The Yuanwu Academy held one quota, the Shangmo Academy held one, and the Shenhuang Academy held one. The Jingmei Girls’ School still had no one with a quota.
Counting them up, eight quotas had already been filled. With only three days left, there were twelve remaining quotas to be claimed.
Zhu Yanyi and the others returned to their resting place to rest. However, they had barely arrived at the Lan Garden and said a few words when they heard that Dean Guan Feng had come to visit.
Dean Guan Feng’s arrival was no surprise to the Medical Elder. She knew that the Passionate Sword Art Zhu Yanyi and Jing Tian had displayed would deeply触动 (touch/move) those who cultivated the Ruthless Dao. Therefore, her visit was inevitable.
Upon arriving, Dean Guan Feng got straight to the point. "I won’t say much. I just want to know: what is the difference between the Passionate Dao and the Ruthless Dao?"
Zhu Yanyi tilted her head, looking at Guan Feng. "Dean Guan, when you ask this, you have already discovered the difference. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have come to find us, would you?"
Dean Guan Feng sighed. "After watching your duel with Yi Yunhang today, the only thing I don’t understand is why the Passionate Sword Art is superior to the Ruthless Sword Art."
"Do you really believe the Ruthless Dao is the most powerful path?" Zhu Yanyi asked, not answering directly but posing a counter-question.
"The Ruthless Dao allows one to cultivate without distraction. Isn’t that the most powerful?" Dean Guan Feng countered.
Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. "But I have never heard of anyone cultivating the Ruthless Dao to become a god or an immortal. Can you give me an example?"
Dean Guan Feng had indeed never heard of such a thing. He paused slightly, searching his memory for anyone who had achieved godhood through the Ruthless Dao, but he realized he truly had no such example.
"I really haven’t heard of anyone like that," Dean Guan Feng admitted, slightly stunned.
Hearing this, Zhu Yanyi laughed. "Since you know there are no such people, then tell me, is the Ruthless Dao still useful?"
She laughed again, not waiting for her answer, and continued, "Of course, the Ruthless Dao has its uses. It can test a person’s mindset. However, one point remains: the Ruthless Dao cannot make someone truly become a god. A ruthless god would not empathize with sentient beings. A god who does not empathize with sentient beings—what is the point of being high and mighty? Is she to be a puppet? The Heavenly Dao would not allow such a god to exist."
Zhu Yanyi paused briefly before continuing, "Actually, the Ruthless Dao does exist. As one of the three thousand paths, since 'ruthlessness' has generated a Dao, it naturally exists. Since it exists, it means you have not truly understood the meaning of the Ruthless Dao. What is 'ruthlessness'?"
"What is 'ruthlessness'?" Dean Guan Feng frowned slightly. She now realized that their understanding of the Ruthless Dao might indeed be flawed. Therefore, she looked at Zhu Yanyi, hoping she would provide an answer.
Zhu Yanyi smiled lightly. "Let me tell you a fun story. Well, it’s not really a story, but rather a phenomenon from ancient times. In the secular world, ancient people valued men over women. Everyone knows this, right?"
"Yes," everyone nodded.
Zhu Yanyi continued, "Besides valuing men over women, ancient men were also very patriarchal. Every man hoped to have three wives and four concubines, desiring beautiful wives and concubines to display her status. Some men had countless wives and concubines in their lives. The most outstanding examples were, of course, the ancient emperors, right?"
"Yes," everyone nodded again.
"But, a person has only one heart and one share of emotion," Zhu Yanyi said, a slight smile on her lips.
"When a couple consists of only one man and one woman, they can give their whole hearts to each other. But what if a third woman enters the picture? The man’s heart is divided. Then what if a fourth or fifth woman appears? His heart is divided bit by bit.
She seems very passionate, keeping all the women she likes by her side. But has she ever considered these women’s feelings?
There is only one man, but many women, all competing for him. To compete, there must be struggle. They陷害 (frame) each other and fight each other, all for the sake of possessing him.
What is the truth, really? In his eyes, they might just be a good show. In the end, this man remains high and mighty, or sits back with his legs crossed, drinking tea, watching the group of women fight for him. Would you still consider him to have 'emotion'?"
Dean Guan Feng was stunned, seeming to understand the meaning behind Zhu Yanyi’s words. "Although this man once had feelings for each woman, being too 'passionate' is actually more terrifying than being 'ruthless.'
If he were ruthless, he would simply reject these women. But if he is passionate, he might end up taking all their lives."
"Exactly," Zhu Yanyi nodded. "This is why my Passionate Sword Art defeated Yi Yunhang’s Ruthless Sword Art. The Ruthless Sword Art, although ruthless, is direct. It lacks too many dark sides, making it almost cute.
The Passionate Sword Art is different. It presents different angles and emotions, causing people to feel despair within those emotions. That is the truly terrifying Ruthless Sword Art.
Therefore, the true Ruthless Dao follows the same logic. It seems ruthless but has emotion; it seems passionate but is ruthless. If you can walk the path of the Passionate Dao, you can comprehend the true Ruthless Dao."
Zhu Yanyi looked at Guan Feng with a touch of emotion. "However, I feel that you probably won’t go through the Passionate Dao to comprehend this, because you no longer know how to express your emotions."
"No longer know how to express emotions?" Dean Guan Feng pondered. She had to admit that Zhu Yanyi was right.
To cultivate the Ruthless Dao, they blocked out all emotions, believing that having no emotions meant being ruthless. But in reality, they had been wrong. Now, turning back from this mistake was not easy.
The previous Ruthless Dao had formed a trend in the Shangmo Plane. Changing this trend would not happen overnight.
Dean Guan Feng felt a chill in his heart. "You saw the problem with us long ago?" He looked at the Medical Elder, not forgetting what the Elder had said to him earlier.
The Medical Elder did not deny it. "After coming to the Shangmo Plane and seeing the people here, and then going to the arena to see the fighters, we realized that the Shangmo Plane has changed. Things are still there, but the people are different.
Even though a few elders remain, it is undeniable that you, as elders, have also fallen into this erroneous area. That is why you cannot break through."
The Medical Elder stated his findings directly.
"When we, the students of the Sage Academy, arrived at the Shangmo Plane, our first feeling was the hostility and bloodiness of this plane. This shows that the plane has changed, lacking peace.
And cultivators, if their mindset is not peaceful, what good is it if they are good at fighting?" The Medical Elder looked at Guan Feng.