Martial Cultivator

After the court session ended that day, the Grand Historian returned to the Historical Pavilion. He took a history book from the bookshelf and laid it open on the desk.

The records in the book had already covered the events up to the great battle in the Imperial City, but the pages after that had not been written.

The Grand Historian stared at the text on the page and remained silent for a long time.

As a historian, he had never hesitated in his life. He wrote exactly what had happened, with no thoughts beyond that. But now, he hesitated.

It was not that he did not know how to write about what happened that day, but he could virtually guess that His Majesty the Emperor, who had ascended the throne for more than a decade, had likely left behind his final story for the Great Liang Dynasty on that very day.

Once his brush landed, it would mark the final sentence of the Great Liang Emperor's life.

There were so many emperors in the history books, all of whom had become stories of the past, so adding one more did not seem to be a big deal.

The Grand Historian, who had read all the history books since he was young, should have been unaffected by such matters. But for some reason, he could not bring himself to write.

It was unclear how much time passed, but eventually, the Grand Historian slowly put his brush to paper and began to write about the events that happened that day.

After a long while, he returned to his senses, slowly stood up, and went to a certain place. He took out a volume he had written long ago.

This volume recorded the events of the first year of Tianjian.

The first line was very straightforward.

“The emperor rose in rebellion as a vassal price, and after several years, eventually entered the Imperial Capital.”

This was what the Grand Historian had written on the second day after the Deposed Emperor's great fire that year.

Had he really written this from an entirely objective perspective back then?

The Grand Historian stared at the words he had written for a long time, then finally picked up his brush and crossed this segment out.

He took out a new volume, thought for a moment, and began to write: “The Deposed Emperor was unworthy; the Emperor raised an army. After several years, peace was restored to the world.”

After he finished writing this, the Grand Historian set down his brush, let out a long sigh, and smiled. This was probably the only kindness he could offer as the historian.

……

……

In recent days, Chen Chao stayed in the bamboo building.

He had been focused on two things.

The first was teaching that disciple he got for free, and the second was cultivating to touch that threshold.

During the battle in the Divine Capital, he had already sensed that he was standing before the threshold, though he had yet to step through. Lately, the feeling had been peculiar, he vaguely sensed that his breakthrough was not far off.

These two matters alone consumed all of Chen Chao's thoughts, leaving him with no time to pay attention to the happenings in the Divine Capital during this period.

Xie Nandu had also been appearing here less frequently. Many matters had arisen in the academy, and as the Dean's final disciple, she was needed to address them.

This was especially because the Dean was no longer in the academy, and Wei Xu, the renowned Mr. Wei, would never appear in the academy again.

The academy was in urgent need of a stabilizing presence.

In truth, Zhou Gouqi was the best candidate, even though his identity was somewhat complicated. After all, he was a Confucian Saint, a cultivation realm that qualified him. Moreover, he was also the Dean's disciple, which undoubtedly gave him the right to lead the academy. However, ever since he had left the city wall that day, no one had seen him. Some speculated that he was recovering from injuries somewhere, but there was no concrete evidence.

On this morning, however, the bamboo building welcomed a familiar guest.

It was the chief eunuch, Li Heng.

Chen Chao stepped onto the stairs to greet this chief eunuch, and invited him inside the building for tea.

Seated by the window, rain began to fall again, and the sound resonating within the bamboo building was continuous - a clear and melodious rhythm of ding-ding-dong-dong.

The pale-faced Li Heng sighed and said, “This place truly feels like an immortal's abode. No wonder you're reluctant to leave now.”

Hearing the underlying tone in Li Heng's words, Chen Chao merely smiled and replied, “Now is precisely the time for His Highness the Crown Prince to realize his ambitions. If I were to step forward, it wouldn't be a good thing.”

Li Heng frowned slightly. “You shouldn't concern yourself with such trivialities. His Majesty entrusted the realm to you, that's what truly matters.”

Chen Chao gave a bitter smile and said, “Isn't it fine to take things slowly?”

Li Heng said, “Zhou Xianshan gave you the greatest merit, and combined with His Majesty's words before his departure, there's no one left in the Great Liang Dynasty who can easily touch you.”

With the prestige Chen Chao had accumulated over the years, there were indeed very few who could match him now, especially given his youth.

“Becoming arrogant from favor is a troublesome matter, and besides, His Highness the Crown Prince is not His Majesty.”

Chen Chao waved his hand dismissively.

Li Heng’s face grew stern as he said, “But can the current Great Liang Dynasty do without you?”

Chen Chao smiled and did not speak.

At many times, even Li Heng found himself at a loss for how to reprimand this young man in front of him. After all, he was no longer the teenage boy he once was.

Li Heng remained silent for a moment before taking something out.

It was a token, neither entirely metallic nor entirely jade.

Chen Chao looked at the token, a sense of familiarity rising within him.

Discerning Chen Chao's thoughts, Li Heng smiled and said, “Yes, it's made of the same material as your saber, they are both crafted from a piece of Thousand Year Glacial Stone.”

Hearing this, Chen Chao fell silent. The rarity of Thousand Year Glacial Stone went without saying, yet it was now used to craft a token. The significance of this token was just as self-evident.

Li Heng flipped the token over, revealing two characters engraved on the back.

Chen Chao murmured softly, “Hundred Streams.”

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