Faced with the realization that the world truly did not understand how the Dao worked, Aotian did not feel any sense of superiority.
He only looked at Rihai with sadness and helplessness.
'Her father… didn't die for nothing? She suffered so much because people were too greedy and, cornered without knowing how to advance, turned their claws against him. Although it does not absolve their guilt, perhaps her father would still be alive if they had known the path forward.'
Aotian could not help but ponder this with difficulty and feel that Rihai would be even sadder when she discovered the truth.
"Tian'er?" his wife's concerned call woke him from his thoughts.
Her blue eyes had a complex shine as she gently, but firmly, held his hand, her mind clouded with confused thoughts.
'So now I am the key to the Mahayana realm… if he can reach the perfection of Tribulation Transcendence before the world is destroyed like grandfather said, then maybe, if I sacrifice myself by using those orchids to absorb the Dao rhymes from my roots, he can reach the supreme realm and go to the immortal world, saving himself.'
Her thoughts held no caution when she met his sorrowful gaze—no suspicion, no fear that he might hurt her. Perhaps love blinded people, or perhaps Aotian had already proven that she was safe with him. Whatever the reason, she was right in the end—Aotian would never cause her pain.
He was not someone who would do anything for power, who would kill family and relatives, or even innocents, to grow stronger.
Aotian knew that if a day came when he became cornered in some cultivation realm, he would continue trying to discover ways to advance without hurting his principles, and in the end, he would enjoy whatever years he had with Rihai and friends.
For him, if everything went wrong, it would be enough to pass away in peace, rather than do something drastic and live a long life with a mind tormented by sins.
Of course, he was far from being cornered, so his concern in that regard was not great.
But there was someone in the room who, upon seeing his sad gaze toward Rihai, could not help but have other thoughts.
A red figure suddenly materialized between the couple, forcing their hands apart and stepping protectively in front of Rihai, his wary gaze fixed on Aotian.
"Brat, what are you thinking?! You're not getting any twisted ideas, are you?!"
The heavy voice of the figure sounded, catching everyone by surprise with the sudden appearance.
Aotian, who until a moment ago had been thinking about his wife's feelings and how she might be hurt by the news, felt a vein throb in his forehead. A surge of anger rose within him.
Slowly narrowing his eyes at the old Liu, with visible irritation, he spoke politely to him.
"You bastard ghost old man, who let you crawl out of your grave?!" he mocked without holding back, making Liu Taixuan grind his teeth in anger.
"Brat, do you have no respect for your elders?" The old Liu truly wanted to burn his own soul and give the boy a violent beating, pouring all his power into the act to see if he could straighten him out.
"Respect?! An old man like you doesn't deserve it! I bet you're full of foolish ideas again and came out to accuse me, didn't you?!" Aotian made a face at him and pulled a helpless Rihai, who had just gone around her great-grandfather, behind himself. "Don't you dare deny it, old man, otherwise you wouldn't have suddenly appeared between strangers just to ask!" this time, he spoke seriously, frowning.
The old Liu's constant suspicions were already tiring him, and if the bastard were not Rihai's great-grandfather, he would have already expelled him from the sect by now. It was exhausting to constantly be the target of suspicion and be discredited in front of his wife, especially by one of her own relatives.
Liu Taixuan, who was about to argue, felt himself choke upon hearing the young man's serious words, and a trace of shame also arose in his heart, but he still needed to protect his great-granddaughter, so he would not waver, even if he truly became the target of the boy's hatred.
"Just tell me… what do you intend to do with this news," he stopped stalling and questioned, staring firmly into Aotian's eyes.
"What else would I intend to do?" Aotian rolled his eyes. "I'll just cultivate, grow stronger, and then beat up those idiots from the central continent for making my wife suffer."
His words, without the slightest hesitation or deceit, made Liu Taixuan fall silent, with a complicated expression.
After a few seconds, he sighed.
"Just… just swear that no harm will come to the girl. In exchange, my grandson's body…" At that point, Liu Taixuan clenched his teeth bitterly. "… my grandson's body can stay with you so that—"
"STOP! Stop right there, you senile old man! Don't you dare finish that sentence!"
Aotian suddenly shouted, interrupting what the old Liu was about to say, leaving him stunned.
Rihai also looked at him, with complicated thoughts and eyes red with sadness.
It was not that she had not thought about giving the Dao rhymes in her father's body to her husband, but she would rather give her own than let Aotian profane her father's. But she also knew he would never accept hers, so her heart was struggling intensely.
But seeing his posture now, she knew her stubborn husband was not willing to accept any of those options.
Liu Taixuan was also stunned by the young man's sudden shout.
As for the others? Well, they understood nothing of what was being discussed and were still wondering where the hell that red-haired old man had come from.
Seeing Liu Taixuan's shocked face, Aotian's mouth twitched fiercely.
'What kind of impression does this guy have of me?!'
Massaging his forehead, he decided to be direct, pointing a finger straight at the old man's nose, who went cross-eyed looking at it.
"Can you stop having such a bad image of me in your mind?! I'm seriously going to go crazy because of you! And wanting me to swear that I'll protect Rihai, my wife, in exchange for something, as if this were a transaction, don't you get tired of making me furious?!"
Aotian shouted, feeling that he had never been so irritated in his life.
But before Liu Taixuan, who had opened his mouth in shock, could speak, he continued.
"Listen here, you senile old man, Rihai is my best friend, companion, and wife, and I will never hurt her, understand?! I don't need anything in exchange or to swear anything, because I would be dead before letting any harm come to her. Now listen carefully to what I'm about to say…"
He took a deep breath, calming his face flushed with anger, lowering his finger from the stunned Liu Taixuan's face, and, with a growl, fiercely declared.
"I don't need that bullshit Dao rhyme to reach Mahayana. It's nothing but a crutch you don't even know how to use, and it only allows you to reach a hollow Mahayana realm the way you people do. That is NOT how immortality is achieved!"
His voice, which rose until it became a powerful shout, stunned everyone, including the dragon and the little girl, who looked at him with confusion at the madness the boy was speaking.
But the two soon shook their heads discreetly, thinking they were just the illusions of a little boy who had not yet known the world.
However, Liu Taixuan and Rihai were different.
They knew the extraordinariness of the Infinite Dao Sect, and Aotian's words, as the young master of the sect, carried enormous weight.
And indeed, Aotian was not simply guessing with his words.
All his understanding of cultivation was extremely complete up to Soul Formation, and his knowledge inherited from Lei Yun already made him equivalent to a reincarnated Mahayana without common sense.
In addition, he had the knowledge and references of the books he read during his life on Earth to support him.
Thus, his understanding of cultivation was comprehensive, and he quickly understood that the Dao rhymes in a cultivator's body likely contained fragments of Dao comprehension, or even a complete comprehension.
What the Divine Physique Mahayanas were doing was simply relying on those Dao fragments to advance. But Aotian judged that the true path to ascend to that realm was, in fact, to comprehend a Dao, or at least deeply comprehend a part of it, completely.
Of course, this did not diminish in any way the advantages of having a Divine Physique. After all, without even mentioning the supreme cultivation speed, having the advantage of knowing which Dao was most suited to oneself from the beginning and also possessing a direct reference to study was a marvel.
The difference between having and not having such a physique was like the difference between two students taking an exam:
The first, with a Divine Physique, would be like receiving two exams directly from the teacher, the first blank and the second with all the answers to the first, which he only needs to analyze a little before simply copying onto the other.
As for the second student, the teacher buried the exam somewhere on the planet, and he needs to find it, dig it up, and only then try to answer the extremely difficult questions in it without any help. The time limit to finish the exam was the student's lifespan.
It was simply easy mode versus hell mode.
"I… is what you said true?" Liu Taixuan looked at him in shock, never imagining this.
"Of course. Why would I joke about something like that?" Aotian rolled his eyes, tired of talking to the old man, and then looked at his wife.
Rihai, at that moment, was clenching her fists with her head lowered.
She was the first to immediately believe Aotian, and that was why she understood at once why he had looked at her so sadly before. Her father had truly suffered an unjust fate.
But no matter what, that did not change the fact that he was killed and that she had lost him forever. Nor did it change that she would have her revenge.
Aotian sighed when he saw her like that, but when she raised her head with a determined gaze, he nodded to his wife in relief.
'She is strong.'
Turning his gaze back to the dragon, Aotian's eyes became resolute. He had one more bargaining chip, and in light of recent discoveries, he needed to accelerate his plan.
But first, he needed to confirm something.
Creating a mission, he quickly evaluated it.
[Mission: Recruit the Dragon King
Description: Reveal your trump cards to recruit the Dragon King and the Formation Spirit.
Participant: Aotian, Rihai, Cang Song, Hui Lang, Liu Taixuan, Infinite Dao Sect
Danger Level: Safe]
The last line was all the answer he needed, and after creating a few more to be certain, his heart steadied.
Then, facing the two who were still confused there, he took action.
"Dragon King, you should know about the current situation where the world is ending, right? You are willing to accept that."
His solemn voice froze the room, especially Cang Song and Hui Lang, whose eyes were wide and mouths open, unaware of the catastrophic news.
"Huh?" Old Long was caught off guard when the conversation suddenly turned to him. After a moment, he regained his composure and slowly shook his head with a bitter smile. "Of course I know—better than anyone. But what can I do, even if I refuse to accept it?" He gave a helpless shrug.
That was a foregone conclusion, and he had already accepted it long ago, even if unwillingly.
The little dragon girl beside him also had the bright light in her eyes dim as she remembered that subject.
That was Aotian's cue.
"Dragon King, if you swear loyalty to my sect, we can help you advance to the Mahayana realm."
"And of course, heal the tree of life."
As soon as his words fell, what he received was not excitement, but gentle smiles from the two, who looked at him sympathetically.
Aotian's mouth twitched, not expecting that look. It was clear they did not believe him and thought he was overestimating himself.
Just as he was about to try to continue and convince them to at least give him a chance to prove it, another voice spoke first.
"Believe him… his identity is not simple."
Along with those words, an intense and terrifying aura filled the entire library.
Even the pupils of the dragon and the little girl shrank to needle size under its sheer intensity.
All heads turned instantly toward the red-haired old man, who slowly lifted his head, his heavy crimson eyes exuding a power that in no way fell short of the dragon's.
The one standing there was no longer a worried grandfather, but Liu Taixuan, the strongest man of his era.
And finally... he was there to support his great-grandson.
"With my power, I vouch for him."