Chapter 795: A Century Ago [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
The guard initially dared not interrupt the big shot's conversation, but when he heard Yun Ce mention his teacher's age, he instantly lost his composure, his not-so-large eyes widening in disbelief: "Two, two, two hundred, one? Are you sure it's two and not one?"
He screamed inwardly and clutched his head.
Although people don't live long these days, there are always a few lucky ones who live a life equivalent to two or three lifetimes. Centenarians are rare, but you can find a few across the entire continent. But—that's two hundred years old! Two hundred!
It's only been a little over two hundred years since the thief star descended from the sky, and General Yun's teacher was almost the first batch of martial arts warriors/literary scholars!
Is this...is this even human?
Isn't this just a case of people becoming wise with age?
Because the guards were too shocked, Yun Ce had to patiently explain: "My master is skilled in martial arts and has good talent. In his early years, he served as a general of a certain country. When he was a hundred years old, he saw through the world and his Dao heart broke through further. He then retired from public life. The stronger a martial artist is, the longer their lifespan will be. My master's strength has reached the pinnacle. It is not surprising that he has lived to this age. He is not an old sage."
Although Yun Ce had never met another ancestor from the same era as his master, judging from the information his master usually revealed, there were definitely many others like him. They just hadn't come out to flaunt their existence for various reasons.
The guards were filled with admiration upon hearing this.
"At the age of one hundred, he resigned his post and retired into seclusion?" Although we don't know what realm Master Yun Ce is at, he must have reached the pinnacle of worldly power when he was one hundred years old. To resign and retire into seclusion in the mountains at that time—what a magnanimous spirit that is!
The guard couldn't help but sigh.
He asked himself honestly, and realized that he didn't have that awareness.
We fight and struggle our whole lives, isn't it all for the sake of enjoying life?
Retreat bravely from the rapids?
Is the mundane world meaningless, or is the power to turn one's hand to create clouds or rain not exciting enough? Because they can't do it, the guards admire them even more.
Upon hearing this, Yun Ce's smile froze slightly for some reason.
How was he supposed to answer that?
When he first heard this gossip, he was also full of admiration. However, not long after, he heard another version from his fellow disciples—his master's retirement was not his own choice; he had no choice but to retire!
At first, Yun Ce scoffed at the rumor.
It wasn't until this matter reached the ears of our master that the truth came to light.
The master slowly watered the flowers: "That's true."
Dou Dingyun Ce was shocked: [Who is it?]
Is there really someone more capable than the teacher?
The master said, "His name is Ji Moxing."
This name was imprinted in Yun Ce's heart from that moment on.
After answering his guards, Yun Ce turned his gaze to Gong Xi Chou: "Where is Senior Ji Mo? If there is an opportunity, I would like to pay him a visit. My teacher also misses him very much."
Gong Xiqiu said indifferently, "You cannot visit me."
Yun Ce's smile froze slightly, seemingly surprised by Gong Xi Chou's blunt rejection. But upon further reflection, it made perfect sense; Gong Xi Chou was a contemporary of his master, and in Gong Xi Chou's eyes, Yun Ce was not even a greenhorn and had no right to refuse.
Just as he was about to apologize, Gong Xichou casually dropped a bombshell: "The old priest has returned to the embrace of the gods."
Yun Ce was stunned: "Return to the embrace of the gods?"
Gongxi Chou said in a good-natured manner, "According to your customs, the old priest has passed away... many years ago."
Yun Ce: "???"
When he came to his senses, he blurted out, "Impossible!"
According to the teacher, that senior Ji Moxing was a contemporary of his, more than a decade younger. How could someone of such strength and status die so easily? So what if he was two hundred years old? He still beat Yun Ce senseless with one hand.
Gong Xichou sighed, "I also hope it's fake."
No one wished that night had been a nightmare more than he did.
Yun Ce gritted his teeth, clasped his hands and said, "Forgive my impertinence, but why did the old senior pass away? The old senior was a very important opponent to my master, and he has mentioned him from time to time over the years..." If my master knew that the other party had passed away many years ago, I wonder how sad he would be.
Gong Xichou pursed his lips: "Exterminate the entire clan."
Yun Ce was shocked: "Extermination of the entire clan?"
"He fought to the death while protecting his people during the night of the clan's extermination." He didn't want to go into unnecessary details, only mentioning some information related to the old priest. However, when Gong Xi Chou mentioned that Tang Guo was only fifteen years old and at the peak of the Lesser Upper Realm, having severely injured the old priest, he was shocked!
"That's impossible!"
Fifteenth-rank minor cultivator is not even good enough for Master to beat!
Gong Xiqiu said, "This Tang Guo may have been a sixteenth-level Grand Master at the time, but his chronic illness caused his cultivation level to decline?"
When he killed Tang Guo, the other party was indeed only at the fifteenth level of the Lesser Upper Realm. Otherwise, how could Gongxi Chou still be standing here? Even if he were to bind Ji Mo Can and the obsessive spirits of the Gongxi clan, the best outcome for both sides would most likely be mutual destruction.
Yun Ce: "Even a sixteenth-level Grand Master is impossible!"
Gong Xichou stroked his chin inwardly—judging from this situation, Yun Ce's teacher's strength was even above the sixteenth-level Grand Master level.
"Well—I don't know."
Yun Ce scratched his head: "What exactly is going on?"
For a martial artist with unwavering courage, barring fatal injuries or other chronic illnesses, peak condition can be maintained for many, many years until their lifespan is nearing its end. Only then will their vital energy gradually decline, with decaying death energy replacing their boundless vitality. At this point, their strength will begin to decline, but it's impossible for it to drop to the point where they can't even defeat a sixteenth-rank Grandmaster. Yun Ce secretly decided to send a message to his sect.
Gong Xichou said, "Perhaps only the old priest knows."
In the central part of the continent, in the Kingdom of Qi, the capital city, the royal family.
The usually bustling court assembly, resembling a marketplace, was now eerily quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop—even quieter than the funeral hall of the previous king. The source of this silence wasn't anyone else, but rather five people dressed as commoners standing at the center of the assembly.
To be precise, it's one old and one young person in the center of the five.
The old man took out a secret scroll.
The only unusual thing is the signature seal on the secret scroll.
The newly appointed ruler of Qi Kingdom looked down at the secret scroll, then looked up at the old man, and after a long while asked, "Are you sure, sir?"
The old man said in a hoarse voice, "I am certain."
The King of Qi: "..."
Who knows? That thing that disappeared for over a hundred years has reappeared, and all it wants is a spot in the Mountain and Sea Holy Land. Well, to be precise, it wants back a spot in the Mountain and Sea Holy Land that was stolen from it. The King of Qi secretly wiped away his sweat, his eyes flashing with a sharp glare at his ministers. These useless bastards are more likely to cause trouble than anything else; they only bring him trouble. Didn't they consider his status before making their move?
The King of Qi respectfully agreed to the old man's request. Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the old man casually made an excuse to leave.
After the five people left, the atmosphere in the court returned to calm.
The next second, the secret document was smashed directly on the minister's head.
The minister hadn't even reacted before he heard the order to demote him, and he nearly fainted. He didn't even know what had happened until his official hat was removed. It took him a long time to regain his composure.
He was originally slated to become the next Zhongzheng official, and according to unspoken rules, he could help people secure one or two spots in the Mountain and Sea Holy Land. His maternal uncle, having somehow heard this, persuaded his elderly mother, and the two of them pressured him, throwing tantrums and crying about how much effort they had put into raising him. They argued that he couldn't refuse to help his maternal clan, and he couldn't forget his uncle's kindness over the years.
【Yaozu, please help your brother... If you don't help him, how can I face our ancestors after I pass away? Can you bear to see your uncle's family fall into ruin?】
He said, "My cousin's abilities aren't up to par. Even if he enters the Mountain and Sea Holy Land next year, he won't get a good ranking. It's better for him to hone his skills for a few more years. With his talent, he's sure to achieve outstanding results!"
No amount of earnest persuasion could change their minds.
He had no choice but to agree.
It turned out that all spots were filled and there were no vacancies.
The uncle was not satisfied with the result and suggested, "Why not just pick a poor student, bribe him to give up?"
He sighed and said, "I'll give it a try."
Choose the softest persimmons to squeeze.
The opportunity fell on a foreign boy named Ji Moqiu, who reportedly had no connections in Qi Kingdom and somehow obtained the spot. The result—the spot was snatched last night, the complaint was filed this morning, and he was imprisoned this afternoon.
Minister: “…???”
no--
Who exactly is this Ji Moqiu?
The minister, imprisoned, listened to his elderly mother weeping outside his cell, feeling troubled and scratching his head, unable to understand Ji Moqiu's background.
Uncle Lin couldn't figure this out either.
Last night, Shao Bai came rolling back from the academy, looking pitiful, clutching his little bundle. When asked, the boy tearfully said that his teacher had made him drop out. Shao Bai had a spot in the next Shan Hai Sheng Di (Mountain and Sea Holy Land) competition, but he had used a special channel to stay and study at that academy.
Once you lose your spot, you can no longer stay.
Uncle Lin: [Your teacher's connections are unreliable!]
He was a seasoned veteran; he could tell from the procedure that Shao Bai's spot had been snatched away through underhanded tactics, and he had no choice but to accept it.
How could a few outsiders possibly defeat the local powerful and influential?
Not long after, the old man who had been taking a walk outside returned.
I was quite surprised to see Shao Bai.
Upon asking again, the old man's face instantly darkened several degrees.
Thus, on the second day at the Qi Kingdom's royal court, the Qi Kingdom's king intervened to snatch back the spot.
Is the old man connected to the ruler of Qi Kingdom?
Uncle Lin would glance at the old man every now and then, his small eyes brimming with boundless curiosity. Shao Bai, sensing his signal, considerately acted as a mouthpiece: "Teacher is amazing!"
The old man sneered: "It's not that the teacher is so great."
He added, "It's because they're afraid of dying."
Back at their temporary lodging, facing the four curious children, the old man had no choice but to explain in detail: "This story begins with the Gu calamity that befell the Wu Kingdom many years ago. At that time, the world was in chaos, and the ruler of the Wu Kingdom attempted to control his army with Gu poison to unify the continent. However, that powerful force collapsed overnight. Although the Wu Kingdom was destroyed, it left behind many problems, as those Gu worms multiplied using humans as nourishment..."
In eight years, they swept across almost half the continent, and were only one step away from unifying the continent, but in the end, everything was overturned overnight.
After the upheaval, these Gu worms completely spiraled out of control.
Uncle Lin was also quite well-versed in history.
He said, "No, this is not recorded in the history books."
Shao Bai concocted so many Gu worms right in front of him, and he gained a rudimentary understanding of these mysterious things, knowing how terrifying they could be if they got out of control. This is not recorded in historical texts.
The old man said calmly, "They've been controlled."
Uncle Lin asked, "How do we control it?"
The old man sneered: "The entire elite of the Gongxi tribe, including the five generations of high priests, was sacrificed... Those who survived also suffered varying degrees of severe damage. For over a hundred years, they have been unable to recover their strength; otherwise, how could they have been wiped out by these clowns?"
Everyone gasped upon hearing this.
"The High Priest of the Five Dynasties?"
Uncle Lin subconsciously looked at Shao Bai.
This profession isn't one where one person dies and another is taken over.
The old man saw his confusion: "It depends on God's will."
The high priest doesn't serve until death; usually, he's replaced after ten or twenty years. The gods also like fresh faces.
In this world, only the high priests of the Gongxi tribe are truly able to communicate with the Gu worms. They have been bathed in divine light and are the very beings that the Gu worms find most appealing and irresistible. To suppress the Gu worm uprising, the five high priests had no choice but to feed on the Gu worms with their own bodies.
The Gongxi tribe also declined from then on.
The old man said, "Qi Guo's ancestors were a branch that split off from Wu Guo, and they received the favor of the Gongxi clan's ancestors..."
If it weren't for Shao Bai, I wouldn't actually want to do this.
Uncle Lin listened with great interest, but upon learning the ending, he sighed deeply, then tensed up: "Wasn't Shao Bai's identity exposed? Shao Bai is the High Priest..."
The Kingdom of Wu—that was the dream of countless rulers.
The secret of the Gu worms is in Shao Bai's hands.
Wouldn't the ruler of Qi be tempted?
The old man was unconcerned: "What's there to be afraid of? If they have good intentions towards Shao Bai, we can win them over and accept the benefits; if they're blind and come up with some foolish tricks, we can just perish together. The Gongxi tribe's high priest is their only remaining heir."
The implication was clear: if they weren't afraid of death, they could continue plotting against the Gu worms. If things got out of control, no one would clean up the mess, and all living beings on the continent would perish with them. Perfect, all at once, they could continue their battle in the underworld. The ruler of Qi knew their identities and was already treating them with utmost respect.
Uncle Lin then asked, "What about your original network of contacts?"
The old man said, "I have been an official for decades and have dealt with more people than you have eaten salt. Do you really need to explain all of this?"
Uncle Lin: "..."
In the middle of the night, Shao Bai suddenly woke up.
"Teacher, someone is peeping at Ayan—"
It was an indescribable, eerie feeling. It was as if eyes were staring intently at him in the darkness, and he was terrified.
The old man opened the window expressionlessly; no one was there.
He addressed the air, "May I ask which esteemed elder has graced us with their presence? But Ayan is still just a child. If we frighten him, it will not be of any good to your Qi Kingdom. Please consider this carefully!"
After these words, Shao Bai no longer felt spied on when he slept. When the old man learned of this, he could only mock him.
He scoffed, "You cowardly old fool."
Shao Bai looked at him, puzzled: "What?"
The old man said, "It's nothing. I just suddenly remembered that there are some old ghosts in this world who are afraid of death and love to spy on children like you in the middle of the night. If you feel this way again, don't indulge them; you should scold them."
"scold?"
The old man nodded: "That's what they're most afraid of."
Shao Bai nodded blankly, "Oh."
The next day, Shao Bai continued his studies at the academy.
Half a day after he left, an old man with white hair and a youthful face, exuding an air of otherworldly wisdom, appeared at his lodgings. His aura was restrained, just like that of an ordinary person.
The man looked at the old man, and the old man looked back at him silently.
"After more than a hundred years, you have finally arrived."
Living like a prison within a self-imposed confinement is truly unbearable!
|ω`)
The old man who appeared last was not Teacher Yun Ce. Teacher Yun Ce was imprisoned in the Northwest Continent, which is in the central part of the continent.
(End of this chapter)
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