Chapter 28: The Death of Zhang Gui

“Too strong!”

“Is this the true power of the Chief Eunuch?”

“As expected of the one I seek to follow. Currently, I, Chu Xiao, am only third on the Yellow List, but sooner or later, I will be like my foster father—first on the Martial List, at the absolute pinnacle of the world, clashing with Grandmasters...”

“Hahaha!”

“If I cannot sever the fate of the Great Liang empire today, then I shall wait until I become a Peak First-Rank expert and my foster father becomes a Grandmaster of his generation. Then, I shall turn this Great Liang upside down!”

The effeminate eunuch, Chu Xiao, laughed wantonly, consumed by excitement. His robes snapped in the wind as his body moved like a streak of flowing light and lightning, chasing after the direction in which the purple-robed figure had vanished.

Behind him.

Su Chen, who had originally been fleeing, came to an abrupt halt. After a moment of silence, he did not look toward the direction where the purple robe had disappeared, but instead looked toward the distant Library Pavilion, letting out a faint, hollow sigh.

“With your innate lifespan, you should have had one month left to live...”

“Why go to such lengths!”

At this moment, the experts of the world had gathered inside and outside the Imperial City, waiting for the result of that battle, witnessing with their own eyes the peerless grace of the number one purple-robed supervisor, the world's greatest traitor, Zhang Gui.

However.

Only Su Chen knew.

“Zhang Gui has reached his limit.”

“Clashing palms with the Great Demon consumed the very last of his lifespan!”

“He is dying!”

Su Chen, who had intended to flee outside the Imperial Palace, stopped his pace and changed direction, walking toward the quietest and most secluded corner of the palace—the Library Pavilion where he had resided for nine years.

Sure enough.

The Library Pavilion was empty.

Only a purple-robed figure remained, hands clasped behind his back, looking up at the moon, waiting for Su Chen's arrival beneath the sole hibiscus tree in the courtyard.

The pinnacle of the world, the purple-robed Zhang Gui.

A terrifying powerhouse destined to become a Grandmaster.

However.

He had no future left.

“You came.”

Zhang Gui turned around and smiled slowly at Su Chen, who stood outside the Library Pavilion wearing a ghost mask and black robes. He looked exactly as he had when they first met: eyes like deep pools, a smile playing on his lips, and a bottle of Bai Ru wine hanging from his waist.

The bottle of Bai Ru wine was covered in blood.

Beneath his robes, Zhang Gui’s Path of the Body was complete; his First-Rank, flawless physique was seeping blood incessantly. The skin beneath his clothes was like shattered porcelain, riddled with bloody fissures...

“This bottle of wine was kept specifically for you.”

“Originally, I intended to invite the Emperor to his death, slaughter the foundations of Great Liang, and then drink this with you. But I didn't expect that this battle would claim a dozen Grandmasters—cough, cough—and even myself...”

In this short interval, Zhang Gui's purple robes had been soaked through with blood, the viscous liquid dripping and pooling around his feet like a crimson lake.

Even so.

Zhang Gui maintained his smile as he looked at Su Chen, as if he were not a man on the brink of death.

“Here!”

“This wine is still drinkable.”

“Fortunately, before I die, I have fulfilled the promise I made to you back then. I have one less regret! I said if I became the number one purple-robed supervisor, I would grant you the red robe of the world's number two...”

Su Chen took the Bai Ru wine. For the first time, he felt how heavy this wine was, and how icy Zhang Gui's palm felt.

In his vision.

Zhang Gui, who was already like a flickering candle in the wind, had nothing left but the spark of his spirit.

Even he could not save him.

“I cannot save you.”

Su Chen's voice was somewhat raspy.

Even though Longevity True Qi could accelerate the growth of thousand-year treasures and protect the heart meridians to sustain life, there were things it could not do. This was the matter of innate lifespan.

“I know.”

“You have the means to extend the lifespan of the living and boost vitality.”

“But my Heaven-Swallowing Demonic Art is too domineering; it does not burn lifespan, but innate lifespan. Otherwise, with my talent, no matter how brilliant, it would have been impossible to achieve the Peak Dual First-Rank status in my thirties, let alone fight a Grandmaster...”

Beneath the hibiscus tree, Zhang Gui looked up at the bright moon and reached out his right hand. His gaze was dazed, as if he were trying to grasp the moon, as he spoke softly.

“I just wanted to see you one last time before I die—my only friend in this life.”

In the courtyard, Su Chen sat on a stone chair. He brushed the dust off his teacup, poured the blood-stained bottle of Bai Ru wine, and drank in silence, listening in silence.

“My name isn't actually Zhang Gui. It's Chu Gui. Chu of the borderland Chu Kingdom!”

“To obtain the thousand-year treasures appearing in the Chu Kingdom, the Emperor Tianwu directly ordered the border armies to massacre the Chu Kingdom. Of all the Chu royalty, I was the only one who managed to escape to the Liang Kingdom...”

“To seek revenge, I assumed another's identity and became a eunuch, acting with extreme caution, hoping to settle the score. But without the resources of the Chu Kingdom, no matter how gifted in martial arts I was, I was no different from the dust of the earth...”

“I had lost all hope, but then I met you. I gained opportunities, soared to the heavens, and obtained wealth, cultivation, and power—everything.”

“Do you know?”

“When I learned of the old Emperor's death, I was prepared to give up on my revenge.”

“But then I discovered a secret...”

Su Chen knew clearly that this secret was that the old Emperor had not died. The Jianwu Emperor was actually the Tianwu Emperor; this old emperor had assumed the identity of his fifth son, killed his seventh son to take his heart and liver, and ruled as the restorer of Great Liang for nine years.

“The Jianwu Emperor is actually the Tianwu Emperor, isn't he?”

Su Chen said.

“Hahaha!”

Zhang Gui looked at Su Chen and laughed.

“No!”

“No!”

“I never thought that you, who cares for nothing—neither power nor beauty—would actually investigate this. I thought there was nothing left in this world that you cared about.”

“But it really isn't. There was never any Jianwu Emperor, or Tianwu Emperor, or even the previous generation's Liangwen Emperor, or the one before that, Liangyu Emperor. None of these people existed.”

“There was only the founding ancestor of Great Liang, who is also the Great Demon you saw within the Tianwu Tower. Of course, he was once a human...”

“Great Liang has never had a succession of emperors. Why did the deposed seventh prince die? Why did the number one purple-robed supervisor treat him as if he were nothing? It's because he was not the emperor meant to succeed!”

“The Liang Ancestor obtained some sinister method; he continuously killed his offspring, consuming their hearts and livers to replace their identities. In this way, Liangyu Emperor, Liangwen Emperor, Tianwu Emperor, and Jianwu Emperor lived on for three hundred years...”

“Through three hundred years of dynastic changes, among all those emperors, that useless seventh prince was actually the only true successor—the second emperor of Great Liang. But not long after, the Liang Ancestor ascended as the Jianwu Emperor under the identity of the fifth son, correcting everything back to the proper track...”

“This...” Su Chen's eyes widened abruptly.

Great Liang had always been ruled by a single emperor. He had guessed wrong!

Great Liang held such a profound secret?

A single emperor, transformed into a demon, surviving for three hundred years.

“A pity.”

“The seven of us Grandmasters, plus the two insiders from the Tianwu Tower, the two Chief Eunuchs, and several other First-Rank foundations who defected—we all struck on the night of the full moon. Yet, even with a dozen Minor Grandmasters, we still could not win this game!”

Blood flowed from all seven of Zhang Gui's orifices, but he did not care. His eyes, like deep pools, turned toward the bare hibiscus tree in the courtyard, his gaze turning dazed once more.

“Su Chen, oh Su Chen!”

“Though I do not know what secrets you hold, nine years have passed, and I have aged to look like a man in his thirties, yet you still look like the youth I first met.”

“Do try to be more careful!”

“After I am gone, there will be no one left to protect you or clean up your messes in the shadows...”

At this moment, Zhang Gui's face withered rapidly. His jet-black hair turned snow-white, the color spreading quickly. In an instant, his flesh withered, and he took on the appearance of a decaying old man, radiating the aura of approaching death.

“I really want to see the hibiscus flowers of the Chu Kingdom bloom one last time...”

Zhang Gui's eyes gradually lost their light as he prepared to die.

“Sigh.”

“So that's how it is.”

“No wonder those deputy supervisors who disappeared in the Library Pavilion never caused much of a stir in the palace...”

Su Chen drank the last mouthful of Bai Ru wine. His heart felt heavy; he had never felt this wine so bitter.

In the next instant.

A wisp of white True Qi was injected into the bare branches of the hibiscus tree. Suddenly, white leaves bloomed, and hibiscus flowers shimmering with silver light burst forth upon the canopy.

In the courtyard, a hundred flowers bloomed and ten thousand leaves turned green; the hibiscus tree shone brilliantly under the moon.

“Su Chen! Live well, and carry my portion with you...”

“These hibiscus flowers are so beautiful!”

“A pity... I can no longer... drink Bai Ru wine... with you...”

Su Chen stepped forward, looking at the withered, purple-robed figure standing with hands behind his back, admiring the flowers. He had already breathed his last.

Zhang Gui was dead.

At that moment, the Bai Ru wine in Su Chen's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Drip, drip.

It was raining!

Su Chen watched the rain falling from the sky, looking as if he were both crying and laughing. The heavy, hollow feeling in his heart refused to dissipate.

He slumped to the ground, leaning against the blooming hibiscus tree. The rain washed over him, soaking his eyes.

“Why is this rain salty... why is it so salty...”

“Why is the Bai Ru wine so bitter tonight!”

For the first time in nine years, an intense sense of pain and discomfort surged within him.

This intense emotion tormented him too deeply!

That night.

The 3rd day of the 7th month, the 7th year of Jianwu.

Night.

A torrential downpour.

The Thousand-Year Ginseng King in Su Chen's arms slowly withered. Thirty-two strands of Longevity Qi emerged from the treasure, merging into Su Chen's body. One hundred strands of Longevity True Qi gathered together.

The Longevity Seed, which had grown roots, trembled at this moment and grew rapidly, becoming an inch long, resembling a small sapling.

On this night, the bottleneck of the Path of Qi, where Su Chen had been stuck for nine years, finally loosened.

One hundred strands of Longevity Qi converged, flowing through his entire body like rivers, lakes, and seas.

He had reached the Fourth Realm!