Chapter 130: Crying like a newborn baby
In April 738, Li Yuanba, this 139-year-old demon, still looked like he was less than twenty years old. The passage of time had lost its due power on that face that made all women jealous, but in those eyes that were as piercing as lightning, there was an unstoppable sense of vicissitude and sedimentation. Wang Ting and others who had always been at the peak of myth, under the erosion of time, a thread of fine wrinkles climbed up to the corner of their eyes...
"We've really grown old..." Ayaduo sighed softly in front of the mirror, turning around to gaze at Li Yuanba sleeping soundly on the bed with his arms wrapped around her. The fleeting sadness in her eyes made Ayaduo quietly return to the big quilt and snuggle up beside him, how she wished time could stand still at this moment...
Wang Ting, Hong Bi Nu and Dou Xian Niang three women in that soft sigh simultaneously body trembled, ah, they all grew old! From the moment a wrinkle crept onto their faces, their youthful appearance suddenly seemed to turn into that of a woman in her thirties. Every time they saw their loved ones' appearances, they felt the days of parting with them were getting closer and closer. Especially when they saw the aged faces of their children and grandchildren, their hearts ached!
Li Xing, the eldest son, who is now the Emperor of the Great Tang, has also passed his ninetieth birthday. More than half of his one hundred and fifty years of life have been spent, and the passage of time has left its mark on Li Xing's face, making this hardworking son stand out like a grandfather alongside his father.
For nearly a hundred years, they had not used any rouge or powder; now, whenever Li Yuanba came back, they needed almost an hour of makeup to conceal those few wrinkles. A woman's beauty is for the pleasure of her lover, but when applied to them, it was a kind of disguise...
The Demon God Realm is above the Mythical Realm, but except for being able to expand one's control over the powers of heaven and earth, there isn't a single change in lifespan. Fighting and killing aren't what Wang Ting and her friends want, and without experiencing life-and-death battles, they won't have any chance of breaking through!
The crisis in the entire Tang Dynasty has been lifted, and nearly 10 million casualties have left the Tang Dynasty powerless to pay attention to the current situation in the world. The Tang Dynasty urgently needs to rest and recover! The vast territory and sparse population have greatly reduced the Tang Dynasty's control over the entire territory. Although internal crises have been basically resolved, the sea beasts that occasionally emerge from the coastal border areas have left the Tang Dynasty powerless to encircle them, and can only gradually withdraw troops, giving up a large buffer zone to reduce unnecessary casualties.
These sea beasts that crawl onto the shore are generally amphibious, covered in sharp spikes and hard shells that are difficult for humans to penetrate. Simple firearms can only spark a string of fire when shot at them, unable to cause effective harm. These sea creatures are bizarre and varied, and humans have never truly understood how many life forms the ocean nurtures. Fortunately, these sea beasts are the type that come out to roam around and won't stay on land for long. Humans can only use energy weapons or their own inner energy to inflict damage on these rampaging sea beasts; other methods make people unwilling to try, as these curious creatures will stir up the ocean and create massive waves crashing against human settlements when enraged. The impact of these waves can annihilate all living things within a hundred miles! Moreover, these sea beasts that appear on land are mostly in groups, with their enormous bodies and terrifying speed striking fear into people's hearts. Once they form an attacking formation, they can wreak havoc on the land for thousands of miles!
These sea beasts basically have a king-like monster of their species that appears every few thousand, with strength comparable to that of a demon god. Their unusual attack methods make people defenseless. Fortunately, as long as these sea beasts are not provoked, they will not launch an active attack. On specific days when these sea beasts come ashore, they only engage in collective activities on land for half a month. Except for some stray ones that run out of the buffer zone drawn by humans, there is basically no great harm. These lone sea beasts would be killed by humans and enjoyed as a delicacy, forming a seafood craze. The meat of these sea beasts is tender and nutritious, and can be cooked into a delicious dish without any seasoning. Moreover, it has the effect of enhancing people's cultivation, so people have started to specialize in this business, fearing no death. The teams are getting bigger and bigger, and the benefits are simply staggering, making it a risk-free investment!
In history, the Sui and Tang dynasties were almost the craziest era in terms of food. Almost everything that crawled in water, flew in the sky, and ran on land was within the scope of people's attempts to eat. Even animals like bats that looked disgusting had someone dare to try them, it can be said that this period was almost without taboos when it came to eating...
Those exotic beasts, especially those above the Demon God level, have become one of the most popular delicacies in the Tang Dynasty. The delicious dishes made from these exotic beasts can maximize the catalysis of human energy, and are irresistibly tempting to high-level practitioners of the Demon God level! After all, exotic beasts are just that - exotic beasts, similar to large carnivorous animals like tigers in the ordinary world. Although they are dangerous, people can hunt them down with the help of auxiliary tools like traps. As a result, a new profession emerged at this time: mercenaries! These people were basically fugitives who would accept any dangerous task for profit. For their own cultivation and enjoyment, those high-level practitioners of the Demon God level also participated in this endeavor! They became leaders, aiming to hunt down exotic beasts that had a close connection with themselves, thereby infinitely enhancing their strength and hoping to break through their current cultivation level.
How can one's own cultivation compare to the pleasure of enjoying good food, and yet also enhance their cultivation? Moreover, in the process of hunting down these dangerous demonic beasts, they can also hone their combat skills! Life-and-death battles are originally one of the best shortcuts to breaking through one's cultivation. They have no reason to give up such a good opportunity. Thus, under the peaceful environment of the current Great Tang Dynasty, the higher-ups have tacitly approved of their actions as demonic gods, and some have even participated in organized hunting. The laws of the Great Tang are the biggest obstacle restricting such organizations, but there is no perfect law in any world. If they can't exceed a hundred people, then mobilizing the military would be fine...
Under the indulgence of a large number of high-end meat delicacies, the top leaders of the Tang Dynasty turned a blind eye, and the civilian hunting teams were basically all attached to the military, with numbers also breaking through the limit of one hundred! In front of interests, they all forgot the person who originally formulated this rule, forgot this word with strong irony, and was unconsciously thrown aside by them, because these are all military organizations...
No one mentioned this matter to Li Yuanba, not because they didn't want to, but because they thought it was normal, and besides, it didn't violate the law. The God of War wouldn't have any reason to make things difficult for them, right? But they all forgot, does Li Yuanba need a reason to do things?
The royal Li family is now in disarray, and Li Yuanba has no time to deal with these matters. Li Jiancheng, the legendary ruler of the Great Tang army, is now 153 years old! According to his age, from the day he was born to now, he is exactly 151 years old! This lifespan is very interesting, a legendary 150-year lifespan, under Li Jiancheng's persistence, it was actually dragged on for another year! And this year was actually supported by the flesh and blood of those heavenly beasts, which explains why the flesh and blood of the beasts drove everyone in Tang crazy!
A legendary person will not be affected in their actions until the moment of death, and can still eat and drink as before. It is only at the instant before death that a dying person should have the proper demeanor...
Li Jiancheng's body was as normal as anyone else, but he had lost his own consciousness. He wasn't the first legendary master to die a natural death. Before him, there were three myth-level masters who died naturally, and their bodies were enshrined in the ancestral hall of their family, looking lifelike. Ten years passed, without even a hint of decay. It wasn't until a hundred years after their death that their bodies were finally buried in specially made ice coffins by later generations, which is enough to illustrate the extraordinary strength of myth-level masters' physical bodies!
The legendary also, however, the physical limit is restricted to fifty years...
Li Jiancheng, as the royal family's privilege was only comparable to Li Yuanba's, entered the imperial ancestral temple in person, and his clothes were buried in the mausoleum built with tens of thousands of people's rituals. Li Yuanba, as the third brother, unexpectedly wore mourning attire and personally saw off his elder brother!
Li Yuanba said that after all, he is also a person from the later generation. The position he is in does not have any dignity for him. Relatives are just relatives, and wearing mourning clothes is normal. Li Jiancheng, as his older brother, enjoyed much greater honors after his death than their father Li Yuan did. It's worth noting that even when Li Yuan passed away, he didn't receive the same level of respect as Li Yuanba did. Li Yuanba was sincerely sending off his older brother, who not only was his older brother but also the matchmaker for Li Yuanba's first wife. His passing also represented Li Yuanba mourning the first person he loved in this world - Han Lin!
In this life, one will personally send off many loved ones, representing a complete life! Li Yuanba has been in this world, and there are few people who can make him cry. A slap can count them. He didn't cry for his parents in this life, and the first time he cried was when Han Lin passed away. The second time was also for his most beloved lover Du Lingyue, and he cried many times, each time with complex sadness - helplessness, resentment, and lost love! But this time, Li Yuanba cried with relish, just crying for the sake of crying, calm and intense!
The boundless spiritual power accompanied Li Yuanba's crying voice, shrouding the entire area. The emotions contained within made everyone shed tears as Li Yuanba burst into loud wailing! The emotion was strange, as if he just wanted to cry out loud, but why he cried was a sorrow that no one could explain; this sorrow was like being thrown into an empty room alone, sitting silently in the center, wanting to declare his existence through painful crying, without any reason.
"I offer sacrifices to my parents and the world from my past life, to my loved ones and experiences in this life, to the humiliating history and the bizarre situation of today. At the same time, I also offer sacrifices to my future life - I don't know if there will be a soul after I die, or what kind of world it will be. Let me make offerings, let me offer everything! All I want to do is cry, not out of sadness, nor despair, nor happiness, but like a newborn life, crying just for the sake of crying..."
