Chapter 173

Chapter 173: Parents!

“Please stop.“

It was Zou Ru who suddenly spoke up.

Ye Tianming looked over at Zou Ru， who cupped his fists and said solemnly，“I was blind just now.“

Ye Tianming said，“I was just passing by.“

Zou Ru said in a low voice，“Sir， this woman’s background is no simple matter. She comes from the demonic path lineage， and moreover， she is the direct disciple of the current Wu Hall Master of that lineage.“

Ye Tianming shook his head，“Never heard of them.“

With that， he turned and walked away.

Zou Ru added，“The demonic path lineage is what used to be called the Buddha-Demon Sect…….“

Ye Tianming stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Zou Ru，“The Buddha-Demon Sect?“

Zou Ru nodded，“That’s right， and I am also from the Buddha-Demon Sect.“

Ye Tianming was somewhat surprised，“You’re from the Buddha-Demon Sect too?“

Zou Ru smiled，“Indeed. I am the Sect Head of the Wen Academy within the Buddha-Demon Sect’s Seventy-Two Academies.“

Ye Tianming furrowed his brow，“Is the Buddha-Demon Sect in a civil war right now?“

Zou Ru smiled bitterly，“Not just now— the civil war started a long time ago. Ever since the previous Sect Master， the Demon Monk， disappeared， our Buddha-Demon Sect has been fragmented and torn apart. The civil war has been going on since then. Now the three great halls and the various academies all govern themselves independently， and everyone fights and kills each other every day over territory.“

Ye Tianming fell silent. Sure enough， that senior had left him quite a mess to deal with.

Ye Tianming looked at Zou Ru，“Where is the Buddha-Demon Sect’s headquarters?“

Zou Ru seemed puzzled，“Sir， you……“

Ye Tianming opened his palm， and the Buddha-Demon Divine Seal appeared in his hand. The moment Zou Ru saw it， his expression changed drastically. He said in shock，“You…… how did this seal end up in your hands?“

Ye Tianming briefly explained what had happened in the Blood Moon Secret Realm.

After hearing Ye Tianming’s account， Zou Ru was stunned for a long while before saying，“The Sect Master has already fallen?“

Ye Tianming nodded.

Zou Ru’s expression darkened， and he let out a deep sigh. Then， as if thinking of something， he looked at Ye Tianming again，“You…… you are the Sect Master.“

Ye Tianming looked at Zou Ru，“Do you acknowledge me as your Sect Master?“

Ye Tianming’s tone was calm， but Zou Ru’s expression shifted. He had no doubt that if he said no， he would likely lose his head on the spot.

To acknowledge or not to acknowledge?

Zou Ru was actually somewhat hesitant.

After all， the Buddha-Demon Sect had been scattered for so many years， and the Wen Academy could be considered independent now. He had absolute authority within the Wen Academy， and acknowledging Ye Tianming would mean submitting and being subject to someone else’s control.

Seeing Zou Ru hesitate， Ye Tianming said nothing more and simply turned to leave.

“Wait!“

Zou Ru called out hastily.

Ye Tianming turned to look at Zou Ru， who took a deep breath and bowed respectfully，“Your subordinate Zou Ru pays respects to the Sect Master.“

In the end， he decided to acknowledge him. The young man before him possessed terrifyingly formidable strength， and he also held the Buddha-Demon Divine Seal. Instinct told him that this young man’s future would be extraordinary.

Someone like Zou Ru had limited talent and ability. Only by attaching himself to another could he hope to achieve anything. As the saying goes，“A blowfly can only fly a few steps on its own， but if it clings to the tail of a fine steed， it can travel a thousand li.“

Ye Tianming said，“Take me to the Buddha-Demon Sect’s headquarters.“

Zou Ru smiled bitterly，“Sect Master， the current headquarters of the Buddha-Demon Sect……“

Ye Tianming asked，“What about it?“

Zou Ru let out a quiet sigh，“It’s hard to put into words.“

Ye Tianming said，“I’m mentally prepared. Take me there.“

Zou Ru nodded，“Alright.“

Zou Ru led Ye Tianming away. Along the way， Ye Tianming asked Zou Ru many questions， all about the real world.

By now， he had gained some understanding of the real world.

The origin of the real world traced back to the True Reality Era， a hundred billion years ago. At that time， a supremely powerful figure emerged in the real world— the Lord of True Reality— recorded as the first person to ever “comprehend the true intent and behold the true self，“ and the peerless powerhouse who single-handedly created the real world.

Moreover， this Lord of True Reality was also the first known powerhouse in the real world to have reached the Circle-Drawing realm.

Roughly twenty billion years after the True Reality Era， following the disappearance of the Lord of True Reality， the real world fell into a period of chaos. Before long， it entered the Ancient Sage Era. The Ancient Sage Era had three supreme powerhouses— the Three Sages of Ancient Wisdom— the three strongest individuals after the Lord of True Reality， all of whom had reached the Circle-Drawing realm.

After the Three Sages of Ancient Wisdom established the Ancient Sage Sect， it became the supreme hegemon of the real world， ruling over it for hundreds of billions of years.

But as the Three Sages disappeared， the Ancient Sage Sect began to gradually decline. The world then entered the Divine Path Era. The master of the Divine Path Era， the Divine Path Lord， became the fifth top-tier powerhouse to reach the Circle-Drawing realm. This Divine Path Lord founded the Divine Path Gate and pioneered a new cultivation system. Most terrifyingly， this Divine Path Lord had nine supreme powerhouses under his command， all of whom had once established their own paths and been revered as patriarchs.

Not only that， the Divine Path Lord of the Divine Path Gate also established many great path rules— namely， severing the real world from all other cosmic worlds， completely cutting off any connection between them from that point on.

Yet the Divine Path Gate lasted only a little over thirty billion years， and this once supremely glorious force also began to decline after the Divine Path Lord went into seclusion.

After the Divine Path Era came the current Heavenly Path Era. The first-generation Heavenly Path Lord burst onto the scene， forcibly suppressing all major factions with an invincible might， establishing the Celestial Heavenly Court， and reestablishing order.

Worth mentioning is that among all these eras， there was a peerless powerhouse known as the Martial Ancestor， who created the Invincible Fist.

This person once swept through countless powerhouses of the real world with invincible might， including the Ancient Sage Sect of that time. Although the Three Sages of Ancient Wisdom were no longer present， the Ancient Sage Sect had not completely fallen— it was still the cosmic hegemon of that era.

And yet they were still ruthlessly suppressed.

Later， for reasons unknown， the Martial Ancestor also vanished without a trace.

After learning about the real world’s past history， Ye Tianming also asked about the current state of the real world.

At present， the real world had four supreme factions: the Heavenly Court， the Divine Temple， the Profound Observation Domain， and the Guixu Palace.

Below the four supreme factions were the Ancient Sage Sect， the Divine Path Gate， the Blood Moon Pavilion， and the Buddha-Demon Sect.

Strictly speaking， the Buddha-Demon Sect could no longer be considered part of the second tier.

Because the Buddha-Demon Sect was now completely fragmented. But at its peak， it had been a first-tier force— one that could even contend with the Heavenly Court of that time. Worth noting is that the founder of the Divine Temple had originally come from the Buddha-Demon Sect， which gives some idea of just how powerful the Buddha-Demon Sect once was.

Unfortunately， when the Buddha-Demon Sect competed with the Celestial Heavenly Court for the era’s fortune， it lost. As a result， the Heavenly Path Era came to be， while the Buddha-Demon Sect never recovered and continued to decline.

Ye Tianming suddenly grew curious，“What kind of world is the Myriad Worlds?“

Zou Ru shook his head，“I don’t know much about the Myriad Worlds either. I only know it’s a rather special world that later signed an ‘Old Covenant’ with the universes below and our real world— essentially a non-aggression pact. Beyond that， I’m not familiar with the details.“

The Myriad Worlds!

Ye Tianming nodded and asked nothing more.

Zou Ru looked at Ye Tianming，“Sect Master， what are your plans going forward?“

Ye Tianming said，“Reorganize the Buddha-Demon Sect.“

Zou Ru said in a low voice，“Sect Master， that may be quite difficult. Right now， the three great halls and the various academies within the sect all govern themselves independently. Getting them to submit will be very， very hard.“

Ye Tianming said，“I heard from that senior monk that having the Buddha-Demon Seal allows one to open the Buddha-Demon Path. Is that correct?“

The Buddha-Demon Path!

Zou Ru’s eyes immediately lit up，“Sect Master， that’s right. The Buddha-Demon Path is our Buddha-Demon Sect’s sacred cultivation ground. If you were to open it， it would certainly attract quite a few people…….“

As he said this， he seemed to think of something， and his brow furrowed again，“But…….“

Ye Tianming said，“People will try to seize it， right?“

Zou Ru nodded，“The Buddha-Demon Divine Seal doesn’t just open the Buddha-Demon Path— it also contains the inheritance of our Buddha-Demon Sect. So everyone will certainly have their own ideas about it.“

Ye Tianming said，“It’s fine.“

Zou Ru glanced at Ye Tianming and said nothing more. Although the young Sect Master before him was only at the Immortal realm， he had just killed a Circle-Breaking realm powerhouse in an instant— and with ease at that.

Outrageous!

Of course， that was also why he had chosen to submit.

Before long， the two arrived at the Buddha-Demon Sect’s headquarters. The headquarters was situated on a grand and imposing mountain that stood upon the earth like a sharp sword， its peak soaring into the clouds， with hundreds of magnificent halls built upon it.

Ye Tianming arrived at the mountain gate. The gate was still quite grand in appearance， but it was already covered in rust， with weeds growing all around it. Clearly， this place had been abandoned for quite some time.

Beside him， Zou Ru looked at the scene before him and couldn’t help but feel a wave of emotion.“Our Buddha-Demon Sect was once supremely glorious. The previous Sect Master was full of ambition， determined to lead us back to our former glory. But unfortunately， he suddenly disappeared， and that disappearance lasted a thousand years. For a thousand years， our Buddha-Demon Sect had no leader， and we fell to this state……“

With that， he sighed again.

Ye Tianming said nothing. He walked toward the distance， and after ascending the long stone stairway， he reached a great hall at the end. All along the way， this place was utterly desolate— not a single person， not even an animal in sight.

At that moment， a young figure suddenly walked out from inside the hall. The youth appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old， dressed in plain cloth shirt and trousers， wearing a hat full of patches， and carrying a large basin filled to the brim with food.

Though the appearance was that of a young boy， it was actually a girl. She stared with wide， curious eyes at Ye Tianming and Zou Ru.

Zou Ru asked，“Who are you?“

The girl was somewhat guarded and shot back，“Who are you? This place is mine.“

Zou Ru smiled，“Yours?“

The girl immediately nodded， though her voice lacked confidence，“Yes.“

Ye Tianming suddenly said，“Wen Academy Sect Head， go notify the people of your Wen Academy and have them come here.“

Zou Ru nodded，“Alright.“

With that， he turned and left.

Ye Tianming walked toward the inside of the hall. The girl hesitated for a moment， then said，“You……. who are you?“

Ye Tianming smiled，“I’m the new Sect Master.“

Sect Master!

The little girl blinked，“Are you going to drive me away? I…… I have nowhere else to go. I….. I can do laundry and cook， and I can farm too…… I can do lots and lots of things…….“

Ye Tianming looked at her and smiled，“What a coincidence. As it happens， I have nowhere to go either.“

With that， he took the little girl’s hand and walked into the hall，“From now on， this place is home for both of us.“

The little girl asked curiously，“You don’t have a home either?“

Ye Tianming nodded.

The little girl asked，“What about family?“

Ye Tianming said，“All dead.“

The little girl asked，“What about your parents?“

Ye Tianming said，“I have no parents…….“

The little girl said，“Did they not want you?“

Ye Tianming said，“I never had…… parents!“