Chapter 38: Are There Truly Good People in the World?

Mortals face a thousand hardships and ten thousand dangers on the path to immortality, but to sum it up, there are only seven gates.

Awakening Spirit, Qi Sea, Astral Sha, Penetrating Mystery, Soul Transformation, Returning to Emptiness, and Merging with the Dao; if one passes these seven gates, one can ascend and become an immortal.

The first gate, Awakening Spirit, is the most difficult, yet also the easiest.

Some sit in meditation atop snow-capped mountains for a hundred years, exhausting their entire lives without even seeing a shadow of Qi, while others, upon pushing open a door on a certain morning, suddenly see fluorescent lights covering the mountains and fields, flowing like a river of stars.

No heavenly treasures or earthly gems are needed, no guidance from a famous master is required, and there is no logic to be found.

One can imagine that the very first person to cultivate saw the Qi of heaven and earth by accident, thus setting foot on the path of cultivation.

The second gate, Qi Sea, is the realm Chen Ye currently occupies; the hardships within are known only to each individual. Those with good luck save decades of bitter effort with a single pill, while those with bad luck will waste their entire lives here.

The third gate, Astral Sha, acknowledges that the human body ultimately has its limits; when the Qi Sea expands to its extreme and the body's meridians and acupoints are all filled with Qi, one must then transform the constitution to merge with heaven and earth.

This gate is a matter of life and death.

There are countless types of Qi in heaven and earth; most are harmless and beneficial, but a few are deadly upon contact, known as Astral Sha. Some are extremely poisonous, some violent, some deeply cold; the dangers vary in every way. But only such extreme substances can refine the flesh, allowing lifespan to increase once more; otherwise, one would be buried in the yellow earth at two or three hundred years old.

Chen Ye once saw records stating that the deaths of those refining their bodies with Astral Sha were gruesome, with few leaving behind a whole corpse. Hearing Mo Ci had also said that when he refined his body back then, it was as if he had fallen into purgatory, and he almost did not survive.

The fourth gate, Penetrating Mystery, is also the most powerful realm Chen Ye has ever seen.

Hearing Mo Ci is at Penetrating Mystery, but unfortunately, having possessed bodies too many times, his spirit is already weak and his Qi depleted, making it impossible to tell how much ability he truly has. But if it were a Penetrating Mystery realm cultivator as powerful as Su Chunyi, they would look no different from an immortal.

Hearing Mo Ci mentioned that every Penetrating Mystery cultivator possesses a unique skill, not a spell, but more like a personal realization unique to them. Such divine arts and secret techniques cannot be taught; they depend entirely on self-realization, and whether they are powerful or useless depends entirely on the individual. Hearing Mo Ci felt that the divine art and secret technique he realized were utterly useless, which is why he ended up in such a wretched state.

As for the later stages of Soul Transformation, Returning to Emptiness, and Merging with the Dao, Chen Ye does not understand them well; Hearing Mo Ci himself does not understand them either, having spent his entire life without ever learning how to advance to the Soul Transformation realm.

According to Princess Hongyu, this old man Elder Tian Wu intends to use three thousand boys and girls to refine his soul and spirit, breaking through to the next realm.

This is truly a typical method of the Demonic Sect.

Demonic Sect cultivators always act directly; what if cultivation is slow and pills are lacking?

Eat people!

People are also heavenly treasures and earthly gems.

What if materials for refining magical treasures are lacking?

Kill people!

People are also excellent materials for artifact refinement.

What if one hits a bottleneck in cultivation and cannot break through?

Kill people, eat people; regardless of whether it works, try it first; perhaps sheer brute force will make it succeed!

So this is why demonic heads harm people; this habit of killing people to try things out regardless of right or wrong is truly unbearable even for their own side, as no one knows if they themselves might be refined by another demonic head.

Even more absurdly, there really are people who have eaten their way all the way to ascension.

With a ready-made example right before their eyes, many cultivators cannot resist the temptation. This old man Elder Tian Wu went even further, secretly manipulating the mortal imperial court and eating those high-ranking officials and nobles.

Such things happen once or twice every few hundred years.

One cannot blame righteous cultivators for not acting, since a single session of meditation for them lasts a hundred years, while this mortal dynasty seems to have only a history of thirty or forty years. Cultivators must prioritize longevity above all; they cannot possibly keep watch at every single moment.

But ordinary demonic heads dare not make such a grand display, since it is the mortal imperial court, which is always more likely to attract attention.

Chen Ye surmised that this old man Elder Tian Wu was also at his wit's end and had no choice but to choose this method.

Facing imminent death, demonic cultivators who were already reckless would do anything.

Although he looked down on such methods in his heart, Chen Ye knew he was in no way a match for that old man Elder Tian Wu; all he could do now was delay time and wait for Su Chunyi to return.

Only the methods of this Sword Immortal could deal with such a demonic head who had stolen the state.

"Princess, can you confirm when that old man Elder Tian Wu will emerge from seclusion?"

Princess Hongyu shook her head and said, "I do not know. Usually, that demonic head is like a ghost, appearing and disappearing mysteriously. I do not know when he returns, nor where he is in seclusion. He only instructed me to collect boys and girls for him; once that is done, Jiang Shiyue will notify that old demonic head to emerge."

Chen Ye pondered, "It is this person again."

After all the twists and turns, it is still this Young Master Jiang who is the key.

Chen Ye asked again, "What realm is he in?"

"Qi Sea realm. He once asked me to help him find Astral Sha to refine his flesh. To collect these, he wasted many lives. Who would have thought that after bringing back treasures containing Astral Sha, he became afraid."

Princess Hongyu's tone was full of mockery. She did not know how painful refining the body with Astral Sha was, but she remembered Jiang Shiyue reaching out to grab a jade stone stained with Astral Sha; he immediately screamed in agony and hurriedly threw the jade stone away.

Since then, that box of jade stones, exchanged for countless lives, has been locked in a secret room, and Jiang Shiyue has never asked about it again.

Although she knew little about the details of cultivation, Princess Hongyu knew Jiang Shiyue was afraid; he simply dared not break through to the next realm.

Chen Ye was also quite surprised. He originally thought that this demonic head who had stolen the state, with an entire dynasty helping him, must be far superior to himself, and he had even prepared for this.

And the result is just this?

But it is reasonable; those who choose the Demonic Path are either forced by circumstances or are determined to take shortcuts. The latter mostly have weak willpower, so retreating when encountering difficulties is not strange.

Princess Hongyu asked, "Does the Daoist intend to deal with that Jiang Shiyue?"

Princess Hongyu looked at Chen Ye with full expectation, but her heart was filled with vigilance.

No matter how nicely this young Daoist speaks, the thorn in her heart always aches faintly. He is a demonic head who kills people and refines corpses; how much better can he be than others?

He may seem easy to talk to now, but that does not mean he is truly a good person; perhaps once he gets everything he wants, he will reveal his true face.

Princess Hongyu grew up in the deep palace; besides the fact that she was overshadowed by this demonic head Elder Tian Wu, the struggles within the deep palace were also variously sinister and vicious. Exaggerating slightly, Princess Hongyu has seen very few good people in her life.

No one can be trusted, no one can be relied upon; one must interpret others with the most vicious thoughts, otherwise one cannot survive.

No matter how handsome this young Daoist is, or how pleasant his words are, he must have other intentions.

But when he reveals his true nature, how can I resist?

If I can make these demonic heads kill each other, perhaps there is still a sliver of hope for survival.

Chen Ye shook his head and said, "Jiang Shiyue is insignificant, and killing Jiang Shiyue would likely cause that old demonic head to notice immediately."

Chen Ye's answer made Princess Hongyu somewhat disappointed; indeed, all these demonic heads are selfish and fear death; how could they risk their lives so casually?

However, Chen Ye's next sentence made Princess Hongyu freeze.

"Princess, although I was entrusted to save those boys and girls, the children are currently in no danger of death. However, you and Miss Lan have been cursed with an evil spell; if it is not resolved in time, you will both be in danger of death at any moment."

Princess Hongyu fell silent; for the first time in her life, someone cared whether she lived or died.

Yet, she did not know if his words came from the heart.

Though still full of doubt, seeing Chen Ye's sincere expression, Princess Hongyu gritted her teeth and said, "If the Daoist can truly save my sister and me from this sea of bitterness, I am willing..."

Chen Ye quickly interrupted, "Do not speak recklessly. I seek no reward from you; do not spread this abroad and ruin my good name."

If the story of demanding repayment for a favor spread, how could Chen Ye ever raise his head before Su Chunyi again? The thigh he had struggled so hard to cling to could not be let go now.

Princess Hongyu looked at Chen Ye with a face full of confusion. Could it be that she had truly misunderstood him, and that he really wanted no reward at all?

In this world, do good people truly exist?