“You seem…to feel guilty.” Looking at Feng Bujue, who was slowly getting up, Cao Qin said calmly.

“No, I just feel it’s not worth it for her.” After Feng Bujue stood still, he cast a cold glance at Cao Qin, “As a chess piece, her life has been too heavy and tragic.”

“Chess piece…?” Cao Qin slowly uttered these words, then smiled, “Liao Master Feng…there seems to be nothing in this world that can escape your eyes.”

“Now that Lin Yan is dead, you can tell me the whole story, right?” Feng Bujue continued.

“I can…but…is it really necessary?” Cao Qin said.

“Eunuch Cao is incredibly clever and has planned far ahead. If you don’t find someone who can understand you to tell these things to…” Feng Bujue replied, “Wouldn’t it be casting pearls before swine?”

“Heh…alright.” Cao Qin smiled.

He paused for a few seconds, organized his thoughts, and then slowly continued, “This matter…has to be traced back to the Cang Ling Sword Debate that year.”

“Feng is all ears.” Feng Bujue replied.

Cao Qin nodded and continued, “That year, the sword debate shocked the world. Lin Chang’s collusion with Qian Ning, the former commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, undoubtedly reached the ears of the late Emperor. The late Emperor believed that this matter should be taken as a warning and not taken lightly…If Jianghu forces secretly formed parties with certain forces in the court, they would soon become a force that no one could control, and even pose a threat to imperial power.” He paused slightly, then continued, “So…not long after, a long-term, heavy mission fell on my shoulders.”

“I see…” Feng Bujue asked, “It started from then…”

Cao Qin didn’t respond to his words, but continued to narrate, “To accomplish this mission, I needed two chess pieces. First…a person with unrivaled martial arts skills who would listen to me; second…a person with ambition, perseverance, and the ability to seize opportunities.”

“That is, Lin Yan and Yuan Qi.” Feng Bujue interjected.

“Heh…” Cao Qin smiled without answering, and said to himself, “Cultivating the first person takes time, but what I have most of is time. Since I have plenty of time, the next thing to determine is the candidate.” He paused, “Lin Yan…was the perfect candidate.”

“It’s easier to control a little girl like that, is it?” Feng Bujue said coldly.

“It wasn’t as easy as you think, but…I did succeed.” Cao Qin replied smugly.

Then, Eunuch Cao untied the wine pot hanging from his waist, took a sip, and then said, “After Lin Chang died, his widow, who was pregnant with his posthumous child, was kicked out of the Ye residence. I sent Dongchang spies to watch her secretly for several years, hoping to find Lin Chang’s martial arts manual from her. As a result…I didn’t find the *Tai Xu Wu Xiang Da Fa* (Great Art of Formless Emptiness), but…my spies accidentally discovered that Lin Chang’s daughter was actually a peerless genius with extraordinary talent.”

Speaking of this, Cao Qin subconsciously glanced at Lin Yan’s body, “I waited for five years, and felt the time was almost right…so I sent someone to spread a message, saying that Lin Chang’s widow was hiding in a small town with the peerless secret manual left by her husband.”

“Sure enough, within half a month, some Jianghu bandits who smelled the blood came running.”

“That night, I lurked in the dark, waiting until they forced Lin Yan’s mother to death, and then I stepped in to save the girl.”

“From then on, I became her adoptive father.”

“Then you took the opportunity to sell me out?” Feng Bujue interjected.

“Hehe…Liao Master Feng, you have to understand.” Cao Qin said, “People need motivation to grow. Her mother’s death was indeed a great stimulus to her, but I had already solved those murderers on the spot; I also thought about…deliberately letting a few people leave, so they could become Lin Yan’s future targets for revenge. But to be honest…that group of people was not qualified at all. With Lin Yan’s talent, she could have killed them all and avenged her mother before she was ten years old.”

“So…I, the ‘father-killing enemy,’ became the best choice.” Feng Bujue continued.

“You’ve seen her current martial arts skills.” Cao Qin stretched out a hand, gesturing towards the corpse over there, “Liao Master Feng, you should feel honored…without you, there would be no Lin Yan today.”

“Just keep talking about your mission.” Feng Bujue never turned to look at Lin Yan, but just stared at Cao Qin, communicating with him in an unfriendly tone.

“In the following ten years, Lin Yan’s martial arts skills improved by leaps and bounds. Her comprehension was extremely high. She started building her foundation with *Ming Chen Xuan Gong* (Profound Life Stellar Art) at the age of six, and received countless true teachings from me…By the time she was eighteen, there were few people in the martial world who could compare with her.” Cao Qin continued, “And most importantly, she was very obedient…In contrast to hatred, she was full of gratitude for me, her ‘savior’ and ‘teaching master’. As long as it was a task I asked her to perform, she would complete it without hesitation.”

“If I’m not mistaken…‘King Yama’ was born at that time, right?” Feng Bujue asked.

“Exactly.” Cao Qin replied, “The existence of Burial Heart Valley, and the legend of ‘King Yama’s’ immortality…were all part of the plan.” He took another sip of wine, and looked at Brother Jue with a strange look, “You should be able to understand that those techniques for eternal youth are no longer ‘martial arts’, but ‘Dao’. As for me…I only entered the Dao through martial arts after I was over fifty years old. Lin Yan can be considered to have benefited from me…In order to keep her young and show her ‘ageless’ appearance, I would pass on a portion of Xuan Dao power to her every year, and instruct her to meet with all the residents of Burial Heart Valley every month, so that they could witness it.”

“But doing so…is different from true longevity, right?” Feng Bujue continued.

“Of course it’s different.” Cao Qin said, “Didn’t you just see it…Once the power is gone, her body will age exponentially.”

“In short…you are overdrawing her lifespan in advance.” Feng Bujue said.

“I have no choice…After all, the Dao heart is different from martial arts, and it’s not something that people of her age can easily cultivate.” Cao Qin raised his hand, “In order to keep her young, this is the only way.”

“Then…what happened next?” Feng Bujue didn’t want to hear any more of this, so he asked another question.

Cao Qin continued calmly, “Twenty-one years ago, things in Burial Heart Valley were basically settled. I felt that the time was ripe, so I began to look for the second chess piece.” He looked up at the cherry tree beside him, as if recalling some past events, “That year was precisely the first year of Shengping. After the late Emperor passed away, the crown prince…that is, the current Emperor, had just ascended the throne. That was a year of killing. The court was filled with bloody storms, and countless heads fell…

“For ten months of that year, I was racking my brains to pin crimes on a group of people who had stood on the wrong side, and sending their entire families to the execution ground.”

“It wasn’t until December that I had some free time, disguised myself as a blind fortune teller, and went to wander around the Jianghu…”

“That’s when you chose Yuan Qi.” Feng Bujue interjected.

“Heh…” Cao Qin said, “It can also be said that Yuan Qi came to me himself.” He took another sip of wine, and then said, “Our meeting was indeed a coincidence. At first, I didn’t think he met my requirements very well, because he was really quite mediocre, and he was already quite old; but then I found out…precisely because of this, he was the best candidate—the more clearly a person recognizes their own mediocrity, the more they understand the value of opportunity. Furthermore…Yuan Qi himself already had half a set of *Ming Chen Xuan Gong* in his hands, which saved me a lot of trouble. I have to say…this is fate.”

“At this point…both chess pieces have been laid down.” Feng Bujue said.

“That’s right.” Cao Qin smiled, “What I had to do next…was to wait, waiting for the opportunity to arrive.”

“And the Emperor…chose the opportunity for you.” Feng Bujue continued.

“You seem to know something?” Cao Qin said.

“I knew from the beginning that the Emperor was the one pushing things behind this.” Brother Jue replied, “I think…he’s not really seriously ill, is he?”

“Hahaha…” Cao Qin laughed, “Amazing.”

“It’s nothing amazing, just a simple deduction.” Feng Bujue said, “If the Emperor really wanted to find some ‘elixir of immortality’, he would just ask you, the increasingly youthful Director of the Eastern Depot, why would he bother looking for some ‘King Yama’…” He paused, “Also, after listening to your explanation just now, I can basically confirm…the current Emperor also knows everything about King Yama’s affairs and the mission the late Emperor gave you. From this, it can be seen that this so-called ‘seeking elixir’ mission actually has another purpose…”

“Chatting with Liao Master Feng is so easy~” Cao Qin nodded, “You’re right…this journey is actually a ‘cleansing’ mission.” As he said this, his expression became slightly more serious, “The current Emperor is getting old, and he only has one young son under his knees, and he hasn’t officially established a crown prince. However, Prince Jin, Zhu Zhizha…is at his prime, and has a high reputation among the people. Although he himself has no intention of overstepping his bounds, there are many people in the court who want to push him and take the opportunity to rise to power.”

“Those civil officials are easy to deal with. I have a hundred ways to kill them; but those in the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Grand Military Commission, the Imperial Guards, and even my Eastern Depot…are not so easy to deal with.”

“At this moment, these people should all be dead, right?” Feng Bujue had also seen the corpses in the manor, so he guessed a thing or two.

“Hehe…of course.” Cao Qin said, “This trip to Burial Heart Valley, I gathered together several of the most important people to kill…Being able to solve them all at once is very worry-free.”

“Then what about the mission that the late Emperor gave you?” Feng Bujue asked again.

“That…” Cao Qin’s expression changed slightly, “I used the ‘elixir of immortality’ as bait to lure Yuan Qi to lead many martial artists to gather here, originally wanting them to fight the valley residents trained by Lin Yan to a mutually destructive end…Taking advantage of the situation to wipe out the first-class masters of the Central Plains martial world in one fell swoop.” He paused for two seconds, and then said, “Then, I just need to let Lin Yan establish a sect in the martial world…At most three years, she can unify the Jianghu.”

“In this way…the Jianghu will become something in your grasp.” Feng Bujue continued.

“No…it’s something in the Emperor’s grasp.” Cao Qin said, “…I’m just a person who does things.”

“Say what you want…” Feng Bujue said, “But…now Lin Yan is dead.”

“Yes, she’s dead.” Cao Qin said.

“Then who will be the supreme master of the martial world?” Feng Bujue said.

“Hehe…anyone can do it, but you can’t.” Cao Qin laughed.

“Why?” Feng Bujue asked knowingly.

“Because you are an uncontrollable person.” Cao Qin said, “Even I…am afraid of people like you.”

“So…” Feng Bujue gestured for the other party to continue.

“So…” Cao Qin finished the last sip of wine in the pot, “You better just die here.”

“I thought we were friends.” Feng Bujue said.

“We do have a friendship, and if possible…I wouldn’t want to kill you.” Cao Qin said, “But for my ideal, I must kill you.”

“Ideal?” Feng Bujue put on a dead fish eye, “You, a person who has entered the Dao, are still diligently working for the imperial court, I won’t complain about that…” He chuckled twice, “But…you actually say you have an ideal?”

Yes, of course Cao Qin had an ideal.

As mentioned earlier, he was a transcendent person.

Fame, fortune, wealth, and glory were no longer important to him.

He already had invincible martial arts.

Beautiful women…let’s not mention this.

In short, those things that most people in the mundane world pursue are no longer pursuits for him.

However, Cao Qin still had an ideal.

What he considered was more of an “idea” than a personal “ideal.”

“Scholars use literature to disrupt the law, and warriors use martial arts to violate the ban.” Cao Qin’s voice suddenly became high-pitched, and his eyes became very sharp, “One word decides…can eliminate party strife. Unifying the Jianghu can eliminate the so-called ‘Jianghu’ in the world.”

“It’s easy to kill people, but it’s difficult to conquer their hearts; Burial Heart Valley, buries not only people, but also hearts.”

“I said…I have plenty of time, even if it takes another fifty or a hundred years, I will complete all of this.”

“When I succeed, my Great Ming Dynasty will be able to last for thousands of years, and the country will be prosperous and the people will be at peace.”

“Good~ Ah~ That’s very well said.” Feng Bujue put his hands in his pockets, tilted his head and said, “But when that time really comes, won’t you yourself…become a heretic that must be eliminated under this system?”

“You…don’t need to worry about that…” Cao Qin said, throwing away the wine pot in his hand, and releasing his inner breath.

In that instant, the surrounding cherry blossoms collapsed like snow, and the light mist in the sky swirled like a vortex.

The dawn of the early morning also fell from the sky at this time…

For many years, this was the first time Cao Qin had used his power in a serious manner. Because he knew…the opponent in front of him was worthy of him doing so.

“Liao Master Feng, no need to be polite.” In the chaotic falling flowers, Cao Qin flipped his palm once, “In today’s battle between you and me, life and death are determined by fate, with no regrets!”