Immortals

Seeing Thousand Faces lose his composure, Lin Xiangwen was not pleased either. "Master, do even you despise me? Is fancying women truly so noble? Does someone like me deserve to die?" Looking at Lin Xiangwen, whose words turned the natural order on its head, Thousand Faces felt his hands tremble. He dearly wanted to slap this fellow, whose thinking was far too modern, straight into the afterlife. Yet after all, the man was still a Master of Martial Studies at Bailudong Academy whose cover remained intact. Holding onto that position carried immense value. Thousand Faces had no choice but to swallow his anger for the time being. "You... Forget it, have it your way. Xiangwen, I will offer you only one piece of advice: of the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the worst." Lin Xiangwen sneered. "My family has no imperial throne to inherit, so what use are descendants? Master, if I were thinking of carrying on the family line, I wouldn't have pledged my loyalty to you in the first place." Thousand Faces: "..." Sound and well-reasoned; there was no refuting it. "Master, isn't defying convention and orthodoxy the very tradition of our Sacred Cult? Have you stayed at the academy for so long that you've begun looking at things from the court's perspective?" Sensing that Thousand Faces's villainy was veering oddly righteous, Lin Xiangwen urged him in all earnestness, "Master, do not forget: we are the villains here." "Impudent wretch! Our Sacred Cult is by no means villainous—we are righteous champions delivering the myriad people into well-being!" Thousand Faces spoke with solemn indignation. "Xiangwen, your understanding of the Sacred Cult's doctrines is shallow, so I do not blame you for this misunderstanding. But you must know that our Sacred Cult walks a bright and open road; we are no mere conspirators and rebels." Lin Xiangwen: "..." He felt his master was deeply unwell. Deceiving others was one thing, but how had he managed to deceive himself? One look at Lin Xiangwen's expression told Thousand Faces that the man had not taken his earnest teachings to heart in the slightest and felt no sense of belonging to the Sacred Cult, prompting him to knit his brows. The Sacred Cult's ideological instruction had truly been neglected. "Xiangwen, do you believe the Sacred Cult's teachings are entirely deceitful?" Lin Xiangwen hurriedly shook his head. "This disciple wouldn't dare." Though he claimed he wouldn't dare, Thousand Faces could tell that was precisely what he thought. And so Thousand Faces let out a heavy sigh. "Most people under heaven think just as you do. Kept in the dark by the court, they haven't realized that an age of chaos draws near, and that they will soon become sacrificial offerings for Great Yu's imperial clan." A bewildered look crossed Lin Xiangwen's eyes. "Master, this disciple does not understand." "In this world, has there ever been a dynasty that could endure for a thousand years?" Thousand Faces gave a cold sneer. "Over this past millennium, how many problems has Great Yu accumulated? The empire's thousand-year history is a history of strife between civil and martial officials, succession struggles, and conflicts between the court and the jianghu. That is to say nothing of the growing danger posed by the expanding Nine Heavens, the perpetuation of an imperial clan handed down through a thousand years, and the unrelenting exploitation of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants. Great Yu may appear formidable on the outside, but in truth, it is as precarious as stacked eggs, already teetering on the brink." Lin Xiangwen reminded him, "Master, the imperial court has immortals presiding over it." Across the realm, this had never been a secret. Thousand Faces had known Lin Xiangwen would bring this up and sneered again. "And what if something has gone wrong with the immortals behind the court?" Lin Xiangwen froze. That was something he had truly never considered. "The environment between heaven and earth has shifted drastically. For an immortal to remain in this world today is immeasurably harder than it was a millennium ago. Do you believe immortals can live forever? Have you ever considered the price paid for an immortal's longevity?" Watching Lin Xiangwen sink into deep thought, Thousand Faces pointedly pressed, "In this world, everything comes at a price. Who do you think will bear that cost—the imperial family, or the common people under heaven?" Lin Xiangwen answered without hesitation, "Inevitably, the common people." "And if the common people can no longer bear it in the end, while the immortals behind the court lack the power to suppress the realm?" Thousand Faces asked. A shudder ran through Lin Xiangwen. "Beacon fires will blaze, and dragons and serpents will rise from the earth." He understood. No wonder the Demon Cult was so bullheaded. He had known it was impossible for the entire cult to be made of fools. It was simply that the Demon Cult possessed knowledge ordinary people could never hope to access. "A dynasty already rotten to its core cannot quell a chaotic age. Only by thoroughly overthrowing it—destroying the old to establish the new—can order be rebuilt and new life brought to the realm's people. And as for this monumental duty, who else could take it up if not our Sacred Cult?" Thousand Faces's tone was brimming with confidence. Lin Xiangwen could not tell whether Thousand Faces was duping him or genuinely believed it. Even so, he had gleaned something from the words. He tentatively probed, "Master, behind our Sacred Cult... are there immortals supporting us as well?" Thousand Faces smiled faintly. "'Maitreya descends to earth; the Bright King manifests in the world.' Did you truly think that was merely a slogan? The imperial court pursues and corners our Sacred Cult relentlessly, yet they have never dared to completely ban the faith in Maitreya. Have you ever wondered why?" Lin Xiangwen was a Master of Martial Studies at Bailudong Academy, after all, and was not entirely ignorant. He replied, "The court's private line is that the Buddhist sect opposed it, and because the Buddhist sect forged good ties with His Majesty before his ascension, it was awkward for His Majesty to completely burn that bridge." Thousand Faces gave a low chuckle. "Do you believe that explanation?" Lin Xiangwen said nothing. He had believed it before. Could an official explanation truly be false? Now, he had his doubts. Thousand Faces instructed him, "Today, your master will teach you a principle: nine times out of ten, whatever the authorities deny is the truth." Lin Xiangwen: "..." His master truly was a grand villain of the Demon Cult. "In time, you will see it even more clearly. Great Yu no longer possesses the dominion it once had. Those who dare provoke the court and walk away unscathed will only multiply. I am merely the beginning—and I will be a landmark etched into the annals of history." At this, Thousand Faces lifted his chin slightly. Evidently, leaving his name in history brought him immense satisfaction. Lin Xiangwen struggled to keep his composure. "Master, even if that is the case, Nine Heavens should still be exceptionally strong, shouldn't they?" Thousand Faces nodded. "Great Yu will need Nine Heavens more than ever before." Lin Xiangwen understood the meaning behind those words. The more turbulent and precarious the times grew, the more martial force was required for suppression. For a thousand years, Nine Heavens had been the imperial court's sharpest divine sword guarding the nation. Yet Thousand Faces shifted the topic. "But once Nine Heavens slips its leash, will this divine sword guarding the realm turn and pierce the court itself?" Lin Xiangwen weighed his words carefully. "The court should have means to check and balance Nine Heavens." "When nothing was wrong with the immortals, of course they did. Now? Highly doubtful. Which of the Heavenly Rankings grandmasters isn't an exceptional figure? And those youths in Nine Heavens—every last one of them possesses the eyes of a hawk and the gait of a wolf, harboring boundless ambition." At this point, Thousand Faces laughed aloud. "Think about it: if an idiot should emerge among the imperial clan and attempt to suppress Nine Heavens, what would the consequences be?" Lin Xiangwen shook his head. "No member of the imperial family could be so foolish. The imperial clan and Nine Heavens are practically one and the same. When Heavenly Sword blinded the princess, Nine Heavens was able to shield him, and the imperial family raised no apparent objection. When Qi Shiyun provoked the Crown Prince, she wasn't punished either." "It isn't that there was no objection; it was simply suppressed. Nor was it that the Crown Prince didn't wish to punish Qi Shiyun; the Emperor simply held him back." Thousand Faces smiled once more. "Yet fools will always emerge. Do you truly believe our Sacred Cult has spent all these years building its foundation only in Jiangzhou?"