Chapter 2276: Willow Shoots Sprout New Green, Old Embankment Pillow, When Will It Return?

The complex pattern on the Aquarius vase was as if depicting the ultimate principle of the universe. Xuan Xiao’s posture was graceful, the very embodiment of beauty.

Several thin willow twigs were inserted into the bottle, looking very fresh and vibrant, with water vapor misty and the green color appearing ready to drip.

The battle that took place at the bottom of the Qiantang River, hidden from all external gazes, saw Yue Taizong Wenzhong fall into a clear disadvantage. By this time, he had already abdicated for a year. Although his political blueprint had succeeded, his great power was difficult to regain, and the influence of his official path had dissipated significantly. He was currently seeking to solidify his path…

Simply put, in this year, Yue Taizong’s individual combat power was not at its peak.

Indeed, he possessed the vision of a top-tier True Person, but his opponent, surprisingly, had the knowledge of the great shaman of Chu country!

The reason this battle was silent and without sound was that both sides intentionally controlled their movements.

Xuan Xiao was unwilling to publicly kill Yue country’s Taizong, who possessed immense prestige. Wenzhong was unwilling to let his countrymen see him, their seemingly wise and divine martial Taizong, easily killed by a person from Chu country, like killing a dog!

This story should have been lost, covered in the dust of years.

But at the moment Ren Qiuli appeared, Xuan Xiao shifted his gaze away.

Ren Qiuli was a time-space traveler drowned in the long river of years. Her mind and spirit sank along with her line of sight, sinking into Xuan Xiao's eyes, into the endless information galaxy.

Complex information surged in an instant, snapping her thought strings one by one, almost causing her brain sea to explode!

In Dao Calendar year three nine two seven, Chu country soldiers surrounded Du E Peak. The South Dipper Hall, inheriting ancient traditions, faced a crisis of extinction.

At that time, Ren Qiuli pushed her calculation power to its limit, borrowing the complexity of Soldier Ruins and the sharpness of Lu Shuanghe, successfully escaping Zhuge Yixian’s divination and hiding in the Fallen Immortal Forest.

This was almost the glorious achievement of a Heaven Machine True Person’s lifetime!

Because she faced the divination calculation of Zhuge Yixian, the Star Witch of Chu country, even extracting just a single thought from her mind would cause mountains to tilt and seas to roar, enough to overturn the human world.

And she escaped.

But did she truly escape?

At this moment, in the long river of Yue country’s history, on this day in Dao Calendar year two five three one, confronting this pair of vast, galaxy-like eyes felt like the first encounter—

From the perspective of the sequence of time, the story of Dao Calendar year two five three one, of course, occurred before Dao Calendar year three nine two seven.

A time paradox thus occurred. She first encountered the Star God “Jiang Lou” in terms of events, but first encountered the Star God “Xuan Xiao” in terms of time.

Exactly which side was the “cause” and which side was the “effect”?

Ren Qiuli’s head was splitting with pain!

This earth-shattering change came from just one gaze.

The moment she saw that pair of galaxy-like eyes, the hurricane suddenly stopped, and the thunder abruptly vanished.

Everything she had accumulated during her years of cultivating the dao, the military equipment she had adorned herself with, was stripped away in an instant. She felt herself placed in a wasteland, returning to that moment of being alone, hugging her knees, and waiting for death.

All her efforts were insignificant, under the suppression of absolute calculation power, like heavenly fate removing armor!

At this moment, the woman about to freeze to death in that wasteland opened her eyes and, in a daze, seemed to see a wisp of white hair.

Hearing the Dao in the morning…

Hearing the Dao in the morning!

Ren Qiuli suddenly awakened, like a drowning person, pulling themselves out of the water at the brink of death and gasping for air.

But the power she had obtained in this segment of Yue country’s history was already intangible!

Star God Xuan Xiao drew a willow twig from the Aquarius, gently flicked it, and water droplets splashed everywhere, refracting the light of the sky like rainbow light. He opened his mouth and said: “All external forces are non-self forces, causes and conditions come and go, a mere empty show!”

This was like a prophecy of fate. Although Ren Qiuli had not drowned in the information galaxy, relying on her own calculation power and belief to float up, she was still stripped of external forces.

She had no time to deliberate on this moment, no space to examine herself, because her vision, at this moment, was already split open by a sword edge. Jiang Wang, who had just cut through the time-space gap and stepped out, preparing to flee the long river of history, had already raised his sword to kill!

What a consistently defiant person, the world’s first to change faces True Person!

Ren Qiuli didn’t care about anything else, and her body directly leaned backward. This backward lean and jump embodied a sense of power between life and death, as if scales hitting a reef stone, a fish leaping the Dragon Gate—

A time-space gap was created, opening like a Dragon Gate. She leaped vertically, passing through the gap, escaping from Dao Calendar year two five three one and into the long river of history.

Jiang Wang was of course unwilling to let go, following closely like a shadow, and also leaped into it.

The flowing light was an instant of a thousand years. This pursuit and escape were like a dream.

The momentum of attack and defense shifted easily!

The moment he leaped into the long river of history, Jiang Wang couldn’t help but turn his head.

Just within this instant of flowing light, he saw Yue Taizong Wenzhong, whose Dao body was nearing collapse, rise up. In the time-space ripples, he used a hand knife to pierce through Star God Xuan Xiao’s back!

He heard Wenzhong’s angry shout: “Even if Zhuge Yixian personally arrives in this body, you should not divide your spirit in a life-and-death battle with me! How arrogant are you!”

The Aquarius flew high, and clear water sprinkled down onto Qiantang.

Star God Xuan Xiao’s Dao body thus collapsed.

Willow twigs sprouted new green branches, long dikes and old pillows recovered what year!

The time-space gap had already closed.

Being blocked was an already occurred and unchangeable fact.

Yue country of Dao Calendar year two five three one flowed away with the waves.

Jiang Wang’s heart was turbulent, yet for a long time, it could not calm down.

In history, Star God Xuan Xiao obstructing Wenzhong’s dao was because Zhuge Yixian had personally arrived in this body for him.

And why Wenzhong was able to destroy such a Star God Xuan Xiao was because Star God Xuan Xiao had divided his spirit to deliver a strike against Ren Qiuli from Dao Calendar year three nine two eight.

History here produced a spiral-like loop!

He had once, when he was in the inner mansion realm, been brought by Yu Beidou to leap out of the long river of fate.

But he had never truly understood fate.

He had finished reading the mountain-thick “History Knife Carve Sea,” and he had experienced many major events that would inevitably be engraved in history.

But he also didn’t feel that he had a profound understanding of history.

History is the gathering of fate, and history is also a branch of fate.

His body was among them.

Reading a history book a thousand times is not as good as experiencing it once.

The shock brought by this scene and this moment would forever remain in his heart.

But shock was shock; his actions were not delayed even half a point. He stepped on the waves of history, pursuing between the water and clouds.

As fast as he had escaped earlier, now he pursued with such urgency.

Ren Qiuli could still, through star divination, calculate his landing point in the long river of history and capture his trace. If he lost Ren Qiuli’s trace, he would only have a black expanse before his eyes, following fate to draw his sword within this millennium and striking at whatever came.

“Heaven Machine True Person!” In this pursuit and escape at extreme speed, Jiang Wang’s voice echoed in history: “If you don’t stop, I will turn back to Tai Xu Pavilion, and from now on not concern myself with world affairs, waiting until I am invincible in the Cave True realm, then I will go find Lu Shuanghe!”

The long river of history was silent.

Ren Qiuli, of course, knew Jiang Wang would not turn back. Today, between her and Jiang Wang, only one person could walk out of this segment of history.

She already had pessimistic expectations but still made a last effort.

In the Yue country Ancestral Temple.

Wen Jingxiu knelt and sat before that tall statue, already for a very long time.

A monarch is without words, but the years have sounds.

An emperor is very difficult to receive negative evaluations while alive; only at the moment of death does a conclusion come.

At a certain moment, the atmosphere of the spirit temple seemed to “sink” down, becoming very solemn. The green smoke of the spirit incense began to faintly rise, and that tall statue emitted glory, seeming very distant in an instant.

Wen Jingxiu finally waited for what he had been waiting for, raised his head, and called out in a pious voice: “Later generation unworthy descendant Wen Jingxiu, respectfully welcome Taizong. May I, with this Son of Heaven body, bear the ancestor’s intent and welcome Taizong’s return!”

He, of course, knew that Ren Qiuli had created the “Time-Space Mirror River Heaven Machine Array” and intended to utilize this array to mirror Yue country’s history and complete the strangulation of Jiang Wang.

Precisely because of the existence of this array, he believed that Ren Qiuli could truly kill Jiang Wang.

He, of course, was clear about whom Ren Qiuli was borrowing the Yue country Son of Heaven seal to suppress. Surveying the entire history of Yue country, there were not many people who could pose a threat to Jiang Wang.

Yue Taizong would definitely appear within the “Time-Space Mirror River Heaven Machine Array,” and he lending out the Yue country Son of Heaven seal was also to pay respects to Taizong!

Gao Xiang and Taizong could both stir up waves within the “Time-Space Mirror River Heaven Machine Array.”

He was also a contemporary True Person, he was still the contemporary Yue monarch, he held the highest authority over these mountains and rivers, he possessed Mirror Lake.

He also had his layout.

For example, at this moment, he intercepted Yue Taizong’s historical projection, wanting to bear his intent himself and welcome Taizong’s rebirth!

As the emperor of Yue country, he was Taizong’s direct blood descendant, he and Taizong sat in the same esteemed position, he and Taizong had the same realm of cultivation, and throughout his lifetime, every year during festivals and birthday rituals, his sacrifices to Taizong never slackened, with blood sacrifices connecting them… So, at the moment Taizong would appear, it was feasible for him to bear Taizong’s presence in his body.

The time-space array within this spirit temple had been prepared long ago, the same one connected to the protective country great array, with Mirror Lake as its foundation, relying on geographical advantage, to conduct a small borrowing from Ren Qiuli’s great array. He had also emptied the Yue country treasury, preparing the best array materials—from the day he connected with Ren Qiuli, he began preparing all this.

He knew he did not possess top-level wisdom and was unable to play chess with true wise men; he trusted people who truly had wisdom. Thus, for the first half of his life, he listened to Gao Zheng’s advice and entrusted him with the world. Thus, in this game in Fu Ji City, he also opened the chessboard and let Ren Qiuli act as he pleased.

But while he had unreserved trust in Gao Zheng, his relationship with Ren Qiuli was only one of mutual utilization. He handed the chessboard to Ren Qiuli to borrow her ability, to borrow the “Time-Space Mirror River Heaven Machine Array,” and to establish contact with the historical Yue Taizong.

His true purpose was to let Yue Taizong return and hold the chess pieces!

Gao Xiang said—“A wise monarch does not appoint all matters, a wise monarch appoints the one with the virtue for all matters.”

He kept this in mind.

He was not only willing to delegate power, to “appoint the one with the virtue for all matters.” He also gave up everything of himself, including this physical shell, to welcome the true wise monarch!

His determination could not be said to be small, and his sacrifice could not be said to be insignificant.

But the time-space long river had no response.

That majestic statue of Taizong, just stopped at the moment of its glow, and no further changes occurred.

Was Taizong unwilling? Or was it impossible to complete?

Was the ritual insufficient, was there a loss in the sacrifice, or did Ren Qiuli detect it and secretly prevent it?

Ultimately, reviving an ancestor from history was something beyond imagination; no matter how much preparation, it was not necessarily guaranteed to succeed.

Wen Jingxiu said in a mournful voice: “Born as a monarch, unable to manage the country, losing politics is a regret for tens of thousands, losing the country is a regret for a thousand ages. Worldly great matters, I am incapable of handling them!”

“This body does not count, this life does not matter, reflecting a thousand years from afar, only wishing for Great Yue to prosper forever! Only wishing for the Wen surname imperial family, that honorable blood does not decline.”

He suddenly prostrated himself, hitting his forehead on the ground, emitting a sound like an old monk striking a bell, his throat like an old crow swallowing blood: “Taizong, please return!”

The spirit temple was silent.

Effort does not guarantee recognition, waiting does not guarantee results.

Wen Jingxiu was not a naive person from the beginning. When he sat on the emperor’s throne of Yue country, the first thing Gao Zheng taught him was to “recognize reality.”

Recognize one’s own limitations, recognize the country’s limitations.

Recognize that one is fundamentally unable to do anything, recognize that all one’s efforts will be in vain, and then think of ways to do something.

Time passed resolutely.

It did not bring more glory.

The tragedy, generosity, and firmness in Wen Jingxiu’s eyes gradually blended into sorrow, despair, and pain.

His plan failed.

But why did he feel pain? Not because of the failure of his plan. But because he could not stand up spiritedly after failure; he had no method to solve the problem!

He was a monarch who sat high on the throne but did not know how to break the deadlock, a lost leader sheep, not knowing where he could lead this country.

But he had to bear it.

There was no one behind him anymore.

After a long silence, he decided to crush all emotions and continue walking towards the future he was forced into.

When the cold wind struck and rang the Ancestral Temple’s copper bell, when the incense heads in the furnace began to turn to ash. He lifted his shoulders, which were pressed low by heavy burden, pressed the Son of Heaven ritual sword at his waist, and was just about to stand up.

At this moment, he heard a voice, a voice that seemed to ring up from the depths of his bloodline, echoing in the depths of his soul—

“This palm of mine is what I created in the past. It takes the flood dragon qi of Qiantang, plunders the dragon intent of the East Sea, combining it with the great momentum of Yue country…”

The voice of Yue country’s Taizong Wenzhong!

Wen Jingxiu maintained the posture of pressing the sword and standing up, thus not moving. He held his breath and concentrated, listening attentively. He heard that this was Taizong, under Ren Qiuli’s driving, battling with Jiang Wang. He heard that this was Taizong’s goodwill towards Jiang Wang, Taizong’s striving for freedom from various restrictions!

But why would he hear this segment of words?

Could it be to express dissatisfaction towards him, this later generation descendant?

No. Regarding the stupidity of later generation descendants, Taizong certainly had dissatisfaction. But at a time when the wood was already a boat, expressing dissatisfaction was meaningless. A figure like Taizong would not do meaningless things.

Even he, Wen Jingxiu, would not purely vent emotions.

That legend named Wenzhong must have some message to convey.

And only he at this moment was able to receive it.

Looking up at the statue whose face was no longer clearly visible, Wen Jingxiu suddenly understood something. On the spot, he flipped his palm and formed the Jiangshan Dragon Seal. His five fingers spread wide, towards the face of Taizong’s statue, as if to hold it up.

Covering the face with the palm is disrespectful to a superior wise person.

But this palm held to halfway, then flipped again to cover the mountains and rivers, changing the seal to a finger, like thunder suddenly bursting from heavy clouds, pointing out a shock that spanned ten thousand li.

This finger landed precisely on the center of Taizong’s statue’s brow!

Bloodline corresponds, honorable position corresponds, environment corresponds, seal method corresponds, finger method corresponds… As if a time-space crossing bill, matching all the secret marks.

History resonated in the blood!

The previous generation blazed the trail, the Wen clan rose from the grassroots, droplet by droplet converging into Qiantang.

Wen Jingxiu felt a tremor almost like prostration arise from the depths of his soul.

The world was silent, only Taizong Wenzhong’s last voice in his ears, with the praise of blood—“Good sword technique!”

He knew that Taizong’s historical projection had also died.

Before Taizong’s statue, that shadowy glory suddenly converged into one place, turning into a scroll of yellow silk, which fell down.

Wen Jingxiu seemed to see Taizong’s figure fall back into the long river of history, and that scroll of yellow silk fell into his hand.

Perhaps it had been stored in the shadows of history for too long, it was very cold.

For a time, sorrow arose from within him, yet it could not become sound.

He had ten thousand emotions, but could not express them to anyone!

He strongly endured the sorrow, steadied his hands, and slowly opened that scroll of yellow silk…

Then suddenly recoiled!

He saw this country’s last choice.

This was the endgame left behind by that monarch who died in Dao Calendar year two five three one.

The two absolute top figures standing at the beginning and end of Yue country’s history, one died at the bottom of the Qiantang River, the other died on the bank of the Qiantang River. Their dying process was abrupt, but the outcome of their deaths was not sudden.

They both fought for this country until the last moment, not resting even in death. They also both left behind a little something.

River waves patted the dike, river wind brushed the willows.

The rolling Qiantang, burying how many heroes!

Thanks to book friend “Li Gao Shen Me Hui Ji” for becoming the alliance master of this book! This is the 749th alliance for Red Heart Patrol Heaven!