Having successfully grasped the introductory stage of the technique known as [Empty Vessel, Bereft of Self], Li Shun slowly opened his eyes.
Judging by the ti, the mont when the lifespan-reclaiming shadows should have descended during the first two reflections had already passed. Yet this ti, they did not appear again.
“So this thod of avoiding tribulation truly works after all.”
Joy rose in Li Shun’s heart.
He first carefully examined his current condition.
“There doesn’t seem to be any obvious change. It’s just that, unconsciously, my state of mind has improved greatly.”
“There are no worries.”
“Even when thinking about future calamities, I no longer feel much fear or anxiety. I rely regard them calmly.”
“What can the calamities of heaven and earth do to ?”
Li Shun turned toward Li Qing, who was still standing guard nearby.
“Little Tuanzi, take a look. Do I seem any different?”
Li Qing observed him seriously for quite so ti before replying hesitantly,
“I can’t really describe it. The feeling you give off is strange. You don’t seem like a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth at all. Instead, you feel more like…”
He pondered for a long while before finally finding the right words.
“That’s right. More like those old folks you can see everywhere in town. Leisurely squatting around, lazy and peaceful.”
“That’s exactly it! This is the effect of the secret art Lao Wei taught . It’s specifically ant to avoid attacks from the lifespan-reclaiming shadows of heaven.”
Li Qing imdiately looked puzzled.
“Attacks from the lifespan-reclaiming shadows? Brother, didn’t you just start cultivating the Twelvefold Longevity thods? Why would you need to worry about that already?”
Li Shun sighed deeply, lowering his voice with a helpless expression.
“That’s because your brother borrowed two hundred years of lifespan from the heavens. The Imperial Mausoleum Heaven now regards as an anomaly. Without a thod to avoid disaster, I’d probably face endless pursuit from those lifespan-reclaiming shadows.”
“Borrowed two hundred years of lifespan?!”
Li Qing sucked in a cold breath, disbelief filling his eyes.
It took him quite a while to digest the information.
“I knew there was sothing strange between you and Lao Wei. So that’s what it was.”
“Little Tuanzi, you absolutely must keep this secret for ,” Li Shun warned earnestly.
Li Qing’s expression turned solemn as he imdiately swore,
“Brother, don’t worry. Even if I die, I won’t reveal a single word!”
Then, as though he had thought of sothing else, both regret and indignation surfaced in his eyes.
“With talent like yours, Brother, being trapped inside the Imperial Mausoleum…”
“If you could regain your freedom and head to the Thirteen Provinces of Great Qian, your future would definitely be limitless!”
“You probably don’t know this, but anyone cultivating lifespan borrowing inside the Imperial Mausoleum, no matter how much they borrow, has thirty percent forcibly taken away by the Imperial Mausoleum Heaven!”
Li Qing poured out his grievances bitterly, while Li Shun pretended it was his first ti hearing this, deliberately revealing a shocked expression.
“No, this won’t do. I have to think of a way to get you out of here. Staying in the Imperial Mausoleum is far too stifling for soone like you!” Li Qing said indignantly on Li Shun’s behalf.
Li Shun, however, gently advised him otherwise.
“There’s no rush. After all, it’s been many years since I last returned here. Besides, it’s still a long ti before my next lifespan borrowing.”
Only then did Li Qing’s expression ease sowhat.
The two brothers chatted until deep into the night before finally parting ways.
The next day, Mausoleum Calendar, Sixth Month, Fourteenth Day.
Early in the morning, “Fang Xun” began writing a letter to Dong Chunqiu.
This ti, aside from requesting permission to take Li Shun as a disciple, he also reported the discoveries he had made during his patrol the previous day.
There were already traces of hostile infiltrators within Dongshan Town, and it appeared their ambitions were far from small.
After finishing the letter, he ordered the postal courier to deliver it with utmost urgency.
Fang Xun then quietly waited for a reply from the Censorate.
anwhile, on Li Shun’s side, he once again took out three hundred thousand copper coins and instructed Li Qing to purchase the neighboring courtyard.
“I heard the eldest son of the family next door is about to be taken away to the outside world as a labor conscript.”
“I beca acquainted with the Town Garrison Commander back in Lengshan. We survived calamities together, and our relationship is closer than brothers.”
Li Shun suddenly spoke these seemingly unrelated words.
Li Qing was montarily stunned, then seed to realize sothing. Carrying the thirty coins with him, he headed out the door.
Not long after, he returned with the land deed docunts and the remaining money.
“The people next door only symbolically charged fifty thousand yuan.”
Li Qing hesitated for a mont before quietly asking, “Brother, are you really close with that Fang Xun? My reputation in Dongshan Town is fairly decent, which is why the transaction went so smoothly.”
Li Shun smiled faintly. “Relax. If nothing unexpected happens, he’ll accept as his disciple tomorrow. Changing my labor assignnt is rely a trivial matter to him.”
Li Qing nodded upon hearing this, though worry soon surfaced in his eyes once more.
“Then… Brother, Fang Xun won’t discover that you borrowed two hundred years of lifespan, right?”
“Fang Xun hasn’t reached that level yet. Besides, now that I’ve obtained Lao Wei’s personally transmitted secret technique, there’s even less to fear. As long as I don’t reveal it myself, this matter won’t be exposed. Fang Xun is, after all, Dong Chunqiu’s disciple. Becoming his student carries many benefits,” Li Shun explained.
“In that case, Brother, you can decide for yourself.”
“Oh, right. Co with to pay respects to Xiao Yuanzi again today,” Li Shun suddenly added.
Although Li Qing did not understand his intentions, he still nodded in agreent.
At noon, the two brothers once again arrived within the gloomy array of human effigies.
Li Shun extended his hand and gently brushed across the face of Little Yuanzi’s effigie statue.
Cold. Bone-chillingly cold.
“Tell … do you think Xiao Yuanzi is truly dead?” Li Shun suddenly asked for no apparent reason.
“I personally watched Xiao Yuanzi breathe her last. Before she left, she didn’t really have any regrets. The only thing she worried about was you, Brother. If she knew how accomplished you’ve beco now, she’d definitely be happy.” Li Qing failed to grasp the deeper aning behind Li Shun’s words, rely reminiscing about the past with a trace of sorrow.
Before Li Shun’s eyes, however, appeared the apocalyptic scene from within the Imperial Mausoleum. Endless human effigies ignited one after another, transforming into beacon fires that stretched across the heavens.
“These human effigies… I wonder what thod was used to create them. There is clearly residual Life Qi sealed within, yet even at such close range, it cannot be detected.”
“After living beings die, they are turned into human effigies, their Life Qi sealed away. Cultivators borrow lifespan from the heavens during cultivation, and even then, thirty percent is extracted away. After thousands of years of accumulation within the Imperial Mausoleum Realm, the amount of gathered Life Qi must be an unimaginably astronomical figure. What exactly is it being used for?”
Li Shun did not believe that this Life Qi was ant to extend the Qian Emperor’s life.
“Every person possesses their own destiny. One cannot directly use another’s Life Qi for oneself. Otherwise, attaining immortality would beco far too simple. One would only need to endlessly plunder the Life Qi of others. And if that happened, this world would instantly descend into a horrifying abyss of darkness where civilization and order could no longer exist.”
“If it isn’t for extending the Qian Emperor’s life, then it must still be sothing the Qian Emperor requires.”
Li Shun’s gaze subtly flicked toward the sky before he forcibly suppressed his thoughts for the mont.
After finishing their mourning, Li Shun searched around the human effigie array once more, yet found no signs of anything unusual.
“At present, I still don’t know how Shentu Xin managed to ignite every human effigie within Imperial Mausoleum Commandary in an instant.”
“Hopefully Fang Xun’s letter will prove effective.”
This ti, the Censorate’s response ca even faster.
By three in the afternoon, a reply had already arrived.
“Temporarily admitted under the sect, accepted as a nominal disciple. Should he step into the Primal Simplicity Realm within one year, he may then be recorded as a direct disciple.”
Aside from that sentence, there was an additional line.
“A gentleman’s thoughts should not stray beyond his position.”
This was clearly the response to Fang Xun’s report regarding the abnormal movents within the Imperial Mausoleum.
“What does this an?”
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