Evil Venerable of the Sword Dao
Chapter 445 - 094: Fate Also Has Its Nobles and Commoners

Chapter 445: Chapter 094: Fate Also Has Its Nobles and Commoners

Jia Yongheng’s gaze flickered for a moment, as some words of astonishment never left his lips.

Some things, he understood in his heart, were enough. Saying them out loud was actually meaningless and would instead stir suspicions among the other Cultivators towards Zhou Yan.

Thus, he restrained the words he had intended to say.

"Zhou Xuanzhe, you truly are remarkable."

Many words were encompassed within this single phrase.

After a long contemplation, Jia Yongheng deeply bowed, speaking with respect.

At this moment, when Jia Yongheng uttered these words, Zhou Yan realized that if it were not out of absolute necessity, this group of people likely would not deliberately become his enemies.

Zhou Yan had comprehended the Observation of Qi Fortune and understood the use of Qi, which greatly aided his own soul cultivation. It was as if he had received a tremendous favor from Jia Yongheng, so after weighing his thoughts, he continued, "Actually, regarding Primordial Chaos, everyone should understand it like this...

Primordial Chaos encompasses all and possesses all; it is not disordered but an ordered chaotic motion. Primordial Chaos is reason; it is the Tao; it is the Tao of Heaven and Earth.

Everything is a Mixed Element Body, boundless in its grandeur and with no limit in its minutiae. The so-called grandeur means it encompasses the principles of the Universe’s operation and subtly reveals the essence of life—Heaven, Earth, and man as one with Primordial Chaos.

A Mixed Element Body can participate in Heaven and Earth. It is not discarded after today has passed, nor becomes obsolete as tomorrow arrives. No matter the changes, Primordial Chaos eternally exists..."

Zhou Yan delved deeper into the explanation of ’Primordial Chaos,’ revealing a trace of ’Chaos,’ which provided immense benefits to all, including Jia Yongheng and the other five genius Cultivators.

After Zhou Yan finished his explanation, he did not say more. This was sufficient repayment for their kindness.

As for Jia Yongheng’s help, the sixteen-character cultivation summary he provided earlier was extremely beneficial to Zhou Yan and might even lead him on a completely new cultivation path that could allow him to establish his own school.

...

An hour later, they resumed their journey.

But this time, Zhou Yan, intangibly, had become even more important to this temporary team than Qingyao Xuanzhe and Eternal Xuanzhe.

Even Si Yuan Xuanzhe, who did not know Zhou Yan’s combat power, felt that Zhou Yan was extremely important to the team.

"Currently, the number of Cultivators who know the secret of the map is not large. Should any Cultivator dare to challenge Brother Zhou Yan, besides Ji Wu and those from his faction whom we truly cannot contend with, I, Jia Yongheng, will be the first one to aid Brother Zhou in resolving the matter," Jia Yongheng stated, taking a few steps and glancing at the top of Zhou Yan’s head.

Zhou Yan knew that Jia Yongheng might have seen some ’War Qi’ simmering.

Boiling ’War Qi’ indicated a certain battle was imminent, and if accompanied by ’Disaster Qi,’ it meant that challenges could bring misfortune.

These were merely simple Derivation Skills, deduced from the strength and stability of one’s cultivated Qi.

It wasn’t foresight or any remarkable trick, just a Divine Skill ability of the Body of Destiny.

Zhou Yan could also see these things, albeit in a more limited and one-sided manner.

As Jia Yongheng looked at him, Zhou Yan too observed Jia Yongheng’s Qi Fortune.

Qi Fortune was like beacon fires, soaring into the sky, akin to mountain-like, unyielding lotus platforms.

Jia Yongheng’s Qi Fortune was incredibly powerful and his Realm remarkably stable. Within the Realm, like a web, were layer upon layer of dense, cryptic nodes, indescribable in nature.

If that represented potential, then the Body of Destiny’s potential was unfathomably against the heavens.

...

Jia Yongheng’s Qi Fortune was so blinding it nearly blinded the eyes of Zhou Yan’s soul.

Zhou Yan stopped looking at Jia Yongheng and turned his gaze to Qingyao Xuanzhe, Si Yuan Xuanzhe, Yan Ran Xuanzhe, and Jiayue Xuanzhe.

The Qi Fortune of these four was quite impressive, especially Qingyao Xuanzhe’s, which was like smoke and mist, elusive and indistinct.

And Zhuge Jiayue’s Qi Fortune was even more baffling—active and still like an illusion, inscrutable.

Comparatively, the conditions of Si Yuan Xuanzhe and Yan Ran Xuanzhe were much clearer, but neither of them should be underestimated.

"They currently have no Disaster Qi upon them and no misfortune befalling them, which means they are stable and safe for the time being—that is, no one is challenging them..."

Zhou Yan pondered this and then subconsciously directed a thread of killing intent towards Yan Ran Xuanzhe. Immediately, he noticed that a dark cluster of disaster and death Qi appeared above Yan Ran Xuanzhe’s head.

This indicated that Yan Ran Xuanzhe was no match for Zhou Yan and could potentially be killed by him in an instant.

The change was evident.

With a shift in his thoughts, Zhou Yan withdrew his killing intent and the ink-like cluster of Disaster Qi above Yan Ran Xuanzhe’s head disappeared instantly.

At that moment, Jia Yongheng also witnessed this and merely gave Zhou Yan an insightful, slightly shocked, and emotional look.

Zhou Yan looked back at Jia Yongheng and then responded to his earlier words, "Rest assured, if someone indeed foolishly challenges me, I will surely give them a swift end."

Zhou Yan’s response was unapologetically fierce, brimming with killing intent.

Earlier, Zhou Yan had said as much, and at that time, Si Yuan Xuanzhe and Yan Ran Xuanzhe did not take it seriously, believing that Zhou Yan was arrogantly shameless in his pride.

Now that they had heard Qingyao Xuanzhe say that she was inferior to Zhou Yan, and then heard Zhou Yan speak with such pride, they immediately knew that Zhou Yan’s words might not be an exaggeration, but that Zhou Yan’s combat power had become extremely formidable!

Even though they found it somewhat unbelievable, they were still greatly shocked and thought to themselves that this man, Zhou Yan, was truly unfathomable, and it was even possible that he had kept his strength hidden even from a Saint.

Otherwise, why was his initial ranking 15294, and just a few days after entering the Ten Thousand Ghosts Sword Tomb, he had risen to the 20th rank among the genius prodigious youths?

Upon thinking so, Si Yuan Xuanzhe and Yan Ran Xuanzhe were both taken aback and exchanged looks of shock.

"Zhou Yanxuan, it looks like you’re truly resolved to win the Yuan Ci Secret Realm."

Si Yuan Xuanzhe finally understood that all his previous actions were merely a joke in front of Zhou Yan.

From the beginning to the end, it was just that the others didn’t care, but if they did, he was nothing, and he might even end up embarrassed or even lose his life.

Therefore, he said very respectfully,

"Zhou Yanxuan, it seems that you have already strategized for the journey to Frost Tears, so here, Yan Ran congratulates Zhou Yanxuan."

Yan Ran Xuanzhe was not foolish and immediately congratulated him respectfully.

"Indeed, this time I am indeed aiming for first place, and even intend to seize the Yuan Ci Secret Realm. These matters you will find out sooner or later anyway, so I might as well tell you directly now. For now, let’s assemble the map first and enter the Yuan Ci Secret Realm at Frost Tears. When the time comes, as to how we seize the Yuan Ci Secret Realm, let’s rely on our own methods.

When that time comes, if I encounter you, I won’t be courteous."

Zhou Yan thought for a bit and said very directly.

These matters were indeed unavoidable, so it might as well be stated clearly now to prevent complications in dividing interests when relationships run deeper later.

"If it really comes to that step, I understand my limitations,"

Qingyao Xuanzhe said with a charming laugh, her waist twisting gently, bending with each step, as if about to snap, very supple and enchanting. But Zhou Yan stared several times and did not see her waist break, so he had to stop paying attention to her slender midsection.

"I feel the same way."

Zhuge Jiayue said with a soft smile.

She still seemed a bit shy and embarrassed, as if discussing the Heavenly Mechanism Skill before was a humiliating thing.

Seeing her so pure and lovely, everyone also revealed rare smiles, and the atmosphere softened a great deal because of it.

"Hmm? Ji Wu Xuanzhe is actually waiting there... Not bad, it looks like he knows he cannot oppose the greater momentum and wants to join us."

Jia Yongheng gazed into the distance and suddenly said.

He seemed to draw a conclusion based on the aura he sensed.

"Does Ji Wu also practice Qi Observation?" Zhou Yan frowned and asked.

"No, it is a sense of crisis and decisiveness. A person with great Qi Fortune and great resolve can be ’aided by the Heavenly Dao’; ’those who obtain the Tao receive much help,’ which refers to having ’favorable timing, geographical, and human conditions.’"

Jia Yongheng explained.

Seeing that Zhou Yan and the others were silent, he was slightly surprised, then continued to explain, "Let me put it this way, if Ji Wu is not fated to die right now, or if some cultivator’s strength is not enough to suppress Ji Wu’s Qi Fortune and life force, then even if that person can kill Ji Wu, even if that person has already taken action against Ji Wu, there will certainly be some factor obstructing it so that Ji Wu will not die. Do you understand?"

Jia Yongheng carefully clarified, leaving Zhou Yan and the others quite astonished.

"Is a genius not dying, or even difficult for ordinary cultivators to kill, because their own Qi Fortune cannot suppress it? Does it mean that their own life is not as valuable as the other party’s?"

Qingyao Xuanzhe exclaimed in shock.

"Doesn’t that mean that life itself also has a hierarchy of value?" Jiayue Xuanzhe also asked with a heavy tone.

"Of course, there is naturally a hierarchy of value. For example, a Saint Heir or an Ancestor Child, by birth, certainly have lives that are more valuable than those of ordinary children, it’s obvious."

Jia Yongheng confirmed.

His words once again silenced the scene.

"So it turns out, in this world, there really is no such thing as fairness, what we call ’fairness’ is just self-righteousness, a comforting delusion."

Zhou Yan sighed reflectively.

"Survival of the fittest, what fairness, all nonsense. This kind of thing, having a constitution like mine, I see the clearest. Nature is simply survival of the fittest, the strong preying on the weak. Big fish eat little fish, little fish eat shrimp, an unchanging truth throughout the ages."

Jia Yongheng affirmed confidently.

Silence fell upon the scene once more.

The group continued forward, no longer speaking.

Ahead, Ji Wu stood in a white robe on a hilltop, his garments fluttering, holding a fan, like a peerless genius pointing out strategies.

Standing there, that place became a scenic view, a spot for Enlightenment.

Even Zhou Yan, if he hadn’t known it was Ji Wu, would have felt shocked at first glance.

And knowing that it was Ji Wu, yet still feeling his heart stir, was sufficient to show how formidable this man was.