In the year the Sect Master's eldest son attained the age of seventeen, a grave calamity arose.The Demon Wolf Sect (魔狼派 : Mo Lang Pai) of Datong City in the Hedong Region (河东路大同府)—a strategic frontier stronghold—suddenly took action, slaughtering the people and plundering the merchant caravans of the Divine Eagle Sect.Furthermore, they openly declared themselves mortal enemies, vowing to bring about the total annihilation of the Divine Eagle Sect.
In truth, these two sects were situated in different directions; the distance between Taiyuan and Datong spanned three hundred li, requiring ten days of travel on horseback.However, competing interests along the trade routes and the expansion of their respective spheres of influence meant that friction was frequent.In former years, they had clashed on several occasions, yet such disputes were usually resolved through mediation or by both parties simply withdrawing.
But the tide turned once Shi Lijin (石丽紧), known by the illustrious moniker "Blood Wolf Demon" (血狼魔 : Xue Lang Mo), the Master of the Demon Wolf Sect, achieved Mastery of the supreme "Palm of Ruination."Having overthrew and suppressed numerous rival camps with this divine skill, he became emboldened and fueled by a boundless ambition, setting his sights on the Divine Eagle Sect as his next target.He commanded his retainers to harass, plunder, and slaughter any members of the Divine Eagle Sect who entered his territory, while secretly gathering his full might to invade Taiyuan and utterly destroy the sect.
Upon receiving these tidings, Sect Master Lin Xiu could no longer exercise restraint and resolved to engage in decisive combat.He appointed his eldest son to serve as Acting Master and ordered the mobilization of over three thousand subordinates to set out and remove this thorn from their side, while simultaneously launching a campaign to expand the sect's dominion throughout the Hedong frontier.
This deployment comprised nearly the entire strength of the Divine Eagle Sect during the reign of the second-generation Master.Naturally, Chen Shuyuan, in his capacity as Vice-Master and the Master's right-hand man, was required to join the campaign and take to the field of battle.
The transit consumed nearly a month's time, as the forces were dispatched in small, dispersed groups to avoid alarming the minions of the law.They moved discreetly, for to march in mass would invite the suspicion of the Imperial Court and risk the dire accusation of treason or rebellion.
Though the path was long and winding, the Divine Eagle Sect possessed the advantage of numbers, battle-readiness, and the superior martial prowess of their elite experts.They ruthlessly razed the branch strongholds of the Demon Wolf Sect one by one, depriving Shi Lijin of many formidable subordinates; yet he gnashed his teeth and resisted relentlessly.At last, both parties resolved upon a decisive confrontation, mobilizing their full might for a head-on clash.
In this engagement, the Divine Eagle Sect steadily gained the ascendancy; the first rays of victory began to glimmer, greatly inflaming the morale of their disciples.Yet, man's calculations cannot thwart the decrees of Heaven... for though Sect Master Lin Xiu was a peerless expert, he possessed an impetuous nature and a profound love for the heat of battle.He favored charging into the fray personally, yet in his reckless valor, he was lax in his own self-preservation.
Overconfident in his own martial prowess, he disdained heavy iron armor, donning only a vest of rhinoceros hide to maintain his agility.Beholding the enemy's strength waning and their ranks retreating, he should have commanded his host to utilize their superior numbers and spirit to crush the demoralized foes utterly.Instead, he abruptly decided to act personally, leading a small vanguard to plunge deep into the heart of the enemy lines, even though his own side already held the advantage.
Such a reckless decision caused the Sect Master to falter as several elite experts from the opposing side swarmed him in a chaotic mass.He was struck squarely in the center of his chest by a powerful palm attack and subsequently pierced from behind by a short sword.Though the blade did not penetrate deep into his flesh, it remained embedded within his leather armor, impossible to withdraw.
With the Sect Master wounded, a tumultuous confusion descended upon the battle formation of the Divine Eagle Sect.In that moment of disorder, Chen Shuyuan suddenly beheld the opportunity for which he had long waited!The realization that, despite his station as Vice-Master, he was in truth merely a servant to the Sect Master—and destined to remain a slave beneath the feet of the Master's two sons forevermore—surged within him.Every bitter rancor and feeling of despondency pricked his heart, and at that very instant, he resolved to undertake a grand and treacherous scheme!
As the Sect Master suffered his injuries, Chen Shuyuan rushed to his aid, kicking off the ground and soaring into the midst of the enemy circle that surrounded Lin Xiu.He whirled his body, striking with his blade with a speed like a spinning wheel, the clashing sounds of 'ting-ting-ting' echoing unceasingly.Yet the enemy, perceiving a chance to slay the opposing leader, crowded in from every direction.A single blade is hard-pressed to withstand a hundred armaments; in but a fleeting moment, his sword could no longer bear the force of its own strikes nor the relentless collisions against the enemy's steel, and it snapped asunder!
Though his sword was broken, his claw techniques remained formidable in their power.Chen Shuyuan executed the stance 'The Eagle Spreads its Wings' to shield the Sect Master—just as the Master had once shielded him from the mob in the marketplace during his childhood.Chen Shuyuan possessed no ordinary martial prowess, further bolstered by a prudent mind and eyes sharp as a hawk's.His claws tore through the void, striking at the foes surrounding him: scratching, seizing, tearing, and dragging in a rapid succession of strikes.Nonetheless, his back was struck several times by blades and spears, yet... they failed to even graze his skin!
This was because, concealed beneath his robes, he had secretly hidden the broken fragments of the 'Golden-Shelled Venomous Turtle's' bizarre shield—the very same treasure he had once cleaved in two!
The broken fragments of the shield had been meticulously refashioned and woven into a suit of chainmail, secreted beneath his robes. This ensured that his back was no longer a vulnerable weakness that an adversary could exploit.
Possessing the superiority of numbers, the host of the Divine Eagle Sect soon surged forward in a relentless tide. Chen Shuyuan successfully broke through the encirclement, escorting Sect Master Lin to a secluded spot, feigning an intent to examine his injuries and attend to his wounds.
However, seizing the moment when the Sect Master sat with his back turned, Chen Shuyuan struck out with a powerful palm, driving the short sword already embedded in the Master's frame with full force until it pierced through his heart.
Sect Master Lin Xiu gasped in shock, but before he could even turn his body to behold his assassin, Chen Shuyuan clutched him in a vice-like embrace from behind, firmly sealing the Master's mouth and nose. In but a fleeting moment, Sect Master Lin breathed his last.
Chen Shuyuan wept bitter tears, letting out a thundering roar, yet no soul could discern whether his cry was born of wretched agony or triumphant satisfaction.
Every suppressed rancor, love, and hatred surged forth in a tumultuous wave. Only he knew that his grand scheme to ascend to absolute power had finally commenced.
Though the leader had fallen, the Divine Eagle Sect maintained its ascendancy on the battlefield. Chen Shuyuan carried the blood-stained frame of the Master from the shadows and gave a soul-shattering shout:
"Vengeance!"
He abruptly placed the Sect Master's frame upon a conspicuous earthen mound, ordering a dozen retainers to stand vigil over the corpse. Then, he seized the golden blade—the Master's own personal weapon—and proclaimed himself the vanguard leader to drive the host forward in a relentless charge.
Invoking vengeance for the Sect Master, he inflamed the spirit of the Divine Eagle disciples. Though they had already been in the ascendancy and were pressing the attack, this fuel of intense rancor emboldened them further. They surged after Chen Shuyuan, hacking at the enemy with the intent to offer their blood and souls as a sacrificial offering to the departed spirit of Master Lin!
That night, the Demon Wolf Sect suffered a crushing defeat, yet Chen Shuyuan, in his capacity as Vice-Master, refused to stay his hand. He conducted a ruthless purge for seven days until every member of the Demon Wolf Sect was slaughtered—not even the livestock remained.
The military commanders and frontier magistrates had all received bribes from the Divine Eagle Sect. Enticed by a share of the profits from the seized businesses of the Demon Wolf Sect, they chose to look the other way, treating the massacre as a mere jianghu dispute outside the jurisdiction of the Imperial Court.
The Blood Wolf Demon, Shi Lijin, fled for his life in a chaotic mass. Although his martial arts were by no means mediocre, it was impossible for him to face a multitude of foes simultaneously. He sought only to escape and await a chance for retribution, but alas... The former orphan, Chen Shuyuan, understood the mindset of one "fleeing in panic" all too well. He devised a clever ruse to lure out the starving and desperate Shi Lijin.
The Blood Wolf Demon, a master of the ninth level of the Palm of Ruination, fell prey to a mere chicken leg and a gourd of water, feigned to be provisions forgotten by a peasant. As the wretch surnamed Shi consumed them ravenously, he was struck by acute poison. Thereafter, Chen Shuyuan and two youthful experts of the sect emerged from the shadows to surround and slay him with ease.
The severed head of Shi Lijin was placed within a box and offered before the coffin of Sect Master Lin Xiu as a sacrificial offering. That three mere youths were able to subdue a formidable expert who had mastered the ninth level of the Palm of Ruination became a tale that resounded throughout the entire Jianghu. The disciples of the Divine Eagle Sect only learned later that Vice-Master Chen Shuyuan had entered into a sworn brotherhood with these two men after their successful elimination of the "Blood Wolf Demon." Though they were members of the sect, they had remained obscure, for they were but ordinary and lowly retainers.
Most knew only that the first of the Vice-Master's sworn brothers was surnamed Sikong, given name Fu. He adopted his surname from his mother, as his father was a Mongolian from beyond the pass who was originally a horse thief. His mother, a traveling acrobat, had been abducted from a marketplace by his father; yet, in the end, they developed a sincere affection for one another and traveled from the steppes to reside within the Song domains as masters of the stables for the Divine Eagle Sect.
The second brother was surnamed Dongmen, given name Yuan. His father was a depraved Taoist priest who had been expelled from his sect due to his voracious passions, yet he was nevertheless profoundly proficient in finger techniques. After renouncing his status as a monk and wandering the martial world, he took Dongmen Yuan's mother—the widow of a fallen expert of the Divine Eagle Sect—as his wife and subsequently joined the sect's ranks.
....