World

"You could die... suffer a fate worse than death."

Li Xian listened, but rather than feeling afraid, he smiled. "If that really happened, it would mean only one thing."

He paused and looked at Zhou Juechen. "I wasn't strong enough."

Zhou Juechen froze.

"There was still someone stronger than me."

Li Xian turned to gaze into the distance, his eyes seeming to shine with a light Zhou Juechen could not look at directly. "I'm still not truly invincible."

He reached out, his fingers slightly curled, wanting to touch something, to grasp something. "There's still a road ahead of me."

At that moment, a genuine smile rose from the bottom of his heart. "Tell me, what could be more delightful?"

People laughed when they were speechless.

Or perhaps...

They really would be speechless.

Just like now. Zhou Juechen was speechless, with absolutely no idea what to say.

Li Xian looked at him.

He did not need him to understand.

Nor did he care whether he understood.

But...

The kindness of giving him the Five Elements Art ultimately prompted him to say a little more.

"Between life and death lies great terror!"

Li Xian said, "Only a battle to the death can touch the soul, unleash an eruption of feeling, and reveal your truest self, allowing you to break the shackles of the flesh, transcend your own limits, and unleash boundless, limitless power."

He looked at Zhou Juechen. "Life ought to be free. Come when inspiration strikes, leave when you've had your fill. Don't let worldly ideas or the shackles of the flesh blind your heart."

Zhou Juechen remained silent, yet deep within him, something seemed to stir.

A life of freedom, without restraints.

Come when inspiration strikes, leave when you've had your fill?

But...

Could a person truly attain such a state of unfettered freedom?

Could he?

The hardships on the road ahead.

His lineage's expectations.

The bonds of friends and family.

All of it so often left him with no control over his own actions.

Could he truly cast everything aside to pursue the freedom in his heart?

A person...

Should not be so selfish.

Li Xian said nothing more.

He had always believed that the first opponent one must defeat in martial cultivation was oneself.

And that opponent...

Could be defeated by no one but oneself!

Yet everyone had their own understanding of the world. However sincere and profound the truths in one's words might be, with different understandings, they would still mean nothing to another listener.

They might even...

Find them a little noisy.

Li Xian did not know whether Zhou Juechen had taken his words to heart.

Nor did he wish to know.

But after a moment of silence, Zhou Juechen ultimately raised his head again and spoke. "You understand the consequences of doing this. Then have you ever considered what would happen if, one day, on one occasion, at one moment, you lost?"

"I know."

Since he had asked, Li Xian answered, "There's no such thing as constant victory and invincibility, nor supreme strength that never falls. In this world, no one stays first forever. One day, on one occasion, at one moment, someone will ultimately step forward and defeat me."

He smiled faintly, his eyes filled with heartfelt anticipation. "I look forward to that person's arrival, to bringing the life I chose to a perfect close, without regrets!"

Perfect, without regrets!

Zhou Juechen felt somewhat shaken.

So...

If that day truly came, if such a person truly appeared and defeated him, or even killed him...

To him, it would instead make his life complete.

Because it would mean he had spent his entire life walking this unfettered, boundless, limitless road.

Only, at that moment...

He would have reached its end.

After a while, Zhou Juechen slowly exhaled.

His gaze as he looked at Li Xian was full of complexity.

He did not know how to describe Li Xian's spirit and beliefs...

Resolute?

Ignorant?

He could not say.

Perhaps...

He should leave his future to time.

Time would prove everything.

I hope I'll still be able to bear witness to this belief of his when that time comes.

Zhou Juechen's thoughts turned.

Only after a long while did he look at Li Xian again and say solemnly, "When I first heard my disciples report that you'd come to the Canglang Sword Sect, I thought you'd heard Liu Yanran was here and followed that young lady from the marquis's household. Now it seems... that was prejudice in my own heart. I apologize."

"No matter. It isn't important."

Li Xian smiled as he spoke.

"I believe it now."

Zhou Juechen nodded. "You won't live under other people's gazes."

"You're too kind."

Li Xian spoke, then stopped pursuing a topic destined to be meaningless and went straight to the point. "Originally, I didn't intend to disturb you, Master Zhou. The reason I wanted to see you now was to ask how to replenish the depletion of blood and qi caused by blood exchange and marrow washing."

"Blood exchange and marrow washing depleted your blood and qi?"

Zhou Juechen froze. "How could blood exchange and marrow washing deplete blood and qi? In theory, it should make your blood-and-qi power increasingly pure, until one day it turns from intangible to tangible and forms genuine blood-and-qi power..."

"I have worked out something about that. Ordinary martial masters take eight or ten years to exchange their blood and wash their marrow. Even the faster ones need three to five years. But I... hope to exchange my blood in three months. Naturally, that makes the consumption somewhat greater."

Li Xian said.

"Blood exchange and marrow washing in three months..."

Even hearing Li Xian mention it again, Zhou Juechen still felt his mind reel.

But...

The world of geniuses had never been something ordinary people could glimpse.

Much less a monstrous prodigy like Li Xian?

If he could not understand it, he would stop trying. He would contribute whatever lingering warmth he still had to offer.

After some thought, he said, "To exchange your blood and wash your marrow quickly, you need to replenish your vitality. Many martial artists undergoing blood exchange and marrow washing also damage their blood and qi in battles to the death. This is especially true of first-rate experts whose entire bodies are leakless and who have command of their blood and qi. A death match against someone at the same level often leaves their vitality badly damaged, urgently requiring the appropriate medicines to replenish what they've consumed. So, in a case like yours, the first choice is Blood-Nourishing Pills, followed by Blood Spirit Powder, and only then Precious Jade Soup."

"Oh."

Li Xian's eyes lit up.

Sure enough, he had been right to ask Zhou Juechen about these problems.

"Master Zhou, do you have a way to obtain them?"

"At most, I can help you obtain the ingredients and brew Precious Jade Soup. As for Blood Spirit Powder..."

Zhou Juechen paused slightly.

"You can't obtain it?"

Li Xian asked.

Zhou Juechen pondered for a moment, but changed the subject. "Have you heard of the Hidden Dragon Ranking?"

"I've heard people mention it often these past few days at the foot of Mount Canglang."

Li Xian nodded.

"The Hidden Dragon Ranking was established by the Rising Dragon Pavilion. It lists thirty-six outstanding young talents of Great Zhou. Their rankings don't depend on strength, only on whether they have a chance to leap over the Dragon Gate like a fish. Thus, anyone, regardless of their origins or background, will inevitably draw the attention of every faction once they make the Hidden Dragon Ranking. To secure a return, these factions will invest in these hidden dragons early. Once they leap over the Dragon Gate, the returns can often be tenfold or a hundredfold."

Zhou Juechen paused as he spoke. "This is one of the ways the Rising Dragon Pavilion supports breaking monopolies, to keep talented people among the common folk from being buried."

"Leaping over the Dragon Gate..."

Listening to Zhou Juechen, Li Xian said, "It's not just the Hidden Dragon Ranking. I've heard the term 'leaping over the Dragon Gate' more than once as well. May I ask what that means, Master Zhou?"

"Leaping over the Dragon Gate..."

At Li Xian's question, Zhou Juechen's expression grew wistful, as though he had fallen into memories of the past.

Only after a long while did he speak again. "You should know that in martial cultivation, beyond blood exchange and the leakless state, there are also True Qi, meridian opening, and Xiantian?"

Li Xian nodded.

For him, exchanging his blood, washing his marrow, and making his entire body leakless were already only a matter of time.

His sights were now set squarely on the True Qi realm.

Naturally, he was curious about and yearned for those three realms.

"In fact, Xiantian still isn't the limit of cultivation! Above Xiantian are Dao-attaining true cultivators who enter the Dao through martial arts, transcending the ordinary and entering the sacred! Such beings travel through the azure heavens, soar through the nine skies, shoulder mountains and drive seas. There is nothing they cannot do!"

Speaking of such figures, Zhou Juechen, too, was filled with yearning.

"Entering the Dao through martial arts!?"

Hearing Zhou Juechen's words, Li Xian was utterly astonished as well. "Above Xiantian, one can actually enter the Dao!?"

"Indeed."

Zhou Juechen nodded firmly. "To enter the Dao through martial arts, you must leap over the Dragon Gate! Only by crossing the Dragon Gate can you enter the world where those Dao-attaining true cultivators reside!"

He said gravely, "Although not everyone who leaps over the Dragon Gate can successfully enter the Dao, as long as they get to go to that world, they can at the very least cultivate True Qi upon returning and become figures on the level of major sect leaders! Of the world's current Six Supreme Experts, five have beheld the scenery of that world! The Tai Xu Sword Palace, Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, and Sacred Martial Tower can stand above worldly affairs throughout Great Zhou's territory, spanning six thousand li in every direction, precisely because they have the support of experts who have entered the Dao!"

His gaze held a trace of envy as he looked at Li Xian. "And you... with your talent, you have a chance to leap over the Dragon Gate five years from now and enter that world!"

"Good! Good! Good!"

After hearing this, Li Xian's delight showed on his face, and he repeated the word three times. "This world actually has other wonders to offer!? Nothing could be better!"

Zhou Juechen looked at Li Xian.

Only a monstrous prodigy like him could say something like that after hearing this news.

They...

No longer dared harbor such hopes.

"Everyone who can leap over the Dragon Gate and enter that world can be called a true dragon. Now you should understand how tempting the people on the Hidden Dragon Ranking who have a chance of leaping over the Dragon Gate are to those great factions. If they fail to enter the Dao, that's that. But should any of those true dragons enter the Dao and soar into the heavens, those great sects and factions will share in their blessings, rising in a single leap to become new sacred lands above worldly affairs, standing on equal footing with the Great Zhou Imperial Clan."

Zhou Juechen spoke with some envy. "So, while I can't obtain Blood Spirit Powder, once the new Hidden Dragon Ranking is released, your name will surely be on it. Then, whichever great faction you choose, Blood Spirit Powder will be no problem at all."

Li Xian's expression did not change much at his words.

"Choose a great faction..."

He shook his head.

Accept the cause, bear the consequence.

Presumably, taking advantage of those great factions would not be so easy.

"Can you obtain the medicinal ingredients for Precious Jade Soup?"

Li Xian asked.

"I don't have any on hand, but with my standing, purchasing them from the Canglang Sword Sect shouldn't be difficult."

Zhou Juechen said.

"Then I'm sorry for the trouble."

Li Xian cupped his hands. "How much? I'll pay."

"It isn't particularly expensive. Three hundred taels of silver per dose."

Zhou Juechen said.

"!!?"

Li Xian's motion to readily take out his money came to an abrupt halt.

"How much!?"

(End of chapter)