The system watched as dense resentment seeped from every inch of Ling Tianwei's body, evil intent shooting skyward, while Killing Intent spread through the air.
With such a sight, coupled with all the various spell arts he cultivated, the system only wanted to say: wasn't this crooked enough already? It had no idea just how far off the path he had gone.
The system truly could not understand what had given him such confidence. Most importantly, there was indeed nowhere it could find to refute that confidence.
Just as the system was considering how to respond, the cave dwelling trembled slightly. Bai Muxu, who seemed to have finished dealing with matters at the combat platform, appeared outside the dwelling.
Sensing Bai Muxu's arrival, Ling Tianwei no longer had the mood to keep wrangling with the system.
Outside, Bai Muxu looked into the cave dwelling at Ling Tianwei and was likewise startled by the Dao Intent emanating from him.
"Four kinds?"
That was right. At this moment, Bai Muxu could already sense with his divine sense that another strand of Dao Intent had appeared on Ling Tianwei's body.
Bai Muxu had not expected that Ling Tianwei would comprehend another type of Dao Intent in such a short time.
Bai Muxu still remembered that although he had comprehended Dao Intent during the Foundation Establishment Realm, he had comprehended only one kind.
Yet the Dao Intents Ling Tianwei had comprehended were still rather strange: death, resentment, slaughter, evil...
For a moment, Bai Muxu fell silent. Looking at the aura radiating from Ling Tianwei's body, if he had not known that Ling Tianwei's Dao Intents had been comprehended amid the torment of foul resentment qi, he would have thought Ling Tianwei some great demon walking the world.
"Master."
Seeing Bai Muxu arrive, Ling Tianwei stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Tianwei, you truly are a genius. I never expected that in such a short time, you would comprehend another kind of Dao Intent."
Bai Muxu did not stint on the praise Ling Tianwei deserved.
"This is all thanks to Master's guidance."
Naturally, Ling Tianwei knew how to tend to others' feelings. How could he not know how talented he was?
After saying that, he even gave the system a poke with his thoughts, as if saying, System, just look at yourself. You have eyes but cannot recognize a pearl.
Seeing Ling Tianwei's little maneuver, the system was utterly speechless and could only burrow deep into his consciousness.
"Speaking of which, I watched your battle at the combat platform today."
"Your talent is indeed extremely high, and your understanding of spell arts is exceptionally strong. But like that fellow from Baiyuan Sacred Land, your methods are far too mixed and jumbled."
Bai Muxu looked at Ling Tianwei and voiced what he had observed at the combat platform.
"I ask Master to enlighten me."
Hearing this, Ling Tianwei could not help asking.
"You have too many spell arts, and they are far too muddled. Though your spiritual power is sufficient, you were unable to subdue Yuan Xixiao in a short time."
"You have also read the Immortal Art. Aside from the basic cultivation methods that increase your cultivation, it contains several spell arts derived from it."
"Have you noticed that before cultivating those spell arts, one must first cultivate many elementary spell arts?"
Seeing Ling Tianwei's humble appearance, Bai Muxu nodded lightly and looked at him as he asked once more.
"Indeed. The contents of this Immortal Art are extremely extensive, especially the sections on spell arts."
At Bai Muxu's mention, Ling Tianwei could not help recalling it.
"I gave you the Compendium of Spell Arts and had you cultivate all kinds of spell arts not merely so you could practice them simply, but because..."
Seeing Ling Tianwei deep in thought, Bai Muxu understood that it was time to fulfill his duty as a master. But before he could finish—
Bai Muxu saw Li Tianwei raise his head. His thoughtful expression had already become one of sudden understanding.
"Master, I know why. Spell structures—the elementary spell arts and the various spell arts within the Immortal Art all come from the same source. Yet through constant layering, they form stronger spell arts."
"What you mean, Master, is that I should discard these jumbled spell arts and directly build spell structures, creating spell arts that belong to myself, right?"
Li Tianwei spoke with an enlightened expression.
As for Bai Muxu, he froze in place, staring at Li Tianwei with disbelief in his eyes, as though asking, How did you know?
For a moment, Bai Muxu opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize that Li Tianwei had said exactly what he himself had been about to say.
At that moment, Bai Muxu had the strange illusion that perhaps having a disciple who was too clever was not such a good thing.
"That's right. That is exactly what I meant."
Bai Muxu struggled for a moment. Since his words had been snatched away, he could only follow along.
"Master, I know what to do."
Li Tianwei had not merely guessed it blindly. During the battle on the combat platform, he had already discovered this issue. He clearly had faster means to defeat Yuan Xixiao, yet the combined power of all those spell arts still fell short.
After Bai Muxu pointed out the problem, Li Tianwei saw the answer. His thoughts suddenly flowed as smoothly as a clear stream.
"Good. Very good."
Bai Muxu nodded in satisfaction.
At this moment, Li Tianwei recalled the system's earlier mockery. It had actually dared say that his path had gone crooked. The system might have suffered some data corruption, but Bai Muxu was the peak master of a Sacred Land and a righteous great sect, a cultivator from a sect so upright it could not be more upright. Moreover, everything he had learned came from the various methods Bai Muxu had given him. Whether his path was crooked or not, Bai Muxu would know best.
Thus, Li Tianwei directly asked.
"By the way, Master, I would like to ask something. How is my current path of cultivation?"
Bai Muxu had not expected Ling Tianwei to ask that.
He immediately raised his head and swept Ling Tianwei with his divine sense several times, sensing the power within his body and recalling the various spell arts he had previously used.
This was awkward. For a time, Bai Muxu did not know what to say.
After all, Ling Tianwei's situation did indeed look somewhat wrong. Whether it was the Dao Intents he had comprehended or those sinister spell arts, they were things only demonic cultivators and demon lords would do.
Yet Ling Tianwei's eyes bore none of the murkiness of those demonic cultivators. They were exceptionally clear, utterly unaffected.
In truth, Bai Muxu had wanted to say that there really was a slight problem.
But upon thinking carefully, what problem was there? Besides, this was his own disciple, who had cultivated for only such a short time. If he said Ling Tianwei truly had a problem, would that not make it seem as though Bai Muxu himself had failed to teach his disciple properly?
With that thought, Bai Muxu stepped forward and patted Ling Tianwei on the shoulder.
"Disciple, what you cultivate is the Immortal Art of the Heavenly Origin Immortal Venerable, and your spell arts come from the treasures preserved by Lingxu Sacred Land. Leaving aside everything else, Lingxu Sacred Land is one of the four great Sacred Sects in the Northern Spirit Domain, and many True Immortals have once ascended from it. Few places can compare to the path you cultivate in terms of righteousness or excellence."
"Surely you understand now. What you cultivate is the grand and radiant righteous path, without the slightest problem."
Bai Muxu answered with grave seriousness.
By this point, Ling Tianwei understood clearly.
Crooked? How could it possibly be crooked? Everything he cultivated came from Lingxu Sacred Land. Now even Bai Muxu, the one who had taught him, said this was the grand and radiant righteous path, without the slightest issue.
Not to mention that he had comprehended all those Dao Intents from this very heaven and earth. There was no way his path could be crooked.
"It seems the system really has malfunctioned."