Chapter 2590 - Three Questions, Three Choices

Beneath the bodhi tree.

The Dipankara Buddha read through the message Di E sent him. He couldn’t help but frown.

Long ago, the God Domain’s old-timers knew that Dao Venerate Lu Shi thought highly of Master God Yun He of the Three Purities Daoist Court. He saw him as a potential Bringer of Order.

But the Dipankara Buddha knew that Dao Venerate Lu Shi didn’t care about Yun He in his own right. Rather, he cared about the faction behind him!

A mysterious, Eternal faction even by the standards of the River of Destiny, a leader amongst Daoist sects!

This faction was known as the Three Purities Temple, and their foundations weren’t at all inferior to the Spirit Mountain Buddhist Court!

Someone from Three Purities Temple, huh... No wonder they’d do this...

thought the Dipankara Buddha.

He’d originally been furious, and he’d hoped to find the person who’d killed Divine Corpse Blood Robe and teach him a lesson he’d never forget.

But now, he gave up on the idea. If the killer was really from Three Purities Temple, this would be quite troublesome.

The Dipankara Buddha pondered briefly, then summoned the old monk with white eyebrows. “Send someone to the Qilin Trading Company and tell them that the person Su Yi is looking for is hiding in the ruins of the Three Purities Daoist Court.”

“Understood.” The white-eyebrowed monk left to carry out his orders.

The Dipankara Buddha, meanwhile, sat there and sank deep into thought.

......

The Qilin Trading Company.

“The ruins of the Three Purities Daoist Court?” When Su Yi heart the news, he instantly realized that the killer was most likely from the Three Purities Daoist Court—or rather, the faction backing them.

He pondered briefly, then decided to set off.

......

The ruins of the Three Purities Daoist Court.

The battered, withered landscape lay in ruin. The ground was covered in rubble.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man sat in the ruins under the cover of dusk. “I predict that Su Yi will soon come to save you.”

Three figures sat on the ground in front of him, but they were so thoroughly sealed that they couldn’t move a muscle.

These were none other than Mu Bai, Ji Heng, and Jian Dushan!

“If you’re so brave, why are you too chicken to fight Senior Su directly?” Mu Bai’s gaze was stubborn, and he looked at his captor with complete and utter disdain.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man just laughed and said airily, “It’s not that I’m afraid, but that I want him to experience the pain of losing his loved ones, too.”

“Ludicrous,” Mu Bai said coldly. “Everyone beneath the heavens knows that, although the Three Purities Daoist Court was destroyed, Senior Su didn’t wipe them all out. That’s how a

real

expert comports himself.

“But look at you. You might be strong, but your conduct is despicable, and you’re petty and vindictive. You’re the very picture of small-mindedness!”

He spoke without the slightest politeness.

The red serpent as thin as a chopstick was still hanging from the purple-robed, golden-crown’s ear when it heard this and raised its little head. Its blue-green eyes glinted with viciousness.

But before the snake could attack, the purple-robed, golden-crowned man pressed gently on its head. “Call me what you like. I’ve never concerned myself with others’ opinions of me.”

He gazed into the distant dome of heaven, then whispered as if to himself, “I don’t care about good and evil or right and wrong, nor do I care whether something is despicable or noble. I take only what benefits my pursuit of the Grand Dao and throw everything else away.

That’s

cultivation.

“You might think me worthy of mockery and criticism, but that’s just your point of view. From my perspective, nothing you just said is of any use to me. On the contrary, it seems... juvenile.”

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man shook his head, then took out a zither and placed it across his lap. His hands rested on the strings, but he didn’t play any music. He just sank into thought.

Mu Bai, Ji Heng, and Jian Dushan exchanged glances, their hearts full of complicated emotions.

Not long ago, they’d run into this mysterious man in purple robes while exploring the God Domain. They’d barely even laid eyes on him when he suppressed them so thoroughly that they couldn’t even fight back.

Even now, they had no idea where he’d come from or how high his cultivation was.

“Next, I’m going to ask you each a question separately. If your answers satisfy me, I’ll spare your lives for the time being,” the purple-robed, golden-crowned man said suddenly. “If your answers fail to satisfy me, I’ll kill you immediately.”

Their expressions instantly shifted.

“If you’re going to kill us, just do it! Quit nattering on!” Ji Heng’s brow furrowed.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man gently strummed his zither. Its music seemed capable of boring through metal and cleaving through rock as it emanated throughout the dimly lit skies.

Ji Heng and Jian Dushan’s six senses were instantly sealed off. They couldn’t see, speak, hear, or move. They couldn’t even use their souls to sense anything.

Only Mu Bai was unaffected.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man said, “Let’s say you’re out in the ocean, on a boat soon to capsize. You know that if you toss someone overboard, everyone else will be saved. If you don’t, everyone on board will die. What choice would you make?”

Mu Bai was stunned.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man said, “You don’t need to explain. Just tell me your choice.”

Mu Bai sank into thought. Ordinarily speaking, someone would choose to kill one person to save the rest, but was that really the right thing to do?

But if he didn’t, everyone would die!

Time slipped by, but Mu Bai didn’t say a word.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man was quite patient. He just waited in silence for an answer.

Finally, Mu Bai took a deep breath and said, “I’d choose to sacrifice myself so that the others on board could live.”

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man sneered. “Self-sacrifice? Ridiculous!”

Mu Bai said staunchly, “Ridiculous or not, that’s my decision. Give me another chance, and I’ll make the same choice again!”

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man’s smile faded. “I find your answer most unsatisfactory.”

Mu Bai’s heart sank.

Am I about to be killed?

He wasn’t afraid. It was his fearless courage in the face of death and Dao Heart determined to uphold right and wrong that earned him Su Yi’s appreciation in the first place.

Even now, he hadn’t changed a bit. Even knowing that he was sure to die, he wasn’t afraid!

“That said, your attitude changed my opinion somewhat,” said the purple-robed, golden-crown man. “Actually, from my perspective, it doesn’t matter whether you choose to sacrifice someone so that the rest might live, to face life and death together, or to sacrifice yourself for your companions.”

Mu Bai was stunned. “Then what is important?”

“Your mentality, your spirit, and your attitude,” said the purple-robed, golden-crowned man. “When cultivating the Dao, you ought to be stubborn and willful, and you ought to stay true to yourself even in the face of failure. No matter whether your decisions or good or bad, you cannot go against your true nature just to cling to life.”

He paused, then said, “In this regard, you did quite well. You far exceeded my expectations.”

Mu Bai fell silent. Being praised by one’s enemy was nothing to get excited over, nor did he want his enemy’s approval.

“You passed,” said the purple-robed, golden-crowned man. He gazed intently at Mu Bai. “Should the opportunity arise, I wouldn’t even mind taking you with me to the River of Destiny to continue your cultivation.”

The red snake hanging from his ear looked stunned. It took another look at Mu Bai as if struggling to understand what made this kid yet to even achieve divinity so special.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man didn’t explain. He just strummed the zither, sealing off Mu Bai’s six senses.

Ji Heng, meanwhile, regained his awareness of the outside world.

When he saw that Mu Bai was alive and well, he couldn’t help but sigh in relief.

So long as the kid is alright, it won’t matter even if Jian Dushan and I are killed.

“I see that you aren’t afraid to die.” The purple-robed, golden-crowned man looked at Ji Heng.

Ji Heng just laughed coldly in response.

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man said calmly, “Do you think everlasting life is good or bad? Just tell me your answer. You don’t need to explain.”

Ji Heng said expressionlessly, “It depends on my mood, and right now, I’m in a terrible mood. All your talk of ‘everlasting life’ is nothing but a crock of shit, so who cares if it’s good or bad?”

The purple-robed, golden-crowned man frowned and pointed to Jian Dushan. “If you don’t answer me properly, I’ll kill him first.”

Ji Heng’s expression darkened.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

“Think it over carefully, then give me your answer,” said the purple-robed, golden-crowned man. He looked down at his zither in silence.

Ji Heng sank into silence, too.