A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 253 Left of the Way

Tick ​​tock!

The ethereal sound of water droplets spread far and wide with the shallow ripples, revealing a vast expanse of water before Guan Luoyang.

The lake was as smooth as a mirror, the sky was cloudless, and the water and sky blended into one. No plants could be seen on the water, except for a figure sitting in the distance fishing.

This is the environment after the "Ten Years Later Closed Classroom" project is launched.

Guan Luoyang walked forward across the water, ripples spreading outwards. As he got closer, he could see the person's profile clearly. It was indeed his own face, except that there was a strand of white hair at his temples.

Guan Luoyang asked curiously, "Will my hair turn white in just ten years?"

The person from the future yawned lazily, twirling a strand of white hair between their fingers, and said, "I deliberately made it white. Don't you think it looks cooler this way?"

Guan Luoyang said, "It doesn't matter, black hair is fine too."

The person from the future chuckled: "If you had a full ten years to spend alone, you would inevitably discover some little hobbies in your spare time from practicing your skills."

Guan Luoyang took two steps around the future body to confirm that the fishing rod, fishing line and hook in his hand were all made of combat life fiber.

There were even fish swimming around underwater, each one bright red with glistening skin. They looked like koi swimming leisurely, but in reality, they were all woven from the fibers of combat life.

This scene was probably created by the future self to create a certain atmosphere; the current Guan Luoyang couldn't really appreciate the fun in it.

"The person I am ten years from now is a little different from what I imagined."

Guan Luoyang shook his head. "I thought we could start discussing the insights gained from ten years of arduous cultivation as soon as we met."

The person from the future laughed and said, "Actually, in your future, you won't have this experience of seclusion for ten years, not touching anything new. So, I am just another possible Guan Luoyang, not the real you ten years from now."

"But you're right, this little gadget can only provide a limited amount of time for conversation, so we shouldn't waste any more time talking."

The being from the future gently shook the fishing rod, the fishing line drawing small circles on the water's surface. "All you can take away from here is knowledge and insights. If I were to directly instruct you, a small amount of my spiritual power would definitely be mixed into your mind. When you leave, that part of it, along with your insights, will disappear, making your trip a waste."

"Therefore, if you want to gain anything, you can only rely on yourself to learn."

He forcefully lifted the fishing rod upwards, casting the line and hook high into the air. One after another, red carp leaped out of the water, vying to chase after the hook.

In the blink of an eye, the carp swelled up, stretching their bodies a thousand times longer. Dragon horns and claws grew from them, thick manes covered their necks, and every scale on their bodies transformed into strange, ethereal feathers, softly covering their bodies and dancing wildly as they flew.

The fishing rod in the future self's hand had already flown out, transforming into a strange divine dragon clad in fiery red feathers, flying the highest and leading the dragons to circle in the heavens.

"This is the foundational framework I've rebuilt for my own martial arts by integrating all my knowledge and skills over the past ten years."

"—The Hundred Dragons Ascension Dojo!"

The dragons grew larger and larger, and their numbers increased, gradually obscuring the entire sky.

Guan Luoyang looked up and saw sections of dragon bodies moving about in a crowded manner, their feathers gently rubbing against each other, creating patches of fiery light. Occasionally, he could see the dragon's head but not its tail, or its claws but not its body.

Blazing flames, thunder, raging winds, and the purification of immortality—all the characteristics of primordial energy that Guan Luoyang excels at can be traced back to the sky at this moment.

but……

The dojo that the future self revealed has not yet been fully shown.

Guan Luoyang sensed something and withdrew his gaze from the sky. Where his eyes fell, the calm water surface roared and cracked open, revealing its incredibly deep ravines.

The water on both sides of the ravine rises slowly like a cliff, the waves surge and converge into a soaring dragon's roar.

The water on both sides transforms into giant dragons, raising their heads to the sky, then falling back down, churning their tails as they swim.

As one ravine after another roared and collapsed, the dragons, which had been tightly packed together, began to spread out and swim freely.

This once vast and calm water surface is not the original environment provided by the "closed classroom ten years later," but rather a disguise created by these dragons pieced together.

Inaction, gravity, erosion, and so on are vividly displayed in these flowing dragons.

The sky is of unknown height, and the water has no known boundaries.

On this day, this water was inside the Ascension Dojo of the Future Body.

Guan Luoyang stared into the distance, able to see at least dozens of miles away, yet he could only vaguely see the dragon's tail sweeping, and could not even glimpse the boundary of this dojo.

The person from the future observed his facial expression with great interest, clapped his hands, and laughed, "How about it, impressive enough?"

Guan Luoyang took a deep breath. Only when you are in the midst of it can you truly appreciate that every inch of this vast expanse of sky and water is brimming with vibrant life.

However, within this flourishing scene lies a profound meaning.

He flipped his palm over, circled a small ball of air in his palm, and carefully felt it, then couldn't help but show a look of surprise.

This volleyball-sized mass of air contains two completely opposite properties.

If absorbed by a normal person, it could potentially heal injuries such as bone fractures, large-area bruising, etc. immediately.

But it's also possible that this very air could drain the lifeblood of a vigorous tiger or leopard, turning it into a dried-up, skeletal corpse.

This is just an ordinary, common mass of gas in the dojo of the future self.

Guan Luoyang couldn't help but ask, "What star level are you at now?"

"That thing can only allow me, a six-star being, to meet you once."

The being from the future said lightly, "Time is running out. Use your 'Silent Listening to the Mortal World' to carefully listen to this place. If there is anything you don't understand after listening, ask me immediately."

"After all, this training ground is only the foundation and main framework of your cultivation. You can only use half of your time to comprehend it. The other half of your time should be reserved to see the fruits of these ten years, and the real methods of combat."

Guan Luoyang's eyes lit up, and he nodded.

Time inside the closed classroom is synchronized with the outside world, seventy-two hours, which is three days and three nights.

For Liangshan, not seeing their leader for only three days was nothing to be alarmed about.

In fact, during those three days and three nights, almost no one on Liangshan Mountain was idle. Everyone was so busy that they had no time to think too much.

Fang La, Zhang Wanxian, Lu Da, and others successively led their men to capture some surrounding prefectures. By the way, they also wanted to use these battles to identify among the newly recruited soldiers who were unruly and disobedient to the Liangshan military discipline. They planned to use the Divine Gu Body to turn them into ordinary laborers.

Li Kaixian and Li Ying had to handle logistics and provisions, and after the various prefectures and cities were captured, they also had to inventory and catalog the local grain, minerals, salt, tea, porcelain, iron, silk, hemp, and clothing.

Fortunately, Liangshan is now a powerful force, no longer the same as when it was considered a band of outlaws. When they arrived in the local area, many minor officials surrendered at the mere sight of them, and many talented people came to join them, who could help with some affairs.

Wu Song and his men personally led the team to search and confiscate the property of local powerful families. They even transferred a large number of female lecturers who had been invited to the mountains to teach people to read to manage the distribution of porridge and grain in various places and to keep a record of it.

Under these circumstances, none of Guan Sheng and the others, who were imprisoned in the dungeon, had time to try to persuade them to surrender.

Only Lin Lingsu, along with Gongsun Sheng and a large group of Taoist priests and sorcerers, who manipulated clouds and mist, controlled the weather, and maintained a presence at Liangshan, were able to discover Guan Luoyang's departure from the pass three days later.

The two met in the Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

Guan Luoyang was very pleased to learn about the current state of Liangshan from him, and said, "You can handle all matters in an orderly manner even without my intervention. That's good."

"The reason we can manage this in a short time is because the attack on the surrounding prefectures was something you discussed and decided on with them beforehand. In the long run, many important matters will still require your personal decisions."

Lin Lingsu smiled faintly. "If you really break through Bianliang and sit in that position, then unless you are determined to be a tyrant, you can forget about ever having a peaceful life again."

"Because as time goes on, major issues will always be followed by minor issues, and minor issues will also involve important people. The number of things that need to be reported to you for personal decision-making will become more and more numerous, making it increasingly difficult to determine right from wrong and handle them properly."

Guan Luoyang saw through the old Taoist's gloating thoughts but didn't take it to heart, saying, "Only those who hold absolute power have this kind of trouble."

Lin Lingsu frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Don't you intend to ascend the throne, but there's no one else who can suppress the other rebel armies?"

"Why does it have to be an emperor?"

Guan Luoyang asked a question in return, then waved his hand, "It's too early to talk about this now. Let's talk about it after we've achieved a complete victory."

Lin Lingsu's heart skipped a beat when she heard his words. She instinctively wanted to refute him, but after thinking about it carefully, she felt that it really wasn't a big deal if there was no emperor.

When Emperor Daojun was alive, many matters in the court were decided by the ministers themselves. It was only because treacherous officials held power that things became so chaotic. If the throne had been vacant, or if the emperor had never spoken, and had replaced all the old officials with capable ministers who cared for the people, perhaps...

Lin Lingsu seemed to be deep in thought, and then she remembered Han Shizhong's matter and relayed it to Guan Luoyang.

"Oh?"

Guan Luoyang exclaimed in surprise, "Han Shizhong actually made such a decision?"

He originally planned to storm Bianliang after his seclusion, kill the emperor, control the Bianliang court, seize control of the border army's supplies, and force Han Shizhong and the border army to abandon their evil ways and join the light.

But Han Shizhong actually pulled this stunt, which shows that he had long been alienated from the emperor of Bianliang.

"It seems..."

Guan Luoyang turned to look in the direction of Bianjing, "Your death is truly imminent."

………………

As noon approached, a rider on horseback galloped into Bianliang city.

The soldiers and officials guarding the city did not dare to question the messenger in a pretentious manner as they usually did, nor did they slowly check the documents and then point the unfilial messenger down a wrong path.

This time, the soldiers guarding the city dodged faster than anyone else, some even rolling on the ground and nearly being trampled by horses' hooves. The officials on the city wall didn't dare to say a word.

The man who entered the city was dressed in the uniform of an imperial guard commander, with several arrows stuck in his armor, and his crescent-shaped halberd was stained with blood.

It wasn't until they were almost inside the palace that a commander of the Imperial Guards dared to speak up and question them.

"Yu Shan Lang Zhu Yongqing is specially granted the privilege of riding a horse within the palace."

The palace gates opened wide, and Zhu Yongqing rode his horse into the palace. When he arrived at the Imperial Garden, he saw the emperor's personal eunuch standing there. He hurriedly reined in his horse, dropped the halberd in his hand, dismounted, and rushed into the garden to report.

"Your Majesty!"

Zhu Yongqing's armor clattered as he knelt and bowed in solid respect.

The Emperor of Heavenly Mandate wasn't surprised and went straight to the point: "I sent you to investigate why the eunuch delivering the imperial edict didn't report back. How did you end up in such a disheveled state? Could it be...?"

The emperor's face darkened. "Has Han Shizhong also openly rebelled?!"

Ever since Han Shizhong sent someone to Bianliang to report that the Liao army had launched a major offensive, he fought back and pursued them across the border river.

In recent days, the imperial court has dispatched six groups of troops to the border army, all carrying imperial edicts, ordering Han Shizhong not to underestimate the enemy and advance rashly, but to continue to be stationed on this side of the border river and not to pursue them.

At the beginning, his words were sincere and reassuring, but later they became stern and harsh, ordering Han Shizhong not to act rashly.

However, none of the six groups of eunuchs who delivered the imperial edicts returned; not a single word was sent back to Bianliang.

"After receiving the imperial decree, I went out of the city to investigate along the way. Before I had even gone halfway to the border river, I found six groups of eunuch corpses. Some died from sorcery, and some died from swords and spears. The imperial decree was torn up and thrown aside, which seemed to be the work of the local rebels."

Zhu Yongqing said in a sorrowful and furious voice, "After I led my men to bury their bodies, I prepared to personally deliver the imperial edict to the border army. Unexpectedly, we were surrounded and attacked by the Liao army."

The emperor exclaimed, "The Liao army?!"

"Exactly."

Zhu Yongqing pulled an arrow from his body and said, "Although they are all dressed as ordinary Song people, the swords and spears they use are unique to the elite troops under the generals of the Liao army."

"Especially the Mahoraga Arrow among the Eight Heavenly Dragon Guardian Arrows, which can usually only be used by the general himself who has been granted the title of general."

The emperor reached out and took the arrow, staring at it for a few breaths before saying inscrutablely, "I've heard that border generals often engage in archery duels with Liao generals across the water in their spare time. Han Shizhong must have quite a few Liao arrows stored under his command."

Zhu Yongqing was taken aback: "Could it really be...?"

The emperor raised his hand to stop Zhu Yongqing from speaking.

"Han Liangchen will never betray the Song Dynasty."

The Emperor of Destiny crushed the arrow in his hand, his expression returning to calm. "Once the Emperor of the Great Song Dynasty is before him, he will be even less likely to betray him."

Zhu Yongqing was utterly astonished: "The Emperor wants to personally..."

………………

On Liangshan Mountain, Lin Lingsu asked with slight surprise, "You're going to Bianliang now?"

………………

Both Liangshan and Bianjing received answers.

"good."

(End of this chapter)