Chapter 374: Heart Struggle (Part 4)

The middle-aged alchemist said with a smile.

"What is there to prepare? Outsiders don't know, but between you and me, why keep up the charade... In this world, where is there anyone who can truly be called an 'Immortal'?"

"Yingzhou, Fangzhang, Penglai—they are merely excuses used to trick the Emperor into providing sea vessels, young boys, and young girls."

An Qisheng shook his head.

"Senior Brother, you should still be careful."

The middle-aged alchemist gave a carefree laugh and rolled up his sleeves.

"Careful of what? Setting out to sea is a gamble with nine deaths for every life. You and I, fellow disciples, may never see each other again, and you are the only one who understands me... If I were to lie to you, what would be the point?"

An Qisheng fell silent.

After a long while, he spoke slowly.

"Senior Brother, are you certain that by heading east, you will find Master?"

"After achieving Profound Observation, I increasingly feel that Master intentionally erased our memories of him, leaving only a vague shadow... How are you so sure he went to sea?"

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged alchemist tapped his own temple.

"Although our memories only contain a vague figure, there is one commonality: in our memories, Master was always watching the sea."

An Qisheng frowned.

"Is that all?"

The middle-aged alchemist said with a smile.

"That is enough."

"You and I, as remnants of the Six States, lost our homes long ago. But I am different from you; I no longer even have the heart for revenge. I only wish to fulfill one last wish before I die—to meet Master and say thank you."

"Following this thought, if I die, so be it. Heh."

The middle-aged alchemist's laugh was both carefree and helpless. An Qisheng did not know how to respond and could only remain silent. The two stood there for a long while before the middle-aged alchemist spoke again.

"Junior Brother, do you still intend to assassinate the Emperor?"

"I do."

An Qisheng's words carried not a hint of hesitation.

"Fine then."

The middle-aged alchemist shrugged.

"However, Junior Brother, you might want to hurry... The Emperor's health is poor; he might not live long enough for you to kill him."

An Qisheng remained silent.

"Forget it, I'm off, Junior Brother."

The middle-aged alchemist turned around.

"Do you have any words you want me to pass on to Master? If I truly find him."

An Qisheng thought for a moment and said only one thing.

"Thank you."

The middle-aged alchemist waved his hand and walked away.

An Qisheng turned his head to continue looking at Langya Terrace.

Suddenly, he heard a whistling sound from behind, as if something extremely heavy had been thrown at him.

An Qisheng raised his hand to catch it. Looking at it, he saw a piece of pitch-black metal, the material of which was unrecognizable. As his fingers brushed the back, he felt several carved characters.

He turned the metal and saw five Qin-style seal characters on the back.

"This year, the Ancestral Dragon dies."

The middle-aged alchemist's laughter came from behind.

"Meteorite iron from beyond the heavens, I just carved a few words on it."

"This charlatan doesn't have many tricks, so I'll give you this as a parting gift, Junior Brother. It might be useful later... I'm off."

An Qisheng turned his head.

The middle-aged alchemist was already gone.

After a long while, he said in a hoarse voice.

"Farewell... Senior Brother Xu."

The scene shifted for the final time. An Qisheng was now a frail old man, his arms as withered as tree branches, his skin dry and wrinkled. He leaned against a tree trunk, gasping for breath, his chest heaving like a broken bellows.

His lifespan was nearing its end.

Yet, he was still a Heavenly Human who cultivated both nature and life; logically, he should not have shown such fatigue until the very last moment.

Firstly, he had suffered too many injuries during his previous attempts to assassinate the Emperor, several of which had damaged his foundation and could no longer be healed by any technique.

Secondly, it was because of a smell.

A stench lingered at the tip of his nose.

It was the smell of abalone rotting under the scorching sun.

But An Qisheng could naturally distinguish a different scent within the stench of the abalone.

The smell of a rotting corpse.

Under the blazing sun, a carriage procession moved slowly in the distance. Armored soldiers lined both sides, and several Heavenly Humans no weaker than him were patrolling the perimeter, ready to strike at any moment.

In the center of the procession was a carriage.

The stench was emanating from there.

There lay the corpse of the enemy An Qisheng had pursued his entire life.

An Qisheng suddenly laughed silently.

Dozens of failures, a lifetime of sacrifice, and just before the attempt closest to success... his enemy had died of old age.

How ridiculous.

He had long forgotten the faces of his parents. On the path of revenge, everyone who had walked with him had also died. He had nothing... Revenge had gradually become his means of seeking death.

If the assassination succeeded, he would die for a cause.

If the assassination failed, he could also find peace.

But now, even this obsession had become a joke.

He had become an empty shell, unable to live and unable to die.

An Qisheng slowly raised his hand, True Qi gathering in his palm, and struck toward his own forehead. He dispersed the protective True Qi on his head; with this strike, he could finally be free.

But his palm stopped before his face.

An Qisheng remembered someone.

"Senior Brother Xu... did you find Master?"

He muttered.

With these words, his hand slowly lowered.

"I have never heard news of Senior Brother Xu again; perhaps he died at sea... If he had found Master, he would not have failed to come find me."

"I should also go find Master, and die on the road."

An Qisheng turned slowly and walked in the direction away from the procession.

"Senior Brother headed east; I should head southeast."

"If my lifespan is near its end... the Profound Observation technique Master left behind has a method to transfer one's 'nature' into another vessel, though as time passes, one becomes less and less like oneself... But that matters not."

"If I cannot find Master, I will build a sect on the islands in the southeast... What was the name of the immortal island Senior Brother went to sea to find? Yingzhou?"

The muttering faded into the distance.

The procession moved slowly forward, the stench mixed with incense, and black abalone slid across the golden coffin, making a sticky sound.

The final memory ended.

Li Miao slammed a fist into An Qisheng's chest. The moment his fist touched the protective True Qi, his skin split into countless tiny openings, revealing several tentacles growing sharp teeth that rolled rapidly beneath the skin. In an instant, they scraped away a layer of the protective True Qi.

Li Miao's fist stopped an inch from An Qisheng's chest.

But the next instant, his fist retracted a minuscule distance—and then struck out again like a teleportation, creating a shrill sonic boom within a distance of less than a finger's width!

Boom!

An Qisheng flew backward, blood gushing from his mouth.

His protective True Qi had been completely shattered.

The "nature" he had planted in Li Miao's body had also been devoured, with less than thirty percent remaining.

And Li Miao's hand, in the next instant, clamped onto his neck.