Lord of the Desert

Chapter 531 Ridiculous
After the Dragon Summoning Festival, Hong Fan had a difficult time every day.

The fate of the First Emperor was so intertwined with the fate of the First Emperor that it was enough to overturn all his efforts and plans, leaving him restless and easily alarmed by the slightest disturbance.

To Hong Fan's surprise, everything in Shenjing was as usual. There was no citywide martial law or undercurrents, as if the storm on Diyan Lake was just Hong Fan's illusion.

But the two glistening fruits hanging on the altar proved that it was not an illusion.

Whether the Dragon Soul Tree was a chance bonus for the transmigrator or the soul of the Ancestral Dragon separated from his body, it was the foundation of his life and could not be lost.

When disaster struck, Hong Fan felt like he was sitting on pins and needles in the capital, only then realizing that the sayings "the darkest place is under the lamp" and "the most dangerous place is the safest place" were all utter nonsense.

This is a road we absolutely have to take.

From the second to the sixth day of the lunar new year, Hong Fan performed with all his might every day, accepting congratulations on reaching the top of the list of the most outstanding talents, while sending off wave after wave of relatives and friends from the capital. On the seventh day of the fifth lunar month, he submitted a memorial to the palace expressing his willingness to go to the northern frontier to defend the country, and received a commendatory reply that same day.

I don't know why, but I could tell that Xiao Ce was in a hurry.

My future is set.

Starting from the eighth day of the lunar new year, Hong Fanqiang suppressed his desire to leave and patiently bid farewell to his friends in Shenjing one by one.

Ye Zhan, head of the Martial Arts Academy, director of the Weaponry Bureau, a purple-robed imperial guard, a prodigy in the capital... Whenever someone asked about the reason for leaving the capital, he would not reveal the affairs of the Zhenbei Guard, but only say that the agreement had been made and he was going back to his hometown first.

Whether or not Xiang Ling was present, everyone felt sorry but couldn't see anything unusual. Only Tang Xingqing and Xiao Chu seemed to sense something when they faced Hong Fan alone, but neither of them investigated further.

Tang Xingqing silently cancelled the house she had reserved in the south of the city.

Xiao Chu did not mention that he had asked his father and brothers about marriage.

Yi She challenged them to a duel, the Northern Frontier was recruited, and Sheng Yu Army suddenly encountered a host of unexpected difficulties...

Over the past two months, so many troubles have arisen. How could the intelligent and wise Princess Xiande not see that her father and brother strongly opposed this marriage? At this point, confronting the issue would be tantamount to forcing Hong Fan to make a decision and demanding that he face the pressure from the current and next emperors of the Great Hua Dynasty.

She felt this was unfair to him.

Parting is a difficult thing since ancient times.

Hong Fan, however, seemed unusually relaxed this time because he was preoccupied with his own thoughts.

Mid-May, afternoon.

Hong Fan and his entourage of more than a dozen carriages and horses left the city and headed west amidst the farewells of the crowd.

The journey itself was unremarkable, yet it kept one on edge.

Two hours later, after walking sixty miles, he looked back and saw the capital city shrouded in the distance like a thin line sewn into the earth. He finally felt relieved.

The plains are ending, and the mountains are already in sight.

Red Flag shook its mane and rubbed its sharp teeth, quickly leading the convoy to the foot of the mountain.

There was a pavilion halfway up the mountain, and it seemed that someone was sitting inside.

Hong Fan stopped thinking, his body covered in a fine sweat. He didn't look carefully until the person in the pavilion called out to him.

"Hong Fan, come and see me."

The sound came from the mountainside, as if it were right in front of me; it was very familiar.

Hong Fan followed the sound and his eyes flashed like lightning. He saw a person dressed in loose linen clothes. It was Guan Qimai, the "Wheel of Life". His heart, which had just calmed down, jumped into his throat.

"Shen Hong, you guys wait here."

He activated his mindless spirit, dismounted, patted the red flag on the neck, and strode up the mountain.

"The headmaster is extremely busy with affairs of state; has he come here simply to see me off?"

Hong Fan bowed deeply and smiled.

Guan Qimai nodded.

Hong Fan was bewildered by what he heard, but outwardly he appeared flattered and, with Wu Xiangling's cooperation and control, remained completely composed.

The First Emperor is dead. Those who could participate in such an event must be top-tier experts, and Shenjing only has two Martial Saints. From this perspective, it is highly likely that Guan Qimai knew about it.

However, considering that he broke through to the Martial Saint realm only eleven years ago, and did not appear in the twenty-second year of the First Emperor's reign, and that Guan Qimai was still in Qingzhou ten years ago, he should not be closely related to this matter.

"sit down."

Guan Qimai was unaware of the visitor's complicated thoughts and gestured with his hand.

"Don't feel surprised. In fact, I was also present during your battle with Yi She, but I just didn't show myself."

He seemed to be deliberately trying to be gentle and approachable today, which made his smile seem somewhat artificial.

The pavilion is octagonal, and there are seven backless benches under the pavilion.

Guan Qimai sat facing southeast, while Hong Fan faced northwest, opposite him.

The wind rustled through the pavilion, stirring the grass at its base; the clouds were thick and bright, like mercury floating high in the sky.

"Speaking of which, the first time I met you was in Yunlan City during the 30th year of the Zhenghe era."

Guan Qimai suddenly said.

"Duan Tiannan had just left at that time. Did he ever tell you about his early experiences?"

"Most of them have been mentioned before."

Hong Fan could sense that the other party really wanted to make some small talk, but he was obviously used to getting straight to the point, and his intentions were clear from the moment he opened his mouth.

Guan Qimai nodded.

“I have a similar background to him, and our circumstances are similar afterward. We can talk about many things. I admire his ambition to make everyone in the world practice martial arts, but we have differences in doing things—Tiannan is too impatient, but I can’t blame him for that.”

When Duan Tiannan was mentioned, he became unusually talkative.

"To be honest, I was also an impatient person in my prime. I liked to stand out because I was strong and healthy. But I started practicing martial arts late and experienced the humiliation of being unable to control my own body in old age. Even though I later obtained the 'Yi Mu Qing Lang Jing', I had been forced to become kind by the years."

Guan Qimai sighed.

Thinking of how the headmaster forced the major sects of Shenjing to relocate after taking over the Martial Academy, and how he used his ten fingers to suppress dozens of aristocratic families and sects across the land, Hong Fan really didn't see the so-called "benevolence" in him.

However, he could understand what the other person meant.

People like Duan Tiannan and Guan Qimai are born extraordinary. Even without practicing martial arts, their physical talent alone surpasses that of others. In their youth, they must have had a strong sense of self-confidence and stubbornness that believed in human agency.

"When I found the 'Yi Mu Qing Lang Jing', I was already old. Now, looking back, my meridians have begun to atrophy, far inferior to when I was young. However, I casually practiced it for two or three years and reached the Hun Ran Realm, becoming invincible in the town. Two years later, I broke through to the Xiantian Realm and was even able to drive away locust plagues."

Guan Qimai smiled as he reminisced.

"Back then, I was traveling around Qingzhou, doing chivalrous deeds everywhere. Partly it was to show off my skills, and partly it was because I enjoyed it. That's when I realized that martial arts were even better than I had imagined."

"But if martial arts are so good, why is the world not good?"
Why are there so many rivers without bridges when the Celestial Martial Saint moved mountains and stopped rivers?

"With a power surpassing that of tigers and leopards, why are so many fields abandoned and uncultivated?"

His jawline gradually tightened, and his expression changed from gentle to firm.

"It wasn't until I became a martial artist myself that I realized that martial artists don't do anything practical—they, or most of us, only take and don't give, only consume and don't produce. And the higher one's martial arts level, the more one can plunder from a higher position."

"Brother Duan said something similar to me."

Hong Fan replied.

"Martial artists are the group with the most power in the Great Hua, but their power is often idle and unused."

"Yes, everyone is pursuing martial arts, pursuing this power itself, and after obtaining it, they want more, but no one has ever thought about what to do with it."

Guan Qimai chuckled.

"Isn't this absurd?"

(End of this chapter)