Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 251 - 132 The ’Truth’ Revealed by Ming Wu (Part 2)

Chapter 251: Chapter 132 The ’Truth’ Revealed by Ming Wu (Part 2)

Nowadays, to see who can be trusted, you just need to see who is doing well and who is not. This is the most realistic perspective.

Because those who comply will surely live peacefully, while those who resist are often suppressed.

From this inference, the conclusion is imminent.

Nowadays, the people suffering like the living dead from suppression are two, one is Li Wuxian, who always protected him, even going as far as confronting Li Cangsheng.

The other is Jia Yongheng, who now, like Li Wuxian, is caught in the trapped array of the City of No Tears.

And this trapped array, I fear, is nothing but a punishment for their "inability to appreciate the situation."

Furthermore, there is another person caught within it, Zhou Yan’s mother, Li Yunjin.

Before, Zhou Yan had some doubts whether this woman truly cared about him, because Li Cangsheng had said that she would rather choose the opportunity and cultivation techniques over giving him, Zhou Yan, a chance.

Now, Zhou Yan suddenly realized that her choice to strengthen herself was likely to overturn some conspiracies. And even if it meant giving him, Zhou Yan, a chance to go to the Li Family, it might have led him into greater danger faster.

And with no knowledge of anything, at least one could stay alive. As long as she was alive, Li Yunjin could look for ways to save him.

Thus, it’s easy to explain why Zhou Yuntian was Ji Tianxu’s Ding Furnace. Ji Tianxu himself is likely a Ding Furnace, belonging to the Evil King.

Only then would Zhou Yuntian definitely not be someone Ji Tianxu could replace!

And only then, would the woman in colorful clothes, at all costs, even transforming into ’Cai Ling’, go to save Zhou Yuntian, because only Zhou Yuntian actually had the qualifications to confront his current self.

...

Everything is clear now.

Zhou Yan knew that even if this wasn’t the truth, it was close enough. Fortunately, after such conjecture, Zhou Yan could also be certain that his inner thoughts were not always visible to others. Maybe they could glimpse a moment, but certainly not the whole.

And the Purple Flame Void, just as no one can see or sense.

As for Yanyan, these people would be even less likely to see.

Yanyan’s existence seemed only because of him, Zhou Yan. Others simply couldn’t touch or understand it.

Even ’Yao’, as a powerful figure like the Nine Origin Sword Saint, couldn’t sense anything.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yan, remembering Yanyan’s sufferings, involuntarily sighed again.

Based on his calculation, with both Li Wuxian and Jia Yongheng being suppressed, continuing the analysis, his father who obtained the Ancestor Blood, might, just like him, have become someone else’s nurtured ’hog’, probably once the Ancestor Blood was condensed and the Supreme Forget Love Sword Dao was mastered, others would begin to harvest.

Extracting the soul, extracting the essence of the cultivation path, was not difficult for a Supreme Strongman!

From beginning to end, this was a terrifyingly tremendous trap, a vast conspiracy.

Luckily, there was one thing he did right.

That was driving away Gu Xi.

Because Gu Xi did not partake in this, she had been cultivating bitterly and after coming out into the world, with a grandmother whose power was immeasurable for the time being, no one planned against her.

Fortunately, Zhou Yan didn’t, out of emotional impulse, share intimate moments with Gu Xi, otherwise she too might have been drawn into this.

Now, the concerns are a few things, one is the life and death of Jia Yongheng and Li Wuxian. Second is the situation of his mother Li Yunjin.

Third is the safety of his father and Uncle Xiao Zhan.

Zhou Yan thought, feeling that things became clearer, yet somehow harder to act upon.

Having corresponding strength is also necessary for pretense and deception; once you have the strength, even if you save these people now, how can you protect them?

His current situation was not so ideal; even with supreme combat power, he was also about to confront the condensation of the Sword Soul.

The Sword Soul condensing, with the memories of his Master, Zhou Yan knew that since he was born into this world and his soul bore the imprint of this world, he couldn’t escape it; he must condense the Sword Soul, follow the rules of this world, and then break them, only then he could transcend!

The difficulty was unimaginable.

If it was previously a situation of certain death, now at least there was a slim chance of survival.

It seemed like the success rate had doubled, but in reality, even if the rate increased a thousandfold, if the initial rate was zero, then the success rate would probably still be zero.

...

Having thought through this, Zhou Yan had a clear understanding and also grasped the helplessness of the Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning. She probably hoped that he would see a certain truth in the Sacrificial Heaven Ancient City.

But at the time, he was confused, thinking, and never considered the ’bigger picture,’ wasting so much time.

And if the Holy Daughter had any way to help him, she wouldn’t be unable to control even her own life.

Thus, what she could commit to was setting a marriage contract, then inspiring herself to push forward, brave all challenges, and break through all illusions.

The lineage of the Holy Daughter was under the command of the Ni Chang Fairy.

So it seems, the Holy Daughter knows far more than I do, which is only normal!

In that case, the Holy Daughter’s presence in the Zhou Family, even growing up as childhood friends with me, must be someone’s deliberate arrangement...

If that’s the case, then the next experiences of being looked down upon or encountering hardships are meant to stimulate my potential, and drowning in the Cold Pond... The black energy permeating my body, stemming from Feng Yunyan’s Sword Illusion Realm, likely represents a series of situations that were supposed to happen but were disrupted by the arrival of my master.

Perhaps, because of this, the black energy led my master into the Spiritual Lotus Secret Realm where he could then help me acquire resources.

Because of this, the Evil King... likely knew about the anomaly here, and it was here that I, Zhou Yan, received the inheritance.

Which means, had the anomaly not occurred, I, Zhou Yan, would have been the carrier of the Evil King’s inheritance, just as the ancestor of the Zhou Family accused me, I would have become the ’Evil King’, not Zhou Yuntian! Now, however, because I received my master’s inheritance, the Evil King’s calculations were thwarted.

The Evil King, wanting to use my body to achieve the Emperor Qi Sword Body, failed, so the likely outcome is that he will try to seize my body when I am about to successfully condense my Sword Soul...

For now, the Evil King’s inheritance can only reside within Zhou Yuntian’s body.

This really is... quite a grand strategy!

Had I not awakened, suddenly connected everything, and had the supreme memories of my master to know some of the entanglements, Zhou Yan would absolutely be unable to analyze such a massive amount of information.

Now that I have analyzed it, Zhou Yan realizes how terrifying this world truly is.

No one could imagine that the childhood sweetheart grown up beside me was deliberately placed here.

No one could imagine that the woman who shared my bed, her ultimate goal might be to help others seize my flesh.

Even more unimaginable is that people who kneel before me and swear loyalty, are not kneeling to me, but possibly to the future being that will seize my body.

...

Zhou Yan took a deep breath, retracting his Spiritual Sense from the Purple Flame Void.

He decided not to think further, for continuing to do so meant there would be no one left in the world worthy of trust.

Yet now, there was still that sliver of hope that some people could be trusted.

For instance, the Wuhen Spirit, Eternal Spirit; his mother Li Yunjin; the Holy Daughter Jiang Yuning and the maid Ping’er; as well as Gu Xi.

Also, his father, and Uncle Xiao Zhan.

These might be all he has in this world.

At this moment, Zhou Yan also understood why in this world, someone could conceive a sword intent like Lonely Sword Intent because sometimes, understanding all the facts can be an unimaginably painful burden.

In contrast, walking the Heartless Sword Dao and inheriting such superior Contempt for All Living Beings Swordsmanship is a kind of arrogance and bliss.

No need to care too much, the mindset of ’better I betray the whole world than let the world betray me’ allows one to selfishly, mercilessly march on until the end, then move from heartless to affectionate, pity the world, and be revered by it.

Then what does the past heartlessness matter?

But starting on the Affectionate Sword Dao, the result is ultimately heartlessness, and then turning heartlessness back to affection leaves one alone in this world.

Zhou Yan sighed again, losing track of how many times he had sighed or felt such sentimentality.

He never liked feeling sentimental or sighing because it was a subconscious sigh of helplessness, but still, he couldn’t help himself.

The pressure he carried was truly great.

...

"Elder Zhou Lingzhe, actually you need not worry too much, for now your strength is strong enough to overcome great dangers. Coupled with my Secret Divine Skills, why should you worry?" Elder Wan comforted him at this moment.

"Yes, Elder Wan, you’re right," Zhou Yan replied with a smile.

Seeing Zhou Yan’s smile, Elder Wan paused, clearly not expecting Zhou Yan to smile.

"Elder Wan, I have suddenly come to realize something—I’ve decided to accept fate and let things take their natural course. Because being unwilling and struggling, digging deep for answers, the ultimate result would only lead to betrayal by all.

Now, letting things take their natural course, I can still get along well with everyone. As for condensing the Sword Soul, I’m not sure I can, which means I will eventually perish, so why not let go of everything and face it calmly?"

Zhou Yan seemed to have a moment of ’enlightenment’, and his ’heartfelt’ words impacted Elder Wan greatly.

Elder Wan sighed and said, "Ah, when I was young, wasn’t I also ambitious? Unfortunately, endless hardships have worn down my sharp edges. Now, I have long lost the heart of my youth. Elder Zhou Lingzhe, being able to see through the ways of the world at such a young age, with a tranquil heart, you’ll likely accomplish much in the future."

At this, Zhou Yan smiled lightly and responded, "Elder Wan is jesting, let’s leave these matters for now. We can discuss more once we get to the City of No Tears. Since we’re here now, I should meet Pan Yuming and Feng Lingzhu. Feng Lingqing has already left me, so seeing Feng Lingzhu would be good."

Zhou Yan spoke with some melancholy.

Now, his mindset was very casual and indifferent.

But his deepest thoughts were hidden within the Purple Flame Void, unknown to anyone but himself.