Chapter 116: An Old Scholar in the World (Middle)
(/p I really like the current atmosphere of book reviews and discussions—truly like it, not just polite words—but I hope everyone can each state their own reasoning, stick to the matter at hand. Of course, it’s okay to curse the author along the way. Also, that joke about “urging, urging, urging” was really unintentional. Everyone can tease about it, but don’t take it seriously. On this point, I’m very serious. Everyone is welcome to urge me to update every day—pressure gives motivation. Finally, someone proposed building a “Ferocity Tower,” and I think it’s great. The group number is 22221655. Last of all, there’s still one chapter today, but I kind of regret choosing this chapter name…)
Luan Juzi glanced at the old man in the tall hat who was seated across from the Great Li Emperor. The latter immediately stood up and began to perform the Lu family’s Yin-Yang technique to obscure the heavens and earth, making this place even more difficult for others to spy on from afar through mental means or spells.
Only then did Luan Juzi drop a bombshell: “This enormous calamity is very likely the work of ‘other schools’ secretly tripping us up, or at least fanning the flames. Maybe A Liang’s appearance at such a coincidental time—right after Qi Jingchun’s death, when A Liang immediately came to Great Li—is due to someone passing information behind the scenes. Among the Hundred Schools of Philosophy, there must be those who do not want my Luan Changye’s branch of the Mohist school and the Lu family’s branch of the Yin-Yang school to smoothly help Great Li annex the entire East Bottle Gourd Continent!”
The Great Li Emperor unclenched his fist, rubbed his cheek, and sneered coldly, “What a grand contention unseen in a thousand years—a chaotic world order!”
Luan Juzi reminded softly, “Now that things have come to this, we must not lose heart even more.”
The man in the ceremonial robe laughed upon hearing this and shook his head: “No, I won’t! Whether it’s ten years or fifteen, there’s still plenty we can do! Thinking back to the successive emperors of Great Li and the humiliations and disdain they suffered on this Bottle Gourd Continent, my current injuries are nothing.”
Though his words were light, the man forcibly swallowed a mouthful of blood that surged to his throat. He lowered his head, rubbed his neck with his fingers, and revealed a hint of ferocity and regret. However, the ferocity on his face lingered for a long time, while the regret quickly dissipated. In the end, only helplessness remained.
It turned out that before ascending, that man had used a supreme secret technique to silently sever the Great Li Emperor’s heart meridian, causing his Longevity Bridge to shatter completely. What was once a vibrant hidden tenth-floor cultivator was now reduced to a state of life force so weak as to be appalling.
Not only that, the White Jade Capital still stood, but of the twelve flying swords, half were destroyed, and the remaining six were lost without a trace.
In simple terms, the White Jade Capital, once infinitely lethal, was now an empty shell, reduced to an embroidered pillow—fine for scaring people, but wishing to kill a cultivator of the Upper Five Realms was nothing but a fool’s dream.
The previously flustered Song Jixin came before the three, now calm again, but still insisted on getting to the bottom of things: “Luan Juzi, Mr. Lu, can you tell me what exactly happened? Why can’t I sense any of the flying swords?”
The White Jade Capital’s twelve floors, twelve flying swords.
Incense Fire, Pillar, Suppress Mountain, Mountain and Sea, Peach Branch, Thunder Sky, Purple Lightning, Scripture, Brahma Sound, Righteous Qi, Red Makeup, Cloud Pattern.
These twelve flying swords, forged with the effort of half the nation, were truly the Great Li Dynasty’s national treasures.
Among them, the six swords including Incense Fire had been destroyed along with the golden bodies and dharma forms of the six Great Li orthodox gods.
But logically speaking, the other six gods of mountains and rivers who had yielded the way did not participate in resisting the enemy. Even if the flying swords had not returned to the White Jade Capital in the capital, they should not have vanished without a trace like broken kite strings, causing Song Jixin, the common master of the twelve swords, to lose all mental connection to them.
Luan Juzi turned back to look at the solitary tower of White Jade Capital, then turned around again and sighed heavily, revealing the truth in one sentence: “Those six flying swords have all been snatched away by that fellow in the midst of his ascension. Though he didn’t take them into the heavens, he probably tossed them into some unknown places. For now, there’s definitely no retrieving them. Even if we find them, whether we can use them again remains uncertain.”
In the end, Song Jixin was just a teenager. Overnight, he went from being an illegitimate son in Mud Bottle Alley to a prince of one of the top dynasties on the East Bottle Gourd Continent. He had drifted aimlessly to the capital, been inexplicably brought here, endured hardships to gain the approval of the twelve flying swords, and finally felt he could hold his head high and speak straight in front of that bastard man—only to end up with nothing but a basketful of water?
So upon hearing the bad news, tears immediately streamed down the boy’s face. He bit his lip hard, with some bloodstains still uncleaned on his face.
Luan Juzi didn’t know how to console the boy.
In fact, this old man with his own turbulent life story also felt as if he were in a different world, unable to believe it.
The Mohist school, including the wandering knights branch, always adhered to the ancestral teachings of the first sage master, including supporting the weak and weak countries so they would not be bullied by the strong.
But when it came to Luan Changye, he had read through the official and unofficial histories of various dynasties, traveled countless mountains, rivers, and countries, seen and heard with his own eyes and ears, and finally came to a conclusion: blindly supporting the weak, patching things up here and there, was of no use. In a century of chaos, with heroes vying for supremacy, supporting weak states against powerful dynasties that looked like hegemons ultimately resulted in far more deaths than if a strong dynasty unified the land.
So Luan Changye needed to find a suitable dynasty, a suitable ruler, to fulfill his ambitions.
In the end, he found the Great Li Emperor Song Zhengchun, and he was not disappointed. Even though the encirclement of A Liang dealt a heavy blow to Great Li’s once-blazing national strength, Luan Changye never thought this event itself was wrong. The mistake was that human calculations could not beat “Heaven’s calculations.” When it came to matching wits with certain behind-the-scenes big shots, even Luan Changye had to admit inferiority. But he was determined to take the gamble, to put all his chips on the line and bet on winning an unstoppable world trend!
The Great Li Emperor spoke with a smile: “Could you two go check if there are any flaws in the White Jade Capital? If that fellow left a backup plan, then I would truly have to dash my head against a wall. This also gives me and Song Mu some time alone. But I must say in advance, you two must promise not to eavesdrop. We father and son are going to talk about family matters. Please understand.”
The two old men quickly stood up. One said with a smile that he wouldn’t, and the other said he wouldn’t dare.
The Great Li Emperor looked up at the stubborn-faced boy, patted the steps beside him, and quietly crushed the jade pendant hanging at his waist. He said in a deep voice: “Sit down and let’s talk. From now on, I am your father Song Zhengchun, and you are my son Song Mu… but I’ll still call you Song Jixin. Passing the torch, collecting bit by bit—a good omen. Song Yuzhang’s choice of names may be vulgar, but he put thought into it.”
The boy sat obediently beside the man.
The Great Li Emperor first sighed, “I have to say, the luck of the Gao family of Great Sui is really too good. And you, kid, your jinx mouth is really too foul.”
When the two were alone, the boy felt somewhat uneasy.
Even though on the surface he was not afraid of this man, Song Jixin truly felt this man’s control over the Great Li Dynasty from the attitudes of his uncle Song Changjing, the maid Zhigui, and the two old scholars. That seeming magnanimity and carefree attitude, in fact, was filled with a self-confident pride—somewhat like the attitude of that swordsman named A Liang toward this East Bottle Gourd Continent and the entire world.
The man smiled slightly: “The remaining six flying swords that left the tower and the city didn’t return. They’re all gone. If they’re gone, they’re gone. The sky won’t fall.”
Song Jixin burst out with unexplained anger: “Gone just like that?! How can you say it so lightly! Luan Juzi and Mr. Lu both told me that these twelve flying swords have a self-evident meaning for Great Li’s direction in the entire Bottle Gourd Continent’s…”
But the boy quickly dared not continue.
And Song Jixin quickly came to his senses—the creator of the White Jade Capital and the flying swords was not himself, but this “resigned” man beside him.
The man looked at the ridge of a distant hall, where squatting beasts were arranged in a row. He said softly: “For a ruler of a country, don’t be afraid of enormous troubles. After a trouble appears, as long as it can be solved, it means you and the dynasty have become stronger. If it cannot be solved, it means your ability to govern the realm is still insufficient.”
“Such a big threshold caught us off guard, and I and Great Li did not manage to cross it safely. It’s a pity. But I don’t regret it. That’s the truth, I’m not lying to you.”
Song Jixin couldn’t understand no matter what, and asked: “Why?”
The man in ceremonial robe had sharp eyes, with no trace of his earlier helplessness and despair. He pointed to the ridge of that hall: “Because this only further proves that the Great Li national policy I established with my own hands is correct!”
“Those on the mountains—the cultivators of Qi—whether good or evil, must be locked in a cage! If they want to be immortals seeking longevity, Great Li will not interfere, and even gladly lends a hand, happy to see it come to pass. But a dynasty must have its bottom line. At the very least, those above should act within certain rules, not recklessly move mountains and stir waters in mortal dynasties based on personal whims. After a casual immortal fight, the heaviest casualties are always the defenseless commoners of the dynasty. I want all the common people within Great Li’s territory to revere the immortals not merely out of fear. Even a commoner living at the very bottom of society, if he dies innocently because of a fight between immortals, then Great Li must have the confidence and ability to seek justice for that commoner, who is like an ant in the eyes of the immortals!”
Song Jixin was shocked beyond words, his mouth wide open, unable to say a word.
The man raised two fingers, nearly touching each other, and smiled: “Right now, the justice Great Li can claim is very small, just about this big. But compared to other dynasties on the East Bottle Gourd Continent—those that serve as slaves to the mountain immortals—it’s already a world of difference.”
The man casually flicked his wrist, then clenched his fist and raised it high toward the roof ridge, as if showing off to someone: “I sincerely hope that in the future, Great Li can claim justice that is this big—or even bigger!”
Song Jixin was already somewhat numb.
But for the first time, the boy felt that the man beside him had become flesh and blood, no longer a rigid existence like the dragon throne and dragon robe.
The man in the robe turned his head and asked: “Do you know which words of that A Liang made me the angriest?”
Song Jixin gathered his courage and said: “Is it that he demanded you kowtow and admit your mistake?”
The man laughed heartily and shook his head: “As the master of Great Li’s realm, I can die standing but never live kneeling. If I couldn’t even do that, how could Great Li hope to gallop south and swallow this Bottle Gourd Continent? If people deceive themselves, heaven deceives them; if people strengthen themselves, heaven grants them. You’d better remember that. Furthermore, those immortals always say that our Bottle Gourd Continent is the smallest continent in the world, but do you really know how big a continent is? Go flip through any history book in this world—who has ever become the complete master of an entire continent?”
Song Jixin’s face was resolute as he nodded: “If people strengthen themselves, heaven grants them. I’ll remember that.”
The man said somewhat sadly: “The words that truly angered me were when he said Great Li didn’t have a single capable fighter. Not a single one. I stealthily, step by step, reached the Tenth Realm of Qi cultivators. On this East Bottle Gourd Continent, that’s already quite remarkable. Your uncle Song Changjing is an even more exaggerated Tenth Realm martial artist. So what? In his eyes, we still belong to the ‘cannot fight’ category. But fortune and misfortune depend on each other—this is precisely one of the reasons I survived.”
“If I had reached the Twelfth Realm today, and that fellow thought I could put up a fight, I probably would have been killed with a single blow.”
The man laughed out loud for no reason, but it gave the feeling of a hero in his twilight years.
Song Jixin, like talking about the wrong thing, asked: “One strike?”
The man nodded: “It’s certain—it was just one strike. That fellow is a peak Thirteenth Realm sword cultivator, a sword cultivator. That’s why he’s so unreasonable.”
Song Jixin was full of conflict. Several times he opened his mouth only to swallow it back, as if there was an itching question at his heart that wasn’t convenient to blurt out.
The man leaned back, supporting himself on his elbows, looking at the sky in a relaxed posture: “Are you wondering why he didn’t kill us before ascending to that other place unknown to the world?”
Song Jixin fiercely wiped his cheek with the back of his hand and grunted in affirmation.
The man said frankly: “Before I tell you the answer, I’ll tell you an unfortunate rumor: it’s said that great figures who break through the Thirteenth Realm can come back down to this world of ours. Although it’s extremely rare, there have been precedents. The Hundred Schools of Philosophy and the thousand-year-old powerful families deliberately keep it secret for some purpose.”
Song Jixin was sharp-minded and his face showed horror.
The man sighed: “So the path we chose, Great Li, is still very long and arduous. Don’t be discouraged.”
Finally, the man pointed to a certain place in the palace city and smiled: “There’s a boy who was raised by his mother. In his early years, he absolutely refused to go study at the Cliff Academy. I didn’t bother to argue. That little fellow has an interesting personality. If a dog on the street threatens to bite him, whether he actually gets hurt or not, he will definitely kill that dog and stew it for meat. And he might even find all the dog’s relatives and kill them all for satisfaction. What about you, Song Jixin?”
Song Jixin answered without hesitation: “The same!”
The man nodded: “When I was young, I was like that too. After I sat on the dragon throne, my temper changed a little. Because one day, I suddenly felt it was a bit boring.”
The man turned and smiled: “But in youth, having such a temperament is a good thing—it’s about being eager to advance and showing one’s edge. If someone respects me a foot, I respect them ten feet. If someone bullies me for a moment, I bully them for a lifetime. A true man should be like that!”
Song Jixin said softly: “I thought you would be very disappointed.”
The man patted his shoulder: “Not disappointed. If at such a young age, without learning any real skills, you had already learned to read my expression and used the court officials’ tricks of guessing the emperor’s heart—calling it the art of slaying dragons—then I would truly be disappointed.”
Song Jixin leaned forward, placing his hands on his knees and his chin on his hands: “But I know someone who might make a different choice.”
The man sat up straight and placed his hand on the boy’s head: “Trust my judgment. That guy holds grudges more than anyone. It’s just that he has suffered too much since childhood and learned to endure from a young age. If such a person becomes an enemy, he’s a real threat. That’s why I chose to turn a blind eye to the ambush at Green Wave Pavilion.”
“But don’t worry, he never regarded you as an enemy. Especially after you did those two seemingly trivial things based on your true heart, he will not even more so.”
Song Jixin’s face flushed red.
The man in the robe added: “But when you become the emperor of Great Li one day, that’s a different story.”
“While that fellow has just ascended and will definitely not return to the mortal world for now, we should seize the opportunity to uproot the problem and eliminate this ‘what if’ early on.”
After Song Jixin had this thought and just blurted it out, he felt some regret and negated himself, muttering: “No, if that person comes back later, Great Li will truly be destroyed.”
The man was amused and said with relief: “Do you think this problem is unsolvable? It doesn’t matter. That’s just because your position, Song Jixin, is not high enough yet.”
Song Jixin felt somewhat deflated and had to silently comfort himself in his heart: People strengthen themselves, heaven grants them.
The man smiled: “In one’s life, you need one or two beings that are both enemy and friend to make it interesting. I had one when I was very young, and so do you.”
After a moment of silence, Song Jixin asked in confusion: “You haven’t given me the answer yet.”
“Figure it out slowly yourself. I’m not so good-natured as to reveal my own scars after being beaten half to death. Oh, and becoming the master of the White Jade Capital only brings benefits, no harm—that matter, I lied to your mother. I believe after you lost control of the flying swords, you know I didn’t lie to you. As for the meaning behind it, think it over carefully yourself. It’s always good to think more about things.”
The man who had revealed heaven’s secrets just lifted his rear to stand up, then suddenly sat back, took the boy’s palm, and said cheerfully: “Let me read your palm. I know a little about it, never had a chance to use it before. Today I’ll try it on you.”
The boy dazedly handed it over.
While observing the lines on the boy’s palm, the man casually said: “In ten or fifteen years, you can still be close to your uncle Song Changjing, but never become dependent on him. As for recruiting him or anything like that—making this martial arts genius willingly submit to you, a junior—forget it. This younger brother of mine doesn’t even bother to hide his ambition. Even I, his elder brother who has always had the upper hand since childhood, never dared to show any posture of taming a wild beast.”
“No matter who you resent, before you truly grow up, you can think about revenge in your heart, but never act rashly.”
“But don’t let my words make you hold a grudge against your uncle. He is indeed a true hero. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have said the heartfelt words, ‘The world does not have only Great Li as its heroes.’ So as long as you surpass him in some aspect in the future, he might recognize you.”
After a while, the Great Li Emperor smiled and stood up to leave.
The boy clenched his fists and continued to rest his head on his knees.
That man had said some polite words that were half-understood, but during this time, the man had quietly written four words in the boy’s palm.
Longevity. Three.
Be careful.
Song Jixin suddenly raised his head and shouted at the departing back: “Dad!”
The man turned around, smiling at the boy, his expression not at all like an emperor, just looking at him.
And this man, whose true ambition was to discuss the rules of the mortal world with the mountain immortals of the entire world, seemed to have poured his life’s work down the drain, silently.
Song Jixin stood up, his eyes moist, his lips bitten until they bled. The boy was about to speak.
But the man had already turned away, and in a warm voice, he left two unrelated sentences: “A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step. From now on, eat your three meals on time.”
----
An old man who had traveled far and weary came out of Chess Pile Mountain. Upon finally reaching the foot of the mountain, he straightened the pack on his back, held his waist, and sighed: “This old back and old bones of mine—suffering, truly suffering.”
(End of this chapter)
(37 Chinese Net)