Yuan Tiangang.
A being from the Bu Liang Ren world—
the undisputed ceiling of combat power, a true all-rounder without weaknesses.
Grand Preceptor of the Tang Dynasty.
Supreme leader of the Bu Liang Ren.
Through alchemy, he attained longevity and lived all the way until the fall of the Tang—
bearing over three hundred years of cultivated power.
He was also the third otherworldly guest in the tavern to possess the "Teacher" trait.
Yet truth be told…
Rather than a teacher, Yuan Tiangang was more accurately Li Xingyun's guide.
At this moment—
Facing Ron's greeting, Yuan Tiangang asked calmly,
"You know me?"
"You and I are merely passersby in life," Ron replied with a smile, turning the question back on him.
"Even if you've calculated people, events, and three hundred years of fate across the land—"
"you still couldn't have foreseen arriving in another world, could you?"
"So…"
"Whether we know each other doesn't matter."
"What matters is sitting down and having a proper drink."
Behind the mask, Yuan Tiangang's brows furrowed slightly—
then relaxed.
"Heh…"
"For three hundred years, aside from my closest friend Li Chunfeng, I have disdained to drink with anyone."
"Today…"
"Let this be an exception."
As his words fell, Tohru placed a bottle in front of him and said cheerfully,
"This is Niulanshan. Please enjoy."
Yuan Tiangang nodded, then reached up and removed his mask.
The instant his true face was revealed—
Rayleigh, Homelander, and Deep Sea all froze.
This could no longer be called a human face.
It was more like a skull wrapped in a thin layer of skin.
No hair.
No lower eyelids.
His nose and lips looked as if they had been brutally carved away.
One glance alone was enough to send a chill down one's spine.
"Did this face frighten you?" Yuan Tiangang asked calmly.
"Heh…"
"After living alone for three hundred years—"
"I don't even know if I can still be considered human."
As he spoke, he twisted off the bottle cap, filled his cup, and took a shallow sip.
Gulp.
The moment the liquor slid down his throat, his body surged violently.
A sharp, burning sensation bloomed across his mouth—
fierce, overwhelming, yet strangely contained.
"Good wine," Yuan Tiangang said, nodding in satisfaction.
"Spicy. Dominating. Yet perfectly measured."
This was the difference between ancient and modern alcohol.
Ancient wine relied on fermentation—low proof.
Modern baijiu used distillation—far stronger.
"Dominating…" Ron echoed softly.
"Then tell me—do you walk the Way of Heaven?"
"Or the Way of Dominion?"
Yuan Tiangang took another drink, his voice carrying deep weariness.
"Dominion, or Heaven…"
"In the end, it all depends on human will."
"No matter which path I walk,"
"with my own strength alone, I cannot end this chaotic age."
"Are you not tired?" Ron asked quietly.
"Living alone for three hundred years."
"Watching relatives, friends, family leave one by one."
"Seeing Bu Liang Ren commanders replaced generation after generation."
"Sending off one era after another—"
"While you never dared to stop for even a moment, carrying the burden of restoring the Tang."
"In the end…"
"Who will send you off?"
This time, Yuan Tiangang did not answer.
He did not want to answer.
Because the moment he voiced the truth in his heart, the breath holding him upright would finally dissipate.
Yes.
The Bu Liang Shuai was exhausted.
But he had no choice.
The Tang had fallen.
The realm was fractured.
Someone had to intimidate the powerful.
Someone had to uphold balance across the land.
If not him—
then who?
Ron understood this burden all too well.
If even a single person could replace Yuan Tiangang as Bu Liang Shuai,
he would cast off his armor without hesitation—
Either die then and there,
or return to the countryside,
to live the quiet life he once spoke of with his closest friend.
But three hundred years had passed.
And that person… never appeared.
After a long silence—
after the clash between the Sacred Lord and his son finally subsided—
Yuan Tiangang spoke slowly:
"For three hundred years of chaos—
only I have held it in my hands."
The moment the final word fell—
His presence surged.
An overwhelming, sovereign aura radiated from his body, as if he stood above all beneath heaven.
This was his answer to Ron's question.
And also the fullest expression of his helplessness… and his exhaustion.
He had no choices.
Even his own death was calculated—
all to pave the way for Li Xingyun.
Even the step where Li Xingyun would one day need his heart
was already part of the board.
Yuan Tiangang had no freedom.
Not even the right to choose how he died.
"For three hundred years, you've calculated the chaos of the world," Ron said, lighting a cigarette.
"Bu Liang Shuai—"
"Have you finally calculated the one who will end it?"
"The one who truly carries the people in his heart?"
"No," Yuan Tiangang replied.
"Matters of a nation cannot be divined so easily."
"But I refuse to believe otherwise!"
"Li Xingyun was a variable I calculated three hundred years ago."
"As fate was repeatedly defied, the hexagrams of this world, of the Tang, of Li Xingyun—"
"they have all continued to change."
He let out a bitter smile.
"However…"
"Human effort matters."
"Even if I cannot help Li Xingyun restore the Tang—"
"the one who will bring clear skies to the entire realm—"
"must share a profound bond with him."
This was the final move.
And the outcome Yuan Tiangang least wished to see.
Because he had witnessed the glory of the Tang.
A world where people lived in peace,
thought flourished freely,
talent was abundant,
territory vast,
and all nations paid tribute…
He did not want such brilliance to be buried beneath the dust of history.
"I wish you success," Ron said, raising his glass.
"Whether Heaven's Way or the Way of Dominion—"
"it is all the same," Yuan Tiangang echoed, lifting his cup.
Clink.
The two glasses collided with a crisp sound.
They drank it all in one go.
"Your wine is excellent," Yuan Tiangang said.
"And you know far more than most—especially in worlds beyond this one."
"May I assume," he continued, eyes narrowing slightly,
"that you know who the one destined to end the chaos truly is?"
"Do you want to know?" Ron asked in return.
Yuan Tiangang paused—then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha… forget it, forget it."
"If I knew—"
"the hexagrams would surely be thrown into chaos once more."
Leaning back in his chair, he stared up at the ceiling, memories drifting back to a wager made three hundred years ago.
Li Chunfeng: 'The Li dynasty's fate is spent. The Tang cannot be restored.'
Yuan Tiangang: 'No. I will defy Heaven itself.'
One man upheld the world—Heaven's Way.
The other upheld the Tang—Dominion.
A wager—
and a confrontation between Heaven and Dominion.
Li Chunfeng…
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