Chapter 391: Truth and Falsehood

Chapter 391: Truth and Illusion

*Thwack.*

The black stone fell with a sharp sound, and Li Huowang began to ponder the words that had just been spoken. "Pán," he murmured to himself. "What does this 'pán' mean?"

As one who possessed the Heart Essence, he had already witnessed the strange abilities of Heart Turmoil. It was nearly impossible for him to imagine what exactly Heart Pán might be.

Looking at the two black stones on the board—seemingly mismatched like a donkey's lips not aligning with a horse's mouth—Zhuge Yuan shook his head slightly. With the tip of his fingernail, he picked up a white stone and placed it on the board.

"This 'pán' means that I, little one, am destined to be entangled with the Three Bodies Old One for all my life—whether living or dead."

"What is the Three Bodies Old One?" Li Huowang asked as he dropped his own stone.

When he saw Zhuge Yuan smiling, folding his fan shut, and pointing upward, a sudden chill ran through Li Huowang’s heart. His pupils trembled slightly as memories buried deep within his mind began to stir.

"Brother Li, there are things I do not wish to tell you—not because I do not want to, but because the more you know, the greater the danger becomes. Life is hard enough without knowing too much." Zhuge Yuan spoke these words before lifting another white stone and placing it on the board.

His actions were clear enough. The so-called “Three Bodies Old One” was likely the name of some celestial being in Baiyujing. He didn’t dare even mention the name directly—he could only refer to it vaguely as “the Three Bodies Old One.”

“I understand,” Li Huowang muttered, nodding slowly.

For a moment, the bamboo pavilion fell silent, broken only by the occasional chirping of birds outside the window.

Just as Zhuge Yuan felt a headache coming on from staring at the chaotic state of the board, he heard Li Huowang ask again:

"Thank you for your generosity, Brother Zhuge. But since you're not a Heart Essence like me, why did you help me?"

This question had haunted Li Huowang for a long time. Today, finally, he had found the courage to ask.

"Why do you say that?" Zhuge Yuan looked genuinely surprised. "Though we’ve met only recently, saving a life is worth more than building seven levels of a pagoda. I couldn't stand by and watch you die. If I had higher cultivation, your copper mask would have been nothing but a decoration."

"So simple?" Li Huowang stared at him in disbelief. Over the past few days, he had thought about this countless times, never expecting such a straightforward reason—just kindness?

"What do you think, Brother Li? Not only you, but even those of the Heart generation, or the Spirit or Void generations—if they’re in trouble, I won’t hesitate to lend a hand."

"Is he lying to me? What does he really want?" This thought suddenly sprouted in Li Huowang’s mind.

But he quickly suppressed it. If Zhuge Yuan didn’t care about his identity as a Heart Essence, then what could he possibly want?

With his strength capable of killing Cai Fa, if he truly wanted to find Heart Essences, he could get as many as he pleased. There was no need to go through such trouble to deceive him. Other than being a Heart Essence, his value wasn’t that great.

"Brother Li, you've traveled thousands of miles to Xing Island. Is that all you came here for—to ask me this?" Zhuge Yuan looked puzzled.

"No, no—it's not that. I came to seek your help for something important," Li Huowang immediately perked up, recounting everything he had discovered about Bei Feng.

Although Zhuge Yuan had shown him kindness, Li Huowang was not someone who took advantage of others. He proposed a win-win solution.

"Brother Zhuge, you don’t need to do anything else. I know that the Seatless Sect will keep troubling you, and Bei Feng will probably come too. As long as I stay by your side, I can help you fight off the Seatless Sect!"

Seeing Zhuge Yuan hesitating with the white stone suspended above the board, Li Huowang pressed on, raising the stakes: "Brother Zhuge, rest assured. Even after I escape the illusion of the Heart Essence, I won’t abandon you. I’ll wait until your matter is resolved before leaving."

"Do you doubt my strength? While I may not match your prowess, I’m quite skilled in the secret arts of the Aojing Sect. I’ve even gone through the most difficult ritual—the Ascension of the Blue Cicada three times. Even half-immortal beings cannot withstand it!"

Seeing Li Huowang’s tone growing increasingly urgent, Zhuge Yuan raised his hand to stop him. "Brother Li, calm down. I didn’t say no—I just want you to consider a few things. First, you said you’d help me fight enemies. Do you know what I’m planning to do next?"

Li Huowang paused, then realization struck him. "You haven’t finished with stealing Heart Turmoil from the Temple of the Buddha’s Bone, have you?"

Taking Heart Turmoil away from the Sky-Watching Bureau out of nowhere meant something serious. And given Zhuge Yuan’s strength, if it hadn’t been resolved after so many months, it must be a major issue.

Zhuge Yuan looked toward a landscape painting behind Li Huowang. On the path halfway up the mountain lay a desiccated corpse. "Ah, though I can kill Cai Fa, as long as any Heart generation lives, we’re all stained with karma not our own. Hard, so hard."

"I’ll face many difficulties on this journey. The Seatless Sect will keep interfering. If you follow me, it’ll be a death sentence. Is it really worth it?"

"Worth it!" Li Huowang answered firmly, not even asking what Zhuge Yuan planned to do next. "If it helps me escape that illusion and confusion, I’ll do anything!"

Zhuge Yuan sipped the now-cold tea. "Very well. Then there’s the second point. Bei Feng is indeed a Heart Essence, and he can escape the illusion. But is his method suitable for you? After all, he’s from the Seatless Sect."

"Maybe his method is just another way of deceiving himself like the other guy? Maybe it’s some forbidden technique that’s unbearable? Are you going to practice it too?"

Li Huowang’s face darkened. He poured the cold tea into his mouth with reluctance. "Do I have any choice? Regardless of what Bei Feng used, I still have to see for myself."

Zhuge Yuan fell into silence. "Not necessarily. I once read about a method in a book."

"What kind of method?" Li Huowang’s pupils contracted, his heartbeat quickening.

"The illusion caused by your Heart Essence stems from an uncontrolled surplus of primordial Qi within your body. If the method described in that book can control that Qi, perhaps the illusion will disappear."

"You’ve seen such a method?" Li Huowang asked eagerly.

"I only saw it once in a book, and I’ve forgotten most of it. But I believe it exists."

"Why?"

"Because of the abnormality of the Seatless Sect, I’ve always wondered why they obsess over tormenting Heart Essences, treating them more than anything else. They never do such things to Heart Pán or Heart Turmoil."

"I was puzzled—could it be that the Seatless Sect bears a grudge against every Heart Essence? Then I realized, if that method in the book is true, it would be a countermeasure to their cultivation. That explains why they treat Heart Essences so cruelly."

"A countermeasure to their cultivation? Does the Seatless Sect even have a cultivation method?"

"Certainly. Everything they do is about replacing truth with falsehood. All things in the world change, but they all follow the same root. Whether cultivating ghosts, Dao, evil, or unity, in the end, the Seatless Sect is cultivating falseness."

"Hold on—so they cultivate falseness, and Heart Essence methods counter them. Then what do Heart Essences cultivate?"

Zhuge Yuan didn’t answer. He simply dropped a white stone. Li Huowang looked at the board. The black stones scattered across it formed the character “True.”

"Cultivation?"

(End of Chapter)