vrcanaries Chapter 184 Observing from the Sidelines and Discussing Cause and Effect (3)
Chapter 184 Observing from the Sidelines and Discussing Cause and Effect (3)
The Spirit Root Hunters, a secret organization that specialized in plundering spiritual roots, was completely dismantled long ago after the demonic cultivator "fled" to his death.
As far as Li Tingyun knew, many cultivators had also died tragically at the hands of "Spirit Officials," but by the time the major sects of the cultivation world joined forces to investigate the matter, the best opportunity to solve the case had already been missed. They acted too late and naturally found nothing at all.
In the cultivation world, among the ten major immortal sects, the Dao Xuan Sect appears to be the leader, commanding widespread obedience. But in reality, which one of them is without selfish motives?
Whenever they "join forces" to do something, they basically fail to accomplish anything.
Because it's inevitable to consider things back and forth, leading to mutual buck-passing and shirking responsibility, with one person pulling on another and the other pushing this one away.
To put it bluntly, they can't even get a hot bowl of shit!
For example, how many times has the cultivation world made bold statements about joining forces to wipe out Taiji Palace and Four Symbols City? What was the result? They made grand pronouncements but didn't take a single decent action, allowing Li Tingyun's faction to rise rapidly.
The unsolved mystery of the Spirit Root Hunter Group has become a long-standing unsolved case in the cultivation world, ignored by everyone. The related files have long been shelved and covered with a thick layer of dust, so much so that the slightest movement would blind one with dust.
Don't ask how Li Tingyun knew all this; the answer is that he once secretly visited the "Tianyi Zunjing" pavilion of the Daoxuan Sect.
The name sounds impressive, but it's actually just a library, crammed with all sorts of classics, sword manuals, and cultivation techniques, as well as cultivation yearbooks, chronologies of major events, biographies, local chronicles and historical records... It's dazzling, and Li Tingyun got distracted while looking at it.
In the stillness of the night, under the clear moonlight, he turned the corner and stepped back lightly, glancing at the layers of bookshelves before suddenly stopping.
Hidden in the deep darkness, the gaze fell on the tall, elegant figure standing by the window—Mei Shiyu, holding a book, lit a lamp, and sat opposite a refined young man.
Since it was an "undercover investigation," it was only necessary to choose a time when it was late at night and everyone was asleep. At the time that Li Tingyun chose, even the dogs were asleep, but Mei Shiyu was not asleep. Not only was he not asleep, but his apprentice was not asleep either!
It's so late, and they still seem to be teaching.
Mei Shiyu truly responded to every word and explained everything. He was gentle, meticulous, and gave earnest advice. He would urge his disciple to go back to sleep and conserve his energy. If he couldn't persuade him, he would also advise him not to be obsessed with winning or losing and to just do his best in the sect's assessment the next day.
"Even if your ranking is bad, you are still my disciple. I will not expel you from the school."
Yuan Che stared intently at the scroll and said, "But I'm afraid of embarrassing you. Master, I will definitely get first place to show you."
"Sigh, I believe in your abilities, but why don't you believe in yourself?"
"Because I'm afraid."
"What are you afraid of?"
"I'm afraid of embarrassing you."
"..."
The conversation has fallen into a vicious cycle.
Yuan Che didn't even raise his head. "Master, you should go back first. I only completed half of my morning and evening greetings today, so I can't serve you to bed. Please forgive me."
Yuan Che was a stubborn and rigid man, quite conservative in his work. Everyone said that "a teacher is like a father," and he truly treated Mei Shiyu as his own father. The Book of Rites says, "The proper conduct for a son is to keep the child warm in winter and cool in summer, and to check on him in the morning after a quiet evening." He followed every single word of it.
In the first winter after becoming a disciple, he knocked on his father's door at night, respectfully and formally saying that he had come to "warm the bed." Mei Shiyu spat out a mouthful of tea, the only time he had ever lost his composure. He was both amused and exasperated, and repeatedly told his disciple not to be so rigid: cultivators are not afraid of the cold or the heat, so please don't come to fan me with a cooling mat in the summer!
Alright, Yuan Che has noted it down. No need to warm the bed in winter or fan the room in summer, but the morning and evening greetings are still necessary. As for Mei Shiyu, there's nothing we can do about it, so let it be.
Aside from being a bit old-fashioned, stubborn, and having a slightly erratic thought process, Yuan Che is truly an extremely worry-free child. He does whatever you tell him to do without ever asking why. He is of good character, diligent in his studies, kind-hearted, and hates evil.
Mei Shiyu sighed helplessly, "Fine, fine, I'll stay up all night with you."
He sat there as if he could sit all night without any problem, spreading out his books, the lamp wick crackling. He answered all his apprentices' questions patiently and generously, teaching them everything he knew, breaking it down and feeding them to them. Occasionally he would speak sternly, but he was a balance of leniency and strictness, not simply indulging them.
Yuan Che was afraid of him, but he respected and loved him more. The harmonious relationship between master and disciple was the envy of many.
Yes, I admire it.
Li Tingyun stood in the corner, motionless, watching the master and disciple's question-and-answer exchange for who knows how long, hearing countless "Che'er" and "Master" calls, and harboring countless feelings of envy and resentment.
Why? Why is this happening? Why can someone else so easily possess what I have sought my whole life but could never obtain? Li Tingyun wondered, is this fate? How can the difference between people's fates be greater than the difference between a person and a dog's?
No wonder they say comparing yourself to others will drive you crazy.
But he's not even as good as a dog. He's not even as good as Wangcai. Dogs have cats to warm their beds!
His life was utterly rotten; he never possessed what he truly wanted, and the few meager things he once had were all taken away.
Even if fate were to calm down for a little while, even if the person he was sitting and laughing with wasn't the one he wanted, even if someone cared about him, even if he was just alive and not bullied, even if the people around him didn't die in such a ridiculous and absurd way... he was really overthinking things.
Li Tingyun turned and left.
He came quietly and left silently, unintentionally glimpsing a life that didn't belong to him.
The bright moonlight that night did not shine on him.
Instead, it penetrates him.
It illuminated the faint shadow behind him.
At the foot of Cangyou Mountain, in a deep valley and ravine.
The drought demon, now incarnate, lay among the rubble, its head resting on its arms. It had died here, and returning to this place brought a unique feeling to it.
Dao Xuan Sect has a mountain-protecting formation. If any evil spirit were to enter, it would surely alert everyone. Therefore, only Li Tingyun's true form went there, and he even sealed his demonic aura himself, with only spiritual energy circulating within his body.
Although he cultivated both immortal and demonic arts, he almost never used spiritual power in normal times. In order to infiltrate the Dao Xuan Sect and avoid causing a disturbance, he went to great lengths to seal his demonic aura, which was tantamount to cutting off his own arm.
In the past, Mei Shiyu went to great lengths and put in a lot of effort to conceal the existence of the Undying Bone and the Sword Spirit. In the end, however, he still did not hesitate to strike with that "severing of all ties" sword.
When its true form returned, the drought demon sat up from the ground, chuckled, pointed at itself, and said:
“I was abandoned, but the premise of being ‘abandoned’ is that I was once taken in.”
"He at least remembers a child named 'Yuanbao' who had some connection with him."
"But what about you? What do you have to do with him? Do you dare tell him that Yuanbao is Li Tingyun?"
"The name 'Li Tingyun' has no meaning for Mei Shiyu."
In his mind, you are a blank.
"So why are you so distraught?"
"That look was really awful."
Li Tingyun was not angry.
There wasn't even the slightest emotional fluctuation.
After all, these are questions asked in one's own conscience.
It was himself who was questioning himself.
All sounds are silent.
Only his self-questioning voice echoed in the empty valley:
"If it's meaningless, then let's create some meaning."
Hear thunder in silence, and see the moon in darkness.
The clone merged back into the original body.
Under the moonlight, Li Tingyun's shadow gradually deepened, returning to normal.
Perhaps from that moment on, he planted a seed of evil in his heart:
Some things we know are best left undone, yet we still do them; some people we know will cause harm if we get close, yet we can't go against our nature.
He is the kind of person who would keep going even if a knife were plunged into his heart and blood flowed all the way; his whimsical obsessions never diminished or shortened in the slightest.
No one can do anything to him, and he can't do anything to himself either; there's no way to change his will. No one can shake his will, and he can't shake his own will either, not even by the slightest bit.
During his secret visit to Dao Xuan Sect, Li Tingyun did not obtain any definite information about the "Spirit Root Hunter Group." After going around in circles, what he could not obtain was not only "what he sought," but also "the truth."
No one cares about the truth, and no one pays attention to it, so he can't find a breakthrough anywhere. Everyone in the world is looking out for themselves, and only he can find a way out for himself.
Li Tingyun did not complain about this.
He never complained about fate or blamed anyone.
He was always fighting, battling, and clashing against them all by himself.
Therefore, he did not regard the sky as the sky, nor did he regard people as people.
Going against the will of Heaven and disregarding human ethics.
Back in his hideout, Li Tingyun flipped through the ledgers and discovered a string of clues he had overlooked:
Penglai Continent, Huachuan Valley, Yunlan Sect—Yuan Hong let slip that the demonic cultivator had visited all these places.
This is interesting. If he didn't have any other purpose, why would he specifically choose the locations of the three divine trees and visit them one by one?
To find out the true name of those three trees, Li Tingyun decided to dissect them one by one, starting with…
Starting with Penglai Island and Fusang Tree.
Located on a celestial island in the vast East China Sea, Penglai Continent is one of the ten great immortal sects, yet it is different from others: the entry requirements for Penglai Continent are extremely strict, and it never accepts cultivators below the Golden Core stage. This means that they do not train new disciples, but only accept independent cultivators with good foundations, as well as those who have left or even defected from other sects.
Rather than calling Penglai Continent a proper cultivation sect, it's more accurate to say it's simply a gathering place for high-level cultivators.
To put it more bluntly, it's an alliance of experts.
Li Tingyun had a sharp eye; out of the three, he immediately picked the toughest one.
Is it difficult to crack? Not necessarily. Are they all experts? That depends on who you're competing against.
The master of the Taiji Hall sat on the throne in front of the main hall, which was comparable to a dragon throne. His posture was not very elegant. He crossed his legs with an air of dominance, propped his elbows on the armrests, and rested his chin on the back of his hand. His gaze swept over the four people below the steps, whose postures were “each with their own merits”.
If the upper beam is crooked, the lower beam will also be crooked. They have no proper posture when standing or sitting, but their barbaric and domineering aura is all the same.
It's rare to see all four city lords from the east, west, south, and north gathered together; usually, there are always one or two who come and go without a trace.
For example, Ye Juechun from the Eastern Azure Dragon City, and Lin Qiutan from the Western White Tiger City—both of them haven't shown their faces for a long time.
One of them was always out and about, while the other was a complete shut-in. Ye Juechun was like a dragon whose head was seen but not its tail, while Lin Qiutan was like a sick tiger who never went out.
Springtime colors are evenly matched, each half the weight is equal.
Of course, Li Tingyun, the master of the Taiji Hall, is the most elusive.
No matter what major events occur in Four Symbols City, even if the sky were torn apart, they still wouldn't be able to find him.
It is a well-known fact that he was even more lax in managing his subordinates than when herding sheep.
Unless he actively seeks out others, no one should bother him.
But once he takes the initiative to contact someone, it often foreshadows something big happening, big trouble, or that he's about to pull off something big!
Li Tingyun sat on the throne, selecting his generals and soldiers. Whoever he pointed to was... Xuanwu City, Xue Rendong, alright, you're the one.
A black and white Tai Chi symbol flew out, and Xue Rendong raised his hand to block it, catching it between two fingers. A gust of wind suddenly rose, but he did not blink.