Chapter 117 - The Death of Concubine Jing
Chapter 117: The Death of Concubine Jing
The news reached Nanzhou.
The warriors in Nanzhou were thrilled.
Liu Yu frowned. “Is it him?”
After talking with Liu An, he was left feeling even more confused.
The imperial palace seemed to be under the protection of a eunuch, which was something that was completely beyond his imagination.
Then who was the grand ancestor of Clan Xia?
Liu Yu asked about the eunuch, but Liu An just smiled and gave him a meaningful look without telling him much more.
Since the eunuch was a secret of the palace, he felt that he couldn’t ask too many questions.
He thought about it over and over, and eventually came to the conclusion that the grand ancestor had disguised himself as a eunuch to protect the palace.
The grand ancestor liked to do something like this?
Since he had disguised himself as a eunuch, why didn’t he just admit to his real identity?
This didn’t make sense!
“Forget it! I don’t think I can get close to the real answer. It’s a good thing that there is someone protecting Clan Xia and Nanzhou. There’s no reason for me to continue pressing for the truth.”
The Muguang Mountain stopped the experts from Zhongzhou.
It was time to clean up the Zhongzhou bandits who had been robbing and killing people in Nanzhou.
After the discussion with Mu Qingfeng, the experts of Clan Mu and Clan Xia in Nanzhou were organized enough to chase and kill the bandits from Zhongzhou.
Meanwhile, Chu Qing was leading Tingting, Gongsun Qiuyue, A’Mu, and others to attack and eliminate the remaining robbers.
The Zhongzhou bandits who had slipped into Nanzhou could only run aimlessly in hopes of surviving.
Those who couldn’t escape had to change their identities and hide deep in the mountains.
None of the bandits ran towards Muguang Mountain.
After the retreat of the Qianyuan Sacred Ground, the entire territory of Zhongzhou was finally at peace.
As the war ended, everyone was left treating their wounds.
The few remaining sacred grounds were desperately trying to maintain their internal orders.
When they heard that Dongzhou had been dragged into chaos by the devil, they immediately sent their experts to take advantage of the chaos.
The Qianyuan Sacred Ground didn’t want Dongzhou to kill the devil, and therefore, they had sent forth a dozen Virtual Realm experts.
With all experts sent away, those sacred grounds were incapable of causing any more trouble in Zhongzhou.
Li Mu was able to have rest again.
One year, two years…
Many years later, when Liu Yu and Ting Ting met, Liu Yu finally got to know another side of Li Mu.
…
In the Bailing Valley.
Concubine Jing’s face was pale and aged. Her hair had turned gray and was hanging down to the ground.
“Xiaolizi, I’m about to die. I never expected that between the two of us, I’ll be the one who’ll go first.”
She spoke with a hoarse voice and needed to take deep breaths between her words.
“Concubine Jing, we have pills that can slow down aging.”
“I’m already old enough now. I don’t want to be greedy. I know these pills are precious resources. You can save them for future generations. It’s a waste to use them on an old woman like me.”
“Your Lady, we have a lot of pills!”
“How many? Can everyone out there use it? It’s by God’s grace that I’ve lived for so many years.”
Concubine Jing looked up at the sky.
A cloudy look overcame her gaze and she seemed to fall into nostalgia.
Her life over these last few years was quite relaxed and boring. As a result, with Clan Xia’s pills, she also reached the level of warriors.
Naturally, her life span was extended a little bit.
Together with the longevity pills from Li Mu , she was the longest-lived among her peers, even if her cultivation was still low.
“Your Lady, it would be a blessing to watch your grandson grow up.”
“Alas! Yu’er has always been so busy. I’ve been wanting a grandson for so many years, but I haven’t heard any good news yet. From now own, I’ll just leave him to his destiny.”
“Your Lady, the world is now at peace. It won’t be long before the Ninth Lord returns.”
Li Mu stopped patting her back and stroked her acupuncture points with one hand.
He quietly transmitted a wave of true qi to her.
Time passed.
Dongzhou was still in chaos.
Beizhou managed to defeat the devil on its own.
The whole world was shocked by the news.
Ten years later, Concubine Jing passed away.
After another two years, Liu An was handed the crown and became the Supreme Emperor. He took over the task of protecting the palace.
Back in the Vitality Pit, Zhou Hua, Tingting and a few others had all left.
They even had their own disciples by then.
Gongsun Qiu Yue and Gongsun Yang had rounded up some poor orphans from Zhongzhou and together, they rebuilt Taiyue Sacred Ground.
Nanzhou had restored its vitality.
Although it was still not as good as Zhongzhou, the gap wasn’t that obvious.
A lot of the Nanzhou clans that used to live in Zhongzhou sent their offspring to Nanzhou for cultivation.
Nanzhou was becoming known as a peaceful and stable place that was full of vitality.
Although there were fewer prodigies and talented young cultivators in Nanzhou, it was a perfect place to train diligent cultivators.
Here, in addition to relying on talents, cultivators could only rely on their own diligence.
For young cultivators who were still developing, there was no place more suitable than Nanzhou.
After years of accumulation, Li Mu’s body was filled with an increasing amount of golden essence.
They could even be twisted into a rope.
Yet he was still unable to reach the next level.
“Is the supreme level of Virtual Realm the end of martial arts?”
Li Mu was constantly asking himself this question.
Impossible!
In the classic literature left behind by the Taiyue Sacred Ground, there were many descriptions of the level beyond the Virtual Realm, which was the True Realm.
If there was no such thing as the True Realm, then how could it be recorded in books?
Touching the round card in his hand, Li Mu decided to go travelling.
During these days, there was one more old man walking silently in Nanzhou.
When he came across a place with beautiful landscapes, he stopped to appreciate the landscapes and express his emotions in words.
Three thousand feet of sparkling water!
Two golden orioles singing in the green willows!
“Ten years since you’ve departed, but thoughts of you remain in my frosted bones.”
Verses like these became well-known in various scenic spots.
Literary scholars and writers took notice of the strange old man, and held him in high esteem.
The people of Nanzhou wanted to meet this mysterious old man.
However, he suddenly disappeared and later was spotted in Zhongzhou.
But the people of Zhongzhou weren’t interested in poetry.
Li Mu’s reputation as a poet gradually became less known and finally disappeared.
In the Flying Snow City.
It had been snowing all year.
The city had a snowy mountain.
The residence of the city lord was built on top of the mountain.
From the residence, one could easily overlook the entire city.
It was a big city that was part of the Qianyuan Sacred Ground.
Li Mu wrapped himself in a straw coat and walked towards the city gate.
“This old man is wearing so little clothes. This is the Flying Snow City… he’s going to freeze to death.”
“During the war some years ago, people didn’t have anything to wear. Our Flying Snow City was fortunate enough to avoid being ravaged by the war, because the city was located in the central area of the sacred ground. Otherwise, you might see nothing left on the bodies of the dead people.”
“What a poor man! Is he expecting to die by coming to the Flying Snow City like this?”
“Maybe he’s an expert!”
…
Li Mu stepped through the city gate.
He used his divine consciousness to slowly search for something.
Yes!
Two years ago, he had found traces of Old Demon Han.
Old Demon Han stayed in Zhongzhou for more than ten years and visited the State of Xia many times. He seemed to be looking for something, and he had left after that.
Li Mu knew that Old Demon Han was looking for him.
But he didn’t know that Old Demon Han had been to Clan Xia many times in order to find him.
They missed the opportunities to meet each other many times.
When he heard about the news of Old Demon Han, Li Mu decided to look for him and ask about the origin of the round plate.
The more he cultivated, the more mysteries were presented by the round plate.
It could polish one’s spiritual power and help someone gradually form his divine consciousness.
It was something that might not belong to this world.
Li Mu entered the city and walked towards the snowy mountain along the city avenue.
Halfway up the mountain, snow started falling.
The higher he went up, the harsher the wind raged.
Ordinary warriors who arrived here would either be frozen into icy statues or blown away by the cold wind.
Li Mu stopped when he reached the halfway point of the mountain.
Ordinary warriors would stop here and be afraid of going any further.
They might be noticed.
But for Li Mu, if he fully used his power to continue up, he wouldn’t be spotted.
He stopped just to admire the scenery and used his divine consciousness for detection.
“Hmm? He’s actually the city lord?”
A familiar figure appeared in the city lord’s residence.
He didn’t find Old Demon Han, but found something else interesting.
“He’s already a half-step Virtual Realm, just one step away from the Virtual Realm. He even became a senior member of the Qianyuan Sacred Ground. Was it fate, or did he do it intentionally?”
At that moment, halfway up the mountain, Li Mu’s figure suddenly disappeared.