I Want You to Spread My Name and Tell Others of What I Have Done

Before he knew it, since making up his mind that night and leaving with Fusang-

A week had passed.

Lü Yuan once again set foot in the wilderness where he had nearly starved to death, and saw a sight too wretched to bear.

He had expected it, but when he actually saw corpses strewn across the land, he still asked himself with some guilt:

Had he set out too late?

He did not know, nor did he know whether coming out a few days earlier would have saved more people.

Unlike Punk Lü Yuan, he was not someone who liked to think too much.

Taking things one step at a time and attending to what lay before him was more his way.

So, after using the two first-grade Law Techniques granted by the Immortal Book, Earth-Breaking and Earth-Transporting, to gather and bury the remains, he set out to look for survivors.

He had not held out much hope.

After all, two months had passed. Those people should have left long ago.

-At the beginning, the nearly million displaced people east of Han State had split into four groups, each seeking a way to survive in one of four directions: Wei, Qi, Chu, and Yan.

His group had been headed for Wei State, the closest of the four, only a few hundred li from the border. There was no reason they could not have reached it in two months.

Even if any remained, there should have been only a small number who had fallen behind.

But Lü Yuan had nothing else to do anyway, so he was in no hurry to leave. Instead, he searched for stragglers who might still be there.

Whatever the case, lives were at stake. Since helping them was within his power, he might as well do so.

Then...

Lü Yuan, who had thought he would find few people, got a fright.

In just two days, he found several hundred people in this small stretch of wasteland, though they were skin and bones, scarcely recognizable as human.

But they were unquestionably alive.

Over the next few days, he found several hundred more, and Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan began to wonder what was going on.

Punk Lü Yuan was also dumbfounded when he heard the news. He had already prepared himself to see all that grain go to waste.

In any case, Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan filled the oxygen bags he sent over every day.

Once school started, he could resell the oxygen in the Dark Air Realm and earn back dozens of times the cost-

And that was taking into account that he could not sell too much at once.

But what was going on now?

Surely these people could not have been lost here for two whole months?

Could the mortals of the ancient cultivation world not even find their way?

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan did not know why this had happened either.

But he thought that was the limit.

So, after some thought, he used the first-grade Illusory Body Technique to conceal his appearance and take on the form of an adult before appearing to them-

He provided them with grain and used Southern Dipper Life Breath to treat their illnesses and injuries.

Yet only a few days later, after the starving people had prostrated themselves before him in gratitude, nearly worshipping him as an ancestor...

He learned even worse news from a newly arrived young refugee.

"You mean there aren't just these few hundred people here? There are still many more alive in this wilderness?"

Hearing the surprise in the "immortal's" voice, Han Fei nodded. "Many, many more. Though I fear there may no longer be ten thousand, there will be no fewer than several thousand."

By then, that exclamation of surprise had made him realize that this man had probably not come specifically to save people, but had happened to pass by.

That was why he did not know what was happening here.

He had neither detected the Obstruction of Knowledge and Views nor known that there were still so many refugees here-

And his cultivation was not high. At most, he should be approaching Qi Refinement; otherwise, he would not have been unaware of the starving people nearby.

At first, Han Fei had considered telling the man before him everything, including his own identity.

But when the words reached his lips, he found himself unable to speak.

He knew full well that once he told him, no matter how kind the man was, he could not possibly commit a taboo to save these people.

If that happened, the people here would be beyond saving!

Does this count as selfishness?

Han Fei mocked himself inwardly, but if he did not do this, what would become of these people?

Han Fei had considered the identity of the man before him.

He recognized the Embryonic Breathing of the Southern Dipper Dao Lineage-

And he had never seen a cultivator at merely the Embryonic Breathing realm possess such pure Southern Dipper Qi.

Even the few representatives the Southern Dipper Palace sent down from the mountain were not fit to be mentioned in the same breath.

In that case, he could probably only be the True Disciple of one of the Southern Dipper Palace's True Lords.

For some reason, though, he had been sent down to gain experience while still at the Embryonic Breathing realm.

So Han Fei knew very well that deceiving him and letting him face danger would land him in enormous trouble afterward.

Neither the Han royal clan nor his teacher would likely be able to protect him.

But when he thought of those desperate faces of people who had died before him, Han Fei ultimately could not bring himself to speak.

Given this man's status, even if he saved these people without knowing the circumstances, surely no one would dare hold him accountable?

In that case, trading his own life for so many others was worth it!

But despite having made up his mind, Han Fei was still somewhat uneasy. He did not know, after hearing that so many people remained,

what choice the man before him would make.

Perhaps he would simply leave. After all, the people here had nothing to do with him in the first place, did they?

As thoughts churned through Han Fei's mind, Lü Yuan, who had quietly walked back beneath the tree, also fell into thought.

He was communicating with Punk Lü Yuan.

Punk Lü Yuan: "?"

Punk Lü Yuan: "You're saying there could still be over ten thousand people in that godforsaken place?"

Punk Lü Yuan: "Are you sure that guy isn't messing with you? Does he know what ten thousand people even looks like?"

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan shook his head. "I don't think so. I've looked him over, and he's nothing like a child of an ordinary family."

"Maybe he's a noble who ended up stranded here. He also seems educated, so he shouldn't be talking through his hat."

Punk Lü Yuan rubbed the space between his brows. "How did that happen? Nearly two hundred thousand people, and after two months there are still over ten thousand left here?"

"Is there something wrong with the feng shui over there? Some kind of rules-based horror?"

"This is trouble. I thought a few hundred people would be the absolute limit, and a few hundred tons of grain would be enough to stuff them to death."

"But now it looks like, if they're all gathered together, even if they eat sparingly, it won't last them two months."

"And that's the lesser problem-"

Punk Lü Yuan did not go on. Instead, he looked earnestly at the silent Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan. "So, what are you thinking?"

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan spoke to him apologetically. "I want to save them."

Punk Lü Yuan understood. Clearly, he had expected as much.

So he immediately began analyzing the problem.

Punk Lü Yuan stroked his chin. "Food isn't really a concern. At worst, I'll find an excuse to buy a few hundred more tons-"

"Even if they have to travel farther, with the Immortal Book in hand, a few months should be enough to get them out."

"But for this many people to remain after two months, there has to be something wrong."

"Given the era you're in..."

"Maybe there's a Devil Cultivator, maybe there are monsters. In the worst case, it might even be a hook set by a higher cultivator."

"That's where the problem lies-"

Punk Lü Yuan asked in return, "We still haven't determined the limits of the Immortal Book's protection for you."

"Have you thought about what might happen if you attract the attention of someone at or above Golden Core?"

As Punk Lü Yuan saw it, it was certainly not worth it.

At the Embryonic Breathing Fourth Layer, risking his life for thousands or tens of thousands of complete strangers, with a strong chance of running into a higher cultivator?

What a joke.

Thirty years the river flows east, thirty years it flows west. I can come back for you in ten or twenty years and avenge them then. It won't be too late.

But he knew better than anyone what kind of person Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan was.

And sure enough, he soon gave his answer.

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan said calmly, "That day beneath the tree, He said I could reach Dao Embryo..."

"He's an immortal. He can't be wrong."

"So even if I tried to persuade you, you probably wouldn't listen, would you?"

Punk Lü Yuan sighed. "How did I end up with such a saint for a counterpart?"

"You don't understand the first thing about maximizing benefits."

"But if you weren't like this, perhaps the immortal would never have granted you the book or spoken that prophecy."

Punk Lü Yuan looked at him with a wry smile and raised his fist. "Let's get this straight first. If something goes wrong..."

"I'll inherit your Immortal Book, Spirit Root, cultivation, Law Artifacts, and the immortal's prophecy and all that. Don't regret it then."

"Sorry."

Ancient Cultivator Lü Yuan also raised his right hand and bumped fists with him. "Because of the way I am, I'm causing you trouble and making you worry too."

After nightfall, Lü Yuan gently called the several hundred refugees currently in the makeshift camp together.

Han Fei knew the man had made his decision.

But he did not know whether the man had gathered them simply to avoid leaving without a word, or whether he had decided to try to save the other people in the wasteland.

Standing at the very front before the campfire, his heart almost leaping into his throat, Han Fei looked at Lü Yuan, whose expression he could not see.

He was both hopeful and worried.

What choice would he make?

Leave, or save them?

As these thoughts warred within him, he and the others heard the "immortal," whose kindness they had no way to repay, speak.

His voice was as gentle as ever, and he said something that filled everyone with dread.

He said, "I hope—and I beg all of you-to help me with something-"

At the very front, beside Han Fei, an old man whom Lü Yuan had pulled back from the gates of death shakily fell to his knees.

And following him, rows upon rows of people dropped to their knees in a rustle.

"How could we dare let you say 'beg,' Immortal..."

"Your great kindness and virtue are beyond repayment. You saved my father's life. Even if you told me to die, I would do it."

"You gave us our fill. Whatever we do for you is only right."

"That's right..."

"Immortal, tell us what you want us to do. We'll do it-"

The refugees looked up at Lü Yuan standing at the center, all talking at once about how they were willing to die for him.

-For a moment, the scene was extraordinarily noisy, and Han Fei's breathing nearly stopped.

That was how the mortals at the bottom of society were in this age. Years of war had made such a tiny, insignificant favor enough to buy them.

He had only given them a few meals to fill their bellies...

Watching this, Lü Yuan did not know what to say. He merely raised a hand slightly, and they fell quiet.

Then...

With a movement of his index finger, dozens of Fusang's leaves slowly descended, glittering with golden light as they floated before him.

His talent for talismans was not particularly high, far inferior to his talent for artifact crafting.

But using leaves as a base, he could still draw dozens of first-grade talismans in an afternoon.

Then he gave the answer Han Fei had most hoped for.

"Not long ago, I heard that there are still thousands of refugees in this wasteland suffering hunger and despair."

"So I hope some of you will take these protective talismans and go bring them here for me."

He said, "I want you to spread my name and tell others of what I have done-"

"Go and tell those people suffering hardship and torment to come to me. I will lead you to a way to survive!"