knife

Chapter 117 Some Old Guys

What happened back then is a taboo subject.

Even after many years, the two of them still do not want to bring it up directly.

People like them, having made their choice...

Then you'll never regret it.

Even if they were wrong, their focus was on how to get the situation back on track.

Instead of negating your initial choice.

They will only examine what mistakes were made along the way that led to the current chaos.

Wei Zhengdao stood up, walked up to Kou Zhong, and said in a low voice, "Kou Zhong, I am not proficient in martial arts, I only know a little about the art of cultivating qi and maintaining health. Tell me the truth, can one truly achieve immortality by cultivating martial arts to its extreme?"

"Immortality? Nonsense!" Kou Zhong looked up at Wei Zhengdao.

“You don’t believe it, but His Majesty believes that as long as one cultivates martial arts to the extreme, one can break through the shackles of the body, achieve immortality, and ascend to become an immortal!” Wei Zhengdao smiled bitterly: “Hasn’t he been busy with this all these years?”

"Those stinking old Taoist priests deceived His Majesty for their own selfish reasons. Sooner or later, I will kill them and tear down their mountain gates!" Kou Zhong roared.

“Human strength has its limits, we all know that!” Wei Zhengdao sat down again: “But in recent years, these Taoists have been refining pills, and His Majesty has indeed seen results after consuming them. I have heard that His Majesty has already reached the peak of the Innate Realm, and the next step will be the Divine Travel Realm!”

Kou Zhong's facial muscles twitched a few times: "Draining the pond to catch the fish, killing the goose to lay the golden eggs, His Majesty has blocked his own path to advancement in martial arts by ignoring my honest advice, even though it's hard to hear. Wandering in spirit? Wandering in spirit, perhaps?"

Wei Zhengdao pursed his lips, seemingly wanting to laugh but unable to.

"Our arrival together must be a matter of great national importance. In previous years, His Majesty would have immediately come out to see us, but in recent years, the time we have to wait has been getting longer and longer. Since we have nothing else to do, Kou Zhong, why don't you tell me about the Innate Divine Travel technique? It will help me pass the time. I know you were just a little bit short of it back then!"

Kou Zhong's expression shifted as memories of the past flooded his mind. The once glorious and prosperous times now seemed like a distant memory to him.

“Even if I told you, how much would you understand?” he sighed. “At the Innate Realm, the manipulation of internal energy is incredibly precise and masterful, but ultimately, what is used is still what one already possesses. It’s just that one can compress and refine the original power to its extreme. The body could originally only bear 100 jin, but after compression, it can bear 500 jin. And the control of power is also vastly different. One can bring out 100% or even 120% of the power. Below the Innate Realm, it is rare to be able to bring out 70% or 80% of the power. And at the Divine Travel Realm, one has already formed a connection with the world and can draw upon the infinite power of heaven and earth for one’s own use. The two are indeed worlds apart. Back then, I only had a slight understanding before it came to an abrupt end, and I was unable to make any further progress. All these years have been nothing but a struggle to survive!”

Wei Zhengdao gasped: "Then how did you defeat that woman back then?"

"It was nothing more than taking advantage of someone in distress!" Kou Zhong said expressionlessly, "At that time, that woman was about to give birth, and because of her pregnancy, her cultivation level dropped. Even so, we were almost all wiped out."

"How could that woman, so young, have cultivated martial arts to this level?" Even after all these years, Wei Zhengdao still couldn't understand it.

Kou Zhong was silent for a moment before saying, "Sometimes you have to admit that some people are truly blessed by heaven; they are heaven's darlings."

After saying that, he suddenly sneered: "But so what? Even if she was God's favorite, she still died at our hands in the end. I believe that man can conquer nature, and I uphold justice. We won back then, and we will win this time too."

Seemingly inspired by Kou Zhong's imposing manner, Wei Zhengdao also felt somewhat invigorated.

"Of course we can win!"

The two exchanged a glance, and smiles appeared on their faces, as if they had returned to the tacit understanding they had when they were planning important things together decades ago.

Over the years, the two have reached the pinnacle of their positions as ministers, but they have become estranged. On many occasions, their political views have diverged, leading to numerous unpleasant incidents.

As the head of the officialdom, Wei Zhengdao inherently harbored contempt for institutions like the Black Ice Guard, though this contempt was accompanied by fear.

It's only because Kou Zhong is still in charge that he believes the Black Ice Guard still has a certain bottom line. However, only those who truly belong to the Black Ice Guard can uphold this bottom line.

Outside of Chang'an, it's hard to say.

Footsteps sounded nearby, and a eunuch appeared outside the gate, bowing and whispering, "Prime Minister, Grand Magistrate, His Majesty requests your presence!"

Wu De stood under a pine tree, leading his horse, looking somewhat troubled at the manor not far away.

The winding, narrow path, paved with pebbles of various colors, was swept clean. On both sides of the path, a dozen or so wintersweet trees of different colors were in full bloom. Beneath the plum grove, someone was reciting poetry while stroking the trees; in the octagonal pavilion, someone was burning incense and playing the zither; in the snow, someone was walking and reading a book. The twenty or thirty people in total were clearly talented scholars. They had gathered here, naturally dreaming of one day gaining the favor of the manor owner and being able to step into this nameless manor.

Once you get in, your value will increase a hundredfold.

If one could obtain a few words of praise from the manor owner, obtaining an official position in Chang'an or even the entire country would be a piece of cake.

However, several years have passed and no one has succeeded yet.

But the more people failed, the more they believed the next challenge would be even greater. Some persistent individuals even started to treat this place as their workplace, arriving early in the morning and leaving late at night.

Of course, some of them harbored wicked intentions.

Master Yu is getting old, and who knows, he might kick the bucket one day. If that day comes, he can go in to pay his respects, and surely they won't stop him from coming in?

If you waile a few times in front of the coffin, you'll have made a name for yourself in front of the important people who come to pay their respects. When you go out, your status will still increase. Surely no one will investigate the specific relationship between the person in front of the coffin and the old man at this time.
To put it bluntly, they've gained the capital to engage in swindling and deception.

Wu De, with his strong江湖 (jianghu, a term referring to the world of martial arts and chivalry) habits, was clearly not a scholar. Moreover, his appearance was quite unpleasant; he had been back for several days, his wounds were still scabbing over, and he looked even worse than before.

After hesitating for a long time, Wu De still led his horse inside. Amidst the stares of the crowd who seemed to be watching a monkey show, he stepped onto the steps and gently knocked on the door knocker.

The door opened a crack, revealing an old man with white hair, who impatiently handed over a basket.

"If you have any poems or articles, put them in the basket and I'll take them in for you. If the old gentleman finds them pleasing, he'll naturally let you in."

Wu De smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "I am not a scholar."

"Not a scholar? Then what are you doing here?" The old servant behind the door opened the door a little in surprise, glanced at Wu De, and said disdainfully, "So you're an official, but we old gentlemen would never deign to see an official!"

Seeing that the old servant was about to close the door, Wu De quickly said, "I came from outside the pass. A man surnamed Zhou and a man surnamed Fu asked me to bring some things to the old gentleman. They said they are good friends of the old gentleman!"

"Outside the pass? Someone surnamed Fu or Zhou?" The old servant stared at Wu De for a while, making sure he wasn't joking, before saying, "Wait, I'll go report to the master."

A moment later, amidst gasps of surprise from the scholars and the wide-eyed stares of everyone, Wu De led his horse through the gates of the manor.

Yu Entai, who was in his early eighties, was not only a leading figure among scholars in the Qin Dynasty, but also had countless students in the Southern Chu, all of whom either rose rapidly in officialdom or shone brightly in academia.

The current Prime Minister of Qin, Wei Zhengdao, was once a student of Yu Entai.

However, the old man closed the mountain gates twenty-five years ago, went on a long journey, and stopped accepting disciples.

After returning, he stayed here, saying that he wanted to organize his life's learning and compile it into a classic text to serve as a model for future generations.

Wu De had been mentally conceiving the image of Yu Entai.
How remarkable it must be for a scholar to command the utmost respect from a master like Zhou Zhi, a medical genius like Fu Qingzhu, and a seasoned official like Wei Zhengdao.

However, when he saw Yu Entai, the image of the dignified and solemn old Mr. Yu that he had previously imagined collapsed.

The old man sat slumped on the ground, holding a pen in one hand, his face covered in ink. A large black cat was perched on his shoulder, and a small tabby cat perched on his head. Another large tabby cat was walking back and forth on the snow-white paper, leaving black footprints on the paper. The old man smiled as he held the pen and painted on the paper.

In a short while, Wu De's eyes widened as a black and white landscape painting gradually took shape, while the cat footprints were nowhere to be found.

"Young friend, you've come from beyond the Great Wall?" The old man licked the tip of his pen, leaving a final smile on the paper. He chuckled, tossed down his pen, plucked the kitten from his head, and held it close to his chest, asking, "Are those two old fellows alright?"

Before Wu De could answer, he added, "Of course it's good. One is a martial artist, the other a doctor, and they're neighbors. They're naturally better than an old man like me."

"I was on official business outside the pass when I had the honor of meeting Lord Zhou, but I had no chance to meet Valley Master Fu!" Wu De bowed respectfully and took off the bundle he was carrying and placed it in front of the other party: "Lord Zhou asked me to bring this to you, saying that he and Valley Master Fu prepared it together."

The items crafted by Fu Qingzhu are extremely rare and valuable in the martial arts world, but Yu Entai casually swept them aside like trash: "I bet that old man Zhou didn't have anything nice to say to me, did he?"

Wu De chuckled: "Lord Zhou said that he hopes Elder Yu will try his best to live a few more years so that he can see his last disciple display his great prowess!"

(End of this chapter)