"Xian Yuan, it's been a long time since I saw you care so much about a disciple."
Lu Xianyuan's expression remained calm.
"A person must ultimately leave something behind in this world. I once thought she would be the one to inherit my legacy, but sadly, she played a tremendous joke on me.
That child Wangchuan is cautious in his actions, bold yet meticulous, gifted and diligent in his pursuit of progress. I don't want him to become a bright pearl buried in dust.
Besides, our ancestors' Limitless Sword Dao cannot be allowed to end in my generation."
The Old Hall Master let out a long breath and said with deep emotion:
"We're both old now. In the blink of an eye, it's already been ten years since you came to the Martial Hall. All these years, have you ever wanted to return to the Divine Water Sect for a look?"
"Back then, when I drifted to Jianghai City, the Hall Master took me in. In the blink of an eye, ten years have passed. Now that the Martial Hall is in danger, if the Hall Master tells me to run away, wouldn't that put me in an unjust position?"
The Old Hall Master chuckled softly.
"The Imperial Court is corrupt, the emperor is muddleheaded, and corrupt officials run rampant. This old man does not wish to stay behind and throw away his life either, but the Imperial Court will never spare someone like me.
Yet my clan has more than two thousand members. They cannot accompany this old man to their deaths. Consider it a favor to this old man. Take them back to our ancestral land in Yi Zhou and leave a spark of incense for my line. Can you do that?"
Lu Xianyuan fell silent for a moment, then nodded.
"No problem. But I'd like to borrow several tens of thousands of taels of silver."
The Old Hall Master was somewhat surprised.
"Why have you suddenly become interested in silver?"
"That child needs a good sword!"
The Old Hall Master: "..."
"Xian Yuan, listen to me. Strict teachers produce outstanding disciples. Good disciples aren't spoiled into being good; they're beaten into shape. The better you treat him, the less he'll know how high the heavens are and how deep the earth is—"
After returning home, Lu Wangchuan continued brewing Spirit Elixir and cultivating, repeating the dull routine day after day.
The situation in the outside world changed with every passing day.
A month later, the Black Lotus Society truly rose from the ashes. Its various branches swore a blood oath in Qing Zhou and reorganized into the Rebel Army. For a time, beacon fires blazed everywhere, and compared to the last time, their momentum was even greater and the territory they occupied even more extensive.
War left the people displaced and adrift. Countless refugees scrambled to flee. In order to preserve order within Jianghai City, the city strictly controlled all entry and exit, causing more than a million civilians to gather outside its walls. Those who starved to death were beyond counting. There was no longer any exchanging children to eat them, because all the children had already been eaten.
Then came the corpses of the dead. Later, it was said that even the dead ran out, and the living began to disappear.
Although Lu Wangchuan never left his home, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue went into the streets every day to run errands, and they could always hear bits of street gossip.
There was much exaggeration in those tales, but people eating people was certainly real.
The old saying went: when there is no food in the trough, pigs root at pigs; when loot is divided unevenly, dogs bite dogs; before profit, people eat people.
When people could not even fill their stomachs and were about to starve to death, in order to survive, what propriety, righteousness, shame, human bonds, and moral order? They all became two words—bullshit!
The city was not necessarily any better. Fresh corpses appeared on the streets every day, and there was no shortage of people taking advantage of the chaos to reap profit.
They seized gold, silver, jewels, and treasures. Once the war spread their way, they would flee straight to peaceful cities, buy grand houses and fertile land, and live lives of enormous wealth and luxury.
The government also began conscripting soldiers on a large scale to expand its forces. Of course, it was called recruitment, but hardly anyone volunteered. The Imperial Court had lost the people's hearts, so most were simply seized and made into conscripts.
Lu Wangchuan's strength already placed him among the very best within the city, but he would not act.
When an Imperial Court became corrupt, rebellion was a normal course of history. Even if he had the power to defeat the Black Lotus Society, he would not intervene!
Defeat one Black Lotus Society, and there would still be tens of thousands upon tens of thousands of Black Lotus Societies.
He was not the emperor. It was enough to look after himself, so why concern himself with so much?
Besides, what Lu Xianyuan had said had indeed happened to him. After breaking through to the Dantian Realm, although his blood and qi continued to grow at the same rate as before when he cultivated, his spiritual energy cultivation was difficult to advance!
Going to an Immortal Sect was imperative!
But before leaving, he had to make some plans. In the Mortal World, the Dantian Realm was already the level of a supreme expert, able to take someone's head amid ten thousand troops as easily as reaching into a bag for an object. Yet Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue were merely ordinary people!
He decided to send the two of them away first. That day, he had them pack their things and took them directly to the Longtai Merchant Guild.
The Longtai Merchant Guild was moving goods as well. More than ten carriages had been brought in, and quite a few martial artists had been hired to help. Lu Wangchuan even recognized several of them; they were former classmates from the Dragon Tiger Martial Hall.
With the situation so grim, they no longer went to the Martial Hall. Instead, they had chosen to become guards, selling the fine martial skills they had trained for years at a good price.
Lu Wangchuan found Shopkeeper Tan, who was directing the workers moving goods.
"Lao Tan."
"Young Master Lu, what brings you here?"
"I need to ask you a favor. Take these two servants of mine out of the city and leave them in Chu Zhou. My older sister is in Chu Zhou, so have them go seek refuge with her. Once they arrive, ask my sister for one thousand taels in banknotes. Tell her I said so."
Though the two were servants, they had followed Lu Wangchuan for so long that he had long regarded them as family.
As for the kindness his sister had shown him, he already owed her plenty. Another thousand taels made no difference. He would repay it all together someday.
Shopkeeper Tan's eyes lit up.
"Fine, no problem. As long as I'm alive, I'll definitely deliver them safely."
"Thank you."
Upon hearing Lu Wangchuan's words, Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue immediately became so anxious that they burst into tears.
"Young Master, aren't you leaving with us?"
"I have other matters to attend to."
"But we can't bear to leave you."
"Mountains and seas have their day of return; wind and snow have their day of reunion. As long as you live well, we will meet again one day."
Lu Wangchuan took out a banknote from his robes, along with the Mountain Splitting Fist manual and the Eight Section Brocade cultivation method, and handed them to Xiao Wu and Xiao Yue.
"Though these two cultivation methods are basic beginner techniques, once you learn them, you'll have some skill with fists and kicks. Dealing with ordinary refugees will be no problem. Remember, no matter what happens, you must live well."
He then took out a family letter and had Xiao Wu deliver it to his sister, telling her not to worry about him, that everything was well. Only then did he leave.
"Young Master!"
The two cried until they became tear-streaked figures, kowtowing toward the direction in which Lu Wangchuan had departed to bid him farewell.
Lu Wangchuan quickly made his way to the Dragon Tiger Martial Hall.
The martial artists in the hall had all put on armor and begun training. The air carried an oppressive feeling unlike before.
Lu Xianyuan, meanwhile, was still as he had always been, sitting in a grand chair and basking in the sun. His expression remained calm and composed, utterly out of place with the tension gripping the entire city.
"You're here."
Though his eyes were closed, he could still clearly distinguish Lu Wangchuan's footsteps and aura.
Lu Wangchuan cupped his hands.
"Greetings, Instructor Lu."
"Starting tomorrow, you need not come anymore."
Lu Wangchuan was startled.
"Instructor, are you leaving too?"
Lu Xianyuan nodded.
"The Hall Master has entrusted more than two thousand clan members to me. I must escort them to their old home in Yi Zhou."
"You have also bestowed upon me the grace of instruction, Instructor. This disciple is willing to accompany you and escort you for part of the journey."
Lu Xianyuan smiled, drew a chopstick from the table, and flicked it with his finger. The chopstick sank deep into a wall more than ten meters away.
"I am at the Dantian Realm Peak. A casual strike from me carries several thousand jin of force. If there are enemies even I cannot deal with, what use would there be in you staying behind?"
Lu Wangchuan moved his lips, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words back down.
"There is no battle here that belongs to you. Do not let the troubles of the Mortal World weigh on you.
You are a genius. At such a young age, the stars and the sea are your battlefield; above the Immortal Sects lies your future; martial longevity is what you should pursue!"
The protagonist definitely will not protect this city. It is not his Lineage, and no one here has treated him well. If the protagonist went to protect it, that would be sick in the head!
There is truly no need to keep discussing a hopeless world. By normal reasoning, if the Imperial Court is corrupt, then the Black Lotus Society resisting the Imperial Court can only be considered a factor that should exist in the course of history!
Isn't the destruction of a corrupt Imperial Court a normal course of history? Must the protagonist step in to help it?
I hate saintly protagonists the most. Even if the protagonist has the power to turn the tide, I still will not have him act. That's all, thank you.
Before you continue