A storm of emotions churned inside Su Chen. He had imagined countless times what it would be like to meet Li Qingyue again. He had never pictured this.

  "Out of pity for an old woman on her last legs, I, Su Chen, will let you off the hook this once."

  The thought flickered through his mind. Old scores, rights and wrongs—he no longer had the energy to untangle them. All he knew was that one more name would soon vanish from the list of people he once knew.

  "Young marquis, do you have any other questions?"

  Li Qingyue slowly drained the last of her tea and looked at the youth who had fallen into a daze.

  Su Chen stood up. "Thank you, Senior Li, for clearing my doubts. You've changed the impression I had of you."

  Li Qingyue smiled gently. "The world's opinion belongs to the world. I only ever wanted to live as myself. Why should I care what others think?"

  Su Chen said nothing in reply. He simply bowed and turned to leave, pausing long enough to speak one last sentence.

  "As a gesture of gratitude, I swear on the honor of the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence: I will bring Nangong Meng's remains back to the Heavenly Wave Sect for you, Senior."

  Li Qingyue's pupils widened. Then she laughed softly. She offered no thanks. She only called after him as he walked away.

  "Young marquis."

  Su Chen turned back.

  Their eyes met.

  For a fleeting moment, Li Qingyue saw in this boy the same gaze that had once belonged to a young man from long ago.

  A thousand words rose in her heart. In the end, only one came out.

  "Please… take care of yourself."

  Su Chen gave a small smile. "You as well, Senior Li."

  In the rustling bamboo grove, she was once again alone. She walked slowly deeper into the forest.

  Row after row of bamboo tablets stood there, each one bearing the name of someone who had once been close to her.

  Her only disciple was Nangong Meng. Her revered master. Her parents and kin. And… one more.

  A tomb inscribed with the name Su Chen, her former fiancé.

  Li Qingyue sat before it and murmured in a low voice.

  "Su Chen… I must look quite ridiculous now, don't I? You always said thirty years east of the river, thirty years west. But now… two hundred years have passed. Perhaps I really was wrong. Yet you never came to the Heavenly Wave Sect either. In this world, so many things lie beyond our control—you and I both."

  …

  Su Chen left the bamboo grove behind. He glanced once more toward the depths where the aged figure had already vanished from sight. He clasped his hands together in a formal salute. Two strands of long hair fell across his forehead.

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  This journey had served two purposes. One was to settle the lingering grievances of his first life. The other was to give this old acquaintance a proper farewell.

  Li Qingyue was dying.

  Twenty years earlier, after Jiang Chen and Nangong Meng fell in battle in his previous life, Li Qingyue had charged into the enemy formation alone, determined to retrieve her disciple's body. She had been surrounded and overwhelmed.

  Only when Yu Zhengde arrived with reinforcements did she manage to escape with her life. But that day had left her with injuries beyond repair.

  Su Chen let out a quiet sigh. Old friends were falling away one after another, like leaves caught in an autumn wind. The grudges of youth no longer mattered. The traces he had left behind in his first life had been quietly erased by the passage of time.

  Seven days later, word spread that Li Qingyue had passed away. The Heavenly Wave Sect mourned briefly, then never spoke her name again.

  Su Chen felt a weight lift from his heart. Something subtle shifted in his state of mind. The bottleneck at the Spirit Sea realm, which had refused to budge until now, finally showed signs of loosening. He sensed the faint stirrings of an opportunity for a breakthrough.

  Rather than leave, he decided to remain at the Heavenly Wave Sect and seize this fleeting chance to see whether he could cross into the Spirit Sea realm.

  What was meant to be a half-year stay stretched into a full year. By the end of it, Su Chen was eighteen. The youngest Spirit Sea realm cultivator in the history of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom had been born.

  In his previous life, reaching this stage had taken him seventy years. In this life, it had taken only eighteen.

  Strictly speaking, not even a full eighteen. None of that mattered anymore. Having broken through to Spirit Sea, the path ahead would be one he must forge alone.

  Fortunately, in this life, he had the guidance of the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas—one of the ten strongest figures in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. He would no longer have to grope blindly through the dark as he had in his earlier lives.

  After breaking through to the Spirit Sea realm at the Heavenly Wave Sect, Su Chen paid his final respects at Li Qingyue's grave. Then he left the sect and set out for the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas' residence.

  But on the road back, disaster struck. An ambush awaited him.

  Fifteen Spirit Sea realm experts moved in. Every one of them was cloaked and masked, their faces hidden, yet the air around them crackled with murderous intent.

  "How bold. Who are you? You dare target the young marquis? Aren't you afraid the Marquis of Pacifying the Seas will hold your families accountable?"

  The steward shielded Su Chen with his body. The eight Spirit Sea realm guards formed a tight defensive line in front of him. They stared warily at the black-clad figures surrounding them.

  Fifteen against eight—the odds were nearly double. The enemy held the clear advantage.

  "Heh. Since we came to kill the young marquis, of course, we're not afraid—"

  One of the black-cloaked men spoke with smug confidence, as though everything was already decided. Before he could finish, the leader cut him off sharply.

  "Enough talk! Strike now and keep the young marquis here. We can't afford delays!"

  In an instant, all fifteen attackers surged forward.

  The steward intercepted four of them at once. He shouted over his shoulder without turning.

  "Young marquis, run! I'll hold them off!"

  Su Chen did not hesitate. He unleashed his full Spirit Sea realm aura, killed one black-cloaked man with a single strike, and shot away toward the marquis residence without looking back.

  "Damn it! How did he break through to Spirit Sea so quickly?"

  One of the attackers froze in shock.

  In that split second of hesitation, Su Chen's guards and steward threw their lives on the line to pin down a force twice their size.

  "Young marquis… forgive Feng Ding for being unable to serve you any longer. Please… live well!"

  A deafening explosion shook the earth like a dragon thrashing beneath the ground.

  Su Chen felt the tremor and knew the steward had used his own life to buy him precious time. He did not slow down for even a heartbeat. He flew toward the marquis residence at full speed. If he died here in this life, he would die spitting blood in frustration.

  Far behind him, amid the collapsing landscape, three battered figures crawled out of the rubble. Of the fifteen Spirit Sea realm attackers, only three remained alive. Ignoring their grievous wounds, they hurriedly pulled fresh black robes over themselves to conceal their identities once more.

  "Chase him! We cannot let him reach the marquis residence!"

  The three gritted their teeth, forced every last drop of strength from their bodies, and pursued Su Chen with desperate speed. They absolutely could not allow him to return alive. They absolutely could not. Because this was their one and only chance to kill Su Chen.