The birth of every Emperor needed to be accompanied by a miracle, because it would be used to convince the masses that he was chosen by Heaven.
Omen-reading was a prevailing practice of the time, and the sect was founded by grandmaster through his myth-weaving work for the Imperial clan.
{note: Omen is a politically-motivated prediction.}
Once he left their service, he began to gather more followers far and wide.
For he realized the world could no longer be cured.
[?]: I’ll ask you again.
chapter 600 Dream Around the Border Town
[Eighth]: Want it or not?
[Xun Yu]: Seems like they were right about you studying in Yi Province.
[Eighth]: Faced with the rarest medicine in the world, why not choose again?
(“…treasure/valuable medicine…”)
[XY]: The Elixir of Longevity, the world’s best weapon to profit from.
(the word carries the connotation of being in liquid form, but later in the chapter the drug is depicted as pill-formed, is there a better name for this to not be misleading?)
[XY]: You know our teacher hates this school of thought, so I hope you know what’s best for you…
[Eighth]: I only sought out medical knowledge in Zhang Xiu’s school, nothing more.
[XY]: Then why did Zhang Xiu join the Yellow Turban rebellion at the same time?
[XY]: This coincidence really makes you think.
[Eighth]: Let them talk. Those who share the same desire hate each other. All of us here are bound to kill each other one day.
[XY]: Yes.
[XY]: Those who share the same desire hate each other, while those who share the same concern are like family. Yet…
(quoting “Stratagems of the Warring States”, chapter on Zhongshan kingdom)
[XY]: I keep thinking that we share the same concern, no?
He who rightly supports me acts as a friend towards me.
(quoting from Master Xun, chapter 2, Cultivating Oneself; the contextual passage is “he who rightly criticizes me acts as a teacher toward me, and he who rightly supports me acts as a friend toward me, while he who flatters and toadies to me acts as a villain toward me”)
[Eighth]: Give it back then,
[Eighth]: since you don’t seem to appreciate it.
[Eighth]: There’s always someone with a different view among the Eight Geniuses.
[Eighth]: The choice won’t change even with a second try.
[Eighth]: Unlike the rest of you, Fourth and Fifth were eager to get their hands on it.
[XY]: Too bad… Seems like they might be the only two to enjoy a long life.
[XY]: Hungry?
[Eighth]: Ah… yes.
[?]: Got any more of those stolen melons?
[XY]: One day we’ll remember that these were good times.
[XY]: A time without war.
(“this is a no-killing’s era”)
Melons will eventually turn into gourds. There will come a day…
[Eighth]: I will finish
(“[If] you’re unable to complete [your] great undertaking”; Sima Yi said a similar thing in chapter 565)
[?]: what you are unable to accomplish.
(“allow me to finish it on your behalf.”)
I remember clearly, that this was our secret code.
(some readers are speculating that this was why XY looked so shocked at Sima Yi when he said it)
His dream is to restore Imperial Han and save the world.
I want to, as well.
But my dream is grander…
May the scourges never return.
May the belief be invincible!
Because I know people need beliefs in order to survive the darkness.
And only the foulest of environments can nurture devout followers.
I know that this miraculous remedy is the greatest weapon.
The only way to attract followers is to cure them.
The only way to defend against tyranny is through compassion.
The only way to create a harmonious society of people across borders is through religious beliefs.
Deification is the only way to override the status of an Emperor.
(“becoming immortal…”)
Back then, our teacher emulated Master Zhuang, while we imitated immortals.
(“…immortals served as our object lesson”)
Unfortunately, we lost five of us at the start of the campaign.
The remaining three must carry on their mantle.
As the military adviser of the Eight Eccentrics, as the hope of our sect…
I know that without extraordinary intellect, one will not have a solid foundation for conquest.
(conquest is implied)
Without knowing the secrets within all texts, one cannot understand everything.
I know that without a staunch belief in my heart…
evil thoughts will eventually emerge.
(“…break stomach and come-out”)
And they will spread across the world like the worst venom.
Only the rarest medicine can save lives.
The belief of the Eight Eccentrics is the best remedy to save the world.
If one holds firm to our sect’s doctrine,
what is there to fear about the dynastic cycle!
(“what’s to fear [about any] changing of regime!”)
Once this method of war is in use,
it will be impossible to retract!
(收拾 implies more about “cleaning up,” but after some discussion with another reader, I’m compromising)
{crash~}
I, Zhao Sheng, of the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice
shall inherit the will of the Celestial Master today.
I will fulfill the aspiration of my predecessors.
[Ma Chao]: Worthy opponent!
[MC]: Whoa!
I feel none of Ma Chao’s excitement.
It’s as if I have already experienced it all.
This is a dream- one that I have not had in a long while.
I succeeded a victor that day.
I fulfilled a dream.
Yet that ruthlessness in the dream…
is no longer amusing.
(repeated in chapter 565)
{flag reads: Ma}
— magazine-only teaser —
next chapter: A Rematch In Liang Province
— author’s comment —
We’ve finally reached chapter 600, and volume 77 is in the works too. We’re planning to have a book signing during May’s publication in Hong Kong.
Ravaging Times 
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