Late Bloomer

[The next day, the Emperor died on Mount Zhongnan, but no funeral was announced.]

[Several princes hurried down the mountain.]

[Unexpectedly, not a single one of them blamed Mount Zhongnan.]

[Still less did anyone investigate the cause of the sovereign's death.]

[The originally solemn three-day purification rite was now left with only a handful of eunuchs standing guard. The dragon body lay alone and neglected. Only three months later did Kyoto hurriedly send envoys to escort the imperial remains home.]

[Half a month later, the situation in Kyoto changed abruptly. The Second Prince hastily ascended the throne and changed the era name to Political Harmony.]

[In September of that same year, the Eighth Prince fled Kyoto and hid in Jiangbei, where his maternal clan resided. He issued a proclamation calling for the punishment of traitors.]

["I am the sovereign's close kin, the legitimate heir of Great Qing."]

["The court and realm are in disarray, treacherous villains run rampant, and the court has no upright ministers while wickedness festers within. I shall train troops and punish them, cleansing the sovereign's side. I cannot live under the same sky as these villains. I shall carry out Heaven's punishment to secure the realm. May Heaven, Earth, and the gods bear witness to my heart."]

[The great families of Jiangbei answered the call one after another.]

[The Fourth Prince and Sixth Prince followed close behind, issuing their own proclamations against traitors. Beacon fires rose across Great Qing.]

[Among them, the Fourth Prince's proclamation drew particular attention. It fiercely denounced, "That demon woman North Wind has brought calamity upon the court. Her crimes are too numerous to write down even with all the bamboo in the world. She must be eliminated to bring peace to the realm."]

[For a time, the nation was thrown into chaos.]

[War raged without end in southern Great Qing, while the five northern provinces remained calm and undisturbed.]

[This year, you were thirty-three years old. You still remained quietly on Mount Zhongnan, focusing on cultivation. Though your progress was slight, you were not discouraged. Every day, you kept bitter toil at your side, rising with the morning mist and sleeping beneath the stars at night.]

[Spring went and autumn came, yet you were never idle for even a moment.]

[Hard work could make up for clumsiness; this had been true since ancient times.]

[At year's end, Mount Zhongnan received happy news. Lu Yu took in a second disciple, one he had found among wandering beggars. The world had begun to descend into chaos once more.]

[In the second year, your cultivation improved. The Great Yellow Court broke through to the eighth level, filling your heart with joy.]

[You drank a jug of fine wine alone beneath the bright moon.]

[In the spring of the third year, news came from North Wind: Tuoba Shuyi had successfully rebelled. The following month, he proclaimed himself emperor in North Wind and established himself as its ruler.]

[That same year, Great Qing suffered a drought not seen in a century. The common people harvested not a single grain, the great families' annexation of land grew ever worse, war broke out again and again, and the people could barely survive.]

[A large-scale uprising erupted in the south, shaking the foundations of the state.]

[At this storm-tossed moment, the eighty-year-old veteran general Wang Yang stepped forward. Leading troops into battle, he quelled the rebellion and salvaged the crisis.]

[A children's rhyme had already begun spreading among the people of Great Qing: "The Emperor died at Zhongnan, the dragon's aura is gone, and this vast realm of ten thousand miles can no longer sit steady."]

[At the same time, Great Qing's neighboring state, Qianyuan, ended eighteen years of civil strife.]

[That same year, Qianyuan ended its civil war. The reigning emperor's sixth princess ascended the throne as a woman and changed the state name to Kaiyuan.]

[That autumn, Qianyuan sent troops through Hangu Pass and attacked Great Chu.]

[In late autumn of that same year, Han and Chu cast aside their old grudges and swore a blood oath at Mount Baoding, joining forces to resist Qianyuan's invasion.]

[As the year drew to a close, Tuoba Shu of North Wind climbed high to offer sacrifices to his ancestors and held a banquet for the civil and military officials. During the feast, he revealed his desire for the Central Plains: "May the aura of the Central Plains remain as it was."]

[Beacon smoke rose everywhere beneath heaven.]

[Yet northern Great Qing remained relatively stable.]

[As the year drew near its end, a new year was about to begin. The year after that would be a Jiazi year.]

[At this time, a letter from the north arrived at Mount Zhongnan. It had been written by Feng Haiping, your former subordinate, a commander of the Lu Family Army and one of the Twenty-Six Generals of Tingtai.]

[The Twenty-Six Generals were the twenty-six most outstanding men from the northern expedition of that year, all personally promoted by Lu Chen.]

[Feng Haiping now commanded Great Qing's Northern Defense Army, most of whom were former members of the Lu Family Army.]

[You opened the letter. Most of it concerned border defenses, mentioning North Wind's restless movements and its apparent intention to march south.]

[At the end of the letter was a blood letter. Written prominently upon it were the names of the Twenty-Six Generals of Tingtai from the Lu Family Army, each name marked with a bright red fingerprint.]

[By candlelight, only two sentences stood upon the blood letter:]

["Respectfully request that the Junior Guardian take command!"]

["When the year is Jiazi, all beneath heaven shall enjoy great fortune."]

[You naturally understood the deeper meaning.]

[You silently burned the letter, then turned and entered the Tomb of the Living Dead, beginning your stance practice as though no one else existed.]

[In the fourth year, you were thirty-seven. Your cultivation had remained stagnant for two years, and you had encountered a bottleneck.]

[In the fifth year, the world grew ever more unsettled. Qianyuan stationed an army of eight hundred thousand at Hangu Pass, glaring like a tiger watching its prey.]

[More and more uprisings broke out in southern Great Qing, with people taking to the hills and becoming bandits. Some had already fled north to escape the disaster.]

[At year's end, Lu Yu happily gained three new disciples, bringing the total number under him to seven. Most were orphans of this chaotic age, yet every one of them possessed exceptional talent and a pure heart. You liked them greatly as well.]

[Having become their martial uncle, you felt deeply gratified.]

[Liu Jinchan had once suggested that you take in several disciples yourself, but you merely waved a hand and replied with a smile, "You'an's disciples are my disciples. I will teach them everything I have as well."]

[Under the careful guidance of Lu Yu, a Grandmaster of martial arts, the seven disciples advanced rapidly in their martial skills. Their progress changed with each passing day.]

[Among them, the first disciple he had taken in many years ago had already surpassed you in cultivation, becoming one of the sect's finest.]

[You sighed softly to yourself. The difference in talent truly could not be measured by ordinary reasoning.]

[All seven disciples held you in the highest respect and did not dare show the slightest negligence.]

[The world was in chaos, but Mount Zhongnan remained unchanged.]

[In the seventh year, you were forty years old. You began cultivating as usual, when you suddenly sensed something was different.]

[At dawn, the crimson sun rose, and Mount Zhongnan's green peaks remained as they had always been.]

[Congratulations: After day upon day of arduous training, Lu Chen awakened the Late Bloomer fate.]

[Claim it now?]

1. Yes.

2. No.

As the light screen above the cauldron flowed, it finally froze in place.

Yu Ke's eyes lit up when he saw this.

Damn it!

This fate had finally awakened.

Lu Chen was now forty years old. Could this fate really defy heaven and change his destiny?

["Man may have moments of defying heaven, but heaven never leaves a man without a road."]

Yu Ke did not hesitate. Give me some... points.

Wrong script!

Hmm, let me choose!

Choose 1. Yes.

With your choice.

The simulation continued.

[Your forty years of insights into the Dao surged forth like tidal waves, and the cultivation bottleneck that had long troubled you was shattered in an instant.]

[The barrier between you and the vault of heaven and earth was gone.]

[You felt only the mountain breeze blowing toward you.]

[Refreshing, clear!]

[The Great Yellow Court, from the ninth level, broke through four realms in succession. With deep accumulation finally bursting forth, you now entered the ranks of first-rate experts in the martial world.]

[The morning glow rose from the horizon.]

[The rising sun climbed into the sky. You looked toward the horizon and spread your arms.]

[You threw back your head and let out a long howl, your heart surging.]

[The joy in your chest could no longer be restrained.]

[Unable to contain yourself, you laughed aloud:]

["After cultivating the Dao for forty years, morning glow will finally bloom for me."]

[Your laughter echoed through the mountains.]

[Over the next two months, your cultivation advanced further. The Great Yellow Court reached its highest realm.]

[Your cultivation began to advance a thousand miles in a day, with new breakthroughs and insights every day.]

[You stood amid the mountains, an imposing aura rising naturally from within you.]

[This year, at forty years old, you finally entered the Grandmaster Realm, becoming a true expert of the martial world.]

[Today's simulation has ended. Please return tomorrow.]

[Retrieving rewards...]