The Lion and the Ant

The young man in white trembled.

He changed expressions for a long while, eventually clutching the exquisite pagoda in his hand. His eyes were extremely vigilant, but his smile was normal.

"We were fellow travelers, you shouldn't have stopped me."

"Fellow travelers?" Chen Xia murmured, then the corners of his mouth curved up as he smiled. The emerald green in his eyes flashed, and the thunder rumbling in the sky above came to a halt, suppressed overhead. He curiously asked,

"What makes you come to that conclusion?"

The young man in white held the exquisite pagoda, radiating splendor all over his body. He looked at the martial artists around him, then stared straight at Chen Xia and said in a low voice,

"We are both immortals, walking the path of immortality, towering over these lowly martial artists. So we are fellow travelers!"

"Hahaha." Chen Xia tilted his head and laughed coldly. He crossed his arms over his chest and asked a question that made the young man in white shiver,

"Who gave you the courage to compare a lion and an ant as fellow travelers?"

The young man in white's hands trembled. His eyelid twitched as he hurriedly explained in shock, "But we both cultivate immortal arts and magic!"

"No." Chen Xia straightened his tilted head and earnestly corrected the young man,

"What you practice is not magic, it's tricks."

The emerald green aura in his eyes blazed brightly, filling his entire pupils.

The thunder in the sky twisted together and sank into the dark clouds. A moment later, an enormous dragon head made of gathered thunder slowly emerged from the clouds.

Under everyone's shocked gazes, the dragon head obediently stationed itself next to Chen Xia, accompanying his left and right.

"This is magic." Chen Xia smiled.

The young man in white was frightened beyond belief. The exquisite pagoda in his hand shook uncontrollably. He hurriedly grabbed it with his other hand, but both hands started shaking together.

Chen Xia placed his hand on the dragon head and casually said,

"Overseas qi practitioners, if they had stayed overseas it would be fine. After all, it's a godforsaken place I'm too lazy to go to."

"But for you to actually dare to step into the Song Dynasty's borders, and still not take my words from several years ago to heart. Since you don't even care about your own life, I'll just have to take it."

He gently patted the dragon head.

The enormous dragon head abruptly looked up, thunder flashing, and let out a roar. Its eyes, filled with the most gathered thunder, stared straight at the young man in white, exuding a murderous aura!

The young man in white's footsteps had already grown unsteady. It was as if what stood before him was a real, live dragon!

"I came to the Song Dynasty this time precisely to look for Grand Tutor to apologize on behalf of all overseas qi practitioners. I also brought gifts."

The young man in white hurriedly pleaded for mercy, and took out his exquisite pagoda, saying,

"This is a secret treasure of us overseas qi practitioners, offered to Grand Tutor."

Chen Xia's expression was indifferent. "If you wanted to apologize, you could have just started over in your next life. But I guess you still wouldn't learn your lesson even then."

The young man in white gnashed his teeth and stamped his foot heavily on the ground. The exquisite pagoda started spinning rapidly as he angrily shouted,

"I've already lowered myself to plead, yet you still want to tear off all pretense. Then don't blame me for staking my life in a gamble. Even if I can't kill you, I'll still damage your foundation and ruin your path!"

Chen Xia started laughing. "I've heard many jokes, but you're the first to make me laugh so naturally."

The young man gnashed his teeth. Since they were already tearing off all pretense, he could no longer endure it and cursed,

"Even if I'm a joke, do you think you're much better? In the whole world, there probably isn't a single person who genuinely cares about you!"

"Look around you. These martial artists, the imperial court, which doesn't hope for your death, doesn't hope for your downfall!"

The surrounding martial artists didn't speak, but they had more or less had such thoughts in their hearts before. After all, as martial artists of jianghu, they truly didn't want an immortal trampling over their heads.

Song Wei hurriedly spoke up from the high platform to refute him. "Vile man, how dare you sow discord between me and my righteous father!"

"Hmph." The young man in white sneered coldly. Pointing around, he said, "Every one of these people fears your power. The Song imperial court only wants to use you. Who truly cares about you?!"

"You're right." Chen Xia nodded with indifference and calmly replied, "But I'm still going to kill you."

"Kill me?!" The young man in white shouted in fury. "Even if you can kill me, I'll still take a vicious bite out of you first, injuring you. A century later, when the old immortal emerges, he'll definitely behead you, this existence that contends with him over fortune!"

"Correct." Chen Xia nodded in agreement, his expression tranquil. He replied, "But I'm still going to kill you."

"You think you stand at the highest point, but you don't realize you're at the edge of a cliff. A slight misstep, and you'll tumble down!"

"Indeed." Chen Xia nodded for the third time. He casually stretched out a hand and patted the dragon head, "This still does not change the fact that I'm going to kill you."

"Too arrogant!" The young man in white shouted furiously. The exquisite pagoda in his hand started spinning rapidly. Radiance exploded outwards as the blue stone slabs of the entire tournament stage crumbled inch by inch, smashing towards Chen Xia!

Chen Xia's expression was blank as he casually waved a hand.

The enormous dragon head abruptly looked up, thunder stirring, and charged towards the radiance.

The sky was pitch black with dense, heavy clouds.

The thunder dragon, as big as a small mountain, thrashed about between heaven and earth, stirring up the waters of the entire Heavenly Altar and pressing down on the young man in white so he couldn't even lift his head.

Chen Xia indifferently picked at his fingernails and calmly said,

"You said you wanted to take a vicious bite out of me and injure me. I feel you might have some..."

He paused for a moment, stopping the hand that was playing with his nails. He looked up with a smile and continued,

"Confusion about the difference between a lion and an ant?"

The young man in white gnashed his teeth. He was desperately resisting the thunder dragon's offensive and had no time to retort to Chen Xia.

The emerald green aura in Chen Xia's eyes flashed. He waved a hand.

The thunder dragon suddenly collapsed and dispersed between heaven and earth. The dark clouds in the sky also vanished, restoring clear weather.

The surrounding martial artists watched with shaken hearts, unable to stop feeling shocked and terrified. With a wave of his hand, the Grand Tutor was already casually manipulating the mighty powers of heaven and earth!

This was an immortal's power!

Chen Xia called back the thunder dragon. He crossed his hands in front of him and gave them a push, stretching. He smiled and said,

"Although you guys keep calling me an immortal, my magic isn't actually that incredible."

This was the truth, because Chen Xia's invested ability points had always been far beyond his level.

The young man in white had many injuries on his body. He panted heavily in place, glaring at Chen Xia.

Magic isn't incredible?!

Then what was that thunder dragon?!

Warm up?!

The young man in white truly didn't know what to say. After catching his breath for a while, he tried to negotiate,

"If you spare me, I can give you the exquisite pagoda. In the future, I can even make all overseas qi practitioners assist you, help you obtain great fortune, and behead the old immortal within the Song Dynasty's borders!"

Chen Xia stretched out a finger in front of him and lightly shook it side to side. He indifferently replied,

"I don't need you guys."

A confident smile appeared on his face. The wagging finger stilled and bent into a flicking gesture aimed at the young man in white. In a tone as tranquil as if it was only natural, he said,

"I alone can kill him."

Bang!

He flicked out the finger.

The already shattered tournament stage instantly turned into fine powder. The air was forcefully blasted apart, creating a vacuum zone within a hundred meter radius!

The young man in white hurriedly propped up the exquisite pagoda, trying to block this finger. But he saw the exquisite pagoda shatter in an instant. It didn't even provide the slightest bit of resistance before being crushed by the finger.

In his final moments, the young man's expression changed to shock as he looked at Chen Xia with his tranquil expression.

Chen Xia's expression truly didn't have the slightest ripple, as if killing him was just like crushing an ant.

So this was an immortal?

The young man's expression was left with only despair. He finally understood what was meant by...

A world of difference.

Boom!

The finger blast ended.

The entire tournament stage was utterly pulverized. The direction the flicking finger was aimed at was even more miserable, directly creating a hundred meter long cylindrical pit. The young man in white lay at the deepest end of the pit, vomiting blood, hovering between life and death.

But he still didn't die in the end.

The reason for him not dying was simple.

Chen Xia had held back.

It wasn't because he had gotten soft-hearted, but to leave the young man alive in order to ask about matters regarding the overseas qi practitioners.

Chen Xia casually patted his hands and turned to look at everyone, lingering on Song Wei and Chancellor Jiu Qian Sui. He smiled and asked,

"How have you all been recently?"

Song Wei hurriedly cupped his fists and nodded. "Thanks to Father's fortune, the Song Dynasty has been thriving and peaceful in recent years."

"Mm." Chen Xia casually responded and then turned to look at the martial artists present. He waved his hand casually and said,

"You guys can continue fighting, don't mind me. I'm just here to watch the show."

Although he said it like that, no one actually dared to continue fighting.

After all, having witnessed such radiance, how could mere specks of dirt still dare to shine?

Moreover, the arena for the martial arts contest had been completely destroyed by Chen Xia.

Chen Xia also realized this point. His eyes flashed with cyan and green rays, and within a few breaths, the land within a hundred meters rumbled and turned into a fighting stage.

"I simply set up a fighting stage, it may be a little crude, don't mind it," Chen Xia said with a laugh.

Jiuchi's eyes widened in shock, astonished in his heart. Chen Xia's skills had improved compared to eight years ago, already capable of using such mystifying feats of great spiritual powers that ordinary people could not understand at all.

Chen Xia slowly walked down the stage, striding towards the crowd. The packed crowd hurriedly gave way to an extremely spacious path, not daring to block his way at all.

Chen Xia walked to the rearmost end, faced the crowd, and shouted at Song Wei, "Take this martial arts practitioner back and interrogate him for useful information, I will come ask about it later."

Song Wei hurriedly nodded, "Yes!"

Chen Xia stood upright, a faint smile at the corners of his mouth. Facing the crowd, he lightly said,

"I really should not have appeared in the Jianghu. How can cultivators compare with martial artists?"

The Jianghu knights all lowered their heads, not daring to respond, but thinking the same in their hearts.

"So in the future..." Chen Xia smiled again, "I hope we don't meet in the Jianghu or by the mountains and rivers."

With a light stamp of his foot, his figure disappeared without a trace, as if he had never appeared at all.

And everyone also thought that this was the second to last time Chen Xia had shown himself before the public.

In the thirtieth year of the Great Song dynasty,

The court had recruited nearly eighty percent of the Jianghu knights to serve in the Patrol Department.

And the Jianghu knights afterwards, if they wanted to obtain the legal identity of knights, needed to register with the Patrol Department, otherwise they would be considered outlaws.

Now the Jianghu had become inextricably linked with the court.

If the olden days' Jianghu was filled with chivalry and deceit, then the present Jianghu talked about human affairs and gaining official ranks.

It was not as carefree as before, but it was still the Jianghu.

In the fortieth year,

Rare heavy snow blanketed the entire kingdom,

piling up thick snow everywhere, even on roof tiles, sometimes even knocking off the tiles.

The snow in the imperial city was especially thick, with many eunuchs ceaselessly shoveling snow, but it was ultimately a futile effort.

A figure wearing light green robes stood outside, quietly watching the eunuchs shovel snow.

One eunuch with sharp eyes saw him and hurriedly greeted,

"This slave greets the Concubine of the Moon!"

Huang Qingyue lightly nodded her head and casually waved her hand, "Go about your business, don't mind me."

"Yes." The eunuch picked up his shovel again and started shoveling energetically.

Huang Qingyue was personally granted the title Concubine of the Moon by Song Wei, her status even higher than a first-rank civil official.

The reason was simple, she was Chen Xia's handmaiden.

Even though she had only served for a year, she was still the person alive today who had interacted with Chen Xia for the longest time.

Therefore, Song Wei specially granted her the title of Concubine of the Moon, and even treated Huang Qingyue with great respect on normal days.

Huang Qingyue also knew why.

She was bathed in Chen Xia's radiance.

Even though Chen Xia had not appeared for fifteen years already.

But the entire Great Song dynasty still did not dare to slight her at all.

Moreover, Song Wei had also noticed something fishy.

Huang Qingyue had not aged at all, her looks still the same as when she was young, she had not changed at all.

What did this signify?

Song Wei only thought about it briefly before understanding.

It was very likely Huang Qingyue had obtained Chen Xia's teachings and inheritance, and had also embarked on the path of immortality.

This meant that Huang Qingyue possibly could become the third immortal of Great Song after the Old Immortal and Chen Xia!

Since there was this possibility, Song Wei absolutely did not dare slight her, and treated Huang Qingyue as a second Chen Xia.

As for Chen Xia's inheritance, Song Wei did have some crooked thoughts, but these ideas were quickly snuffed out by himself.

He was not afraid of Huang Qingyue, but extremely feared Chen Xia behind Huang Qingyue.

Especially at the Martial Arts Convention, the destructive power Chen Xia revealed left a shadow in Song Wei's heart that all his thoughts turned into ash.

That was a power he could not reach, only look up to.

Even though Chen Xia had not appeared in the world for fifteen years, Song Wei was still afraid.

Chen Xia had already cast a shadow in his heart.

A shadow that was so big, he could not erase even if he wanted to.

Huang Qingyue stood under the eaves, dumbly gazing at the falling snow.

She vividly remembered that the day Chen Xia left, it had snowed like this too, thick snow that could bury her entire shoe.

The wind that day was also strong.

Truly suitable for flying high and far away.

Huang Qingyue pressed her palms together in front of her, continuously breathing into them and rubbing them for warmth.

Watching the heavy snow before her, her gaze gradually turned blurry, her vision lengthening, seemingly seeing into the past.

In front of her it was as if there was a snowman, with broomstick arms waving slowly at her.

Her eyes gradually grew wet, unable to stop herself from thinking.

If only the snowman's waving meant not farewell back then, how wonderful would that be.

Huang Qingyue hoped so much that the snowman's waving meant calling her to come over together.

She had dreamed of such a scene before.

So when she woke up she was extremely happy.

But dreams always come to an end.

She also didn't know why, after only a short year together, Chen Xia would have such a huge impact on her.

Huang Qingyue could not figure it out.

She just missed Chen Xia, her longing as heavy as the snow.

Just as unstoppable.

Snowy days were indeed prone to melancholy.

Huang Qingyue sniffed and kicked at the snow.

If you left after the heavy snow, could you come back before the flowers bloom?