"There’s something like that?" Li Qingxian said. "No wonder the Killing King went from Junior Seventh Grade to Second Grade in just ten years. It looks like he’ll advance to First Grade before long. Wait, the Celestial Fate Sect opened the Celestial Destiny All-Encompassing Map ten years ago to cultivate the Killing King. Who is it for this year?"
The two looked at each other.
Zhou Chunfeng shook his head. "I haven’t heard any rumors yet. We’ll find out after the Cyan Cloud Examination is over."
"Whoever it is, it’s definitely not me. I’m not getting involved in that mess! But... I really do covet the Qi Fortune of a Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar. I’ve heard that after winning the title, you’re gifted poetry by a Grand Scholar and get baptized in Vast Righteous Qi. If that’s true, the power of my Righteous Sword Seed could increase again." But inwardly, Li Qingxian was thinking, ’A Seventh-Grade Qi Fortune Official Body gave me an extra thirty Qi Fortune Fish. I wonder how many the Cyan Cloud Champion Scholar title would bring? At least a hundred. Maybe in a few years I could return to the capital and participate.’
"You know I don’t normally push you to study, but this Myriad Phenomena Cyan Cloud Examination is a rare opportunity. Even I would have participated back when I was young," Zhou Chunfeng said.
Li Qingxian pursed his lips. "Stop bragging. My dad said that when you were young, all you cared about was fancy literary pursuits and romantic trifles, not serving the nation. You always stayed far away from this sort of thing. Of the Three Sons of Bingchen, only the Champion Scholar, Zhao Yishan—now Chief Minister Zhao—was devoted to the country. The Runner-Up Scholar, Xu Chuxin, disappeared. As for you, the ’Beautiful Scholar,’ back in your youth..."
"And what about you?" Zhou Chunfeng retorted.
Li Qingxian was dumbfounded. He blinked rapidly for a moment before a grin spread across his face. "I believe in the infinite potential of the Human Race. I believe that as long as we pass on our legacy from generation to generation, as long as we survive, we can solve any problem. The Human Race has gotten by for a million years like this, and it’ll be the same for the next million. The Human Race isn’t lacking one Li Qingxian. I’ll walk my own leisurely path, and others can cross their own bridges to official careers."
"What makes you so sure the Human Race can continue from generation to generation? Does the Underworld in the Celestial Destiny All-Encompassing Map prove that the Human Race can endure, or does it prove that we could also be utterly destroyed?" Zhou Chunfeng stared into Li Qingxian’s eyes.
Li Qingxian remained silent.
Zhou Chunfeng pointed out the window. "Suppose—and I’m just saying suppose—you come across an ordinary person surrounded by members of the Demon Sect. They could be killed in the next instant. Do you save them or not?"
Li Qingxian continued his silence.
"If you don’t save them, that person dies. If you do, that person lives. Their children are ordinary, their grandchildren are ordinary, their great-grandchildren are ordinary... until, finally, their tenth-generation descendant advances to Super Grade, saves the Human Race from disaster, and prevents this very land from turning into an Underworld. Do you save them, or not?"
"The odds of that are too small," Li Qingxian countered in a low voice.
"Completely and utterly wrong! Not only are the odds not small, but it’s happening all the time. If you read the history books, or the records from the Ancient Exploration Sect, you’ll find that the Human Race repeats this pattern endlessly. Behind every great figure of any era, you will find ordinary ancestors. And every one of us ordinary people is inevitably descended from one or even multiple great bloodlines. If you were to condense the entire Human Race into a single person, this sort of thing would be happening every day. Otherwise, that person wouldn’t be alive today."
Li Qingxian stared at Zhou Chunfeng in astonishment.
Zhou Chunfeng spoke slowly. "After you said what you did, I’ve been pondering it every single day, turning it over and over in my mind. The infinite nature of the Great Dao... that I can’t comprehend. But as for the infinite potential of the Human Race, I think I’ve grasped a sliver of the principle. A single person is insignificant. If they die, they die, with no real impact on the world. But if we were to erase people one by one until we erase the very last one, the Human Race would be no more. It’s like a single drop of water—unimportant on its own. But countless drops form rivers, then oceans, then something infinite. The infinite potential of the Human Race isn’t something belonging to others; it belongs to *everyone*. Every single person is a part of the National Fortune, a part of our race’s fortune."
Li Qingxian felt as though thunder had just boomed next to his ears. As a Fate Master, it was the first time he had ever heard such an interpretation of his race’s fortune.
"Let me process this for a second," Li Qingxian said, sounding helpless. "I think I get it, but at the same time, I feel like I don’t."
"Go back and work on refining the Celestial Gazing Mirror," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"You got it!" Li Qingxian snatched the pastries from the table and walked out, biting into a crisp, fragrant Golden Thread Cake.
Huisun and Zhou Henn, who had been standing in the room the whole time, watched the carefree Li Qingxian with resignation.
Zhou Henn said, "Lord Zhou, this Li Qingxian is just too familiar. I’ve felt uncomfortable around him since the moment we met. Whenever I see him, I get the urge to curl my toes in embarrassment."
"He’s trying to save himself," Zhou Chunfeng said, his gaze fixed on the doorway.
"Hm?" Zhou Henn’s eyes filled with confusion.
"Gangfeng made a great many enemies. Qingxian has been ostracized and isolated since he was a child. What would you have him do? Slink along the walls every day, hunched over and hiding from everyone? That would only make the bullying worse. His only option is to use that forwardness to hide his inner terror. The last time he was gravely ill, he suspected he’d been secretly poisoned. He was still Ungraded at the time, so what could he do? He could only act overly familiar to get on your good side, to get on my good side—to get close to anyone who could possibly save him. Every ’Uncle Zhou,’ every ’Uncle Xiaozhou,’ was a cry for help."
Zhou Henn was stunned for a moment, then sighed. "Life isn’t easy for anyone, is it."
"You think he lacks ambition. In truth, it’s not that he doesn’t want to strive, but that he can’t comprehend this fractured world we live in. From a young age, children are taught to be good people, to be kind to others, and that they’ll be rewarded for their hard work and effort. But as he grew up, he discovered that the world is nothing like what he was taught as a child."
Zhou Henn remained silent.
Zhou Chunfeng continued, "He sees that those with high status and great power are never the ’good people.’ He sees that those who oppress the common folk are often the ones who hold high office. He sees that the most famous and celebrated figures are the heirs of prominent families who contribute nothing and rely entirely on the legacy of their parents and grandparents. What he understands least of all is why those people, who are already fantastically wealthy and powerful, still covet the few grains of rice in a commoner’s bowl—why they even seek to drain their blood and marrow. If it were you, could you resolve that conflict instantly?"
"Perhaps I could never resolve it, either," Zhou Henn said.
Zhou Chunfeng said, "When everything he was taught as a child clashes so violently with the world he faces, his vision fills with a thick fog. He has no idea what to do, so he can only doubt everything and be filled with fear. For someone in that state, how could he possibly have ambition or strive to work hard? If he were the only one like this, perhaps the problem would be his. But if a great number of young people feel the same way he does, whose problem is it then?"
Zhou Henn sighed. "I finally understand why he kept saying ’I don’t get it’ after seeing the Demon Chamber. The first time I saw it, I didn’t get it either."
"Not getting it is fine. At least he *wants* to get it. The most frightening thing is not caring at all," Zhou Chunfeng said.
"Will he become the next Mr. Gangfeng?" Zhou Henn asked.
Zhou Chunfeng gazed out the window. After a long moment, he said, "Zhou Henn."
"Sir."
"Do me a favor."
"Name it."
"Watch him for me. See what kind of Li Qingxian he becomes."
"Yes!" Zhou Henn clenched his right fist.