Chapter 57: The Tide Of Events
“I didn’t expect you to be a gatekeeper too. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have been so cautious last night. Seeing you casually deal with that vengeful spirit, I thought you were just a cultivator here to travel.”
Cao Zheng, or rather the past body now calling himself Cao Ji, was leading Jiang Ce around, familiarizing him with the headquarters environment.
Jiang Ce smiled: “There were many offenses yesterday. I didn’t know you were actually Cao Gong’s younger brother, so I hope you won’t mind.”
“No problem. My abilities can’t compare to my older brother. I just help him handle the clubhouse affairs. As for gatekeeper matters, Wei Lao handles the inside while my brother handles the outside. By comparison, I’m quite idle.”
The two arrived at the observation deck. Cao Ji stood with hands behind his back on a platform protruding from the edge of the building, pointing at the city below:
“My interests are actually just these mortal world fireworks. So I like to drink and have fun with some ordinary person friends in my free time, regardless of other things.”
Jiang Ce consciously lagged half a step behind, looking at the ant-sized, endless stream of traffic below, and felt some emotion: “Who doesn’t want to live worry-free as a rich man?”
Cao Ji turned back, curiously asking: “Then why are you cultivating so diligently?”
This question left Jiang Ce momentarily at a loss for words.
Right, why was he cultivating?
Seeing Jiang Ce somewhat at a loss, Cao Ji turned back again, implying something: “I heard my brother say that any Jianghu sorcerer can reach it, as long as they have merit and walk the righteous path—it’s just a matter of fast or slow. But Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master is different. You must be clear about why you’re cultivating.
If Jianghu sorcerers are like a lake, then Heaven-Reaching Dharma Master is an ocean. Without a beacon to guide the direction, you’ll eventually get lost. The ocean can bring surprises, but it can also bring death.”
Jiang Ce felt like he grasped something, yet it was vague and hard to pinpoint the essence. He could only nod as if understanding: “Thank you for the guidance.”
“Think about it carefully. No rush. Come on, I’ll take you out to see.”
“Out?” Jiang Ce was puzzled.
Cao Ji pointed to the distant mountain range: “When I’m idle, I like to wander in uninhabited places, sitting alone on the mountaintop for a few hours. This helps me escape the city’s clamor and aids my thinking.
When I came up, I met Wei Lao. He told me about your situation. Aren’t you practicing Righteous Qi? I suggest that when you have time, go to uninhabited places and recite books more, especially at dawn and dusk when the sun and moon alternate—that’s the most suitable time of day for comprehension, and the easiest time to commune with heaven and earth. Reciting then yields twice the result with half the effort.”
“Good.”
The two went downstairs side by side and happened to run into Wei Lao, who had returned because he forgot something.
Seeing Jiang Ce so familiar with Cao Zheng, Wei Lao couldn’t help but feel surprised.
Seeing Wei Lao, Jiang Ce was fine, but Cao Ji’s expression showed a subtle unnaturalness.
“Cao Gong, you two are”
“What Cao Gong.” Cao Ji quickly waved his hand: “Wei Lao, did you mix me up with my older brother again?”
With that, he quietly transmitted a message to Wei Lao, telling him that he saw Jiang Ce as a promising talent he wanted to cultivate, but didn’t want to spoil him because of himself, so he had his past body pretend to be his younger brother to deceive Jiang Ce.
Although this explanation was far-fetched and logically felt off somewhere, out of trust in Cao Zheng, Wei Lao chose to play along, instructing Jiang Ce not to be rude and not to neglect his lessons, but to properly review the knowledge taught that morning.
Jiang Ce nodded and thanked Wei Lao again, but he secretly observed Cao Ji, and suspicion arose in his heart once more.
Following Cao Ji by car to the Yangding Mountain Range outside Yangcheng, breathing the fresh air here, Jiang Ce truly felt a sense of emptiness.
“Cao—uh.”
“You can still call me Boss Cao.”
“Good, Boss Cao. Actually, there’s a question I’ve always wanted to ask, but whether in front of Xiao Zhi Men or Wei Lao, I felt it wasn’t appropriate to ask. I want”
“My cultivation is not stronger than my elder brother or Wei Lao and the others, so just treat me as a friend. Feel free to speak.”
Seeing the other party so approachable, Jiang Ce’s courage also grew, he organized his words and asked the question he had always wanted to ask:
“What exactly is a Gatekeeper?”
Cao Ji couldn’t help but laugh: “A Gatekeeper is just a Gatekeeper. Why ask this?”
“I mean the meaning of the Gatekeeper’s existence.”
Jiang Ce sat on a large rock, hands braced behind him, body leaning backward, head raised looking at the deep blue and calm sky:
“Whether Gluttonous Ghosts, Evil Cultivators, or Ghosts and Monsters, they always only account for a minority. With so many Prestigious Sects everywhere, there are naturally no lack of Cultivators. If it’s to deal with these threats, they would be sufficient. Why need to be the one who stands out?”
“If it were in the past, that was indeed the case.”
Cao Ji sighed:
“Since after the Yuan Dynasty, the Central Plains’ destiny, inherited for countless ages, was shattered. The Rules have gaps, entering the End of the Dharma Age, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth became thin, no longer like the past where everyone could Achieve the Dao.
Even relying on Merit Cultivation is a method explored by later generations, an improvement and substitute for traditional cultivation methods.
This has advantages and disadvantages. The advantage is that no matter who it is, as long as they have successfully cultivated, they must be a virtuous person with great Merit. The disadvantage is that the upper limit is lowered. No matter who it is, even if lifespan is extended due to cultivation, it’s impossible within one’s lifetime to obtain enough Merit to support cultivation to True God.
In other words, nowadays it’s already impossible for anyone to truly Achieve the Dao.”
“Aren’t there only four Sages who are True Gods?”
“Of course not.” Cao Ji shook his head: “Those are the four most primordial, most powerful, and initial Sages. Later generations have also produced other True Gods, but compared to them, they are not sufficient to match those four Sages, so they can only be considered Immortal Gods, not Sage Gods. For example, Zhang Jiao of the Way of Peace, Celestial Master Zhang Daoling, and so on, are all Immortal Gods.”
“I see.” Jiang Ce pondered: “Then what does this have to do with the establishment of the Gatekeeper?”
“A height that someone exhausts their life unable to reach, falling into the evil path and relying on Ghosts and Monsters can easily achieve. If it were you, how would you choose?”
“The truth?”
“The truth.”
“I would probably also choose the simpler and easier way.”
Hearing Jiang Ce’s answer, Cao Ji did not blame him. On the contrary, he even expressed understanding of this.
“This is understandable, but the problem is that in the past, Ghosts and Monsters were not easy to find, hence Evil Cultivators were rare. But now, with the impending Supernatural Revival, ghostly things from all over the world are emerging one after another, including legendary Monsters and ghostly beings. For Evil Cultivators, this is a great boon.”
There was a trace of unconcealable worry in Cao Ji’s brows and eyes:
“This Resurgence seems to be targeted only at humans, because even with the Supernatural Revival, the Rules of heaven and earth have not changed in the slightest. That is to say, if we want to cultivate, we can still only rely on Merit.
But if acquiring Ghosts and Monsters becomes easy, then who would choose not to take the simple way to grow stronger, and instead choose the laborious method with a lower upper limit?
If this continues long-term, it will surely be a catastrophic disaster for the Righteous Sects of the Cultivation World, and for Ordinary People, it will also be a nightmare.
But this is the trend of the times, impossible to reverse with individual power alone, so the Gatekeeper appeared. But everything we do is merely to delay the complete Resurgence of the supernatural a little bit, hoping that within the limited time, we can find a method to counter it and prevent This World from turning into a hellscape.”
Jiang Ce listened and fell silent.
He looked at Cao Ji’s upright back, yet was not moved by these words.
At first listen, it seemed the Gatekeeper was a great and righteous organization, but with his keen sense for self-interest, he always first thought about issues from the perspective of benefits.
Even though everything seemed so reasonable, Jiang Ce still felt that some important detail had been overlooked by him.
