“`
“Do you think I’m a hero, that I should receive such luxurious treatment?” Li Changzhou looked at Li Yuan.
“How many resources does all of human civilization possess to allow such wasteful extravagance for you?”
“I understand your heart, and I’m even more gratified, but the approach isn’t quite appropriate.”
“My medical care is entirely free, including a one-time subsidy of 400,000, a monthly disability assistance thereafter, and free health care, with the expectation of living until 70… I’m already very content, the state has done enough for me.”
“Like I said to you last time, I never regret my choices.” Li Changzhou’s voice softened, no longer as harsh as before.
Li Changzhou understood in his heart that what Li Yuan had done was out of filial piety, and for his own sake.
“Uncle, you’re right.”
“But, if you hadn’t been cut in line when Base Three was being relieved, you could have come back earlier.” Finally, Li Yuan couldn’t hold back: “Maybe the situation wouldn’t have become so dire, almost dying.”
“Do you really think that way?” Li Changzhou sighed lightly.
Through the screen, he could see right into Li Yuan’s heart.
Li Yuan and his uncle looked at each other.
Indeed, these were the thoughts Li Yuan had harbored since learning the truth, even nourishing some dissatisfaction.
“Xiao Yuan.”
“You’re right, someone used certain privileges to leave early, which was wrong, and they should be held accountable.” Li Changzhou didn’t refute Li Yuan.
Li Changzhou continued: “I just hope that you don’t become extreme because of this, imagining everything to be so dark.”
Li Yuan went silent.
“Today, if the 16 million you’re spending were earned by you, I’d be willing to accept the treatment.”
“But to spend the state’s award on you, mostly with the hope that you use it to strengthen yourself quickly rather than just to extend my life a little longer, your starting point is good, but the cost is simply too great; perhaps no one would blame you if you did spend it.” Li Changzhou sighed lightly: “But I am not willing to accept it.”
“Uncle.” Li Yuan looked at Li Changzhou.
“You should understand that fairness is only relative.” Li Changzhou sighed lightly: “Everyone has self-interest and desires, and I am no exception.”
“I am glad that you want me to live longer, that you want our family to be better.”
“It proves that your heart is good.”
“It proves that the state’s decision to focus on nurturing you was not wrong.”
“But in my case, I don’t wish for it to be this way; I’m not about to die yet, and I’m just over forty.” Li Changzhou looked at Li Yuan.
Li Yuan fell silent.
Li Changzhou said no more, only watched Li Yuan quietly, knowing that some things Li Yuan had to figure out on his own.
After a long while.
“Uncle.” Li Yuan finally spoke again, his voice muffled: “In the future, once I become a martial artist and truly start adventuring in the Star Realm, I will use my own earned money to come and provide physiotherapy for you.”
Li Changzhou’s body was not in grave danger, only severely damaged in vitality.
“Physiotherapy, you don’t need to take it too much to heart.” Li Changzhou shook his head lightly: “It is rare for one to live to seventy since ancient times; having survived a journey through the Star Realm, to live past seventy without major illness or catastrophe, I am already sufficiently content.”
“I don’t wish to say too much.”
“You’ve grown up, and you handle many things better than I do, but you still haven’t experienced as much.” Li Changzhou said softly: “This world, indeed, isn’t entirely bright.”
He could tell that Li Yuan had not fully accepted his own ideas.
“There are many disgusting dealings, possibly beyond anything you’ve heard of.”
“There are many evil people, perhaps ones you have never encountered.”
“You are a martial path genius, thus most people around you are kind; the disgusting aspects are concealed.”
“The sins you’ve seen are just the tip of the iceberg.” Li Changzhou said.
In the past, he didn’t want to speak too much about such matters to his nephew.
Because he hoped Li Yuan would come to understand on his own.
But today he vaguely understood.
His nephew was growing up too fast, his strength was increasing too quickly, at a pivotal stage in the shaping of his worldviews and values.
Some things, if not spoken today, might be too late if left for the future.
“In the future, you will witness even more disgusting things.”
“Your uncle only hopes you remember one thing.” Li Changzhou looked at Li Yuan: “Walking in the sunlight, don’t always fixate on the little darkness in the cracks.”
“We come to this world, not to collude with the darkness.” Li Changzhou said: “If you feel darkness, then strive, in your own way, to bring light into it.”
Li Yuan was stunned; his heart was moved more deeply.
Suddenly.
Li Yuan thought of Dongfang Ji, and the ‘Seven Star Alliance Progressive Movement’ described in history books.
Strikingly similar to what his uncle had said.
…
Before long.
Li Yuan disconnected the communication with his uncle.
The conversation was brief, not very long, but the impact on Li Yuan’s soul was unparalleled.
“In the sunlight, there’s no need to always stare at the darkness in the cracks.” Li Yuan murmured to himself.
Li Yuan suddenly realized that he had never fully understood his uncle in the past.
“After the college entrance examination.”
“No!”
“From the moment I was specially recruited by the Martial Hall, subconsciously, I always thought my abilities were stronger than my uncle’s, always believing that the decisions I made would be better.” Li Yuan shook his head lightly: “But apart from my talent, apart from the special advantages brought by the Mind Spirit Divine Palace.”
“`
“Is my heart truly stronger than Uncle’s?” Li Yuan gently shook his head.
Perhaps, he possessed the determination and perseverance to diligently cultivate, that madness for pursuing greater strength.
In terms of the rigors of cultivation, Li Yuan did not consider himself inferior to anyone.
But the true strength of the heart is never just about determination and perseverance.
It’s more about belief.
A belief that is indestructible, facing a thousand hardships without ever changing one’s heart.
Subconsciously, Li Yuan once again thought of the night his uncle left for the Star Realm.
That sentence, said so nonchalantly.
“Someone has to go to this war, why not me?”
It seemed like a joke.
It seemed casual.
But on a sudden reflection, Li Yuan could feel the terrifying belief contained within his uncle’s words.
“What I lack is precisely such a belief,” Li Yuan murmured to himself.
“For my family, for Uncle and Aunt, for my younger brother and sister, I can give everything, even risk my own life,” Li Yuan silently pledged in his heart.
“But can I, like Uncle, remain composed after experiencing so much and seeing so much?” Li Yuan asked himself.
There was no answer.
Everyone’s heart cannot be completely changed by a simple moment of reflection or a conversation.
Especially for a youth like Li Yuan, who is prone to changes in thoughts.
“I, indeed, have not yet reached Uncle’s level, nor can I fully understand his thoughts.”
“Even some of Uncle’s ideas, which I do not fully agree with, are correct in their overall direction,” Li Yuan gripped his long spear once more.
“Just like Uncle said.”
“The country, or rather the countless ordinary people of all human civilization, by pooling massive resources into me, a Martial Path genius like myself, bear not only the expectations of family.”
“Not only our own desire to become strong.”
“But also the hope of protecting all of humanity, the aspirations passed down by predecessors such as Dongfang Ji and Starfire… passing the torch, perpetuating endlessly.”
“A single spark can start a prairie fire.”
“Perhaps, Uncle’s thoughts and some of those of Dongfang Ji in the past have commonalities,” Li Yuan wielded his long spear once again.
Uncle Li Changzhou had always been the most imposing figure in Li Yuan’s heart since childhood, seemingly capable of anything.
Dongfang Ji, whom Li Yuan had never met, but since his youth, he had been his idol.
At this moment.
These two figures, vastly different in strength, status, and position, began to overlap in Li Yuan’s eyes.
“Spear!”
Li Yuan moved his long spear involuntarily, and in his mind unexpectedly rose the image of Teacher Xu Bo.
The teacher’s severed arm was a consequence of the Star Realm war.
Then thoughts of Teacher Fan Jin, who had just passed away yesterday, memories of heroic stories filled with emotion recounted during general knowledge classes, and the ancestors and valiant spirits who had died… These numerous figures seemed to come alive in an instant.
Truly entering Li Yuan’s mind.
“My spear.”
“My Martial Path.”
“One day, with spear in hand, I shall sweep away all darkness and restore complete peace to human civilization.” Unbeknownst to himself, such a thought emerged in Li Yuan’s heart.
And as time passed, this thought grew stronger and more unstoppable.
In the past, Li Yuan often had similar thoughts.
But it was more like the sentiments of a youth wishing to become a ‘great hero’ or a ‘scientist’.
It was more about wanting to become something, without fully understanding ‘why’.
Today, Li Yuan vaguely began to understand the ‘why’.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Li Yuan’s long spear danced with bursting vigor, grandly.
It seemed similar to his previous Spear Technique.
But unknowingly, it began to undergo an essential transformation.
At this moment, Li Yuan’s heart and his long spear were in unprecedented sync.
A quarter of an hour, half an hour.
One hour.
Two hours passed, and Li Yuan practiced with insane intensity, completely immersed, utterly wild.
Suddenly.
A flash of inspiration crossed Li Yuan’s mind, and his long spear also erupted in that instant.
A dazzling streak of spear light passed, with layers of light blossoming, brilliant to the extreme, like a huge meteor falling from the sky, irresistible, far surpassing any of Li Yuan’s past spears in might.
Stellar Spear Technique, Fourth Level—Meteor Fall!
“[Your Spear Technique Realm has increased from Fourth Level 53% to Fourth Level 61%].”
“[Your Fist Technique Realm has increased from Fourth Level 55% to Fourth Level 62%].”