Chapter 665: An Old Acquaintance

Chapter 665: Chapter 665: An Old Acquaintance

A man who places his own selfish desires above the greater good of the Dynasty, and does not hesitate to sacrifice the lives of the Dynasty’s soldiers as the price.

Such a person does not deserve to live.

"Yang Shu must have been certain of this suspicion, which is why, when Ye Lansheng tried to admonish him, he retorted without hesitation. A Ye Lansheng who wouldn’t live much longer was certainly not worth his forbearance."

This time Yang Xiusheng understood completely, and agreed with the Emperor’s earlier appraisal of Yang Shu. He flattered him as well: "Indeed. In the past, I truly underestimated Prince Ling. Never thought his judgment would be so sharp. Heh, this is very much reminiscent of your demeanor back in the day."

"Me? Heh, Uncle, you flatter me. I wasn’t as clever as Yang Shu back in those years, nor would I have thought of leveraging merchants and the newly risen young nobles, fixating single-mindedly on those Gated Clans and that group of high officials. In the end, it provoked armed conflict out of frustration, and if not for a stroke of luck, my second brother might have won. Heh, I still remember when he escaped, he called me despicable."

"Yang Wenguang? His talent for cultivation was indeed remarkable back then, but he was far too upright and forgot the art of deceit, thinking that only acting with absolute dignity was truly orthodox. In the end, being outmaneuvered by you was his own doing." As Yang Xiusheng recalled, a shadow of melancholy flashed clearly across his face.

"Yes, Yang Wenguang. I remember, Uncle, you thought so highly of his talent that you hoped to have him join Fenghong Manor for training, but he refused."

"That’s right. Yang Wenguang’s talent, though not quite Celestial Pride, was the best among your generation of the Royal Family. Even if he couldn’t succeed me in the future, he could at least have become a top-tier Golden Sword Cultivator. What a pity."

The Emperor, having said this much, straightened up again from the warm soup, lifted a cup of tea at his side and took a deep sip, then turned to look at Yang Xiusheng and asked, "Speaking of which, I’ve always been very curious—back then, I had accounted for every link, trapping Yang Wenguang in a desperate dead end, and he ought to have been entirely isolated, waiting helplessly for execution. Yet at the critical moment, an exceptionally powerful cultivator appeared and rescued him. Who was that?"

Back then, I was convinced it was someone Uncle had arranged. But after years of secret investigation, I stopped suspecting you."

Yang Xiusheng laughed as well. "I know you once suspected me. When you first took the throne, your very first order was to inspect Fenghong Manor, and you stayed there for a whole month. I knew you were testing the Golden Sword Cultivators at Shi’en Manor, and testing their loyalty as well. But for me to retain my seat for so many years, naturally, I wouldn’t break Royal Family protocol for the sake of Yang Wenguang, so I let you search as you wished."

Those bygone events now sounded smooth and soft at their retelling, no longer sharp, almost as if they were idle chatter. The Emperor shook his head self-mockingly: "Indeed, I was overly anxious in those days. But the one who saved Yang Wenguang back then was truly no ordinary person. Excluding Sects that would never interfere in Dynasty affairs, not one Loose Cultivator would possess such cultivation, correct?"

"You mean the Profound Sea Realm? Actually, that’s not entirely true. There are Loose Cultivators with Profound Sea Realm abilities. It’s just that they’re all reclusive types. They care nothing for the mundane struggles for royal power, and even in major Sect matters they may never appear. Yang Wenguang couldn’t possibly have come into contact with such a master back then, let alone have someone risk offending the Jingjiu Dynasty Royal Family to save him."

Yang Xiusheng spoke with firm conviction. He might have been slower with matters of power’s intricacies, but regarding the Cultivation Realm, he knew all of it inside out. He could roughly tell how many Profound Sea Realm Cultivators there were in Jingjiu Dynasty and from where they hailed. He knew of Yang Wenguang’s affair back then—though it was suspicious, he did not believe that with Yang Wenguang’s fortune at the time, he could encounter such a master willing to take the risk of angering the Dynasty by intervening on his behalf.

The atmosphere grew somewhat silent. Yang Xiusheng was dragged back into the memories and was also curious about who it had been that saved Yang Wenguang back then. Could it have been some Sect who intervened? He shook his head—it still seemed impossible.

After a long time, the Emperor suddenly spoke, "Loose Cultivators are impossible, and a Sect is unlikely as well. Then, Uncle, do you think it might have been one of those figures from the City of Unjust Death?"

"City of Unjust Death?" Yang Xiusheng was taken aback at first, then instinctively rose from his seat and paced back and forth beside the warm soup. After quite a while, he finally said, "Did you receive some information? Or have you found Yang Wenguang?"

Yang Xiusheng was no fool—and he knew the Emperor’s temperament well. He had previously wondered why the Emperor suddenly brought up Yang Wenguang; he’d thought perhaps, with lifespan running short, old memories came flooding back. But seeing it now, such "idle" emotions would never exist in the heart of someone like the Emperor.

Still, hearing the City of Unjust Death mentioned did send a chill through Yang Xiusheng’s heart. That place was no benevolent land; compared to a Sect, City of Unjust Death was the very opposite—chaotic, all-embracing, and truly, when you thought of it, a "mysterious master" might very well have come from there.

The smile on the Emperor’s face had long since vanished. He removed the towel on his neck, re-soaked it in hot water, then laid it across his neck and reclined once more. He gestured towards a eunuch at his side, who hurried over, retrieved a copper rod from the Storage Bag, and presented it with both hands to Yang Xiusheng.

"Take a look first, Uncle, and then we’ll speak."

Yang Xiusheng took the copper rod and unrolled it. The contents exceeded his expectations—it was a rare multilayered copper rod, densely inscribed, no wonder it was much thicker than a usual one. Within, the earliest signature dated back thirty years. The most recent was just last month.

The deeper he read, the tighter Yang Xiusheng’s brow furrowed. As expected, the Emperor had indeed tracked down Yang Wenguang, who escaped death all those years ago, and for decades had never relaxed his surveillance. Judging by the records on this copper rod, there must be a separate dossier for Yang Wenguang; otherwise, things would not be so orderly, laying every experience squarely on a timeline before him.

"Is this... Profound Sea Realm? This..." Yang Xiusheng very much wanted to say "This is impossible," but with the Emperor handing him this, the intelligence must have been nearly certain, so he swallowed the second half of his words back down.

"Surprised? Not only is he alive and well, but he reached the Profound Sea Realm within a few decades. Heh, now, even if he’s not your equal, he’s not far behind. Oh, and he doesn’t call himself Yang Wenguang anymore—he’s now known as Nine-Life Zhenren."

And he has a small Sect in City of Unjust Death. Its numbers are few, but it’s full of experts. Even in that city with competing powers, it has maintained its reputation and existence to this day, so it is anything but ordinary.

But it’s a pity—City of Unjust Death is hard to enter and harder still to investigate. We’ve lost dozens of scouts just trying to find out who backs Yang Wenguang; not a bit of intel on who rescued him back then, either.

Uncle, do you think Yang Wenguang was so gifted as to reach Profound Sea Realm in thirty-three years? Or is there... some other cause?"