Could You Grant Me Youth Once More?

Outside the pavilion, the wind and snow blew as before. A palm-sized round crystal rested quietly upon the stone table. Li Yaoxuan stared at it in silence, watching the faint yet starlike radiance upon it. Emotions churned and surged within his chest; ten thousand words rose in his throat, yet he knew not where to begin. In the past, he would have laughed heartily and teased the man for having secretly devised such a miniature miracle of communication. In the present, he ought to feel panic—panic that the Prime Minister's Manor, which he and Xu Yinhe had built up together, had at some unknown point become a war behemoth that made the whole world tremble. Yet Li Yaoxuan felt none of that. He felt only a profound exhaustion. The youthful, reckless dream of trampling Jiangnan beneath iron hooves had finally been realized at the end of his days by the comrade who had walked alongside him throughout his life. He could not say he felt gratification or touched, nor could he say he felt panic or suspicion. There was only exhaustion. Rising in silence, his Imperial Dragon cloak brushing against the drifting snow crystals, Li Yaoxuan stood at the entrance of the pavilion. In an indescribable tone, he murmured faintly, "Chancellor, it is too late..." "..." In silence, Xu Yinhe quietly gathered the crystal from the table. Without surprise in the depths of his eyes, he said calmly, "Before the word spread, I could no longer share this news with you." "I know." The tumultuous emotions in Li Yaoxuan's eyes gradually settled into stillness. "I have changed. I have become like the monarchs we once despised. Had you told me beforehand, I would not have colluded with the sects, but I would have passed the news to Zhaoyuan. How he would act, none could truly say." "..." Xu Yinhe gave no answer. Seeing this, Li Yaoxuan smiled. Just like the sudden ponderings that used to descend during their countless late-night talks by candlelight when they had labored together on grand ambitions, silence gradually spread between the two. Only, back then, the fire in his heart had been enough to burn the whole world, whereas now, only scattered embers remained. No one knew how much time passed. Gazing out at the vast, desolate snowfields beyond the pavilion, Li Yaoxuan spoke again: "Had you not come to the Great Yan Imperial Mausoleum, it would have been very difficult for me to make a move against you within Di'an City, and your chances of surviving would have been much greater." "No." "What?" "Had I committed regicide beforehand, my chances of surviving would have been greater still." "..." Li Yaoxuan was struck speechless. Stunned for a moment, Li Yaoxuan rubbed his brow and gave a helpless smile. "Sometimes your sense of humor truly leaves me between laughter and tears." Xu Yinhe showed no hint of jesting, stating in an even tone, "The person I am about to face is formidable—so formidable that the leeway in my hands could not afford your potential betrayal. Therefore, regicide would have been the only choice." At this stage, Li Yaoxuan felt neither lingering dread nor fury toward such treasonous words; instead, an inexplicable sense of relief washed over him. So, the other man had entertained murderous intent as well. Of course, Li Yaoxuan knew this was a deception, a self-deluding comfort, because it was he who had first strayed from their original aspiration. And so, Li Yaoxuan laughed—laughed heartily in the wind and snow: "Yinhe, you truly have never disappointed me." With that, Li Yaoxuan looked down at his decaying body: "In truth, over these past years, a voice deep inside me has always been waiting for you to kill the person I have become... Now it seems that Xu Yuan's rise was what allowed me to linger on in this world for a few extra years." "He created more leeway than imagined." "I can tell. Enough leeway for you to be willing to give up your own life." "Indeed." Xu Yinhe smiled from the bottom of his heart. "It is a pleasant surprise, is it not?" Li Yaoxuan saw the smug pride buried deep within the man's eyes. It was an emotion he had never once seen in this man, and the first thing today that provoked a flare of anger in his heart. He had racked his brains to hone the character of the next generation, forge their abilities, and support their faction—only for it to fall short of the son this man across from him had essentially raised on free rein? That brat Xu Yuan was as if gifted with celestial sight; every move he made landed squarely on the most crucial pivot of the world's great torrent. More importantly, the boy's rise had directly dismantled the Empress he had painstakingly paved the way for over twenty years. What the hell gave him the right? Taking a deep breath to force down the anger in his heart, Li Yaoxuan asked with a frosty face, "So your accepting my invitation to this banquet—did you come to persuade me to depart quietly?" Hearing this, all emotion vanished instantly from Xu Yinhe's eyes. He replied solemnly, "Not entirely." "Oh?" Li Yaoxuan was somewhat surprised. "Aside from wanting a dying man like me not to interfere with you, what else could you possibly want?" "..." To this question, Xu Yinhe gave no answer, merely looking at him. Perhaps due to his earlier irritation, Li Yaoxuan, who should have long grown accustomed to the other man answering with silence, felt a flicker of annoyance. Silence was a language, yet since antiquity it had always been ministers trying to fathom an emperor's mind. With them, ever since their youth, this chancellor of his had loved answering questions with silence, and he, the emperor, was the one left guessing. He had never thought much of it in the past, but right now he only felt that everything was completely upside down. Yet soon enough, Li Yaoxuan calmed down after all. As if recalling something, he lifted his gaze toward the horizon and smiled playfully: "I know... You want to persuade me to contend against that thing in the heavens?" "Wrong," Xu Yinhe interrupted. Confusion showed in Li Yaoxuan's eyes. "Then what are you here for?" Xu Yinhe remained quiet for a long while, seemingly hesitating, but in the end, he spoke: "Because of you." "Me?" Li Yaoxuan did not understand. Xu Yinhe looked at him and said softly, "I wish to accompany you on the final stretch of your life's path." "..." Li Yaoxuan turned his gaze back, dazed. Xu Yinhe's eyes were filled with complexity: "You have done far, far too much for the future of this realm, and you have sacrificed far, far too much. When leaving it, you should not be so alone..." Weng——! A majestic surge of qi dynamic burst forth, startling up a sky of swirling snow mist. Li Yaoxuan's pupils contracted sharply. Beneath his dragon robe, his fists clenched instantly. He whipped around to glare fixedly at the greying middle-aged man. There was no trace of being touched in his eyes—only the terrifying ferocity that belonged exclusively to an emperor. Should not die alone... What was this? Pity? Or sympathy? Li Yaoxuan's pride would not allow anyone to show such emotion toward him—even if that person was the comrade who had accompanied him all his life. Or rather, Li Yaoxuan's pride might allow anyone else to show him pity, but of all people, it could not be Xu Yinhe! The majestic qi dynamic surrounding the Sovereign of Great Yan stirred the world, and the wind and snow, which had been relatively quiet, turned violent in an instant! High in the firmament, a vortex began to form amid the snowclouds, like an eye from the heavens looking down quietly upon the two most powerful men in the realm. Even so, even as that gaze from the heavens gradually locked onto him, Li Yaoxuan's aura continued to climb higher and higher! The array formations hidden deep within the mausoleum beneath the wind and snow began to flash with brilliant light. Yet this was neither a killing array nor a trapping array. Li Yaoxuan's pride would not allow anyone to interfere with this final reckoning between him and Xu Yinhe, nor did he deign to rely on the power of an array to help him deal with this former comrade. The array constructed within the imperial mausoleum was merely the simplest yet grandest Life-Locking Great Array, allowing him to forcefully lock his condition in this final moment of his life. And just as it was about to reach the critical point— Shua! Li Yaoxuan drew a long blade from the void. A blade glow that illuminated the sky surged abruptly from the ground. The Overlord Blade cleaves the heavens! Endless might tore through everything like snapping rotten wood, cleaving the giant eye in the sky in two and disrupting its condensation. His imperial yellow cloak dancing wildly in the wind, Li Yaoxuan held his blade across toward the sky: "Whatever you are, stay to the side and watch for now!" Then, Li Yaoxuan pointed the blade at Xu Yinhe, squeezing five words through his teeth: "Say that again." "..." The wind and snow ruffled the greying hair at his temples. Confronted by this sudden fury, Xu Yinhe did not waver in the least, still looking at him quietly: "Yaoxuan... On this road, both you and I have lost too much. Those kinsmen and friends who turned to stone, those close companions who rotted away—all have departed. Of our original group, only you and I remain. "For this realm, you have sacrificed more than I have. "That you became what you are today is also due to my incompetence. "Therefore, I truly cannot bear to watch you leave this world alone." As his words drew to a close, Xu Yinhe stared at Li Yaoxuan, his pressed fingertips turning pale and trembling faintly. The catastrophe over twenty years ago had begun because of him. It was because he had been schemed against when attempting to break through beyond the Saint realm that all the ensuing events unfolded. His wife's death. The Emperor's wounds. Both had stemmed from that breakthrough attempt of his. That year, when the Sect Alliance set that lethal trap—a trap that should have been faced by the two of them together—the Li Yaoxuan of the past had calmly gone to the feast alone with just a single sentence. And that sentence echoed in his ears countless times as this final hour drew near. "I leave the future to you. Do not disappoint me." The roaring blizzard seemed capable of swallowing all things, yet within the pavilion, silence still reigned. The rising aura on Li Yaoxuan gradually came to a halt. Only because... He saw the faint reflection of a figure within those dark pupils. Amidst the silence, "Hahahahahahaha..." The Overlord Blade in Li Yaoxuan's hand, pointed at Xu Yinhe, dipped gently until it dragged along the ground. Clasping his forehead, he burst into laughter. Tragic, helpless, adrift... Emotions that should never have appeared on this cold-blooded sovereign were quietly laid bare in that laughter, and within that laughter, many memories returned to him... After that catastrophe, he had stopped attending imperial court and ceased granting audiences to the comrade with whom he had plotted grand feats. He had lied to himself, telling himself it was because of his unhealable wounds. Yet at this final moment of his life, Li Yaoxuan suddenly realized that those were all excuses. He was merely afraid of seeing the faint reflection mirrored in that man's eyes... The surging qi dynamic around Li Yaoxuan began to dissipate. In silence, he walked toward the stone stool he had left in the pavilion. Just as he was about to sit back down— Sou——! Without any warning, a dazzling streak sliced across the sky. It was a flash of lightning. Shot from Di'an, it pierced the heavens above the Great Yan Imperial Mausoleum. Seeing the lightning in the sky, Li Yaoxuan froze in the middle of sitting down, and his hand, which had relaxed its grip on the blade, tightened once more. That day in Weiyang Palace, the voice of the future new sovereign of Great Yan had rung cold in his ears: "I hope Imperial Father will not hesitate, just as you never permitted me to hesitate." Li Yaoxuan lowered his eyes. The man he had become was no longer worthy of sitting down. Since he had chosen this road, he must walk it to the very end. "Chancellor... my apologies." "..." The moment he saw the lightning, Xu Yinhe had already closed his eyes with a sigh. He knew what it signified, and so to the dying emperor's words, he merely smiled and nodded gently: "It does not matter. I have already paved the road for the future." His long hair trailing in the wind, Li Yaoxuan nodded in helpless resignation: "You have done so much for your brat. I cannot break my promise at the end of my life either." "..." Silence followed the words. The array lines rolling across the imperial mausoleum like subterranean dragons began to operate once more. At this instant, the auras of the Chancellor and the Emperor of Great Yan—the two mightiest men—began to surge. Throwing aside all reservation, they charged forward together toward the realm beyond Saint! This time, not a single sound arose. Snow slid from the upturned eaves of the pavilion. Everything unfolded in total silence. Just as both were about to break through beyond Saint, Li Yaoxuan's aura halted its ascent a step ahead. Even with the array locking his life, several decades of accumulated affliction left this peerless man unable to charge into that realm alongside his comrade. And so, he made the first move. At life's end, brothers turned their blades on one another. Li Yaoxuan looked at Xu Yinhe and laughed aloud: "Don't think of using your Dao charm to dodge! I devised a way to counter you long ago." Then, without hesitation, he swung the blade toward his old friend within the pavilion. This strike was very slow. No brilliance flashed, no waves of qi surged, and there was no world-destroying majesty. It looked just like an ordinary mortal brawl. Yet this strike made Xu Yuan's hair stand on end as he watched from hiding in the sky. It would kill. If struck by this strike from the Emperor, even if he entered his death state, he would very likely perish. It struck at the soul imprint. His father's black-hole-like domain technique probably could not block it, but based on his understanding of his father's spell system, evading it should not be difficult. Yet what happened next caused Xu Yuan's eyes to widen until they nearly tore at the corners. Because he discovered that his father was not dodging... One foot... Half a foot... Xu Yinhe stood quietly where he was, watching the Overlord Blade draw nearer. His eyes as he looked at his comrade were filled with an indescribable compassion; he made no move to evade. Li Yaoxuan realized what the other man intended. Out of guilt stemming from that catastrophe, this man had come here from the very beginning with the will to die. He could have killed him and done more for the future, yet for the sake of that dream long ago, he stretched his neck to await slaughter. Laughable guilt. Laughable action. Laughable obsession. For men like them, these things were truly too laughable. Thinking this, Li Yaoxuan accelerated the swing of the Overlord Blade. Yet very soon, he discovered something laughable. He, Li Yaoxuan, at this final end, actually saw once again the person reflected in that man's pupils... And this time, that silhouette was no longer blurred. It was so clear, so dazzling. It was who he had always been in the other's eyes. The prince who had once proclaimed, "In a flourishing realm, let the worthy rule." The sovereign who had once drafted a succession edict and calmly marched toward death. The Li Yaoxuan who should have died long ago! "Xu Yinhe——!" Stripped of all dignity, stripped of all imperial decorum, Li Yaoxuan roared ferociously at the man before him, his hand gripping the Overlord Blade accelerating once more. And then, the blade aimed at his comrade's neck... veered off. The edge slashed toward the sky. An invisible edge of light sank into the colossal eye in the heavens. The pavilion holding the lifelong comrades still stood. The two inside spoke no more words, nor did they need to. The handsome, martial Sovereign of Great Yan moved sluggishly toward the stone stool before him. The vast vitality and overwhelming sea of qi within him began to dissipate swiftly with each movement. He should have departed long ago, kept alive only by obsession. Now that the obsession was gone, the impetus supporting his forced prolongation of life vanished along with it. Wrinkles spread rapidly across Li Yaoxuan's handsome face. His upright frame stooped, and the decaying, rotting aura of death seeped into his clouded pupils. Walking the mere few feet to the stone stool left this old man, who had once stood at the summit of the world, staggering. Li Yaoxuan lifted his gaze toward his comrade, who remained straight and upright, the dazzling gleam still shining in his eyes. He chuckled softly: "Cough, haha... I thought you would come support me." Xu Yinhe stood before the stone table. The compassion in his eyes was gone, replaced only by a smile of long-awaited reunion: "You wouldn't have permitted it." Li Yaoxuan sat down on the stone stool by himself after all, nodding with a smile: "Indeed. I would not have permitted it." With that, Li Yaoxuan gripped the edge of the stone table with some difficulty, propping up his hunched back as he gazed at the churning eye in the sky: "Still, there are some regrets. Even at the end of my life, I never learned which of us was the pinnacle of cultivation among our generation." Xu Yinhe took his seat at an unhurried pace. "Since we walked the same path, what need was there to slaughter each other?" Li Yaoxuan shook his head, his hand gripping the edge of the stone table tightening unconsciously. "Merely curiosity. Along a road of withered bones, only you and I remained. Walking together without scheming, we could only compare cultivation... Tell me, between you and me, who was superior?" Xu Yinhe pondered for a moment, then answered, "It should be you." Hearing this, Li Yaoxuan laughed. As he laughed, he suddenly began to cough, hacking up two mouthfuls of blood. Wiping it away carelessly with the back of his withered hand, he chuckled again: "Were you not Xu Yinhe, I would have charged you with deceiving the sovereign at the very least." "You ask when you already know the answer." "Hahahaha..." With the blizzard shut out, the voices of the fading idealist and his lifelong comrade chatting casually, just as they had in their youth, drifted out from within the pavilion. They forgot past grudges, casually reminiscing about the past. Reminiscing about the departed old friends, one by one; reminiscing about the stories that were soon to draw to a close, one by one. There was no wine, no tea—only the vast, desolate wind and snow outside. Li Yaoxuan's hand on the stone table was already trembling, yet he remained seated straight and tall. Seeming to suddenly recall something, he asked, "Yinhe... Zhen... No, I have one more question to ask you." "Ask." "What made you become like this?" As he spoke, Li Yaoxuan glanced sideways toward the not-so-distant space, at the little brat who thought he was so well-hidden. "I remember you weren't like this in your youth..." Hearing this, Xu Yinhe fell silent for a short while, but answered truthfully, "Because of Qian'er." Li Yaoxuan smiled, with a touch of teasing, and quipped: "Because of love?" "A promise." Half-narrowing his eyes as he looked toward the horizon, as if seeing her who had passed away, Xu Yinhe wore a faint smile on his lips. "Qian'er said she admired my talent and revered my ideals. So long as I was willing to wed her, willing to become a good father and a good husband, even if I was merely acting, she would become my greatest support." "And you agreed?" "Yes." "Haha... you're ridiculous..." Hearing the answer that had perplexed him for decades, Li Yaoxuan chuckled softly in spite of himself. At the same time, his body began to stoop uncontrollably, yet he kept laughing: "So... all of this... was an act?" This time, Xu Yinhe did not hesitate, speaking two gentle words: "No." "Is that so..." Hearing this, Li Yaoxuan froze, his throat bobbing up and down. His mouth opened as though he wanted to say more, but everything before his eyes was already blurring. Death always arrived abruptly. Li Yaoxuan strove with sheer willpower to hold himself steady; he still had so much left undone, so much left unsaid. Yet amidst a spell of dizzying vertigo, the emperor who had inaugurated the Jiajing Restoration finally collapsed limply toward the side of the stone table... This time, Xu Yinhe caught him in an instant. Li Yaoxuan had not built a mausoleum tomb for himself. In the vast imperial grounds, the only structure was this single pavilion. The greying middle-aged man half-knelt, gently lowering his lifelong comrade onto the pavilion's icy stone floor. Yet to all of this, Li Yaoxuan was already oblivious. Yet his clouded eyes remained open, his gaze seeming to pierce through the pavilion roof to behold his entire life. The monster of power seated upon the throne in the dim depths of the imperial palace. The ambitious new sovereign of Great Yan who had just claimed the Nine Tripods. And... the prince who sang beneath the moon, with the world in his grasp. Li Yaoxuan realized his life had been too long—so long that as he departed this world, he could barely discern the past; yet he also felt his life had been too short—so short that he could not see with his own eyes the future he had yearned for. At this final moment, the question he had asked at the very beginning suddenly rang in Li Yaoxuan's ears... "To achieve this vision, what are you willing to sacrifice?" And the young prince's utterly resolute answer echoed alongside it. "Everything." "...Everything." Looking at his youthful self, the fading emperor's eyes slowly widened. Murmuring that initial answer, he struggled to raise his hand to grasp toward the heavens. It was as though he wanted to exert every ounce of strength to clutch that dream of his youth! Yet that obsession finally fell limp and powerless... Before long, that arc of lightning shot into the heavens began to spread, merging with the colossal eye above. Heavenly punishment descended. The Great Yan Imperial Mausoleum became a colossal abyss. In the early days of the twelfth month of the forty-seventh year of Jiajing, the Emperor passed away.