Chapter 1955: How Would You Choose

Yue Huang was gone, her figure disappearing into the bustling crowd. As an assassin, she surely had a mission, and her fate—whether she lived or died—was unknown.

Because of the purple-haired youth, the once lively street had become deserted. The ordinary people were frightened, rushing home to seek safety, leaving behind a scene of chaos, as if the place had been ransacked.

"No business today," the old man grumbled, bringing over a teapot and refilling the cups for Ye Chen and Ren Wang.

"Your palm strike was quite overbearing," Ren Wang said with a faint smile.

"Disturbing my peaceful cultivation, he brought it on himself," the old man muttered in annoyance. "If anyone else causes trouble, I'll slap them down too."

"Do you know that the one you just killed was a Ying Jie person?"

"Damn it, why didn't you say so earlier?" the tea-selling old man cursed.

"If I had told you earlier, would you have intervened?" Ren Wang glanced at him. "This matter isn't something either of us can meddle in. If you hadn't made a move, the people of this entire city would have been wiped out."

"You old schemer, you've played me again." The old man's face darkened completely. Though ignorance could be forgiven, it still involved karma, and over time, that would become a heavy burden. At his level, such things were what he feared most.

"Don't worry, it won't be a big deal." Ren Wang waved it off, stood up, and said leisurely, "I'll come find you again in a hundred years. Remember, if you want the rare edition, trade it for the Dun Jia Tian Zi."

"Get lost!" the old man shouted, still seething.

"This junior bids farewell." Ye Chen coughed awkwardly and followed Ren Wang, leaving the tea-selling old man behind, muttering and stroking his beard in frustration. Ren Wang's machinations had truly left him exasperated.

By now, Ye Chen and Ren Wang had left the mortal ancient star. Their path of cultivation was still long, each step taking them further into the distance.

Three months later, they exited that star domain and entered a new one, which was the most unusual among the Zhutian Wandu domains.

Every ancient star in this domain was a mortal ancient star. According to ancient legends, a great master of divine abilities had once extracted the origin source of this entire domain, causing the loss of spiritual energy in its ancient stars. Without spiritual energy, there were no cultivators.

However, a domain of mortals didn't mean it was free from outside cultivators. As soon as the two entered, they detected a thick scent of blood. Clearly, cultivators were causing chaos, and the mortals were helpless to stop it.

"Have you figured anything out?" Ren Wang glanced at Ye Chen.

"The aura of a Ying Jie person," Ye Chen replied with certainty.

"And?" Ren Wang pulled out his wine flask and smiled at Ye Chen.

"It's a cultivator." Ye Chen gave his answer, which wasn't hard to guess—the one causing trouble in this mortal domain was undoubtedly a Ying Jie person.

"Not even seeing the real person, and you can deduce that. It seems your Zhou Tian evolution has advanced quite a bit," Ren Wang said with a laugh.

"Should we go around?" Ye Chen asked, looking at Ren Wang.

"No need." Ren Wang replied calmly, waving his hand to envelop Ye Chen in a mysterious immortal light—a concealment technique that would hide them from outsiders.

Only after that did Ren Wang start walking, step by step, deeper into the domain.

Ye Chen frowned, unsure why Ren Wang was doing this, but he followed anyway.

As they delved further, every ancient star they encountered looked as if it had been bathed in blood. From a distance, they could see mountains of corpses and rivers of blood on the stars, accompanied by waves of wails—the anguished cries of the slaughtered spirits.

Ye Chen walked on, taking in the scenes, which were truly heart-wrenching.

Ren Wang, however, kept his gaze straight ahead. It wasn't that he lacked compassion; he had simply seen too much and grown accustomed to it. The laws of survival were brutally harsh, making people cold.

The deeper they went, the more furrowed Ye Chen's brow became.

It wasn't until sometime later that they stopped, standing in the midst of the starry sky.

Not far away was an enormous ancient star. Though it was a mortal ancient star, it had a brilliant halo, but that halo was stained with blood, making it strikingly ominous from afar.

Indeed, slaughter was unfolding on the ancient star. A cultivator was unleashing a massive blood tribulation, with groups of mortals falling into pools of blood.

The wails and cries echoed through the starry sky, enough to make even cultivators shudder, for the killing was unimaginably bloody.

"Mo Yuan predecessor." Ye Chen furrowed his brow deeply. Through the star's body, he could see a figure with blood-red hair rampaging in slaughter. He never expected that the one wantonly killing mortals was the Ying Jie person Mo Yuan, doing so solely to refine his life-bound artifact.

"Do you have anything to say?" Ren Wang said indifferently, showing no surprise at Mo Yuan's actions, as if he had known all along.

"Mortals are innocent." Ye Chen felt his mouth go dry, the words sticking in his throat like a lump, sounding weak and hollow.

"So?" Ren Wang turned his head, looking straight at Ye Chen. "Will you stop Mo Yuan and save the mortals, or abandon the mortals and not interfere in the Ying Jie matter? How will you choose?"

"I don't know." Ye Chen lowered his eyes, finding it impossible to answer.

"It's a tough choice, isn't it!" Ren Wang withdrew his gaze and took a sip of wine. "I'm guiding you not just in cultivation, but in tempering your heart. The path against heaven is destined to be paved with blood and bones. Difficult choices will accompany you for life. Your hesitation and inability to answer show that your heart isn't cold enough yet. Without that coldness, it's hard to reach the peak of the Dao."

"I understand." Ye Chen's eyes dropped even lower.

"Look at me." Ren Wang's voice was firm and resolute.

Ye Chen said nothing, slowly raising his eyes to meet Ren Wang's. For the first time, he saw Ren Wang not as the sleazy figure he appeared, but as a true senior, exuding full authority.

"Give me an answer." Ren Wang's words carried even greater authority.

"Abandon the mortals." Ye Chen spoke, his voice hoarse and strained.

"If killing Ye Fan could save all living beings, how would you choose?" Ren Wang's tone was flat, but his eyes remained authoritative.

"Your question is pointless." Ye Chen frowned.

"It is pointless." Ren Wang shrugged and turned to walk away into the void, his faint words echoing behind him. "Consider this as part of your cultivation. Don't rush to answer me, but whether in a hundred years or a thousand, you must give me an answer. No escaping it."

Ye Chen fell silent again, simply following, but Ren Wang's question had indeed disrupted his state of mind. It wasn't that he refused to choose; he just didn't know how. The question was brutally harsh.

In the end, the two abandoned the mortals and did not interfere in the Ying Jie matter, allowing Mo Yuan to continue his slaughter, with wails filling the starry sky.

Ye Chen sighed, and that flicker of kindness in his heart gradually faded, overshadowed by coldness. The tempering of his heart, like Ren Wang's question, was unbearably cruel.

He had underestimated Ren Wang, who seemed to anticipate everything, such as Mo Yuan's killing here, which was why he had brought Ye Chen to witness it and begin this heart-tempering journey.

And indeed, in the following months, wherever Ren Wang took him, they encountered scenes of bloody tribulations.

The perpetrators were all Ying Jie people, and all were familiar to him.

Among the Zhutian's Zhun Di, countless had become sinners through the Ying Jie.

Among Hong Huang's Zhun Di, many had become paragons of virtue through the Ying Jie.

This wave of Ying Jie had upended Ye Chen's understanding, like a twisted role reversal, with blood-soaked scenes turning the mortal world into a tragic spectacle.

Another ten years passed, making it fifty years since they left their homeland.

These ten years were torment for Ye Chen. Ren Wang took him to witness endless human tragedies, and even his state of mind was shrouded in nightmares, from which he couldn't escape.

Yet, the heart-tempering was far from over—it grew even crueler.

In the fifty-first year, Ren Wang cast a mysterious curse on Ye Chen. The curse consisted of just one phrase.

Or rather, one question—the same one from ten years ago, about Ye Fan and all living beings, forcing Ye Chen to choose.

Ren Wang was relentless. He had woven that question into the curse, so it echoed endlessly in Ye Chen's sea of consciousness, like a compulsion that couldn't be ignored.

It was as if Ye Chen wouldn't be free until he gave an answer.

This was true torment. Even the legendary ruthless figure who had slain emperors was worn down by this curse, left battered and broken.

To Ye Chen, that single phrase was like an icy blade, carving into his soul with every passing day. Without an answer, it would never stop.