Da Xuan Martial Saint

Chapter 1074: Chapter 531: Third Life

The sounds of weeping, inside and outside the house, and the complex expressions on the descendants’ faces.

All of this entered Chen Mu’s eyes, and after his decayed body finally vanished, his consciousness did not disappear. His vision rose with it, overlooking everything in the house, and gradually soared higher, seeing the entire courtyard, seeing the entire city.

Then,

the world in his vision, the flow of time suddenly began to accelerate.

He saw the people in the An Residence grow old, face death, turning into a handful of yellow earth.

He saw his eldest son, An Lan, his second son, An Yuan, his eldest grandson, An Zhi... generation after generation of descendants quickly experiencing their respective lives and eventually meeting death, until everyone he knew during his existence had passed away.

However, the An Family still existed. By the time of his great-grandchildren’s generation, it began to decline, and three generations later, it became just an ordinary family in the local area. Some of the common offspring had returned to mediocrity, without riches or privileges.

Two more generations later, the An Family finally produced a wise man again, achieving success as an Advanced Scholar. It was expected that the An Family would be revitalized once more, but they unfortunately encountered continuous natural disasters, unending floods, and plagues, causing people to be impoverished and heroes to arise.

In the end.

The Imperial Court was destroyed amid the chaos.

And the An Family, like a flickering candle flame, was completely extinguished in this chaotic world.

Despite the vast An Family spreading countless bloodlines over ten generations, over the course of countless years, these bloodlines have thinned, and few remember the An Family’s past glory.

After the complete extinguishment of the An Family, some remnants still survived, but they were merely peripheral branches. They gradually integrated into the world of the new dynasty, and those without any ability gradually perished.

In Chen Mu’s line of sight.

At this moment, what he saw was like a towering tree, resembling a tree diagram, from the point he stood, at its thickest and most flourishing period, then everything gradually disintegrated and split, eventually diverging like streams in every direction, finally vanishing into the dark.

"Time is ruthless."

Chen Mu silently mused to himself. At this moment, the phrase left him with a slightly different comprehension.

He had previously contemplated his integration into this world, inheriting this life’s existence, and how the causality would unfold. But now it seemed his thoughts were too shallow.

In the face of time, there is no causality.

In the vast expanse of time, just a gentle nudge will give rise to all living beings; another gentle nudge will lead all living beings to perish. No matter what he did in this life, everything will be obliterated over the endless course of time!

After all, this world, bound by the heavens and earth, harbors no transcendent power. Thus, even if he rallied, donned the yellow robe, and established a dynasty, perhaps centuries or millennia later, he might still be inscribed in historical books, but tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands of years later, everything would cease to exist, and the most glorious dynasty will return to dust.

From the beginning, he never needed to worry.

He could fully integrate into this realm, blending into each life, for all he did here would eventually be smoothed over by time, leaving no trace unless he truly comprehended the true meaning of the Time Dao.

Swish.

Countless images in his vision suddenly accelerated and ultimately fell into darkness.

When Chen Mu opened his eyes again, he saw a majestic and resplendent palace, and his entire consciousness was once again placed in a tender and fragile body, transforming into a newborn baby.

Chen Mu’s mood was quite calm, as he gradually became indifferent to the environment he was born into in each lifetime.

This lifetime, he was a prince, the sixth Prince of the Great Zhou.

The Great Zhou Dynasty had ruled for over two hundred years, flourishing and prosperous. But by the time of Chen Mu’s birth, signs of decline had begun to appear, with the Emperor being old and foolish, and over a dozen princes vying for power.

Chen Mu, barely over ten, had already encountered several external calamities, but he managed to resolve them all.

The struggle among the many Princes for the throne had reached a frenzied state. Although Chen Mu was young and did not yet possess the qualifications to be involved, he was nevertheless placed within the political arena, manipulated like a pawn for those engaged in machinations against each other.

As Chen Mu gradually grew up, many Princes also slowly realized that he, the youngest Younger Imperial Brother, was their greatest enemy, their biggest rival in the contest for the throne, as the decrepit old Emperor had the greatest fondness for Chen Mu.

This fondness arose by sheer coincidence.

For Chen Mu was naturally aloof, enjoying nothing more than reading in the Royal Library or walking alone in the back gardens, disinterested in forging connections with others or caring about any affairs.

Since the Emperor was old and the Princes were in mutual conflict, the old Emperor harbored a sense of caution towards each Prince, making Chen Mu, who was the youngest and unambitious, the most special in his eyes.

Of course.

If it were only thus, the old Emperor might not necessarily have taken a liking to Chen Mu.

After all, an aloof disposition does not signify the capability to rule an empire. To become a ruler, one ultimately must be virtuous and able.

However, an incidental father-son conversation revealed to the old Emperor that Chen Mu, the youngest Prince, possessed wisdom that exceeded that of his elder brothers by far.

Chen Mu’s aloof nature was not due to ignorance of the Way of the Emperor or the grand situation of the world, but rather because he understood too well, comprehending too much, leaving him uninterested in everything.