240: Chapter 23 Becoming a Heavenly Person 240: Chapter 23 Becoming a Heavenly Person For Xie Xuanyi,
the Yangshen Realm was an unparalleled summit scenery he had never experienced.
Assessing one’s heart, Asking Dao, these two great tribulations.
In his previous life, he had only made it through half…
Battling across thousands of miles in the North Sea, he eventually succumbed to the “Asking Dao” tribulation.
But he had heard his master say that above the Yangshen, what one pursues is the fusion of the Dao and the person into one.
The Dao is the person.
The person is the Dao.
If one could achieve this, one could reach what is called the “Heavenly Person” realm.
The Holy Empress’s Dao is all living beings.
If she has proven to be a Heavenly Person, then she alone is all living beings.
This myriad of living beings is also her.
Perhaps in the eyes of cultivators at this level, plots and conspiracies have already lost their meaning.
Or perhaps,
the Holy Empress tacitly approved of everything the young emperor did, hoping to see the day he reached the “endpoint”?
Xie Xuanyi shook his head and gave up this pointless speculation.
“Xie Zhen…”
The young emperor seated across the stone table took a deep breath.
He clutched the jade ring tightly, which contained abundant primordial energy, and this restored a bit of vigor to his originally pale face.
“My summoning you today was by no means impulsive.”
The young emperor’s voice still trembled a bit.
He tried to steady his breathing and said, “After the Northern Hunt…
if you are able to return to the Imperial City alive, I can tell you a secret.”
“A secret?”
Xie Xuanyi raised an eyebrow.
“Many people wish to put you to death, and to them, the Northern Hunt is the best opportunity.”
The young emperor seriously said, “I do not wish for your death, I want you to live.”
“…Thank you.”
Xie Xuanyi looked at the young emperor, smiled as he spoke, and couldn’t help feeling somewhat ironic.
After so many days,
he still met a stranger who wished him to “live” for the first time.
Well…
it was the Da Chu Emperor himself.
The feeling was rather nice, wasn’t it?
Yet the support of the young emperor in his words, merely staying at a spiritual level, was rather powerless.
“Even so, I…
cannot help you much.”
The young emperor honestly said, “This time, the ‘supervisor’ of the Northern Hunt is jointly responsible by the Qin Family and the Imperial Family.”
“…”
Xie Xuanyi fell silent upon hearing this.
He knew that the young emperor could not offer him much help now.
“Your Majesty, there’s no need to keep me in suspense.”
Xie Xuanyi sighed softly, trying to coax out some interesting information, “It’s still possible for Xie to die in the Northern Hunt…
Whatever the secret is, you might as well speak now.”
“No, no, no.”
The young emperor gritted his teeth, shook his head urgently, and solemnly said, “My teacher taught me that success lies in secrecy and failure in loquacity.
This matter has to wait until you come back from the Northern Hunt.”
“That important?”
“Very important.”
“How important is it?”
“…”
The young emperor still shook his head, indicating that he could not speak, and after a few moments of silence, he stretched out his delicate, snow-white finger and quietly pointed towards the roof of the pavilion.
Above, was the sky.
In the Imperial City, who the sky referred to was self-explanatory.
Xie Xuanyi narrowed his eyes, intrigued.
Interesting.
Could it be that the young emperor meant…
this secret has the potential to topple the Holy Empress?
He felt somewhat skeptical, though.
…
…
“Master Xie, I took the liberty of visiting today, please don’t take offense.”
Xie Xuanyi walked through the dense forests of the Jade Sea Hunting Ground.
The surroundings were slightly cool.
The master of snow floated with her feet above the ground, without touching it, her wide white robe fluttering in the wind like a wandering spirit from ghostly tales.
After the conversation in the pavilion, she personally escorted Xie Zhen away.
“You’re too polite.”
Xie Xuanyi softly said, “I must thank Miss Snow for that time in Caipu City.”
“Thank for what…”
The master of snow let out a faint sigh, “I fear that even if I had told you straight, you still would have jumped into this turbulent affair.”
No merit is received without service rendered.
She was sent to “remind” Xie Zhen to be wary of the Imperial City’s designs.
In the end, the unfortunate incident still happened.
“I have one thing I’m very curious about.”
Xie Xuanyi smiled slightly, not minding the matter, and instead asked, “Is the great master behind the master of snow the same person as the great master behind the master of wood?”
This question took the master of snow by surprise.
She fell into a brief silence.
“I’m sorry, Master Xie.”
The master of snow gently said, “There are some questions I cannot answer.”
This response was precisely the answer Xie Xuanyi was looking for.
“So…
there is more than one great master in Fangyuan Hall?”
Xie Xuanyi raised his eyebrow and smiled, “I thought this business was unusual, being able to extend from the Da Li Dynasty to the Great Chu Imperial City; there must be a reason.
It turns out that in Great Chu, there’s also a ‘great master.’ One more impudent question from Xie, who is the great master of the Imperial City?”
“…”
Although the master of snow wore a mask, Xie Xuanyi could still sense a resentful look through the mask.
Too presumptuous.
This question, naturally, cannot be answered.
“All right.”
Xie Xuanyi raised both hands, indicating that he knew he was wrong, but in the next moment, he threw out another question, “It wouldn’t be ‘that person’, would it?”
The many affairs occurring in Imperial City could not escape the Holy Empress’s notice.
Fangyuan Fang.
It naturally fell within the Holy Empress’s field of vision as well.
“You can rest assured about that.”
The Snow Master responded to the question, “With ‘that person’s’ identity, they naturally would not take up the role of the grand shopkeeper of Fangyuan Fang…
However, the relationship between Fangyuan Fang and ‘that person’ is more complex than you imagine.”
“Why do you say that?”
Xie Xuanyi’s expression grew heavy.
“In these ten years, the reason Fangyuan Fang’s business could flourish owes to the ‘big figures’ of the two dynasties reaching a consensus.”
The Snow Master paused, then said, “If the Demon Country were to rally its forces and replicate the Poisonous Mo Zhen Battle of the Jiazi period, then the Dachu Dynasty, whose fate had declined to an extreme, would fall into an unprecedented danger.
The saying ‘when the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold’ holds true—if the Northern Border Great Wall of Da Chu were breached, Da Li would suffer from never-ending demonic calamities.”
Although North Chu and South Li.
Both dynasties bordered Demon Country.
On the Demon Country’s side, crossing the North Sea and circumventing to attack the eastern side of Da Li was equally a move that could cause severe damage.
The great battle a Jiazi period ago.
The Demon Country’s Mo Zhen, the Great Venerate, did not just launch an offensive against Da Chu…
Li Kingdom, too, suffered severe losses, though, since it held the advantage of terrain, the main battlefield of that great war was still centered around the Northern Border Great Wall.
Before that battle, Chu and Li contended, with Da Chu holding a steady upper hand.
After that battle, Da Chu’s luck plummeted, while South Li received a precious opportunity to catch its breath.
“Those big figures recognized one thing…
and that is, before the second great war erupts, the world today needs ‘peace’.”
The Snow Master spoke softly, “Fangyuan Fang came into existence at just the right time, with Da Chu and Da Li each having a grand shopkeeper.
This Fangyuan Fang is the product of both dynasties’ attempts to ‘make peace’, and in a certain sense, Fangyuan Fang is the symbol of ‘peace’.”
So that’s how it was…
Xie Xuanyi suddenly realized.
Indeed, these ten years could be considered a time of peace under heaven.
He frowned and asked, “Since Da Chu has its own ‘grand shopkeeper’, why then do you and Wood Master have such completely different styles of conduct?”
The Snow Master was everywhere lending him aid.
Before he entered the Cai Pu City, Snow Master had already given him warnings of the danger.
Whereas Wood Master, on the contrary, kept adding trouble for him at every turn.
“It’s very simple…
Wood Master and I serve different grand shopkeepers,” replied the Snow Master with a wry smile.
“The two characters ‘fang yuan’ signify not just peace, but also a gamble.
Four junior shopkeepers maneuver between the two dynasties, representing the vision and strategy of two ‘grand shopkeepers’, and in this contest of fates, both ‘grand shopkeepers’ wish to gain an upper hand, so naturally, they will each have different measures.”
Xie Xuanyi remembered the scene where Lin Yu had challenged him at the city wall and spoke in a deep voice, “The grand shopkeeper of Da Li, recruiting young talents in Chu country…
wouldn’t that be overstepping bounds?”
“This contest of fate is an internal struggle within Fangyuan Fang,” explained the Snow Master in a gentle voice.
“What Wood Master does within Great Chu Imperial City conforms to the laws; following the rules, another junior shopkeeper could do the same within Li Kingdom Imperial City.”
Peace, peace, where in this world is there true peace?
The struggle between the two grand shopkeepers of Fangyuan Fang was a bit “dizzying” indeed.
“Junior Master Xie, the questioning through fists atop the city wall was just the beginning…
Wood Master will certainly not let it go so easily,” said the Snow Master earnestly.
“The four junior shopkeepers do not contact each other, and I know very little about this person’s information, so you must be extremely cautious.
Due to the bets placed on the Xie family, he has already suffered many losses…
and now he has no choice but to follow through, proving to the grand shopkeeper of Da Li that his bet was not misplaced.”
Recalling the images of Wood Master captured at Yuanqing Building.
Xie Xuanyi pondered for a moment before asking seriously, “Tell me about this bet, what’s it all about?”
“The junior shopkeepers are the chosen left and right hands of the grand shopkeepers.”
The Snow Master said, “The identity of the great shopkeeper is prestigious and must be kept secret.
Both Chu and Li are unaware of the other’s identity as the great shopkeeper.
Over the past decade, they have been playing a game of chess, both sides trying to expose the other…
However, under the premise of abiding by the rules, they can only cause each other some minor troubles until the Beihai Ling shatters, and a great amount of fortune surges in.”
“Hmm?”
“The strife between the Fangyuan Shops has always been a struggle for fortune.”
The Snow Master solemnly continued, “Both great shopkeepers hold treasures that can ‘pour’ fortune.
Whoever gains more fortune will cause the balance of the Fangyuan Shops to tip in their favor.
The Fangyuan Shops’ stakes are finite, with the initial chips for the fortune struggle evenly distributed.
As the ‘left and right hands,’ the lesser shopkeepers naturally wouldn’t blindly obey; they must share the great shopkeeper’s worries and seek more avenues for fortune.”
Their realm is all in the late phase of Yin God.
Such high-level Cultivators labeled as “lesser shopkeepers” wouldn’t just serve as errand runners in Fangyuan Shops.
“Reasonable,”
Xie Xuanyi smiled and asked, “So, you mean the Wooden Master discovered the Xie Family?”
“Over the past decade, Xie Sheng’s renown has spread far and wide, largely because the Wooden Master has been behind him, fanning the flames.”
As the Snow Master spoke, there was a hint of schadenfreude in her tone.
To achieve this, a significant number of chips are necessary.
After wagering so much, in the end, it benefitted Xie Zhen.
This has become a joke.
“This wager has caused the ‘fortune balance’ that the two great shopkeepers had maintained for a decade to tilt gradually.”
The Snow Master’s voice grew increasingly solemn, and as she looked at the young man in front of her, she said with deep meaning, “The great shopkeeper wants you to be very careful, take good care of yourself…
no matter what, you mustn’t have an accident during the upcoming Northern Hunt.
He even hopes that you can find an excuse to avoid the Northern Hunt and stay away from the Imperial City.”
“…”
Upon hearing this, Xie Xuanyi was silent for a moment, then smiled and asked, “According to the great shopkeeper behind Miss Snow, where should I go?”
The Snow Master said in a deep voice, “Naturally, back to the Sword Palace.
The farther you are from these troubles, the better.”
Xie Xuanyi continued to ask with a smile, “And then?”
“And then… is to cultivate.”
Without thinking, the Snow Master voiced her thoughts, “In this grand era, countless Heavenly Pride emerge.
With young Master Xie’s talent, you could very well reach the Yin God Realm, then emerge from seclusion.
At that time, with two Dao paths, who in the world could stand against you?”
“If I truly went into seclusion, would I still be around when it’s time to advance to the Yin God Realm?”
Xie Xuanyi softly said, “Even if that day comes, how should I face the Heart Tribulation, the Asking Dao Tribulation?”
The Snow Master was left speechless.
“The great shopkeeper behind you must want to bet on me becoming the number one on the Heavenly Pride List.”
Xie Xuanyi said indifferently, “If he really wants to bet heavily, he should bet on me becoming a Yang God, achieving the status of a Heavenly Person.”
This statement made the Snow Master stop in her tracks.
She looked at the young man in front of her with a complex expression.
Yang God?
Heavenly Person?
How incredibly distant those concepts seemed!
But what was astounding
was that the great shopkeeper had indeed said the same thing to her before departing.
“If you’re going to bet on Xie Zhen…
bet big.”
“Not only bet on him topping the Heavenly Pride List and becoming the Sword Champion.”
“But also bet on him becoming a Yang God!”
“Becoming a Heavenly Person!”
…
…
(PS: There will be only one chapter tonight.
The recent plot in the Imperial City has been criticized by many, indeed there are pacing issues.
I’m taking the criticism on the chin and will ponder the direction of the upcoming plot.)