Immortality: Starting with a grave, I'm invincible when burying corpses.

Li Shan didn't hear what was said after that. He looked up in a daze and saw the packages on the backs of the dozens of people at the village entrance. Only then did he realize that these people had probably taken most of the grain from the warehouse.

More and more people are coming from all directions of the village to join the team.

Looking at these faces that were so familiar to him, Li Shan felt a chill run from his toes to his head.

Li Shan wanted to angrily rebuke these people, asking how their actions were any different from robbery.

How can we repay Master Zhuang's care for us day after day for three years? How can we repay the kindness of the other villagers?

But after seeing the faces of these people clearly and realizing that he had been surrounded without his knowledge, Li Shan swallowed all his words.

He was certain that if he dared to rebuke them, he might not be able to leave here alive.

After inwardly gasping for breath, Li Shan shook his head casually.

"Brother Wang, you're worrying too much. If you ask me, it's unlikely that there will be a major flood."

However, Brother Wang, what you said makes sense. With the rain so heavy, the government's dogs outside the village won't have time to bother with us. It is indeed the best opportunity.

However, I still have some brothers to inform, so I won't be traveling with you. We'll leave later, splitting into several groups; those sons of bitches of soldiers will have a hard time capturing people then.

As expected, Wang Ermazi didn't notice anything amiss. Li Shan usually had his own little group, so he assumed that Li Shan wanted to go find Xiangzi and Su Xiaoyu.

"Alright, Xiaoshanzi, you go find your brothers first. We'll be leaving now. Once we find a good place to stay on the mountain, you're welcome to come anytime. We can all live together and make a decent force."

……

Datong Academy.

Zhuang Sheng and Wan Shu stood by the window on the third floor, gazing at the village entrance in the distance.

"Sir, are you sure you don't need me to stop them? If we let them leave like this, the village will be in a state of panic, and it might affect your plans..."

"There's no need for that. You can't stop people who want to leave. If you kill someone in the village, you'll give those people a chance to cause trouble, which would be a bad move."

Let those who want to leave go. There will always be some people in the village who want to stay, and these are the people we need to win over.

Zhuang Sheng shook his head, directly rejecting Wan Shu's idea.

"But..." Wan Shu opened her mouth, but still didn't say what was on her mind. She stood beside Zhuang Sheng, her eyes slightly lowered, quietly waiting for Zhuang Sheng's next instruction.

Zhuang Sheng rested his hands on the windowsill, slightly lost in thought.

"Our goal has never been to save this village, nor to teach everyone to be good."

Not everyone deserves to be saved; even a saint cannot do so.

These nine bets were all about buying time and creating an opportunity to demonstrate the Way of Great Harmony to the world.

And now, we have achieved this goal.

Although none of the seven terrestrial immortals in Wenhua Palace openly supported the Great Harmony Path, five of them chose to remain neutral.

They may not accept my ideas wholesale, but they are willing to reflect on the principles of Great Harmony and absorb their essence; that is enough.

Wan Shu nodded in agreement, expressing her deep emotion.

"Thirty years ago, none of the important figures in Wenhua Palace believed in us. They thought our ideas were fanciful, worthless, and would even destroy the world's order, making the Nine Realms chaotic."

Thirty years later, many people have come to accept some of our ideas and are willing to try some of our approaches, applying the principles of Datongdao (the Way of Harmony) to practice.

Zhuang Sheng looked out the window, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"That's right. From the very beginning, what I wanted to do was to show the world my ideas."

I am just an ordinary person. I have done the right things and the wrong things, and my philosophy is the same.

There is no such thing as a perfect concept in the world. The Book of Great Harmony has its valuable aspects, but it also contains many contents that are not so suitable.

The unity of knowledge and action means that if you summarize ideas but don't put them into practice, you can't prove anything.

In the past, we had no opportunity to put our ideas into practice, nor could we prove right or wrong, but now it's different...

As he spoke, Zhuang Sheng's smile deepened.

"The greatest significance of these nine bets is that they bought us thirty years to put our ideas into practice, giving us enough time to prove to scholars around the world that our ideas have merit."

As for this final bet, whether you win or lose is actually irrelevant.

Even if the sect called Datongdao completely disappears, its ideals will not disappear.

We have shown the world our ideas, and what we have spread over the past thirty years will naturally prompt people to think.

Scholars throughout the world will absorb the essence of the Great Harmony Way, refine their own ideas, and a new sect will be born.

Regardless of what these sects are called, they all bear the imprint of the Great Harmony Path, and they all embody a constantly evolving ideology.

When a whale falls, all things are born.

When one great path dies, countless new paths will be born.

Generation after generation, there will eventually be a day of perfection. It's a long relay race, and the final destination is a bright future.

Hearing Zhuang Sheng's sentiments, Wan Shu also laughed. She stood on tiptoe to straighten Zhuang Sheng's clothes, her eyes smiling, as if she was proud of the achievement of her ideals and beliefs.

"Even the Sage of Literature has his oversights. When he made the bet thirty years ago, he certainly didn't expect that you, Master, never intended for the Great Harmony Path to continue."

Zhuang Sheng smiled and patted Wan Shu's fingers that were resting on his cheek, and said gently.

"Meng Yan later realized it, but it was too late. From the moment the gambling began, it was no longer an internal matter of Daqi, nor was it a matter between me and Wenchang Hall."

The terrestrial deities of Wenhua Palace, as well as the Xuanling Bodhisattva of Buddhism, would not allow Meng Yan to interfere with the gambling.

Ultimately, it is these high-ranking figures who dominate this world order. As long as they approve of our ideals and believe that the Great Harmony Path has some value, then my ideals will surely be passed down.

Seeing Zhuang Sheng so happy, Wan Shu seemed happy too.

She suddenly hugged Zhuang Sheng from behind, burying her head in his back, her voice filled with joy, yet so soft that only the two of them could hear it.

"In that case, why don't you retire to a simple life with Wanshu, living a quiet life filled with the mundane details of daily life..."

Zhuang Sheng's body stiffened for a moment, and it took him more than ten breaths to recover. He gently pushed away Wan Shu's hands that were holding him, but refused to turn his head to look into Wan Shu's eyes.

"How can one start a family when the great cause is not yet accomplished? Besides..."

"Besides what?" Wan Shu forcefully turned Zhuang Sheng's head around, her cold eyes staring unblinkingly into his.

Those eyes were calm and indifferent, like an ancient well, without a ripple.

Just as Wan Shu had imagined countless times, her husband never showed any of these fleeting emotions.

"Wanshu, what do you think is the best way to create a grand drama that will move people's hearts and be remembered for generations?"

The calm words froze Wan Shu in place, and her hand, which had been hanging in mid-air, fell from Zhuang Sheng's cheek.

She didn't answer for a long time, but suppressed her emotions and asked in an almost tearful voice.

"Does this have to be the way you live, sir? Whether for the greater good or for your own family, you've already done more than enough..."

Zhuang Sheng sighed and ruffled Wan Shu's hair.

"Wanshu, why do you have to do this? My path has long been shattered, you know that better than anyone... From the moment I gambled with the lives of the people, my path had no future..."

"For you, is it really that painful to have your path shattered?" Wan Shu's voice was somewhat hesitant, as if she was trying her best to suppress her sobs.

"Every moment is torture."

"Wanshu understands..."

Silence spread through the room, and after a long, long time, the sound finally broke out again.

"Sir, it's going to rain again."

"Yes, this rain is unlikely to stop... Wanshu, go and call everyone here. It's been three years, and it's time for them to decide their own future."