Watching the Mountain

Chapter 364: Chapter 201: Invitation

Xu Ran was rather surprised by Qin Yufeng’s words. After hesitating for a moment, he asked,

”Senior, are you saying you were also thinking about resolving the world’s malady... or about the Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment?”

Qin Yufeng’s laughter came through the Communication Jade Talisman, his tone light as he said, ”Both.”

Xu Ran fell silent. After a moment of hesitation, he asked, ”I remember you said, Senior, that you wouldn’t make a move against the Immortal Ancient Human Race. That promise still stands, right?”

’Why would Qin Yufeng want to create a situation of Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment?’

’Considering his goal of reshaping the world order, the only reason Xu Ran could imagine was that Qin Yufeng wanted to use this as an opportunity to really shake things up.’

Xu Ran hadn’t been subtle, and Qin Yufeng instantly understood his concern. His tone was strange, as if he were holding back laughter.

”Fellow Daoist Xu, I’m rather curious. What is it I’ve done that gave you the mistaken impression that I spend my days just fighting and killing, that I want to destroy the world?”

Xu Ran was taken aback. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, ”Didn’t you say so yourself, Senior? That you want to reshape the world? And ’reshaping,’ doesn’t that mean destroying the old to establish the new?”

The moment he finished speaking, Qin Yufeng’s utterly exasperated voice came through the Communication Jade Talisman:

”If I were to realize my ideals and ambitions in such a way, what would make me any different from the kind of people I’ve always detested?”

”Besides, just destroying the old world and building a new one is far too barbaric. Even if I were to succeed, there wouldn’t be any satisfaction or sense of accomplishment.”

”I much prefer the feeling of having everything proceed according to my plan, getting closer to my goal one step at a time, until that final moment of achievement.”

Xu Ran nodded in sudden realization. He understood what Qin Yufeng meant. In short, the crude and simple act of destroying the world to rebuild it was just too low-brow for him; he was above such methods.

He felt a bit strange. ’It seems that everyone with goals and ideals dislikes the simple, brutish approach of just destroying the world.’

He couldn’t help but ask out of curiosity, ”In that case, Senior, why did you cause the rift between the Demon Race and the Human Race? Wouldn’t it have been good to maintain the previous state of affairs?”

Hearing Xu Ran’s question, Qin Yufeng let out a derisive laugh and then said,

”Fellow Daoist Xu, think about it carefully. If you had a plot of pure land, would you allow it to be stained by other colors?”

”To me, the Demon Race is a blank, pure slate. I can mold it into the form I desire, according to my own vision.”

”But the Human Race is different. The human heart is far too complex. It’s not that there are no bad individuals among the Demon Race, but the evil of the Demon Race and the evil of the Human Race are completely different.”

”For me, only by completely severing the Demon Race from the Human Race can I make it into what I want it to be.”

A complex expression appeared on Xu Ran’s face. He understood Qin Yufeng’s meaning: the Demon Race was the pure land of his heart, and the hearts of humans would pollute this pure land he envisioned. That was why he’d created the rift between the Demon Race and the Human Race.

As a human, Xu Ran was loath to agree with Qin Yufeng’s reasoning, yet he found he had no grounds to refute him.

’It was precisely because he was human that he understood the complexity of the human heart.’

’Not everyone in this world was like Senior Sister Yue and Teacher Qing Xuan, or like the people of the Profound Pure Sect, who could make one’s heart feel warm.’

’Even Ye Shan, who had saved the world, still had people slandering and complaining about him. One could only imagine how complex the human heart was.’

’Yes, complex, not malicious.’

’This, he presumed, was the difference between the Human Race and the Demon Race that Qin Yufeng spoke of.’

As Xu Ran was lost in his thoughts, Qin Yufeng spoke again through the Communication Jade Talisman:

”The Demon Race has its own share of troubles, but the current situation is quite good. After the Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment, the world’s Daoist Techniques will become obscured, Spiritual Qi will be sparse, and resources will be meager. Under such conditions, no powerful Demon Cultivators can be born.”

”In this way, I’ll have free rein to reform the entire Demon Race. By the time the Great Dao reappears, my philosophy may have permeated the entire race, and all the Demon Cultivators in the world will live by my ideals.”

”At that point, even if the old-timers of today were to return, it would be useless. The Demon Race will become *my* Demon Race.”

Xu Ran was taken aback. He asked in astonishment, ”Senior, does that mean you don’t plan on sealing yourself away? You’re going to live until the prosperous age that follows the Heaven and Earth Dao Concealment?”

’No wonder Qin Yufeng said the current situation was exactly what he wanted to see. So this was his plan. After the Dao Concealment, all resistance would be gone, and he could reform the Demon Race however he saw fit.’

’But what shocked him even more was Qin Yufeng’s current Cultivation Realm. The Dao Concealment would take ten thousand years at the fastest and thirty thousand years at the slowest to dissipate.’

’A Cultivator’s lifespan is ten thousand years at the Divinity Transformation Stage and thirty-six thousand years at the Daoist Venerable Realm.’

’For Qin Yufeng’s plan to work, he couldn’t assume the shortest time frame. He had to prepare for the worst-case scenario, which was to assume the Dao Concealment would last for thirty thousand years.’

’This meant that to live from now until the Dao Concealment dispersed, he would need a lifespan of at least thirty thousand years.’

’Could he already be in the Realm of Dao Venerable?’

’That was simply too incredible. Qin Yufeng wasn’t old at all—he was about the same age as Zhang Zhentian. Furthermore, back when Zhang Zhentian reached the Purple Mansion Stage, he himself was only in the Foundation Establishment Stage.’

’And now, Zhang Zhentian was merely at the Nascent Soul Middle Stage, yet he was already in the Daoist Venerable Realm, which was Above Divinity Transformation?’

’No matter how he looked at it, it felt impossible. No matter how much of a heaven-sent prodigy one was, they still had to abide by common sense.’