Twilight Boundary-Chapter 733 - 724: 3 Stages

"So, is this truly someone who's only interested in killing the Emperor but has no interest in becoming an Emperor himself?"

That night, Hu Ma rested in the Manor, drank ten jars of wine, and for the first time, clearly understood the past of Lao Junmei.

Of course, this was also related to the change in attitude towards him from Senior Brother not eating beef.

Before this, neither this Big Senior Brother nor others in not eating beef would speak in detail about the Great Virtuous Master to him.

If mentioned at all, it was always consistent clichés, nothing more than descriptions about how the sky was filled with red light at his birth, growing up with compassion and righteousness, receiving the Divine Heavenly Book, and other remarkable attributes, with everyone holding a sense of awe and reverence.

This mentality was extremely common in this world. Though the not eating beef people were all unique, they couldn't escape this habit either.

And a Great Virtuous Master described through such consciousness would naturally seem unreal, making it even harder to understand.

However, this time, even the Big Senior Brother from not eating beef spoke of the Great Virtuous Master's youth. He recounted how the young master was chased around like a dog, running wildly. He also told of his time wandering the jianghu when he ran out of Silver Coin and stole sweet potatoes from other people's fields, creating many stories that were later erased as 'black history'.

Hu Ma also understood in his heart that the Great Virtuous Master he now understood was indeed the real him.

Or rather, he was Lao Junmei.

The Great Virtuous Master was just one grand title of Lao Junmei, yet he had many small titles in the jianghu!

Among them, one was actually called the Thief Leaving Fragrance with the Moon, but which Chu Liuxiang would sneak to steal others' leftovers at night?

「The next morning.」

As he left the Manor and set off again, Hu Ma pondered over the life of this code-named Lao Junmei that was so colorful, comprising three distinct stages.

He imagined what this person had experienced and what realizations he had come to.

The first stage was that of a wealthy young master. From birth, he was different from others; he spoke at three, learned words, and was filled with many curious ideas.

The family invited a private tutor to teach him the words and actions of the Saints. However, he did not learn them at all, nor did he practice writing. Instead, he developed many ideas about the strange phenomena in the world. Leveraging his wealthy background, he roamed far and wide, seeking martial arts instruction and teachers, living freely.

At thirteen, the family could no longer control him. Although at that time he had not yet mastered his skills, his eagerness led him to set out on his own to roam the jianghu to gain experience.

During those days of wandering the jianghu, life was tough and certainly less comfortable than at home, yet Senior Brother not eating beef recalled that those days following the young master were happy, even though they often lacked Silver and sometimes missed meals.

All over, he apprenticed himself, slayed demons, banished bandits, and gradually improved his skills while also making many good friends in the jianghu, sparring and advancing together.

But as his skills gradually became accomplished, he also began to transition into the second stage, motivated by his desire to save people.

The young master naturally loved to save people and enjoyed seeing their grateful expressions. He also considered the best table to be after helping a village eliminate demons and evil bandits, when the villagers generously brought out the best foods, even if it was just some salted meat or pickled eggs.

But doing such things was novel at first, then fun, and he would even actively seek them out.

However, upon arriving at a place, the young master always discovered such injustices; everywhere he looked, demons were eating people, and he began to find it tiresome.

He started to doubt whether this was a good thing and began to grumble whether something was wrong with the world.

And the change began one time during a blood food mine incident. At that time, all major blood food mines in the world were in the hands of the Douyi Court.

Due to a demon infestation, the young master personally witnessed over a hundred lives in the mine being sacrificed, including a little girl who had just given the hungry young master a bun the day before. For the first time, the young master was immensely enraged.

That night, he wielded his sword and killed the local government lord, intending to distribute grain and gold to the survivors at the mine for them to return home.

But no one responded; everyone only looked at him in fear.

Disaster struck. Those he saved from the mine were all killed with no survivors under the Douyi army's attack.

The young master couldn't save anyone and instead began to be embroiled in endless assassinations himself.

At that time, the Douyi Court was much larger than it was now. Masters from all paths were under their control, and they issued a wanted notice for this audacious jianghu bandit, listing him as a public enemy.

Thus began the second phase of the young master's life. He faced countless court experts pursuing and killing him, experiencing numerous close calls. Yet, because of his bravery and attention to detail, he formed numerous friendships in the jianghu. He not only survived but gradually rose in power.

After enduring countless trials of life and death, his skills became truly outstanding.

Not only did he not perish under the Douyi Court's pursuit, but he also began to gradually recruit a large group of Jianghu Strange People, occupying mountains and becoming sworn brothers with the bandits, forming his own jianghu force.

At its peak, he was even known as the Chief of the Seventy-two North-South Heaven Earth Halls.

Later, because the number of halls never added up to seventy-two—sometimes more, sometimes less—this title never quite resonated throughout the jianghu.

And at that time, even the Zhensui Mansion of the Douyi Court, when offering rewards for him, called him by names like "Winged Tiger" or "Liu Ma."

The young master began to realize that jianghu figures could not achieve great things, that it was eventually a dead end. So he retreated for a day and a half, and once he emerged, he decided to establish a Tao, self-styled as the Great Virtuous Master, to save all suffering.

Previously, the focus was on eluding pursuits, but later on, it was on saving the commoners. This shift in duties resulted in a momentum that gradually grew, even surpassing his previous friendships with Martial Artists.

Even at that time, people from the Daluo Dharma Sect came to pay respects during a Blessing Meeting. They observed the talisman water that cooked rice and porridge and noticed the Demon Suppression Talisman secretly marking the government granary's location. From this, they concluded that the Great Virtuous Master indeed possessed True Skill and was an extraordinary individual.

It's amusing to say that, as the Dharma Sect protecting the state of Douyi, they became friends with the number one rebel leader in the world.

But the momentum had already formed—to dominate the world or to be the mountain king?

The young master hadn't made up his mind for some time. He often felt uneasy, unlike his young self, who used to love laughing and joking around, but was rather silent day and night. This stage of the transition began when the Duyi Royal Family personally took action against him.

As the Great Virtuous Master, his reputation grew so loud it threatened the Duyi Royal Family's stability, prompting Douyi to invoke the power of the Twelve Ghost Altars, bringing disaster down upon him.

The Twelve Ghost Altars were the foundation of Douyi, capable of affecting the world's fate. Just a hint of its power was beyond ordinary people's reach.

That night, a black wind descended from the sky, and ghosts wailed in terror. Within a radius of several thousand miles where the Great Virtuous Master was located, everything was annihilated overnight. Not a single blade of grass survived.

It was an event that never went to paper and was long forgotten, but regarding its level of horror, it ranked in the top three.

Senior Brother not eating beef was handling errands abroad at that time, and when he rushed back, he was horrified beyond measure.

But no one expected it. Within those thousands of miles, all the commoners and subordinates died, yet the Great Virtuous Master survived. He emerged from the widespread devastation, his clothes tattered. He came before Senior Brother not eating beef with a grim smile on his face and said, "I understand now."

"So, it turns out we came here born with debt..."

Since then, the young master returned to being the happy and unserious self of the past. He no longer established a Tao or gathered disaster victims, but widely accepted disciples, although he no longer taught openly but secretly instead.

Even the name of this Tao was casually called not eating beef.

And many of not eating beef's traditions, such as de-emphasizing dharma methods, deceiving gods and ghosts, and manipulating people into rebelling, were passed down from then.

And during this time, the young master, or rather, Lao Junmei, also began to reorganize his own skill set.

He recalled his past: when he was young, he had roamed mountains and rivers for a myriad of miles to refine the Heaven Measuring Boots; in his middle age, he led struggling commoners to war against Douyi, and thus cultivated the Ragged Armor.

Now, after surviving a strike from the Twelve Ghost Altars, he began to advance his abilities further and perfected the Great Mighty Sky General Seal. To practice this skill, he crisscrossed the jianghu, challenging everywhere.

He even ventured into the underworld, practiced in the realm of the dead, broke into the Daluo Dharma Temple to discuss dharma, and sought out Hall Gods everywhere, studying the past.

Gradually, his reputation grew, and his skills became astonishing. It reached the point where even the Zhensui Mansion of Douyi didn't dare to capture him arbitrarily. They even conveyed messages through the Daluo Dharma Sect a few times, wanting to invite him to the court to serve as an official.

But he promised several times verbally, yet never went, often disappearing and leaving the affairs of not eating beef aside. Even when sometimes a "Great Virtuous Master" appearance was needed, there were always others who appeared in his stead bearing that title.

Some seemed solitary and aloof; some were honest and earnest; some were even like women...

Thus came about the saying of the Great Virtuous Master having a thousand faces, ever-changing.

This third stage was the longest and most mysterious phase of Lao Junmei's life. Even Senior Brother not eating beef, who had followed him for most of his life, didn't know what he did during this phase.

He only remembered that during this phase, his skills progressed the most, reaching an unfathomable level. And finally, twenty-four years ago, the master came to him.

"Little Black, I am going to Shangjing!"

Senior Brother not eating beef remembered his master telling him, "I understand now, albeit late, and they understand it late too."

"We are invited over by someone, so we are born carrying debt."

"I am going to do something significant. This matter may not succeed, but it must be done first to have a chance."

"I will die, but I will come back, and someone will understand the other half on my behalf, which is what he will have to do."

"..."

He explained this, arranged some affairs of the Eight Gates disciples of not eating beef, and then left.

Even Senior Brother not eating beef had no idea what this great undertaking would be. He only heard the outcome several months later. The young master had entered Shangjing and, surprisingly, became an official—second only to one person and superior to ten thousand. However, his tenure in office didn't last long. He rebelled on the spot, stood against the nation alone, stormed the Golden Throne Hall, and skinned Emperor Duyi for public display.

He heard that someone used the family extinction curse to annihilate the entire Douyi family of 170,000 people.

It was all so sudden. The Duyi Dynasty, which had ruled the world for two hundred and forty years, was abruptly severed like that.

But he also remembered that the young master said this was only one half of what he wanted to accomplish, entrusting the other half to other people.