Chapter 52: An Era Like a Song, the Pinnacle of Mortals

One hundred years is a span of time long enough for a mortal dynasty to rise and fall.

Yet for the Great Xia Empire, this century was a golden age.

Under the joint governance of the founding monarch Xia Qiyuan and the white-haired Imperial Preceptor Jiang Xiuyuan, Great Xia ushered in an unprecedented era of prosperity that had lasted a full hundred years.

The blueprints once mapped out were now magnificent realities. Wide imperial highways connected every county and prefecture; southern rice, northern steeds, eastern silk, and western ores flowed endlessly, nourishing this colossal empire. The nationwide network of academies affiliated with the Imperial Academy ensured that literacy and reasoning were no longer the exclusive privilege of the nobility. Countless commoners passed the rigorous examinations to enter the court, injecting a continuous stream of fresh blood into the empire.

The intellect of the people had been enlightened, and the hearts of the masses were united.

Mortal strength was pushed to its zenith during this era. Artisans invented mechanical gear-driven repeating crossbows. While incapable of harming Core Formation cultivators, these weapons posed a fatal threat to Foundation Establishment cultivators, ensuring that the Great Xia army was no longer defenseless when facing low-tier practitioners. Meanwhile, high-yield crops cultivated by agricultural scholars completely liberated the common folk from the scourge of famine.

Even those once lofty immortal cultivation sects gradually adapted to the new order over the past century. They discovered that cooperating with a stable, prosperous mortal dynasty willing to adhere to rules was far more profitable than squeezing resources out of a chaotic, barren land. The immense yearly tributes provided by the Great Xia Empire, alongside the steady discovery of cultivation talents within its borders, made them quite content to maintain this peaceful coexistence.

The influence of the Demon-Suppression Bureau also grew unprecedentedly strong. Secretly aided by a mysterious figure known as Princess Wende (Jiang Yiyi), they even acquired arrays and methods capable of keeping Core Formation cultivators in check, transforming into the sharpest sword for upholding the laws of Great Xia.

Tianqi City, the Imperial Palace, the Royal Garden.

Jiang Xiuyuan was playing a game of go by the pond with a white-haired, feeble elder whose steps were unsteady.

Though his face was etched with wrinkles and aged with infirmity, the elder's eyes still retained the sharpness and majesty of his youth. He was none other than Xia Qiyuan, now at the advanced age of one hundred and twenty.

A mortal century was, after all, the limit.

"Imperial Preceptor, My Time... is running out." Xia Qiyuan coughed a few times, his voice hoarse. He gazed at the chessboard and smiled bitterly, "I'm afraid this game will remain unfinished."

Jiang Xiuyuan placed a single stone, instantly revitalizing the stagnant board. He said calmly, "Your Majesty, victory and defeat are already decided; there is no need to continue."

Xia Qiyuan stared at the board in a daze for a long while before smiling with sudden release. "Indeed. The game I was destined to play in this lifetime has reached its end. With the Crown Prince supervising the state, the multitudes of wise ministers offering support, and the eternal laws left behind by you, Imperial Preceptor, I... can depart in peace."

His gaze swept over the blossom-filled imperial garden and the towering palaces in the distance, his eyes brimming with deep reluctance to leave this world.

"Where are Yiyi and Xiaobai?" he asked.

"They are outside the palace, experiencing the mortal warmth and hustle of this prosperous age," Jiang Xiuyuan replied.

Over the past hundred years, Jiang Yiyi and Jiang Xiaobai had witnessed the rise of this empire under the guise of princesses. Jiang Yiyi had grown even more composed, perceiving the great power of "order" and "rules" through the flourishing of Great Xia. Jiang Xiaobai, on the other hand, remained as mischievous and lively as ever, becoming Tianqi City's most beloved storyteller who recounted the heroic deeds of the founding of Great Xia and folktales to the children. Both of them, in their own ways, had integrated into and fallen in love with the prosperous era they helped create.

Xia Qiyuan remained silent for a long time. He turned his head and looked at Jiang Xiuyuan with a gaze that bordered on pleading.

"Imperial Preceptor, I... have one final request." He struggled, attempting to stand up from his wheelchair to bow before Jiang Xiuyuan.

Jiang Xiuyuan reached out and pressed him back down. "Your Majesty, between us, such formalities are unnecessary."

Turbid tears welled up in Xia Qiyuan's eyes as he tightly grasped Jiang Xiuyuan's hand—a hand that had not changed at all over the century, remaining as warm and strong as ever.

"Imperial Preceptor, you are an immortal being; you must possess the method of longevity!" His voice trembled with agitation. "I do not want to die! I want to watch over this Great Xia for another five hundred years, for a thousand years! I have given everything to this country and its people! Do I... not deserve a longer lifespan? I beg the Imperial Preceptor, grant me longevity!"

This was the suppressed desire of his entire life.

He had witnessed Jiang Xiuyuan's unchanging visage over a hundred years; he had seen Jiang Yiyi and Jiang Xiaobai maintain their eternal youth. He knew they held the secret he dreamed of. Once such a proud mortal emperor, when death truly arrived, he was ultimately unable to transcend mortal attachments.

Jiang Xiuyuan watched him quietly. There was no mockery in his eyes, only a trace of pity and understanding.

"Your Majesty, do you know what longevity entails?" Jiang Xiuyuan's voice was very soft.

"It means... eternal life!"

"No," Jiang Xiuyuan shook his head. "It means eternal loneliness. It means you will watch with your own eyes as your sons, your grandsons, all your loved ones, and every generation you are familiar with turn to dust before you. It means you will watch the systems you built with your own hands become corroded by time, and watch the subjects you deeply love forget you. You will transform from a pioneer into a keeper of tombs, and finally, into a monster out of step with the world. Such torment far surpasses death itself."

Xia Qiyuan froze. He had never contemplated "longevity" from this perspective.

Jiang Xiuyuan continued, "Your Majesty, mortals have mortal immortality, while immortals have immortal desolation. You have confused these two distinct paths."

He stood up and pointed toward the bustling Tianqi City in the distance.

"Look at the carriages passing by, the farmers toiling in the fields, the sound of reading echoing from the schoolrooms. Look at the myriad lights of household hearths, the peace and security of the realm. This is your immortality."

"A hundred years from now, a thousand years from now, people may forget your appearance and your voice. But they will live in the peaceful and prosperous era you founded, they will follow the laws you established, and they will chant the name of 'Xia Qiyuan, the Founding Monarch.' Your achievements and your spirit have already merged into the bloodline of this nation and been engraved upon the annals of history. Is this not another form of 'eternal life'?"

"With a mortal body, you accomplished a magnificent feat that many immortals could not achieve. This is the pinnacle of mortality. You should feel proud of this, rather than regretful over the termination of your life."

Xia Qiyuan listened in a daze, the yearning and fear in his eyes gradually replaced by sudden enlightenment and release.

Indeed... his life had been so magnificent, so glorious. Wasn't everything he pursued right before his eyes? Compared to this eternal achievement, what did the preservation of a mere mortal shell matter?

His tightly clenched fists slowly loosened.

"I... understand." Xia Qiyuan let out a long breath, as if a burden weighing a thousand pounds had been lifted from his shoulders. He leaned back in his wheelchair, a long-absent, relaxed smile blooming on his face.

"Thank you, Imperial Preceptor, for untying this knot in my heart." He looked at Jiang Xiuyuan and said sincerely, "I have no regrets left."

Three days later, Xia Qiyuan, the founding monarch of Great Xia, passed away peacefully in his bedchamber.

The entire nation fell into mourning.

Jiang Xiuyuan presided over the state funeral in his capacity as Imperial Preceptor. He used no magic whatsoever, acting merely as an ordinary subject bidding farewell to the sovereign he had assisted for a lifetime.

At the funeral, the new emperor knelt, and all the officials bowed their heads. Jiang Xiuyuan stood at the very back of the crowd, gazing at the enormous mausoleum, and murmured inwardly:

"Rest in peace, my friend. Your story, I will remember."

An era had drawn to a close.

And his ties with this mortal dynasty were also approaching their end. After a golden age, the cyclical wheel of division and unification was inevitable. He had already seen the shadow of the future, but he would no longer intervene.

He had already given this dynasty the best possible beginning; the remaining road was one they had to walk by themselves.