Translator: BornToBe

  “You have guts.” Long Chen was brought back to the Xuan Master’s private room. It was the Xuan Master who spoke first. He bitterly smiled. “In all my years of cultivation, I’ve never slapped a Life Star expert’s face before. Sigh, I wonder if I’ll have a chance in the future.”


  Long Chen also bitterly smiled. “Xuan Master, don’t be so sarcastic. That bastard was completely intolerable. If I were stronger, I’d have directly cut him to pieces.”


  Thinking of how Ma Xingkong had caught his throat and held him like a dog, killing intent burned in Long Chen’s eyes. There was no way he could accept this.

  He hated Ma Xingkong for being shameless, and he hated himself for being powerless. He was still too weak. He couldn’t accept living like this where he could only endure being humiliated.

  “I’m not being sarcastic. That slap of yours was truly amazing. It allowed my Xuantian Dao Sect to finally vent a bit,” praised the Xuan Master.

  “Xuan Master, I don’t understand something. Can you answer some of my questions?” asked Long Chen.

  “Whatever you have to say, have a seat first.” The Xuan Master sat down in front of a tea table. He started to steep some tea.

  Long Chen directly asked, “How did the Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect raise such foolish idiots? From top to bottom, not one of them has a brain.”


  Long Chen was extremely puzzled. In his mind, people who had reached greater heights of cultivation should have been masterful people with high accomplishments in the mind as well. After all, their comprehension of the Heavenly Daos had to be high to reach their level.

  For example, there was Elder Li Changfeng, the Elder Hall Master, and the Xuan Master. Their bearing was graceful and elegant, and they were all incredibly wise without being arrogant or ostentatious. That was something that won them his esteem.

  In comparison, there was Ma Xingkong. He was an idiot, a big idiot. It wasn’t as if the Xuan Master’s acting had been incredibly marvelous. But he had still directly jumped into the trap.

  Furthermore, after he had realized it, he had immediately lost his calm and attacked. How was he a grand person at all? He was more like a hoodlum.

  “Haha, in truth, the cultivation world is not as complicated as you’re making it. It’s very simple, even more simple than the secular world.” The Xuan Master smiled.

  He raised the teapot, and Long Chen was just about to take it when the Xuan Master stopped him. He personally poured tea for both of them before continuing.

  “The rules of the cultivation world are no different from the rules of wild animals. Power is everything. There is nothing else. You might feel that the cultivation world is full of idiots with laughably childish methods and zero skill, but that’s simply natural.

  “Take for example the secular world. Perhaps in your hometown, two nations are able to coexist. That means their power is about the same. The two nations will fight, both internally and externally. All kinds of schemes and traps will be laid out to defeat their opponents.

  “That is what happens when the two are around the same level of power. At that point, they use their smarts to defeat their opponents and resolve their problems. Their intelligence and schemes decide their destiny.

  “Now consider the cultivation world. Power is everything. No matter how smart you are, in front of absolute power, you still won’t have any ability to resist. For example, today, you were able to use various tricks and traps against Han Zhenyu, allowing you to win.

  “Your combat experience and sharp judgment allowed you to become today’s winner. Your superior intellect revealed itself. But what if you had been against Ma Xingkong? Would your intelligence have any use?”


  “I just didn’t think Ma Xingkong would be so shameless. Who would have thought a sect leader would attack a Foundation Forging disciple?” said Long Chen hatefully.

  “Child, you’re wrong. Cultivation base has nothing to do with shamelessness. It is not the case that people with higher cultivation bases have more integrity and dignity. If you treat the cultivation world like that, you will suffer greatly. To be despicable is the natural conduct of despicable people. To be noble is a noble person’s epitaph. In the cultivation world, noble people can usually only bring their nobility with them to the grave. As for despicable people, they live happily for a long time,” said the Xuan Master.

  “Disciple understands.” Long Chen nodded. The Xuan Master’s words had enlightened him to the world. He shouldn’t have used his ideal yardstick to measure the cultivation world.

  “Your methods are ruthless enough, vicious enough, and you have smarts. But there are two points that make it so you cannot be a true leader. One is that you do not have enough restraint. I’m sure that with your smarts, you can see through many more things. Regretfully, you have no restraint and didn’t do things properly. Otherwise, you’d have saved yourself a great deal of trouble,” said the Xuan Master.

  Long Chen couldn’t help but bitterly smile. His character was just like this, and he also had no way to change it. Sometimes, he would also feel like he was acting very foolishly. Despite clearly seeing a trap laid down by his opponents, he would still jump into it.

  He would repeatedly tell himself to stay calm, to not act blindly, as that would force him into a passive position. He should first plan how to counter the trap before walking into it, because that way, he could counterattack more effectively.

  But it didn’t have the slightest use. Once his fury soared, he wouldn’t even know who he was. At that time, his intelligence was practically zero.

  After several instances of this, he understood that it was the influence of the Nine Star Hegemon Body Art. Once he was furious, his head would forget how to think, and all his previous warnings to himself would be thrown out the window.

  After realizing this problem, he decided not to think too much about it. He would just do what he had to do.

  For example, when Ma Xingkong had released Long Chen, he had immediately slapped him. He hadn’t even been thinking of doing it. It had practically been instinct. At that time, he had wanted to kill Ma Xingkong right there and then.

  “The second thing is that you aren’t despicable enough, and you aren’t able to harden your heart. You are unwilling to make any sacrifices, so you are unable to become a true leader. I’ve observed you for a long while now. If you had just made some slight sacrifices or used a few contemptible means, you wouldn’t have been forced into such a passive state by the Law Enforcement Hall or Alchemy Pavilion several times.

  “However, everything has two sides. It is precisely because of this that you possess such incomparable charisma, making others willing to follow you into death. You can’t be a ruler, but you are a perfect general. However, are you planning on leading your people to fight all the way until the end?” asked the Xuan Master profoundly.

  His meaning was that if he continued to charge forward recklessly, this character of his wouldn’t be a problem. But if one day he reached a limit and had to stop, at that time, if he still didn’t use the methods of a ruler on his subordinates, his group would quickly fracture.

  This was what the Xuan Master had been saying back when he had discussed internal and external battles with him. This was a method a ruler had to be in control of. But Long Chen detested doing such things.

  “The Great Peng spreads its wings and soars into the clouds. It tries to break through the dome of the sky, and even if it dies a hundred times, its will does not waver.”


  Long Chen softly muttered to himself. Legend was that the Kun transformed into the Peng, and it was dissatisfied with heaven and earth’s restrictions. It would rather become enemies of the world and break free of its restrictions to be free.

  The Kunpeng was the definition of wild arrogance. In the myths, its fate was always to be eradicated beneath the Heavenly Daos.

  It was like a mystical curse. When the Kunpeng was born, it had to fight against the heavens. It would rather die beneath the Heavenly Daos than be bound by its shackles.

  This was similar to Long Chen’s fate. At first, Long Chen hadn’t wanted to fight against the heavens. But the Heavenly Daos tried to destroy him all the time, and so he had no choice but to become their enemy.

  So Long Chen’s enemy was not his fellow cultivators, but this entire world and the Heavenly Daos. He understood what the Xuan Master was saying here, and yet, he couldn’t do that.

  “My path is different from others. I must advance without looking back. Once I retreat, not only will I die, but I will also implicate every other person following me,” said Long Chen.

  The Xuan Master nodded. It seemed Long Chen already knew many things. Although he didn’t know he was a Heaven-Defier, he had already prepared himself to walk the path of defying the heavens until the end.

  “Was your oath today serious?” asked the Xuan Master.

  “Yes. That bastard humiliated me to cast a shadow on my Dao-heart. If I can’t get my revenge, it may create a heart-devil in the future.” Long Chen nodded. This was like a lump had been placed on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

  In truth, according to reason, being humiliated when a grand sect leader attacked you was very normal. In fact, if it was another person, they might even feel honored.

  But Long Chen felt stifled. Whenever he thought of this, he would feel furious. He had to get revenge for this.

  The Xuan Master was lost in thought for a long while. He suddenly said, “The Heaven Suppressing Magic Sect has a close relationship with Pill Valley. The reason they are so strong and could grow so quickly is definitely related to Pill Valley. Many powerful sects have close relationships with Pill Valley, so you should be careful.”


  Long Chen was startled. Looking at the Xuan Master, he wanted to ask a few things, but then thinking about it, he decided not to. The Xuan Master was simply warning him that he was underestimating Pill Valley.

  “Will my actions today bring trouble to the Dao Sect?” asked Long Chen.

  “The Dao Sect’s troubles have never come to an end. If we still didn’t strike back, we would completely decline. This counterattack will definitely quickly bring about a few consequences, but I knew such a day would come. I started my preparation many years ago, so it won’t cause too much of a problem for the sect in the short-term.

  “However, while this continent looks peaceful on the surface, there are many hidden undercurrents and countless dangers. Many powers are beginning to stir. If the Dao Sect continued to stay silent, it’s likely that it would never have another chance to rise. Your arrival is an opportunity. I’m using you to grasp that opportunity to allow the Xuantian Dao Sect to rise,” said the Xuan Master.

  “You have that much trust in this little one?” Long Chen couldn’t help but bitterly smile.

  “It’s the same as how you trust me.” The Xuan Master smiled. He took out a bead and offered it to Long Chen. “This Life Star Bead is your battle spoil. Take it.”