The Great Song Dynasty

The martial arts world of Great Song Dynasty would never see any peerless masters again.

Some said it was the silence of the Heaven's will, the decline of martial arts, and only the path of immortality could lead the way.

But everyone knew, the only one who could successfully cultivate the path of immortality was the National Teacher.

Moreover, the National Teacher had been in seclusion long ago, indifferent to worldly affairs, whereabouts unknown.

Some said the National Teacher was in seclusion in the most secret chamber of the Great Song imperial palace, some said he had left this mundane world, and some claimed he traveled overseas.

All were speculations, but one thing was certain - the National Teacher Chen Xia no longer intervened.

He had been in seclusion for fifty years without appearing once.

Yet the common folk still respected Chen Xia, worshipping his statue and making offerings every month.

This was the main source of Chen Xia's Linglong Qi, which had now reached 750/1000, just 250 points away from leveling up.

It seemed close, but the amount of Linglong Qi obtained yearly was decreasing, probably because it got harder nearing success.

Chen Xia stretched and yawned, inside the deepest secret chamber built by the Great Song dynasty, glancing at the interspatial Bright Lamp before him helplessly.

To think this interspatial Bright Lamp needed recharging with the qi of heaven and earth.

Where could one find spare qi in the world today?

So each recharge took thirty years, and it had only completed twenty percent, meaning at least a hundred years to full charge.

Luckily, from their last conversation, Chen Xia had confirmed Huang Qingyue was safe, so he needn't worry. She had become a disciple of the Heaven rank, with her own palace and good treatment.

Huang Qingyue must be crossing the Infant Tribulation by now, surely at the Primordial Infant stage.

The plentiful cultivation resources of the immortal realm, no doubt.

Chen Xia sighed at the thought.

That woman could've brought Chen Xia to the immortal realm, but Mount Jiu couldn't accept him.

That meant even in the immortal realm, Chen Xia would still be alone, having to face ancient monsters who cultivated for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. It would also make Huang Qingyue worry.

So Chen Xia didn't plan on going for now. He would ascend after completing the upgrade of his Linglong Qi, truly comprehending the Dao of Time, inscribing the first Dao chapter with Primeval Chaos Qi, and reaching 500 in his stats.

Ascending alone, he had to be extra careful and couldn't have too many hidden cards.

But by then, he could have Qingyue bring him some heavenly treasures and materials.

There was also Xiao Xu who had gone to the immortal realm long ago. He must be an important figure by now.

Chen Xia thought to himself, firming his intention to freeload.

Freeloading off his own capabilities, who could complain?

If you have the ability, you can freeload too.

Chen Xia nodded firmly to himself, this was indeed his capability.

Without the concept of time in the secret chamber, Chen Xia could only estimate the years with system points.

He focused his mind and began mentally writing Dao chapters, an extremely consuming process where each chapter had to be neatly written without any mistakes.

Even a single stroke took Chen Xia half a month of refinement.

After finishing one stroke, Chen Xia would be mentally exhausted, needing months of rest.

Aside from that, Chen Xia was also refining his Golden Core to perfect its pinnacle state, striving for power no less than the Primordial Infant stage.

More meticulous work requiring patience, relying on the passage of time for accumulation.

Luckily, time was what Chen Xia had in abundance.

One generation writing Dao chapters, a hundred years refining the Golden Core - Chen Xia aimed to complete it all in four hundred years.

He paid no heed to other matters, but the outside situation was developing rapidly.

The ninth emperor of Great Song ascended to the throne. Having heard the previous emperor say Great Song was protected by immortals and would never perish, he became unrestrained after taking power.

Any civil or military official who didn't cater to his whims would be sentenced to decapitation.

He liked flattery, so the civil and military officials tried their best at it.

And those best at flattery were often the most treacherous. They would exploit the common folk in their own provinces, collecting extra taxes to line their own pockets.

The glib scholar-officials began banding together to marginalize the military officials, seizing control of the court and government.

With the court in chaos, how could the country continue?

This was the beginning of Great Song's demise.

In the ninth year, peasant uprisings erupted in southern provinces, with thirty thousand households banding together to attack officials and occupy the provinces, the leader proclaiming himself king.

The infuriated emperor sent three hundred thousand troops to suppress the province, decreeing that all peasant households would be massacred without exception, even merchants couldn't escape death, only officials could keep their lives.

Such brutal suppression often invited stronger resistance.

Many provinces across Great Song's territory began rebelling, even some officials publicly opposed the tyranny, with peasant armies counterattacking the capital.

When the people's hearts changed, how could the country survive?

In just half a year, the rebel troops fought into the capital, slaughtering officials and besieging the imperial palace.

Sitting on his dragon throne, the incredulous ninth emperor yelled in anger.

"How is this possible? How dare these lowly peasants rebel, my Great Song is protected by immortals, destined to last ten thousand years, how dare they?!"

The few remaining eunuchs below bowed with trembling voices.

"Y-your Majesty, they have broken into the hall, th-they are almost here!"

The emperor's eyes blazed with fury, smashing his fist on the dragon throne.

"These wretched peasants, I will summon the immortal to massacre them!"

He rose in anger, marching towards his rear palace under the eunuchs' hopeful gazes.

He remembered his father said the immortal's seclusion was a hundred meters below, so he would summon the immortal to slaughter these lowly peasants.

Arriving furiously before his palace, the emperor yelled:

"Immortal, quickly help me massacre these wretched peasants, immortal, come out quick!"

No response.

The emperor's expression grew increasingly anxious as he pounded the floor.

"Come out quick, immortal, come out!"

The immortal never responded.

The encircling peasant troops arrived and captured the Great Song emperor alive.

Thus, Great Song was destroyed.

The newly risen dynasty was called Great Xia. The first act of its emperor upon taking the throne was to kowtow before Chen Xia's statue.

The existence of the immortal was engraved in everyone's heart. All previous Great Song citizens revered him.

So the first act of Great Xia's emperor was to kowtow to the immortal.

A hundred meters below, Chen Xia naturally witnessed it all, but did not intervene in human affairs.

The cycle of dynasties was unavoidable.

He remembered discussing with Song Cai centuries ago that no dynasty would last forever. Even if not Great Song's National Teacher, he would become National Teacher of Great Tang, Great Sun, Great Li, etc.

Time had proven it true.

He was but a bystander in the flow of time.

There was only one thing he needed to do.

Remain silent.