sjar Chapter 382 Heavenly Dao Monster
Chapter 382 Heavenly Dao Monster
Chapter 382 Heavenly Dao Monster
Lin Fei followed Yuan Qingqing all the way south from the capital of Southern Tang, heading straight for the Yuan family in Jiangling County.
With Lin Fei's current cultivation level, his speed far surpasses that of a fast horse. Because the matter was urgent and he didn't know Yuan Daotong's current situation, Lin Fei dared not waste any time. Disregarding the proper etiquette between ruler and subject, and the distinction between men and women, he carried Yuan Qingqing under his arm, shrinking the distance to an inch, traveling a thousand miles a day. In just one day and one night, he arrived at the city of Jiangling County from the capital of Southern Tang.
……
When Yuan Daotong saw Lin Fei, he was clearly astonished as well. After a moment of hesitation, he bowed to Lin Fei and said, "Your subject Yuan Daotong greets Your Majesty. I was unaware of Your Majesty's personal presence and have failed to greet you properly. I beg Your Majesty's forgiveness!"
"Alright, Brother Yuan, there's no one else here, so we don't need to perform the formalities between ruler and subject. Let's just address each other as friends." As Lin Fei spoke, he was also checking on Yuan Daotong's physical condition.
Just as Yuan Qingqing had said, Yuan Daotong's physical condition was not optimistic at this time, and the situation seemed to be even worse than Lin Fei had anticipated.
Every person possesses their own unique "qi" within their body, and the "qi" of a cultivator is even more astonishing. This "qi" can manifest as an oppressive aura, which ordinary people cannot perceive, but Lin Fei, who cultivates the Emperor's Qi Observation Technique, can see it clearly.
Those with profound cultivation like Yuan Daotong possess an astonishing "qi," like a blazing sun hanging high overhead.
However, at this moment, Yuan Daotong's "qi" not only did not appear to be extraordinary, but it even surpassed that of some physically strong ordinary people. What was even more worrying was that Yuan Daotong's "qi" contained a faint aura of death.
The deathly aura emanating from Yuan Daotong wasn't particularly strong, and ordinary people wouldn't be able to see it. However, Lin Fei, who had cultivated the Emperor's Aura Observation Technique, could clearly see it. If this continued, it was likely that after some time, the deathly aura within Yuan Daotong's body would surface.
Just like his father Yuan Yuanshan before his death, he was surrounded by an aura of death, almost to the point of being visible to the naked eye. At that point, even a Great Immortal would probably be powerless to reverse the situation.
Lin Fei, observing the faint deathly aura emanating from Yuan Daotong's body, couldn't help but feel puzzled. Although he knew the Yuan family's "Tui Bei Tu" (a prophetic text) had irreversible side effects, and that no Yuan family patriarch had ever lived past fifty, Yuan Daotong was in his prime, not even thirty years old—still considered young even among the Yuan family patriarchs. Under no circumstances should he possess the same deathly aura as Yuan Yuanshan before his death.
Lin Fei frowned and asked, "Brother Yuan, what exactly happened to you? How did you end up like this?"
Yuan Daotong was naturally very familiar with the Southern Tang royal family's technique of observing the emperor's aura. She knew that while she could hide her current situation from others, she certainly couldn't hide it from Lin Fei, who had cultivated the technique of observing the emperor's aura.
Yuan Daotong sighed deeply, his mood extremely low: "It is all predestined, a calamity for my Yuan family. I hope that Your Majesty will consider our past acquaintance and, after my passing, offer some assistance to my Yuan family in Jiangling, so that our lineage will not be cut off. I would be eternally grateful!"
Lin Fei had known Yuan Daotong for quite some time and knew that although this charlatan was usually lazy, he was by no means a pessimistic person. The fact that he was behaving like this showed that he was completely desperate and had no hope of surviving.
Lin Fei frowned and said in a deep voice, "What nonsense are you spouting? I promised your father that I would lift the curse brought by the Tui Bei Tu from your Yuan family. You are not even thirty years old yet. Even if you are to die, die far, far away from me. So that outsiders will not say that I, the Celestial Master Protector of Southern Tang, am a useless person who does not even dare to live. It would also tarnish the prestige of your Yuan family's generations of Celestial Masters!"
Lin Fei's words were so powerful and thought-provoking that Yuan Daotong was speechless for a long time.
Lin Fei was truly annoyed. This Yuan Daotong was an expert in the Tui Bei Tu (a prophetic text), claiming to have insight into the secrets of heaven and possessing unwavering faith in destiny. In fact, he lacked the courage to defy fate far more than the average person, which was why he appeared so desperate.
Lin Fei, however, was different. He was the supreme ruler, a dragon among men. He believed that human will could overcome fate, that even if it was predetermined, his destiny was in his own hands, not in the heavens. That's why seeing Yuan Daotong's dejected state made Lin Fei furious. He even became genuinely angry, a rare occurrence for him.
After a long while, Lin Fei finally calmed his anger and said to Yuan Daotong, "Brother Yuan, please tell me what happened. Even if the sky were to fall, I believe there is a way to turn things around!"
Seeing Lin Fei's domineering demeanor, Yuan Daotong smiled bitterly after a long while and said, "Your Majesty is indeed the supreme ruler, a dragon among men. Defying fate is easy to say, but how can ordinary people do it? Even though my Yuan family has studied the changes of the Heavenly Dao for generations, we can only submit to the Heavenly Dao."
Yuan Daotong asked Lin Fei, "Does Your Majesty know the secret that the heads of my Yuan family have all lived to be fifty years old?"
Lin Fei shook his head: "I do not know that."
The patriarchs of the Yuan family throughout history have all lived to be no more than fifty years old. The official explanation is that they revealed too many heavenly secrets, incurring the wrath of Heaven and thus being cursed. However, the specifics of this matter are the Yuan family's top secret, and even Lin Fei, as the emperor of Southern Tang, has no way of knowing them.
Yuan Daotong looked dejected and slowly said, "This is Heaven's punishment for those who dare to speculate on the secrets of Heaven. Not only have the heads of my Yuan family never lived past fifty, but they will not even find peace after death!"
Yuan Daotong looked grief-stricken, his teeth clenched, and his body trembled slightly: "After the death of the heads of my Yuan family, they could not rest in peace and could not be cremated. Under the curse of Heaven, they would become mindless monsters who only knew how to kill! Starting from my ancestor, the ancient sage Yuan Tiangang, no head of the family has been able to escape this curse!"
Lin Fei, however, was unaware of this hidden truth. For a cultivator, having only fifty years of lifespan was already incredibly cruel. Cultivators possess abundant blood and energy, and their vitality far surpasses that of ordinary people. Even ordinary mortals can live for a hundred years, so for the head of the Yuan family of Jiangling, one of the three great families of Southern Tang, to have a mere fifty years of lifespan was already a terrifying curse.
Unexpectedly, even after death, the successive heads of the Yuan family could not find peace and were reduced to monster-like beings.
Lin Fei frowned and asked, "Is this why you returned to the general's office? You're not even thirty years old yet. Even if it's the curse of the Yuan family's past patriarchs, it's still too early for you. So why have you ended up like this?"
After hesitating for a long time, Yuan Daotong sighed and said, "Your Majesty, please come with me."