'Yellow Dragon Temple...'
Another Extraordinary Influence, and one belonging to the Immortal Dao at that. It was no small power.
Wu Dao mentally filed this away but didn't respond. He knew Zhao Wei hadn't come over just to make small talk.
"I must apologize for my earlier offense. I mistook you for one of those wolf cubs from the Four Seas Gang. I hope you can forgive me, brother."
'Just as I thought.'
Zhao Wei clasped his fists apologetically and got to the point. "Brother, your Dominating Whale Fist Intent is extraordinary. May I ask which master you studied under?
"To be honest, my master was one of the elders of the Giant Whale Sect. Barring a few exceptions, he shared a deep, brotherly bond with the other elders."
'He's here to claim kinship.'
Wu Dao hadn't pursued the matter relentlessly, which proved their respective sects couldn't have been enemies.
All Wu Dao had to do was give a name.
Then Zhao Wei could spin some tale of a so-called deep, brotherly bond, effortlessly closing the distance between them.
Besides, the relationships between the higher-ups of the Giant Whale Sect back then were more or less as he described.
Even someone as cold as Wu Dao would have to acknowledge this shared camaraderie, unless he was the type to completely turn his back on his roots.
And that would make him an ungrateful bastard, not worth recruiting.
It had to be said.
The man might look coarse on the outside, but he was cunning on the inside.
Having lived two lives, Wu Dao was no muscle-headed brute. How could he not see through such a simple social ploy?
But he wasn't about to play along. Besides, he wasn't foolish enough to invent a non-existent person and get caught in the lie.
So he simply crossed his arms and flicked a piece of flesh from his fingernails.
"Wu Dao. A Loose Cultivator from the wilds. It was just a fortunate encounter, nothing worth mentioning."
The Giant Whale Sect had collapsed back then.
It was perfectly normal for one of its core legacies, the Overlord Whale Fist, to have been scattered and for a Loose Cultivator to have obtained it.
Of course, there was another reason.
By revealing his status as a Loose Cultivator, he was indirectly stating that he didn't belong to any faction, while also boosting his own "prestige."
'If you want to recruit me...'
'...then make a real offer. Don't bother with all the empty pleasantries.'
"For a Loose Cultivator to reach such a level of cultivation, Brother Wu, you are truly incredible."
Zhao Wei clicked his tongue in wonder. Whether he believed it or not, he offered the compliment on the surface. At the same time, he officially extended an olive branch:
"Once things here are settled, I wonder if Brother Wu would grace us with his presence for a friendly exchange? Although our White Whale Martial Arts Hall has no geniuses quite like you...
"...our Head Instructor is a renowned Innate Grandmaster, and we lack none of the complete legacies we should have. I'm sure it would be of great benefit to you."
The offer was generous.
A legacy was the lifeblood of a faction. Only the upper echelons could easily view and study it. If an outsider learned it, it would lead to a fight to the death.
In other words,
as long as Wu Dao was willing to pledge allegiance, he would, at the very least, become a high-ranking member with access to the core legacy of the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.
Since he had put it that way,
Wu Dao naturally dropped the act and grinned. "I've long heard that the White Whale Martial Arts Hall's Giant Whale Skill is a powerful Horizontal Training Skill, said to grant the power of Nine Barbaric Whales at Great Success, allowing one's physical body to contend with the Innate!
"I truly would like to witness it for myself. When the time comes, I hope Zhao won't be stingy."
Whether he actually got the legacy or not didn't really matter.
Wu Dao knew that when it came to a core legacy, it wasn't something Zhao Wei could decide with a few pleasantries.
He, Wu Dao, was only at the Divine Power Realm. How could they possibly teach him something like a core legacy the moment he walked in the door?
Of course,
he had to give them a reason. Otherwise, joining a faction so generously without wanting anything in return? Wouldn't that be like having the word "suspicious" written all over his forehead?
It would be strange if people didn't suspect and guard against him.
"Heh heh, but of course."
Zhao Wei laughed freely, not minding the blatant greed in Wu Dao's eyes in the slightest.
As long as a man showed his desires, he was easy to control.
The ones to fear were those who hid their desires in their hearts, all smiles to your face while waiting to stab you in the back.
Hm?
Just as Wu Dao was about to ask Zhao Wei for more details about the incident in Pan Shui Town, he suddenly felt an undisguised, cold gaze.
He squinted and saw that it was Cloud Heaven Flow, who shot him a look of disgust. To be precise, he was looking at "them"—Zhao Wei and the other three from the White Whale Martial Arts Hall were included.
Glancing at the severed limbs littering the ground,
Wu Dao understood. He sneered, completely unconcerned. "Tsk, what a righteous heart."
'In his opinion,'
'this man was a hypocrite.'
'He didn't lift a finger to save the three Jianghu Travelers when that inhuman Blue-Clothed Opera Singer was slaughtering them, but now he's disgusted with me?'
'So a monster can kill, but a person can't?'
'If that isn't hypocrisy, what is?'
Of course, he didn't care about good or hypocrisy. They were just inferior creatures. If he killed them, he killed them. As a superior Hunter, he should have that right.
"Brother Wu, don't pay him any mind. The people from Fangcun Sword Hall are all stubborn fools who can't tolerate the slightest bit of evil."
Zhao Wei was used to this. "I've been here for days. I know full well that this lot was just scum who treated human life as worthless. Killing them is killing them. There's no need to feel any psychological burden.
"However, Brother Wu, you should be more careful in the future. Though the world is chaotic and people courting death are a dime a dozen,
"if you run into some of those paranoid, stubborn, hot-blooded 'heroes,' and you've killed too many, they won't care if your victims were good or bad.
"They tend to see the world only through their own values, getting a narrow, incomplete picture. With a single glance, they'll slap an irremovable label of 'good' or 'evil' on you, and reasoning with them is impossible."
'Black-and-white thinking...'
Wu Dao understood. He nodded. He'd seen plenty of people like that in his previous life; it was nothing surprising.
However, to avoid being labeled some kind of perverted maniac, he still said casually:
"Unless there's a profit to be made or a grudge to be settled, I have no interest in bullying the weak."
This was the truth.
In nature, hunters never engage in pointless battles, in order to conserve energy and avoid injury.
"Er, right. That's... good."
Zhao Wei recalled Wu Dao's bloodthirsty frenzy from just moments before and nodded with a strange expression.
To be honest,
if the world hadn't changed and moral bottom lines hadn't become so flexible,
he would never dare recruit a "madman" like Wu Dao into the White Whale Martial Arts Hall, no matter how much of a genius he was.
Because a person with that kind of personality
could bring about a heaven-toppling disaster at any moment, dragging their backing faction into an undeserved catastrophe.
Wu Dao and Zhao Wei's undisguised discussion
did not escape the eyes and ears of Cloud Heaven Flow.
But while he had a righteous heart, he wasn't some brainless, hot-headed fool.
He would have to think twice before confronting Wu Dao alone, to say nothing of Zhao Wei from the White Whale Martial Arts Hall.
Both were Fist Dao Grandmaster-level figures. Together, they would even dare to take on someone at the Cocoon-Breaking Realm.
If he were to brazenly rush up and condemn them, given that fiend's earlier behavior, a huge fight would be unavoidable.
Although, because of the Fangcun Sword Hall's reputation,
Zhao Wei might try to mediate a little, but he would absolutely not take Cloud Heaven Flow's side. If True Flame was kindled, it would certainly become a two-on-one situation.
He would not come out of it well at all.
Once injured, he would have no chance at the Exotic Treasure within Canyun Mountain, the key to his hope of Breaking the Cocoon. The loss would far outweigh the gain.
Know when to pick your battles, when to advance and when to retreat.
Upholding justice didn't mean being ignorant of life and death.
This was an essential survival rule for all Jianghu People.
No matter how dissatisfied Cloud Heaven Flow was with Wu Dao's cruel methods, he could only suppress it for now. The anomaly within Canyun Mountain was the top priority.
Before Chunxiang Garden,
as everyone was lost in their own thoughts,
the brash young Daoist finished cleaning up the mess. He hung the Red Gourd at his waist, put away his Celestial Banner Ruler, and sat quietly under the moon, chanting as if to guide the souls of the dead.
Everyone looked at each other.
But no one, including Wu Dao, disturbed him.
From the earlier fight,
Wu Dao had come to understand one thing: their group of country bumpkins was not professional when it came to dealing with these demons and monsters.
That included Cloud Heaven Flow.
He probably just intended to track the Blue-Clothed Opera Singer and find its master.
Now a professional had arrived.
Although his background seemed formidable, telling them to give up now was unthinkable.
The path of cultivation,
at its core, was all about one word: contention.
Trying to take everything for oneself with just empty words and a fancy title? Such a wonderful thing could never happen.
Not to mention,
judging from Zhao Wei's tone—wary, but not fearful—the Yellow Dragon Temple behind this young Daoist probably wasn't some untouchable power in Guangqing Prefecture.
A moment later,
the brash Daoist finished his prayer.
He opened his eyes and swept his gaze over the crowd staring intently at him. A flash of resignation passed through the depths of his eyes. He stood, clasped his fists, and said:
"Everyone, this humble Daoist is Mao Ba, a Third Generation disciple of the Yellow Dragon Temple.
"I was passing through tonight after hearing that demons were causing trouble in Pan Shui Town. My apologies for any offense I may have caused earlier. I ask for your forgiveness."