Lord of the Desert

Chapter 532: Difficult Mountains to Cross
"When I first thought of this, I was burning with anxiety, but when I spoke of it, no one paid any attention to me. At that time, I was sixty-two years old, had just broken through to the Innate Realm, and was already an old widower. I couldn't read properly and my speech was not good. Every time I expressed my thoughts, I was laughed at and refuted."

"So I went back to my hometown in a huff and spent another fifteen years cultivating to the peak of Yuan Magnetic. Later, by chance, I fought with Ji Junxiong, the 'Wildfire Piercing the Sun' of Qingzhou, and neither of us could do anything about it."

Hong Fan was taken aback.

This Ji Junxiong was the sect leader of Yangxia Sect in Qingzhou. At that time, he should have already achieved the realm of a celestial being. Unexpectedly, he was forced to a draw by Guan Qimai, who was at the Yuan Magnetic Realm. It was truly unbelievable.

"This incident had a great impact on me."

A ridiculous yet relieved smile appeared on Guan Qimai's lips.

"After that battle, I found that I could speak louder and people would listen quietly as soon as I opened my mouth—it turns out that martial arts can not only train things, but also train people."

"So I had a growing idea—I wanted to train better, to train stronger, strong enough that martial artists could work in the fields, weave cloth, and do manual labor, or rather, that those who farmed, wove cloth, and did hard labor could all have the opportunity to become martial artists!"

His voice was soft yet firm, each word uttered as if etched into the wind.

"Although the alien races are a threat, the gods are there to protect them. No matter what I do, I cannot change the overall situation. But things are different within the Nine Provinces."

"Martial artists are like ferocious beasts of the world. I, Guan Qimai, will train myself to the highest level and tame them for the sake of the world!"

These words were so fierce and arrogant that Hong Fan was shaken to his core.

Duan Tiannan's ambition to make everyone in the world practice martial arts is already an extraordinary aspiration, but it is clearly not as profound as Guan Qimai's. Even if an ordinary person cultivates the former's Iron Hand Skill and succeeds, they will only become a member of the martial arts class, while the latter aims to eliminate the entire martial arts class.

As dusk fell and the sun dipped below the horizon, the shadow of the octagonal pavilion stretched long.

"What does the headmaster plan to do?"

Hong Fan asked.

He slowed his breathing, even temporarily forgetting the life and death of the Ancestral Dragon, and stopped the operation of the Wuxiangling.

"Reform the system, collect martial arts and martial arts resources, establish and promote publicly funded martial arts schools until all martial artists are covered by this system—in this way, a hundred years from now, there will be no sects or aristocratic families in the Great Hua, and the Martial Arts Academy or the imperial court will become the aristocratic family of aristocratic families, ruling over all martial arts in the world!"

Guan Qimai stood up and enthusiastically sketched out the blueprint, pacing back and forth while waving his arms like a baby.

"In short, the first step is to change the current closed circulation model of martial arts based on blood ties and master-disciple relationships; the second step is to provide martial arts resources to everyone based on talent and virtue; and the third step is to gather a sufficiently strong force to maintain this system."

"Running a school requires money, and practicing martial arts requires resources..."

Hong Fan reminded him.

"The way of heaven is to make up for the excess of damage."

Guan Qimai abruptly interrupted.

"To put it bluntly, I will take resources from whoever has more; therefore, the Martial Arts Academy must suppress powerful clans, strengthen central authority, investigate hidden lands, and release hidden households!"

He speaks rapidly, arrogantly, domineeringly, and unreasonably.

"So the headmaster wants to overturn this world..."

Hong Fan murmured, finally understanding why the aristocratic families instinctively disliked this stubborn old man.

This is a complete life-or-death struggle.

The bright red sun hung between the mountains, and a line of crows floated by in the distance.

"It's not about overturning, it's about reshaping."

Guan Qimai shook his head.

"That's why I've come to see you today. I know the emperor wants you to go to the northern frontier, but it's a waste for someone as talented as you to be stationed in a border city."

He sat down again, leaning forward, his words filled with impatience.

“Hong Fan, you should stay. If you are willing, I intend to take you as my disciple and teach you the ‘Yi Wood Azure Wolf Scripture’. If you do not have the talent for wood, I can also teach you the ‘Blazing Fire Explosion Scripture’—what Duan Tiannan failed to accomplish, you and I will accomplish!”

Hong Fan never expected to hear such words, and even though he tried his best to remain calm, he still felt a little embarrassed.

Guan Qimai is not only a powerful figure among the martial arts masters of the world, but also the head of the most powerful organization in the Great Hua Kingdom; the resources and energy he can gather to cultivate one person are unimaginable.

The best cultivation techniques, unlimited resources, the strongest backing, and a brilliant future...

For a moment, Hong Fan wanted to blurt out his agreement, abandon his life and stir up a storm with Guan Qimai, regardless of success or failure, to fight the old world to his heart's content.

However, his enthusiasm quickly cooled.

"You're unwilling?" Guan Qimai asked upon seeing this.

Hong Fan nodded and then shook his head.

The problem of the First Emperor was certainly one of the decisive factors.

Do you think my idea is impossible to implement?

Guan Qimai asked again.

Hong Fan hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.

"This path involves a complete confrontation with the current vested interest groups, a confrontation with enormous and protracted obstacles. Leaving aside whether it can be done, I believe that even if it were done, it would only be a temporary solution, and the policy would end with the death of the person in charge, and it would not last long."

As he spoke, he glanced at Guan Qimai's expression.

"People are limited by their natural talents. Even if they have the resources for cultivation techniques, seventy percent of them still cannot reach the Hunran Realm. Even if everyone practices martial arts, it is just that martial artists in the Inner Vision Realm and the Penetration Realm become new mortals. People are lazy and selfish. No matter how new martial arts experts obtain their power, they will inevitably use it for personal gain. This is an inviolable aspect of human nature."

Hong Fan's words became more and more fluent.

"Master, forgive my bluntness, but human nature cannot be forced; to go against one's desires is to castrate oneself. We can force all martial artists to castrate themselves temporarily, or educate a small number of morally strong martial artists to castrate themselves forever, but we cannot expect the entire martial arts class to remain eunuchs forever."

In the far west, the setting sun scorched a hole in the sky, draining the world's azure blue.

Guan Qimai remained silent for a long time.

"Do you have a better idea?"

He straightened his back and asked coldly.

"Martial arts are power, they are productivity; they have no will of their own."

Hong Fan was not intimidated.

He had pondered these questions many times since his trip to Huaiyang Kingdom.

"The imbalance between the strength of martial artists and ordinary people is a result of development, and the problems of development need to be solved by development. To achieve balance, we cannot suppress the strong; we must support the weak. I believe the most fundamental solution is to enable the ordinary class to possess productivity comparable to that of martial artists, to provide a new path for those who cannot practice martial arts, and to increase their importance—the headmaster. Equal respect can only be given from one person to another. No matter how much a person cherishes and values ​​an ant, this relationship is still distorted."

"Are you talking about what you and the Director of Equipment Manufacturing are doing?"

Guan Qimai's expression softened slightly.

"Steel rails, iron carts, steam engines, firearms? Your method allows martial artists and ordinary people to coexist on equal footing?"

"No."

Hong Fan returned immediately.

"We're just trying to bring the weight down as much as possible, giving those who can't master martial arts a way out."

Guan Qimai sat upright under the pavilion and remained silent for a long while.

The setting sun disappeared completely behind the mountain in his silence.

Against the backdrop of twilight, Hong Fan seemed to see an indescribable sense of loss and bewilderment on the old man's face, but in an instant, he regained his iron-like hardness.

"Whether it works or not, we'll only know after we do it."

Guan Qimai said in a deep voice, then got up and walked to the outside of the pavilion.

"Go on your way, I will see you off."

Hong Fan bowed solemnly and descended the mountain to rejoin his unit.

Before long, the carriages and horses set off again.

The sky was dark, the road was winding and meandering, and the wind was relentless.

After a long time, as the group was about to cross the mountain pass, Hong Fan suddenly turned around on horseback and saw Guan Qimai, who had shrunk to a small dot under the pavilion, still standing in the same spot. His figure was extremely thin, and his face was no longer recognizable.

For some reason, he suddenly felt a lump in his throat, dismounted, and bowed three times.

When I got up again, the person was gone, leaving only a lone cloud in the vast sky and the distant mountains and passes.

(End of this volume)

(End of this chapter)