Chapter 127: The Activated Constellation Fate

Page (1/3)

The two of them continued onward until they entered the territory of the Song Dynasty. Sun Meng suddenly asked, “Do you feel anything unusual now?”

They had spent nearly three months in Western Xia and had finally settled everything there. At that moment, Sun Meng received a message from the system: the Seven Stars had completed their theft of the birthday tribute convoy, and the entire group had gone up to Liangshan.

Only then did Sun Meng begin to feel anxious. Quite apart from Liang Zhongshu’s mission, the constellation heroes who would soon become involved were not people he could casually abandon.

Yet after three months, Li Qingmeng had still failed to break through. She always seemed to be missing something. Sun Meng had tried examining her condition and discovered the most obvious problem: she was unable to condense a constellation destiny of her own.

That was right. Sun Meng had discovered that, in this world, anyone seeking to break through to the third tier had to condense their own constellation destiny. He had not noticed this before—or perhaps this rule had not always existed. Now that the birthday tribute convoy had been robbed, Sun Meng suddenly realized that it might well be connected to Liangshan’s existence.

After all, the period that followed would be the stage of the constellation heroes of Liangshan.

Could it be that, when the Liangshan heroes broke through to the third tier, their opponents would simply remain unable to advance and be swept aside by them? The very thought was impossible.

Sun Meng recalled the system’s explanation. This world was gradually recovering its former levels of power, but the constellation heroes represented by Liangshan, as the protagonists of the coming age, were the foundation guiding that restoration.

For that reason, Sun Meng felt that Li Qingmeng would have a greater chance of condensing her constellation destiny within Song territory. Otherwise, they would have no choice but to wait until the Liangshan alliance was fully established before trying again.

“How strange. Is this really the Central Plains? Even conditions like these are superior to those in Western Xia. No wonder the Liao Dynasty fought the Song so relentlessly in the past.”

Li Qingmeng had clearly sensed the images of the constellations in the heavens. Being able to sense them meant that she had a chance to temper her body and spirit with starlight, further refine her will, and comprehend the process of condensing her own destiny.

Sun Meng curled his lip. The two things had nothing to do with each other, surely! Apart from the nomadic peoples’ instinct for plunder, there was also the fact that they were not skilled at production, as well as the hatred between the Han and the northern tribes that had accumulated over many years.

Then again, it seemed that beginning with the Song Dynasty, that hatred had not been so severe. Had this happened during the Han or Tang Dynasties, it would have been a different matter. Even if nearly the entire royal family of Liao had perished, the affair would not have ended until their entire clan had been exterminated.

It was not simply that the Song Dynasty lacked military strength. Even if it possessed the military might of the Qin Dynasty, it still would not have annihilated the northern tribes. The reason was purely ideological and had nothing to do with the country’s capabilities.

Come to think of it, the Liangshan forces had ultimately failed to destroy the Liao Dynasty either.

Sun Meng searched his memories. In the version of events he knew, the Liangshan heroes had beaten the Liao forces senseless. Famous generals, elite armies, even divinely bestowed battle formations—all of them had been crushed by the Liangshan forces. They had fought all the way to the capital of Liao, only for the Song court to propose peace negotiations.

Of course, such events had never occurred along the normal historical course. Still, another man had indeed achieved something similar.

“By the way, Yue Fei should have already become a disciple by now, right?”

He remembered that, the last time he had visited this world, he had heard the name of Zhou Tong—the legendary master of Lin Chong.

If he helped Yue Fei now and allowed him to join forces with Liangshan, could they destroy Liao and the northern tribes in one stroke? Sun Meng refused to believe that, after fighting to such an extent, the Song court and its ministers would still be able to return every inch of the territory they had conquered.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

If they truly dared to do so, he would not mind elevating Emperor Qinzong of Song to the throne ahead of time.

Destroying Liao and preventing the rise of the Jurchens and the Mongols—how many points would that be worth? The thought alone was exhilarating!

By then, the two had already arrived at the residence of Liang Zhongshu.

When Liang Zhongshu saw Sun Meng, he instinctively wanted to question him about why he had failed to protect the birthday tribute convoy. But before he could say anything, he swallowed the words. He had not forgotten the display of Sun Meng’s strength. This man was no ordinary martial artist.

Liang Zhongshu could only put on a pained expression. “Senior, those bandits were utterly despicable! Not only did they seize the treasures, they also slaughtered the soldiers and disgraced your reputation!”

“They are my disciples. If you want the treasures back, I can help you retrieve them.”

Sun Meng cast Liang Zhongshu a calm glance before continuing, “As for this woman, Li Qingmeng—I assume you know who she is. Western Xia is now under the control of her people, and she is under my protection. I want you to provide me with all the information you have concerning Liao and the northern tribes that follow it.”

Liang Zhongshu leaned back in his chair and looked toward Li Qingmeng, only to be startled by a single glance from her.

Another expert he absolutely could not afford to offend!

As for the Spirit Vulture Palace Sun Meng had mentioned, Liang Zhongshu knew of it as well. Although the Song-Liao alliance had always been publicly advertised as the achievement of the imperial court, a man of Liang Zhongshu’s rank knew the truth perfectly well. That was why the court had tightened its control over martial artists in recent years. Back then, Xiao Feng had single-handedly broken through a formation and captured a rebel king. Had the authorities simply ignored such forces, some corrupt officials might never have slept peacefully again.

Even though the court openly or covertly suppressed the martial world, the prestige of those ancient sects had not diminished in the slightest. As far as the authorities were concerned, they remained the highest-level threat.

Dali was somewhat better in this regard. After all, the Heavenly Dragon Temple was where members of the Dali royal family entered religious life. In other words, the martial forces within Dali and the official government were essentially one.

Western Xia, however, was far more dangerous. There, the martial world directly controlled the state.

And what had Sun Meng just said? This woman was the master of the Spirit Vulture Palace—and that master was now under Sun Meng’s protection.

Sun Meng controlled Western Xia!

Western Xia might have grown weaker with each passing year, but it was still a nation. Its army, its population, and its martial forces could together cause Liao considerable trouble. Perhaps they could even allow the Great Song to gain some advantage.

With Sun Meng’s martial prowess as a guarantee, Liang Zhongshu considered the matter carefully and decided that it might be worth pursuing.

“Senior, I deeply admire your abilities! I shall have someone bring the information at once. As for the birthday tribute, there is no need to worry. So long as you are willing, I can immediately order the warrant for your disciples revoked. If they are willing, they may even join the border army and serve as officers!”

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

Was one hundred thousand strings of cash a great deal?

It was.

Even Liang Zhongshu would feel the loss. But if the money could win Sun Meng’s goodwill, it was unquestionably worth it. If Sun Meng’s disciples truly wished to join the army, Liang Zhongshu was willing to accept them. According to the reports that had reached him, they were all experts of the Innate Realm.

“You need not concern yourself with Liangshan any longer. If the imperial court orders you to do anything concerning Liangshan, simply carry it out. But you must not report my connection with Liangshan to the court.”

With that, Sun Meng left Liang Zhongshu’s residence with Li Qingmeng.

They found an inn and settled in. Sun Meng looked at Li Qingmeng. “Will you need my help this time?”

“No. At most, I will need half a year to complete my breakthrough. When that time comes, I want to fight you again.”

Her eyes were filled with battle intent.

“As you wish,” Sun Meng said indifferently. “You know how to handle the information Liang Zhongshu sends. I have other matters to attend to. I will come find you later.”

With that, Sun Meng flew away.

Looking at the mission’s progress, Sun Meng saw that Mu Xingye and Pixis had also witnessed the awakening of several constellations. Song Jiang had already begun a life almost worthy of a protagonist, gathering a host of constellation heroes around him. Naturally, he had also passed on the techniques Sun Meng had taught him.

Perhaps by coincidence, nearly eighty percent of the people gathered around Song Jiang were Martial Stars. Sun Meng also confirmed another fact: most Martial Stars and Demon Stars were two aspects of the same existence.

By secretly relying on his ability to sense the powers of Martial Stars that had yet to awaken, Song Jiang had already dealt with some of the still-dormant Demon Stars. Yet a few remained. Because Song Jiang had not yet gone up to Liangshan, and because of Sun Meng’s earlier instructions, he had no intention of eliminating them before their corresponding Martial Stars had been found.

Meanwhile, the conflict between Chao Gai’s group and Lin Chong had grown increasingly overt.

Lin Chong’s faction had used its control over the Liangshan army to suppress Chao Gai’s followers. But Chao Gai’s men had earned merit and established their prestige through one operation after another. They had also used the treasures brought to the mountain to win people over, recruit soldiers, and expand their forces. With the Ruan brothers having taken complete control of the naval forces, Lin Chong was finally driven beyond endurance.

A letter was sent to the detached residence of Chai Jin’s household. After reading its contents, Lin Chong sighed and entrusted the safety of his wife to Chai Jin before setting out alone for Liangshan.

Page (3/3)