Chapter 28: The Way of Huang Biaozi
Chapter 28: The Way of Huang Biaozi
Bang!
But just as the young man in cyan had given out a pitiful groan, the gray-clothed youth dashed to him like a phantom.
While the cyan-clothed youth had not yet reacted, a powerful kick directly sent the cyan-clothed youth flying off the Platform Stage.
Boom!
Pfft!
“Ah!”
The cyan-clothed youth, still in shock, got kicked off the Platform Stage, and blood flowed heavily from his wounds.
“Make way, make way!”
“Quick, dodge it, dodge it!”
After the cyan-clothed youth fell off, no one helped him; instead, everyone scrambled to dodge.
“Haha, haha, how dare a brat like you challenge me? Go train for another ten years!”
The gray-clothed youth walked to the edge of the Platform Stage, his face full of arrogance, and let out a scornful laugh.
“You… pfft!”
The cyan-clothed youth finally came to his senses a bit, but when he realized what had happened, anger overwhelmed him and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Haha, kid, go train for a few more years before coming back; don’t embarrass yourself here!”
The gray-clothed youth was very pleased, seeming to have forgotten his earlier distress and his cries of surrender.
The Elders sitting beside the Platform Stage pretended not to see anything, acting as if nothing had occurred.
“Fine, Tang Ao, I’ll remember you, pfft!”
Once the cyan-clothed youth saw the situation, he didn’t plan to seek justice from the Elders; his eyes just filled with hatred.
Then he stood up and glanced randomly at the gray-clothed youth and the Elders before leaving.
The watching Tang Family disciples also made way, clearing a path for him to go.
“Good, first match: Tang Ao wins at Qi Condensation Fourth Layer! Second contestant, come up!”
After the cyan-clothed youth left, the Great Elder stood up again.
He didn’t even glance at the leaving youth and announced it loudly.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Tang Ao turned and descended from the Platform Stage.
Immediately, two other Qi Condensation Fourth Layer disciples charged onto the stage.
After exchanging polite words, they started fighting again.
“What?”
Tang Jinbiao clearly witnessed the scene; though he didn’t know who was behind it, Tang Ao had surrendered earlier, yet the Elders deliberately ignored it, which he found hard to accept.
“Hehe, Brother Biao, did you see that? That’s the true face of those Elders!”
As Tang Jinbiao was stunned for a moment, a young boy beside him seemed to notice his confusion and comforted him.
“Tang Ao clearly surrendered earlier; why didn’t those Elders speak up?”
Tang Jinbiao vaguely guessed part of it but didn’t want to believe it, so he asked outright.
“Hehe, Brother Biao, that’s the gap. Tang Ao is a direct descendant of the Tang Family; the cultivation techniques he practices are far better than those of us branch members.
It wasn’t a fair fight to begin with. That Tang Yun somehow got hold of an Intermediate-grade Spirit Talisman, so victory was almost guaranteed.
But then the Intermediate-grade Spirit Talisman suddenly failed… Hehe, joking? What’s an Intermediate-grade Spirit Talisman? It even threatens Foundation Establishment Cultivators.
Yet it vanished abruptly… Someone was definitely meddling behind the scenes, and it had to be at least a Nascent Soul Cultivator messing with it… But you needn’t worry, Brother Biao; after all, your father is the Family Head, so those Elders wouldn’t dare go too far.
Whereas for us few, it’s hopeless… Sigh…”
The young boy also appeared to know something and deliberately looked toward the area where the Elders sat beside the Platform Stage as he spoke.
But those Elders just sat with narrowed eyes, pretending not to see a thing, and the audience there also acted as if nothing was happening.
Of course, such things had become an unspoken rule: only the direct descendants of the Tang Family could win. Most people present knew this, except for some first-time participants. Though many had been secretly warned before arriving, how much they truly heeded it was another matter.
“Ai, let’s just hope we don’t run into one of those direct descendants tomorrow, otherwise… sigh…”
“What can we do? Who told us we didn’t have a better father?”
“Ahem!”
The few young lads joined in the sighs.
Bang, bang, bang!
Boom, boom, boom!
On the Platform Stage, the battles still raged fiercely, intense and unresolved. Yet Tang Jinbiao didn’t spare it even a glance, for his heart was filled with a profound bitterness.
He wasn’t some overflowing fount of compassion, but he simply couldn’t stomach that kind of unfairness, that man-made inequity. In his previous world, this exact kind of man-made unfairness had made him a “loser” in people’s eyes. Although many people in the world were worse off than him, he just couldn’t accept that kind of artificial injustice!
“Heh heh, kid. See it now? This is the reality of this world! Doesn’t it feel unfair? Aren’t you furious? Don’t you want to charge up there right now and drag those Elders out for a beating?”
Right at that moment, Huang Biaozi’s voice resonated in his mind once more. Regarding the scene that had just transpired, he naturally knew more than Tang Jinbiao and saw things even clearer.
“Kid, don’t you dare feel resentful. This is the fact, the clear-as-day fact, laid bare right before your eyes! At this point, why are you still hesitating? Why won’t you learn the Way of Deception from this old man? Do you think heaven is fair? Do you believe this world is fair? Pure fucking bullshit! Some people toil their whole lives only to end up without even a place to be buried, dying destitute in a foreign land. Some are born blind and deaf, never once getting the chance to see the hues of this world or hear its sounds, spending their lives forever in darkness and silence. And some, due to this or that reason, never even make it out of the womb. Think that’s cruel enough? Ha! If you think that is cruel enough, then I can only say you’re too naive, far too naive!”
Huang Biaozi, seemingly afflicted by some mental hiccup, began to ramble incessantly, his voice growing agitated as he spoke.
“To ordinary folk, perhaps these people seem utterly tragic, but they at least still have hope. The blind hope to see light; the deaf hope to hear sound; the unborn hope to emerge into life. But do you know what the true most cruel fate is? It’s living like a walking corpse day after day, teetering constantly on the edge between survival and death. They might cling to some goal in their hearts, some pursuit they claim drives them, but it’s all just self-deception, mere rationalization. In the end, they’re living just to live. Do you think…”
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
Tang Jinbiao, his gaze now unnervingly calm as he stared at the combatants on the distant Platform Stage, responded in his heart. He hadn’t noticed the shift in his own eyes.
“I don’t want to say much. I just want to tell you that if you learn the Way of Deception from me now, I have great confidence in allowing you to reach the Third Step of the Way of Deception in a short time. Once you reach that step, you’ll be a mighty figure! Forget the lowly Mortal Realm; even across the Immortal Realm and the Demon Realm and other such planes, you could walk sideways without fear! Even in the highest Divine Realm, as long as you don’t meet a God-King, you would face no danger! This is Huang Biaozi’s promise to you! Huang Biaozi’s promise to this realm of heaven and earth! If you are willing, I can make it happen!”
Huang Biaozi adopted a different tone, speaking with utmost seriousness.
“And if I choose not to learn it now?”
Seeing Huang Biaozi’s grave expression, Tang Jinbiao understood the gravity of the situation and asked earnestly.
“I don’t know!”
Huang Biaozi shook his head, a flicker of confusion in his eyes as he spoke.
But only a moment later, Huang Biaozi continued, “I don’t know how far you can travel down the Body Refining path. I don’t know how far you could go if you one day restore your Spiritual Root and embark on the Immortal cultivation path. However, throughout the ages, this world has existed for who knows how many years, yet regardless of the cultivation art practiced or the path walked, I have never seen a true god. Even that man only came close to being a god. Although he was infinitely close, he still wasn’t one!”
“Huh? A true god? Didn’t you just mention the Divine Realm and God-Kings? Why say now there are no true gods?”
Tang Jinbiao was slightly stunned, not quite grasping Huang Biaozi’s meaning.
“Heh, the Divine Realm? God-Kings? Those are just labels used by the common rabble. It’s like Cultivators and Mortals – an ordinary Core Formation Cultivator seems like a mighty immortal deity in the eyes of a Mortal! As for the Divine Realm, it’s merely a slightly more stable plane. Those so-called God-Kings are just Cultivators with more Magical Power and longer lifespans. What ‘true gods’ are you talking about? Hmph! If you’re asking me what a true god is, then I can only tell you: Have you ever considered how every single person, every tree, every rock, every drop of water in this world came to be? Don’t give me that ‘dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, mice beget hole-diggers’ nonsense! Ha! Then tell me, how did the first dragon come about? Have you ever thought about that?”
Huang Biaozi let out a light laugh, tinged with a hint of scorn.
“Uh… that!”
For some reason, Tang Jinbiao thought of his previous world and the gods worshipped by some believers there – the omnipotent, true gods who created everything. The Tang Jinbiao from that world hadn’t been a believer, dismissing such things with an indifferent smile. But since arriving in this world, many things he had considered absolute truths had been overturned. Naturally, if it weren’t for this, hearing Huang Biaozi’s words now, he would have likely concluded Huang Biaozi had serious potential to become the leader of an extreme cult.
Especially concepts like immortal cultivation and body refining. When he had read about them in novels, they were just fiction, mere entertainment. But when these things manifested tangibly before him, he started to feel nervous, even fearful. That’s why, during his initial period here, the slightest setback would send him into a cursing fit or make him shout wildly. His heart was filled with dread; it seemed only through such venting could he alleviate a fraction of that fear. Like someone walking alone at night, terrified, might unconsciously start humming a song – simply to lessen the fear ever so slightly.
“Actually, kid, this old man tells you this for no other reason than to show you this is the Dao. If you can comprehend the Dao, master the Dao, you too could create a world like this. Within that world, you would be the true god. If you wished it, you could create anything! You could make water flow uphill! You could make men more beautiful than women! You could give Mortals the power to soar through the skies or burrow through the ground! Whatever you conceive, you could realize it! Haven’t you heard it said? The Dao gives birth to One; One gives birth to Two; Two gives birth to Three; Three gives birth to all myriad things! That’s the principle! This is the Dao! Only the Dao! Only by mastering the Dao could you hope to unravel the enigmas of all existence!”
Huang Biaozi continued expounding upon these profound-sounding truths.
“Ahem!”
However, despite Huang Biaozi’s lengthy discourse, all he earned in return was another, deeper sigh from Tang Jinbiao…