# 836
Chapter 837: The Twelve Representatives
"Hey, do you think Instructor Lin is serious about this?"
As night fell, the new recruits washing up in their dormitories were steeped in a tense, heavy silence. None of them had the energy they had shown that morning when they first arrived at the training camp. It was as if something was weighing on their minds.
"What do you think?" The recruit beside him rolled his eyes and pointed toward the roof of the dormitory building across the way.
Under the moonlight, endless webs of spider silk covered the space between floors, and a massive, grotesque spider with a human face lay in wait high above. Its scarlet compound eyes stared unblinkingly down at the recruits below, sinister and terrifying.
The recruit who had asked the question couldn't help but swallow hard.
"But didn't he say formal training doesn't start until tomorrow?"
"That's right. If it had already started, that spider wouldn't just be watching us—it would have already pounced and started chasing us."
"That's insane. Is it really that brutal?"
"I don't believe it. It's probably like the earlier assessment test—they're trying to create this tense atmosphere to squeeze out our potential."
"I agree. Since when does the Night Watch train new recruits this way?"
"..."
Among the chattering group, Fang Mo calmly set down his toothbrush, draped the towel over his shoulder, and walked wordlessly back toward the dormitory.
Just then, his脚步 caught, as if he'd sensed something. He猛地 turned his head toward the floor below.
A figure in deep crimson slipped silently through the shadows.
Fang Mo's eyes lit up!
...
"Lord Seven Nights!"
A few minutes later, wearing his new recruit uniform, Fang Mo hurried over to the shadows at the edge of the dormitory building, his voice bright with excitement.
Lin Qiye turned around helplessly and pressed a finger to his lips.
"Keep it down. No one saw you come over here, right?"
"No, Lord Seven Nights."
"Good. Follow me."
Lin Qiye led Fang Mo silently through most of the training camp until they reached the roof of the teaching building. They sat down at the edge of the rooftop.
"Sit. There's something I want to talk with you about." Lin Qiye patted the space beside him and smiled.
Fang Mo nodded and sat down cautiously next to Lin Qiye.
"Lord Seven Nights, if you have any questions, ask freely. I'll tell you everything I know." Fang Mo said earnestly.
"No need to be so formal." Lin Qiye felt a bit awkward from Fang Mo's manner. "I just wanted to ask—how did you leave Cangnan, and how did you become a disciple of Yang Jian? Have you entered the Heavenly Court?"
There were far too many mysteries surrounding Fang Mo, all of them connected to Great Xia's secrets. Naturally, Lin Qiye was curious.
Of course, what he most wanted to know was the current state of the Heavenly Court.
After all, the state of the Heavenly Court would directly determine Great Xia's position and ultimate outcome in this war.
Fang Mo hummed and fell silent for a moment, as if considering where to begin.
"Five years ago, when you left Cangnan, Lord Seven Nights, and the miracle dissipated, all of us children born in Cangnan within that ten-year span were gathered in one place, ready to be distributed to different orphanages for adoption... At the time, we didn't recognize those people. Just recently I found out that those cloaked in dark red who helped us find homes were from the Night Watch.
The night before we left Cangnan, a wind suddenly stirred where we children were staying. From the wind emerged a frail man, along with an otherworldly-looking Daoist priest.
The man was my future master, Yang Jian." When Lin Qiye heard the words "Daoist priest," an image unconsciously formed in his mind—the mysterious Taoist who had appeared in his visions and in the Land of the Dead. One of Great Xia's Three Pure Ones, Yuanshi Tianzun.
The man beside him was the True Lord of Clear Origin, Yang Jian... But why was Yang Jian in such a weakened state?
Who had wounded him?
Fang Mo paused, then continued, "That night, my master and the Daoist selected twelve children from among us Cangnan survivors whose miraculous power was most concentrated, and took us away from Cangnan. I was the first of those twelve to be chosen."
"Twelve children?" Lin Qiye blinked. "So there are eleven more like you?"
"That's right." Fang Mo nodded. "After we left Cangnan, we rode the clouds to an unfamiliar mountain range. Among the peaks, I could faintly make out a massive golden silhouette, with vague figures darting about inside it.
My master found a cave on a mountain near that golden silhouette and made it into a dwelling for us."
"What did that golden silhouette look like?" Lin Qiye couldn't help but ask.
Fang Mo thought for a moment. "It looked like... a shattered palace? We were too far away at the time, and there was some mist swirling around it. We couldn't see clearly inside."
Lin Qiye pondered this.
If he had to guess, that was the Heavenly Court that the Gods of Great Xia had been desperately trying to repair... But why had Yang Jian and Yuanshi Tianzun brought these twelve children near the Heavenly Court and specially carved out a cave dwelling for them to stay?
"So, you all became disciples of Yang Jian?"
"No, not all of us." Fang Mo shook his head. "The night we arrived, twelve Great Xia Gods flew out of the golden silhouette and came to our cave dwelling. Each one selected one of the children and took them as their successor.
I was the child chosen by my master."
Upon hearing this, Lin Qiye more or less understood.
These twelve children were selected by Yuanshi Tianzun from among the Cangnan survivors for the awakened Gods of Great Xia to choose as their successors. Of course, in the Night Watch's terminology, these twelve children were all Representatives of the Great Xia Gods.
Looking at the timeline, the Gods of Great Xia hadn't yet fully sealed themselves away to focus on repairing the Heavenly Court's origin. Taking in these twelve children as their representatives must have been the last thing they did before sealing themselves away.
They knew full well that once they began repairing the Heavenly Court's origin, there could be no interruption. So as a precaution, they took in these children in advance. If everything went smoothly, by the time they finished repairing the Heavenly Court's origin, these children could serve as their representatives protecting Great Xia. If something went wrong during the process, these children would become their legacy-bearers.
Twelve Cangnan survivors, twelve children, twelve Representatives of the Great Xia Gods.
This was a seed planted five years in advance.
Just then, Lin Qiye seemed to think of something.
"You were all born in that ten-year span, which means the oldest of you should only be fifteen now?" Lin Qiye looked at the young man before him with surprise. "You..."
"I'm seventeen this year." Fang Mo smiled. "After my master awakened, he took us into a mysterious space where time flowed differently. We trained there for three years, while only one year passed in the outside world...
And I was the first of the twelve siblings to emerge."