Light Fortress Chapter 1870 - 459: Beneath the Mask (Part 2)

Besides Bai Shu and Lin Lei, there were two other spirits engaged in conversation.

...

...

"Teacher, given the current situation... Are you satisfied now?"

Qinglong was sealed within the [Furnace].

But it didn’t stop him from splitting a trace of Heart Flow Power to come to the chessboard of the [Reincarnation Realm].

After the outbreak of the Divine War, he folded this chessboard and stored it away, which is now frozen in the Empress Divine Domain, unable to leave. He took it out once more.

At this moment, Qinglong’s "Spirit Body" was similarly reduced to a hundredth in size, turning into a tiny shadow. He gently landed on the chessboard, gazing at Mr. Tianshui who was seated cross-legged.

Tianshui had always been very quiet.

He seemed like a spectator.

More like a traveller.

He wanted to build the Source Tower, and so it was built; he wanted to support the strongest Divine Throne, and so he did.

Throughout Tianshui’s life, it seemed as though fate favored him countless times.

Rather than saying Qinglong was the "chosen one."

It would be more accurate to say Tianshui was the true "chosen one."

But now, what he needed to do was to kill Qinglong...

This seemed to be the only thing in his life that he wanted to do but couldn’t achieve, or perhaps, by the time he achieved it, he would most likely be "dead" and unable to "witness" it firsthand.

"Do you want to hear the truth? You’re still alive, so I’m not quite satisfied."

Tianshui raised his head, his voice was very honest, mingled with an undeniable regret.

Even though his body was reduced in size, Qinglong was still towering.

On this chessboard, Qinglong was the highest presence, forcing Tianshui to look up if he wanted to meet the eyes of his disciple.

"Death..."

Qinglong gently murmured the word.

He sat back, and behind him, countless clouds condensed out of thin air, forming a colossal Throne.

Even when frozen, locked in confinement, he remained the "Transcendent" Divine Throne, able to overlook everyone with a slight casual posture.

Seated on the Throne.

Qinglong’s voice carried three parts of self-mockery.

"It’s just death after all."

He looked at Tianshui, his eyes showing a faint sorrow, but it only flashed by.

Seated at the transcendent position, Qinglong slowly bent forward, gazing at the mask on his teacher’s face, gently asking, "All these years, I have adhered to my promise back then, even after refining the fire seed, still taking you as the supreme teacher, implementing the priest system, and building the Double God Illusion Realm. In this transcendent Source Tower, besides me, you are the second person. Below one, above millions... I can understand other people’s desire for my death, but why do you want me dead? That I cannot comprehend."

Many years ago.

When he was still a struggling and disheveled youth crawling in a muddy alley.

This masked man appeared before him...

Tianshui extended his hand.

Qinglong grasped that hand.

The story that followed, every Transcendent across the Five Continents knew.

It was the clichéd tale depicted in every legendary picture book, with the establishment of the Source Tower and Qinglong’s growth, leading to an unprecedented purging in Central Continent. Not long after, the teacher-student duo dominated and stood at the peak of the Five Continents, with the disciple reigning over the highest Divine Throne, and the teacher retiring to anonymity behind the scenes in Upper City.

Just that in the end, they inevitably turned against each other, blade meeting blade.

Now Qinglong has imprisoned Tianshui on the chessboard of the Reincarnation Realm, just hoping for a bit more dignity in the ending of this story.

"Because you’ve changed, so you should die."

Tianshui raised his head.

He looked into Qinglong’s eyes, calmly saying, "That boy who walked out from the muddy alley has forgotten what he once looked like."

"I haven’t forgotten!"

A somber, angry yell interrupted Tianshui’s words.

Qinglong’s forehead bulged with veins, firmly seated on the Throne, tightly gripping the handles.

The reason he sat on this transcendent position yet felt it wasn’t enough, was because he remembered the disgrace, the downfall, the unbearable state of the muddy alley years ago—

Such days, he never wished to return to.

Such days, how could he forget, how dare he forget?!

"Upon ascending the Divine Position, you stood too high, too far from the ground, and thus made too many wrong choices."

Tianshui’s voice remained calm, even after being interrupted, not angry, but without wavering in tone, he said, "You forgot there are many people who are just like you were."

Qinglong paused for a second.

This statement hit upon his most sensitive point.

"Indeed, there are countless downtrodden people in this world... But how are they like me, how are they worthy of being compared to me?"

Along this journey, refining the fire seed, ascending the Divine Position.

Nobody knows.

How much hardship Qinglong endured, how many difficulties he faced.

And this was with his unparalleled talent and resolute will—

If many people were like him in this world, then many should have reached this point.

He can accept anything, except the notion that the current Throne is a matter of luck, a coincidence.

Hence, he must be different from others.

"..."

Tianshui gazed at his disciple, disappointment evident in his eyes.

He shook his head, saying no more.

Silent silence rendered this final confrontation between teacher and student absurd and bleak.

"I won’t argue with you."

Qinglong realized his loss of composure, he took a deep breath, calming his emotions to the original point, looked at his teacher before him, and slowly said, "I know you hope for my death, but back then in the muddy alley you said to me, all living creatures have the right to live, even an autumn cicada, wanting to survive, should strive to fly out from frost and snow, to see if it can endure through the heavenly realm. So no matter how many people want me dead, as long as I wish to live, I should try my best to stay alive."