Chapter 363: Square Gate (3)

Chapter 363 -139: Square Gate (3)

“But you… you don’t know how to take care of yourself.”

“When you were young, you were hailed as a child prodigy, studying so hard you’d forget to eat or sleep. When you grew older and entered the court, you were buried in paperwork, again neglecting food and rest… I also heard that while fighting the floods in Jiangzhou, you lived on the dikes for thirty-six days, eating and sleeping alongside the soldiers… And during the famine relief, you personally oversaw the distribution of grain and ate the same rations as the people…”

“The toll on your body is just too great!”

Such a heavy toll on his body had drastically shortened Yu Qian’s potential lifespan. Never mind Medical Skill; even the Divine Technique ‘Withered Wood Evergreen’ was useless against it.

“Master Fang, I have failed to live up to your expectations.”

“My expectations? Those hardly matter. But you… do you have any regrets?”

“No regrets. I have done right by the world and its people. The only ones I have failed… are my parents…” Yu Qian’s voice trailed off at the end.

“Your father… I saw him off three years ago. Today, it seems I must do the same for you.”

Indeed, Yu Song had already passed away at the age of seventy-three. In this era, that was considered a ripe old age.

“It is only death. Did you not teach me, Master? ‘Since time immemorial, who has escaped death? Let my loyal heart shine upon the pages of history.’ Why would I fear it?”

His voice, resonant as striking metal, made Fang Rui inexplicably think of Yuan Haogu from all those years ago.

“I am not your equal.”

He shook his head slightly. “Enough. Let’s not speak of this. I told you before that my teaching and assistance came with a selfish motive. I only wished to obtain some answers from you before your end.”

“Questions like the one the Elder once raised with me—’Spiritual Qi is poisonous’—and about the ‘calamity’ that strikes various states within Great Yu every few years…”

“May I ask, Master, why do you wish to know these things?” Yu Qian asked.

This was not born of curiosity. Rather, he had to be responsible for all the people under heaven.

“I won’t hide it from you. I come from Yunzhou. Fifty years ago, I personally witnessed the great drought in the Three Southern States… Later, I served as a Silver Seal in Wuzhou Huaiyin Prefecture… Only after that did I come to Shangluo.”

“When I was at the bottom, I saw the world as a chessboard. When I was in the middle ranks, all I saw was a world where men devour men.”

“Now, I am seventy-six, nearing the end of my life. I just want to ask, what does this world truly look like in your eyes?”

Fang Rui looked at Yu Qian. “Can you satisfy this wish for your master?”

It was the truth.

With the Celestial Heart Seal in his possession, Yu Qian could sense this clearly.

“Master, your kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain. A request like this does not go against my conscience, so I will not refuse. Very well. I shall tell you of these matters, and of my own ambitions, as well.”

‘As I thought, Yu Qian knows about all this!’

Fang Rui sighed to himself and sat up straighter.

In truth, it was not surprising.

The Purple Cloud Pavilion was the apex of Great Yu’s administration. Many secrets had to be made clear to those within it to unify their thinking and ensure they all pulled in the same direction.

“It’s a long story.”

Yu Qian began to speak slowly. “In ancient times, the heavens changed. The Great Black Heaven suddenly invaded, and almost half of our world was lost… The Great Black Heaven used some unknown method to alter the nature of Spiritual Qi, causing it to be drawn to negative emotions…”

“But when we say ‘Spiritual Qi is poisonous,’ we aren’t referring to that. We mean that after its nature was altered, when Ancient Spirit Cultivators faced the Outer Gods, the Spiritual Power within their own bodies would turn on them and go berserk. The Great Powers led by the Saint Emperor paid a terrible price for this…”

KRA-KAAACK!

As he spoke these words, a crack spread across the Celestial Heart Seal hanging from his waist, and a trickle of blood escaped the corner of his mouth.

“Yu Qian, you…”

“It’s nothing. I am a dying man. If I can repay my master even a little, it is worth it. If you have any other questions, Master, please ask freely.”

“The heavens changed, an invasion from an Otherworld… so that’s how it is?! In that case, the Saint Emperor must have won in the end. But how did he avoid the ‘poisonous Spiritual Qi’?”

“That question… is very simple. Because… the Saint Emperor was not human!”