Chapter 380: Inheritance

"Battalion Commander."

"Uncle Li."

"My lord."

"... Elder brother."

Everyone suddenly turned to look at Zheng Yi.

What? What did you just call him?

Since when did you become so familiar?

The others swallowed their words back; only Gao Anyu jumped up, ready to applaud: "Uncle Li, Aunt Zheng, we've finally become a family—"

Cao Hanyan tugged at his sleeve, blocking his words.

At the same time, among those kneeling in front, someone let out a cold snort: "I don't remember giving birth to a son; if you want to acknowledge a relative, shouldn't you ask me, the birth mother, first?"

Zheng Yi did not reply and walked to Li Miao's side with her sword.

"Elder brother, the houses have all been torn down, and I walked around the palace wall again to confirm that the fire won't spread to the common people."

Li Miao nodded: "Hard work."

He raised his hand and pointed at the person who had snorted coldly.

"I spared her life for your sake; do you have anything to say?"

Zheng Yi shook her head expressionlessly, though her gaze couldn't help but sweep toward the woman kneeling on the ground—Zheng Qi.

Zheng Yi had been nearly killed by her palm, ending the thought of mother and daughter acknowledging each other; that was one thing. But feelings were things that were unclear and hard to sever; no matter how disappointed she was, that was still Zheng Yi's birth mother.

If Li Miao had slaughtered her, even if Zheng Yi felt no resentment, it would have planted a thorn in her heart; it would be hard to make Zheng Yi call him "elder brother" again.

Therefore, Li Miao did not kill her; he only crushed some of her non-lethal internal organs and brought her to the Huagai Hall after the struggle ended. It was also fortunate that Li Miao killed quickly, otherwise she would have been burned to death.

Zheng Yi looked for a long while before finally speaking slowly.

"Mother."

Zheng Qi snorted coldly: "Don't; I am a member of the Penglai Sect, and I don't have a daughter who is an Embroidered Uniform Guard; I cannot climb that high."

Zheng Yi shook her head.

"Whether you acknowledge me or not is no longer important."

"You gave me a life, and I return a life to you; our grievances are settled. Whether you think it's worth it or not has nothing to do with me anymore... and I will no longer walk the path you arranged."

"Right now, I just want to tell you that I will let my elder brother spare your life, and as for the things my elder brother wants to know, you should not hide anything... If you still care about mother-child affection, please don't make it difficult for me."

Seeing Zheng Qi open her mouth to mock her, Zheng Yi interrupted her words.

"You have no martial arts now, and Zheng Anqi has already been executed; only my elder brother can avenge the grudge of Yingzhou, so I hope you... consider it clearly."

Having said that, she turned and went behind Li Miao, speaking no more.

Zheng Qi still wanted to speak, but was interrupted by Li Miao waving his hand.

"That's enough. You think revenge is more important than a daughter, so why can't she think a mother is more important than revenge? You were about to kill her with one palm, and you're still putting on the airs of an elder here?"

"If you say any more nonsense, I'll bury you with Zheng Anqi, and I'll have him press down on you; when people dig you two up in the future, they'll think you two were a loving couple—do you understand?"

Zheng Qi actually closed her mouth.

Li Miao's words were backed by twenty years of Embroidered Uniform Guard skill, which Zheng Qi could not withstand.

So Li Miao continued.

"Actually, I don't have many questions. I've already figured out most of the things about your Yingzhou and Penglai; why don't I say it and you listen, to see if there are any omissions?"

Li Miao's eyes blurred, and the scenery on all sides changed. After seeing everything around him clearly, he frowned.

"A thousand years ago, Zheng Anqi Sheng founded Yingzhou; the foundation was Xuanlan, but not the Xuanlan technique, but his own Xuanlan realm."

He clenched his fist, then opened it again, feeling the power surging within his body that was completely different from the three paths of Life Cultivation.

"The essence of Xuanlan is mastery, a realm where one can fully control one's own life. And Zheng Anqi Sheng went a step further on this foundation—he achieved the ability to split his own nature and then plant it into others."

"Yingzhou was born because of this."

"In his own bloodline, he planted his own nature, and through the connection between lives, he created countless descendants similar to himself. This approach undoubtedly makes all his descendants live in pain. Their faces, bodies, martial arts, and realms are all someone else's; they have nothing of their own."

"Buddhism says 'In heaven and on earth, I alone am honored,' but Yingzhou and Penglai are a group of pitiful people who don't even have an 'I'."

Li Miao walked slowly to Zheng Qi's side and said unhurriedly.

"I think the birth of Penglai, Zheng Anqi's defection, and my being brought out of Yingzhou—the reasons for these three things are all the same."

"Whether it's Yingzhou or Penglai, they can no longer stand this life where even an 'I' does not exist."

Zheng Qi's face was as heavy as water; she remained silent, tacitly agreeing with Li Miao's statement.

Li Miao smiled, raised three fingers, and shook them in front of her.

"In that case, I have three questions. The better you answer, the more likely I am to destroy Yingzhou."

"Zheng Anqi is dead, your fellow disciples have been killed by you for the most part, and your martial arts are abolished; only I can avenge Penglai in this world, so you had better answer seriously."

Zheng Qi was silent.

Li Miao was not in a hurry and waited on the side.

After a long while, Zheng Qi's shoulders slumped.

She had lost; she had lost all her chips, and even lost her successor, Zheng Yi.

No matter how unwilling she was, she could only hope that Li Miao could destroy Yingzhou. Because no one else could do this... or rather, Li Miao was more likely to succeed than her.

So she said hoarsely: "Ask."

"The first question," Li Miao said: "Is Zheng Anqi Sheng still alive?"

"Yes," Zheng Qi answered without hesitation.

With that single word, everyone in the room except Li Miao widened their eyes and opened their mouths, unable to speak for a long while.

A thousand years of time, almost spanning the changes of all unified dynasties, countless families and even surnames had vanished in it... could someone really span such a long time?

But immediately, Zheng Qi continued: "Also no."

Before Li Miao could frown, she continued.

"The ranks of Yingzhou are divided into the outer sect and the main family. The head of the main family is named Zheng Anqi."

"And when Zheng Anqi's Xuanlan is cultivated to perfection, he will become Zheng Anqi Sheng."

Li Miao pondered with his fingers and said.

"So Zheng Anqi and Zheng Anqi Sheng, these two names are both titles, not fixed people."

"So, the one with the best aptitude is Zheng Anqi; when Zheng Anqi cultivates Xuanlan to perfection, he becomes Zheng Anqi Sheng, passed down from generation to generation."

"No wonder Zheng Anqi wanted to seize the ritual you prepared; this evil path of cultivating Xuanlan is unclean and cuts off one's own path, because he was about to become 'Zheng Anqi Sheng,' right?"

Zheng Qi nodded: "Yes."

"His Xuanlan is already close to perfection, just one step away. Even if he deliberately doesn't cultivate it, under the feedback of Life Cultivation, his Xuanlan will soon be perfect."

"He didn't want to lose the last bit of what could be called 'I.' So he fled."

Li Miao nodded and held up his second finger.

"The second question."

"A thousand years of time, passed down for dozens of generations, just like a ship constantly being repaired; the current Zheng Anqi Sheng must be completely different from the Zheng Anqi Sheng of that year."

"Living for these thousand years using such a filthy method of wearing oneself down and watching oneself be replaced bit by bit—it's not just to be a local emperor in Yingzhou, right?"

"Turning all one's descendants into one's own containers, changing bodies back and forth; I'm afraid he can't even recognize who he is."

Li Miao reached out and pressed on Zheng Qi's shoulder, monitoring the blood flow, heartbeat, and all other movements within her body.

"What exactly does he want to do by doing these things?"

"Can you answer that for me?"

(End of chapter)