The Emperor Reigns Them All

Chapter 238 Whether to Go Ashore

As the sun rose from the East Sea, the evening sunlight paved the horizon and the blue seawater bathed in the red light. It was like a pilgrimage blanket on the sea surface, laying on the glittering rippers, going straight to the red sun.

There were no anglers on the corridor, they had all returned to the house. In the yard in front of the house, the browned cloaked Taoist lay on the bamboo recliner leisurely, and the angler was grilling the fish.

“Living in seclusion so long, your grilling skills have not improved at all. One side is almost burnt, and the other side is still raw.” Commented the browned cloaked Taoist, he curled his lips with dissatisfaction and added, “How could a person dumb as you reach such a high cultivation realm?”

The angler squinted at the browned cloaked Taoist and sneered. “You wanna do it?”

The browned cloaked Taoist snorted without moving. “I am a guest, and it is unreasonable to ask a guest to cook.”

The angler sneered and added, “So you have realized that you are a guest. If it were not for you, an alleged guest, would I grill a fish personally? I have been in Inedia for many years.”

The browned cloaked Taoist was shocked, he got up from the chair and stared at the angler with wide eyes. He added with disbelief, “Is that true? You have been in Inedia? That means you are...”

The angler faintly said, “You are right, I am dying.”

The browned cloaked Taoist was speechless, he quickly returned to the reclining chair and lay down. He added lazily, “It is getting late, I guess I won’t have any time left to eat after you are done grilling this fish. You should know the reason why I’m here, I have been with you all night, have you decided on your answer?”

The angler replied without lifting his head, “You didn’t even ask me, so how could I answer you?”

The browned cloaked Taoist sat up again and looked at the angler. “I’m asking you now, do you still remember a hundred years ago, the person in the blue robe, wielding a sword? The man who got out of Lingwu, entered Yangguan, got out of Hexi and entered Yangguan? The man who killed his way up the Gold Mountain and the Big Snow Temple and who escaped unscathed from the Great Six Paths of Reincarnation Formation?”

The angler faintly replied, “Sorry, I forgot about it.”

The browned cloaked Taoist twisted his mouth and added, “Shame on you!”

The angler smiled. “Nothing compared to you.”

The browned cloaked Taoist added in a low voice, “You used to be the big Chief of the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. Now Tang Empire is in such a situation, aren’t you willing to climb ashore and help?”

The angler faintly replied, “The vicissitude of the dynasty has its own destiny, what can I do?”

The browned cloaked Taoist sneered. “When that person went west with his sword, He did not care destiny as he killed his way into the Big Snow Temple.”

The angler lightly added, “That was back then. The Central Plains was in chaos, Buddhists wanted to take advantage of the vulnerability. So how could we Taoists let them?”

The browned cloaked Taoist questioned, “What about now? It is the same as before, the Central Plains is in chaos, and the Buddhists want to sneak in? Not want to, they are already coming.”

The angler looked at the sky, “I don’t even want to go to heaven, what else is there in the world that is worthy of my nostalgia?”

Having heard of this statement, the browned cloaked Taoist was relaxed, which meant that he no longer held any hope, then he glanced at the angler, “You really refuse to help?”

The angler smiled and added, “And you think I can face the Great Immortal-killing Formation?”

The browned cloaked Taoist was shocked, he only thought about asking him to help, but he had not seriously thought about whether the angler could defeat the Great Immortal-Killing Formation. If his two disciples saw him like this, the little fatty would probably say, “You see, I told you Master has no idea!”

The browned cloaked Taoist grit his teeth and added, “If you can’t, then who can?”

The angler replied, “No one.”

The browned cloaked Taoist asked again, “How about the Great Six Paths of Reincarnation Formation? You have already faced that once, it should not be difficult to take down the Great Immortal-Killing Formation?”

The angler said, “The Great Six Paths of Reincarnation Formation is not the same as before.”

The browned cloaked Taoist stood up with a cold look. “So you mean you will do nothing?”

The angler sighed and suddenly asked, “Have you read ‘The Great Prophecies’?”

The browned cloaked Taoist had no idea why the angler asked that question, “What if I’ve seen it?”

The angler added, “What will happen after a millennium in the Divine Land? I have already explained it in the ‘Great Prophecies’, do you think I will act against the heavens?”

The browned cloaked Taoist sneered and said, “After a millennium, there would be no Tang Empire in the world. You can see through the trends of the world, but can you see through people’s hearts? Can you see through the people’s beliefs? If the different Gods destroyed the Immortal Court, or if the foreigners took over the divine land, even if the divine land prospered again but lost what our ancestors had left us, would that still be our Tang Empire? If not so, then what has that got to do with our Tang Empire? And what has world harmony got to do with us?”

The angler heaved a sigh and said, “Do you also think that the last chapter of ‘The Great Prophecies’ is talking about world of harmony?”

The browned cloaked Taoist was taken aback. “It isn’t?”

The angler laughed bitterly. “Where there are people, there’s Jianghu. And where there’s Jianghu there’s conflict. So how could there be harmony? During the primitive ancient times, the immortals and mortals lived together. Back then people were still simple, and even then, harmony did not exist. Now, order and the belief system is collapsing and the world is sinking. So it’s impossible to have harmony among all the chaos. And things are going to get worse in the future. After a thousand years, forget about culture and order, our ancestors’ teachings would probably be buried underground, so how could there ever be harmony?”

The browned cloaked Taoist’s expression changed, he then asked, “So what is the last chapter talking about?”

The angler looked at the browned cloaked Taoist and said, “A world of harmony only exists as a legend... Do you understand?”

The browned cloaked Taoist was icy cold all over. “Legend... do you mean that...”

The angler stood up as the fish was done, then he passed the fish to The browned cloaked Taoist and sighed. “When everything becomes a legend, then it means nothing exists anymore.”

The browned cloaked Taoist retrieved a few steps and said, “That’s, that’s impossible!”

The angler laughed. “So, now do you still think that I will go ashore with you and help?”

The browned cloaked Taoist looked at the burnt fish in his hands and did not know what to do.

Suddenly, The browned cloaked Taoist lifted his head up, clenched his teeth and said with determination, “You will!”

This time the angler was taken aback. “Why?”

The browned cloaked Taoist suddenly laughed and said, “You saw through the inexplicable, the Great Tao and the future, but did you predict that Li Ye would suddenly appear out of nowhere?”

The angler had no words.

The browned cloaked Taoist mocked. “He’s the protege of Yuan Tiangang. Everyone in the world thinks that. And is that not fate?”

The angler was aghast.

After a long time, he heaved a sigh. “This man, his fate was long determined. But now, now he’s not even within the Six paths of Reincarnation or a part of the three realms. He’s not in the stars either. He, he doesn’t even exist. But that really has nothing to do with me!” ...

...

Zhang Jiuling stared intensely at Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang, without moving an inch.

Su Emei was no longer the Su Emei of old, now, she was standing there wielding a sword. Her hair and robes were fluttering the three-petaled flower sign between her eyebrows and her fire-red lips made her look fierce, but also illusory at the same time. She was otherworldly and elusive, much like an immortal.

Wei Xiaozhuang was not his usual self either. A large augmented shadow appeared out of his back, which outlined a stocky black-armored general. He was holding an axe and dark smoke was coming out of him. His eyes were murderous and wolf-like, he had the look of not letting anything get in his way, if an immortal came, he would kill the immortal and if Buddha himself got in the way, he’d kill Buddha.

Zhang Jiuling laughed savagely. “Great, just great! Guanghan Fairy, God of Giant Spirit, I’ve long heard from Zhang Yunhe that you two were reincarnated immortals. I didn’t believe him before, now it looks like he’s telling the truth!”

Su Emei advanced and said, “Since you know, you think you could stop us on your own?”

Zhang Jiuling laughed coldly. “As immortals, how could you not help the immortal court and be on Li Ye’s side? Your behavior is defying the heavens and the Great Tao, aren’t you afraid that the Tao of Heaven is going to punish you by and turn your souls into dust?”

Su Emei gave a light laugh and said, “When a mortal man talks about Tao, it’s like a summer bug talking about ice, or a well frog talking about the ocean. How dare a short-sighted man like yourself talk about the heavens and the Great Tao?”

Zhang Jiuling’s features were twisted, and hatred filled his words. “Even if you are reincarnated immortals, now you are nothing but a mortal with a human body. And even you have the power of an immortal inside you, how much of it has revived? You haven’t even reached the cultivation of the Spiritual Master Realm, how could you stand against me? If you are an immortal, then you’re a treasonous one. And if the Immortal Court doesn’t have the time to clean their mess, then I will do it for them. I’ll kill you and destroy your Tao!”

Zhang Jiuling charged towards Su Emei as soon as he finished those words.

As a cultivator of the Spiritual Master Realm, his speed was immaculate and reached Su Emei as soon as he moved. He smashed his palm and a thunderous sound erupted. Dust even flared up from the official road under Su Emei’s feet as though the road was about to sink into the earth’s core.

Su Emei’s eyes were sharp. She attacked with her sword and osmanthus blossoms drifted down like snow, which had covered everything within a 10-foot radius. And where ever the osmanthus blossom landed, Zhang Jiuling’s palm energy was weakened.

Suddenly it seemed the earth and the mountains were shaking. Wei Xiaozhuang was making his way over, the large God of Giant Spirit shadow suddenly sliced down towards Zhang Jiuling with his axe.

Zhang Jiuling’s expression changed because Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang’s immortal shadow had appeared and their powers grew exponentially. He couldn’t defeat Su Emei immediately, now that Wei Xiaozhuang came attacking powerfully with an axe, he had to retreat because he was having trouble blocking it.

And as soon as he retrieved, the pressure on Su Emei immediately lifted and the drifting osmanthus blossoms came charging at him. She moved like a dragon and sliced towards Zhang Jiuling with her sword.

Zhang Jiuling lost his opportunity to attack first, and under the siege of both Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang, he was struggling. They had forced him into a frenzy, and this was before the two of them had reached the Spiritual Master Realm cultivation.

Zhang Jiuling’s expression became more grave, and later it even turned dark.

The battle between the three of them had made the grass around them flare up and the stones shatter, there was not a good spot left around them.

With Zhang Jiuling’s Spiritual Master Realm cultivation, he could handle a one on one battle with either Su Emei or Wei Xiaozhuang. But their joint attack had made his position more and more dire and frightening. For two cultivators below the Spiritual Master Realm, their fighting ability was beyond strong, far exceeding what Zhang Jiuling expected. Gradually, he was weakened.

Poof! Su Emei’s long sword skimmed Zhang Jiuling’s shoulder and took away a hint of blood with it.

Zhang Jiuling quickly retreated and his face sunk. As he stared intensely at Su Emei and Wei Xiaozhuang he suddenly realized that not only could he not defeat them, but if the battle continued, he might be killed by them. When he had come to that realization, his anger had reached the boiling point.

A Spiritual Master Realm cultivator couldn’t even handle a couple of men of Qi-refining Level 9. No one would believe it if this news spread.