Contention, Part 1

"My own path... indeed." Lin Xin's expression faltered, and he spaced out somewhat unconsciously.

The tea on the table slowly steamed, turning into white mist, and disappeared without a trace in a few moments.

When he came back to his senses, he couldn't see anything.

"I am now integrating Talismanship, Sword Intent, and attributes, three major parts, to form a unique ultimate skill. Whether it's the Mind's Eye Sword Dao or the Red Flower Sword Dao, no one can compare or imitate it. Isn't this the path that belongs solely to me?"

"Then where lies my own Yuan Jing and Nascent Soul path?"

"The Netherworld Mansion Power belongs to the extreme Yin. Perhaps I must first neutralize the Netherworld Mansion Power before I can see the future clearly."

He had a faint premonition that when he truly got rid of the Netherworld Mansion Power, it would be the day he was qualified to step into Yuan Jing.

The Red Leaf Sword Master was no longer here.

He got up, paid the bill, and walked out of the shop. The breeze outside gently blew from left to right across his face, bringing a faint sense of harmony and tranquility.

Several children with buns tied like ox horns were chasing a little girl who had snatched an embroidered purse not far away. The children's playful laughter was a bit noisy, but it didn't feel annoying.

He left the shop and strolled along the streets of the small city.

Walking on the uneven stone road, some of the stone slabs were even somewhat damaged by heavy objects, revealing the yellow earth underneath.

On the right side, shops stood one after another. Some were open, with shop assistants yawning, basking lazily in the midday sun.

Some shops had notices posted, stating how many days they would be closed.

He was dressed in ordinary Confucian scholar's blue robes. As he walked by, he was no different from the scholars who occasionally passed by on the road.

"It's so leisurely... If I weren't in this era, perhaps I wouldn't have imagined that this place is actually the Netherworld, full of crises and threats..."

Lin Xin sighed.

He arrived at a small two-story black building that seemed to be a restaurant, a teahouse, or a private residence.

On the balcony upstairs, a young man in black was talking softly to a woman, occasionally looking down to admire the street scene below.

Their soft laughter faintly drifted down.

Lin Xin stopped at a notice board at the entrance of an alley on the side of the small building.

The notice board was covered with dense notices and announcements of various kinds from the vicinity.

'On May 1st, the Seven Emotions Sword School will expel alien beasts from the south of the city, and a curfew will be imposed within the city.'

'On the afternoon of May 20th, Wanxi Sand is recruiting laborers to excavate ruins, with generous compensation.'

'No. 321 Orchid Street for sale, price negotiable, interested parties can contact Spring Life Pavilion.'

'Selling a thousand-mile horse, price negotiable, location Spring Life Pavilion.'

'A silver-level convoy will pass by tomorrow, those who collide will be killed without mercy.'

'Hiring a dyer shop manager, excellent benefits.'

The notices were layered on top of each other, some even covering each other.

Lin Xin stood there and watched for a long time without realizing it. Perhaps even he himself didn't know why he would inexplicably stand here and look at these irrelevant notices.

"I'll buy some Osmanthus Cake before going home!"

A father and son passed by him, the chubby son riding on his father's neck, tearing at the cloth strip on his father's hair.

"I want to eat Chestnut Cake!" the son said in a childish voice.

"Didn't you just eat Chestnut Cake yesterday?"

"I want to eat it!"

"Alright, alright... we'll buy Chestnut Cake."

The father and son slowly walked away, Lin Xin slightly turned his face, looking at the father and son wearing washed-out cloth clothes, his heart was surprisingly calm.

"This brother, is there something wrong with this notice? You've been standing here looking at it for half an hour."

Suddenly, a mellow male voice slowly came from the second floor of the black building.

Lin Xin looked up and saw the black-clothed young master from before.

He was smiling and looking at him in a friendly manner, clearly talking to him.

The woman who had joked with him earlier was gone, only he was standing on the balcony.

"There's nothing wrong." Lin Xin shook his head and said lightly.

The black-clothed young master smiled, not stopping because of his cold attitude.

"If you don't mind, brother, how about coming upstairs for a drink?"

Lin Xin's calm lake-like eyes suddenly had a slight fluctuation.

His attire was no different from other ordinary scholars, and in the eyes of ordinary people, he looked no different from ordinary people because he had been using the Concealment Array Disk for many years.

Apart from his somewhat extraordinary temperament, there was nothing else remarkable about him. But even so, the other party still took the initiative to invite him.

This made him a little interested.

After a slight pause, Lin Xin met the black-clothed young master's eyes, a pair of very pure and enthusiastic eyes.

"Okay."

He stepped towards the entrance of the small building.

The inside was empty, the door was open, no one was taking care of it. He went up to the second floor along the small staircase, and immediately saw the wine banquet that had just been set up and not yet cleared away.

The black-clothed young master was standing by the bed, and a waiter was wiping and tidying up a low table in front of him.

"Brother, please sit."

Lin Xin walked over and sat opposite him.

After the two were seated, the waiter brought wine and dishes, and soon filled the entire table.

"Seeing that brother has an extraordinary bearing, standing in front of the notice all this time, are you looking for a job?" the black-clothed young master said with a smile.

Lin Xin shook his head, picked up a glass of wine, and took a light sip.

"Then brother's brow is slightly furrowed, perhaps you have encountered something difficult to decide?" the black-clothed young master asked again.

"Not really."

Lin Xin replied softly.

"If it's not a difficult decision, then why the furrowed brow?" The young master picked up his wine cup and drained it. "Forget it, let's not talk about this. Drink!"

He simply wanted to find someone to drink with, nothing more.

He, Song Yuanchao, had extensive connections, with friends and brothers all over the world. In this Deer City, he had also earned a reputation for being righteous and generous. In the eyes of outsiders, he was well-connected and resourceful, able to find solutions to any problem.

But at this moment, he, like ordinary people, had an unsolvable problem.

Both of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts and remained silent, simply drinking one cup after another.

Jar after jar, continuously.

Neither of them spoke, only drank.

The sky gradually turned dusky, the setting sun cast red rays through the small building, shining on the dishes in the middle of the table, making the green vegetables appear even more vibrant.

"Drink..."

Song Yuanchao was already drunk, but he kept urging Lin Xin to drink more.

Putting down the wine jar, Lin Xin casually wiped the wine from his mouth.

"You're drunk."

"Drunk?"

Song Yuanchao's eyes were blurred.

"Yes, drunk." Lin Xin replied affirmatively.

"Life is like a dream, what difference does it make whether you're drunk or not?" Song Yuanchao chuckled. "Perhaps it's better to be drunk."

"Perhaps," Lin Xin could tell that the other party had also encountered something troubling.

He suddenly recalled that the Red Leaf Sword Master had asked him to bear that karma. As long as he severed the connection to the Netherworld Mansion Power, he would have to bear a portion of the karma for him.

"Karma, what exactly is it?"

Unconsciously, he murmured softly.

"Where there is cause, there is effect. One is the seed, the other is the fruit. Plant the seed and you will have the fruit. Isn't that karma?"

Song Yuanchao laughed drunkenly. Although he was drunk, he was still articulate, unlike some drunkards who couldn't even speak clearly.

"Then how to resolve karma?" Lin Xin looked at him with a calm expression and asked casually.

"Resolve? From beginning to end, let the cause produce the desired effect, isn't that resolving everything? As the Buddhists say: When conditions are right, the result lies in one's own heart."

Song Yuanchao laughed somewhat madly.

"Resolving karma is simply resolving one's own heart, that's all. When you believe you have resolved it, then it is resolved."

"Your argument is quite novel." Lin Xin's eyes flickered, and he looked at the person in front of him for the first time. Although the other party had no cultivation power, his words had a unique insight.

"There is Dao in the world, and there is Dao in my heart. Where my heart is not complete, there must be longing. If I measure the world with my heart, there will always be a day of peace and great freedom." Song Yuanchao shook his head, seemingly sighing, and also describing some kind of hope.

"The day of great freedom... perhaps." Lin Xin turned his face, looking down from the second floor. The street was bustling with people, and some shops were beginning to close up for the evening.

Several official's sedan chairs were being carried slowly, followed by some men carrying vegetables.

"You and I sitting here together drinking, is this not also a karma? I called you first, that is the cause. You and I finding our moods so compatible, that is also the cause. Meeting here at this time, that is also the cause. And the fruit that is ultimately borne, is you and I drinking together now. This is the fruit."

Song Yuanchao seemed to be a believer in Buddhism. Even when his eyes were blurred, his reasoning was clear, never straying from Buddhist principles.

"Then what is the Dao of Supreme Yang?" Lin Xin asked casually.

"The Dao of Supreme Yang... in Buddhism and Daoism, there is the Dao of Supreme Strength, the Dao of Yuan Life," Song Yuanchao smiled, picking up a jar of wine and removing the seal.

"The purest thing in the world is nothing more than that instant of light that appears in endless darkness. When I was young, I read scriptures and Dao Canons extensively. Although I couldn't enter the cultivation world I longed for, I still comprehended some principles myself."

"What principles?"

Lin Xin actually had the answer himself, but he still felt a little lost. In fact, he just wanted to hear someone say it out loud.

"Supreme Yang and Supreme Yin are like the Taiji Diagram. Only by placing everyone in the darkest, most painful, and most difficult times can we foster the purest longing and desire for beauty and peace."

"It can also make people fall into the abyss of hell forever," Lin Xin interjected softly.

"Yes, everything comes from the heart," Song Yuanchao chuckled twice.

Thump.

His head slammed directly onto the food in front of Lin Xin, and he didn't move.

Lifting the wine jar, Lin Xin drank it all in one gulp, glancing at Song Yuanchao in front of him.

"Clearly already knowing the answer, but just unable to make a decision, needing someone else to say it out loud. Heh..."

He stood up and put down the wine jar.

"Since we met, you and I drinking was the cause, so I will give you a fruit."

With a flick of his finger, a small black Elixir bottle appeared in his palm.

'Five Senses Pill' was clearly written on it.

It could enhance the perception of Inner Qi in a short period of time, and its medicinal power could also enhance a person's essence, Qi, and blood. It was an excellent modified version of the Blood Pill.

It was also one of the miscellaneous Elixirs he casually refined while refining pills for others in the Netherworld Mansion.

It could allow ordinary people to step into the Inner Qi stage of cultivation, just like the effect of the Blood Pill he refined many years ago. It only had fewer side effects, but the effect also had the possibility of failure.

"It's up to your fortune."

He tossed the Elixir into the other party's sleeve, slowly went downstairs, and Lin Xin no longer hesitated, heading towards the city gate.