Why Prolong One's Years

"The little girl has finally grown up." Sitting on the airship heading towards Dragon Abyss City, Qin Yi sat cross-legged, hugging his feet, and sighed with some reminiscence, "That silly, cute snake has changed after all."

The Liusu floated beside him, and she said expressionlessly, "You've known her for twelve years, haven't you?"

"Yes. I knew you a few months before she did."

"What does this have to do with me... She was thirteen years old then, wasn't she?"

"Yes."

"So she's actually twenty-five now. Even if her body doesn't grow, do you really think her brain won't grow either?" Liusu said irritably. "Besides, as the Young Master, she's been governing for a long time. It's hard for her to pretend to be stupid anymore."

"That Qing Cha is over a hundred years old and still the same."

"Qing Cha is inherently flawed, unlike others. Normally, her temperament would only be frozen at the moment of enlightenment." Liusu sighed, "Now Qing Cha is also sprouting, and maybe even silly Qing Cha will be gone by then."

Qin Yi looked up at the sky with a pained expression. "Time is truly a Butcher Knife."

Liusu glanced at him sideways, as if looking at an idiot. "I've never seen a man who doesn't want his own child to grow up. You're the one who's missing a screw."

With a final glimmer of hope, Qin Yi asked, "Some people are quite old and still seem simple-minded. Do you think they can maintain that?"

"How should I know?" Liusu said, both amused and exasperated. "What's gotten into you?"

Qin Yi rested his fist on his chin and said quietly, "I actually think Ye Ling is a bit... a bit bewitching today."

"?" Liusu, "So what if she's a demon? Isn't she a demon?"

"It's not this demon, it's that demon!"

"Idiot, there's no point in arguing with you," Liusu said. "Shouldn't you be more concerned about the smoke signals from the west?"

Qin Yi paused for a moment, then looked westward into the distance.

Sure enough, there were faint smoke signals coming from the west.

Huiyang's divine sense spread unchecked for thousands of miles, and he clearly saw that armies were clashing.

To be precise, it was one side attacking the city.

The banner of the defending city reads, "Anling".

The attacking force's central banner... was "Qian". But the flanking banners on the left and right almost completely obscured the character "Qian".

The deputy banner bears the inscription: "Southern Ming Fire" and "Thank you".

Qin Yi suddenly stood up.

This is the Nanli Army, the Nanming Lihuo Army, which Qin Yi is very familiar with!

More than ten years have passed, and the soldiers must have changed. The commander-in-chief still looks like the veteran Xie Yuan, or his son or nephew.

Qin Yi immediately turned the airship around, preparing to get closer to check the situation.

The city was large, resembling a major metropolis, but strangely, its defenses were weak, consisting mainly of the elderly, the infirm, the disabled, and new recruits, utterly incapable of resisting the Nanming Lihuo Army's attack. Qin Yi had barely turned and flown a short distance when the city walls began to crumble.

Just then, flames erupted in the city, as if a fire dragon was burning the Southern Li army that had climbed the city walls.

A cultivator has made a move?

Qin Yi instinctively wanted to intervene, but then he saw Xie Yuan's army also light up with the light of Technique Method, followed by a torrential downpour that extinguished the fire dragon.

This is... the meteorological Daoist Daoist Arts of Hidden Dragon Temple?

The Daoist Arts was broken, the city gates collapsed, and the Nanming Lihuo Army swept into the city.

Several Daoist priests used Flying Magical Artifacts to escape, and the disciples of Hidden Dragon Temple in the army did not chase after them, but instead protected the central army and slowly entered the city.

Qin Yi brought the airship to a stop at high altitude.

Looking down, one could see a palace, filled with chaos. The palace gates were guarded in an organized but disorganized manner, and they were quickly pushed inside as the Nanming Lihuo Army swarmed in. Some firewood was laid out outside the main hall, as if the king inside, facing certain death, was about to immolate himself.

The menacing Nanming Lihuo Army suddenly stopped in their tracks, displaying strict military discipline.

Everyone looked at the firewood with a sense of remembrance and respect in their eyes. They should have gone in to arrest the person, but no one moved.

Qin Yi saw Xie Yuan, whose hair was white and whose steps were weak and unsteady. He slowly walked to the front of the line and quietly looked at the palace gate.

That once-renowned general, who dominated the battlefield, eventually grew so old that he could barely walk. His command and direction were probably all done under the strain of his failing health.

They are not allowed to grow old in this world.

Qin Yi's eyes grew increasingly wistful.

Just twelve years have passed in the blink of an eye. He could imagine how many immortals would feel looking back at the world after hundreds or thousands of years... Qin Yi wondered how he would feel when he experienced it himself.

The once-familiar country has changed its name, and not a single familiar face remains... Or like Liusu, after tens of thousands of years, what was once a small mound has become a mountain, and what was once a forest has become a plain...

That kind of emotional impact would likely be even greater. It's understandable that Celestial Pivot Divine Palace offers a detached perspective from the world; even lovers, after seeing each other so often, will find their feelings fading.

An autumn breeze blows.

The palace didn't burn down for half a day.

A hint of anger finally appeared in Xie Yuan's eyes, and he said in a low voice, "Take it."

The guards rushed into the hall and dragged out a fat man wearing Dragon Robe.

"If you really set it on fire, my Nanming Lihuo Army will remove our helmets and salute you," Xie Yuan said slowly. "Unfortunately, he's just like this... Tie him up in a prison cart and present him to our Our King."

He had barely finished speaking when he began to cough violently. A middle-aged general beside him supported him, saying urgently, "Father!"

Xie Yuan waved his hand and said in a low voice, "I'm getting old... Being able to live to witness this day is enough to comfort me in the afterlife."

The general, who was clearly his son, said, "The king is waiting for his father to go and fight the battle in the capital."

"Yes..." Xie Yuan perked up a bit. "I haven't lived enough yet. I want to see the day when the Qian trigram transforms into the Li trigram."

The son lowered his voice. "Father, be careful what you say."

"It's alright now." Xie Yuan suddenly laughed, "The trend is irreversible, and unless the immortals intervene, it's a foregone conclusion."

"Then... will there be any interference from deities?"

Xie Yuan shook his head. "I don't know. It shouldn't happen normally. This time it seems a bit strange... But His Majesty is a man of great talent and strategy, so it should all be within his calculations..."

"What if... those people from the Taiyi Sect really interfere on a large scale?"

"Taiyi Sect? Is it that great?" A whisper came from the sky, "If others have Taiyi Sect, Southern Li is not without its own Imperial Preceptor."

The voices were faint, and when I looked up, I saw no one.

Xie Yuan was overjoyed. "Imperial Preceptor!"

A pill floated down from the sky. Qin Yi's voice was gentle, yet tinged with melancholy. "I still don't know how to make a pill that directly extends lifespan. However, this pill regulates Qi and Blood and heals old wounds, which will surely help the old general maintain his health and prolong his life. If there is a grand event, I'm sure the general wouldn't want to miss it."

Xie Yuan swallowed the pill in one gulp and laughed loudly, "Having the strength to attend this grand event is enough; why bother prolonging my life!"

Why prolong life?

Qin Yi sat on the edge of the airship and sighed softly.

Xie Yuan's lifespan is likely less than six months. Having witnessed this tumultuous and dramatic life, the old general must have no regrets. Truly, why prolong his life...?

The Southern Li is filled with such spirit and energy. The passion for worldly achievements, the fervor of war, and the strategic planning that puts the world at stake always make Qin Yi feel that many immortals pale in comparison.

Like some people in the Taiyi Sect, living a life of petty scheming and utterly ridiculous. Where does their confidence to be so high and mighty, thinking they can crush ordinary people, come from?

From stealing the military equipment blueprints back then to the sudden appearance of the Lihuo Army thousands of miles to the west, Qin Yi could imagine the far-sighted plans of Li Wuxian, who was only a few years old at the time, all for this day. Just look at Xie Yuan's admiring praise of "Great King" for his "brilliant talent and strategy"—it all makes sense...

She's just that strong on her own, not because anyone taught her.

Regardless of who taught him, the ability to skillfully utilize others' strategies is an excellent quality of a true king.

Qin Yi suddenly felt that even if Taiyi Sect were to make a move, they might still be killed by his little disciple. This feeling was completely illogical, given the absurd difference in strength, yet the feeling was so clear.

I once thought that sending Wu Xian to the Great Qian Dynasty was just a casual move, and I didn't even know if it would have any effect. Now it seems that it wasn't the casual move that was useful, but rather the other way around. Wu Xian was the one playing the game, and I seemed to have become the casual piece?

The chess fanatic's words flashed through my mind again. "Observe more, do less, and don't get involved in the game; this is how to observe chess."

But how could that be possible...?

It's impossible.

No matter how you look at it, I was already a player in this game twelve years ago.