“Hm?”
“...This insect?”
Fang Xun’s heart was filled with astonishment.
The cold aura it carried bore a striking resemblance to that of Lengshan Grass.
“Could it be…”
A flicker of hope reignited within him.
Unfortunately, his injuries were far too severe.
And the essence contained within a single gnat was pitifully little, nothing more than a drop in the ocean.
Before long, Fang Xun felt his consciousness beginning to blur once again.
However…
At that very moment, another gnat burrowed into his mouth, jolting his spirit awake once more.
Fang Xun faintly sensed something was wrong, and a surge of indignation rose within him.
With slurred speech, he cursed, “If you’re going to kill me, then do it. Why toy with me like this?”
To others, however, it was nothing more than a series of strained, muffled whimpers.
The gnats remained unmoved, continuing to feed themselves to him.
Each time Fang Xun hovered on the brink of death, another would crawl into his mouth, sustaining his fading life.
When over twenty gnats had been reduced to just one remaining…
A figure finally emerged from the endless storm of wind and snow.
Lying in the snow like a heap of mud, Fang Xun felt that the approaching silhouette seemed vaguely familiar.
Yet for a moment, he could not recall who it was.
The figure said nothing, merely standing above him, looking down in silence.
At some point, even the gnats had vanished.
Only the howling of wind and snow echoed in his ears.
Fang Xun was filled with questions, yet he could no longer voice them.
The flame of his life was about to be extinguished.
Just then, he heard the figure above him finally speak.
“You…”
“Do you want to live?”
“Do you want revenge?”
Fang Xun trembled as if struck by lightning. At last, he remembered who this person was.
Li Shun. Li Tuizhi.
A nobody he had never once regarded as worthy of attention.
But…
How could this be possible?
His consciousness was on the verge of collapse.
Li Shun’s voice came again, steady and low.
“Do you want to live?”
“I…”
“I do!”
A fierce will to survive surged within Fang Xun’s heart.
The puppet Li Shun spoke in a deep voice, “Do not resist.”
As he spoke, he extended his hand and gently pressed it against Fang Xun’s head.
The raging wind and snow around them seemed to vanish in an instant.
Endless white mist enveloped Fang Xun.
It was as though he had suddenly sunk beneath water. Instinctively, he struggled.
Yet he could only watch helplessly as he was swallowed by the mist.
His consciousness froze.
Within the Fangcun space, in that previously empty region…
A complete figure suddenly took form.
In the real world, only half of Fang Xun’s broken body remained.
Yet upon entering the Fangcun space and becoming a puppet, an unfathomable power restored all his injuries in full.
Li Shun’s primary consciousness descended beside “Fang Xun,” quietly observing this newly acquired puppet.
“So there is indeed a difference between taking one in actively and passively.”
Memories from Fang Xun surged into his mind like a flood, allowing Li Shun to glimpse the full truth behind the mysteries of Lengshan.
“So that’s how it is…”
“The Cycle of Twelvefold Longevity Methods.”
“The Seven Realms of Cultivation.”
“Heaven’s Reclaiming of Lifespan…”
“To shatter the Celestial Phenomena and step into Creation… so that is the meaning behind it.”
As Fang Xun was absorbed into the Fangcun space, it was as though he had completely vanished from the world.
The seal beneath the Lengshan mine collapsed, and the catastrophe of mountain collapsing and earth splitting ruin struck once more.
Amidst the thunderous roar, the puppet “Fang Xun” quietly descended back into the mortal world.
Not only were his injuries fully healed, even his shattered official robes had been completely restored.
The one known outwardly as Fang Xun was, in truth, Li Shun’s manifested figure. He stood silently, gazing in the direction of Lengshan.
His thoughts surged like a churning tide.
“The Twelvefold Longevity Methods allow one to borrow lifespan from the heavens.”
“However… it is not limited to a single borrowing.”
“Just as I previously suspected, within Great Qian, there are still quite a few who have lived since the founding of the dynasty.”
“That is precisely because they have borrowed lifespan multiple times.”
“The path of cultivation has seven realms. Mortal Physique, Primal Simplicity, Spirit Resonance, Grotto Mystic, Celestial Phenomena, Creation, and Heaven-Earth.”
“Beginning from the Mortal Physique realm, each breakthrough into the next realm grants another opportunity to borrow lifespan.”
Recalling his own experience cultivating the Twelvefold Longevity Methods, a flash of understanding rose within Li Shun’s heart.
“What the heavens have yet to expend may be temporarily lent to the mortal world.”
“To the eyes of heaven and earth, those of different realms naturally carry different weight.”
“Breaking through to a new realm is akin to being reborn. One gains additional leverage, and thus another chance to borrow lifespan from the heavens.”
“However… there are rules governing this.”
“Seven realms, seven opportunities to borrow lifespan. Of these, the first borrowing yields the greatest amount.”
“For example, if one borrows one hundred years during the Mortal Physique realm, then upon future breakthroughs, any additional lifespan borrowed must be less than that initial amount.”
“This is an iron law of borrowing lifespan. No one can defy it. Not even the one who created this heaven-defying method…”
“The Qian Emperor!”
A sharp glint flashed in Fang Xun’s eyes.
“No one in the world knows exactly how much lifespan the Qian Emperor borrowed the first time.”
“But…”
“Great Qian has stood for five hundred and seventy-three years. Even if the Qian Emperor has reached the Heaven-Earth Realm and borrowed lifespan seven times, he should be nearing the end of his life.”
“This is the common speculation of the world.”
“And so, with the Qian Emperor absent, chaos begins to rise.”
“Everyone… is waiting for him to die.”
At this point, Li Shun’s thoughts paused slightly.
“The reason such speculation exists is because, to this day, the highest recorded first borrowing was one hundred and fifty-two years, achieved three hundred years ago by Zhou Shengzhe.”
“This conclusion was drawn from the accumulated experiences of countless cultivators.”
“Although the Qian Emperor’s cultivation is said to be unfathomable, he was the very first person in the world to borrow lifespan from the heavens.”
“The amount he borrowed initially could not have been too great…”
Suddenly, Li Shun recalled his own case of borrowing two hundred years.
“Two hundred years… that is the upper limit.”
“But where exactly does this so-called limit come from…”
His heart skipped a beat, as if he had uncovered a shocking secret.
“Could it be… that this number is precisely the amount the Qian Emperor borrowed during his first borrowing?”
“If that is the case…”
“Then everyone in the world may have miscalculated the Qian Emperor’s lifespan!”
“If he truly borrowed two hundred years at the start, then even after seven borrowings, he should still be far from the end of his life. So why does he remain hidden, allowing the world to decay day by day?”
It was as if Li Shun had brushed against the edge of a vast conspiracy, and his breathing unconsciously grew heavy.
Only after a long while did his thoughts gradually settle.
“There are limits to borrowed lifespan. That is the first rule.”
“The second is that what is borrowed must eventually be repaid.”
“Within the Twelvefold Longevity Cycles, up until the sixth stage, Peak Sovereignty, there is no need to worry about repayment. However…”
“Once one enters the latter six stages, the heavens’ demand comes swiftly.”
“This is known as the Heaven Reclaiming Lifespan.”
“Its manifestation takes the form of various tribulations descending upon the cultivator.”
“What Zhou Xunzhen encountered was one such tribulation.”
“It is called… [Greed for Wealth Corrupts the Seal].”
“Greed arises from within, seeking to seize everything in the world. Yet the stronger the greed, the faster one’s lifespan drains away.”
“One way to alleviate or resist it is to shift the burden onto others.”
“That is why everyone in Lengshan County has had their minds clouded.”
In the distance, as waves of chanting echoed through the air, Zhou Xunzhen successfully broke through and stepped once more into the path of longevity.
A trace of realization surfaced in Li Shun’s heart.
“The people of Lengshan County being trapped in a doomed situation may not have been Zhou Xunzhen’s original intention. It’s just that…”
“The Greed for Wealth Corrupts the Seal Tribulation, encountered when advancing from Celestial Phenomena to Creation, is far beyond what ordinary people can endure. Being caught in its wake and dying is, in fact, the most likely outcome.”
As Zhou Xunzhen advanced into the Creation realm, two figures dressed in official robes immediately stepped forward to offer their congratulations.
Li Shun took note of them.
“Yin Fengshuo!”
A towering surge of resentment suddenly rose within Fang Xun’s heart.
Yet in an instant, Li Shun suppressed it.
“So that’s why so many major incidents have occurred in Lengshan County over the past year, yet the imperial court has acted as though it were disconnected, ignoring everything.”
“It turns out the prefect has been secretly fanning the flames.”
“Yin Fengshuo has long held a grudge against Fang Xun. At the start of the year, Fang Xun rendered meritorious service and was about to be promoted to Registrar of the Ministry of Revenue under the Left Chancellor. Like a hidden dragon escaping its confines, his future was boundless. Yin Fengshuo thus conceived the intent to frame him…”
“In truth, without Yin Fengshuo’s covert assistance, Zhou Xunzhen’s scheme might not have proceeded so smoothly.”
As Li Shun was still pondering, he suddenly noticed that a figure had, at some unknown moment, quietly appeared beside him.
Standing above him, the man looked down with keen interest.
It was none other than Zhou Xunzhen.