Let Lightning Bear Witness

With the arrival of the Third Human Reversal, the Knowledge-and-Vision Obstruction on Li Fuchan's body has been eliminated.

Looking at the man whose face was shrouded in mist, Li Fuchan had a strange feeling.

Before he could think it through, the Nian Renshang spoke up, "I noticed you a long time ago. You're different from everyone else in this world."

Li Fuchan adopted a serious, prepared posture and asked, "Just who are you?"

The Nian Renshang, did not answer him, and continued, "Compared to everyone else in this world, you have an extra layer of Restriction. That Restriction may seem to Restraint and imprison you, but it is also protecting you. Now that the Restriction has shattered, perhaps when that power influencing the world advances again, you can still use some power from outside this world. But for now, you have already cultivated the power of momentum and can only be controlled by me."

The Nian Renshang looked at Li Fuchan and asked, "Do you want to live?"

Upon hearing this, Li Fuchan feigned hesitation for a moment, then nodded and said, "I want to live. I want to leave this place."

The Nian Renshang nodded. "Go Northern Lands. A new kingdom is rising there, and you will be able to accumulate power much faster."

Upon hearing this, Li Fuchan nodded and said, "Okay."

After arriving in the River Kingdom, Li Fuchan easily became a general under the command of Jiang Bianyan.

This cultivator of the Hegemonic Art, chosen by the Grotto Heaven, was not blinded by the Third Human Reversal; his mind was clear and his demeanor was magnanimous.

However, Li Fuchan soon discovered that Jiang Bianyan's actions were completely different from what he had imagined. He had not expanded the territory or sought hegemony; instead, he had enacted laws to ensure the people's well-being and implemented benevolent policies. Li Fuchan offered several suggestions to persuade him to send troops to attack other countries and use the war to build up momentum, but these suggestions were all casually dismissed by the founding emperor.

He could tolerate it for a day or two, but after a month or two, he felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. Eventually, he simply stopped going to see the Jiang Bianyan.

Only now did he finally see this person for who they truly were.

Compared to the ambitions of the Nian Renshang, Jiang Bianyan's heart was always filled with the phrase "All Under Heaven of the Family and State."

Over the past thirty years, Jiang Bianyan has accomplished what ordinary people might not be able to do even after hundreds of years of hard work, by using methods like Hegemonic Art.

He dredged the waterways and diverted water into the canals, transforming the once barren wilderness into a landscape of crisscrossing paths and endless waves of rice paddies. He personally measured the fields, determined the taxes, abolished harsh laws, and established new regulations, allowing displaced people to regain their household registration and land.

Over thirty years, he single-handedly built tens of millions of houses for the people, whether they were mud-walled and thatched-roof, or made of bricks, tiles and wooden beams, all with the wish that the people under his rule would no longer freeze to death in the wind and snow.

Li Fuchan traveled through the prefectures and counties of the River Kingdom, seeing old farmers bending over to plant rice seedlings on the ridges, laborers singing work songs on the riverbanks, and children chasing after sugar figurines in the streets.

Standing atop the towering city wall of the River Kingdom's capital, Li Fuchan gazed at the myriad lights gradually illuminating the city below, and murmured to himself, "The Jiang Bianyan flown away, leaving people homeless, thus laws were established throughout the land... What a magnificent Jiang Bianyan."

He withdrew his gaze, turned the Copper Coin with three Sword Scar in his sleeve over, and pressed it into his palm.

Nian Renshang sent him to the River Kingdom to build up his power, but now Jiang Bianyan is using that power to heal the wounds and stabilize the people, which goes against Nian Renshang's plan.

When he finally received the summons from Jiang Bianyan, seventy years had passed. That was exactly the lifespan of a generation.

As an Outer Scenery cultivator, he was supposed to live to be 150 years old. However, because he possessed the "Embrace-Lock Crouching Cicada" technique to restrain his qi and refine the Three Qi, he lived even longer and still appeared to be middle-aged.

The Jiang Bianyan are already very old.

He looked down at Li Fuchan, who still appeared to be middle-aged, his gaze calm and without the slightest surprise. "You were sent by that person, weren't you?"

He still remembered the person whose face was shrouded in thick fog from back then.

Li Fuchan made no attempt to hide anything and nodded. "That's right."

Jiang Bianyan remained silent for a moment, as if sorting out the thoughts accumulated over the years. When she spoke again, her tone held a hint of understanding. "As I cultivated the Dharma, I gradually saw through the shackles of this world. Everything is beyond reason, contrary to humanity. I understand many things, and I've also deduced what he wants to do."

He paused, looked at Li Fuchan, and, as if afraid he wouldn't believe him, blurted out:

"When law and power are combined, tactics are employed; by accumulating great momentum, one can reap the rewards of the world."

Li Fuchan looked at him with interest and asked, "Now that you've seen through his intentions, what do you plan to do?"

He thought Jiang Bianyan would ponder, hesitate, and bow her head in the face of this problem that had torn apart her lifelong beliefs.

But Jiang Bianyan didn't. He answered without hesitation, "I will do as he thinks." Li Fuchan's eyebrows twitched slightly, and he pressed, "Many people—no, countless people—will die because of your harvest. Even so, you still want to do it?"

Jiang Bianyan looked at him, her gaze unwavering. "Not bad."

Li Fuchan stared intently into his eyes and asked, word by word, "Then what is all that you're doing right now? Hypocrisy, or just a show?"

He bombarded him with questions, pressing him relentlessly, as if determined to stump the octogenarian king, to drag him down from his lofty pedestal, and to drag him into the dust.

Jiang Bianyan slowly stood up under his piercing gaze.

His spine, which had been hunched over for countless years, straightened inch by inch, and his old and withered body seemed to have become majestic again.

The spacious hall suddenly felt cramped as he stood up, and even the candlelight on the walls dimmed.

He gazed down at Li Fuchan, as if seeing the entire world through him, and slowly said, "In my youth I had no home. After cultivating, I went from family to nation, and thus I established a home for all people. Now I am old, and my cultivation has reached its peak, and I know that the world is in utter chaos, that people's hearts and nature are upside down and distorted, and that there is no home in the world..."

A blue light rippled from his sleeves, making his figure seem to grow infinitely taller, his aura imposing. "Seventy years ago, I fought for my family and country; seventy years later, I fight for the world."

"For all eternity, the common people will not die for me, but for the sake of the world. When I reap the harvest of the people, break free from the shackles, and recreate the world, I will ensure that the world has a home, and that people's hearts and nature will no longer be manipulated by external things. But those who harbor selfish desires will be punished without mercy by the law."

Li Fuchan listened to his words and remained silent for a long time.

Jiang Bianyan swore an oath based on her cultivation foundation: if she broke it, she would instantly perish, her cultivation vanishing without a trace, and even Human Reversal would be futile. "Hypocrisy or just a show..."

Jiang Bianyan points to the houses and buildings beneath the Imperial City, their myriad lights twinkling. "A thousand years from now, these earthen and stone houses will still remember me."

At this point, he couldn't help but sigh, "It's a pity that no one is here to witness my passing."

However, the instant he finished speaking, Li Fuchan conjured a bolt of lightning with her fingertips and whispered:

"Lei Lai will be your witness."

All schemes and plots, heroes and valiant men, are but ants before the Purple Mansion Lord. Yet even ants have courage and integrity.

This Heaven and Earth Are Ugly, yet it still possesses the spirit of heroes.

It was precisely because of this heroic spirit that Li Fuchan did not lose faith in the world.

Even though he knew the future, Jiang Bianyan still died in the end, dying under the gaze of the Purple Mansion Lord. Those mortals who died at his hands ultimately did not become the foundation for him to realize his grand ambitions.

But at that moment, the heavens and earth shook, Thunderbolt roared, yet not a single bolt of lightning struck his body.

Lei didn't kill him, and neither did the law.

Therefore, Li Fuchan was willing to bear witness for him.

Even if it's just a story from the past.