Chapter 91: Three Emperor Prodig
The lesson that time had taught Chen Xia was that he shouldn't immerse himself in other people's lives, because for him, the outcome could only be a tragedy.
It would be okay to observe once or twice. If he really tried to attain enlightenment through this, Chen Xia thought that there would only be two results for him.
Either he would get depression or become extremely indifferent.
He was already a bit indifferent now. If he became even more indifferent, he estimated that he would truly have no feelings about life and death.
That wasn't a good thing.
Chen Xia stayed in his dim cave dwelling, thinking about it for several days in a row. He kept reflecting, thinking about whether he could have done better and if there was anything he had done wrong.
But what was the use of reflecting?
What's done is done.
Chen Xia sighed, patted his sleeves, changed the tea that he had drunk up yesterday back to the state of the day before yesterday, picked it up and took another sip, and then walked out slowly.
This was his new understanding of time. He could make relatively big changes to objects, making something out of nothing, turning the virtual into the real.
It was a bit more profound than simply speeding up the flow of time before.
However, the price of this enlightenment was also a bit higher.
With his hands behind his back, Chen Xia walked out leisurely. The outside layout hadn't changed much. After all, for cultivators, although several decades wasn't too short, it wasn't that long either.
He had come out to relax, but he didn't expect to be pestered by people as soon as he came out, and there wasn't just one person.
It was a group of preparatory disciples and junior elders who surrounded Chen Xia. There was visible surprise, indignation, and excitement on their faces as they angrily exclaimed.
"Brother, after you went into seclusion, those formal disciples became arrogant again. They not only beat and robbed us, but they even didn't spare the junior elders. They beat us until we were dizzy."
"We've come to look for you many times, knocked on your cave dwelling, but there was no answer. We guessed that you were in seclusion and didn't dare to disturb you. Finally, we've waited for you to come out of seclusion today!"
In the eyes of these preparatory disciples, only Chen Xia could compete with those formal disciples.
However, Chen Xia wasn't in a good mood at the moment. He just wanted to relax and didn't have the intention to fight. So he waved his hand and asked rhetorically.
"If a dog bites you, do you have to bite back?"
"But the problem is that it's not just one bite. It almost bit me to death!"
The preparatory disciple replied indignantly and then questioned.
"You've accepted so many gifts from us. You won't just abandon us now, will you?"
Chen Xia really wanted to accept the gifts and not do anything, but his morality wasn't low enough and his face wasn't thick enough. So he could only nod and say.
"In a few days. I'm in a bad mood these days. I'll stand up for you in a few days."
The people who got Chen Xia's promise immediately became excited and shouted loudly.
"Great! You're our leader now. Let's see who dares to bully us!"
"I can't bear it anymore. I'm going to slap the elder on the face right now. He robbed me of my magic treasure!"
Don't go. He's stronger than you.
Chen Xia really wanted to shout this, but that person had already walked away and it seemed that he couldn't be stopped.
Well, it's okay. One learns from one's mistakes.
Hopefully, this person won't be so impulsive in his next life.
The group of preparatory disciples surrounded Chen Xia in the middle and had already elected Chen Xia as their leader. Even the junior elders followed his lead.
"Did Di Du and Qiu Li do nothing?" Chen Xia asked curiously.
He had been in enlightenment for decades. During this time, didn't Di Du and Qiu Li lead the preparatory disciples to resist?
Especially Qiu Li, who was the offspring of a powerful figure in the Azure Sky Sword Sea. How could he still be bullied?
The junior elder sighed and said helplessly.
"Di Du did resist once. He fought back and forth with two formal disciples and even had a slight upper hand for a while. Unfortunately..."
This "unfortunately" meant that Di Du didn't win in the end.
"Later, Qi Qiong, who ranked fifth among the formal disciples, showed up. Without saying a word, he slapped Di Du twice and left him half-dead. Since then, no one dared to resist anymore."
Chen Xia frowned and suddenly thought of something interesting. He asked the junior elder.
"Has Di Du only won against Chi Yu in the past few hundred years?"
The junior elder thought carefully and nodded in agreement. "It seems so indeed."
The second time, he was severely beaten by Chen Xia, and the third time, he was knocked down by Qi Qiong's two slaps.
He thought he was a potential candidate for the Great Emperor and should be invincible, but he encountered setbacks again and again. There was no one to reason with about this.
He could only consider himself unlucky.
The junior elder sighed and then suddenly smiled.
"However, Di Du seems to have come to terms with it now. He seems to have found his own way to be invincible. Even after being knocked down by Qi Qiong's two slaps, he didn't look depressed."
"What's the invincible way?" Chen Xia was a bit curious.
"I don't know." The junior elder shook his head and mentioned. "I just heard Di Du often talking to himself, saying that those he can't defeat can't be considered in the same realm as him. They're all seniors."
"Okay." Chen Xia nodded, thinking that he really deserved to be a potential candidate for the Great Emperor. He was always good at self-hypnosis.
"What about Qiu Li?" He asked again.
This person had a great reputation and possessed divine eyes and an external immortal body. In the beginning, he was regarded as the strongest among the three potential candidates for the Great Emperor.
The junior elder shook his head. "Qiu Li seems to want to seal himself away again. He said that this era is a bit different from his original era and he can't accept it."
"Can he keep sealing himself away like this?" Chen Xia was a bit curious.
Isn't this just like a ten-thousand-year-old turtle? As long as he can't win, he just shrinks his head, hides, and waits until he can win before coming out to compete for the path of the Great Emperor.
Goodness gracious.
This is also an invincible way, right?
The three potential candidates for the Great Emperor among the preparatory disciples really each had their own invincible ways.
One considered those he couldn't defeat as seniors, another hid when he couldn't win, and the last one just waited until others died of old age without having to fight at all.
They were like the invincible trio.
The junior elder shook his head and explained.
"Of course not. Every time one seals oneself away in an era, it will damage one's Dao Heart. Since you've hidden, your intention of being invincible will become weaker. In the end, when there's no intention of being invincible left, you won't be able to seal yourself away anymore."
"Didn't the relationship between the formal disciples and the preparatory disciples ease up decades ago?" Chen Xia changed the topic and suddenly asked.
"We don't know either. Originally, it did ease up. The formal disciples didn't come over anymore. After all, what good things could there be in the area of the preparatory disciples? They came over before just to experience the feeling of bullying others."
"But twenty years after you went into seclusion, the formal disciples suddenly rushed in, and they were even more fierce than the first time. They disabled quite a number of preparatory disciples."
The junior elder replied.
Chen Xia glanced at him. "Do you have any clues?"
"No clues. But I was beaten a few times myself." The junior elder replied honestly.
"I have a clue." Chen Xia replied.
"What is it?" The junior elder asked in surprise.
"Someone is causing trouble behind the scenes. It's Qi Qiong who beat Di Du. As for the reason, it might be aimed at me."
Chen Xia interlaced his fingers, slowly stretched them outwards, making a crackling sound of bones moving, and said calmly at the same time.
"Let them come. I happen to have a lot of pent-up anger..."
"I can't wait to let it out."