“That’s because, brother, the lifespan you borrowed is simply too great. So great that…”
“It has even exceeded the understanding of the Heaven within the Imperial Mausoleum. In its eyes, you are not one who borrows lifespan, but one who steals it. That is why, on your very first day, you were hunted down by the shadow of Heaven’s Reclaiming.” Li Qing let out a soft sigh.
“As for this dead end… it may not be absolute.”
A sharp glint flashed in Li Qing’s eyes. “Let’s go seek Lao Wei. He will definitely have a way!”
Li Shun touched the sword branch in his palm, recalling the changes in Lao Wei during the first and second cycles. He nodded.
From various subtle details, Li Shun could almost confirm that the mysterious and unfathomable Lao Wei had already detected traces of ti being reset.
Although Li Shun had long prepared himself for the possibility that his Threefold Self-Reflection would one day be discovered by powerful beings, he had never expected that day to arrive so soon.
“Even Zhou Xunzhen, at the Creation realm, could not perceive it… yet Lao Wei can.”
“His realm…” Li Shun did not dare to dwell on it further.
“However, from the current situation, Lao Wei does not seem to harbor any ill intent toward .”
“Perception is ultimately just perception, not prevention. When I t him again in the second cycle, he did not imdiately realize it either. Only when he carved the sword branch again did he begin to vaguely sense sothing.”
“Moreover, my true trump card is not Threefold Self-Reflection… but Fangcun.”
“That half-ruined statue is rely a puppet contained within the Fangcun space.”
His thoughts raced, and a decision was already made in Li Shun’s heart.
“Alright.”
Under the cover of night, the two brothers once again arrived at Lao Wei’s residence.
Along the way, Li Shun had also questioned Li Qing for more information about Lao Wei. No one knew how many years ago Old Wei had co to reside within the Imperial Mausoleum.
His appearance, however, had never changed, always that of an old man.
The attitude of the Great Qian authorities toward him was equally strange.
They chose to turn a blind eye, neither interfering nor inquiring.
“Brother, you know this. I was raised by Lao Wei since childhood. Everything I know, he taught .”
“Although he has never said anything outright, I can faintly guess the aning hidden within his silence,” Li Qing murmured.
“What aning?” Li Shun asked.
“To slay the Emperor.” A sharp light flashed through Li Qing’s eyes.
Li Shun’s steps halted abruptly.
“Slay the Emperor?” he repeated, his lips moving, yet no sound erged.
“No wonder you’ve grown so bold, even daring to gather a crowd to surround the magistrate’s office. Compared to your goal, that really is nothing.” Li Shun stared at Li Qing intently.
Li Qing shrugged. “Can’t be helped. I was taught this way since I was young. The Qian Emperor is still human. He will die eventually. Either he dies on his own… or soone sends him to his death.”
Such words were utterly rebellious, yet Li Qing spoke them casually, without the slightest trace of reverence toward the Great Qian or its Emperor.
“Watch your words,” Li Shun said quietly, offering no further comnt.
When the two arrived at Lao Wei’s residence, they found the gates already wide open, as though he had long anticipated their arrival.
Within the courtyard, Lao Wei was crouched low, polishing a branch. The branch was unusually long. When stood upright, it extended more than half a head taller than he was. It was far from straight, its surface still covered in rough wooden thorns.
Lao Wei used neither blade nor axe. Instead, he used the pads of his fingers as a rasp, slowly working along the grain, inch by inch, stripping it down with deliberate care.
Strangely, despite flesh grinding against rough wood, not a single sound could be heard. The entire courtyard was steeped in silence.
Lao Wei worked at an extrely slow pace. It took him a long while just to remove a single splinter.
It was impossible to tell how long he had been polishing this branch. Upon closer inspection, most of it had already shed the dullness of ordinary wood, its grain faintly shimring with a subtle, mystical glow.
Yet the remaining portions still looked like nothing more than a common tree branch.
Li Shun and Li Qing did not dare to disturb him. They simply stood quietly to the side, waiting.
Only after Lao Wei finished polishing and put away the long branch did Li Qing prepare to speak.
Lao Wei waved his hand, cutting him off mid-sentence. He looked directly at Li Shun.
“You’ve co this ti to ask for a thod to conceal the true amount of borrowed lifespan, haven’t you?”
“Exactly so. I ask that you guide , Lao Wei,” Li Shun replied sincerely.
“I can teach you,” Lao Wei said readily.
Li Shun had not expected such an easy agreent and was montarily taken aback.
But then Lao Wei’s tone shifted.
“Not this ti. Co back next ti, and we’ll speak of it then.”
“This old man will not repeat the mistakes he has made before,” he added with a chuckle.
Though brief, these words carried a wealth of hidden aning. Li Shun’s mind trembled.
Li Qing, however, could not hold back and blurted out, “Lao Wei, you actually know about the matter of ‘Threefold Self-Reflection’ as well?”
At the ntion of “Threefold Self-Reflection,” Lao Wei’s expression deepened, turning distant and profound.
He did not answer Li Qing. His clouded gaze seed to sink into mories of the past.
“Threefold Self-Reflection… heh, heh, heh…”
“Young man, do you know why I agreed so readily?” Lao Wei asked instead, looking at Li Shun.
“This junior does not know,” Li Shun answered honestly, lowering his head.
Lao Wei flicked his finger. A page glowing faintly with golden light drifted over and stopped before Li Shun.
Taking it into his hands, Li Shun imdiately understood. It was a fragnt of the Record of Emperor's Exegesis.
Only a few lines were written upon it, yet they stirred an uncontrollable storm within his heart.
[In the ninety-ninth year of the New Calendar, the Four Sages set foot in the capital, and the armies of the Seven Nations rose once more.
The Emperor personally left the forbidden palace and suppressed them.
The Four Sages were no more.
Under heaven, there remained no people of the old nations.]
“After inheriting that person’s legacy, you either lie low for the rest of your life… or…”
“Brothers who face the tiger together…” Lao Wei narrowed his eyes as he swept his gaze over Li Shun and Li Qing, nodding in clear satisfaction.
“The choice is yours. You may leave.”
With that, he dismissed them.
The two brothers returned ho, each lost in thought.
Li Shun found it difficult to calm his mind for a long ti.
“The Four Sages stepping into the capital…”
“According to what Lao Wei said, the Threefold Self-Reflection stone statue is one of those Four Sages?”
“And the other complete statue within the Fangcun space…”
Yet this was not what shocked Li Shun the most.
It was the unimaginable strength of the Qian Emperor.
Even in its incomplete state, the Threefold Self-Reflection statue could reverse ti and rewind an entire world.
There was no need to elaborate on how terrifying it must have been at its peak.
“And yet, alongside three others no weaker than it, the Four Sages together still lost to the Qian Emperor.”
“Just what realm has the Qian Emperor reached?”
“And that was in the ninety-ninth year of the New Calendar, more than four hundred years ago.”
Li Shun felt his scalp go numb.
All this ti, the pride and confidence he had drawn from possessing Fangcun and the Threefold Self-Reflection ability were utterly crushed.
“If the Qian Emperor were to discover now, I likely wouldn’t even have the slightest ability to resist.”
But soon, Li Shun noticed a contradiction.
“If the Qian Emperor truly overwheld the Four Sages so completely, then why can Threefold Self-Reflection still affect him?”
“Or perhaps…”
“He was never affected by the reversal at all, and instead can clearly perceive the changes in this world?”
A chill ran through Li Shun’s heart.
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