Chapter 237: Sun And Moon Rising Together
The pedestrians on the street, including the noodle shop owner, were all scared away by the cold killing intent released by Ge Xian Tong just now.
The bridgehead was empty, with all sounds gone.
In this eerie silence, only the chopstick and bowl sounds from the two people in the shop remained.
Li Weiyi said: “Actually, I’m terrified deep down. Knowing that at dawn I will face the jealous killing from the first expert of the younger generation, I even thought of hiding at the seabed outside the Southern City Outer City, not coming out until the night after tomorrow.”
Ge Xian Tong said: “Wouldn’t escaping the city be even better?”
“I’m afraid escaping the city is also a dead end.” Li Weiyi said.
“Wait…”
Ge Xian Tong looked strange and smiled as he asked: “What do you mean by ‘jealous killing’?”
Li Weiyi said: “Everyone in Qiu Zhou Prefecture City knows that in the same realm, I defeat all enemies under heaven in five moves. When I cultivate to the Seventh Sea, I can also defeat you within five moves. Do you dare say you don’t have even a shred of jealousy or sense of crisis? Coming to kill me, is it really just for the public good?”
Ge Xian Tong said solemnly: “If you, Li Weiyi, can serve the Imperial Court and become a loyal and righteous man, support the state, and save the people from fire and water, I would admire you, so why kill you?”
“I originally thought that with talent reaching our level, one should benefit the world to rectify the Dao Heart, focus on the transcendent to cultivate the Martial Way, and dream of the vast heaven and earth to pursue the ancients. But seeing you today, I’m greatly disappointed. Your heart and vision are too narrow, still stuck at the level of jealousy between two young men.”
Li Weiyi secretly admired Ge Xian Tong’s sharp words. He had wanted to shake his heart with the word “jealous,” but he turned around and stuffed “jealous” into narrow-mindedness and threw it back.
And he didn’t fall into the trap of five moves in the same realm.
Li Weiyi said: “When poor, attend to one’s own virtue; when powerful, benefit the world. With our Five Seas Realm cultivation, we can’t even attend to our own virtue and need the protection of forces behind us. Shouting the slogan of benefiting the world, aren’t we overestimating ourselves? Right now, we can only go with the flow. Benefiting the world, focusing on the transcendent, pursuing the ancients—if you can’t do any of them, it’s just aiming too high. These three sentences, when said by your master Yu Yaozi, still have some credibility.”
Ge Xian Tong said: “Heaven is dead, yellow heaven shall stand. You’re not aiming too high? You, Li Weiyi, have ambitions greater than the sky. If you grow up, you will surely be a great threat to the Imperial Court.”
Li Weiyi said: “So your benefiting the world is just benefiting the Imperial Court—isn’t that narrow-minded?”
Outside, goose feather flying snow began to fall.
In the stove, the firewood was burning fiercely.
Ge Xian Tong finished his noodles first, wiped his lips: “You must have some special relationship with Jiang Ning. Even she couldn’t recruit you, so I won’t waste more words. Stop dawdling, eat quickly, and after eating, I’ll send you on your way.”
“By a stroke of opportunity, I helped her once by coincidence. She really wanted to help me escape today’s killing tribulation and repay the favor. Unfortunately, our positions differ, so we parted ways and broke off last night.”
Li Weiyi sighed, then asked seriously: “Ge Xian Tong, how much longer do you think this world will remain in chaos?”
Ge Xian Tong marveled at Li Weiyi’s calm heart. Sitting opposite him, calling him directly by name without any fear or cowardice—a dragon among men was no more than this.
Soon, his thoughts drifted back to the closed palace gate deep in Lingxiao Palace, his expression complex, unable to answer Li Weiyi’s question.
Li Weiyi said: “Outside, the Imperial Court has the Far West Ash Region; inside, Snow Sword Tang Court, Lei Xiao Sect, Zhu Men, Dragon Gate… and countless other great enemies. It won’t even take years—when the Far West Ash Region marches east, Lingxiao City will probably fall this year. And I, this so-called future great threat, am still just a small pawn.”
“Killing me holds no meaning for the Imperial Court.”
Ge Xian Tong collected his thoughts and said: “I’ve heard you’re extremely skilled at sophistry, but it won’t work on me. You know why the Imperial Court must crush Zuo Qiu Gatehouse at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival? Even to the point of killing Zuo Qiu Hong Ting?”
“Why?” Li Weiyi said.
Ge Xian Tong said: “You know about the Longevity Pill, right? He who gets the Longevity Pill gets the world.”
“But only Du’e Temple can refine the Longevity Pill, sending ten to Lingxiao Life Realm every Jia Zi. In the past millennium, these Longevity Pills were all delivered to Lingxiao Palace, decided by the Imperial Court who to reward.”
Li Weiyi knew the Longevity Pill was precious, but didn’t expect it to be this precious: “Only ten every sixty years—probably all digested internally by the Imperial Court!”
Ge Xian Tong nodded: “Without the Longevity Pill, even a Lingxiao Jia Shou like Zuo Qiu Ling must endure until fifty years old to breakthrough to Longevity. His achievement of breaking through to Longevity this Jia Zi has made countless Dao Seed Realm Martial Cultivators prostrate in admiration, unable to catch up, stunned as heavenly prodigies.”
“But the world doesn’t know that with the Longevity Pill’s help, many Imperial Court Martial Cultivators with talent inferior to Zuo Qiu Ling had already entered the Longevity Realm at thirty or forty.”
Li Weiyi said: “The successors of the ten million gateways have no qualification to take the ten Longevity Pills every Jia Zi?”
“Not even the qualification to hear about them.”
Ge Xian Tong said: “The three Great Palace Mistresses and eight Transcendents who hold core power in the Imperial Court, each backed by a force—their disciples, descendants’ heavenly prodigies, are all waiting for these ten Longevity Pills, not nearly enough to go around.”
Li Weiyi said: “The Imperial Court acting like this, ending up with the whole world as enemies, is truly bringing it upon themselves.”
Ge Xian Tong didn’t deny this: “If you sat in that position, you wouldn’t do much better. Not giving to your own disciples and descendants—after your lifespan exhausts in a millennium, who will support the family, who will guard your tomb? Arming enemies, they will copy your family and dig your grave.”
Li Weiyi said: “So, competing for Du’e Temple’s support is essentially competing for the allocation rights of the Longevity Pill. Even if you crush Zuo Qiu Gatehouse and kill Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, Du’e Temple will turn to support other righteous armies. They are clearly thoroughly disappointed in the Imperial Court and have given up on you.”
“We’re not fighting for Du’e Temple, but for Zuo Qiu Gatehouse. Hard to understand, right?” Ge Xian Tong said: “Didn’t you just say the Far West Ash Region marching east is common knowledge? If they really come, which place will be affected first?”
“Western Territory and Southern Territory.” Li Weiyi said.
The Far West Ash Region was obviously already laying out plans, otherwise there wouldn’t be so many forces in the Western Territory and Southern Territory submitting to Luan Sheng Lin You.
Ge Xian Tong said: “If Zuo Qiu Gatehouse loses Du’e Temple’s support, facing the Far West Ash Region, they’ll only have two paths left: submit to the Far West Ash Region or submit to the Imperial Court. Zhu Men is the same.”
Only then did Li Weiyi realize that from the Imperial Court’s perspective, problems were considered this way.
If the Far West Ash Region really swept in overwhelmingly…
“Facing clan extermination, facing the life and death of people across several prefectures, Zuo Qiu Gatehouse and Zhu Men’s higher-ups must compromise even if they don’t want to. And Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, a junior dying in fair combat, is like a pebble thrown into the river in the face of the world’s big picture—just some ripples.” Ge Xian Tong said.
“Survival and power are both arts of compromise.”
Li Weiyi nodded lightly and said again: “Are you so certain they will watch a young Son of Heaven be killed by you?”
Ge Xian Tong smiled: “In Du’e Temple’s eyes, a young Son of Heaven level Martial Way foundation can be cultivated. As long as they are willing, Dragon Hall can promote others—Lu Cangsheng, Tang Wan Qiu can too. Their rules and dignity are ten times, a hundred times more important than one young Son of Heaven’s life.”
“Du’e Temple hasn’t made the final decision yet; Zuo Qiu Gatehouse just has the greatest opportunity. So Snow Sword Tang Court, Dragon Gate, Zhu Men, Lei Xiao Sect… everyone’s here, all competing.”
“Jiu Li Clan can only choose Zuo Qiu Gatehouse, and Zuo Qiu Gatehouse just has two more paths than Jiu Li Clan.”
“In chaotic times, everyone stands on the edge of cliffs—no one can move freely, all very helpless.”
Killing intent re-emerged from Ge Xian Tong, his eyes losing all softness: “Zuo Qiu Hong Ting deserves to die! And you, this unexpected young Son of Heaven, aren’t you equally guilty of death?”
Li Weiyi calculated the time—almost three quarters of an hour. He didn’t know if Li Ling, Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, Cang Li and the others could understand his meaning. Luring away Ge Xian Tong was already the limit of what Li Weiyi could do.
Just the intangible killing intent alone made Li Weiyi feel like he was trapped in a muddy swamp, as if things were squeezing from all directions onto his body.
“Fought all night, your Magic Energy Consumption should be severe, right? Are you still in Peak State?” Li Weiyi adjusted his breathing, entering a state of clear and divine mind to face the most grueling life-and-death battle next.
Ge Xian Tong said: “Killing you shouldn’t require Peak State, right? I’m at Seven Seas Perfection; with breathing exercises, I can absorb Heaven and Earth Magic Energy, recovery is very fast.”
Li Weiyi felt Ge Xian Tong’s Battle Intent pressing down, his body instantly weighing ten thousand jin, endless killing intent.
Surrounding white mist was vast, all scenery lost, infinitely expansive.
His five senses were completely deprived by the opponent’s Battle Intent.
“Splash!”
Opposite, deep in the void behind Ge Xian Tong, a sun and moon rose, like the eyes of a cosmic giant overlooking all beings on the earth.
Qi Xiao and Shi Shishi, who had hidden for a night, searched everywhere in this city area for Li Weiyi.
Earlier, hidden in the dark, they naturally heard the three long whistles from the city tower, knowing Li Weiyi was nearby.
The two suddenly stopped, gazes turning to the noodle shop by the bridgehead across the Great River.
It was extremely eerie there; all snowflakes actually briefly froze in the void, forming a unique field domain. They could see Li Weiyi sitting facing them, with another white back shadow opposite, unknown who.
“Weiyi bro…” Shi Shishi shouted loudly.
“Rumble!”
From the Governor’s Mansion direction came deafening booms, the earth trembling.
Zuo Qiu Gatehouse’s Great Mind Master team struck out sky-full runes.
Three high-grade Hundred Character Scripture Magic Tools rose from the Governor’s Mansion, releasing brilliant light, smashing toward the Imperial Court camp’s position. The formation was pierced layer by layer, war drums thundering, tiger roars and ape cries—a desperate battle deciding the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival’s victory or defeat erupted.
And at this moment, the Imperial Court’s most core leader Martial Cultivator was not at the battlefield center.
Ge Xian Tong released his Battle Intent almost at the same time as the battle at the Governor’s Mansion ignited.
Li Weiyi secretly cried “heaven helps me,” sensing from the looseness in Ge Xian Tong’s Battle Intent his current inner shock and doubt, so he added fuel, deliberately angering him: “Ge Xian Tong, you’ve fallen for it! Three long whistles represent breaking out from the Imperial Court direction after three quarters of an hour. Without you stationed, who among the Imperial Court Martial Cultivators is a match for Zuo Qiu Hong Ting, Cang Li, Zhu Yi Bai? This bowl of noodles is expensive.”
At the same time, the hand holding the bowl erupted with Magic Energy brilliance.
“Bang!”
As the Magic Energy shattered the noodle bowl, it also triggered the Earth Spirit Grey Spring hidden at the bowl bottom.
The grey spring instantly exploded, turning into grey mist permeating the entire shop.
