Chapter 185

Chapter 185: Establishing the Dao in One Step!

The elder in white robes was somewhat surprised. “You joined the Buddha-Demon Sect?”

Ye Tianming nodded. “Yes.”

The elder in white robes thought for a moment, then said, “Compared to the Buddha-Demon Sect, you’re actually better suited for our Guzhe Sect. However, it wouldn’t be very ethical to ask you to join right now. How about this — let’s set the matter aside for now and revisit it later.”

Ye Tianming nodded. “Senior, I won’t hide it from you — I came here because I have something I’d like to ask.”

The elder in white robes smiled. “Go ahead.”

Ye Tianming explained his idea of drawing a boundary between good and evil.

After hearing him out, the elder in white robes fell silent once again.

A philosophical ideal!

He hadn’t expected that the young man before him had already formed his own Great Dao ideal.

At this moment, even someone with his extraordinary composure couldn’t help but want to curse.

Were the later generations of Guzhe Sect completely blind?

After the three of them, Guzhe Sect had begun to decline. Later it was surpassed by the Heavenly Court, and while the sect still existed today, its influence was nothing like it once was.

What was the core reason?

No worthy successors!

In any era, talent is the most important thing.

And now, Guzhe Sect had finally encountered one — only to be turned away by their own later generations.

This was essentially cutting off Guzhe Sect’s Great Dao fortune!

And it was done by their own people, no less.

The elder in white robes reined in his thoughts and looked at Ye Tianming with a smile. “Drawing a boundary between good and evil is the same as defining truth. It’s something that benefits all living beings — truly remarkable.”

Ye Tianming smiled. “For all living beings, and for myself.”

The elder in white robes chuckled. “No conflict there. Follow me.”

With that, he rose and walked away.

Soon, the elder in white robes led Ye Tianming into an ancient city — an ordinary city, and surprisingly, none of its inhabitants were cultivators.

Along the way, quite a few people looked at them with curiosity.

Ye Tianming was also curiously taking in his surroundings. He wasn’t sure where this place was, but upon closer inspection, there truly wasn’t a single cultivator in the entire city.

After a while, the elder in white robes said, “What is good? What is evil? The two are inherently one. To distinguish between them, one must use the ‘heart’.”

Ye Tianming looked at the elder. “The heart?”

The elder nodded. “There’s someone who may be able to give you an answer.”

Soon, he led Ye Tianming to a monastery. In front of it, a dense crowd of people knelt in devout prayer, hands pressed together, murmuring something with utmost sincerity.

Ye Tianming watched the kneeling crowd in silence, but felt a faint sense of aversion in his heart — for the world was full of charlatans who exploited ordinary people for their own gain.

The elder in white robes glanced at the kneeling crowd and said softly, “Among ordinary people, there is a kind of silent, resigned sorrow… They live in this world facing not only the hardships of life, but also the torment of their own inner convictions — especially the kind-hearted ones. They want to do good, but get taken advantage of. They consider doing wrong, but their conscience won’t allow it…”

He then looked at Ye Tianming. “They suffer — and not just in their daily lives, but in their souls as well.”

Ye Tianming fell silent. This very question had been troubling him too — it was the reason he had come here.

Just then, the great doors in the distance suddenly swung open. An elderly man, supported by a boy of about ten, slowly walked out. The elder wore a simple monk’s robe, his frame gaunt and frail, looking incredibly aged — yet his eyes radiated kindness.

The moment the monk elder appeared, everyone in the crowd bowed down in reverence, their devotion genuine and heartfelt.

Ye Tianming’s gaze also fell on the monk elder. He studied the old man’s robe, and his brow furrowed slightly — the garment looked similar to one his teacher had once worn.

The monk elder coughed a few times. His gaze then settled on a woman not far away. Her eyes were filled with fear, but the moment she saw him looking, hope ignited within them. She wanted to approach him, yet seemed afraid of something, and instead kowtowed repeatedly, not daring to meet his eyes.

The monk elder said gently, “Come here.”

The woman knew he was calling for her and immediately crawled forward, but still didn’t dare to look up at him.

The monk elder looked at her with warmth. “What is it?”

The woman kowtowed respectfully to the monk elder, then said in a low voice, “Elder, I have committed a sin. I… am in such pain.”

With that, she kowtowed again heavily.

The monk elder said in a gentle tone, “There’s no rush. Tell me slowly.”

“I’ve been a widow for over two years.”

The woman said quietly, “After I married, I had a child, but life was extremely hard. My husband liked to drink, and when he drank, he would beat both the child and me. Look, look…”

She gently lifted her clothing to reveal her abdomen, which was covered in scars as thick as a thumb. She then rolled up her trouser leg to show skin riddled with burn scars.

The woman said fearfully, “Later, he fell ill and was bedridden. I thought to myself — if he recovered, what would become of me? What would become of my poor child? I couldn’t hold back. I… I…”

“Wait.”

The elder suddenly leaned down beside her, bringing his ear close. She continued in a whisper, and what followed could only be heard by the two of them — no one else nearby could make it out.

Ye Tianming and the elder in white robes could naturally hear everything.

When the woman finished, she covered her face with both hands and wept. “Elder… I am an evil person, I truly am an evil person… They always talk about karma. I… will be punished, won’t I? The gods will punish me, right?”

The monk elder suddenly took her hands in his and said kindly, “No, they won’t. Karmic retribution only takes effect on evil people. You are a kind person — a truly kind person will not suffer evil retribution. There is no god in this world so unreasonable as that. And if there were, it would not be your fault — it would be the god’s fault.”

He gently patted the woman’s hands. “A truly good god must be kind, just as you are. A kind god will embrace everything. The one who hurt you is gone — forgive him everything in your heart, and truly make peace with him. Time can wash away not only your sins, but the sins of others as well… Go now. Live well, and slowly let go of everything that has passed…”

The woman looked at the robed monk, her voice trembling. “Elder, will I truly face no retribution?”

The monk elder smiled. “You won’t. Remember this — we must not only be kind to others, but also to ourselves. Do not be harsh on yourself. Even if circumstances beyond your control led you to make a mistake, learn to forgive yourself. Of course, all of this is premised on you being a truly kind person — and you are. So the gods will embrace you and forgive you… and you should embrace and forgive yourself as well.”

The woman suddenly kowtowed deeply. “Elder, I believe you. I believe you — for there is no one in this world kinder or better than you. Rest assured, I will no longer be afraid, no longer be in pain. I will take good care of my child. I will live well…”

With that, she kowtowed once more, then rose and walked away.

Unlike before, her face now held no trace of the fear that had been there — only relief. True relief.

“I understand now!”

Not far away, Ye Tianming watched the woman walk away and said softly, “Drawing a boundary between good and evil… is about freeing kind people from fear, letting their conscience be at peace, and freeing them from suffering…”

In that moment, everything that had puzzled him before became crystal clear, and a sense of enlightenment unlike anything he had ever felt surged through his heart.

His Dao had become clear.

Suddenly, the space-time above his head cracked open, and a beam of white light poured down like a waterfall, enveloping him completely.

And deep within that rift in space-time lay a vast and unknown universe — and within that entire universe, there stood only a single towering stone stele, ten thousand zhang tall!

Upon that stele were inscribed the Great Daos, one after another.

Then, at the blank space at the very end of the stele, a line of characters suddenly appeared: Great Dao of Boundaries. Dao Founder: Ye Tianming.

Boom!

Ye Tianming’s aura surged directly from the Immortal Realm to the Dao Founding Realm.

One step to found a Dao!

But in the next moment, his realm’s aura began to plummet wildly — clearly, some force was refusing to allow him to found a Dao in a single step.

Because this was simply too defiant of heaven!

At that moment, the elder in white robes beside Ye Tianming smiled. He knew — the moment for Guzhe Sect to shine had arrived.

The elder in white robes raised his head and looked toward the depths of that boundless universe. “For this person’s Great Dao, our Guzhe Sect is willing to pledge all of our sect’s Great Dao fortune as his guarantee. Should he ever betray the original heart of his Dao in the future, Guzhe Sect is willing to be destroyed alongside him!”

Pledging the entire sect’s Great Dao fortune as guarantee.

Unprecedented.

That silent, starry universe remained still for a long while — then suddenly, a mysterious force gradually dissipated. Ye Tianming’s aura began to slowly recover, but with every increment it rose, Guzhe Sect’s fortune fell by the same measure. By the time Ye Tianming’s aura settled at the Dao Founding Realm, Guzhe Sect’s fortune had dropped to its lowest point.

Only 1 remained.

The elder in white robes fell silent.

The Great Dao Stele had forcibly absorbed all of Guzhe Sect’s Great Dao fortune… This meant that it did not trust Ye Tianming to uphold the original heart of his Dao, nor did it believe that the Dao Ye Tianming had founded could truly be “anchored.”

The most terrifying thing after founding a Dao was anchoring one’s “Dao” in place — countless gifted prodigies throughout the ages had perished at this very step.

In other words, the Great Dao Stele had absolutely no faith that Ye Tianming could hold to his original heart and anchor his Dao.

But that was understandable… For while many people throughout history had established a Great Dao, very few had truly managed to uphold their original heart all the way to the end — especially with a Dao like Ye Tianming’s. One thought toward good, one thought toward evil — the boundary between good and evil was inherently blurry and difficult to discern.

And Ye Tianming was still so young!

But soon, the elder in white robes smiled — because he believed in Ye Tianming. He felt that this young man’s future achievements would surely not stop here. And of course, what made him even happier was that Guzhe Sect had finally found an opportunity to make this fellow owe them an enormous debt of gratitude.

In the real world.

The entire Guzhe Sect suddenly went into an uproar.

Because every powerful member of this generation of Guzhe Sect could feel that their sect’s fortune had vanished.

“What the hell!”

Deep within Guzhe Sect, a furious roar suddenly rang out. “Who was it! Who was it! Who was it! Which son of a bitch struck from the shadows and cut off Guzhe Sect’s fortune… If you’ve got the guts, come out and face me one on one!!”