Chapter 58: On Opposites

Hefu Bai took the pale crystal rough stones from Ye Minwei's hands. He examined them for a moment and said, "Does the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena know that whoever controls what you just mentioned now holds the lifeblood of the world? They could even use it to transcend the Taiqing Altar Assembly. Yet you have decided to simply let it go?"

"Above all people..." Ye Minwei murmured.

She studied the Go board, placed a stone, and said, "Lately I have heard such words often. It seems you all think being superior to others is terribly important, and you feel it is a pity for me. But I am not interested in this matter. I did not create the魇 practitioners, the魇 arts, or spiritual artifacts to fight with people, nor to rule over anyone. I never intended to betray my ancestors or rebel against the orthodox path."

After a brief pause, Ye Minwei continued, "I simply find it interesting, and I believe the world ought to be this way."

Hefu Bai returned the stones to Ye Minwei and said, "Ought to be this way? Then has the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena ever considered that what you wish to make public already has a rightful owner? By what right do you give away something that belongs to another to all under heaven without the owner's consent?"

"I have always struggled to understand: you call me a thief, but why am I a thief? Why do those things belong to you?" Ye Minwei looked at Hefu Bai. She could now comprehend the hatred the common people held toward her, yet she still did not understand the condemnation she faced from the Immortal Sects.

She said, "Spiritual arts and spiritual veins are like the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning of this world. They belong to heaven and earth, not exclusively to any single person. Why should they be monopolized by a tiny fraction of people?"

"How is it that the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena holds such a view? Spiritual arts and spiritual veins are not born of nature; they were researched and developed by ancient sages thousands of years ago. The sages established sects and traditions, passing down their creations within those sects. Naturally, they belong to the sects."

"Yet when I watch you practice spiritual arts, you do not understand the true underlying principles of the spiritual veins. The inheritance of the Immortal Sects is merely the 'art', not the 'reason'. What is wrong with me making the 'reason' I have discovered public to the world?"

"The 'reason' you discovered was also derived from the 'art'. Without the 'art', how could you possibly know the 'reason'? Since it stems from the 'art', naturally it does not belong entirely to you alone."

The Go stones played by Ye Minwei and Hefu Bai intertwined, gradually claiming the greater part of the board, the chaotic black and white forces locked in mutual struggle.

From the day she learned to play Go, Ye Minwei had never lost. When she and Cangshu went to gambling dens to make money, she often won by gambling on chess, winning so overwhelmingly that even in a game impossible to cheat, people would cry out that she was cheating.

In her eyes, looking ten moves ahead was effortless, and the myriad possible evolutions of a game could be calculated in a split second. Yet now, lacking her extraordinarily brilliant brain, Ye Minwei could no longer complete calculations in a short time as she used to. For the first time, she felt that she might actually lose.

Hefu Bai's mastery of Go was profound, surely peerless beneath the heavens.

At that moment, a hand wrapped in cloth strips appeared over the board. Cangshu reached into Ye Minwei's bowl, picked up a black stone, pinched it between his middle and index fingers, and pressed it right into the center of the board.

With a single stone dropped, the situation on the board abruptly transformed. Hefu Bai's gaze darkened as he turned his head to look at Cangshu. This strange figure, wrapped entirely in cloth strips, smiled and said, "Such exquisite craftsmanship, Villa Master He! I wonder if this humble one might have the honor of exchanging moves with you?"

With this single stone, Cangshu reversed the universe and claimed the seat opposite Hefu Bai, leaving Ye Minwei standing off to the side with her hands behind her back to watch the game.

After Hefu Bai played his stone, Cangshu picked up another and said leisurely, "What Villa Master He said just now was entirely reasonable, and this unqualified person will add a few words. Spiritual arts have been passed down through the Immortal Sects for a thousand years based on this very principle. If we follow this logic, even if the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena creates countless spiritual artifacts and figures out the laws of the spiritual veins, all of this will continue to be passed down through the Immortal Sects for ten thousand generations. The ancestors have passed away, and a thousand years have gone by, yet the 'reason' remains unchanged."

"How truly strange. Thieves who steal livestock and grain from the common people are called great bandits; ordinary people who learn knowledge from the魇 beasts and Ye Minwei are called spiritual bandits; yet robbers who strip knowledge from the minds of the masses are called noble immortals."

Hefu Bai's hand, holding a stone, paused.

Cangshu's hand casually scooped up a handful of stones from the bowl and let them drop back down, creating a crisp, scattered sound.

"You speak of 'reason', but so-called 'reason' was originally nothing more than a defense for the strong and tyrannical. Today's learned scholars say that under the vast heaven, every inch of land is the king's soil, and along the borders of the land, every subject is the king's servant. But were kings and subjects born by nature? In the era of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, during the time when wise rulers like Yao, Shun, and Yu governed the world, there was no distinction between king and subject; it was merely a matter of selecting the wise and capable. Were they wrong? Did the supreme principles of the world exist first, and only then did kings, subjects, and royal territory appear? Of course not. Kings and subjects appeared first, and then they fabricated principles to prove that their correctness was unquestionable. Principles are not innate; principles are order—the order of the powerful."

"And the power in the world today belongs to the royalty and the Immortal Sects. Power naturally defines justice, thereby depriving others to consolidate its own position, growing more decadent the further its lineage extends. Isn't it utterly laughable for you to use the principles forged by the Immortal Sect of your origin to constrain the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena?"

Hefu Bai gazed deeply at Cangshu. Within a few turns, the white stones on the board had grown weak while the black stones flourished. Though the white stones struggled to hold on, they could not escape defeat. Hefu Bai prided himself on his supreme Go skills, rarely tasting defeat, yet today a game where he held an absolute advantage was utterly turned around by this peculiar young man.

The white-haired, white-bearded old man stared at the board for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. Casting aside his previous solemnity, he tossed his stone onto the board, clapped his hands, and said, "Brilliant, brilliant! What a joy! The Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena has made a fine friend! This old man concedes defeat."

Cangshu leisurely raised his hands in a bow and said, "You flatter me."

Pointing at Cangshu, Hefu Bai turned his head to Ye Minwei and said, "If you had possessed this friend's eloquence back then, how could you have been left speechless and returned in defeat during the Grand Dao Debate? If you had won the Grand Dao Debate, the state of the world today would not be like this!"

The sudden change in attitude from this leader of the Immortal Sects was completely unexpected, leaving Ye Minwei's eyes full of confusion. She saw Hefu Bai smiling warmly, his slightly plump figure making him look less like a Daoist priest and more like the Maitreya Buddha—truly benevolent and smiling, a complete contrast to his stern and rigid demeanor just a moment ago.

Hefu Bai sighed, stroked his knees with a look of profound regret, and said, "When I first met you at the Grand Dao Debate back then, you spoke of your research into the Three Mystic Classics, and this old man was left completely in the fog. Moreover, your words were so fierce and shocking that no one could accept them."

Ye Minwei pointed at herself and asked in puzzlement, "Were my words fierce?"

"Indeed. You said the Three Mystic Classics were riddled with errors, fundamentally misguided; while their methods for longevity and preserving youthfulness might have some merit, their approach to building the foundation of spiritual arts was an absolute mess. Knowing only the surface and pushing for causes and mechanisms that were either thousands of miles off the mark or putting the cart before the horse, whenever a problem arose, they simply dismissed it as unstable temperament or demonic obsession. Weren't those words fierce enough?"

Hefu Bai stroked his beard and continued, "The Three Mystic Classics were written by ancient sages and form the foundation of cultivation. Which of the cultivators at the Grand Dao Debate had not toiled for decades or centuries studying those very classics? Yet you told them that all their years of cultivation were wrong, a complete waste of time, and that in truth it only took a few years to achieve success. Hearing such words, who would still have the heart to listen to your reasoning? The various Immortal Sects relentlessly interrogated you, and when you could no longer argue, you left in desolation."

"It was only after the Spiritual Artifact Rebellion that this old man realized you had never conceded defeat. Since we would not listen and refused to believe you back then at the Grand Dao Debate, you simply set out to realize all your propositions, turning them into tangible objects and casting them before us so that we could all see you were not wrong."

The fact that the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena could turn spiritual arts into physical artifacts proved that her arguments at the Grand Dao Debate were entirely correct: human beings are not the spiritual core of heaven and earth, and spiritual power does not rely entirely on humans to exist. Thus, the Classics passed down by the Immortal Sects for a thousand years were indeed as riddled with errors as she had claimed.

Perhaps this was her original intention in researching spiritual artifacts.

"You were right, you were not wrong. If you had had this friend by your side back then, perhaps you could have slowly persuaded the various Immortal Sects. Matters might not have devolved into the chaotic state we see today."

Hefu Bai sighed and said, "Alas, gold cannot buy foresight. When Master Ceyu finishes her seclusion and sees the state of the world today, she will likely regret her harsh words toward you back then, which forced you to leave."

Hefu Bai was vastly different from the other leaders of the Immortal Sects—broad-minded and unconstrained by trivialities. He was of a similar age to Ye Minwei, and though his cultivation was profound, he deliberately refrained from using arts to preserve his youth, letting himself age naturally with the passage of time. He often said that human life between heaven and earth is meant to experience birth, aging, sickness, and death one by one; if a person clings obsessively to something, they will inevitably become trapped by it.

Take the three great sects of the immortal world, for instance. They had ruled over the various sects for centuries, enjoying boundless glory, yet they also went against the natural flow just to maintain their reputation.

Only by following the natural flow could one attain true freedom.

Hefu Bai leisurely gathered the Go stones from the board and placed them back into the bowls.

"The affairs of this world have their own fixed numbers; the currents of the times cannot be reversed by human effort. However, with the collapse of order, the turmoil in the world will be protracted. The questions this old man asked the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena today are ones that countless others will come to ask you in the future."

"Since you already have your own answer, I hope you will not be swayed by others hereafter. Even if harsh words pierce your ears and vicious speech pierces your heart, you must remain as steadfast and resounding as you are today. Only thus can you carve out a path in this world."

Hefu Bai's eyes were curved in a smile, looking like a benevolent elder: "This old man hopes that the Sovereign of Myriad Phenomena can truly establish a sect for all the phenomena of heaven and earth, and make all the common people her disciples. Even if Canglang Villa vanishes from the world one day, I shall have no regrets."

Amidst the swirling clouds, the three of them sat facing one another around the Go board. The game on the table had ended, but the game of the world had only just begun.

Ye Minwei quietly gazed at Hefu Bai for a moment, then raised her palm to her forehead, bowed deeply, and said, "Thank you."

Here at Canglang Villa, she had received help from the Immortal Sects for the very first time, and for the very first time, she had received their blessing.

As Ye Minwei and Cangshu bathed in a golden glow and left Lingyun Peak, Cangshu tucked his hands into his sleeves and sighed, "Ah, truly, only a master with such a temperament could teach disciples like Daoist Hui, Daoist Lan, and Daoist Mo!"

After a brief pause, he added, "It seems you and Miss Xie share a long-standing history, though it is one of ill fate. If Miss Xie were to find out, she would likely be very sad."

It was indeed hard for Ye Minwei to imagine the young girl who had just wept bitterly in her arms being fierce and harsh. Judging by the rumors, Master Ceyu was vastly different from Xie Yuzhu, practically like two entirely different people.

To have former enemies turn out to be master and disciple—truly, the affairs of the world were unpredictable.

Ye Minwei turned to Cangshu and asked, "Your Go skills are truly formidable. I've never heard you mention them before."

"When I was young and fond of play, I learned all sorts of miscellaneous things, and my chess skills are passable. I have also read many books; while I cannot match the Master of Dream Ruins in sharp scolding and biting satire, I am quite adept at serious debate." Cangshu smiled slightly.

Ye Minwei asked, "Then do we have a connection from the past? Cangshu, before I lost my memory, did we know each other?"