Chapter 182

Chapter 182: A Pawn, or a Sacrificial Piece?

“Dao League?”

　　Yang Jia frowned, “Where?”

　　That voice said, “The most mysterious place in the real world, where you can observe the Great Daos of all the top powerhouses throughout history.”

　　The Great Daos of all the top powerhouses throughout history!

　　Yang Jia was immediately moved.

　　That voice said, “Young Master, shall we go now?”

　　Yang Jia asked in return, “Where is that Ye Tianming right now?”

　　That voice said, “We just received word that Ye Tianming has activated the Buddha-Demon Dao of the Buddha-Demon Sect and has already entered the Buddha-Demon Trial Grounds!”

　　Yang Jia turned to look at the one who had spoken. It was an old man wearing a thin cloth robe, his face covered in wrinkles. Seeing Yang Jia look over, he immediately gave a slight bow, utterly respectful.

　　Yang Jia looked the old man directly in the eye, “Has anyone disobeyed my orders and gone to cause him trouble?”

　　The cloth-robed old man quickly shook his head, “No, we have strictly followed the Young Master’s orders. Within this one year, we will absolutely not cause him any trouble. No one dares to disobey the Young Master’s commands.”

　　Yang Jia nodded, “I will defeat him myself!”

　　As he said this, his eyes slowly closed, “I hope he can rapidly increase his strength in the Buddha-Demon Trial Grounds, otherwise this third battle will be far too uninteresting.”

　　Although he, Yang Jia, had already lost twice in a row, he had never been discouraged. As his father had once said, defeat is not to be feared — what is fearful is being crushed by defeat and never recovering.

　　He, Yang Jia, would naturally not be crushed by two defeats and then fall apart!

　　He was of the Yang family. His will was undefeatable!

　　No one could break it!

　　The cloth-robed old man spoke again, “Young Master, shall we go to the Dao League now?”

　　Yang Jia shook his head and said, “I want to go see Teacher Gu first.”

　　With that, his figure flickered and he transformed into a streak of sword light, vanishing into the distance.

　　After Yang Jia left, the cloth-robed old man turned and departed. Soon, he arrived at a courtyard. Inside, a man was holding an ancient scroll, reading it with great relish.

　　This person was none other than Young Master Xin.

　　Seeing the old man arrive, Young Master Xin asked, “Well?”

　　The cloth-robed old man said respectfully, “Young Master, the Young Lord has successfully cultivated the《Three Thousand Daos Technique》and has also made a tremendous breakthrough in his cultivation realm.”

　　Young Master Xin smiled, “The Young Lord’s talent is truly rare.”

　　As he said this, he paused, then added, “What else did he say?”

　　The cloth-robed old man said, “He does not wish for us to target that Ye Tianming.”

　　Young Master Xin said softly, “It seems that if he cannot defeat this Ye Tianming, the Young Lord’s state of mind will never be able to reach perfect flawlessness.”

　　The cloth-robed old man lowered his head and said nothing.

　　Young Master Xin asked again, “What is that Ye Tianming doing now?”

　　The cloth-robed old man said, “The information we have is that he has already entered the Buddha-Demon Trial Dao. As for what is happening inside, we have no way of knowing. That person’s Great Dao guards the interior, and our people cannot get in. If we were to force our way in, it is possible……”

　　That person!

　　Naturally, this referred to the founder of the Buddha-Demon Sect.

　　The cloth-robed old man looked toward Young Master Xin, seeking his opinion.

　　Young Master Xin shook his head, “There is no need. If we were to make a move against the Buddha-Demon Trial Dao at this time, how would the world see us? Just let him cultivate properly in that trial dao, so that the Young Lord does not find the battle too dull and uninteresting when the time comes. This battle is the one where the Young Lord reclaims his reputation — it cannot be too boring.”

　　Hearing this, the cloth-robed old man seemed to want to say something but held back.

　　Young Master Xin smiled, “Say whatever you want to say.”

　　The cloth-robed old man said in a low voice, “Young Master, based on the information we have gathered, the fact that this Ye Tianming was able to defeat the Young Lord was by no means a coincidence. This Ye Tianming truly has something to him.”

　　Young Master Xin nodded, “I understand that naturally, but the reason he was able to defeat the Young Lord comes down entirely to two core points. The first is that sword from before, but now that sword is in the Young Lord’s hands. The second is that Myriad Beings Law. If that Ye Tianming were without this Myriad Beings Law, forget the Young Lord — even you could kill him ten thousand times over. And in the upcoming grand competition……”

　　At this, he smiled and said no more.

　　The cloth-robed old man clearly understood something as well, and nodded, then added, “There is one more thing this subordinate is worried about. Since this person was created by those above to assist in maintaining the Yang family’s order, then……”

　　Young Master Xin smiled, “No need to worry. He is nothing more than a chess piece. If he had the awareness of a chess piece, his future would naturally be bright and full of promise. But this person refuses to remain a chess piece and wants to turn the tables and become the master. By acting this way, he has essentially cut himself off from heaven and earth — his death is well-deserved. From all indications, those above have already abandoned this chess piece!”

　　The cloth-robed old man nodded, “This subordinate understands.”

　　Young Master Xin said calmly, “Stay close to the Young Lord. He is young, and many of his thoughts and ideas are not yet fully mature. If he has any ideas, remember to report them to me promptly.”

　　The cloth-robed old man bowed deeply, “This old servant’s life was given by you, Young Master. What should and should not be done — this old servant knows it well.”

　　Young Master Xin fixed his gaze on the cloth-robed old man, “I am a member of the Yang family, so your life was given by the Yang family. Understood?”

　　The cloth-robed old man bowed deeply and said nothing.

　　Young Master Xin said, “The Wu Pavilion is recently looking to recruit a group of young people to enter and train. I have arranged a spot……”

　　As he said this, he opened his palm, and a golden card slowly floated to the cloth-robed old man, “I know that Tianyuan of your Tian family is a bit spoiled and arrogant, but his talent is not bad. Give this spot to him.”

　　The cloth-robed old man suddenly knelt down and kowtowed heavily, his voice trembling, “Thank you, Young Master.”

　　Young Master Xin said, “That temperament of his needs to change, otherwise it may bring great trouble upon your family in the future.”

　　The cloth-robed old man quickly said, “After this subordinate returns, I will certainly keep a strict watch over him.”

　　Young Master Xin nodded, “Go.”

　　The cloth-robed old man kowtowed heavily once more, then rose and departed.

　　At this moment, a middle-aged man appeared behind Young Master Xin. Young Master Xin said, “Is everything arranged?”

　　The middle-aged man nodded, “Young Master, rest assured. There will be no problems at this martial arts grand competition. However, we have yet to find out who exactly stands behind that Ye Tianming.”

　　Young Master Xin said, “No need to investigate further. Before, he was a chess piece. Now, he is a discarded piece.”

　　With that, he turned and left.

　　At the Guanxuan Academy, in a certain plaza, a middle-aged man dressed in a Confucian robe was slowly walking while holding an ancient scroll. Below him, over a hundred thousand disciples of the Guanxuan Academy had gathered, and at this moment, every single one of them was listening with rapt attention.

　　This Confucian-robed middle-aged man before them was none other than the current Vice Dean of the Academy.

　　The middle-aged man slowly recited, “Accumulate learning to store treasure, draw on reason to enrich talent, study and observe to illuminate all things, cultivate steadily to refine expression…….”

　　His voice was not loud, yet every single person in the plaza could hear him with perfect clarity.

　　Just then, a man suddenly appeared in the plaza. When he appeared, everyone below immediately rose to their feet and bowed respectfully toward him, “Greetings, Young Master.”

　　This man was none other than Yang Jia.

　　Yang Jia glanced at the crowd, gave a slight nod, then walked slowly to stand before the middle-aged man and gave a slight bow, “Teacher.”

　　The middle-aged man simply nodded, then looked back down at the crowd, “Continue.”

　　The crowd hesitated, glancing at Yang Jia. Yang Jia bowed again, “Teacher, your student would like to speak with you privately.”

　　The middle-aged man looked at him, “It is currently lecture time.”

　　Yang Jia was immediately a little embarrassed.

　　At this moment, Little Pagoda suddenly said, “Gambling kid, long time no see.”

　　This middle-aged man before them was none other than Gu Chen, the gambling-addicted young man who had been saved by the Guanxuan Sword Master all those years ago!

　　But now, he was not only the head of the literary division of the Guanxuan Academy, but also its Vice Dean.

　　In the realm of the literary dao, a saying had spread throughout the Guanxuan Domain: for the thousand years past, look to Dean Ye; for the thousand years ahead, look to Dean Gu.

　　Gu Chen looked toward Little Pagoda and smiled slightly, “Pagoda Lord, long time no see.”

　　Little Pagoda said, “A private chat?”

　　Gu Chen shook his head, “It is currently lecture time.”

　　Little Pagoda, “…….”

　　Gu Chen paid no attention to Little Pagoda or Yang Jia, and instead turned to look at the Guanxuan Academy students, “All sit down.”

　　The students sat down one after another. For Gu Chen, they held a respect that came from the bottom of their hearts.

　　Gu Chen paid no mind to Little Pagoda or Yang Jia, and continued to recite, “Pile up earth to form a mountain, and wind and rain will arise from it; gather water to form a deep pool, and dragons will be born within it; accumulate goodness to form virtue, and divine wisdom will come naturally, and a sage’s heart will be complete. Therefore, without accumulating small steps, one cannot travel a thousand miles……”

　　Below, countless students also began reciting along.

　　And Yang Jia and Little Pagoda were left standing there, completely ignored.

　　Yang Jia looked at Gu Chen and said softly, “Pagoda Lord, did you know Teacher back then?”

　　Little Pagoda said, “Yes, when I first met him, he was still a gambling-addicted young man.”

　　As it said this, it felt a wave of emotion.

　　Yang Jia smiled slightly, “Teacher is good in every way, except that sometimes he doesn’t know how to be flexible. The world is complicated, and there are many times when one must know how to adapt.”

　　Little Pagoda glanced at him, “What, are you feeling resentful?”

　　Yang Jia shook his head, “No, I just feel that in this complicated world, if Teacher doesn’t know how to be flexible, doesn’t understand the ways of officialdom…… it is not a good thing for him personally.”

　　Little Pagoda said, “I actually think the way he is suits him just fine. He has his own integrity and convictions.”

　　Yang Jia said, “In officialdom, a truly upright official cannot get things done — they can only be shelved and set aside. Those who can truly get things done are often the ones who know how to ‘blend in with the world.'”

　　Little Pagoda said, “Kid, you need to keep your mindset in check. Gu Chen is a scholar, and scholars must have integrity. If a scholar loses their integrity, are they still a scholar? You can’t let resentment fester in your heart just because he didn’t give you face — that won’t do. A person needs to be more broad-minded!”

　　Hearing this, Yang Jia’s brow immediately furrowed. He calmly glanced at Little Pagoda and said nothing.

　　But a thought suddenly took root in his mind: how could he make this Pagoda Lord understand that it was merely a servant of the Yang family, and not the master of the Yang family?

　　A good servant should understand what words are appropriate to say and what words are not, and in particular, should not presume to teach the master how to conduct themselves.