CHAPTER 532: CHAPTER 317: THE ENTIRE CULTIVATION WORLD IS JUST A CHOPSTICK_2

At first, he thought it was his own obsession, too deep into devilry, but even today, two hundred years later, he still hadn’t made any progress. That eerie feeling never disappeared, and the only time in these two hundred and forty years he felt a chance for relief.

Was decades ago.

The fall of the Demon Night True Monarch, the tragic deaths of many masters from both the righteous and evil paths, and...

The disappearance of Liu Jian.

That was the first time he felt a loosening, even his hand had touched that door; unfortunately, the loosening wasn’t enough to breakthrough completely. Despite giving his all, he still couldn’t break through, even experiencing a reversal of spiritual energy, divine sense backlash, and incessant vomiting of blood.

At that time, the matter almost alarmed all the Peak Masters, oh, except for Liu Tangxi who wasn’t home for years. Even the elderly before him came to visit personally, fearing that his junior would fall into extremity and become possessed.

What was surprising was that Master Gu, who had served as Sect Master of Purple Cloud Palace for the longest time in history, had no changes in temperament, nor did he feel any so-called regret or obsession.

He, having vomited almost a basin of blood, only had a face full of confusion, some thoughtful, letting the other juniors and younger brothers leave, and just looked at his Junior Master with some puzzlement and asked.

"Master, might it be that something is missing in this world?"

Finally, Gu Yuanshan realized.

He used to always think his skills were inadequate or that he was entangled by a Heart Demon, which led to a century of hard cultivation without advancing a step. From that moment on, he finally began to step out of this problem.

No anger, no frustration, at that time, Gu Yuanshan was like a genius science student diligently solving advanced math problems in a classroom.

Previously, countless problems were ones he could grasp at a glance, at most two glances to fully understand the concept, but now a question completely trapped him.

When the answer he calculated drastically differed from reality, his first response wasn’t anger or frustration, but confusion and reflection. He was always considering what he might have done wrong, whether he miscalculated, or his thought process was flawed.

Thus he repeated numerous times, thinking from countless angles, even attempting a complete rewrite; yet every time calculated, the results were wrong, no breakthrough in realm indicated his calculated answer was incorrect.

This led him to a long period of self-doubt.

Ultimately.

He inadvertently glimpsed the correct answer left by others, but after bringing this correct answer into the problem to backtrack, he discovered...

It didn’t! Match!

Yes, he had never done anything wrong from the beginning. From the first time he wrote the problem, he wrote it correctly. The failure to calculate the correct answer wasn’t his fault; the problem itself was flawed!

This was the conclusion he reached after spending two hundred and forty years.

"Yuan Shan."

"Although I cannot discern the Heavenly Dao, as an old man, I know that with your current accumulation, you should have discerned the Great Dao a hundred years ago and transcended this realm."

"I dare not conclude if this matter relates to the purpose of your travels, but in our era, no, it should be your Master’s era, breaking through realms wasn’t as difficult as imagined. In my view, those few uncles weren’t as good as you."

"To put it bluntly, neither their talents nor state of mind and understanding of the Purple Cloud Divine Technique compares to you, yet when I joined Purple Cloud Palace, those few were already in Mahayana, advancing even further than you."

"Throughout generations, seven Sect Leaders even glimpsed the Immortal Path, bringing numerous tribulations; you and Liu Jian are no less than them. None of those people paved a path alone."

"Yet the fact remains that you’ve been stuck in place for over two hundred and forty years, without advancing an inch."

The elder did not speak thoroughly, his heart was also filled with speculation but lacked the courage to confirm it verbally, so he could only explain the stakes to his junior in his own way.

"Look."

The elder’s voice drew Master Gu’s attention.

Upon focused gaze, the chopstick was horizontally placed on the fingers, perfectly angled; the thicker end, though slightly shorter, was heavier, the clearer end was longer, but the tip was increasingly slender, even slightly upturned.

This brought a smile to his face; his Junior Master, although old, still had this disposition, devoid of the airs of an elder, sitting cross-legged on the chair, resembling an old man who usually enjoyed drinking and bragging with you.

"Top-heavy and bottom-light."

"Though the thicker end is shorter, it’s a circle larger, hence heavier."

"This end is more slender and longer, but their weight is far less than that end, even might be pried up, so..."

Saying this, the elder slightly adjusted the chopstick.

This time, the adjustment was slight but just right, the chopstick was perfectly balanced on the elder’s fingers, with no inclination on either side.

"This is my ineffable thought, the reason I believe the greedy entity exists beneath the East Sea Extreme Island, do you understand?"

For others, seeing such an abstract metaphor, let alone understanding, perhaps not even a glimpse of comprehension would arise, but Gu Yuanshan merely nodded slightly, a smile on his face.

"As expected of Junior Master, this metaphor is just right."

The two exchanged smiles.

In their eyes, the chopstick in their hands represented the entire Cultivation World.

The heavy end occupied countless resources, laws, and the Immortal Path, dominated by the masters of the Immortal Faction, whereas the light end consisted of numerous cultivators of average and insignificant cultivation.

Now the weight of this heavy end could no longer change, set and formed; if its weight were to continue increasing, or the chopstick shifted further towards the heavy end, then the entire chopstick would fall from the hand.

The consequence of its fall is unknown, and no one dares to think about it. Everyone is trying their best to avoid this outcome, or rather, subconsciously trying to avoid such an outcome.

For these cultivators, the best way is to seize others’ fortunes.

To avoid the chopstick falling from the fingers, they have to keep adjusting positions, continuously reducing the length of the overweight end, thereby lengthening the lighter end.

But the problem is.

No one is willing to move from the heavy end voluntarily to join the light end.

That is the result of people’s millennium of arduous cultivation, life and death, extreme hardship; for anyone, it is impossible to let go easily. Seeing the balance disrupted, the heavy end begins to sink, and the whole chopstick is about to fall from the fingers, someone is anxious.

Such a result seems even more unacceptable to them, thus, the small half of the heavy chopstick thinks of a solution, which is...

Directly cut off a section.

As for whom to cut, how to cut, that is another matter.

As Junior Master said, the entity at the bottom will not do anything to them, it is purely there, as long as you don’t do anything stupid, don’t go down to explore, it won’t affect anyone.

Its only function is to make a sound of hunger, warning you, reminding you, the chopstick in your hand is about to fall, and you must readjust its position.

It is a scale, but simply a scale, only very few know what exactly is placed on this scale, and in what manner can both sides of it be balanced?

Why it can achieve this is unknown, and its exact nature remains one of the greatest secrets of the current Cultivation World.

Amidst laughter, Sect Master Gu also took the chopstick from his master’s hand, his expression somewhat emotional.

"Such is said, but who would have thought the commotion from decades ago wasn’t enough, still allowing it to warn us. It has only been a few short decades."

Surprisingly, the old man shook his head, his expression seemingly revealing a bit of peculiarity.

Amidst laughter, Sect Master Gu also took the chopstick from his master’s hand, his expression somewhat emotional.

"Such is said, but who would have thought the commotion from decades ago wasn’t enough, still allowing it to warn us. It has only been a few short decades."

Surprisingly, the old man shook his head, his expression seemingly revealing a bit of peculiarity.