Cultivation: When you take things to the extreme

Chapter 422: Chapter 268: The Human Heart (Two in One)_3

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Therefore, in terms of system strength, the True Martial God of War is not inferior to Taoism Yuan Spirit. The difference lies in the people.

As the master of Ten Thousand Dao and a predecessor who has set the benchmark, it is only natural for him to completely overpower individuals like Zhou Fengyu. However, this cannot be considered the norm and applied to other martial artists and cultivators.

…

Zhou Fengyu couldn’t get an answer and could only suppress the conjectures in his heart, looking at Xu Yang with uncertainty and probing, “Worthy of the Great Zhou Heavenly Martial, indeed you possess world-shocking and unconventional methods. But for you to act like this… what exactly are your intentions?”

As soon as these words came out, not just Zhou Fengyu, but also Li Hongjun, Chu Lingfeng, Zhang Shaobai, and the rest of the “hostages” fixed their gazes on him intently.

They were not fools; it was evident that the Heaven Martial Emperor had intentionally captured them alive.

But what was the purpose of capturing them alive?

It couldn’t be to use them as leverage and extort a ransom, could it?

Xu Yang smiled, taking out the Evil Emperor’s relic: “Would you be willing to aid me in my cultivation?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

As these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

After a moment, a peal of crazed laughter erupted.

“Hahaha, Heaven Martial Emperor, truly worthy of the Heaven Martial Emperor!”

One person laughed wildly, none other than Zhang Shaobai from the Sword Sea Pavilion, ranked 45th among Earth Yuan masters: “Indeed, those with great ambition do not sweat the small stuff or shun any means. The Heaven Martial is truly a dragon among men, a peerless leader. Witnessing such tactics today, Zhang Shaobai has learned much!”

“Shut up!”

As these words came out, before Xu Yang could react, Su Shaoqing was already extremely furious, “How dare you insult my ancestral emperor!”

How could she not understand? The man’s words were outwardly filled with praise but were laced with sarcasm, subtly ridiculing Xu Yang for being ruthless and despicable.

A subject’s duty is to die for their sovereign’s honor; how could she tolerate such insult?

“Ha, I was merely speaking the plain truth!”

Zhang Shaobai was not afraid in the slightest, completely ignoring Su Shaoqing, his eyes only on Xu Yang, “You, as the Divine Martial Ancestor, a towering figure such as the Emperor Venerable, resort to surprise assaults and secret attacks, that’s one thing. But now, to use people as a source for pills, taking others’ achievements to make your gains; isn’t such conduct no different from that of evil demons?”

“You…!”

Su Shaoqing was extremely shocked and furious, ready to draw her sword.

Xu Yang shook his head, restraining her actions, and regarded the undaunted Zhang Shaobai, “You do have a glib tongue.”

“How so, am I wrong?”

Zhang Shaobai replied with a cold smile, “The Emperor Venerable once expunged the Demon Sect’s eight branches for practicing inhumane and wicked arts, erasing their doctrines and destroying their heritage. Now, you wish to employ the ways of the Demon Sect, processing people for cultivation. Such behavior is no different from that of evil demons. Others must not do it, but you can, is that the way of the Heaven Martial? I have truly seen it now!”

The words were mocking, fearless.

Xu Yang smiled, his demeanor calm, “Power does not differentiate between good and evil; it’s people who are righteous or wicked. If the person is righteous, their techniques are also righteous. If the person is evil, their techniques are evil too. In your case, even if you practice with righteous techniques for ten thousand years, you will still be nothing more than a beast in clothes, a scoundrel in genteel dress.”

“You…!”

Zhang Shaobai’s face stiffened, clearly enraged.

Hailing from the eminent Sword Sea Pavilion, coming from a prestigious family line—when had he ever been so humiliated?

Fueled by his anger and unafraid, he raised his voice again, “Men are the knives and I, the fish on the chopping block. With the Emperor Venerable brandishing the knife, naturally, no one can argue. But the will of the people is turbulent; there is public moral judgement. Just like the fall of the Zhou Dynasty, celestial justice is clear, and karma is certain. Today, Shaobai will take the lead; beneath the Nine Netherworlds, I will wait for the Emperor Venerable’s arrival!”

Having said that, he closed his eyes, clearly prepared for imminent execution.

“Brother Shaobai!”

“Truly a disciple of the Sword Sea Pavilion, possessing the style of a Confucian Gate’s gentleman!”

“It is but a single death; what is there to fear!”

“Tyrant, you can kill one person, a hundred people, but can you kill tens of thousands?”

“What tyrant? He’s nothing but a dog that has lost his home. Having committed such a great crime today, there will surely be Divine Martial Venerables coming to exterminate demons and guard the Dao. When that time comes, his end will surely be a thousand times, a hundred thousand times more miserable than ours!”

“If you want to kill, then kill; even in death, I won’t let you have your way!”

Hearing his words, Chu Lingfeng, standing nearby, couldn’t help but have his eyes redden with emotion, and Fairy Qihua Li Hongjun was also moved, stirring up the crowd, which erupted in a wave of impassioned noise.

Only Zhou Fengyu remained silent, not making any statement.

Zhang Shaobai and the others made such a clamor because it was a case of defiance born out of desperation—since they were going to die anyway, they might as well vent their anger.

But he did not think the same way. To put it precisely, he didn’t believe these people could withstand the Heaven Martial Emperor’s methods.

So…

While the crowd was filled with impassioned fervor, Xu Yang was unperturbed, holding the Evil Emperor’s relic, he said, “A martial artist’s Yuan Skill can be infused into this artifact, turning it into Essence. Generally speaking, investing one’s full strength yields the best results, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be an exhaustive effort.”

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“…”

“…”

As these words were spoken, the atmosphere instantly stilled, leaving the crowd speechless.

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Zhang Shaobai’s face twitched, but he still forced himself to say, “Every man must die, some as heavy as Mount Tai, others as light as a feather. Why cling to life for a moment, holding it as trifling, sir, you underestimate the people of this world too much!”

After speaking, he closed his eyes, readying himself to face execution with equanimity.

Xu Yang smiled, not bothering to acknowledge, but looked instead at Zhou Fengyu, the Master of Divine Bridge, “They will not stand by idly, Divine Martial reinforcements must be on their way, therefore, you still have a flicker of hope for survival.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

Upon hearing these words, everyone fell silent once more.

Zhang Shaobai opened his eyes, his complexion ashen.

Zhou Fengyu showed a wry smile.

Why accept your fate so calmly? Is it truly a disregard for life and death?

It’s just a lack of hope!

Life is hard, and in the end, we all die. Who would give up if there was any hope?

Now, he has given them a sliver of hope, a chance at life.

The Divine Martial Venerable will surely intervene in this matter, perhaps even come to fetch the person in person.

If they cooperate and focus their power into the relic, they could save their lives, and once the Divine Martial Venerable captured this man, they might hope to regain their freedom.

Although it’s possible that if the Divine Martial Venerable doesn’t arrive in time, this man might silence them first, but that is still a chance worth taking!

And so…

Xu Yang lowered his gaze, looking down at the people below: “Who wants to go first?”

“…”

“…”

“…”

The crowd silent, no one spoke, all eyes were turned towards Zhang Shaobai.

Zhang Shaobai’s face twitched, and clenching his teeth, he was about to muster his strength to say, “If you’re going to kill, then…”

“Brother Shaobai!”

Before he could finish, Chu Lingfeng said in a deep voice, “Don’t be rash, preserve your useful self!”

“Exactly, exactly!”

Fairy Qihua Li Hongjun also came to her senses, urging repeatedly, “A true man can flex and yield, Brother Zhang has great talents, why throw your life away for a fleeting feeling, and let Sword Sea Pavilion suffer the loss of a fine youth!”

“…!”

Facing the persuasion of the two, Zhang Shaobai’s eyes turned red, his jaw clenched tight, and he finally closed his eyes, saying nothing more.

Xu Yang shook his head and turned to Su Shaoqing, “Self-deception is not to be learned!”

It was only then that Su Shaoqing came to his senses, looking at the fiercely blushing Zhang Shaobai, he couldn’t help but smile, nodding at Xu Yang, “Su understands, I shall certainly take this as a warning and remain vigilant every day!”

“Hmm!”

Xu Yang nodded and turned back to Zhou Fengyu, “I want the Divine Bridge Technique of Earth Yuan Unlimited.”

“…”

Zhou Fengyu was silent for a moment, but ultimately, he could only shake his head helplessly, “Divine Martial Heritage can only be understood through the War God’s Atlas; it cannot be communicated verbally nor passed on, or else it would trigger the Divine Martial Prohibition and result in the destruction of both body and spirit.”

“Divine Martial Prohibition?”

Xu Yang laughed, continuing to query, “This should not be the original method within the War God’s Atlas, who developed it?”

“…”

Zhou Fengyu fell silent again, then spoke, “Divine Martial Alliance Leader, the World’s No.1 Internal Skill—Ren Weidao!”

“In this regard, you are united as one.”

Xu Yang shook his head, no longer speaking, and directly tossed the Evil Emperor relic in front of Zhou Fengyu, while using his mana to extract the Sky-sealing Lock Sword from his body.

This Evil Emperor relic, an exotic treasure from the Temple of War God, is incredibly hard and difficult to destroy, so there was no need to worry about these people trying any tricks.

Gazing at the Evil Emperor relic before him, Zhou Fengyu fell silent for a while, but eventually couldn’t help but lift his head, “Emperor Venerable, such confidence, not fearing Divine Martial’s pursuit, becoming an enemy of the whole world, the joint condemnation of everyone under heaven?”

Xu Yang smiled lightly, “Not afraid.”

Zhou Fengyu’s brows furrowed deeply, the others were equally astonished, pressing further with their queries, “Why not?”

Xu Yang chuckled, “The human heart.”

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