Chapter 715: The Foundation of a Legacy

[’Alright, alright. Next time for sure.’]

Su Zhou gave a perfunctory nod, while Liu Li answered his previous question. [’As for how to find that Space-Time Realm, we don’t have a precise method ourselves. However, we can give you a general idea of the situation.’]

[’Come. Touch this Jade Marrow Seal Pearl. The Sunset Bow will show you a glimpse of the other side of space and time.’]

[’Alright.’] At those words, Su Zhou stepped forward without hesitation, reached out, and touched the Jade Marrow Seal Pearl.

Then, he saw it—fragments that seemed to have been transmitted from the far side of space and time.

——A crimson glow like blood, a world of red filling his vision. Searing flames burned, turning everything in their path to charcoal and corpses.

——A planet shrouded in dark, ominous clouds. Beneath them, the light of a fire flickered, as if consuming an entire continent.

——The final scene was of what looked like a pitch-black, deep sea. A colossal creature struggled within, rising from the superheated water as it fought to break its bonds and breach the surface.

Each fragment lasted only a fleeting moment. Pulled across space and time by the Sunset Bow, they had lost too much information in transit.

Su Zhou released his hand from the Jade Pearl. He took a few steps back, closed his eyes, and frowned, replaying the three fragments in his mind.

[’That’s it?’] The young man opened his eyes and said in astonishment, [’With just this, you expect me to search through dozens of Space-Time Realms—not to mention potentially making interstellar voyages—to find a branch of the Human Race that could be God-knows-where?’]

[’I take it back. Whoever wants this job can have it. Honestly, this is harder than finding a needle in a haystack...’]

[’Five times.’] Liu Li replied calmly, raising one hand and spreading five fingers. His tone suggested, ’It’s not my money, so why not spend it?’ He continued his Soul Communication with Su Zhou, [’You’re the Chief of the Security Bureau’s Special Operations Division, correct? If you find the members of the Human Race in that Otherworld, the Zhengguo Government will grant you five times the operational budget of the Security Bureau...’]

[’Done.’]

Before Liu Li had even finished his sentence, Su Zhou’s Soul Communication came through.

His tone was firm and calm, like a reef weathered by a thousand calamities. [’I’ll do it.’]

...

After Su Zhou left the Yuyuan Secret Realm and departed from Only Martial Town with Guan Wanjing and Fengg Qiang, Liu Li also exited the Secret Realm, appearing before the small building behind the village.

"Well?"

The voice of the Artifice Sage—or, to be precise, the voice representing the collective will of the Thirty-Six Saints of the Zhengguo Central Committee—emanated from the proxy terminal on his wrist. "What do you think of the boy?"

"He’s no boy. He’s in his twenties. Back in my day, a man his age would already have a son and be shouldering his responsibilities... What’s more, he’s stronger than I am, and not just by a little."

Liu Li replied in a magnetic voice that sounded nothing like an old man’s. He glanced in the direction Su Zhou had departed and gave a small smile. "All of you underestimated him in your reports. According to my Perception, his power has already surpassed the common definition of a Human Immortal. Among the Commander Tier, it’s basically impossible for any Cultivator to threaten him, unless they possess an Immortal God Inheritance. Hmm. I have nothing to teach him. He has his own way of fighting."

"Furthermore, both his body and his spirit are incredibly resilient, without a single opening... Hmph. He does have a soft spot. He may say ’I won’t do it,’ but I know for a fact that when he hears that ’someone is suffering,’ the discontented frown on his face is no lie."

"But that soft spot is no weakness. If necessary, he will kill. He would slaughter hundreds of thousands, millions, without a hint of remorse... After all, he has his ’double standards,’ hahahaha!"

As he spoke of "double standards," Liu Li roared with laughter, his voice like rolling thunder. It caused the distant Martial Artists in the training grounds to glance at one another, wondering why their old grandmaster was laughing so joyfully.

"Is that so? To think our ’Martial God’ would come to such a startling conclusion."

One could sense the Artifice Sage’s own surprise from within his electronic space. He chuckled as well. "So, in your opinion, is he a suitable candidate to be the next guardian of the ’Sunset Bow’?"

"Don’t say things like that while I’m still alive. Isn’t that bad luck?"

The old Martial Artist scoffed, then said without the slightest hesitation, "But if I were to die, or simply quit... then it would have to be him. No, more than that—it could *only* be him."

"Only someone like him—who harbors Compassion yet has no qualms about delivering a fatal blow, a man who carries a monstrous Evil Qi from who-knows-where and an immense amount of Desire Power—could ever hope to suppress such a peerless, vicious weapon."

"Is that so? You really don’t mind."

"After all, Time flows onward, and the years never look back. Even you, who have attained eternal life, are still searching for Fellow Cultivators. How much more so for those of us decaying in the mortal world? We must learn to understand ’letting go’ and ’inheritance’."

Having spoken these words softly, the old man flicked his sleeve and stepped forward, ascending into the sky one step at a time. He looked down upon the ancestral land of the Only Martial System, his gaze falling upon the young people below as they tempered their bodies and practiced their Spiritual Martial Arts on the training grounds. A serene smile touched his eyes.

"This... is what our civilization has left behind. The things that must never be forgotten."

——End of Volume 6: The Hallowed Legacy——