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Chapter 408: Swordsmanship
chapter 408: swordsmanship
strangely enough, even in the wake of mao xiaodong's departure, the main hall of the confucian temple still wasn't reopened to the public. instead, it seemed like the restrictions had only become tighter.
in the rear hall, yuan gaofeng and the confucian temple deities had been joined by some very esteemed guests, one of whom was the emperor of the great sui nation, who had come to the temple in layman's clothing, and he was standing beside him was an elderly eunuch in a red python robe.
there were also two other men, one of whom appeared quite advanced in age, and there was a very overbearing aura about him, even though he was in the presence of the emperor and all of the confucian temple deities. the other man was a bit younger, but he had gone to the anterior hall to look at the statues of the seventy-two saints, presumably because he felt like he didn't have the right to take part in a meeting between such prestigious figures.
the old man proclaimed his own name to be lin shuangjiang, and he wasn't from the eastern treasured vial continent, but he spoke in a very authentic eastern treasured vial continent and great sui nation official dialect.
lin shuanjiang was most likely a pseudonym, but that wasn't important. what was important was that the old man possessed unfathomable power. following his arrival in the capital of the great sui nation, the eunuch standing behind the emperor and a guest elder of the imperial palace had joined forces to attack him with all their might, but they were able to leave even a single mark on him.
there was a displeased look on lin shuangjiang's face as he took a glance at yuan gaofeng and the other two confucian temple deities who had met with mao xiaodong earlier.
the rest of the deities present had either been confucian generals that had been founding fathers of the nation while they were alive, or prominent scholarly officials in the history of the great sui nation. all of those deities were currently banded together, and a subtle divide existed between them and yuan gaofeng's group.
in the end, lin shuangjiang's gaze fell upon the emperor of the great sui nation as he said, "your majesty, the people and soldiers of the great sui nation are all willing to fight for you, are you going to continue adopting this policy of appeasement?
“during the forging of the alliance between the two nations, the great sui nation was indeed no match for the army of the great li empire, but the circumstances have changed drastically since then, so are you still going to cower and bow to the great li empire?
“i am but an outsider, but i would be more than happy to tell you about how many officials of the great sui nation have retired from their posts and how many scholars have fled into the mountains in dismay at the state of their nation over the past few years. on top of that, do i need to tell you about how heavy a decline there's been in the fortune of all of the martial sage temples across the nation?
“i understand that your intention is to take all of the blame upon yourself in exchange for a century of peace for the great sui nation, but will things really work out that way? even if those northern savages abide by the hundred-year agreement and do not attack the great sui nation over the next century, how can you be sure that the great sui nation will actually heave peace for a hundred years? and what happens after that?
“you're just going to wait for a blessing from the heavens, for the great li empire to fall to its own demise, following which your geyang gao clan can reap the benefits? i'm sure i don't need to tell you what the song clan of the great li empire is like. right now, song changjing is serving as interim ruler of the nation, so there's a military man currently in power.
“the emperor of the great li empire was even willing to abolish the titles of the formal gods of the five mountains when it suited him, can we really expect them to abide by this agreement established the great sui nation's eastern splendor mountain and the great li empire's cloud drape mountain?
“i'm willing to make a prediction right here that in thirty years at the very most, even if the army of the great li empire still hasn't taken over the luminous vermilion empire by then, it will have firmly established its claim over the entire northern region of the eastern treasured vial continent, and once that happens, all of the citizens of the great sui nation, from the soldiers on the border to the prominent officials in the imperial court, will be yearning to make the great li empire their new home.
“when the time comes that all of the citizens of the great sui nation regard another nation as superior to their own from the bottom of their hearts, you will be the emperor who brought about the fall of the great sui nation. how will you face all of your predecessors?"
"you have no right to be making such insolent remarks on the national matters of our great sui nation, lin shuangjiang!" yuan gaofeng yelled in a furious voice.
a scholarly official of the great sui nation who had claimed the yellow court nation by devising a series of shrewd national policies urged, "please reconsider, your majesty."
lin shuangjiang didn't say anything further. he had already gotten his point across, and speaking any further on the topic would only have a detrimental effect to his cause.
meanwhile, the handsome young man in the anterior hall was inspecting the statues of the seventy-two saints one after another, just as chen ping'an had done earlier in the day.
"it was only because of song zhengchun's death that the two of you have come here today, right?" the emperor of the great sui nation asked.
lin shuangjiang nodded in response, making no effort to deny this.
the emperor pointed a finger at himself, then asked with a smile, "so what happens if i'm killed by a tenth tier martial artist someday, or by that wandering mohism hero by the name of xu ruo?"
he then pointed at the anterior hall behind himself as he continued, "if xu ruo kills the ruler of a nation for no good reason, as a cultivator, he'll most likely be reprimanded by a sage. xu ruo is a significant mohist figure.
“after the white jade capital replica that was being constructed by that mohist side branch was damaged, the mohist main branch on the middle earth divine continent changed its mind and placed its eggs in the basket of the great li empire's song clan, and i think there's a very good chance that xu ruo played an important role in that decision.
“hence, xu ruo may not be willing to 'trade pieces' with me as that exchange would incur too much of a loss for the mohists. however, li er could kill me without any qualms. according to the rules of the cultivation world, he's a pure martial artist, so he doesn't fall under the authority of the confucian sages."
"as long as li er hasn't reached the divinity tier among tenth tier martial artists, i can ensure that he's unable to even set foot in the capital of the great sui nation, provided that your confucian temple is willing to help me by activating the city's protective formation," lin shuangjiang replied.
even so, the emperor of the great sui nation was still not swayed, and he said, "you may be able to keep him out during your time here, but what if he remains a persistent threat? are you going to permanently settle in the great sui nation?"
lin shuangjiang's brows furrowed slightly upon hearing this.
right at this moment, a warm voice rang out in everyone's minds.
"if li er dares to come to the capital of the great sui nation with the intent to kill, then i'll confront and kill him. however, that's all i can promise, and i won't interfere with any other matters."
"the qi refiners of the middle earth divine continent sure are almighty beings! he makes killing a tenth tier martial artist sound like snapping a chicken's neck!" yuan gaofeng sneered.
"mr. fan is not one to make empty promises, so if he says that he'll do something, then he'll be sure to follow through," lin shuangjiang said.
"can i trust you on that?" the emperor of the great sui nation asked with a smile.
"as a commercialist, trust is the foundation of all of the business that we conduct," the man in the anterior hall replied with a smile of his own.
————
li huai played a game of connect five with pei qian according to her proposed set of rules, and he suffered a catastrophic defeat.
after resigning the game, he swiped his hands over the go board to mess up the stones in a fit of frustration as he grumbled, "i'm not playing this stupid game anymore! it's making me dizzy and hungry!"
xie xie was cultivating at one end of the bamboo-paved corridor, and her eyelids fluttered slightly at the sound of the go stones clacking against another.
a dull thump rang out from the other side of the wall.
li baoping was accustomed to falling from high places, so she didn't sustain any injuries. however, her landing was a little unstable, and as a result, she was unable to absorb the force of her landing just by bending her knees, leading her to fall onto her backside.
however, she then immediately sprang to her feet, completely unharmed.
zhu lian was standing not far away, and he smiled as he asked, "are you alright?"
"i'm fine!" li baoping replied with a smile of her own, then rushed back into the courtyard.
as a far roaming tier martial artist, zhu lian could've easily caught li baoping, but he chose not to as he could tell that she possessed the skills required to make a safe landing.
zhu lian continued to stroll around the courtyard.
zhu lian had overheard the conversation between chen ping'an and li baoping prior to his departure from the academy. chen ping'an had been aware that zhu lian was nearby at the time, but he made no effort to keep any secrets from zhu lian.
zhu lian felt like it was quite a pity that sui youbian wasn't around to hear that conversation.
back in the dust medicinal shop in old dragon city, before the four picture scroll martial artists parted ways, the elderly man with the gou surname who had proclaimed that sui youbian had the makings of a sword immortal would often visit the shop.
on one occasion, while watching a game of go in the backyard between sui youbian and lu baixiang, he had made some brief, yet extremely profound remarks, using the game of go as an analogy to sword techniques.
however, sui youbian remained completely unmoved by his profound words, and that left the old man feeling very awkward. pei qian had been present at the time, and she had teased him for a long time, saying that it was no wonder that sui youbian wasn't impressed when all he did was spout grandiose nonsense that no one understood.
however, that very same night, sui youbian went into seclusion, and she didn't leave her room for a day and two nights.
since then, sui youbian had gone to the jade tablet sect on the parasol leaf continent to become a swordsman.
wei xian had gone with cui dongshan, while lu baixiang had gone off to travel on his own, and only zhu lian chose to remain by chen ping'an's side.
at the lion garden, chen ping'an had displayed his powers twice, once against those meddlesome demonic creatures, and the other time against li baozhen, but zhu lian wasn't overly impressed by him on either occasion.
however, he had developed a genuine sense of admiration for chen ping'an after hearing his conversation with li baoping.
li baoping, li baozhen, li xisheng, and the li clan on fortune street.
the four of them were all connected by blood, and even though li baoping referred to chen ping'an as her junior uncle, as far as the li clan was concerned, he was ultimately still just an outsider.
it was extremely difficult for chen ping'an to decide what to do with li baozhen, and it would be even more difficult for him to ensure that li baoping wasn't saddened by his decision, regardless of the outcome. it was a head-scratching scenario in which no decision was correct, but no decision was incorrect, either.
if chen ping'an had hidden the truth from li baoping, merely telling her that he had encountered li baozhen in the lion garden, then there would be no issues for the time being.
however, if li baozhen insisted on courting death, forcing chen ping'an to kill him, then even though chen ping'an was completely in the right, and li baoping would also understand that, she would inevitably be saddened by the fact that her junior uncle had deceived her.
hence, chen ping'an had decided to come clean with her, and overall, his treatment of this matter had been exemplary in zhu lian's eyes.
by sparing li baozhen, chen ping'an had fulfilled his promise to li xisheng. after that, he had "pawned" the talisman that had been passed down to li baozhen by the ancestors of the li clan, thereby making a deal with li baoping and the entire li clan.
in doing so, he had isolated and severed li baozhen from the rest of the li clan.
from that point onward, li baozhen was li baozhen, while the li clan behind li baoping and li xisheng was one that was completely separate from li baozhen.
at the same time, chen ping'an had subtly pointed out to li baoping the notion that no one was at fault in this matter, and that everyone was responsible for their own fate. with that rationale planted in her heart, even if chen ping'an were to kill li baozhen someday, she would surely be saddened, but she wouldn't jump from one extreme to another.
this was the supposed art of swordsmanship, according to the old man with the gou surname.
with his "sword," chen ping'an had made the perfect incisions, cutting into these extremely complex problems from the perfect angles and to the perfect depths.
on that day, chen ping'an had also been in the backyard of the medicinal shop, watching the game of go, and he had also heard the profound words spoken by the old man with the gou surname.
even though sui youbian possessed exceptional talent for the sword and had gone into seclusion for a day and two nights after hearing what the old man had to say, zhu lian was certain that chen ping'an had gleaned the true meaning of the old man's words better than sui youbian had.
the great daos walked by each person not only varied in length, but also in degrees of loftiness.
zhu lian still recalled the assessment of chen ping'an that li baoping had made to pei qian.
he carries a bamboo bookcase, he wears straw sandals, he's thrown a million punches, he's the most handsome man in the world.
he wears a white robe, he carries an immortal sword, he's journeyed across countless lands, he's the best junior uncle under the heavens.
"little baoping, your junior uncle may not be a swordsman yet, but he's certainly developing the mental qualities required to become a sword immortal," zhu lian murmured to himself.
all of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, then cast his gaze toward the end of the path leading to the courtyard through narrowed eyes.
an elderly confucian scholar and a white deer had appeared in that direction.