Chapter 501 – The Beat of Drums and Caws of Crows—Returning, Yet No Longer Young - Part 2

Out on a patchy wasteland of yellowed earth and scattered snow, another carriage rolled steadily along. At the reins sat Li Yuan—or, more accurately, Ximen Gucheng.

After some time observing the situation, he’d concluded that the Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain had temporarily quieted down, while the Western Extremes remained focused on silent expansion. The chaos of the world seemed to have slipped into a lull again.

But in the North, the winds of war were rising.

The Empress Dowager was preparing to swallow up the powers of the provincial governors and reassert control over the Great Zhou Empire under the central royal authority. A storm was brewing.

To stay ahead of the bloodshed, Li Yuan had made a decision. He would take Xie Yu to the safest place he knew, and that was Gemhill County.

Gemhill was entirely under the protection of Yan Yu. As long as Xie Yu stayed there, nothing could touch her.

As for him...maybe it was the pendulum swing of human nature. After experiencing so much betrayal, brutality, and blood, he suddenly found himself craving something

pure

. Something

righteous

. Something a man might call heroic.

Li Yuan was like a man who’d only ever eaten savory dishes suddenly longing for something sweet.

For those who walked the path of longevity,

personal character

was a slippery thing. It couldn’t define them since...that sort of thing only made sense for someone who lived 50, maybe 80 years.

But someone who could live

forever

? They could wear a hundred faces. A thousand. They could carry every kind of

character

a mortal man might have. And discard them just as easily.

Right now, Sheng'er hadn’t yet learned the next stage of the Heaven Soul cultivation technique. As for Naran, that cranky old crone hadn’t even finished teaching the second stage of the Earth Soul cultivation technique to him. And as for the Human Soul...well, Li Yuan had once placed his hopes on Ping’an, but he’d given up on that, too.

His cultivation had hit a wall.

The Eastern Sea’s Immortal Domain? Not coming anymore.

The Western Extremes? Still busy quietly growing in power.

The Dragon Vein? Who knew what it was doing these days.

Li Yuan just wanted a break. The constant tension. Endless cultivation. Relentless battles. Enemies piling in one after another...that was never the life he wanted.

At this moment, he no longer thought of himself as Li Yuan, but rather as a wandering hero in white, who had lost his power through the rigors of cultivation.

To sell the act, he’d even patched together a story.

He told Xie Yu that he had once reached the fourth rank and had even been a rare, exceptional existence within it. But that was all thanks to the demonic path, borrowed power granted by the Dragon Vein that allowed him to punch far above his weight. Now, that borrowed power had turned on him. The backlash had come, and his cultivation had plummeted back down to the seventh rank.

Xie Yu didn’t believe him at first.

But after they passed through the capital, Xie Wei sat her down and explained everything again. Only then did Xie Yu become half-convinced.

But honestly? Between a terrifying fourth rank demonic powerhouse and a drifting hero in white...the one she truly liked was the hero.

Xie Wei understood her little sister. That’s why she begged Li Yuan to become that person forever. A hero in white, quietly searching for his own path of the blade.

If a lie could bring someone happiness...then maybe, just maybe, it was better to let sleeping dogs lie. What was wrong with staying happy, forever?

And so, Xie Yu believed it. Because she

wanted

to believe. Sometimes, the

truth

mattered far less than the can of worms it opened.

After all, people didn’t live for truth. So why insist on clinging to it?

At least, that’s what Xie Yu thought. So she accepted it. She believed it. She embraced the whole beautiful lie.

Li Yuan forged a simple seventh rank blade. Then he sealed away his Immortal Form, locking it into the fragile vessel of a mundane human shell.

And in doing so, he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Peace.

Even though he still could no longer wield his blade with the same impossible precision, he felt as if he’d climbed over a towering mountain in his soul.

He had seen the darkest places of the human heart, indulged in its filthiest desires, become a monstrous demon. And now, in the quiet after the storm, he wanted to chase the light on the other side of life.

˙·٠✧🐗➶➴🏹✧٠·˙

The following year, February. arrived

A youth in white and a young woman in red crossed the river at Antelope Pass.

After passing through Southsky and Flowerpath County, Xie Yu asked, “Still heading south?”

“They say Yan Yu is incredibly powerful when it comes to granting blessings. Thought I’d go say a prayer.” Li Yuan replied.

“What are you praying for?” Xie Yu asked.

“A child.” Li Yuan smiled.

“A child...” Xie Yu paused, stunned for a moment. Then slowly lowered her head, eyes flickering with something hard to name, perhaps a quiet, aching sorrow. After a moment, she lifted her gaze again and asked, softly, “Do you think...we still can?”

Li Yuan answered, “No matter what, I’ve heard the South is peaceful. Your sister said war was coming to the North. Things are going to get ugly. And with all the ghosts and monsters running loose up there...let’s just stay out of it. Let’s find a quiet corner and live a good life.”

Xie Yu smoothed out the folds of her red dress, fingers trembling just slightly. Then she let out a long sigh and murmured, “The North...the Central Plains...really

are

full of ghosts and monsters.”

“Let’s settle down here,” she said softly, gazing over the land. “I want to till a small patch of land. Build a pretty little courtyard. I’ll plant wisteria vines...and underneath them, all kinds of flowers and herbs. Maybe some fruits and vegetables too, enough to live off the land.”

She paused, then added, “As for cultivation...”

Her voice faltered. Here, in this far corner of the world, the Xie Clan held no sway. And the Empress Dowager’s authority didn’t stretch this far either.

“I have a bit of good karma with Yan Yu. She’ll grant us a place to cultivate,” Li Yuan said. Seeing the doubt in her eyes, he added, “I worked for the Dragon Vein once. That’s how I met her.”

“Will you have to ask her

personally

?” Xie Yu asked quietly.

He shook his head.

Their conversation continued, gentle and light, as the carriage wheels turned steadily beneath them.

That night, the two stayed at an inn. It was nothing grand, just a quiet place on the roadside. And to their surprise, the local security was unusually good. Not a single thief showed up, not even a lecherous passerby trying to bother the beautiful woman in red.

The next day, around noon, the carriage began following the river of Silver Creek downstream.

The water sparkled beneath the sunlight, casting a golden shimmer across its surface.

“Look! Up ahead!” Xie Yu cried out, full of excitement,

Li Yuan looked up. Nestled beside the creek was a vast, sprawling complex.

“That must be the headquarters of the Bladeseekers,” he said.

“The Bladeseekers...” Xie Yu lifted the curtain, eyes wide in amazement. “It’s

huge

! It looks way bigger than the Xie Clan estate. Honestly, it might even be as big as the imperial palace.”

As the carriage drew closer, her amazement only grew. “No, it’s even

bigger

than the palace. I’ve heard of the Bladeseekers before, but I didn’t think it was

this

massive.”

“This place was where the ghost cavalry was created. Now, it’s probably one of the strongest factions on the entire continent.” Li Yuan nodded.

“But most factions are scattered,” Xie Yu said. “The Bladeseekers, though, it’s all in one place. I have

no

idea how many fifth and sixth rank martial artists are hiding in there.”

She paused, then frowned in thought. “Still...I’ve never heard of any fourth rank martial artists from the Bladeseekers. So if it really came down to a fight, maybe they’re not as invincible as they look?”

Li Yuan chuckled. “You think they haven’t built their own fifth rank army? When it comes to war, numbers can go a long way. With discipline, they’re even stronger than the old ghost cavalry.”

“True...” Xie Yu gazed at the palace’s golden glazed tiles, murmuring to herself. “I always thought this place was some backwater corner of the world. I didn’t expect it to be so flourishing. If you’re talking about barren lands...I can only think when we first left Ocean province. Now

that

was barren. Back when we were herding sheep and cattle. Those days were tough, but kind of happy too.”

Li Yuan’s voice was gentle. “We’ll be happy here too.”

“Mhm!” Xie Yu nodded and let the curtain fall shut.

Not long after, the carriage passed through the north gate of Gemhill County.

At the gate, registration was required.

Any martial artist at the sixth rank or above had to register before entering the county. If someone entered without a sixth rank token and then displayed their power within the territory, best case they’d be kicked out. Worst case? The temple guards would detain them on the spot.

And of course, to register, a person had to display their cultivation. This meant if that person was a survivor of the Lotus Cult, it would be obvious at a glance.

The Bladeseekers had suffered severely at the hands of the Lotus Cult in the past, so their border checks were extremely strict.

Li Yuan reported himself as seventh rank.

Xie Yu registered as sixth rank and revealed just enough of her strength to prove it. Once the guards confirmed her cultivation didn’t resemble anything from the Lotus Cult, their demeanor softened noticeably. When they asked what faction she belonged to, she simply answered, “A small clan.”

The guard nodded and handed her a sixth rank token.

And just like that, the two of them entered the county without incident.

But after their carriage had gone, the gate guard stood there for a long time, staring blankly in the direction they'd disappeared. Finally, he turned to the man beside him and asked quietly, “Who

were

they?”

“Forget it,” the other replied. “That’s what I was told.”

He added, “Besides...the higher-ups told me they didn’t know either. Said they’d already forgotten.”

The first guard nodded slowly.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Truth was, registration at Gemhill County wasn’t normally so easy. Even if a person weren’t part of the Lotus Cult, they’d still interrogate them six ways from Sunday. Sure, there were more meat fields now and more cultivation resources, but sixth rank was still a boundary that most people couldn’t dream of crossing.

Without the right cultivation technique, a martial artist couldn’t even reach sixth rank.

And if a person did reach it, their lifespan was extended by a full century.

Yet even now, sixth rank remained rare, staggeringly so.

Li Yuan had once stood at the very top of the pyramid, surrounded by high rank powerhouses all vying for control over the fate of the land.

But that was all in the past...