Chapter 67: Shocking With One Move
Under the cliff of Qingyun Mountain, Daoist Tai Hua was a little nervous.
The nervousness seemed similar to how he felt when he first taught Su Changyu the Sword Dao.
However, the only difference was that he knew Su Changyu was a good-for-nothing, but Ye Ping was a genius.
Fortunately, he wasn’t there to teach Ye Ping any skills.
He mainly wanted to teach Ye Ping some truths about the world of immortal cultivation.
‘Tai Hua, you can’t embarrass yourself in front of a disciple, you have to stay composed! Stay composed!’
Daoist Tai Hua constantly admonished himself to stay calm and not embarrass himself in front of Ye Ping.
While Daoist Tai Hua was continuously reminding himself, Ye Ping had already stood up.
“Greetings, Sect Leader!”
Ye Ping’s voice made Daoist Tai Hua come back to his senses.
Ye Ping got a little nervous.
During this period of time, he had slightly gotten used to interacting with Su Changyu and the others, but this was only his second meeting with the Sect Leader. Hence, he was naturally nervous.
After all, whether or not he could remain in the hidden sect depended on the Sect Leader’s wishes.
“Ye Ping, don’t be so formal with me.”
Daoist Tai Hua looked calm. He hadn’t officially taken in Ye Ping as a disciple yet so he could only address him by his name.
“I came to see you today because I have a few things to say to you.”
Daoist Tai Hua looked rather calm and Ye Ping was extremely curious too. He didn’t understand why the Sect Leader would suddenly come to see him.
“Please go ahead, Sect Leader.”
Ye Ping looked very respectful, not only because Daoist Tai Hua was the Sect Leader, but more importantly, because he had taught him some things. Although Daoist Tai Hua hadn’t accepted him as a disciple yet, Ye Ping already saw Daoist Tai Hua as his master.
Even if Daoist Tai Hua really expelled him from the sect one day, Ye Ping wouldn’t have any resentment toward him and he would always remember Daoist Tai Hua’s kindness.
“Changyu should have told you about the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet. You have to work hard, you will be setting off in three days.”
“However, I don’t expect you to come in first place during the Qingzhou Sword Dao Meet this time. I hope that you will understand the world of immortal cultivation through this training. Of course, it’d be best if you can clinch a good ranking.”
“However, you’ll probably leave for several months this time. You lack experience and there are a lot of things about the world of immortal cultivation that you don’t know about so I’m here to give you some pointers, lest you encounter trouble and don’t know how to find a way out.”
Daoist Tai Hua said seriously.
Hearing this, Ye Ping couldn’t help but feel a warm and fuzzy feeling in his heart. To be honest, it was just a trip down the mountain. However, he didn’t expect the Sect Leader to be so worried. How could Ye Ping not be touched?
“Thank you, Sect Leader.”
Ye Ping answered with a Dao salute.
“Have a seat, let me ask you a few questions.”
Daoist Tai Hua told Ye Ping to sit down while he took a seat as well and made eye contact with Ye Ping.
Soon, Daoist Tai Hua spoke up.
“In the world of immortal cultivation, there are all sorts of people, both good and evil. So, what should you do when you encounter someone doing evil?”
Daoist Tai Hua’s expression was serious.
He took the initiative to ask that question.
Ye Ping pondered silently for a while.
Immediately afterwards, he continued,
“As a disciple of the righteous Dao, I should save the victim and lecture the evildoer. I should do justice for the world.”
Ye Ping answered seriously.
However, the answer was exactly what Daoist Tai Hua wanted to hear.
“Wrong.”
Daoist Tai Hua shook his head straight away.
“The world of immortal cultivation is extremely dangerous and although we’re from a proper sect, you have to think about an issue before you go out to help others, and that is, do you have the ability to help?”
“If you don’t have the ability to help, you’ll only be courting death. If you die, how can you do justice?”
Daoist Tai Hua sounded very reasonable.
After hearing that, Ye Ping couldn’t help but nod and truly feel enlightened from the bottom of his heart.
‘Yeah, so what if I’m a cultivator of the righteous Dao? If I encounter an evildoer, but I’m no match for him, won’t I be courting death?’
‘If I die, how can I do justice?’
“So if you encounter someone doing evil, you have to first think about yourself before coming to a decision. Understand?”
Daoist Tai Hua instructed Ye Ping with a serious expression.
“I understand.”
Ye Ping bore those words in mind.
“Sect Leader, how can I defeat him?”
Ye Ping asked.
Hearing his words, Daoist Tai Hua couldn’t help but be stunned.
‘Beat him?’
He had never considered this question before.
Well because he had never won a fight before.
“If you can defeat him, go all out. Ye Ping, remember what I said, you have to be straightforward when doing things. Don’t provoke others, but if you do, you should never let them off.”
“You don’t have to kill him, but you can beat him up until he’s intimidated and scared of you. If you end up forming a huge feud, don’t bother about anything else. Do not have mercy.”
“The human heart is hard to predict. Sometimes, others won’t thank you for being kind.”
“Ye Ping, remember my words. If you really want to make someone apologize, you have to use your fist not your mouth. Understand?”
Daoist Tai Hua said seriously.
He had researched a lot about that issue.
“Got it.”
Ye Ping nodded. He had understood.
He had to admit that the hidden sect was just different from others.
Ye Ping originally thought that Daoist Tai Hua would tell him that he had to do justice whenever possible because he was from a famous sect.
To his surprise, Daoist Tai Hua told him to think of himself first. He felt that Daoist Tai Hua was genuinely nice to him.
“Ye Ping, I’ll ask you again. Let’s say you meet an enemy and an inevitable battle ensues. Do you choose to give your opponent mercy or do your best and fight?”
Daoist Tai Hua asked.
“Show mercy!”
Ye Ping answered seriously.
“Wrong.”
Daoist Tai Hua soon spoke again.
“You’re so wrong. If you get into an inevitable fight with someone, you should not show him any mercy. Instead, you should go all out. Don’t underestimate your enemy. Even if you have perfected your Qi Refinement, while he seems to be only at the first level of Qi Refinement, do not belittle him.”
“Ye Ping, remember my words. Don’t ever underestimate anyone. When you get into an inevitable fight with someone, all you can do is to do your best, don’t think of holding back. During a real battle where your life is concerned, your enemy will not give you a second chance, understand?”
For some reason, Daoist Tai Hua looked extremely angry when he said that.
“I understand.”
Ye Ping nodded.
He understood those words even more.
‘Yes, the world of immortal cultivation is full of hidden experts.’
He seemed to only be at the second level of Qi Refinement, but he had actually done the recasting once and even a cultivator at the seventh or eighth level will be no match for him.
But if he met an enemy like himself, he would die if he belittled the other party while the other party went all out.
‘Daoist Tai Hua is right.’
‘The enemy will not give me a second chance to strike.’
‘If I die, I die.’
‘Even if I’m strong, it won’t make a difference if I’m dead.’
‘Okay.’
‘From now on, I’ll go all out if I encounter an opponent.’
Ye Ping bore that in mind.
“Ye Ping, remember what I said. You either don’t interfere in anything, or go all out once you do. Don’t be wishy-washy and make sure to leave no stones unturned to prevent yourself from getting involved with karma. Do you understand?”
Daoist Tai Hua was indeed teaching him.
Although his life had been mediocre, he had at least lived until now and in this life, he had witnessed many of his old friends dying at the hands of demons and members of the same sect.
The world of immortal cultivation was bright, but there was also a dark side to it. Just because one couldn’t see it, it didn’t mean that it didn’t exist.
“Sect Leader, I’ll remember everything you said. Thank you very much, Sect Leader.”
Ye Ping bowed to Daoist Tai Hua sincerely.
“Since you understand, my trip is not wasted.”
“In three days, you will go to the ancient city of Qingzhou together with your eldest Senior Brother. Think carefully about what I said just now.”
“There’s one more thing. Think more about it. If you encounter anything, you have to think. Once you’ve decided, don’t regret your choice.”
“After you’re done solving the problem, you have to reflect on yourself too and think about whether you’ve done the right thing or not. Think about what you’ve done wrong and what you’ve done right. Do you understand?”
Daoist Tai Hua patted Ye Ping’s shoulder.
“Got it.”
Ye Ping nodded solemnly.
“Okay, work hard.”
Daoist Tai Hua didn’t say anything more because what needed to be said had already been said.
He got up and left with his back facing Ye Ping. Although his back seemed slender, Ye Ping found him to be great and noble.
After the time it took for an incense stick to burn out, Ye Ping snapped out of his thoughts and began comprehending the Sword Dao.
He would be going down the mountain in three days’ time and he hoped that he would be able to comprehend the new sword move that Su Changyu had taught him.
Hence, he didn’t want to cause any delay in time.