Sect Master Tongtian's deep eyes flickered slightly. He was clearly surprised by Fang Yang's boldness.
Standing before him, Fang Yang had actually dared to say something like "furred and horned, born from wetness and eggs." He was clearly audacious to the extreme.
As everyone knew, the Interception Sect's doctrine was to teach without discrimination. Fang Yang's words already seemed to violate that doctrine.
Sect Master Tongtian showed no anger, but a powerful pressure began to radiate from him.
Fang Yang felt like a small boat adrift in a storm, in danger of capsizing at any moment.
But that wasn't the answer Fang Yang wanted.
Fang Yang was firmly committed to his ideas. If he couldn't get past Sect Master Tongtian, how would he ever get through the Investiture of the Gods Tribulation?
Only with Sect Master Tongtian's support could the Interception Sect have a chance to turn defeat into victory.
So, facing the possibility that Sect Master Tongtian might be angered, Fang Yang remained stubbornly defiant.
"Someone like Lü Yue, that scoundrel, can't be changed. The only way is to keep them under control and restrain their sharp fangs, so they can put their cultivation to proper use."
Fang Yang met Sect Master Tongtian's gaze and spoke without fear.
"Master, in this disciple's heart, the Interception Sect's interests come above all else. Nothing matters more than the future of our sect. No matter who it is, if they obstruct our sect's future, this disciple will make sure to remove them."
His words rang out with conviction, making the very space in Biyou Palace hum.
Hearing this, Sect Master Tongtian narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them.
A sage was omnipotent before those below the level of sages. Sect Master Tongtian knew exactly what Fang Yang was thinking and whether he was sincere.
After a long while, Sect Master Tongtian slowly said:
"So, from what you say, you intend to become a heartless and unrighteous person? Do you know that the disciples of this sect all put affection first and righteousness above all?"
Fang Yang's attitude did not change.
"When immortals give in to emotion, the Three Realms fall into chaos. If we disregard sect rules and Law and Reason for the sake of affection, then in time, Demons will run rampant throughout our sect, and evil spirits will be everywhere."
"Governing a sect through affection is the root of chaos. This disciple is willing to help my fellow disciples slay their poison dragons and return to empty clarity, building a sect that truly intercepts a glimmer of life for all beings."
At these words, Sect Master Tongtian finally smiled with satisfaction.
"Well said: when immortals give in to emotion, the Three Realms fall into chaos. Your view coincides with your Grand Uncle-Master's. Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotion does not mean having no feelings, but rather having the deepest feelings of all. For only by being free of attachment can one treat all living things equally."
Just as Fang Yang had guessed, Sect Master Tongtian wouldn't blame him.
If Sect Master Tongtian valued human feelings over Law and Reason, then Fang Yang was a Core Disciple while Lü Yue was an Outer Disciple, and Sect Master Tongtian would only take Fang Yang's side.
If Sect Master Tongtian believed that all beings were equal, then Lü Yue could wantonly slaughter all living things, and Fang Yang could just as well kill Lü Yue.
No matter how one looked at it, Sect Master Tongtian wouldn't punish Fang Yang.
Of course, this was only Fang Yang's deduction.
His cultivation was far beneath Sect Master Tongtian's. To judge the latter's thoughts from a human perspective was, in truth, a grave mistake.
Sect Master Tongtian had long transcended both emotion and law. He was not a "person," but the "Heaven" that laid down the rules.
"Emotion" and "law" were both as Sect Master Tongtian decreed. Whatever he considered emotion was emotion, and whatever he considered law was law.
But Sect Master Tongtian truly wouldn't blame Fang Yang.
The phrase "teach without discrimination" did not describe a course of action, but an idea.
The greatest strength of the Path of Jie Heaven wasn't that it took in many disciples. It was that it could accommodate all kinds of different ideas.
The sea embraces all rivers, and so grows vast. "Teach without discrimination" did not mean taking everyone into the sect and teaching them Daoist arts. It meant sowing the seeds of one's own ideas, giving rise to new ideas, and ultimately finding common ground while respecting differences among them, incorporating them into the Path of Jie Heaven.
Both Daoist Duobao's "It is a great virtue to correct one's mistakes" and Fang Yang's belief that "How can someone like you ever change? Death is the only way" fell within the scope of the Path of Jie Heaven.
Since Lü Yue had violated the sect's rules, Fang Yang, as a Core Disciple, naturally had the right to suppress him.
Daoist Duobao didn't concern himself with such matters, and Fang Yang's way of dealing with Lü Yue was not unreasonable in the least.
"Your thinking is certainly not wrong. But have you ever considered that once you set foot on this path, you'll become utterly alone? Even your fellow disciples, your elders, and your own disciples might become your enemies."
Sect Master Tongtian wanted to see whether Fang Yang was prepared to walk the Great Dao alone.
Daoist Duobao cultivated the Only I Am Supreme Dao, yet he still had to win people over and build up a following.
If Fang Yang took the path of using killing to stop killing, he would have no choice but to keep fighting alone, all the way to the peak, before he could catch his breath.
At these words, Fang Yang's gaze gradually sharpened.
"So what if I'm utterly alone? The Great Dao has always been a solitary path. Under the Heavenly Dao, there is only a glimmer of life. For that glimmer, for the sake of proving the Great Dao, everything can be cast aside."
"Our sect is now in a perilous position, on the verge of falling into the ranks of Demonic Heretics at any moment."
"In the past, the Twelve Ancestral Witches were the Orthodox Pangu, yet they neglected virtue and still met the end of their entire clan's destruction."
"If our sect remains immersed in private affections and petty loyalties, indulging treacherous people as they squander our fortune, then when the Great Tribulation descends, our sect may be doomed beyond redemption, wiped out to the last!"
Fang Yang knew perfectly well how the Interception Sect was regarded in the hearts of all living beings.
Because Meng Zhen had high status and powerful backing, he could say such things without a care. Other factions were merely afraid of Sect Master Tongtian's reputation and didn't dare speak up.
As his voice fell, silence descended once more over Biyou Palace.
"Good. At last, I haven't misjudged you. Of the forty-eight thousand disciples in the Interception Sect, you are the one who truly understands the Path of Jie Heaven."
"The Path of Jie Heaven does not belong to me alone, but to everyone. Anyone who finds their own path and holds firm to their convictions is a master of the Path of Jie Heaven."
Sect Master Tongtian spoke words that gave much food for thought, indirectly explaining the true meaning of the Path of Jie Heaven to Fang Yang.
The Path of Jie Heaven wasn't some lofty ideal, nor was it something mysterious and abstruse. It was simply an Ordinary Heart.
When faced with hardship, meet it head-on. When faced with an opportunity, seize it without hesitation. When faced with an enemy, have no regrets in life or death.
In cultivating the Path of Jie Heaven, what one should fear wasn't death, but losing one's own will.
Fang Yang had stood by the Dao he believed was right. He hadn't retreated under a sage's pressure or wavered under a sage's questioning. That was the very heart of the Path of Jie Heaven.
"What about Lü Yue?"
Fang Yang continued to ask. He wasn't asking only about Lü Yue, but also about the other disciples in the sect.
Those people were no different from Lü Yue. They were all targets Fang Yang intended to deal with.
Sect Master Tongtian smiled slightly. "I won't punish you, but neither will I help you. If you can defeat your eldest senior brother, then once I've cultivated to become a Primordial Chaos Grand Unity Golden Immortal, I may well pass the Interception Sect on to you!"
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