433: Chapter 32 Golden Box_2 433: Chapter 32 Golden Box_2 Qi Lie remained silent for a long time, sighing softly.
He had no way to refute anything.
Because the Old National Master was right.
After stepping into Golden Turtle Peak and becoming one of the Law Enforcers, Qi Lie became aware of something…
The weight of the same life, to the common folk and to the Cultivators, was actually different.
The higher the realm, the more they viewed the laymen as if they were mere ants.
And upon truly reaching the “supreme” heights, one became even more ruthless and indifferent; to become a Sky Watcher like Yan Xin, one needed to stand high enough and see far enough.
To wield the Roundness Instrument and protect the fortune of the country, one needed to make adequate sacrifices.
Flesh and blood, destiny, were just a negligible price to pay.
The small building fell briefly silent.
“Junior has another question—if it was just an offering…
why go to such lengths?”
Qi Lie thought for a moment before speaking again.
This time he had brought the box carefully from Golden Turtle Peak all the way to the Imperial City to meet the Old National Master.
All along the way, he had felt a sense of “sneakiness.”
Upon hearing this, Yan Xin smiled, pressed a hand on the box, and closed it: “Because this box from Golden Turtle Peak is not meant for offering.”
Qi Lie was even more perplexed.
“Think carefully, what did Zhao Tongtian say before you left?”
Yan Xin asked with a smile, “When he asked you to bring the box to see me in the Imperial City…
did he recite my name or my title?”
Qi Lie paused for a moment.
Before leaving, his Master had told him to take the box to see an old friend, Yan Xin.
Old friend.
“This meeting, you’re not representing Da Sui Sword Palace, but Zhao Tongtian.”
Yan Xin sighed lightly, “Leaving aside the title of Tongtian Law Enforcement…
Zhao Tongtian has things he wishes to do, things he needs to do.”
Qi Lie understood that this meeting was a true “visit to an old friend.”
The relationship between Zhao Tongtian and Yan Xin was such that some matters could be understood without meeting face to face.
“By having you stand in front of me, it means he wants you to know about this.”
Yan Xin took hold of the golden box, speaking softly, “This fortune is what he’s using to investigate the whereabouts of ‘Venerate Lian.'”
…
…
Qi Lie’s mind went blank.
Venerate Lian.
Although he hadn’t heard this term for a long time, the title held significant weight within Da Sui Sword Palace, so much so that Qi Lie was momentarily dazed.
Every disciple who entered Lotus Peak knew the story of Venerate Lian.
She was the most cherished little junior sister of the Pure Yang Sect Leader and Tongtian Law Enforcement, of excellent aptitude and unmatched talent.
The Law Enforcement Master once told Qi Lie that if not for the accident during the Battle of Poison, Venerate Lian would have already ascended to Yang God, possibly even catching up with the Sect Leader.
But…
there were no ifs.
Venerate Lian had died, fallen at the Northern Border Battlefield.
What was there to investigate about the whereabouts of the dead?
“…”
Qi Lie looked at the golden box with a complex expression, unsure of what to say.
The Old National Master slowly said, “Some people ‘die,’ but the traces they leave are too significant, so there will always be those who refuse to believe the news of death…
Your Senior Brother Xie Xuanyi, for example, is a very good case.”
Yan Xin suddenly mentioned a name Qi Lie was all too familiar with.
“When Xie Xuanyi fell into the North Sea, although Da Sui Sword Palace sealed the mountain, they sent people to search the North Sea for a long time.
Even after a full ten years without results, it doesn’t prevent people from firmly believing that Xie Xuanyi did not die.”
Upon hearing his senior brother’s name,
Qi Lie couldn’t restrain himself and said, “It’s not the same…
Senior Brother Xuan Yi actively leaped into the North Sea.
Moreover, his body has not even been found to this day.”
“What’s the difference?”
Yan Xin laughed and said, “Lian Venerate also faced a siege by Demon Country and willingly went to ‘her death.’ Her body has also not been found to this day.”
Qi Lie still shook his head, “If Lian Venerate were alive, why wouldn’t she come to see Master?”
“Just because she’s alive, must she meet him?”
Yan Xin spoke meaningfully, “By the same logic, if your Senior Brother Xuan Yi were still alive…
wouldn’t he come to see you?
You haven’t seen him in these ten years, doesn’t that also suggest that he might be dead?”
Qi Lie was left speechless, his eyes, usually resolute and firm, now filled with a sense of bewilderment for the first time.
“Don’t think too much…
what I mean is, ‘Rebirth and Relearning.'”
Yan Xin coughed dully twice and then said with a smile, “True Master Jun Shan and Monk Miao Zhen can reincarnate, so why couldn’t Lian Venerate?
During the Battle of Poison, everything was so chaotic, nobody actually saw Lian Venerate die, we just know she was besieged by Demon Country’s Yin God and ultimately decided to bring her enemies with her in a formation to die.
Maybe the outcome of that battle is different from what we imagine?
Maybe Lian Venerate chose to end her life on her own terms in order to cast Lotus Peak’s ‘Annihilation Chapter’?”
The three words “Annihilation Chapter” made Qi Lie unable to keep his composure.
Actually, this wasn’t a secret; many people had heard this rumor…
It was said that within the Scripture Pavilion of Lotus Peak, there was a secret text called “Annihilation Chapter,” which contained secret techniques about deriving life from death, and if one could comprehend it, they could live a second life.
But most of the time, this rumor was treated as a joke.
Qi Lie had searched through the Scripture Pavilion of Lotus Peak and had not found the Annihilation Chapter.
Cultivators all require cultivating Primordial Energy.
And “Annihilation” is about going against that path—placing oneself in mortal peril in order to be reborn!
How could such a thing be possible?
Qi Lie remembered when he was young, studying at Lotus Peak, Senior Brother Xuan Yi once asked everyone if the Annihilation Chapter really existed.
The Pure Yang Sect Leader just smiled lightly and shook his head without responding.
But not responding did not mean denial.
The words Old National Master had just said, those “maybes,” those speculations, stirred up a thousand ripples in Qi Lie’s heart.
After a long while, those ripples slowly calmed down.
Qi Lie asked, word by word, “So what you mean is, Lian Venerate might not be dead.
My senior brother might not be dead either.”
“No, no, no…”
Yan Xin laughed, waving his hand, “The Sky Watcher would never say such things.
All I can say is, maybe?”
“What about this golden box then?”
“To activate the Roundness Instrument once requires a lot of fate.” Yan Xin spoke candidly, “The fate that Da Sui Sword Palace sends over every year is always a bit extra, and that fate is presented personally by Zhao Tongtian.
I have promised him that, once there’s enough fate, I would assist him once by checking clearly—whether the soul thought of Lian Venerate still lingers in this world.”
Master’s relationship with Lian Venerate was no common matter.
This was something everyone at Golden Turtle Peak knew.
Qi Lie finally understood.
Why Master had him deliver the box alone this time.
The Sect Leader had said Master’s Sword Dao could still be improved.
It’s just a pity that his fortune has lead him this far; perhaps this step will take a very long, very long time…
All of this was because of Lian Venerate.
Lian Venerate’s death left Master with an unforgettable sorrow and guilt.
He spent his life stationed at Sword Palace, but he was always facing the “regret” from those days; if he could have arrived at the battlefield a bit earlier, the tragedy of Lian Venerate might not have happened…
These regrets combined together, hence there were golden boxes, one after another, sent to Yan Xin.
Yan Xin’s just said sequence of “maybes,” was not merely speculation about the circumstances of that past death.
They were the only hope Master had been able to hold on to all these years.
“So…
how much fate is needed to activate the Roundness Instrument once?”
Having understood this, Qi Lie’s voice became somewhat hoarse.
“If it’s just to check Life and Death, actually not a lot is needed.”
Yan Xin let out a long sigh, “To inquire about the whereabouts of a soul thought requires a considerable amount of fate, but since Lian Venerate has been dead for so long, the golden boxes from Zhao Tongtian have already been enough.
He has always just been sending boxes, never asking how much more is needed.”
“Qi Lie…”
Old National Master looked at Qi Lie thoughtfully, and after a moment, asked seriously, “How about this time, you take a look at the result predicted by the Roundness Instrument for Tongtian?”