Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Although Tian Xuan still had things to say, Han Yang abruptly raised his hand to stop her, and turned to Tan Yunqing. “Tan Yunqing, do you know that there’s a very big difference between you and I?”
“I’m actually not used to the methods you’re using either.” Han Yang’s lazy gaze gradually became sharp and piercing to a frightening extent, like a lethal holy blade. “But I wouldn’t run over to your place and lecture you like what you’re doing now.”
Tan Yunqing was not startled, and replied calmly, “I can’t ignore something I already know.”
“Only the truth can discern kindness from evil,” Han Yang retorted. “You shouldn’t have forgotten what happened with Junior Nephew Yuan Gang, right?”
Tan Yunqing frowned at that question.
For the various batches of disciples in the Celestial Sect of Wonders each having their own Daoist name, Lin Feng termed the first eight generations of disciples as the Celestial Sect’s Founding Greats. The Yuan generation is the sect’s third generation of Immediate Disciples, and consists of Han Yang and Tan Yunqing’s direct disciples.
Yuan Gang is Tan Yunqing’s first disciple, the third-generation disciple of the River Abode with the highest mastery levels, and the first third-generation Immediate Disciple of the River Abode to form his Aurous Core. He was generous and self-disciplined, someone Tan Yunqing was very fond of, but he was too honest and pure. This almost cost him a devastating end when he embarked on a cultivation expedition outside the sect the previous year, but he avoided that catastrophe fortunately with the help of his peers accompanying him.
And one of his peers then was Han Yang’s Immediate Disciple, Lian Huazhao, with the Daoist name Yuan Dou, currently the first third-generation disciple of the Qingwu Pavilion.
Han Yang turned around to look at the Dharma Hall’s projections again. “I certainly don’t wish for our sect’s disciples to die outside, and for their dying thoughts to be: Master, Uncle, why is this world completely different from what you said? Why aren’t my enemies battling fairly? Why is there a whole group of them attacking me? Why are all these enemies so despicable and unscrupulous?”
“As for what you said about Sun Hanning’s incident affecting our sect’s cohesiveness, I don’t deny that there would be such a possibility. However, such an incident would never become widespread because most people won’t fall for such a simple trick. The fake illusion was too easy to determine. A little caution would be enough to avoid these tricks.”
Sun Hanning was the disciple that Tan Yunqing mentioned previously, a girl who is currently learning the arts at Zhuge Wanqiu’s Wasteland Valley.
Han Yang gazed at the eliminated disciple. “I gave you all lessons when you were studying the arts at Yun Peak. How many times have I emphasized the importance of using our sect’s special mana signs to verify each other’s identities?”
The disciple met Han Yang’s gaze and was slightly petrified. When he regained his cool, he replied, “You always mention the same thing during every lesson.”
Han Yang then pointed at Tan Yunqing. “Besides me, has any other elders brought this issue up during your lessons?”
“Most of them have,” the disciple answered.
Han Yang probed, “Did you remember what they said?”
The disciple nodded. For them, this had already become an innate ability, a subconscious habit which would not affect their interpersonal relationships, completely unrelated to issues of trust.
Tian Xuan and the rest sighed discreetly. This was also a subconscious habit ingrained in them. Due to the existence of spells manipulating truth and falsities, and illusion spells, such knowledge has been propagated throughout the Divine Lands and Barren Expanses as very basic skills. The internal culture of every sect has a technique dedicated to this. However, if the illusionist has an overly high mastery level, he can even mimic the distinguishing marks that others usually notice.
But the Celestial Sect’s distinguishing marks were personally designed by Lin Feng. Only a demon in the Ancient Mirage Tribe or Heavenly Fox Tribe that has achieved the Vipralopa Stage can copy these marks, and can only deceive Celestial Sect disciples below the Immortal Soul Stage.
“After my repeated reminders, everyone else could remember it. Why couldn’t Sun Hanning remember it?” Han Yang asked, “Why do I bring this up once every lesson? Because I realized that Sun Hanning still could not remember this even the day before the assessment, so I had to explain it over and over again.”
He chuckled, “But now it seems that my repeated reminders were useless. Perhaps it even seemed as if I was being naggy?”
Tan Yunqing looked at Han Yang. “Sun Hanning was too naive, and handled everything incredibly simplistically and slowly. I know that too, but education must be progressive. Do you know what could have happened when you did what you did last time?”
“She’s your junior, not your enemy!” Tan Yunqing exclaimed one word at a time, “You cannot use such methods to punish her just because she ignored your teachings time and time again.”
Han Yang shook his head and laughed, “Tan Yunqing, you underestimate me too much. I won’t stoop so low as to use my junior as a punching bag to vent my anger. There are some things one must personally go through for them to accumulate as long-term experience and memory, and to remember the lesson. Did you not teach Yuan Gang that he had to be wary of others before he left the sect? But what happened to him in the end?”
The smile on Han Yang’s face gradually faded away, so did the piercing gaze in his eyes. He commented emotionlessly, “The world is a very big place. It doesn’t just consist of Mount Yujing, or the area of land within the perimeters of our sect. There are many types of people in this world besides those in our sect. It’s okay if these junior disciples don’t understand me, or even hate me – I just have to ensure that they don’t die outside because of these problems. They can only criticize, blame, and hate me if they’re alive.”
Tan Yunqing looked at Han Yang and shook his head. “You love doing things at the edge.”
Han Yang replied faintly, “Even when I’m conducting these assessments, I’m still feeling very uneasy, not because I feel that my methods are unethical, but because I’m afraid that it’s not drastic enough! In designing the assessment, I used whatever details that I vaguely observed during my lessons on Yun Peak, observing their exact thought processes and discerning any other weaknesses they had. I’ve also dug into their private lives and all sorts of secrets they buried in their hearts. I hope to target these blatantly exposed weaknesses, sending an alarm straight to the depths of their hearts, probing self-reflection and addressing various other related issues.”
Three days passed very soon, and there were only a straggling few who ultimately passed the test.
Many expressed their unhappiness at Han Yang’s assessment content. They never thought that the assessment would be like this. Everyone finally knew why the participating disciples had to use a Consciousness Seal before the assessment to ensure that the tested content is not leaked out, and why the disciples who participated in the assessment remained mum about the content ever since Han Yang began hosting the Qingwu Pavilion’s assessment.
Han Yang looked at the crowd of junior disciples before him calmly. “How was it? Did you feel that your opponents were too unscrupulous, shameless, despicable and cunning?”
He smiled, “Believe me. When you enter the outside world, you’ll meet even more unscrupulous, shameless, despicable and cunning enemies. Just because you can’t think of these methods, doesn’t mean that your enemies won’t use them on you.”
Han Yang scanned the crowd. “But when that time comes, you won’t have the Dharma Hall’s protective mechanism. You’ll have to rely solely on yourselves. Once you die, you really die – you won’t be magically transported out to the Dharma Hall gates and have a second chance like you do now.
“When that time comes, will you be lying on the ground, struggling against imminent death, using the last of your energy to scream ‘It’s not fair, your techniques are too despicable, let’s duel fair and square!’ at your enemy?”
“When you’re surrounded by an entire army of enemies, will you tell them ‘Let’s battle one-on-one if you have the guts!’? Do you think your opponents will agree to that?”
A disciple twitched his lips. Han Yang was not looking at him, but he simply said, “If you have something to say, say it.”
The disciple clenched his teeth and uttered in a low voice, “In other words, we should just kill everyone we see once we enter the alternate dimension, and we won’t be tricked. We should flee immediately when we’re corned by a group of enemies. There wouldn’t be a problem then, right?”
Han Yang chuckled, “Kill everyone you meet? Then how would you find the spatial signs I planted and leave the Dharma Hall within three days? You’ll end up being eliminated as well. You can only rely on your mana’s Supernatural Awareness to find my spatial signs with your current mastery levels, and three days is definitely inadequate for that process. You must rely on the tips and assistance from others in the alternate dimension in order to pass the assessment.”
The few who managed to pass the assessment nodded subconsciously. They successfully located the spatial signs precisely because they received external help from others in the spatial dimension.
The disciple who asked that question opened his mouth wide. Han Yang turned to him, “You must learn to discern truth from fiction, black from white. When you are met with grey areas,you cannot lose sight of ourselves. When your minds are clear, you have to maintain a rock-hard determination. Only then can you emerge from the alternate dimension.”
“The world is a big place, and not all of the people will treat you well, protect you, or please you. However, not everyone are menacing enemies either. You must use your eyes to observe everyone you see, and use your mind to assess their character.”
“Ignorant recklessness cannot be considered courage, and untainted innocence cannot be considered kindness. Courage is when one overcomes the fears in his heart while clearing understanding the dangers, and kindness is when one understands the possible extent of evil yet chooses to act otherwise.”
Han Yang suddenly smiled, “I’ll put this out first. Even for those who pass the assessment, if you choose me as your master, these sort of things will become very frequent occurrences until you meet my standards. What you’ve experienced in these three days would just be the tip of the iceberg.”
“However, I only educate my own Immediate Disciples this way. I don’t interfere with how others educate their disciples.” As he said this, Han Yang pointed over Tian Xuan and the rest. “Hence, you are free to choose other masters from the Qingwu Pavilion. From what I know, their teaching methods are different from ine. Besides Senior Tian Bi from the Heavenly Temple, I’m the only one who uses this method. You won’t have to endure such pain if you choose other masters.”
“Today’s assessment would be considered my final lesson for all of you after you left Yun Peak. If anyone has any violent objections to my method, you know Master Tian Fang over here. He’s in charge of the Law Enforcement Hall when Sixth Uncle is not around, so you can direct your grievances to him. He’ll deal with you.”
Han Yang continued, “As for the reason why I’m giving all of you this final lesson, it’s simply because all of you are the disciples of the Celestial Sect of Wonders. As long as you focus on cultivation without wasting your time or the resources provided by the sect, you are destined to become the most stellar elites of the Divine Lands. Hence, your enemies won’t stand a chance if they battle you fair and square!”
“While most people at the same mastery level would battle fair and square, it would be very hard for you to find any opponent that can even match your skills at the same mastery level. Hence, you will face even greater dangers in the future than you did today. Your opponents’ cunning tactics and devilish ploys would only become more unscrupulous, shameless, cunning and vicious, solely because the disciples of the Celestial Sect are too strong to face directly.”