Read Novel Full Chapter 1148: Chapter 1142: I Wish To Be Freed
Chapter 1148: Chapter 1142: I Wish To Be Freed
Aboard the Spirit Ship.
Behind them loomed the massive Qiu Clan Immortal Mountain.
Transformed into a colossal ice sculpture, the mountain was set against a stunning backdrop of snow drifting across thousands of miles.
Below, the Northern Frontier’s unique leafless silver needle trees stood solitary in the frozen wastes, painting a scene of haunting beauty.
Snowflakes drifted gently onto the Spirit Ship, the biting wind tossing the hair of the Li Clan members.
It wasn’t that the vessel lacked a formation to block the weather; rather, a young clansman had remarked that the biting wind and snow made him truly feel the scenery of his continued existence in this mortal world.
Upon the freezing deck lay dozens of clansmen who had fallen in battle.
Their bloodstained clothes had been neatly arranged, their battle-ravaged bodies carefully mended by Spiritual power.
They lay in absolute peace.
They still gripped their artifacts tightly in their hands, looking as though they were merely resting before hurrying off to another great battle.
Hundreds of survivors leaned heavily against the ship’s rails; most were wounded and had only just been healed.
Among them, a remaining dozen or so were truly old and withered.
Li Yuanwu was one of them.
This man, who had spent years practicing martial arts in the ancient tower of the Immortal Martial Cave Heaven, was now in his twilight hours, every breath an agonizing struggle.
The surrounding clansmen sat silently cross-legged in front of him.
Li Jianshu and Li Jianning quietly explained that their father hadn’t even needed to fight in this battle, yet he had still burned away his final embers of vitality defending a certain city.
The Martial Emperor leaned against the bulkhead nearby, occasionally casting stolen glances at Li Yuanwu.
A profound trace of guilt flashed through his eyes—so much so that he soon lacked the courage to even look at the dying man.
Weakly, Li Yuanwu waved a trembling hand toward Li Jianshu.
Li Jianshu’s eyes were bloodshot. For the first time in his life, his movements were agonizingly slow. He didn’t dare make a sound with his footsteps, terrified of disturbing the old man’s peaceful enjoyment of the wind and snow.
Slowly squatting beside Li Yuanwu, he softly choked out, “Father.”
“Shu’er.”
Li Yuanwu exhaled a ragged breath.
Gazing at the drifting snow descending from the cloudy sky, his fading vision could somehow still trace the intricate structure of the flakes.
Every single snowflake bore a different shape, much like these descendants of his who shared his blood but walked entirely different paths. A faint smile graced his lips:
“You have always been resolute and vigorous, unable to tolerate even a single grain of sand in your eyes.
You act straightforwardly and follow your heart’s inclinations. My greatest fear is that your temper will cause you to suffer deeply.
Within the Azure Cloud Prefecture, it’s fine; everyone is our own people, and your transparent nature actually puts them at ease. But out in the wider world, no one cares what you actually think.”
“The matters of this world are rarely black and white. And Senior Martial Emperor’s martial arts might not necessarily be the one true Martial Dao.”
Li Yuanwu’s half-joking words couldn’t coax even a hint of a smile onto Li Jianshu’s face; the son only felt his father’s weak grip tighten affectionately around his hand.
Seeing Li Jianshu’s grief-stricken expression, Li Yuanwu gently shook his head and waved toward Li Jianning.
The moment Li Jianning dropped to his father’s side, his face was already drenched in tears.
Li Yuanwu sighed softly. “Ning’er, you have always been far too passive. You eagerly believe whatever others say. The world is full of demons and monsters; you must keep your wits about you in the future.”
With that, Li Yuanwu tightly clasped the hands of his two sons.
He exhaled another long breath of frosty air.
Staring at a break of bright light in the cloudy sky, he suddenly felt the dissipated vitality within his body mysteriously surging back.
His aged, pallid face became increasingly flush and radiant.
“In the future, whatever you two brothers do, you must consult one another more.
With your completely opposing temperaments, seeking each other’s counsel will provide you with many more choices in life.”
“Yuanshang.” Li Yuanwu waved his hand again.
Li Yuanshang hurriedly stumbled over.
The heavyset man desperately grasped his elder brother’s hands.
Though they were brothers, Li Yuanshang was soft, round, and plump.
He frantically transmitted Spiritual power into Li Yuanwu’s wrists, but all his senses fed back was the utter devastation of his brother’s meridians and physical vessel.
A pain like a twisting knife violently pierced Li Yuanshang’s heart.
“Brother, I have medicinal pills—top-tier, life-extending medicinal pills!”
Li Yuanwu simply shook his head without answering the offer.
“When we were young, you ran off to the Imperial Capital. You’ve been enamored with wealth since you were just a child.”
Li Yuanshang hung his head in deep shame.
“Brother, I’m so sorry to you, and I’m sorry to Father. The dazzling prosperity of the Imperial Capital blinded me, and for a long time, I completely forgot about our home.”
Li Yuanwu, however, shifted his gaze up to his father, Li Zhiheng.
“My brother was never unfilial. I know his true heart. Back then, the clan was devastatingly poor.
The Old Ancestor desperately needed heavenly materials and earthly treasures; he needed massive amounts of Spirit Stones to acquire illusory souls to exchange for the Dao Profound Spiritual Method.
At that time, we were truly so impoverished we could barely keep ourselves fed.
I was isolated on the mountain, and my brother was stuck at home; we were completely cut off from any cultivation resources.”
“From then on, he tried absolutely every possible means to funnel heavenly materials and earthly treasures to me.
The mountain where I cultivated was dangerously high, prowled by fierce beasts.
This foolish kid would ride a horse until it died of exhaustion, and then he would climb the rest of the mountain on his own two feet.
He nearly worked himself to death; that was the thinnest he had ever been in his entire life.
After delivering supplies for a few years, he couldn’t bear the poverty anymore and set off for the Imperial Capital. He told me to leave everything regarding money to him.”
“Father, please don’t blame him. After he established himself in the Imperial Capital, we never lacked for Spirit Stones ever again.”
“Brother!” Li Yuanshang sobbed, violently hugging Li Yuanwu’s arm as if he could physically anchor his soul to the mortal world.
Gazing down at his dying son, Li Zhiheng’s eyes were dull and glazed over, but his Heavenly Dao heart was beating frantically.
Deep within his Spirit Soul, thousands of desperate words fought to squeeze out of his throat, but in the end, all he managed to choke out was, “Swallow the medicinal pill. We’re going home.”
Possession—there is still body possession!
Li Zhiheng constantly repeated these words like a mantra in his heart.
But seeing the desperate facade his father struggled to maintain, Li Yuanwu couldn’t help but furrow his brow.
Then, he smiled bitterly. “Father, please… let me leave in peace. Ultimately, fate is out of one’s hands. Even if my life is forcibly extended, this ruined body cannot be saved.”
“His meridians…” Li Yuanshang murmured, his face deathly pale.
“They are completely scattered.”
In his Spiritual vision, the meridians across Li Yuanwu’s entire body had violently shifted, digging into his vital acupoints.
Years of forcibly emulating the laws of all things in heaven and earth had caused his meridians to twist and tangle into grotesque, agonizing shapes.
Seeing this horrifying condition left Li Yuanshang with a blank, horrified stare.
He couldn’t even begin to imagine the sheer, unadulterated agony his eldest brother had silently endured throughout his years of martial cultivation.
He had already pushed far past the absolute limit of a mortal.
The end of that limit wasn’t a breakthrough; it was an impassable wall of infinite torment.
Yet, against all odds, Li Yuanwu’s face remained full of serene ease.
It seemed he had long grown accustomed to the agony—or perhaps, he was simply accustomed to hiding it from the people he loved.
He was incredibly stubborn, blindly pursuing a single, insurmountable goal his entire life…
In other words, if he were forced to take life-extending pills, he would only be tethered to this torturous agony, blindly pursuing the illusory Martial Dao with a near-certainty of never breaking through that wall.
Even if he miraculously seized another body through possession, given his obsessive temperament, he would inevitably ruin it the exact same way…
A biting gust of wind swept across the deck of the Spirit Ship.
Everyone watched the dying Li Yuanwu in suffocating silence.
Extend his life, and then what? It would yield nothing but endless pain.
Suddenly, his vitality violently surged.
Li Yuanwu slowly pushed himself to his feet. Seeing the Old Ancestor stepping forward, he calmly walked to his side.
“Old Ancestor, I wish to be freed. Please, do not blame Senior Martial Emperor.
The days I spent pursuing the Martial Dao were the happiest days of my long journey. But in my obsession, I forgot that I still had a family waiting for me.”
Moved by Li Yuanwu’s plea, Li Wei cast his gaze toward the many mediocre, elderly clansmen leaning against the railings in the distance.
Li Yuanwu softly continued, “My aptitude was always mediocre. Just like them, we are all your children. I beg that you and every elder continue to treat us ordinary ones kindly.”
The wind and snow swirled chaotically across the Spirit Ship.
Li Yuanwu’s eyes suddenly shone with a blinding brilliance, looking exactly as if he had returned to the peak of his youth.
Channeling the absolute great completion of his Martial Dao, he fluidly executed his forms; his final punches and palm strikes generated roaring gales across the deck.
In that fleeting, beautiful moment, he seemed to have traveled back in time—a young man joyfully practicing martial arts in the wild mountains and sparring with the demonic beasts of the Ephemeral Grotto-Heaven.
Forever strong. Never growing old.
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