CH 41

The youth in green robes hadn’t changed at all since he’d last seen him. Jing Ning immediately recognised Fu Qinghan, the protagonist of the martial arts novel, ‘The Most Powerful Man under the Heavens’.

It was strange, since entering this sea area, Ji Ning had sensed a faint aura within the air. Under the moonlight Fu Qinghan seemed both real and illusory; a celestial figure that released a faint qi into the air. 

How could he be using qi?

Even though Ji Ning was happy to see Fu Qinghan again, he didn’t understand how the protagonist of a martial arts novel had gained powers that belonged inside a cultivation novel. He could tell from the qi that surrounded Fu Qinghan that his cultivation base was extremely high and he may have even reached the level of Mahayana.

Ji Ning began to wonder whether he was an illusion created by Yun Yuan, when Fu Qinghan suddenly smiled and said.

“You have already been reincarnated as a human and won’t remember me. Let me remind you of your past memories.” 

He raised his hand and leant across the water separating the two boats to tap at the space between Ji Ning’s eyebrows. Instantly, hundreds of images flooded through Ji Ning’s head.

Inside the martial arts world Ji Ning entered the novel as a newborn fox cub. His mother died in childbirth, taking his other brothers and sisters with her. He was left completely alone in the world. Lying weak and alone inside the empty den, he was picked up by the young Fu Qinghan.

At the time, Fu Qinghan was only seven or eight years old. He lived in seclusion in the mountains with his master, living a quiet life indifferent to the outside world.

His master was a reclusive man who was extremely proficient in martial arts. Twenty years ago he had gained a reputation across the lands, but at the height of his fame he retired and chose to travel the world in secret. A few years ago he found the abandoned baby Fu Qinghan and had taken him in.

Fu Qinghan had once been a prince of the kingdom but a rebellion occurred and the imperial palace was breached during the attack. His father and mother were killed but his wet nurse fled in the chaos of the night, taking the young prince with her. However, the rebels noticed their escape and gave chase.

Although the wet nurse knew a superficial level of martial arts, she couldn’t withstand the attacks of so many rebels and was finally slashed by a random knife. She fell to the floor, protecting the baby with her body even though she knew she was dying.

At this moment, Fu Qinghan’s master was drawn to the scene by the noise. Seeing how the woman and child were being attacked by the rebels, he immediately entered the fight to try and save them. The master killed every rebel there, but he was too late to save the wet nurse. After frantically explaining who Fu Qinghan was, she succumbed to her injuries and died.

The master buried the wet nurse, took the baby with him and gave up his wandering, settling down in a hidden valley of the mountains. The royal name of the previous dynasty was Fu, so he named the baby Fu Qinghan and took him in to raise him as his disciple. 

When Fu Qinghan escaped with his wet nurse, his body fell into a state of illness. He had a weak constitution and was unable to cultivate his internal force. Therefore, even though the two were nominally master and apprentice, he was only capable of learning some basic kung fu from the master. To make up for his shortcomings, Fu Qinghan dabbled with calligraphy and painting, learned from medical journals and poison scriptures, and even experimented with Qi Men Dun Dia. As the years passed, he grew increasingly proficient in all kinds of areas.

But life in the mountains was lonely with only the master and apprentice. Fu Qinghan couldn’t have any friends, so he made friends with the animals that lived on the mountain, even saving a weak little fox cub and taking him back home to raise him.

When he first entered this world, Ji Ning was devastated because it was a pure martial arts novel without any supernatural elements. This meant the mission expected him to appear as a fox from beginning to end and wouldn’t allow him to become human.

It was too unrealistic to expect Fu Qinghan to fall in love with a fox no matter how long he’d been stuck in the mountains and Ji Ning himself couldn’t accept seducing Fu Qinghan with a furry tail. He strongly protested to the system operator and finally, after a long fight from both sides, he was provided with a loophole: He was allowed to enter Fu Qinghan’s dreams in human form. 

When he first entered Fu Qinghan’s dreams he didn’t immediately reveal his identity and appeared in the form of a teenager.

It didn’t take long before he was entering Fu Qinghan’s dreams every night. He told Fu Qinghan his name was A-Ning and the two of them talked together, played together, and studied martial arts secrets together. He was Fu Qinghan’s dream friend, until one day when Fu Qinghan smiled suddenly and called out to him inside the dream.

“Little Fox.”

Ji Ning felt as if he’d been struck by lightning. He had never expected Fu Qinghan to recognise his identity. He thought he’d been sufficiently disguised and couldn’t figure out how he’d been seen through. 

“I raised you, how could I not recognise you.”

Fu Qinghan, who had grown into a handsome young man, smiled and reached out to play with the top of Ji Ning’s head.

“…”

Ji Ning’s face flushed red. He had completed a lot of tasks before this but this was one of the few occasions where he was deeply embarrassed. 

It was because he had been raised by Fu Qinghan in this world that he didn’t want to be recognised. When Fu Qinghan had picked him up a few years ago, he was only a newborn cub that couldn’t even open its eyes. It was Fu Qinghan who patiently took care of him, feeding him rice porridge and holding him close to keep him warm, so that he slowly grew into a beautiful fox.

“Then haven’t you wondered why I enter your dreams every day?” He asked Fu Qinghan.

“If you’re willing to tell me, I’ll listen to you. If you don’t want to tell me, it’s fine and you don’t have to.” Fu Qinghan said, “You’re my little Fox, I won’t doubt you.”

Afterwards they were together day and night just like before and were hardly separated for a moment, before disaster struck. 

The leader of the rebels who killed Fu Qinghan’s family had become the Emperor of the new dynasty. After years of searching, he had finally found the location of the young prince of the previous dynasty. He sent out a fleet of soldiers and paid Jianghu experts to surround the mountain, ordering them to kill both the master and his apprentice.

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Although before, Fu Qinghan had never practised martial arts due to his weak constitution, the mountain held a wealth of knowledge. He had read countless martial arts techniques and practised them again and again inside his dreams with Ji Ning. Now that he had the ability to use internal force, once he left the mountains he quickly became notorious across the Empire. He made many friends and gradually gained the power needed to resist the imperial court.

But that road was destined to be bloody and cruel. Although he had never met an opponent who could beat his martial arts abilities, he couldn’t fight against the entire dynasty. One by one his friends were killed, leaving him weary and lonely. Only in his dreams was he comforted by the presence of his little fox. 

The little fox was left in the mountains by Fu Qinghan because it was too dangerous to have him by his side. He was one of the greatest living scholars in the world but had almost nothing of value to him. His little fox was the only thing that he couldn’t bear to lose.

“Tomorrow we will attack the palace.”

Inside his dream, Fu Qinghan took the boy into his arms, stroking the soft fox ears that poked out of his head. “After I kill the Emperor for my revenge, I’ll come back to pick you up. We can travel the world together and no longer meddle in worldly affairs.”

The young man nestled into his arms, his soft cheeks pressed against Fu Qinghan’s chest. He blinked and asked, “Will it all be over by tomorrow?” 

“Yes it will.” Fu Qinghan nodded slightly and lowered his head to kiss Ji Ning’s forehead, “Once this matter is settled, I’ll never leave you alone again.”

“Okay.” The boy curved his beautiful eyes in joy and said happily, “I have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

When the sun rose the next day, the time for the final battle had come. Both sides were prepared, but no one had anticipated that the leader of the rebels, or the current Emperor, was a master of martial arts. Fu Qinghan’s side suffered heavy casualties until finally, in the halls of the palace stained with blood, only the Emperor and Fu Qinghan were left.

Hot blood flowed down Fu Qinghan’s forehead, dyeing his vision red. The Emperor laughed maniacally. Although he was also badly injured, Fu Qinghan’s injury was more severe, it would only take one blow to finish him off. 

He stabbed towards Fu Qinghan’s chest using an icepick grip, when out of nowhere, a fox sprang from behind, blocking the sword for Fu Qinghan and giving him the opportunity to counterattack.

The Emperor felt a sudden sense of extreme danger. The next moment, his vision was filled with gleaming silver as a fountain of warm blood spurted out his throat. With a dull thud, his head dropped to the ground, his body collapsing seconds afterwards.

“A-Ning!”

Fu Qinghan’s sword fell to the ground as he stretched out his hands in a panic to catch the little fox’s body. The amount of blood that seeped across his hands made tears drip from Fu Qinghan’s eyes. 

“Uh…”

The little fox let out a soft cry. He looked up at Fu Qinghan with longing and nuzzled against his fingers, before he finally closed his eyes.

“I’ll give you a surprise tomorrow…”

It turned out his little fox had gone down the mountain ahead of time to come and look for him. 

But their reunian had become a farewell.

The dynasty was destroyed and his revenge complete. Fu Qinghan was the greatest martial artist in the Empire and had the throne at his fingertips. As long as he wished for it, he could easily become the most powerful person in the world.

But he didn’t want to.

His heart had already turned cold. There was nothing left for him in the world. 

A few months later, he rowed a lonely boat out into the sea to find the mountain of immortals, the only place capable of resurrecting the deceased. His figure disappeared into the vast sea fog.

Since then, no one in the Empire ever saw him again.

Although he had already known what had happened, after reading Fu Qinghan’s memories, Ji Ning was deeply affected by the aching loneliness and grief contained within them. He felt as if he was trapped within an endless sea of anguish.

He no longer doubted the identity of the person in front of him. This handsome man was definitely his Fu Qinghan. 

But compared to before, when he had not yet suffered through so many tragedies, Fu Qinghan’s eyes had changed somewhat. Now they were clouded by the years of suffering he had experienced.

Fu Qinghan walked across the water like it was solid earth, moving towards the boat Ji Ning was in. Like he had so often in the past, he stroked Ji Ning’s hair and said with a soft smile.

“Do you recognise me now?”

Ji Ning nodded, grabbed his sleeve and whispered, “Qinghan…” 

“Nearly a thousand years have passed since you left my side.”

Fu Qinghan said, “I remained as a teenager because I was afraid you and master wouldn’t recognise me. I haven’t changed at all since the day you passed away.”

Hearing him say this, Ji Ning was slightly taken aback. After a thousand years, Fu Qinghan hadn’t aged at all, what could have happened to him?

Judging from the memories shown to him just now, Fu Qinghan went out to sea to search for the mountain of immortals. Could it be that he really found an immortal? 

Seeing the curiosity on his face, Fu QInghan smiled and said, “That’s right. I searched the seas for the immortal’s mountain, but decades slowly passed and I had grown old without finding anything.”

“I thought I would die at sea when I finally met my current Shizun. He was a cultivator who travelled the spiritual world before meeting me. He sensed we were vaguely connected by fate, so accepted me as his disciple. My body was about to die, so he sent my soul to reincarnation so that I could be reborn as a human and enter the immortal gate to practise.”

“Now that I have entered the realm of Mahayana, I was able to find where you and master reincarnated. I will send master’s soul to the immortal gate first, then I will come back for you.”

Fu Qinghan caressed Ji Ning’s face and spoke softly. 

“I know that you still have many worries in this life. If you don’t want to leave your current family and friends, I will join you in this life, then escort you to reincarnation. At that time, are you willing to come with me and step onto the immortal path?”

He was truly a person worthy of Mahayana…

Hearing about his achievements, Ji Ning felt somewhat relivered, because Fu Qinghan’s ending in the original novel had upset him a lot. ‘The Most Powerful Man under the Heavens’ had the only tragic ending of the novel’s he’d experienced. In the original novel, Fu Qinghan killed the Emperor but was fatally wounded at the same time and died soon after.

Although the novel was called ‘The Most Powerful Man under the Heavens’, it was extremely depressing from beginning to end. Fu Qinghan was technically the most powerful man under the heavens for a few short moments once he killed the Emperor, yet he died almost immediately after. 

Ji Ning was infuriated by this kind of ending, so even after he’d completed his task, he used his body to save Fu Qinghan at the last minute in order to prevent Fu Qinghan’s death.

Although he died in Fu Qinghan’s arms, he wished he hadn’t caused him too much pain, because in that world he’d only been a little fox. If he was a human, he could have practised martial arts in order to help Fu Qinghan, but as an ordinary fox he really couldn’t do anything.

Now, not only was the current Fu Qinghan still alive, he had managed to cultivate to Mahayana, making Ji Ning feel an inexplicable sense of pride. It also made a thought occur to him, he tugged on Fu Qinghan’s sleeve and said.

“Qinghan, can you help me with something?” 

“You can tell me.” Fu Qinghan said.

“One of my friends has had his qi blocked. You are so powerful you could definitely help him.”

Ji Ning had no problem acting shameless. Although he didn’t know if the cultivation system Fu Qinghan used was the same as Yun Yuan’s, as he was a powerful cultivator, he thought it was worth a try. At the very least, Fu Qinghan was more powerful than he was, which gave Ji Ning a glimmer of hope.

“Okay.” Fu Qinghan agreed, “Where is this friend of yours? I’ll take you with me to find him.” 

“He’s in Cangshan.”

Ji Ning offered Ying Qianqiu’s location as he hurriedly retrieved the fragments of spiritual consciousness he had left there.

Fortunately, he had a hybrid power. Fu Qinghan would be able to tell he had power but wouldn’t be aware that it was qi. He had to retrieve his spiritual consciousness so Fu Qinghan couldn’t sense the qi he’d used to split his aura.

The scene of the ocean and the lonely boat changed after a while. Moving out from the shadows, Fu Qinghan grabbed Ji Ning and appeared in the air above Cangshan palace. He searched the crowd of people beneath the moonlight as if he was hunting. Sweeping his hand towards the group below, he asked Ji Ning, “Which one?” 

“Over there…”

Ji Ning pointed towards the palace. Fu Qinghan didn’t lead him to the palace, but closed his eyes and sat still for a moment. After a while, he suddenly opened his eyes in surprise and whispered softly.

“That’s Shizun’s cursed formation?”

Ji Ning’s head jerked up as he stared at Fu Qinghan in disbelief, wondering if he’d heard him wrong, “…Shizun?” 

“Yes, my Shizun of the immortal gate is named Yun Yuan. He travelled through the three thousand spiritual worlds searching for someone. He came across my world during his search.”

“This place is also one of those spiritual worlds, it’s not uncommon for Shizun to visit this world. It’s just…how was your friend trapped by my Shizun’s cursed formation?”

Fu Qinghan lowered his head to think. Ji Ning had been frozen in shock and wasn’t able to stop Fu Qinghan from spreading out his spiritual qi to explore the palace. Moments later, he retracted his qi in shock.

“Shizun’s Qiyue is actually here?!” 

When Fu Qinghan’s qi touched Qiyue, Ji Ning felt a sudden pull on his body, and when he next opened his eyes he and Fu Qinghan had already entered the peach blossom forest.

Yun Yuan stood amongst the fluttering petals. He turned around abruptly at their arrival, a pair of dark pupils focussing intently on them.

Ji Ning felt cold sweat drip down his back and couldn’t help hiding behind Fu Qinghan, avoiding Yun Yuan’s gaze.

“Shizun.” 

Although he recognised this was just a fragment of his spiritual consciousness, Fu Qinhan still respectfully saluted Yun Yuan.

Yun Yuan saw Ji Ning hiding behind his disciple and narrowed his eyes, asking with a smile, “Qinghan, I haven’t seen you in a while. Who is this?”

“In my journey this time, this disciple has finally found the person he has been looking for for so many years.”

Fu Qinghan showed a faint smile and pulled Ji Ning out from behind him. He touched the top of his head and coaxed him patiently, thinking Ji Ning might be afraid of strangers, “Don’t be afraid, this is my Shizun. He’s friendly and won’t hurt you.” 

“This is the person you’ve been looking for?”

Yun Yuan had a smile that was not quite a smile, his eyes covered in a thin layer of frost as he spoke in a frigid voice.

“Yes.” Fu Qinghan said, “His name is A-Ning and he is this disciple’s loved one.”

Stop speaking Qinghan, don’t you remember the life debt you owe him, why are you trying to kill him now… 

Ji Ning’s face was pale and his body trembled as he felt close to passing out.

The author has something to say:

Fu Qinghan: Shizun, this is the person I like, please can you bless us?

Yun Yuan:…This is your Shizun’s wife. 

Let’s sort out the protagonists in order of their appearances. As for why there’s 11, it is because the one he was attacking has been abandoned.

I find it so funny that Ji Ning has such obvious favourites which include:

Ying Qianqiu, Qin Ruwang, Ark, Fu Qinghan, (and sometimes Huo Wuling)

Other MCs carefully tend to their harem to ensure everyone receives equal affection. Here, if you annoy Ji Ning, you’re booted to the cold palace for eternity (Zhou Rin who’s only crime was potential pregnancy, Lai who was too horny, and Ozer/Yun Yuan scare him too much)