Chapter 125: The Real Cultivator
Yan Yi’s breathing became somewhat rapid.
Even if it harms the Holy Cult’s interests, must we still cooperate?
Judging solely from this point, Jiang Ce’s importance and the privileges he possesses far exceed those of the other senior brothers who are now already helmsmen.
If it were merely because Jiang Ce is the disciple most favored by the Cult Leader, it clearly wouldn’t be enough to convince Yan Yi, but he didn’t dare to ask more, because he knew that the Holy Cult’s interests are above everything in the cult rules, and even the Cult Leader must make concessions when necessary—this was a rule he personally established.
So, for someone who can break this rule, how big a secret is behind them? Yan Yi fundamentally didn’t want to know at all.
For many things, not knowing is definitely better than knowing.
Therefore, he just remained silent for a moment before nodding: “Understood.”
The young monk patted his shoulder: “Understood is fine. Do you want to cultivate Song Yuntian?”
Yan Yi bluntly grunted in agreement, then bent down respectfully and said: “He has been with me the longest and is the one I trust the most. Additionally, he may advance further soon. I want to give him more opportunities, but rest assured, sir, in my view, ability is always first. I won’t cause trouble due to personal feelings.”
“Mm, as long as you understand what I mean. Whether you do it yourself or use this to cultivate your subordinates, that’s fine, but you must remember: if something goes wrong, it’ll be hard for me to protect you.”
The young monk nodded simply, then left.
Yan Yi didn’t straighten up until the other had been gone for a while.
He looked toward the direction of the Lu Shan Sect’s headquarters, his expression somewhat complex.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ce had already been escorted back to his room by Song Yuntian.
Song Yuntian sat on a chair, took out a jade pendant, and handed it to Jiang Ce.
Jiang Ce was stunned, then smiled as he took it: “How could I accept this? You come to visit, and you even bring a gift?”
“What is this thing?”
Song Yuntian’s mouth twitched: “You think I’m giving you a gift?”
“Isn’t it?” Jiang Ce narrowed his eyes and retreated a step warily: “Don’t tell me it’s an exchange? I don’t have anything valuable.”
“This is a token!” Song Yuntian’s face darkened: “Inject spiritual energy into it, and I’ll receive the message here. I’ll find a way to meet you as soon as possible. Got it?”
“I understand.”
Jiang Ce came to a realization:
“Like a vibrating egg, right? I press the remote, and you’ll know I’m summoning you.”
“You don’t understand shit!”
Song Yuntian looked exasperated: “How the hell did you even survive among the gatekeepers? Aren’t they all a bunch of hypocrites who’ll do anything for merit? With your shitty temper, how do you get along with them?”
“Uh.” Jiang Ce was poked at a sore spot and sighed: “It’s like this: I’m often ostracized and isolated, so along the way, I’ve suffered quite a few losses and smoothed out a lot of my sharpness. No choice—people have to grow.”
Seeing Jiang Ce a bit saddened, Song Yuntian’s gaze softened somewhat.
The two each recalled different things, both feeling somewhat emotional.
Suddenly, Jiang Ce asked: “Why do you say the gatekeepers are hypocrites? I think I’m pretty sincere.”
“You’ll do, but your situation is special—different from the others.”
Song Yuntian shrugged: “Not surprising, though. After all, the rules of heaven and earth have changed nowadays. To cultivate, you must rely on merit; anything else is evil cultivation. For merit, of course they’ve turned from living people into a bunch of hypocrites.
Of course, it’s only some of them. There are still plenty of smart people who exploit loopholes. Where there are rules, there are vulnerabilities—inevitable. But most people have stopped seeming like real humans. I don’t like it.”
Hearing the words “exploit loopholes,” Jiang Ce couldn’t help but think of Cao Zheng and the Old Celestial Master.
The former wiped out the Shenxiao Sect, which should have been a bad thing by reason, but his realm advanced instead, and later he even established the gatekeepers, achieving unparalleled merit.
As for the latter, he allied with Dao and Buddha. As their leader, his merit is surely plentiful, though his goal was indeed to suppress the gatekeepers.
It could be said that though they both have merit, it’s not pure. By their actions, they seem great and righteous, but by their hearts—who knows but themselves.
In Jiang Ce’s view, this was exploiting loopholes. They were smart people who gained merit while achieving their own goals, but whether such people are good or bad is hard to define.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ce smiled and countered: “If the gatekeepers are hypocrites, then you guys are real villains, huh?”
“Real villains, huh…”
Song Yuntian gave a self-mocking smile:
“Though you definitely won’t believe my explanation, I still have to say: we’re the most authentic cultivators.
The essence of cultivators is seizing the fortune of heaven and earth—it’s always been that way since ancient times. Snatching resources, snatching fortunes, killing for treasures—it’s all commonplace. But that’s the purest form of cultivation: defying heaven, making enemies of all.
I won’t deny we have some trash among us, but that’s inevitable. Big forest, all kinds of birds. We pursue rapid development, so we can’t vet everyone’s character. In the end, it’s ability above all.
After all, our conditions aren’t like the so-called righteous path, which screens people from the start of cultivation. Even if some have issues, it’s no big deal—unlike us, where some do utterly heartless things.”
Jiang Ce thought for a moment and asked: “But cultivating with ghosts still has some impact, right? Maybe some were originally kind-hearted but changed due to negative influences?”
“Those are the ones who get eliminated. Their hearts are unsettled, so that’s their limit. To put it bluntly, the higher path isn’t for them.”
Song Yuntian replied without hesitation:
“But some overcome it. If they can overcome those issues you mentioned, they’re no different from ordinary cultivators—just a different path.
And unlike the current mainstream righteous path, they retain the power of freedom.
I don’t know what you think, but I feel cultivation itself is for transcendence and freedom. If you lose your true nature at the end, honestly, might as well not cultivate.”
Jiang Ce fell silent.
He surprisingly found Song Yuntian made some sense. What he just said was half true, half false. Claiming he suffered losses was pure bullshit—”suffering is a blessing” didn’t hold for Jiang Ce. Learning from others’ failures was fine; no need to suffer himself. Watching others suffer was learning enough.
But smoothing out sharpness was true.
First, the environment demanded it. Everyone cultivated merit, and over time, Jiang Ce lost that initial unrestrained, free-spirited feeling. He often felt constrained, even frequently considering if a word or action was appropriate—something rare before.
Second, facing big shots, he had to meticulously weigh every word and deed. That’s why Wei Lao saw him as a soft persimmon—hard ones would break you.
Third, resources never lacked, and even ordinary gatekeepers got them by merit as needed. Not that it was bad, but Jiang Ce saw little sharpness in them.
After all, when personal efforts become collective property with no direct reward, people naturally lose drive. History proved that.
Everyone slacking off and not competing was as bad as involution. Extremes breed problems. For Jiang Ce, it meant few chances to hone his signature sharp-tongued sarcasm.
Trash-talking them was less challenging than typing online.
Besides, he deeply related to the “hypocrites” remark.
At least on the surface, the cultivators he’d met felt too unreal, too abstract.
He was provoked because they saw him as morally deficient, targeted because Lu Shan Sect originally feuded with the gatekeepers.
The novel trope of someone jumping out to mock you on the street for looking off? He’d never encountered it.
That was unreasonable. Even working at a funeral home, he got lip from people occasionally. Yet the cultivation world was so “green”—kinda lame.
Looking back, he’d always been the villain.
Was that reasonable? Was that right?
The most normal people he’d met were Lou Leshan and Liang Zhi Che—that’s why he interacted with them more. At least they seemed like living humans.
Even so, their minor flaws were harmless. Fundamentally high-quality people, with boundless futures—who knew what they’d become.
Jiang Ce pursed his lips, his expression not great.
So he’d dragged down the gatekeepers’ moral standard.
“I don’t know why you clashed with the gatekeepers, but I meant what I said before: you’re wasted there. Someone as fun as you should keep it up—even amp it up—or becoming like the others would suck.”
Song Yuntian smiled meaningfully.
“I’m not, I didn’t, don’t talk nonsense.”
Jiang Ce raised a brow, denying thrice, then feigned anger:
“Don’t spout nonsense. The gatekeepers are my home—love it, we all do. No clashes.”
Song Yuntian was unmoved: “After we approached you, your reaction didn’t seem spur-of-the-moment. Though our Holy Envoys have good intel, finding you this fast—is it luck, or our efficiency improving?”
Jiang Ce frowned, realizing something: “Luck?”
“Maybe. Doesn’t matter.”
Song Yuntian stood and stretched lazily: “But your choice is right—you won’t regret it. Whatever the gatekeepers can give you, we can too. But what they take from you, we won’t touch.
As for your prejudice against us, it’ll change in time.
Also, if you have ideas later, I won’t refuse you joining us to change things. Didn’t Yan Boss say? Your status might surpass mine someday. If you want to do it, nothing’s impossible.”
Jiang Ce waved it off: “Nah, I’m a lazy dog—can’t do that stuff.”
“I don’t like it either.” Song Yuntian removed his mask: “But I have to.”
Earlier, Song Yuntian had removed his mask too quickly to complain—Jiang Ce hadn’t seen clearly. Now looking closely, he noticed a deep crack on one side of Song Yuntian’s mouth, exposing the gum of his back molars.
Jiang Ce said in surprise: “Cracked-mouth guy?”
Song Yuntian put the mask back on: “Got it when captured to be a medicine man. That bastard… now he’s just Eighth Rank, not even trash. But back then, as an ordinary person, he was a god to me.
So later, I luckily survived, got luckily picked by Yan Boss, and made it here. I saw clearly: the Holy Cult has villains, but also good people. So I want to purge the impurities. I’ve put in a lot of effort.
Maybe I haven’t killed fewer than them, but I don’t think I’m a villain.
Of course, by your side’s rules, I’m definitely a big villain. No choice—the environment demands it. If I don’t, the rumors of our atrocities you hear outside would be even more.”
By the end, Song Yuntian’s gaze had turned somewhat gloomy.
Coincidence or not, he stood right by the half-open window, dim moonlight illuminating half his face while the rest of his body hid in darkness.
After a long silence, Jiang Ce comforted: “No worries. I just thought: I’m not a traditional good person either. It’s fine—like you said, as long as you’re true to yourself.”
Song Yuntian exhaled deeply: “Alright then. Mobile phones aren’t safe. Use the jade pendant for anything. If I need you, I’ll contact you through it. Keep it on you.”
“Got it. But how soon is ‘as soon as possible’? I’m worried about emergencies.”
“Won’t happen.”
Song Yuntian said confidently:
“The reason I rose is I grasped space-related thresholds early, going from intel runner to today. No bullshit: as long as you’re in the country, anywhere—fastest one minute, latest one hour, I’ll be there.
Like just now, a few seconds.”
Jiang Ce tsked in admiration: “Awesome. Teach me?”
“Simple: find a boy and girl virgin pair, skin them, draw tendons, drink their blood, eat their flesh. Persist forty-nine days, refine muscles and bones, then cultivate the method. Easy to learn.”
“???” Jiang Ce shook his head wildly: “I couldn’t learn a bit.”
Seeing Jiang Ce’s big reaction, Song Yuntian laughed: “Not that extreme—joking. Too early now. Learning this would just expose you, no help. Later, when you’re fully integrated.”
Jiang Ce’s expression relaxed, and he nodded.
“Mm, that’s it then. Nothing major short-term, but I’ll leave in a couple days. I’ll tell you internal news first thing.”
Song Yuntian replied “Good” and vanished.
Jiang Ce thought long, suddenly confused: “Fuck, which side’s mole am I? How’d I get attached?”
After much thought, he figured it out: “Oh, mole on both sides. That’s fine then.”
