316: Special New Year's Greeting from the Sect (Part 2)

"Alright, you can speak now."

Wang Yao's expression was somewhat helpless.

He looked around this dimly lit, temporary room, which resembled a small office.

In front of him was a solid wood table. Zhou Yan, wearing an Eastern Territory-style tailcoat, sat opposite him, gently stroking a small cat conjured by a Spell.

Wang Yao remembered that Zhou Yan seemed impatient just a second ago; how did he set up this room in just a few breaths?

Is this what professionalism looks like?

"It's like this: my cultivation has stagnated. At first, I didn't think much of it, but later it felt more and more wrong. I suspect it might be a problem with my state of mind."

"So I went to see Master, but he couldn't provide a solution either."

Zhou Yan's face was indifferent, carrying a faint sense of pressure, and his voice became slightly raspy.

"Before you went to see your Master, why didn't you come to me first?"

Wang Yao felt a bit embarrassed and had to confess.

"Senior Brother, I already owe you too much."

"But right now, there's really no other way. Master told me that only you can help me."

"No matter how much I owe afterward, I will repay it manifold."

Zhou Yan just shook his head.

"Still talking about owing or not owing—you don't respect me. You won't even call me Godfather."

"Ah? Senior Brother, what are you saying?"

Zhou Yan snapped out of it and waved his hand.

"The atmosphere just felt right, and I accidentally slipped into another role."

"Fine then. Since your Master sent you, he must know something."

"However, there are some things I can't tell you yet because they involve my privacy."

"So just tell me what you're afraid of, what you're worried about. At least let me know the source of your Heart Demon."

Zhou Yan checked the time.

Twenty minutes had passed since everyone set out.

Logically, with such a large area, it shouldn't be searched so quickly. Even if someone did find something, Long Tianxing would likely get most of it.

If the winner was Long Tianxing, it wouldn't be too bad, because Zhou Yan still had a few good things, and Junior Brother Long would likely be willing to trade with him.

But Zhou Yan still wanted to collect as many treasures as possible.

Although he was a Nascent Soul Cultivator, his personal wealth was meager.

All his previous money had gone into maintaining the church. Now, although he owned a city, it generated no income and was instead heavily in debt.

He couldn't understand how he had gained a city and become its supreme leader with military, political, and divine power, yet ended up in a worse financial predicament.

While Zhou Yan's thoughts drifted toward how to fill the city's debt, Wang Yao had already sat down on a small stool and begun recounting his past.

Wang Yao first spoke of his origins and the story of his friend Liu Dabiao. Upon learning that Hun Wushang's original name was Liu Dabiao, Zhou Yan quietly noted it down in a notebook.

But the story that followed gradually became unexpected.

According to Wang Yao, the "First City Under Heaven" where he lived was once worthy of its name, but now only the title remained.

The city was named so because it was as large as a country, and its technological level had once led the Eastern Territory.

According to Wang Yao's description, its current level of development was close to the technological level of Blue Star when Zhou Yan was there.

But this state had persisted for over a thousand years without change.

This was because the First City Under Heaven was located in West River, and the overall atmosphere of West River was very different from the Northern Border.

The Southern Desert's ideology was relatively conservative, leaning towards the ancient style of a Xuanhuan world.

Because the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven advocated for governing by doing nothing, the Northern Border allowed some development but didn't let it go astray; thus, technology and ancient style coexisted, though it still leaned towards the ancient style.

As for the Eastern Territory, under the reckless promotion of various demonic cultivators, it had developed rapidly and entered a future era.

West River was quite special; compared to other regions with more distinct characteristics, it was more like a "Gu field."

It called itself an Alliance to the outside world, but in reality, it was a place where the strong preyed on the weak.

There were Dynasties, Sects, and technological cities, as well as a Loose Cultivator Alliance and lawless areas like the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, also known as the Myriad Law Domain.

The Butian Pavilion in West River was completely hands-off; as long as no world-shaking chaos occurred, they wouldn't intervene.

It wasn't like the Northern Border, where they claimed not to interfere, but if someone was truly blind enough to cause trouble, the Elders would show up with the heavenly balance to act as "erasers."

So even if the First City Under Heaven stopped developing, Butian Pavilion wouldn't lend a hand just because it was once their flagship city.

After listening, Zhou Yan was silent for a moment, then organized his words and said:

"You mean, demonic Sect forces were plotting in the First City Under Heaven."

"At that time, many high-ranking officials and nobles participated in it to revitalize the city, and even you were unwittingly drawn in?"

"Yes."

"So from then on, I have had a deep-seated hatred for evil ways."

Zhou Yan understood.

At that time, Wang Yao had risen like a dark horse, quickly becoming a rising star in the city thanks to his special Physique and talent.

Titles like "Invincible at the Qi Refinement Stage," "Strongest of the Same Rank," and "Most Fearsome Prodigy in History" were all heaped upon him.

Wang Yao originally thought this was recognition of his ability, but in reality, it was a deliberate move by the nobles and demonic Sects.

Wang Yao didn't know their purpose for plotting in West River, but in the process of their operations, they needed a "star" to lead the way, so they chose to "create a god."

They designed one desperate tournament after another.

Wang Yao rose from a poor orphan to a rising star through competitions, moving toward wealth and status.

Others chased glory because of this, forgetting that the "First City Under Heaven" originally had a responsibility to care for the poor.

Using glory to numb the masses and combat to stimulate emotions, a distorted set of values was implanted in people's minds.

Then, Wang Yao defeated his opponents one by one, leading to the collapse of the ancient Schools behind them and causing many people to lose their livelihoods.

This sounded a bit like the style of Grace City, only more "romantic."

It was unknown what kind of "confusion soup" those people had fed them, but the entire city's population actually believed in the "winner takes all" philosophy; despite being the freest city, they were the most stubborn.

By the time Wang Yao finally woke up, it was too late.

A surge of malice suddenly spread, inciting people's greed, anger, and jealousy, triggering an unprecedented bloody slaughter.

It wasn't until the city's population had been reduced to one-third that Butian Pavilion stepped in to suppress it.

In the words of Butian Pavilion, this was the result of "natural selection" for the First City Under Heaven.

The occurrence of such a situation indicated that their path was wrong.

Butian Pavilion only had an obligation to clean up the mess and provided some repair funds out of humanitarianism.

But due to its own path issues, future subsidies and support would be drastically cut until the First City Under Heaven found its own way or completely faded into West River.

This made the already unworthy "First City Under Heaven" carry a layer of irony in its name.

This was also why Wang Yao later traveled thousands of miles to the Northern Border, carrying his own name and the name of his city.

This sounded like just an ordinary story of the past, but Zhou Yan knew this was Wang Yao's simplified narration.

The actual experience must have been much more cruel.

And this wasn't because Wang Yao was intentionally hiding things, but because there were many things he hadn't even realized himself.

His being stuck at the Core Formation Stage and unable to achieve a Breakthrough for a long time was also related to Zombie City.

After a battle of reversals, Wang Yao had already mastered some techniques to deal with them; even if he encountered a reversed version of himself, he wouldn't be completely defenseless.

But during the struggle, he inexplicably established a connection with the Tree Zombie.

A surge of consciousness flooded his mind, allowing him to see the other's memories.

Different from Gou Liaotai's perspective, The Spirit Trees name's memory was clearer and more direct.

He might not have been a good person, but his initial motive was definitely for good.

All he wanted was to bring someone back; he had reached this point only because he was forced by his environment.

This was similar to Wang Yao's experience, and also similar to each of his former opponents.

Back then, those "gentlemen" had told Wang Yao the same thing.

Saying how bad these enemies were, how many people they had killed, how many lives they had ruined, so Wang Yao should strike out and strike down these villains.

But they didn't tell Wang Yao that these "villains" were also forced into it by them.

If Wang Yao hadn't been exceptionally talented and able to succeed without doing evil, then his end would have been the same as theirs.

This was also the reason why Wang Yao ultimately lost to Kun.

"Sigh, to put it simply, this situation was triggered by your two mental knots."

"One stems from your early experiences, and the other was triggered by certain details that brought back memories, forming a new knot."

"The two emotions intertwined, causing the embryonic form of a Heart Demon to appear around you, right?"

Wang Yao nodded.

"Then that's easy to handle. I don't even need to do anything; talk therapy will do."

"Ah? chemotherapy?"

Wang Yao had also heard of this healing method, using technology for auxiliary treatment; it was somewhat helpful for Mortals treating terminal illnesses, but the damage was much greater than that of Medicinal Pills.

"It means using the method of talking to treat you while just sitting here."

Hearing this, Wang Yao also breathed a sigh of relief.

If it really were chemotherapy, someone with his Physique would just be in pure agony.

"Let me ask you, in your heart, were those past opponents of yours bad people?"

Wang Yao lowered his head and was silent for a while.

"Not really... they just went astray; they weren't truly bad people."

"Do those people who fooled you and those who drove them to a dead end count as bad people?"

This time Wang Yao answered flatly.

"Yes!"

"Clap."

Zhou Yan clapped his hands.

"Solved."

"Ah?"

Wang Yao's mouth hung open in disbelief.

Zhou Yan, however, was very calm.

"What's so strange about that? Isn't this what you've been doing all along?"

"You long to stand on the stage, you long for glory, and you haven't changed your original heart despite the hardships you've encountered."

"This shows that your original heart has never wavered; your goals have just become clearer."

"You know who the real enemy is, so you hate demonic Sects. You also know which people are pitiable, which is why you were moved by that tree in Zombie City."

"Isn't this exactly what you want to do? Strike hard against evil, show kindness to those who can still be saved, and provide protection to good people."

"The reason you're lost is simply because you've gotten stuck in another dead end."

"Do you remember Mu Qianqiu?"

Wang Yao nodded; he had a fairly deep memory of this person.

"He wasn't that great a person, but he was decent enough to us. He helped as much as he could—though it wasn't much—but not to the point where you'd categorize him as a bad person and kill him with one punch."

"But that Tree Zombie truly killed many people. Even if he was good at first, the fact that he killed countless people cannot be whitewashed. In fact, if not for me, you all probably wouldn't have escaped either."

"So what you need to distinguish is not the label, but whether the person is good or bad and how you should respond."

"You should also have a clear judgment of yourself."

"You feel you've done many wrong things and want to make amends, which is actually treating yourself like a sinner."

"Because you hate sinners, you also hate yourself, which is why you were so conflicted when you encountered someone forced into doing evil."

"But I'm telling you clearly now: you're wrong to think that way."

"People aren't unchanging; it's not that good people can't turn bad, or bad people can't turn good."

"You made mistakes, so you're making amends, but the premise is that bad people used you and caused you to make those mistakes."

"What you should do is not only make up for your mistakes but also hammer those bad people into mush. After all, they just flapped their mouths while you took the blame."

"Anyway, if it were me, I couldn't stand it."

"As for the Tree Zombie, he was a villain who killed countless people; there's nothing to whitewash. There was nothing wrong with dealing with him."

"Because you know that if you had met him while he was still kind, you would have definitely lent a helping hand."

"But you weren't there at the time. You can't take the blame for everything."

"Do you think wearing all these blame-pots is comfortable?"

"Wasn't your progress fast before because you didn't let bad people go, helped plenty of good people, acted with principles, and repaid every kindness?"

"You're like this now purely because you've been with me for too long. I've been doing everything, and your brain hasn't been used for so long that it's just gotten rusty."

"Your brain capacity wasn't large to begin with, and you don't like to use it, so naturally you're thinking all over the place."

"Think carefully: do you want to achieve a Breakthrough yourself, or do you only want to because you saw others do it?"

"Isn't it just because you saw others had their own opportunities and could achieve a Breakthrough on their own, so you got anxious?"

"Well, I'm already a Nascent Soul, and I didn't see you trying to copy me and undergo a Heart Demon Tribulation."

"So, let's just live our own lives well. We don't ask for better, just don't let things get worse than before."

"Finally, I'll give you two sentences."

"When Yin and Yang conflict, shadows stain and the spirit departs, no longer the original truth. Keep the heart as one; though close, do not waver; in eliminating evil, be decisive."

"Heaven and earth have flaws, and circumstances are never perfect. This is the natural transformation of things. Follow the Dao, and do not doubt or hesitate."

These two slightly abrupt sentences came from Zhou Yan's mouth, but they seemed to suddenly explode in Wang Yao's mind.

For some reason, he suddenly felt the path ahead was no longer blurred.