novelraw Chapter 310 - 284: The Arrogant Ambition
Chapter 310 - 284: The Arrogant Ambition
Minghui glanced at the dazed and seemingly otherworldly Jin Lian Maha and immediately had a conjecture, thinking to herself:
"It seems that the Immortal let us off this time. Otherwise, how could Master have escaped so easily? This Immortal must not want others to know about his actions at Wangyue Lake, hence the erasure of memories. If I don’t know what’s good for me and keep talking, I fear both master and disciple’s lives won’t be spared."
Therefore, watching Jin Lian Maha’s confused expression, she pointed at the dilapidated Golden Hall and respectfully said:
"Disciple injured her magic artifact outside and came back to ask Master to see if there is a way to repair it."
Having been wreaked havoc upon multiple times, the Golden Hall at the foot of the stairs was ready to collapse. Jin Lian Maha glanced at it and cursed:
"I’m not some artifact-refining master, what use is there for me to look? Go back and watch over the south!"
Minghui nodded repeatedly, packed up her magic artifact, and retreated as if fleeing. Jin Lian Maha continued sucking on the milk, squinting his eyes. A few breaths later, he felt something was amiss:
"What is this brat hiding..."
Jin Lian Maha couldn’t remember anything about the events that had just passed. It was as if he had taken a nap, yet how could he, a Maha, fall asleep? His actions stopped mid-suck, and he felt a sense of disturbing contemplation come over him.
————
Atop Yi Shan City.
Li Xuanfeng leaned against the city wall, silently cleaning the Golden Bow in his hands. His gray clothes were splattered with the blood of various magical beasts, tattered and foul-smelling, but he was indifferent, lost in thought while gazing toward the north.
"Xuanfeng brother..."
Everyone around cast glances at him. A handsome middle-aged man, who should have been wearing elegant white, but was now stained with specks of blood looking disheveled, stepped forward and clasped his fists towards Li Xuanfeng, saying respectfully:
"We owe you a lot for this time!"
Li Xuanfeng, now at the Eighth Layer of Qi Cultivation, stood out among the cultivators of the noble families. All revered and feared this silent man. When Fei Yihe spoke, everyone echoed in agreement:
"Yes, indeed... What a Divine Bow, what Divine Power!"
"In amidst the beast horde, charging in and out nine times, only Brother Xuanfeng could achieve that!"
Li Xuanfeng nodded silently. These five years had added layers of age to his expression, his beard unkempt, eyes sunken, a very image of desolation. He paid no attention to the flattering crowd, simply gazing north until the people around became puzzled and gradually dispersed. Even Fei Yihe bowed and left the city wall. It wasn’t until then that he moved his lips, looking at the wounds on his hands.
"Five years, one hundred and twenty scars, not one fatal."
Since the destruction of Lixia County and the death of Jiang the fisherwoman and her son, Li Xuanfeng had woken up inexplicably from countless nights asking himself:
"Why haven’t I seen her for five years."
During those five years, he was secluded, writing his Archery Technique. It was far from any deadly seclusion; Qi Cultivators could abstain from food, but needed to drink water. Amidst cultivation, his inspiration would overflow, allowing him to cast aside all thoughts.
Regret and self-reproach haunted him for ten years, startling him awake time after time, his heart filled with incessant agony. He sighed deeply, loathing himself for forgetting such matters.
It wasn’t until Xiao Chuting used the Divine Skill of "Elder by the Stream" to lure out Yu Yufeng and ambushed him in the Mushroom Forest Plain, that Li Xuanfeng was shocked into awareness, harboring suspicions but keeping them to himself, daring not to vocalize them.
"If a Zifu coveted something and misled me with Divine Skills..."
He picked up a cloth, continuously wiping the Golden Bow, his expression growing darker as he stared at the rising moon, and thought:
"If that’s the case, then Zifu will certainly have its eyes on me; the family’s Dharma Mirror is too important, being in Yi Shan City might reduce some risks."
When he heard he was summoned to Yi Shan City, he readily agreed. On one hand, he yearned for such a perilous life on the edge of the blade; on the other, he hoped the presence of that member of Zifu would shift its attention away from Lijing Mountain. Now in Yi Shan City, after five years of battles both big and small, everyone more or less had suffered injuries, injuries that affected their foundations, yet Li Xuanfeng had not once been seriously injured, which made him increasingly dejected.
"Xuanfeng, brother!"
Li Xuanfeng turned around upon hearing a clear and bright call and saw Fei Yihe returning, dressed in a moon-white robe, holding a jug of spiritual wine in one hand and approaching with a smile, he began,
"Brother Xuanfeng is enjoying the moon alone. Don’t scorn my company."
Fei Yihe was the son of Fei Wangbai and the next head of the Fei family. He had been sent to the Southern Border by Chi Zhiyan. The two families were closely related, and over the five years in Yi Shan City, Li Xuanfeng and Fei Yihe had developed a deep friendship.
Fei Yihe took a desk-like object from his storage bag, placed it on the city wall, sat down cross-legged, and immediately a white light rose from the desk, faintly blocking out the sounds of the wind around them, isolating the inside from the outside.
"What a shame."
Fei Yihe sighed softly, and only after the formation had ensured their privacy did he show a forlorn expression; he poured himself a cup of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and said,
"Five years have passed in the blink of an eye; Tongyu and Tongxiao should also be taking wives by now. I wonder how it is on Wangyue Lake."
Being in Yi Shan City, they were prohibited from communicating with the outside, so they could only get news from people who came in later, breaking off contact with their clans.
"Great wine!"
Li Xuanfeng took a cup and gulped down several cups in one breath before letting out a sigh through his clenched teeth and said softly,
"Yu Yufeng is already dead. With the Foundation Establishment members from both our families there, Yu Mugao can’t stir up much trouble."
Fei Yihe nodded silently, and both men sat quietly, just drinking from their cups until the moon began to fall, and the world turned a dusky light. Fei Yihe then spoke in a muted voice,
"I thought I was born to lead my clan, to strengthen the family... Yihe has studied history, cultivated, observed people, learned right from wrong, and made alliances to control different branches since I was young. I never expected one transfer order to make my life amount to nothing."
Li Xuanfeng drank another cup, stepped forward, and looked down from the city wall to see the bodies of demonic creatures below, with the occasional corpse of cultivators, but most of all were the bodies of mortal soldiers used as cannon fodder. Numerous mortals were silently dragging bodies below, the ground stained with blood, and flies buzzing around.
All this was too familiar, and Li Xuanfeng couldn’t help but reflect.
"Forty years ago, or was it thirty?"
Back then, Li Xiangping was chased by loose cultivators, fleeing to the north. Li Xuanxuan was first in charge of the household, and he was just a child who had just received the Mysterious Pearl Talisman Seed. He avoided the clan members, stumbled into the Wan Family territory. The Wan Family had been slaughtered by Ji Dengqi, corpses everywhere, stained with blood.
Filled with terror in his heart, he was fortunate to find Li Tongya returning, utterly indignant, and secretly swore,
"This Tang Jin Sect and its young master really aren’t worth a damn. Just wait until I grow up, I will exterminate the Tang Jin Sect and shoot down that young master’s head to use as a ball to kick!"
The childish voice as if still ringing in his ears made Li Xuanfeng feel ashamed. His hands tightly gripped the Golden Bow, his palms turning red, and he murmured,
"As a rash young man, I vowed never to let go of the bowstring, never to bend my knee, I lightly spoke of breaking into Immortal Mountain and shooting the head of Tang Jin, and in the blink of an eye, forty years have passed like flowing water, a dream under a yellow beam, my wife and children gone, a mere pawn in others’ games, a common man trapped within a city, serving Green Pond as a horse or dog, a soldier for the Immortal Sect, weeping behind closed doors in the middle of the night, not daring to raise my voice, fearing others’ suspicion..."
His sharpened features furrowed, his arching eyebrows becoming gentle, his eyes sinking in, tears welling up and trailing down his cheeks. The pride and boldness that had always been a part of Li Xuanfeng had eroded over forty years, turning into a long sigh that escaped through his nostrils and lips, vanishing without a trace.
Li Xuanfeng coughed, spitting out specks of blood. Fei Yihe quickly stood up to help, but saw his appearance was exhausted, and in his demeanor, there was even a hint of his older brother Li Xuanxuan.