CHAPTER 66: 59. ENEMY AND FRIEND

Wu Hongbiao pondered for a moment, "I can’t fathom his thoughts, but he once said that all noble children should experience the front lines, otherwise they’ll become nothing but dandies, wasting their days in dog fights and brothels. Back in the day, he risked his life by heading south to the Ning Dynasty, assassinated the Minister of War of the Chen family, and with that unparalleled feat, he returned to our Jing Dynasty and established the Military Intelligence Department by himself. I think, he might hope that you become someone like him."

Wu Hongbiao wistfully said, "In our Jing Dynasty’s military, I don’t know how many people admire your uncle, wanting to become someone like him. I think you too should aspire to follow the path he once took."

Chen Ji was stunned. So, the Military Intelligence Department was founded by his own uncle? Indeed, it was a new discovery every day...

But if he must assassinate a Minister of State to return, then perhaps it’s better not to return to the Jing Dynasty.

Ning Dynasty was quite good.

"I have another question, you are clearly on the brink of death, why would you still come to deliver a message to me?"

Wu Hongbiao grinned and smiled, "I told you, we are brothers."

"Understood," Chen Ji turned to leave, "I should not linger here. In the coming days, I will bring some food and water every night. You should focus on recovering."

...

...

Upon exiting, Chen Ji stood in the backyard of the cloth shop under the moonlight and took a deep breath.

Thinking about killing Si Cao, perhaps a meticulous plan was necessary. At a minimum, he needed to know what the other looked like and what identity he used daily for cover.

He struggled to climb out of the yard and laid down in the apprentice’s dormitory; the snoring inside continued, but Chen Ji felt an unusual peace.

The wounds on his chest and thigh began to hurt again, constantly reminding him that weakness was the original sin of this world.

Chen Ji lay quietly on the shared bed, staring at the rafters, his mind constantly swirling with tonight’s discussion about the Executive Officer.

He slowly closed his eyes, manipulating the molten flow within the sixteen stoves inside his body, channeling half of it towards his heart.

In an instant, the stove’s fire seemed to wane, like a flickering candle in the wind, as if it could go out at any moment.

The Ice Flow in Chen Ji’s Dantian, sensing the weakening power protecting him, immediately began to stir!

It seeped from the Tianshu acupoint and spread throughout Chen Ji’s body.

After a long absence, the cold swept over him, plunging him once again into that mysterious and unknown sea of dark clouds, returning to that ancient battlefield.

In the past, he had always been forced into this realm; even before he was twelve, he was often tormented by this nightmare, his parents even thought he was seriously ill and took him to see a psychiatrist.

But this time, Chen Ji came here voluntarily.

As the little monk said, Chen Ji had always been a gambler, only unlike others who gambled money, he gambled with his life.

Feeling the mist of the cloud sea flowing beside him, he was like a meteor piercing through the sky, carrying an aura of black clouds as it fell upon Qingshan.

Strangely, this time, the ancient battlefield was devoid of war cries; it seemed as if everything had stopped.

Chen Ji saw a three-legged golden crow frozen in the sky, its tail feathers not fluttering at all; he saw a golden-feathered arrow shooting through the battle lines, suspended in mid-air by an unknown force, the archer fixed in place; he saw a giant approaching the battlefield like Kuafu chasing the sun, stuck in a stepping forward pose.

This battlefield was like a vast and lonely amber, imprisoning everything for tens of thousands of years.

Only, the emperor clad in Golden Armor, holding the Royal Banner and commanding the battle lines, was nowhere to be seen.

"You dare come here again?" A grand voice rose behind Chen Ji.

Chen Ji turned sharply, only to see a majestic figure clad in Golden Armor standing behind him, overlooking him from the summit of Qingshan.

He was not afraid, merely asking calmly, "What is your name?"

"My name is Xuanyuan."

The name Xuanyuan resounded like the Hong Bell, as if earning the response of heaven and earth, even the dark clouds above the sky seemed to slowly disperse.

Chen Ji asked again, "Then, who am I?"

Xuanyuan seemed to hear something amusing and burst into laughter, "You don’t remember? You really don’t remember anything!"

But while laughing, Xuanyuan’s tone turned melancholic, "The peach blossoms of Guixu, the snow on East Kunlun, the seas beyond Penglai... you don’t remember any of it..."

Chen Ji frowned, "Who am I, exactly?"

Xuanyuan turned to look beyond Qingshan, "This is the biggest joke I’ve heard in fifteen thousand years... Even you have forgotten who you are, then who am I? What does my fifteen thousand years of loneliness count for?"

Chen Ji watched him silently, suddenly realizing that this was not a real battlefield; those formations, those mythical beasts and birds, those people, were all fake.

And the Golden Armored Emperor ’Xuanyuan’ in front of him was the only creature in this realm.

The figure calmed down gradually, his voice authoritative, "What purpose brings you to my world, unafraid that I might use you to return to the mortal realm?"

"I am afraid."

"Then why do you still dare come?"

Chen Ji earnestly said, "Teach me the sword seed."

He couldn’t go to the Jing Dynasty Martial Temple, perhaps one day he might actually go to the Jing Dynasty, but that was too far in the future, he couldn’t wait.

Xuanyuan was clearly stunned upon hearing Chen Ji’s words, as if he had heard something incredible, then burst into laughter again, "Passing you the sword seed? Hahaha, this is the second funniest thing I have heard in fifteen thousand years!"

Chen Ji was silent for a moment. "...Is it that funny?"

Xuanyuan turned around and planted the Royal Banner atop the mountain peak, speaking solemnly, "Do you know that you and I were once enemies?"

"I don’t know, but perhaps we were also friends at one time."

This time, it was Xuanyuan’s turn to fall silent. After a long time, he spoke solemnly again, "Then do you know that what you once looked down upon the most was the sword seed I cultivated?"

Chen Ji quickly replied, "I respect it, I respect it now, very much!"

Xuanyuan. "..."

Facing each other atop Qingshan, the two fell into a suffocating awkward silence.

Xuanyuan eyed Chen Ji seriously, as if he needed to reacquaint himself with him, "You have changed too much."

Chen Ji seriously replied, "Actually, what I want to say is, I’m not the person you think I am. My name is Chen Ji, just a little apprentice at Taiping Medical Hall. I don’t look down upon sword seeds, nor do I have any grand ideals. I just don’t want to be easily killed by others. I don’t know what grudge you have with that nonexistent person, I just want to bet with you."

"Oh?" Xuanyuan was intrigued, "How do you want to bet?"

"You want to use me to return to this world?"

"Exactly."

"Pass me the sword seed, and if one day you use me to return to this world, then the cultivation I do now will be to aid your cultivation."

Xuanyuan pondered, "So you are betting that I will never be able to return to this world?"

Chen Ji looked up at the towering mountain range, "Bet?"

The Golden Armored Emperor laughed, "Even you’re using reverse psychology now... I can pass on the sword seed, but not because of this ridiculous gamble."

Chen Ji asked perplexed, "Then why?"

Xuanyuan spoke in riddles, "For the peach blossoms in Guixu."

Chen Ji did not understand.

But for the sake of peach blossoms, for apricot blossoms, or even for camellias, it was fine.

"How do I cultivate the sword seed?" Chen Ji asked.

Xuanyuan said profoundly, "To cultivate my Sword Dao, you must nourish Sword Intent with the stars and seize others’ Sword Intent to forge your sword seed. I chose the Ziwei Emperor Star from among the myriad stars, and you can choose any one you like. Remember, once you’ve chosen, you cannot change."

"How do I nourish the sword with stars?"

"I’ll teach you now. Nourishing a sword requires patience; the stars are distant and unreachable. The first time I touched the Ziwei Emperor Star with my Divine Sense took me four hundred and thirty four years."

Chen Ji: "..."

...

...

It was unknown how much time had past when Ice Flow infiltrated Chen Ji’s heart, summoning a violent backlash from Molten Flow, suppressing all the Ice Flow back into the Dantian.

The morning rooster crowed.

Chen Ji slowly opened his eyes, enduring the pain in his thighs, lifted the quilt, and laboriously got up, slowly moving to the yard.

He looked up at the myriad stars and soon located the position of the Ziwei Emperor Star.

The so-called Ziwei Emperor Star was actually the North Star, approximately 434 light-years from his location, with the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper revolving around it through the seasons.

If the sky were likened to a funnel, then the Ziwei Emperor Star was the tip of the funnel, situated right at the center.

Chen Ji reflected on Xuanyuan’s words, that once a star for nourishing the sword was chosen, it could no longer be changed, and one must be extremely cautious.

But according to Xuanyuan, just using what he called Divine Sense to make contact with the Ziwei Emperor Star took a whole four hundred and thirty-four years; for himself to cultivate this path, his lifespan would have to stretch from the palm of his hand to his heel.

Even if he died of old age, he wouldn’t be able to achieve it!

Chen Ji, wrapped in his clothes, leaned against the apricot tree, feeling not just pain, but a touch of youthful melancholy.

Crow curiously examined him, not understanding what was wrong with him now.

Chen Ji asked, "Uncle Crow, how can one live to four hundred and thirty-four years old?"

Crow opened his mouth and silently mocked.

However, at that moment, the rising sun shot a beam of golden light from the farthest horizon, dyeing the layered clouds.

Chen Ji suddenly froze...

As everyone knows, the sun is the closest star to him.