Chapter 63 – Confession

“Words of gratitude — I’m sure you’ve grown tired of hearing them, young friend, so I won’t say more. But whenever you need anything from this old man, simply speak up and I will do my utmost.” Sun Xingyi said solemnly.

Sun Miao knew that her grandfather had nearly died for that Arrow Token, and she couldn’t bear to see him, in his old age, still burdened by a debt of gratitude. She clasped her fists. “The Arrow Token served my purposes. When I achieve something in the future, I will repay you handsomely.”

“You little rascal.” Sun Xingyi knew exactly what she meant and laughed despite himself. “Wait until you’ve actually achieved something before you say that. Ha ha — I’ve let young friend see my foolishness.”

Zhan Changfeng said, “Senior is truly blessed.”

The old man and the young woman shared a laugh, while Sun Miao herself turned red with embarrassment and sat up straight without another word.

Sun Xingyi felt both gratified and bittersweet — it was a pity he could only see his granddaughter as far as the Heavenward Path. He said to Zhan Changfeng, “I had always thought my granddaughter was quite Talented in martial arts, but meeting young friend has shown me there is always a sky beyond the sky. Now I find myself uneasy about letting her go to Cangyun Ravine alone.”

Zhan Changfeng assessed Sun Miao’s cultivation in a single glance and said, “Senior worries too much.”

“Oh?” Sun Xingyi hesitantly asked, “With only early Postnatal realm strength, can she protect herself over there?”

“No — my own aptitude is one in ten thousand, so comparing against me is unfair. But your granddaughter’s Talent is truly exceptional.”

“.” Sun Xingyi didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Was it really alright to praise oneself so openly and unabashedly? He didn’t even know how to respond. He glanced at the large man beside her, who was nodding seriously in agreement.

“Heh heh, many thanks for young friend’s affirmation. I feel much better now.”

“One must have a thorough understanding of oneself — only then will one neither belittle nor overestimate oneself, and neither feel insignificant nor arrogant when circumstances change,” Zhan Changfeng said seriously. “A person of strong character will not deliberately demean themselves in front of others out of false modesty, nor will they refuse to show weakness out of pride. What does Senior think?”

Sun Xingyi pondered this for a moment and realized that what he had taken for boasting was, in her eyes, simply stating a fact. It was just that the etiquette of “propriety” taught them to be humble, and he was having trouble adjusting to her manner of speech.

Deep down, he too had a streak of boldness. Once he had thought it through, he said loudly, “That was my mistake.”

Sun Xingyi turned to Sun Miao and said, “Before, because you were a girl, I taught you when to advance and when to retreat, to keep a low profile and conserve your strength, fearing that if you were ever in danger, no one would help you. But now that I think about it, a cultivator is one who wrestles their fate from heaven, and the martial path demands a spirit of blood and courage. So today, through young friend’s words, I say to you: when you must advance, advance — leave nothing held back!”

Sun Miao’s pupils widened slightly, and she answered, “Yes!”

Sun Xingyi nodded with satisfaction, then picked up a cup of wine. “Cangyun Ravine truly produces outstanding talents. Young friend’s words have opened my eyes. This old man offers you a toast.”

“Senior’s magnanimity is worthy of a great hero’s name. I will use tea in place of wine,” Zhan Changfeng took a sip and said, “There is one matter I have not clarified, which has caused Senior a misunderstanding.”

“What matter?” Sun Xingyi was puzzled — he thought it over but could not figure out what was unusual.

“Senior Sun, your family does indeed have a debt of kindness toward mine. However, I am not from Cangyun Ravine. At the time, I was concerned about that cultivator’s standing in Cangyun Ravine and feared he would pester me endlessly, so I fabricated an identity on the spot. For that, I sincerely apologize.”

Sun Xingyi was genuinely stunned at first, but his disbelief was not that she wasn’t from Cangyun Ravine — rather, it was that a young cultivator who could come and go so freely in Ghost City had not been cultivated by Cangyun Ravine at all. “No, no, you only said that because of this old man — what is there to apologize for? If anything, it is I who caused you trouble.”

Sun Xingyi fell into thought for a moment, then said regretfully, “That cultivator’s name is He Yuntian. He has a grievance with my family and is the type to seek revenge for the slightest offense. In Cangyun Ravine, he is also a disciple of the Cultivation Abbey. Young friend should be careful.”

“The fact that I can speak openly today means I no longer need to worry about him. Senior need not be concerned.”

Her calm certainty startled Sun Xingyi. “Now I find myself curious — which family in Shenzhou could have cultivated someone like young friend?”

Zhan Changfeng merely curved her lips slightly and gave no answer. The moment was ripe enough, and she had no desire to keep the subject going. “Which family I’m from is not important. However, I do need your help with one matter.”

Sun Xingyi did not hesitate. “Go ahead and speak.”

“I have an enemy I cannot personally cut down. Fortunately, I gained quite a harvest in Ghost City this time and exchanged goods at a pawnshop for several Arrow Tokens. I intend to use them as a bounty to recruit several Prenatal realm masters.” Zhan Changfeng looked at Sun Xingyi. “Senior must know many distinguished martial heroes — would you be willing to introduce a few?”

Sun Xingyi did not respond immediately. “Let me think this over. May I give you my answer tonight?”

“There is no hurry.”

The dishes had just arrived, and Sun Xingyi introduced them saying, “I have heard that the Heavenly Immortal Tower came here from Cangyun Ravine — the food and rice are all infused with vital energy. Young friend, please try some.”

On the way back, the Coachman said, “We have a list of people from the martial world — all the Prenatal realm masters are on it. Why not seek them out yourself?”

“If you went up and told them an Arrow Token could take them to another world, would they believe you?” Zhan Changfeng had her eye on Sun Xingyi’s prestige.

She had investigated thoroughly: there were almost no Dao-path qi cultivators native to Shenzhou. The few who existed had come from Cangyun Ravine, and they hid themselves extremely well — blending into secular society without interfering with it.

The martial disciples who had grown up locally generally only mingled in the so-called jianghu. Only upon reaching the Prenatal realm would they, through various strokes of fortune, find their way to Xiaohan Town and discover the other side of things.

Having Sun Xingyi — a veteran Prenatal realm master — recruit from the martial world would yield the best results by far.

Zhan Changfeng thought of something. “In Ghost City, many Prenatal realm masters from the secular world were lost. Even the leader of the martial alliance, Gao Song, has converted. The martial world is likely heading for an upheaval. Go have Zero-Two split off a portion of our people to establish a sect and quickly seize control over the martial world’s discourse.”

“Yes.”

She had several considerations behind this. First, to fully leverage the mind-based martial path, establish a culture of universal martial cultivation, and teach both men and women to be self-reliant and self-sufficient. Second, to indirectly strengthen Yi Shang’s power. Third, to seize the opportunity to transform Shenzhou’s martial path — and if possible, to best align Shenzhou’s martial path with that of Cangyun Ravine.

Xiaohan Town was like a detached bystander. It would not go out of its way to provoke anyone, but it would not refuse you entry either — so long as your strength was sufficient.

Non-interference seemed to be a unilateral decision made by the secular cultivators toward the mundane world. And they seemed to have a particular aversion to the imperial court — otherwise she, as the supreme overseer of Yin Dynasty intelligence, would not have been unaware of this place.

This gave her no trust whatsoever in Xiaohan Town. She found the town far too petty in its thinking: either cut off all contact with the secular world entirely, or throw the doors wide open. What was the point of this half-hearted come-hither approach?

Shenzhou’s martial world was like a frog kept in the dark — only a rare few in the Prenatal realm managed to crawl out, and even then, they had to go to extraordinary lengths to obtain an Arrow Token to reach that place of higher “Dao.”

But in Zhan Changfeng’s eyes, this was nothing short of a farce.

Shenzhou was not lacking in those with outstanding martial aptitude — hadn’t she herself cultivated tens of thousands of Postnatal realm Imperial Guards for the royal family?

If they were given the chance to learn of “Cangyun Ravine” — to know that the Prenatal realm was not the end — the entire martial world of Shenzhou would undergo a transformation of its own accord.

Yet those exceedingly rare and fortunate Prenatal realm masters — whether they had successfully gone to Cangyun Ravine or were still striving to get there — had all, with one accord, kept this information tightly sealed, leaving Shenzhou’s martial world in perpetual ignorance.

The cultivators who came from Cangyun Ravine had no sense of belonging to Shenzhou, and they were bound by the Bureau of Patrol from the start, so their indifference to Shenzhou’s affairs was still understandable. But those respected native Prenatal realm masters, revered by all under heaven — for them to have made the same choice was beyond words.

Afraid there weren’t enough tokens to go around?

Afraid their opportunities would be stolen?

Afraid of causing chaos?

Did they truly think the imperial court was just a decoration?

As the ruling class of a great land, she and her team had countless plans that could, while maintaining stability, establish a positive relationship with Cangyun Ravine and simultaneously lead the entire realm into a new stage of development.

But now — though not too late — it had become somewhat difficult.

The first mistake: insufficient foresight, which allowed the people of Cangyun Ravine — especially the Gongsun clan — to infiltrate the Yin Dynasty, catching them completely off guard.

The second mistake: the ideology of keeping the people ignorant, passed down through generations of Sons of Heaven. One could not deny that the general populace of Shenzhou had a very low level of enlightenment — extremely poor, even — leaving only the ruling class to stand clear-eyed while the rest of the world wallowed in murk.

Furthermore, the situation changed by the moment, manpower was stretched thin, and there was no one to spare for Xiaohan Town. Otherwise, she would not be resorting to recruiting from the martial world.

Zhan Changfeng said with a deep heaviness, “What do you think — is it feasible to have the Imperial Aunt establish a new imperial capital in Huangzhou?”

This was something the Coachman absolutely dared not answer. As long as you are happy, my lord.

Mini Theater:

The Coachman squatted by the roadside eating his boxed meal, then suddenly turned to look at the author beside him: “Director, why haven’t I been given a name after being on screen for so long?”

The author paused in the middle of gnawing on a chicken leg, quietly scooted two steps to the side, and smiled: “I didn’t know you’d survive this long.”

Suddenly I really want to dump a boxed meal on her head.

(End of Chapter)