Chapter 143: The Rejuvenation Pill

All along the way, Jiang Yuan had been observing Wen Zhong and Shiji, only to find that the two of them had not exchanged a single word throughout the entire journey.

It was truly miraculous.

He was somewhat curious about how on earth these two communicated with each other.

Could it be that legendary spiritual resonance truly existed?

"Grand Preceptor, might you tell Us how you came to know Lady Shiji?" Jiang Yuan took the initiative to break the silence.

He considered this a way to start a conversation.

Jiang Yuan was simply too anxious seeing these two refuse to say a single word.

Since Bai Ze refused to tell him, he would ask himself.

The main thing was that such matters were never mentioned in the Investiture of the Gods; beat him to death and he would never have imagined that Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong could have a romantic entanglement with Lady Shiji.

It was not that Jiang Yuan lacked worldly experience; Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong was currently an old man weathered by time, whereas Shiji?

Putting aside the mature charm she exuded, it would be no exaggeration at all to call her a maiden in the prime of her youth.

Wen Zhong still ignored Jiang Yuan, a look of reminiscence appearing in his eyes.

Just as Jiang Yuan was about to lose heart, Shiji asked softly, "Does the Human Emperor truly wish to know of these past events?"

Jiang Yuan’s eyes lit up. He wanted to know desperately; gossip of this sort was his absolute favorite.

However, he certainly could not voice it quite like that, so Jiang Yuan put on a solemn expression and said, "If Lady Shiji does not mind, you may share it with Us."

"It is no trouble. Since the Human Emperor wishes to listen, this humble self naturally will not conceal anything," Shiji smiled.

In truth, she had long wished to find someone to confide these matters in.

Through Shiji’s narration, Jiang Yuan roughly understood the ins and outs of the story, as well as why Wen Zhong had joined the Jie Teaching to cultivate the Dao.

As it turned out, this was a love story that made Jiang Yuan quite envious.

He never expected that such a fiery-tempered old man like Wen Zhong could possess such a tender side.

Back in those days, Wen Zhong was not yet the Grand Preceptor of the Shang Dynasty, nor did he look as aged as he did now.

He was the most illustrious and formidable military general of the Great Shang at its zenith, ambitious and waging campaigns everywhere.

He enjoyed the utmost trust of the Great Shang monarch of that era.

As for Shiji, she was already a beloved disciple of the Master of Heaven and a powerful Golden Immortal of the Great Luo, only to encounter danger while venturing out to temper herself through trials.

Half of her body had reverted to its original form—that of a stone—and all her magical power had been completely lost.

No different from an ordinary mortal, she had unluckily fallen into a desolate, uninhabited region of the Northern Barbarians.

If nothing unexpected happened, she would not cross paths with a single soul until she completely turned into stone.

Even Shiji herself had despaired, never expecting to meet Wen Zhong, who had already pushed his forces deep into the Northern Barbarians.

Upon seeing Shiji, whose body was almost entirely petrified save for her head, Wen Zhong, driven by some inexplicable impulse, rescued her.

At this point, Jiang Yuan suspected that Wen Zhong had simply been captivated by her beauty at first sight, for even a hero could not easily pass the trial of a fair maiden.

Back then, Wen Zhong was merely at the Metxian realm of achieving sainthood through the physical body, and his efforts were of no use in healing Shiji.

Therefore, he begged the monarch of the Shang Dynasty of that time for an immortal elixir to save Shiji.

He then brought Shiji home and tended to her with meticulous care, only to learn through thorough understanding that Shiji was a disciple of the Saint, the Master of Heaven.

Even though Wen Zhong was at the absolute peak of his power in the Great Shang Dynasty, he knew he was unworthy of a Saint's disciple.

Thus, once Shiji’s injuries healed, Wen Zhong let her depart.

Even though he knew he had fallen in love with Shiji, and even though he knew Shiji had also grown fond of him and had even expressed her feelings to him in a straightforward manner.

Yet, being of a proud and stubborn youthful disposition back then, he insisted on holding back; he wanted to wait until the day he was truly worthy of Shiji.

And so he waited, his youthful hair turning white; the once undefeated general could no longer fight battles and had become the Grand Preceptor of the Shang Dynasty.

Yet he still felt unworthy of Shiji, which led to his subsequent departure to seek the Dao in the Jie Teaching.

There was one point Jiang Yuan could not figure out: why haven't the two of them declared their feelings now that both were Golden Immortals of the Great Luo?

Stop pretending; you are simply Yang Guo, and since you fancy your own martial aunt, why don't you just call Shiji your aunt?

The former part was spoken by Shiji, while the latter was entirely concocted inside Jiang Yuan’s own head.

Yet he felt the development of events must be just like this, based on his experience of reading countless romance novels in his previous life.

It was definitely, 100 percent so.

"To think there was such a past between Lady Shiji and the Grand Preceptor," Jiang Yuan said with a trace of emotion.

"Making the Human Emperor laugh at us," Shiji said, feeling somewhat shy under Jiang Yuan's meaningful gaze.

There was still one question Jiang Yuan did not quite understand, so he communicated with Bai Ze via his inner thoughts, asking, "Senior Bai Ze, as a Saint, the Master of Heaven should have known that his disciple was facing a crisis, right? Why didn't he go to rescue her back then?"

Bai Ze seemed to have anticipated that Jiang Yuan would ask this and replied mentally, "Everyone is destined to face a tribulation in their life. Overcome it, and the world opens up before you; fail, and your body and soul perish. The Master of Heaven could help for a moment, but not for a lifetime."

"This tribulation of Shiji's was something she had to endure sooner or later; others could not help her."

"Then why was Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong able to help?" Jiang Yuan asked in confusion.

"Because this was their matrimonial fate, which means Wen Zhong was the one destined to untie the knot in Shiji's tribulation," Bai Ze smiled.

"Senior also thinks they are well-suited for each other?" Jiang Yuan's eyes lit up as if he had found a kindred spirit.

"Everything has a fixed number," Bai Ze said faintly.

"Then what does Senior Bai Ze say about my fixed number as the Human Emperor?" Jiang Yuan asked out of curiosity.

"The Human Emperor has no fixed number; everything about you is a variable," Bai Ze replied.

Jiang Yuan had nothing more to say. Since Bai Ze had said it all, what else could he add?

Other people had fixed numbers, but when it came to him, it was a variable? Are you kidding me?!

If I took up fortune-telling, I could do that too; if the prediction comes true, it's all due to a fixed number, and if it fails, it's because variables exist in the world.

Master, I am enlightened.

"Then Senior Bai Ze, why hasn't the Grand Preceptor expressed his feelings to Lady Shiji by now? The status of the Grand Preceptor of Great Shang is not much inferior to that of a disciple of the Jie Teaching."

"Furthermore, the gap in cultivation realms between the Grand Preceptor and Shiji is not that large now. If it still won't work, Us can simply help the Grand Preceptor ascend to the realm of the Hunyuan Golden Immortal." Jiang Yuan could not fathom this point.

"Perhaps the Grand Preceptor feels his appearance is too aged," Bai Ze said.

"A Golden Immortal of the Great Luo still cares about their appearance? What kind of appearance can the Grand Preceptor's current realm not transform into?" Jiang Yuan frowned.

Could it be that he was getting cold feet at this moment?

"A transformed appearance is ultimately illusory," Bai Ze said meaningfully.

"Can't he regain his youth?" Jiang Yuan found it somewhat bizarre that someone who cultivated immortality lacked even this ability.

"The path the Grand Preceptor walks is achieving sainthood through the physical body, and he started cultivating the Dao rather late," Bai Ze explained.

"Then does Senior Bai Ze have a way?" Jiang Yuan felt that Bai Ze, being a quasi-saint, could definitely help.

Who would have thought that Bai Ze merely shook his head.

Looking at the two walking silently ahead, Jiang Yuan was truly anxious.

It was his first time ever feeling such an intense desire to play matchmaker for two people.

"Damn System, do you have a way?" Jiang Yuan figured the omnipotent system should be able to help.

"88 points of Tyrant Value for the Youth-Restoring Pill," the system replied fairly.

Jiang Yuan felt a wave of relief in his heart; the damned system was only useful at times like this.