G. Tolley
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Chapter 450 – Life 117, Age 21, Martial Master Peak
🕑 Added 2025-12-13 22:37:24 +0000 UTCTrapped under Emperor Li’s icy gaze, I had to force my body to obey. My instincts screamed at me to flee, but there was nowhere to run. Swallowing hard, I reached into my inner world and retrieved the first memory orb that he had ever given me, letting it rest atop my open palm.
Emperor Li didn’t wait for me to offer it to him. A small, tightly controlled portal snapped into existence. One moment, the orb was in my hand. The next, it was in Li’s.
Without the slightest delay, Emperor Li injected a single thread of qi and absorbed the memories contained within. The entire time, his eyes remained locked on mine, measuring my every breath.
When the transfer was complete, the faint lines around his mouth tightened, his expression hardening as if he had confirmed something unpleasant.
“And the others?” His voice was soft, but it carried a hint of danger that made me shiver.
I hesitated, letting my gaze drift across the city’s suddenly empty thoroughfare. Doors were shut, windows were barred, and the guards on the walls had gone unnaturally still. I couldn’t see anyone near enough to overhear our conversation, but I knew better than to assume that we were alone.
Still, Emperor Li had earned my trust. If this was what he felt was best, then I would follow his lead.
Focusing on my inner world, I found the tray that contained the rest of Li’s memory orbs. However, just as I was about to pull it out, Emperor Li let out a loud harumph, interrupting me.
“I will not let it be said that the Li Clan bullies juniors.”
For the briefest of moments, Emperor Li’s gaze shifted upwards, as if he’d noticed something in the distance. Then, he threw the first orb back at me.
“My disciple will reclaim my property,” he said, voice flat. “Make sure that nothing happens to it in the meantime.”
A black portal unfurled behind him, and Emperor Li turned to step through. Before disappearing, he paused just long enough to leave me with one last, razor-edged warning.
“Though weaker than you at the moment, my disciple is growing quickly. If you can’t keep up, no one will be able to claim they relied on their cultivation base to suppress you. It will simply be treated as the removal of an incompetent.” Emperor Li glanced back at me, his gaze sharp and unforgiving. “Be careful, or not even your blessing will be enough to save you.”
Then, he vanished, and the street’s silence rushed back in, filling the space that he had left behind.
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As was so often the case, Emperor Li’s visit had been brief. He said only what his blessing had required of him, nothing more. Yet, in a handful of sentences, he had completely upended my plans.
His behavior was almost certainly a ruse intended to deceive our hidden observers—after he had absorbed that memory orb, at least—but I had to assume that everything he said was true. Emperor Li had a disciple. That disciple was coming for me. And, if I wasn’t careful, they would end me—permanently.
When Li’s blessing had set these events into motion, he likely didn’t think twice about it. If anything, he was probably just grateful that he could finally leave the Nine Rivers Continent. With the time loop in place, he wouldn’t have known anything about me, and even now, he still barely knew anything about all that we had been through. He knew nothing about my inner world or the Li Clan that resided within it. So, why would he hesitate? From his perspective, I was little more than an expendable junior.
Would he send someone after me? Without a doubt. The only question was: Who? Or, to put it another way, who had the Earthly Dao appointed to test me?
The image of a young man in ragged clothing flashed through my mind—Jon. If Emperor Li had taken in Jon and was backing him with the full weight of the Li Clan…
I had already defeated Jon twice, but only in alchemy. If he came at me with a weapon in hand, would the outcome still be the same? I had learned to fight, yes, but martial combat had never been my focus. With the support of his blessing, Jon could easily become my equal.
To have any hope of winning, I needed to begin preparing immediately. Therefore, the moment Emperor Li disappeared, I immediately made my way to the Sect Affairs Bureau.
Upon entering, I noticed one of the Bureau’s senior officials observing me from the rear balcony, making it clear that my encounter with Emperor Li hadn’t gone unnoticed. I offered no acknowledgment of this, though, and headed straight upstairs to visit the Bureau’s shops.
There, I first sold off everything that I had brought with me. Then, using the contribution points our sect had amassed over the past few years, I purchased a few miscellaneous herbs and all the materials I needed to forge thirty Rank 2 guandaos.
After securing my purchases in a hired carriage, I went back into the Bureau and made my way to the counter reserved for Eight-Star Sects. Without a word, I produced one of the gray stone tokens that would grant our sect entry into the Shattered Blades Realm.
The reaction was immediate. Clerks froze mid-step, and a ripple of whispers spread through the hall like wildfire, but I didn’t wait to see how far it would spread.
We were now on a timer. In six months, the Shattered Blades Realm would open, and we needed to be prepared.
---------------------------------------------------
Upon returning to our sect’s stronghold, I didn’t allow myself any time to breathe.
I went straight to our gardens, collected a large assortment of herbs, and stuffed them in a bag alongside those that I had purchased in Whistling Arrow City. Then, I sealed myself away in my workshop and began refining Cicada Pills, carefully limiting their potency so they wouldn’t consume too much of our Disciples’ weak souls.
The moment the last pill was out of the furnace, I didn’t even wait for it to cool. I immediately tossed it into a jade bottle and left for our stronghold’s forges.
Using a somewhat rushed refining method, I crafted new guandaos for each member of our sect—including myself—shaping each weapon to match its owner’s habits and instincts. Some of our people relied mostly on broad, cleaving motions, while others focused more on speed and tight control. Curvature, balance, length, and weight were all adjusted to precisely match each person’s preferences.
Only then, with pills prepared and weapons ready, did I call for a meeting of our entire sect.
The Disciples gathered in the largest remaining training yard, while the Elders joined me on a platform in front of them. I stood with my hands clasped behind my back, presenting the calm a leader was expected to wear.
“All of you have reached Peak Disciple,” I said, my voice steady, “and most of you have begun preparing to break through to Martial Master. Unfortunately, these plans are going to have to change.”
At my signal, YuLong and Meng LuYao began distributing the Cicada Pills and the newly forged guandaos. The crowd stirred in confusion, with voices rising at once, but I silenced them with a lifted hand.
“After our ascension to an Eight-Star Sect, the Bureau awarded us entry into one of this domain’s Secret Realms. The elders and I decided to delay this until our sect was in a more stable position, but caution is no longer an option. I have already activated our tokens. The Shattered Blades Realm will open in six months.”
This got everyone’s attention, and even the most restless of our Disciples stilled.
“With five tokens, we’re allowed to bring five Masters and twenty-five Disciples. This means no one advances to Martial Master before we enter.”
The crowd stirred, but I continued before anyone could object.
“Instead, you will all take a Cicada Pill, resetting your cultivation base and binding this new weapon to you with a sliver of your soul. Then, you will rebuild your foundations properly, using a Peak-Profound cultivation technique as your guide. With all the knowledge you’ve accumulated, I expect every one of you to return to Peak Disciple before the Secret Realm opens.”
The looks I received were a chaotic mix of anger, fear, and confusion. It almost made me laugh. However, concern over the trials in front of us kept me from doing so.
After I ended the meeting, it took time for the Disciples to disperse. They lingered in uneasy clusters, whispering to one another as they weighed Cicada Pills and tested the balance of unfamiliar weapons. Only once the courtyard had cleared did I turn to YuLong, Meng LuYao, Kan, and JiuLi.
Meng LuYao glanced toward the dispersing Disciples, then back to me. “What’s going on, Fang?”
I hesitated, worried about the undetected observers who were no doubt listening in on our conversation. What could I say to reassure my friends while not giving these hidden listeners any reason to question Emperor Li’s narrative?
“I just received a visitor from the Li Clan,” I said, keeping my tone deliberately neutral. “He’s aware of how we obtained the memory orbs, and he’s sending his disciple to claim them.”
This only made everyone look at me in confusion, so I held up a hand to stop them before they could ask me any questions. “We need to prepare for what’s coming, but I’m worried about who might be listening in. I’ll send you somewhere you can talk privately.”
Then, before anyone could object, I pulled them into my inner world, placing them inside our cabin on the Plane of Woody Earth. When they arrived, my soul avatar was there waiting for them, arms folded, face set.
“Can you explain things now?” asked Meng LuYao.
“I’m not entirely sure myself,” I said, exhaling. “Emperor Li has, apparently, decided to return to the Central Continent. He’s accepted a disciple, and he’s sending this disciple after us. This is all being dictated by Li’s blessing, and from what he said, I believe we might be in serious danger.”
YuLong and Meng LuYao tensed in concern, but Kan and JiuLi only looked around at us, confusion plain on their faces.
“Who’s Emperor Li?” asked Kan.
“You might know him as the Ancient Ancestor of the Li Clan,” I said. “The man whose statue stands beside mine at the entrance to Chang’an’s libraries.”
“Oh.” Kan blinked. Then, his eyes widened. “Oh. That’s bad, isn’t it? Who’s… who’s his disciple?”
“I can’t be sure,” I said, “but I think it’s someone I met during my first life on this continent—Yong JinZhan, or more simply, Jon.”
I didn’t want to share the fact that Jon was from a different world, but my companions needed to understand who we were up against.
“His blessing is… unique. It assigns him missions, and when he completes them, he’s rewarded with a copy of the blessing that belongs to whoever was in charge of his opposition. From what I’ve seen, the strength of these copies seem to be tied to the level of his cultivation base at the time he receives them. So, even if he acquires hundreds of copied blessings as a Disciple, they might all be worthless by the time he reaches Emperor. Still, the versatility this gives him is terrifying.”
Taking a deep breath, I let my gaze sweep across the room. “If Jon defeats us, he’ll receive a copy of my blessing. It’ll be weakened, so I don’t think that he’ll be able to loop through time on his own, but he will almost certainly be given the ability to retain some of his stolen powers—possibly even his memories.”
YuLong raised a hand. “Then, shouldn’t we just… leave? Go back in time to before any of this ever happened? To before Li even left the Nine Rivers?”
I shook my head. “Not unless we have to. If we run now, everything we did to create a First-Class Sect would go to waste. I would prefer for that not to happen until after we’ve secured a few valuable items from the Saint of Heroes’ treasury.”
Meng LuYao frowned, voice low. “Even if we don’t run away, can we really afford to remain a First-Class Sect? If this ‘Jon’ is coming for you, then shouldn’t you advance as quickly as possible? Wouldn’t it be better to rush to Emperor—or even Sovereign—instead of continuing to play the Bureau’s games?”
“Possibly,” I said, “but consider the pattern. In my last life, I focused on alchemy, and Jon challenged me in alchemy. This time I’m building a sect. So, what kind of mission do you think he’ll receive? Will it target me, or will it target my sect?”
I let the question hang for a few heartbeats before continuing, “If this is a contest between sects, then remaining a First-Class Sect isn’t just smart—it’s imperative.”
With a flex of will, I made a Cicada Pill and a newly forged Rank 2 guandao appear before each of my companions. “I need all of you to reset your cultivation bases as well. There’s zero chance that this Secret Realm will be gentle, so I want all of you holding enhanced Rank 2 weapons when we enter.”
Kan went still, his gaze fixed on the pill in front of him. When he finally looked up, his eyes were filled with unease. “Fang… my lightning affinity has been improving, but advancing all the way to Peak Master in only six months—”
“I’ll handle it,” I said, my voice steady. “Trust me.”
He didn’t look reassured—not entirely—but, after a moment, he gave me a stiff nod.
Only then did I allow myself to breathe.
Six months wasn’t long, but it was more than enough time to reforge our sect’s foundations and make sure that every last one of us could survive what lay ahead. By the time the Shattered Blades Realm opened, we would be ready to seize whatever opportunities awaited us.
Comments
InfernoDroid
I don't think it's jon, I think it's an old friend from the nine rivers content that didn't get brought along. It really doesn't feel like Jon would be the right person as let's be honest, he played his part and his character should probably should be left alone. Li has taken another disciple in the past.
Greg Tolley
We're 5 years in, Li usually dies of old age 12 years in. Spirit, not Saint. Spirit is only one step above Sovereign. Back in book 5, it was established that Sovereign was the maximum possible level for the Nine Rivers Continent, stopping him from ascending further, so leaving the continent opens options. People can't leave whenever they want, but established information is that a portal to the Central Continent opens one a year, at the start of the seventh month, allowing the Nine Rivers to send the Central Continent tribute. It's also known that Li was the son of the Central Continent Li Clan's Patriarch. As for taking Jon as a disciple, it's a matter of Li's blessing. Who would Li's blessing have told him to take as a disciple?
Gardor
How long has this loop been, how did Li advance to Saint already? Havent we seen him live longer and not advance? Can people just leave the Nine River Continent whenever they want? Li's blessing told him to teleport to some random road, so he did? How did Li meet Jon and take him as a disciple, and why one earth would anyone assume he'd met Jon and taken him as a disciple?
