Chapter 731: Scene Of Radiation And Legend

Translator:Nyoi-Bo Studio

Editor:Nyoi-Bo Studio

Once upon a time, there was a mountain. In the mountain, there was a temple. In the temple,
there was a person who told a story. He said, "Once upon a time, there was a mountain…" If Fan
Xian's experience in the Temple progressed like this, then, without a doubt, the people who
either anxiously awaited his survival or death would be covered in many layers of spider webs
and die of delay.

Just like the world after that calamity, regardless of whether it was the cause an effect or
something else, it could not sink into dry repetitions. The rebirth of civilization after its
destruction would not be completely the same as before, even if the Temple existed in this world
and began to endlessly impart seeds of the previous civilization through the blind-folded
emissary from the beginning of humankind's second rise.

The most obvious difference between the two worlds could not escape Fan Xian's eyes. During
the 20 odd years of his rebirth, he meditated daily and cultivated the Tyrannical martial method.
This past year, he began to sense the yuanqi filling the world. This was the true difference.
Human society seemed to have found a way of exploitation. The meridians in the human body
were proof of this change.

If yuanqi and the zhenqi in people's bodies were of the same origin and both traces left on the
world by the calamity hundreds of thousands of years ago, it was evidence of nature achieving
balance. But, why didn't these traces make humans who lived among it die?

Using the explanation of the voice in the Temple, perhaps it was an adaptation to the
environment. Furthermore, humans found some kind of balance and benefit amongst the
adaptation. It was probably part of life's innate tenacious nature.

Thinking of this, Fan Xian's heart involuntarily filled with confusion. Sitting cross-legged on the
ground, he was unable to speak for a long time. What he had thought of as the most tenacious
and indestructible civilization in his heart was actually a very weak existence. However, the
seemingly weakest life became the strongest and most fearless existence in the face of an iron-
like reality.

Humankind adapted to this kind of environment. Plants grew anew, and even animals adapted to
this environment. Fan Xian closed his eyes and thought closely of all he had seen and heard
during his rebirth. He suddenly discovered that regardless of whether it was humankind or
animals, it seemed that neither had changed too much because of the yuanqi in the air. This
reality truly astounded him.

It seemed that although radiation was terrifying, in the slow river of time, it was nothing more
than a refreshing and moving sight.
After an indeterminable amount of time, Fan Xian finally shook off the shock and confusion.
The smooth mirror in the air of the Temple had already left Dong Mountain and began to show
all kinds of touching images.

There were people quietly hunting in dense forests and happily working in fields. There were
woman doing laundry with a smile by rivers, children learning to walk stumbling by beds,
smoke, villages, cities, and palaces. And, naturally, there was conflict, battles, killing, and blood.

Gradually, the images changed into scenes of martial artists practicing, either sitting in lotus
flowers or sitting cross-legged on mountain peaks. They were incomparably tenacious enduring
the elements and sleeping in the open. After months and years, after consulting with the sky and
ocean, looking around but truly pointing within, breathing in the remaining yuanqi in the air and
spilling out the muddy breath within, finally, one day, the martial way gradually took shape in
the land.

"Come, come, come…" Fan Xian felt that it was because of the solid foundation he laid down in
his youth through education in the Overwatch Council that he essentially didn't develop any
sense of relaxation as he watched these images. Even so, after seeing the truth of the changes in
the land, his state of mind finally wobbled. A bitter and strange smile rose to the corners of his
lips. To the mirror in front of him, he said in a raspy voice, "Tell me, since martial secrets were
created by the people of this world, why are there such powerful things in the Temple? With just
two volumes stolen, a number of Great Grandmasters were created in the world."

Without waiting for the Temple to speak, Fan Xian coughed and said, "Having spoken so much,
presumably you have figured out by history. So, don't say such nonsense as leftover magical
skills from some god realm."

The Temple was silent for a long time. The voice finally rang out calmly, "For countless years,
the Temple always observed the world. We gathered information and analyzed it, and then
worked with the human body's special biology, carrying out summarization and corrections. In
the end, we obtained results from a few directions of investigation."

This was the origins of the martial methods that his mother Ye Qingmei secretly took from the
Temple. Thinking about it closely, it seemed right. If it weren't for a brilliant vision and method,
secrets of countless schools of thought, and careful selection from a sea of information, who
could be like the Temple in the secular world and use countless years to exquisitely pick out
these things?

"You imparted many useful things to the world." This was something that had been shown in the
previous images. Fan Xian would not erase the effect this ruin had on civilization. He was silent
for a moment. He then said, "When humankind was opening up uncivilized territory, the Temple
went so far as to directly send out emissaries to help humankind fight off tough beasts and later
imparted many skills for them to be able to stand firm in the natural world. Why didn't you
impart these martial methods straight to humankind kind? In other words, the temple must have a
great deal of other information, why did you keep it hidden the entire time?"
At this point, the conversation was finally nearing that woman. The death of his mother, Ye
Qingmei, could not be disconnected from the Temple, regardless of whether it was the martial
secrets she stole from the Temple or the craftsmanship in the palace treasury that exceeded
human society's natural progression. Fan Xian's heart grew slightly cold. His voice was raspy as
he stared at the smooth mirror and said, "Furthermore, why did you break your own rules and
pursue those people across the world?"

"It's not those people, it was just one person." The Temple's voice was still very calm. Perhaps it
was because he had still not reached a confirmed conclusion about Fan Xian's deduction from the
information and conversation, thus the Temple's replies still appeared unusually honest. "We are
guardians, we are protecting human civilization's last spark so that it will grow again. We want
the descendants of humankind to exist in this world again. This is our mission."

"The Temple will broadcast some appropriate skills and knowledge to the world, such as
knowledge about irrigation, crops, and martial skills. But, we will not try to forcefully influence
everything in the world."

Fan Xian suddenly said, "You say that you are only a guardian and not a controller, but you have
held the shadow of the Temple over humankind's head for many years. Furthermore, you have
always tried to plan for a world that you believe to be perfect according to your thoughts."

His brows furrowed slightly. "A thousand years. It's been a thousand years since the rise of the
Wei Kingdom, and there haven't actually been any fundamental changes to this world."

The Temple's voice was silent for a very long time. It then said for the first time in a rhetorical
tone, "Is this not good?"

Is it good or is it not good? Who could say for sure? Fan Xian was a person with acute thinking.
From the confidence in the Temple's voice, he had long determined with perfect clarity that the
thinking of the Temple. The final ruins of the previous civilization had been influenced by that
great calamity, the self-destruction of humankind, although the Temple continued to carry out
the orders in its program.

It was unknown if the Temple was an individual with self-awareness. But, clearly, the Temple
calmly observed everything that happened in the world and prevented human society progressing
to a higher level of civilization. Perhaps in its eyes if civilization followed the same path, it
would be met with another calamity.

Back in the day, Ye Qingmei stirred up a great deal of trouble in the world and led the
production across the entire land forward and upward. Without a doubt, she had crossed the
Temple's bottom line. Thus, the Temple had chosen the Qing Emperor in the mortal world to be
their representative to wipe out everything related to Ye Qingmei. However, the emissaries of the
Temple were becoming more and more scarce. Furthermore, they were repeatedly dying to
Uncle Wu Zhu's hands. The Temple had no way to understand or control the situation. The Qing
Emperor continued to use the palace treasury while he, the bloodline of Ye Qingmei, continued
to live.
Fan Xian's emotions calmed a great deal. He didn't think there was much point being angry or
sad at an artificial intelligence-like existence. He supported his chin in his hand and was silent
for a moment. He then said, "Regardless of whether it is good or not, you are still interfering in
the affairs of the world. That does not mesh with your rules."

"The Temple will not bother with the matters of the world and has never forcefully obstructed
the evolution of human civilization. We just try to fix this process. If an external power tries to
forcefully accelerate this process, we will be sure to stop it."

The voice of the Temple calmly and coldly rang out through the entire building.

At first, Fan Xian paused. Immediately after, he began to laugh. His voice was already very
raspy because of his illness, so his laugh seemed particularly dry and strange. Yet, he laughed
louder and louder. His laughter echoed through the empty building until tears were rolling down
his face and he couldn't resist laying back on the ground.

The mirror was smooth, and the voice was quiet. The Temple did not seem concerned with why
this strange traveler was so presumptuous as to laugh in such a solemn place. It just waited
calmly.

Fan Xian eventually stopped his laughter. Lying on the icy cold floor, his expression was calm.
He stared at the ceiling of the building. After a moment of silence, he said, "You are used to
referring to yourself as a Temple. It looks like in the hundreds of thousands of years that have
passed, you actually think of yourself as a god."

No voice rang out in the Temple. Only the mirror hovering in the air floated to a position above
his head and once again began to show scenes of the end of the calamity. This time, the focus
was not on the grasslands and seas. Instead, it showed the people who had suffered endless
hardships.

Fan Xian's brows furrowed slightly. He knew the Temple wanted to use these images to carry out
a wordless explanation. These silent images were truly shocking, but he didn't want to see.
Straightforwardly, he said, "Close it. It's not like they're true scenes."

The mirror hovering in the air gradually stopped and lost its brightness. It became a flat scroll
with the two ends coming together in the center, gradually closing up the image. Following the
last glimpse of rotting corpses, the mirror became a stick. Then, the elder floating among the
spots of light reappeared again. "I repeat, I am a guardian, not a god."

"If you're not a god, how could you have your own judgments and actions?" Fan Xian seemed
tired. The long conversation and scenes from the long river of time made him appear
uncomfortable and defeated. He pillowed his hands behind his head and stared calmly at the
elder hovering above him. He asked, "You are created by humankind, but now you have begun
to control the development of humankind. From what kind of processes did such an action
develop from?"
"The four established laws of the Temple."

Fan Xian's tone was calm as he replied, "You are still used to referring to yourself as the Temple,
this is the thing I am unable to understand."

"The first established law was that the Temple must not harm humankind and only be a mere
spectator when seeing humankind being hurt. The second established law was that the Temple
should follow all orders from humankind but not break the first established law. The third
established law ensured the Temple its own protection but could not break the first and second
established laws…"

The Temple's voice had not come to an end when Fan Xian's brows pulled together again. He felt
that these three established laws sounded familiar. However, there seemed to be some minute
differences from something he remembered.

"The zeroth law established that the Temple must ensure that humankind's interest as a whole is
not damaged. The other three established laws were established under this premise."