Chapter 183

Chapter 183: The Innate Grand Dao!

About half an hour passed before Gu Chen finished his lecture.

　　But the students in the courtyard had not dispersed. They were all looking toward Yang Jia not far away. Most of them had never seen Yang Jia before, and naturally they were curious about this young master.

　　Of course, some of the more perceptive ones had already walked over and taken the initiative to bow in greeting.

　　This was not merely the young master of the academy, but the future lord of Guanxuan Domain. Anyone who could earn his favor would naturally rise swiftly through the ranks.

　　More and more people came over to pay their respects, and Yang Jia greeted each of them in turn.

　　Gu Chen glanced at Yang Jia but said nothing.

　　After a while, Yang Jia finally noticed Gu Chen standing nearby. He waved his hand at the crowd, and everyone tactfully stepped back.

　　Yang Jia turned to face Gu Chen and gave a slight bow. “Teacher.”

　　Gu Chen said calmly, “Is there something you need?”

　　Yang Jia said, “Teacher, my father once told me to learn as much as I could from you.”

　　Gu Chen looked Yang Jia directly in the eye. “I speak bluntly. You may not enjoy what I have to say.”

　　Yang Jia was slightly taken aback. He had not expected Gu Chen to say that. Over the years, no one had ever been so indifferent to his standing. But he did not get angry. Instead, he gave a slight bow. “Teacher, please speak freely.”

　　Gu Chen said directly, “Then what wrong did Ye Tianming commit?”

　　Yang Jia froze again.

　　No matter how he thought about it, he had never imagined that Gu Chen would raise this question in front of everyone.

　　Ever since he had lost to Ye Tianming twice in a row, no one had dared to mention that name in his presence.

　　Yang Jia said in a low voice, “What do you mean by that, Teacher?”

　　Gu Chen said, “I have already learned about what happened below. I want to ask you: what wrong did Ye Tianming commit? Why has the academy treated him this way?”

　　Yang Jia’s expression darkened completely. “Are you questioning me, Teacher?”

　　Gu Chen stared at him. “Are you not allowed to be questioned?”

　　Yang Jia’s expression had already turned quite ugly.

　　Gu Chen shook his head. “From beginning to end, Ye Tianming committed no wrong whatsoever. The fault lies with the Xiao family, with the academy, and with you. And of all of them, the greatest fault is yours. Why did you allow the Xiao family to do evil? And why did you then allow the great clans to do the same?”

　　Yang Jia’s expression turned completely dark.

　　Gu Chen paid him no mind and continued his questioning. “As the young master of the academy, how could you disregard right and wrong and concern yourself only with political maneuvering? Do you not understand that when those below you make mistakes, the harm they cause is limited at most to one region? But if the master of the academy makes mistakes, the harm will extend across the entire universe. At that point, the Yang family will become the greatest evil in the universe, and the reputation built over three generations will be destroyed in an instant!”

　　Yang Jia stared at Gu Chen. “Teacher……”

　　Gu Chen cut Yang Jia off directly. “You are the young master of the academy, and you do not even understand such basic principles. Where did all those years of study go?”

　　Yang Jia’s expression was utterly unsightly. “Everything has two sides. You only see Ye Tianming. Do you not know that the academy’s relocation brought benefit to countless families? That alone proves it was a good policy. But policies are carried out by people, and people cannot be perfect. Not even my father could achieve absolute fairness, let alone me. Why must you be so harsh with me?”

　　Gu Chen said, “There is naturally no such thing as absolute fairness in this world. But you knew it was wrong and refused to correct it. Not only that, you allowed the Xiao family and the great clans to do evil. That is the mistake. A grave mistake.”

　　Yang Jia said with some anger, “Ye Tianming was nothing more than the son of a low-ranking family back then. How could he compare to the great clans? It was not that I wanted to make a calculation, but that I had no choice. Compared to internal strife within the academy, what did it matter to sacrifice one Ye Tianming? Even if I could do it all over again, I would make the same choice!”

　　Gu Chen fixed his gaze on Yang Jia. “Do not forget that your great-grandfather was also the son of a low-ranking family!”

　　Yang Jia’s face was expressionless. “Times have changed.”

　　With that, he turned and left with a sweep of his sleeve.

　　Watching Yang Jia walk away, Gu Chen was silent for a long while before letting out a quiet sigh.

　　The little pagoda beside him said in a low voice, “Gu Chen, you speak too bluntly. He is young and hot-blooded. He definitely cannot accept it.”

　　Gu Chen said softly, “Tower Elder, I was not scolding him. I genuinely want what is best for him. If he cannot truly recognize his own mistakes, how can he ever truly transform……. just like I once did!”

　　With that, he shook his head slightly.

　　The little pagoda let out a quiet sigh. “It is all my fault. If I had stayed with him back then, he would not have turned out this way. Look at how outstanding the Ye Tianming I trained has become?”

　　Gu Chen: “…….”

　　The little pagoda added, “Do not worry. Now that this kid is with me, I will definitely set him right and help him surpass his father’s generation!”

　　Gu Chen said nothing, only letting out a quiet sigh.

　　Inside the Hall of the Dao Alliance.

　　Ye Tianming was still immersed in the monk’s Dao arts. The monk cultivated both Buddhist teachings and the demonic path simultaneously. Within his heart dwelled not only goodness, but also evil, a great and profound evil.

　　Good and evil coexisting!

　　Ye Tianming had not accepted the monk’s inheritance. He was merely observing, studying the monk’s past cultivation journey.

　　And what he observed was not only the Dao itself, but also the monk’s humanity, his Buddha nature, and his demonic nature.

　　A thousand years passed in the blink of an eye.

　　Ye Tianming opened his eyes. Within his gaze, one eye was still black and the other white, but soon the black and white gradually faded away.

　　Seeing this, the monk standing not far away immediately broke into a smile.

　　The monk asked, “Well?”

　　Ye Tianming smiled. “It nearly shook my Dao heart.”

　　”Ha ha!”

　　The monk burst out laughing. “Fellow Daoist, you are truly remarkable. When I observed the great Dao of the Three Sages of Guzhe Sect back in my day, it took me a full three days and three nights to walk out from within their great Dao. Yet you walked out of my great Dao with such ease. Alas, I am still too weak!”

　　As he said this, he paused, then added, “After observing it, what are your thoughts?”

　　Ye Tianming said, “Senior cultivates a great Dao that is innate.”

　　The monk’s eyes lit up. “Go on.”

　　Ye Tianming said in a low voice, “Good and evil are inherently present from birth. Therefore, the great Dao that Senior cultivates is a Dao that is innate to heaven and earth.”

　　”Alas!”

　　The monk suddenly let out a quiet sigh. “I had originally planned to show off a little in front of you later. I never expected you to figure it out on your own.”

　　Ye Tianming looked at him with some puzzlement.

　　The monk said, “Above the true great Dao, there exists the innate great Dao, that is, the Dao that has always existed within heaven and earth. The Dao of good and evil that I cultivate is, as you said, an innate great Dao.”

　　Ye Tianming asked, “Does cultivating a Dao that is innately present in heaven and earth offer any advantage?”

　　The monk nodded. “Naturally. The true great Dao we cultivate now is essentially cultivating someone else’s Dao. Within another person’s Dao, we can never surpass the one who created it. But when cultivating a Dao that already exists within heaven and earth, the upper limit is far higher. One may even eventually merge with the Dao itself and reach an entirely new height.”

　　Merging with the Dao!

　　Ye Tianming fell into deep thought.

　　The monk suddenly said, “Continue. I want to hear more of your thoughts on my great Dao.”

　　Ye Tianming collected his thoughts and said, “My feeling is that neither good nor evil can exist alone. Without evil, how can there be good? Therefore, good and evil will coexist in this world forever.”

　　As he said this, he paused, then continued, “And how does one draw the boundary between them? My thought is this: those who are good enjoy the favor of fortune, and those who are evil bear the weight of consequence. From the mind arise all phenomena, and with the mind’s cessation all phenomena cease. What is done by the mind is received by the mind……”

　　At this point, he suddenly stood up. After a brief moment of quiet contemplation, he added, “Of course, of course, this boundary cannot be determined through theory alone. It requires constant inner observation and self-verification, followed by practice, and ultimately the exploration of the true boundary between good and evil…… And that boundary may take the rest of my life to work toward. It cannot be perfect, but one must strive toward perfection.”

　　The monk watched Ye Tianming, and his heart was like a great stone dropping into a still lake.

　　Whose child was this exactly?

　　So young, and yet already so extraordinary!

　　In that moment, he thought again of Guzhe Sect. He had to admit, he was now feeling genuinely superior.

　　Guzhe Sect was a sect renowned for its wisdom!

　　Yet this time, they had lost to him, a bald monk…… This was truly wonderful.

　　The monk collected his thoughts and asked, “How do you intend to put it into practice? Once you begin practicing and it proves effective, you will essentially have pioneered a Dao of your own. And since this is a Dao no one has ever walked before, one that you yourself have opened, it will truly be unrivaled.”

　　Ye Tianming said in a low voice, “I still do not understand the concept of good and evil well enough. My ideas are not yet complete and still need to be refined……. Alas, if only my teacher were still here.”

　　How does one draw the boundary between good and evil? Drawing it poorly would cause serious problems, because some cases of good and evil are very difficult to define. For example, to save a sheep, one drives away a wolf, and the wolf starves to death. Is that act good or evil?

　　There were countless similar cases like this.

　　And it was not just a matter of distinguishing the boundary. One also had to find a way to address the harm. That was the hardest part of all.

　　Raising a problem without finding a way to solve it was entirely meaningless.

　　This time, he was truly stumped.

　　He even felt somewhat lost.

　　And so he found himself deeply missing his teacher Mu Guanchen. If his teacher were here, he would surely know how to guide him.

　　At that moment, the monk beside him suddenly said, “I think there may be someone who could help with your question.”

　　Ye Tianming turned to look at the monk. “Is Senior referring to the Three Sages of Guzhe?”

　　The monk smiled. “Yes.”

　　But Ye Tianming fell silent.

　　The monk said, “Are you still upset about what Guzhe Sect did?”

　　Ye Tianming shook his head. “Not upset. It is just that I am not a member of Guzhe Sect, and they……”

　　The monk smiled. “That way of thinking is a bit off.”

　　Ye Tianming looked at the monk. The monk said earnestly, “Although I have had grievances with Guzhe Sect in the past, I must say that the Three Sages of Guzhe are people worthy of admiration. They are renowned for their wisdom, and it is a true wisdom. Their level of understanding is extraordinarily high. They would not harbor any bias toward individuals or sects.”

　　Ye Tianming turned to look at the three meditation cushions. “Then I will go and seek their guidance.”

　　The monk said, “Although there are three cushions, in practice you can only choose one, because they share a single lineage of Dao. Of course, you may not necessarily be able to meet any of them.”

　　Ye Tianming asked, “Why is that?”

　　The monk smiled. “They will not discuss the Dao with ordinary mediocre people. As far as I know, in all these years, only one person has ever caused one of the three to appear.”

　　Ye Tianming was somewhat curious. “Who?”

　　The monk said, “The Lord of the Divine Dao.”

　　As he said this, he glanced at Ye Tianming. “Of course, given how outstanding you are, one of them will certainly come to meet you. But whether the other two will also appear, that is truly hard to say.”

　　Ye Tianming smiled. “I will do my best.”

　　With that, he walked up to one of the meditation cushions, gave a slight bow, and said, “Three Fellow Daoists, please!”

　　Three Fellow Daoists!

　　The monk’s eyelid twitched.

　　Good heavens, you came in with such an imposing air right from the start. How is anyone supposed to follow that?