Chapter 196 - 189: I Am Not as Good as Him
"Afraid?"
Qi Yun looked at the Elder Master’s withered profile, a hint of surprise on his face.
"Mm," the Elder Master affirmed. His gaze remained fixed on the depths of the mountain cave, where strange phenomena roiled. His voice was as placid as a still lake, as if he were recounting a story that had nothing to do with him.
"Afraid that I wouldn’t succeed. Afraid that a lifetime of effort would go to waste. Afraid that my master would perish because of it. Afraid that this time... I would choose wrong again..."
His expression was impassive, yet every word carried a silent, crushing weight.
Perhaps, from the moment he learned he had gone astray, his Dao Foundation damaged, the seeds of self-doubt and denial had taken root deep in his heart.
And so, when he truly faced the unfathomable path of changing his Dao Foundation—a path where one wrong step meant utter annihilation of body and soul—
he hesitated. He was afraid.
In the end, he chose to abandon that perilous road, one that seemed to lead to the Supreme but was in reality fraught with thorns, a path of near-certain death.
"Qi Yun," the Elder Master said, turning slightly. His turbid eyes, which seemed capable of piercing one’s very soul, fell upon Qi Yun.
"Of all the people I have met, your innate talent is far from the best. There are many who are stronger than you." He paused, then asked, "But do you know why I brought you here?"
Upon hearing this, Qi Yun broke into a lazy grin and said:
"Could it be... because this disciple is just as handsome and dashing as you were in your youth, Master?"
"Such a glib tongue." The Elder Master chided him gently, but there was no anger on his gaunt face. In fact, the pervasive aura of sorrow that clung to him was diluted somewhat by the jest.
"I chose you," he said, his gaze returning to the cave. His tone reverted to its earlier indifference, yet it now held an ineffable depth.
"It is because, deep in your bones, you have a rare kind of [evil nature]."
"This [evil nature] makes you dare to fight, dare to seize, and dare to face the consequences of your actions. It is as if all the world’s restrictions and rules are nothing to you. As long as it is something you have decided upon, you act without regret, pushing forward relentlessly," the Elder Master said slowly, his voice echoing in the strange space.
"Perhaps... only a disposition like this has any chance of mastering the incomparably tyrannical [Venerable Dao Foundation]."
His tone then shifted, taking on a cautionary note.
"However, don’t celebrate too soon. This Land of Enlightenment is not complete."
The Elder Master raised a hand and pointed toward the bizarre, phantasmagorical depths of the cave.
"Back then, to help me find this last sliver of hope, my master made a move. He forcibly killed the previous Cultivator who controlled the [Daluo], forcing him to dissolve his physical body and free up this ’position’.
Because of this, the residual traces in this Land of Enlightenment are mixed with the endless resentment and unwillingness of that former [Daluo], adding several layers of danger and difficulty out of thin air."
HISS...
Qi Yun couldn’t help but click his tongue in astonishment.
His master’s master, the grand master he had never met, was one ruthless individual!
To secure a chance for his disciple to continue his cultivation path, he had directly killed the possessor of a [Venerable Dao Foundation]!
The Elder Master at his side seemed to have seen through his thoughts and added in a low voice:
"And it was precisely because he forcibly intervened in the threads of causality that my master suffered a backlash from the Great Dao. He was heavily punished by karma and has been in seclusion ever since, with no news of him."
A complex, unreadable light flickered in his turbid eyes, tinged with a heavy burden:
"If he hadn’t been forced into seclusion, with him and Saintly Might True Monarch both presiding over the Sect... those scoundrels from the Yellow Springs Netherworld, the Zombie Alliance, and Hehuan Palace wouldn’t dare to repeatedly oppose our Holy Sect as they do now, not even if you gave them ten times the courage."
"Even a True Monarch can be punished by causality?" Qi Yun asked, his eyes filled with curiosity.
His own Blood Sacrifice Skill from the Blood-Drawn Profound Mechanism was, in a sense, a form of karmic punishment; the physical damage he suffered was a sign of its effects being balanced out.
He just never imagined that an existence like a True Monarch, who seemed capable of altering Heaven and Earth itself, could also suffer karmic punishment—and be so severely wounded as to be forced into seclusion.
"Causality is the foundation of Heaven and Earth. It is formless and intangible, yet it weaves the very operational network of this vast universe," the Elder Master said in a low voice.
"Even a True Monarch will suffer a backlash if they forcibly alter the trajectory of causality.
The greater the change and the deeper the involvement, the heavier and more dangerous the punishment."
His murky gaze seemed to pierce through the void, seeing that world-shaking battle from a distant age.
"One who can attain the [Venerable Dao Foundation] naturally shoulders an extraordinary amount of karma.
When my master struck back then, he wasn’t just suppressing a mere Foundation Establishment Master.
He was fighting against the great laws of Heaven and Earth!
The dangers and costs involved are far beyond what an ordinary person could ever imagine."
The Elder Master slowly withdrew his gaze and let it fall upon Qi Yun once more. His look was now incredibly solemn and serious, as if trying to see through the very soul of the young disciple before him.
"Qi Yun," he called out, his voice soft but carrying the weight of a thousand pounds, "I will ask you one last time.
The path ahead is uncertain and far more dangerous than any trial you have ever faced. The bodies of twenty-three prodigies are not yet cold.
Are you truly determined to walk this path and attain this [Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation]?"
Within the mountain cave, it seemed as if even the wind had stopped.
Only the Elder Master’s heavy words echoed in the air.
Faced with the Elder Master’s almost final confirmation, Qi Yun’s face showed not a hint of hesitation or struggle.
He didn’t even need a moment to think.
The corners of his lips simply lifted into a calm yet slightly untamed smile.
In his clear, sharp eyes, there was no trace of confusion.
There was only the tranquil certainty of one who sees everything clearly.
He looked at the Elder Master and spoke in a relaxed tone, as if stating the simplest of facts:
"Master... don’t you already know the answer in your heart?"
There was no passionate vow, no question about the hardships ahead, and not a single shred of regret or retreat.
Just this one breezy, rhetorical question—it revealed his Dao Heart more powerfully than any resounding oath, a heart that, once set on a path, would move forward without hesitation or regret.
It was as if, from the moment he learned of the [Venerable Dao Foundation]’s existence,
this choice was already set in stone.
All that remained was to walk the path he had chosen.
Succeed, and he would reign above all Daos; fail, and his body and soul would be annihilated.
That was all. What more needed to be said?
The Elder Master stared into Qi Yun’s calm, placid eyes, which concealed a deep-seated defiance and resolve.
After a long moment, the tense lines on his face, heavy with the air of twilight, finally relaxed.
He gave a slight nod. Nothing more was said; everything was understood.
The dust had settled.
...
"He really agreed?"
In the depths of a secluded Xinglin grove within the Holy Sect’s Triple Mirror Heaven.
Leaning on his emerald Bamboo Staff, Nan Dou Master frowned, his brow tightly furrowed. He stared at the withered figure of the Elder Master, Deng Yin, his voice filled with undisguised astonishment and a trace of anger.
"So stubborn! From top to bottom, your entire lineage is just one stubborn generation after another!"
Nan Dou Master’s voice rose, and he tapped his Bamboo Staff lightly on the ground.
"Doesn’t he know that the [Land of Enlightenment] has undergone changes and is now little more than a wasteland?
The resentment and unwillingness of the previous [Daluo] at his time of death have lingered through the years, never dissipating, multiplying the danger!
Does he really think he’s stronger than the twenty-three who fell before him?"
The forceful question echoed through the Xinglin grove, carrying the pressure of a Foundation Establishment Master and causing the surrounding Heaven and Earth to tremble slightly.
Faced with Nan Dou Master’s implicit rebuke, Elder Master Deng Yin’s gaunt face remained calm. He simply smiled faintly.
"Of course, he knows.
With his temperament—never casting the falcon until he sees the hare, calculating every last detail—how could he possibly make a decision without thoroughly understanding all the risks and opportunities involved?"
"Then he still dares?!" Nan Dou Master’s eyebrows shot up, his eyes full of incomprehension.
Knowing it’s a path of no return, a road to certain death.
Why would he still step forward?
The Elder Master heard this, fell silent for a moment, and then slowly spoke:
"That is why... I am not his equal."
That short phrase encapsulated all his past retreats and regrets, while also illuminating his present choice and hope.
"You..." Nan Dou Master was at a loss for words. He looked at his junior brother, whose lifespan was dwindling and whose aura was murky, and saw the trace of unyielding resolve hidden in the depths of his calm eyes.
In the end, all his words dissolved into a silent sigh.
He gave the Elder Master a deep look and remained silent for a long time before finally speaking as if in compromise:
"Fine. Good advice is wasted on a stubborn ghost. Since you’ve already made your decision, I will give you this chance."
His tone returned to its usual indifference, but it carried an undeniable authority:
"Tomorrow, have him come find me.
I want to see for myself... just where this brat gets such audacity!"
Hearing this, the Elder Master slowly rose and offered Nan Dou Master a solemn, cupped-fist salute.
"Many thanks, Senior Brother."
With that said, he did not linger, turning to leave.
His withered figure looked all the more desolate in the mottled light and shadow of the Xinglin grove.
Just as he was about to step out of the grove, Nan Dou Master’s voice came from behind, not loud, but clear in his ears:
"The True Monarch has a message."
The Elder Master’s steps halted at the sound.
Nan Dou Master’s words continued:
"The True Monarch says he only recognizes this [Daluo Ten Thousand Laws Dao Foundation]. As for whose it is... he will not concern himself with that."
Upon hearing this, the Elder Master’s stooped back stiffened slightly.
An unusual glint flashed involuntarily through his once murky and dim eyes.
He did not turn back, nor did he respond.
He paused for but a moment before lifting his foot again, stepping into the flowing spatial ripples ahead, and vanishing completely.
Leaving Nan Dou Master to stand alone in the Xinglin grove, staring in the direction he disappeared, his gaze profound, his thoughts unknown.
...