On the one hand, he wanted to chase him away into that barren land and let him be entrenched in a hopeless and near-doomed situation where he would be isolated and cut off from help. Yet on the other hand, he gave him countless resources.
In fact, even the fruit of Li Chunbo’s painstaking labor of an entire lifetime!
This was the same as treating him kindly and generously as though passing down his mantle to him!
What… was exactly going on?
There was a wave of bleak desolation in Li Chunbo’s eyes. “Li Xiongtu, go. This is not your home!”
Li Xiongtu got to his feet slowly. The tall and imposing man gradually straightened his back and said seriously, “I implore the Elder Master to take back the ring! Xiongtu… is too ashamed to receive something that he doesn’t deserve!”
Li Chunbo stood with his back to him. As if he had already predicted long ago that Li Xiongtu would say that, he didn’t reply but only closed his eyes wearily.
Li Xiongtu went on. “Elder Master, I, Li Xiongtu, am only a junior. Firstly, I am not worthy of you looking differently upon me like that. Secondly… I, Li Xiongtu, am also not someone who is cowardly and afraid of death!”
He straightened his back, his eyes flashing like lightning. “Back then, my entire clan suffered and died in the battle at the Lake of Despair in the Middle Three Heavens! All my kin and family died! But… I have never thought of seeking revenge!”
“This is exactly what the martial world is like! Both parties had fought under the fairest of conditions. We lost in the battle, so this is what we deserved. Everyone dying on the battlefield instead of dying due to evil schemes and conspiracies is also a fate destined to my clan! I do not blame anyone or begrudge the heavens!”
“Neither do I hate my opponents. Perhaps if we end up meeting again, I would not show any mercy at all if I can take their lives, but killing them like that is not because I want to seek revenge!”
“I believe you, Elder Master, can understand this.” Li Xiongtu said in an upright and unafraid manner, “The scores of the martial world should be settled in the martial world!”
Li Chunbo nodded slowly and replied impassively, “I completely understand!”
Li Xiongtu then said, “After that day, I, Li Xiongtu, was left with nothing in this world. I was brought up here to the Upper Three Heavens where I instead received great care from the clan, down to every possible detail! I even enjoyed the clan’s best resources for my cultivation. This kindness is as high as heaven and as deep as earth! I, Li Xiongtu, will never ever forget this great kindness for all my lifetimes to come!”
Li Chunbo’s expression contorted for a moment. Then, he heaved a long and heavy sigh.
‘Kindness as high as heaven and as deep as earth’? ‘Never ever forget this great kindness’?
When Li Chunbo heard his words, he suddenly felt boundless grief and sorrow, as well as endless irony!
Not toward Li Xiongtu’s foolishness but toward his own clan’s ‘shrewdness’!
“Right now, the Li Clan is in a critical juncture of life and death where the eight other Super Clans are coming down hard upon us! Doom and destruction are right upon us. Since I, Li Xiongtu, have received kindness as high as heaven and as deep as earth from the clan, how can I abandon the clan and leave at such a time?”
Fervent and passionate, Li Xiongtu declared, “I will not leave! I will stay here and fight alongside the clan!”
Holding his hands behind his back, Li Chunbo only felt sorrow and an icy coldness in his heart.
Shaking his head, he replied, “Since you’ve already made your decision, I will not insist. However, this old man never takes back what he has given away!”
Li Xiongtu was silent for a moment before he asked, “Elder Master, do you also think that the Li Clan’s great disaster is beyond salvation?”
Li Chunbo finally turned around slowly, incomparable complexity, desolation and sorrow in his eyes as he gazed at Li Xiongtu. Then, he replied grimly, “Yes! The Li Clan has already reached its end!”
A jolt went through Li Xiongtu from head to toe. “In that case, wouldn’t there be a higher chance of survival if the Elder Master leads the clan to break through the encirclement and rebuild the clan? The Elder Master is highly skilled; there are few in this world who can fight on par with you. If you really wish to leave, even if there are countless experts in the joint army, who would be able to stop the Elder Master?”
Li Chunbo fixed his gaze on Li Xiongtu for a brief moment, the look of approval in his eyes becoming stronger and stronger. Then, he finally shook his head and chuckled in resignation. With a flourish of his arm, a stool appeared behind him and he actually slowly settled into the seat. “Since that is so, I shall speak a little with you.”
With Li Chunbo’s cultivation, he didn’t need to sit at all. Even if he were to stand for a year, there wouldn’t be any issues.
Yet he showed him such amiability instead. This showed that he had completely acknowledged Li Xiongtu’s capabilities and character.
However, Li Xiongtu was not a meticulous person who paid attention to small details. He didn’t realize at all the meaning behind Li Chunbo’s action.
Behind him, Meng Huanhuan rolled her eyes in resignation, seriously unable to do anything about her loved one’s denseness.
“Since the point where this old man single-handedly founded the clan, ten thousand years have passed!” Smiling, Li Chunbo went on. “When one has reached an age and cultivation level such as mine, do you think I would still struggle and fight to survive in the martial world, seeking to survive in any way possible with all my effort like a loser?”
“This old man can no longer afford to embarrass himself like that!” Li Chunbo smiled slightly. “This is the first reason!”
Frowning, Li Xiongtu thought about it for a while before he finally understood. “Xiongtu understands how the Elder Master feels.”
Li Chunbo nodded and smiled. “There’s another reason… The emergence of the Li Clan is no doubt this old man’s credit, but similarly, this old man cannot be absolved of blame for the Li Clan’s fall from grace to its current state!”
“Also…” Li Chunbo closed his eyes, breathing lightly. “…The birth of the Nine Tribulations indicates the destruction of the Nine Super Clans; the sins of the Nine Super Clans shall be dispelled by the Nine Tribulations.”
“This is a cycle! And also the price which the Nine Super Clans must pay. The Nine Tribulations establishes a world of peace while the descendants of the Nine Tribulations create chaos in this world of peace. In that case, the new Nine Tribulations destroying the old is a cycle of natural law and appropriate retribution!”
“Even if I can escape this current plight, I cannot escape this cycle! Since that is so, why should I flee?”
“All these years, the Li Clan’s various sins and crimes can be said to have been all because of me. If I do not accept the calamity, who will? If I don’t, these millions of souls in the netherworld who died unjustly because of the Li Clan… How are they to rest in peace?”
“I… can only wither and decay alongside the clan! Because I am Li Chunbo, the founder of the Li Clan!”
Li Chunbo smiled lightly. “And it is only with my death that all of these can be erased…” Shaking his head, he said, “You don’t understand all these. Or at least… you are not able to comprehend yet at this point!”
Li Xiongtu had only a hazy notion. Feeling as if he was shrouded in fog, he merely nodded in a muddle-headed manner.
He indeed didn’t understand, only finding it all incredibly deep and profound.
“You… are not a member of the Li Clan!” Li Chunbo patted Li Xiongtu’s shoulder. “Do your best. In the future… Should your heart be… hurt that tad bit… I hope you can… remember me today…”
Li Xiongtu nodded hazily. He wanted to say something but was stopped by Li Chunbo. Then, Li Chunbo seemed to give him a meaningful smile. With a flash, he disappeared from before Li Xiongtu.
Leaving behind only a long sigh in the night.
…
As if a cloud of smoke, Li Chunbo left Li Xiongtu’s residence in a flash. He rose high up into the sky several thousand feet, standing in mid-air with his hands held behind his back as he gazed down upon this land beneath his feet that he had poured a lifetime of time and effort into. He sighed heavily, a choking and muffled pain in his chest, almost feeling the urge to weep.
Everything was finally ending!
His last efforts had obviously also failed.
Li Xiongtu wasn’t leaving!
Since he wasn’t leaving, all of Li Chunbo’s thoughts would turn into naught.
Li Chunbo couldn’t be sure whether Li Xiongtu was a Nine Tribulations or not, but he could see a kind of quality in Li Xiongtu that was totally different from people of the Li Clan.
Be it his speech, bearing or the way he handled day to day affairs, that quality gave people a kind of feeling as though he and people of the Li Clan were from two completely different worlds.
Especially the way Li Xiongtu refused to leave today; it moved and stunned people all the more!
But Li Chunbo knew that this sort of sentimentality and loyalty from Li Xiongtu had absolutely no effect on Li Wubo, Li Jue, Li Batian and the rest. They would only think of Li Xiongtu as a fool!
Other feelings such as being moved, grateful, admiration, approval or mutual appreciation… There was none of those at all!
Li Chunbo was well aware of all of Li Wubo’s plans. He also knew that even when Li Xiongtu escaped together with Li Jue and Li Batian during the last moments of the Li Clan, Li Xiongtu would definitely be the one who was the most critically injured…
And that Li Jue and Li Batian would definitely harm Li Xiongtu at a certain point!
And end up revealing the truth!
At that point, Li Xiongtu would definitely be utterly and bitterly disappointed!
When that happened, the Li Clan would truly be finished.
Should he leave on his own accord now, perhaps on account of their relationship… the Li Clan might have a chance of things turning for the better in the future. However, him refusing to leave would instead truly doom the Li Clan and push the Li Clan into a bottomless abyss!
At that point, the bloodline of the Li Clan would truly die out in the Nine Heavens Continent and its existence completely eradicated!
Even if Li Xiongtu were to ultimately survive… he would never ever admit that his ‘Li’ had anything to do with the Li Clan.
The bloodline of the Li Clan would die out from this point!
But there was nothing that Li Chunbo could do now!
Even though he was well aware of the direction that everything was going in, there was nothing he could do other than to watch helplessly as things moved step by step down the path that fate had decided… until the point of no return!
Li Chunbo had no uncertainties over whether Li Xiongtu would be killed by Li Jue or Li Batian! Because this was absolutely impossible.
‘The Nine Tribulations do not die!’
Should Li Xiongtu really be one of the Nine Tribulations, he definitely wouldn’t die. Li Wubo’s plans were nothing but a huge joke. He was but a fool seeking death on his own and bringing destruction upon himself!
Should Li Xiongtu turn out not to be a Nine Tribulations, he would also be a fine and brilliant heroic figure in the world!
During this period of time, Li Xiongtu’s contributions and hard work, as well as all his bizarre encounters from the Middle Three Heavens all the way to the Upper Three Heavens, proved something — It was impossible for Li Xiongtu to die so easily. Since the heavens had given Li Xiongtu so many chance encounters, how could they possibly let him die so easily?
With Li Chunbo’s experience of over ten thousand years, no one who was given special treatment by the heavens like this died so easily!
This was an established law!
Therefore, the ones to suffer a tragedy could only be the Li Clan! And not Li Xiongtu!
…
Li Xiongtu stared at the simple and unadorned ring in his palm. He couldn’t help scratching his head as he asked, “Huanhuan, what do you think of this? Why is it so strange?”
Smiling, Meng Huanhuan replied gently, “Since the Elder Master has given it to you, it’ll be fine for you to just keep it. It won’t be anything bad in any case. However, since the Elder Master came here alone to give it to you, this shows that he doesn’t wish for others to know of this. Therefore, it’s better that you do not show it to others. It’s fine as long as you yourself are aware!”
Li Xiongtu realized what she meant at once. “Yes, yes, fortunately, you reminded me.”
The two of them exchanged a smile.
…
It was already late in the night. However, on the main road, a few shadows were flying ahead at lightning speed toward the northwest!
Chu Yang, Mo Tianji, Gu Duxing, Ji Mo, Luo Kedi, Ao Xieyun and Xie Danqiong!
The entire way, using Chu Yang’s vast resources, the brothers started a cultivation process where they pushed themselves to their limit as they hurried on their journey. Their cultivation improved rapidly.
This familiar method and extreme agony reminded the brothers of the time when they went to the Far North Wastelands in the Middle Three Heavens back then. Warmth filled everyone’s hearts.
“Our journey to the northwest this time may be our first time clashing head-on with the Nine Super Clans…” Facing the northern wind that got increasingly colder the nearer they got to the north, Mo Tianji’s eyes were full of calm deepness and serenity. “It’ll also be my first time engaging Diwu Qingrou.”
Chu Yang smiled lightly. “How do you feel?”
Mo Tianji smiled calmly and peacefully as he replied, “The upheaval of the world shall truly commence in the northwest.”
“Exactly!” Chu Yang chuckled as he looked into the dark and quiet night ahead. Then, he said calmly, “The storm begins and the heavens are about to collapse!”
