Chapter 6574 The Reason
Long Chen was frantic, his eyes scarlet. In his current state, he was even easier to provoke.
“I knew this would be the case when I couldn’t sense the Heavenly Devil Zither here. Dean Long Chen, don’t panic. Zi Yan will not be in any danger for now—I guarantee it,” said the sweeping elder calmly.
Long Chen’s fury instantly calmed down. Sweat beaded all over his forehead.
Thinking of how emotional he had gotten just now, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed. How was he supposed to do anything when his thoughts were in such a mess?
“Disciple was foolish.”
“Dean Long Chen, you didn’t know whether your loved one was dead or alive. If you could remain calm at a time like this, you wouldn’t have so many women who love you,” the sweeping elder said.
Long Chen awkwardly smiled and looked at the terrified experts of the Zither Sect. They looked like fools who didn’t even dare to flee.
The sweeping elder sighed. “Even since the Zither Sect left the High Firmament Academy, the sect that once played sun and moon, that once played the music of heaven and earth... no longer exists. Dean Long Chen, if you feel your anger has nowhere to go, you may erase this sect.”
Hearing this, the Zither Sect’s experts quivered in fear. They silently waited for Long Chen’s judgment. They didn’t even dare to kneel or beg for mercy.
“Forget about it,” Long Chen said, shaking his head.
The people who had harmed him were already dead. Back in the heaven region’s battlefield, he had killed every Zither Sect expert involved—except Prince Chun Yang.
Suddenly, Long Chen thought of someone: Liao Yuhuang. After she was bound, he didn’t see her again.
“Who knows what happened to Liao Yuhuang?” asked Long Chen.
“Fairy Yuhuang is still alive! The sect master also brought her away!” answered one person hastily.
Hearing that she was still alive, Long Chen relaxed. Since he had no intention of killing these people, the sweeping elder brought him away.
One elder and one junior walked alongside each other. When they arrived, the Zither Sect was thriving at its peak. But when they left, the Zither Sect was in ruins.
“Sweeping elder, if I killed them, would you look down on me?” asked Long Chen as they walked.
“No.” The sweeping elder shook his head.
“By not killing them, do you think I’m too soft-hearted?” asked Long Chen.
“No.”
The sweeping elder said, “In truth, there are countless times when killing them would be right—and not killing them would also be right. At the same time, killing them could be wrong, and sparing them could also be wrong. Do you understand?”
Long Chen nodded. “This so-called right or wrong is simply a matter of different viewpoints resulting in different ways of thinking.”
“There is another point,” the sweeping elder continued. “Right and wrong shift with time. What seems correct at one moment may, after a hundred years, prove to be a mistake. And what appears wrong now may be revealed as the correct choice in hindsight.”
“I understand.” Long Chen took this with an open mind.
Seeing Long Chen’s improving expression, the sweeping elder said, “Actually, with your intellect, you should have already realized that since Zi Yan was chosen by the Heavenly Devil Zither, she is someone with great karmic luck. People like that always have tenacious lives despite the misfortune that befalls them. You were too worried to see it clearly.”
Long Chen agreed after thinking about it. Even that fellow Qian Jie, who had been half-killed so many times in the heaven region’s battlefield, had survived. And that was despite his heart-devil emerging. People like that were always difficult to kill.
Speaking of heart-devils...
Long Chen recalled what Evilmoon had told him. The strength of his heart-devil had left him shaken, and its growth rate far surpassed his own. He couldn’t imagine how such power was nurtured inside that dark world. Unfortunately, he hadn’t had time to explore that space before being forced out.
His heart-devil was that powerful, but it still couldn’t kill Qian Jie, who was only an item-slave.
The sweeping elder continued, “That little fellow was correct. During the primal chaos war, the Heavenly Devil Zither was badly damaged. Its item-spirit was separated from its body, and over time... the body developed its own consciousness. Forcing the two back together is extremely difficult. To do that, they cannot let Zi Yan die inside of it, and the Heavenly Devil Zither will not allow Zi Yan to be removed either.
“In that case, the Zither Sect will most likely use their Heavenly Music Soul Encroaching Art to slowly take control of the spirit of the Heavenly Devil Zither. Even if Cao Yiyang personally does it, it will take at least a year for any visible results. For guaranteed success, it will take around three years.
“I’m very aware of what kind of person Cao Yiyang is. He is very cautious and has no guts. When the Zither Sect separated from the High Firmament Academy, it was only because he was pushed into it. So you have at least three years to save Zi Yan. There’s no need to panic. First, you must become stronger.”
Hearing that he still had three years, Long Chen sighed in relief. The world suddenly felt brighter.
Long Chen couldn’t help but mock himself inwardly. He really was too inexperienced. Zi Yan’s capture was enough to make him lose his mind, and he couldn’t even think things through.
After calming down, he asked, “Sweeping elder, the Zither Sect uses music to peer into the heavens. The Music Dao is the Dao that incites emotions and washes away impurities. Through the Music Dao, they can reach the Heavenly Daos. In theory, shouldn’t they be a group of wise, virtuous people? Why...”
“Why are they a group of petty fools?” the sweeping elder continued.
Long Chen nodded. Throughout the Zither Sect, other than Liao Yuhuang, everyone else he had encountered was an incredibly narrow-hearted fool or the epitome of a fake gentleman. This left him puzzled.
As they spoke, they walked out of the main gates of the Zither Sect. The sweeping elder looked back at the ruined sect and sighed.
“You said it yourself—they use music to peer into the heavens,” the sweeping elder said softly. “That is the first reason. Their core should be listening to the music of heaven and earth, listening to the voice of all laws. But instead, they speak of peering into the heavens. That one word reveals their ambition.”
Almost reflexively, Long Chen recited, “To have ambition is to no longer be selfless. A heart that is not selfless is a turbid heart, lost in the sea of bitterness, far from the true Dao...”
The sweeping elder nodded. “You’ve memorized this part of the Serene Scripture. The Serene Scripture is the cultivation framework of the Zither, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting Sects—the foundation of their cultivation of the Dao. However, as you see for yourself, everyone in the Zither Sect has lost this aspect. They are all greedy. There is no trace of serenity anywhere in this sect.”
“You said that was the first reason. What are the others?” asked Long Chen.
“The second reason,” the sweeping elder said, raising a finger toward the sky, “is tied to the heavens themselves.”