Tribulation-Transfer Turmoil Settles

Before this mighty figure of the Creation Stage, Li Shun showed not the slightest panic.

He bowed slightly and cupped his hands. "Congratulations, Senior, on breaking through!"

Yet his tone was utterly calm.

There was even a flash of undisguised hatred in Fang Xun's eyes.

Zhou Xunzhen carefully examined Fang Xun and Li Shun below.

"You two... are quite good."

Leaving behind only this cryptic remark, Zhou Xunzhen's figure vanished into thin air.

Neither of them dared move. They stood where they were, letting the wind and snow fall over them.

Only after a long while, when Fang Xun and Li Shun had already turned into two snowmen, did Zhou Xunzhen still fail to reappear.

Once he was certain Zhou Xunzhen had finally left, Li Shun secretly let out a breath.

The reason he could remain so composed was, first, because he was currently in his second awakening.

Everything was illusory. No matter what happened, there was always a chance to start over.

Second, Fang Xun and Li Shun were both puppets. Even if their manifested forms died outside, it would not affect the origins within Square Inch Space.

And finally...

He was relying on certain information about Heaven's Lifespan Demand that Li Shun had learned from Fang Xun's memories.

"When Great Qian cultivators break through, they will generally have to undergo the tribulation of Heaven's Lifespan Demand."

"Although every transfer of tribulation often affects countless people, if one is caught within it and manages to survive by sheer luck, it is as though one has experienced one's own Heaven's Lifespan Demand tribulation in advance. With sufficient experience, the difficulty of future breakthroughs will be greatly reduced. Their prospects can be called boundless."

"Thus, many mighty figures will deliberately send their disciples into such situations, using this to select their true successors."

"Therefore, Great Qian's attitude toward the transfer of tribulations is rather subtle."

Li Shun's thoughts paused slightly. "Back then, Fang Xun had just entered the world, young and hot-blooded. After hearing of a tragedy involving a transferred tribulation that swept through three counties and left a million dead and wounded, he submitted a memorial directly to the throne. He furiously denounced it as an act that brought calamity upon the court and ruined the realm, demanding that the imperial court enact laws to punish it severely. That was why he was dismissed from office."

"Fang Xun had once been full of hot blood too."

"Sadly, time could smooth away all the vigor of youth."

"Unless..."

"One could borrow another lifetime from Heaven and return to one's younger days."

Li Shun shook his head and returned his thoughts to the present.

"Judging from things so far, turning Fang Xun into a puppet does not seem particularly risky. With the strength of mid-grade Spirit Resonance Realm, I finally have a barely adequate means of self-preservation. Besides..."

"His master."

Fang Xun's master held an extremely lofty position.

He was Dong Chunqiu, the Censor-in-Chief and one of the Three Excellencies of the current dynasty.

"The county under his governance was reduced to nothing, and all its people perished. Under normal circumstances, Fang Xun would certainly be thrown into the great prison. Even if he did not die, he would likely be locked up for decades. But..."

"There may not be no turning point. I can take advantage of the second awakening to give it a try."

Li Shun returned to Square Inch Space, while Fang Xun raced toward Cold Mountain County, which had already been completely reduced to ruins.

At the site where the county office had once stood, Fang Xun searched through the wreckage and found the last three sticks of Divine-Communing Incense.

"Fang Xun cares too much about his own dignity."

Thinking this, he once more made himself look utterly bedraggled. His face even seemed to bear traces of blood that had yet to fade.

Then he lit the Divine-Communing Incense.

Wisps of flame-smoke curled upward, gathering into a mirror.

"Master!"

With grief written across his face, Fang Xun dropped to his knees with a thud and wailed.

The watery mirror trembled faintly, yet no sound emerged from it.

"Master..."

With a bang, Fang Xun slammed his head heavily against the ground.

He made no other unnecessary movements, only sobbing and kowtowing again and again.

His blows were exceptionally heavy. In the silent snowy field, dull thuds echoed without end.

Before long, blood was already streaming down Fang Xun's forehead.

Yet he showed no intention of stopping!

He continued kowtowing without cease.

Within Square Inch Space, Li Shun watched coldly.

"If Dong Chunqiu can truly watch his own disciple kowtow himself to death before his very eyes..."

"Then this puppet is not worth keeping. Let him die."

"After all, I have already fully grasped the memories in Fang Xun's mind."

In the blink of an eye, Fang Xun was a bloody blur, his features no longer discernible.

His movements had also begun to slow.

Yet his resolve never wavered.

Until he could no longer hold himself up and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise, he still mechanically struck his head against the earth.

The surrounding white land had already been dyed red with Fang Xun's blood, like a bizarre canvas.

And at the center of that canvas, Fang Xun was already hanging by a thread.

Yet faint sounds of his head striking the ground could still be heard from time to time.

"Alas..."

At last, when Fang Xun's breath was as thin as a thread and he was on the verge of death, a sigh finally sounded from the other end of the Divine-Communing Incense.

"Shensi, back then, you submitted that memorial without first consulting me."

"Throughout the entire court, who did not know you were my disciple? Thus, they believed that memorial represented my intentions."

"The court and the realm were thrown into turmoil, and disaster nearly brewed."

"I renamed you Shensi because I hoped you would reflect upon yourself from then on, and think thrice before acting in all matters. Yet after so many years, it seems you have not improved much."

Fang Xu said nothing. His faint sobs only gradually turned into heart-rending, sky-shaking cries.

On the other side of the smoke, Dong Chunqiu remained silent for quite some time.

"However... it cannot all be blamed on you."

"The tribulation of a Celestial Phenomenon Realm cultivator entering the Creation Realm is far beyond what someone of your Spirit Resonance Realm can withstand. Besides, this time it was the Greed-for-Wealth Ruins-the-Seal Tribulation."

After another stretch of silence, a voice came again from the other side of the smoke.

But it was not Dong Chunqiu's voice.

The words were icy, passing judgment on Fang Xun's future fate. "The merit of capturing a thief cannot offset the crime of destroying a county. You are stripped of your position as Cold Mountain County Magistrate and demoted to East Mountain Town to guard the tombs."

"From this day forth, without permission, you are not to leave Tomb Commandery by even half a step!"

Fang Xun's crying finally stopped. He whimpered, trying to say something, but his injuries were too severe, and his words came out indistinct.

Dong Chunqiu's final words arrived. "Take care of yourself!"

Then the mirror-like smoke suddenly shattered.

The half-burned stick of Divine-Communing Incense, along with the remaining two sticks, all inexplicably turned into wisps of green smoke.

The green smoke drifted toward Fang Xun's dying body, repairing it.

Though slowly, Fang Xun's injuries did recover somewhat.

He struggled to prop himself up, then once again kowtowed toward the direction of the Sacred Capital.

Within Square Inch Space.

"East Mountain Town."

Those words once again awakened Li Shun's buried memories.

"This result is barely acceptable."

"East Mountain Town is Li Shun's hometown, and it is also one of the eight towns guarding the tombs. No powerful expert would dare risk universal condemnation by laying out a scheme at the Imperial Tomb. Comparatively speaking, it is a safe place."

"For Great Qian officials, once they are transferred there, there is almost no possibility of further promotion. It is what people call a dead end."

"But for me... it is instead an excellent place to lie low."

Li Shun pondered silently.

Outside, however, the imperial court's decision came with astonishing speed.

As night fell, a streak of light raced over from the horizon.

He wore azure robes, his expression solemn.