Lord Shenxiu
Chapter 356: The Great Sage (Extra Silver Update)

Chapter 356: Chapter 356: The Great Sage (Extra Silver Update)

Federation Calendar 703.

The Mesoamerican Federation’s overseas colonial expansion finally encountered resistance.

On the New Continent, deep within a thousand miles, the Federation’s colonizers at last met a truly powerful native empire—Sistina!

After a battle, not only was the vanguard completely annihilated, but they were also driven back by the native empire’s army, which flattened all the New Continent’s colonial settlements and ports in one fell swoop.

Even the Governor of the Guardian Mansion, a ’Perfected One’, likewise perished.

Upon the spread of this news, the Mesoamerican Federation’s press exploded, and the stock market plummeted!

Bad news came one after another.

The Sistine Empire not only swept through the New Continent’s colonies but was also preparing to counterattack the Mesoamerican homeland.

Even more so, they garnered the support of a vast number of colonies, initiating a vigorous counteroffensive.

Thousands of massive ships, carrying hundreds of thousands of troops and guarded by mysterious people, took just six months to reach the Federation’s nearby seas.

And then... there was no ’then’.

Zhong Shenxiu personally took action, slaying three of Sistina Empire’s naval admirals, crushing a whole host of ’Perfected Ones’, and sinking ship after ship.

The grand plan to counterattack the homeland ended before it even began.

Not only that, Zhong Shenxiu set out and traveled to the Sistine Empire.

To his disappointment, the Sistine Empire had only tens of millions of people. Although they were the overlords of the New Continent, and had even accumulated more than a hundred ’Perfected Ones’, there wasn’t a single ’longevity’.

All the empire’s generals and dukes... were like ants before him.

Even the heritage left by the Imperial Family, supposedly passed down by a ’longevity’, was not regarded by Zhong Shenxiu.

After this conflict, the Sistine Empire submitted, and the Mesoamerican Federation gradually gained the title of world supremo.

But for Zhong Shenxiu, what he still felt was only boredom.

"Could it be that in this world... there is no second ’longevity’? Or do they simply not wish to meet me?"

...

Flowers bloom and wither, leaves dry and flourish.

In the blink of an eye, over fifty years passed.

Spirit Realm.

"So it turns out... the boundary of the Spirit Realm is just a void?"

Zhong Shenxiu stood before a void, silently pondering.

He felt that he might have found the end of the Spirit Realm.

But all it brought was despair.

Because there was still not a single clue about the ’Ascension Altar’.

At the moment, his entire body was wrapped in white bandages, and he wore a golden mask on his face.

He looked, in fact, like a mummified figure wearing a mask, who if placed in the real world could easily become the antagonist of a horror story.

Just then, sensing something, he sighed and returned to the real world.

Cocktail Castle.

A century of vicissitudes passed, and the evergreen ivy on the castle walls remained lush.

Thousands of servants, chefs, security guards, and stewards bustled about, surrounding the well-dressed descendants of the Mojito family.

In the deepest part of the castle, within a massive bedroom,

there lay a quiet elderly woman on a velvet-laden big bed.

Her face was old and wrinkled, her body thin and frail, her eyes misty, as if she was at the very end of her life.

But her spirit was still clear.

Even so, one could hear the hushed discussions outside the door.

Lawyers, nieces, and nephews, inheritance...

Everyone was waiting for life to ebb away.

Yet in the last moments of her life, she sent everyone away, wishing to be alone for a while.

Suddenly,

an invisible fluctuation transmitted through the void, a door opened.

A terrifying figure emerged.

Had it been anyone else, they might have thought it an attack by some evil entity.

But the old woman instead showed a faint smile: "Have you come?"

"Yes, I have."

Beneath the golden mask, the voice of Zhong Shenxiu came through.

"It seems like many years have passed since I last saw you, starting from the day Jones left... and then after that, Carmela..."

Jennifer’s face lit up with longing.

"I’m sorry..."

Zhong Shenxiu watched the scene, heavyhearted.

He knew that Jennifer was not injured or sick, but that her time had come.

After all, she was nearly a hundred years old.

"Ascenders" could not prolong their lives by much, unless through the Golden Tower.

"Carmela was proud, and ten years ago, she announced her attempt to conquer the Golden Tower... and then, just like Jones..."

Jennifer rambled on, "From that day on, I decided not to pursue any further advancement, and to gracefully accept the arrival of death... Everyone must die, and my life has been splendid enough. Thank you, brother..."

Zhong Shenxiu looked at this scene without speaking.

Carmela was a proud girl, so it was natural that when her old age was approaching, she chose to challenge the ’Perfected Ones.’

But how many of these ’Ascenders’ could succeed?

Failure was to be expected, success was a miracle!

He closed his eyes, as if recalling the innocent days of the two girls’ childhoods.

"I know... you have had your unavoidable difficulties, and starting from some unknown time, you didn’t even allow us to see your face."

Jennifer spoke in a deep voice, speaking very slowly.

"I want... to see you one more time."

She struggled and finally spoke.

"It’s allowed!"

Zhong Shenxiu was silent for a moment, then he removed the golden mask.

This magical artifact and his bandages were obtained during his long explorations; they had a slight effect in relieving the curse, but only a slight one.

Beneath the mask was a face unchanged from before.

As if the long passage of time could not wash away the youth of a ’longevity’ being.

"Li Wei... how wonderful."

Jennifer looked at Li Wei’s face, murmuring to herself, then suddenly she closed her eyes.

From the corner of her eye, a tear slowly slid down.

Zhong Shenxiu’s expression turned absent-minded, and he touched his chin.

The black vein patterns had already spread all over his body, constantly creeping up from his neck.

If Jennifer had looked closely, she would have noticed that the patterns not only covered his neck but also behind his ears.

Just a little more, and they would have climbed onto his face.

"Compared to a cursed longevity like me, perhaps death is a better destiny, isn’t it? Ha ha... ha ha..."

Zhong Shenxiu’s mouth curled into an arc, growing larger and larger.

"Who... who is laughing in there?"

The door was suddenly pushed open, and a crowd rushed in.

But they could only see the empty room, and Grandma Jennifer... peacefully lying on the bed.

...

Byron City.

Zhong Shenxiu stood atop the ruins of the Whisperer Bar.

By now, this street had long been renovated, and in place of the original bar was a new café.

There he sat, a masked mummy, under a sun umbrella, while the people around him paid him no heed.

The waitress even brought over a cup of milk tea with great enthusiasm.

"Is this what it’s like... to view the world as a ’longevity’ being?"

Zhong Shenxiu sighed as he looked at the city, streets, and flow of people, all completely changed.

"That’s right, Mr. Li Wei."

A lonely voice responded.

Around them, the light suddenly dimmed, and an old man wearing a grey robe, with a long beard trailing to the ground, walked out from the void.

"Isreal?! You’re finally willing to see me?"

Zhong Shenxiu showed no surprise, speaking in a muffled voice from beneath the mask.