317: Chapter 59: The Five Declines of the Heavenly Person 317: Chapter 59: The Five Declines of the Heavenly Person Xie Xuanyi looked complex, staring at the corner filled with ancient books, historical records.
Stack upon stack.
“So what is the truth of history?”
He asked softly.
The old man smiled and said, “I was too young at that time, there were many things I did not witness, only from the ‘Spiritual Treasure’ left by my ancestors, some old stories of the ancient kingdoms were recorded.
So strictly speaking, I do not know what the true history of the collapse of the Great Yue Kingdom is.
But I know one thing…
the person who gave me life was Qing Li.”
Qing Li?
Although he had guessed and anticipated this in his heart, hearing these two words still shocked Xie Xuanyi.
He turned around silently, and his Divine Thought passed through the soundproof array, landing on the little girl in front of the cabin.
The little one was squatting at the door, staring at the departing backs of the Li Meis, expression dull, silently tugging at her braids intermittently.
“One hundred and twenty-one years ago.”
“I woke up in chaos and saw Him.”
The old man closed his eyes and spoke slowly, “He stood in the endless light, reached out his hand, and pulled me out of chaos… Along with me, there were also thousands of wandering lost souls in the void.”
Xie Xuanyi listened quietly.
He had always been curious about how these Li Meis were born after the kingdom of Great Yue had fallen for a thousand years.
“Everyone wishes for eternal life.”
The old man murmured, “The history books only recorded the brutalities of that dragon-slaying war, yet they did not record the dark past before the war.
Before the Demon Dragon arrived, Emperor Qi was obsessed with alchemy and his craving for daytime ascension…
the entire Great Yue was already clouded in dismal darkness and greatly oppressed.
After the arrival of the Demon Dragon, Emperor Qi turned from a negligent ruler into a righteous sovereign, the history was altered, past events were erased, but the people’s anger and resentment towards this tyrant couldn’t be wiped away.
He wanted a daytime ascension, needing to draw on the spiritual fortunes of the Great Yue, which stemmed from every insignificant mortal.”
“…”
Xie Xuanyi’s expression was complex.
“Ancient kingdoms perished, lost souls wandered, unable to find peace.”
The old man looked up, his gaze seemingly piercing through the roof, landing on the gray skies above.
This place had neither sun nor moon, not even day and night.
This was the end of the abyss, and also the beginning of purgatory.
In a sense.
The “Dao” here had already collapsed…
Leaving only a broken city, a broken array.
“I came to this dead city with those vengeful souls, wandering the streets, feeling His guidance.”
The old man grinned, “Do you still remember those Li Meis lost in consciousness that you saw elsewhere?”
Xie Xuanyi was startled for a moment then slowly nodded.
He certainly remembered.
Riding through the streets, most of the Li Meis executed by the Great Yue cavalry were already without will, Heart Lakes shattered, minds gone mad.
“After millennia, let alone ordinary mortals.”
“Even among cultivators, how many can withstand the torment of such endless years?”
After the collapse of the Great Yue Kingdom.
These wandering souls remained in the void, retaining only a shred of soul, yet they could not find a good end.
So, they just endured a hard thousand years.
Some of these souls were initially ‘conscious,’ but a thousand years was too long.
Their consciousness also collapsed along with it.
No blame falls on them; such a catastrophe, even for the most determined prodigies of the heavens, would be difficult to overcome.
Xie Xuanyi hesitated, then said, “You…”
“Are you asking how I survived?”
The old man looked at Xie Xuanyi with a gentle expression, “At the fall of the ancient kingdom, I was just a child, my consciousness very vague.
The millennia of calamity tore my divine soul apart countless times… Because of that accidental summon, I received a second life, no longer having to suffer the torment of will in the void.”
“The Great Yue Kingdom had millions of people, there were bound to be a few lucky ones.”
“I am one of them.”
The old man paused, then said with emotion, “I wandered in chaos, following the guidance of Heart Lake, arriving at ruins… and I saw a small girl.”
Xie Xuanyi furrowed his brow, “Qing Li?”
“Correct.”
The old man smiled, “At first, it was Qing Li who taught me how to ‘live,’ she took me through the shattered ancient lands, taught me how to read, to learn, even retrieved my past from chaos…”
Xie Xuanyi could not connect the Qing Li mentioned by the old man with the Qing Li he knew.
In his memory, Qing Li.
Little Mute Girl.
Was an innocent and naïve little girl, unfamiliar with the world.
“What happened later?” Xie Xuanyi asked.
“Later…”
The old man showed a reminiscing and emotional expression, murmuring, “I was very fortunate to follow her, learning how to survive in this ancient land, we roamed throughout the four territories, exploring the broken history of this Silent Annihilation realm, she seemingly was also unclear about her origin, she didn’t even know how powerful and majestic the strength was that she possessed… In the endless nothingness, I found redemption, and being able to accompany her in ‘living’ became a form of happiness.
I thought such days would continue forever, this ancient kingdom was not large, but its fragmented history couldn’t be pieced together anymore.”
“Every story has an ending, but if she can’t find her own ending.”
“Then I will keep searching with her.”
“Until one day.”
“I was still myself, but she became ‘nothingness’.”
Xie Xuanyi was again stunned.
“There is no day or night here, and Li Mei doesn’t need to sleep, so this moment came very suddenly,”
The old man said calmly, “One moment, we were having a conversation, the next, she just stopped…
looking at me blankly, just as I had once looked at her blankly.”
Xie Xuanyi couldn’t comprehend, “What does this mean?”
Shan Man lowered her eyelids, casually taking an ancient book filled with text from within the house, and tore out a page.
Densely packed, it was full of scribbling traces.
The next moment.
She stretched out her hand and smeared, Divine Thought smoothed out the paper.
The paper became blank.
“That’s what it means.”
The old man continued, “One moment, Qing Li knew everything and could do anything…
from that moment on, she suddenly became a blank slate, her entire memory, life, seemed to be reset.
For the past several decades, she had been leading me through life, but now, suddenly, it became me leading her.”
“This phenomenon happens once every sixty years.”
The old man said somewhat sadly, “Qing Li’s life seems to span only sixty years.
The Qing Li you see has already undergone her second ‘reset’.
In her previous life, she was not mute, but blind.”
Xie Xuanyi fell into a long silence.
The records in the Lotus Peak dao archive stated that as one nears True Immortal status, they will face the Heavenly Person’s five decays, losing the five senses, shattering memories…
Qing Li’s situation immediately made him think of “Heavenly Person’s five decays.”
But, it seemed not quite the same.
No matter how the little one looked, it seemed unrelated to the Heavenly Person.
Xie Xuanyi rubbed his temple, puzzled, and asked, “So, what exactly is Qing Li?”
“In my heart, she is the only light in this Endless Abyss.”
The old man lowered his eyelids slowly and said, “No matter how many times she resets, she emanates a holy power…
those Li Mei close to her, even if they are merely remnant souls, can still maintain peace in their Heart Lake, not eroded by the black evil of the ancient kingdom, not losing their Spirit Wisdom.
Those far from her, who have never made contact with her, without exception, eventually all go mad, losing themselves.”
This was why Xie Xuanyi felt a sense of peace around Qing Li.
This was also why.
The Li Mei of Tiesuo Alley all so affectionately clung to Qing Li…
Dao of Heaven’s selection.
“Since then, I tried my best to save those Li Mei who lived their Second Life, but sadly, their lifespans are not like mine.”
The old man spoke calmly, “Even coming to Tiesuo Alley, being able to settle here and retain consciousness, they still will pass away…
The lifespan of the Li Mei clan is like that of spring cicadas, managing to live three to five years is already considered long-lived.
Over the years, there have been too many departures here, everyone knows, they won’t live long.
But to be reborn from chaos, and fortunately reunite here, is already a kind of care.”
“Do they know…
about Qing Li’s uniqueness?” Xie Xuanyi asked after a moment of silence.
“They don’t know the truth,” the old man shook his head and said, “The Li Mei of Tiesuo Alley so revere me because they all think I am the one who is most special…
if no ‘outsiders’ broke the silence, perhaps Qing Li could spend this life quietly without any disturbances in Tiesuo Alley.”
The old man showed a look of regret.
“However…
this life, I can’t accompany her to the end.”
She had lived a hundred and twenty-one years.
Her time was nearing.
In the midst of the Li Mei clan, who possess fragmentary lives, this was an exceptionally long-lived existence…
A spring cicada that should have died in the upcoming winter’s snow.
Unexpectedly having lived a century, what is there to complain about?
“Since you know that departing from Qing Li, Li Mei’s Heart Lake will shatter, why did you still allow Mu Niu and the others…”
Xie Xuanyi suddenly thought of something.
Shan Man had dismissed the Li Mei of Tiesuo Alley, leaving only Qing Li behind.
Without Qing Li.
These Li Mei, won’t last long, they will all die.
The old man’s expression didn’t change in the slightest, he merely countered, “What would have happened if you hadn’t come today?”
If Xie Xuanyi hadn’t come.
Tie Feng would have killed everyone in Tiesuo Alley.
Not a single one remaining.
“We are but ashes of history, crushed once, still some remnants left, so we came again…”
The old man said with a light laugh, “Every so often, people die in Tiesuo Alley.
The moment we became Li Mei, we were ready to embrace death, the ancient kingdom’s iron law still oppresses its people, even after a thousand years, whether it’s death at the hands of iron cavalry, death by outsiders, or death under the heavenly dao, it’s all death.”
“For a spring cicada, whether it dies today or tomorrow, it’s all the same.”
The elder said calmly, “For a True Dragon, it’s different.”
Xie Xuanyi stared blankly at the old man.
“I don’t know what exactly Qing Li is, but I know that the ‘It’ that once saved me, was definitely related to that dragon.”
“As for her recurring cycle every six decades,”
The old man softly uttered four words, “…Heavenly Person’s five decays.”
She stuffed a stone talisman into Xie Xuanyi’s hands.
The old man earnestly gazed at the young man before him, and spoke slowly, “Rumors say, the closer one is to immortality, the greater the catastrophe approaches, signs of ‘decay’ appear in the body.
The ‘calamity’ that appears on Qing Li’s body is very similar to the Heavenly Person’s five decays…
She has wandered this shattered ancient kingdom for countless years, and now has begun to decay, this is what I truly fear.
I can die, the Li Mei of Tiesuo Alley can also die, but she must live.
The battle to slay the dragon did not bring a true end…
I have traveled countless times to the Great Yue Well, but always ended in failure, it’s the most dangerous place in the entire ancient kingdom, also the hub where the Sealing Dragon Array Pattern was formed.
Perhaps Emperor Qi’s will is still lingering in the well.”
He paused slightly.
The old man took a deep breath, “If, if you know these things and still decide to take a trip to the Great Yue Well, please take Qing Li with you.”