“I sent a voice transmission to Elder Zhang Fan. Why didn’t he come?”
Only after Li Yao had finished speaking with her mother did Lin An ask the question that had been troubling him.
“Elder Zhang Fan had to leave the sect on important business, so he wasn’t there. That’s why he contacted me right away and asked me to come provide support.”
Li Yao briefly explained the situation.
Lin An nodded slightly. As long as Zhang Fan hadn’t been injured, that was all that mattered.
Although he was eager to receive a return on his investment, he didn’t want anything to happen to Zhang Fan either.
“Master, what are you planning to do next?”
Li Yao glanced at the ruins around them.
The city was now nothing more than a dead city. Only a handful of people had survived.
So many people had died unjustly. Before long, this place would become a land filled with gathered resentment, no longer suitable for ordinary people to live in.
“What else can we do? Of course we have to move.”
Lin An shook his head helplessly.
There was no way they could stay here anymore. They had no choice but to find somewhere else.
“Where are you planning to move? I’ll escort you there.”
Li Yao couldn’t simply abandon Lin An and his mother. She intended to make sure they were settled before returning to the sect.
“The imperial capital.”
Lin An thought for a moment before giving his answer.
At the very least, it was the capital of an entire kingdom. Surely no reckless demonic cultivator would try to blood-sacrifice the imperial capital.
For an imperial dynasty to be established in a cultivation world, there had to be powerful cultivators backing the royal family.
So living in the imperial capital should be much safer than staying in a major city.
“Very well. We’ll go to the imperial capital.”
Li Yao nodded without the slightest doubt about Lin An’s decision.
The rest was simple.
The Lin Residence had been destroyed, so there was no need to bring along any money or valuables.
Most of the servants who had worked at the Lin Residence had been hired from the surrounding villages. They were simply given some money and dismissed.
Only Li Yao’s mother and a few servants who had no family of their own chose to follow Lin An to the imperial capital.
As they traveled from the Lin Residence to the outskirts of the city, Lin An saw countless bones scattered along the road. There were the remains of both the elderly and children, and the sight was utterly tragic.
This was the first time Lin An had personally experienced the cruelty of the cultivation world.
“If you don’t stand at the very peak of strength, you’re ultimately nothing more than an ant.”
After sighing, he stopped looking at the devastation.
The journey from Yan’an City to the imperial capital was far from peaceful. There were bandits and demonic beasts along the way, but with Li Yao escorting them, they encountered virtually no danger.
However, Lin An did see many things along the road that he had never witnessed in Yan’an City.
Fertile farmland had become wasteland, with bones exposed in the wilderness.
Refugees could be seen everywhere.
“Hasn’t the drought ended?”
Lin An looked at Li Yao in confusion.
Now that the disaster was over, the people should have been able to settle down again. Why had everything become more chaotic the farther they traveled from Yan’an City?
“The drought has ended, but the wars haven’t.”
“After two years of severe drought, rebellions and banditry have broken out everywhere. The various feudal princes and warlords are showing signs of slipping free from the imperial court’s control.”
“Yan’an City lies within the territory governed by the Qingxuan Sect, so it’s relatively stable.”
“That’s why the outside world isn’t as peaceful as you imagined, Master.”
Li Yao had traveled extensively, so naturally she knew far more about the situation than Lin An.
This was the first time Lin An had heard any of this. He had previously been content to live as a wealthy landowner and had never imagined that the outside world had changed so drastically.
“Then isn’t the imperial capital dangerous as well?”
He looked at Li Yao. If the imperial capital was also in danger, he felt they should find somewhere else to live.
“The royal family has a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator guarding it. Compared with other major cities, the imperial capital is definitely safer.”
Li Yao’s explanation dispelled Lin An’s concerns.
Although rebellions had broken out across the various regions, no faction dared to attack the imperial capital outright. At most, they were merely raising troops and strengthening their own positions.
Only then did Lin An feel somewhat reassured.
After traveling for more than half a month, they finally arrived at the imperial capital.
Li Yao’s identity as a direct disciple of the Qingxuan Sect proved extremely useful. When the emperor learned that she had arrived in the capital, he even wanted to personally host a banquet for her.
Li Yao refused. She had little interest in dealing with such pointless banquets.
However, she did make Lin An and her mother’s identities known in a very public manner. As the personal disciple of the Qingxuan Sect Master, she purchased a large residence and a restaurant in the imperial capital for Lin An.
The news quickly reached the ears of the capital’s powerful clans and influential families.
Those families immediately ordered their people not to provoke Lin An or Li Yao’s mother.
This was the benefit of having powerful backing.
Li Yao was the personal disciple of the Qingxuan Sect Master and represented the Qingxuan Sect’s reputation to the outside world. Anyone reckless enough to disregard her would likely have to face retaliation from the Qingxuan Sect.
The powerful families of this mortal imperial capital could not afford to provoke a colossal force like the Qingxuan Sect.
As a result, Lin An was able to settle down peacefully in the imperial capital.
Li Yao stayed for several more days. Only after Lin An and the others were fully settled did she leave behind some life-saving talismans and return to the sect.
From then on, Lin An continued to conduct himself quietly. He avoided trouble, stayed out of the struggles for power, and contented himself with living as a wealthy landowner.
The various clans and influential families had no reason to bother him. Even when an ignorant young noble occasionally offended Lin An, his elders would quickly discipline him before bringing him over to apologize.
Thus, the days passed one after another.
News traveled quickly through the imperial capital. Even without deliberately making inquiries, Lin An learned that the rebellions in various regions were growing increasingly severe.
The emperor issued an edict appointing the veteran general Shen Fei as commander of the imperial army.
On the day the army set out, Lin An saw Shen Fei again for the first time in many years.
Shen Fei now had a head full of white hair, and the spirited confidence of his youth was gone.
Moreover, perhaps it was merely Lin An’s imagination, but he kept feeling that there was a trace of fatal resolve in Shen Fei’s eyes, as if something major were about to happen.
As it turned out, his instincts had been correct.
Less than three months after the army departed, an urgent report arrived from the front lines. Shen Fei had defected and rebelled. The military supervisor had intercepted a secret letter in advance and then plotted to have him killed.
Shen Fei’s head and the evidence of his rebellion were sent to the imperial palace by express courier.
The emperor was furious and ordered the entire Shen family executed.
Lin An felt somewhat sentimental when he heard the news.
He still remembered that spirited young man from years ago, leading a hundred elite soldiers to pay respects to Wang Daniu.
Unfortunately, heroes grow old. In this struggle for power, that once-spirited young man had lost everything.
Shen Fei’s relatives and household were all in the imperial capital. Lin An was not naive enough to believe that Shen Fei had truly rebelled. This was certainly a dangerous political struggle, and Shen Fei had simply been the one who lost.
Of course, Lin An had no close ties with Shen Fei, so he had no intention of doing anything.
A few days later, the entire Shen family was executed, their three clans exterminated, and all their property confiscated by the government.
Lin An had assumed this was merely a minor episode on his path to immortality. But several days later, he saw a familiar military manual in the hands of a young maid newly hired by the Lin Residence.
This was the military manual he had personally written and given to Wang Daniu all those years ago.
Wang Daniu had later passed it on to Shen Fei. Relying on the many strategies recorded in the manual, Shen Fei had made a name for himself and eventually been conferred the title of Protector General.
Who would have thought that, after passing through so many hands, the military manual would once again appear before him?
Perhaps this was simply fate.
That very night, he summoned the young maid to his study.
“Tell me. What is your relationship to Shen Fei?”