The Sixth Senior Brother's words left Chen Changsheng with a faint sense of foreboding.
However, this feeling didn't last long before he let it go.
Having walked the mortal world for decades, Chen Changsheng had learned one truth: when matters exceed your capabilities, they won't cease to happen just because you wish otherwise.
Rather than spending each day in worry, it's better to live happily, for time will reveal all truths.
Including whether his suspicions were correct.
...
Returning to Shangqing Temple, Chen Changsheng resumed his leisurely life.
His days were spent either reading in the Book Tomb or practicing the Nameless Fist Art of the Immortal Venerable of a Hundred Defeats to stay active.
Before Patriarch Primordial Spirit left for the border, he had taken more than half of Shangqing Temple's forces with him.
Thus, although Yuan Shan was still young, with Chen Changsheng's assistance, he could barely manage the temple's operations. Moreover, as Yuan Shan gained more experience, he matured rapidly. Before long, Chen Changsheng was able to step back and leave most responsibilities to him.
Yet, during this time, one thing defied Chen Changsheng's expectations: the war between the Great Qian Dynasty and the Kingdom of Nocturnal Moon lasted a full twenty years.
By the fifth year, even the long-secluded Transformation Spirit Patriarch had departed for the front lines.
...
Shangqing Temple, Book Tomb.
Chen Changsheng slowly placed the last book back on the shelf and stretched his stiff limbs.
Just then, a handsome, sharp-eyed young man in Taoist robes approached.
"Have you thought about what we discussed yesterday?" he asked.
Chen Changsheng glanced at him and replied flatly, "No."
"Why not?!" the young man exclaimed. "Ten years ago, you said I could go to the front lines once you finished reading all the books in the Book Tomb. Now you've read them all! Why can't I go? Don't forget, I'm the acting Temple Master of Shangqing Temple!"
Looking at the young man who was now shouting at him, Chen Changsheng smiled. "Twenty years have passed. The little boy who used to ask me about everything finally dares to slam the table and challenge me."
"Not bad. You've grown up."
Hearing this, the now-grown Yuan Shan's eyes reddened, his voice choked with emotion. "Seventh Senior Brother is dead. Fifth Senior Brother is blind. And our beloved Eldest Senior Brother lost an arm!"
"Brother Changsheng, I've reached the late Golden Core stage now. I can help them. I really don't want to see any more of my senior brothers get hurt..."
Seeing the tears welling in Yuan Shan's eyes, Chen Changsheng fell silent.
He had been closely following the situation at the border over the years. The Great Qian Dynasty was not faring well. Over a dozen Great Sages at the Nascent Soul stage had fallen in battle. There were even rumors that Transformation Spirit experts had begun to perish on the battlefield.
Such a brutal battlefield was no place for Yuan Shan. Sending him there would be sending him to his death. At that level of conflict, even Golden Core cultivators were merely higher-grade cannon fodder.
Just as Chen Changsheng was about to find another excuse to stop Yuan Shan, a familiar aura suddenly descended upon Shangqing Temple.
Sensing it, both Chen Changsheng and Yuan Shan rushed out to greet the newcomer.
But what they saw was their Third Senior Brother, drenched in blood, his left hand severed and his right eye gouged out.
"From this moment on, I am the Temple Master of Shangqing Temple," he declared, his voice hoarse but firm. "Ninth Junior Brother Song Yuanshan is appointed Deputy Temple Master."
"All branches of Shangqing Temple are to retreat three thousand li to the west!"
Their formerly lazy Third Senior Brother had become decisively authoritative, not even pausing to exchange greetings with his long-unseen junior brothers.
After issuing a series of commands, his tightly wound nerves finally relaxed.
Staring at their greatly changed Third Senior Brother, Yuan Shan approached him, trembling. "Third Senior Brother... where are Master and the others?"
Facing Yuan Shan's question, the Third Senior Brother replied in a raspy voice, "The Kingdom of Nocturnal Moon suddenly doubled their number of Nascent Soul experts for some reason."
"Master was ambushed by three late-stage Nascent Soul experts... and fell on Phoenix Mountain."
"Our senior brothers were operating together when we were ambushed. Eldest Senior Brother... detonated his core to create an opening for me to escape."
"The Great Qian Dynasty has been defeated. They've ceded five thousand li of territory from the border to the Kingdom of Nocturnal Moon as compensation."
Hearing this news, Yuanshan felt the world spin around him.
He grabbed the Third Senior Brother's collar, shaking him violently. "And Master's body?! Why didn't you bring it back? Do you want his corpse to be turned into a puppet by the enemy?!"
The Third Senior Brother offered no resistance, only enduring the shaking in silence.
"Stop shaking him," Chen Changsheng's calm voice came from behind. "Any more, and you'll shake what's left of his life out of him."
Yuan Shan instinctively released his grip.
Turning around, he saw that Chen Changsheng had already fetched the lightning-struck wooden coffin from the back mountain.
Before Yuan Shan could process what Chen Changsheng intended to do, Chen Changsheng was already in front of the Third Senior Brother.
He took out a small porcelain bottle, poured a pill, and fed it to the injured man.
It was as if the devastating news hadn't affected Chen Changsheng at all.
"Your foundation is damaged," Chen Changsheng stated. "My skills aren't enough to heal you."
"The Kingdom of Nocturnal Moon's offensive is too fierce. Their goal can't be just five thousand li. They probably aim to annex the entire Great Qian Dynasty."
"Yuan Shan has good talent, but he's still somewhat childish. You must train him well over the next fifty years. The future of Shangqing Temple rests on him."
Having said that, Chen Changsheng stored the lightning-struck wooden coffin within his system space and turned to leave.
The dazed Third Senior Brother finally snapped back to reality. "Chang Sheng! What are you doing?" he cried out.
Chen Changsheng paused, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.
"I'm going to retrieve Master and our senior brothers' bodies."
"Don't laugh, Senior Brother, but before I came to Shangqing Temple, my original trade was selling coffins."
"That lightning-struck wooden coffin... I prepared it in advance for Master. It seems it will serve its purpose now."
"We cultivate immortality seeking eternal life. Everyone thinks that with longevity comes great freedom, not realizing that immortality itself is the greatest suffering."
"This world is a sea of bitterness. To live forever means to float endlessly upon its waves."
"Master and the others have been liberated from this sea. We should be happy for them."
He paused again, then turned back and offered the Third Senior Brother a brilliant smile.
"I remember a story you once told us about the cultivation world, Third Senior Brother. You even used it to scare Yuan Shan."
"You said there exists a mysterious figure in the cultivation world, one who collects the bodies of those whose time has come."
"His appearance alone heralds impending death."
"No one knows his true name. They only know him as..."
"The Undertaker."