Chapter 265: The Contrarian's Essence

The Yuelao System's mission: to add trials for a CP and ensure their story is widely spread.

The Great Language System's mission: to enjoy the art of debate and make the other party accept one's own viewpoint...

It is inhumane to torment one's own people with contrarian language, but now that a target had delivered themselves, Lin Bai simply combined the two missions.

With so many people in Zhen City watching and players broadcasting the current battle situation in real-time, the love story of Wuwang and Zhou Zu was destined to spread along with his Heavenly River...

Killing two birds with one stone.

As for whether other Great Vehicle Realm cultivators would interfere during the arguing, given the cautionary example of Zhou Zu and Wuwang Chanshi, he believed the remaining Great Vehicle Realm cultivators would have to weigh the consequences before making a move!

If there really were any who lacked foresight, at worst, he would just throw another Red Thread...

That simple?

The trial Lin Bai proposed left Wuwang Chanshi and Zhou Zu feeling very surprised.

The cultivation method of "Words Manifesting into Law" had long since spread; it was nothing more than pushing a certain context to the limit through language. Moreover, the subject of the dialogue was still Lin Bai, and those who cooperated with Lin Bai would neither be hurt nor pained; if done well, it could even hinder Lin Bai's cultivation...

The most critical point was that Wuwang Chanshi hailed from the Buddha Spirit Sect and was most skilled at sitting in meditation; Lin Bai had miscalculated if he thought he could influence a person from the Buddha Spirit Sect through language.

"Is this true?" Wuwang Chanshi asked.

"A word once spoken cannot be overtaken by a team of four horses," Lin Bai smiled. "Wuwang Chanshi, I cultivate the Heavenly Dao, and with Words Manifesting into Law, the greatest taboo is to go back on one's word. Besides, there are so many people below witnessing this."

"Fine, I shall agree to you." Wuwang Chanshi glanced toward Zhen City and flew through the air toward Lin Bai for a distance. Although the Heavenly River still stood between them, being closer to his lover made him feel more at ease.

"Buddhist Revival System: A Buddha is one who is awakened; all sentient beings who attain great wisdom can become Buddhas..."

"Great Heavenly Demon System: A demon lies in the heart; it is a test for all sentient beings. To leap beyond the six paths and provide trials to others during their cultivation journey is to be a tester of the Heavenly Dao. Detected that the host has the bearing of a Great Heavenly Demon; hope the host will soon attain the Dao of the Great Heavenly Demon;"

"Initial mission: Disrupt the Dao Heart of a cultivator; Reward: Heavenly Demon Heart"

The moment Wuwang Chanshi drew near.

Two new systems suddenly popped up in Lin Bai's mind.

To be precise, one new system popped up.

The Buddhist Revival System flickered, and before Lin Bai could even finish reading the description, it returned to silence, replaced by the Great Heavenly Demon System.

This flamboyant operation left Lin Bai speechless. It was one thing for a Buddhist Revival System to pop up when he saw Wuwang Chanshi, but what the hell was it doing popping out and then shrinking back? Did it think he wasn't worthy?

Moreover, the fact that a Great Heavenly Demon System followed immediately after was even more insulting, just as insulting as the Super Villain System.

Judge by deeds, not by heart.

He established the Justice Alliance, regardless of whether it was for self-preservation.

The alliance's byproducts drove the development of civilization, improved the quality of life for the common people, and focused the attention of players and cultivators upon him; it was doing good deeds after all!

Great Heavenly Demon?

Bah!

What a bastard!

He was clearly a genuine, good person...

"Let us begin!" Wuwang Chanshi sat cross-legged on the edge of the Heavenly River, emptying his mind and mobilizing all his Spirit to prepare to deal with Lin Bai.

He always felt that things were not that simple and had to be on guard against Lin Bai playing dirty.

"Wuwang Chanshi, may I ask, is a white horse a horse?" Lin Bai left Zhou Zu and used an aerial technique to hover above the Heavenly River, throwing out the question first.

Since he had to argue, he naturally stuck to things he was familiar with first, letting Wuwang Chanshi speak first—heaven knows what kind of nonsense he would spout.

Wuwang Chanshi was stunned: "A white horse is naturally a horse."

"Lin believes that a white horse is not a horse." Lin Bai looked at Wuwang Chanshi from afar, watching the dazed Zen Master, and continued, "In this world, there are many colors of horses—white, black, red, yellow, all colors exist. The Zen Master acknowledges this, right?"

Wuwang Chanshi nodded.

"Someone borrows a white horse from you and returns a black horse the next day, telling the Zen Master that they are all the same, as they are both horses. Does the Zen Master acknowledge this?" Lin Bai said again.

"Naturally, I do not." Wuwang Chanshi frowned, pondering the intent behind Lin Bai's dialogue.

"Conversely, if someone says that a horse is equivalent to a white horse, and a horse is equivalent to a black horse, does that not mean a white horse is equal to a black horse? Therefore, a horse is not equal to a white horse, correct?"

Wuwang Chanshi nodded again.

Lin Bai smiled again: "That is correct. Since a horse is not equal to a white horse, what is wrong with me saying a white horse is not a horse?"

Wuwang Chanshi frowned: "You are quibbling."

Lin Bai glanced at him and said: "Zen Master, I am not quibbling. White is a color, horse is a form. A white horse has color and form; 'horse' can only refer to a type of form. Distinguishing by concept, the two cannot be equated. You can say a horse is a white horse, but you cannot say a white horse is a horse. No matter which direction you look at it from, my viewpoint is reasonable. Zen Master, am I correct?"

Wuwang Chanshi carefully savored the meaning of his words and found his theory impeccable.

As a Disciple of the Buddha Spirit Sect, he could not lose by relying on mere sophistry if he could not defeat the other party logically. He looked deeply at Lin Bai: "That is correct, a white horse is indeed not a horse."

At this moment, he understood what Lin Bai was practicing with his Words Manifesting into Law. Looking at Lin Bai, Wuwang smiled slightly: "I believe Lin Bai is a human."

Good fellow!

The reaction was truly fast.

This was the rhythm of making me curse myself!

Lin Bai remained calm: "Zen Master, you can say I am a human, but you cannot say 'Lin Bai' is a human. To be precise, Lin Bai is just the name of a person; it is not a human."

Wuwang Chanshi looked at Lin Bai and followed up: "Alliance Leader Lin, I feel that the things the Justice Alliance does are all beneficial to the people."

Understanding Lin Bai's intent, Wuwang did not intend to compete with Lin Bai for victory or defeat in the debate.

Lin Bai dared to use him to practice Words Manifesting into Law, so he had naturally made preparations. Once the debate started, he would fall into Lin Bai's trap.

Since that was the case, it was better to play along with his scheme. Wasn't Lin Bai looking to debate?

Then all his questions would be stabbing directly at Lin Bai's weak points.

If he failed to win the debate, his cultivation of "Words Manifesting into Law" would be hindered; if he won the debate, his Justice Alliance would be refuted by himself...

No matter which way you look at it, he is not the loser!

……

Once Wuwang Chanshi said this, everyone understood his intention.

He Qin recalled his previous encounter and couldn't help but feel heartbroken: "I was wrong. It should have been me helping the Alliance Leader with his cultivation. I am muddled—why is the Alliance Leader also acting muddled? He could have just found his own people to practice 'Words Manifesting into Law' with. Letting his own people suffer some grievances wouldn't matter at all. Why did he have to go find an enemy? An enemy will naturally try every possible way to trip you up; how could they possibly go along with your wishes? And to do it in front of so many people..."

Wan Qifeng said: "Alliance Leader Lin naturally has his reasons for doing this. They are just some commoners; do you really think Shopkeeper Lin cares about their opinions?"

Ma Changcheng said with deep concern: "Sect Leader Wan, that is incorrect. Wuwang Chanshi is only targeting the Justice Alliance for now, but there is still a day and a night ahead. Now that he has finally seized the opportunity, do you think he will let Shopkeeper Lin off?"

"..." Wan Qifeng was stunned for a moment and stopped speaking.

Jiang Qingqin frowned slightly: "Master is really something. Can't we help him with his cultivation? Why did he have to go find Wuwang Chanshi? We clearly had the absolute advantage. One careless move and the advantage was thrown away by himself. Is this a test for that old monk, or is he making things difficult for himself? It would have been better to let the monk go fight other Mahayana! Why did he have to use him to practice 'Words Manifesting into Law'? 'Words Manifesting into Law' is also strange—why does it feel like it's getting harder and harder?"

"Isn't it good that it's hard?" Xu Longyun glanced sideways at Jiang Qingqin and said quietly, "Senior Sister Jiang, are you really expecting Master to have smooth sailing all the way and cultivate to the Heavenly Dao?"

A single sentence.

Jiang Qingqin froze. She gave Xu Longyun a strange look, turned her head away, and muttered: "That's right, why cultivate the Heavenly Dao? Being a Love God is actually quite good. Master is clearly more gifted in the Love Dao..."

……

"Knowing there are tigers in the mountain, yet heading toward the tiger mountain. Interesting." Ye Song stroked his chin, his eyes shining slightly.

The longer he stayed by Lin Bai's side, the more he felt the Justice Sect was interesting. The cultivation of the Law of Cultivation really does not follow the beaten path.

……

"Not so. Lin established the Justice Alliance primarily for self-preservation, and secondly to promote the Law. To say it is beneficial to the people is completely out of the question." Lin Bai looked at Wuwang Chanshi, his heart blooming with joy.

He liked these kinds of questions the most.

They are always better to debate than something like "How are you."

Wuwang Chanshi thought he was clever, seemingly using his own mouth to smear his own Justice Alliance.

Little did he know, all these problems he mentioned were the opposite of his inner thoughts. Persuading him was not difficult at all—it was simpler than arguing that "a white horse is not a horse."

After all, it is not easy to make the truth look false, but it is too easy to make the false look true.

Being able to complete the system task—what is smearing the Justice Alliance? Smearing himself is not a problem at all...

When it comes down to it.

Wuwang Chanshi had a bias in his self-perception, thinking he was relying on the Justice Sect and the Justice Alliance. Little did he know, all his trump cards were the system.

If the Justice Alliance fell, he could assemble a Dark Alliance in minutes and still be able to pull in a large group of supporters...

"Before the Justice Alliance was established, the common people lived in peace and contentment, and the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects kept to their own sides. But after the Justice Alliance was established, there was turmoil everywhere, and people's hearts were restless. The Law of Cultivation seems like something everyone can practice, but it requires a genius among geniuses and immense concentration to succeed. Farmers practicing the Law delay farming; scholars practicing the Law delay their studies; merchants practicing the Law will surely ruin their business; and Cultivators practicing the Law will inevitably delay their own cultivation..."

Fearing he wouldn't be able to convince Wuwang, Lin Bai detailed his self-smearing point by point. After finishing, he added a summary: "In summary, the establishment of the Justice Alliance has a hundred harms and no benefits. Wuwang Chanshi, I do not agree with your statement. Do you agree with my point of view?"

"..." Wuwang Chanshi was dumbfounded. He stared blankly at Lin Bai, unable to recover for a long time. Of course, what you said is all correct, but you are the Alliance Leader of the Justice Alliance—is it okay for you to say that about your own alliance?

……

"What a move of advancing by retreating." He Qin let out a long breath. "The Alliance Leader seems to be disparaging the Justice Alliance, but in reality, he is warning all living beings that the Law of Cultivation must be practiced according to one's ability. One must do their own job well first before talking about the cultivation of the Law; otherwise, it will harm others and oneself. I am convinced."

"But I feel like the Alliance Leader is just purely smearing himself!" Xin Shang said quietly, "And he seems to be enjoying it quite a bit."

"That's because your comprehension is low." He Qin looked at Xin Shang with contempt. "Believe it or not, once these words spread, the Alliance Leader's reputation will definitely rise to a higher level."

……

Feng Jing looked at Lin Bai in the sky with deep meaning and let out a long breath. It wasn't completely rotten yet; this Lin Bai actually still possessed a bit of conscience.

……

Wuwang Chanshi felt he had fallen into Lin Bai's trap. He pondered for a moment, reached out his hand, and said: "The Justice Alliance is indeed of no benefit to the people. May Alliance Leader Lin refute this?"

"For ten thousand years, the Seven Righteous Sects and the Demonic Five Sects have blocked the channels for ordinary people to rise. The Justice Alliance broke the Cultivation World's exploitation of the people and gave the masses hope. When the Heavenly Descended brought chaos to the world, the Seven Righteous Sects aimed their spears at the Justice Alliance, disregarding the lives of the common people. The Justice Alliance promotes the Law of Cultivation; among the hundreds of millions of people, even if one person succeeds in cultivation, they can represent the people, deal with this chaotic catastrophe, and lead the people to save themselves. People who come from among the commoners naturally view the world and its people differently than you high-and-mighty Cultivators, and they should not abandon the people..."

Lin Bai looked at Wuwang Chanshi and spoke fluently. *Justice Weekly* had long since exhausted all the good things to say about the Justice Alliance; he didn't even need to think about such questions.

Wuwang Chanshi looked down at Zhen City. The people were already looking at Lin Bai with reverence. He shook his head and sighed, interrupting Lin Bai: "Alliance Leader Lin, no need to say more. I believe you. Let's change the topic. I believe the Love Dao is real..."

Since the topic of the Justice Alliance is beneficial to you whether I argue it from the front or the back, I will start from your technique and your foundation, and see how you handle it?

"It is fake." Lin Bai said, "Throughout history, no one has ever succeeded in cultivating the Law of Love. Even for the Justice Sect, the cultivation of the Law is merely Divination, and the ancestors in the sect dare not guarantee that the Law is real. Everything is walking a path toward the light in the darkness. How can the Zen Master be sure that if one cultivates the Love Dao to the end, one will definitely become a Love God? If the Zen Master thinks this way, then the Zen Master's cultivation is afraid to stop here."

"..." Wuwang Chanshi choked on his breath. "Since it is fake, how do you explain the Heavenly River?"

"The Heavenly River is the Heavenly River, and it has nothing to do with the Law of Love." Lin Bai said, "It is a product of 'Words Manifesting into Law'."

"Since the Law is fake, where do your Pure Heart and your deductions come from? Why does the Justice Alliance say everywhere that if one cultivates the Law to the end, it will definitely be realized?" After several consecutive debate topics, Wuwang Chanshi was at a disadvantage, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious. "Clearly, your *Justice Weekly* says the Law of Cultivation is absolutely true and will replace existing cultivation techniques to lead the next era!"

"It's just groping. The road to truth is precisely the process of proving the true with the false. It is precisely because Lin knows the Law is fake that we must try every possible way to find a correct path within it." Lin Bai smiled. "There are millions of people in the world. If Lin Bai's path is wrong, perhaps some ambitious person will find the right path. At that time, it will not have been in vain for Lin Bai to make this sacrifice. Wuwang Chanshi, do you still think the Law is real now?"

It was simply impeccable. Wuwang Chanshi felt blood surging in his abdomen. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes to think for a moment, and suddenly opened his eyes: "This poor monk is a man."

Once these words were spoken.

Zhen City was in an uproar from top to bottom. Everyone cast admiring glances at Wuwang Chanshi. Good fellow, to stump Lin Bai, he even sacrificed himself!

What a ruthless person!

……

Well!

This guy finally found the trick!

Iron-clad facts are the hardest to debate...

However.

The task progress had already advanced a great deal on Wuwang Chanshi. Lin Bai naturally would not give up halfway. He looked Wuwang Chanshi up and down and said calmly: "No, I think the Zen Master is a woman."

Wow!

A clamor even more intense than before erupted.

Some troublemakers even started whistling.

Zhen City was filled with clamor everywhere, and everyone looked toward the sky in anticipation, waiting to see how Lin Bai would prove that Wuwang Chanshi was a woman.

(End of this chapter)