Chapter 114

The old man's gaze sharpened instantly, fixing on Li Guanyi's face; the youth's expression remained unchanged.

Xue Lao shook his head, bent his fingers, and tapped the boy's forehead with a sharp snap, grumbling, "If anyone else said such things, I'd have already crushed them with a Shattered Jade Fist. You lad—you're fearless as a calf new to the herd."

Li Guanyi smiled and said, "Of course I trust Xue Lao."

The old man sighed and said, "You suddenly brought this up—you must have found something. Tell me."

Li Guanyi said, "The Emperor has another illegitimate son."

Those words instantly sharpened the old man's gaze, yet he still sipped his tea. Li Guanyi said, "Xue Lao doesn't seem surprised."

The old man replied, "If you've lived as long as I have, and aren't some hermit martial artist hiding from the world, you've seen enough storms. The current Emperor loves balance—but history shows those who balance factions either rise by riding the tide and then purge, or are devoured by it."

"Like clenching five fingers—you must strike out."

"The essence of balance is how hard it is to achieve. I once thought his caution stemmed from his cautious nature, that his ascension was the result of balancing many sides, hence his disposition—but I also wondered if this was truly his nature, or if he held some secret weapon."

"Now that you mention this illegitimate son, everything makes sense."

Li Guanyi recounted all he knew of Hou Zhongyu, omitting the Fire Qilin and his own lineage. The old man said, "So that's it—he pretends to incite conflict between civil ministers, military officers, and imperial in-laws, but actually gambles with his own son to reap the benefits of others' strife."

"It still follows the same path he took to seize the throne."

"Experience shapes character—no doubt."

The old man looked at Li Guanyi and said, "It seems General Yue Qianfeng left you the Crimson Dragon Qi to help you sense its flow and shifts, so you can advance more smoothly at the Second Tower. Don't waste his effort."

"As for the rest..."

The old man's eyes flashed a sharp glint. "That's the battlefield of us old men. Guanyi, rest here in peace. The rest is left to this old man." He patted Li Guanyi, placed the pills from his sleeve onto the boy's table, and chatted for a full incense stick.

Xue Daoyong left with anger and sorrow on his face.

The youth watched as the old man's calm, solemn demeanor outside the door transformed instantly into the look of a family member whose future had been shattered—suddenly aged over a decade.

The old man stumbled out, his silver temples fluttering in the wind.

His right hand clenched slightly, hidden beneath his sleeve; even when others called to him, he didn't respond.

Only when he tripped over a roadside stone did he snap back to awareness.

His replies to others grew sluggish.

A restrained sorrow, yet utterly real.

Li Guanyi stared, dumbfounded.

No.

These old men who had roamed the world for decades, masters of Wu Gong.

How can they still act so well?

He watched the old man depart, then rose from bed, walked to the window, pushed it open, and gazed at the corner wall, smiling: "Xue Lao's gone. Come out."

The girl cautiously poked her head out.

Her face was expressionless; her eyes darted quickly left and right.

Then she leapt onto the large inverted water jar Li Guanyi had placed there, stepped down lightly, brushed the dust from her hands, entered his room, sat quietly, and only then relaxed, sipping tea and blowing gently on it.

Li Guanyi said, "I didn't think you were so afraid of Xue Lao."

Yao Guang answered, "He's very powerful."

"If I get close, my spells can't affect a martial artist of his level. According to the Juan Sect's records, when martial artists reach this realm, their intuition becomes divine—clear and luminous, illuminating their dantian."

"The methods of the Shiwaisan Sect are greatly weakened."

"Their fate burns like flame—anything near is scorched. Most covert attacks are nullified. Their intuition at critical moments isn't weaker than that of Yin-Yang masters of the same level."

"Martial artists of that era were nearly flesh incarnate as sages."

"Land dragons, earth elephants, golden immortals walking the mortal realm."

Li Guanyi asked, "Is Xue Lao at this level?"

Yao Guang thought, then shook her head: "I don't know."

She sat beside Li Guanyi, looking at the youth, and said, "You're injured."

Li Guanyi smiled: "Just minor wounds."

Yao Guang extended both hands, enveloping Li Guanyi's palm. She drew her hands close, and Li Guanyi felt her breath. Yao Guang closed her eyes, as if praying; faint starlight spread. Li Guanyi felt a sudden clarity in his body.

The lingering, hidden injuries deep within his body began to heal.

For a full incense stick, Yao Guang remained still, then opened her eyes.

She released his hand, her voice calm: "I've guided your meridians. You should feel more comfortable."

Li Guanyi looked at the girl before him, hesitated, then sat upright and said:

"Po Jun and I have made a pact."

Yao Guang watched him silently, her voice tranquil: "And then?"

Li Guanyi said, "Your rules..."

Yao Guang thought, then answered: "I said it before—I chose you. What binds us and Po Jun's line isn't the pact from eight hundred years ago, but our differing ideals. We seek a peaceful world; Po Jun seeks to burn the world in flames."

"I have a destined bond with you. As long as you walk the path of saving the world, I will not leave you. But if you truly become a tyrant who tramples this world..."

Yao Guang rose.

She walked to Li Guanyi's opposite side and knelt before him.

Her plain robes and cloak settled quietly; her gaze, tranquil, fixed on the youth before her. Her voice remained calm: "If you truly change—become a king who slaughters cities for his own dominion..."

"Who kills the innocent."

"Who indulges his desires."

"When ravens circle your cloak, and beneath your hooves lie the bones of the people, when your banner is trailed by endless blood and fire, then I will end your life myself."

"Because the Bai Hu Da Zong I know would never do such things. When you one day raise your blade against your own people, that is the symbol—the moment the person I followed has been consumed by desire and slaughter."

The girl reached out, clasped Li Guanyi's hand, and whispered:

"The young man who made a promise with me is dead; the king left behind is merely a shell submitting to chaos—a world littered with bones and filled with people's tears. That is not you. I will kill him, then carry your remains back to where we first met, and ignite a flame beneath the stars of the White Tiger's Seven Mansions."

"I will burn with you into white ash, then continue searching for you."

"So, if that day truly comes, please pause in the sky and wait for me—I will come to you. The burnt white ash, carried by the wind, will fly toward the world you once walked in, and above, the Seven Mansions of the White Tiger still shine bright."

Li Guanyi looked at the Yao Guang before him and saw her gaze.

The girl's voice was calm, still like a mountain stream, without a single ripple, saying: "I have already told you my decision then. If you truly fall, becoming a tyrant in this chaotic age, do not cling to our past bond—kill me without hesitation."

Li Guanyi laughed.

Suddenly bold, he leaned back and rested his head on the girl's knees.

The girl did not move away.

He tilted his head up to look at Yao Guang and asked: "Is this what the star-seers call revealing the heavenly mandate?"

"You mean that even when I die, you will still be behind me, never leaving?"

Yao Guang did not answer this time. Instead, she reached out and rubbed his brow, then remembered the Juan Sect records, and followed the warning of the Yao Guang from eight hundred years ago—she pushed him off her knees.

The boy's occiput struck the ground, yet he laughed.

He lay there with arms spread, laughing loudly.

Looking into Yao Guang's calm eyes, thinking of the Regent Prince, he said aloud:

"I won't change!"

The youthful arrogance was always like this—he reached out, clenched his five fingers, and said: "Even if one day I become that person, I will never harm you. If one day Li Guanyi kills everyone in the world, I will not kill you."

"So…"

Yao Guang gave her answer: "Under this condition, I will never leave you."

Her voice paused, then softened:

"You may rest easy."

She had seen through the reason behind the boy's words about the Breaker Star—it was only that Li Guanyi feared she might leave. He rolled over suddenly and sat up, scratching his head and smiling, no longer the proud hero of youth.

The turbulent intrigues of the court were far removed from Li Guanyi.

He simply enjoyed this rare respite, quietly restoring his body; his physique further strengthened, and after breaking into the Second Story, he had not yet chosen a cultivation technique—General Yue Qianfeng's Crimson Dragon Qi and Manifestation had completed Li Guanyi's Bronze Cauldron Jade Nectar.

Yet Li Guanyi did not immediately activate the Bronze Cauldron to master the Crimson Dragon Qi.

He still needed the Crimson Dragon Qi to counter the inevitable probes.

This, in a way, temporarily trapped him.

Unless some reasonable method could remove the Crimson Dragon Qi, he could not train or fight for the short term. Li Guanyi closed his eyes in contemplation, gazing at the scenery outside. But the very next day, someone disturbed his peace.

It was Ye Buyi.

The son of the Deputy Commandant of the Night Gallop Cavalry wore casual robes, his golden crown tying back his hair, his bearing noble. Seeing Li Guanyi, he pressed his lips together—he knew this boy, who had single-handedly knocked down all nine of them, now carried General Yue Qianfeng's Crimson Dragon Qi inside him.

His martial future was essentially ruined.

He would remain at this level for life.

And it was all because he had saved Ye Buyi.

Ye Buyi's guilt deepened. He bowed deeply, clasping his hands: "Ye Buyi thanks Brother Li for saving my life!"

Li Guanyi grinned. "No need for such formality."

The boy kept his expression composed, his tone detached:

"It was merely my duty. You need not feel guilty."

"If I had been captured then, wouldn't you have saved me?"

Li Guanyi's words struck Ye Buyi's heart like a second blade.

Ye Buyi's face twisted with guilt and complexity. He murmured:

"Duty…"

Ye Buyi fell silent, then reached into his robe and pulled out a box, placing it in Li Guanyi's hand. "This is an eight-hundred-year Dragon's Blood Ginseng. Take it—it should help your injuries. Even if you can never advance in internal Qi cultivation, refining your body can still make you a top-tier expert."

"You saved my life."

"Whatever I possess, half belongs to you—until your body refinement is complete, Ye Buyi will gather every medicine you need."

An eight-hundred-year Dragon's Blood Ginseng?!

Li Guanyi's eyelid twitched. He swallowed the refusal he had been about to utter.

He had been an apothecary; he understood medicine. This Dragon's Blood Ginseng was said to form when a beast infused with dragon blood died atop a thousand-year mountain ginseng, which absorbed the dragon blood and transformed into Dragon's Blood Ginseng—only after eight hundred years did such a treasure emerge.

It strengthened blood and qi, fortified sinews and bones; even ordinary people who consumed it gained tremendous strength.

Warriors could use it to refine their bodies.

Seeing Li Guanyi accept it, Ye Buyi's clenched heart finally eased.

He stayed a while longer, then took his leave. But after he departed, Li Guanyi had not settled for even a moment before another visitor arrived—Zhou Liu, the first to provoke him, now the one who adored benches.

"Bro, no more talk—you're the best in the Gold Guard!" He gave a thumbs-up gesture.

Then he pulled things from his robe, placing them one by one on the table: "This is a thousand-year mountain Lingzhi. This, and this—my old man's hidden medicinal wine. I swapped it for aged liquor—he'd never miss it. Drink it fast."

"After you drink, there'll be no witnesses. Worst case, I get hung from a tree and whipped with his golden belt—he's got only one son. He won't kill me."

"And this—this is amazing—this is the Heart-Protecting Pill…"

Li Guanyi didn't know how this guy managed to fit so much in his robe.

It was packed to bursting.

Zhou Liu, who had once been at odds with Li Guanyi, now treated him like a sworn brother, offering the greatest promise a playboy could give: "Rest well. Screw the Crimson Dragon Qi—I don't believe all these herbs can't overpower a single Qi!"

"Once you're healed, the boys will take you to Jingcheng's finest brothel to celebrate!"

"My treat—we'll get the top courtesan to drink with you!"

Ye Buyi reached his hand in from outside the door.

Grabbing Zhou Liuying by the collar, he dragged the playboy away.

After Zhou Liuying left, the young guards of the Jinwu Guard came one by one, each bringing gifts—not one came empty—and in just a short while, Li Guanyi's room was filled: treasures here, medicinal herbs there, nearly like a treasure vault, packed to the brim.

And every top-tier military merit youth of the empire came with great enthusiasm.

They were still youths, not bound by mercenary friendships.

They had fought together, been punished together.

Though one stayed upstairs and the other rode to the temple, they had still drunk together.

They had shared life-and-death bonds; they had not yet been washed away by the tide of this vulgar world, their friendship utterly sincere, not merely treating Li Guanyi as one of their own brothers, but secretly regarding him as the core member of this military merit youth circle.

Li Guanyi looked at all these things and was momentarily dazed.

………………

Never mind that some military merit families nearly beat their sons so badly they couldn't get out of bed, worse than Li Guanyi.

These two days, the imperial capital was in turmoil, with especially strict curfews; Chancellor Dan Tai Xianming had slept in the palace last night handling state affairs and only just returned home, changed into his official robes, entered his study, and froze—there sat an old man.

Dan Tai Xianming looked at Xue Daoyong, lowered his eyes, made no move, and walked past.

He sat on the chair beside Xue Daoyong and said, "Brother Xue."

The assassin sent to Yicheng had been his own, meant to kill Xue Daoyong; yet now he remained calm, fetched a plate of roasted peanuts and two cups of wine. Xue Daoyong said only one sentence: "The Emperor has an illegitimate son."

Xue Daoyong looked at his former friend and brother.

He did not drink the wine offered to him.

After saying this, he left.

Dan Tai Xianming no longer wore the fawning smile he had in the palace; the old man sat slumped in his chair, clinking his cup alone, draining the wine, gazing into the distance, then pulled out a memorial scroll detailing how to handle this affair.

Among its lines was a trivial note—

【The Fire Qilin Palace Jinwu Guard failed to report, acted recklessly out of personal ambition, rushed in carelessly, missed the opportunity, fell into the trap; General Yue Qianfeng coerced him into escape, yet failed to stop Hou Zhongyu; he must be dismissed and investigated for ties to Hou Zhongyu】

Dan Tai Xianming raised Xue Daoyong's wine cup with his right hand and drank, then picked up his brush with his left hand and rewrote.

【The Fire Qilin Palace Jinwu Guard held out alone, prevented General Yue Qianfeng from meeting Hou Zhongyu; Hou Zhongyu lost support and died from the Fire Qilin's flames; the Qilin was not lost; the Jinwu Guard fought valiantly against General Yue Qianfeng, meriting great merit; he must be specially rewarded to calm the people's hearts】

He finished both cups of wine and threw down his brush.

The same matter had flipped in an instant.

The scholar's brush, the warrior's blade!

That same afternoon, imperial messengers arrived at the Xue household.

"Captain Li, the imperial edict has come!"

"The Emperor himself has granted you an elevation!"

"You've been promoted!"