Before this mighty expert of the Creation Realm, Li Shun showed not the slightest trace of panic.
He inclined his body slightly and cupped his fists in salute. “Congratulations, Senior, on your breakthrough.”
His tone was calm and even.
Within Fang Xun’s eyes, there was even a faint trace of undisguised hatred.
Zhou Xunzhen carefully examined the two below him, Fang Xun and Li Shun.
“You two… are quite promising.”
Leaving behind only this vague and inexplicable remark, his figure vanished into thin air.
The two did not dare move. They stood where they were, allowing the wind and snow to fall upon them.
After a long while, Fang Xun and Li Shun had already turned into two snow-covered figures, yet Zhou Xunzhen did not reappear.
Only after confirming that he had truly left did Li Shun finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The reason he could remain so composed was threefold.
First, he was currently within the Second Reflection.
Everything here was illusory. No matter what happened, there would always be a chance to start over.
Second, both Fang Xun and Li Shun were merely puppets. Even if their manifested forms in the outside world were destroyed, it would not affect their true essence within the Fangcun space.
And lastly…
He was relying on the knowledge he had gleaned from Fang Xun’s memories regarding Heaven’s Reclaiming of Lifespan.
“Whenever cultivators of Great Qian break through, they will, more often than not, face the tribulation of Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan.”
“Although each transfer of tribulation tends to affect many, those who survive while caught within it are essentially experiencing their own future tribulation in advance. With such firsthand experience, their chances of breaking through later are greatly improved. Their prospects become boundless.”
“For that reason, many great experts will deliberately send their disciples into such situations, using it as a means to select true successors.”
“And so, throughout Great Qian, the attitude toward these transferred tribulations is… rather complicated.”
Li Shun’s thoughts paused slightly.
“Back then, when Fang Xun was still young and full of fire, he once heard of a disastrous case of transferred tribulation that devastated three counties, leaving millions dead. In righteous fury, he submitted a memorial condemning it as a corruption of the court and a disaster for the realm, urging strict laws to punish such acts. That was what led to his dismissal.”
“Fang Xun, too, once burned with passion.”
“But time… erases all youthful fervor.”
“Unless…”
“One could borrow another lifetime from the heavens and return to youth.”
Li Shun shook his head lightly, drawing his thoughts back to the present.
“For now, taking Fang Xun as a puppet does not seem to carry any significant risk. With mid-tier Spirit Resonance strength, I finally possess at least a minimal ability to protect myself. Moreover…”
“His background.”
Fang Xun’s master held an extremely high position.
He was none other than one of the Three Excellencies of the court, the Grand Censor-in-Chief, Dong Chunqiu.
“The entire county under his governance has been reduced to ruin, its people annihilated. Under normal circumstances, Fang Xun would certainly be thrown into prison. Even if he escaped death, he would likely be locked away for decades. But…”
“There may yet be a turning point. With the opportunity granted by the Second Reflection, I can attempt to change things.”
With that thought, Li Shun returned to the Fangcun space, while Fang Xun sped toward what was now nothing more than the ruins of Lengshan County.
At the site of the former county office, after some searching through the debris, Fang Xun managed to recover the last three remaining sticks of spirit-connecting incense.
“Fang Xun… cares too much about his pride.”
Thinking this, he deliberately made himself appear even more disheveled, his body battered, his face still smeared with traces of dried blood.
Then, he lit the incense.
The curling smoke gathered and formed into a mirror.
“Master!”
Fang Xun dropped to his knees with a thud, his face filled with grief as he cried out.
The watery mirror trembled slightly, yet no sound emerged.
“Master…”
With a heavy thud, Fang Xun slammed his head against the ground.
He made no unnecessary movements. He simply sobbed and kowtowed again and again.
Each strike was forceful. In the silent snowfield, dull thuds echoed continuously.
Before long, his forehead was already drenched in blood.
Yet he showed no intention of stopping.
He continued to kowtow without pause.
Within the Fangcun space, Li Shun watched coldly.
“If Dong Chunqiu can truly watch his own disciple kowtow himself to death right before his eyes…”
“Then this puppet is not worth keeping. I may as well let him die.”
“After all, I have already obtained all the memories in Fang Xun’s mind.”
In the blink of an eye, Fang Xun’s face was a mangled blur of blood and flesh, no longer recognizable.
His movements had slowed.
Yet his resolve did not waver.
Even when he could no longer support himself and collapsed to the ground, unable to rise, he still mechanically struck his head against the earth.
The surrounding snow-white ground had long been dyed red with his blood, like a grotesque canvas.
At the center of that canvas, Fang Xun was on the verge of death.
And yet, from time to time, faint sounds of his head striking the ground could still be heard.
“…Sigh.”
At last, just as Fang Xun’s life hung by a thread, a sigh finally sounded from the other end of the spirit-connecting incense.
“Shensi, back then, you submitted that memorial without first consulting me.”
“Throughout the court, everyone knows you are my disciple. They naturally assumed that memorial reflected my will.”
“It caused unrest in both court and countryside, nearly leading to a great disaster.”
“I gave you the courtesy name Shensi in the hope that you would reflect upon yourself and think thrice before acting. Yet after all these years, it seems you have made little progress.”
Fang Xun said nothing. His quiet sobs gradually turned into heart-wrenching wails.
On the other side of the smoke, Dong Chunqiu fell silent for quite some time.
“However… this cannot be entirely blamed on you.”
“The tribulation of advancing from Celestial Phenomena into Creation is far beyond what your Spirit Resonance realm can withstand. And this time, it was the [Greed for Wealth Corrupts the Seal] tribulation.”
After another stretch of silence, a voice sounded again from within the smoke.
But this time, it was not Dong Chunqiu.
The voice was cold, pronouncing Fang Xun’s fate:
“The merit of capturing a criminal cannot outweigh the crime of destroying a county. You are hereby stripped of your position as Magistrate of Lengshan County and exiled to guard the Imperial Mausoleum at Dongshan.”
“From this day forth, without permission, you are not to leave the Imperial Mausoleum Commandary by even half a step.”
Fang Xun’s crying finally ceased. He tried to say something through choked sobs, but his injuries were too severe, and his words came out indistinct.
Dong Chunqiu’s final words followed: “Take care of yourself.”
The mirror-like smoke abruptly shattered.
The half-burned spirit-connecting incense, along with the remaining two sticks, suddenly turned into wisps of green smoke.
The smoke drifted toward Fang Xun’s dying body, slowly repairing his injuries.
Though the process was slow, his condition did improve slightly.
With great difficulty, he pushed himself up and once more kowtowed in the direction of the Sacred Capital.
Within the Fangcun space—
“Dongshan Town.”
These words stirred memories long buried in Li Shun’s mind.
“This outcome is barely acceptable.”
“Dongshan Town is Li Shun’s hometown and one of the eight tomb-guarding towns. No powerful figure would dare scheme within the Imperial Mausoleum. Relatively speaking, it is a safe place.”
“For officials of Great Qian, once transferred there, promotion is almost impossible. It is considered a dead end.”
“But for me… it is the perfect place to lie low.”
Li Shun pondered silently.
Meanwhile, in the outside world, the court’s decision came with remarkable speed.
As night fell, a streak of light shot across the sky and arrived.
The newcomer wore green robes, his expression solemn.