Martial Cultivator

After a few cups of alcohol, Chen Chao brought up the matter of Glaze Temple to Yun Jianyue.

Yun Jianyue frowned slightly and said in a low voice, "I've heard about it before as well. Glaze Temple is not an orthodox daoist sect. The temple had sent people to investigate before, but nothing came of it. So it was the Chief Enforcer secretly obstructing the investigation."

Chen Chao smiled. "They've been committing atrocities under the banner of your Infatuation Daoist Temple. I'm afraid many sects in the foreign lands already loathe them but hold back because of their connection to Infatuation Daoist Temple. Otherwise, how could they have tolerated them?"

Yun Jianyue said, "A tall tree attracts the wind. After so many years, not everyone in the temple has been single-mindedly cultivating. There are plenty of dirty dealings that simply can't be brought into the open. Who knows how much has gone on in the shadows?"

Yu Xiyi, who had been silent all this time, chuckled. "At least you're an honest little ox-nosed daoist."

Yun Jianyue was indifferent to the remark. He just glanced at Chen Chao and said, "Even after the Chief Enforcer dies, I won't be able to set things right within the temple in a short time. It will have to be a gradual process."

A sect that had operated for years would inevitably develop problems. But even when those problems were discovered, one could not just carry out sweeping reforms. After all, this was the foundation of generations. If the cuts were too deep, the entire sect could be thrown into turmoil or even collapse entirely.

Chen Chao laughed. "It's the same as governing a country. Didn't His Majesty also spend over a decade patiently laying the groundwork for the current situation?"

Yun Jianyue shook his head. "I am far from His Majesty's level."

Yu Xiyi burst out laughing.

Chen Chao filled Yun Jianyue's cup with alcohol and smiled as he said, “We're all in the same boat now, so don't get any funny ideas and sell the two of us out halfway through.”

Yun Jianyue hesitated for a moment, then picked up the cup. He could not suppress his curiosity and asked, “Chen Chao, I still want to know, were you certain I would agree to this from the start? Did you really calculate everything so precisely?”

Chen Chao looked at Yun Jianyue, released his grip on the cup, and spoke frankly. “There was once an emperor who excelled in the art of ruling and strategy. One day, someone asked this emperor curiously why his plans were always flawless. That emperor replied that no matter how meticulously a plan is laid out, there will always be flaws - except when it's built upon human nature. If one accounts for human nature, then there will never be any mistakes.”

Chen Chao locked eyes with Yun Jianyue and smiled. “Our relationship isn't particularly deep. We've only crossed paths a few times. But in those few encounters, I've already formed a judgment of you. So today's arrangement was based entirely on my understanding of your character. Naturally, there would be no problems.”

Yun Jianyue was silent.

Suddenly, Yu Xiyi asked, “What about me?”

Chen Chao glanced at Yu Xiyi and chuckled. “What cunning could you possibly have? The moment you say you're going to cut someone down, would you ever back out?”

Hearing this, even Yun Jianyue could not help but smile.

Chen Chao put away the demon bead and said, “I'm not giving this to you just yet. I need it as bait for Daoist Yinli. Otherwise, he won't take the bait.”

Yun Jianyue nodded. “Tell me the specifics of your plan."

Chen Chao nodded and began laying out his strategy. He had been thinking about this for a long time, even discussing it with Xie Nandu, making sure there were no major oversights. But since Daoist Yinli had managed to orchestrate the downfall of Daoist Wuyou, they had to approach this with utmost caution.

Yun Jianyue raised his cup and drank, tilting his head back, but his gaze remained fixed on Chen Chao. In this world, some things seemed unchanged for many years, while others could undergo drastic transformations in just a few decades, or even a mere dozen years.

Take the Great Liang Dynasty for instance: for centuries, it had been like a true dragon constantly trampled underfoot, seemingly resigned to its fate and buried in the earth. Yet, after the Great Liang Emperor ascended the throne, there were gradual signs of the dragon lifting its head. And now, after more than ten years, a young martial artist stood atop the dragon's head, as if preparing to lead it out of the dust and into the sky.

Yun Jianyue knew this was a rising tide, but he had no desire to stop it. He did not even know why.

Perhaps it was because, along the way, he had seen too many Great Liang commoners being oppressed by cultivators, and he could not help but feel a tinge of sympathy. If not, then why had he remained indifferent when he saw Daoist Zhenye's severed head hanging at the gates of the Divine Capital?

Going up the mountain meant severing ties with the mortal world.

Yet, if one traced back a few generations, cultivators were no different from the ordinary people of the Great Liang. Back then, when parents learned that their child could one day become a cultivator, they were likely overjoyed, for it meant their child's fate would change.

No longer would they suffer at the hands of cultivators. No longer would they be harassed by demons.

But if those parents had known that after their child went up the mountain, they would one day turn back to oppress those very same people, or that their descendants would no longer see commoners as human, how would they have felt?

Yun Jianyue let out a long sigh. The world should not be like this.

After a brief silence, Yun Jianyue suddenly said, “If I think about it carefully, my ancestral home should be in the Divine Capital as well.”

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