106: sophistry

"Let me ask you something, Senior."

"After you killed them, did you ever think about committing suicide?"

The youth didn't understand what he meant, but before he could speak, Zhou Yan had already started talking to himself.

"Right, if Senior had committed suicide, this Secret Realm wouldn't exist."

"Senior's hatred, in the end, wasn't because they didn't pay the medical fees or because they did something ignorant like a sacrifice."

"It was simply because they killed your father."

"So regardless of whether they were good or evil, if they had let you leave at that time, even without paying, you wouldn't have had any further involvement with each other."

"Even if they troubled others later or caught the next person for sacrifice, you wouldn't have gone to save them."

"Then it's not about good and evil, but only about personal feelings."

"In that case, what would those people whose parents you killed think?"

"They wouldn't care who was good or evil between their parents and you; they only know that you killed their parents and left them homeless."

"Just as you sought revenge, their lives would either be spent in revenge or they would struggle to survive in this chaotic world due to the loss of their parents."

"This is the continuation of hatred; once it begins, it is very hard to stop."

"If you had ended your own life on the spot after your revenge, that would have been the end of the Karma. Or, if you had pulled them up by the roots, the Karma would also have been extinguished. But you chose to let the hatred continue and keep creating tragedies."

"You lost your parents; it's impossible for you not to know what they would go through, isn't it?"

"But you just acted on impulse, with hot blood rushing to your head, never considering the consequences—just as you never thought about raising your status back then to have them judged through the government."

Zhou Yan just said whatever came to mind, leaving this 'youth version' of the Recluse of Spiritual Stream completely stunned.

Zhou Yan didn't give him time or opportunity to think or defend himself, instead using himself as an example.

"In my early years, I was also harmed by the exchange of Family interests, but I didn't choose to stop killing with killing. Instead, I improved myself and eventually gained the help of the Lord, letting the law judge those who deserved to be judged."

"That way, even if they seek revenge, they are in the wrong because they were the ones who broke the law."

"If they come for revenge again, then they deserve to be killed, and I would still be on the side of justice for killing them."

"But now, because of Senior's experience, I have been forced to choose the same path as you. By stepping onto this path, I am no longer righteous, so I can only choose the most appropriate method."

"Since there is no courage to commit suicide to end the Karma, then one should pull them up by the roots to give them a final bit of respect."

"I was originally a noble person with great love in my heart, yet Senior insisted on trapping me in disloyalty and unrighteousness."

"But now that I have chosen the most appropriate method, Senior says my way is wrong and that I've chosen a crueler path."

"Then I must ask Senior, did anyone come to seek revenge on you? Have you thought about what they would encounter afterward?"

"Have you really never secretly regretted this matter?"

The youth's mouth hung open and his eyes widened, completely shaken by Zhou Yan's words.

"I... I... was I really wrong?"

The youth's figure gradually dissipated, turning into specks of light that flew toward Yuan Chenling and Zhou Yan.

Before the two could react, the keys on their bodies flew out automatically.

The pattern on Zhou Yan's key became more vivid, while Yuan Chenling's key changed from a person drawing a bow to a person in a boat, just like Zhou Yan's previous one.

"Holy crap, Boss is a genius of the heavens! You did nothing and passed the trial with just a few words!"

Yuan Chenling felt that this expression of surprise was quite useful; he hadn't expected it to roll off the tongue so easily.

Zhou Yan was a bit surprised to hear him say that, but he didn't mind.

He'd just treat it as spreading culture from another world and play the role of a cultural ambassador for once.

"This kind of talk only works on young people. That guy was clearly the Recluse of Spiritual Stream in his youth."

"How could a hot-blooded silly kid like that understand all those twists and turns?"

"If it were anyone else, they wouldn't have believed a word I said and would have cursed me to death already."

Yuan Chenling rubbed his chin and said,

"Not really, I thought it sounded quite reasonable?"

"That just means you're a silly kid too."

"Let me ask you, if someone killed your entire Family, what would you do?"

Yuan Chenling fell into deep thought.

Seeing his expression, Zhou Yan felt a little panicked.

Crap, did I hurt him by mentioning his original Family?

Good heavens, I just used it as a random example. Should I comfort him?

"Is it a bit impolite to only kowtow to him once?"

Yuan Chenling spoke these shocking words with a calm face, then shook his head.

"No, no, I feel like that still wouldn't express my respect."

"Boss, you're a human. What do you humans usually do for a benefactor? Three bows and nine kowtows or something?"

Zhou Yan slapped his hand against his face.

How could he forget? This kid tells everyone he meets that he's from the White Tiger Tribe, likely bringing them plenty of trouble; this was probably his way of getting revenge.

Having their entire clan exterminated would actually be doing him a favor.

"It was just an analogy, don't think too much about it."

"My point is that young people are usually full of vigor and act without considering the consequences—once it's done, it's done."

"When they regret it later, they regret it more and more because their minds are active and they empathize easily."

"But when you're older and have more experience, you have a ton of things to deal with every day. Who has time for that?"

"One sentence like 'So what? I felt like it,' and everything I just said would have been in vain."

Once Zhou Yan explained it like that, Yuan Chenling understood.

It was just like the Righteous Path and Demonic Path Cultivators he often encountered, who always loved to preach a bunch of grand principles to him.

He usually beat them down before they could finish speaking, snatched their stuff, and ran away.

It was only because Zhou Yan was the Boss that he had actually listened to all of it for once.

But since Boss said those were all empty words, it was better to stick to his original style in the future.

Those grand principles were indeed intimidating; he had to be more careful in the future and never let them finish talking.

Ignoring whatever Yuan Chenling was thinking, Zhou Yan picked him up and headed back the way they came.

The Divine Abilities mastered in his dragon form were weakened while in human form, but fortunately, his Divine Sense was unaffected, likely because it was related to the Soul.

With his Core Formation Stage Divine Sense, although the range wasn't huge, Zhou Yan could still follow the traces to find Wang Yao.

This was his teammate, the MVP even; he couldn't let anything happen to him, or he'd feel truly bad about it.

As for Junior Sister Shi, she was so familiar with the Secret Realm that she should be fine for a while.

Zhou Yan went all the way to the door, put away the core and the tree, and stepped back through.

As soon as he arrived, he saw people everywhere on the third floor. Some were picking up gold and silver, others were looking around; they were presumably other Prodigies.

Zhou Yan scanned with his Divine Sense and found signs of a fight in front of the door—it was from Wang Yao and that artificial Half-Demon.

Wang Yao had likely been taken away by someone; the aura felt a bit like Mu Qianqiu's.

As for the other person, their aura was very strange, like the sensation of drinking cold water right after chewing mint gum.

But since he was taken by Mu Qianqiu, he should be fine.

Zhou Yan knew his identity and the power he belonged to; he was someone capable of tracking him down in the real world. Of course, Zhou Yan still trusted this good brother.

Furthermore, in his Dragon-man form, Zhou Yan could definitely pin him down and beat him. Zhou Yan certainly trusted this good brother.

If he really caused trouble, Zhou Yan would just give him a beating and send him to Xiao Sheng for some 'discipline.' Of course... okay, actually, he didn't trust him that much.

"Boss, it's a rare trip back, and we're both so strong, how about..."

After finishing his analysis, Zhou Yan originally wanted to turn and leave, but Yuan Chenling's words made him stop.

Zhou Yan looked back, and several nearby Cultivators and Prodigies also looked over in unison. One of the Cultivators said,

"Brother, we've all agreed. There's so much stuff here, we definitely can't take it all. Just grabbing a few handfuls of good stuff will mean no worries about food or clothes. There's no need to fight to the death, right?"

"Why are you putting my money into your pockets?"

"Isn't that theft?"

The man was stunned, but seeing Zhou Yan's dead-serious expression, he immediately understood what he wanted to do.

"Brothers, get ready to charge together! He wants to break the rules!"

Yuan Chenling and Zhou Yan smiled at each other; they were the ones who made the first move.