Life is Fleeting

Southern Nanzhan Continent, Xuanwu Kingdom.

In a small rural courtyard.

Li Junzi had her mostly white hair tied up with a hairpin. A few deep marks of time had been added to her face. Wearing somewhat rustic linen clothes, she held the supreme treasure of the Confucian school, the Desolate Pen, and was writing something at her desk.

Outside the courtyard, many Confucian scholars dressed in similar linen clothes were busy working in the small vegetable garden.

Time is a torrential flood. Whether it is sentimental or ruthless, or whether regrets can be passed down for a thousand years, everything will eventually be washed away.

Li Junzi was not a cultivator. To accomplish great things, her lifespan was actually the biggest challenge.

Chu Xingchen naturally provided pills to help Li Junzi. However, a mortal is ultimately a mortal. Many highly effective pills were not suitable for mortal consumption; using them would be like poison. It was just as the mortal saying goes—a weak body cannot bear strong tonics.

Naturally, within an acceptable range, Li Junzi also accepted the nourishment of the pills.

After all, Li Junzi understood that to finish the path she wished to walk, she sometimes had to accept the help of others.

Otherwise, given her age, Li Junzi would already be completely white-haired by now.

Naturally, the support Chu Xingchen could provide was nominally limitless, but Li Junzi was not one to deceive herself.

Some things could not be accomplished simply by having the biggest fists.

Especially for the Confucian school.

Therefore, Li Junzi's greatest source of assistance now actually came from Mount Junzi.

The Confucian school had always maintained a supportive attitude toward anyone stepping onto the path of pioneering.

After all, the Confucian school also needed a Sub-sage to reorganize the Confucian path.

Furthermore, anyone who could walk the path of a Sub-sage must at least be a great scholar of the mortal realm. Mount Junzi would naturally provide help to a great Confucian scholar, especially one who had gained the recognition of the Desolate Pen.

To deny what this great scholar had decided to do would naturally be equivalent to Mount Junzi cutting off its own Sub-sage inheritance.

After all, the will left behind by the Sub-sage had already given its approval. If Mount Junzi, which claimed to inherit the Sub-sage's ideology, raised objections, anyone looking at it would immediately know who was in the wrong.

So no matter what the ideology of Mount Junzi actually was, they had to support Li Junzi.

However, this time, Mount Junzi's support seemed to genuinely come from the top down.

A short distance away stood a densely forested low mountain.

Lin Luoyu gazed at Li Junzi, who was writing with her pen in the small courtyard. Her lips were lightly pursed, and her eyes were slightly hazy, as if she were recalling something.

Just then, an excited voice came from behind her.

"Fourth Senior Sister, I am here."

Cui Hao landed on the ground, looking happily at Lin Luoyu's back, and said:

"I do not know what Third Senior Sister went to do, but she said she would come in a couple of days. I came to meet up with you first. When did you get here, Fourth Senior Sister?"

Lin Luoyu looked back from the corner of her eye: "I arrived just a couple of days ago."

Cui Hao nodded in understanding. Then, he cast his gaze outward. After watching for a moment, he asked in confusion:

"Senior Sister, what are you looking at standing here?"

"Naturally, I am looking at the Teacher. What else would I be looking at?"

"Damn, Senior Sister, do not tell me you have just been standing here looking without even going over to greet Teacher Li?"

Hearing this, Lin Luoyu felt somewhat helpless:

"And you call yourself a Confucian cultivator. If I go greet her now, I might disturb the Teacher's state of mind. Not to mention... the university revitalization policy that the Teacher recently wanted to implement was just forcefully suppressed by various factions. Right now..."

"Concern leads to confusion," Cui Hao said, directly interrupting what Lin Luoyu was about to say. Emphasizing his tone, he added, "Are you not underestimating Teacher Li a bit too much, Senior Sister?"

Hearing this, Lin Luoyu was momentarily at a loss for words, just staring at Cui Hao.

Seeing Lin Luoyu's expression, Cui Hao's demeanor relaxed slightly. He chuckled and said:

"Senior Sister, do not forget what path Teacher Li is walking. If it were that easy to succeed, the world would already be full of Sub-sages. So many people have walked it for so many years, and countless individuals have turned to dry bones without succeeding. On this path, failure is the norm."

"If Teacher Li has not even seen through this point, then she definitely will not be able to reach the end of this path."

"Therefore, we naturally should go see her. Not only must we see her, but we also must tell her exactly why we came."

"If Teacher Li's state of mind becomes unsettled because of this matter, then what I should do is persuade Teacher Li to give up."

"So, Senior Sister, you should not stand here. You should go meet her openly and generously."

Hearing this, Lin Luoyu let out a heavy breath and then nodded firmly:

"You are right. It is my concern that has clouded my judgment."

Cui Hao chuckled twice and said:

"When it comes to immortal cultivation, you are naturally a genius, Senior Sister. But when it comes to Confucian cultivation, you are far behind me."

Lin Luoyu's expression returned to normal, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly:

"I heard from Third Senior Sister that in your self-introductions, you always call yourself a genius."

Hearing this, Cui Hao felt his face burn hot. Saying some things yourself and being teased about them by others are two entirely different feelings.

He said with a somewhat dissatisfied expression:

"Why does Third Senior Sister always talk about such things... She does not even know how to say something to praise me."

"Well, she did do that too." Lin Luoyu's figure dashed toward the small courtyard.

Cui Hao followed and asked, "What did Third Senior Sister praise me for?"

"Third Senior Sister praised you for having thick skin."

"Does that count as praise?"

"If you heard the other evaluations Third Senior Sister had of you, then it should count, right? Do you want to hear them?"

"...Never mind, it will just ruin my mood."

As the two conversed, they had already landed inside the small courtyard.

The Confucian cultivators of Mount Junzi all looked with vigilant gazes at the two people who appeared so at ease.

Li Junzi also looked up, gazing out the window at the two who had landed.

With a bright smile on his face, Cui Hao waved to Li Junzi, while Lin Luoyu slightly cupped her hands in a bow.

A look of joy appeared in Li Junzi's eyes. She casually tossed the Desolate Pen onto the desk, stood up, and walked out into the courtyard.

"Long time no see. Does Teacher Li still remember me?" Cui Hao chuckled as he watched Li Junzi walk out from the room.

"Naturally, I remember. I am not senile yet," Li Junzi nodded and replied with a light smile, but she reached her hand out toward Lin Luoyu beside him. Her gaze fell on Lin Luoyu, and after looking at her carefully for a moment, she said softly,

"Your appearance truly has not changed a bit..."

Lin Luoyu felt a gentle warmth in her hands. She lowered her eyes slightly and spoke in a soft tone:

"I was wrong for not coming to see the Teacher for so long."

"You should not say that. I know your temperament. You merely felt that you should not come and disturb me. Furthermore, you probably have a lot of things to handle yourself, and time is rushed and never enough." A kind smile appeared on Li Junzi's face as she firmly held Lin Luoyu's hand and said, "It is enough that you keep me in your heart. Besides, I really do not have much time to host you."

Lin Luoyu nodded heavily and changed the subject, asking, "Has the Teacher been well lately?"

"I am doing well enough," Li Junzi replied, holding Lin Luoyu's hand while gesturing for Cui Hao to come inside the house with them. "It is just that my affairs have not been going well, which has somewhat wasted everyone's efforts."

Li Junzi's expression was warm, appearing much gentler than she had initially.

Lin Luoyu felt guilty in her heart.

A dozen years or so might just be a snap of the fingers for a cultivator.

But for a mortal, it was half a lifetime.

Fifteen years of ignorance, fifteen years of powerlessness.

Fifteen years of bitter study, fifteen years of understanding reason.

Life was rushed, and a truly brilliant life...

...only lasted for a dozen years or so.