CHAPTER 54: CHAPTER 53 EMPEROR

"Weakling!"

"Unworthy!"

These four words echoed endlessly in Chen Xuan’s mind!

Indeed,

Since coming to this world, if it weren’t for the system, the outcome would have been...

Hoo~~~

He exhaled deeply.

The once confused eyes became resolute, and he respectfully bowed to the old man, "Thank you for your guidance, I understand now."

"Hmm, that’s more like it!"

Over all these years, only Chen Xuan showed such talent.

But after all, he hadn’t gone through hardships.

This is bound to lead to major issues in the future.

It seems I’ll need to occasionally knock some sense into him.

"There are four more books on martial techniques. You take a look yourself. I’m heading out. It’s too stuffy in here!"

...

In the dark room.

Chen Xuan raised his head, looking at the dark gray stone ceiling above.

"If he had said he wanted to return to the village, would the old man have made a move?"

The image of the old man’s expression when he said the word ’kill’ surfaced in his mind, indifferent!

In that instant,

it felt like he had become a different person.

"Ah!!!"

He let out a furious roar.

His hands slapped hard against his face.

"Stop thinking about it. Since I’ve already made a choice, there’s no use in overthinking!"

"Besides, with the system, am I really a weakling?"

Then he walked to the bookshelf,

without even looking, he stuffed the remaining four books into his arms.

"Damn dark room, so damn stuffy!"

Cursing, he left the dark room.

At this moment,

the old man in the study heard his roar and a smile appeared on his wrinkled face!

When Chen Xuan appeared in the study,

he saw the old man sitting on a round chair, legs crossed, shaking and reading "A Brief History of Great Xia."

"It seems you’ve figured some things out."

The old man’s voice rang out, though his gaze didn’t leave the book in his hands.

"I’ve figured it out!"

"Did you ever hold a grudge against me?"

"No! The path of the strong is inherently fraught with danger."

This time, Chen Xuan’s response was very firm.

"Good!"

The old man shouted, putting down the book in his hands.

His expression became excited.

This is the result he wanted.

Only in this way can one survive better in this dog-eat-dog world.

"Sit!"

The old man pointed to a chair beside him.

Chen Xuan didn’t stand on ceremony and sat down directly.

At this moment,

even he didn’t notice that his mental state had undergone a slight change.

"Once upon a time, I was just like you, even more naive!"

"Everyone who knew me said I was a good person."

"But first, you have to be alive!"

"Can you imagine, because of one Martial Artist’s words, everyone in my family except me was killed overnight."

"If I hadn’t hidden in the cellar, I don’t know how many times I would have been reborn through a woman’s womb."

Recalling this past, the old man’s hands tightly clenched, veins bulging.

"Cough cough cough~~~"

Too agitated, he kept coughing.

Chen Xuan got up and came to his side, gently patting, then asked, "What happened later?"

"Later?"

"Heh heh!"

The old man suddenly laughed coldly.

"I spent all my money to find a master, cultivated, and then I found that Martial Artist, and piece by piece, I sliced his flesh, torturing him relentlessly, until the last piece of flesh was cut off before I let him die!"

The last word "die."

The old man uttered through gritted teeth.

And Chen Xuan, who was gently patting him, felt as if this word had exhausted all his strength.

After a long time,

he finally calmed down and lifted his head to look at him, his voice hoarse, "Do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand! To live better, you must rely on yourself and become stronger!"

Hearing the satisfactory answer, the old man smiled with relief.

All these years, he had been reluctant to recall this matter, but today, for Chen Xuan, he spoke out enduring the pain.

His efforts were not in vain.

At this moment, Chen Xuan came behind him, massaging his shoulders.

While massaging, he slowly said:

"Old man, I’ve killed people too, four!"

"Oh?"

The old man was a bit surprised.

Unexpectedly, this seemingly honest man had also killed someone.

There was even a hint of excitement on his face.

This made him feel that this old man might have some psychological perversion due to his past experiences.

"Tell me the details!"

Hearing this, Chen Xuan shook his head, truly a bit perverted.

But he still recounted in detail how he killed Li Tie and Li Jin, the two brothers, for the women in his family.

And for the prey he worked hard to get, he killed those two hunters.

"Although you were forced, you did well."

The old man rarely praised him.

"Yes, I was forced!"

Chen Xuan sighed deeply, recalling the scene of his first kill.

That kind of terror.

He can never forget it.

"There was no choice, the year of natural disasters, great drought followed by heavy snow, villagers barely had enough to eat to survive, many died, only because I luckily became a Martial Artist did my family’s situation improve!"

Thinking about it now, if I hadn’t become a Martial Artist, the consequences...

He didn’t dare to imagine!

Unexpectedly, the old man suddenly sneered, "Natural disasters, nonsense!"

Immediately,

Chen Xuan’s hand paused on his shoulder.

Somewhat puzzled, he asked, "Old man, what do you mean by that? If not natural disasters, could it be man-made?"

"Of course!"

"Impossible, right?"

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to believe him, but this... seems too ridiculous.

Can such a thing be man-made?

"Heh!"

The old man sneered, asking, "You’ve read quite a few of the books here, haven’t you? Didn’t you notice anything odd?"

"What is the old man referring to?"

"Blockhead, regarding Martial Dao records, have you seen any above Fourth Grade? Even the Middle Third Grade is barely mentioned! Don’t you think it’s strange?"

Uh?

With his reminder, it indeed seems to be the case.

At that time,

he did find it strange.

But now listening to the old man’s tone, there must be something wrong.

"So why is that?"

"Have you read this book?" The old man didn’t answer directly but pointed to "A Brief History of Great Xia" on the table.

"Yes, I’ve read it!"

"Tell me, did you find anything strange?"

Chen Xuan contemplated for a moment, then mentioned the doubts he had.

That genius Emperor’s death was too abnormal.

"Of course, it’s abnormal. You must know that this Emperor was a once-in-a-millennium genius, reportedly nearing the pinnacle of Martial Dao, and died at just over 300 years old!"

"But his cause of death, even the history books have no records."

"And when the new Emperor ascended the throne that year, he issued an order that any discussion of the matter was forbidden, punishable by death!"

"Many heads rolled because of this decree!"

Recalling it now, there was an involuntary hint of fear in his eyes.

Back then,

the Imperial Inspectorate arrested people en masse, executing them publicly in the marketplace.

The executions lasted a full three years!

Nobody knows how many died.

Since then, no one dares to discuss it.

All records of the event in the books were completely erased.