Chapter 380: Hidden Sword King - 380
In what felt like the blink of an eye, a year passed mundanely. There had been no interesting events or occurrences, simply a normal and constant life.
As he was eating lunch with the old man, the old man suddenly spoke.
"Did you hear about the war?" He asked Zhou Fan.
"No." Zhou Fan said as he shook his head.
"Apparently, tensions between our kingdom and the neighboring kingdom, one from a different empire, have been rising, and war is expected to break out at any time." The old man said.
Zhou Fan felt that this was familiar.
'Isn't this like what happened back in Yang Lang city?' He thought to himself.
"Our city wouldn't happen to be on the border of the kingdom, right?" Zhou Fan asked.
"It is indeed. If war breaks out, our city will be the first to be attacked." The old man said.
Suddenly, the ground shook and the earth was overturned. Zhou Fan and the old man nearly fell out of their chairs.
The old man looked out of one of the library's windows, but the city wall blocked his view of the outside.
Zhou Fan could tell what was going on. War broke out.
With cultivators, an entire army could be transported underground without anyone noticing.
Outside of the city walls was a huge army, numbering in the millions. Among the army were many cultivators. In particular, three were floating in the skies. They were at the core formation realm, and one seemed to be at the peak of that realm.
Any core formation cultivator could easily destroy the city. Even the city lord was only at the foundation establishment realm. In the entire kingdom, only the king would be at the nascent soul realm. The emperor himself was only at the peak of the nascent soul realm.
The old man looked at the towering walls and sighed. "War never ceases, no matter how many countless years pass. Humans kill humans constantly. It never ends." He said sadly.
"Luckily, there are those who are not interested in political power or authority. Those who are truly kind and worthy of being called humans." The old man said.
As he spoke, his hand formed two fingers under the table. If Zhou Fan was a mortal, he would not notice it.
The old man swiped his two fingers, and outside of the walls, a giant crescent of sword Qi descended.
The army was instantly obliterated, down to the last cultivator. A giant ravine was all that remained.
Zhou Fan was not surprised. The old man was a soul formation cultivator who lived as a mortal.
"I was born and grew up in this city, rarely ever leaving. I've never even been to another kingdom before. Even then, I am satisfied. I cannot understand what some people think." The old man shook his head.
"It seems it was just an earthquake." Zhou Fan commented.
The old man nodded. "Indeed, it must have been an earthquake. I was worried for a moment. This old heart can't handle so much excitement."
As the old man walked down the stairs, Zhou Fan could not help but admire him.
The old man was insanely talented. If he had joined a sect, he would have reached the space shattering realm at least. On this small planet, he would have been the strongest by a lot.
However, he had always hidden his power and cultivation, simply living, never exploring, never showing off.
Few could even understand how the old man could live in such a way.
—-----------------------
Although a commotion was caused by the arrival and destruction of the army, the city soon fell into its normal habits again. The only difference was a large ravine outside and the legends of a hidden sword king within the city.
Every time the old man heard mention of this, he warmly smiled before quickly regaining calmness.
Another year passed quietly and normally. Occasionally, a few powerful cultivators would enter the city, likely searching for the "hidden sword king", but the old man had created a cultivation hiding technique so well made that only a peak void traversing cultivator would be able to sense it.
Those who had that cultivation were just below the absolute peak of the planet's power, as the world ruler was a 1st level space shattering cultivator, according to the old man.
They would not bother with such a small thing themselves.
"You know, you don't seem to age much." The old man commented one day.
"I suppose I aged a lot when I was younger due to my lifestyle. My face will likely only change in my 50's." Zhou Fan said.
"I see. That makes sense." The old man nodded.
He was not suspicious of Zhou Fan. He had not even considered that Zhou Fan was also a hidden cultivator.
Also, he had developed a good impression of Zhou Fan and saw him as a true fellow librarian. The girl from long ago had quit and moved on to bigger pursuits. In fact, aside from Zhou Fan and the old man, every other person who had worked in the library had changed.
The years seemed to always pass by in an instant to Zhou Fan. Before he had realized it, 3 more years had passed. Although he had not aged a day, neither had the old man.
The old man was not suspicious even now. He would only begin to feel like something was wrong in around 20 years or so.
An exciting thing happened this day. The old man had not come to work even when it was opening time. Zhou Fan opened the library, and the old man came in 2 hours later with a solemn look on his face.
"It happened again." He said when he saw Zhou Fan at the front desk.
"What?" Zhou Fan asked curiously.
"I woke up late, and no more hot buns are being sold. My streak has ended again." He said, sadness apparent in his voice.
"Truly a pity." Zhou Fan said as he left the front desk and went to the second floor.
Chapter 381: Lu Wei - 381
3 more years passed quickly. As always, everything had remained constant and steady. At least, until the blue flower sect was destroyed overnight.
"Those damn demonic cultivators. They always hide away like rats, only to strike when it is unexpected." The old man said as he read the newspaper.
"It is said that half of the people in the sect, including the sect master who had reached the soul formation realm, died. Luckily, the sect master did not go down without a fight. She self-destructed, destroying the soul formation realm demonic cultivator and the rest of the army. Sadly, the blue flower sect will decline, but it will not disappear." The old man sighed.
"It's tragic." Zhou Fan agreed.
"Actually, this is one of the better outcomes. Most demonic cultivators fear death and will only attack with absolute confidence. They did not expect the blue flower sect master to be willing to die for her sect. We lost a truly admirable cultivator." The old man said while shaking his head.
"Are the demonic cultivators strong?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Of course. If not, they would have been wiped out long ago. If I recall correctly, they have 3 void traversing cultivators, with one at the peak of that realm. They are also very good at hiding and running away." The old man said disdainfully.
"Have you ever encountered one? You seem to have a personal dislike for them." Zhou Fan asked.
"Not in my life, no. It is easy to personally dislike worthless cowards." The old man said.
Zhou Fan nodded and did not speak of the subject again.
3 more years passed slowly. The blue flower sect had been rebuilding, but their status was even lower than when Zhou Fan first heard about them.
The only thing stopping them from being wiped out or replaced was the achievement of the dead sect master. By sacrificing her life to kill a powerful demonic cultivator, the blue flower sect was granted protection by the ruling power of the world, which Zhou Fan learned to be the tri-sect alliance.
Their protection would last 300 years, enough to re-establish themselves.
Over the last years, Zhou Fan and the old man had gotten closer. They could even be considered great friends.
The old man was more than happy to be friends with a calm and steady person like Zhou Fan.
5 years later, Zhou Fan noticed that the old man was looking at him differently. Along with the usual friendliness, there seemed to be some appreciation and an unspoken understanding.
Zhou Fan assumed that the old man had finally realized that he was a cultivator.
It would be kind of weird if he had not after so long. Zhou Fan had not aged a day, and not a single feature on his face changed. No facial hair, no change in hair growth, no wrinkles, and no signs of age.
Despite the old man making such a realization, the way things went never changed and the old man never spoke of it.
Nobody was a regular at the library. Only the old man and Zhou Fan had stayed for so long.
"As the seasons change, so do the pursuits and the hearts of humans." The old man sighed.
"I've met many people, yet all of them eventually go their own ways. It is appreciated to have a long time friend." The old man said as he passed Zhou Fan and patted him on the shoulder.
Zhou Fan was used to such behavior. For a few days every 5 years or so, the old man would become melancholy and recite poems or quotes.
Everyone seemed to have their own weird behaviors.
Ever since he had come to the city, Zhou Fan had brought Leaf out every night. Leaf had no issue with Zhou Fan's daily absence. He swayed happily in the sword's inner world.
As for the sword, it just sat in the corner of his room. Nothing would happen to it even if Ying Xiong were to attack it with his full strength.
10 years later, Zhou Fan saw the old man walk into the library holding a newborn child in his arms.
"I found this child in a basket outside the library. I suppose I can at least understand the thought behind not being ready to have a child, but who in the world decided to leave it in front of a library?" The old man said with confusion.
"What do you plan on doing with it?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Well. I suppose for now I'll take care of it here. Either someone from the city government or its mother will come and get it eventually." The old man said.
After a long time, the steady life within the library finally changed.
Unexpectedly, neither the city government nor the mother came back to claim the child, and after a year, the old man became too attached to let the child leave.
As they were sitting down and eating lunch, the old man mentioned that he was planning to adopt the child.
"You seem capable of raising a child." Zhou Fan said. He had no opinions on the matter.
"I know. I just need to figure out what to name him. Do you have any ideas?" The old man asked.
"If you're adopting him, then name him after you." Zhou Fan said.
"He will naturally share my surname, but I still need a first name." The old man said.
"How about Long." Zhou Fan said.
"No. That is too domineering." The old man rejected.
"Tian."
"Too arrogant."
"Wei?" Zhou Fan asked.
"Hmmm. That's good. Lu Wei." The old man said.
Zhou Fan did not have many interactions with Lu Wei for a year, but once he turned two, he began to follow the old man around the library.
Lu Wei seemed like a respectable young man. He had black hair and dark brown eyes.
He always seemed happy and was always respectful. Even Zhou Fan did not mind Lu Wei.
Once he turned four, Lu Wei began to read books often. Sometimes, he would read near Zhou Fan.
Once again, Zhou Fan was given the name, Uncle.
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