How to Prove Oneself

In the secret realm of the Xieluosi River, the Venerable One made his demands and revealed his trump card.

As a trump card, the Venerable One wasn't foolish enough to share it directly.

But Zhang Xuezhou's unintentional remark reminded him.

After death, all things vanish. No matter how much he hid or what he once possessed, everything will turn to nothingness.

Faced with the choice of whether to unleash this Dharma Body Technique to see the reactions from all sides, or to perish with the technique, the Venerable One ultimately chose the former.

As the preacher, he will have an absolute advantage in the early stages of this art.

He is the first person any learner or innovator who has any desire to exchange ideas will seek out.

As long as he shows enough kindness and is willing to communicate with others, even the enemy may come to him for advice by condensing his Dharma body.

It wouldn't be a bad deal to use such a technique to make Daojun and Nine Spirits Yuansheng do hard labor.

Inside the secret palace, the Dao Lord stood solemnly, while the Nine Spirits Lion Saint drooled.

The two Sacred Land lords were clearly affected by the technique he used, causing their originally firm resolve to waver.

His Majesty did not urge them, but simply allowed both sides to think it over carefully.

To ensure his own safety, he obviously needed to change the formation of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains. Only by eliminating the risk posed by Li Guang could he ensure his safety in matters such as preaching the Dharma.

His Majesty felt that it was nothing for Li Guang to learn a route by following someone; as long as the formation changed, that route would be unreliable.

If the other party follows the route again, His Excellency will let them experience what a trap is like.

"Zhu Jiuyin, your sincerity is a bit too obvious, isn't it?" Daojun pondered for several seconds and said, "Does your method have some kind of backdoor for control?"

"In all honesty..."

"I know that your Great Wilderness Creation Scripture is suspected of being manipulated," the Daoist Lord said. "You have a conscience, but not much!"

"What do you want to do by controlling us?" Nine Spirits Lion asked. "Use us as the vanguard to destroy the Heavenly Court and seize Western Kunlun? And then kidnap the Emperor and Empress to be your wives?"

"I despise people who shoot down emperors," Daojun said. "They are favored by heaven and earth, and those who kill them will most likely meet a bad end."

"That's why he's trying to control us," said Nine Spirits Lion. "If we don't want to do something, he can just control us and make us do it!"

"Is your level of trust in me really that low?"

Watching the discussion between the two sides, the Venerable One felt troubled.

He presented his sincerity, and both sides were tempted, but they just couldn't trust him.

However, he couldn't possibly show the technique to these two parties for verification first. If these two guys actually got their hands on the technique, the Venerable One felt that they would then find an excuse to run away.

"Why do you want to move the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains?" Daojun frowned and said, "These Hundred Thousand Great Mountains are connected by our three secret lands, and the power involved is earth-shattering. A slight mistake could easily lead to our demise!"

"That's true," Nine Spirits Lion nodded. "You never work without a reward. If you want us to work, besides proving that your magic doesn't involve any backdoor control, you also need to explain the reason for moving the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains!"

"No matter how much I assure you, or how I explain the reasons, you'll definitely think I'm hiding something!"

The two companions have too little trust; even if the story of Li Guang is told, the Venerable One believes they will still be suspicious.

Let alone Daojun and Nine Spirits Yuansheng not trusting the Venerable One, even if Daojun or Nine Spirits Yuansheng did the same thing, the other two in their group would also find it difficult to fully trust them.

They've lived together for over a century, but that's how their relationship is.

Lacking the bond of shared interests, they could not entrust their lives to each other like the three demon kings, Yangli, Luli, Huli.

"It seems we can't get this done today," Daojun said, rising to his feet.

"What a pity," said Nine Spirits Lion, "I really want this technique."

"Wait a minute, let me think about it!"

Seeing that Daojun and Nine Spirits Yuansheng were about to leave, the Venerable One was unsure whether they were truly leaving or just pretending.

But he clearly didn't want to gamble.

This caused His Majesty a great deal of trouble.

"How can I prove that I didn't control the backdoor? How can I prove that I had no selfish motives when I was moving Hundred Thousand Great Mountains...?"

It must be said that proving oneself is a very difficult thing.

After all, His Excellency's conduct in these two matters was not exactly honorable.

Having granted this Daoist technique to Daojun and Nine Spirits Yuansheng, and eliminating the risk posed by Li Guang, the Venerable One intends to spread this technique far and wide.

His move of the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains was solely to protect himself from being shot by Li Guang; it was purely a selfish act and brought no benefit whatsoever to Daojun or Nine Spirits Yuansheng.

Consequently, how can he prove that his proposition is entirely false? It is difficult to demonstrate the truth of the matter.

"Why don't you say something to us first?" Nine Spirits Lion suggested. "That way, we can hear your comments and make our judgment!"

"That's acceptable," Daojun nodded.

"Please don't be in such a hurry," the Venerable One said, rubbing his temples. "How about I make a Great Heart Demon Oath?"

"Having cultivated to this level, we no longer believe in heaven or earth, but only in ourselves. How could such distorted thoughts as inner demons affect us?" Daojun shook his head and said.

"Anyone who likes to swear oaths is no good," Nine Spirits Lion exclaimed, then added, "My mother, who passed away three hundred years ago, told me never to easily believe oaths sworn by others!"

"You've really put me in a difficult position!"

His Excellency spread his hands, indicating his helplessness.

"Then let's leave it at that," the Daoist said. "You can pretend you never invited us, and we'll pretend we've never seen or heard of your Daoist arts!"

"Don't!"

In a two-on-one psychological offensive, the Venerable One was clearly completely defeated.

He kept thinking about how to make Daojun and Nine Spirits Yuansheng believe in him.

But the more the Venerable One thought about it, the more he felt that even if he were to be completely honest with himself, neither side could trust him, and he might even end up losing both his wife and his army, resulting in the gift being given but the matter not being resolved.

"What? You've figured it out?" Nine Spirits Lion asked happily.

"What's the rush? Do you think you can eat me?" the Venerable One said. "Sit down and drink first... Never mind, I don't have any wine here, but that human Alchemist made me quite a few longevity pills. You can kowtow on some if you want!"

"Longevity elixir?"

His Excellency said that nothing else mattered, but when it came to lifespan, Daojun was genuinely quite interested.

If they could manage to get some of the Venerable One's longevity medicine, then their journey of over a thousand miles would not have been in vain.

"Will consuming Zhu Jiuyin's pills control us?" Nine Spirits Yuansheng asked in a low voice.

"To say there's control is possible, but to say there's no control is also impossible," Daojun replied.

You've confused me!

"The elixir of longevity is not poison; this can be determined through observation, smell, and taste," the Daoist Master pointed out. "If the body is not poisoned, it is naturally impossible for Zhu Jiuyin to control it!"

"Then what you mean by control?" Nine Spirits Lion asked doubtfully.

"If his longevity elixir is useful, do you think you'd still want it in the future?" the Daoist asked.

"Of course!"

"Look, you need his help, which creates a possibility of control!"

"Then I won't eat it!"

Nine Spirits Lion Saint retorted, but when the Venerable One summoned Zou Bugui the secret realm to deliver the longevity pill, his body betrayed him quite readily.

After swallowing a pill, the Nine Spirits Lion felt a refreshing massage on his tense body.