Chapter 2340 - No Worries, and Thus, No Fears

The dome of heaven was pitch-black, and the peaks were covered in snow.

Inside the temple, everything was stifled and oppressive

Mu Bai stood alone in the entrance, his presence imposing.

“Your Excellency, to the best of my knowledge, your Opening Origins Daoist Sect has never lacked bloodthirsty killers!” Someone forced down his dread and said, “Some kill in the struggle for good fortune, while others kill over grievances or disputes. Some even kill for no reason at all except that they feel like it!

“Might this junior be so bold as to ask why, if you’re so intent on upholding right and wrong, you don’t start with your own sect?”

His voice boomed throughout the hall.All eyes were on Mu Bai.

They weren’t really trying to debate right and wrong. They just wanted to convince Mu Bai to end things here.

But all of this piqued Su Yi’s interest.

What did it mean to have a strong Dao Heart? It meant persisting in one’s views and goals, including one’s pursuit of the Dao and upholding one’s principles.

Mu Bai said calmly, and without the slightest pause, “It’s up to each individual to determine right and wrong, and good and evil, for themselves. Conflict and strife arise every day, but...”

He swept his gaze across the group, then said coldly, “But how could a true expert possibly wantonly slaughter the innocent?”

“Ludicrous!” A young man in a blue shirt said, “What prominent sect has never massacred the innocent? An expert's battles can easily eradicate entire areas, affecting entire cities worth of people, and in some cases, reducing them all to vengeful spirits. Surely you aren’t going to tell me the Opening Origins Daoist Sect has never done anything like that before?”

Mu Bai furrowed his brow, his expression increasingly cold.

“Why aren’t you saying anything, Your Excellency Mu Bai?” The man in blue pressed. “Don’t tell me that your so-called ‘rooting out evil’ and ‘upholding justice’ is limited to weak rogue cultivators like us, and that your principles vanish in the face of those stronger than you?”

When Su Yi heard that, he couldn’t help but nod to himself.

These are just the right questions to test Mu Bai’s Dao Heart.

Mu Bai fell briefly silent. “Many others have asked me the same questions. Since you feel wronged, I’ll answer you just this once.

“I’ll admit that, from your perspective, I’m bullying those weaker than me, but that doesn’t matter. There’s no shortage of people who don’t understand me in this world, but I pursue my own path. That's enough!”

Mu Bai’s gaze filled with determination, and his imposing presence intensified to the point that others almost dared not look at him.

The man in blue was shaken, and he fell silent.

He seeks his own path. Good!

Su Yi nodded approvingly. He very much liked this answer.

There were countless heinous villains in this world. Was the problem simply that Mu Bai didn’t want to kill them all?

No. His power was simply limited. It wasn’t a problem with his principles, nor was he bullying the weak. He just wasn’t strong enough!

The world of cultivation was chaotic and disordered. Its inhabitants seldom spoke of right and wrong or good and evil.

Yet now, Mu Bai pursued a path of punishing the wicked. It was sure to be difficult, and it was inevitable that the vast majority of people wouldn’t understand him.

That was what made Mu Bai seem so other, so ridiculous, and so absurd.

“Your Excellency Mu Bai, my grandfather works in the Opening Origins Daoist Sect. He’s an attendant of Immortal King Lu Hui,” a woman said in a quavering voice. “Might... I might request mercy, for his sake? This is my grandfather’s identity marker. Please, have a look.”

As she spoke, she showed him the medallion.

𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

The others’ spirits soared. All of them knew that Immortal King Lu Hui was the palace master of the Opening Origins Daoist Sect’s Spirit Suppression Hall. That meant he was Mu Bai’s superior!

Given the circumstances, what would Mu Bai, this self-proclaimed agent of justice, do?

But much to their dismay, Mu Bai didn’t hesitate to swing his saber, slaying the woman on the spot. Fresh blood splattered the ground.

The others were startled, and their faces paled.

Mu Bai said calmly, “Her sins were heinous beyond forgiveness. I trust that even if her grandfather finds out, he’ll understand why I did this. Immortal King Lu Hui won’t find fault with me either.”

He paused, then shook his head. “Even if he does, I’m not afraid.”

The rogue cultivators all visibly gave in to despair as their hopes turned to ash.

Against just about anyone else in the Opening Origins Daoist Sect, they’d have had a chance at survival.

Unfortunately, this time, they were up against Mu Bai. This star of disaster was completely single-minded. Once he’d made up his mind, he wouldn’t rest until he’d achieved his goals!

“How many fiends and heretics wander this turbulent world? How many of them have hands stained with blood? Mu Bai, do you... really think you can kill them all?” someone roared, eyes bloodshot.

Splurt!

Saber light flashed past, taking his head clean off.

Mu Bai said icily, “So long as I’m alive, I’ll keep killing, whether I can kill them all or not!”

Thud!

Someone’s knees thudded to the ground as they begged, “Your Excellency Mu Bai, Buddhists say that when a butcher sets down his knife, he can immediately become a Buddha. We’re willing to turn over a new leave and return to the path of righteousness. We’ll spend the rest of our lives making amends, so please... forgive us!”

Mu Bai’s icy gaze showed a rare hint of emotion. “Buddhists are Buddhists, but I’m me. All I know is that I won’t let wicked acts go unpunished!”

Splurt!

Bloody light flashed through the air, killing the kneeling rogue cultivator on the spot.

“‘When a butcher sets down his knife, he can immediately become a Buddha?’” The old man in Daoist robes sighed. “That’s just a misunderstanding of the commonfolk. The ‘butcher’s knife’ actually refers to delusion,malice, desire, and distractions. It's a means of self-reflection, not a way to beg for your life.

“Only then can you truly turn over a new leaf and return to the path of righteousness, thereby becoming a Buddha. However, that doesn’t negate all of your past sins.”

The old man looked at Mu Bai. “You’re different from other people. Those who don’t understand you don’t simply reject your methods. They fear that your saber will take their heads one day too.”

The old man suddenly laughed. “I trust that your friends, family, sectmates, masters, and seniors see you as an eccentric. I’m sure they reject you and suppress you at every turn. No, they must even be eager to see you vanish from the face of this world!”

Mu Bai stood there in silence. He said nothing.

But Su Yi caught a brief hint of pain in the depths of his gaze. There was no doubt about it. The old man’s words had hit Mu Bai where it hurt!

It was true. Who wouldn’t be afraid of someone who considered only right and wrong with no regard for feelings?

“The stronger and more famous you get, the more danger you’ll be in!” The old man in Daoist robes said slowly and clearly. “Because your existence threatens far, far too many people!

“I’d dare say with certainty that the first in line to destroy you will be your sectmates. They won’t let you keep killing like this!”

Mu Bai let him finish, then said calmly, “You’re right. Many of my sectmates silently curse me as a jinx, and they say I’ll die sooner or later.

“But although they don’t know it, when I stepped onto this path, I did so with no fear of death!”

The old man in Daoist robes laughed coldly. “What if your parents, master, lover, and relatives... were wanton killers? What would you do then?”

The atmosphere was instantly oppressive.

But then, strangely, Mu Bai burst into laughter. “I’m an orphan. I have no parents, no relatives, and no friends. Even in the sect, none of my seniors ever chose me as their disciple.”

He was smiling, but it was full of lingering melancholy and loneliness.

A moment later, he regained his usual calm. “I was deserted by friends and relatives a long time ago. I’m all alone in this world. What do I have to be afraid of?”

Su Yi finally understood. It was precisely because Mu Bai was all alone in this world that he was unattached and free of worries. That was what made him capable of stepping onto this path that few understood despite the dangers and obstacles in his path.

It seemed ridiculous. After all, he was punishing the wicked and upholding righteousness. The masses should have celebrated him.

But in the world of cultivation, he was an anomaly.

The most tragic part was, Su Yi dared say with certainty that if Mu Bai weren’t all alone in the world, there’d have been no way he could persist down this path sure to distance himself from those around him!

But in Su Yi’s eyes, that made an anomaly like Mu Bai seem all the more rare and precious.

The path Su Yi sought was different from Mu Bai’s, but that didn’t stop Su Yi from admiring him.

“No wonder you’re so heartless...” The old man in Daoist robes sighed. “This old man has nothing left to say.”

Mu Bai swung his saber, killing the old man on the spot.

Perhaps because of Mu Bai’s imposing majesty, or perhaps simply because they’d been scared out of their wits, the other rogue cultivators just stood there, as if their souls had left their bodies.

“Fellow Daoist, I beg of you, help us! I’m sure you can do it, right?” Suddenly, a woman charged at Su Yi, knelt, and begged as if grasping at straws.

Su Yi naturally remembered her; this was the woman who’d given him a jug of wine.

Mu Bai looked at him and frowned. “Are you with them?”

Su Yi glanced at the visibly terrified, begging woman before looking at Mu Bai. “What crimes has she committed?”

Mu Bai didn’t hesitate. “She delights in extracting hearts and using them to brew wine. She’s slain more than ten cities worth of mortals. She’s heinous to the extreme and completely devoid of conscience!”

Su Yi glanced at the jug of wine beside him, the one the woman had given him. He’d yet to open it.

There was no doubt about it. Assuming Mu Bai was telling the truth, that wine was likely brewed with freshly plucked, bloody hearts.

“How are ordinary mortals any different from ants or blades of grass?” The woman’s face paled as she tried to argue. “Everyone in the world of cultivation knows that!

“Besides, over the years, cultivators have often taken to using yao like me to refine medicine. All I did was use a few ants to brew wine, yet you accuse me of wantonly massacring the innocent?” the woman said with an air of righteousness. “Mu Bai, don’t tell me that you’ve never taken pills refined from the flesh and blood of yao?”

Even in the face of this question, Mu Bai remained perfectly calm. “I haven’t.”

The woman shrieked, “I don’t believe it. You’ve got to be lying! What immortal pill or miraculous medicine lacks fresh blood?”

Mu Bai disregarded her. Instead, he looked at Su Yi. “Are you planning to get mixed up in this, sir?”