The wind, sighing through the ancient boughs, caught a single leaf as Chen Ping An relinquished his hold. It spiralled away from the high platform, dancing a mournful jig in the air.

Yin Ji chuckled, a dry, rustling sound. “Vast are the jade-green seas, echoing with the lullabies of home. Boundless is the bitter ocean of existence, and a single leaf, a lone skiff upon it.”

Chen Ping An lifted his wine gourd, giving it a shake. A faint slosh answered him. A few precious drops remained.

“When did you perceive this to be a deathly snare, Chen Shan Zhu?” Yin Ji inquired, his eyes gleaming with unsettling amusement.

“When I left the city walls and entered the Old Oriole Lake,” Chen Ping An replied, his voice steady as the ancient stones beneath his feet.

Yin Ji clapped his hands together, a sharp report that shattered the stillness. “No wonder Li Ba, an Immortal, could not warn you of Xian’s true nature through whispers of the mind! You had already locked her path with your Dao-heart.”

“Xian built that false archway, feigning escape to the Great Shou Dynasty, but it was all a lie. Her heart was set; she sought to shatter the ‘Land of Dragon Ascendance’ of the True Dragon King, Zhu, in this very life.”

“Yet, I feared a change of heart. That you might release Xian back into the Central Earth Continent, shattering my thirty years of careful plotting into nothing.”

A slow smile spread across Chen Ping An’s face. “Speak her name directly. There is no need to repeatedly remind me of ‘Fallen Peak’ and ‘Half of One’, lest I think you too foolish. Now that the game is set, let us speak with honesty, to ourselves and to each other. Would that not be better?”

Yin Ji nodded, his head bowed. “Indeed, let us open the skylight and speak plainly.”

Chen Ping An shook his head, a flicker of something akin to pity in his eyes. “You are not as formidable as the mastermind of Moon-Bearing Mountain in the wilds.”

Yin Ji settled into a cross-legged position, tapping his knee lightly with a closed fist. “Of course, we lack his shining virtue, but he lies headless, while we have triumphed.”

Chen Ping An conceded. “True. The price may be considered negligible to all of humankind, but to you, it is everything. In this, at least, you are no coward.”

Even as he spoke, Yin Ji’s spirit began to fray, his flesh to dissolve. The hand that had struck his knee was now but bone, the bone crumbling to ash and scattering in the wind.

Unconcerned, Yin Ji continued, “When you ‘lent’ the cleaving and execution blades to Zhou Haijing, I knew the dust had settled.”

“I watched with bated breath as you retrieved your hand, praying you would not have a change of heart. Fortunately, Zhou Haijing took them. You did not falter.”

“I then wondered why you did not add, ‘Lent for a few days, before being gifted to Pei Qian’. But I understood soon enough. You do not wish Pei Qian’s life burdened, nor to entangle her in this thread of fate, woven for ten thousand years. Perhaps the accumulated tribulation has finally dispersed, yet a new tribulation is born this day.”

A moment of silence hung between them, thick with unspoken words. Then, Yin Ji spoke again, “How can you be certain that Wu Zhou of the Azure Heavens will not bully Zhou Haijing in the short term, but will not later succumb to ambition, and choose to target the Terrestrial Branch lineage still? Perhaps crossing the realms with haste and rapine to seize those divine blades?”

Chen Ping An replied, “I have heard her words at the River of Time, and seen her deeds. I know what kind of person Wu Zhou is. If I can be assured that she will not seize the blades through force now, that is enough. In Wu Zhou’s eyes, the last Hidden Official of Sword Qi Great Wall, or the blades’ master, are strong, while Zhou Haijing and the Terrestrial Branch cultivators are weak. Against the former, she would not hesitate. But against the latter, Wu Zhou would not stoop to such baseness, she is too proud to deny them revenge in the future.”

Yin Ji nodded slowly. “True.”

The grudges and passions of mortal cultivators were like streams flowing from the mountains, some merging with the great rivers, becoming quiet tributaries, lost to the grand currents.

Others might swell into torrents, destroying bridges, even breaching riverbanks and drowning the land. Across humankind’s painted landscape, the people would suffer, mistaking the work of men for acts of the heavens.

Yin Ji gave a wry smile. “Chen Shan Zhu, your thoughts stray. I am not Pang Ding of Spirit Treasure City, neither his talisman puppet, nor a split-off soul, nor a fragment of his mind using ‘astral projection’. As you said, I will leave no trace. Not even Spirit Treasure City, nor even the Jade Capital itself, can bear this karma.”

Turning his body, now mere bone, Yin Ji managed a final, skeletal bow. “My true name is Shi Zhouren. I once received a kindness from Spirit Treasure City, it is true. I sneaked into the Blessed Treasure Continent of vast lands during the calamity when Qi Jingchun faced heavenly tribulation, and lay in wait for thirty years. When you travelled far to Sword Qi Great Wall, I journeyed across the Central Earth Continent and found Xian. It was I who sent dreams to Yin Miao when he dozed in the Imperial City. As for Emperor Yin Ji’s longing for immortality, that was not my doing. It was wholly unnecessary, a mere flourish that would overcomplicate matters.”

Chen Ping An smiled. “Shi Zhouren, you overestimate yourself and underestimate Pang Ding.”

Chen Ping An had once had a strange dream, but this was no time to speak of it to Shi Zhouren.

Shi Zhouren said calmly, “Perhaps.”

He did not believe Chen Ping An sought to tarnish Pang Ding’s name, for he was far too shrewd for that.

Truth be told, Shi Zhouren sought to see his thirty years of plotting brought to fruition. Yet, deep within his heart, a strange feeling stirred. *Chen Ping An, was this truly necessary?*

Shi Zhouren scattered those ripples in his Dao-heart. “Chen Ping An was able to endure for so long before finally asking Jian of True Yang Mountain, is it not fitting that others possess equal patience, adding small gains over time to oppose Fallen Peak and Chen Ping An? Is it not?”

Chen Ping An nodded, a hint of amusement playing on his lips. “Leaving aside questions of good and evil, right and wrong, it is indeed such a truth.”

Shi Zhouren asked, “What are your thoughts on being entangled by Zou Zi?”

Chen Ping An replied, “Are you not as well afflicted by this stick-stirrer in your Azure Heavens?”

Shi Zhouren laughed heartily. “Self-inflicted, we cannot blame Zou Zi’s machinations. Zou Zi does not target any one person. He targets every swordsman who has the potential to reach the Fifteenth Realm. The one who reaches that rank, he sickens. Our Unmatched One is, Wild’s Chief, Fei Ran, is, and you, Chen Ping An, and Ning Yao of the Five-Hued Heaven are. Fortunately, I am not. I am but a student of the Dao.”

The list of the Ten and their potential successors was not merely a ranking of strength, but a proclamation: “The world suffers Zou Du’s meddling!”.

When Sun Daozhang of the Xuan Du Temple asked for Jian from the Jade Capital alone, it was fine. However, Wu Shuangjiang joining hands with Gao Gu and the others to question the Dao of the Jade Capital had truly torn away the veil of pretense.

Faced with this most dangerous “test”, in which a single wrong answer could lead to eternal damnation, Fei Ran of the wilds was wise indeed. He chose to withdraw, and tied himself to Gui Ke, something akin to accepting a groom’s placement. In this way, he was bound to the wilds. Furthermore, with Haoran attacking the wilds, Bai Ze would become the true heart of the wilderness, at least for a short time, Fei Ran would not be targeted by Zou Zi.

Chen Ping An smiled slightly. “I understand Zou Zi’s efforts to a degree, but that will not stop me from killing him if I get the chance.”

After a moment of silence, Chen Ping An said, “Before I kill him, I will make sure he eats his fill of candied hawthorns.”

Shi Zhouren seemed to be meeting Chen Shan Zhu for the first time. Hearing this, he felt an unexpected wave of relief, and began to laugh, wiping away the tears that had streamed down his face, “What a pity, what a pity.”

Seeing his arms reduced to ash, Shi Zhouren hastened his words slightly. “Did you foresee problems arising from the Lotus Root Blessed Land, or perhaps treachery from a new face on Fallen Peak? The one in charge is always guarding against thieves, it must be arduous.”

Chen Ping An replied, “I had some thoughts. Such as the ‘Old Heavens’ manifested by the Great Dao within the Lotus Root Blessed Land, their paths diverge.”

Shi Zhouren asked curiously, “And?”

Chen Ping An smiled. “And what if Emperor Song He of the Great Li disappeared suddenly today or tomorrow.”

Shi Zhouren was astonished, he wanted to applaud, but his wrists had already turned to ash, yet he still praised, “Truly, vexing. Song Changjing, far off in the Wild Battlefield, would surely be enraged. And you, the new National Teacher, would then have to decide: should you support Song Geng’s rise, or aid your old neighbor’s ascension? What would the court and civil officials do? They might even doubt Embroidered Tiger’s intentions. Even if you were forced to use Immortal means to keep the fake Emperor ‘Song He’ on the Dragon Throne, the truth would eventually be known, confirming your betrayal.”

Chen Ping An said, “First, I found Xiao Xing’s trail in the Lotus Root Blessed Land, and then through her, discovered the several demons. Solving the problem allowed the excavation of the Great Canal in Tongye Continent to proceed smoothly. This is a hidden thread, but looking back now, it is a clear lineage. Were you secretly assisting?”

Shi Zhouren nodded and smiled. “For thirty years, a mixture of truth and falsehood, I have been secretly helping you and Fallen Peak, adding to your fortune in a measured way. I said our relationship was more allied than allies, and that was no lie. Looking back, apart from Zhou Mi of the Ancient Heavenly Court dropping celestial chess pieces on Fallen Peak, I, with my thin arms and legs, could not possibly have stopped that true heavenly disaster, and could only stand aside. Over the years, have you and Fallen Peak suffered any major disasters? No. I dare not take the credit, but if I did not bring merit, I at least brought hard work. As for True Yang Mountain’s intelligence, the smooth relocation of the Fox Kingdom, these were minor touches, just right, and then I withdrew. Finally, Chen Ping An became the National Teacher of Great Li, finally, as I predicted, one with the nation, as were your nature and destiny. After all, you had drawn closer to the Daoist school.”

The Terrestrial Branch lineage were, perhaps, a little puzzled. Why did National Teacher Chen not retract the means by which he isolated Heaven and Earth, and return to the Great Li Capital after successfully slaying the ghost? It seemed as if there was an issue in Old Oriole Lake that required the National Teacher to resolve personally.

But Shi Zhouren knew everything. The greatest issue in all of Heaven and Earth awaited Chen Shan Zhu to personally put things in order. What could that small Old Oriole Lake compare?

It no longer mattered to Shi Zhouren. As Chen Ping An had said, what was a Daoist Shi Zhouren to the countless beings in Heaven and Earth? A grain of sand in billions. But to Shi Zhouren himself, it was everything. A single “one” that had lost everything in reincarnation.

Shi Zhouren was pleased, and laughed heartily, “Those who oppose you fear your growing strength. With each rise in realm, they tremble all the more. But I did the opposite, seeking for you to become even stronger, even luckier. I feared your breakthrough would be too slow, that Fallen Peak’s fortunes would rise too little, that the excavation of the Great Canal of Tongye Continent would be delayed, and that your time as Dao Lord of the two continents would be put off. I was so worried…”

Chen Ping An nodded. “The Way moves in reverse. When water is full, it overflows. When the moon is full, it wanes. Snatching water invites hatred, but helping to add to it is always welcome.”

Shi Zhouren smiled. “You have always been so cautious in this life, and that made me even more so. Those who grew up eating from a hundred homes must know how to read faces, to discern people’s hearts and subtle emotions. This is no skill, it is a necessity for survival. And those who grew up eating from a hundred homes, and then become Immortals, and cultivate Immortal arts, will always be more sensitive to the traces of the Great Dao than those pampered Heaven’s Chosen. I would never need to put forth such effort for someone else.”

Chen Ping An raised his hand, palm open. “For an orphan, to have the neighbors think ‘he is sensible and a good person’ is to possess a bowl with which to gather the food of a hundred families.”

Shi Zhouren sighed, “Ma Kuixuan’s bitterness. You remained cautious, and refused to accept any gifts from the Great Dao, were you right or wrong?”

To be able to resist even that… Ma Kuixuan had no schemes to harm you. He was like a proud yet pretentious “street kid” who would stubbornly refuse to thank you, but whose inner gratitude and acceptance were unreserved. Of the younger generation in the Blessed Jade Grotto, Ma Kuixuan only respected Chen Ping An.

Shi Zhouren smiled slightly. “But some things you cannot refuse, like… the rouge box that the kiln worker Su Han buried outside his door in Mud Bottle Lane.”

“And there are things that you have prayed for all your life.”

“This is Chen Ping An’s only weakness, his only Dao-heart deficit!”

“The unattainable person from your impoverished youth, the things an orphan cannot have in childhood, are what Chen Ping An will always yearn for.”

At this, Shi Zhouren could not help but sigh. “How pitiable, truly pitiable. The world thinks of you as being infinitely prosperous, but I see you as being infinitely wretched.”

“It is unnecessary, you do not understand the meaning of ‘freedom’, nor the difference between hard work and suffering.”

Chen Ping An smiled. “Like Emperor Yin Ji seeing the knowledge as a craftsman cut stone. It is difficult to grasp the suffering of the stonemason’s lifelong toil, and the glory and happiness the mason felt when the Emperor watched them work, especially when the returned to their lives. How joyful they were when they were toasted, and how proud their children were, in turn bringing joy to the parents. You people who only briefly touch the mortal world think you know human suffering, understand their joys and sorrows, but it is not enough, not nearly enough. You see the mortal world as a book to be flipped through, and its ten thousand struggles as something to be feared. We, however, have walked out of this book, and unless we are completely broken, we will always place our hope in someone, in a future that lies ahead.”

Shi Zhouren was silent for a long time, perhaps unsure how to refute Chen Ping An’s conclusion, and could only return to the topic at hand.

Shi Zhouren turned and asked with a smile, “Having received most of the gifts of a Fourteenth Realm cultivator, are you finally satisfied?”

The Fourteenth Realm ghost, Xian, was no longer tormented by three thousand years of tribulation when she was slain.

Her forced Dissolution of Dao, flooding the Blessed Treasure Continent and harming the True Dragon, Wang Zhu, was an act of direct revenge.

And her repaying kindness for kindness was the gratitude she felt for that young swordsman’s Disarmament, freeing her from the sea of suffering.

In particular, when that person deliberately took out two ancient divine blades used to intimidate dragons, it was a silent promise and a gentleman’s agreement, “Yesterday” has ended, but “Tomorrow” will at least have these blades in the Blessed Treasure Continent, dragons will now be cautious. That would be protection to go along with the Great Dao.

And so Xian gave her thanks, and the power of the tribulation accumulated over seven thousand years calmed, and was sealed by Chen Ping An with his own strength.

However, Chen Ping An would have to use “more”, but not “greater”, true divinity to fill the hole in his “humanity.”

Shi Zhouren asked the most critical question, “Why did you not seek help from the Confucian Temple, to pre-emptively secure merit and scatter this tribulation, allowing mankind to share it? Whether in terms of sentiment, reason, or public interest, there should have been no hesitation. Perhaps it would have meant a few less copper coins for some peasants, or a few more drownings near the waters. But it would have been better than the Great Li Dynasty losing its National Teacher so soon after his appointment, and with you in charge, the Great Li Dynasty would have had a longer reign, and Great Li soldiers, or even Haoran soldiers, would have died far less in the wilderness. You chose Cui Chan’s approach, and should have been able to calculate the advantages clearly. If it were Cui Chan, would he have hesitated? If I targeted Embroidered Tiger in such a way, Cui Chan would probably laugh. Why did you not do it, Chen Ping An? I beg you, enlighten me.”

Chen Ping An smiled, but gave no answer.

*Those who walk different paths cannot conspire together?* Shi Zhouren shook his head, and said to himself, “Heaven’s secrets are chaotic, I cannot see you. In the end, you woven a cocoon and trapped yourself, so that no one can save you.”

“You should not have begged and borrowed incense sticks to help you replenish the land advantage of Tongye Continent. And you should not have acted unilaterally, excavating the Great Canal. Especially, you should not have given up the merit accumulated by your senior brothers. If you were not so generous, I would have had to remain in the Blessed Treasure Continent for a long time before finding such an opportunity, a Dao-heart wrapped in mortal flesh that would have to drift for so long.”

“Accident can kill by accident, so that we never see them come into the world. They are like the flowers and grass in the mountains.”

“And sometimes accidents become intertwined, day after day, year after year, creating a fate, either large or small, and startling us or pleasing us with their appearance. They are like a wildflower in the fields that we see as we pass by, or a weed in the rice paddies that we remove and discard, and they decay and dissolve somewhere in the earth.”

—

On Fallen Peak, at the mountain gate, the young Daoist turned to Ning Yao, standing at the top of the Shrine Path, and asked with a smile, “Shan Zhu’s Wife, are you truly willing to drag the entire Five-Hued Heaven into this?”

On neighboring Heavenly Capital Peak, Lu Shen was worried. The words of the Daoist guarding Fallen Peak… added fuel to the fire. It did not sound like an attempt to dissuade at all.

On the outer city wall of the Great Li Capital, Xiao Mo kept his eyes on the squirrel-capped girl inside the National Teacher’s Residence.

Xiao Mo asked nothing, and Xie Gou seemed to have no intention of explaining anything.

In Liu Xiang’s home, in the village of crowing chickens and barking dogs, his neighbor was a bookworm, an impoverished village scholar who, had failed to obtain so much as a low-ranking literary honor. After much study, he finally passed the examination, but the next year, the emperor changed, and no one knew how much he spent on lamplight money, all for a pittance of a literary achievement, and the new government did not recognize it. He was growing old, and would often go to the Confucian temple in the county and prostrate himself before the statue of the Supreme Sage, weeping bitterly, with snot and tears streaming down his face. His wife, who had long since accepted her fate, was too lazy to scold him. His foul-mouthed daughter-in-law would call him a waste, still mumbling about ancient texts. His son would laugh and squat to the side to watch the show, feeling that he had been dragged down by his father, and he didn’t get anything good out of it. The old scholar did not dare to reply, only daring to curse the world during the day, but never at night or in the rain.

The aging scholar enjoyed chatting with his neighbor who claimed to have never studied, because his neighbor’s advice, although the views were outrageous, sounded like a scholar, such as advising him that no matter how much knowledge was in his belly, he couldn’t cook rice with it, so he still had to find something to do.

The village scholar cursed his neighbor for not being a scholar, but his heart was pounding. He considered setting up a stall in the county town to write letters for people, but he thought it was demeaning. Helping people write lawsuits was even more out of the question. As for going to the fields, he didn’t have the strength. As for planting mulberry trees, raising silkworms, or picking tea leaves to supplement his family’s income, the village scholar didn’t have the patience or energy.

Today, the two met again by the mud wall. Liu Xiang reached out and took a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds, and thanked his neighbor. The old scholar liked his fancy way of speaking.

Liu Xiang asked with a smile, “Brother Han, why haven’t you been cursing the Great Li court and the local government for doing nothing all year round lately?”

The old scholar immediately raised his head, looked around, and said in a panic, “Brother Liu, don’t say such things! You’ll get sued. A scholar like me would rather die than be stripped naked and beaten in the county hall.”

Liu Xiang held the pumpkin seeds in one hand, cracking them open with his teeth, and said with a smile, “It seems that the county government doesn’t care about such idle gossip. That young man you always said had the air of an official, just because his hands were calloused, you were puzzled at the time. You wondered that the young man’s attendant was clearly a skilled warrior eating the imperial rations, but officials have soft skin and tender flesh, so why would their hands be calloused? You kept thinking about it, and after discussing it with me for a long time, you still thought you were mistaken, and then he came into the courtyard and asked you for water. You ran to get a bowl, but he went straight to the water tank, took the gourd ladle and drank it all down.”

The village scholar said with a smile, “I wish that young man was really a magistrate, or even a clerk. What a small official.”

Liu Xiang asked with a smile, “It is said that a prefect can ruin a family, and a magistrate can destroy a clan. If he was really a magistrate, whether he came on purpose or just passed by, wouldn’t you be afraid that he had come because he heard you speak so?”

The village scholar sighed and waved his hands repeatedly. “No matter how bad the Great Li is, they wronged me by ruining my fame, but they can’t do such illegal things.”

Liu Xiang asked with a smile, “How do you know?”

The village scholar smiled slightly. “Although I am not a government employee, I am not one of those short-sighted gossips either. Just look at the rascals in the nearby villages who have been local tyrants for generations. They have become honest in recent years, and I know that there are officials who are managing them. They used to indulge them, colluding with them, and to put it bluntly, they were all just fabricating excuses to swindle the common people. Now they are managing them. I don’t trust the government, but I trust my own eyes. Brother Liu, I’m not bragging, but with these eyes, I’ve read so many books of sages, and I’m very good at judging people and things.”

Liu Xiang smiled and nodded.

The old man patted his chest, “Why did I want to pass the imperial examination in this life? Why did I have to become an official? It was just because I wanted to be an official who didn’t indulge them, but only managed them! That’s what a scholar is, speaking up for the people!”

Liu Xiang said with a smile, “To be a good official with a good conscience, and to pocket a little extra money for yourself at the same time?”

The old man smiled, “An official should be a good official, but he shouldn’t make things too hard on himself and his family.”

Liu Xiang asked, “If you really go to the government to be an official, can you hold out for a few days, a few months, a few years? Can you hold out for a lifetime?”

The old man said sadly, “How would I know? I’ve never been an official.”

Liu Xiang smiled. The village scholar looked at the sunlight and came back to his senses, and stamped his foot, “Brother Liu, I won’t chat with you anymore, I have to go to the village school to pick up my grandson.”

His little grandson, who had just started learning, was truly a seed of a scholar.

In recent years, it is said that the salaries paid by the Great Li Ministry of Rites directly to the teachers in the local schools have been increasing, and have increased every few years. Some still complain that the money is too little, but when they think of “next year”, they continue to teach, and the more remote the village school, the more the county government pays. Especially, they heard that in the future, all the newly revised local gazetteers in this prefecture would have a special chapter for these unknown teachers, so even he, a village scholar, was a little tempted. If this was true, it would be an honor to his ancestors for us scholars without fame. However, after cursing the Great Li court for so many years, the old man was too embarrassed to immediately change his mind, and thought he would wait until “next year” to talk about it.

The old man ran out for a long time, and suddenly turned around, pointed to his eyes, and then to Liu Xiang, and said with a smile, “Brother Liu, I know, you also think you were born at the wrong time, right? Don’t be depressed, let’s go to be a village school teacher together, and in that gazetteer, we’ll be neighbors too. Tsk, when we’re free, we’ll stir-fry a few dishes for drinks, and drink some home-brewed wine. This is the life of the gods!”

Liu Xiang said with a smile, “Brother Han can’t bring himself to teach for the Great Li, so he’s pulling me in, right?”

The old man laughed, “As expected of a scholar, Brother Liu has sharp eyes.”

After Liu Xiang laughed, he finished cracking the pumpkin seeds his neighbor had given him, clapped his hands, and said with a sad expression, “So many long-term plans, are you really not going to consider them? It’s a pity to give up halfway.”

In the Great Li Capital, at the Green Profound Cave on the Ape-Woven Trail, Gu Can raised his head, and said with a grin, “Dog-son Zheng Juzhong, I, Gu Can, have already made up my mind.”

Zheng Juzhong said calmly, “How so?”

Gu Can stretched lazily, walked to the cliff, and looked at the Great Li Capital, where the night was gradually deepening and the lights were gradually coming on. Slightly shifting his gaze, he looked at his hometown town.

A fine crack began to appear on Gu Can’s face, starting from his brow, and then slowly spreading to his entire face.

The current Sect Master of the Soaring Roc Sect, the snot-nosed kid from Mud Bottle Lane in the past, the burden behind someone, sniffled.

“Zheng Juzhong, tell Chen Ping An, the right and wrong choices, are my own.”

Gu Can grinned, “Then I wish this world a final blessing, that everyone is in the Scroll Lake.”

A young and handsome face shattered.

“I, Gu Can, wish that everyone in the world only meets the likes of Liu Laocheng, Liu Zhimao, and Tian Hujun, and that they will never, ever, meet a Chen Ping An.”

A mortal body, along with all its souls, shattered like a piece of porcelain, splattering across the sky.

Zheng Juzhong, who had long isolated Heaven and Earth, remained silent, allowing Gu Can to choose this path.

Heaven and Earth may respond to Gu Can’s choice and… “vow”, in the long run. But Chen Ping An would never hear Gu Can’s words.

Zheng Juzhong looked up at this complex world, where all things were possible.

*Ah, Man.*

—

Chen Ping An had finished the wine in the gourd and placed it aside. “What is it that you seek, after all this scheming?”

Shi Zhouren was speechless. After all this, Chen Ping An, with all his wisdom, still asked?

The Daoist’s hands and feet had become ash and scattered, leaving only his chest and head. He said calmly, “Of course, to force you to become a god and ascend to Heaven.”

“To ‘unite’ with Zhou Mi, and with the help of the Three Sages and the senior who first ascended to Heaven, to completely destroy the ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court.”

“Chen Ping An, Zhou Mi, the Three Sages, and the senior who once opened a path to Heaven, all will die. Humanity will finally be at peace, and humanity will be humanity’s.”

Shi Zhouren’s face was radiant. “Since Cui Chan could invite the Three Sages to dissolve their Dao, why can’t I win peace for humanity?”

“If it wasn’t for you and Zhou Mi each having ‘that one’, and if you weren’t the master of the sword-bearer, who else in humanity could have stabbed Zhou Mi with a sword?”

“Chen Ping An, how will you thank me for helping you ascend to Heaven? Haha, or rather, for forcing you to become a god and ascend to Heaven.”

For some reason, Chen Ping An still asked, “Shi Zhouren, what is it that you seek?”

Shi Zhouren was puzzled.

Chen Ping An asked a final question, “Daoist, what is it that you seek?”

Shi Zhouren looked back at his life of learning the Dao, and many scenes flashed through his mind. Suddenly, he realized, and murmured, “My work is done. My heart is astray.”

Chen Ping An stood up and smiled slightly. “It seems that whether we do good or bad, whether we learn the Dao or not, we are all working hard for something we want.”

Shi Zhouren’s smile faded. His remaining head rose slowly, his expression complex. He whispered, “Who says we aren’t. Chen Ping An, let me watch one last time, go ascend to Heaven.”

How many foolish men in humanity are there, pulling their hair to get to heaven.

Chen Ping An placed his hands on the hilts of the swords at his waist. “Shi Zhouren, a good name.”

Shi Zhouren smiled. “A fitting name. As long as I can do this, what does it matter if I am Pang Ding or not? What does it matter if humanity knows my name or deeds?”

Chen Ping An, as half of one, had the result of the “human-god” struggle in his heart.

Shi Zhouren said nothing more, but waited and watched, as the altar had no choice but to rely on the mountains of the wilderness to forcibly drag down a figure ascending to Heaven.

*Chen Ping An, what can you rely on?*

Chen Ping An said, “I finally understand the state of mind of Mr. Qi at that time.”

Shi Zhouren asked curiously, “What state of mind?”

Chen Ping An said, “Great freedom.”

Shi Zhouren shook his head, not understanding.

“It’s right that you don’t understand.” Chen Ping An took a deep breath and turned to smile. “Watch closely.”

Shi Zhouren smiled slightly. “I am honored.”

Chen Ping An turned and walked to the center of the platform, grasped the hilts of Night Wanderer and Floating Reed, and looked up at the sky.

Then, he jumped up and down a few times, which stunned Shi Zhouren, and then he burst out laughing, laughing so hard that for some reason, tears streamed down the Daoist’s face.

Chen Ping An grinned and scratched his face. He wanted to say a few heroic words, but gave up.

Just,

Just hoping that all the “Gu Cans” in the world, all of us, will not go to a Scroll Lake.

Hoping that even if they are forced to, and still encounter their own Scroll Lake on the road of life, they can, and they must, continue to strive for self-improvement! Or, or meet a “Chen Ping An” who can do better.

Chen Ping An drew his swords. Life, how can it be like a floating reed wandering between heaven and earth, falling into darkness.

We must all become stronger, we must all do something for this world.

Liu Xiang brought a bowl of glutinous rice wine his neighbor had given him, and walked back to the courtyard.

This being manifested by the Great Dao of the vast lands, straightened his clothes, knelt on the ground with the wine in his hands, “God Bao is Xiang. I respectfully offer this sacrifice.”

In the Five-Hued Heaven, Feng Yuanxiao, who was protected by Ning Yao and even taught by her, rested her chin in her hand, and was flipping through a book, when she saw a sentence, “”Let the world enjoy prosperity, and I will share their harm with them.” The little girl frowned, puzzled, wanting to wait for Ning Jie to return home and ask her for advice, but Feng Yuanxiao suddenly laughed, Ning Jie might not understand, she would definitely use that wording again, besides swordsmanship and Daoist arts, she could ask anything, but when it came to reading and learning, you should ask him yourself, he knows the most and likes to be a teacher…”

In the vast lands, Gui Ke, the girl’s face, felt a shock in her heart. Fei Ran was very surprised and asked softly what was wrong, why she was crying. Gui Ke shook her head and said in a hoarse voice that she heard a voice, it said that the wilderness was also a place of men. Fei Ran was confused and gently helped his partner wipe away the tears on her face, but Gui Ke kept crying, and she herself did not know why.

After working hard on the Gui Yue Peak with Zhang Fenghai in the Azure Heavens, standing on the top of the mountain, he inexplicably thought of a very desolate dirge poem, “Feed the ants with a plump body, and destroy the beautiful bones forever.”

In the ruins of the Ancient Heavenly Court, the high-ranking gods of the new Heavenly Court, “Li Zhen,” who had been filled in as one of the new Five Supreme, looked down on the world, and he said angrily, “It shouldn’t be like this, the River of Time I saw has never had this picture, you don’t have to…”

Zhou Mi’s face was extremely gloomy, and he actually ate “Li Zhen” and all the others, turning them into his own use, and merging with his own divinity.

Only the Fire God “Ruan Xiu” could not be eaten for the time being, never mind, it didn’t matter if he didn’t eat it, maybe it would be even more troublesome if he ate it.

Zhou Mi thought that deliberately taking a sword would at least give both sides about one or two hundred years to continue their entanglement.

On the high platform, the divinity that had been suppressed for so long had never been so relaxed.

The half-light, half-dark face of the man in the green shirt finally became completely bright and clear.

*I have struggled with myself for a long time. I would rather be myself!*

At this moment, Chen Ping An did not dare to look at the people he had loved for so long, he was afraid of regretting, of being afraid, of retreating.

He only dared to look at Fu Dechong, who was far away at the Dao Temple, and at the Dao Book in the sleeve of the Mountain God. *Lu Chen, farewell.*

In the wilderness, “Lu Chen” shook his head. *Don’t learn from me, Lu Chen, never, ever do this!*

*Chen Ping An, you are still young, you can make many mistakes and not be afraid, you can do many things. Meaningful, or interesting, or both meaningful and interesting.*

There was once a Daoist who descended from the bright moon to the world.

There was also a Sword Immortal who left the world to go to Heaven.

In the vastness of the heavens and the earth, with the Blessed Treasure Continent as the altar, a figure in a green shirt rose up, with infinite golden light.

*A man?