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The ornately-dressed middle-aged man’s expression changed dramatically. He glared at Su Yi, their uninvited guest, and gnashed his teeth in fury.
They’d only just escaped calamity, only for someone to stick his foot in and mess things up. Of course they were furious!
“Master!” Yuan Heng solemnly bowed.
The youth in coarse cloth shook. He found this hard to believe.
Su Yi looked a few years older than him at most; they were basically the same age. Who’d have thought this young man would be this mighty senior’s master!?
When they saw this, the ornately-dressed middle-aged man and his companions felt as if someone had poured a bucket of cold water over their heads. Their blazing fury evaporated, and a chill coursed down their spines. They felt as if they’d been plunged into an icy abyss.
Master!?
Yuan Heng’s use of the honorific alarmed them.
But Su Yi paid no attention to any of that. He looked at the young man in coarse cloth and said casually, “Kill them. Do it personally.”
“I
.” The young man hesitated.
“If you don’t, we’ll leave right now,” said Su Yi. “We won’t intervene any further, no matter what. When the time comes, do you think they’ll refrain from killing you to vent their fury?”
The young man shook from head to toe.
“We won’t! We swear we’ll do no such thing!”
The middle-aged man and his cohort cried out in panic.
“You might not do it now, but what about later?” Yuan Heng laughed coldly. “Or perhaps, out of consideration for your vow, you’ll refrain from acting personally, but does that mean you won’t borrow others’ hands to do it?”
This was obviously a warning directed at the young man.
Su Yi glanced a Yuan Heng, who promptly shut his mouth. He offered no further warnings, but he whispered, “Master, I was just worried that our young friend would do something stupid.”
Su Yi looked at the young man in coarse cloth. “It’s time for you to make a choice.”
The young man instantly felt pressure bearing down on him, and his expression shifted erratically.
After a while, he gnashed his teeth. It seemed he’d made up his mind, and he was about to take action.
“Fight! Give it everything you’ve got!” roared the middle-age man in ornate robes.
Su Yi waved his sleeves, and a swath of sword qi flashed into being.
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Seven bloodied human heads fell into the dirt.
Quick and efficient.
This bloody spectacle left the young man rooted to the spot, completely dazed.
Su Yi said nothing. He just took a sip from his wine gourd and waited in silence.
After a while, the young man looked up, gazed at Su Yi, and bowed. “Senior, thank you for your guidance. I understand!”
“Oh?” said Su Yi. “What did you understand?”
“When you face your enemies, you cannot treat them with even the slightest compassion,” said the young man.
“You’re still missing something,” said Su Yi, shaking his head. “To cultivators such as ourselves, there have never been any rules to speak of, nor any laws we can rely on. That means that worldly affairs are never black and white, and it’s difficult to determine what is good and what is evil. You can’t make logical arguments with your enemies without first possessing the capital to do so.”
The young man’s expression filled with uncertainty. He seemed to understand somewhat, but he also seemed even more confused than before.
Such a response was perfectly ordinary.
A few sentences ultimately weren’t enough to overturn someone’s perception of reality.
There were many logical precepts in this world, but it was easier to know them than to implement them.
“Senior, are you saying that only those of sufficient strength can do what they think is right?” asked the young man.
Su Yi pointed at the young man’s heart. “This isn’t about strength and weakness. All I can say is that on the path of cultivation, the ruler by which you measure good and evil and the line between black and white are unclear. You must rely on your heart to judge them.
“Take what happened tonight, for instance. I helped you kill your foes, so in your eyes, I’m naturally a good person. However, in your enemy’s eyes, I’m a villain. Given the situation, ‘good and evil’, ‘black and white’, and ‘right and wrong’ all depend on your point of view; your position affects your judgment.”
Su Yi paused here, suddenly rueful. “Once, an old demon said much the same thing. ‘The people of this world call me a demon, but in my eyes, aren’t my enemies the demons? We just have different standpoints, that’s all. This is the struggle for the Grand Dao.’
“There was once an old monk of the Buddhist way. He said that as a Buddha, he’d turn all sentient beings into Buddhas, but that were he a demon, he’d turn all sentient beings into demons. Why is that? It’s simply a difference in standpoint. This is the source of all strife between orthodoxies and other schools of thought.”
Su Yi paused here and sighed. “That’s the world of cultivation. There are no rules, and there are no laws. There’s no avoiding it: sometimes, matters of right and wrong can only be decided with one’s fists.”
Yuan Heng couldn’t help but feel surprised. This was his first time hearing his master launch into such a long lecture.
When he took his time to mull it over, Yuan Heng nodded. The world of cultivation was indeed like that!
The young man, however, looked bewildered. Su Yi’s words came as an enormous shock to his perception of the world, and for a while, he felt more confused than ever.
He subconsciously asked, “If there’s no clear distinction between good and evil or right and wrong
 Is that
 Really okay?”
Su Yi patted the young man on the shoulder. “It is, of course, good to act with kindness. Otherwise, why would I have saved you tonight? I said all that to tell you that on the morally ambiguous, lawless path of cultivation, you must first recognize your own strength, then stay true to yourself. You shouldn’t act as you did earlier, and treat your enemies with such compassion.”
Having said all this, Su Yi rubbed his nose and laughed at himself. “That’s enough. I most certainly don’t want to become another Chen Ping’an and lecture everyone constantly. You’ve yet to experience the tempering of wind and rain. Hearing it isn’t enough to understand it, and those who understand it don’t need to hear it.”
Yuan Heng was confused. Who is Chen Ping’an?
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But it was obvious that Su Yi had no desire to discuss the matter any further.
The young man in coarse cloth robes took a deep breath and said, “Senior, I’ll commit your words to memory. I might not fully understand them now, but later on, I’ll surely be able to!”
The young man’s serious, determined expression moved Su Yi, who took out a jade slip and engraved a legacy therein. He then passed it to the young man.
“This jade slip contains a heretical legacy called the ‘Mysterious Embryo Demonic Chapter.’ It’s far deeper than the technique you’re cultivating now, and it’s the greatest test of one’s character.”
Su Yi’s gaze was distant and profound. “Bear this in mind: you must assiduously protect your heart. Otherwise, practicing such a legacy will surely lead you into depravity. Of course, you’re also welcome not to cultivate it.”
“Yuan Heng, we should be going.” With that, Su Yi turned and left. Yuan Heng hurried after him.
The young man accepted the jade slip, looking dazed. Everything he’d just been through felt unbelievable, as if he were dreaming.
Yuan Heng’s voice suddenly emanated from afar.
“What’s your name, my young friend?”
“Shen Li.” The young man instinctively responded, then hurriedly asked, “Dare I ask your name, honorable seniors?”
However, by the time he finished his question, both Yuan Heng and Su Yi had faded into the inky darkness of the night.
The young man stood there in a daze, then muttered, “Tonight, I’m afraid that I, Shen Li, encountered a true deity or immortal
”



Late at night. It was cold, and the moon shone brightly overhead.
Su Yi and his companions continued their journey
Yue Shichan, Ge Qian, and Bai Wenqing had already learned what happened from Yuan Heng.
They were particularly moved when Yuan Heng recounted what Su Yi had said earlier.
“Your Excellency, why did you give Shen Li an
 evil cultivation technique?” Ge Qian asked in confusion.
“None of the world’s schools of thought—Buddhist, Confucian, Daoist, Demonic, Yao, Ghost, or something else entirely—are superior or inferior when it comes to pursuit of the Dao,” Su Yi said casually.
“Those who practice Buddhist cultivation aren’t necessarily as compassionate as the Buddha, while those who practice demonic arts aren’t necessarily irredeemable villains.
“When differentiating between good and evil, consider only one’s mentality and behavior. Only then can one learn from diverse sources and put all available methods to use. Only then can you truly understand why we call it the ‘Grand’ Dao.”
He then looked at Ge Qian. “Take you, for instance. You inherited a yao cultivator’s legacy. How is that any different from Shen Li practicing heretical arts?”
Ge Qian instantly fell silent and sank into deep contemplation.
“If you keep thinking like that, you’ll only affect your Dao Heart,” warned Su Yi.
Terror coursed through Ge Qian, and his expression shifted.
This time, even Yue Shichan couldn’t help but ask, “Why is that, Brother Su?”
“Any debate involving the Grand Dao will affect one’s heart on a subconscious level,” said Su Yi. “When pursuing the Grand Dao, you must experience and comprehend it on your own, while staying true to oneself. Only then can one forge a path uniquely their own.”
Yue Shichan seemed to ponder this.
As they conversed, the group passed over a dense mountain range.
Two hours later, Su Yi scanned the area and saw a dilapidated temple halfway up one of the mountains. “Let’s stop in that temple and rest. We can continue our journey at dawn.”
He and companions then flew straight toward it.
The run-down temple was perfectly ordinary. It was covered in spider webs, and its temple statue had long since collapsed. It had obviously been in ruins for quite some time.
Yuan Heng and Bei Wenqing got to work cleaning it up and lightning a campfire. They even set soft beast skins on the floor and invited Su Yi to sit down.
It was already after midnight, and the skies were dark and deep. The distant roaring of beasts emanated from afar, the sound extremely unsettling.
This wasn’t enough to scare Su Yi or his companions, however.
Su Yi sat cross-legged and meditated.
About ten days had passed since he’d left the Great Xia. Most of that time was spent traversing the wilderness, but Su Yi hadn’t set aside his cultivation. His routine was all but unshakeable, and he maintained it even now.
Furthermore, he now had no shortage of cultivation resources.
By now, he’d already reached the peak of the mid-stage Gathering Stars Realm. Before long, he’d break smoothly into the late stage.
When the time came, he’d have to start thinking about his upcoming Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation.
Every Origin Dao cultivator who wanted to break into the Spirit Dao had to face this problem.
If they overcame it, they stepped into a higher path, the Spirit Dao. This made them true advanced cultivators.
Should they fail, they’d perish, and their Dao would disappear with them, their bodies reduced to dirt. Even if they somehow clung to life, they’d never recover their former glory.
This tribulation was perilous to the extreme, even in the Nine Provinces of the Wilds. There were countless Gathering Stars cultivators out there, but less than ten percent overcame their tribulation!
Especially since the firmer one’s foundations in the Grand Dao and the greater one’s talent, the more terrifying the tribulation they had to overcome!
In his past life, Su Yi had once seriously researched and pondered the Tribulation of Spiritual Manifestation. He was naturally well aware that with his unprecedented foundations in the Grand Dao, his Tribulation of Spiritual Metamorphis would be incomparably terrifying.
It might well exceed the bounds of his comprehension and imagination!
After all, throughout the Wilds’ long history, no one had ever condensed “the Strongest Dao Seed” as an Origin Dao cultivator before.
This meant that there was no way to accurately gauge the perils he’d face when he underwent tribulation.
However, if I overcome this unprecedented tribulation, when I step into the Spiritual Manifestation Realm, I’ll surely have foundations far beyond others of the same level

As he cultivated, Su Yi pondered. He was already starting to look forward to the day of his impending tribulation!