Chapter 237: Sun and Moon Rising Together

The pedestrians on the street, including the shopkeeper of the noodle shop, were all frightened away by the cold murderous intent just released by Ge Xiantong.

The bridgehead was empty, and all sound vanished.

In this eerie silence, only the sound of chopsticks and bowls from the two people in the shop remained.

Li Youyi said: "Actually, I am terrified in my heart. Knowing that I will face the jealous killing of the number one expert of the younger generation at dawn, I even thought about hiding on the seabed outside the South City and not coming out until tomorrow night."

Ge Xiantong said: "Wouldn't it be better to escape the city?"

"I'm afraid that escaping the city would also be a dead end," Li Youyi said.

"Wait..."

Ge Xiantong's expression was strange, and he asked with a smile: "What is 'jealous killing'?"

Li Youyi said: "Everyone in Qiuzhouzhou city knows that at the same realm, I defeat all enemies in the world in five moves. When I cultivate to the Seventh Sea, I will also be able to defeat you within five moves. Do you dare to say you don't have a trace of jealousy and a sense of crisis in your heart? Coming to kill me—is it really just for the public good?"

Ge Xiantong said solemnly: "If you, Li Youyi, could serve the imperial court, become a loyal and righteous person, support the country, and save the people from fire and water, I would be too late to admire you; why would I want to kill you?"

"I originally thought that when talent reaches our level, one should benefit the world with a righteous heart, focus on the transcendent, and pursue the martial Dao, dreaming of the vast world to follow the sages. But seeing you today, I am greatly disappointed; your heart and vision are too narrow, actually still stuck in the jealous competition between two youths."

Li Youyi secretly admired the sharpness of Ge Xiantong's words; he had wanted to use the word "jealousy" to shake his heart, but he had instead packed the word "jealousy" into "narrowness" and hit him back.

And he hadn't fallen into the trap of defeating him in five moves at the same realm.

Li Youyi said: "When poor, one should improve oneself; when successful, one should benefit the world. With our cultivation in the Five Seas Realm, we can't even improve ourselves, needing the protection of powers behind us. Is shouting the slogan of benefiting the world overestimating ourselves? We are actually all just drifting with the tide. Benefiting the world, focusing on the transcendent, pursuing the sages—if you can't do any of these, then it is aiming too high. If your master Yu Yaozi said these three sentences, they would have some credibility."

Ge Xiantong said: "The blue sky is dead, the yellow sky shall stand. Are you not aiming too high? Your heart, Li Youyi, is bigger than the sky. If you are allowed to grow, you will definitely be a great threat to the imperial court."

Li Youyi said: "So your benefiting the world is only benefiting the imperial court; isn't that narrow?"

Outside, goose-feather snow began to fall.

In the stove, the firewood was burning fiercely.

Ge Xiantong finished his noodles first and wiped his lips: "You must have some special relationship with Jiang Ning. Since even she couldn't recruit you, I won't waste words. Don't dawdle, eat quickly, and after you eat, I'll send you on your way."

"By chance, I helped her once, and she really wanted to help me escape today's killing tribulation and return my favor. Unfortunately, our positions are different, and we could only part ways and break off last night."

Li Youyi sighed and then asked seriously: "Ge Xiantong, how much longer do you think this world will be in chaos?"

Ge Xiantong marveled at Li Youyi's calm heart, sitting opposite him, calling him by his name, without any fear or cowardice—a dragon among men, nothing more than this.

Soon, his thoughts drifted back to that closed palace gate deep in the Lingxiao Palace, his expression complex, unable to answer Li Youyi's question.

Li Youyi said: "The imperial court has the Far West Ash Region outside, and countless great enemies inside like the Snow Sword Tang Ting, the Lei Xiao Sect, the Zhu Sect, the Longmen... It won't take many years. Once the Far West Ash Region marches west, I fear the Lingxiao City will be broken this year. And I, this so-called future great threat, am still just a small pawn."

"Killing me has no meaning for the imperial court."

Ge Xiantong collected his thoughts and said: "I heard you are extremely good at sophistry, but it's useless here. Do you know why the imperial court must beat the Zuoqiu Sect down at the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival? And even kill Zuoqiu Hongting?"

"Why?" Li Youyi said.

Ge Xiantong said: "You know about Longevity Pills, right? He who obtains the Longevity Pill obtains the world."

"But only the Due Temple can refine Longevity Pills, sending ten to the Lingxiao Life Realm every sixty years. For the past thousand years, these Longevity Pills have been sent to the Lingxiao Palace, and the imperial court decides who to bestow them upon."

Li Youyi knew Longevity Pills were precious, but didn't expect them to be precious to this extent: "Only ten every sixty years? I fear the imperial court digests them all internally!"

Ge Xiantong nodded: "Without Longevity Pills, even a Northern Region First Expert like Zuoqiu Ling needs to struggle until he is fifty to break through to longevity. This achievement of breaking through to longevity in this cycle makes countless Dao Seed Realm Wu Xiu admire him to the point of prostration, unable to catch up, regarding him as a god."

"But the people of the world don't know that with the help of Longevity Pills, many Wu Xiu in the imperial court whose talent is inferior to Zuoqiu Ling have already stepped into the Longevity Realm in their thirties or forties."

Li Youyi said: "Inheritors of the ten-thousand-sect gate don't have the qualifications to take the ten Longevity Pills every sixty years?"

"They don't even have the qualifications to hear of them."

Ge Xiantong said: "The three Palace Masters who hold core power in the imperial court, and the eight transcendent ones—behind each of them is a power. Their disciples and the heaven-favored children among their descendants are all waiting for these ten Longevity Pills; there aren't enough to go around."

Li Youyi said: "The imperial court acting this way, having the world as its enemy today, is truly self-inflicted."

Ge Xiantong did not deny this point: "If you sat in that position, you wouldn't be much better. If you don't give them to your own disciples and descendants, when your lifespan is exhausted in a thousand years, who will support the family, and who will guard your tomb? Giving resources to outsiders—the outsiders will ransack your home and dig up your tomb."

Li Youyi said: "So, competing for the support of the Due Temple is essentially competing for the right to distribute Longevity Pills. Even if you beat the Zuoqiu Sect and kill Zuoqiu Hongting, the Due Temple will turn to support other rebel armies. They are clearly disappointed with the imperial court and have already abandoned you."

"We are not competing for the Due Temple, but for the Zuoqiu Sect. It's hard to understand, right?" Ge Xiantong said: "Didn't you say earlier that the Far West Ash Region coming west is known to everyone? If they really come west, where will be affected first?"

"The Western Region and the Southern Region," Li Youyi said.

The Far West Ash Region is clearly already laying out plans, otherwise there wouldn't be so many powers in the Western Region and Southern Region throwing themselves under Luan Sheng Lin You's banner.

Ge Xiantong said: "If the Zuoqiu Sect loses the support of the Due Temple and faces the Far West Ash Region, only two paths will be left for them: either submit to the Far West Ash Region or surrender to the imperial court. The Zhu Sect is the same."

Only then did Li Youyi realize that from the imperial court's perspective, they were thinking about the problem this way.

If the Far West Ash Region really comes aggressively...

"Facing the disaster of extermination, facing the life and death of the people of several states, the higher-ups of the Zuoqiu Sect and the Zhu Sect have to compromise even if they don't want to. And a junior like Zuoqiu Hongting dying in a fair fight is just like a stone thrown into a river in the face of the world situation, just some ripples," Ge Xiantong said.

"Survival and power are both arts of compromise."

Li Youyi nodded lightly and then said: "Are you so sure they will watch a young Son of Heaven be killed by you?"

Ge Xiantong smiled: "In the eyes of the Due Temple, the martial foundation of a young Son of Heaven can be cultivated. As long as they are willing, the Dragon Palace can be elevated; Lu Cangsheng and Tang Wanqiu can be too. Their rules and majesty are ten or a hundred times more important than the life of a young Son of Heaven."

"The Due Temple hasn't made a final decision yet; the Zuoqiu Sect just has the best chance. So the Snow Sword Tang Ting, the Longmen, the Zhu Sect, the Lei Xiao Sect... everyone has come, and everyone is competing."

"The Li clan can only choose the Zuoqiu Sect, and the Zuoqiu Sect only has two more paths than the Li clan."

"In troubled times, everyone is standing on the edge of a cliff; no one can move with ease, and everyone is helpless."

The murderous intent on Ge Xiantong's body permeated again, his eyes no longer soft: "Zuoqiu Hongting deserves to die! And you, this young Son of Heaven who popped out unexpectedly—isn't that also a capital crime?"

Li Youyi calculated the time; it was almost three quarters. He didn't know if Li Ling, Zuoqiu Hongting, and Cang Li could understand his meaning. Luring Ge Xiantong away for them was already the limit of what Li Youyi could do.

Just the invisible murderous intent made Li Youyi feel the discomfort of being trapped in a muddy swamp, as if things were squeezing him from all directions.

"After fighting all night, your magic power consumption must be very serious, right? Are you still in your peak state?" Li Youyi adjusted his breathing, letting himself enter a state of clear mind to deal with the most difficult life-and-death battle to come.

Ge Xiantong said: "Killing you shouldn't require a peak state! I am at the Seventh Sea completion; breathing and exhaling can absorb the magic power of heaven and earth, and I recover very quickly."

Li Youyi felt Ge Xiantong's battle intent pressing down, his body instantly weighing ten thousand jin, the murderous intent infinite.

The white mist around was vast, all scenery lost, infinitely vast.

His five senses were completely lost, pressed by the opponent's battle intent.

"Whoosh!"

Opposite, deep in the void behind Ge Xiantong, a sun and a moon rose, like the two eyes of a cosmic giant, looking down at all living beings on the earth.

Qi Xiao and Shi Shishi, who had been hiding all night, were searching for Li Youyi everywhere in this city district.

Previously, hiding in the dark, they naturally heard the three long whistles from the city tower and knew Li Youyi was nearby.

The two stopped abruptly, their eyes looking across the river to the noodle shop by the bridgehead.

It was eerie there; all the snowflakes were briefly suspended in the void, forming a unique field. They could see Li Youyi sitting facing them, and another white back, not knowing who it was.

"Brother Youyi..." Shi Shishi shouted.

"Rumble!"

From the direction of the Prefecture Governor's Mansion, a deafening roar came, and the earth shook.

The Zuoqiu Sect's Great Thought Master team unleashed a sky full of runes.

Three more high-grade Hundred-Character Scripture magic artifacts rose from the Prefecture Governor's Mansion, releasing brilliant light, smashing toward the direction where the imperial court camp was located. The formation was pierced layer by layer, war drums were beaten, tigers roared and apes cried, and a life-and-death battle that would decide the victory of the Hidden Dragon Lantern Festival erupted.

And at this moment, the core leader of the imperial court Wu Xiu was not at the center of the battlefield.

Ge Xiantong released his battle intent, and the battle at the Prefecture Governor's Mansion started almost at the same time.

Li Youyi secretly shouted "Heaven helps me," already feeling the loosening of Ge Xiantong's battle intent and sensing his inner suspicion, so he added fuel to the fire, deliberately provoking him: "Ge Xiantong, you've fallen for it! Three long whistles represent breaking out from the imperial court's direction after three quarters. Without you sitting in command of the imperial court Wu Xiu, who is the opponent of Zuoqiu Hongting, Cang Li, and Zhu Yibai? This bowl of noodles is very expensive."

At the same time, the hand he was holding the bowl with erupted with magic power light.

"Bang!"

While the magic power shattered the noodle bowl, it also triggered the Earth Spirit Ash Spring hidden at the bottom of the bowl.

The Ash Spring exploded instantly, turning into ash mist that permeated the entire shop.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 238 =====