The Madman Great Emperor

After Commander Zha put away the Heaven-Peering Mirror, he summoned a servant to return it.

Xiao Changlin hurriedly asked, "Commander, did you find anything? What about Ye Fan...?"

"Young friend Ye is unharmed. Please, everyone, rest easy."

Hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Only Ye Fan was still thinking it over carefully. Judging by the commander's expression just now, he must have discovered something, and the Heaven-Peering Mirror's reaction had also struck Ye Fan as unusual. He didn't know exactly what had been discovered, but he was certain that the Inner World was absolutely safe and could never be easily probed by anyone.

This incident also strengthened Ye Fan's resolve to grow stronger! He possessed a great world, a heaven-sent treasure. If he still faded into the crowd, wouldn't that be an enormous waste?

"Commander, in that case, may we take our leave? We're rebuilding the new village and reclaiming wasteland, and the villagers are still waiting for seed grain!" Xiao Changlin had been uneasy all along, so he spoke up.

"Bright Virtue Academy has been abandoned for a long time. Rebuilding the new village will take a great deal of time and effort, and it won't be habitable anytime soon. With so many villagers, what arrangements have you made, old village chief?"

"There's something you don't know, Commander Zha. We've always lived in the mountains, eating in the wind and sleeping under the dew, fighting fierce beasts. We got used to it long ago. Thanks to your kindness, we have a place to shelter. The villagers are grateful for your great benevolence at all times."

"Right now, the villagers are reclaiming wasteland, working from sunrise to sunset, not daring to waste a moment, so we can move into the new village as soon as possible!"

"Very good. As citizens of the Qian Kingdom, you are naturally entitled to its protection. The late emperor reduced the people's taxes several times and spared no expense building medical halls and academies for them, opening them up and allowing exchange, all for the sake of our Qian Kingdom's people. As citizens of the Qian Kingdom, you should dedicate yourselves to serving it and must never do anything to harm the nation!"

"Yes, we will remember your words!" everyone replied.

"Attend me," Commander Zha called toward the door.

"My lord." A soldier entered and saluted with cupped fists.

"Take these people to the Ever-Normal Granary. Give them everything they need and send it to Hundred Stars Village with military wagons and horses."

"Yes, my lord."

"Young friend Ye, come with me. Take the official village relocation document and the deed to Bright Virtue Academy back with you." As Commander Zha spoke, he had already walked out of the room.

The group looked at one another. This...

"Xiao Fan, go with the commander!" Xiao Changlin sensed that the commander seemed to have something to say to Ye Fan in private.

They parted ways for the time being. Xiao Changlin and the others followed the soldier to collect the goods, while Ye Fan followed Commander Zha to fetch the official document and the deed.

The commander's residence!

"Young friend Ye, do you have questions?" Commander Zha turned and asked Ye Fan.

"Commander, I'm indeed completely bewildered by what happened today. Please enlighten me."

"Have you ever heard of an Innate Spirit Body, young friend?" Commander Zha asked tentatively.

"An Innate Spirit Body? What is that...? Commander, I've never heard of it!"

"It's no surprise you haven't. To tell you the truth, an Innate Spirit Body is a heaven-sent treasure of a body. Cultivating with it yields twice the result with half the effort, as naturally as water flowing into a channel. It once drove countless primordial-era geniuses mad with desire."

"Do you mean...? Could it be that I have an Innate Spirit Body?!!!"

"Judging by the Heaven-Peering Mirror's reaction and the Spiritual Qi flowing through your body, that should be the case!"

"There's Spiritual Qi flowing through my body?" Ye Fan truly hadn't expected that.

"You haven't even begun cultivating, yet Spiritual Qi fills you and pours out through your body. If word of this reached the immortal cultivation world, it could be enough to get you killed."

...Ye Fan naturally understood the deeper meaning of the commander's words. If a person who had never cultivated had Spiritual Qi all around him, then either he possessed a treasure or his body held a great opportunity. Whichever it was, others would flock to it like ducks, and disaster would strike him out of nowhere.

"Commander! How can this be dealt with?" Having realized this, Ye Fan hurriedly asked.

"A Spirit-Concealing Pearl!"

"A Spirit-Concealing Pearl? What is that?"

"As its name suggests, a Spirit-Concealing Pearl can hide your Spiritual Qi from other cultivators."

Commander Zha walked over to a cabinet, took out a box, and handed it to Ye Fan. "There's a Spirit-Concealing Pearl right here."

Ye Fan took the box in a daze. He's even giving me something?

"Open it and have a look! You can use it right now! Don't worry about it. It's only a Low-Grade Spirit-Concealing Pearl, and it's of no use to me!"

"Thank you, Commander!" Ye Fan stopped putting on airs. Since the commander had said so, it would be inappropriate to refuse further. He opened the box, and a blue-green jade pearl came into view! "This is a Spirit-Concealing Pearl? It can conceal my Spiritual Qi!"

"A Low-Grade Spirit-Concealing Pearl. No one below the Nascent Soul realm can probe your cultivation!"

"Thank you, my lord!" Ye Fan was truly grateful to Commander Zha. If not for him, someone might have discovered the issue with his Spiritual Qi in the future, and it might have brought disaster upon him. He might even have implicated the village.

"Young friend Ye Fan, what are your thoughts on the path of cultivation?"

Why is the commander asking me this? Could he still be testing me?

"Commander, I'm just an ordinary mortal. Asking me that leaves me at a loss for an answer!"

"Don't take offense, young friend. With your talent, you're certain to embark on the path of cultivation someday. If I'm not mistaken, you'll also become a figure renowned throughout a region of the cultivation world!"

"The path of cultivation twists the sinews and shatters the bones; it defies heaven itself! But what is it for? For longevity? Or to win the glorious name of a heavenly genius?"

Seeing Ye Fan deep in thought, Chahar continued.

"Everything in the world follows its own laws: honor and disgrace, rise and decline, the changing of the seasons, birth, aging, sickness and death, the alternation of day and night... But why do these laws exist? Is someone, or some being above humans, controlling it all?"

"And so there were those who defied heaven, who revered not the heavenly Dao but themselves! They were the first cultivators! They sought only to explore the origin of the world and discover whether beings above humans controlled all things. Later generations called them 'Heaven-Defiers.'"

"Later, things changed. Different factions emerged among the Heaven-Defiers. Some still seized the fortune of heaven and earth to strengthen themselves, while others plundered their fellow Heaven-Defiers to grow stronger! The two factions fought for hundreds of years, leaving the people destitute. Then, at last, a madman appeared and took action to unite them. In that battle, heaven and earth went dark, and mountains and rocks crumbled. At the final moment, the madman even summoned a meteorite to crush his powerful enemies. More than half the nations were reduced to ashes, vanishing into the long river of history! In a single battle, the madman became an emperor, and later generations called him the 'Madman Great Emperor'!"

"Young friend Ye, what exactly is the path of cultivation for?" Commander Zha seemed to have fallen into a state of frenzy.

Ye Fan's heart and mind shook violently. So that was how cultivators had come to be!

The Heaven-Defiers inspired admiration, and the Madman Great Emperor inspired reverence!

Even after Ye Fan left the commander's residence, he was still somewhat dazed. What exactly was the path of cultivation for? And where did it lead in the end?...

Only when Xiao Changlin and the others found Ye Fan did he come out of his daze. At some point, a scroll had appeared in his hand. It should have been the deed and the official village relocation document.

Looking at the people before him and thinking of the villagers rebuilding their home, Ye Fan suddenly came to a realization. "Revere not the heavenly Dao, but only yourself! Only by breaking the laws of the heavenly Dao myself can I protect my family and the village!"