Chapter 3398: 1690: After 300 Years and Several Generations, It’s Hard to See Such a Genius Demon Again |
My name is Ah Si.
The “Si” as in the Fourth Sword.
Three hundred years ago, back in the Cold Palace Emperor Realm, I was a renowned figure of some repute.
At that time, I still had a proper name: Yuegong Si.
But the Holy Emperor family changes lineage every hundred years. Three generations have passed, and now, few even remember my full name—Yuegong Li doesn’t count.
Why, you ask?
The reason is simple. In that battle for the successor of the Holy Emperor, I lost and became a shadow.
Shadows have no names. Yuegong Qi called me Ah Si, and before long, everyone followed suit and called me that.
As for me, I could no longer call him “Ah Qi,” “Aqi,” “Qiqi,” “Qiqi and so on.
Because society seems to hold a stereotype of shadows: cold, taciturn, heartless, and bloodthirsty.
Fine, let it be so!
My limit has been permanently capped at the demi-saint level, with no hope of reaching the Holy Emperor position in this lifetime.
I once aspired to climb higher, but eventually, I surrendered to resignation—my life was granted by the Cold Palace Emperor Realm, so I might as well return it to the realm.
For centuries, other Holy Emperor families have changed lineages several times, replacing shadows multiple times too.
In this respect, should I say the Yuegong family lacks talent, or is it that Yuegong Qi truly is a remarkable ruler?
He’s been the family head for nearly four hundred years now.
And naturally, so have I as the shadow.
Sixty years ago, I cautiously broached the subject of Yuegong Qi’s descendants and the future of the Cold Palace Emperor Realm. To my surprise, he took it seriously—it seemed he did indeed feel the need for heirs.
Not long after, the siblings Nü and Li were born, one after another.
Finally, some good times came my way!
To better nurture the next generation, I applied to become Yuegong Ns shadow ahead of schedule. Even though her talent was average, I swore to train her into a Holy Emperor—after all, who knows more about the Holy Emperor’s successors than I?
I was utterly fed up with the shadow’s life!
I wanted to retire!
I wanted peace and leisure!
I… succeeded. Halfway.
Yuegong Nü was born adorable—a porcelain doll carved from jade—and at just six years old, her talent surpassed even her father’s. She was simply a flawless work of art.
Her younger brother, well, was also… a human being.
As for Yuegong Li…
How to put it? Judging by my nearly four hundred years of shadow experience, this fox-eyed lad, from inside out, head to toe, wore a constant cheerful smile, entirely oblivious to the fact that the words “shadow” were written all over his face.
Haha, amusing and blissfully unaware.
Surely I wasn’t this obvious back then. Definitely.
I devoted myself to guiding Yuegong Nü because, within twenty years at most, I expected to be free.
I taught her the arts of kingship, the ways of ruling underlings, the power of the ancestral source… I didn’t stop her, of course, from pursuing curiosities like the Ancient Sword Technique and Spiritual Cultivation, even though such things are considered third-rate crafts in the present age.
Yuegong Nü was as sharp as ice and snow—focused, hardworking, and diligent in her studies.
Her little brother would be nearby, playing with mud.
As for Yuegong Li…
How to put it? Theoretically, knowledge related to the Holy Emperor’s successor isn’t meant to be overheard by outsiders, not even a younger brother.
But, as the sole son of Yuegong Qi, he was inseparable from his sister. Besides, this filthy mud-covered child hardly seemed the type to eavesdrop—urinating and mixing mud, joyfully at play.
Fine, let it be.
His joy, too, would last but twenty years.
After twenty years, dreaming about mixing mud with urine would be the closest he’d come to reliving those days.
So, I didn’t interfere.
Such trivial matters didn’t warrant bothering the perpetually secluded Yuegong Qi with a report.
In my nearly four hundred years of shadowhood, I’ve gotten everything right—except for this one mistake.
Yet in these same nearly four hundred years of shadowhood, so much has gone wrong—except for this one thing, where I stumbled into being right.
Yuegong Li had never been merely playing with mud!
No, I should say he *was* playing with mud at first, but the situation took a turn when he met a certain “great friend
This generation of the Holy Emperor family is undoubtedly full of talent.
The pride of heaven, Yuegong Nü. The cold youth, Hua Changdeng. The arrogant princess, Rao Yaoyao. The seeker of roots, Cry Bei Huai. The calculating Dao Xuanji…
Compared to all these, Urine-Mixing Yuegong Li and Blockheaded Dao Qiongcang were entirely unremarkable at the start.
Their academic performance wasn’t bad—scores comparable to those of the aforementioned luminaries. Dao Qiongcang even occasionally impressed, snatching first place on a few occasions, nearly making others take note.
Yet their practical results were poor—it seemed theoretical aptitude remained just that, with no practical application, leaving them as scholarly fools.
And so, the weak often gravitate toward each other.
Yuegong Li’s “great friend” was none other than Dao Qiongcang.
Years later, after my brother reversed his fate and became the Holy Emperor’s successor, I had asked him about this, and only then did he mention it.
At six years old, during an argument, Dao Qiongcang had hurled these words at my brother:
“Go play in your mud! I refuse to become the Holy Emperor’s successor because I don’t *want* to, but you’ll only ever be a shadow, and you don’t even know it.”
My brother was hurt.
After a sleepless night, he never played with mud again and truly began to eavesdrop.
The shadow came alive.
…
Living as long as I have lets you witness many things.
I watched the bright Yuegong Nü spend half her life in the cold prison. I watched Rao Yaoyao, so full of promise, die suddenly, falling beneath the Stairway to Heaven.
I watched the ordinary Hua Changdeng ascend to Holy Emperor without resistance. I watched the hopeful Bei Huai stray onto the misguided path of researching the origins of life.
I watched the determined Yuegong Li become my master, and as for his “blockheaded” friend Dao Qiongcang—it turned out he had been faking it all along!
And now, I have arrived at the Sacred Mountain.
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