Debate

Yang Xiu paused, then gave a wry smile:

Some things are better left unthought. The more you think about them, the more chilling it becomes.

Before he could finish speaking, Su Yao gently interrupted him:

"Sanlang."

Yang Xiu paused upon hearing this, looking puzzled.

Su Yao looked at him, his gaze calm and restrained, as if he didn't care at all:

"It's better to mind your own business. The adults have their own purposes. Although we are now in this game and our status is not insignificant, in the end, we are just pawns. If a pawn is restless and tries to figure out the intentions of the person who made the move, it will not end well."

Yang Xiu's expression darkened slightly upon hearing this.

He wasn't an ungrateful person; Su Yao's words, though seemingly advice, were actually meant to protect him.

But he only remained silent for a moment before slowly shaking his head and saying:

"I have to get this off my chest. I have too many questions in my mind, and keeping them bottled up for too long will only make them a mental burden."

He turned his head and looked directly at Su Yao, his gaze unwavering:

"I'll trouble you to listen to a few of my complaints, fellow Daoist."

Upon hearing this, Su Yao did not stop him further.

He looked at Yang Xiu, a faint trace of helplessness flashing in his eyes, and finally sighed softly:

"Please."

Seeing this, Yang Xiu then said:

"You and I have come to Nanzhao to carry out the Proclaiming Earth's affairs. The Proclaiming Earth's rebellion against Nanzhao is only a temporary disturbance for Great Qing. However, this disturbance can completely disrupt the order of Nanzhao, the Southern Frontier, the Miao Frontier, and even the many Wu Kingdoms and Witch Department in the west. For Great Qing and the Confucian School, this is actually a good thing."

He paused, his brow furrowing slightly.

"But what about my Mysterious Gate Immortal Dao? Great Qing is temporarily entangled, and Human Dao will indeed lose its luster for a while. But after this matter is over, Human Dao will probably become even more rampant. At that time, where will my Mysterious Gate Immortal Dao go?"

After saying that, he fell silent, staring intently at Su Yao.

Su Yao did not answer immediately, his gaze falling into the distance, as if he was considering his options.

After a moment, he slowly replied:

"The world is in turmoil, all for profit."

He paused, then continued:

"When Proclaiming Earth stirs up trouble in Nanzhao, Human Dao temporarily loses its luster, and our Mysterious Gate can profit from this. This is one reason."

"Secondly, the Celestial Master has attained enlightenment. Gezao Mountain is too close to Jiankang, only a few hundred thousand li away. Even if we, beings of the Purple Mansion, were to travel via this route, it would only take us a few hours, let alone the many True Lord and Supreme True Person Immortals of Chengzu and the Great Qing?"

"As for the foundation of my Mysterious Gate, Jade Void is far away in the Western Regions, Eight Sceneries is stationed in the Central Plains, and Biyou is isolated in the East Sea. The three Celestial Masters are in the Heavenly Court, with Hall of Complete Illumination and Lingxiao Hall facing each other. The two emperors of Purple T Star Enclosure and True Martial Mountain clearly favor Great Qing. The Dao Lord of Azure Radiance, for the sake of the position of Heavenly Venerable, is detached from worldly affairs and is almost abandoning the Qianyuan Dao Lineage. The Thunder Bureau Heavenly Venerable is in the Heavenly Court, but is being jointly ostracized by those two emperors. Although the Primordial Lady of Purple Void returned from beyond the heavens back then, who knows if she has left again? Even if she hasn't left, she may not be willing to lend a helping hand."

"The Daoist Dao Lord of the Jieshi Dao Lineage is keeping an eye on the descendants of the northern Demon Race race, while the immortal of the Azure Jade lineage is guarding against the resurgence of the God Clan race. Those under the Highest Clarity sect have always been at odds with the Four Celestial Masters, feeling that the Celestial Master Dao hinders the development of the Mysterious Gate and Divine Dao; why would they intervene? Not to mention the Yuanfu, the Confucian School, and that Dragon God of Guixu."

Yang Xiu listened carefully, and nodded only after Su Yao finished speaking:

"What you're saying, Fellow Daoist, is all too familiar to me. Besides the matter of Proclaiming Earth, we were also asked to open a separate academy in Nanzhao, precisely so that in times of trouble, our Mysterious Gate could Nanzhao as a retreat. But after doing all this, apart from you, Fellow Daoist, there's simply no one left with the spare capacity to take on disciples and train them. In the Nanzhao, I'm afraid we'll have to give up Nanzhao for nothing."

He paused, his tone slightly somber:

"They could have used other resources to help the Celestial Master achieve enlightenment more smoothly. Why did they choose Nanzhao? How long can they use Proclaiming Earth as a bargaining chip?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yao shook his head:

"Sanlang, you are mistaken. Enabling the Celestial Master to attain enlightenment more smoothly is more worthwhile than anything else. As for our other resources, those are the foundations that our Mysterious Gate already possesses. To give them up would be to cut off our own flesh. But the matter of Proclaiming Earth is different. In this game with Nanzhao, our Mysterious Gate can benefit from it without having to sacrifice our existing resources. It's a win-win situation, so why not?"

His tone turned slightly cold as he said this:

"Moreover, the immortal decree I received when I achieved the Purple Mansion clearly stated: we only need to drive the reincarnation of the True Lord out of Nanzhao, Southern Frontier, and Miao Frontier; it never said that we should bring the reincarnation of the True Lord back."

Then, he raised his eyes to look at Yang Xiu, his gaze deep and unfathomable:

"In this world, there has never been an immortal power. Since the three Dao Ancestors Mysterious Gate the Immortal Dao, even if we exclude Jade Void, Eight Sceneries, Biyou, Jade Lake, Purple Mansion Continent, and Heavenly Court, all other sects combined are still the greatest power in the world. Today, apart from these few places, none of the others are as powerful as they used to be. Not to mention other families, our ancestors alone produced Heavenly Venerable. Even though my family 'True Lord is currently confined to Zhongnan, we still have one Heavenly Immortal Supreme True Person and one Divine Core Perfected One. Although the Golden Court currently has no True Lord to guard it, it has three Divine Core Perfected One, each with immortal artifacts, numerous Law Treasure, and the foundation bestowed by the Dao Ancestor Yuqing to guard the mountain gate."

He paused, a faint hint of coldness appearing at the corner of his mouth:

"But so what? The glory of my Mysterious Gate in the past far surpassed that of Great Qing today. And now we've come to this point, haven't we? Great Qing is currently burning brightly, seemingly invincible, but it might just become another Xuanmen in the future. As long as the Mysterious Gate of the True Lord is still alive, Great Qing will never be at peace, and it's not impossible for them to make a comeback in the future."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiu paused for a moment, but instead of nodding, he looked up and stared directly at Su Yao, saying:

"What you say makes sense, fellow Daoist. But your logic is your logic, not mine, Yang Xiu's logic."

Upon hearing this, Su Yao raised an eyebrow but did not interrupt.

"You're right. In terms of power, my Mysterious Gate is indeed capable of supporting this vast world. But in what you just said, which word mentioned the people of Nanzhao? Which sentence mentioned those living people who are about to be dragged into the war?"

As Yang Xiu spoke, his voice grew increasingly heavy, and the golden bell trembled slightly, as if stirred by its master's emotions.

"I swore an oath outside Qingnuo Mountain to protect that three hundred li of land. Do you know why? It wasn't for empty fame, nor to gain prestige. I just felt that, in this game of chess, everyone involved is calculating—various schools of thought are calculating, immortals and gods are calculating, the imperial court is calculating, and Confucian School is calculating. But no one is calculating whether the common people can even survive."

Su Yao did not avoid his gaze, but listened quietly.

"Brother Dao said I shouldn't have asked those questions, that a chess piece that doesn't behave will not have a good end. I understand. But if I were to behave, I wouldn't be Yang Xiu."

He paused, then suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with bitterness:

"The path of Profound Qi is all about cultivating calamities. Do you really think someone who cultivates calamities can learn to be content and docile?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yao remained calm and simply said:

"I never said you should behave yourself. It's just that asking these questions is pointless. The adults won't change their minds just because you asked, nor will they lose a single stone because you pity the people."

He paused, his voice devoid of emotion, as if he were stating something utterly ordinary:

"As for the people of Nanzhao, Sanlang, you've asked the wrong person."

Yang Xiu was taken aback after hearing this.

Su Yao looked at him, his gaze calm to the point of being almost indifferent:

"I have never cared about the common people. Even if everyone in the world died, what would it matter to me? The only people I care about are those on Qixia Mountain: Liu Yunhe, Zhang Ziyan, Daoist Zheng, Jueming Nannuo, Jue Ming, and all of you who have stood shoulder to shoulder with me. As long as they live, I will protect them. As for the rest, I cannot protect them all, nor do I have the inclination to do so."