"Though business is business." Before leaving, Xi Ming paused and said, "I still want to ask you—living like this, don't you find it exhausting?"
"Exhausting?"
"You're like one of the puppets crafted by our Mohist School, as if you were born with the command to cultivate without cease, able only to cultivate without cease." Xi Ming said, "I've seen many diligent people, but never anyone like you—someone who leaves not even the tiniest gap for himself. Is cultivation truly the only thing in your life?"
Jiang Wang said, "As I've grown older, I've increasingly realized that there are very few things where effort is guaranteed to bring reward. Cultivation makes me feel fulfilled, and the strength I gain from it can grant me more freedom."
"What freedom do you mean?" Xi Ming asked.
Jiang Wang asked in return, "Have you ever had a moment when you were powerless?"
Xi Ming thought for a moment. "I suppose I have."
Jiang Wang said, "Being able to no longer face moments like that—that is the freedom I want."
Xi Ming's voice was very soft. "No one can avoid them."
"But if I work a little harder, perhaps those moments can become a little fewer." Jiang Wang said, "Like Zhu Weiwu, who has vanished, or Huang Jinmo, whom you took away. Those should also be among the reasons I cultivate so hard, shouldn't they?"
Xi Ming let out a faint breath. "Then you truly do need to work hard."
Jiang Wang truly needed to strive harder.
Not to mention the Jiang Wang of today—even the Marquis of Wu'an who had yet to leave Qi State could not possibly take someone away from Grand City.
And forget the future Great Qi God of War. Even if the true, present-day Great Qi God of War Jiang