Chapter 776 - 225: Divine Crow and Community Drum—Why Must the One Who Returns Be Young?

Chapter 776: Chapter 225: Divine Crow and Community Drum—Why Must the One Who Returns Be Young?

Fang Jianlong: ...

He sighed softly and said, "Sect Leader Tie, times have changed. People’s hearts... have long since changed."

The bearded man was none other than Tie Sha. He was a cautious person, who had narrowly escaped the massacre at the Holy Fire Palace. After fleeing, he stumbled upon Zhu Qiao’Er and her son, who had also escaped. Naturally, they traveled together. Now, thinking of returning home, he unexpectedly encountered Fang Jianlong here.

Tie Sha chuckled and said, "All these scholarly words, changed or not, let’s drink first!"

Seeing that Fang Jianlong did not move, he shifted his seat slightly to make space, then slapped the wine gourd at his waist, making a "pa pa" sound, and said loudly, "Forty-year-old Spring Dream Brew!! And I’ve added Heart-Burning Flower! Will that make you come down?!"

Fang Jianlong: ...

Tie Sha turned around again, fetched another gourd from the carriage, and shouted, "Two gourds! Still won’t come down?

I’m not bragging, this forty-year-old Spring Dream Brew was something I took from the palace during the Holy Fire Palace annihilation; it’s probably one of only two gourds left in the world!"

Forty years...

Back then, they were both still in Shanbao County.

One was desperately seeking a way out, wanting to reconnect with the Holy Fire Palace to step into the Sixth Grade as Sect Leader; the other was a talented member of the Inner Sect.

They both thought the outside world would be exciting, but after half a life’s journey, they realized happiness might have just been back then.

Fang Jianlong finally sighed deeply. As his figure fluttered, he landed on the Imperial Hand Seat, then took a gourd, pulled out the stopper, and gave Tie Sha a deep look.

Tie Sha grabbed the wine gourd, intending to take a sip first, but it was snatched back by Fang Jianlong.

Emotionless, Fang Jianlong brought the gourd to his lips and gulped it down.

Tie Sha laughed heartily and drank along with him.

Fang Jianlong took a sip, suddenly put down the wine gourd with a peculiar expression, and asked, "Is this the forty-year-old Spring Dream Brew? The one you took from the Holy Fire Palace during its annihilation?"

Tie Sha was just laughing, mischievously and happily.

He raised the wine gourd slightly, in a toasting gesture.

The air seemed to freeze.

Fang Jianlong suddenly laughed as well.

They looked at each other and laughed, feeling increasingly joyful.

Fang Jianlong raised the wine gourd and clinked it with the one opposite him.

They drank again.

This time, the wine was drunk to the last drop.

Fang Jianlong said, "Good wine!"

"Indeed, it is good wine," Tie Sha laughed.

However, there wasn’t a hint of alcohol among them.

The gourds were only filled with water.

But these days, what wine could compare to an old friend willing to drink with you?

...

...

At this moment, on the path towards the Southern Land, this was not the only carriage.

In the barren land marked by patches of yellow and white, Li Yuan, or should I say Ximen Gucheng, was also driving a carriage.

After some observation, he found that the East Sea Immortal Realm had temporarily laid low, while the Western Pole was still quietly "developing." Time seemed to have returned to a peaceful stage.

In the north, war was on the horizon.

Under the surge of undercurrents, the Empress Dowager sought to aggressively annex the Commanders, to bring the map of Great Zhou back under imperial control.

To avoid the chaos of war, Li Yuan decided to take Xie Yu to the safest place — Shanbao County.

Shanbao County was entirely under Lady Yama’s domain; Xiaoyu’Er wouldn’t encounter any problems staying there.

And he, too, seemed to experience a rebound of humanity, wanting to do something pure and chivalrous after a period of great treachery, evil, and brutality.

It’s like a person who only eats salty food, who, after having too much, just wants to change the taste.

For an Immortal, "individual character" certainly cannot define him, as "individual character" can only define a person with decades of life span.

But an Immortal can possess countless "ordinary personas."

Now, Xiaozhao couldn’t obtain the cultivation method for "Celestial Soul Third Grade"; at the Barbarian King’s place, that old woman hadn’t even continued to disclose the cultivation method for "Earth Soul Second Grade"; as for Human Soul... Li Yuan had initially pinned his hopes on Li Ping’an, but to no avail.

Cultivation was at a standstill.

The East Sea Immortal Realm was no longer coming.

The Western Pole was still developing.

The Dragon Vein was up to something unknown.

Li Yuan wanted to take a break...

Always being tense, always cultivating, always fighting, with enemies coming one after another, that wasn’t the life he was looking forward to.

At this moment, he completely forgot that he was Li Yuan and only thought of himself as a swordsman in flowing white robes, who had lost his strength due to cultivation.

For this, he purposely made a "patch."

He told Xiaoyu’Er that he had once reached the Fourth Grade and became a very special existence within it, but it was only the Demon Path, a technique by which the Dragon Vein lent him power to perform at a level far beyond his own... now the backlash had occurred, and his realm rapidly declined, falling back to the Seventh Grade.

Xiaoyu’Er naturally didn’t believe him, but after they passed through the Imperial Capital, Xie Wei explained it again for Li Yuan, and only then did Xiaoyu’Er became half-convinced.

However, compared to a terrifying, unknown Fourth Grade monster akin to a Demon God, what Xiaoyu’Er truly liked was actually the swordsman in flowing white robes.

Xie Wei understood her, which is why she begged Li Yuan to always be a "swordsman on a quest to find his Sword Dao."

If a lie can make someone happy.

Then why not let it remain uncovered for a lifetime?

Isn’t it better to be happy forever?

Xiaoyu’Er believed it.

Because she wanted to believe.

"What the truth actually is" sometimes isn’t as important as "I don’t want to hear it." ℯℯ𝘭.

Indeed, people don’t live for the pursuit of truth; why insist on stubbornly adhering to reality?

At least, that’s what Xiaoyu’Er thought, so she accepted everything and believed in everything.

Li Yuanzhu crafted an ordinary Seventh Grade Blade and locked the Immortal Appearance and his true form within the flesh of a mere mortal.