Chapter 184: Chapter 46 Everything Is Beyond Calculation
Xu Yinglian and Jian Qingnan took off on their flying swords and rushed to the sky above Ku Yun Peak.
Ku Yun Peak was a mountain range within the Xuan Pu area of the middle section of the Kunlun Mountain Range, named because its summit had a depression where the snow accumulated like clouds yet never moved.
Descending through the clouds, Xu Yinglian heard a tumult of voices below, as if trying to pierce the heavens.
“Senior Brother Qiu!” Someone attempted to shout over the din, “I have a question about the seal of Daoist magic on the sword, have you heard…”
The rest of the voice was drowned out by the wind. Xu Yinglian quickly sped up her descent, only to hear Qiu Changtian’s voice rise again:
“This is not difficult, everyone listen to me…”
Suddenly, Xu Yinglian felt an impulse to vomit blood: when she used to cause him trouble, he would lift his chin in contempt and chuckle, “What’s so difficult about that”; but now, in front of everyone, it had changed to the mild “This is not difficult”?
So it was just targeting me, huh?
Following Jian Qingnan, they landed on the top of Ku Yun Peak, only to find that the summit was almost overflowing with people. Nearly a thousand cultivators were gathered around, listening to Qiu Changtian debating with everyone below.
“…thus one cannot manage everything through reason. What do you say?” Qiu Changtian had already finished speaking in one breath, smiling as he looked towards the questioner.
The questioner stammered and could not speak, covering his face with his sleeve to signify submission.
A loud cheer immediately erupted from around:
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“Good!”
“Senior Brother Qiu is awesome!”
“Morning bell and evening drum, profound meaning in subtle words! Marvelous!”
After watching for a long time, Xu Yinglian turned her head and asked Jian Qingnan:
“Isn’t this just an ordinary discussion of Dao?”
“What ordinary discussion of Dao, Sister Yinglian!” Jian Qingnan tiptoed and pointed to several spots in front, “Look there, there, and there, a bunch of people surrounding Senior Brother Qiu, taking turns asking all sorts of deep and difficult questions. Isn’t this like a tag-team battle?”
“And what’s the result?” Xu Yinglian asked helplessly.
“The result… of course, is that they cannot win in debate.” Jian Qingnan said matter-of-factly, “How could anyone pose a difficulty to Senior Brother Qiu, so mighty as he is?”
“Which means, he’s showing off his prowess again,” Xu Yinglian said with a complex expression, looking down at the field below.
As Jian Qingnan described, it was essentially the audience taking turns asking questions, with Qiu Changtian answering each one.
Among the questioners, some asked in earnest, posing very basic questions; others intentionally picked out profound and complex questions that were off the curriculum.
However, whether the questions were one type or another, Qiu Changtian would ponder for a moment and answer smoothly, as if no question could surpass the boundary of his knowledge.
The crowd’s judgment was crystal clear. If the questioner was sincerely seeking guidance, they would respond with pure applause; if the question was asked with malice, they would go wild with praise for Qiu Changtian, making the questioner feel what is known as “the disadvantage of being overwhelmed on away ground.”
Standing with the victorious majority and beating the fallen can bring a strong sense of pleasure to these crowds.
After all, inside the Kunlun Taiqing Sect, which advocates purity of heart and few desires, everyday immortality cultivation was quite boring, and there were no variety shows to watch—suddenly encountering such an event, everyone was almost overjoyed.
“How does it feel?” The voice of the Ziwei Master suddenly appeared beside her; the master, unbeknownst to her, had been standing at the edge of the field for a while.
“Master?” Xu Yinglian hurriedly performed the disciples’ salute, then said bitterly, “The feeling is… still unable to compare to Senior Brother.”
“Before, I could at least see his back, but now it seems I can’t even spot where he is.”
“Yinglian,” the Ziwei Master said solemnly, “you are still too obsessed.”
“He has his path, and you have yours. A tiger does not compete with an eagle for flight, so why must you compare yourself so excessively on the path of cultivation?”
“This disciple acknowledges her mistake,” Xu Yinglian sighed in her heart and bowed her head.
“Hmm.” the Ziwei Master said with some surprise.
I still remember the time when she first joined us, how this girl would stubbornly fixate on Qiu Changtian without letting go. When I tried to say a few words to her, she just put on the “I know, but I won’t change” attitude, which gave me quite a headache as her mentor.
Now she actually knows how to bow her head and admit fault… Whether she changes or not is another matter, but at least her arrogance has lessened quite a bit from before.
The gaze of the Ziwei Master shifted and fell upon Jian Qingnan:
“You are… Qingnan from the Jian Family of Qingzhou?”
“Greetings, Master.” Jian Qingnan hurriedly followed with a disciple’s salute.
“No need for such formalities.” The Ziwei Master didn’t pay much attention to this newly inducted disciple, simply stating indifferently, “The Jian Family of Qingzhou has achieved their Daoist magic through Art Calculation, yet they sent you to the Kunlun instead of Penglai. You should understand the meaning behind this.”
“Your cultivation from now on must not be wasted in idleness. Should you have any issues, you will need to frequently consult with your Senior Sister Xu and Senior Brother Qiu.”
“Understood,” Jian Qingnan said softly.
Turning back around, the Ziwei Master waved her horsetail whisk, and the gathered crowd immediately parted, divided by some invisible force.
The elder from the Disciplinary Hall also used the Sword Control Technique to come forward, ordering everyone to leave in an orderly fashion. First the disciples on the outer edges departed on their flying swords and then gradually those on the inner side followed suit, taking off in sequence to prevent any collisions.
“Master sure is fierce,” remarked Jian Qingnan, recovering his composure as he watched the Ziwei Master walk towards the center of the arena, whispering to Xu Yinglian.
“Fierce?” Xu Yinglian shook her head. “She’s neither fierce nor aloof.”
“She acts purely based on the individual.”
In the center of the arena, Qiu Changtian was relieved to see the elder from the Disciplinary Hall interrupt from above.
At the beginning of the questioning, he had been able to handle it with ease.
But as the atmosphere on the field heated up, some of his fellow senior brothers and sisters who were displeased began to pose tricky questions in various ways, asking him to debate and clarify.
Despite Qiu Changtian’s extensive knowledge and mastery of the Myriad Laws, he was nearly burnt out by these obscure questions.
Fortunately, for external matters, one should ask Ah Jing, and for internal matters, inquire of Qing Ping. In terms of odd and secondary paths like Formations and Artifact Refining, as long as it wasn’t about specific details, just discussing the profound and erudite aspects of Dao, the Kunlun Mirror could provide many interesting answers.
As for matters involving the Flying Sword and Sword Control Technique, Qing Ping was an expert in this area. Aside from Sword Dao Techniques, even common questions about Daoist Magic, it could occasionally answer one or two.
In this way, through some scares but without danger, Qiu Changtian had managed to hold out until the elder from the Disciplinary Hall arrived… Of course, Qiu Changtian also seriously suspected that those seniors who were giving him a hard time had probably run out of questions to ask.
If the questioning continued, it would only be creating trouble out of nothing. While it wouldn’t destroy his Invincible Character Setting, if this debate concluded on an unhappy note, it wouldn’t look good to the master.
Now that the elder from the Disciplinary Hall had forcefully interrupted… it seemed to be okay?
As Qiu Changtian was weighing the pros and cons, he saw the Ziwei Master walking through the parted crowd with an expressionless face, asking Qiu Changtian:
“During this assembly of immortals to discuss the Dao, have you gained anything?”
“Reporting to Master, many aspects that I did not understand before became clear after this debate,” Qiu Changtian replied respectfully.
“How does it feel to be challenged?” the Ziwei Master asked again.
“I felt apprehensive and managed to respond barely adequately,” Qiu Changtian modestly answered.
“At least you didn’t lose your head.” The Ziwei Master lifted her horsetail whisk and gently tapped it on his head, “Next time you wish to discuss the Dao, simply invite a few close friends and have a casual talk in your cave abode, what’s the need for such a grand display? If you continue to make a spectacle of yourself, aren’t you afraid you will attract unwarranted calamities seeking to take advantage?”
On the edge of the arena, as he was about to leave, Song He glanced back and saw the Ziwei Master tapping Qiu Changtian and suddenly had an inexplicable bad premonition.
Turning his head back, he saw the elder from the Disciplinary Hall already on his sword blocking his path, casually pointing at him. Song He immediately felt his flow of True Yuan stop, sealed off.
It’s over! A flash of realization crossed his mind.
He had only been focused on using the Nether Ghost Path to kill Qiu Changtian, acting too hastily in this move without considering the fatal risk:
The moment he delivered information about Qiu Changtian, he would lose his value, and the Nether Ghost Path could easily put out a bounty on Qiu while turning around and selling him out to Kunlun, negotiating a suitable price.
For all he knew, even the bounty the Nether Ghost Path placed on Qiu Changtian might have been funded by Kunlun!