Nightfall

Long Qing had been a servant in Zhishou Abbey for a long time. Every day he climbed up to the vine-covered Red Mountain and sent things to the old taoist priests who were in the strange caves. He was extremely exhausted, not only physically but also mentally. He was especially exhausted by the old taoist priest whose waist was cut, who treated him like a dog or a pig, constantly humiliating and torturing him until he gets seriously injured and spits out blood.

Although he was tortured over and over again, his life was not threatened. Throughout all these days Long Qing had guessed that although the old taoist priests in these caves were deformed physically, they clearly knew about his origins and did not dare to really kill him. So he endured the harassment, and sometimes even took the initiative to talk to them.

The taoist priests who were confined to these caves were almost certainly lonely. According to the what he learned from stories in books, if he spoke to them more, he might foster a good relationship with these taoist priests and would naturally gain benefits from them.

This kind of expectation seemed to be childish. So far, apart from questions about things happening in the field of cultivation in recent decades, these taoist priests only mocked at his poor cultivation state or got angry that he still could enter the abbey while being so weak.

Nevertheless, he got some information from these conversations at least. For instance, the surname of the disabled old taoist priest who made him spit out blood and broke one of his ribs for staring at him was Ho. This old taoist priest Ho called himself Halfman Taoist, which was obviously not his real name but self-mockery. In accordance with the generations, he should be the uncle of the hierarch of West-Hill Divine Palace. No wonder he had such an unfathomable state.

With his old clothes floating in the windless air, both of Halfman Taoist’s hands were caught in the fur of a Snowfield Direwolf. His face was as cold as a stone but his eyes were filled with misery and despair. Looking at Long Qing who wiped off the blood and stood up laboriously, he said. “On the first day you came here I had already told you that you were a waste. What right do you have to talk to me? F*ck off.”

Long Qing did not leave the cave silently as he did before, because he heard something different from the words of his predecessor. The old taoist priest was in obvious despair; He knew the despair well so he walked to the wolf leather couch, kneeled down and said, “If I were a waste, the abbey dean wouldn’t allow me to come here, nor would I have the opportunity to meet you.”

Hearing the name of the abbey dean, Halfman Taoist gradually calmed down and looked at Long Qing who was kneeling in front of him. He laughed and said, “But you are indeed a waste.”

“I am a waste now but it doesn’t mean that I will always be.”

Long Qing replied calmly, with a slight bow. His eyes were covered with a pale gray gloss.

“It is indeed unfair to say that you are a waste.”

Halfman Taoist stared at him without emotions and said, “Even though you are humiliated by me every day, you still insist on coming into the cave. This shows that you have a firm will. I can tell from the recovery speed of your injuries that you have a strong body. You have been practicing Gray Eye, trying to find a chance to absorb my skills. Whether you do it by cheating me or by moving me, you are wicked and merciless.”

Hearing this, Long Qing’s body quavered out of shock. He did not expect this old disable taoist priest who was seemingly insane could see through his intents so clearly from the very beginning. Suddenly he felt endless fear and wanted to run away from this splendid but extremely dark cave.

However, without knowing why, he did not move. Maybe it was because his body was stiff, or he knew that he would not be able to run faster than the speed of the old taoist priest’s eyes. Or maybe he just wanted to gamble on it.

He was still kneeling in front of the old taoist priest, but bowing his head lower than before.

“Gray Eye is truly a marvelous skill. After the transformation by predecessors in Haotian Taoism, compared with the original devil skill— Tao Tie, Gray Eye can absorb the Psyche Power of cultivators without devouring their flesh and blood. It is indeed one of the best choices for sneak attacks.”

Looking up at the top of the cave as if looking at the sky, Halfman Taoist recalled many past events and he said slowly, “In fact, after such transformations, Gray Eye doesn’t look bloody anymore but will have other losses instead. Compared with Tao Tie, the Psyche Power and even the spirit that Gray Eye suppresses cannot be blended with your original world easily, which will cause many problems. So Gray Eye is not as powerful as the real Tao Tie. Unfortunately, the Practice of Taotie in Devil’s Doctrine has long been lost. Now Devil’s Doctrine has gone into a decline, there might be no one in the world who knows the practice.”

This powerful old taoist priest whose cultivation state had almost broken Five States did not know that Master Lotus had long managed to restart the Practice of Taotie in secret.

Long Qing got serious for he had already seen relevant records in “Sha” Handscroll of Tomes of Arcane but he did not pay too much attention to it. On hearing what Halfman Taoist said, he realized that it was an intractable problem. What confused him most now though, was that Halfman Taoist did not kill him or drive him away after seeing through all his intentions, but instead began to teach him as if he were his student.

Halfman Taoist moved his eyes from the top of the cave down to Long Qing and said calmly, “You have a firm will, strong body, tactical ideas, sinister plots, great ambition and durable endurance. You seem to meet all the requirements of success. Do you know why I still say you are a waste?”

“I don’t know.”

“I heard about your experience the other day that you were famous in the past but eventually ruined in the hands of a disciple of the Academy. Now let me ask you, in which aspect are you inferior to the disciple?”

Hearing this question, Long Qing sank into silence for a long time. In fact, he had already asked himself many times and he did not understand why Ning Que was better than him – he was Divine Son of West-Hill who was almost perfect while Ning Que was just a pawn in City of Wei. The reality was that he was defeated by Ning Que in consecutive battles and each time he lost more miserably than last. What on earth was the answer to this question?

“You are not cheeky enough.”

Halfman Taoist looked at him and said in a faint voice, “In other words, you still try to preserve your last pride and you simply don’t understand that if you want to be the most powerful cultivator, you have to know exactly when you abandon your pride and sink yourself into some dirty mud.”

Long Qing raised his head and said with a frown, “I don’t think I have any pride right now.”

Halfman Taoist lifted his hand, pointed at his knees, and said, “You are kneeling in front of me, but in your heart, you are still standing upright.”

Long Qing said, “Doesn’t Ning Que have his own pride?”

Halfman Taoist said, “I have never met the person called Ning Que and I don’t know what he has done. But I’m sure that he will definitely give up all his pride if it is needed to accomplish his goal. If he is in Zhishou Abbey right now, he will never climb up the mountain silently and try to use emotional offensive or sinister means to take my power like you.”

Long Qing asked in confusion, “What would he do?”

Halfman Taoist grinned with wrinkles on his haggard face trembling like raw noodles which were going to break down. He said, “On the first day he would enter the cave, kneel in front of me, and beg me to give him half of my power.”

“But… As far as I know, people in the Academy are all very proud.”

“The prides are all superficial things which only show up when the people get their power. They are proud of heaven, of earth or of people but never of themselves. As long as they can get stronger, they will betray Haotian and join in the Devil’s Doctrine. It is impossible for these shameless people to have pride!”

Halfman Taoist growled angrily, with his face turning red and his trembling right hand waving in the air. It seemed as though he was grabbing an invisible enemy and tearing them into countless pieces.

Everything in the cave seemed to have felt the anger. The white wolf fur became smooth out of restlessness and fear and the luminous pearl on the wall weakened its light secretly.

Kneeling in front of the old taoist priest, Long Qing was torn by this powerful spiritual force and seemed to be burning. He exhausted all his strength to keep his trembling body from falling to the ground.

The wind stopped and the cave returned to a dead silence.

Halfman Taoist looked at Long Qing and asked him slowly, “Do you know who cut me in two at the waist?”

His voice was calm, with little to no fluctuation, but held endless pain.

With his fingers bending, Long Qing’s hands which were on the ground were trembling slightly. He was about to catch a trace on the ground. He risked making the old taoist priest furious and said in a wobbly voice, “It’s either the Headmaster or Ke Haoran.”

Struck by the answer, Halfman Taoist asked, “How did you know?”

Long Qing answered, “Predecessor’s cultivation state had already gone beyond Five States and you had become a saint at that time. There were only two people in the world who could hurt you so badly.”

After hearing his answer, Halfman Taoist laughed out loud with hatred and said, “You are right. I was cut in half by a sword of Ke Haoran and all the old guys hidden in the caves in this mountain were all hurt either by Ke Haoran or the Headmaster.”

“I was seriously injured in the battle against Ke Haoran. If not for the secret practice that kept my life, I would have died on the spot in immense pain. Even though I survived the battle, I couldn’t forget the pain I suffered: how my intestines flowed out of my body, and how the lower part of my body was cut off. I will never forget the pain.”

“Though Ke Haoran had already died, I couldn’t let go of my pain. I am not reconciled to it. I want Ke Haoran in pain even though he’s dead. So I have an un-ending desire to destroy the Academy.”

“However, for the rest of my life I could only rely on my distorted upper body to crawl like a bug in this cave. I am just a wreck without buttocks. How can I destroy the Academy?”

Halfman Taoist looked at Long Qing kneeling in front of him, laughed like a madman, and said desperately, “The abbey dean sent you to me so I thought you had a chance to do it. It turned out that you were just a waste, not any better than me even though you have buttocks.”

Long Qing suddenly raised his head and asked, “How can I not become a waste?”

The old taoist priest stopped laughing, stared into his eyes and said, “The so-called ‘strong people’ are those who are able to pursue power at all costs.”

Kneeling on the ground in bewilderment, Long Qing said with a quivering voice, “The reason why I chose to practice Gray Eye is to attack you or any predecessor in the caves in this mountain. I thought I had already done it at all costs. I don’t know how to go any further.”

The old taoist priest said with a grin, “If you want to do it at all costs, you are not supposed to have any emotion or position other than eager for power. No matter whether it’s pride or belief, you need to throw it away. If it’s one’s bottom that decides one’s position, you should be like me now, without bottom at all. ”

Long Qing whispered, “What about Haotian?”

The old taoist priest snapped, “The reason why people in the Academy are so powerful is that they have no faith or rule. In their eyes, Haotian is not even the bottom but a fart! If you want to defeat the Academy, you need to be a person that thinks nothing of faith and rule and takes Haotian as a fart as well. Let go!”

…