Chapter 133: Parallel Paths

Heaven and earth are heartless, treating all things as straw dogs.

Almost every cultivator who stepped onto the path of cultivation had heard this saying, yet everyone understood it differently. Some decried its ruthlessness, some hoped the Heavenly Dao possessed emotion, and some even dreamed of sacrificing themselves for heaven and earth. Venerable Chengwei had met all kinds of cultivators along his journey. Perhaps because of this, he had lost his sharp perception of the Great Dao.

In that moment, he suddenly understood why those old fogies of the cultivation world loved taking disciples so much. As it turned out, he had also reached the age of an “old fogy.”

But those old fogies were clearly not as lucky as him. His little disciple was definitely the best in the world.

“Ah Xu, do you know how many genius cultivators throughout history have fallen on the path of the Dao of Heartlessness?” Venerable Chengwei smiled. Taking advantage of the fact that his disciple could not see his face, he allowed his emotions to show for once. “Countless. Some slaughtered their entire families, killed their wives, and destroyed their children just to sever their familial ties and remain untouched by desire. Others were born entirely alone, cold and detached, and the world claimed they were born for the Dao of Heartlessness. But in the end, it all came down to four words: their Dao perished with their deaths.”

Although Wen Xu could not see his master’s expression clearly, he knew that his master must look incredibly sorrowful right now.

“Ah Xu, how wonderful would it have been if you had been born a little earlier?”

Wen Xu remained silent. In truth, he did not know what to say. His master was clearly speaking from the heart. The cultivator of the Dao of Heartlessness who had perished was probably a very, very close friend of his master.

“So there was such a way to resolve the Dao of Heartlessness. Though perhaps, even at the very end, it might still lead to a dead end.”

Chengwei drank the rest of the spiritual wine in his flask. The wine was not intoxicating, yet he already felt slightly tipsy. “Ah Xu, tell me, those who sever their emotions and abandon love are clearly so heartless. Why do they still fail to attain the Great Dao?”

Master, this question is way out of my depth.

“Why aren’t you speaking, Ah Xu? Do you find your master too noisy?”

Wen Xu looked up at his master, though his gaze actually fell upon the snow-covered Guochun Great Hall behind him. “Perhaps it is because they only severed the outward expression of love and affection, rather than their true, inner emotions.”

“Master, ever since I began my cultivation, both you and my other teachers have said that cultivation is a matter of one’s own destiny. Since it is one’s own destiny and one’s own path to walk, forcing innocent people into a blood sacrifice for the Great Dao, even if it succeeds in severing emotions and abandoning love, is no longer the original path.”

Furthermore, it was one thing to be born cold and detached. But if one had to forcibly slaughter their relatives and kill their wife to prove their Dao just to sever their emotions, that sounded… more like the Dao of Slaughter or the Dao of Asura, rather than the Dao of Heartlessness.

Besides, even if you killed someone, would your feelings really vanish like a snuffed-out candle? If they truly did, it only proved that the cultivator of the Dao of Heartlessness never had any real affection for their family or wife to begin with. It was like trading goods; if you tried to exchange something you did not even have, or had very little of, for a precious treasure, only a fool would make the trade.

Wen Xu recalled the words of the Secret Realm Elder: Choice is more important than effort. Was this a hint regarding his choice of the Great Dao? Had someone chosen wrongly in the past?

In any case, there is absolutely no way I will cultivate the Dao of Heartlessness, he thought. The path of cultivation is long. Why make things difficult for my own emotions? Wen Xu had always cherished himself deeply because he did not possess much to begin with. If he had to discard his emotions for the sake of cultivation, he would do so without hesitation. But since there were clearly other paths to take, he would never choose the Dao of Heartlessness.

“Your master thought you would be like other righteous cultivators and denounce such bloody methods as the work of demons, unfit for the righteous path.”

Chengwei had always known that his disciple was highly skilled at wordplay. Back during the Five Sects Conference, when his little disciple was forced to fall into the Foundation Establishment secret realm, that dog named Zhou had spoken so offensively. Even through the Shadow Retention Stone, Chengwei could see Ah Xu’s anger. Yet, the words that came out of Ah Xu’s mouth had been perfectly polite and dignified, without a trace of rage.

He had both displayed the grace of a disciple from a great sect and subtly embarrassed the other party.

“Because it is the Dao of Heartlessness.”

“What?”

Wen Xu explained, “Heartlessness should lie somewhere between the righteous and the demonic. It should not belong to either camp.”

Chengwei was taken aback. He had not expected his young disciple to still be seriously pondering the question from earlier. He suddenly smiled, and his gloomy mood instantly brightened. “You are right. The Dao of Heartlessness is not a sharp blade in the hands of the righteous path to crusade against demons.”

At this moment, he finally understood why the Dao of Heartlessness was called the Dao of the Gods. At the very least, it had to view good and evil with equal impartiality. Only a god could remain unbiased, harboring no hatred for demons and no favoritism for the righteous. Chengwei looked up at his young disciple, who was sitting up straight. “Ah Xu, has your master ever told you?”

“Told me what?”

“Ah Xu, your master is very glad to have taken you as a disciple.”

Wen Xu had not expected his master to praise him so directly. For a moment, he did not even know what to do with his hands and feet. The main reason was… he had never been praised so openly by an elder close to him. The teachers at the academy would only tell him to correct his mistakes and strive for further improvement, while the Old Scholar hoped he would bring honor to his ancestors and carry on the dream of the imperial examinations, so he naturally would not say anything that might distract him.

He had originally thought he did not need such praise, but hearing it so suddenly, he could hear the loud, racing thud of his own heartbeat. He opened his mouth and murmured, “Master, I…”

Chengwei reached out and patted his young disciple’s head. “You are so wonderful, it is hard for your master not to like you. Have some confidence. You are the number one Foundation Establishment cultivator in the cultivation world.”

“Perhaps… it is not me,” Wen Xu said, still very precise.

On this point, Venerable Chengwei felt he had more authority to speak. “Do not doubt it, it is you. Your friend’s birthday makes him slightly older than you.”

“Master actually knows this?”

“Of course. The world says your master understands the human heart. What, you do not believe your master?”

Wen Xu: “…I do.”

“Then that is that. Ah, the spiritual wine spilled. It tasted quite good, too. But no matter, your master will go rummage through the wine cellar again. Ah Xu, go about your business. Your master is off!”

When Wen Xu looked up, his master was already gone without a trace.

*

Bian Chunzhou, however, had no idea that his two best friends were so busy. One had actively thrown himself into Body Tempering cultivation in the Back Mountain Secret Realm, while the other had already begun contemplating which Dao he would walk in the future.

Of course, even if he did know, he would only lament that his friends were all overachievers and then start working hard to catch up. In truth, he was indeed putting in effort to catch up right now.

As an outsider to the cultivation world, Bian Chunzhou knew he was slightly different from everyone else. However, he was highly adaptable and never bothered himself with pointless questions like “Why did I transmigrate here?” or “Is it possible for me to transmigrate back?”

Adopting the mindset of “since I’m already here, it’s not like I can just go die,” Bian Chunzhou felt he had integrated perfectly into the cultivation world. Plus, he had decent luck and possessed spiritual roots. Even if he could not undergo tribulation and ascend, being a carefree cultivator was still a pretty good deal.

He had already planned it out. Once he formed his Golden Core, he would go down the mountain with his friends to gain experience. By then, the world would be vast, with endless sights to see and beautiful scenery to enjoy. Living like that for five hundred years would be a massive win for him.

As for living any longer than that, there was no need to think about it. After all, there was no point in dwelling on it.

Bian Chunzhou had always been a man of action. Once he made a decision, he would execute and complete it swiftly. Just like when he wanted to open a hotpot restaurant to make money, even though he barely had any spirit stones in his pockets, he still relied on his own abilities to open the Gongshang Bistro, and it was already generating a decent revenue.

Did he really not feel the slightest bit anxious, watching his two best friends reach Foundation Establishment one after the other?

How could that be possible? He was naturally optimistic, but he wasn’t completely without a dark side. Occasionally, he would wonder, When on earth will I finally reach Foundation Establishment? Can’t it be any faster? Although he always told his friends he was working hard, in reality, he didn’t even know if his efforts were actually effective.

In the very beginning, he felt that cultivation was no different from conducting experiments. If an experiment failed, you could start over. As long as you had patience, you would eventually get results. Even if the experiment led to a dead end, it simply proved that a particular line of thinking was wrong. But cultivation wasn’t like that. Cultivation was… What was cultivation, exactly? Probably because he had read too many online cultivation novels, Bian Chunzhou had a stereotyped view of it. As many people said, cultivation was a carnival for the gifted and a nightmare for the mediocre. He had never considered himself mediocre, but with his Water-Fire Spiritual Root, he subconsciously felt he had to be extremely cautious.

Wen Xuxu and Chen Zui reaching Foundation Establishment one after the other had seemed to prove his theory, reinforcing his belief, until Chen Zui said those words to him on their way to get hot pot.

At that moment, Bian Chunzhou realized with absolute certainty that the trial-and-error experiments he had spent the last two years conducting were nothing but “ineffective effort,” a secret known only to himself.

Because the path he was about to take now was actually the exact same path he had laid out for himself at the very beginning.

Because the subject of this cultivation experiment was himself, and cultivation was a lifelong experiment that would never end. He had been terrified of a data error from the very start, so he had meticulously calculated and verified every single data point, hoping to soothe his own insecurity. But if he had been confident and strong enough, he wouldn’t have needed to waste these two years at all.

But immediately after, Bian Chunzhou consoled himself with the thought that at least he had realized it before it was too late. Two years was still better than ten or twenty.

He figured that perhaps every cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage felt this kind of hesitation and anxiety before stepping into Foundation Establishment. Even someone as straightforward as Chen Zui had doubted whether he was worthy of the blade in his hand.

Everyone stuck at the peak of Qi Refining was like a college senior nearing graduation who couldn’t secure their dream job. It wasn’t that they couldn’t graduate, but rather… before leaving the ivory tower, they wanted to secure the best possible terms for themselves.

Bian Chunzhou had a sudden realization. So I just wanted to give myself the best possible path forward. What’s wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. I only made the same mistake that every other cultivator under heaven makes. Great. I think I’m ready to reach Foundation Establishment now.