Inside the library, Yuchi had already briefly explained many things to the old man.
Some of these things were insights he had regarding martial arts, others were his experiences related to Dao aura.
After telling the old man what he knew, he stood up and said, “That’s the extent of my experience and understanding thus far. If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can contact me. However, I may not be able to give you an answer.”
The conversation between Yuchi and the old man did not last long. It only took an hour or so.
Yet that hour was more than enough to answer many questions.
Yuchi answered each question very quickly and straightforwardly. If he knew, he knew. If he did not, he did not.
According to his plans, this would be the last time he returned to a human city for a long time.
He had fought and defeated most of the ancient creatures of the Vast Sea, so there was not much keeping him around at the Vast Sea anymore. He had a new place to go, and he had already made preparations in advance.
He turned to leave.
The old man stood up with tears of gratitude. The old man did not have many years left to live. The qi deviation he suffered had caused severe damage to his internal organs. These injuries were irreversible. However, at the end of his life, he was able to meet with Yuchi again. To him, this was like a dream come true, as it would help him to achieve his objective of passing on the knowledge of martial arts to future generations of martial artists.
Yuchi also symbolized hope. The hope for the future of martial arts, and for the human race.
Humans had not chosen to believe in their own strength for many, many years. The existence of beast tamers had fully proved this point.
Even though martial artists were slowly getting back on their feet, it would still take another 1,000 years for the human race to stand on the same level as the other races.
1,000 years seemed like a long time, but it was the result of a mistake that the human race had made. Fixing things was always harder than breaking things.
“Senior, do you think I’ll be able to reach your current level in this lifetime?” Yuan Yuan absent-mindedly asked Yuchi.
Yuchi pondered for a moment.
Although the girl in front of him was quite talented, the human race’s martial artists were currently too weak. Since their predecessors were no longer here, these new pioneers would have to chart their own way forward and try to break through to new heights.
They could only keep working hard, keep moving forward, and keep struggling on the path of martial arts…
Only then would the human race continue to grow stronger, to the point where they could finally proudly stand amidst the other races.
However, this was not something that could be decided by one or two strong people. The strength of the human race depended on their willpower to improve as a whole.
In the end, he said, “Yuan Yuan, let me ask you a question. Since all of us will die one day, is there any meaning to what we’re doing now?”
Yuan Yuan was momentarily stunned.
Thirty seconds later, she suddenly enlightened:
“Senior’s words make sense. If we see everyone on the same path, goals are just signposts left behind by other people who have traveled further.”
“There is no end goal in life.”
“Life itself is a path filled with thorns and flowers. The path itself is the most important thing, and the end of the path is meaningless.”
Yuchi nodded.
This was his way of thinking. He did not expect to achieve anything in this life. He just wanted to enjoy the process of living as best he could.
No one should be held up by those ahead of them. Each person’s path was their own.
After all, to Yuchi, many goals were just excuses people made to consolidate and glorify their own achievements.
Yuchi gently patted Yuan Yuan’s shoulder. There were many things that he did not need to say.
Yuan Yuan nodded firmly.
She felt that the path for the rest of her life would be to keep going as far as she could. Yuan Yuan did not know how far she would go, but she was sure that she would enjoy the process.
The old man also had a lot of feelings about this matter.
He had been living in the shadows his entire life, watching as the human race constantly slid toward hell as they teamed up with the soul beasts. However, he had not been able to do anything about it.
It was not easy to see hope, especially after he suffered from the qi deviation, which meant that he only had one or two years left to live.
This was quite a sad thing. Sometimes, he would cry when he thought about it at night, complaining about the injustice of fate.
However, he gradually got over it.
The world was chaotic and complicated, but fate was always unchanging.
One could complain, but that would not fix anything.
This was the main reason why the old man had asked Yuchi to return when he had learned that Yuchi was living on the Vast Sea island.
He hoped to leave behind something meaningful.
He had been told by many people in his life what was right and what was wrong. It was only when he was old that he suddenly realized that they were all lies.
The so-called right things were just things that benefited those with power or those with vested interests.
He had had enough of this world.
Seeing Yuchi stand up and turn to leave, he did not know why, but he felt a little bitter in his heart.
It was as if he was looking back at his own past, and perhaps what he could have been if he had tried his best and persevered.
Why was this young man different?
Why was he not captivated by the hustle and bustle of the city?
Why did he live alone on an island for two years?
Was he not lonely?
The old man did not know much about Yuchi. He did not know that Yuchi had a previous life, nor did he not know what had happened in Yuchi’s previous life.
Otherwise, he would have understood why Yuchi behaved so crazily at times.
This was the pain of having lived a pointless life back then. The pain of having pursued meaningless dreams and goals.
His previous life disgusted him.
“Senior,” the old man said.
“I don’t have more than two years left to live. I probably won’t be able to see you again, but no matter what, I hope that you will have a smooth journey.”
The old man’s face was full of tears as he spoke.
He really hoped that when Yuchi reached the end of his path, he would not feel regret, or anger at having wasted his life away thanks to the lies of others.
Yuchi did not respond. He simply looked deeply at the old man’s face, which was full of vicissitudes.
The first time he met this old man, he had still been healthy and sprightly. Now, looking at him again, he was old and haggard, and his life was in danger…
He knew what the other party wanted to ask, but could not.
As soon as Yuchi left the room, a girl who was quite excited ran into his arms.
Yuchi knew who the girl was.
The old man and Yuan Yuan were both stunned. The old man finally smiled.
“Perhaps we’re not as honest as this silly girl.”
Fengyi did not care.
She had not seen Yuchi for a long time, so who cared?
Not her.
She was not someone who hid her feelings. Especially as time passed, she became even more certain about what she wanted in life.