Chapter 88: A Difficult and Long Road, Troubles Left Behind from the Past
Chapter 88 – A Difficult and Long Road, Troubles Left Behind from the Past
The farmer’s tearful declaration not only left Chen Changsheng utterly bewildered, but even Gongsun Huaiyu beside him was drowning in a sea of confusion.
How did the legendary “fat sheep” suddenly transform into her martial uncle?
Sweeping his gaze over the rapidly multiplying crowd of onlookers, Chen Changsheng stated flatly, “This is no place for idle chatter. Shall we find a secluded corner?”
“Forgive this dull brain of mine, how could I neglect such a basic courtesy?”
Saying this, the farmer hastily guided Chen Changsheng toward an isolated wooden cabin.
After firmly latching the doors and windows, the farmer stared at Chen Changsheng with trembling excitement, barking an order at the bewildered Gongsun Huaiyu.
“Huaiyu, why are you standing there like a wooden chicken? Hurry and pay your respects to your Junior Martial Uncle!”
Faced with the farmer’s fervent demand, profound reluctance was painted across Gongsun Huaiyu’s features.
At this moment, Chen Changsheng waved a dismissive hand. “We can dispense with these suffocating formalities. Bring your ear closer; I have a few words for you.”
Hearing this, the farmer furiously wiped the moisture from his eyes, his voice trembling with reverence.
“Of course, of course. Teacher was a man of deep sentiment. He must have left behind profound final instructions before returning to the Dao.”
“Rest assured, Junior Brother, I will burn my lifeblood to fulfill Teacher’s dying wishes.”
Without a shred of doubt, the farmer leaned his head forward.
“Swish!”
Chen Changsheng’s right hand shot out like a viper, clamping down on the farmer’s ear and violently yanking that “simple, honest” face mere inches from his own.
Simultaneously, the temperature of Chen Changsheng’s voice plummeted into the absolute zero of a frozen abyss.
“A-Li, did I not make it abundantly clear back then that you were never my disciple?”
“A mere few centuries have passed, and you have already tossed my decrees to the wind?”
Struck by that terrifyingly familiar cadence, the farmer froze as if struck by lightning.
Jerking his head up to peer into the young man’s eyes, he found that ancient, oppressive gaze staring right back.
The flesh might shift and mold, but the weight of a soul’s gaze could never be falsified.
The eyes were the gateway to the Dao heart; the Heavens might forge identical vessels, but they would never birth identical souls.
“Sir… Sir, is it truly you?”
“Who else would I be?”
With a cold scoff, Chen Changsheng released his iron grip on A-Li’s ear.
Pinned beneath Chen Changsheng’s indifferent stare, the mighty leader of the bandits now withered like a scolded child, every inch of his being radiating profound unease.
Meanwhile, Gongsun Huaiyu was so thoroughly paralyzed by shock that her jaw practically scraped the floorboards.
She clearly recalled her master confessing that his heaven-defying foundation was shaped by a mysterious “Sir.”
Yet, this supreme figure had never once acknowledged her master as a true disciple.
Although the current exchange was veiled, even a brainless brute could piece it together: the Chen Changsheng standing before her was that legendary, enigmatic “Sir.”
Noting A-Li’s crumbling composure, Chen Changsheng waved a dismissive hand toward Gongsun Huaiyu.
“Wait outside. I have matters to discuss with your master.”
Hesitant, Gongsun Huaiyu cast a questioning glance toward A-Li.
“The Sir’s will is my will. Wait outside.”
Though her mind boiled with a thousand unanswered questions, Gongsun Huaiyu dared not defy her master’s absolute command.
“Thud!”
The instant the door clicked shut, A-Li collapsed to his knees, his forehead striking the floorboards before Chen Changsheng.
“A-Li failed to uphold his oath, presumptuously passing down the Sir’s divine laws. I beg the Sir to grant me punishment.”
Staring down at the prostrate man, Chen Changsheng let out a weary sigh and slowly shook his head.
“I care little about the Secret Arts. What baffles me is how completely you failed to internalize my core warning.”
“I warned you: if you wish to carve a bloody path to the apex of this cultivation world, you cannot afford a single mortal tether.”
“Yet look at the rotting foundation you stand upon. Not only have you taken on disciples, but you have also constructed this laughable mortal utopia.”
“Do you genuinely believe the Heavens are blind to your parlor tricks?”
“Those ancient Holy Lands and immortal clans have entrenched their roots into this realm for countless epochs; their hidden depths are beyond your feeble comprehension.”
“When the day comes that their hounds sniff out this valley, how will you defend it?”
Battered by Chen Changsheng’s merciless interrogation, A-Li could only bury his head deeper in shame.
Deep down, his Dao heart already knew that forging this sanctuary was a fatal misstep.
“The Thunder Beast clan of the primordial era wielded apocalyptic might, yet their entire race was buried by my frail, mortal hands.”
“Your current Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes cannot even hold a candle to a mere fraction of the Thunder Beast clan, while the modern Holy Lands eclipse the powers I faced in antiquity.”
“I am genuinely curious. Who gave you the sheer audacity to act so recklessly?”
Hearing this, A-Li’s lips trembled violently before he choked out a whisper. “They… they are the bloodlines of the brothers who bled beside me.”
“Their true lineages were exposed to the hounds. Had I not severed the karma and shielded them, they would have been slaughtered to the last infant.”
“And did I not engrave it into your very marrow? The moment you set foot upon the Great Dao, the word ‘affection’ must be completely severed!”
“If you lacked the ruthless resolve to sever your worldly attachments, why did you ever seek out the Dao…”
“Sir, have you truly severed it yourself?”
A-Li abruptly lifted his gaze, staring defiantly into Chen Changsheng’s eyes.
Met with A-Li’s piercing, unclouded stare, Chen Changsheng’s voice died in his throat.
Dictated by the absolute edicts binding his soul, he only needed to remain awake for one-tenth of his total lifespan before he was permitted to enter his next cycle of slumber.
Therefore, the most ruthlessly efficient path to supreme power was to constantly plunge back into the void.
Yet, across thousands of years, Chen Changsheng inevitably lingered until the absolute final grains of his waking lifespan drained away before succumbing to sleep.
Because of this deliberate hesitation, the pace of his cultivation had slowed to a glacial crawl.
And the sole reason he chose this stagnant, agonizing path was that Chen Changsheng himself could not sever the ‘affection’ rooted in his own soul.
He refused to let his Dao heart degrade into unfeeling stone, and he abhorred the thought of abandoning his old companions to wither away in endless, empty waiting.
After a heavy, suffocating silence, Chen Changsheng finally broke the quiet.
“Treading the path of cultivation while bearing the chains of worldly attachments… it is a torturous, desolate road.”
“It is precisely because I am intimately familiar with its agony that I sought to spare you, yet you stubbornly walked down my cursed path anyway.”
“Do you finally understand why I coldly rejected A-Man time and time again in the past?”
“A-Man and I were merely bound by the threads of romance, but you and the souls outside are bound by a kinship that runs deeper than bone.”
“Both forms of attachment carve the soul more ruthlessly than a rusted butcher’s knife!”
“I was powerless to halt A-Man’s inevitable demise, and you will be equally powerless when the Heavens claim them.”
“The struggle for the Great Dao demands oceans of blood. Have you truly steeled your Dao heart for the cost?”
Enduring Chen Changsheng’s chilling reality, A-Li smiled a bitter, broken smile. “Sir, the bridge behind me burned to ash long ago.”
“Sigh—” Chen Changsheng exhaled a breath of profound weariness. “Rise.”
“Since your retreat is severed, you must tread the slaughter path ahead with absolute precision.”
“Every time a soul falls outside this valley, another gouge will be carved into your Dao heart.”
“Speak of your encounters over the centuries. How did you provoke an irreconcilable blood feud with the Kunlun Holy Land?”
Gathering his fragmented composure, A-Li began his recount. “Back then, Jiang Bufan petitioned the Sir to emerge from seclusion.”
“When the Sir vanished without leaving a single trace, Jiang Bufan was consumed by wrath.”
“Unable to unearth your shadow, he turned his fangs toward me, engineering traps to force your manifestation.”
“As the centuries bled away, the grudges compounded, birthing a relentless war of attrition that has raged for over seven hundred years.”
“He ascended to the throne of Holy Lord of the Kunlun Holy Land, and I forged the banner of the Seventy-Two Wolf Smokes.”
Having unraveled the karmic threads of this sprawling tragedy, Chen Changsheng narrowed his eyes, his fingertips drumming a slow, chilling rhythm against the tabletop.