Chapter 197

Chapter 197: The Karma Is Too Great!

Seeing that Ye Tianming didn’t look like he was joking, Old Yang quickly let out a laugh and hurried out.

Once outside, he let out a low sigh.

Damn it!

This mission is going to be a long and difficult road!

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but slap himself hard across the face.

Damn it!

It was all because of his big mouth back then. If he hadn’t run his mouth, he wouldn’t be in such a miserable situation right now!

What the hell was he supposed to do?

He could clearly sense that Ye Tianming didn’t exactly hate his parents — he was just indifferent, truly indifferent, and that was precisely what made it so terrifying.

He didn’t even have hatred!

Damn it!

How was he supposed to work with that?

What made it worse was that this guy was also a scholar, and scholars were the hardest to deal with!

Because scholars had too many principles and knew too much — it was nearly impossible for an outsider to break through the wall they’d built around their hearts.

“Tsk tsk!”

Just then, a voice suddenly came from nearby, “Slapping yourself? Now that’s something you don’t see every day.”

Old Yang turned to look. A man was leaning against a pillar nearby, eyeing him sideways with a look full of mockery.

The man was Jidian.

Old Yang was already in a bad mood, so he shot back immediately, “None of your damn business! Idiot!”

“What did you just say!”

Jidian instantly flew into a rage, “You insignificant worm, do you know who I am?”

Old Yang looked at him calmly, “You’re an idiot.”

“You dare insult me, you worm.”

Jidian charged straight at Old Yang.

Old Yang charged right back…..damn it, when had he ever backed down? Except in front of that woman.

The two of them fought no differently from street thugs — punch for punch, until they ended up grappling with each other.

What could you expect — one had a shattered Dao heart, his power already reduced to less than ten percent and dropping further every day; the other had cultivation but didn’t dare use it.

Two useless chickens pecking at each other!

After a while, both of them had bruised and swollen faces, but neither could finish the other off.

Jidian glared hard at Old Yang, “Old dog, I’m telling you — you’ve insulted me, and now you’ve incurred a great karmic debt!”

“A great karmic debt?”

Old Yang’s temper flared instantly. He picked up a nearby brick and charged at Jidian, “You think I’m scared of your damn karmic debt? I’ll smash you to death!”

“Crap!”

Seeing Old Yang grab a weapon, Jidian refused to be outdone and immediately picked up a brick of his own and charged forward.

Bang bang.

The two of them had clearly lost their heads in the heat of the fight — neither bothered to dodge as they slammed their bricks hard at each other’s heads.

Before long, both of them were bruised and battered.

At that point, Ye Tianming came out to stop them, “Gentlemen, let’s talk this out calmly. Don’t be like this — you two can’t kill each other this way. I have a knife. Want me to lend it to you?”

The two of them stopped immediately and turned to look at Ye Tianming, who shook his head, “How did you two suddenly end up going at it?”

Jidian said irritably, “Ask this old dog!”

“Who are you calling old!”

Old Yang pointed straight at Jidian’s nose and cursed, “You idiot, you complete idiot.”

Ye Tianming, “…….”

Jidian glared hard at Old Yang and said coldly, “Old dog, I’m telling you — this karmic debt is too great for you to bear.”

“Oh, I’m so scared!”

Old Yang laughed out of sheer rage, “I’m so terrified of your karmic debt! Come on then, finish me off!”

Ye Tianming reminded him, “Old Yang, watch your mouth. Yang Ye from the Yang family was beaten to death by this brother here.”

Yang Ye was beaten to death?

Old Yang froze. He turned to look at Ye Tianming, who said, “He said so himself.”

Old Yang looked at Jidian. Jidian’s face was expressionless, “Scared now? Kneel down and kowtow to me right now, and I might spare your life. Otherwise, you’ll end up just like Yang Ye — I’ll punch your head clean off.”

Old Yang stared at Jidian, “You really are a damn idiot!”

Ye Tianming, “…….”

“Old dog!”

Jidian glared hard at Old Yang, “Do you know who is standing in front of you?”

Old Yang looked at him with pity, “An idiot.”

Ye Tianming, “……”

This time, Jidian surprisingly didn’t get angry — he just stared at Old Yang coldly.

Old Yang suddenly started laughing, “Impressive, you actually punched Yang Ye’s head clean off.”

Then he gave a thumbs up, “Badass, absolutely badass!”

With that, he turned and walked away. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back to look at Ye Tianming, “Stay away from this idiot, or you’ll bring trouble on yourself.”

Ye Tianming, “…….”

After Old Yang left, Jidian also looked at Ye Tianming, “You’d better stay away from that old dog, or you’ll get dragged down with him.”

With that, he too turned and left.

Ye Tianming shook his head. How did those two suddenly end up going at each other?

The next day.

Ye Tianming followed Old Yang away from the Buddha-Demon Sect. Old Yang brought him deep into a vast mountain range, where ancient trees soared into the sky and mountains folded endlessly into one another — a truly magnificent sight.

Before long, Old Yang led Ye Tianming to the deepest part of that mountain range. In a gorge, a massive stone gate stood tall — a full thousand zhang wide and nearly a thousand zhang high, built against the mountain walls on either side. It was an extraordinary sight.

Ye Tianming looked at the stone gate, “Senior, what is this?”

Old Yang smiled, “Come on.”

With that, he led Ye Tianming up to the stone gate. He glanced at it, a flicker of complex emotion crossing his eyes, then gave a light wave of his right hand.

The stone gate slowly opened, and a breath of time sealed away for who knows how long came rushing out.

Old Yang turned to look at Ye Tianming and smiled, “Let’s go.”

He led Ye Tianming inside. Beyond the stone gate was a path of green stone, several thousand zhang wide, stretching all the way to a great mountain in the distance. At the summit of that mountain, the faint outlines of ancient halls could be seen.

Old Yang led Ye Tianming onto the green stone path and smiled, “A very, very long time ago, this path was called the Azure Cloud Road. Anyone who walked it was destined to rise to great heights.”

Ye Tianming said, “This must be the Divine Path Sect.”

Old Yang glanced at Ye Tianming and smiled, “That’s right. This was once the supreme holy land of the real world — the Divine Path Sect. Anyone here, taken out at random, would be a peerless genius. Not just in the real world, but across the entire universe — the kind who could dominate anywhere.”

Ye Tianming looked down at the great road beneath his feet and said softly, “The Azure Cloud Road, above the azure clouds…….Senior, why did the Divine Path Sect fall? Not just the Divine Path Sect — the Ancient Philosopher Sect, the Heavenly Court — it seems like they all eventually fell.”

Old Yang smiled, “That is the Dao — the Dao is the law of nature. All things and all beings exist within the natural process of evolution. The universe is the same, enduring tribulation after tribulation, and every tribulation arises from the natural flow of fate. Simply put — rise and fall is the law of history. No force can remain prosperous forever, not even the Yang family.”

Ye Tianming frowned, “The Yang family?”

Old Yang nodded, “The Yang family has been thriving since Yang Ye’s time — three generations now. As for the fourth generation, it’s somewhat in decline compared to before. Though nothing is absolute, of course — the Yang family’s foundation is still intact, and the great fortune-bearers of the first three generations are all still alive.”

Ye Tianming said, “Senior, you’re still in the fight, aren’t you?”

Old Yang let out a hearty laugh.

Ye Tianming said, “Since Senior sees the Dao so clearly, why can’t you let it go and stop fighting?”

Old Yang said, “Do you know about the emperors of the mortal world?”

He looked at Ye Tianming, “Once they reached the peak of their power, do you think they were satisfied? No — they weren’t. They wanted eternal life. They wanted to live forever.”

Ye Tianming said softly, “They were unwilling to accept it!”

Old Yang smiled, “Who would be willing?”

He raised his head and looked toward the far end of the Azure Cloud Road, “Young friend Ye, once you set foot on the path of the Dao, there is no turning back. And the most brutal thing in this world is the struggle for the Dao — once you lose, you can almost never recover, while the winner takes all.”

Ye Tianming said in a low voice, “Is it like the competition between business guilds in the mortal world? At first, both sides fight a price war to compete for market share. Once one side loses, the winner completely monopolizes the market — and from then on, they get to set the rules.”

Old Yang nodded, “It’s not just about setting the rules. Once they win, it means they are unrivaled in that domain. They can take everything — the market, the merchants, the buyers, everything.”

Ye Tianming’s brow furrowed deeply.

Old Yang glanced at him and said meaningfully, “What does it mean to define something? When you stand at the pinnacle of the Dao, you’ll find that every word you speak becomes a definition — every casual remark becomes the supreme truth of heaven and earth. So don’t ever keep your eyes on what’s right in front of you. Look further, further still.”

After a moment of silence, Ye Tianming said, “This is the deeper logic by which this world operates.”

Old Yang laughed heartily. Talking to smart people was just so satisfying — one hint and they got it.

Ye Tianming glanced at Old Yang. He understood — once you walked the path of the Dao, there was no retreat, no desire to retreat, and no willingness to retreat. Because anyone who had come this far was surely someone who wanted to reach the very end of the Dao.

No retreat meant you had to fight!

In truth, he, Ye Tianming, had already begun to fight.

Old Yang smiled, “Young friend Ye, I have some history with the Divine Path Sect, so I’ve brought you here to cultivate. You’re welcome to come here to train whenever you like.”

Ye Tianming said, “I owe Senior a favor.”

Old Yang waved his hand, “What favor? It’s a small thing.”

Ye Tianming suddenly said, “Senior, have you had dealings with the older generation of the Yang family?”

Old Yang said, “I have.”

He looked at Ye Tianming, “Why?”

Ye Tianming said, “After I finish cultivating, I’d like to visit the Guanxuan Academy.”

Old Yang’s eyes narrowed slightly, “Looking for Yang Jia?”

Ye Tianming shook his head, “Just to take a look at the Guanxuan Academy — to see the place said to be the finest academy in this part of the universe.”

He looked at Old Yang, “Would Senior like to come along?”

Old Yang blinked, “Can I say no?”

Ye Tianming said, “Is Senior afraid?”

“Afraid of what!”

Old Yang said, “Aside from Yang Ye, the rest of the Yang family trying to kill me……is not going to be that easy!”