System Granted Me Immortality; I Outlived Everyone

Chapter 37: Burying the Grandmaster; Chen Changsheng and Emperor Zuo’s Transaction

Chen Changsheng’s words plunged Zuo Xinghe into a heavy silence.

After a while, Zuo Xinghe finally spoke. “Since Sir understands Imperial Father’s mind, what do you believe he will do next?”

“What else could he do? Naturally, he is weighing whether he can afford my price.”

Hearing this, Zuo Xinghe stared at Chen Changsheng in shock.

“Sir, do you truly possess the certainty to survive entering the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land?”

“I hold a sliver of certainty. Not much, merely half a measure of a chance.”

“Yet, do not underestimate this meager fraction. To purchase this sliver of hope from my hands,”

“Even if your Imperial Father traded the entire Xuanwu Pavilion, he would still be reaping a massive profit.”

Saying this, Chen Changsheng waved his hand dismissively.

“Enough, you may leave now. I require absolute quiet to read.”

“Also, order your people to transcribe a copy of every ancient text within the Xuanwu Pavilion for me. I will keep them to peruse at my leisure.”

Zuo Xinghe’s mouth twitched at this exorbitant demand, but he choked back his words.

He knew this transaction had far exceeded his authority to interfere.

Once Zuo Xinghe departed, Chen Changsheng returned to the immense annals of the Xuanwu Kingdom, slowly turning its massive pages.

This session of reading spanned an entire month.

Throughout this period, the Xuanwu Kingdom delivered mountains of cultivation resources daily; Chen Changsheng swallowed them all without a hint of hesitation.

Yet, he never breathed a single word regarding the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land.

…

Crunch!

Biting into a spirit fruit that countless cultivators could only dream of, Chen Changsheng lay sprawled across a parchment page larger than a bed, engrossed in the ancient ink.

His picture of absolute leisure would incite boiling envy in any onlooker.

“You truly possess unfathomable patience.”

A cold voice drifted from the shadows. Chen Changsheng turned to find Emperor Zuo already standing within the Xuanwu Pavilion.

“Greetings, Your Majesty.”

Chen Changsheng offered a perfunctory salute, but Emperor Zuo ignored him, his gaze sweeping over the kingdom’s history book.

“You have digested this much in a single month. It appears you have an insatiable appetite for the past.”

“Your Majesty’s gaze is a torch. I harbor few mortal attachments, yet I hold a profound reverence for ancient texts.”

“For records hold the boundless weight of history and truth.”

Hearing this, Emperor Zuo lightly traced his fingers across the massive binding.

“I granted you the Xuanwu Pavilion. I crowned you State Preceptor. You devoured every resource I offered without shame.”

“Grasping all these fortunes yet remaining utterly silent… do you truly believe I lack the blade to slaughter you?”

A freezing, murderous intent spilled from Emperor Zuo’s eyes as he locked onto Chen Changsheng.

Meeting that lethal gaze, Chen Changsheng grinned, baring his teeth.

“Your Majesty misspeaks. I have indeed taken much, yet none of this is what I truly desire.”

“A transaction relies on absolute fairness. Forced coercion breaks the scales of commerce.”

“Your Majesty’s might is unquestionable. Erasing my life requires nothing but a stray thought.”

“But I am absolutely certain: Your Majesty will neither kill me nor force my hand.”

“Hmph!”

Emperor Zuo snorted coldly. “What affords you such arrogant certainty?”

“The Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land!”

“Your Majesty comprehends the primordial dread of that domain far better than I. Treading into such an abyss permits absolutely zero margins for error.”

“Thus, the companions Your Majesty brings must be utterly, flawlessly bound to your cause.”

“If you dragged me to my death by force, I imagine a heavy splinter of paranoia would fester in Your Majesty’s heart.”

Confronted by Chen Changsheng’s absolute fearlessness, Emperor Zuo fell into a heavy silence before speaking.

“Name your price.”

“I wish for Your Majesty to butcher a man for me. As for that half-measure of certainty, Your Majesty will naturally harvest it during the execution.”

“Fascinating. A target that eludes both your cunning and your blade is surely no ordinary existence.”

“Though you have cloaked yourself in the cultivation arts of the Xuanwu Kingdom, I can still smell the foreign Dao clinging to your bones.”

“If my calculations are correct, you hail from the Daqian Dynasty, ten thousand miles away.”

“Xinghe praises you as a peerless immortal. I wonder, do you have the inclination to unroll the scroll of your past?”

Chen Changsheng offered a faint smile. “Since Your Majesty wishes to listen, I shall indulge you.”

“This tale begins eighty years ago…”

Chen Changsheng recounted the bloody history between himself and Ascension True Person in stark, unvarnished detail.

Yet, as he wove the narrative, he carefully excised all ties connecting him to Yixiu and the others.

Standing before a monarch rotting at the threshold of his lifespan, he had no intention of leaking the secret of his own immortality.

…

“After the slaughter within the Night Moon Country’s forbidden grounds, I fled to the Xuanwu Kingdom, burying myself here for forty-three years.”

Digesting the brutal saga, a flicker of genuine intrigue sparked within Emperor Zuo’s ancient eyes.

He found himself entirely unable to read the depths of the man standing before him.

To traverse thousands of miles, braving nine deaths and one life, solely to perform the burial rites for a departed shadow.

Logically, such a figure should possess a heart bound by profound loyalty and righteous fervor. Yet, when recounting the massacre of his own sect, Chen Changsheng’s gaze remained colder than a sealed tomb.

It was a walking, breathing paradox.

“You risk inciting my wrath, all to employ my blade to sever the head of your grandmaster.”

“What drives this transaction? A thirst for vengeance?”

“Not at all. I seek Your Majesty’s blade solely to close the ledger on an ancient promise.”

“When I abandoned the Night Moon Country, I swore to bury him. A spoken debt must be repaid in full.”

“Hahaha!”

Witnessing Chen Changsheng’s absolute, terrifying sincerity, Emperor Zuo threw his head back and laughed.

“What a spectacular observance of a pledge.”

“According to your lore, there exist eighteen ancient bronze palaces, bound together by some unfathomable esoteric law.”

“And one of these monoliths has manifested within the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land. That must be the anchor for your half-measure of certainty.”

“Precisely.”

“Having surrendered the secret of the ancient bronze palaces to me, do you not fear I will usurp that ominous power, just as your grandmaster did?”

Unmoved by the Emperor’s probing, Chen Changsheng maintained his dusty, detached calm.

“As I stated, I care nothing for the currents of that cursed power.”

“I trace the path of the ancient bronze palaces solely because an old acquaintance vanished within one.”

“I merely wish to verify her state of existence. Nothing more.”

Having laid bare his terms, Chen Changsheng stood quietly, awaiting the Emperor’s verdict.

“I must confess, your price leaves me no room to refuse.”

“The Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land is a cauldron of despair. I will claw at even the thinnest thread that elevates my odds of survival.”

“Prepare yourself. We march at dawn. My hourglass runs violently empty.”

Tossing down his decree, Emperor Zuo turned to depart.

“Your Majesty, that grandmaster of mine achieved Soul Formation Perfection fifty years ago. Are you truly certain your blade is heavy enough?”

Emperor Zuo’s footsteps halted abruptly.

“How vast is the domain of the Xuanwu Kingdom?”

“Even if you stitched the Night Moon Country and the Daqian Dynasty together, they would barely span half my empire.”

“As for the Desolate Ancient Forbidden Land—would this Soul Formation Perfection master of yours ever dare to breach its borders?”

“Its primordial terror defies the tongue. Forget Soul Formation Perfection; even entities transcending Soul Formation would shatter their own Dao before courting its wrath.”

“The Xuanwu Kingdom was not born a behemoth. I carved its current glory out of the earth, bone by bone, river by river.”

“I have personally eradicated two empires the size of your Daqian Dynasty. That which those beyond Soul Formation cower from, I conquer!”

With that absolute declaration, Emperor Zuo’s figure dissolved into the void.

The suffocating pressure lifted, leaving Chen Changsheng entirely alone in the cavernous Xuanwu Pavilion.

Turning his gaze toward the distant Daqian Dynasty, Chen Changsheng murmured to the empty air. “Grandmaster. Half a century has passed. Your disciple’s disciple finally comes to fulfill his ledger.”

“I imagine you will be terribly surprised, old man!”

…