What are they afraid of?
Naturally, they were afraid of falling into Li Yunxian’s rhythm!
Their guard had not yet been lowered, and they still firmly believed that Li Yunxian’s friendly attitude toward them must be because she was plotting something.
Therefore, after the introductions, someone took the lead to speak first, hoping to regain control of the rhythm.
The result…
It was useless.
Inadvertently, the direction of the conversation was once again seized by Li Yunxian.
As for the new topic she threw out… they had no room to refuse.
To be precise, they did not want to refuse in their hearts.
What Cultivator could refuse this?
At this moment, they chose to admit defeat.
“Please guide us, Teacher Li,” someone said in helpless compromise.
Li Yunxian smiled, but she didn’t offer any grand platitudes. Instead, she asked the crowd, “Since this is a Discussion on Dao, it is naturally a discussion together; it cannot be called guidance.”
After speaking, Li Yunxian didn’t wait for the others to offer more polite but useless words and continued directly, “It’s just that at the start, everyone surely doesn’t know what to talk about, so I will throw out a stone to attract jade and ask everyone a question.
“What was your original intent for Cultivation? Is it convenient to say?”
They never expected that the first thing Li Yunxian would talk about with them was this.
Such things were already a distant memory for them.
However, the memories of those who could make it into the high-level ranks were not bad.
After reflecting for a while, someone soon answered frankly, “At that time, I didn’t think much of it. Everyone was practicing Cultivation, so I simply followed the crowd.”
These words caused some people to nod in agreement, while others spoke up with their own different ideas: “I wanted to live a better life and obtain more resources.”
This time, even more people nodded in agreement.
Only a few remained, scratching their heads and looking at each other. Finally, someone said quietly and bashfully, “I wanted to become like the people written in books—defeat villains, become heroes, and be loved by everyone…”
As these words were spoken, a faint ripple of laughter echoed through the drawing room.
This reaction made those who hadn’t spoken yet pause.
They also valued their dignity, and suddenly, they didn’t dare to speak anymore.
Li Yunxian did not force them. What she wanted to do was simply to make these people remember their original intent; it didn’t matter whether these people shared their thoughts or if what they said was the truth.
“When I first started Cultivation, I wanted to survive. I wanted to take the heads of those who bullied me and shove them into a swill bucket, making them kneel and beg for mercy.” Li Yunxian was extremely frank.
Everyone present who heard Li Yunxian’s words: …
They all thought of themselves and their current situations.
To this day, Li Yunxian’s behavioral patterns seemed to be exactly as she described.
She had beaten all their factions and rubbed their faces against the floor.
Li Yunxian didn’t care what these people thought of her words and simply continued candidly, “Although most people follow the Path of Righteousness, in their hearts, they are either lost or have selfish motives.”
Saying this, Li Yunxian looked toward the person who said his goal was to be a hero. “Fellow Daoist Fei’s initial thought was also to be liked by others.
“Then everyone… how did you manage to remain stationed on the side of the Path of Righteousness when you clearly commit evil acts, yet have not fallen into the Demonic Path?” Li Yunxian asked everyone once more.
The drawing room suddenly fell silent.
No one answered Li Yunxian’s question.
The Many even felt at this moment that Li Yunxian had said so much to them before for the sake of insulting them now while they were listening intently, thinking she was actually having a Discussion on Dao with them.
The faces of many people immediately darkened, though they didn’t dare to refute Li Yunxian.
After all, they had come here specifically to endure her temper.
Li Yunxian acted as if she didn’t see the expressions on their faces and continued, “You have all seen the previous online discussions about the Path of Righteousness. Were those people’s accusations against you wrong?”
At this moment, Li Yunxian’s tone was still gentle, but it felt even more piercing to the members of the various factions.
However, these people didn’t say anything to refute her; the skins of those who could do business were never thin.
Someone even directly wiped their face and said to Li Yunxian, “Indeed, it is as you say. We did not consider those matters thoroughly, and our subordinates were not strictly disciplined—”
Li Yunxian looked at the person who spoke with surprise. “Why is Fellow Daoist Zhang speaking such ethereal and false platitudes for no reason? Are we not having a Discussion on Dao?”
The members of the various factions: …
So they were still having a Discussion on Dao and not just being scolded.
Li Yunxian had a faint smile on her face.
Of course it was a Discussion on Dao, but a Discussion on Dao didn’t stop her from scolding people.
“Since everyone is still a person of the Path of Righteousness and has not fallen into the Demonic Path to become an Other Race due to the conduct being pointed out, then you must certainly be unconvinced in your hearts by those words.” Li Yunxian pointed out the core of her statement.
The Many were silent.
Li Yunxian’s words pointed directly at the true thoughts deep within their hearts.
They were indeed… unconvinced!
Knowing what Li Yunxian wanted to hear at this moment, someone spoke up boldly, “Everything has good and bad sides. How can good and evil be so clearly distinguished?”
“Especially in the way of commerce—if someone profits, someone else must lose. What we do is nothing more than maintaining ourselves.”
“My Lidao has nearly a million people, and all their food, clothing, housing, and transportation depend on me. If we do not fight for it, what will they do? What will we do?”
With someone taking the lead, more people naturally voiced their agreement: “My Li Qiu Alliance is the same.”
“Since our founding, we have also established charitable organizations to provide help to those who lost their ability to survive while responding to disasters, as well as those who are seriously ill and impoverished.”
“My Bo Hai Chamber of Commerce is also the same. Back when Qingxing suffered a disaster and there was a shortage of Magic Tools in the first wave, it was we who mobilized materials from nearby warehouses and sent them over to maintain the situation at the time…”
“We are also the Path of Righteousness!”
These people spoke louder and louder, finally speaking to Li Yunxian with firm voices.
Li Yunxian did not refute them.
Because what these people said was also the truth. In the discussion of the Path of Righteousness that Sheng Yu had sparked, although most people were cursing these factions as dark and evil forces, many people had mentioned the good things these factions had done.
It was just that under everyone’s bitter cursing, they hadn’t gained any volume.
“Yes, you are all the Path of Righteousness. Then what are you feeling guilty about?” Li Yunxian asked the crowd softly.
She repeated the content regarding the Dao Heart of the Path of Righteousness that she had previously said to Yu Juanshu.
“What is the Path of Righteousness? Having a clear conscience is the Path of Righteousness.”
“What exactly are morality, Dao Heart, right, and wrong? You all understand these things in your hearts.”
“You can say these things to me, and you can say them to others.”
“In the end, you might be able to convince me, or perhaps convince many others, but the most important thing is whether you can convince yourselves.”
“Can you…” Li Yunxian looked toward everyone present, “Can you convince your own Dao Heart?”
“Everything you did was necessary. Hurting people was also necessary.”
“You have a clear conscience.”
Everyone stared blankly at Li Yunxian, and not a single one could answer.
The grand discussion about the Path of Righteousness initiated by Sheng Yu was a completely novel and extremely rare event in the Interstellar.
At least the people in front of her had never experienced or thought about these matters.
Because the Path of Righteousness was too common, too prevalent, as ubiquitous as the air, and it had already lost the meaning of discussion.
On the internet, that was a discussion of the Path of Righteousness, and the focused words of the public were all about which things these factions had done wrong, what was inappropriate, what needed reflection, and what was not ‘Righteous’ enough.
How to restrain oneself, how to protect the rights of more people.
How to punish evil and promote good, and how to establish better problem-solving mechanisms—that was the true theme of that online discussion about the Path of Righteousness.
Furthermore, it was this discussion that had allowed the spirits of all the low-level Cultivators in reality to straighten up again.
So everyone thought this way; so my thoughts were shared by so many people.
It turned out that if one did bad things, even if they didn’t fall into the Demonic Path, they would still be attacked by the masses like this.
But as for what exactly the Path of Righteousness was, to them, they were still lost and ignorant.
Anyway, what is good is the Path of Righteousness.
This thought was held by those in Qi Refining, those in Foundation Establishment, and these Golden Cores thought the same. Further up, even many in Integration and Dacheng held such thoughts.
Even if some people reached enlightenment, they might not necessarily be able to so thoroughly comprehend those two words, “Path of Righteousness,” and summarize their thoughts.
Whether in Shenzhou or the Interstellar, it was the same.
But the Cultivation World was special.
The Path of Righteousness and the Evil Dao lived together, and instead, many people discussed the Dao with each other, grasping the difference between the two from these subtle details.
Only with contrast can answers emerge.
But with Li Yunxian’s pointer at this moment, the intelligence of these people who could manage to be at the high levels of various factions was not weak, and they immediately realized it.
It turned out to be… no regrets.
Could they achieve being without regrets? Naturally, they could not.
How could people do things so perfectly?
They finally knew why, in their past experience, those who had the opportunity to advance further in their cultivation would always avoid getting involved in these mundane affairs.
So that’s how it was.
So that’s how it was!
The people before her revealed bitter smiles. “Merchants place profit at the front. If they can earn ten points, they will certainly not settle for nine when they strike.”
Li Yunxian looked at these people and chuckled, speaking without mercy, “Is it that you can earn ten and are unwilling to earn nine?
“It’s that you can earn ten, so you kill, slaughter, and trap the other party to get fifteen or twenty points.”
These guys, who were still screaming for the death of the Lishi two months ago, really knew how to put gold on their own faces.
The representatives of various factions: …
Speechless.
When they first entered and were spoken to loudly by Li Yunxian, they were only silent on the surface, showing submission, but their hearts had been filled with curses.
But at this moment, they had to admit that what Li Yunxian said was indeed flawless.
Recalling Li Yunxian asking them to remember their original intent and their youthful passion, they remembered that when they were practicing cultivation, some of them had been like Sheng Yu and Ying Wenhe—as students, as professional Cultivators, fighting on the front lines against the Other Race.
How had they turned into their current selves, with faces that only recognized profit?
It seemed as if someone was whispering in their ears…
Humans are not saints; who can be without fault…
Then it’s nothing if I overstep a little bit.
Everyone else is doing the same anyway.
Since…
Why can’t I?
But the sentence following that one is actually: “To be able to correct one’s faults is the greatest virtue,” rather than using it as an excuse to allow oneself to commit errors.
Realizing this, the people from various factions suddenly broke out in a cold sweat.
The person who first raised the doubt gave a bitter smile and bowed to Li Yunxian. “Fei has been taught.”
Li Yunxian glanced at this person and nodded slightly without responding.
She looked toward the person who was about to speak.
The other party’s eyes had become clear. “May I ask, Teacher Li, since things have come to this, what should we do?”
“Even if we know our past mistakes… we no longer have a chance to change.”
They had already been pushed out of the central power layers of their respective factions.
Li Yunxian looked at these people with a faint smile. “Why not? Why is there no chance?
“You know what the correct path is, while the others inside your factions do not. In fact, what you should do is set things right and make them follow the correct path, shouldn’t you?”
“You have nothing left now; all you have is yourselves, and the path for yourselves to move forward is right there.”
“Resolve the karma of the past and ensure others no longer commit those mistakes.”
“Why not do it?”
The representatives of various factions: …
The representatives of various factions: …
This time, they truly understood.
Li Yunxian has finally revealed her true motives!
She was using them as chess pieces to be planted directly inside each faction, to completely destroy the internals of those factions… ah, no!
That’s not right! It was a transformation!
To make them part of her Lishi’s world!