Chapter 209

Chapter 209: Setting Affairs in Order!

Fomozone.

Night, the sky filled with countless stars.

Ye Tianming and Canghan sat on the stone steps, as he was teaching her to read.

Ever since what happened last time, Canghan had become far more eager about reading than before, and her personality had also changed — she had matured considerably.

Ye Tianming worried that the incident might have left a mark on her, so he had been keeping her company all along. Fortunately, from what he could see so far, aside from becoming more composed, she showed no other signs of trouble.

Canghan suddenly said, “Teacher, I want to cultivate too.”

Ye Tianming turned to look at her, and Canghan said timidly, “Is that okay?”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Of course it is.”

Canghan looked up at him, her eyes lighting up, “Really?”

Ye Tianming nodded, “From now on I’ll not only teach you to read, but also teach you to cultivate. How does that sound?”

Canghan nodded eagerly, “Great!”

Ye Tianming smiled.

Canghan smiled sweetly, then hesitated for a moment before quietly resting her head on Ye Tianming’s shoulder. In that instant, her heart began pounding wildly like a startled deer, so nervous she could barely stand it — but when she saw that Ye Tianming didn’t object, she let out a long breath of relief, then nestled her head a little closer against his shoulder.

A moment later, Canghan suddenly said softly, “Teacher, I’ve been having dreams lately.”

Ye Tianming asked with some curiosity, “Dreams?”

Canghan gave a slight nod and said quietly, “The dream is really frightening.”

Ye Tianming asked, “What kind of dream?”

Canghan said softly, “In the dream, there’s a huge stone stele, and all around it are corpses, and blood everywhere…….”

Ye Tianming’s brow furrowed. Seeing the fear on Canghan’s face, he smiled gently and said in a soft voice, “Don’t be afraid, your teacher is here.”

Canghan gazed at him for a long moment, then lowered her head and leaned against him.

After a long while, Canghan drifted off to sleep leaning gently on Ye Tianming’s shoulder. He carried her to her room and tucked the blanket over her, and when he stepped back outside, he happened to come across Jidian.

Jidian looked at him without saying a word.

Ye Tianming smiled slightly, “Want to talk?”

Jidian stared at him, “Since you want to talk, then let’s talk.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Let’s walk and talk.”

With that, he headed off into the distance.

Jidian followed.

The Fomozone had returned to how it looked when he first arrived — utterly desolate. Nearly everyone had left, afraid of retaliation from Guanxuan Domain.

Ye Tianming suddenly said, “Brother Dian, can you tell me more about yourself?”

Jidian’s face was expressionless, “There’s nothing worth saying.”

Ye Tianming turned to look at Jidian, “Brother Dian, when you were young, did you ever lose?”

Jidian said proudly, “Of course not. When I was young, not only those of my own generation, even the prodigies of the generation above mine were no match for me.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Was this your first time losing?”

Jidian’s brow immediately furrowed.

Ye Tianming said, “Your dao heart wasn’t shattered by the Yang family. You shattered it yourself.”

Jidian stared hard at Ye Tianming and said nothing.

Ye Tianming continued, “You cannot accept your own defeat. Because of that, a heart demon has already taken root deep within you. If you want to reform your dao heart, there is only one path — face your own heart directly, face your defeat directly, and acknowledge it. A person who dares not face their own heart and dares not acknowledge their own failure…….”

With that, he looked at Jidian, “Brother Dian, defeat is not frightening. What is frightening is lacking the courage to start over. Don’t dwell in your failure — acknowledge it. Once you pass that barrier of the heart, your dao heart will surely reform.”

Having said that, he turned and walked away.

Jidian stood there in silence.

After a long while, his eyes slowly closed.

Defeat!

The truth was, it wasn’t that he couldn’t accept losing — he simply could not accept being defeated by a sword!

A sword!

It had to be said, the blow this dealt him was truly immense.

A single sword had defeated him, the young clan chief of the Ji clan.

How could someone as proud as him ever accept that?

But —

Was he really going to keep tying himself in knots like this forever?

As Ye Tianming had said, look inward, acknowledge the defeat — was that really so hard?

Jidian suddenly laughed. Indeed, he had been tying himself in knots all this time, yet never once stopped to ask himself why he had lost.

Wasn’t it simply that he wasn’t strong enough?

If he wasn’t strong enough, then he just had to work hard and get stronger.

How simple was that?

And yet he had needed someone else to come and remind him of it.

He really was quite foolish.

Jidian laughed loudly, “I, Jidian, have lost — lost to a sword wielded by someone called Yang Ye. But…….”

As he said this, his gaze suddenly became more resolute than it had ever been, “Yang Ye, just you wait. I, Jidian, swear upon my future great dao — the day will come when I break your sword and snap your spine. You just wait for me!!”

He, Jidian, would not only acknowledge his defeat — he would get back up from exactly where he had fallen.

Yang Ye?

Damn it, he was going to go after him for the rest of his life.

And in this moment, his dao heart began to reform.

Seeing his dao heart reform, he became even more certain of his resolve. Damn it, he was going to destroy that person called Yang Ye.

From now on, that would be one small goal on his, Jidian’s, future great dao.

Before long, Jidian returned to his room and began writing a letter.

After Ye Tianming returned to his room, he still did not cultivate. Instead, he took out his senior brother’s book and began reading. He had been reading it every day during this period, and it had to be said, the book was filled from cover to cover with all manner of profound principles.

The principles were vast — so vast they seemed almost beyond reach, like this line: “To establish the heart of heaven and earth, to secure the livelihood of the people, to carry on the lost teachings of the sages, and to open an era of peace for all generations.”

These four lines were concise yet profound, extraordinary in meaning.

But to truly realize them — how difficult would that be?

Yet Ye Tianming thought differently. What if all these great principles in the book could actually be realized?

Moreover, he also realized that the great principles in this book were in fact each a person’s guiding philosophy of the great dao.

Each line was a kind of belief.

It had to be said, he was beginning to look forward to meeting his senior uncle.

He very much wanted to have a conversation with this person.

Bang bang bang!

Just then, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Ye Tianming put away the book, turned, and walked to the door. He opened it — it was Old Yang.

Old Yang smiled, “Still reading?”

Ye Tianming nodded, “Yes. Please come in, senior.”

With that, he invited Old Yang into the room.

After Old Yang sat down, he smiled and said, “Tomorrow is the Universe Grand Tournament, and you still have the mood to read.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Nothing else to do, so I figured I’d read a bit more.”

Old Yang nodded, “Reading more is a good thing, a very good thing. But…….”

He paused, then smiled, “Never mind, I didn’t come here to lecture you. I came to remind you — tomorrow is the martial dao tournament. Honestly, are you confident?”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Senior, do you want me to win, or not?”

Old Yang stared at him, “You’re smart, you should know — if you lose, lose appropriately, and you’ll certainly survive. Yang Jia will want to show his benevolence, he definitely won’t kill you. But if you win tomorrow…….”

His expression darkened as he said this.

Ye Tianming said, “What then?”

Old Yang shook his head, “I don’t know. This generation plays a bit dirty, so I can’t say for certain.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “We’ll know tomorrow.”

Old Yang glanced at him and nodded, “Indeed, we’ll know tomorrow.”

Ye Tianming said, “Senior, there’s something I’d like to ask of you — I’m not sure if it’s convenient.”

Old Yang smiled, “You’re actually asking something of me? Go on, go on, I’m genuinely curious.”

Ye Tianming said, “It’s like this — tomorrow I’ll be going to the martial dao tournament, and Canghan will be the only one left at Fomozone. If I don’t come back, could you take her with you and find her a good home with a kind family?”

Old Yang looked at him, the smile on his face gradually fading.

He was settling his affairs.

Ye Tianming said earnestly, “Senior, is that possible?”

After a moment of silence, Old Yang said, “It is.”

Ye Tianming rose and bowed deeply, then added, “Besides Canghan, there is also Jiang Zuo. I hope you can find a way forward for him as well.”

Old Yang nodded, “Understood.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Thank you.”

A flicker of complex emotion passed through Old Yang’s eyes, “Whatever happens, stay alive.”

Ye Tianming nodded, “I’ll do my best.”

Old Yang let out a quiet sigh, turned, and left.

Once outside, Old Yang looked up at the bright moon on the horizon. After a long silence, he said softly, “It’s been… a bit cruel to him.”

With that, he sighed once more, then strode away and disappeared into the distance.

That night, the light in Ye Tianming’s room burned bright until dawn.

As the sky began to lighten, the door to Ye Tianming’s room opened and he stepped out. Today he was not wearing his plain robe — instead, he wore a cultivator’s robe.

He had only taken a couple of steps when he stopped. Not far away, Canghan was standing there looking at him.

Ye Tianming was slightly taken aback, then smiled, “You’re up?”

Canghan said firmly, “I want to go and watch.”

Ye Tianming was silent.

Canghan pleaded, “Please?”

Ye Tianming thought for a moment, then smiled, “Alright.”

Canghan immediately broke into a smile. She ran up to Ye Tianming and grabbed his arm.

Ye Tianming looked into the distance, where Jiang Zuo was also standing.

Ye Tianming smiled, “You’re coming too?”

Jiang Zuo shook his head and said, “The sect can’t be left without anyone. I’ll wait here for the sect master to return.”

Ye Tianming smiled, “Alright.”

With that, he took Canghan’s hand and walked off into the distance.

“Hey!”

Just then, a voice suddenly came from nearby.

Ye Tianming turned to look — it was Jidian.

Jidian looked at him, “I happen to be heading to Guanxuan Domain as well. Same direction.”

Ye Tianming nodded, “Alright.”

“Same direction for me too.”

Just then, Old Yang also appeared on the scene. Today he was wearing a fresh light-blue daoist robe, brand new.

Ye Tianming looked at Old Yang, who smiled and said, “Let’s go!”

Ye Tianming thought for a moment, then nodded, “Alright.”

With that, he took Canghan’s hand and walked off into the distance. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped and turned to look back at Jiang Zuo, who stood at the entrance of the main hall watching him.

Ye Tianming smiled, “If I don’t come back……. don’t wait.”

With that, he took Canghan’s hand, transformed into a streak of sword light, and shot into the sky, vanishing at the edge of the horizon in the blink of an eye.

Behind him, Jiang Zuo watched the streak of light disappear and said softly, “As long as the sect master has not returned, I will not leave.”