Martial Cultivator

The dean did not go to the lake; he was just drinking tea in a small pavilion at the heart of the lake with the old man from the Myriad Heaven Palace.

The old man glanced at the lake’s surface and lamented, ”Wei Xu that kid, his cultivation is decent, but his temperament is too mild. Looks like he’s going to endure some setbacks.”

The dean sneered, ”That blockhead is always lecturing others, does he think he’s a sage just because he read some books? Too naive. But his temperament needs to be tempered like this. Otherwise, how can he run this academy in the future?”

The old man was surprised, ”So, you’ve already made up your mind to hand over the academy to this child?”

The dean reached out and grabbed some peanuts from a small bowl on the side. Tossing them into his mouth, he munched for a while before expressing some disdain, ”Those disciples of mine, each one of their temperaments baffles me. Either they cultivate the sword and go North to slay demons, or they insist on joining the imperial court, or they waste their days away, only knowing how to play chess. Wei Xu is the only normal fellow among them.”

The old man asked, ”What about that girl?”

Xie Nandu, who had just won first place in the literary exam, had elevated the prestige of the academy even further. In fact, many had already considered the possibility that after a hundred years, the dean might hand the academy over to Xie Nandu, making this peerlessly talented girl the first female dean in the history of the academy.

Such a thing seemed unlikely, but it was not impossible.

”There’s naturally no issue with that girl’s talent. Her future achievements may even surpass Wei Xu. If she has the intention, it’s not that I can’t hand the academy over to her. It’s just that the girl’s ambitions are too grand. If the academy falls into her hands, it might fall into some extreme path.”

The dean crushed a peanut between his fingers, furrowing his brows. In his expression, there was a hint of helplessness.

The old man also grabbed a handful of peanuts, tossed two into his mouth, and said with a smile, ”Which is also to say, it’s not a good thing for disciples to be too outstanding, is it?”

The dean snorted and snatched a handful of peanuts from the old man’s hand. ”Watch closely. In another 50 years, at most 50 years, the strength and prosperity of our Great Liang Dynasty will surpass any other dynasty. The days when foreign cultivators humiliate the people of our Great Liang Dynasty will never return!”

Hearing the dean talking about this coldly, the old man fell silent for a moment and nodded, ”If Great Liang continues developing with its current trend, it will indeed become an unprecedented dynasty in the future. But will they agree to it?”

As a great sage of daoism, the old man naturally had a clear understanding of the foreign cultivation world’s affairs.

The dean grinned and said, ”Just wait a little longer, wait a little longer. When the time comes, if they don’t agree, we’ll beat them until they agree.”

……

……

The low-ranking official rushed into the palace gates and quickly saw the young eunuch, Li Heng.

Li Heng glanced at him.

The latter quickly talked about the events that happened during the martial exam in a low voice.

Li Heng nodded, indicating that he understood, and headed towards the palace, reaching the palace gates in no time.

The palace servants on either side naturally did not dare to stop this young eunuch who had a revered status in the imperial city, and Li Heng walked in.

Soon, he saw the Great Liang emperor.

After a whispered conversation, the Great Liang emperor waved his hand.

But at that moment, a feeble voice came from inside, ”Let Li Heng come...”

The Great Liang emperor frowned slightly, but did not say anything.

Li Heng walked in.

Approaching the bed, when this young eunuch saw the empress who was already weakened to the extreme, his nose tingled with a hint of sadness.

Long before he entered the Divine Capital, when Li Heng was brought to the Prince Manor, he had already been serving the current emperor and Her Majesty as their servant.

At that time, he called the empress Princess Consort, and His Majesty as Your Highness.

Now, after changing titles for many years, that gentle-looking woman seemed to have reached the end of her life.

How could this not be heartbreaking?

”Li Heng, how is that child now?”

The empress looked at him weakly, her eyes devoid of any radiance. At this moment, the empress was already hovering between life and death.

”Inform Princess Consort, that girl from the Heavenly Tree Sect is dead, he killed her. Xi Qiuchen is also dead. He is still in the first place, but the issue with the bamboo token is too problematic, he’s unable to leave.”

Li Heng was somewhat absent-minded, and his form of address momentarily became incorrect.

Upon hearing this term of address, the empress was also momentarily dazed.

It seemed as if time had gone back many years to those days in the Prince Manor.

At that time, she was not yet the Empress who commanded the respect of the world; she was merely that Prince Manor’s lady of the house. She only oversaw some maidservants and managed affairs. She did not have to put in as much effort as she did now.

During that time, the present Emperor would be in the manor virtually every day. Even if he occasionally went out, he would only go out in the morning and would return by dusk. They had countless encounters and spent a lot of time together.

Those were times that could not be surpassed later on.

”That child said he wouldn’t lose, so he killed that girl, proving to me that he’s truly his mother’s son.”

There was a hint of helplessness in the empress’s eyes. But upon closer inspection, it was actually heartache.

Her heart ached for her younger sister, who had a lowly birth and had never been valued, and for this young man who had grown up by the banks of Wei River.

”Your Majesty...”

The empress spoke softly.

The Great Liang emperor walked in and glanced at her with a loving gaze, ”We know.”

The empress nodded and looked at Li Heng, saying, ”Li Heng, take good care of that child in the future.”

Li Heng quickly nodded and smiled, ”Princess Consort, I will.”

He still persisted in using this old form of address to call the empress.

However, neither the empress herself nor the Great Liang emperor had any objections to this.

Their relationship with Li Heng went beyond that of master and servant.

The empress nodded with some satisfaction and then weakly closed her eyes.

Seeing this scene, the Great Liang emperor glanced at Li Heng. The latter naturally understood and left quietly.

The two arrived outside the palace.

It was already noon.

The Great Liang emperor spoke calmly, ”Go to the lakeside and keep an eye on things. If anything happens, say something and tell them it is Our decree.”

Li Heng nodded and was about to leave.

The Great Liang emperor thought about it and shook his head as he said, ”If there’s any news about that child, send it over at once.”

Li Heng suddenly shook his head and said softly, ”This servant wants to accompany Her Majesty on the final leg of her journey.”

For so many years, Li Heng had never had such thoughts.

He had always followed the Great Liang emperor’s decree.

The Great Liang emperor looked at him, pondered for a bit, but did not refuse his request, saying, ”Since you’re an old friend, accompany her on her final journey. We believe that she’ll want to see this too.”

When Li Heng heard this, he quickly knelt down and kowtowed heavily, ”This servant thanks Your majesty for your grace!”

The Great Liang emperor did not speak.

……

……

”So, nothing must change.”

Xie Nandu looked at Wei Xu and made a request, ”Senior Brother doesn’t have to do anything.”

Wei Xu said, ”I know he has created many miracles, but this time, I don’t think he can win.”

His implication was clear: if Xie Nandu wanted to preserve Chen Chao’s life, he should stop the martial exam at this moment.

Xie Nandu shook her head and said, ”I believe in him.”

Wei Xu shook his head and said, ”But I don’t believe in him.”

”But he doesn’t need Senior Brother to believe in him.”

Xie Nandu said seriously, ”Or rather, he doesn’t need anyone to believe in him.”