Behind Xue Daoyong, a seemingly simple Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow quietly rested on a black sandalwood rack. The old man walked over to the war bow, his palm gently brushing along its body. He looked at Li Guanyi and smiled, saying:
"Weren't you previously unwilling to try lifting it? It's rare for you to come back today."
"Come, give it a try."
Li Guanyi was still contemplating the matter of armor.
He raised his gaze slightly, looking at the war bow, thinking about its legacy. However, the first reaction in his mind was whether the old man had discovered that he could grip this divine weapon from five hundred years ago, and what it represented for him.
The young man had no reason to refuse, at least not on the surface.
He walked over to the Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow.
Extending his hand, fingers spread wide, he grasped the war bow. The bow's surface felt delicate and perfect, fitting snugly in his palm. The intense sense of divine resonance reappeared, but this time it did not trigger the legacy, nor did it cause any change or ripple in the jade liquid of the bronze cauldron.
Entering the realm...
Only by entering the realm could the bronze cauldron once again accumulate jade liquid.
Only then could the divine weapon's legacy be triggered again.
Only then could he truly walk in this turbulent era.
A yearning for that realm surged within his heart.
Li Guanyi intended to release his grip, indicating that he still could not wield the divine weapon. He looked at the old man and said, "Old Xue, it's a pity, I..."
Boom!!!
The old man smiled, and suddenly a surge of energy erupted beneath his feet.
Visible ripples spread out.
The entire Listening Wind Pavilion seemed to shake.
That ancient desk, mixed with golden threads and worth a fortune, suddenly collapsed into powder. The divine weapon, the Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow, naturally fell downward. Regardless of his inner judgment or scheming, purely driven by instinct, he subconsciously held onto the war bow.
Even when he realized in an instant that he should let go of the Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow.
But Li Guanyi knew that it was this moment of instinctive grip that delayed the bow from falling. With the old man's keen eyesight, he could already see something; his body tensed, then slowly relaxed.
He did not let go of the divine weapon.
The golden silk nanmu, which took three thousand years to grow, turned into golden powder, wafting in the wind with a woody fragrance.
The old man looked at the young man before him.
Golden dust swirled around him as his sleeves billowed, straightening his back. The Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow was held firmly in his hand, as if he had made a decision. The bowstring emitted a faint whistle, and the old man's eyes sparkled with light, a smile on his lips as he repeatedly exclaimed, "Good, good, good!!!"
Li Guanyi remarked, "That golden silk nanmu desk, just like that, shattered."
Old man, how unprincipled!
The old man was unfazed, laughing heartily in response:
"To see someone once again grasp the divine weapon, what is worth more than a fortune?"
He paused, then looked at Li Guanyi, as if seeing his own youthful dreams, saying, "Your ability to hold this bow means..."
Li Guanyi closed his eyes.
The bronze cauldron hummed, and a low tiger roar seemed to resonate in the void. The divine weapon in the young man's hand vibrated, golden light shimmering along the bow's surface. The patterns on it seemed to come alive, as if the souls that had perished beneath this bow were awakening, panicking and crying out.
[Aruren Wuerharibodasa]
The arrows of the Central Plains Bodhisattva that pierced the Sacred Mountain.
The golden light spread along the bow's body, reaching the young man's palm.
Li Guanyi's left hand, gripping the bow, suddenly bore a set of gauntlets.
As the light fell upon his right hand's fingers, it transformed into a golden ring.
This was the bowstring transformed from the soul of a fierce tiger, capable of severing the throats of the giants of the Northern Region. Mortals could hardly touch it with their flesh and blood. Only at this moment did the divine weapon awaken, the fierce tiger revealing its claws, opening its eyes to reassess the world.
Xue Daoyong watched this scene and burst into laughter.
Xue Daoyong asked, "Can you draw it?"
Li Guanyi was also curious. His palm gripped the bow, his right fingers resting on the bowstring. The bowstring whistled, the White Tiger Dharma Manifestation landing on the bowstring, causing the divine weapon to emit a faint golden glow. However, despite his utmost effort, the bowstring did not budge an inch.
Not enough.
Xue Daoyong also felt some regret: "As expected, to lift the bow requires the qualification of the White Tiger Dharma Manifestation, but to draw the bowstring requires an extremely high realm." Li Guanyi placed the bow back on another table, his palm leaving the bow.
As his hand released, the golden light that had surged from the divine weapon also dispersed, the last bit of light spreading from both sides of the bowstring towards the center, ultimately converging and dissipating. At that moment, Li Guanyi suddenly realized that the White Tiger Dharma Manifestation had gained a trace of power from the awakened divine weapon.
The White Tiger Dharma Manifestation seemed to have grown slightly.
But just then, this power was forcibly absorbed by the Red Dragon Dharma Manifestation.
The originally brightening White Tiger Dharma Manifestation, which seemed poised to expand, suddenly reverted to its original small form.
In its place, the Red Dragon Dharma Manifestation finally revealed part of its body.
It could coil around Li Guanyi's arm.
Like a dragon coiling around a pillar, curiously observing the surrounding world.
The Red Dragon Dharma Manifestation appeared.
Li Guanyi's eyes rippled with excitement. He wanted to test what other special powers this Dharma Manifestation might possess. He wanted to see if the arrow light of the Xue family could be utilized through the Red Dragon Dharma Manifestation. The White Tiger Dharma Manifestation exhibited a penetrating characteristic; what about the Red Dragon?
He was curious and expectant.
The old man had Li Guanyi sit down again, then brewed tea, gently smiling as he said:
"You still cannot use this bow."
"But you have the qualification to lift it. This is a treasured heirloom of my Xue family, and I am not yet able to hand it over to you. I will first help you attain the position of a Ninth-Rank Martial Scatter Officer. You can rest assured; granting you a clean official status is only right."
"My Xue family knows your escape route, and the records are with the Night Rider Cavalry. Even I cannot deduce it. However, after a full ten years, with my understanding of the Chen Kingdom, regardless of what level of incident it was back then, the pursuit records against you have now been suppressed to the lowest."
Li Guanyi breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.
It seemed that the old man before him was cunning and experienced, yet he had not truly uncovered his identity.
He had merely clarified his wandering trajectory through the Xue family's merchant association.
Although Li Guanyi himself did not know his true origins.
Nor did he know if the old man before him was deceiving him.
So he calmly asked, "How does Old Xue know?"
The old man stroked his beard, a hint of mockery in his voice as he said, "Because this is the Chen Kingdom."
"Although Marshal Yue has a high reputation, it does not mean that as soon as he returns to the capital, the border will immediately decay."
"It is merely because another national guardian divine general is also in the capital, Jiangzhou."
"Currently, Jiangzhou is guarded by the Chen Kingdom's first divine general, Xiao Wuliang. Unlike a great general like Marshal Yue, he should be classified as a fierce general. I have seen his might; when the regent was in chaos, he was only thirteen years old and could charge into battle alone."
"At eighteen, he led seven riders into the fray, slaying generals and seizing flags."
"Ranked fifteenth on the list of divine generals in the world, the enemy was struck with fear, and he was honored with the title, Mohe Wuliang."
"Such a fierce general, if he could join forces with Marshal Yue to crush the various nations, it would not be impossible for the Chen Kingdom to restore the territories of the Martial Emperor era. Yet the various nobles have kept him stationed in the capital."
The old man could not help but sigh deeply: "Famous generals in the world, clad in precious armor, riding exotic beasts and fine steeds, wielding divine weapons and bearing Dharma manifestations, a single person can stand against thousands. If such a powerful figure were to abandon everything, disregarding life and the grand trends of the world, and recklessly penetrate the enemy lines, it would be enough to challenge the royal family."
"Thus, they have stationed Xiao Wuliang in the capital."
"They say: As the ruler remains, the nation remains; if the ruler falls, the nation falls. Therefore, the ruler is paramount, for the well-being of the state and the blood of the people must not be taken lightly."
"In the end, it is merely to leverage the might of this divine general to protect their own peace."
"Now that Marshal Yue has been taken back from the border, and Xiao Wuliang is absent, while the Ying Kingdom's fierce generals are like clouds, preparing for battle, and the royal relatives and noble youths go to the border for so-called training, enjoying fine wine and beautiful women, while the soldiers eat simply, only having meat every three days."
"Under such pressure, how could the border defenses not decay? Seeing the small reveals the large; if the national affairs are like this, how much more so for the pursuit of criminals?"
The old man's tone carried mockery.
Li Guanyi understood that this was Xue Daoyong expressing his trust in him.
Li Guanyi stated his purpose, saying:
"However, I still want to leave the Xue family and Guan Yi City."
The old man laughed heartily: "Hahaha, no worries, old man does not intend to tie you to the Xue family. Nor will I use any emotional cards; this is a transaction, an agreement between two big men."
The old man casually took a sip of tea, smiling as he said:
"Moreover, there are Xue family's merchant associations everywhere in the world."
"The Ying Kingdom is no exception."
Li Guanyi: "…………"
The old man laughed heartily.
After being shaken several times, the old heart finally felt at ease, saying:
"I know you want to leave, but if you have an official status, the passage documents will be somewhat simpler."
"Don't look at me like that. According to common sense, the court would worry about military officials leaving the Chen Kingdom, so they would be very strict. If you think like this, you do not understand the Chen Kingdom. The Chen Kingdom was once the Jiangnan Road bestowed by the Great Emperor of the Central Plains."
"More than three hundred years ago, the world underwent great changes. The Duke of Liang split the land to become king, and the Duke of Chen assisted him."
"More than two hundred years ago, the ancestors of the Chen Kingdom destroyed the Liang Kingdom and established the Chen Kingdom."
"And to stabilize the situation as much as possible, they adopted a policy of appeasement towards the original bureaucratic families, leading to the initial existence of two or even three bureaucratic systems, which have now merged into one, resulting in a complex and redundant official system. For instance, this military official, ranked ninth, is a scatter officer but has no official title."
"There is only a dispatch."
"Official rank is one layer, type is another layer, the position is another layer, and the specific duties of the dispatch are yet another layer, interwoven and extremely complex."
"Yet even as a scatter officer, there are exemptions from taxes and various privileges."
"One carrot, one pit; the bureaucrat handling the passage documents would wish for you to leave early, so they can free up a position and insert their own relatives in advance, especially for a Ninth-Rank Martial Scatter Officer, even more so."
The old man spoke with mockery, but his words also carried a sense of camaraderie.
The external relatives commented on the court's affairs.
This was his way of revealing Li Guanyi's fugitive identity, a leverage he handed over to Li Guanyi.
This was an equal agreement.
Li Guanyi fell silent for a moment, looking at the old man before him, saying:
"So, why does Old Xue value me so highly?"
The old man looked at him with piercing eyes, smiling as he said, "Of course, it is for the Xue family."
"I am merely gambling. If the world stabilizes, you will be a great general at the border or a noble of the court, enjoying vast riches. But if chaos descends? Guanyi, you will draw your sword against the oppressors for the oppressed people; in a turbulent era, you will not remain hidden."
"My eyes have never been wrong."
"And now, the higher-ups are concealing the decay at the border, while the nobles, for their own safety, have transferred the divine general away from the front lines."
"The royal family indulges in revelry, while the grassroots officials, eager to place their own people, would send all other officials away. The upper and lower echelons mimic each other; it seems splendid, but in reality, it is a raging fire. What do you think of the Chen Kingdom? What do you think of the world?"
He extended his hand to stroke the Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow, as if making a decision.
He muttered to himself: "Broken Cloud Shocking Heaven Bow."
"Is the glory of my Xue family's achievements due to this bow?"
"Absolutely not; it is because of my ancestors. If my ancestors did not have this bow, would they no longer be the world's number one divine general? This bow in the Xue family is merely a revered object, accompanying you in battle is the true aspiration."
"What makes the Xue family prosperous is the people, not clinging to past relics."
He suddenly laughed, bold and open-minded.
He said:
"Li Guanyi!"
"When the day of chaos arrives, come here!"
"Take this bow away!"
"Ride a horse and charge into this world!"
(End of Chapter)