dubious activities in connection with the demons?"

"Not at all. Nothing that is apparent to the eye, at least," Wu Shenxia shook her head in regret. "Should I ask a subordinate to disguise himself as a member of the sect to find out?"

"No need," Zhang Fengxi sighed before he changed the topic. "What about our situation with the Demon Kings? Is there any suspicious movement from the First Demon King?"

Wu Shenxia was about to answer when they saw a bright red fire signal shooting toward the sky, coming from Wuyang Palace.