Sixth Senior Brother's words left Chen Changsheng with a faint sense of unease.
But that feeling did not last long before Chen Changsheng let it go.
After walking the mortal world for decades, Chen Changsheng had come to understand one truth: once something exceeded the bounds of your ability—
It would not simply fail to happen because you did not want to see it happen.
Rather than worrying all day long, it was better to live each day happily, for time would prove everything.
Including whether his own conjectures were correct.
After returning to Supreme Clarity Temple, Chen Changsheng resumed his leisurely life.
Most days, he either went to Book Grave to read or practiced Hundred Defeats Immortal's Nameless Fist Technique to loosen his body.
When the Nascent Soul Immortal had gone to the Borderlands, he had transferred away more than half of Supreme Clarity Temple's strength.
As a result, although Yuanshan was still young, with Chen Changsheng assisting from the side, he could barely keep Supreme Clarity Temple running.
Moreover, the more Yuanshan experienced, the faster he matured. Before long, Chen Changsheng had become a hands-off shopkeeper.
Yet during this period, one matter exceeded Chen Changsheng's expectations.
The war between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Night Moon Kingdom would last for a full twenty years.
By the fifth year, even the Spirit Transformation ancestor who had been in seclusion for a long time had headed to the Borderlands.
Supreme Clarity Temple's Book Grave.
After slowly setting down the last book, Chen Changsheng stretched his somewhat stiff body.
At that moment, a handsome man in a Daoist robe, with sword-like brows and starry eyes, walked over.
"How have you considered what I said yesterday?"
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng glanced at him and said flatly, "No!"
"Why?"
"Ten years ago, you said that once I finished reading the books in Book Grave, you would allow me to go to the Borderlands. Now that I've finished all the books in Book Grave, why can't I go?"
"Don't forget, I'm the acting Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple."
Looking at the man roaring at him, Chen Changsheng smiled. "Twenty years ago, you were just a little brat who asked me about everything."
"Now, you finally dare to bang the table and challenge me."
"Not bad. You've improved."
Listening to Chen Changsheng, the now-grown Yuanshan's eyes began to redden, and he spoke with a choked voice.
"Seventh Senior Brother is dead. Fifth Senior Brother is blind. First Senior Brother, who loved us most, lost an arm."
"Brother Changsheng, I'm already Golden Core Late Stage. I can help them now. I really don't want to see anything happen to my senior brothers again."
Seeing Yuanshan's reddened eyes, Chen Changsheng did not know what to say for a moment.
He had been keeping watch over the situation at the Borderlands these past years. The Great Qian Dynasty's circumstances were far from optimistic.
More than ten Nascent Soul Realm great cultivators had died in battle. There were even rumors that Spirit Transformation cultivators had begun to fall on the battlefield.
If he let Yuanshan go to such a brutal battlefield, it would undoubtedly be sending him to his death.
On that kind of battlefield, even Golden Core stage cultivators were merely slightly more advanced cannon fodder.
Just as Chen Changsheng was about to find another reason to stop Yuanshan from heading to the battlefield, a familiar aura suddenly descended from above Supreme Clarity Temple.
Sensing that aura, Chen Changsheng and Yuanshan hurried out to welcome its owner.
But what they saw was Third Senior Brother, covered in blood, his left hand severed and his right eye blind.
"From this day forth, I am the Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple. Ninth Junior Brother Song Yuanshan shall be the Deputy Temple Master of Supreme Clarity Temple."
"All main and branch temples of Supreme Clarity Temple are to retreat three thousand li westward!"
The once-lazy Third Senior Brother had become decisive and swift. He did not even have time to greet the two junior brothers he had not seen in so long.
After issuing a series of orders, Third Senior Brother's tightly wound mind finally slackened.
Seeing how greatly Third Senior Brother had changed, Yuanshan trembled as he walked over.
"Third Senior Brother, where are Master and the others?"
Facing Yuanshan's question, Third Senior Brother replied in a somewhat hoarse voice.
"For some reason, the Night Moon Kingdom's Nascent Soul Realm great cultivators suddenly increased by more than double."
"Master was besieged by three Nascent Soul Late Stage cultivators and ultimately fell atop Phoenix Mountain."
"Our senior brothers had been acting together, but we were suddenly ambushed. First Senior Brother desperately self-destructed to send me out."
"The Great Qian Dynasty has been defeated. Starting from the Borderlands, five thousand li of territory has been ceded to the Night Moon Kingdom as compensation."
Hearing this news, Yuanshan immediately felt the world spin around him.
Then Yuanshan seized Third Senior Brother by the collar and demanded fiercely, "Where is Master's body?"
"Why didn't you bring it back? Do you want to watch Master's corpse be refined into a puppet?"
Facing Yuanshan's roar, Third Senior Brother did not resist. There was only endless silence.
"Stop shaking him. Keep shaking, and you'll shake Third Senior Brother to death."
Chen Changsheng's calm voice came from behind him, and Yuanshan instinctively stopped.
When he turned around, he saw that Chen Changsheng had somehow brought over the Lightning Strike Wood Coffin from the Back Mountain.
Before Yuanshan could figure out what Chen Changsheng intended to do, Chen Changsheng had already arrived before Third Senior Brother.
He took out a porcelain bottle, poured out a medicinal pill, and gave it to Third Senior Brother.
It was as though Chen Changsheng had not been affected by the devastating news at all.
"You have injured your foundation. My abilities are limited; I cannot save you."
"The Night Moon Kingdom's offensive is so fierce. Their goal definitely isn't a mere five thousand li. They likely want to swallow the entire Great Qian Dynasty."
"Yuanshan has good talent, but he's still somewhat childish. You must teach him well over the next fifty years. Supreme Clarity Temple's future rests on him."
After saying that, Chen Changsheng stored the Lightning Strike Wood Coffin on the ground into the System Space, then turned and walked away.
At that moment, the dazed Third Senior Brother came back to his senses and immediately asked, "Changsheng, what are you going to do?"
Hearing this, Chen Changsheng stopped. After hesitating for a moment, he said,
"I'm going to collect Master's and my senior brothers' bodies."
"Don't laugh at me, Senior Brother, but before I came to Supreme Clarity Temple, my old trade was selling coffins."
"And that Lightning Strike Wood Coffin was one I had prepared in advance for Master. Now it happens to be of use."
"We cultivate immortality in pursuit of longevity. Everyone thinks that after achieving longevity, one can attain great freedom and ease, never realizing that longevity itself is the greatest pain."
"The world is like a Sea of Bitterness. Longevity means drifting forever upon this bitter sea."
"Master and the others have escaped the Sea of Bitterness. We should be happy for them."
As he spoke, Chen Changsheng hesitated once more. Then he turned to Third Senior Brother and revealed a brilliant smile.
"I remember Third Senior Brother once told a story from the cultivation world to frighten Yuanshan."
"You said there was a mysterious existence in the cultivation world, one who specialized in collecting the bodies of those whose lifespans had run out."
"Once he appeared, it meant death was about to arrive."
"No one knew the name of this mysterious existence. They only knew he was called..."
"The Undertaker!"
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