A Miscalculation

Beast God City was still crowded and active. It looked like not many people had fled the monster invasion or perhaps they were attracted by the rewards? With the guests from the immortal competition gone, the real visage of the city was shown to Chen Wentian as he walked along the streets.

There were a lot more shops and stalls that were selling beast meat and beast materials. He saw many beasts in cages, slamming against their prison and snarling at pedestrians. The city felt a more a lot wilder and bloodier in its true form. Chen Wentian recalled some habits of He Xingping and headed over to a vendor and bought a large sack of spiritual beast meat. With a gift in hand, he finally headed home afterwards without any more distractions.

"Master He!" The guard in front of his house saluted and guided him in.

"Master!"

Two female servants greeted him and followed him to his room where they helped take off his outerwear. They stripped him down to his underwear before washing his body and bringing out a clean outfit. Chen Wentian in the past might have been aroused by the fresh and pretty faces of the maids and their tender hands as they touched his body. But he was very experienced with women now and he merely watched passively and let them do their work.

"Is the madam home?" Chen Wentian asked.

"Yes master."

"Good," Chen Wentian pointed to the bag he brought in, "Take this to the kitchen. Have it made for dinner. Now, leave me be."

He waved them off and went to his study. Chen Wentian spent a couple hours reviewing the documents there. He Xingping's memory was a bit fuzzy about some aspects and reading the texts refreshed his knowledge about the history of the Beast God Sanctum and the situation of the province.

Another point of interest for Chen Wentian was why the monster invasion occurred. As he read, he learned that the three monster lords within the wilderness would occasionally force a monster invasion to cull their own numbers as well as find food for the strong. Only the strongest beasts and demons would survive and gain the most benefits from defeating and eating humans. The weaker ones would instead become food and cultivation resources for the humans. It was a vicious trial and survival of the fittest.

For over five hundred years, the three human lords and the three monster lords held this bloodbath every twenty years like clockwork. Yet according to the historical text, this current monster invasion was early by about five years. This was also one of the worst ever invasions despite having five less years to prepare.

Chen Wentian's analysis naturally drew two questions about the situation.

The first question was why monster lords chose to expand their forces so rapidly as it would put a dangerous strain on the resources in their territory. Demons and beasts did not appear out of thin air. They needed time to breed and cultivate. If the land was over taxed of the capacity to nurture, it would be a devastating blow for any future invasion.

The second question was the issue with the coincidental timing. It was clear that He Zicheng most likely leaked the news of the Snake Lord's death to the monster lords to start the invasion early. On the surface he probably wanted to upend the Immortal Sect Competition but that reason was too petty and simple to justify the lives of millions of humans.

There had to be another missing variable… Chen Wentian went through many scenarios in his head but nothing made sense.

"Master, dinner time!"

The servant girl's voice broke him out of his headache inducing thought session. He was barely ahead of where he started and everything was still foggy.

"Okay, lead the way."

Chen Wentian arrived at the dining room and saw a welcome sight. The table filled with wonderful looking dishes. The spiritual beast meat had been turned into a roast and sat in the middle. He hadn't felt his stomach grumble like this since his days as a mortal.

"Husband, come eat."

Chen Wentian sat and looked over at the woman who was He Xingping's wife of almost twenty years, Qiu Jingyi. She was thirty-eight this year and while not a great beauty, he appreciated her noble face and classy makeup. Her hair was put up in an elegant bun and her turquoise robes displayed her assets well. Perhaps it was He Xingping's opinions melding with his own, but he quite liked the mature and calm aura she carried.

He also realized he had made a slight miscalculation. His soul art was not something he used on a whim and through an interesting set of coincidences, this was the first time his new body was already in a relationship. He chuckled at himself inwardly. He could have lost his virginity a lot sooner if he had thought about it more. This was also the first time in his life anyone had called him husband and he had to admit it sounded nice...

"Mmm, let's eat. The dire wolf steak turned out great! Try it, it's really good."

"Okay... wow, this is indeed delicious!"

Words flowed smoothly out of his lips as He Xingping's half of the soul unconsciously took over the conversation with Qiu Jingyi, discussing his latest mission as well as various sect matters. He Xingping had a decent relationship with his wife even though they were still unable to have a child.

Qiu Jingyi was of noble upbringing, a descendant of another immortal under the Lion Lord. She was an excellent source of news about the sect for her husband. It seemed the cold war between the two factions were heating up. Two elders of their faction actually died in the last few days and the cause was a mystery though many suspected the Eagle Lord's people.

Qiu Jingyi was glad her husband was back safe but still feared for his life for future missions. Chen Wentian thought differently as this conflict between the two factions was a good opportunity for him. He could do a lot of things from the shadows to cause more chaos.

They continued to talk about more mundane things and time passed quickly until it was time for bed.

"Madam." A female servant bowed to them, "The bath is ready."

Chen Wentian got up and so did Qiu Jingyi. "Wife, go take your bath and come to my room afterwards."

Qiu Jingyi smiled in happy surprise. It had been a month since he last requested her.

"Yes, I'll be quick. Please wait." She said as she headed off, a tinge of pink on her cheeks.